One of the good things about being a sports writer is you get to know a lot of people, even those you don’t write about. One of them is Mora boys basketball coach Manny Romero, whom I consider one of the best boys basketball coaches in Northern New Mexico.
I’ve had a soft spot for Romero ever since I first saw him standing along the sideline in front of the Mora bench, shouting to his players during a game against Mesa Vista. He stamped his foot on the court so loud I could hear it before I saw him do it. It got my attention.
Another reason I like Romero is that during the 2004-05 season, I saw Mora scrimmage just before the season began. I thought to myself, ‘This looks like a team that could take it all the way to the state championship.’ They had size, they had a posse of good guards and their bench was deep. To make a long story short, Mora did win the state championship that year and I came to the conclusion that I might know something about basketball.
It has always seemed to me that Romero got the most out of his teams — as much as they had to give, anyway. That year, Mora had a state-championship caliber team and that’s what he got out of them.
It was a bit of a surprise when a friend of mine recently informed me that Mora had opened up their coaching positions. After all, Romero has two state championships under his belt (he won another at Mora in 1998) and he is from Mora. He’d probably be happy to stay at Mora until retirement.
Of course, the rumor mill got going and spread word that Romero was going to Peñasco. As of last week, Romero had not applied at Peñasco, but I wouldn’t blame him for looking.
Peñasco is another place where a coach I know well has recently been replaced.
Clarence Vigil arrived at Peñasco in 2002 and took the Panthers into the postseason every year he coached them. After the 2007-08 season, he was replaced.
Vigil’s teams played the type of basketball that Northern New Mexico fans love. The action on the court was fast and furious. It was run-and-gun, full-court pressure for 32 minutes. Peñasco was always exciting to watch and in 2007, they came within one basket of being the Class AA state champions.
Finally, I’m sorry to see Ron Graham depart as football coach at Dulce. He’s lasted longer at one school than any football coach I’ve ever written about. Eric Vigil, at McCurdy, will now assume that spot.
When I talked to Graham, it seemed like he’d just had enough. Dulce will have a hard time finding anyone as dedicated as he is.
There is one word that always comes up when the talk turns to coaches and sports in Northern New Mexico, especially when coaches’ jobs are on the chopping block. That word is politics. It’s a word that doesn’t belong there, but there it is, nonetheless.