Monday, December 10, 2018

Sports Journal December 8-9, 2018


12-8-18
Babylon 5 was way too interesting, so I missed the first half of the Wyoming Cowgirls versus the Idaho Vandals in Women’s College Basketball on Stadium.  I was interested in seeing the game there in Laramie, since the Aggie girls had played there at the end of last season (3-15-18).  Wyoming plays in the so-called “Dome of Doom.”  From an outside shot, it is an impressive facility.  Inside, the seats on the sidelines were set at an odd fanning arc.  The arena is probably also used for rodeos. 

There was a pretty good crowd there and they saw a good game.  Wyoming would win 64-61.  Idaho missed a last second three to tie it.  The Vandals have a couple of girls known for their three-point shooting, nicknamed “The Splash Sisters.”  One WY girl scored her 1,000-th point.  Play was stopped after that score, but only to bandage up her hand, as she was injured on the play.  I didn’t like their band when I heard them last year.  Here, I only heard them once, but they were pretty good.  Practice makes perfect.  And we have a controversy.  I noticed Wyoming’s costumed cartoon cowboy mascot on the sidelines.  Their announcer identified him as “Pistol Pete.”

Gasp.  How dare they!  Pete is ours, you miserable piles of cow-crap!  Well, I never.  

I didn’t compose myself until hours later (after a few martinis and a long bubble bath).  This was just in time to hear the Aggie Men take on the, #2 in the nation, Kansas Jayhawks.  Tellingly, Coach Jans didn’t want to talk about this game right after his victory over the Lobos earlier this week (12-4-18).  He wanted to enjoy that moment.  The Aggies were already winners just by showing up, to the tune of $90,000.  AD Mario Moccia does not like scheduling these guarantee games, but they keep the athletics department floating.

First Half
The Aggies came out a bit nervous.  KU took an early lead, but the Aggies started catching up to 14-10 at the first timeout thanks to a Jojo Zamora three.  Jojo hit another three to get it to 21-20.  Timeout KU.  The Aggies then took the lead on an Ivan Aurrecoechea layup.  Later, there would be a shot clock violation on the Aggies, as they inbounded the ball with two seconds on the shot clock and didn’t get a shot off.  Jack Nixon said he could hear Coach Jans through his headphones.  “What were you doing!”  Johnny McCants got it going late in the half.  He tied it at 24 on a jumper.  He tied it again on a one-handed jam at 26.  Even the large Jayhawks crowd there had a reaction.  McCants then had another jam to finish the half and give the Aggies the lead, 28-26. 

Second Half
Dad called me during halftime.  I think we were all pretty excited at this point.  The Aggies came out hot for the second half.  Jojo had another three.  AJ Harris added one of his own for a 40-33 lead and a KU timeout.  It was nearly a full house for the game (about 18,000), but they didn’t start getting loud until the Jayhawks closed it to 41-37.  Shunn Buchanan hit a three to quiet them temporarily, but a steal and a jam got the fans right back into it at 46-42.    

Jojo added another three to make it 51-44 with about ten minutes left in the game.  The Jayhawks mounted a comeback to 51-49.  Timeout Aggies as the crowd was going wild.   KU tied it at 53 with five minutes left.  Aggies went down three with just under a minute left.  It was 62-60 after a free throw, but with seconds left, the Aggies had to begin intentionally fouling.  The Jayhawks converted on one free throw, but that was enough.  63-60 KU was the final.  Much like the earlier Women’s game, the Aggies missed two three’s before the buzzer.  I guess I got some foreshadowing there. 

Apart from points off turnovers and perhaps an overreliance on three’s, free throws were another downfall.  Both teams were atrocious, but the Aggies missed too many that could have kept them in the lead.  Jojo Zamora and Ivan Aurrecoechea were the Aggies’ top scorers.  Johnny McCants had 12 points as a career best.  Afterward, the coach was filled with disappointed mixed feelings, much like the team and Aggie fans.  He was proud of their effort against a very good team, but coming this close to winning a game of this magnitude was an opportunity that won’t come again this season, unless they make it to the NCAA Tournament.  It’s good to know that this team can maybe compete with anybody, but a win would have made that feeling more certain.

12-9-18
There were two Women’s College Basketball games on today.  Unfortunately, they were both on at the same time.  First up on Stadium was a matchup between the Colorado State Rams versus the Arizona State Sun Devils.  (It was first, because I forgot about the other game.)  The game was in Fort Collins.  The on-court graphics were really good-looking with a pair of large ram horns on each side.  It sounded like a good crowd there, who were pretty vocal. 

ASU came into town shorthanded with only eight players.  That didn’t hamper them at all as they shot the lights out.  They basically doubled up the CSU score after every quarter.  I noticed the ASU players were cycled in four at a time, I guess to keep them fresh as a group.  On the bench, when their team had a free throw, the girls would cross their legs and then cross them the other way on the next throw in unison.  It was funny to watch on TV. 

The final was 70-39 ASU.  The game took a tidy hour-and-a-half.  The CSU announcer took it in stride and said the Sun Devils out-played the Rams in every aspect of the game.  He also said that this was probably the hardest game on the Ram’s schedule.  I think they’re pretty good in the Mountain West, so they weren’t concerned about dropping this out-of-conference game.  A couple of the Rams girls were tall and cute, but I wasn’t listening enough to identify them, because . . .

About halfway through the first quarter, I remembered that the UTEP Miner ladies were playing the Portland State Vikings.  I turned down the TV sound and turned on the radio.  It was already 30-19 Vikings at that point.  It didn’t get any better for Miners as the game went on.  UTEP star, Zuzanna Puc, came out of the game in the third quarter for unspecified reasons.  My girl Katerina Zec had a couple of highlights in the game, but that was about it.  89-61 Vikings was the final. 

After the game, Coach Baker apologized to the fans there and said they should get a refund.  The team is now 2-7.  There was no update on Zuzy from him.  He either didn’t know or didn’t want to say.  There was a very nice interlude at halftime when young singer, Isis Gonzalez, sang a cappella to the crowd.  It was lovely.  Brandon Cohn stopped his halftime show a couple of times to let everyone hear her.

Flipping around on TV afterward, I stopped cold on CBS.  It was a Gamers’ Choice Awards show for video games.  There was that Ninja guy and some other gamers that I’m now somehow recognizing.  Pokimane won some award.  I’ve watched her a couple of times.  It was set in a large lounge with a DJ.  There were a couple of professional hosts for it, who were fairly funny. 

Now what’s odd is that this is the second video games award show I’ve seen this week.  Thursday on Twitch, they hosted an awards show in a facility that would rival the Oscars.  My girl Dizzykitten (I apparently have a lot of “my girls”) simulcasted the event, while doing commentary.  The amphitheater was huge and full.  There was an orchestra and a chorus.  The main difference was that nobody there was wearing a suit or a dress.  Indeed, the gamer-of-the-year was some kid who was a furry . . . in costume at the awards show . . . and he made some jerkoff political comment during his speech.  It was not Twitch’s finest moment.  (“Furry,” the geek “F” word.  It’s just embarrassing for everyone involved.) 

Meanwhile, I noticed there was a Stadium2 stream by the Stadium network.  They were showing a couple of guys running a video game stream and e-sports commentary.  I even noticed Cheddar Sports, who I thought was a sports betting operation, has a stream that’s doing a nightly e-sports news and analysis show.  It’s taking over.  

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