We start the New Year with Aggie Men’s Basketball. The
free tickets I got for going to football (11-27-21) were finally going to
pay off. I had four tickets and,
unfortunately, dad just refused to go.
I’m doubting I’m ever going to get him to go to a sporting event
again. I gave two of the tickets to a
co-worker. I’m not sure if he went given
the day and given that it wasn’t great opponent. (He was planning on partying pretty hard on
New Year’s Eve.) I wasn’t sure if Ron
would want to go, since he could otherwise stay home and watch the Rose Bowl. (I would have stayed home to watch the NHL’s Winter Classic outdoor game, but
don’t even know where it’s being broadcast.
And I thought they’d suspended play for a month anyway, but they hadn’t.) Ron was enthusiastic about going to the game,
though.
Certainly, I didn’t want to go outside today. There were high, cold winds blowing. Nonetheless, Ron picked me up for a late
lunch at Whataburger (using an Aggie
ticket coupon). It wasn’t our first
choice. I’d gotten a Raising Cane’s gift card for Christmas
that I was eager to use, but they were closed for the holiday. We got to the Pan-Am Center about an hour before the game. The lot in front of the arena was almost
deserted, which it never is on a Men’s Basketball gameday. Ron went ahead and parked there, though I
cautioned him that that lot usually requires a parking pass on days like these. Given the lack of a crowd, he wasn’t
worried.
Inside, Ron asked a ticket-taker where our seats were, and
she said just to sit anywhere. Like the
football game, there weren’t any ushers there to tell us otherwise. We sat in our usual seats for Volleyball and
Women’s Basketball, but I told Ron to not get comfortable. The teams were on court warming up. Chicago
State, today’s opponent, looked like a bunch of guys getting ready for a
pickup game at a Southside playground, but a bit taller. This is to say that they weren’t well-dressed
for a college basketball game. I didn’t
even see anyone with them that looked like an obvious coach.
Also on court were a couple of really good-looking
production assistants for the TV broadcast (in addition to Emerson, who was
working with PA Ed.) One of the girls I’d seen before, but today
she was wearing very tight black yoga pants that didn’t leave much to the
imagination. The other one was also in all
black and was also really attractive. (I
am making assumptions, since they were both masked the whole time.) They looked like they had escaped from a 60’s
movie from a beatnik jazz club during a big dance number.
Wow! Who is
that? TV broadcaster Adam Young was talking to a very hot
blonde courtside. She wasn’t wearing a
mask, so I didn’t have to guess about her face.
She turned out to be the broadcast sideline reporter, Megan McCormick. (My dad knew who she was. I didn’t.
She’s married to an El Paso newscaster.)
Ron and I were both enraptured.
Also on the broadcast, former Aggie player, Joe Garza, joined Adam as his color commentator. That’s awesome. Garza was profiled in Sports Illustrated for making the team in 2017 as a walk-on, who’d
previously been playing on the Women’s practice squad. (At the college level, Women’s basketball
teams practice against men.) Garza’s
also a local kid. He’s my hero. To hear Garza’s analysis, I kind wished I was
watching the TV broadcast instead.
The students were still on break, so there wasn’t the
usual large contingent of them. (Unlike
every other Aggie sport, the students do come out for Men’s Basketball.) The band was absent, as were the Sundancers. A small troop of late-arriving Cheerleaders did make it for game. I found myself wishing they’d put the Rose
Bowl up on the new video board while we were waiting. Our other local product hero, Johnny McCants came by the sidelines to
hug a child and greet the young woman with the kid. I don’t know their relationship. I bring this up because I noticed that Johnny
had two fingers on his right hand taped up.
A guy came down our row and Ron and I got bumped down a
couple seats. I was glad we didn’t get
moved to the upper deck. Ron struck up a
conversation with him. The rest of the
row was reserved for the local theater owner, but the guy said he only shows up
for important games. This was definitely
not one of those. The referees came
out. They looked over the courtside
table and picked up the large wrapped cookies left out for the fans in the
really good seats. They didn’t seem to
approve of them, as they tossed them aside.
Ron and I both had radios for the game call, though
neither of us could hear much of the pregame over the noise. The Aggies were doing well with an 11-2
record. Yuat Alok, who was a standout over the Aggies’ four-game sweep road
trip, was out with a cold. Not the cold, but a cold. Looking over the program, I didn’t know he
was from New Zealand (or that there were black guys in New Zealand). Marchelus
“Chi Chi” Avery was suited out to play today after he’d had a cold
recently, but not the cold. Jordan played with the flu, Magic played with
HIV, but the cold is too much of a
risk.
AD
Mario Moccia then came on the broadcast, and I really
couldn’t make out more than every other sentence over the noise. I heard him say, “Damn masks,” about a dozen
times, which is about a dozen more times than an athletic director should say,
“Damn,” over the air, so he was angry. Mario
also mentioned that the Lobos had
closed the Pit to unvaxxed
fans. Mario said he would not be doing
that.
I’d seen the front page of the Albuquerque Journal last month.
The media there was basically bullying the Pit to put on the
restriction. They’d better have been
prepared to issue some refunds to season ticketholders. Our local paper in Las Cruces is produced in
Juarez, so no one cares what it says.
(The Sun-News didn’t even
produce an edition on Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Years
because they . . . didn’t feel like coming in to work on those days?)
First
Half
Here’s where I like covering Women’s games, because they
break it down into four quarters, which I prefer frankly. Right before the start, a decent crowd,
considering the circumstances, suddenly materialized. This is normal. Here’s Johnny! McCants filled in a three to start the
scoring for the game. I got a good look
at 6’10” Will McNair on court. He is really big. I’d heard radio broadcaster, Jack Nixon, call him, “The Baby Bull,”
before. I thought I heard PA Ed call
him, “Big Philly,” in the introductions after his hometown.
The Aggies were just shooting three’s to start, apparently
not able to get the ball inside. Mario McKinney made one, but most of
the shots missed. It was 6-5 Aggies, 3
minutes in. Johnny dove into the
sideline table going for a loose ball.
He said, “Hi,” to the fans there.
It was 8-5 Aggies with 15 minutes left at the first media timeout. Suddenly, I got a call. I couldn’t hear it; I just felt it
vibrating. Oh, it was my Aunt Judy from
Missouri calling to wish me Happy New Years.
I think. She could hear I was at
a game. I told her I’d call her back later.
The Aggies were just getting sloppy out of the break, as
the Cougars took an 8-9 lead. The Aggies
retook the lead, 10-9, with 14 minutes left, as McKinney made 2 of 3 free
throws at the line. He really hustled on
that final miss and nearly got the ball back.
The Aggies picked up the D at this point. McCants got a block that got a rise out of
the crowd, though I think it was waived off on a shot clock violation. Clayton
Henry was inserted into the game. He
got a cheer from the crowd. He’d been
injured at the start of the season. I
wonder if this was his first home game in front of a big crowd.
Great. Now, nobody
was scoring. At the media timeout with
11 minutes left, it was still 10-9.
Clayton hit a last second three out of the break to end the funk. Chicago State player, Ali Abdou Dibba was called for a foul. Marking that on the scorecard, I noticed he
was from Sweden. This black person from
Sweden wasn’t entirely surprising, as we were already familiar with Soufia Inoussa from our Aggie Women’s Basketball team. 13-14 Cougars as JJ Harris hit a three from NBA
distance. The crowd was impressed. McCants missed a 3, jumped high around the
rim twice trying to get the rebound, but lost it. The effort was there.
During the break, there was a disturbing shootout
contest. A pair of large eyeball mascots
came out with an enormous pair of glasses with nets instead of lens. The contestants shot small balls into the
nets. A little tribute to Betty White played afterward in the
form of the Golden Girls theme
song. She’d passed away at 99 years old
on New Year’s Eve (three days after getting the
shot?). The crowd kind of went,
“Ahh,” for a moment.
McCants hit a pair of free throws to end a four-minute
Aggie scoring drought. A Cougar pass hit
an open man on the arm who wasn’t looking.
Timeout Chicago State. 17-16
Aggies with five minutes left.
“Turnovers, fouls, and missed shots,” was Jack Nixon’s game analysis on
the radio. Brandon Betson hit a three and had a layup to give the Cougars a
19-21 lead as the Aggies took a timeout.
Nate
Pryor came in for the Aggies.
You couldn’t miss him with his gold shoes and big hair. He scored on his first shot, and then had a
no-look assist to Teddy Allen for a three,
his first points of the game. 24-21
Aggies with 3 minutes left and another media timeout. Pistol
Pete brought a policeman out on court, so the crowd could honor him with a
standing ovation. I thought I also saw the
officer tossing balls to the crowd with the Cheerleaders later. Speaking of the Cheerleaders, on this break,
they handed out gourmet local pizzas to the crowd from Lorenzo’s. A kid who planned
ahead well got one, as he held up a handmade, “Pizza Here!” sign.
Out of the break, Nate went to Teddy again for a dunk off
a turnover. On the other end, McCants
got a block, but it was scored anyway on a goaltend. Finally, the half ended. It was 30-26
Aggies.
Continued in Part 2.
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