[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17510]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                  ON THE PASSING OF COACH RALPH TASKER

 Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak on the life 
of a legendary figure in New Mexico sports history.
  Ralph Tasker, the dean of New Mexico high school boys basketball, 
died earlier this week at the age of 80.
  In New Mexico, you didn't have to refer to Ralph Tasker by name; you 
only had to say ``Coach'' and everyone knew who that was.
  He coached in Hobbs for decades, and was known throughout our state 
as a superb teacher of the game of Basketball.
  Ralph Tasker leaves behind an enduring legacy forged with the Hobbs 
Eagles, coaching 52 seasons in Lea County.
  During that time, he amassed 1,122 wins with only 291 losses. That's 
almost an 80% winning record; a record difficult to achieve in any 
sport, at any level.
  His teams won 12 state championships.
  He was also recognized as the National Coach of the year.
  He retired in 1998 as the third winningest head coach in the history 
of boys high school basketball in the United States and was elected to 
the National High School Coach Association Hall of Fame.
  With all those accolades, if you asked Ralph Tasker what he was most 
proud of, he would tell you he was most proud of the hard work, 
dedication, and educational achievements of the young men on his teams.
  When opposing teams prepared to play a Ralph Tasker-coached team, 
they knew they would face a disciplined and well-motivated team.
  Coach Tasker knew the value of team work and inspired young men to 
respect one another as they worked together toward a common goal.
  Coach Tasker coached and stood for the kind of ideals that we as 
state and country aspire as we work to motivate and teach young people.
  I extend my condolences to his three children, Nancy, Diane, and Tim 
and to his four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
  New Mexicans appreciate Coach Tasker's life, and we will always 
remember his great achievements on and off the court.

                          ____________________