June 6, 2012
Today is June 6, 2012, and many Lobo fans are thinking about grilling this weekend, or maybe they are on vacation. Most are at work. Folks though might be wondering…what goes on during a typical summer day at UNM in the athletics department?
Well, hopefully this can answer that a little. Instead of our usual photo gallery, I’m going to post a bunch of pictures I took today of the various activity going on from 10:45 am to 11:15 am. Now, I didn’t get pictures of folks sitting at computers in their offices, because even I would think that’s a tad boring…”Oh look, it’s Kurt Esser researching Mountain West social media policy!”
Still, hopefully this little photo blog gives you a little look into how much activity goes on here during a typical day. Again, all of this was shot in about 30 minutes (and all on my new cell phone)!
This is the sign outside the Maloof Center right now. No cars can get down to the practice field level because of all the trucks hauling sod and dirt. The football staff is probably the most inconvenienced group of this, but it will all be worth it in the end.
Oh for the love of all things…let it rain! There was once a grass football field here, but in just a few days…poof, it has all been trucked away. Actually, UNM will be reusing the dirt and sod for topsoil and other UNM beautification projects. You can sort of see that the field has been graded for the most part, except for the east side of the stadium…that’s the little ridge of dirt. That hasn’t been leveled off yet.
Remember that dirt getting trucked away? Well, here is an empty loader coming back to be filled up.
And here is removal in progress! This is the soccer field, with just a middle strip of sod remaining. UNM is getting new turf that shouldn’t yellow and die off in October. Also, this project is just taking the turf up, whereas the football project actually has to remove about eight inches of dirt to make room for the infill and everything. Once the new football turf is in, the field will be the same height as it always has been.
This is a better shot of the trucks removing the eight inches of topsoil. I had to wear a hardhat to be on the field. Glad Tim Cass left his door open. Also as an aside…these photos are on my photobucket page, and as I uploaded them, I forgot that the video of the bear in my tree from last month were housed there as well. Did you know I had a bear in my tree? Had the KOAT-TV helicopter buzzing over my house…it was crazy. Back to the pictures….
Are those the Golden Arches? Nope…those are the goalposts…all disabled and removed. They will get a fresh coat of yellow paint before they go back up. FYI, very easy to kick a field goal when it can bounce in. The physics of those posts amaze me by the way. Goalposts look like they should just tip over. Weird.
Most fans never see this sign, but the visiting team has to pass this on the way into the stadium. This sign has been there for quite a few years.
So in detouring inside Tow Diehm, I noticed that Coach Bob Davie and his staff have spruced up a few things, and they have some new signage. Brad Hutchins originally did the Evolution of the Lobo for The Pit and his office a few years back.
So when you work with Steve Alford, you see he always wants to emphasize championships and winning and academics. Bob Davie is no different, so he had this places right where the guys see this as they leave the locker room. That’s a source of pride and a reminder that it wasn’t long ago that bowl games were what Lobo Football was accomplishing. I love that this appeaers right as the guys leave the locker room…they can’t miss it.
Coach Davie also has his team motto of Out Work, Out Hit, Out Discipline on the wall so every time a player goes back and forth from the weight room to the locker room, that is what they see.
So I’ve trekked across the street to Lobo Field, and there is a small section of the fence getting replaced, which gives a little look inside the stadium.
So now I’m inside the grounds, and the fence posts are up around what will eventually be the visitor’s bullpen. This is all the way down the left field line.
That dump truck dumped big gravel rock…that will be in the basing of the drainage area in the warning track around the infield. I could have watched that truck all day.
What’s with the wood you ask? Well, the old outfield fence is staying, but the wood beams are in place so that the new padding can be attached the old metal wall. Makes it safer for guys like Josh Melendez to crash into now. Those beams go all the way around the outfield wall, and the new padding will be distance markers on it…hopefully in Lobos font.
This worker is placing the small retaining wall that will define where the turf infield ends and the grass outfield begins. It always looks a little goofy, but the players swear that they love it.
The view from the pitcher’s mound, again, with the retaining area demarcating where the mound ends and the turf begins. Further phases have those stands extending down the lines and over the dugouts.
Did I mention dugouts? Here is what the UNM one looks like, located on the first base side of the field.
This gives you an idea of where the dugout is in relations to the batting cages, so UNM should benefit from the proximity. Guys can get a swing or three in before pinch hitting.
Here is a little loader dumping that gravel into the infill for the warning track. I so wanted to pull an Axel Foley and start yelling “Put the tools down, step away from the construction site…these are the wrong plans!” and then start tooling around that little front loader. I didn’t think that would go over well, though.
And this is the view from center field. As many of you know, I lived in Idaho for 12 years prior to here. See that blue? That’s the sky…no cloud…just perfect weather…again…for the umpteenth day in a row. Albuquerque. Can. Not. Be. Beat.
It is a little toasty though, so I went through The Pit on the way back, and how cool would it be to be about 8 years old and playing hoops in the Steve Alford Basketball Camp on The Pit floor? With coaches Roman Martinez, Daniel Faris and J.R. Giddens there as well? How cool is that?
And with all those kids on The Pit floor, there’s kids in the Davalos Center on the practice courts…
And in the parking lot? And in the parking lot! Four more courts with kids playing, and Lobos teaching…all the players are camp instructors, including many former Lobos as well.
And all of that was recorded in about a 30-minute walk around the facility. Just another day in the life of Lobo athletics.
Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed typing this up!
Assistant A.D. for Communications