Mark Powell went to New Mexico and all he had was a good time

NOTE: This blog originally appeared December 26, 2006

First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope your holidays are going well.

Well, I got back from New Mexico yesterday and I have to say that if anyone here has not been to a bowl game that their very own school is playing in, pray you get the chance to go.

This was the proudest weekend of my life and not a soul ever mentioned that it was “JUST the New Mexico Bowl.” Both teams were treated great by the city of Albuquerque and I hope the New Mexico Bowl lives on forever! I wouldn’t mind going every year.

The Lobo fans and officials were all wonderful.

Ok, so some notes about the trip:

Because I work for SJSU as the leader of the student booster club the Spartan Squad, I had my flights, hotel, and meals all paid for! Thank God.

This being the case, I was only asked, in return, to help the SJSU Cheer Team whenever they needed assistance (lunch, baggage, etc). Hey, it was worth it for a free trip!

Hanging out with the cheer team AND a free trip?!

We arrived in Albuquerque a few hours before the big night rally for both teams in the downtown plaza. The place had hundreds of New Mexico and SJSU fans and it was a good, fun atmosphere to meet everyone and just talk up some football.

Our band played, their band played (it was pretty much consensus that our band OWNED the Lobo band. Sorry New Mexico).

I even got to chat with New Mexico wide receiver Jason Caprioli, whom I have known personally since 4th grade! Great guy, #3.

Me and Jason, even though he's a lobo, he' still a friend!

Before we all knew it, Saturday had arrived, and with it the big game! Kickoff was not until 2:30pm, but I was up at 7:00am with the Cheer Squad to eat breakfast. Soon, we were ready to get over the stadium to warm up.

Not a bad way to start a Bowl day.

I helped the cheer team with some practice routines like the Spartan Spell (hard work, seriously, don’t let anyone tell you cheerleading is not tough). And they rewarded me by giving me a field pass!

As kickoff neared, the cheer squad needed a place to practice tumbling, so we ventured over through the tailgates (nice people there, honest) to The Pit, UNM’s basketball arena. Let me just say, I am also a HUGE college basketball fan, and The Pit is, of course, the site where the 1983 Men’s Final Four was held. NC State fighting Jimmy V's upset Phi Slamma Jamma Houston Cougars. History, baby.

THE PIT!

I even did some break-dancing on the UNM logo! We were a confident bunch that day.

SPIN-a-ROONIE haha

And the game came. And what a game! The Spartans beat the Lobos, 20-12! And we Spartans went NUTS! We didn’t care how much we were outnumbered, we rushed the field. Sure there was only 1500 or so of us, but who cares!

SAN!

JOSE!

The Faithful Squad that made the trip!

All in all, it was an awesome trip! I hope to go to a bowl game next year! We also had a sign that got a lot of attention. "Don't Shoot, I'm Not a Recruit!" Haha, ooooh so bad.

Additional Pictures:

Dinner with the cheer girls, post-game.

Me with Offensive MVP James Jones!

It's cool to be a Spartan.