10-15-17
I tried. I really
tried yesterday. NASCAR’s Talladega race just didn’t keep my interest. I used to be a big fan. I don’t know what happened. Was it the constant green flag commercial
breaks? The Chase? The yearly alterations to the Chase? The ugly cars? Another five-hour broadcast (without even a
rain delay)? Dale Earnhardt Jr’s comments supporting the NFL kneeling didn’t
help. I don’t think they hurt him with
the fans, since he’s retiring anyway.
Certainly NBC supported him during the race.
This morning on the radio, an ESPN (The Conscience of American Sports) host was actively egging
on NFL players to boycott a game and cause a forfeit. The purpose of this would be to hurt their
remaining fans to make them part of the struggle. Yeah, the logic was convoluted. Go ahead guys. Do it.
The host specifically said that the purpose of the protest was policy
brutality. Okay, right after that
boycott, if you gentlemen still have jobs and decide to grace your fans with
another game, I say the police should make an announcement the night
before. A virulent case of the “Blue
Flu” will preclude them from being able to provide security for that game. Have a great day. Let’s see if either the fans and the players
show up under those conditions.
(Watch some tool at ESPN somehow find this post and suddenly
the network starts using my “conscience” gag as their actual slogan.)
Sunday night, the Dodgers
beat the Cubs again on a walk off
home run by Animal (Justin Turner). I only saw highlights on Stadium. I never got a whiff
of the game live anywhere.
10-16-17
Aggie Volleyball
took on the UNM Lobos Monday
night. It was even on TV. I was busy with work though. The best I could do so sneak in a few glances
at the game. (Also, there were technical
difficulties with broadcast that I can guess originated with the Pan-Am Center facilities.) The Aggies took it in straight sets: 25-18, 25-16, and 28-26. I did get to see the end of the third
set. That one was a fight. Aggies were down for much of it. Both teams fought off a couple of set points
before it ended. The girls took care of
business. Since I didn’t see most of it,
that’s as much analysis as I can offer.
1,196 were in attendance.
A lot of girls from local volleyball teams were there. Tatyana
Battle led with 19 kills. A bunch of
the kid players were mobbing her afterward.
Sasha-Lee Thomas and KC Tohm also had double-digit
kills. KC was sitting on the bench
during those extra points in the third set.
I hope she’s okay. Lia Mosher had a monster game with 8
blocks. Natalie Mikels did most of the setting in the match over Briana Ainsworth. I don’t know what that means.
Adam Young had a
lovely former Aggie player named Kelsi
Meredith as his color commentator.
At one point, they showed Jordan
Abalos on the bench and talked about her.
They said was dealing with the injury well and looking at another surgery. She looked about as happy as she could be
watching the game, instead of playing in it.
Watching her team play well probably helped.
I was also flipping over to the ALCS during the match. By the end of the volleyball, it was 8-0 Yankees in the sixth. I decided not to watch anymore. 8-1 Yankees final. Astros
still lead the series 2-1.
10-17 to 19-17
Okay, let’s not fake it here. I was watching and listening to the ball
games intermittently and wasn’t really taking notes. The Yankees
would win two more games in New York and go up 3-2 in their series with Houston. I give a lot of the credit to those home town
fans there. The full Yankee Stadium mystique was on display
for their three victories.
There was a funny moment in Game 4. In the fourth, Aaron Judge was doubled off first on a good catch in the
outfield. Upon review, he was deemed
safe at first. However, Judge had failed
to retouch second on his way back. The
Astros somehow muffed the appeal at second after the review. Judge then suddenly took off for second
during the deliberation and was thrown out.
Only in baseball.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers
took care of the Cubs in five
games. Yu Darvish did well in his outing in Game 3 with Andre Ethier coming off the bench to
chip in a home run. I’ve had trouble
taking Ethier seriously after that hysterical stare-down incident he had with
an umpire a few years ago, but I was actually glad to see him do well. The Cubs won Game 4 to give the Wrigley Field fans a little something
for the series. There was a guy in a tux
behind home plate for that game. The
Dodgers took care of business 11-1 the next day. Kike Hernandez hit three home runs in the
process.
10-20-17
“I literally love Kate
Upton!” exclaimed Jose Altuve
after the Astros’ 7-1 win over the Yankees. Who can blame him? Kate pitched seven scoreless innings as her
exuberant fiancée, Justin Verlander.
watched from a skybox. She’s been a
tremendous acquisition for the team for this playoff run. This win forces a decisive Game 7. I hope the Astros win this series, so we can
all see more of Kate.
10-21-17
Hmmm. Rereading that
last entry, something seems off, but I can’t put my finger on what. Oh, well.
I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to catch any of Game 7 between the Astros and Yankees. FOX buried it on
FS1 so they could show college football in the evening. Thankfully, a Juarez station was carrying it,
and I could get a weak signal from KROD
for English audio. Yea, no Joe Buck.
Charlie Morton
for the Astros went five scoreless innings.
His only real problem was when he was told to stop touching the gum in
his mouth by the umpire. Evan Gattis put the Astros up first in
the fourth with a solo home run. A great
play at home plate in the fifth between Alex
Bregman and catcher Brian McCann
kept Yankee Greg Bird from tying the
score. Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez keeps looking worse and
worse.
In the bottom of the fifth, Jose Altuve hit a solo home run and McCann doubled in two
runs. Four runs for the Astros would be
enough for the win and to advance to the World
Series. The Astros organization now
owns an AL pennant and an NL pennant. Justin Verlander was named the series
MVP for giving up only 1 run over 16 innings.
Aaron Judge on the Yankees
did get one more highlight for the season, as he did a great job stealing a
sure homer by Yuli Guriel.
No comments:
Post a Comment