This team is one of my all time favorites, and a big reason for my Miner Fandom. I was a junior in high school that year. Growing up my dad, who was from Oklahoma, was a fan of OU and OSU. My mom, from Utah, was a BYU fan. The only UTEP game that I had attended up until that time was a UTEP vs BYU basketball game that I attended with my family as a kid. I followed my family's lead and cheered for the Cougars.
Then, in 1983, this team beat teams like Michigan, Indiana, and ASU, and Miner Mania captured the town; I was no exception. KDBC (I believe it was) started televising all the Miner games, home and away, and I was glued to the TV for every one of them. My first Miner game as a Miner fan was a game that my oldest brother treated me to, the following year in the PIT for a first round NCAA Tournament game against Tulsa. With many of the same players back (Fred Reynolds was a notable exception) we beat the Golden Hurricane and advanced. The year after that I started my freshman year at UTEP, and never missed a home basketball in my four years there, and made all of the home football games my sophomore through senior years (the Bob Stul years). Oh, and I never, ever, after 1983, remotely considered cheering for BYU against the Miners again.
Then, in 1983, this team beat teams like Michigan, Indiana, and ASU, and Miner Mania captured the town; I was no exception. KDBC (I believe it was) started televising all the Miner games, home and away, and I was glued to the TV for every one of them. My first Miner game as a Miner fan was a game that my oldest brother treated me to, the following year in the PIT for a first round NCAA Tournament game against Tulsa. With many of the same players back (Fred Reynolds was a notable exception) we beat the Golden Hurricane and advanced. The year after that I started my freshman year at UTEP, and never missed a home basketball in my four years there, and made all of the home football games my sophomore through senior years (the Bob Stul years). Oh, and I never, ever, after 1983, remotely considered cheering for BYU against the Miners again.
