A Day of Madness and Heartbreak in New Mexico

After three nights at the Candlewood I checked out in mid-morning and prepared to leave Albuquerque. Albuquerque is a college town---the home of the University of New Mexico, and I wanted to explore the campus a little, so I scheduled some just to wander around in leisure.

It's one of the pleasures I afford myself on my travels, giving myself tours of university campuses. Each one tends to be distinct and interesting, as are the surrounding commercial areas that cater to students. UNM has one of the more interesting campuses. The buildings had a common southwestern theme that I hadn't seen anywhere else.

As it happens, it was the opening day of the NCAA College Basketball tournament. I don't follow college basketball much, but the hype of "March Madness" is hard to escape in the media. This year UNM had a very good season. They had won the Mountain West and were highly seeded in the bracket. There was much anticipation in the Albuquerque media about the chances for the team this year. The rival team New Mexico State was also in the tournament, although with a lower seed.

It was around noon when I walked through the Student Union. The common area on the ground floor was filled with chairs in front of a big screen television that was turned on. A dozen students were sitting in the chairs already watching a pre-game telecast for the tournament. Nearby were large signs cheering on the team, and a smaller one saying that New Mexico State would be playing at 1:00 PM, and that UNM would be playing at 7:00 PM. I could imagine that the chairs would be quite full by then.  Their opponent for the first game was Harvard, a low seed. The game was considered to be a shoo-in for New Mexico by most in the media.


After a brief and pleasant campus tour I drove out of town, heading Eastward on Central Avenue, which is old Route 66. If there is one stretch along that old highway that preserves the feel of old Roadside America, it is Central Avenue on the east side of Albuquerque. For several miles, the road was lined with old but still functioning motels with interesting unique signs. It felt like driving through a museum.

My destination for the day was Santa Fe. The direct route was on the Interstate northward, but I wanted to take the backroads. I skirted the east side of the Sandia Mountains, along what is known as the "Turquoise Trail," and took a side road detour about a dozen miles into the National Forest to the top of Sandia Peak.

The parking lot at the top was cold and empty, except for one other car---a young Hispanic or Indian couple with an infant. It felt like winter again. The gift shop was still closed for the winter. I stood for several minutes in the wind looking down westward over the city and to the distant mountains.  When I went to my car, I saw the young couple standing outside their vehicle. The woman was holding the bundled infant.

The man asked me if I had a device for unlocking a car. It turns out they had locked their keys inside. It was a heartbreaking moment.  I offered the use of my cell phone, but he had one already. There was little I could do for them.

I told them that on the way down the mountain I would look for a ranger, who might be able to help them. About halfway down, I passed a white truck with the NFS emblem on the side heading up the mountain, but it was moving too quickly for me to flag down. I hoped that it was heading to the top.

In the late afternoon I rolled into the south edge of Santa Fe and checked into the America's Best Value Inn, where I'd made reservations. The front desk seemed to be run by slacker twenty-somethings who were half clueless about what they were doing.

The room itself turned out to be decent, but unfortunately the wi-fi was abysmal. By abysmal, I mean really bad to the point of being unusable. The motel had four different routers, yet it is nearly impossible to connect to any of them. During the first evening I was able to get online for about twenty minutes total. This a real deal-breaker for me. It makes it impossible for me to do my job.

I was reduced to flipping through the channels on television. The tournament was in full swing, with games on four different channels. NMSU had already lost their game and was out of the tournament. The UNM game against Harvard was just starting.

I watched much of the game. UNM fell behind early and trailed throughout the first half. At half time the analysts were puzzled as to why they couldn't put lowly Harvard down. Surely they would surge in the second half.

But they didn't. Harvard kept the lead throughout the entire game. In the first big shock of the tournament, UNM was out.

I imagined the scene back at the Student Union. It was supposed to be their year. Instead it was over after one game. Such is life when you stake your happiness on sports teams over which you have no control. It's forgivable for college students---part of the experience.