5 Lubbock Roads We Should Name After Steve Gomez Instead of Loop 289
Loop 289 was completed back in 1972 and has owned that moniker ever since. That could be changing soon with a petition gaining traction on change.org to rename the Loop to reflect Lubbock Christian Universities Women's basketball coach Steve Gomez's contributions to the City of Lubbock.
The petition states, "Steve Gomez is a notable figure among Lubbock citizens for his successful leadership as Head Coach of LCU’s Lady Chaps Basketball Team as well as USA National Women’s Basketball teams." That successful leadership has led to three Division II National Championships in the last six seasons and another appearance when LCU was at the NAIA level. Gomez and the Lady Chaps also hold the distinction of being the only Women's DII program to have two undefeated National Championship runs.
The petition goes on to commend Gomez for being at LCU for 18 seasons and despite his great achievements mainting his humble attitude. The community service that Gomez has been a part of during his time at LCU only goes to strengthen his case to be honored in a tangible way by the City of Lubbock.
Gomez wouldn't be the first Women's basketball coach to be honored by a stretch of road. The legendary Marsh Sharpe has a freeway. Beyond basketball coaches Buddy Holly has an avenue, Cesar E. Chavez has a drive, Glenna Goodacre has a boulevard and Mac Davis has a lane. All local legends in their fields of expertise.
As of this writing the petition has garnered more than 600 signatures and is rapidly trending upwards. I totally agree that Gomez should be honored, but I have another idea. Like the other streets listed above there are stretches of road named after the person being honored. Why not get a little closer to Lubbock Christian? How about renaming Chicago, Dover or Eileen? Those streets run along LCU's campus and would be approriate for Gomez.
Am I against Gomez Loop? Certainly not, the man has three championships and has contributed greatly to the Lubbock community. If not the loop though, here are a few other options.
The arena where the Lady Chaps haven't lost since 2015 is named the Rip Griffin Center and it's located at 5502 26th street. Why not rename 26th street from Slide to Frankford Gomez Road? He owns that stretch already right?
The final option for Gomez Street would be the stretch of 19th Street from Slide heading West out of town. It could be named Gomez Highway depending on how far it stretches.
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