Let’s talk some Aggie
Men’s Basketball. I’ve listened to a
couple of their games this season without taking any notes. (Yes, I also listen to and watch sports just
for fun or just to have something on.) The
team won against a slight foe and lost to a good one so far this season. However, this game was serious. All Aggie fans had this game circled on their
calendar. I was on vacation, but told
that there was a buzz around work about this game. Here it was.
This was the return of traitorous ex-Aggie coach, Paul Weir, and his new team, NM State arch-rival, the UNM Lobos to Las Cruces. I’m told there was even some national
interest in this game. Nothing like a
jilted fan-base to heighten a rivalry game.
Though I could have gone, since I wasn’t working tonight, I
didn’t even consider it. I did not want
to face the crowd and traffic by myself and didn’t want to try getting with
anyone else to go. I definitely planned
on listening over the radio. Imagine my
surprise as I tuned in and heard the voice of the El Paso Chihuahuas, Tim
Hagerty, doing the announcing. It
didn’t change my mind about going, but I was now really sorry I wasn’t there. If possible, I would have loved to have met
Tim and told him directly how much I enjoy his broadcasts.
Usual Aggie Basketball announcer, Jack Nixon, was out-of-town to call Aggie Football on Saturday.
I’m sure he was hating missing this game. Tim, of course, did a great job in his
absence. He brought up that this rivalry
has been going on since 1904. That first
game was won by the Lobos, 21-9. They
might have been playing by some different rules back then, and the peach
baskets probably kept getting dislodged every time they were hit by a
shot.
The surprises kept coming.
I had my TV on while listening to the radio. While I was flipping channels at the
beginning of the game, I suddenly ran into the game on the continuous weather
network. Last year, I saw an Aggie Women’s Basketball game on that
station, so it wasn’t totally unprecedented, it just wasn’t on the TV schedule. Maybe the crowd tonight was big enough to
lift a local blackout. Adam Young was doing the duties
here. Sorry Adam, I kept the radio on
and TV muted. There was a slight delay,
but how often do I get to hear Tim Hagerty doing basketball? Still, it was great to be able to watch (and
made me really wish I was there).
NM State did what they could to promote the game. Free t-shirts and foam fingers were handed
out before the game. As Jack Nixon said
during a previous game, “Come on out and show Paul your finger.” Chik-fil-a
was running a free sandwich promotion if the Lobos missed two free throws in a
row. There were even tailgaters reported
in the parking lot in the afternoon. The
next day, Athletic Director Mario Moccia
reported the crowd at 6,900. Capacity at
the Pan-Am Center is 12,500+
(according to program information). From
watching TV, the seats in the rafters weren’t filled, but everything in the
lower bowl was. And the crowd was into
it. A titanic “boo” greeted the Lobos
onto the court. Another went up when
Coach Weir was introduced.
Things were bad to start.
The Lobos went up 8-1. The Aggies
didn’t score a field goal until five minutes in, and it took four attempts on
that possession to get it in. However,
events turned around quickly. On two
separate plays within minutes of each other, Sidy N’Dir fed an “alley oop” to Johnny McCants for a jam to get the score close. The crowd was completely jazzed by the plays,
even more so because McCants is a local kid on the team. A couple of minutes later, N’Dir took one in
himself on a drive and dunk to give the Aggies a 17-16 lead.
The game kept getting chippier as it went along. Right before the half, the Aggies managed two
steals on the same transition, but a Lobo player fell on top of the thieving Aggie
player. Another Lobo roughly brushed by the
Aggie, which caused a retaliation, which was what the referees saw when they
called a technical. Upon review, they
reversed the call. I’m not sure what the
final verdict was though. It was 31-18
Aggies at the half.
The Old Man got on camera in the first half waving a
sign. There was another sign that read
“Weir in good Jans with NM State,” referring to current Aggie coach, Chris Jans. The Aggies were not great in the half-court
offense, but were really good when running.
However, that wasn’t their game plan for tonight, since running was the
Lobo’s preferred style. Adam was
surprised by the low score. Given the
teams, he was sure going in that somebody would score 100. The Aggies were annoyingly missing on 50% of their
free throws. The Lobos were shooting 50%
on field goals, so the Aggies were fortunate to have the lead.
The Aggies started off the second half with three
three-pointers in a row. 40-30
Aggies. The only thing stopping the
Aggies was a delay by the officials to pick up some discarded gum on the
floor. None of the players took
responsibility. The student section,
many of whom were wearing surgical masks for some reason, chanted, “It was
Paul.”
The Lobos went to a full-court press later in the half and
took to shooting threes. The Aggies kept
playing patiently and were trying to draw fouls. N’Dir got a steal and took a hard foul. The referees were starting to get angry with
the players’ aggressive play. Words were
exchanged between players after a contested rebound. Technicals were called on both teams, but a
Lobos player was ejected. With the
Aggies up late in the half, 59-49, the crowd really got into it. Adam reported, “Lou Henson Court is
shaking.”
Both teams started going up tempo. 69-55 the Aggies got a layup. A frustrated Paul Weir said the wrong thing
to an official afterward and got “T’ed” up.
That didn’t help his team, but did delight the crowd. At 73-55, the student section was jumping and
cheering. The game was well-enough in
hand that the Coach put out the bench for the last minute. Our happy totals are: Aggies 75, Lobos 56 or Aggie fans get revenge and Paul Weir has to
take it. Our stat of the game: Aggies +25 in rebounds. The team walked up the into the
student section to rousing congratulations on their way to the locker room.
About halfway through the game, I remembered I’d picked up a
leftover Men’s scorecard at a Women’s game.
I could’ve kept a scorecard for this game. (Weird things make me happy.) Zach
Lofton was the Aggie high-scorer with 28 in any case. The Aggie defense held the Lobos under 100,
which the Lobos’ previous two opponents this season could not do. Coach Jans credited the fans for their
support tonight. I couldn’t help but
notice all the newspaper did before and after the game was run articles about
Weir and put his photogenic picture with them.
Jans was the forgotten man in this affair.
I was happy for an Aggie victory. Hearing Tim Hagerty in the off-season was
great. Getting to watch the game on TV
was an unexpected bonus. There was a bit
of a scheduling conflict late in the game.
As advertised earlier in the week, The
Contest episode of Seinfeld came
on another channel. It was the twenty-fifth
anniversary broadcast. I remember watching
when that episode came on originally. It
was definite “water-cooler” talk when I went to work later that night. I still laughing so hard, I could barely tell
my co-worker what happened in the episode.
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