Your Undocumented Pipeline to Collegiate Athletics
In the early 1970s, Scott English was one of the most accomplished all-around athletes in the nation. Signed out of California by UTEP basketball coach Don Haskins, English was a multiple-year finalist in the NCAA high jump championships for Coach Wayne Vandenburg.
Fred DeBernardi, six-time all-America in the shot put and discus in the early 1970s, died late last year in Las Vegas, Nev., after a battle with cancer. He was 71.
As I get older and rounder, events such as this weekend give me more pause, more pause to be thankful. Memorial Day leaves me grateful for our armed service men and women, all those nameless people who stood up for me, for America and for the freedom we hold dear today.
Once in a great while, a UTEP post strikes home, triggering unpredictable reader reaction. It recently happened, not once, but twice — with a flurry of comments on former Miners track coach Wayne Vandenburg and the late trainer, Ross Moore.
Wayne Vandenburg was on fire the other night, poking at a plate of enchiladas at a Permian Basin café, serving up 55 years of UTEP athletics for dessert.
Miners Are Forever 