In the brief history of the Spirit Poll no two schools have brought their A-game to the web like Santa Rosa and Estancia. The two schools combined have given us three times the hits from all of the so called 5-A powerhouse schools!

The little schools ROCK!

Chris, Albuquerque: Eldorado consistently beats top level teams, yet the fall in your poll. What’s up?

Van: The Eagles are just now returning to the upper level of class five-a after struggling over the last few years.  Charlie Dotson came in last year and immediately led the Eagles to a playoff berth and district title.  We knew he would field a strong team this year.  With victories over Clovis, Cibola and now La Cueva you can expect to see the Eagles rise.

Adam: There are a lot of people from all over the state that vote on our poll.  I think there’s some southern bias.  I tentatively have Eldorado in the top 5 and they’ll move up a bit, but I’ll wait to label them a top team until after next weekend when they play at Mayfield.

Doug: Chris, Eldorado has seen a steady rise in my voting each week.  Keep in mind, not only do we at the station vote in the poll each week, but so do other sportswriters and sportscasters around the state.  So that can influence where Eldorado and other schools end up in the poll each week.       

Devon: Okay, let me first preface these comments by admitting that I graduated from Eldorado. However, it’s absolutely ridiculous that anyone votes Clovis, a team the Eagles beat, ahead of the Eagles. It is possible, although, to make a case for Goddard hoping them during the bye week. The Eagles “should” have a shot to grab the top spot in the state if they play well against Mayfield next week.

First of all, thanks for sending in your questions. We are delighted that you took time out of your day to give us a look. Keep the questions coming! It is always good to get a variety of questions from the viewers. You keep us going. We wanted to do a mailbag to include viewers. That is why we now have a mailbag. Have fun. Ask any sports question you would like. If it pertains to what is happening in the market locally, it will more than likely always make the board. Keep that in mind. The dumb question is the one that is not asked. So do not feel nervous about asking something you really would like to get an opinion on. Once again, thank you so much for participating. Have fun.

Paulette from Albuquerque: Why did Rocky Long get a $311,000 jump in salary all of a sudden?

Van: Rocky got a salary increase to make his more online with what is being offered in the Mountain West for a head coach. He spent many years at the bottom of the salary scale in the conference despite his great success at UNM. The Lobos are the only school in the Mountain West that has been bowl eligible every year since 2001. That includes three straight bowl appearances for the first time in school history. There is only one school in the Mountain West that has won at least 6 games each of the past 7 seasons. That would be New Mexico. The Lobos have had 9 All-Americans since 2001 and 10 NFL draft picks since 1999. What does that have to do with Rocky? He helped develop those players. The Lobos have also had 33 first-team all conference honorees since 2003. That is 12 more than any other school in the Mountain West the past five years. Average attendance is up and season ticket sales have increased. Rocky attended UNM and has a vested interest in seeing the program succeed. It is not just a step in the ladder. His new salary increase puts him in the top three in the Mountain West. With all the evidence presented, don't you think he was due? If you consider everything he has done for Lobos football, I would say the school is still getting a bargain.

Adam: A little known fact surrounding the UNM Athletic Department was that they’ve had a campaign for the past few years to recruit good-looking athletes.  This campaign went across all sports.  Paul Krebs determined that the UNM Football team had by far the best looking incoming freshman class for the 2008 season of ALL sports and therefore, Long was the head coach that got the salary bump.

Doug: It's really a matter of economics in this day and age of college sports. You want to play at a high level, you've gotta pay. Over the last few years Rocky was grossly underpaid, in fact, he was the lowest paid football coach in the Mountain West Conference, yet has had a lot of success. In today's salary standards, Rocky's literally been paid a janitor's salary, no offense to janitors. Rocky's new deal while a big jump in salary puts him at third in the conference, behind Utah's Kyle Whittingham. The new coach at CSU, Steve Fairchild, is tops at $800,000.

Devon: Paulette, it’s all about Bowl games in NCAA football. Coach Long has taken the Lobo’s to five bowl games in the past six years. In contrast, the Lobo’s only played in six bowls in ALL the years before Long became the coach. Also don’t forget that Lobo Men’s Basketball Coach Steve Alford makes almost a million per year, and under Long’s previous deal, he made around half of that.

Josue from Hobbs: How do you vote on the H.S. football poll?

Van: We use members of the media for the poll. We welcome input from viewers but, it could get hairy like the Major League Baseball All Star voting. You know how people only vote for their guy. We really assess the talent on the teams and vote accordingly. The people voting in our poll have been all over the state looking at a variety of teams and talking to coaches in the know about the talent level at all of the schools.

Adam: You’re lucky enough to be a media member invited by none other then Van Tate.  However, if you’re asking how I personally voted, I had: 1. Las Cruces, 2. Mayfield and Josue I know you want to know where I put your Eagles - I had them at 13.

Doug: It is a poll voted on by the media from all across the state, including Van, Adam and myself in the sports department. It's not a responsibility that we take lightly...we're very serious about it and do a great deal of research in determining who we think are the top 13 teams in the state, no matter what class they are. Personally, I tried to match it up as if #1 in the poll played #2, 2 played 3, and so on down the line. I also like to factor in the smaller schools too, after all, this is an ALL-COMERS poll.

Devon: The poll is calculated from the votes of several media outlets. With a Preps preseason poll, it’s really difficult to gauge where a team is at without having seen them at full speed in “true” competition. In my poll, I relied heavily on how teams preformed in the past so Mayfield was at the top of my list. If you want to get involved, our “Game of the Week Spirit Poll” is open to anyone with a keyboard and an opinion.

Robert S. from Albuquerque: Why is female gymnastics behind in the times when it comes to the Floor Routine? Why do they perform to music you might hear at a 1700's tea gathering rather than performing to pop or rock or country music?

Van: I think this has more to do with tradition. I wouldn't call women's gymnastics behind on the floor routine. They have always used what you call 1700's music. If is not broke, why fix it. Just think if the women did floor routines to Snoop Dogg or Coldplay. I am not a genius but, I think this would be a little odd.

Adam: Ever seen the movie Footloose?  Dancing to newfangled, rock and roll devil music is forbidden in international gymnastics!

Doug: Good question Robert, and an interesting one too. There's a lot of tradition in gymnastics and sticking to classical music is part of that, though you're slowly seeing some of that change. No matter what the song or the genre of music, gymnastics is all about rhythm.

Devon: Robert I too share your frustration during the floor exercise. However, in the Olympics it's a zero-sum game, and the U.S. Olympians want one thing and one thing only—a gold medal. You have to impress all of the judges without offending them, and somehow I think Kanye West won’t fly. Although, it sure would spice up the event!

Mark from Albuquerque: So NO US Open tennis on KRQE on Monday Sept 1??? Any place else to watch it?

Van: Mark, you are going to like what I am going to tell you. The U.S. Open will broadcast from 9a-m to 4 p-m on KASA FOX 2. Pull up a box of bon bons and have yourself a great time. KRQE is broadcasting the Jerry Lewis telethon that day. That is why tennis slides over to our sister station.