"We used to be very friendly, but things changed," Gutierrez said of the city in which he grew up. "It's pretty bad right now. When I was there, it was all good. You could walk around the streets at night.
"It changed (because of) the drug war. Right now it's one of the most dangerous cities or states in the world. Nobody's safe down there."
A total of 34,612 people have died in drug-related killings in Mexico over the past four years since President Felipe Calderon declared an offensive against drug cartels, according to figures released last week by the Mexican government.
In 2010, the killings jumped 60 percent from the previous year to 15,273 deaths. More than half the killings took place in three northern states, including Chihuahua, whose most violent city is the border town Cuidad Juarez.
Gutierrez's family -- parents Fernando and Bertha, two older brothers, grandparents and cousins -- live in the state capital city of Chihauhau, about 200 miles south of Juarez.
Thirteen family members made the 12-hour drive to Tucson, Ariz., to watch Gutierrez and the Golden Bears play the Arizona Wildcats on Jan. 6.
It was the first time Gutierrez had seen his family since May. He got to spend just 30 minutes visiting with them after the game.
"It was really nice," Gutierrez said. "I needed that."
After the jump UW beats both the men and women's basketball teams, rugby starts its season by outscoring opponents 315-23, and several other sports enjoy a successful weekend.
Basketball
- The women's team lost to Washington to complete a disappointing, winless weekend.
- After the game Boyle said she felt her team wasn't putting forth the required effort. They have proven they can compete at a high level (like they did last week against the Arizonas), but consistency appears to be missing.
- Monty's team also lost to Washington. UW bounced back from its loss to Stanford to defeat Cal 92-71.
- Every time Cal seemed to catch up, UW would pull the lead out of reach.
- Monty, Brandon Smith, and Harper Kamp all noted the lack of communication on defense.
- With a 53-5 win over UCLA, Jack Clark's ruggers won their sixth consecutive Storer Classic. Cal has outscored its opponents 315-23 this year.
- Men's gymnastics kicked off its season with a huge win over no. 1 Stanford.
- In its first outing of the season, the women's gymnastics team scored 192.475, its highest point total in two years. Cal barely finished behind San Jose State (192.95) and UC Davis (192.6).