By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The New Mexico Lobos are welcoming back an old friend – the color turquoise.
When Bob Davie’s Lobos trot onto Branch Field Friday night to do Homecoming battle with the Fresno State Bulldogs, there will be an addition of color and the embrace of an old friend.
The Lobos have added turquoise to their jerseys – again. It is an alternate color with cherry and silver remaining as the Lobos’ primary colors.
“With this week being Homecoming and televised nationally on ESPN 2, I thought it would be a great chance for us to debut our new alternate jerseys that feature turquoise,” said Davie.
“Turquoise has been part of some great Lobo uniforms in the past and Homecoming is about inviting past, present and future Lobos to our campus to celebrate our great university.
“I know our players are excited about wearing these jerseys and I think our fans are really going to like them.”
The color turquoise is not new to Lobo battle wear. From 1973 to 1979, it was integrated into the official school colors. Norm Ellenberger, a former New Mexico Lobos’ men’s basketball coach, occasionally would wear into The Pit a turquoise necklace that matched the turquoise highlights in his Lobos’ jerseys.
It is a color symbolic of the state and a natural addition to UNM’s cherry and silver. However cherry and silver will remain the primary colors for Lobo athletics.
Turquoise should be a color embraced by Lobo fans. It touches our roots. It touches our present and our future. It also is a color and a stone that symbolizes strength.
Turquoise is one of the first stones polished and worn by men. It was the talisman of kings and warriors. It is a stone that reaches deep into New Mexico’s history, but is relevant and prevalent today. It is a stone and a color that represents power and protection.
There are times when the blue of a New Mexico sky, or the water of a New Mexico lake, reflect much of this unique and soothing shade.
Turquoise came to Europe from central Asia, It was mined and worn by ancient Egyptians. The Aztecs and Incas of South America cultivated the stone and it became one of the stones of choice long ago with Native North Americans. Turquise jewelry was in the Americas long before European settlers arrived. Ancient turquoise beads found in South America came from mines near Santa Fe.
Turquoise beads dating back to 5000 B.C. have been found in Iraq. Turkish soldiers wore the stone into battle for protection. The stone and the color also are symbols of wisdom, power, immortality and even good luck.
It is a good color to wear into athletic battle – and it is very New Mexico.
The colors of the New Mexico Lobos haven’t always been Cherry and Silver.
In the early 1890s, the colors were black and gold. Those colors did not sit well with Ms. Harriet Jenness, a faculty member who taught drawing, drama, penmanship and music. She did not feel black and gold represented a true feeling of New Mexico and its culture. She suggested the crimson, evening glow that radiated off the Sandia Mountains.
The idea for silver came from students and faculty taking pictures from the Sandia Mountains and noting that the (then clearer and wider) Rio Grande River resembled a silver ribbon snaking through Albuquerque’s vast valley.
Ms. Jenness’ ideas for a change in Lobo colors were adopted by the UNM faculty and staff. The crimson was later changed to cherry.
Cherry and silver returned as UNM’s predominant and sole colors in 1980 and turquoise was dropped.
The color returns to us this week, a week of Homecoming, a week of embracing the past while looking toward the future. It is a welcome addition.
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former national award-winning Sports Columnist and Associate Sports Editor at The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.