NM State Aggies vs UT Arlington Mavericks Volleyball 10-27-22

Full disclosure, those last three posts (10-24-22, 10-25-22, 10-26-22) nearly broke me.  I didn’t finish the post about the Men’s Basketball Scrimmage until a half hour before I was set to post it, which was nearly four days after the event.  I just couldn’t write, not even something fairly simple.  Frankly, tonight’s match didn’t help.

 

Things didn’t go well right at the start.  I’d called Ron in the morning to ask about dinner before going to the match.  He had a late afternoon doctor’s appointment.  He could still go, but no dinner.  I did nothing with my day off other than ironing.  Ron came by to pick me up.  I asked if he wanted to go for dinner after the game.  After his trip to the doctor, suddenly Ron’s on a diet.  This could have dire future consequences for my eating.

 

There was also a cold wind blowing outside.  We saw a bus parked outside of the Pan-Am Center that Ron identified as being from Alamogordo.  Inside, there was a pile of sweatshirts at the courtesy table.  However, they were just for boosters.  What a cruel tease.  I reluctantly bought a hot dog at the Concessions.  They got my order wrong, but at least it cost less.  Unlike most times, the bun was reasonably fresh, so the hot dog was decent.  I chewed down that and a small popcorn before the match.

 

The Alamo girls were seated in a section below us.  I’m assuming they’re a high school volleyball team that was in town for a game.  Oh my, God!  It’s Dizzykitten!  My favorite Twitch steamer was with them.  I’m not worthy.  (Does my hair look okay?)  Wait, it seems unlikely she’s here given that she lives in Arkansas.  This must just be a girl that just happens to look like her.  Looking like a goddess, still makes you goddess.  Her and another girl seemed to be NMSU students that were chaperoning the girls.  (No, she wasn’t underage.)  In any case, this was one pleasant distraction for the match.

 

Being about a half hour before the match, the teams were warming up on court.  A loose ball got into the stands where the Alamo girls were.  Kayleigh Thomas ran over and got the ball from them and gave them a cheery smile.  I looked over the Aggies.  Injured Setter Bianca Perez had her thumb wrapped, but at least wasn’t in an arm sling.  Adam Young on the radio call said she might make it back before the end of the season.  Ryleigh Whitekettle’s right hand was in a brace, not good for a right-handed Outside Hitter, but she was still playing.  Alex Connatser, one of Ron’s favorites, was also in a brace, but she hasn’t played this year.  (One of my favorites, Cameron Rodriguez, is featured in the promo picture at the top.)  

 

Setter Rilen Garcia was also featured in a nice promo picture.  She looks cute, but very serious and determined.  She’s had a lot put on her shoulders.  Rilen also took a practice serve off her cheek that went into the net.  There was also the weirdness before the match with a guy dressed as a girl that was attached to the team.  He probably plays on the practice squad, but was dressed like one of the girls.  I'm mentioning this because it happened, but I'm trying to forget about it.  

 

Adam scouted the UT-Arlington Mavericks in the pregame.  They are one of the better teams in the WAC.  (UTRGV is still undefeated in conference.  I will still stand behind what myself and Coach Jordan said, the Vaqueros didn’t play that well when they beat the Aggies last month in Las Cruces.)  UTA is in the Top 20 in the nation in blocks.  Maverick Brianna Ford is the top scorer in the WAC. 

 

I thought it was an okay crowd, then I looked at the attendance afterward and it was over 900.  UTA was very energetic during the player introductions.  The Aggie starters were tossing souvenir balls.  Once again, some of these girls can’t throw.  Star Katie Birtcil attempted to throw one to the Alamo girls and it ended up across the court at the feet of the Mavericks players.  I’m not sure what happened to it, but the Alamo girls did get at least one.  I saw “Dizzy” looking over a ball later.  Ryleigh was in with the regular starters, Lia Mosher, Darian Markham, Taylor Snow, Molly Johnson, Rylee Fay, and Katie. 

 

Set 1

I really don’t want to write this.  I mean, I’m glad I went.  I enjoy watching volleyball and supporting the team, but this match wasn’t worth writing about from the Aggie side.  I'll definitely take this over the ESG sensitivity training struggle session at work that I missed by taking the day off though.

 

The Women's Basketball team came in at the start.  They were easy to spot.  I especially noticed their cute Japanese player, Moe Shida.  I think she'll get more playing time this year.  I'm pretty sure there were some more student-athletes in attendance, but I couldn't positively identify their teams.

 

Katie had a couple early kills, along with Lia and Jayde Shelton getting a block, but the team was also making attack errors.  Coach Jordan was close enough to Adam's mic to where you could hear him occasionally over the air, “That's three attack errors already!”  At 3-7 UTA, the Aggies took their first timeout.

 

It didn't get better.  Lia got the kill and tooled a block, but the team kept falling behind.  Ford racked up a couple of kills using different speeds on her hitting.  She even ran way off court to save a ball.  6-14, the Aggies won the point, but took their second timeout anyway.

 

Taylor and Mari Sharp combined for a block.  Taylor, Jayde, and Katie got kills.  Rilen made a beautiful connection to Lia for a kill.  Lia also got a kill off a bad set with a left-handed tip.  The Alamo girls started barking during the Mavericks' serves.  It was all for naught.  UTA took the first set 13-25.  The Aggies had 8 attacks errors and 4 service errors. 

 

Set 2: Mavericks 1, Aggies 0

Another high school girls team came in late.  They must have gotten the start time wrong.  During Flex Cam, one of the Alamo girls, put their souvenir ball under their sleeve to make a muscle to pose for the camera.  After the teams changed ends, Coach Jordan took his team well off court to talk to them.  Normally, he just talks to them in front of the bench. 

 

Mia Peterson came in to start.  Unfortunately, she had some stone hands on a couple of receptions early.  She'd come back with a kill off a block.  Molly also had a bad dig that the up official ended up catching as it went to her.  Katie dunked one for the first point of the set and got another kill.  Kaylee Peterson came in early to serve.  The reserves gave the freshman a cheer. 

 

This set was close.  7-7 Molly got a tip kill and Darian had a pancake dig.  The UTA coach challenged the dig and the point was reversed, 6-8.  Our favorite reserve, Ashley Herman, showed off her dancing skills during the break.  Katie talked to Kaylee on court, apparently about positioning. 

 

Molly got the next two Aggie kills to even the score to 10-10.  The Aggies were diving all over the court on that point.  11-10 Katie and Taylor blocked Ford.  Molly next served up an ace on a ball that hit the tape.  Katie and Taylor teamed up for another block.  Katie got a kill to bring us to the media timeout, 15-10 Aggies.

 

The Cheerleaders made a t-shirt toss into the crowd.  Moe was standing and jumping for one.  A shirt came her way, but ended up rebounding to an old man.  I was wishing I'd get a shirt, so that I'd have an excuse to go over and give it to her and meet her. 

 

UTA broke the Aggies 5-0 run, but Katie immediately came back with a kill and teamed up with Lia to block Ford.  UTA closed the gap to 18-16 and the Aggies took a timeout.  Out of the break, Lia got a kill hitting a free ball over that surprised the Mavericks.  20-18 Molly tooled a block.  21-18 UTA challenged a touch, but the call stood.  23-19 Kyleigh got a kill on a touch. 

 

24-19 Molly got the Aggies to set point.  UTA took a timeout.  There was a promo pic on the video screen promoting Women's Basketball featuring Moe.  Her teammates started razzing her.  A fan turned around and recognized her.  I think he took a pic with her, too.  Katie and Taylor finished off the set with a block, 25-19.

 

Set 3: Mavericks 1, Aggies 1

Women's Basketball took a group selfie in the stands.  One of the Mavericks girls danced for Dance Cam.  The Basketball girls mostly hid when the camera was on them.  Mari was in to start for this set.

 

Katie got two kills early, which added up to 10 for the game to that point.  Taylor slammed one.  4-3 Aggies, the UTA girls wanted their coach to challenge the call, but with only one available to him, he shook it off.  Darian had two great saves on the point.  Lia put down a slap for a kill.  Meanwhile, Pistol Pete came by the Alamo girls and they got a group picture.

 

UTA went up 5-8 and the Aggies took a timeout.  The Mavericks then had three straight errors and they took a timeout at 9-8 Aggies.  During another t-shirt toss, Moe ran down to the sidelines, but came up empty.  Ryleigh got a kill on a touch and Katie got a kill, but the Aggies fell behind 12-15.  Timeout Aggies.  I could hear the coach yelling at the team during the break over the radio.

 

Mari got the next three Aggie kills.  Molly tooled the block for a kill.  Rilen made a great save on that point.  Ryleigh and Taylor blocked Ford to tie the score at 18.  Timeout UTA.  The Alamo girls danced to YMCA with the PA music.  The Aggie girls came back on court smiling, even Rilen.  It was the first time in the match I'd seen them loose.

 

19-18 Ryleigh hit a massive overpass kill.  I can't wait to see her develop into a star player.  She's already got the physique.  On the next point, Molly hit a UTA player in the face with a swing.  The Mavericks still made a valiant attempt to get the ball back over.  Taylor was called for touching the net on the next point.  She said she hadn't and the coach challenged, but it was confirmed.  Molly and Katie had kills and Ford served out to tie the score at 23. 

 

The Aggies were called for a double touch.  Coach Jordan nearly charged the court on the call.  Mari had a kill to tie it at 24.  The Aggies had a set point at 25-24 on a UTA DT, but they couldn't finish it.  The Mavericks could and came back to take the set in extra points, 25-27.

 

Set 4: Mavericks 2, Aggies 1

The set started off 0-3 UTA.  The coach disagreed with a foul call on Taylor and even yelled across court at the up official.  Adam said that was her fourth or fifth net violation of the match.  Molly broke up the run with an overpass kill.  Moe and the Basketballers left.  Maybe I'll be able to get her autograph this season and meet her.

 

2-6 Katie killed another one.  Keke Holloway came in to serve.  I saw Coach Jordan get up and leave the court.  I thought he was going to talk to the reserves, but he kept going.  For a terrifying moment, I thought he was about to leave altogether, but he was just getting up for a cup of water.  Either way, he'd seemed to have lost interest in the match.  He finally called a timeout at 2-8 UTA.

 

Katie and Mari came back with kills.  Molly and Lia blocked out Ford.  6-11 Katie fired one into the net.  She looked tired.  She was carrying the team.  Molly got a kill and her and Ryleigh combined for a block.  Katie and Lia had kills, but UTA was still up big.  Syndey McIntosh came in.  11-19 Ron and I were pleased that Morgan Stewart came in as she's one of our favorites, but it also meant the coach was clearing the bench and getting them some work. 

 

Ryleigh got a kill and at 15-20, UTA took a timeout.  Katie got her second wind with a couple more kills.  Mari and Lia added kills.  After a long rally, Lia and Molly combined on a block to make it 22-24.  Timeout UTA.  The Alamo girls started doing the Macarena in unison on the first note.  Lia and Molly blocked out Ford again to make it 23-24.  However, Darian went over the center line on the next point and UTA won it 23-25 and 3-1.

 

“The whole match was a freaking mess,” said the coach in the post game.  He went on about the players lacking even basic skills.  “I got a 22 year-old senior that I have to sub out on serves.”  I'm guessing he was talking about Lia.  In another interview, he said, "We score our points and we score the other team's points.”  He wasn't happy.  It wasn't a lack of effort.  The girls were diving on every loose ball, including 6'4” Molly.  They haven't quit and were taking the match seriously, perhaps too seriously.  They weren't having fun for the most part.  The UTA girls were all smiles during the match. 

 

Katie Birtcil led everyone with 18 kills.  Molly Johnson had 11 and Lia Mosher had 8.  The Mavericks had three players in the double figures: Brooke Townsend 17, Brianna Ford 13, and Kortney Pucket 10.  The Aggies had 12 blocks.  Taylor Snow was in on 5 of them.  Yes, the Aggies did block out Ford a lot, but she still got 13 kills and the Mavericks had a good second option in Townsend.     

 

Alamo girls went down to the court for pictures and autographs.  “Dizzykitten” escorted the girls out.  I'm not counting on seeing her again, but I can hope.  Ron looked over and noted that I was on the last page of my little notebook.  If this had gone five sets, I would have written notes on my arm, Memento-style.  Outside, there was a freezing cold wind blowing.  I had a jacket on, but I'm sure a lot of departing fans could have used those giveaway sweatshirts.    

 

Out-of-Town Scores

Aggie Soccer won at GCU 2-1 Thursday night.  This broke the Lopes' five-game winning streak and the only goal the Aggies gave up was on a penalty kick.  They also won 2-1 over CBU on Saturday night.  Next stop for them is the WAC Tournament. 

 

Aggie Volleyball's slide continued at Stephen F. Austin Saturday morning as they lost in straight sets.  Two of the sets weren't even competitive.  I'm worried Taylor Snow might have been injured in the match as she only played in one set. 

 

On Saturday afternoon, I listened to Aggie Football play UMass and win 23-13.  That's the program's first road win since 2018.  Quarterback Gavin Frakes may have been injured in the first half.  Diego Pavia came in and started whipping the ball downfield and getting yards rushing to lead the Aggies to victory.

 

Lastly on Sunday afternoon while I was writing this, Ross Chastain pulled off this move at Martinsville to drive into NASCAR immortality.  

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 20

Kirkwood Rexall Drug, Kirkwood, Missouri.  (Not all postcards are necessarily scenic.)

 

Holiday Inn, Kansas City, Missouri.  (I should have grouped all of the Holiday Inn cards together.)  

Sunflowers.  The Official State Flower of Kansas.

Postcards from the Edge: Blanks 19

 Dallas, Texas skyline.

76 Country Boulevard, Branson, Missouri.  I remember spending a nightmarish day in Branson in the 80's.  That line of line cars going into town was even worse when I was there.    

Westward Look Resort, Tucson, Arizona.

Comics Review: Archie Jumbo Comics #10

When I reviewed a new Archie digest, I ran into a story that I’d read before.  That wasn’t unexpected.  I was surprised that I hadn’t blogged about that other digest when I’d read it.  I guess I missed it or didn’t think to do it. 

 

This volume came out in 2017 and features Archie versions of various fairy tales.  It’s a good fit for the characters.  I really love these themed digests, but I can’t find any more of them at my local Barnes & Noble.  First up, I have to mention, in spite of the lovely Frozen cover art, there’s no story adaption inside.  This is disappointing.  I don’t know where Chilled has been published.  It’s apparently not even in a trade paperback edition of Archie fairy stories.      

The stories inside mostly either feature Betty and Veronica as co-princesses (or female leads), or Betty as the princess with Veronica as the villain.  First up is Cinderellas.  The stories are introduced with a text page about the original story.  Dan Parent writes all of the stories in the volume and is clearly having fun updating these classic stories.  He does the art in about half the stories.  

Jeff Schultz does the art in the rest stories and does an excellent job, as in the next story, The Little Mermaids.  The girls are very appealing here, even Cheryl Blossom with a squid lower half.

This is consistent with the movie, but this is about as hardcore as Archie gets showing the villain getting eliminated.  Sleeping Betty is next.  It’s pretty fun. 

 

Rapunzels is the following story.  Betty looks pretty glam here with the long locks.  Next, There’s No Place Like Riverdale is an adaption of the Wizard of Oz.  I’d read this one in another digest a while back. 

I don’t think Rumpelstiltskin has made it into a movie, but it’s a well-known story and gets adapted as Reggiestiltskin.  That’s good casting with Reggie as the villain.  Once again, Schultz makes Cheryl look really good. 

Beauty and the Beast becomes Betty and the Beast with Archie as the Beast.  Betty is very nicely rendered here.  The Beast is mostly from the movie with some Archie features.  Betty in Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland) and Snow White and the Riverdale Dwarves finish the comic.  (Veronica, as the Wicked Witch, actually becomes ugly and goes up in flames in another harsh ending.)

 

Okay, this is a great volume.  If you can find this or another Archie fairy tale reprint trade, get it.  This is definitely great for kids and will amuse immature adults (such as myself).

Comics Review: World of Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics #19

I bought this on calculated impulse.  I’m always looking at the Archie digests when I’m at Barnes & Noble.  I saw a new Sabrina story inside and decided to take a chance on it.  It was $9 and a nice thick little tome that I read over a few days while getting some sun outside.     

The new story was by Tania Del Rio and drawn by Bill Galvan.  Sabrina is adorably drawn, but the story is part of a continuing story about a new rival, Amber Nightstone, and not very good.  At five pages, it was going to be hard to tell much of a story anyway.  Tania has done some great work with the character before with her own run on the regular Sabrina comic.

 

More classic Sabrina stories comprise about the first third of the book.  Al Hartley and Stan Goldberg are the featured artists.  In one story, Sabrina is placed on trial by the Witches Tribunal for not causing enough mischief in the Mortal world.  Cousin Ambrose defends her.  At one point, Sabrina is accused of demonstrating for Women’s Rights.  (This is from the 70’s.)  Ambrose parallels this to their world, where women dominate.  As a witch says, “If you advocated for Male Lib, you’d cause turmoil and confusion in the Witch world.”  “Exactly,” says Ambrose, “That’s what Sabrina is causing in the outside world.”  That’s pretty prophetic and insightful for an Archie comic.

There is a story featuring Sabrina going to high school in the Other Realm, which was an interesting setting experiment.  There’s nothing from the Melissa Joan Hart era or the follow up cartoon.  There’s this Al Hartley story where Sabrina seduces an evil warlock with love (pictured above).  Who can blame his change of heart?  (Wait’ll Harvey finds out.)

Great pin up.  Not sure who the artist is.  The rest of the volume features Betty and Veronica.  The first story has Sabrina showing up to save the girls from a ghost to make for an easy transition.  (Does the whole gang know about Sabrina’s powers now?  It guess so, since it’s shown on the cover.  By the way, that is a dayglow orange on the cover that really stands out.) 

 

We have a rare appearance from Betty’s older sister, Polly, here.  Wow, what a knockout! 

 

There’s a Mr. Irresistible contest at Riverdale High.  Betty and Veronica are not the judges, but have a vested interest in the outcome.  Of course, you can guess who wins.  That got a chuckle out of me. 

 

In another story, Archie and Jughead set up Big Ethel on a date with a mannequin.  It’s as cruel as you’d think.  There’s also an overly creepy story with Jughead meeting someone like Cajun chef Justin Wilson from the 90’s.  Juggie gets way to chummy with him.  (I’m not providing scans of either story.  I can’t un-see them already as is.) 

One story I really enjoyed was Dan Parent’s Sleeping Betty.  It’s an Archie take on a fairy tale, of which there are many such stories.  In fact, I have a digest volume full of them.  When I thought about it and went back and checked, I’d indeed read the story before.  (I’ll review the ***Archie fairy tale*** book later.) 

Not a lot of Halloween-related material in this comic.  In one story, drawn by Jeff Schultz, there’s a costume Halloween party with a twist ending.  In the back, there are Little Betty and Veronica and Little Sabrina stories.  At the end, there’s an excerpt from the new Archie Encyclopedia. 

 

The Sabrina material I bought the comic for was really not that great.  Unfortunately, that’s par for the course for Sabrina.  The character is very likeable, but most of her older stories aren’t very good.  About halfway through this, I was really regretting the purchase.  I only really perked up over a couple of stories, including the fairy tale story, which I already owned in another comic.  So, this isn’t recommended.  I’m going to have to really question the next time I pick up another Archie digest for possible purchase. 

NM State Men’s Basketball Crimson and White Scrimmage 10-20-22

I’d gone to last year’s Scrimmage (10-12-21).  It was fun.  This time there was no admission fee.  (Last year, it was $5 for charity.)  They were also advertising post-game autographs.  Ron wanted to go this time.  Dad was interested, but he'd taken a day trip and wasn't able to get back in time.  For my part, I went to a funeral service in the afternoon (my third of the year so far), but was ready to go.   

 

I'd heard an interview with the new Basketball coach, Greg Heiar, a couple of weeks ago.  He outright apologized for the pre-conference home schedule.  He could only get a couple of in-state DII teams.  Nobody else would come here to play, even when offered money.  Heiar blamed Coach Jans for the job he'd done in building up the program.

 

In the interview, he gave his basketball philosophy as emphasizing defense and rebounding.  But also, all the players were being trained as point and shooting guards, so they could handle the ball and shoot it.  Hmm. . .  So in other words, he wants perfect players.  Good luck with that.  The Aggies were picked second in conference in the preseason poll. 

 

Ron had expressed interest in Burger King last week.  I got a good coupon in the mail, so for the first time in years, I went to a Burger King.  It was okay.  Their steak-style fries were impressive.  At the Pan-Am Center, I picked up a program and nearly grabbed an autograph card.  A girl came by and grabbed the whole stack front of me.  I think they were set out up front in error.  There wasn't a schedule poster out yet for the team.

 

Some terrifyingly bad rap music was playing on court.  I wanted to plug my ears.  Outside, we'd seen a family come in carrying oversized Mickey and Minnie Mouse dolls.  Ron said they'd probably get their own seats.  Indeed, I could see them across the court.  Also on that side, new Women's Basketball coach, Jody Adams, sat at courtside.  

 

As had been promised beforehand, the roster had almost completely turned over.  I only recognized Chi Chi Avery and Mike Peake.  I'd also heard of Deuce Benjamin.  He's a local player that had made the team.  There were two new players that the fans were high on that were still awaiting NCAA eligibility.  Xavier Pinson and Kim Aiken Jr. would still be playing tonight at least. 

 

One returner on staff is Dominique Taylor, who me and Ron had met a couple of years ago in the Barbara Hubbard Room.  He's a good guy and now he's the Associate Head Coach.  Congratulations.  Also on staff is Aggie hero, Johnny McCants.  I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one in the crowd who wanted his autograph.  I didn't see Joe Garza at the game.  He's a former player, turned color commentator for the Aggie TV broadcast.  My co-worker, Taylor hates him because they went to high school together and Garza dated Taylor's high school sweetheart.  How's that for some gossip?

 

The guys were warming up on court and finished with a little dunking contest.  Several guys bricked it, but Doctor Bradley slammed an impressive one.  (I think his parents must have had other ambitions for him.)  The team split up into Crimson and White uniforms.  The White team huddled up with their coaches.  The Crimson kept warming up. 

 

A good crowd showed up.  There were lots of families with kids.  Before play, the staff was introduced on court.  McCants got a big ovation.  The players were then introduced.  Deuce probably got the biggest hand.  Dominique was coaching the Crimson team.  Assistant Coach Chad Myers was coaching the other team.  Coach Heiar sat across the court to watch.  PA Ed announced that there'd be three 10-minute periods. 

 

First Period

The first score was an Alley Oop by Deshawndre Washington to Doc for the Crimson.  Next I have in my notes, #10 hit a 3 for Crimson.  There isn’t a “#10” on the program.  Actually, a couple of players had on different jersey numbers than what was listed.  I caught those.  I think I meant #0 Anthony Roy.  Maybe. 

 

Dominique was waving his arms and yelling on the sidelines after a missed running pass.  He’s already looking like a head coach.  Things were looking rough around the edges.  Peake missed two shots.  Kyle Feit made a 3 for the Crimson.  He then made a steal, shot a 3 that missed, got the rebound, and missed the layup.  After a timeout, DaJuan “Quaye” Gordon hit a 3 for the White.  (I don’t name these guys, folks.)  He also wore mismatched shoes on court and somehow made it look good.  Washington went tall and got a tip in for a basket.  It was 12-11 Crimson at the next timeout.

 

There was a T-shirt toss by the Cheerleaders in the break that got the crowd on their feet.  This is where I figured out that there were a bunch of kids there.  Both teams were looking kind of sloppy and missing a lot.  Aiken came from the top of the key, he made a spin move and dunked it.  That looked good.  Feit hit another 3.  It was 24-17 Crimson at the buzzer.

 

Second Period

Ron said someone got hurt during the first period with what looked like a groin pull.  I didn’t see it.  He said the player didn’t come back in.  Ron usually notices things better than I do.  Hopefully, the player wasn’t hurt bad. 

 

Coach Heiar went over to both teams’ huddles and chewed them out.  A couple of guys changed jerseys and switched sides.  There was a hat toss into the crowd.  It had a New Mexico Zia under the bill and was announced as a popular giveaway.  Ron had seen the hat before and really liked it.  I wonder why they don’t sell some of these giveaway hats.

 

DaJuan splashed a 3 to start the Second for the White.  Roy answered with a 3 for the Crimson.  Xavier got a layup for the Crimson on a great pass inside.  Issa Muhammed was the receiver on an Alley Oop for the White.  Doc put down a two-hand jam.  Xavier hit a 3 and got a layup.  Feit hit a 3 with a hand in his face.  Nice talk by the Coach.  He got boys firing.

 

38-32 Crimson at the first timeout.  El Paso sports reporter, Colin Deaver, was here.  He’d shot some footage on the court.  He came up near where we were to just watch the rest of the Scrimmage.  Flex Cam went around the crowd.  They found one super-buff guy who I hope was on the Football team.  The Women’s Basketball team was here and flexed while giggling. 

 

Xavier and Feit dropped in 3’s.  Deuce was in and hit a deep 3, which the crowd enjoyed.  Peake finally got one to drop with a 3.  Issa went up for putback for the White.  At 6’9” 240 lbs., he’s the second-biggest player on the team and he looks big.  Doc was called for a backcourt by the sideline.  The crowd there booed, including Coach Adams.  This got the whole crowd into it.  PA Ed came on, “Don’t boo, folks.  It’s just an exhibition.  We’re all just getting warmed up for the season.”  Ron said later, “The crowd was just warming up for the season, too.”               

 

Peake wasn’t having a great rehearsal.  He got called for a foul, then got a steal, but missed the jam.  Dominique was screaming at him as he came by on the next possession.  Play got a bit rougher on court and a few players were hitting the floor.  Peake tripped on a feed going for a layup.  Deuce cut through the defense for a layup.  The crowd loved it.  49-40 Crimson at the buzzer.

 

Third Period

An Open Practice for the Basketball team was announced for Saturday before the Football game.  I was interested, but more on that later.  There was a replica jersey toss into the crowd.  That was quite a giveaway. 

 

At the start, Peake took a poke and had to sit on the floor for a moment to collect himself.  Issa got fouled, but missed both free throws.  (Gotta work on that, big guy.)  He did make one after being fouled on a layup.  DaJuan cleaned up a miss with a basket.  Issa was fouled on one-hand jam attempt.  He made one of his throws. 

 

Dominique and his coaches were all up and yelling.  Crimson was having trouble handling Issa.  They did come back with a block.  Chi Chi hit a 3, but Roy came back with an uncontested layup. 59-45 Crimson going into a timeout.  I noticed only the Cheerleaders in the white uniforms were performing and throwing stuff to the crowd.   The squad in black was only sitting on the stands even though they were there in uniform.

 

Deshawndre found Chi Chi for an Alley Oop.  Roy came up with a 3 and there was another timeout.  The teams’ WAC trophy was in the house.  It was announced that fans could get their pictures taken with it after the game.  There was yet another timeout right after.  For this break, the cameras were just going around the crowd finding kids.  One of the Cheerleaders was holding an unhappy little girl.  The Cheerleader was trying to cheer her up.

DaJuan came back out with a 3.  There was a pass after that went to one of the refs, who ducked out of the way.  One of the players asked if he was okay afterward.  Pinson found Peake for an Alley Oop.  That looked good.  Deuce (pictured) put in a bucket and had a layup.  Shahar Lazar from Israel had a steal.  Feit put in another 3 and Lazar had a layup.  73-61 Crimson was the final.  The coach addressed the crowd with some encouraging words at the end. 

  

The scoreboard wasn’t showing player scoring.  I felt lucky they were showing the score.  I didn’t think to try and keep something like a scorecard.  Just from observation, Issa Muhammed looked really impressive.  Kyle Feit looked like a sharpshooter with 5 3’s by my count (pictured at the top, #5).  On Dever’s report on the game, he liked Xavier Pinson’s play and hoped he became eligible soon.  Lastly, Deuce Benjamin was a crowd-pleaser.  If he can play like that in a game, we may have another Johnny McCants.  (Those two are not at all the same size.  I’m just speaking metaphorically.)

 The kids stormed the court for autographs (along with some parents).  I decided not to stick around.  It was going to take too long and . . . I get more embarrassed getting guys’ autographs (like the Baseball team) than I ever get over girls’ autographs.  I think Johnny was there for autographs, but he wasn’t sitting at the table with the team.  Speaking of girls’ teams, I think I saw Aggie Soccer there in the crowd.  It’s hard to miss Xitlaly Hernandez and I think Makenna Gottschalk was there.  Ron and I went for Blasts at Sonic afterward.

 

Out-of-Town Scores

I’d assumed Soccer was out-of-town for a game, but actually Aggie Volleyball was.  They won against CBU that night.  Molly Johnson and Katie Birtcil had 15 kills each.  Taylor Snow was in on 11 blocks.  Service errors were still a problem.  On Saturday though, they were swept in the 3 sets by GCU in front of a big crowd.  Three Lopes players were in double figures for kills.  Only Molly got double figures with 12.  (Mia Peterson was second with 8.)  Either GCU was blocking out Katie, or she was hurt again.  Again, there were service error issues, but GCU basically did everything better than the Aggies. 

 

Late Friday brought tragic news.  A player on the San Jose Spartans, Aggie Football’s next opponent, had died in a scooter accident from being hit by a bus.  (There are possibly more embarrassing ways to go.)  The Saturday game was postponed.  Nobody’s sure about a reschedule at this point. 

 

As late as the cancelation was, Homecoming events went on anyway.  I called Ron Saturday morning about going to the Basketball practice, but he had other things to do.  I kind of wanted to go anyway, but was sort of exhausted from Thursday and Friday (lots of backed up work from being off) and I didn’t want to go by myself.  At the university, the tailgaters were still partying there.  The Band performed and the postgame autograph session with the Football team happened anyway for the fans that came out.  It was a nice gesture by the university.

 

Lastly, the weather turned nasty on Sunday.  Ron and I were supposed to go out for Aggie Softball against the Lobos and the Miners.  I called him to cancel, since NASCAR and F1 were on.  Even Ron wasn’t comfortable with going, so he came over.  We watched the races and watched the baseball playoffs on his laptop.  (Yes, all at the same time.  We also watched Twitch and some old Godzilla movies.)  He brought two big bags of chips and a box of Drumstick ice creams.  We got Jimmie Johns later. 

 

It was fun, but I do feel bad that I was the reason why we missed all four scheduled softball weekends this fall.  Sorry, ladies.  From seeing the pictures on Twitter, the girls weren’t wearing uniforms with numbers on them.  I don’t know what kind of notes I could have taken on the games.