I guess my threads arent worthless after all. It was my thread that got a player to respond. Nobody else's thread topics got a player to respond. 😎😎😎
Seth Mouser
- Thread starter FiliUTEP
- Start date
I am going to dig back into my old memory. This was over 40 years ago so I hope it's accurate. I'm a couple of years older than you are and a friend of yours from high school invited me to go watch you play basketball. So we drove over a 100 miles to watch you play and we all talked after the game. I remember you were a big time recruit from a small NM town.ĺ
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We had talent as several of us went onto the Pros! The attitude of the players my Freshman year was one of doubt. We would go into games and when something bad happened it was like, here we go again and the mistakes just kept coming! If you watched the San Diego State game I posted look at all the turnovers we had that led to easy scores! Physically we matched up with them, but it was the mental aspect we fell short on. Lack of confidence as when you expect something bad to happen it usually does and that was always in the back of our mind. The Bill Yung era was at lot of the same, but again this was more due to coaching! He recruited talented players, but the system was geared more towards Southwest Conference type of teams because he coached at Baylor! Well the WAC was a conference of finesse and more wide open offenses! We could play with the SMU, Baylors and Texas A&M teams, but WAC powers had a more wide open passing attack. The WAC was a great Conference and never got the credit it deserved. The talent was there and look at what Bob Stull did with Bill Yung's players after UTEP fired Coach Yung! Winning seasons and bowl game. So you get a coach that knows how to motivate the players and install a winning attitude you see results! The system played a big part in UTEP'S turn around with Coach Stull same players, but different attitude and different system and behold a winning combination!
You are on the right track! I don't know about the big time recruit statement, but I had the drive to be the best! I am from a little town in New Mexico and until my Senior year at UTEP was the only player from New Mexico on the UTEP roster! I went to UTEP because they allowed me to play basketball also! I didn't sign on National signing day because I had another visit to take. UTEP didn't pressure me and told me they would hold my scholarship unlike NMSU who also said I could play basketball but that if I didn't sign with them on signing day they would give my scholarship away and I told them go ahead give it to somebody else! Low and behold the day before signing day the coaches called me and said I was their top recruit and they would wait for me! I had already crossed the Aggies off my list by that time, but they did wait for me. I took my visit and picked UTEP because they recruited me hard and never pressured me to sign and I really liked the City of El Paso, the fans, Sun Bowl and it was close to home and my parents (God rest their souls) were at every home game and made several away games! I also liked the coach who was recruiting me Dan Viola.
Did I only talk to you that one time?
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Miner 51. Thank you for these inside peeks at these games and stories. You have shot to the top of everyones favorite poster list.
To the members of this community I really appreciate you all giving me the opportunity to tell stories of the past! I have not had as much fun talking Miner sports in a long time! I have made life long friends and brothers because of UTEP! Once a Miner always a Miner! I probably wasn't the best of father to my 3 kids as when they were growing up I taught them to hate the Aggies and the Low-Blows! Took them to several games and even remember my younger son going over to the Aggies fans at th he Sun Bowl and asking them for a sign they had that said "go Aggies" and once he got the sign he tore it up and stomped on it in front of them! When he came back over to where I was sitting all the UTEP fans patted me on the back and said "you are raising a good kid there!"😁🤙
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That reminds me of that UTEP/NMSU game in 2005. The game was in Las Cruces I remember the crowd was over 2/3 Fans. I was sitting near the tunnel about 10-12 rows up with my wife and 3 year old son and during one of the time outs the NMSU cheerleaders where throwing NMSU shirts into the crowd. This teenager next to me got an NMSU shirt but they were not UTEP fans so I was telling the kid “throw that shit back, you don’t want it.” and the crowd urged him on and his dad nodded in agreement. So the kid threw it back on the field and everyone cheered.
Well my I was holding my 3 year old son and when everyone cheered for the kid throwing the shirt, he got excited, grabbed my wife’s water bottle out of her hands and threw it towards the field but he came up one row short and he hit an NMSU fan in the back of the head! That guy turned around like head going to kill someone, and I did what every smart man does, I turned around looking behind me as if to say “where the hell did that water bottle come from?” Then when it all calmed down all the UTEP fans around us were high giving my son.
I wish players of today would stop and think about P5 and G5 schools! If you are good enough Pro Football will find you! The transfer portal is not good for the health of college athletics! Loyalty is no longer on the table! During my Frrshman year like I have said UTEP fired Bill Michael's and at the end of the season the whole staff was gone! My O-line Coach loved me and approached me about transferring to UNLV where he got a job! He told me he would make me an All American and a sure fire pro football player. I am not going to lie I was very tempted to follow him! He told me I would be put on scholarship after my first semester and that he would get me a job that would easily cover my cost of schooling that first semester. I showed loyalty to UTEP even though we had new coaching staff! I was starting over that first spring, but had confidence in myself that I could win a starting position! My new position coach and I really didn't get a long! I was not one of his boys and he sc spent the next 3 years making my life hell! I took pride that despite him trying to get me to quit and trying to bench me in favor of one of his boys he couldn't do as performance on the field is what matters! I remember we were playing at Hawaii and were driving for a TD and after a play we were in the huddle and my back up comes in the game! I go over to the sidelines and my coach tells me that I was holding on that last play and we couldn't afford a penalty! I admit I was holding, but I didn't get caught! We had a position meeting that Monday to watch the film and the other guard got his ass kicked so bad that he tackled the defender and Coach pointed it out! We got done with the film and that a$$hole turns the lights on and says "oh wait BT(my initials he used my name) we forgot to review that play you were holding, so he turned off the lights and rewound the film to that play and yes I was holding! Well the coach let me know that he was right and everybody was laughing and I said ("what are you laughing at (DS initials, but I used his name) your holding was worse than mine yet you didn't get taken out of the game!" well that was when all hell broke lose the Coach said "stop the film and turn on the lights, are you insinuating I play favorites?" I replied " I have one thing going for me and two things against me! I am from the right first prefix New but the wrong second prefix it is Mexico and not New York! and the second thing against me is I am not one of your boys!" He the told me if you are insinuating I play favorites you will never play for me again! I thinking to myself is he that much of a dumbass as basically that is exactly what I am saying!😁
It was always great to play at Aggie Memorial Stadium! Miner fans came in Force and seeing all the orange in their stadium about 80% Miner fans and hearing the fans cheer us when came on the field before game started and hearing the Aggies get booed in their own home stadium was priceless🤙
Another funny incident we were playing UNM at home and all week our coach had us zone blocking as UNM stunted and blitzed on every play, well we ran a play and our RB got killed on the backfield, the defender came through the gap between me and the center! Well I get taken out again and when I come to the sidelines I put my hands out and ask him "what did I do?" He tells me that was my fault on that play and I said no it wasn't the center did not zone block like he was supposed to! Well that Sunday we are in our position meeting again and before we started watching the film that asshole tells me "you were right BT that was not your fault on they play, do you want me to take out an apology add to you in the fu$king El Paso Times so your mom can see I was wrong?" I replied "no coach you admitting you were wrong in this meeting was good enough!" He then says "but if you ever come off the field like that again he would kick my ass from one side of the Sun Bowl to the other!" So, we watched the film saw the play and before the next play you see me at the top of the screen running to the sideline with my hands up asking him what did I do! It was funny as we were away from the team and isolated on the sideline so you could see it clearly😁
Stories. Boy do I have stories plenty of them!🤙
In practice the starting Defense wore black jerseys and the offense wore gold jerseys one game I lost my gold jersey only time I didn't start! I played more than the guy who started in my place so I won the gold jersey back! I went to practice that Monday and there was the gold jersey for me to put back on, well I decided to keep the white jersey so when we had team offense all of the starters but me had gold jerseys so this went on for a couple of weeks I just kept the white jersey on! Well Coach Yung stops practice one day and as me why I wasn't wearing a gold jersey and I told him "Coach Bowman (my position coach) never gave me a gold jersey to wear!" Coach Yung tells the manager to go get me a gold jersey to put on! I enjoyed that very much making Bowman look like the asshole he was and Bowman gave me go to hell look the whole time we waited for the manager to come back with a gold jersey!!😁
In practice the starting Defense wore black jerseys and the offense wore gold jerseys one game I lost my gold jersey only time I didn't start! I played more than the guy who started in my place so I won the gold jersey back! I went to practice that Monday and there was the gold jersey for me to put back on, well I decided to keep the white jersey so when we had team offense all of the starters but me had gold jerseys so this went on for a couple of weeks I just kept the white jersey on! Well Coach Yung stops practice one day and as me why I wasn't wearing a gold jersey and I told him "Coach Bowman (my position coach) never gave me a gold jersey to wear!" Coach Yung tells the manager to go get me a gold jersey to put on! I enjoyed that very much making Bowman look like the asshole he was and Bowman gave me go to hell look the whole time we waited for the manager to come back with a gold jersey!!😁
We were playing Ft. Hayes State at home and it was a blow out! The crowd at the game started chanting T(my initial again) time! Coach Haskins was making sure everyone was getting into the game so I decided to get up off the bench and when I did the crowd went wild only problem was I went to the water jug to get a drink and sit back down! The crowd started laughing😁 well Coach Haskins comes over to me smiling and says "you are more popular than me! Get you sweats off and get in the game" I got in and shot from close range about 5 times and the bench was telling the players on the floor to keep giving me the ball so I could score! I think I scored 2 points and after the game Paul Strelzin comes into locker room and tells me it is 2 for 1 at Coney Island let's go have a drink!! 😁
I was at that game too and got cursed out and flipped off multiple times at snack line and the bathroom for having my Utep jersey on. Aggie fans are very classy
I went to a bar with a couple of teammates and we had a good group of women hanging around us well all the sudden they left and I looked to where they went and there was this guy that came in and threw his keys up on the bar and said "whoever gets those goes home with me tonight!" I went to the other players who in the heck does that guy think he is and they told me that was George Brett of the Kansas City Royals and I remember thinking to myself man I want to be just like him!😁
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