- AFTER BEING witness to that pathetic performance of Eric Koch, Darla Foutz, and Rochelle Bennett at UTEP, I find it harder and harder to convince myself that referees neither win or lose games. They can most definitely can have an effect on the outcome. To watch them watch the replay of the foul that led to the technical against coach Sanchez, Koch was not about to reverse his call, even though Bennett was pointing out the elbow and where it hit the Lobo player. I would like to thank the refs for the three out of bounds plays that went in favor of The Lobos when it was perfectly clear that the ball was last touched by a Lobo. Yes sir, a quality crew. A special congrats to Coach Sanchez on her first T as a head coach and the inspired performance of your team after it.

— MAL, Albuquerque

-FOR ANY Lobo men’s basketball “fans” who are still denying that Steve Alford is doing the best job of any coach in Lobo basketball history, here is an undeniable fact. He (and his staff) has proven himself to be an outstanding team builder — he has consistently recruited players who were not highly rated on the national scene and yet have become amazingly successful — Tony Snell, Hugh Greenwood, Alex Kirk come to mind. To take 2 and 3 star recruits and produce a consistent winner, MWC champion, and now top 20 team is a great achievement. Thank you coach Alford.

— Ken in Tijeras

- WILL SOMEONE please explain why sports writers insist in ranking teams before they get into league play? The top ten rated NCAA men’s basketball teams won their last game by an average of 24.0 points per game. The closest win was, #4 Syracuse over Detroit by four points. The biggest blowout, No. 1 Duke over Cornell by 41 points. Everyone but the sportswriters agree that the preseason is the “PATTY CAKE” season, used to gain 17 to 20 wins prior to league play. Preseason rankings are used for two reasons, #1 sell newspapers, and #2 for recruiting purposes by the ranked teams. I congratulate the Lobos for being ranked #16 today, but I would rather see them ranked on their MWC record. If their record at the halfway point of MWC league play is as impressive, then I will join the bandwagon.

— Dick, Ventana Ranch

- MEMO TO BO … Not sure if it’s Didley or Derek. In response to your comment about Laguna Acoma beating an opponent 103-28 last Tuesday LA did try to keep the score down. After the 1st quarter LA had 38 and stopped pressing, packing in a zone the rest of the game. We had 68 at the half and played the JV the rest of the way only scoring 35 points in the second half (9 in the 4th qtr.). The Hawks have a decent team going 26-1 last year and have virtually everybody back this season, but Coach Peil is a man of respect, integrity and dignity and would not try to embarrass any student athlete or their community. Thanks and Go Hawks!

— TTrujillo

- APS COACHES jump to a job opening such as Judge Chavez when he went to Cibola HS bringing his set of assistant coaches. There is a rivalry amongst the east, west, and valley schools in the metro area. Judge wasn’t Cibola’s fair haired child. Cibola needs a coach with some roots to the westside so we don’t have kids transferring to other schools.

— Campy

- THE NEW MEXICO BOWL trophy is an admirable work of art, a spectacular prize in art contest, or in an art museum, or a “fruit bowl.” But fruit bowl is not FOOTBALL! Not something (that even looks like) you can drop and break. Football is something you kick, and players pound their chests and slam into people. The winners will accept it, but then they gotta brag about how they pounded out victories, by showing off … their sports trophies. Let’s give the winners of our superb bowl game a great football styled trophy.

— John in Edgewood

- SO WHAT’S the big stink about Tim Tebow not being anyone’s quarterback? He won the Heisman how many times? That’s a virtual guarantee *he’s the stink*. Heisman label equals stinko quarterback in the pros. … Johnny Football, beware. You’ve got three more years to lay the foundation for becoming a stiff in the pros … if at all.

— Herb