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Coach Brown led the Albuquerque Academy Chargers for 26 seasons, achieving 432 wins against 263 losses, an enviable .622 record. He began as head coach with the 84-85 season and his final year as head coach was 09-10. During his tenure, the Chargers would win 14 district championships, make 20 state championship appearances and win the championship 6 times.
He played basketball and baseball at St. Pius X, graduating in 1964. After attending St. Edward's University in Austin, he went on to earn a BA in Political Science in 1969 and an MA in Secondary Education in 1974 from University of New Mexico. He began his coaching and teaching career by serving at St. Francis Xavier School and Holy Ghost School in Albuquerque from 1968-1972 and Bernalillo Junior High School in 1973. He then signed on as an assistant coach at Academy where he would serve under Coaches Lou Baudoin and Vince Cordova. He took over as head coach following Cordova's final season which would see the Chargers go 25-1, win the State Championship and have Cordova be named Coach of the Year. It was a difficult record to follow, but he did well. He was named district coach of the year 12 times. His 432 wins ranks him just outside the top 10 among active and retired coaches in the state. The Chargers' 6 state championships ties him for 5th place with Ron Geyer behind such notable names as Ralph Tasker, Jim Murphy, Pete Shock and Jim Hulsman. His 6 state championships are unique in that they were consecutive, beginning with the 88-89 season and ending with the 93-94 season. This ranks first on the list in New Mexico and is a record that will most likely stand for many more years. There are no active coaches on the list who have even as many as 3 consecutive titles. Brown was twice named Coach of the Year by New Mexico High School Coaches Association and was named to its Hall of Honor in 2006. He was named the Albuquerque Journal’s coach of the year in 1993 and 1997, the Albuquerque Sports Hall of Fame Coach of the Year in 2001, the National Federation Coach of the Year for Section 6 in 1995, and the Region 8 Coach of the Year in 1995. His two sons, Greg and Danny Brown each played on three championship teams for their father, followed him into the high school coaching ranks in New Mexico and are still actively coaching at Volcano Vista and Highland, respectively. The following quote from colleague Joe Coleman appeared in the Albuquerque Journal on June 24, 2010. “Mike is more than a coach to me,” said Coleman, who spent eight years with Brown. “And he’s more than a coach to kids. He’s one of those people who come around in your lifetime who changes who you are and how you perceive things. He makes you a better person for having known him.” Acknowledgement: Most of Coach Brown's totals come from my friend Chuck Ferris' excellent site: www.chuckferrissports.com. It is the place to go for New Mexico High School Basketball records.
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Lordsburg, New Mexico is the county seat of Hidalgo County which sits in the "Bootheel" area of southwestern New Mexico. Its history includes having been settled by the Mogollon people from AD 150 to AD 1450. Several generations of Indians resided there until the more recent Indian War years of the late 1800s, including the Apaches. Being located on the site of natural springs, it became a natural stopping point for later travelers and settlers, including Mexicans and Anglos arriving from the eastern United States. As were many other towns in the New Mexico, it was established by a railroad company, specifically the Southern Pacific Railway in 1880. The origin of the town's name is not completely clear. Some attribute it to a Delbert Lord, Chief Engineer of the Southern Pacific Railway, others to Dr. Charles Lord, an Arizona merchant who established a banking and wholesale business there. It was a key stop on the Butterfield Stage Route, which ran from the 1850s to the outbreak of the Civil War. This route ran from Missouri to California and had the US Mail contract for that period. The southern route was attractive because it avoided the worst of the winter weather. At its peak, the Butterfield line had 800 employees, 250 coaches and used 100 horses and 500 mules. During World War II Camp Lordsburg housed Japanese-American citizens in an internment camp (1942-1943). Later it became a Prisoner of War Camp for German and Italian prisoners from 1943 to 1945. Lordsburg High School is home to the Maverick.  Lordsburg traditionally has competed well in high school athletics. It is currently in the 3A classification in football and baseball and in the 2A classification in volleyball, basketball, track and field. Lordsburg's football program is usually competitive. In 5 state championship appearances, the Mavericks have taken the title once (2006) and lost four times (2009, 2003, 1990 and 1986). Lordsburg has the distinction of breaking up Animas' state record winning streak by downing Animas 9-8 in the 1990 regular season, though Animas got its revenge by winning the championship game 36-0.  "General" Joe Jackson was a basketball standout at Cimmaron, New Mexico in Colfax County. He played college ball from 1936-1939 and was a member of some of the finest basketball teams to pass through New Mexico A&M, now known as New Mexico State University. Joe stood 6'6" tall which was quite unusual for the day. He was joined by 5'8" guard Morris "Pucker" Wood and Pecos Finley from Floyd, who were fresh from their state championship team in 1935. They were part of what would become a high water mark for New Mexico State athletics. Between 1934 and 1938, the football squad earned a record of 31-10-6 and between 1935 to 1940, the basketball team went 102 and 36. The Aggies were the dominant basketball team in the state during this period in the Border Conference. They eventually would own a 17 game winning streak over UNM by 1940. There's an account of a game between the two teams in Albuquerque in March, 1938. The Lobos were trailing by 25 and to try to rattle the Aggies, UNM students presented nippled milk bottles to the Aggies during a huddle on the sidelines. Undaunted, Jackson and Finley accepted the bottles and drank them down before returning to the court to win the game. The Aggies were undefeated in the Border Conference in 1937-1938, going on to win two games in the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament in Kansas City. The following year they went 19-3 and 16-2 in the conference to notch their 3rd consecutive title and were invited to the National Invitational Tournament in New York City. The first game of the tournament, they drew Long Island University, previously undefeated. The Aggies held their own up to the half as the score was tied 29-29. Pecos and Joe both fouled out with 5 minutes left, the score tied 42-42, and the Aggies would go down 45-52 to a stout LIU team that would go on to win the tournament. Following the completion of his college career, Joe worked briefly as a patrolman for the New Mexico State Police before enlisting in the U S Army for World War II. Jackson reached the rank of 1st Lieutenant in the 271st Infantry before being discharged. Following his discharge, Jackson had a number of different jobs including working in construction where he would lose a leg as a result of a complication from an accident. He also rejoined the New Mexico State Police as a dispatcher where he would work a total of 20 years. During this period, he picked up the nickname "Shoeless Joe" as a reference to the baseball player of the same name. Following his retirement from the force, he worked another two years for the State Highway department until his death in 1969. He is interred at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe and his marker is a simple military stone. .
Jackson was honored in 1973 along with teammate Pecos Finley by being named to the All-Time Basketball Team at New Mexico State University. To learn more, please see Walter Hines' fine article at http://bleedcrimson.net/aggiesports_theearlyyears#ixzz3V9ZZ0Po3 |
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We post articles of general interest about New Mexico athletes, coaches and sports. Some names will already be familiar to you. Others are perhaps not as well known, but we hope you enjoy them all. Archives
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