NM State Aggie Women’s Basketball November 24-25, 2017

I missed the ladies’ Monday home game win against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.  I was really busy coming back to work from vacation and didn’t expect a Monday game.  I still feel bad about it.  It was a good, close win.  I was able to catch their next two games, which were part of the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic invitational in El Paso.  The Aggies would not be playing UTEP in either of these games, however.  I listened to these games over the radio.      

I was busy in the morning on Black Friday after Thanksgiving.  While I was back in time to start watching a morning hockey game before the basketball, I was so busy with housekeeping duties, I basically wasn’t able to watch.  This was too bad, since it was a great game between the Bruins and Penguins.  The Bruins took it 4-3 with a third period goal.  I saw one of the players give his stick away to the crowd at the end of the match.  Meanwhile on another station, unranked Pitt, having a losing season, beat #2 and undefeated Miami 24-14 in college football.  Crap!  I just lost $10,000 on that “sure thing.”  Just kidding, but that was interesting to watch the end of.

The Aggies’ game was against the Texas Southern Tigers.  I don’t know anything about them.  Whenever I think I’ve heard of every college team, a new one to me pops up to play the Aggies.  In the first quarter, the Aggies came out hot and getting turnovers.  They went up by 9 at one point, but the Tigers came back and ended up equal in turnovers.  17-14 Aggies after 10 minutes.  For the second, both teams came out cold with lots more turnovers and misses.  25-24 Aggies.

Gia Pack came out firing in the third, and the Aggies went up by 7.  Brooke Salas put in three three-pointers and the team went to a pressure defense.  It was actually quiet enough there that you could clearly hear Aggie Coach Atkinson on the sidelines.  (Thankfully, she didn’t say anything off-color.)  By the end of the quarter, the Aggies were up by 12, 46-34.  It was all looking good. 

Our final score was 66-50 . . . Texas Southern!  I don’t think Adam Young even gave the final score after the buzzer.  What the hell happened?  How do you lose by 16, when you’re up by 12 at the end of the third quarter?  I was listening and I can’t even tell you.  Well, Gia Pack and Monique Mills were hurt during the game, but I don’t think that was it.  The Coach was terse afterward, so there wasn’t much of an explanation there.  The Aggies won the turnover battle, but were -10 in rebounding.  Brooke Salas had 25 points to lead the Aggies.  Only four Aggies scored.  On the other side, two players were responsible for 53 of the Tigers’ points.  Let’s forget about this one and reset for tomorrow.

Okay, it’s tomorrow (Saturday).  The Aggies were facing the Arkansas Razorbacks.  They lost to UTEP on Friday.  The Razorbacks were down by 20 at one point, but came back in the fourth and only lost by 3.  In the first quarter, Brooke Salas came out shooting well, but picked up two fouls early and sat out the second quarter.  Jeneva Toilolo contributed well off the bench.  17-11 Aggies.  The Razorbacks made a bunch of uncharacteristic turnovers.  They were leading the nation in not making turnovers.  Both teams came out pretty cold in the second, but the Aggies held the lead, 25-23.

In the third, the Razorbacks found their shot and went up by 11.  It was 47-40 Arkansas after 30 minutes.  The fourth was hard-fought.  Jeneva got a big basket to cut the lead to 2.  Zaire Williams made a near half-court shot in the last minute to cut it to 6, but the final was 69-60 Razorbacks.  Gia Pack was the Aggie high-scorer.  Brooke was second with a double-double.  For these two games, the Aggies just didn’t have a closeout defense to finish off their opponents.  They’re going to have to work on that.    

Right after the game, I turned over to KROD out of El Paso to see if the Miners were playing right afterward.  They were, but a half-hour later, which conflicted with Aggie Football.  I didn’t find out it was on until late in the third quarter.  While I had a rooting interest in the football, the basketball game was probably better.  If only one could know ahead of time when a sporting event was going to be interesting.  UTEP and Texas Southern were tied halfway through the fourth, but the Miners pulled ahead and won 65-55.  It sounded like there was a good, enthusiastic crowd there for the game.  The Lady Miners are 4-0 on the season so far.

NASCAR Recap November 19, 2017

I sort of meant to cover NASCAR’s Championship race at Homestead-Miami today.  The big news was that this was Dale Earnhardt Jr’s last race before retirement.  He might race a bit more, but not full-time.  I started this blog (actually on Myspace) doing NASCAR recaps and covering his ascendancy.  It felt like I should put a coda on it.  Unfortunately, I was at the hospital with my dad.  We watched a bit, but never got into it. 

Later at home, I ended up watching Stadium’s coverage of the Patriot League Volleyball Championship during the early part of the race.  American University beat Navy in straight sets.  This might be my last volleyball match of the year, unless I run into some NCAA Tournament action.  Morgan Uber (I can’t get over that name) was working the sidelines during the match.  Afterward, she interviewed the tallest player on AU.  This girl must have been over 6’5”, because she was at least a foot-and-a-half taller than Morgan.  They made an odd couple on screen.

 

I suppose all I really have to say about Junior is that future NASCAR fans (that may be a presumptuous assumption right there, assuming there will be any) are going to wonder what the big deal was.  He didn’t win a championship or that many races.  All the gushing commentators could really say about him was that Junior had won the Most Popular Driver award fourteen years in a row.  It’s telling that that was his major accomplishment.  The one year he was really in championship contention, he cussed on-air in Victory Lane and was docked points.  It was all downhill after that.  (Getting caught in a fire inside a Corvette at an ALMS race didn’t help either.)  It’s almost impossible to overestimate Junior’s value in mainstreaming the sport.  It’s also just as hard to explain how that happened.            

On a similar note, Danica Patrick was also taking her last regular turn at the wheel.  She’d had sponsorship troubles this year that precipitated this early retirement.  “The Danica Experience,” as I called it, had its moments, but was mostly just about her, not her on-track accomplishments.  Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth too was leaving after this race.  Though still racing at a high-level, he couldn’t find sponsorship to pay him enough to keep him employed either.  I still blame his first championship season, where he only won one race, for foisting “The Chase” on us. 

Along with Carl Edwards’ sudden retirement and Jeff Gordon hanging it up recently, there are complex issues with this sport that are forcing drivers out.  I don’t have the inclination to bother discussing them.  I just don’t care.  Now there is a definite problem for the sport: a former huge fan, rendered apathetic.  Maybe next year, during the Daytona 500, I'll have more to say and maybe some pointless suggestions.

Congrats at least to Martin Truex Jr, an easy-to-like fellow.  It would have been a shame if the best driver this season didn’t win the championship because of the stupid, gimmicky championship format.  There was even some drama at the end, with Truex and Kyle Busch fighting for the race and championship win.  NASCAR got lucky there.  I guess we’ll see how NASCAR handles not having Junior around on track (he’ll be in the booth) next year.  

NM State Football Recap November 18, 2017

I took diligent notes during today’s football match up between the NM State Aggies versus University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns up until the fourth quarter.  That’s when my dad called and said he was going to the hospital.  If I’d thought to, I could have brought my little radio with me, but I was preoccupied.  So frankly, I don’t want to bother with the details now, especially given that it was a loss.  I’ll just go over some of the interesting bits that I heard.

        

There was a bit of controversy to start this game.  Earlier in the week, University Chancellor Garrey Carruthers questioned whether the football team would accept a bowl invitation if it involved lengthy travel and wasn’t sure they could meet ticket-selling obligations for it.  Athletic Director Mario Moccia had to do some immediate damage control during the football pre-game show.  They’d certainly go to any regional bowl game (like the Arizona Bowl or New Mexico Bowl).  Any invitation further away might require some fund-raising, since they’re on a tight budget, but they’d do it.  Of course, all this talk was premature. 

In the first half, the Aggie defense was nowhere to be found.  The Cajuns scored on every possession except one, a missed field goal.  They even pulled off a fake field goal to keep a drive going.  The Aggie offense in the first quarter was Jason Huntley scoring a touchdown on a kickoff return.  They did get going as the game wore on.  Quarterback Tyler Rogers picked up good yards running one drive.  Larry Rose III got a touchdown.  However, by halftime, it was 31-17 Cajuns.

During the game, Jack Nixon mentioned that the Aggie Women’s Basketball team lost to Lobos in Albuquerque.  This broke an Aggie sports’ winning streak against UNM this fall.  I was a bit annoyed there wasn’t any radio coverage of that game this afternoon.  According to paper, four of the Aggie starters had great games, but the team’s defense may not have been stiff enough.  This was also where I heard that the Aggie Volleyball team had lost in their tournament.  Jack, as always, was extremely complimentary of Coach Mike Jordan and his program.  During halftime, local theater owner and booster, Paul Allen, was a guest.  He talked about upcoming movies.  I got a chuckle when mentioned that his seats were comfortable enough that some people had taken “an expensive nap” in them.

Events started off well for the third quarter.  Rogers found Rose with a bomb that would later result in a touchdown.  The Cajuns put up another field goal, but Jason Huntley got in a couple of good runs and Rose scored another touchdown.  Unfortunately in this series, Rogers was shaken up on a play.  It was a shoulder injury that took him out for the rest of the game.  Nick Jeanty came in.  The Cajuns put up another field goal.  The Aggie defense gave up a fourth and six that kept that drive going.  On the next series, they did redeem themselves, by forcing the Cajuns to punt for the first time.

That first punt was shanked.  With a short field, the Aggie offense moved the ball inside the five, but had to settle for a field goal, but that did tie the score at 34-34.  From here, I was busy with real life.  Two Aggies on defense got ejected on next Cajun drive, which resulted in a touchdown.  The newspaper called it “questionable officiating.”  That seemed like a turning point.  I was somewhat glad I didn’t get to hear the rest, as Jeanty threw three interceptions, probably trying to force things.  The final was 47-34 Cajuns.

The Aggies need to win their last two games to be bowl-eligible.  They’re at home and playing two lousy teams.  Unfortunately, the Aggies are also a lousy team at this point and they may have lost Tyler Rogers.  I almost can’t bear to look at how this is going to finish out.   

NM State Men's Basketball Recap November 17, 2017

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.  

NM State Volleyball Recap November 9-17, 2017

11-9-17

Aggie Volleyball clinched the regular season championship tonight.  They won in five sets over Grand Canyon, while UTRGV lost in five against Bakersfield.  It was a great win also in that it broke the Aggies’ losing streak in five-set matches.  Megan Hart came up huge with 18 kills, almost certainly a career high.  She was swinging at a .500 clip in the match.  I just knew she’d unstoppable once she got going.  I mostly followed the match via Statcast.  The Grand Canyon Youtube video feed had some sort of problem, which was too bad because the production values of their broadcast looked pretty good.  The team still has one game left before the tournament.  Coach Jordan was ambiguous on the Aggie Coaches Show about how hard he’d play out that final game if he’d clinched the conference.  He wanted to win, but wanted to rest some of the girls.  We’ll see.

11-11-17

Aggie Volleyball finished out the regular season with a win at Bakersfield.  I didn’t see the game, but the newspaper account had the Aggies winning in straight sets.  Judging by the individual numbers listed, Coach Jordan went ahead and let the starters play, rather than rest them. 

So, the Aggies finished up number one in conference after losing their team captain, another starter, and a replacement starter during the season.  Before the WAC Tournament at the awards dinner, Coach Mike Jordan was an easy winner for Coach of the Year.  Ari Sierra won Libero of the Year.  KC Tohm was awarded the Conference Player of the Year award.  At the beginning of the season at the Scrimmage (8-19-17), I thought she’d end the year as high-scorer for the team, so this doesn’t surprise me at all.  Since the last game of last season, KC really stepped up with Jordan Abalos playing hurt and then going out and with Sasha-Lee Thomas also having limited playing time.       

Unfortunately on Friday (11-17-17), the Aggies played Bakersfield in the tournament semi-final and lost in four sets.  That was a tough draw, since they’d just played them a week before.  It’s also hard to beat a team three times in a season.  The newspaper reported that the Roadrunners had 8 aces in the match, but that was the only offered explanation.  I’m really proud of how the team played so well in the face of adversity this year. 

I also didn’t realize how attached I was to the seniors on this team until seeing their Senior Day ceremony (11-4-17).  I still can't believe that Jordan said in her speech that she was called "too small" and "not good enough" to play.  She was grateful that Coach Jordan "took a chance" on her.  Here I thought she'd sprung full-formed from his furrowed brow as the perfect volleyball player.  It’s going to be hard watching next year.  It was a bummer not getting to see Jordan play more, but I enjoyed seeing the other girls play well in her absence.  Next year will be interesting. 

NM State Aggies vs UT Permian Basin Falcons Women’s Basketball 11-14-17

Game #2 for the ladies.  This time they were playing the UT Permian Basin Falcons, a Division I team, on a Tuesday night.  Thanks to my vacation, I was able to attend.  I’m sure Coach Brooke Atkinson would have rather started the season with this game, than the Western Michigan Broncos (11-12-17).  The Aggies didn’t play a bad game against the Broncos, except for their shooting.  Even Brooke Salas’ team-leading 15 points in the game was off a 5 for 19 field shooting performance (thanks to the radio broadcast for that stat).  The coach said she was okay with the shots Brooke took; they just didn’t fall in for her.  The team actually started the season with a pair of closed scrimmages against other teams.  I wonder if that lack of playing in front of a crowd may have hurt them on Sunday.

If the crowd then was a little sparse then at 646 (according to tonight’s program), there might have been some cause for stage-fright on Tuesday as over 1,000 showed up.  Okay, many of the fans were little cheerleader girls, who were doing the halftime show, and their relations.  The Pan-Am parking lot was full when I got there.  At the start of the game, the little girls came down en mass in brightly colored, neon streams into the goal end seats. 

Speaking of relations, I got poked during the first quarter by a co-worker who was sitting behind me that I hadn’t seen.  She was there for her niece.  She apologized for interrupting me.  Yeah, there I was with my earpieces in, listening to the game, keeping a scorecard, and writing notes.  This reminds me of that Men’s game I went to last season (1-21-17), where a couple of other co-workers didn’t come by and say “Hi” because I looked “intense” watching the game.  It is a way different level of concentration than keeping a baseball scorecard.  Anyway, I tried talking to her for a minute, but it was almost impossible with the crowd and band noise.  I saw another co-worker go by and yelled and waved, but I couldn’t even hear myself.  Still, it’s a good thing to have a big crowd.

I had Adam Young and Nolan Fox in my ear for the game.  They did a good job and it was an enhancement, but again with the crowd noise, I ended up missing some interesting commentary about the team.  It ended up not helping me keep score when I couldn’t hear.  In the concourse, there were posters with Zaire Williams and Tonishia Childress to go with the Jasmine Cooper one released earlier.  Brooke Salas was on the pocket schedule.  Come on guys, you used the same picture of her from last year.  I’m still waiting for the poster. 

The guy cheerleaders had the large team flags to help bring out the team from the locker room.  The girl cheerleaders were up in the stands when play started.  There was a new PA for the game.  The voice was familiar though.  I think he does commercials for the university.  A lady with an extremely cute little dog was sitting down in front.  I really wanted to pet that dog.  Also of note, the band did a really good job on the Anthem tonight.     

        

First Quarter

This was the UTPB Falcons only game against a Division I opponent this season, so it was their big out-of-conference game.  Just to say, they’re a pretty nice-looking team and coach.  A couple of the girls wore their shorts hiked up, showing off their legs, which wasn’t a bad idea given how they looked.  The Aggies have another game against a DI team later this year.   

The referees seemed like they were in a hurry.  They started play before anybody other than the players were ready.  The Aggie fight song was still playing during the tip-off.  They did have to stop play early on as there were shot clock issues.  Pan-Am guys, get your act together for the games.  This is embarrassing.  At an early break, the PA announced that the cheerleaders were going to be throwing more stress balls into crowd, but play was once again started early and the promotion was canceled.  It was like the referees had a plane to catch.

Gia Pack started the game off well with a three on her first shot and two more buckets.  She’d go on to have a great game with 18, but I think that was her only three-point attempt.  I don’t know why she’s not doing the thing she was best known for last season.  Coach Atkinson started putting in the reserves early as the score became lopsided quickly.  Freshman Pam Wilmore came in and got a couple of buckets.  I like her hustle. 

The Falcons were firing a lot of air balls in the game.  The band taunting them about it seemed unnecessary.  Noise prevented me from really hearing the comment, but the guys mentioned there was a difference between DI and DII courts, that might have been causing them problems.  Nolan mentioned the Aggies weren’t getting a lot of rebounds with the misses, because it’s really hard to track an air ball.  28-11 Aggies after 10 minutes.

Second Quarter

This could be a problem for the rest of the season.  Coach Atkinson’s preferred spot to stand during the game is right in front of Adam and Nolan.  They did have trouble seeing a couple of plays and were dodging around her, trying to get a look.  Brooke took her first shot in the second quarter.  She made a three.  Unfortunately, she had a pretty quiet day and did not play much.  The guys were a bit disappointed, but fully expect her to be among the conference leaders in the scoring by the end of the season.  She still does it on defense.  On a trap, she got a steal, passed to Gia, who finished and got the foul.

Zaire Williams had a downright bad day.  She seems to be being groomed as a three-point shooter.  Zaire made one in the next quarter, but was 0 for 4 in this one.  UTPB did pick up their defense and shooting, but the Aggies really turned up their defense.  They were denying shots to the point of near shot clock violations.  47-26 Aggies.

Pistol Pete came by.  He chatted with a couple of older ladies in front of me.  They were actually there cheering on the other team.  They were from El Paso, but I’m not sure who of the four El Paso players on the Falcons they were there for.  The biggest cheer of the game from the crowd came when the Sundancers and the Aggie Cheerleaders came out on court during a break.  The little cheerleaders were impressed with them.

Halftime

The Razzle Dazzle Cheerleaders came out on court.  About half of their performance was just getting the enormous number of girls lined up and ready to go.  It’s a good thing I didn’t need to go to the bathroom, because I was surrounded by parents taking cellphone videos of the performance.  The little girls were adorable, of course.  It occurs to me that these girls’ ages may have precipitated the time change for this game to an hour earlier. 

Third Quarter

We had a scary moment in this quarter.  Gia and Brooke both hit the floor, fighting with the Falcons over a rebound.  Brooke came up rubbing her head.  The Coach took her out immediately.  I think she was okay.  The Aggies started clearing their bench.  Aaliyah Prince came in.  She got a finger roll shot in the lane for her first college points.  The bench and starters erupted for her.  Adam mentioned she was highly recruited.  After a good start, she kept losing the handle on the ball.  Adam thought she was trying too hard.  On the Falcons, Jackie Perez, at 5’3”, was one of the shorter players on court.  Adam and Nolan were amazed by her play.  She collected at least 7 rebounds by the end of the game.  66-33 Aggies.

Fourth Quarter

The Aggie starters were completely out.  The Falcons also used their bench.  I think everyone played, except for Tonishia Childress, who was injured.  Both teams started off playing up tempo, running up and down the court.  The Coach immediately called a timeout and presumably told the Aggies to knock it off.  I’m sure there was good reason, but I think everyone left (most of the kids and parents were gone by this point) and myself would have enjoyed it.

Baylee Robinson from Roswell came in.  She was in a knee brace.  Kaeli Atkinson was in.  She’s not related to the Coach, but was related to another one.  (Again, crowd noise.  Couldn’t hear the story.)  6’4” Aissatou Fall from Senegal was a presence on court.  Adam referred to her as a “project,” as she was just recently introduced to the game.  She also scored her first college points.  You can’t teach size, but you can teach the rest of it.   

I was pleased to see El Paso walk-on, Sara Lopez, enter the game.  She was so eager, she forgot to check in first, and the referees made her go back and do it.  Nolan also seemed glad to see her.  He reported that she’s “a gym rat,” and hangs out there playing pick-up games (which apparently she shouldn’t be).  Sara dominates the guys there.  She got a steal and a couple of free throws and was cheered on from the bench.  Brooke was all smiles for a change.  I think they’re friends off court. 

          

Sara ended up at the line three times and converted on all her attempts.  There’s been a rules change, that they’re not doing one-and-ones anymore.  They’re all two shots on fouls.  One last good Aggie play before the end.  Pam made a steal and passed to Sara.  She either made a great behind-the-back pass or a bad behind-the-back dribble.  Pam got the ball and finished.  Aggies win 85-58.

This game was never hugely in doubt.  I didn’t take a large amount of notes.  Briana Caro was the high-scorer for the Falcons with 13.  Sierra LaGrande had three three-pointers in the second half.  The team actually had more three’s than two’s for the game.  Like I said, Gia Pack had a great game for the Aggies in only three quarters.  The twins, Monique and Dominique Mills, also had great games at 15 and 11 points respectively.  More praise for Jeneva Toilolo, who had 8 off the bench.  Overall, the defense and rebounding looked good. 

Last game, a gentleman leaving saw me scribbling and told me to make sure I got everything down.  Tonight, I think it was the same guy came by and asked if I wrote for the paper.  No, I’m just writing to torture myself in case I accidently enjoy the game too much.  (And like a guy from the paper would be wearing Aggie gear at a game?)  Amazingly, even with the distractions, the scorecard added up for me (after a couple of tries).  No idea if it’s right or not, but it added up.  I would have stayed for the end of the radio post-game and all the stats, but they turned out the house lights on me.  Somebody really wanted this game over with quick.  

I’ve been overeating on vacation, but I had to try Schlotzsky’s new turkey and cranberry sauce sandwich.  It was pretty good (along with their ice cream of course).  Somebody else came in after me and used the coupon on the back of an Aggie ticket.  I was miffed though.  There’s no radio call for the game versus Lobos on Saturday in Albuquerque.  What the heck!  No competition for Aggie Football that day I guess.

Postscript

So a couple of days later, I was at the mall and ran into a senior from last season’s team, Tamera William, at Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop.  Given that I still have her signed poster up in my kitchen, I had no trouble recognizing her.  Let me get this out of the way first: Yikes!  She’s gorgeous!  I’d referred to Tamera as a “cutie” before, but out of uniform and dressed up, she’s a knockout.  She couldn’t have been nicer.  It probably helped that I knew her name and told her I’d met her getting her autograph (and I was wearing an Aggie hat).  I also told her the team could have used her defense on Sunday. 

Tamera’s working on finishing her degree and thinking about trying out for the WNBA.  She asked if I’d be at Friday’s big Men’s Basketball game with the Lobos, so she’s still an Aggie fan.  I could have chatted for a few minutes about the team, but unfortunately she had a coughing fit, which cut our encounter short.  Hopefully, she’s okay and not sick or choking.  She seemed a bit embarrassed, though there wasn’t any reason to be.  Even with that, this made my vacation week and hopefully (again), a pleasant fan interaction made her day too.     

NM State Aggies vs Western Michigan Women’s Basketball 11-12-17

I have way too much too write about before even getting to the game itself.  First, I could have gone to the team’s pre-season booster banquet last week.  I was at the university for volleyball that afternoon.  The tickets would have been free, thanks to my workplace, but I was real uncertain about showing up by myself.  I also wasn’t sure about the dress code, which turned out to be formal-ish.  A team Twitter pic showed the girls in some lovely gowns (and one in men’s wear, hmm).  Lastly, since this was before their first game, I didn’t know who all of them were or what to talk about.  Do this again mid-season, I might have some conversation.  (Although, I guess the point of the dinner was to get-to-know the new players.)

The Saturday before the game, I listened to a UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball game on the radio.  I knew that KROD broadcasts them, but I’d never heard one before.  (In all honesty, I had nothing better to do or watch that afternoon.)  Steve Kaplowitz did the play-by-play.  He does a good job with Sports Talk and when he’s done Chihuahuas’ games in some capacity.  Here, he was a little shaky.  I wonder if Tim Hagerty usually does these games and was unavailable.  His color commentator was Tracy Miller, a former player.  She was very knowledgeable, but needs a bit more work on her delivery.

I was interested in the game mostly because they were unexpectedly playing an Aggie WAC conference foe, CSU-Bakersfield.  The Roadrunners aren’t a cupcake team to start your season with, especially with Miners breaking in a new coach (whose name I didn’t catch, because I didn’t really care).  I could chock up my listening as scouting the opposition.  I wonder if new Aggie coach Brooke Atkinson or a staff member was there at the game in El Paso doing the same.  The Roadrunners were introduced on-court to the Imperial March from Star Wars.  I’m not sure if you want the opposing team to seem more menacing before a game.  

Five minutes into the game, the Roadrunners had not scored, and the Miners were up by about 4.  I hope my game tomorrow is better than this, I thought to myself.  UTEP was leading by 10 at one point in the first half, but Bakersfield came roaring back and were actually leading by halftime.  Okay, this game got interesting.  The Roadrunners were doing it with good outside shooting and rebounding.  By the end of the third, the Roadrunners were up by 8.  A whole new Miner team showed up for the fourth quarter.  They rallied and the Roadrunners panicked and went cold.  67-56 UTEP was the final score.  Wow, I can only hope that Sunday’s game is this good. 

Certainly the game was a bit weird with such wild swings.  I’m not sure what to make of either squad after this game.  The teams at this point in the season are trying to figure themselves out more than the opposition.  Jasmine Johnson was high scorer for the Roadrunners, with Asia Williams being a sparkplug off the bench for them.  Tamara Satea and Jordan Alexander were the standouts for the Miners.  (Too bad Sparkle Taylor isn’t still playing for them.  I would have loved to have heard that name called out all game long.)  The officiating was questionable throughout.  Travelling was called on a player without the ball even.  The Refs need to get into game shape too. 

I thought I heard Kappy say there were 426 in attendance.  For the game, it was so loud and raucous, it sounded like the announcers were calling it either sitting in the student section or on the bench with players’.  The coach afterward thanked the fans for their madhouse support in that fourth quarter.  I didn’t get the whole story, but a former Miner women’s basketball player had died during the week.  Her mother talked to the team before the game, which was the same day as the funeral.  It’s hard to say how that affected the players, but that’s pretty hardcore.      

Sunday, I entered the Pan-Am Center to sound of the Roadrunner Review band and the cheerleaders and the Sundancers performing.  That combination gives you the big time feel for the game.  In an unprecedented move, the cheerleaders and Sundancers worked the floor in a coordinated fashion.  (I’m still doubting these guys like each other.)  The band and the spirit squads made a lot of noise throughout the game.    

The crowd was kind of thin.  Last year, broadcaster Adam Young had suggested that the team should schedule more Sunday afternoon games.  Maybe later in the season when that fall fraud sport finishes its “season” of kneeling, the un-Americans who watch it will be more available.  I was wearing my new “3 Pete” shirt, and I saw a few others in the crowd, including on the old man.  I think a couple of Aggie men’s basketball players were there, but I didn’t see any other Aggie players.  (I listen to the men’s games over the radio, so I don’t readily recognize them.)  Speaking of broadcasting, there was no radio call.  They were doing an Aggievision TV broadcast instead.  I was annoyed, and my commentary will likely suffer without the expert help.

New Coach Brooke Atkinson walked by the scorer’s table and fist-bumped several people, including the PA.  Her assistant coaches and staff consisted of several well-dressed men and women.  None of them are Blanche Alverson and Ashley Ford, so my viewing enjoyment was reduced.  Blanche at least joined Coach Mark Trakh at USC.  Sweetheart player, Brandee Walton, also went with him.  I guess I can finally say now that when I spoke to her at the ballpark earlier in the year (4-22-17), she’d told me that he’d asked her to go with him.  She’d had a heavy heart, as she had post-graduation plans at NMSU, but this was a great opportunity, so she hadn’t been sure what to do.  Good luck, Brandee. 

I will mention one member of the current basketball staff.  She looks just the lady staff member on the volleyball team.  About the same build, same hairstyle, same highlighted hair color, SAME WARDROBE, but it wasn’t her.  The uncanny valley resemblance is a strange mystery.  I only mentioned her once, but the volleyball woman was driving me crazy all season sitting on the sidelines.  If I had the opportunity, was going to ask Adam about her, since she would stand right in front of him watching practice while he was doing his pre-game, which would have distracted me from broadcasting.  This is all I’m going to say about this.

Like the last game last season (2-18-17), the lights dimmed and video boards showed the team in the tunnel doing a war dance before coming out on court.  The new intro video featured a song I hadn’t heard before, but worked well.  The video listed the team’s home record and their “Back to Back to Back” conference championships.  The highlight reel featured Gia Pack in about half the clips.  During Western Michigan’s starter introductions, the band would make a noise and hide behind their sheet music.  The Aggie girls looked happy and upbeat for their introductions.  Jasmine Cooper ran over and fist-bumped with referees.  I’m sure they had no idea what to make of that.  (And, I have to mention one more thing.  The female referee in the crew was very trim and attractive.)           

First Quarter

Once again, I was keeping a scorecard.  Watching the game, scoring points, and taking notes was tough, but I was pleased I was able to keep up after several months off.  (Hey, I only got one player’s points wrong, but corrected it in-game, and only miss-added the totals once.) 

One buzz about the Aggies this season was a pair of transfers, Monique and Dominique Mills.  They are related, identical twins even, and very pretty.  They wore their hair in the different styles, so you could tell them apart.  Monique, who I will refer to as “Mo,” started and played much of the game, but Dominique (we’ll work on a nickname) was out on the floor with her at times. 

I don’t know anything about the Western Michigan Broncos.  Are they from the Upper Peninsula?  Are there wild horses in Michigan to name the team after?  Western Michigan brought 17 players with them.  The Aggies only had 14.  However, I think both teams only played 8 (that’s a maybe). 

During the first quarter I figured out they were not a creampuff opponent.  The Broncos were rebounding well and had some good outside shooting.  For the Aggies, Gia Pack seemed to be dribbling well.  That was something she didn’t look good at last season.  Jasmine Cooper (“Coop”) had a great poke and steal.  Brooke Salas had one of her good underhand shots driving to the basket.   

Coach Atkinson doesn’t yell as much Coach Trakh on the sidelines.  Watching Trakh’s theatrics was worth part of your admission.  On that note, stress balls were tossed into the crowd by the cheerleaders.  I’d already gotten one (11-4-17). though I didn’t realize what it was for.  This was the only giveaway during the game.  15-18 Broncos after one.

Second Quarter

The Aggies’ outside shooting was terrible here, but some great rebounding kept them in it.  Gia had the play of the quarter.  She got a steal under the Bronco basket, did a behind-the-back pass, got the ball back, and laid it in.  Bravo.  One thing I noticed in this quarter that held true for the game: the Broncos could not make two free throws in a row.  27-31 Broncos, still very tight.

Halftime

There was a fan basketball shooting contest with about eight people.  A little girl made it to the final, but lost to a cheerleader guy.  Coach, get that girl to commit now.

Third Quarter

This was an eventful quarter.  For the first time, I saw the Coach upset, I think over missing a rebound.  Mo got hammered once driving the lane, so the game was getting more physical.  One trip down court for the Aggies seemed to epitomize their shooting today.  They got in two three-point attempts and at least two shots under the basket without scoring.  The whole exchange ended with a tug-of-war in the lane and a tie-up that went to the Aggies.  Kudos for the rebounding at least.  Brooke had picked up another foul and had to come out early.  She was on the bench cheering on the three-point attempts.

During the timeout, the band played The Pina Coloda Song, which had got me giggling.  That’s definitely not a fight song.  They were also playing Hooked on a Feeling.  I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy later in the evening (on a Mexican station in Spanish, I hope to see the whole movie in English someday), and I wondered if that was where they were getting their playlist.  Things weren’t happy for the Aggies at this point though; they were down by 11.

During a fight under the Bronco basket for the ball, all the tall players started jumping and tipping the ball.  Aggie Freshman, Pam Wilmore, got in the last tip for the ball and got it.  She was the shortest player on the court at the time.  This may have sparked the team.  Brooke finally hitting a three definitely did.  Mo got a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup.  The Broncos fouled and put the Aggies in double bonus.  Gia put in two free throws.  Mo got a steal and was fouled on a breakaway and got two more free throws.  The Broncos finally got a bucket, but Brooke got a block and converted two more foul shots.

Jeneva Toilolo came in.  I’d been told she looked good and trim in practice, and that was how she looked here too.  She made a drive into the lane and was hit.  The fans were in an uproar, when it wasn’t called a shooting foul.  That was okay.  She got it back and put it in to tie the score, 45-45, right before the buzzer.  The fans were into it.  Pistol Pete, who I hadn’t seen much of in the game, came by cheering.  There was a little boy in front of me, who might have been related to a player, who was cheering just like an adult fan.  It was great. 

Fourth Quarter

Jeneva scored the first two baskets of the fourth to give the Aggies a four-point lead.  Timeout Broncos.  And then the wheels came off for the Aggies.  Marley Hill for Western Michigan started making shots, including a good-looking hook shot in the lane.  Here’s where last season, Tamera William would be all over the opposition, forcing turnovers, and then someone would step up and start hitting shots.  Here and now, the Aggies went stone cold shooting.  That four-point lead became a 12-point deficit. 

It got ugly.  Real ugly.  By last two minutes, things had gotten quiet, except for Broncos’ fans cheering.  Even the band stopped playing.  Fans began deserting towards the exits.  According to last year’s schedule on the back of the program, the team had one loss at home.  That was to Arizona and that was even in overtime.  (I was there, 12-4-16.)  The fans could barely remember what to do at a loss in person.  The Aggies’ last shot was an air-ball three by Brooke.  Final score: Aggies 55, Broncos 64.

Our easy MVP for the game was Marley Hill with 20 points and mostly clutch ones in the fourth.  For the Aggies, Brooke Salas led with 15 points.  However, given the number of shots she took, that wasn’t a good total.  She did do well on defense and rebounding.  Jeneva Toilolo was second in points with 10 off the bench and a real bright spot for the team.  The Aggies also rebounded and shot free throws well in general.  Their shooting overall was atrocious.  They weren’t just missing; they were taking bad-looking shots.  What was up with Gia Pack?  Her main role last season was shooting three’s, and I’m not even sure she tried one today.  Who’s the team captain?  I can’t tell. 

I’m not hitting the panic button yet.  I’m still not sure how good a team they were playing.  Since I’m on vacation, I plan on going to their Tuesday night game.  Hopefully, this game will buoy my confidence and the girls’.  This has been a weird weekend.  This game fit right in with everything else.

NM State Aggies vs Seattle U Redhawks Volleyball 11-4-17

 (Couldn't they have taken a picture with all five seniors?)

Maybe it was some personal and work-related issues.  Maybe it was the end of baseball season.  Maybe it was the end of Aggie Soccer season.  Maybe it was because it was the last Aggie Volleyball home game.  I was depressed heading off to the Pan-Am Center for the volleyball girls’ last home game.  Certainly not seeing the Aggie seniors playing in-person after today was weighing on me.  I didn’t actually think about any of this until afterward, but I was in a malaise going to the game that I normally don’t have.

There was plenty of activity in the Pan-Am parking lot.  However, as I didn’t know at the time, there was high school band competition at the football stadium going on at the same time.  After the match, a stream of school buses drove past me as I was leaving.  Still, there was a good crowd for the volleyball.  There was an unprecedented line in the ticket office.  I held the door open for a group of Seattle U Redhawks family members.  I always try to be nice to opposing fans, so they don’t think we’re a bunch of jerks in Las Cruces.  There was a knot of Redhawk fans behind their bench during the game.  You wouldn’t pick a Seattle team to travel well.

This was a TV game, so there wasn’t any radio.  I thought about bringing my radio to listen to Aggie Football, but that didn’t start for an hour, and I didn’t want the distraction for the last home volleyball game.  I did pick up a Tyler Rogers poster at the courtesy table.  About time they poster-ized the quarterback.   

The Seattle girls looked pretty tall and well-built in practice.  The Aggies girls had four girls laid up and injured on the bench.  I also noticed Savannah Davison wasn’t with the team.  No idea where she went.  Jordan Abalos was back on crutches with her left leg in a cast.  I guess she finally had the surgery she needed.  It just hurts me to write that.  Poor thing.  At least she looked gorgeous today for Senior Day.  Fellow injured players, Brielle Sterns and Hannah Combs, also looked good.  I wonder if they all went to the salon together?  Jordan and the other senior players were out on court for the starters’ introductions.  (Now I’m getting choked up writing this.)  I noticed during the team intro video montage, the players on both teams were watching it.

Set 1

It was all about Tatyana Battle to start the match.  The first point was a kill by her and her first two serves also scored, 3-0 Aggies.  I’m still not what the technical definition of an ace is.  In any case, Taty’s serves weren’t returned.  She even got great one-handed emergency dig, though the Aggies lost that point.  Unfortunately, the rest of the team looked a bit disorganized to start.  Lia Mosher made an uncharacteristic whiff on a swing.  Bridgette Lowe, who started, came out and got a long talk from Coach Jordan. 

The match was kept tight by the errors.  7-6 KC Tohm buried her first kill.  7-7 there were two great Aggie saves on the point, but Sasha-Lee Thomas shockingly dropped the ball.  8-8 Ari Sierra made an out-of-bounds save, which led to Megan Hart getting a kill.  9-9 Lia got a long kill, hitting the back line on the shot.  11-10 Lia was feeling it and pounded one straight down into the court.  13-10 Tatyana took flight from the back row for a kill. 

13-13 a little moment of comedy.  The Redhawks’ serve went short and dropped on the top edge of the net and fell over on the Aggie side.  Briana Ainsworth was right underneath it.  She ducked and put her hands over her head.  14-13 Lia broke up the Redhawks’ run with a kill.  16-14 Bridgette was back in and got a confident kill.  17-14 off an extremely out-of-system set, Tatyana again went airborne for the kill.  18-16 Megan Hart used her height to jam one right into the court. 

18-18 still a tight set.  The coach exploded on this point on an out call.  He sent Taty over to talk to the up official.  I’m embarrassed to admit that it hadn’t entirely sunk in until that moment that Tatyana Battle has on been out on the court for every point for several matches now and is the team captain.  She’s not a senior and not built to the same heroic proportions as Jordan, KC, or Sasha.  Her kills don’t have the same crowd-pleasing heat on them that KC or Sasha’s has, but Tatyana still gets points in bunches every match.  Last year, her defense was considered suspect and teams are still hitting at her on that assumption, but she’s really improved.  I said somewhere, this would be her team next year.  Injuries just moved things up a bit.  It’s a bit belated, but congratulations.

19-19 the coach was still in a bad mood as Megan Hart came over to the bench and got a lashing for serving a ball out.  I have to mention Megan’s height again.  Even with her simple standing serving motion, she can get a lot of power and angle on her serves.  She’s pretty good at it usually.  21-19 Tatyana and Lia teamed up on a block and were fired up.  22-20 the Redhawks whiffed on a swing at the net.  I wondered if the Aggies managed to intimidate them with their blocking.  23-20 Lia may have had the shot of the match on an overpass which she tipped with a soft touch. 

The Redhawks came out of a timeout chanting, though there was another stoppage to mop up sweat on the court.  They took the next couple of the points to 23-22.  Timeout Aggies.  The Aggies came back to take it to set point.  Julianna Salanoa on the sidelines was all smiles and high-fived the reserves and the staff women who hand out the towels.  25-22 KC finished it with a kill.        

Set 2: Aggies 1, Redhawks 0

The cheerleaders and Aggie Kids Club members tossed little balls into the stands.  A fan below me intercepted one heading my way.  I think the group of Seattle fans got about three or four of them.  The teams exchanged sides and I got a good look at the Redhawks.  They have a lovely red-head on their staff with great hair.  Their libero, Tijana Milojevic, is pretty cute.  The PA was having trouble with her name.  These teams with a bunch of Slavic players are killing the announcers. 

This set started well for the Aggies as Briana dropped an untouched ace right on to court, 1-0 Aggies.  4-4 this was sneaky.  Megan jumped up and reared back and then just tipped the ball for a point.  5-4 the treachery continued as Briana made a great dump shot for the point.  9-7 Lia crammed one on a short set.  12-8 KC and Lia on a block.  Timeout Seattle U.  Pistol Pete grooved on the sidelines to the music. 

14-9 Bridgette got a solo block and rev’ed up the crowd.  15-9 Bridgette got a kill that painted the sideline.  The Seattle coach got good and angry with the officials after that.  He’d been upset for much of the match.  Honestly, he may have had a point here.  It looked out.  19-12 there was more mopping on the court as Ari and Kaylee Neal both went sliding across the court for a dig.  20-12 a kill by Megan Hart, and then an ace at 21-12.  Sweet Analyssa Acosta came into to serve at 22-12 to a big round of applause.  23-12 Julianna came in, which paid off on the next point with a big kill.  25-13 for the Aggies.  Seattle was in complete disarray by the end of the set.

Set 3: Aggies 2, Redhawks 0    

Halftime was uneventful.  Jordan looked loose and happy on the sidelines.  The first point of the set was absolutely epic.  It felt like it went on for 30 seconds.  The Aggies took it for 1-0 start to the set.  3-1 Lia smashed a kill.  5-2 KC muscled one in.  8-6 Tatyana put down a great kill on the back line.  Timeout Seattle after the Aggies took the next point.  Some middle school girls were working it in unison to get on camera for Dance Cam.  11-7 Lia and Taty combined on a block. 

12-8 this may have been the best play of the year.  I think a bug somehow got on to the middle of the court.  Don’t ask me how.  The girls on both teams recoiled from it and backed away, stopping play before the next point.  I’ve recounted how fearless I think these girls are, but apparently they have their limits.  The down official, a guy, walked over and stepped on and picked it up with a Kleenex to a round of applause.  This was baseball-level in-game weirdness.   

12-9 the girls returned to play and had another epic point with several great shots, including one that hit the tape on the net.  Seattle would take the point.  13-9 Lia seemed to defy gravity for a moment as she took flight for a kill.  14-9 Megan and Bridgette combined on a block.  The Aggies have been a wall today.  16-10 Bridgette got a hard kill.  18-12 there wasn’t a lot of disguise here as everyone could hear as Seattle called out to serve it at Tatyana.  She braced herself for it, but muffed the return.  Taty managed to get it high enough in the air for Ari to save it.  Tatyana would finish the point for a kill.  It was that kind of day for the Aggies and for the Redhawks.

18-15 Sasha fired one into the net for the second time in the set.  She might not have been jumping well today.  Timeout Aggies.  I worry about Associate Coach Ben Wallis.  While Coach Jordan feels that the team should win every match, Coach Wallis was getting upset on every lost point.  Coach, pace yourself.  Don’t burn out.  During the break, the cheerleaders tossed hats into the crowd along with more little balls.  Hey, I got one this time.  Sweet.  23-18 KC smacked one.  24-19 KC again.  Megan Hart finished the match on an overpass kill.  Aggies win 25-19 and 3-0 in the match.   

As I mentioned, there was no radio call for the match.  Also, there weren’t any stats on the scoreboard for this match, other than the score.  Thus, I don’t have any final stats in my notes.  The paper had Tatyana Battle leading with 14 kills and 10 digs.  Briana Ainsworth also had a double-double in assists and digs.  KC Tohm and Lia Mosher had good games, along with Megan Hart and Bridgette Lowe.  I felt bad for Seattle U.  They had their moments and had a good first set, but this one never really felt in doubt.  They were just overpowered. 

Senior Day Ceremony

Maybe it didn’t feel like a good victory, since I knew this was going to be how it would end.  I was feeling genuinely sad as the Senior Day preparations were made.  I was also confused by the music they were playing, an instrumental version of Sympathy for the Devil.  The Seattle girls hung out on the other side of the court, stretching.  The Aggie team sat down in front of the scorer’s table.  Coach Jordan walked by and fist bumped all of them. 

Off to the side, the seniors and their families assembled.  Jordan Abalos was first up.  While she’d been in a good mood before, as the PA read off her mile-long list of player accomplishments, she started wiping away tears.  Darn it.  Now I’m getting choked up again.  It was just heartbreaking watching her go across the court on crutches with her leg in a cast.  She’d given everything she’d had to the program.  Jordan had her final battle at the Pan-Am Center trying to get through her speech while crying.  Her disappointment was so keen at not being able to play through her senior season, you could tangibly feel it. 

Ever emotional Ariadnne Sierra came out with her family.  She had thanked her family in Spanish, since none of them spoke English.  Ari thanked the Coach for his instruction, “It only took me two years to listen to what you were saying.”  The Coach gave her a hug and a big smile.  He must like her.  He even liked her Halloween costume.  There was a short video congratulations from the libero from the US Men’s Volleyball team to her.  Ari’s got connections.    

Kassandra “KC” Tohm may have gotten the biggest applause for her academic achievements (you could see her playing ability for yourself during the match).  She was beaming and all smiles in her speech for a moment and then she lost it.  She thanked the fans for helping her not feel so homesick for her native Canada.  Then she almost forgot to thank her parents, who were standing right next to her.  Sasha-Lee Thomas was a wreck before she started talking.  She had been living here with a host family.  “You made me feel like I was your own daughter.”  It was the most beautiful moment in the ceremony.        

Kaylee Neal came up last.  Kaylee was announced to have a 4.0 in Accounting and was working on a masters degree.  She came out with her family and her husband.  For her speech, she was perky and happy.  It was a jarring contrast, but that was fine.  She thanked her husband for his support, which was cool.  I’d wondered why she was the last one.  It was because Coach Jordan announced a new award, the Kaylee Neal Award.  He wanted to start recognizing the player who was the best teammate every year.  There’s an MVP award for good playing, but this was for good actions for the team done between games.  Kaylee was first at practice, last to leave, and helped set up the court every time.  Between a husband, studies, and playing, her schedule must be a tight ship.    

Coach Jordan spoke last.  He praised the players individually.  I wonder if this was the first time he’d ever said something nice to them.  Lastly, he told Jordan that this wasn’t the “fairy tale” ending to her Aggie career that they’d hoped for, but they were going to try to win a championship for her.  A large number of friends and family went on to the court afterward.  Analyssa Acosta came up into the stands to her family nearby me.  I smiled and waved at her and congratulated her for getting into the game.  Part of me wanted to go down and congratulate the seniors, but I didn’t want to intrude.  Also, this was sad enough without a more personal experience to go with it.     

Outside, it was cold and overcast, the first real fall day in Las Cruces this year.  Even a good sandwich and ice cream at Schlotzsky’s didn’t help my depression (but it also didn’t hurt).  Last year, there wasn’t a Senior Day to get depressed over.  Now that I’ve been here for one with the volleyball girls, I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to sit through another without blubbering.  This was hard.   The other Senior Days in other sports I’ve been to were nowhere near this emotional.  My only interaction with the team has just watching from the stands for a couple of years and getting autographs.  I can’t imagine what it’s like for people more invested in the team.  Of course the players’ reaction was crying in front of a crowd.  It’s a warning not to get too attached to these girls.  Good luck for the rest of this season ladies.  I’ll follow along as best I can.    

    

Sports Journal November 2-4, 2017

11-2-17

I’m so backed up on writing recaps, I almost forgot about this.  The Aggies took on the Utah Valley Wolverines Thursday night in volleyball at the Pan-Am Center.  I was at work, but was able to watch via the WAC Digital Network.  I was actually really busy.  My notes on the match are so scattered and scant as to be nearly useless. 

The Wolverines featured Madison Dennison, top blocker in the country.  Adam Young, doing the commentary, had fun with another visiting player, Seren Merrill, whom he kept calling, “Merrill the Libero.”  The younger PA guy, who does the soccer, was working the game.  Bridgette Lowe started for the Aggies tonight.  

Again, I was pretty busy.  Set 1 was very close at 25-23 Aggies.  The two teams stayed within a point of each other for almost the entire set.  UV only got 1 block for the set.  In Set 2, the Aggies had a five-point run.  Ari Sierra served up two aces in a row to add to it.  Lia Mosher had a good set.  Late in the set, the Wolverines went on a four-point run to fight off several set points.  The Aggies took it, 25-20, coming out of a time out.  Set point featured the Aggies making an emergency save and a kill off a bad set.

  

Set 3 was a bit of a wipeout.  The Aggies went up by 10 and held that lead, winning 25-15 and 3-0 in sets for the match.  Kiley Tonge came in to serve for match point and got a dig.  KC Tohm led the Aggies with 13 kills.  Tatyana Battle and Sasha-Lee Thomas had 10 a piece.  Megan Hart had 7 kills.  My notes say that the Aggies had 17 team blocks in three sets.  I’m kind of questioning that number, but they certainly voided a really good blocking Utah Valley team. 

Before the Aggie match and during halftime, I caught a bit of the UTRGV Vaqueros versus the Seattle U Redhawks, which was going on at the same time.  The Vaqueros play in a large gym, like a high school arena.  This is where the WAC Championship will be held.  A pair of student announcers were really into calling the match.  They had nicknamed their star player, Mitrovic Bojana, the “Bionic Woman.”  They seemed to be having fun pronouncing all of the Slavic names on the team.  I appreciated the camera work as they got in some close-ups of my favorite hot Brazilian player, Barbara Silva.  The Vaqueros dropped the first two sets and came back to win in the fifth.  The announcers, the team, and the crowd went crazy with the win.  The announcers gave an update from the Las Cruces game, so they were following the standings closely.  

11-4-17

After an emotional Aggie Volleyball game (which I’ll be posting tomorrow), I came home after lunch and listened to the last quarter and a half of Aggie Football versus Texas State.  I could have been listening to the game the whole time, since there wasn’t any radio call for the volleyball, but I figured it wouldn’t be worth the effort and would be a distraction.  I remembered last years’ meeting here (11-19-16) against the Bobcats football team.  Their team bus was in an accident on the way to the game, and they played like they’d been wreck.  In their house, this was a chance for some revenge.

This is going to be a very cursory summary of what I heard.  (I may have been watching something on TV at the same time, but I can’t remember what.)  I came in about halfway through the third quarter with the Aggies up 24-21.  At that point, I was regretting not listening to the whole thing, since it appeared to be a pretty good game.  The Aggies fumbled, but Dalton Herrington came up with a big interception.  This guy really does it on defense.  Driving downfield in the Texas State red zone, Quarterback Tyler Rogers was briefly knocked out of the game on a hard hit.  No problem.  Nick Jeanty came right in and tossed a touchdown, 31-21. 

The Bobcats came back in short order on a good drive and made it 31-28 after a touchdown.  The Aggies’ next possession was mostly on the legs of All-American running back, Larry Rose III.  He rattled off a monster run and then finished it on a short drive, 38-28.  The Bobcats had some tricks up their sleeve.  They got a big play on a gadget play to make it 38-35 late in the fourth quarter. 

Time to end this.  Rogers, back in the game, hit OJ Clark for another touchdown, 45-35.  With two minutes left, the Aggie defense forced a fumble on the Bobcats’ first play.  Larry Rose almost scored another touchdown right before the end of the game, but it was waved off on a penalty.  The Aggies were content to just run out the clock after that for a 45-35 win.  That’s #4.  They just need two more in the next three games, two of which are at home, to end the program’s 50+ year bowl drought.        

Let’s do another Women’s college soccer entry.  Tonight, the Stadium Network was broadcasting the Mountain West Championship game between the UNM Lobos and the SDSU Aztecs.  They were in Las Vegas with the Strip in the background.  They never showed the grandstand on camera, but the small bleachers on the other side of the field did have a decent crowd, especially since UNLV wasn’t playing.  This was a surprise match up for conference experts.  While the Aztecs were picked first in the pre-season poll, the Lobos were picked for last.  Their championship run makes the Aggies win over them early in the season even more impressive.    

The main play-by-play guy may have been the Aztecs’ announcer that I’d enjoyed before, but he had some low energy tonight.  He sounded like he had a cold.  There was a former female player that did the color commentary and an on-field reporter.  I liked the camera work in general, since there were some close-ups of the girls playing (sometimes real close as the action came by the sidelines suddenly).  It was emphasized in the commentary that the Lobos had played a lot more minutes in the tournament than the Aztecs.  The players typically run four to five miles during a match, so those minutes are significant.  It was also cold there.  The fans were bundled up and the players on the sidelines were clearly cold. 

It was the match of the flip throw-ins.  Really, this became something of an obsession in the commentary.  Jessica Nelson on the Lobos would flip in the ball on most of the throw-ins, so it came up a lot.  Late in the first half, one of the Aztec girls Aliyah Utush did one with a throw-in close to the Lobo box.  She seemed to hesitate on it for a moment before doing it as it was her first attempt of the year.  It was a good throw, but their only attempt at it during the match.    

The flip throw-in can be effective, especially when close enough to catapult the ball into the opponent’s box, though it leaves the player in a bad position to follow up.  Earlier in the tournament, Jessica got an assist on a goal doing it.  During the halftime interview, the SDSU coach, who must have called for that one in the first half, said he didn’t like them.  “It’s not soccer,” he said.  There was even a halftime feature on Jessica and doing flip throw-ins.  She mentioned her coach doesn’t watch when she does it (even though the coach is the one who calls for it).  Jessica said she started doing it as a kid, almost implying it wouldn’t be a good skill to try to learn to use in college for the first time. 

The Lobos came out attacking in the first half, but later in the half, the Aztecs took over attacking.  Each team had some good chances, including a crossbar shot for both, neither scored.  Action picked up in the second half.  Early on, after a flip throw-in by Jessica, Jenna Killman (great name) attempted a bicycle kick in the box on goal.  The announcers were loving the showmanship, “Are we watching a Premier League match?”

Finally in the 56’, Aliyah Utush got out on a breakaway.  She was one-on-one with the goalie, who came out, but Aliyah went around her.  A trailing Lobo player tried to kick it out, but the shot rolled in.  Let’s do it again in the 76’.  It was virtually the same play, as Aliyah got behind the defenders and out ran them to the goal.  She was really quick and must have a lot of stamina.  2-0 Aztecs.

Aliyah must be living right.  In the 82’, she completed the hat trick with a low, hard kick from outside the box.  The Lobo goalie laid flat out for it.  3-0 Aztecs.  By this point, the announcer was actually rooting for the Lobos to get a goal and not get shutout.  Poor Jessica.  By the end of the match, I completely lost count of the number of flip throw-ins she’d done, many of them in the closing minutes.  She must have been a little dizzy. 

The SDSU Aztecs won the match and championship.  Aliyah Utush was the unsurprising tournament MVP with her three-goal performance.  The announcers mentioned that the Aztecs had a hat trick in last years’ championship, but actually lost that match.  In the interview afterward, Aliyah was very happy and excited.  She’s also cute and well-spoken.  The Aztecs’ play here reminded me of the Aggies: stay back defensively and counter by putting the ball over the top to a speedy attacker (Aileen Galicia) for a breakaway chance.  So, this style can work.  At the end, after announcing all the awards, the stadium PA finished by thanking the fans, telling them to drive safely, and reminding everyone to set their clocks back an hour for Daylight Savings Time.  That got a chuckle out of the announcers.