College Football Journal Aggies vs Panthers 9-12-15

Yes, really.

I missed the epic end of the Blue Jays/Yankees first game of their double header, the Texas Rangers game that night, and the last El Paso Chihuahuas game of the season for this.  (And the Mayweather “fight.”  No loss there.)  However, I was not at all cheated. 

(I did get to hear the Chihuahuas’ final inning and the last of the post game.  Congratulations to the dogs on a great season and making that late run to get into the playoffs.  Friday night’s playoff win was their best of the year.  That six run inning to come back from four down was loudest moment in franchise history, as even traffic behind the stadium was brought to a halt.  I’d never heard Tim Hagerty call an inning more passionately.  The emotional highlight was fan favorite, Cody Decker, getting plunked on the head to drive in a bases loaded run.  After the inning ended, Cody was briefly left alone on the field and the crowd started chanting his name.)              

As Ron had invited me to his business get-together to see the Chihuahuas a couple of weeks ago, I invited him likewise to the Aggie football game and my business’ tailgate.  I don’t think I’ve been to an Aggie game since they moved into their current stadium, and that is a long time.  I have been to a couple of Cruces/Mayfield High School games, which is THE annual sporting event here in Las Cruces.  As disappointing as the NMSU football team traditionally is, I was expecting a pretty good crowd, but not much of an event. 

This was a big deal.  There were rows of individual tailgaters and a large section for businesses.  We were set up at a couple of kiosks with a large grill.  Two different local bands played next door to us.  NMSU certainly treats the tailgaters as Pistol Pete and the Cheerleaders and the Aggie Pride band and dancers both went around performing for everyone.  The Aggie baseball team came by and introduced themselves too.  Regrettably, I was too shy to get my picture taken with any of these people.   

Who is the better mascot: Pistol Pete or Chico of Chihuahuas?  Chico has to be praised for his sheer athleticism for working and doing one-handed pushups in such a large suit.  Pete, on the other hand as I learned from the program, is actually based on an historical figure, who was a crackshot.  It’s a tie!  Everybody loves them.  Pete was briefly, and shamefully, politically corrected him a few years ago as they took away his guns and made him “Lassoin’ Pete.”  Thankfully that nightmare is in full remission.  The Cheerleaders’ signature phrase is even “Guns Up!” telling people to make guns with their fingers (which unfortunately also makes it impossible to clap).  The school has also fully embraced their Aggie heritage.  The announcer during the game would routinely call for “Cowbells!” and fans would ring their souvenir cow bells.  “Moo!” was also a frequent cheer.  

I developed a sincere appreciation for these performers as it was 90 degrees with a hot sun overhead.  (The event organizer told me to remind her to schedule this event for later in the fall next year.)  I got a taste of the action as I helped working the grill briefly, or more accurately, spent 30 minutes in a fiery hell.  I think I was trying to impress a girl, who probably wasn’t, as I was being burned, choked, and blinded by fire and smoke.  I ate one burger before working the grill.  Afterwards, I decided to become a vegetarian.  I was somewhat soothed by the sight of the highly disturbing blue panther (the opposing team) piñata being destroyed.  This thing had been in the office for three weeks and was large enough that I had been doing double takes when I walked past it at night, thinking there was someone there. 

On the way into the stadium, you certainly felt welcome, as a multitude of greeters and people handing out programs and paddle fans met you on the way in.  (I should also mention that the parking is free.)  Ron looked around the stadium and wondered why all the other local banks were represented in the signage, but not mine.  My dad, watching the game on TV, also wondered about this.  According to the program, the as yet uncompleted skyboxes on the east side of the stadium will be sponsored by us, presumably with a large sign.  The El Paso Chihuahuas marketing department can also take a bow.  I noticed at least seven team hats around the stadium.

We were seated four rows from the field around the 20 yardline.  We were close enough to actually send down plays to the coach.  (And he really shouldn’t have taken any of my advice.)  We were also directly in front of the Cheerleaders for the entire game.  I developed even more admiration for them, as they kept up the cheering and stunts all game long (and unfortunately sometimes interfering with being able to watch the actual game). 

The most impressive maneuver was one of the girls doing a flip while being held up by feet by one of the guys, and then going into a handstand on his hands.  Perhaps needless to say, all the girls were rather petite, while the guys were pretty big.  There was also, I guess, a cheerleader camp for little girls before the game.  They were brought in at various points to show off what they’d learned and take a picture with the group.  It was cute.  Also cute was one of the guy cheerleaders getting called over to the stands by his girlfriend and embarrassing him (at least that’s what it looked like). 

On the other side of the stadium were the band and the dancers.  My ears were ringing after the first half from the crowd and the cheerleaders.  I can only imagine what it was like sitting next to the band.  The dancers were performing in front of the band, facing them, the whole time.  Kind of seems like a waste there (no offense).  The dancers performed with the band for halftime, which I didn’t see.  Sorry again, no offense, going to the bathroom and concession stand took the whole intermission (expect lines).  The dancers came out by themselves to perform in the endzone between the 3^rd and 4^th quarters.  I kept wondering if there was some sort of rivalry between the girl cheerleaders and the all-girl dancers.  Half the girl cheerleaders weren’t watching, while all the guys were.  Also, stuck near the endzone, were about 20 people cheering for the other team.  Not every school travels well.

Most of the action seemed to take place on the other end of the field.  I’m sure the people at the other end thought the same.  People in the middle probably wondered what was going for the whole game.  Thankfully, you could turn to the Jumbotron for any obscured plays as it was carrying the game in real-time.  There were a couple of brothers sitting behind us during the first half, who had apparently played football.  They were giving non-stop, fairly insightful commentary.  I’m thinking, “This is great.  I’m at the game, and I’m getting play-by-play and color commentary, just like I’m watching TV.”  I missed them for the second half. 

I’m not giving a detailed account of the game.  It was a close, hard fought game for the Aggies.  In spite of Ron’s dire predictions, the team did play well in a 34-32 loss to the Georgia State Panthers.  About a third of the crowd left when the Aggies went down by two touchdowns in the 4^th, but I was fairly confident they’d make a comeback.  The difference was two missed extra points.  At the end of the game, the Aggies did have a chance to win it on a field goal.  Unfortunately, they sent Charlie Brown back out and Lucy pulled the ball away from him again.  That’s not fair.  It was a 44 yard kick and most people were blaming a false start penalty on the previous play for knocking him out of range.

There was one amusing sidebar to the kicking game.  The nets behind the goals failed to catch any of the balls.  At one point, one of the nets got fouled and they delayed the game to fix it.  Why?  The ball was just going to fly over it anyway.

There was a rare ejection of a player during the game.  One of the Panthers was taken out for aiming at someone’s head while tackling.  The hit didn’t seem like that malicious honestly.  They did put him up on the Jumbotron as he was being escorted from the field.  The Cheerleaders immediately started chanting, “Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye.”

It was great overall.  I think the fans were was a bit disappointed in the outcome, but had a good time.  I have to mention that for everyone who says baseball is boring, there is probably even more dead time in football.  Worse, the action sometimes started after a long delay with no warning, when you’re not even watching.  What football does have is plenty of distractions while you’re waiting, especially if you’re sitting in front of the Cheerleaders.  There was also any number of recognitions of dignitaries (like PGA pro and alum Rich Beam and his father, Rich even did a little victory dance) and stuff like the tee-retrieving dog.  If the team could at least be competitive, I’m pretty sure the fans would show up in force like they did tonight.  The free tickets we had were usually $10, easily worth it (especially not having to pay for parking).  I’ve still got the shirt and hat.  I’m ready for another game.