NMSU Aggies vs UTEP Miners Women’s Volleyball 10-6-16

I was really in a quandary.  I wanted to stay home.  There was a Giants’ playoff baseball game on tonight and the season premiere of Arrow was on.  But, I also really wanted to go this volleyball game since it was against rival UTEP, and I hadn’t done much during my vacation.  I’d already asked my boss about going last week and called him to settle it.  Ron was all for going, so that was that.  I asked if his wife was okay with him going.  As far as he was concerned, she didn’t need to know about it and hopefully the match would end quickly.

You can’t say they aren’t fan-friendly, especially at Aggie volleyball.  As promised at the last home game, they were handing out free rolled tacos at the entrance.  Unfortunately, I don’t like rolled tacos, even when I haven’t had dinner.  (What’s wrong with regular tacos?  Why does everybody serve rolled tacos?)  At the concession, I got another pretzel with a Dr. Pepper.  Ron was surprised that my big cup was called a “Medium.”  This time had them hold the salt on the pretzel and found out they also sold cheese dipping sauce to go with it.  That was a definite improvement.  I also found a Jordan Abalos schedule poster up front.  This made my night and made me feel a lot better about my decision to come.

Ron picked the seats across from the benches, just off center court.  The center sections were filled with teenaged girls on various school volleyball teams.  (Pity teenaged boys don’t know about this place.)  On the way down, I saw a guy with an iPad watching the baseball playoff game.  That would have been the way to do it.  The crowd filled in nicely.  The section behind the benches was pulled out for more seats.  Ron and I could hear his nemesis, the old man, cheering on the other side of the court, but we couldn’t see him.  A group of football players sat behind one end of court.  Later, a group of basketball players came in and sat in that section, though on the other side from the football players.  I didn’t see any interaction between the two groups.

For the anthem, the girls on both teams lined up on court.  The UTEP girls held hands (like the Aggie soccer team did when I saw them).  For the player introductions, they actually played cool music for the Miners.  That was unexpectedly polite.  Starter #7 Sarah Villa even got a big cheer as she was from El Paso.  For the Aggies, it was showtime.  The house lights dropped.  The big music started.  The video board started playing team highlights.  The girls were introduced with a spotlight.  Last week on the local El Paso TV sports news, they showed the Miner volleyball team playing a home game.  They play in Memorial Gym.  I’ve been there.  It’s a big gym, but it’s just a gym, not a sports/entertainment arena like the Pan-Am Center.  I was watching the Miner girls during the intro’s.  They were clearly impressed with the spectacle.

I was wrong about last time, the Aggie girls were actually throwing small volleyballs into the crowd as they were being introduced (and not balled up shirts).  Their throwing has also gotten much better for the most part.  Maybe a little too good.  One of the girls accidentally nailed a guy in the stands.  She was mortified.  I was conflicted.  The little balls looked really cool, but baseball etiquette demands that adults give such freebie balls away to nearby kids.  Thankfully, the dilemma didn’t manifest.          

Set 1
Both teams played this one close.  The Miners seemed really good at blocking at the net.  #3 Jordan Abalos was stuffed at least four times (and had a net serve).  But, the Aggies were getting their points, and the Miners couldn’t pull ahead.  I’ll give thanks to #4 Ariadnne Sierra for some great digs.

The first set was busy for the cheerleaders.  The guys were making their presence known with some loud megaphone work.  During a timeout, the PA mentioned the free rolled tacos and asked, “Who wanted some more?”  The cheerleaders came out with trays of rolled tacos.  For a brief, terrifying moment, I thought they were going to throw them into the stands.  No, they nicely delivered them to people waving for them.  The girls in the crowd were screaming for them.

#13 Alexsa “Crash” Parker came up to serve and went on a three-point run.  She was serving what looked like a curveball as it dropped in.  There was a different Pistol Pete than the last time, but he still worked the crowd well.  He fell on a couple in their seats and then sat in with them for a while.  In another timeout, the cheerleaders tossed more stuff into the crowd, which got the place good and loud.

19-18 was #6 Tatyana Battle’s best point, as she was blocked twice on the point, but on a third try, just gave it a soft touch that dropped to the floor.  #20 Sasha-Lee Thomas made a couple of great kills late.  [While I was writing this, I stopped to watch the Aggie Profiles show on NMSU’s PBS station, and she was featured on it.  I was disappointed that Sasha-Lee doesn’t have a Jamaican accent (at least, not all the time).  She’s quite a gamer, coming back from a bad injury on the court last year.]   Jordan, still attacking, got a great kill to bring the score 24-22 and set point.  But, the Miners fought back to 24-24.  Finally, the Aggies would finish it at 26-24.

Set 2 Aggies 1, Miners 0
I ran back out up front to grab a program, which I’d forgotten, during the break.  The concession area was a madhouse, which was surprising, since it had been pretty quiet when we’d come in.  I guess people needed something to wash those tacos down with.    

The second set began and was again very tightly fought.  With UTEP’s blocking ability, the Aggies mixed in a bunch more soft shots to get past them.  For their part, the Miners were very steady in attacking and defending.  It’s hard to watch and note players on both sides of the court in volleyball.  The Miner team felt like a unit, perhaps because most of the girls were all about the same height and build.  Ron thought the Aggie girls were taller, but actually they go from 5’0” to 6’5”.  The Aggies had a couple of girls that were much taller, but also much shorter than the Miners.

13-10 was an impressive long point with some great digs on both sides.  At that point, I unwisely started trying to count touches on points to quantify the term “long point,” and promptly went nuts.  From a small sample, I’m counting about 6 to 9 on a short point, which are most of them.  Something in the teens on medium length points.  The epic points go for about 20 or more.  If you think about how hard they’re generally hitting the ball over the net, that’s pretty amazing.  Maybe I should try counting how many times the ball crosses the net instead.

#12 Megan Hart came into the game.  At 13-10, she gets a great kill, and then right after at 17-13 gets a great block with #14 Kassandra Tohm.  I was surprised Megan wasn’t in the game more.  From even a few short appearances, the Miners didn’t seem to have any answer for the 6’5” tower of power.  During another timeout, the officiating crew got together and shared a laugh.  I wonder what that was about.  The multitude of teenage girls screamed to get on camera on the video board.  I haven’t mentioned the timeout music like I did last time.  Either it wasn’t as good, or I couldn’t hear it over the girls.

My notes become more disorganized than usual at this point.  Tatyana served up an ace and the Aggies won four points on her serve.  The Miners came back and took the lead.  With Ari serving, Jordan hit a kill to tie the score at 23-23.  Ari ended the set on an ace, 25-23 Aggies.  (I know I was watching and writing events down.  I don’t know what happened to me here recording this.)            

Set 3 Aggies 2, UTEP 0
Again, my notes are terrible here.  The Aggies start off the set 7-1.  The break clearly didn’t help the Miners.  Pistol Pete starts leading the high school girls in doing the Macarena.  Later, he interacts with a ref.  I wonder what that was about.  The game goes to 10-1 on an ace by Tatyana.  22-4, Ari makes an impossible dig, but UTEP gets the point.  The Aggies make a few sloppy plays that give the Miners a few points.  Much of the Aggie bench is cycled in and the starters out.  Even then, Ari serves an ace that hits the sideline untouched, 22-10.  At 24-11, Ari makes another impossible save.  The Aggies would finally take the set, 25-15, and the match, 3-0.  Did the Miners lose heart at the end?  Become fatigued?  Or were they just dominated?

My players of the game are #3 Jordan Abalos for her clutch offense with 13 kills, refusing to be denied after some early setbacks (which is what makes her great), and #4 Ari Sierra for her incredible defense.  Forgive me for being greedy or wishy-washy and not picking just one.  #20 Sasha-Lee Thomas was also great on offense.  #1 Brianna Anisworth was crucial in setting up many of those kills.  (I’m getting stats from the newspaper account.  When the starters left the game, I missed getting their stats off the scoreboard.)  The crowd was bigger than last Saturday at 1,500.  The music wasn’t as good though, but I think the teen girls cheering made up for it.  Okay, Ron had a good time and, as far as I know, he didn’t get in trouble with the Mrs.  I missed some stuff on TV, but got to watch the girls get a great win and took home a Jordan Abalos poster.  Seems like a good trade off.

2016 Baseball Playoff Predictions

Okay, let’s just get this out of the way.  My pre-season predictions mostly sucked.  Me and everyone else were wrong about the Astros, but don’t count them out for next season.  Look for them to reload and bulk up with some additions in the offseason.  The Rangers, at least, are looking good.

I dismissed the AL East and didn’t even pick a winner.  This division put three teams in the playoffs, but I think I still pegged the teams’ characters.  I had the Royals winning the Central, but they were undone by injuries and lack of reinforcements.  I did say that the Indians had a promising future and that future is now.  I did pick the Rangers to win the West.  In the NL East, I would have been right about the Mets winning, if nearly all of their starting pitching hadn’t broken down, and they still made the playoffs.  The Nationals won by default.  The Cubs did “run away” with the Central.  And here’s where I lose all credibility, I did pick the Diamondbacks to win the West.  I was all wrong about the Dodgers.  The Giants simultaneously should have won the division and have no business being the playoffs.  They had a confusing season.

But I’m not done predicting (mostly because I don’t have any money on this).  [I’m writing this on Monday October 3rd, but won’t be posting it for a week.  I promise not to change anything, no matter how bad these predictions make me look later.]  Here we go.  The O’s and Jays in the AL Wild Card, both have great offenses, but question marks in their pitching.  I’ll give it to the Orioles because of their bullpen.  I really don’t want the Blue Jays and the Rangers playing each other, mostly because it’ll turn the playoffs into a sideshow.  The Rangers have more than enough firepower and pitching to beat the Orioles.  On the other side, even after losing one of their better starting pitchers, the Indians should dominate the Red Sox.  As good as their offense is, the Sox pitching, especially David Price, will let them down.  Between the Indians and Rangers in the ALCS, the Rangers’ experience should get them into the World Series.

In the NL, the Mets and Giants are a virtual toss-up, but somebody has to win.  I’ll pick the Giants because of their experience (although you could make the same case for the Mets).  I heard two different analysts say the Giants would be a tough match up for the Cubs.  Unfortunately, they didn’t explain why, and I, for the life of me, can’t figure out what they’re talking about.  It’ll be the Cubs in a bludgeoning against either team.  The Nationals have been overlooked all season.  I think we’re all skeptical.  The Dodgers should beat them, just based on confidence.  It’ll be a tough one, but in the NLCS, the Cubs should top the Dodgers.  It may go the full seven games.        

Here I have definite problem.  I’ve been spoiled the last few years in the World Series where I’ve liked both teams involved.  Under my predictions, it’s going to be harder to be ambivalent this time.  I follow the Rangers on a nearly daily basis and want to see them win.  On the other hand, like everyone else (except White Sox and Cardinals fans), I’d like to see the Cubs win a World Series in my lifetime.  Wow, this is hard.

(Deep breath.)  With this match up, you’d have the two best teams in baseball meeting, so obviously they’d be fairly evenly matched.  I think the difference will be Adrian Beltre and Roughned Odor.  These two could will Texas to victory: Adrian with desire, Rougie with sheer grit.  Maybe next year, Chicago.  The Rangers will be the 2016 champions.  

Baseball Notebook for September 22 to 30, & October 1, 2, 2016

9-22-16
I skipped a day.  I must have been emotionally exhausted from the end of the Chihuahuas’ season.  I wonder what happened on the 21st?  I almost decided to skip this day too.  The MLB.tv free game was a good one between the Indians versus the Royals, but I couldn’t get into it.  The Royals are out of it and the Indians have pretty much sewn up the division.  So even with me liking both teams and the match up, it wasn’t a meaningful game.  I did get the final, Cleveland rocks 5-2.  

At home, I start listening to the Rockies versus the Dodgers.  I come in in the 7th with the Rockies up 4-2.  In the bottom of the inning, the Rockies first reliever gives up a double.  Boone Logan is brought in.  He walks the bases full and then gives up a grand slam for an encore.  I didn’t even write down the final score.  Needless to say, the Rockies lost.  Now I remember why I almost skipped writing about today’s games.

There was some good news.  A co-worker returned from her vacation and reported going to a couple of the Padres’ games while out in the San Diego.  She mentioned watching last night’s game and saw Margot, Renfroe, Hedges, and Asuaje from the Chihuahuas in the game.  That’s cool.

9-23-16
I was confused about what the Rangers’ magic number was for clinching.  I kept seeing different numbers on different websites.  I stuck around work to watch the 9th between the Rangers and A’s on Gameday.  It was a 3-0 Ranger victory.  Adrian Beltre (who else?) drove in two runs.  Cole Hamels went seven strong, shutout innings.  I was convinced that they might be clinching tomorrow.  I flip on the radio when I get home and catch the end of the Ranger post-game, where the broadcast crew was celebrating a division-winning victory.  What a happy surprise for me.  Yay!

I flip over to the Rockies’ game.  I’m a glutton for punishment apparently.  I tune in just in time to hear the Dodgers hit back to back home runs in the 4th (there was a rain-delay at the start of the game, I think), making the score 4-0 Dodgers.  Nolan Arenado hits a homer in the 6th and the Rockies score another run, making it 4-2.

In the 7th, I finally notice that Jerry Schemmel is calling the game by himself.  The inning started going very long, so he began talking about Vin Scully, as it was Vin Scully Appreciation night.  There was a banner hanging outside his pressbox that read, “I’ll miss you, Vin,” giving the fans his sendoff message.  Jerry reported that a line of celebrities had been turned away from Vin’s pressbox.  Everybody wanted to thank him.  A couple of Rockies’ coaches had gotten up there, one of them (I think Walt Weiss) was a former Dodger batboy.

The LA crowd gave out a cheer as the out-of-town scoreboard reported that the Padres defeated the Giants down the road.  I was impressed with the stadium organist, who broke out a rendition of Benny and the Jets during the mandatory Los Angeles beachball-on-the-field break.  The Dodgers scored a run in the inning, which seems almost inconsequential.  Our final ends up being 5-2 Dodgers.  At least the Rockies were pretty good at fielding.  I heard them run down two different Dodgers making ill-advised attempts at taking home from third.

9-24-16
I started watching the Cubs versus the Cardinals on the Fox game in the morning.  It was a pretty good game, but I couldn’t get into it as I was planning to leave before it was over to go to the Aggie Volleyball game.  I didn’t even care who won (10-4 Cardinals).

When I got back, I was pleased that the Ranger game was still on.  I was partly convinced that they’d be cutting over to Texas Tech football well before the end of the game.  Even better, the Rangers were up 3-0 in the 8th.  Tanner Scheppers came in with one out and two on.  He walks the bases full, but manages to get two outs, without giving up a run.  In the 9th, Robinson Chirinos knocked in Jared Hoying.  Many of the Ranger starters were apparently incapacitated from celebrating last night, so several bench players were in.  (I think Joey Gallo had three strikeouts.)  The final ends up being 4-0 Rangers, a second shutout in a row.  Yu Darvish had a great game with seven scoreless innings.  Elvis Andrus, who’d asked to play today, hit two home runs.

The Rockies game was on later.  I turn to it as soon as I can, because the Aggie football game is going so badly, voice of the Aggies, Jack Nixon, is physically choking on it at one point.  This time, Jack Corrigan is calling the Rockies game by himself.  They’re playing the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw is on the mound.  I swear that it’s the 7th inning before Jack calls out a Rocky (Arenado) getting a hit.  I know that’s not correct, but that’s what it seemed like.  In fact, it seemed like the Dodgers were the only ones out on the field, because they were the only ones doing anything right.  With the score 8-0, that was functionally correct.  It’s so bad, I turn back to the football, but they’ve gone back to their Country programming.  It seemed too early for the game and post-game to be finished.  Did I lose track of time, or did they just quit broadcasting the game?  (52-6 Troy over NMSU, as I learned later.)

The Rockies game may have gone worse.  The final was 14-1 Dodgers.  At the stadium, they put up the feed of the Giants and Padres game on their video boards, since a Giants’ loss would clinch the division for the Dodgers.  With Bumgarner pitching and a six run lead, the game still ended up going into a 10th inning, but with a final of 9-6 Giants.

9-27-16
As the Rockies were getting destroyed by the Giants, 12-3, the broadcast offhandedly mentioned Hunter Renfroe of the Padres hitting another home run.  As I looked it up later, what an understatement.  The former El Paso Chihuahua and PCL MVP had driven in seven runs thanks to a three-run home run and a grand slam.  Meanwhile, the last two half innings of the Rockies game were agonizing, not for frequent pitching changes, but rather a lack of them and a strange reluctance on the part of both managers to pull their pitchers, who clearly didn’t have it.  Yeah, the Giants won eventually.
     
9-28-16
How about this?  Tyler Chattwood tossed eight shutout innings versus the Giants tonight for the Rockies.  Boone Logan came on the 9th and let on two, while getting two outs.  Adam Ottavino came in and completed the 2-0 Rockies win.  Again, Hunter Renfroe was mentioned on the broadcast for a home run.  This one got everyone buzzing (Dick Enberg would still be talking about it the next night) as Hunter cranked one onto the roof left field’s Western Metal Supply Company building.  That is one titanic shot.

9-29-16
“Did I die?”  I got to watch a good deal of Dick Enberg’s final home game with the Padres on the Yahoo free game.  It was a very nice, game-long ceremonial broadcast.  There was an “Oh my!” cut into the outfield.  He got to call an inning with his son.  There were video well wishes from other luminaries, including Vin Scully.  Dick was overwhelmed, as from the quote above, but still kept trying to call the game anyway with all the distractions.  On a strange personal note, while Dodger player Charlie Culberson’s name was being called, I was checking a customer account with the name Culbertson.  To say the least, it was weird having a name in your head being said over a broadcast at the same time.  Just one of those funky coincidences.

Up the road, Vin has his last home broadcast for the Dodgers.  They win in a walk-off.  While gathered at home plate, the players turned to salute Vin in the pressbox.  However the Dodgers’ season ends, this was their highlight of the year.

“That’s Christopher Walken out in right field,” Jack Corrigan was technically incorrect, as it was actually Hunter Pence, but the misunderstanding was understandable.  It didn’t matter who was in right field for the Giants tonight as they rolled the Rockies, 7-2.

9-30-16
All of tonight’s games were free on MLB.tv.  I picked the Rangers vs the Rays.  The video was of course blocked for local broadcast restrictions.  (This really isn’t selling the service to me.)  I couldn’t even hear the Rangers’ radio broadcast there, but I went to our local radio affiliate over the Internet and there it was.  Granted this wouldn’t have worked any other day, but I was pleased as punch to hear an exuberant Eric Nadel and Matt Hicks call a 3-1 Rangers victory.  Thanks to the win, the team now has home field advantage in every round of the playoffs if they can get there.

It was a long night at work.  I went back to MLB.tv after the Rangers game and plucked out the Dodgers versus Giants game.  Still no video and no Vin, but I did get Jon Miller’s radio call.  He was in absolutely poetic voice tonight in San Francisco with a near playoff atmosphere for the Giants, who are in a must win situation for the whole weekend.  It was 2-2 in the 6th when I joined in.  Amazingly by the end of the inning, the Giants had scored seven runs, including two knocked in by starting pitcher, Madison Bumgarner.  “Beat LA!” chanted the crowd as the Giants ended up winning 9-3.
           
10-1-16
My aches and pains acquired from work last night kept me from sleeping well, so I was up in plenty of time to watch this morning’s MLB on Fox.  The pre-game was busy remembering retiring Vin Scully and Dick Enberg, and the passing of Jose Fernandez, along with the wild card race coverage.  Over the last few days, I’ve heard an amazing amount of good things about Fernandez, young star pitcher of the Marlins.  His death really hit a lot of people hard.  It’s a pity you didn’t hear about all this while he was alive.

Today, we got whip around coverage between the Phillies versus the Mets and the Pirates versus the Cardinals, two games with NL playoff implications.  I don’t know why they don’t do this all the time on their broadcasts.  It works great on MLB Tonight on the MLB Network.  In Philadelphia in front of a sparse crowd of seemingly mostly Met fans, the Mets would secure their spot, winning 5-3.  In a light rain after the game, Curtis Granderson would thank those fans for coming out for them.

In St. Louis, Jed Gyorko’s late home run gave the Cards a win and put the pressure on the Giants for their game this afternoon versus Kershaw and the Dodgers.  A rookie pitcher for the Giants ends up outdueling him, putting the pressure back on the Cardinals.  Admittedly, the Dodgers were playing half-heartedly, but that’s still going to be a memorable win for the kid.  (Should have gotten his name.  Maybe we’ll hear more about him next season.)

10-2-16
I get no baseball news until 10:20 in the evening, and that thanks to an expanded local sportscast following Sunday Night Football.  All of the playoff slots are set.  I’ll cover that in my next post.  No extra games are needed.  There’s only one story today: Vin Scully calls his last game.  With that, the 2016 regular season ends.

Dad's Bird Paintings

My dad is trying his hand at wildlife paintings.  Here are some interesting birds.  In this area (southern New Mexico), you'll only see Roadrunners.  Yes, really.  They will hang around urban areas.  

Blue Jay and Cardinal

Barn Owl and Horned Owl

Bob White and Mourning Dove

House Wren

Red Headed Woodpecker and Mockingbird

Roadrunner

NMSU Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Women’s Volleyball 9-24-16

I’d planned on going to this match earlier in the week.  This would be my first in person, though I’d seen a couple of Aggie volleyball games on TV before.  As I got ready to leave, I reconsidered.  There was a good baseball game on and likely the last Rangers day game was coming up a bit later.  Unlike some of the other Aggie sports I’ve been trying out, I already knew I liked volleyball.  Since I was thinking about going to a night game during my vacation in a couple of weeks, I wanted to check the place out in the daytime first.  I went with my gut and stayed with the plan.  Was it the right call?  Read on.

Like I said, I’ve seen games before off and on on Aggievision.  Several years ago, I had a full-on crush-at-first-sight on player Erin Brimingham.  In general, I like the sport, but just the indoor version.  I may be weird in this respect compared to most men, but I don’t like women’s beach volleyball.  While the players are showing more skin, it’s generally burned to a crisp and stretched taunt over a rack of tight muscles.  I just find it unappealing (sorry).  The indoor players are generally more pleasant looking, and I find their uniforms very flattering.  This sport is fast-paced and exciting enough to appeal to anybody.  If you’re a girl, these tall, glamorous, athletic, skillful young women should appeal to you.  If you’re a guy, it’s even better.  (I’ll refrain from singling out anybody.  They’re all lovely.)

Wow, I was in the Pan-Am ticket office for the first time since grade school.  I think it was to see the Harlem Globetrotters.  I mention this because there was a mounted Harlem Globetrotters ball inside the office.  Inside, I also see a very nice #3 Jordan Abalos poster on the wall.  From what I’ve seen, she’s pretty much the star of the volleyball team.  I’d picked up four posters at the NMSU soccer match last week, but this one wasn’t there.

I do pick up a nicely printed program.  The girls and their uniforms look a bit different on the cover than currently, so I think the pictures are from last year.  There’s another courtesy table where they’re handing out free Aggie t-shirts.  Was this advertised?  This was a heck of an unannounced giveaway.  I’d meant to go the bookstore to find another white Aggie shirt after the match and here I just get handed one.  Okay, now I feel good about coming even before the game starts.  I do feel a little bad about depriving somebody of my business, but I did buy a new crimson shirt that I didn’t need after the soccer match, so maybe it evens out.  On another table, they had posters lying out, but only the football one.  Darn it!  Now I want that Jordan poster.  Oh well, you can’t have everything.  Where would you put everything?  (Actually, I’d put it on my cubicle wall next to my #10 Alieen Galicia soccer poster.)

At the concession, I get a medium Dr. Pepper (sorry, not liking the new Pepsi deal), that would be size of a large anywhere else, and a pretzel with salt.  The pretzel was okay, but I wish there was some cheese sauce for it.  Maybe I could have asked for some sauce from the nachos.  The salt was a detriment and did not help the flavor.  When I got up at the end of the match, I noticed a pile of salt under my seat that had fallen off it.  I will endeavor to find something at the concession that I can get excited about.

I picked the Aggie end of the court to sit at, since all the seats were general admission, though I knew they’d change sides during the match.  I can see the coach and the girls below my perch.  I’d seen their game on Thursday on TV.  It was an exciting five set match that ended in an Aggie victory.  Adam Young, the Aggie announcer I think for everything except Men’s basketball and football, talked to coach Mike Jordan afterward.  (I didn’t write down his name when he was announced at the match, assuming it was in the program.  It wasn’t.  I found it in a newspaper clipping on Sunday.  Whoever does the programs, you need to put the staff in too guys.  The opponent’s coaches are listed.)  Coach Jordan was unhappy that they didn’t put the match away earlier when they could have.  I get the impression this coach is always unhappy.  He seems like a dad with 18 daughters, that he loves to death and is very proud of, but they drive him crazy all of the time.

I think Adam was broadcasting over the Internet as audio only, since I didn’t see a lot of cameras.  He was holding a card most of the time, which I’d guess had the player rosters on it.  I could see the PA guy at the other end of the table.  I don’t know his name, but he has a great voice.  About half of the cheerleading squad was there.  This time the guys were with them; they weren’t there Thursday.  They’d hold up the standing girls with one hand, over their heads.  (This is what the soccer match needed, cheerleaders.)  Pistol Pete was in the house.

The crowd was kind of small for the venue (that hosts concerts and men’s basketball), but decent.  I didn’t feel lonely, and they could get loud supporting the team.  Previous match attendance figures listed in the program for this year go from 0 to 1,500 with double and triple digit numbers in between.  Thursday’s number was 1,100.  Maybe today was 900.  They were a fairly diverse bunch of families, kids, older people, and a few students.  There were four rambunctious little boys behind me with a mother that was surely contemplating Ritalin for them.  (It was just like the football game.  I wonder if they were the same kids.)        

After warming up and visiting the locker room, the girls charged back out on to the court.  They danced around cheering in two, counter-rotating circles to a slightly updated version of the 50’s classic “You Don’t Own Me.”  I love this.  Their opponent, the Utah Valley Wolverines, also have a spirited cheer on their end of the court.  The starters line up on court and the Wolverines are introduced.  The lights go out and its showtime.  The Aggie girls were each introduced with a spotlight.  Each of them had a ball, which I think was a t-shirt in a wad, and they threw it into the crowd as they’re called out.  Okay, in brutal honesty, none of these girls would make the softball team.  #20 Sasha-Lee Thomas was smart enough to just run off court and hand hers to a little boy.  The Aggie girls look great with their new white tops with crimson trim.  Thanks, new Underarmor sponsorship.  Like the soccer tops, I wouldn’t mind owning one.

Wow, there’s a lot of stats listed there, aren’t there.  I’ve never been to a live volleyball game, much less scored one.  Thankfully, the overhead scoreboard had some stats I could look at.  I apologize in advance for the mistakes in here and players that I’m not probably not giving enough credit to for good play.  Nothing intentional, I just couldn’t keep track of every play and everyone playing.

Set 1
Utah Valley starts off the game with four straight points.  I find myself checking the program to compare records: NMSU 10-4, Utah Valley 4-10.  I wasn’t expecting a walkover, but I was pretty sure the Aggies were better the rest of the conference.  At 3-7 Wolverines, Coach Jordan calls an Aggie timeout and starts rimming the team.  I can see why there aren’t any fan seats near the bench.  I could almost hear him over the music and the PA.  Jordan Abalos serves an ace to tie the score at 9-9.  #6 Tatyana Battle scores a couple of kills to tie it again at 12-12.

Again, the Aggies fall behind 12-16 and there’s another Aggie timeout.  This time the assistant coach talks to most of the team.  Coach Jordan talks to a couple of individual players.  They’re an interesting physical contrast to each other.  The coach is a large, somewhat rotund, bald middle aged man, while the young man I’m tagging as the assistant is lean with short cropped hair and glasses.  I list a couple of questionable calls on kill shots in my notes.  UV goes on a streak and even with a bit of an Aggie comeback, the Wolverines take the set 18-25.

Set 2 UV 1-NMSU 0
The girls change sides, including the cheerleaders.  There is a moment of deadly quiet during the Flex-cam before the music starts.  This is why they keep it loud in an arena; large, cavernous spaces are hard to fill with noise and otherwise very quiet.  The Aggies make a great start at 4-0 and run it up to 10-5.  Wolverine #7 Nakisha Willden makes a couple of great saves, but they end up as Aggie points.  UV makes a run and at 21-18, there’s an Aggie timeout.  I notice the break music: .38 Special’s “So Caught Up in You.”  From here on out, I’m enjoying the music.  A pair of UV aces brings the score to 23-21, Tatyana and Sasha-Lee finish out the set with kills, 25-23 Aggies.  I notice the program says Sasha-Lee is from Jamaica.  I find myself wanting to hear her voice.  There is a lot of chatter on the court in play that you don’t get over the TV.

Intermission  (10 minutes)      
Pistol Pete visits my section.  He interacts with a couple girls and their mom.  The boys behind me give Pete a hard a time, but he’s good with kids.  There’s an air-guitar contest on court between two girls, one of whom was from England, but I missed it.  Nature was calling and wanted that Dr. Pepper I’d drank.  “Hey sexy lady!”  We finish off the intermission Gangnam style.  I felt like dancing, but didn’t.  You’re welcome.

Set 3 UV 1-NMSU 1
At 2-3 UV a ball bounds into the stands behind the court and into the crowd.  Heads up!  8-11 is a UV point, but #8 Kaylee Neal and #4 Ariadnne Sierra make great saves on it.  I kept getting tickled when the PA would announce a girl named “Ari” coming into the game.  (On a similar note, Aggie #13 Alexsa Parker went by the name, “Crash.”  I’m sure there’s a story there.)  9-13 the Aggies serve it into the net two times in a row.  That has to drive the coach crazy.  The Spanish version of “Call me maybe” plays over a timeout.  11-17 is a highly contested point that goes to UV.  The Aggies almost net another serve, but it just gets over, and they get the point, 13-17.  16-18 is another epic point, but this one goes to the Aggies.  I wish I had a touch count on some of these points.  I’m working up a sweat just watching.  We’re “Getting jiggy with it” during a timeout.  #14 Kassandra Tohm got her legs rubbed down behind the bench, maybe from cramps.  #1 Brianna Ainsworth scores an ace to bring it to 19-20. The Aggies would even the score, but the Wolverines would end up taking the set 23-25.  


Set 4 UV 2-NMSU 1
With Ari serving, the Aggies rolling off six straight points, 8-3 Aggies.  She also gets a great dig off of a dive to keep a point going.  #12 Megan Hart gets a couple of kills to drive it up to 14-5.  She doesn’t jump well, perhaps owing to the brace on her knee, but at 6’5” I saw her spike the ball just standing.  I’d also seen her several times at the ballpark in the spring with a much shorter teammate, both wearing volleyball shirts.  They stood out in the crowd and not to mention they’re also nice-looking.  Hey, I’m here supporting your team too.      

A procedural call gives the Aggies a point and UV takes a timeout.  “Return of the Mac” plays and “There it is!”  The Wolverines go on a pair of short runs, but Jordan has a hand in stopping both.  Ari serves up the final three points and the Aggies take the set 25-15.  I didn’t write this down until the end of my notes, but this was where the Wolverines lost their composure.  They clearly got frustrated here.  

Set 5 UV 2-NMSU 2
We go to 15 in the final set (but have to win by two).  I learned that from watching on Thursday, when the match suddenly ended before I thought it would.  The girls didn’t change ends for the start of the set.  “Is it too late to say sorry now,” I see one of the UV girls dancing to the Justin Bieber song.  A cameraman and director are on court picking out people in the crowd dancing.  On the other side of the court, Brianna is waving her arms getting warmed up and accidentally hits Ari on the nose.  No harm done, but Bri is mortified by the friendly fire.

The Wolverines have recovered from the last set and taken a slim lead, 3-4, as Jordan hits a kill into the net.  At 3-5, timeout Aggies.  Kenny Loggins’ “I’m alright,” plays, but things aren’t alright.  The Aggies lose a long point and go down 3-7.  Timeout.  The Outfield’s baseball staple “Use your love” is played.  The Wolverines serve an out, 4-7.  There’s a Wolverine error, 5-7.  On the next point, the UV bench is in an uproar.  There’s an awkward hit at the net by an Aggie that might have been a carry or double hit, but the official standing right next to it didn’t see it that way, 6-7.

At 6-8 the teams change ends.  “They call me Jane!  That’s not my name!”  I don’t know who does that song, but I like it.  6-9 as Jordan hits a kill out of bounds, and then there’s an ace.  Jordan doesn’t change her game here and continues to hit it hard.  She gets two kills in a row to bring it to 9-10.  Timeout Utah Valley.

“I’ve got the power!” and “Should I stay or should I go” play.  A spontaneous “Go Aggies” shout comes up from the crowd.  One of the Aggie girls starts skipping rope to stay warmed up.  There’s a moment of absolute quiet as the Wolverines score twice, but again Jordan gets a kill to bring it to 10-12.  She gets another, 12-13.  Ari makes a great dig and Tatyana finishes the point, 13-13.  Timeout UV.  Blue Oyster Cult, “Don’t fear the reaper.”  Tatyana gets another kill, 15-14, and set point.  Ari serves and makes another great save.  Aggies win the point, the set (16-14), and the match (3-2).  Everyone in the arena is exhausted by the end, but it’s a happy kind of tired for the Aggies and Aggie fans.  Hall and Oates, “You make my dreams come true,” plays us out.              

I don’t fault the Wolverines for losing.  It could have gone either way at the end of the fifth set, but it wasn’t luck.  If Utah Valley got frustrated, it was because they were outplaying the Aggies, but they weren’t beating them.  The Aggies weren’t folding in spite of their opponent’s successes and their own mistakes.  Today, they were able to keep their focus and confidence, regardless of the circumstances.  This was so clear in the final set when the Aggies were down, but didn’t stop being aggressive.  “You don’t own me,” indeed.

For the Wolverines, #17 Lexi Thompson lead the offense with 18 kills.  Nobody else on the team was close.  I was impressed with #7 Nakisha Wilden, their captain.  (She's the "libero," a designated defenisve player wearing a different colored top.  I learned this from Wikipedia five minutes before I posted this.  I assumed she wasn't their goalie.)  I don’t have statistics on digs, but she made great save after great save in the backcourt.

I went in thinking Aggie #3 Jordan Abalos was a star and she did not disappoint.  Jordan was the spear point of the Aggie offense with the most kills, 22.  (Sasha-Lee and Tatyana were also in double digits.)  She came up big late in the fifth with four kills (don’t hold me to that number).  The way she looks, acts, and plays on the court, Jordan naturally falls into a starring role.  (Now I really want that poster, but I suspect they’re long gone.)

My player of the game is Aggie # 4 Ariadnne Sierra, Aggie libero (is there a cooler nickname for that?).  She was constantly and consistently making saves and digs in the back.  It was on her serve in the fourth set that the Aggies went on their biggest run of the match, and her second service turn finished that set.  This was when the Wolverines became flustered.  In the fifth, Ari was again serving at the end and made a tremendous save on the final point.  Her prominent presence in these big moments wasn’t a coincidence.  She was one of the smallest girls out there, but Ari had a stature you couldn’t measure in inches out on the court.  It also didn’t hurt that I saw Ari signing autographs for a couple of little girls after the match.  (I’m sure the other girls would sign too, of course.)  

Thank goodness the Aggies won.  I thought I’d heard on the TV broadcast that they had a conference winning streak on their home court.  I didn’t want to be a jinx and have to apologize to the team afterward and get yelled at by the coach.  I am damn pleased with how I spent my afternoon.  I saw a great match and got some swag in the process.  I definitely have plans to make it back over during my vacation next week and to tell everyone what a great time I had at Aggie Volleyball.
       

Baseball Notebook for September 15 to 20, 2016 Championship Edition

9-15-16
Somehow, I survived none of my favorite teams playing today.  The MLB.tv free game was the White Sox vs the Indians.  Once again, they blacked out the video, but I was really enjoying the White Sox radio guys.  I didn’t get their names, but they were bickering and sniping at each other the whole time.  It was hysterical.  Unfortunately, I missed the walkoff ending, 2-1 White Sox.  I got a little chuckle later out of Yankees losing to the Red Sox on a blown save.  If only they had more depth in the bullpen.  Heh, heh.

9-16-16
The Chihuahuas face the Oklahoma City Dodgers on the road tonight, trying to clinch the championship.  PCL officials are there with the banner for this possibility.  I’m able to hear about the first hour of the game over the Internet before KROD cuts over to high school football coverage.  Patrick Kivlehan was the standout, making a great defensive play in the 1st and hitting a solo home run in the 2nd.  The rest of the game I have to follow on Gameday.  The dogs score one in the 7th, but the Dodgers score three in the bottom of the inning.  4-2 Dodgers is the final.  We’ll play again tomorrow then.

Cole Hamels didn’t have a good start tonight against the A’s, giving up six runs.  I’m watching Gameday again for the 9th as the Rangers are down a run.  Beltre and Beltran both get on.  Rougie strikes out, but Lucroy drives the guys in.  Yes, it’s another one run win.  (I forgot to write down the score.)

9-17-16
I get woken up by the phone at 11:30 Saturday morning.  This late awakening is because of (in order) late night pizza, a stack of comic books purchased at the Hastings’ going out of business sale, and an after midnight showing of The Terror of Mecha-Godzilla on Comet TV.  This is only relevant because Fox started their MLB coverage at 10:30.

As I turn on the TV, they’re just finishing the bottom of the 1st, with the score 0-0 between the Yankees and Red Sox.  Holy crap, they’ve been playing for a half-hour and only completed one scoreless inning.  This is beyond parody, beyond commentary.  I don’t know if I can hang all this on the slow-workings of Red Sox pitcher David Price.  It was a good game, 6-5 Red Sox, not that I care enough about either team to recap it.  The Sox came from behind to win it, and this probably knocks the Yankees out of playoff contention.  Oh, if only the Yankees had acquired some relief pitching at the trade deadline.  Heh, heh.

Forget the little warm-up act, the night belongs to the PCL Championship series between the El Paso Chihuahuas and the Oklahoma City Dodgers.  Proceedings do not begin on a good note for me, as there’s a 40-minute rain cleanup delay in OKC.  This means I miss about an hour’s worth of clear reception of the game over the radio.  I end up losing it in the 2nd inning.  The signal never goes out, but I’m straining to hear it for the rest of the game.

The Chihuahuas’ pitcher, Seth Simmons, was making his first start for the team.  He gets into trouble over his first three innings, giving up a run.  In the 2nd, there is a moment of levity as he walks the opposing pitcher, Alfredo Figaro, who tosses his bat and helmet as he goes down to first.  Both teams and the pitcher himself get a good laugh out of this, as he has to retrieve his helmet.  I wondered if he’d ever worked a walk before in professional baseball.

El Paso’s scoring gets started in the 4th as Patrick Kivlehan doubled in Austin Hedges to tie the score at one.  In the 6th, Hunter Renfroe singled in Carlos Asuaje and Hedges, ousting the Dodgers’ starting pitcher.  3-1 Chihuahuas.  While Simmons had let on runners, his counterpart was giving up hard hits, and it was just a matter of time before those started landing on the ground.  In the bottom of the frame, Will Venable homers to make the score 3-2.

In the 7th, the Dodgers tie off of a runner on third, brought in by a grounder.  3-3 all.  In the 8th, Venable gets on and is moved over, but a steady parade of relief pitchers and pinch hitters leave him there and the score remains knotted.  In the 9th, both the Chihuahuas and the Dodgers get two on, but with two outs, neither scoring.  On to extras.  

10th inning, there’s two on and one out for the Dodgers.  The winning run gets stranded at third.  In the 11th, Kivlehan reaches and moves to 3rd on an error.  Jose Rondon hits a pop up on a bunt attempt.  The Dodger pitcher dives for it.  From the description of the play, he perhaps tried to catch it and flip to the catcher to end the inning, but did neither.  The ball instead pops out of his mitt without catching it and goes to the backstop, and Kivlehan scores.  There’s no error on the play, but it’s now 4-3 Chihuahuas.  The Dodgers get a double with one out in the bottom of the 11th, and he’s moved to 3rd by another out.  The final play is a grounder to Nick Noonan at third, who throws to Patrick Kivlehan at first.  The Chihuahuas win and take the series 3-1.  The El Paso Chihuahuas are the Pacific Coast League champions!
   
Here after the final game, announcer, Tim Hagerty, finally mentions the Triple-A championship game.  Apparently this game is considered more of an exhibition, while the PCL and IL series are the real championships, I guess.  I almost think there was in a bit of denial about the end of the season.  Tim will be in Memphis calling part of the game on Tuesday versus the Yankees’ affiliate, but this was the final Chihuahuas’ broadcast of the season.  Tim thanked everyone, especially the fans.  And then it was over.  You know, even after winning a championship, the last game is still a little melancholy for everybody.  Thankfully, there’s still over a month of baseball left in the year (and the new season of DC heroes on the CW coming up).

I meant to write up the Canelo boxing match, which started right after the game ended, but after over 3 ½ hours of tense, low reception radio, I’m too exhausted to try and score a fight.  I just watched it.  Canelo mostly mauled the guy.  I called a co-worker afterward, whose girlfriend is a fanatic about him.  She was happy and he was even happier, because she didn’t insist on driving to Dallas this weekend to see the fight.  While he was pricing out seating options earlier in the week, I pointed out that most of seats at Cowboy Stadium cost less than the parking.  “You’re not helping,” he replied.  He started looking up hotel rooms and pronounced all the hotels in the area booked.  “Hey, how about the Gaylord Texan? I interjected, “I’ve heard that’s a nice place.”  “I’ve heard of it too,” Mike replied, “It’s a luxury hotel.  I think I can hear my credit card screaming.  And you’re not helping.”  Adding to his relief, I told him about the massive storms ranging through the area between Las Cruces and Dallas on Saturday.  So, it was a good Saturday for everyone.                    

9-19-16
The MLB.tv free game was the Rockies vs the Cardinals.  As usual, it was blacked out.  Unfortunately, it was also blacked out on Yahoo, which is a pity, because I would have liked to have watched.  Having been to Coors Field, I now pretty much want to see it whenever I can.  I switched over to check out the Cardinals’ radio feed, since I’m already very familiar with the Rockies’ guys.  I ended up leaving it there.  They seemed to be covering the Rockies better than the home broadcasters, a very egalitarian point of view.  As Vin Scully says, “I figure at least some of my audience is rooting for the other team.”  Of course, if you’re Vin Scully, everybody is listening to you if they can.

It ends up being a 5-3 loss for the Rockies.  The Cardinals announcers were surprised by the small crowd.  They thought the Rockies were a fun team to watch.  From the crowd mics, I almost think there were an equal number of the Cardinal fans present.  It was a tough place to play for the red birds though.  Their pitcher, Carlos Martinez, got gassed running the bases in the 4th and needed an extra minute warming up the next inning to catch his breath.
   
9-20-16
There’s only one story today: the Triple-A championship between the El Paso Chihuahuas and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders.  (Whew!  What a mouthful.  How many syllables is all that?)  I went to work with my Chihuahuas’ hat, ready to put on as soon as the game started.  My main problem during the game was the coverage, namely that of distance.  The NBCSN broadcast was on in the breakroom, and the radio call was on my computer in my cubicle.  I was truly torn having to choose between hearing Tim Hagerty for the last time this season and actually being able to watch the game.  For the beginning of the game, I mostly watched the TV, while later, when work responsibilities beckoned, I mostly listened.

On the TV broadcast, I noticed some pronunciation trouble with Carlos Asuaje.  I presume the Railriders broadcasters didn’t have any problems with Tim sharing the booth with them.  Again, there was also some confusion over Walter/Walker Lockett.  Even Tim got tripped up on that one.  I did learn that the Triple-A championship used to a best of seven affair.  The one game championship was created for TV purposes.  This might be why it’s looked down upon a bit.  

With the game in Memphis, it was unsurprising to see Elvis in the house behind home plate.  It was a pretty good crowd, who were mostly wearing Memphis Redbird gear.  In fact, in a fan interview, one guy thought the Redbirds were playing.  Obviously, a devoted, but slightly confused individual.  There was lots of lawn space in the stadium outfield, which kids were playing on.  For the 7th inning stretch, an all sister singing group, Jackson Avenue, did a snappy version of God Bless America.  Even the players on the field were tapping along with it.  

Let’s just yank the band-aid off.  In the 1st, Lockett started the game giving up three straight hits. Regrettably, that third hit was a three-run homer to Chris Parmalee, later named game MVP.  Thereafter, Chihuahua pitching pitched a shutout.  Unfortunately, the Chihuahua offense only managed one run, as Austin Hedges singled in Manuel Margot in the 6th.  Our final is 3-1 Railriders, who are the Triple-A champs.

I got to listen to most of the radio post-game.  It was good to hear Tim put a bow on a great season for the Chihuahuas.  I was surprised to hear the Railriders’ announcer credit Nick Swisher with creating the team’s winning attitude.  I didn’t know where Nick had gotten to, but he certainly did some good there.  Maybe he’s manager material.  At home, I caught the tail end of a local sports broadcast.  They were reporting form Southwest University Park (another mouthful) on the game.  The team had opened up the ballpark to fans for a viewing party for the game.  Man, I would have loved to have been able to go to that.  (I wonder if the concessions were open?)  Flipping around the dial, there was even a sports report on the Chihuahuas on a Juarez station.  Altogether, it was a great season.  (Mostly because I got a Cody Decker bobblehead, but the PCL championship was nice too.)  I look forward to seeing that PCL Champion banner the next time I’m at the park.

NMSU Aggies vs Nevada Wolfpack Women’s Soccer 9-18-16

My Alex Morgan crush has officially reached its zenith: I went to a soccer match.  No, she wasn’t there.  It seemed like a long shot of her just randomly showing up.  (I even watched a half of an international game last week and didn’t see her, other than standing with her hand over heart during the anthem next another player who was kneeling, protesting whale hunting or something.)  I hadn’t really ever considered going, but there was a radio ad on Friday promoting “Bark at the Park.”  I considered this an invitation.  I’d just assume listen to the Cowboys football game on the radio anyway, which I could do anywhere. 

I usually have a few stock comments about soccer.  In this country, soccer is more part of a socio-political agenda than it is a sport.  As a friend of mine once said, “Soccer is popular internationally because it’s a poor man’s sport.  You just need a ball and a couple of goals.”  It’s also not known for producing entertaining games and for ending in ties, which I think produces soccer’s main byproduct: fan violence.  Soccer won’t achieve mainstream popularity here until it is a sport dominated by large black men.  (Wait!  Think about sports in America for a moment.  I’m right.)  I do appreciate that play is continuous and matches play out in a fairly tidy two hours.  I can’t understand how networks can show 45-minutes of a soccer match uninterrupted, but can’t go five minutes without a commercial break in a NASCAR race.  And finally, Alex Morgan is so gorgeous.  (Hope Solo is too, but she’s been bounced from the US team.  Here’s hoping she gets a reality show.)      

The Aggie soccer field is in between the football stadium and the softball field.  The entrance to the field and the concessions serve both the soccer and softball complexes.  I let out a sigh driving into the parking lot, missing the softball team.  I found myself schlepping in my seat, a cushion, a notebook, and a radio.  I picked up a terrible lunch with a hot dog, drink, and a box of popcorn.  Worse, they’ve changed from Coke to Pepsi, so I don’t get my usual Coke Zero.  One of the guys in the trailer asked about my Chihuahuas hat, which I was wearing to wearing to celebrate their winning the PCL championship last night.  He was impressed when I told him. 

At this point, I’m really juggling things and have to bypass the courtesy table.  I came back after quickly eating.  I picked up four posters (two soccer, one football, one volleyball).  I made the comment that they looked good.  I also got a Larry Rose football card.  Cool.  Later, one of the courtesy girls went into the stands and recruited a kid in a soccer jersey as a ballhawk (retrieving out of bounds balls).  I was interested in one of the new t-shirts on the souvenir table, but not at $28.  I liked the design on the new hats, but didn’t like the snapback strap on them.  The lady at the table also commented on my Chihuahuas hat.  She was listening to the game last night too. 

I have to mention, I loved the music they were playing over the PA when I came in.  It was some rap number with yodeling.  I have no idea who does it or what the name of it is.  I’ll say the crowd was about 500-something (not including the dogs), but that’s just from looking at previous game attendance off the program.  All the stands are on the west side of the field.  There was one long grandstand and two small stands on either side.  On the other side are the benches with shade over them for the teams, along with the scorer’s table. 

Many of the fans, smartly, had umbrellas and also sat on the top row, to get the best overall view of the field.  There’s a park-like area with a couple of trees on the north end of the field were where most of the people with dogs went.  A several kids played around the hill.   A few people sat in front of the stands.  It must have been uncomfortable, but it was in the shade.  Several people did bring in some precious-looking dogs, but I got no petting in.  “Bark at the Park,” was a complete fail for me.  (And that was the other reason I wore the Chihuahuas hat.)  And, oh no.   There he is.  I can hear him and see him.  It’s that older fellow who’s at all the games and is really obnoxious with his cheering.  I’m glad Ron didn’t come with me.  He pronounced this guy his nemesis from watching all those ball games this spring with him.  Thankfully, he’s on the other side of the stands, almost out of earshot.

I looked up the girls on their website Friday and even watched some of their game with the Lobos live over the Internet.  It was a loss.  The announcer mentioned that they had a full house for the game.  People behind me, who’d went, were talking about the game and facilities there.  I really liked the Aggies’ road uniforms, white with a sprinkled crimson trim on the shoulders.  I wouldn’t mind having one of those tops.    

As the teams were lined up before the game for introductions, I looked for #10 Alieen Galicia.  The website seemed to tag her as their star player.  She looked really young with a slight build in the pictures and indeed, she was in-person.  #22 Gabby Campbell was also a standout in the lineup, because she was about a head shorter than everyone else.  The program lists her at 4’11”.  Again, a fellow behind me was pointing her and Alieen out saying, “You don’t have to be big to make it on the field; you just need heart and guts.”  #16 Cristina Bertoldo got the biggest ovation from the crowd, being from Las Cruces.  For the anthem, the Aggie girls were standing and holding hands.  Afterward, someone behind me made a comment about NFL spokesman, Colin Kapernick.  No doubt he was thanking him for making the anthem more important and a proud act of patriotism and not just a formality.

I already like the college game better than the professional or international game.  The clock counts down, not up.  They also stop the clock during any injuries or other prolonged stoppages.  Gee, that only makes sense.  There wasn’t much in the way of theatrics on injuries or goal scoring, which also got on my good side.  Let’s see, our match up here is the 2-7 NMSU Aggies vs the 2-4 Nevada Wolfpack (I hope that’s their nickname, because that’s what I’m going with for the rest of this post).  It doesn’t seem like the Aggies are overmatched on paper here.  I’m really missing not having any radio commentary to help with this game summary.  

My first game note comes at 38’ (minutes left in the half).  The Aggies get a shot on a nearly empty net as the Wolfpack goalie aggressively came way too far out to defend.  Okay, so this is what I’m doing.  I’m recording near misses on goal.  I was wondering how I would write about the game.  I’m still not sure when to cheer.  At 32’ the Aggies make a close header shot on goal.  30’ good jump save by the Aggie goalie.  28’ another good save, caught on the chest.      

At 24’ the crowd starts screaming for an Aggie to pass to an open player in the Wolfpack box.  Right after that, there’s a collision on field that sends both girls to the deck for a moment.  A guy yells out, “Good job!  She’ll remember that for the rest of the game!”  The fans here were very vocal, very knowledgeable and very critical of the ref’s and the players.  The Aggie players.    It was like being at a Little League game with a bunch of bad parents.  It was a shock.  At softball and baseball games, I never heard anybody being anything other than supportive of our players.  They weren’t trying to coach them from the stands or shouting out criticism.  I kept hearing, “Make space!  Make space!”  I’m sure the game is a lot easier to play sitting in the stands than running up and down the field. 

23’ an Aggie slow roller heads towards an empty net, but the Nevada keeper corrals it before it gets there.  17’ our first goal.  Wolfpack #15 Aless Abbuhl scores by herself in the box with two defenders on her.  I’m not happy about this, but somewhat relieved that I won’t be sitting through a nil-nil tie.  The program lists Aless as being from Switzerland.  There must surely be an interesting story here.  There’s another Wolfpack player from Germany.  In fact, most of the Nevada team is from out of state.  Most of the Aggies are from Albuquerque.  (No wonder there was such a good crowd against the Lobos there.) 

16’ the Aggie goalie has to make a jump save.  9’ after a good pass deep in the box, the Wolfpack goalie stops a hard roller.  At 6’ in I have to note a cat call from the crowd to a referee, “Hey Jim, your wife is calling!  She wants you to come home!”  5’ and there’s an Aggie breakaway.  #18 charges into the goalie, who is again way out defending.  At 4’ there’s an injury stoppage.  It doesn’t seem to be too serious thankfully.  2’ and there’s a Wolfpack stationary shot (not sure what the technical term is) from the sideline that goes directly on goal.  It’s caught right on the chest by the goalie.  The PA announces one minute and then counts down the last ten seconds of the half.  

At halftime, Aggie football standout, Striking the Wonder Dog, came out for an extremely energetic athletic display.  I reapplied my sunblock and spent $3 on a bottle of water.  It was robbery, but I wasn’t sitting in a cool enough place to argue.  (88 degrees was the announced temperature, but only in the shade with a fan.  It was a lot warmer than that.)  The Wolfpack players were sitting under their shade.  The Aggie girls were sitting at a corner of the field.  Both were going over strategy.  I turned on my radio to listen to the Cowboys game.  I’m immediately rewarded, hearing Alfred Morris “walk the dog” into the endzone.  As Babe put it, “He made a hood ornament out of the defender.”    

The second half begins.  At the 41’ mark, Aggie #10 makes a good pass in the box, but the Wolfpack goalie makes a good, point-blank save.  I’ll make a point here that the TV really doesn’t communicate how physical the game is.  The girls were constantly hitting and colliding with each other.  There’s tackling and shoving up and down the field.  There’s also quite a bit of chatter going on, something you really don’t hear on TV. 

    

37’ and I applaud a 27-23 Cowboy victory over the Redskins.  Unfortunately, Ron’s nemesis has changed ends and I can now hear him cheering clearly.  I keep the earplugs in and listen to the post-game show to drown him out.  At 29’, a ball on the sidelines is popped up and goes over the stands.  Like foul balls at the ballpark, keep your head up during the game.  It’s not like they’re going to let you keep any ball you catch here.  26’ the Aggie goalkeeper gets a save and immediately makes another save off a rebound shot.  Good concentration.   

The action drags a bit.  At the end of the row, I see a lady with an umbrella reading a magazine.  I notice that all the girls playing have long hair, like the softball girls.  You’d think short hair would be much more practical.  Maybe it’s to protect the back of their necks from the sun.  Finally some Aggie offense at 18’, the Wolfpack keeper makes a great punch save off a shot after a cornerkick.  At 17’ right after, the ball gets down field.  An Aggie tries to head it to the goalie and it gets away and a Wolfpack player kicks it in.  (Sorry, I didn’t get her number to properly give credit.  That’s what I get for having earplugs in.)  The Aggies at least didn’t record a dreaded “own goal.”  It’s 2-0 Wolfpack regardless.          

The crowd got noticeably louder and, finally, more supportive of the girls after that second goal.  The Aggies started taking a few long pot-shots on goal.  At the 11’, the Aggies made a nice chipshot just outside the box at the goal, but it was caught.  My scorekeeping is suffering as my pencil is now covered in sticky sunblock.  (It doesn’t come off when washed either.)  Another fan came over to me and asked about the goal.  It was referred to as a “hat goal?”  Well, it wasn’t a “hat trick,” since that’s three goals by the same person (in hockey).  Why don’t people ask me questions during a baseball game?  I could probably answer those.  In any case, I had to confess that, in spite of my note taking, I didn’t really know anything about soccer, certainly not as much as the loud-mouthed fans around me.          

Hey, is that Aggie quarterback, Tyler Rogers, walking by in the stands?  He had on an Aggie football t-shirt and looked like him.   I wasn’t able to confirm it until I got home and looked at my football program from going to the Lobo game last week.  Crap!  I didn’t see him again.  I would have congratulated him on the win versus UNM and a 42-point performance yesterday (albeit in a loss) and gotten an autograph.  I’d ask why he was there, but I’ve seen guy basketball players at a softball game.  Why not?

 

My last game note came at the 2’ mark.  There was scrum of sorts in the Aggie box, and there was a great save at the end of it.  Our final was 2-0, err. . . 2-nil, Wolfpack.  It was the next to worst case scenario for the game for me: the opposing team going up by two or more goals, functionally ending the game, but still having to still sitting through a half waiting for the inevitable loss.  The worst case scenario would have been, me distracted by something and missing a goal being scored.  There’s no videoboard here.  You’re not getting a replay.     

After the game, a fellow walked by with an Albuquerque Isotopes hat.  I restrained myself from taunting him, but still felt smugly superior with my PCL champion Chihuahuas’ hat.  Even better, a co-worker, whom I hadn’t noticed in crowd (since I was sitting down front) came over and said “hello.”  She was there with her boyfriend, who was there rooting on his little sister.  I forgot to ask the obvious question of “Which player?”  Having seen me writing during the game, she asked me if I was reporting on the game.  If want to call this reporting, bless your dear heart.            

After the game, the Aggie girls came out to midfield and thanked the crowd.  That was nice.  I appreciated that.  I think I spent five minutes gathering my things and trying to figure out how to hold them to leave (that’s a seat, a cushion, a notebook, a radio, and four posters I’m trying not destroy).  Much of the crowd stuck around, presumably waiting to see the girls after the coach finished speaking to them.  Hopefully they weren’t sticking around just to yell at them more.  

I’m not familiar enough with soccer to make any constructive criticism or really even dish out much praise.  The most I can say is that the Aggie goalie was kept really busy making saves (#1 Ashley Martin, I think, I didn’t get her number when she was introduced), and the Wolfpack goalie (who I totally didn’t get a number for) got fairly fortunate in the first half, as she kept charging out of the box, leaving the goal undefended.       

So the big question, how was it overall?  Well, this wasn’t the immediate love affair I had after going to an Aggie softball game.  The girls there were very entertaining with their cheering and general espirit de corps.  Also, it was more-or-less baseball.  I was hoping that seeing a soccer match in-person might be more enjoyable than on TV.  It was about the same, but I couldn’t change channels at the park.  I’m probably less critical than most of the people in the stands, but I did want to see a win.   

What did I like?  Aggie #18 Reilly Marks and Wolfpack #8 Mackenzie Robinson were rather attractive.  They were playing on the wing on the sidelines, so I was able to see a lot of them.  (Mackenzie also lost her headband by the sidelines right before the end and came back around and get it after the game.)   Hey, I’m doing what I can to sell your sport here.  I wouldn’t have ever shown up for a guy’s soccer match.  Bottom line, I actually did enjoy it.  All of my issues with soccer are still there, but the in-person experience kept my attention the whole time.  Certainly it’s better than watching it on TV.  I’ll go back if I can.  I was warned a long time ago by a friend that I might like soccer.  It’s taken a while, but he might have been right.