Comics Review: Archie Milestones #22 Jughead Christmas Special

Okay, this is a really good Archie digest.  As Archie is “The Official Comic Book of Christmas,” you’d expect a Christmas issue to be entertaining, but starring Jughead, you’ve got gold.  Heck, I marked half the book for comment.  However, I have to question how many more of these Archie Christmas digests I’m going to be getting.  I’d already read a couple of stories in here.  There’s only so much classic material.

 

(Though this didn’t stop me from ordering more Archie Christmas books online yesterday.  So much for not buying more.  I never usually order stuff online, but I really kind of wanted the new Archie Christmas floppy comic.  They’re not going to come until next month, so I don’t know when I’ll be covering them.)

 

It’s going to be prohibitive to cover everything good in this book.  I’m going to just hit a few highlights.  Great Archie artist, Rex Lindsey, stories start and end the book.  There’s four stories featuring Hot Dog.  There’s a couple of trips to the North Pole.  There is romance and even something of an explanation why Jughead avoids girls.  (It’s not good sense.  It’s something else.)    

 

I think this was my favorite of the stories I hadn’t read before.  It features Fernando Ruiz’s very appealing artwork.  Whenever you see Jughead dressed up, it’s fun.

 

Jughead’s dog, Hot Dog, has a couple of heartwarming moments.

Jughead makes a disastrous trip to the North Pole.

 

His sister, Jellybean, makes a better impression on St. Nick.

What would Archie be without some physical comedy? 

I love this panel by Pat Kennedy.

There’s a story where a female elf wrecks Santa’s operation.  All of the boys want video games, but she decides that they won’t pay attention to their girlfriends if they get them.  Here’s her solution. 

 

A lot of these Christmas themes seem to be arriving in two’s.  There’s a couple of stories about the dangers of mistletoe.  In both of these stories, somehow Jughead is suddenly irresistible.     

 

Okay, I’ll get to discussing the mystery of Jughead.  It was carefully set up in a previous story with an innocuous remark by Veronica. 

 

And here we have the reveal.  “I can’t kiss you because I’ll poke your eye out, kid.”  Who knew?  That is just so Christmas.  I think we’ve all learned something here. 

 

Seriously though, it’s hard to critically review a comic book that I really enjoyed.  It’s much easier to rip on bad material.  Of course there are some clunkers, but overall, it’s a lot of Christmas-y fun.  I hope the other stuff I ordered is this good.

NM State Aggies vs Portland State Vikings Women’s Basketball 11-18-23

Sabou Gueye

Technically, the title is misleading and burying the lead.  Today’s Aggie Women’s Basketball game was completely upstaged by what was going on with Aggie Football, which started at the same time.  I apologize up front if don’t give the ladies their proper due. 

 

There was lots of Aggie Sports today.  Aggie Volleyball won their last two games and came into the C-USA Tournament as the #2 seed.  They won their first round game and today’s game versus FIU.  They’re on to the finals against Western Kentucky tomorrow.  Aggie Men’s Basketball would be playing here in the evening.

 

I’ve had an up-and-down week.  I took three days off at the beginning of the week.  When I got back to work, I found out a bunch of co-workers were out sick.  I was buried with work.  On Friday, I took something as a preventative to getting sick and had a reaction to it and ended up in the Emergency Room.  I’m fine, thank God.  (Fell another day behind on work.)  I was feeling a bit weak today, but was okay to do things.  I went over to the mall and got something for the co-worker who took me to the hospital.  In the afternoon, still feeling okay, I took off for today’s Women’s basketball game and took my radio with me to listen to the football game against Auburn. 

 

There was light crowd today at the game, especially compared to last game I was at against Arizona.  There was only one little girls team present.  I sat in the wrong place for basketball, which was my usual seat for volleyball, but it worked out okay.  Today’s opponent, Portland State, was warming up out on court.  They were a pretty nice-looking team (especially Laynee Torres-Kahapea).  They were about to line up for the Anthem when an assistant coach told them to leave the court.  The Aggies were in the locker room, as usual.

 

The Roadrunner Revue Band was here.  They’d be doing double-duty playing at tonight’s Men’s game.  The Sundancers were here along with a few Cheerleaders I didn’t recognize (the rest would be here tonight) and Pistol Pete.  For the Aggies, Lucia Yenes and Ene Adams had their legs heavily wrapped up, but both would be playing.  Coach Adams was again bold in her fashion with a crimson plaid sports jacket. 

 

PA Ed Carnathan (who’d be calling both basketball games) made an announcement about Aggie Volleyball winning and going to the championship game before the game.  He’d be making some more announcements during the game.  On the radio, Jack Nixon mentioned that UTEP took WKU to five sets in the other semi-final and almost did the Aggies a favor.  (UTEP is tough, but I kind of would have liked the Aggies’ chances against them better than #22 in the nation WKU.)  There was a program up front, but no scorecard this time.  I felt a bit naked not marking off scoring, but had plenty of notes to take.          

 

First Quarter

Both teams started out cold.  Ene almost got the scoring started with a free throw, but it was waived off for a lane violation.  3 minutes in, PS finally broke the seal.  Molly Kaiser answered right back for the Aggies and made another to make it, 4-2, 5 minutes in.  It would be tied at 4 going into the Media Timeout.

 

In Football, the Aggies got the ball first.  Diego Pavia finished the drive with a pass for a touchdown.  He was doing good with the passing, but was helped out with a couple of Auburn penalties.  The crowd there was announced at over 88k.  I could hear them.  PA Ed announced the 7-0 score to the cheers of the crowd at the Pan-Am Center.

 

After the break, Molly hit a 3 to make it 7-4 with 3’ left.  Sabou Gueye missed a runner in the lane, but got the rebound and Tylie Jones converted with a jumper.  The ball hit the rim, bounced high, and fell in the net.  Loes Rozing hit a jumper and two free throws.  It was 13-6 Aggies after 10 minutes.  In Football, Auburn went 3-and-out on their first possession.

 

Second Quarter

An ad ran for Aggie Football going to the conference championship game next month.  It felt like we were rubbing it in on Portland State.  I noticed at the press table, they were watching the football game.  In the break, PA Ed was standing and watching, along the guy that gives the signal to the officials about coming out of the TV break.  That guy is able to multi-task well.

Lucia Yenes

Sabou blocked a 3 attempt early.  Jaila Harding made a fast-break jumper off a great feed by Sianny Sanchez-Oliver.  Lucia came into the game briefly and immediately put in two baskets before coming out.  The coach is limiting her minutes.  17-10 Aggies with 7’ left.

 

Back to the Football, Diego threw a pick, but it was nullified on an offsides call.  Unfortunately, he also took a penalty for tackling the defender and suplexing him to the ground.  The Aggies didn’t score on the possession. 

 

Sabou drew charge on defense, but Esmeralda Morales put in a 3 for the Vikings next to make it 19-15 with 6’ left.  Ene increased the lead to 21-15 after a pair of free throws.  Esmeralda made a steal that led to a PS basket, 21-17.  Joy Halton made a great pass inside to Esmeralda for a basket, 21-19.  They would tie it at 21 with 2’ left.  Jaila responded by hitting a 3 and Roes got a rebound with a putback to make it 26-21.  An errant hard pass struck the metal sign in front of the fans at the sideline seats and startled them.  (Me, too.  I didn’t know they were metal.)  Sabou made a jumper to make it 28-21 Aggies at the half.           

Halftime

I went to the bathroom and missed the Sundancers performing.  I would have waited if I’d known that was coming.  Back to Football, Auburn had a bad penalty that killed a drive and they punted.  The Aggies went 3-and-out.  Auburn came back and made a fourth and short play.  The Aggie defense had a couple of dumb penalties that extended the drive and Auburn scored a touchdown to make it 7-7 in the second quarter. 

 

Third Quarter

The Aggies started off with three travelling calls and two fouls to begin the quarter.  PS had two fouls themselves.  Ene sunk at couple more free throws to make it 30-23 with 7’ left.  Sabou made a steal and went for a layup, but missed.  When she came out, the Coach gave her a long talk on the sidelines.  Sylena rejected a shot, but was called for her third foul in the process. 

 

Mia ‘Uhila made a steal for PS, but Molly stole it right back and got a layup, 34-24 Aggies, and the Vikings took a timeout.  (Was that the only team timeout of the game?  This game flew by.)  Back at Auburn, the Ethan Albertson hit a 40-yard field goal and the Aggies took 10-7 lead into halftime.  (Yes, Jack and everyone listening was amazed.) 

 

Back to basketball, the Aggies had another travelling call.  (Got to work on that, ladies.)  This was part of a three-minute scoring drought that felt much longer.  Ene missed 4 free throws during the stretch.  Molly broke it up with a layup, 34-24.  Tylie hit a jumper and Molly had another layup to make it 38-24.  Molly got laid out flat on the court on a foul.  She made two free throws and came out.  She was okay.  41-28 Aggies after three quarters.      

 

Fourth Quarter

PA Ed gave the Football score in the break.  An adorable little girl won the Fan of the Game award.  She was cheering her little heart out.  Tylie started the quarter with a jumper.  Sabou had another steal and this time finished the layup.  That was a good talk by the Coach.  45-28 Aggies with 7’ left.

 

Esmeralda hit another 3.  Viking Lana Wenger hurt her hand on a play.  She had to stay in for a minute and keep playing before she was taken out.  The trainer took a look at her on the bench.  Lana came back in later with her finger wrapped up. 

 

The Aggies poured it on.    Sy found Molly for a layup, 51-33.  The little fan girl came up on the video board for Flex Cam.  This was too cute.  Esmeralda put in another 3 for PS.  The game finished, 57-38 Aggies.  Admittedly, I was sort of tuning out a bit as the game was blowing out and I wasn’t keeping notes.

 

For your stats, Viking Esmerelda Morales led everyone with 19 points.  Molly Kaiser had 17 points and 3 steals.  She was clutch.  Loes Rozing had 8 points and did the dirty work with 8 rebounds.  The Aggies shot 42% from the field.  They looked pretty good this afternoon. 

 

Back to Football.  The Aggie defense got a big sack on a third down and forced an Auburn punt.  I walked outside to my car.  The road barriers were now up for the Men’s game later.  One guy decided that didn’t apply to him and he proceeded to move one.  (I chose not to help him.)  Traffic was forced out through one exit.  I sat in my truck and listened to the game while the line cleared.    

 

The Aggies scored another touchdown to lead 17-7.  Star Thomas stumbled into the endzone on a short pass.  I drove over to get gas and Auburn had a fruitless possession.  Back at home and into the fourth quarter, the Aggies ran a fake punt for a first down.  Then on the Auburn two-yard line on fourth down, Diego found Eli Stowers for another touchdown, 24-7.  Auburn came back with a field goal, 24-10.  The Aggies recovered the onside kick.  Makhilyn Young rushed in a touchdown to finish it.  31-10 Aggies!  Can you believe it?    

 

I called dad before the game ended and told him the score and told him to listen in.  He was amazed and happy.  For some unknown reason, dad hates Coach Kill.  However, he talks to a neighbor that works for the university, who says it’s all Kill’s assistant coaches making the team good, so dad now roots for the team.  I’m sure Coach Kill actually has a lot to do with the team’s success, but I won’t talk dad out of it.

 

This was a “money” game for the Aggies.  They made $1.8M.  Twitter was not kind in pointing this out, especially other SEC teams.  (Also, the Aggies are now 1-27 versus the SEC in football.)  I think the Aggies are going to have trouble booking these “money” games in the future. 

 

Auburn was 26-point favorites, however their new head coach is Hugh Freeze, who was coaching Liberty last year when the Aggies shocked the world by beating them badly, 49-14, and they were also 24-point underdogs.  I had this pegged as a revenge game for Freeze, not a rerun.  

Diego Pavia celebrates with the Auburn crowd.

Diego Pavia threw for over 200 yards and 3 touchdowns.  He was banged up coming into this game.  People were questioning if he was going to play.  Coach Kill said, “We’re coming here to try and win.  He’s playing.”  Aggie rushing had over 200 yards.  Credit the Aggie defense, Auburn only had 65 yards rushing and they’re known for their run game.  The Aggies had no turnovers, though there were two near ones.  Diego had the interception scare and a fumble, but he’d already been blown down before it happened. 

 

The Aggies got a bit lucky and the refs weren’t helping Auburn.  Regardless, that’s 7 wins in a row.  Even with this huge win, the Aggies have two tough conference games coming up.  Jacksonville State dropped 56 points winning today and Liberty also had a big win and they’re 25-th in the nation.  Hopefully, the fans will show up for the final home game next week.          

 

I listened to the Men’s Basketball later that night.  Duke Keith was sitting in for Jack Nixon calling the game.  (Adam Young was calling the TV side.  He also called the Women’s game.)  The team picked up a new star player for this game, Femi Odukale, with his eligibility approved.  The Aggies went down by 12 at the half to Northern Colorado, who was shooting the lights out, while there was “a lid” over the Aggie basket.  The Aggies came back in the second half.  The crowd got into it and the Aggies won 76-71.  Four Aggies were in double-digits scoring, including Odukale.

 

“It’s a great day to be an Aggie,” they said in the postgame with three wins today . . . except it was four.  Duke kept forgetting to mention the Volleyball win.  He remembered them later, but didn’t know if they’d won.  I’ll go ahead and finish up the storyline.  Aggie Volleyball did lose to WKU in straight sets in the C-USA Championship.  Starr Williams, Ryleigh Whitekettle, and Kacia Brown got all-tournament nods. 

 

The team finished second in the conference and went to the championship game, but they honestly never felt like a contender to win it all.  Those two games against Sam Houston (11-3-23 and 11-4-23), the only team that didn’t make the tournament, both going five-sets was brutal.  UTEP didn’t seem all that great, but were much grittier.  WKU just runs like a machine.  The Aggies certainly have some real talent, but aren’t a cohesive unit.  They’ve got to work on being more of a team. 

   

Hey, NMSU joins a new conference and are already in three championship games (including Football, which is yet to be played).  The school is definitively competitive out-of-the-box.  We’ll see how the Basketball, Baseball, and Softball teams do next.  Today, November 18, 2023, was a great day in Aggie Sports and we’ll celebrate this one.

Comics Review: Fantastic Four-Penguin Classics Marvel Collection

I don’t want to do this.  I don’t want to write this.  Shoot, I didn’t even really want to finish reading this book.  This may finally be the end of my reviews of superhero comic books.  (Though I did buy an Archie comic after this.)  Was this presentation of all-time classic Fantastic Four stories really that bad?  No, but it was disappointing and a culmination of an almost unending series of disappointments in reviewing comics.  Just click on the “Comics Review” tag and read any of them.  I think there’s only a handful of positive ones.

 

I was reasonably upbeat about Penguin’s Captain America volume.  I even finished it eagerly awaiting the release of a Fantastic Four one.  In truth, the Captain America book had issues (pardon the pun).  I really liked some of the material, but it was all kind of hokey even the really good stuff.  I feel about the same about this FF book, except it doesn’t have any really good stuff in it and the hokey stuff is even worse.   

 

The Fantastic Four was a very innovative superhero comic for its time.  The four characters were not exemplary heroes, unlike the DC superheroes.  They’ve all got personal hang ups and issues with one another.  In the case of Ben Grimm becoming the Thing, he directly blames Reed Richards for his condition (correctly).  Reed is also a lousy boyfriend/husband for Sue Storm, who acts way too needy at times herself.  (And her fidelity to Reed is in doubt until their marriage.)  Johnny Storm is a literal and figurative hothead and causes a lot of needless strife with Ben.  In spite of their personalities, they come together as heroes against incredible threats to the world.

 

Regrettably, the stories in here are pretty goofball and ridiculous.  “What do you expect from a superhero comic?”  Obviously, I expecting something a little less silly.  I can suspend a lot of disbelief, but I need some basic logic in any story.  If a story is going to border on pure whimsy, I’d actually prefer not having a pseudoscience veneer and characters showing serious emotions. 

 

All of this is easy to critique on in retrospect.  Like I said, the character work was a revelation at the time it was created.  The “soap opera” elements of the Fantastic Four would become standard in other comics like the X-Men in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.  One wonders what if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby weren’t so overworked at the time when they created these seminal tales.  If only the stories weren’t so hyperbolic and absurd.  You could even keep the basic plots just give them some internal logic and stories that don’t rely on outrageous coincidence to progress.

 

I’m being really harsh on this classic material.  I was expecting more.  I do not feel cheated, though.  These Penguin books are very well formatted.  For $28, you’re getting 350 pages.  There’s a bunch of fluff and filler and some questionable commentary, but it’s still plenty of comic book material.  You might be better off with a Marvel reprint trade paperback of some sort, but it probably won’t be as nice.  Actually, there’s much better FF stories later on.  Buy a trade of issues from the late 70’s or later for better entertainment.     

 

Let’s get to some specifics about the book.  This first half features the earliest issues with the FF.  They face off against the Mole Man in their first issue.  It’s kind of like the standard monster comic of the time, but with some interesting protagonists.  Next, there’s the Skrulls.  I hate the Skrulls and always have.  Shapeshifting races in general irritate me.  Then they face Miracle Man, who is an outright loser.  The first two issues were at least iconic, but this one could have been dropped for another issue surely.  

 

The FF then meet the Submariner.  Namor is an intriguing character introduced in the most contrived way possible.  You do get the above dramatic scene with the Thing attempting to take out a giant monster with an A-bomb strapped to his back.  Next up is the introduction of the iconic Dr. Doom.  The story features the guys going back in time to get Blackbeard’s treasure and the Thing might have actually be Blackbeard.  Oooookay.  That’s not the most auspicious beginning for the great villain.  The collection does not include the Submariner/Dr. Doom team up issue.  I know that story.  It’s weird.

Breaking . . . no . . . shattering . . . no . . . vaporizing the fourth wall, Stan and Jack appear in the return of Dr. Doom as he forces them to lead Reed into a trap involving the old mind switcheroo.  Hijinks ensue.  In another meta-contextual story, the FF read their fan mail.  The boys find themselves defending Sue from some readers calling her basically useless.  She’s genuinely hurt.  Reed offers a forceful, but ineffectual defense of the Invisible Girl being on the team.  After she later developed telekinetic powers, Sue was much more useful.  (I don’t know when that happened.)

Well, I eventually got to what I came for and what would hopefully save the volume for me: Galactus’ first appearance.  There he is in all of his glory with that big “G” on his chest to let everyone know who he is.  He was also sporting his “summer” ensemble for these issues.  Perhaps he was planning on hitting the beach on some other planet after absorbing the earth’s biosphere.      

 

Actually, this trilogy of issues is pretty good.  Galactus, the Watcher, and the Silver Surfer are in full Shakespearian voice.  Galactus might look a little dippy, but he is fully formed in character.  There’s some contrivance, but it plays out as a cosmic drama.  It is a bit curious that basically only the Watcher, the Surfer, and the FF stand against Galactus and nobody else or any other superheroes are involved in this apocalyptic story.  The characters are what really make this fairly straight forward premise work, otherwise it works out a bit like a play on a stage rather than an epic.

 

Stan and Jack must have been a bit dissatisfied with the story, as well.  They redid it with only the Silver Surfer as the opposition in a 70’s graphic novel.  I read that a long time ago and still have the book.  It has a much stronger narrative.  By no means are the FF and the Watcher deadweight in the original, but it’s more dramatic with just the Surfer.  (Stan and Moebius teamed up to do something of a sequel to the graphic novel in the 80’s.  It’s also pretty cool.)  My first exposure to the original story was a podcast radio play revision/deconstruction of it focusing on a throwaway line in the story where J. Jonah Jameson thought the whole thing was a hoax.  It’s awful.  Avoid it.          

       

This story leads directly into Johnny Storm enrolling in college and the Thing deserting the team in This Man . . . This Monster.  It’s another body-switch story, but this time featuring the Thing.  The main story is okay, if heavy-handed. 

 

The Johnny Storm college subplot, continued from the end of the Galactus saga, I found a bit more interesting.  Johnny is a public figure as an unmasked superhero, so he has a celebrity life.  That has plusses and minuses, but is definitely interesting.  The character was popular enough to have his own side title for a while.  For that matter, the Thing used to be a very popular character.  He once had a team up and then a solo title.  Heck, Dr. Doom used to be the main Marvel villain.  What happened?  (The X-Men became the main characters at Marvel in the 80’s and up until the MCU films.)

 

Finally, the FF stories close with an annual and a long form story.  It’s a lot closer to a modern comic than the rest of the book.  While the story of going into the Negative Zone and fighting Annihilus to get a cure for Sue, who is giving birth, is exciting and visually impressive, it does rely on some questionable story logic. 

 

In an appendix, the Submariner’s origin story from the 30’s is reprinted.  Boy, is he a homicidal prick in this.  Okay, here’s where I got a beef with Penguin.  The editor’s notes were genuinely excited that Namor’s fight was against “White men.”  The term is used a couple of times in the story, so it wasn’t an accident.  The editor felt this was an early stab against colonialism more than social justice.  I’m not sure why the character’s creator, Bill Everett, put this in.  Namor is shown with alternating blue and green skin underwater, but is White when he’s on the surface, along with his cousin, Dorma.  It’s a mystery.

 

Overall, the book has lots of imagination and was ground-breaking when it was made, but it’s too rough in execution for me to recommend.  The second half of the volume does have some great, and at times, trippy artwork by Jack Kirby.  You’re better off getting a trade of the Fantastic Four from the 70’s or 80’s, where the writers took the material a little more seriously.  (I know it’s a superhero comic, but if you don’t treat it seriously, it’s a costumed farce.)         

 

I think I should have bought the Spider-Man volume to begin with.  I didn’t because I figured I’d already read the material, which I don’t think I actually have.  Whatever.  I’m done.  I was seriously thinking about getting the Avengers volume that was released with this wave, along with the X-Men.  Simply, these nascent 60’s versions of the Marvel superheroes are maybe worth reading, but not worth owning. 

NM State Aggies vs AZ Wildcats Women's Basketball 11-6-23

Molly Kaiser on the cover.

Once again, I’m sorry I missed the Aggie Women’s Basketball team’s debut exhibition last week.  I was there tonight for their first official game against the Arizona Wildcats.  By strange coincidence, the Men’s team was also playing their first game against the Wildcats, but in their case a road game versus #16 Kentucky.  I took my radio with me to listen to that game.  (The Women are only on ESPN+ all season.) 

 

Speaking of the radio, I was listening to El Paso Sports Talk before I left.  They broke the story that a couple more Men’s Basketball players from last season are suing their former teammates for assault and the university for not disciplining them.  After the payout those other players got, some others are looking for their payout.  And this drops on the first day of the season.  Probably not a coincidence.  I don’t know if AD Mario Moccia survives this, since this time he’s named in this suit.         

 

Inside the Pan-Am Center, I noticed the Roadrunner Revue band was now located at the top of the Student Section, instead of by the court.  The seats in that former area have been replaced and upgraded, as all the court level seats have been.  The team was on court warming up.  (I got there way early.)  Lucia Yenes was in a leg brace.  She was shooting around, but did not play during the game.  (I’m looking forward to seeing her play more.)  About half of the team were returners from last season.  The team finished up and clapped in sync with the band as the band played them out and off the court.    

 

There was a great crowd tonight of nearly 1,300 and there was a happy buzz in the air.  On either side of me were special sections.  One was filled with mostly young women who were guests of Tresco, a local family aid organization.  On the other side was a Greek section with another bunch of young women.  Those seats all had t-shirts on them for them to wear.  There were posterboards and crayons available up front for sign-making.  Several fans used them and were waving them during the game.  If you can believe it, Arizona actually brought a little girls team with them.  They were seated behind their bench and cheering for them.  A couple of the suites were also occupied.

 

What I was more interested in were some of the Volleyball team that came to the game.  Once again, I’m just going single out my favorite, Maggie Lightheart.  She came in late wearing a halter top and tight blue jeans.  Her stunning presence was definitely taking away from my scorekeeping efforts.  (They did give out scorecards tonight.  I never gave up, but my accuracy got worse as the game went on.)  Members of the Softball team were seated below Volleyball and some of the Football team was across from them. 

 

AZ came out to warmup.  Pistol Pete came out with a trumpet and played the Anthem.  It was brilliant.  (He walked by later.  I tried to tell him he was great, but I don’t think he heard me over the crowd.)  The Wildcats stayed on court and at attention for it.  The Aggies were still back in the back in the locker room.  That was a win for AZ.

 

Aggie Coach Jody Adams was dressed fairly conservatively in a suit, but with some bling on the back of the jacket.  AZ Coach Adia Barnes was hot as heck.  I nearly changed sides rooting.  She had long, dark hair and was wearing a tight black t-shirt (showcasing her . . . ahem) and loose red leather pants.  Hot.  I looked for a picture to post, but apparently she lost a bunch of weight before this season.  Good for her.  I don’t think there are any good recent pictures of her.            

 

First Quarter

Well, let’s make the usual excuse that I’m out of practice covering basketball games.  I also wasn’t expecting this to be much of a game.  I was wrong about that, but not in the first quarter.  Both teams started off shaky, as you’d expect for their first official game.  They both turned it over on their first possession. 

 

The Aggies were showing some good defense, but turning it over.  AZ got into foul trouble early, but the Aggies weren’t getting good looks.  5 minutes in, it was only 6-1 AZ.  From there, the Aggies could not find the basket with the ball after several shots.  With 4 minutes left, they went down 10-1. 

 

I vacated my seat before the game and offered the row a family that had sat down below me in the first row of the upper bowl.  The railing was blocking their kids seeing the game.  During the first quarter, their littlest girl slipped in her seat and hit her head.  Poor thing.  Mom was right there with a hug. 

 

Sylena Peterson took a shot to the face with the Aggies already in the bonus and she converted both free throws.  Sabou Guye finally got the Aggies’ first field goal with 2 minutes left.  That was the only one of the quarter, as Molly Kaiser missed a last second 3 attempt.  19-6 AZ after 10 minutes.

 

Second Quarter

Some of the Football team came out of court to be honored for becoming bowl eligible over the weekend.  Our old friend, Shiyazh Pete was with them.  The guys on court weren’t the ones sitting by the Volleyball team.  I’m not sure where they came from and why they weren’t all out there together.  Meanwhile with Volleyball team, Morgan Stewart rotated her arms when a ref called a travel.  She was sort of into the game.

 

The Aggies finally started hitting.  3 minutes in, Sylena made a good pass to Ene Adams under the basket for a bucket to make it 21-10 AZ.  Sy then found Sabou right after for a layup.  Tylie Jones made a layup.  Molly hit an open jumper and it was 23-16 with 6 minutes left.  AZ took a timeout.

 

The band played Tank! from Cowboy Bebop in the break.  There was a t-shirt toss to the crowd.  Rilen Garcia from Volleyball got a shirt and I don’t think she was even waving for one.  In the next section, there was a near riot with the Football players trying to get one. 

 

Back to play, a ball was knocked into the fans sitting at the courtside table.  The ref and Sy asked the fans if they were okay.  The ref then checked the ball carefully to see if it was okay.  On the possession, Sylena got blocked and knocked out of bounds for a turnover.  On the next trip, the ball got loose on the floor twice.  Out of the scramble, Sabou came up with it for a layup, 24-18 AZ. 

 

Wildcat Maya Nnaji came right back with a 3 for AZ.  3 minutes left, Molly cut into the lane for a layup to make it 28-20.  Back on possession, Sabou was blocked on a shot and also picked up a foul on the play.  Jaila picked it up with a big 3 to make it 30-23 with 2 minutes left.  Molly got a steal with a minute left, but Aggies turned the ball right over.  Tylie then got hammered into the court going for a layup.  Wildcat Kailyn Gilbert hit an AZ 3 right before the half.  35-23 AZ.      

 

Halftime

It was 37-29 Kentucky at the half at the Aggie Men’s game.  I’d been listening this game the whole time and not absorbed any of it.  I didn’t know the players on either team, as the Aggies were all new.

 

The Cheerleaders performed at the half.  The Greek girls stood up in their section got a group photograph.  The Volleyball and Softball girls also got a group photo with the Aggie staff photographer. 

 

Third Quarter

The Cheerleaders handed out hats right before play started.  Below me, a dad holding his little toddler girl got one and put it on her head.  It was so cute. 

 

2 minutes in, Sylena grabbed a rebound and hit Sabou for a layup, 38-25 AZ.  Molly then came up with a steal (or a rebound officially) and found Jaila for an open 3, but it ended up being a turnover.  Sabou and Jaila came back with layups.  About halfway through the quarter, it was 38-29 AZ and they took a timeout.

 

Emoji Cam terrorized the audience in the break.  When it found the Volleyball team, half made faces and the other half dove for cover.  (How could somebody who performs on a court in front of a crowd be afraid of a camera?)  4 minutes left, Tylie banked in a 3, 42-32 AZ.  Wildcat Esmery Martinez made a steal and a layup to put AZ up 46-32.  Sianny Sanchez-Oliver answered with a 3 and earned a Purple Heart taking a charge.  It was 46-35 AZ going into the final quarter.

 

Fourth Quarter

There was this beautiful girl with long dark hair down by the floor that seemed to get in on every souvenir toss into the crowd.  I noticed this because she kept running up to her parents nearby me to show or give the items to them.  It was a worthwhile evening at basketball for her.

 

Wildcat Kailyn Gilbert started with the quarter with a 3.  After a rebound by Ene, Sianny found Loes Rozing downcourt on a break for a quick layup, 49-37 AZ.  2 minutes in, there was a scrum under the basket for a rebound after missed AZ free throw.  No fighting, though.  They were just playing hard.

 

After an AZ 3, Molly answered with a 3.  This got the crowd into.  Surprisingly, mostly everyone was still there and engaged.  3 minutes in, the Aggie defense held AZ to a shot clock violation.  Molly drained another 3, 55-47 AZ.  6’ left, Ene picked up her fourth foul and came out.  The crowd didn’t like the call.

        

5 minutes left, Molly drained another 3.  The Fire Department arrived on scene, but she waived them off.  She then hit a fade away with 3 minutes left and actually fell flat on the floor.  (She was fine.)  With a minute left, Sy got a steal on a ball that went off several players.  Sabou then got the ball on a fast break and was fouled.  She converted her throws, 64-52 AZ. 

 

With under minute, Molly wasn’t done.  She converted on a couple of free throws and made another 3 on the Aggies’ last possession.  AZ held the ball for their last possession and the crowd boo’d as the seconds ran out.  Our final was 68-57 Arizona. 

 

Everyone seemed in a good mood afterward.  The Aggies played pretty well against a good team.  I think Coach Adams could have called for some intentional fouling and taking timeouts at the end, but were too far off.  They couldn’t stop AZ’s scoring early in the quarter, which would have gotten them to that place.  In any case, it was reasonably classy of the Coach to not drag it out. 

 

The team continued their tradition of going around the court to greet the fans.  Ryleigh Whitekettle, Peyton Castillo, and Aspen Aldous from the Volleyball team all stayed to the end.  They gave the basketball girls a hug when they came by.  Meanwhile on the radio, the Men lost to Kentucky 86-46.  They had problems in the second half.  Jack Nixon reported that Kentucky had 13 steals and a bunch of points off those turnovers.  The team only had 8 guys playing with the rest of the team having eligibility issues.  Jack did give an update on the Women’s game before the end.   

 

Molly Kaiser was the star of the game with 22 points, including going 4 of 6 on 3-pointers, and 6 rebounds.  Sabou Gueye had 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 steals.  For AZ, Kailyn Gilbert led with 16 points, Maya Nnaji had 15, and 6’4” Breya Cunningham had 12 points, 5 blocks, and 10 rebounds.

 

In stats, the Aggies up 12 to 10 in steals.  AZ led in rebounds, 29-24.  AZ had more turnovers, 26-23.  In free throws, the Aggies were 12 of 18 and AZ was 5 of 11.  The big difference was in shooting.  AZ field goals were 29 of 59 for 42% and 5 of 20 in 3-pointers.  The Aggies were 19 of 55, for 34%, and 7 of 15 in 3-pointers.

 

Honestly looking at the stats, this wasn’t a terrible loss.  If the Aggies hadn’t started off so slow, they would have had a chance.  I thought going into this game that the Aggies might have a chance.  In this first official game, if they were sufficiently sharp enough, the Aggies might catch the Wildcats a little disorganized.  Indeed, AZ’s second exhibition game before this game, they beat a school I’d never heard of by only 8 points.  (Point Loma University?  They’re DII.) 

 

During the game, I was looking around for a co-worker who said she was planning on going, but I didn’t see her.  I almost left without my jacket and had to run back for it.  On the way out with most everyone gone, I randomly ran into her and her husband.  I said I was surprised she didn’t bring a laptop to the game to keep working.  She said her boss had texted her earlier looking for a file.  She told him, she was off for the evening.

 

Lastly, I held the door for Mrs. Moccia and her daughters, who were about the last to leave with us.  They didn’t seem happy.  I don’t know if it was the game or the lawsuit.  I was reasonably pleased going to the game tonight.  There probably won’t be as many people, but I’m looking forward to the next game in a couple of weeks.

Aggie Women's Basketball huddled up.