NM State Aggie Football Late Season Report 2022 Part 2

Part 1

 

12-26 vs Bowling Green Falcons in the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field Detroit

Fans were excited about the possibility of the Aggies going to the Arizona Bowl again, or even better, the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque.  However, NMSU’s agreements with those bowl game had lapsed.  It would have been another great showing by Aggie fans at either of those games.

 

Going into this game, the Aggies had lost their punter, Josh Carlson, to the transfer portal to go to ASU.  This was a little puzzling, though perhaps not given the opposition (more on that later).  He was did a good job here.  Thankfully, the team didn’t lose any other main starters.  The other issue was Diego Pavia.  Apparently his pulled hamstring (that’s what it seemed to be) was worse than we were told.  Luckily, he had three weeks to rest it.  They said on the broadcast he was 90%.  (And Bowling Green would have been in real trouble if he’d been 100%.)

 

Ron came over to my apartment and brought his laptop to watch the game on.  The official watch party was at Rudy’s Barbeque.  The theater at the mall next door was showing the game for free.  Buffalo Wild Wings, also next door, and a bunch of other restaurants in town were certainly showing it, too.  But never mind, Ron wanted to watch at my apartment with no meal or snacks. 

 

My main preparation for the game was rushing down to my dad’s apartment to get the Aggie throw pillow he got me for Christmas.  I’d forgotten it there yesterday.  (He also got me an Aggie rain poncho.  I sort of hope I won’t be using it.)  I asked if he wanted to come over and watch, and he grumbled that the Aggies didn’t deserve to be in a bowl and he wouldn’t watch.  Fine.  Back at home, I listened to the pregame show on the radio.  I was tempted to listen to the local game call with the ESPN video, but radio reception wasn’t great and syncing with the video would have been an issue. 

 

There was a quick TV pregame that we missed.  The crowd at Ford Field was excellent.  The weather in Detroit had been terrible, as a blizzard engulfed much of the nation, but thankfully not us in southern New Mexico.  Outdoor activities for the team were limited before the game.  Indoors, there was no problem with the weather. 

 

Bowling Green is only an hour from Detroit, so they made up most of the 23,000 in attendance.  There were Aggie fans there.  NMSU was also selling commemorative tickets.  The university would give away the seats to kids for the game.  AD Mario Moccia said they would likely be losing considerable money sending the team, the spirit squads, and the band to the game, but it was worth it for the publicity.  They ran at least four NMSU commercials during the game.  In addition, they got Pistol Pete on camera.  If that doesn’t promote the university, what will?

 

First Quarter

Defensive star, Trevor Brohard, picked a great time for his first college interception.  On BG’s first series, Brohard came up big.  Quarterback Diego Pavia took over from there.  He hit Justice Powers for 42 yards on a third and long and Pavia ran on another third and 9.  Diego then hit Star Thomas for the touchdown.  7-0 Aggies.

 

I’d hate to put this as the pivotal play of the game, but on BG’s next series, their quarterback, Matt McDonald was hit by Dylan Early after he’d stepped out of bounds on a keeper.  At best I can say is that Early had his head down and might not have seen him go out, but it looked like a cheap shot.  McDonald flipped over and hit his head on the sidelines.  He came out the game, not to return.  There was a sad scene later when McDonald’s father was consoling him on the sidelines.  Even with the penalty, the BG drive stalled with the backup in, including a sack.  A 51-yard field goal missed.   

 

Second Quarter

BG got some revenge on the next Aggie series.  Pavia scrambled up the middle for the first down and took a cheap hit by Chris Bacon while taking a slide.  The penalty helped the drive.  Pavia found Eric Marsh on a short pass for a touchdown to make it 14-0.  BG came back with another drive and a missed field goal from 40 yards out.  Late in the half, Pavia was intercepted throwing on fourth down on the BG side of the field.  It was Bacon again making the play.  Pavia came off limping, but was okay for the rest of the game.   

 

Third Quarter

The Aggies first possession of the second half featured Jonathan Brady making a great 37-yard rush.  Dear God, Pavia was blocking for him downfield.  This young man was going to do whatever to win today.  Ethan Albertson hit a 35-yard field goal to make it 17-0 Aggies. 

 

The joy was short-lived.  Ta’ron Keith ran back the short kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown, 17-7.  I could hear Coach Kill groaning from here.  I had listened to an interview with him before the game and he’d obsessed over special team’s play.  He’d blamed a couple of previous bowl losses squarely on kicking issues.  Later in the quarter, Ahmonte Watkins blew through the BG line for 45-yard touchdown run to make it 24-7.  The Coach probably felt a little better.

 

Fourth Quarter

The final act of this drama started with 49-yard BG field goal to make it 24-10.  (BG did lose a player on the drive.  He was ejected for taunting, which involved grabbing the other player’s face mask.)  The Aggies started playing conservative on offense and gave the ball right back.  On BG’s next drive, Brohard forced a fumble, but it was recovered by BG.  A couple of plays later in the red zone, Chris Ojoh forced another fumble, recovered by Syrus Dumas. 

 

The Aggie offense was once again a bit tentative, which resulted in a punt from their own endzone.  I should mention here that Bowling Green has nation-leading kick-blocking unit.  (Maybe this is why Carlson dipped out of this game.)  Davion Daniels broke through and blocked the punt.  George Eberle, who I hadn’t heard of before this game, did have the presence of mind to fall on the ball for a safety, rather than allowing a touchdown.  24-12 and BG would be getting the ball back.  An assistant coach wrestled a pistol away from Coach Kill, who was pointing it as his own head.

 

BG backup QB, Camden Orth, led the Falcons to a quick touchdown to make it 24-19.  The Aggies got the ball back with 6:27 left on the clock.  BG had all three timeouts.  The Aggies went conservative again on their play calling.  What happened?  BG never got the ball back.  The Aggies converted on four third downs, two of them were long.  Pavia ran for three of them.  (He even fumbled the ball on one of the runs, but recovered it.)  Ron and I were barely breathing while watching these clutch plays.            

 

Aggies win 24-19!  Diego Pavia was your MVP.  His stats weren’t overwhelming only because they don’t measure heart.  Coach Kill got first bowl win in six attempts.  I did not know that he was winless in bowls before the game.  I also looked up the odds afterward.  Bowling Green was only a 3.5 point favorite.  It was a pretty even match up.  The Aggies are only FBS team undefeated in bowl games at 4-0-1.  However the main stat I kept hearing was 0-4, which was how the team started their season.   

 

I called dad to rub it in.  He was down at the river and had been listening to the game on the radio.  He was glad for the win.  Ron had tried to be cool while watching the game and had said, “Oh, they’re going to give it away,” but he was jumping up and cheering on big plays and diving for loose balls like I was.  We were both drained at the end of the game during that last drive.  There was barely a “Yay!”  It was mostly a “Whew!” 

 

There was no postgame.  ESPN dumped it off on to ESPN+.  Like there was anything else going on today in sports.  (There wasn’t.  This was the only bowl game.)  I flipped back on the radio, but there weren’t any postgame interviews there either.  I had to get those later off of the team Twitter.  Ron and I took off for KFC for chicken sandwiches, which were great and tasted even better with a side of victory.

 

Lastly, my dad got this great New Mexico Christmas card from a friend this year, who also gave me an Albuquerque Isotopes shirt.  I thought this would be a nice way to end the post.

 

NM State Aggie Football Late Season Report 2022 Part 1

That's the "good play" hat they wear on the sidelines

Okay, that’s not the best title.  It’s late and I’m not feeling creative (though I am happy).  While I’m here to cover the Aggies’ bowl win (spoilers), I kind of have go over what happened leading up to that win. 

For this season, I’ve been to three games.  There was the disappointing and very late night opening game versus Nevada (8-27-22).  There was an impressive win over Hawaii (9-25-22).  Finally, there was the disastrous game against FIU (10-1-22). 

 

I covered some of their other games (briefly).  9-10-22 the Aggies lost to UTEP, who would later in the season blow a 24-point lead to UTSA that would eliminate them from bowl eligibility.  (I actually listened to that game.)  10-15-22 the Aggies beat the Lobos.  I watched the Tennessee/Alabama game with my dad instead (no regrets).  This game was mentioned as the turning point in the Aggies’ season.  Strangely, it was also a turning point in the Men’s Basketball season, as a fight in the stands led to a revenge shooting in Albuquerque.  (Too sorted a tale to go into here.) 

 

11-12-22 the Aggies thrashed FCS school, Lamar, while I was at Volleyball.  11-19-22 the Aggies lost, as expected, to Missouri.  What was unexpected was that I was listening to the game, instead of Men’s Basketball, which was cancelled (see above).  So, the Aggies had had an up-and-down season to this point.  They had shown some encouraging signs, but not impressed.  Then came the game against Liberty. 

11-26-22 vs Liberty Flames

This was an early game on Saturday morning.  I was expecting a loss here, as Liberty had been in the Top 25 earlier in the season, including a road win at Arkansas.  I found out later that the Aggies were 24-point underdogs.  I joined the game after it had started and pleasantly found the Aggies leading, 21-7.  They’d gotten an interception that led to a score. 

 

From there, Liberty basically self-destructed.  They had two fumbles and a bunch of dumb penalties.  The Aggies kept cashing in.  Meanwhile, the Aggie defense played out of its mind.  When the dust settled, it was a 49-14 Aggie victory.  I’d never heard Jack Nixon and Cory Lucas so happy calling the game.  I was right there with them.  This was the happiest I’d been with Aggie Football since their 2017 bowl win. 

 

Quarterback Diego Pavia had 200 yards passing, 100 yards rushing, 3 passing touchdowns, and 3 rushing touchdowns.  He won several national awards for his performance.  Coach Kill had finally found his quarterback.

12-3-22 vs Valparaiso Crusaders . . . err . . . Beacons

Their name was changed for the typical bad reasons you can guess.  Jack Nixon used both throughout the game.  FCS Valpo had to request a waiver from the NCAA to play this game.  They were the best AD Mario Moccia could find at this late date to make up for the San Jose State game that was canceled for the death of one of their players.  SJS wouldn’t commit to a makeup game.  They were already bowl-eligible and didn’t need to play the game.

 

NMSU won their own NCAA waiver the same week.  Their record was 5-6 and they couldn’t find an FBS opponent to play them, so they were granted bowl-eligibility.  Apparently, 5-7 teams have gotten in when there weren’t enough teams for all the bowl games.  This game with Valpo wasn’t meaningful, since the Aggies had already played an FCS team and it wouldn’t help their record.  But, the university wanted to give the season ticket holders a game and the seniors a Senior Day.

 

I was planning on going to the game.  Unfortunately, Ron was out sick.  I was still going to go, but the wind and some sprinkles started just before I was going to leave.  I decided I’d listen on the radio, instead.  I felt bad about it.  There were 14,000 fans there in spite of the weather anyway.

 

This was Valpo’s first game against an FBS team.  They also didn’t have any scholarship athletes.  It all showed.  Diego Pavia had 200 yards passing after the first quarter.  He did pull up lame running downfield for a touchdown that was called back.  I was worried about him, but he was okay.  Pavia was only planning on playing a half anyway.  He finished with 4 touchdowns and 300 yards passing (and got more national recognition later).  It was 35-3 at the half.  Valpo had only scored off a long field goal facilitated by a couple of dumb personal fouls.

        

The final score was 65-3 Aggies.  Don’t feel too bad for Valpo.  They were paid to come here.  On their team Twitter, the team had nice time hiking in the mountains here and had a good meal at a nice local restaurant.  Moccia was already happy before the game.  “We’ve won five games this season.  Over the last five years, our team was 5-22.”  One of the Aggie players proposed to his girlfriend after the game to make it romantic as well. 

 

Next up, the Aggies go bowling.

 

Part 2

Card Show: Very Vintage 5 Envelopes

These were some of the envelopes for the little cards.  (I'm not sure which one went with each card.)  This first one is from 1923.

 

This one from 1936.  The postage for 1 1/2 cents features President Warren G. Harding.  

"Found these in Mama's old trunk."  I think that's Grandma's writing.

Lastly, this envelope is from 1925.  

"Inous thought you might want this.  The stamps anyway.  She didn't know who it could be from."  I'm translating this from the phonetic spelling.  This was probably Grandma's writing talking about Aunt Inous.

  

NM State Aggies vs NNM Eagles Women’s Basketball 12-20-22 Part 2

 

Part 1

 

Halftime

AD Mario Moccia chatted with Coach Adams as she came off court with the team.  Odd time for a conversation.  The girl dance team, Venom, took the court to perform.  The Sundancers went into stands to cheer the girls on.  It was a gangster-themed dance number.  They did a chorus line kick as part of the routine.  At the end, they strutted off court in formation.  The Sundancers gave them an enthusiastic round of the applause.  (The Cheerleaders weren’t paying attention to the performance.)  Mario went over to chat with Adam Young doing the broadcast, probably talking about the Football bowl game coming up.  The video board played a montage of scenes from Christmas films.    

 

Soufia Inoussa limped out on court to warmup, but quickly sat down, clearly unhappy.  She spent the rest of the game with her injured foot in a bucket of ice on the sidelines. Coach Adams came out and chatted with an older couple on the sidelines.  I don’t know who they are, but they seemed important.  The Eagles didn’t come out to warmup and didn’t show on court until the horn sounded.  The refs looked worried for minute.

  

Third Quarter

55-22 Aggies to begin play.  Miranda Salazar on the Eagles took an early spill when play started.  6’1” Ashlee Strawbridge helped up her 5’3” opponent with one hand.  (We won’t discuss the weight difference because these are ladies.)  Moe Shida picked up her third foul a minute in and came out.  I was hoping to see more of her.  Ashlee made a nice move in the paint for a scoop layup.  Eagle Ethena Silva made a layup and picked up a foul, which was Molly Kaiser’s third.

 

Miranda stole the ball right out of Fama Thiam’s hands.  Molly blocked a coast-to-coast layup attempt.  Sianny Sanchez-Oliver made a nice pass to Tayelin Grays for a layup.  It was 64-26 Aggies at the Media timeout with five minutes left.  We almost lost a Cheerleader on a shaky lift.  Play resumed, but in less than a minute, another Media timeout was called.  The Cheerleaders came back out to perform, but looked tired.

 

Lucia Yenes made a layup, her 13-th point.  Ethena, who is 6’, made a block on Ene Adams, 6’1”.  Kylira Williams hit a three for NNM.  66-28 with two minutes left.  The Aggies switched out all five players again.  Short-benched NNM, sat out Ethena.  Molly hit a three before the end of the quarter.  Eagle Briana Marquez took a half-court shot at the buzzer that hit the rim.  71-32 Aggies.

 

Fourth Quarter

With the last Aggie score, the Raising Cane’s Challenge was unlocked.  I think some of the fans left early for chicken.  Ron and I had other lunch plans.  The Cheerleaders and the Sundancers had an informal dance competition to Chubby Checker’s Twist.  (The Sundancers won that one.) 

 

Briana worked a dribble around a couple of Aggie defenders for a layup.  This time all the Aggie fans applauded the opposition without shame.  Moe was back in and banked one off the glass for two.  Molly made a steal and a layup.  Then, Moe had the ball stolen from her by Kylira.  Tayelin ran back to block the layup. 

 

Lucia scored her 15-th point off the glass.  Tayelin hit a three and the Aggie bench erupted for her.  Ethena got a block on her next shot.  80-36 at the Media timeout with four minutes left.  There was a hat toss into the stands by the Cheerleaders.  Pistol Pete walked a hat over the couple that the Coach was talking to earlier.  They must be important.  One of the Aggie trainers went over to chat with Soufia and got a smile out of her.

 

Tayelin made two layups and had 14 points.  Moe and Sylena Peterson passed the ball back-and-forth in the paint for the bucket.  The crowd and the bench enjoyed the show.  Sylenna tried it again on the next possession and passed it right to an Eagle player under the basket.  Lucia hit a jumper and made a layup for her final points.  90-42 Aggies was the final.  It was good this game ended when it did.  The crowd was actively rooting for NNM by the end.

           

Our Aggie star of the game was a surprising Lucia Yenes with 19 points.  She’s a bench player, so hopefully this performance gives and her and the Coach more confidence in her abilities.  Tayelin Grays came up with 14 points and 3 blocks.  Molly Kaiser had 11 points and 3 steals.  Ene Adams had 8 points and 7 rebounds.  For the Eagles, Briana Marquez scored 16, Ethena Silva had 9 points with 6 rebounds, and Miranda Salazar had 4 steals and 7 points.  I admit, I liked their grit.  Lastly, the Aggies went 3 of 10 on 3’s, and 5 of 5 on free throws.

 

Our lunch plans involved exploiting the Ruby Tuesday Tuesday Lunch Special, in this case, $6 cheeseburgers with fries.  It wasn’t just a great deal, it was a great burger.  However, the service was terrible, not to mention, the restaurant was undergoing renovation construction at the same time.  Holiday traffic getting there on a very busy one-lane road was also a deterrent.    

 

As long as we were in the general area, Ron was nice enough to take me by mattress store.  I was given a company credit card with $500 as my 20-th anniversary bonus.  I needed a new mattress, so that was an easy decision.  The service was also questionable here, but the deal was once again great.  I’d have to go back in a couple of days to pick it up. 

 

Well, what do you know?  This place was right next to Dairy Queen.  We went over for Blizzards, which I found disappointingly runny.  (The clerk did hold it upside down and I’m surprised it didn’t fall out.)  I also talked Ron into going by the used bookstore to get something for dad for Christmas before the store closed.  It was a busy afternoon.  Good thing we both got in a nice nap at the mattress store.    

NM State Aggies vs NNM Eagles Women’s Basketball 12-20-22 Part 1

This is another late report.  I can only blame Christmas duties.  On that note, I need to start with an out-of-town score first.  Unforgivably, I forgot to note Aggie Volleyball's best win of the year against the UTEP Miners after both their seasons were over.  It was a quirk of scheduling, but both programs really wanted to play each other.  The Aggies had a quick exit from the WAC tournament the week before and were lucky to have gotten in.  The Miners made it to the second of round of the C-USA tournament, but ran into a nationally-ranked team there.

 

For a weekday noon game in El Paso (11-23-22), there was a tremendous crowd of 1,100!  The Aggies weren't intimidated and went out to a 2-0 set lead.  The Miners came back and won the next two, before a close fifth set gave the Aggies a 3-2 win.  It was a tight match throughout. 

 

It was a coming out party for freshman, Ryleigh Whitekettle, who led everyone with 13 kills.  That was encouraging for next season.  Jayde Shelton had 12 kills, and Bianca Perez was back setting and fit right back in.  Next season is going to be very challenging for the Aggies as they join Conference-USA.  There were two nationally-ranked teams in the conference this season.  This game notwithstanding, UTEP was probably also a better program.  Joining a bigger conference, maybe Coach Jordan will be able to recruit better.

 

Okay, back to this day's game.  It was a beautiful day in Las Cruces.  Because it was a noon game for Women's Basketball with Northern New Mexico, I initially wasn't going to take the day off.  But since I had one more vacation day remaining, I decided to use it here.  Ron was glad for something to do to and came with me.

 

We got there at the Pan-Am Center way early as usual.  There were a few other fans present.  We passed by a couple of women with programs who seemed to be taking notes.  I missed my opportunity to ask them the question I'm always asked, “Are you working for the team/newspaper?”  I wonder if they were scouts.

The NNM Eagles had 10 girls listed on their roster, but there were only seven girls in uniform (and one really cute trainer or injured player).  So, they were going to be over-matched as DII team and short-handed.  I found out afterward, that they were also missing their top scorer for the game.  The Aggies, meanwhile, were getting Sylena Peterson back, but seemed to have lost Shania Harper for the game. 

 

There was just under 600 in attendance officially, but it looked more like a couple hundred.  Under the circumstances, any fans were a good showing.  The Cheerleaders, the Sundancers, and Pistol Pete were there, but the Band was gone for the break.  (Pete showed off a tremendous skill for spinning a ball on his finger.)  Before the majority of crowd showed up at tipoff, the girls looked kind of embarrassed performing for mostly empty stands.  

 

The Eagles were on court warming up during the Anthem and came to attention.  The Aggies were back in the locker room.  A girl dance group, The Venom Dancers, moved into the seats right below us.  They were in fedoras, suspenders, and white dress shirts like stylish gangsters. 

 

The Aggies came back out to warmup.  Ashlee Strawbridge, our program covergirl, gave the coach doing commentary for the broadcast a fist bump.  (I don’t know his name.)  Coach Adams came out dressed stylishly, yet casual, in a cream pullover and gray yoga pants.  The opposing coach, Justin Giddens, was near seven-foot tall.  I think he should have inserted himself into the lineup.  That would have made this a really interesting game. 

 

First Quarter

The Eagles scored on their first possession with a running layup.  I found myself applauding, before stopping myself.  It was a natural reaction given the imbalance of the competition.  Taylor Donaldson came right back with a running layup.  The Aggies seemed to be milking the clock a bit on their possessions to perhaps shorten the game.  Ashlee made a jumper on a fast break.  Taylor got a jumper at the buzzer on the next series. 

 

I could easily hear Coach Giddens from the opposite sideline shouting instructions.  He was very much into this game.  At seven minutes left, the Aggies put in five fresh players, including Sylena.  Tayelin Grays scored to make it 8-2 Aggies.  Timeout NNM.  Football Bowl game t-shirts were tossed to the crowd.  The merch kiosk wasn’t open today.  I was going to go look for one.  (A couple of days later, I drove past Sports Accessories and almost stopped.  I’ll wait for the next basketball game and hope for a win by the Football team.)  One of the dancer girls stood on her seat and did a leg lift to get a shirt thrown to her.

 

On court, Ene Adams was having a friendly chat with a ref.  Ene then went over to Coach Adams, who fixed a braid in her hair.  I’m not exactly sure what the issue was, but there is a coach who will take care of her players.  Back to play, Miranda Salazar, one of the shorter girls on court at 5’3” (the Eagles have four such players), hit a three.  She also has long dark hair going down past her waist. 

 

Sabou Gueye made a steal and found Ene under the basket for a bucket.  There were five minutes left, Aggies up 10-5.  A couple of Aggie bench players came in, Lucia Yenes and Sianny Sanchez-Oliver.  The Aggies pressed and got a turnover, however Moe Shida picked up two quick fouls and had to come out.  With four minutes left, the starters were back in.  Coach Adams may have been trying to wear down the short-benched Eagles (though I doubt that was necessary). 

 

Molly Kaiser got a steal, but the Aggies committed their fifth foul to put the Eagles in the bonus.  Ethena Silva put in a three for NNM.  She was the tallest player on their team at 6’.  She also had very long dark hair.  Ruth Sodipe, also on the Eagles, put in a scoop layup.  At this point, I’m noticing other Aggie fans in the crowd applauding them.  Sylena connected with Lucia for a basket at the buzzer.  29-14 Aggies.

 

Second Quarter

The dancer girls left to get ready for their performance.  They put on their dancing shoes and went down to the court.  In play, Tayelin hit a jumper and then got a block.  Again at the seven minute mark, five new players came in.  Eagle Briana Marquez hit a three.  She was one of their short players.  Soufia Inoussa answered with a three.  Molly picked up two quick fouls, but ended up on the floor both times.  Sylena then picked up a foul.  This was all on the same possession by the Eagles. 

 

Soufia was hurt while falling out-of-bounds on a layup by Lucia and had to be helped off.  That was, I’m sure, Coach Adams’ main concern about this game: injuries.  It was 44-19 with under five minutes left during the Media timeout.  A little kid courtside was dancing up a storm during every break with music.  Back to play, Sianny got a steal, but missed the layup after.  Ashlee got a block.  Moe fed Lucia down low for a basket and a foul. 

 

Off court, I could see Soufia getting her ankle taped up.  On court, Lucia got a layup, her ninth point.  Briana hit another three for the Eagles.  Fama Thiam fed Lucia for a jumper.  Ene banked one in off the glass.  Miranda had a steal for the Eagles and just missed a long three at the buzzer.  55-22 Aggies after twenty minutes of play.

 

Part 2   

Card Show: Christmas Cards 2

These are some cards from some charity solicitations.  The first two were from UNM Children's Hospital.  I don't remember where the other two were from.  They're all cute (and none of the say, "Christmas" on them).   

Card Show: Christmas Cards 1

I thought I'd post a few recent cards.  This first one is from Thanksgiving, but I like the watercolor picture.

 

Here's the Christmas card Aunt Judy sent.  It came with a gift card to Cracker Barrel, which dad, Ron (it was nice of dad to invite him), and I used over the weekend for a meal.  Ron got overstuffed because I gave him a couple of chicken strips I couldn't finish.  That and his meatloaf dinner were too much for him.  

The postmark on the envelope was cute.

And here's a card from a USO charity solicitation.  

And this was from a friend at work.

Card Show: Very Vintage 4

 "Ever your friend."

This one is a little envelope mounted on cardboard.  There's a little bitty blank card inside.

 

"Absent by dear."

"A Merry Christmas.  I hope you'll find this Christmas fine in every way--A tiptop time of pleasure--A very happy day."  This one was still in a little blank envelope.

Card Show: Very Vintage 3

This first one may be an apology card.  "As we have been so let us still be friends no cruel breath can chill!"  Maybe not, but lovely verse.

    

"Have kindly thoughts of me."

A little Oriental fan.

"A Merry Christmas," with mistletoe on a four-leaf clover?  Somewhat mixed holiday messages.

"All happiness to you."

Card Show: Very Vintage 2

Very pretty, ornate Valentines.  "A Message of Love."

 

"A Token of Love.  In endless peace and happiness may the years glide away, and may life be a perfect dream of joy from day to day."

"All happiness to you."

"May true friends be around you."

NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball 12-13-22 Part 2

Part 1

 

Halftime

The Sundancers gave a spirited performance at the half.  A cute, perky trainer with the group stood in front of us to make a video of their performance.  (Such a pretty smile.)  Coach Baarts came by going down the sideline tables.  I tried to wave to him to show him my Soccer championship t-shirt to show him how much I paid for it, but didn’t get his attention.  He sat down by AD Mario Moccia at the other end. 

 

Santa came out on the floor with the Cheerleaders.  They performed a high-flying acrobatic routine that wowed the crowd.  Who knew the Jolly Olde Elf was so spry?  Mario went over and got his picture taken with him.  Mario asked for a controversy-free Christmas for NM State Athletics (and a bowl win). 

 

On the sidelines, a guy in the seats that looked like a team trainer casually drained a 3 before the warmups started.  That got a “Whoa” out of the crowd.  In front of broadcasters, the refs met and fist-bumped each other.  There is another team on the court that wants to perform well (not sure if that happened tonight).                

 

Third Quarter

Ene Adams got a layup to start the Aggie scoring for the second half, but a travelling call turned the ball over on the next trip.  The Aggies were defending well and forced a shot clock violation.  Ene grabbed a rebound and made a bucket.  Miner Elina Arike matched her with a quick layup.  The Aggies took a timeout after that, up 35-29, 3 minutes in. 

 

There was a cute commercial for Sunday’s Men’s game and the Teddy Bear Toss at the half.  The fans seem to like the promotion.  Across the court, the girl I was fixating on with the impressive piles of curly hair was rocking out to the Cher song over the PA.  Nobody’s perfect.  The Miners came out pressing again.  Shania Harper picked up her third foul.  Arike got a block on Tayelin Grays and came up with the ball, but stepped out.  Molly got her third foul on a charge call.  She came right back with a steal, but was blocked on her fast break layup.

 

35-31 Aggies with 4 minutes left at the Media timeout.  Harper didn’t call “Glass,” but did get a bank shot out of the break.  Taylor Donaldson was called for a reach in after a turnover.  It was her third foul.  Arike had a steal and layup to make it 37-35.  Timeout Aggies.  Back to the action, Tayelin was called for a questionable charge for her third foul.  Molly made a wild long pass to a UTEP player, who then threw it right back to her on a wild long pass.  Molly would miss a last second shot.  The quarter ended tied, 37-37.  The UTEP bench and their fans were roaring.

 

Fourth Quarter

A super cute girl was on court in the break for the Whataburger Fry Game.  Her and the crowd made the pick and won easily.  Molly was up to 14 points.  Arike and Avery Crouse each had 10 points for the Miners.  Molly went to coast-to-coast on a layup and the Aggies had two defensive stops on UTEP. 

 

The ref wearing the mask got hit by a tipped ball.  It wasn’t a comment on the officiating by the players.  However, Molly was called for her fourth foul.  She was scrambling for a loose ball with a Miner player.  It looked like a jump ball.  Molly came out.  Arike put in a shot from under the basket to put UTEP up 39-41 with 6 minutes left.  After a coast-to-coast layup by Jazion Jackson, UTEP went up 39-43.  Timeout Aggies.

 

Soufia Inoussa drained two free throws after a foul, but Jackson got a layup and made a free throw.  Taylor also picked up her fourth foul on that play.  Molly came back in.  Arike blocked Taylelin again on a shot.  Jackson had another layup to make it 41-48 Miners.  The Aggies hadn’t been shooting much from behind the arc.  They came back with two missed shots.  It was 41-50 with 3 minutes left, before Soufia hit the team’s first 3 of the game. 

 

Molly made a jumper and Taylor hit a 3 to close the score to 49-51.  The Miners came back with a layup and a foul.  The crowd was in an uproar.  They’d been vocal up to this point, but it was turned up more now.  The refs had a lengthy review of the play.  Molly was given the foul and fouled out.  She got a good hand coming out, finishing with 18 points.

 

Taylor hit another 3 on a fast break to cut the score to 52-54.  Timeout Miners.  Ashlee Strawbridge made a steal on an inbounds that went out.  The refs had another long review that did go the Aggies’ way.  Nevertheless, the crowd wasn’t amused.  There was a loudmouth behind me that been going for the whole game and was really letting the refs have it.  Arike hit two free throws after being fouled.  The Aggies were disorganized and turned it over.  52-57 UTEP wins. 

 

Molly Kaiser finished with 18 points and 3 steals.  Ron said he saw her puking into a bucket during the game and that’s he’s seen her do it in every game.  I cannot confirm that.  Taylor Donaldson had 11.  Shania Harper did the dirty work with 10 rebounds.  I think the team was missing Sylena Peterson, who was out for the game.  She’s a pretty good shooter.  For the Miners, Elina Arike led with 16 points and Avery Crouse had 10. 

 

Neither team shot 3’s well.  The Aggies were 3 for 15; the Miners were 2 for 8.  The Miners went 46% shooting, while the Aggies only shot 36%.  The Aggies did go 7 for 7 on free throws.  They did not have a lot of assists, so they weren’t moving the ball around and finding the open shot.  The team is competitive under Coach Adams, but is either lacking the pieces to win and/or they need more experience.

 

The Aggies did go around the sidelines to greet the fans, though they weren’t entirely enthusiastic.  Ron and I were both satisfied with the effort, even with the loss.  Ron was a bit quiet all evening.  I think he was mostly over his cold.  The girls should have an easier foe for next week’s noon game.  I’m taking my last day off for the year for it and am looking forward to it.