Wednesday, July 31, 2013

2013 Hobbs football schedule

  I figured with official practices beginning Monday, I'd again put out the 2013 Hobbs football schedule - which is just a reverse of last season's schedule (Eagles went 2-8 in Charles Gleghorn's first season). All games are at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
  All Hobbs sports schedules can be found at hobbsathletics.org.

Aug. 30 vs. Gadsden
Sept. 6 @ Artesia
Sept. 13 vs. Roswell High
Sept. 21 @ OƱate (2 p.m. Saturday game)
Sept. 27 @ Goddard
Oct. 4 vs. Alamogordo
Oct. 11 vs. Lovington
Oct. 18 @ Cleveland
Oct. 25 vs. Clovis
Nov. 1 @ Carlsbad

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Calm before storm - final week before prep football begins


  When the Gus Macker 3-on-3 Tournament arrives in Hobbs, as it did Saturday, it tells you two things.
  1. It’s likely going to be the hottest day of the year in the area – or at least feel that way as I was one of hundreds roasting on the frying-pan-like asphalt at New Mexico Junior College.
  2. The fall sports season is just around the corner.
  While the calendar says fall doesn’t begin until late September, the fall prep sports season starts Aug. 5 when football practice officially opens with the rest of the sports starting a week later.
  The summer always seems like a blur. It feels as if summer workouts, the Hobbs Nite League and other summer activities just began.
  All of that is over (or winding down) and there is just over a week until football teams in the area hit the field – starting at midnight on Aug. 5 with Lovington and Eunice’s annual midnight practices.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Hobbs hoops takes lumps, learns from Hobbs Nite League

Clayton Jones/News-Sun
Hobbs' Jordan Chavarria goes up for a shot during
a Hobbs Nite League game at Tasker Arena.
  It’s been an uphill climb for the Hobbs boys basketball program the previous eight weeks in the Hobbs Nite League.
  Almost each time these incoming Hobbs High School seniors, juniors and sophomores stepped on the court for an HNL game, the Eagles were overmatched physically, athletically and/or mentally – as is usually the case when teenagers face grown men in, or close to, their physical prime.
  Against the best teams in the HNL, it was all three aspects giving Hobbs fits – as was the case when the Eagles’ HNL season came to a close Thursday against Who U Wit in the tournament quarterfinals.

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Video - Hobbs, Lovington football at ENMU, NMMI 7-on-7 tournaments

  This is video I took of Hobbs and Lovington football at the Eastern New Mexico University 7-on-7 Tournament on Friday and Hobbs at the NMMI 7-on-7 Tournament on July 13.


Saturday, July 20, 2013

Hobbs, Lovington football show well at ENMU's 7-on-7 tournament

Clayton Jones/News-Sun
Hobbs' Steven Olivas runs after the catch against Portales during the ENMU
7-on-7 Tournament on Friday in Portales.
  I'm the first to say 7-on-7s aren't the best indication for how a team will do when the regular season hits. No sport decided with a helmet and pads can be decided a month before it starts in shorts and a T-shirt.
  However, when you're a program like Hobbs that has struggled for the better part of the last 30 years (one playoff win since 1982), any indication the program is going in a positive direction and moving toward long-term success is a victory.
  Even if you're a program like Lovington and all its state championships, it's good to see positive results when losing 30-plus seniors from the year before.
  So Hobbs going 5-2 at the Eastern New Mexico University 7-on-7 Tournament on Friday in Portales (getting the No. 2 seed before losing in the semifinals) and showing depth in the program with the JV winning its division (beating the Robertson varsity in the final) and the freshman team making it to the semifinals in its division while Lovington also made it to the semifinals in the large-school division is worth being encouraged about.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The break is over, the blog is back

  With baseball season coming to a close in May, I decided to take a bit of a break from this blog to relax and not worry about giving out extra content (I don't get paid anything extra for doing this blog).
  But with a few months away from the blog and a two-week vacation from the newspaper under my belt this summer, I'm geared up and ready to get this thing rolling again.
  Hopefully this school year I'll add even more photos and videos of where I'm covering games along with more extra content (along with my Sunday columns from the Hobbs News-Sun that I'll post likely on Tuesday or Wednesday - I got to give the subscribers of the News-Sun first crack at that content).
  Please remember, this blog is just a slice of the content myself and News-Sun sportswriter Brad Cox provide at the Hobbs News-Sun. If you're a fan of Hobbs, Lovington, Eunice, Jal or Tatum - you'll want an online subscription to the Hobbs News-Sun (call 575-393-2123 if you're interested).
  While it's a bit slow now, Aug. 5 things will be gearing up as football practices begin and we plan on making it out to each school at least once during that week. Also, the PRCA Lea County Fair and Rodeo begins that week, so if you're a rodeo fan - we'll have you covered.
  Later this week, we'll be at 7-on-7 events in Carlsbad (Thursday - Lovington only) and Portales (Friday - Hobbs and Lovington) along with covering the Hobbs Nite League playoffs (Thursday and Friday) and the Nite League Showcase (Saturday).