Arizona Bowl-NM State vs Utah State 12-29-17

After getting back from the basketball massacre and getting lunch, I watched a bit of the Sun Bowl at home.  It was a Chamber of Commerce day in El Paso for the game between NC State and Arizona State.  The place looked full.  I didn’t really watch as came in late and NC State seemed well on their way to victory, though it was a high-scoring game.  There was a bigger event on the agenda. 

This was the big day for Aggie Football, their 57-year curse-breaking Arizona Bowl game against the Utah State Aggies.  Much of the radio pre-game was actually about the Aggies’ last bowl game in 1960 at the Sun Bowl against this same team.  That NMSU team was 11-0 for the season and led the nation in offense.  The Sun Bowl was also a premier bowl game then.  In the present day, Aggies fans had “taken over Tucson,” with crimson being seen everywhere in town.  The Stadium Network had Jaleel Scott’s one-hand touchdown catch earlier this season against Arizona State as their number two play of the year.     

The “happiest bowl fans in the country” had sold out the team’s allotment of tickets (something like 7,000) and reportedly filled three-quarters of the stadium.  Even with over 26,000 in attendance at their last home game (nearly a sellout with capacity at 28,800 at Aggie Memorial), the university was worried that the fans wouldn’t buy tickets to a bowl game, even a close one in Tucson.  They thought it would be too expensive for them.  Well, they sold out of their original 5,000 allotment inside of two weeks. 

Athletic Director Mario Moccia was estimating 10,000 NMSU fans, but in an interview with the Sunbelt Conference commissioner, he thought it was more like 15 to 20,000.  I heard a number afterward that 40,000 total tickets were sold.  Bowl and city officials must have been ecstatic.  Some of the proceeds of sales went to charity too.  

 

The day before, there was a group picture at work with people dressed in Aggie gear supporting the team.  The picture even got retweeted by football team.  I bought two Aggie football shirts recently, but I didn’t get in the picture, but I’m not bitter.  I had a co-worker in a real quandary.  He’d already had tickets to the Sun Bowl and wasn’t sure which game to go to.  He made the right choice and went to Tucson.  Another co-worker guaranteed an Aggie win, being a smart ass, since both teams are called the “Aggies.”  I’ve covered the Utah State Women’s Soccer team here and referred to them as “USA” and the “US Aggies.”  I refrain from that in the recap.  

First Quarter

Jack Nixon, the voice of Aggie Sports, finally pronounced the name of sponsor, Route 66 Casino, correctly for the kickoff.  However, the usual promotion for that opening kickoff was not in effect for this game, so Jack backtracked and simply thanked them for their support this year.  The Aggies took their opening drive downfield for a field goal, 3-0 NMSU.          

What happened next was the usual stomach-churning thing that proceeds an Aggie blowout loss.  Utah State took their first kickoff all the way for a touchdown, 7-3 Utah State.  I could hear the fans in attendance and the entire city groaning.  Jason Huntley was not taking any of that.  He took the ensuing kickoff right back down their throats for a touchdown, 10-7 NMSU.  I believe this was the turning point of the game, if not for the Aggie team, then at least for Aggie fans.  It was going to be very hard to tune away after that resounding answer. 

Utah State would have to earn their way downfield next time.  The Aggie defense had two penalties, but held.  The Aggies had to punt on their possession.  Utah State lined to punt on their next drive, but instead, faked it.  The fumble on the play, however, was genuine.  Unfortunately, the Aggies were intercepted right after.  Utah State drove down the field as the quarter ended.  Whew!  We saw a little of everything in 15 minutes. 

Second Quarter

The U-tags (as Jack was calling them) led off the quarter with a field goal to finish off their drive.  The score was tied at 10.  I left for work at that point.  The game was on in the break room there, though no one was watching at the time.  I ran into a couple of co-workers who said that the Aggies were now up 13-10 after a field goal.  I had to start working, but put the game on the radio next to me.  In the last minute of the half, Larry Rose III fumbled deep in Aggie territory.  The defense managed to hold them to a field goal.  13 all at the half. 

Third Quarter

A bunch of work from my vacation last week suddenly resurfaced and was placed in my arms.  This is why I hate taking vacation.  I got pretty busy working, but was still listening to the game on the radio.  Utah State missed a field goal.  The Aggies pulled off a fake punt of their own to get a first down.  Unfortunately there was another interception right after.  Terrill Hanks managed to grab a fumble deep in Aggie territory to keep them from capitalizing on the turnover.

 

Fourth Quarter

The Aggies still couldn’t move the ball on offense.  Punter Peyton Theisler had been getting a workout in this game.  It wasn’t entirely surprising that a bad punt happened, especially backed up in the endzone.  This was real bad.  Utah State got the ball on the NMSU 20.  A quick effort gave them a touchdown and a 20-13 lead.  I’m sure that on TV, “goat-cam” was in effort for Peyton.  After another ineffective Aggie drive, the U-tags had a drive that resulted in another missed field goal. 

Late in the game, I’d like to think that the Aggies, not only really wanted to win, but also wanted to pick up their teammate, not wanting to hang a loss on Peyton’s one bad punt.  After only having one first down in the second half, the Aggie offense finally picked up some steam.  Jaleel Scott came up with a big catch downfield, though he hobbled off afterward.  Larry Rose came up with a circus catch to keep the drive going.  Johnathan Boone saved the Aggies’ season with a fourth down conversion catch. 

This was all feeling a little familiar, like the Aggies’ final drive versus South Alabama.  Tyler Rogers then found Jaleel Scott in the endzone, who made an over-the-shoulder catch, but out-of-bounds.  Or was it?  The officials started looking at the play.  The pro-NMSU crowd started going crazy watching the replay, as it showed Jaleel dragging a foot behind him inbounds as he caught the ball.  Touchdown Aggies!  The score was tied 20-20.   

By this point, I had abandoned work and was watching in the break room.  The husband of a just-retired co-worker was already there watching.  His wife was saying goodbye to people.  He tried to talk her into staying for the end, but when it went to overtime, she convinced him to go.  I tried telling them the overtime rules aren’t timed and they should stick around, but to no avail.  My boss, working late, sat in to watch with me. 

Overtime

The Aggies won the toss and decided to go second.  The Aggie defense kept Utah State out of the endzone.  They set up for another kick and it sailed wide.  That was their kicker’s fourth missed kick of the game at the worst possible time.  I think it was mentioned he was like an all-conference kicker this year, but you can’t blame him.  He was kicking against destiny.  On the Aggies’ second play, Larry Rose III broke two tackles and galloped 21 yards into the endzone and right into legend.  57 years of bowl frustration ended for the Aggies.  26-20 Aggies in overtime.     

I was jumping up and down watching.  I didn’t even try to restrain myself.  The crowd didn’t either.  They stormed the field again.  A reporter on-field had a heck of a time trying to do interviews with the happy mass of fans and players there.  They couldn’t even find the hero, Larry Rose.  The TV studio guys were immensely proud of New Mexico State and their fans.  They heaped praised on Tyler Rogers’ clutch fourth quarter.  Checking on the team’s Twitter feed after the game, I saw Adam Young doing some interviews.  He found Larry Rose and asked him about being down in the fourth quarter.  “I told the guys, ‘We’ve been here before.  We know what to do.’”  That they did. 

It’s almost impossible to sum up this season for New Mexico State Football in a couple of paragraphs.  The story began in 2013 with the hiring of Coach Doug Martin.  From there, it was the recruiting and training and experience of this group of players that led to this moment.  There’s no real telling what’s going to happen next with the program going independent.  The team showed they can really play in the clutch, even having to carry their program’s history on their backs the whole time.  The fans really came out and supported them at the last home game and at this bowl game and had a good time doing so.  National recognition has followed, almost priceless good publicity for a nearly anonymous hard luck football team. 

This bowl win was a bit like a professional team winning a championship right before asking for a new stadium, but there are no guarantees in this situation.  I have to think if the team can do well and the fans show up for the next two years, there will be a conference invitation.  From there, the program’s future should be secured for another half-dozen years.  This football team may always have to prove itself to conferences, to opponents, to the media, and to the fans.  That was part of the coach’s motto of “Playing with a chip on our shoulders.”  We’ve all seen that that can be a winning strategy for New Mexico State Football.     

(Photo from Las Cruces Sun-News)

NM State Aggies vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Women’s Basketball 12-29-17

Today was the big day for Aggie Football and their bowl game in Arizona.  This basketball game was moved up a couple of hours to get it in before that game.  Since I had no way of going to the bowl game, I was looking forward to this Women’s Basketball game against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.  I didn’t know anything about their program, except that their baseball team is good.  I figured this team was probably good too and that the Aggie girls would need the fan support.

Unfortunately at the Pan-Am Center, the crowd was about what I expected for a noon game on a Friday, before the football game and before New Years’ weekend.  We’ll call it “light.”  The Old Man was surprisingly there.  I’d figured he would have been at the football game.  There was a teenage girl behind the Aggie bench that looked like Taylor Swift, probably not by accident.  There was an adorable little girl in pigtails wandering in the aisles.  Across the court was a high-school girls’ basketball team from out-of-town.  They were the biggest group in attendance.  Like that Lobo game earlier this month, the booster section was mostly empty. 

It was old-school primitive basketball today.  There was no radio.  (For the Aggies.  The Gauchos had a guy there broadcasting.)  No band.  No cheerleaders.  No Sundancers.  No giveaways.  (No crowd for that matter.)  The program didn’t have the full stats on it.  We still had the bad rap music going.  The regular PA and DJ Downs weren’t there for the announcing.  A guy who used to be my co-worker did the honors.  I don’t know if this was his first time, but he did a really good job (under what would prove to be very trying conditions).  I noticed that the girls’ and guys’ next games were mentioned in the announcements, but the football game was never brought up.  Another co-worker’s son was operating the mobile camera during the game.       

I could hear the UCSB team roaring the tunnel before they came out.  During their warmup, they practiced free throws, which I don’t think I’d before.  You could hear the Aggies coming out of the tunnel as well.  So they started off in good spirits.  “Do we have referees?”  That was a valid question from one of the booster ladies behind me with a couple of minutes before tipoff.  They did show up.  The crowd sang along with the Anthem.  The Aggie intro video played, but they kept the houselights on for it. 

First Quarter

I hate looking at the opposing team’s record on the program, but I always end up doing it.  “2-9!”  Okay, I think the Aggies have a good decent chance here.  When I saw 6’4” Drew Edelman on court for the Gauchos, I assumed they’d be passing her the ball under the basket all game.  She was a huge, hard to miss presence.  Not just big, but layered in muscles.  On the other hand, when your team starts off dropping three three’s in a row, why go away from that?  Using the phrase, “Making it rain,” would not be unwarranted.  In the first half, they were pouring them in with six different players contributing. 

The Aggies looked disorganized and were not shooting the ball well.  The only Aggie highlight for the quarter was Brooke Salas getting a great steal under the basket, literally snatching the ball away from a player, who was holding it with two hands.  The Aggies were keeping it fairly close until the last minute where the Gauchos got a basket, a turnover, a layup, and then a three.  It was 24-14 UCSB after ten minutes.

     

Second Quarter

The game went more up tempo, but that didn’t help the Aggies at all, since they still weren’t able to score.  They got in a few good plays.  Jasmine Cooper out rebounded Edelman for a rebound, got possession on the tie up, and got a basket coming out of it.  Coop, Zaire Williams, and Pam Wilmore all got blocks, which tells me that the girls were playing hard, regardless of the score.  At some point, the team went to a full court press and some trapping and mostly stayed with it for the rest of the game, but to no avail.  It was 50-18 Gauchos at the half.  The Aggies had three baskets for six points in the quarter.  The Gauchos had 11 three’s for the half.

      

Halftime

The Aggie fight song played at the half to a very reluctant cheer.  I did my best.  “I’ve never seen the girls play so bad,” said the booster lady.  Just a reminder, up until the start of this season, the fans hadn’t seen a home court loss since December of last year.  Pistol Pete and two cheerleaders showed up during the break.  This group must have missed the bus for Tucson and the big football game.  (Or didn’t know about the game time change.)  Pete took one look at the crowd and the scoreboard and headed for an exit.  (Just kidding.  Pete would never do that.)  The cheerleaders took a seat next to a lady in the crowd.  Pete wandered around, talking to the fans.  He said something to the high school girls basketball team that got them laughing.  Oh, Pete.  You charmer. 

Third Quarter

“I like this.  I’m a masochist,” said one of the boosters in passing.  I’m thinking several of the fans there were questioning their commitment to Women’s basketball, me included.  When a game gets this f-ed, there’s not much tension about the outcome, so you can at least enjoy little, individual plays.  The Aggies racked up another block as they seemed to have a height advantage (except for Edelman).  It was more of the same offensively, if not worse.  The Aggies’ first basket came with 6:40 on the clock. 

Coop did start a small run with a pair of baskets and drew a foul on the other end.  The Old Man, who had not stopped cheering during this debacle, shouted “We can do it!”  This got a laugh out of the crowd at least.  Monique Mills got a steal and then missed a layup at the other end.  Okay, at this point it was obvious nothing was going to fall in for the girls today.  Frustration mounted.  Jeneva Toilolo came back to the bench after her fourth foul complaining about guarding Edelman.  It was quiet enough during the game to where you could hear stuff like that at the bench.  It was 67-28 Gauchos after three.

Fourth Quarter

A third girl cheerleader and guy cheerleader showed up by this point.  One of the girls stood on the guy’s shoulders, and the group did one cheer for the crowd.  It was a little late for that.  Meanwhile, Pete was still working his way around to individually greet each fan.  (Actually, he avoided the booster area.  Probably a good idea today.)  He took pictures with the Gaucho fans, who were, of course, happy to see him. 

Almost to make this game worse, Brooke hit her wrist during a scrum in the lane.  She got a basket right after, but was still shaking it off.  I think she was okay.  With four minutes left, Tonishia Childress made the first three-pointer for the Aggies.  While the Gauchos cycled in much of their bench, the Aggies mostly kept their starters out.  Brooke got a block, a layup, and drew a foul on a play.  Coop took a beautiful inside pass under the basket, and ran around the defender for a reverse layup. 

Zaire Williams, having a scoreless day, got cued up for a technical late.  I didn’t see anything flagrant, but I can see where it wouldn’t have been surprising that it happened.  There were a bunch of fouls in this game, though it never felt like it was chippie.  Brooke got a block on another 6’4” player, Natalia Bruening, who’d come in for Edelman.  Bruening got the rebound, but Coop took a charge from her going to the basket (brave move).  While the officials were discussing it in a timeout, Brooke came over to the bench and said . . . err . . . a mild explicative.  She did it in a stoic matter-of-fact fashion, but it was a stunning display of emotion from her.  The booster ladies behind me were a bit shocked.  (Again, there wasn’t much crowd noise to drown out these probably nominal exchanges.) 

The crowd was getting on the officials for the foul-calling by this point.  Nobody wanted this game lengthened.  Coop came out.  She stood up at the bench and started yelling instructions to the players on court.  There may be some coach in her.  For the last ten seconds of the game, both teams stood motionless on court and waited for time to expire.  Our final: Gauchos 77, Aggies 47.  The team has already lost more home games this season than last, just halfway through. 

The Gauchos went back to their bench and thanked their three fans in the stands.  (That’s not a joke.)  The Aggie girls stuck around on court for autographs.  This would have been a good day to go see them and say something encouraging, but I think it was just for the Kid’s Club.  Coach Atkinson must have been glad there was no radio call so that she didn’t have to explain what happened in a post-game interview.  At the exit, a pleasant usher said to the fans, “We’ll get ‘em next time.”  (I’m surprised he knew what was going on in the game from where he was stationed.)  The masochist booster said jokingly, “I want my money back!”      

   

Sarah Porter was high-scorer for the Gauchos with 17 points on five three’s.  Seven different players accumulated 14 three’s for the team.  Most of those were in the first half and they cooled off in the second, but it hardly mattered.  Brooke Salas showed a lot of hustle out there with 18 points, but Jasmine Cooper is my Aggie player of the game.  For someone who is usually on court for their defense and a couple of points, Coop really came up big with 14.  She was also tireless on defense.  Judging by her smiles, I almost think she was having fun out there today.                  

How to analyze this game?  When the team got schooled by Arizona earlier this month, it was surprising, but they are a good program and it was on the road.  Here, I don’t really know how good the Gauchos are, but they couldn’t have been that much better than the Aggies.  They certainly got hot shooting.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this was their best shooting game this year.  Even an open three isn’t an easy shot, but judging by this game and the Lobo game, the Aggies need to defend behind the arc better. 

But for this game, clearly the Aggies couldn’t get it in the basket themselves.  It didn’t seem like the Gauchos were that great on defense.  I did not see a lack of effort from the team, but I can’t account for Zaire, Jeneva, and Monique all getting 0 points and Gia Pack only getting 8.  The missed shots were not all bad; they just didn’t fall in.  This is only speculation, but I wonder if they maybe caught something out in California and were getting over it.  Not everybody can be Michael Jordan and play well with the flu.  If it was more widespread, maybe this was why the bench wasn’t emptied in the fourth quarter.  If it’s not that, I’m clueless as to what happened.  The only good news today for the team was that Brooke is still contributing with a steady performance and that Jasmine is capable of putting up more offense when needed.        

NM State Men’s Basketball December 22-25, 2017

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-22-17

Aloha.  The Aggie Men were in Hawaii for an ESPN televised tournament for the week before Christmas.  Their first opponent was the Davidson Wildcats.  I’ll be honest, I’d never heard of them, but apparently everyone else has.  They had Steph Curry on their team at one point, so they’re probably pretty good.  Currently, they have an international crew with players from Iceland and Finland. 

Boy, my notes on the first half are awful.  The game started off pretty slow, so it was hard to start writing.  Sidy N’Dir hurt his knee about halfway through the first half, but came back in.  The Aggies were up 23-15 with five minutes left thanks to some stellar D.  Davidson went through a five-minute scoring drought that was broken up by a free throw.  The half finished on a last second layup by AJ Harris after a steal by Johnny McCants.  35-27 Aggies.

The Aggies continued to dominate to start the second half, going up by 12 early on.  McCants had a one-hand jam to add to his highlight reel.  Davidson finally started hitting for a comeback and brought it to a two-point Aggie lead, 47-45, with 12 minutes to go.  Timeout Aggies.  The Aggies came back with a couple of baskets and a steal by McCants.  Davidson stayed right with them and tied off of a block and turnover.  They took the lead with under ten minutes to go.

While Aggie Jemerrio Jones sat out with foul trouble, Davidson went on a 9-point run for a 56-49 lead.  Aggie three-point shooting kept them in it.  With about one minute left in the game, Zach Lofton got a steal and a layup to get the Aggies within one.  He then got a tip in for a one-point lead.  Davidson reclaimed the lead by one with a layup with 20 seconds left.  Jemerrio was back in and got a stick back to get the Aggies back up by one with five seconds.  He then got a tip to spoil the Davidson possession.  They managed a last second shot that missed.  Our final: Aggies 69, Davidson 68.  Everybody collapse in exhaustion.  If you’re an Aggie or Aggie fan, smile on the way down.        

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-23-17

At the Diamondhead Classic in Hawaii, NMSU’s next opponent in the tournament was #6 in the nation, the 10-0 unbeaten, Miami Hurricanes.  Jack Nixon reported that there were about 30 Aggie fans in attendance; many were invited by Coach Jans.  Watching video later, there was a respectable crowd there, given that the home team wasn’t playing.  I think I heard Jack say it was morning there, while it was night here.  This game was again nationally televised on ESPN.

Again, my first half notes are terrible.  It is so much easier to write out recaps of the four 10-minute quarters that the women play.  Both teams were cold shooting to start.  Miami came out rebounding well and worked a five-point lead.  Good Aggie defense closed it to two.  Johnathon Wilkins got a strip and a jam to tie.  The teams traded the lead a couple of times, before the Aggies went up 29-25 at the half.  AJ Harris blocked a three at the buzzer.

The Aggies came out firing in the second half with a couple of three’s.  The scoreboard operator in the arena was clearly partisan and tipped the score for Miami after the shots, but it was corrected.  Both teams got their offensives going this half.  Shunn Buchanan hit a three to put the Aggies up by seven with under ten minutes left.  The Aggies fans there were cheering.  The offensives had probably picked up by this point as several players on both teams were in deep foul trouble. 

Three minutes left in the game and Miami cut the lead to three as the Aggies went cold.  It was a one-point lead in the last two minutes.  The Aggies had a four-minute scoring drought that Jemerrio Jones finally broke up with a tip in.  Zach Lofton then stuck a three with 48 seconds left.  AJ Harris piled on with a steal and layup for a 59-53 lead with 40 seconds left.

Jack Nixon was now totally into it and believing.  Miami started fouling in the last 30 seconds.  Lofton made two free throws and snatched a rebound and finished with a jam in the closing seconds to essentially finish the game.  Our final: Aggies 63, Hurricanes 54.  This was NMSU’s first win over a top ten opponent since 1990.  Can this really be the same team that got walked all over by Texas Tech in an exhibition at the start of the season?  Coach Jans has really got these guys on the same page, playing as a team.  The Aggies out-rebounded a good rebounding team (+5), their defense got 14 points off of turnovers, and they scored 63 on the #2 defense in the nation.   

I made sure to tune into the local El Paso TV news that night.  (I also found out that I was lucky.  Much of the rest of Las Cruces was having a blackout during the game.)  This victory was their lead sports story and they were talking about it the next day too.  I was watching Stadium’s Rally show the next night and they did a whole segment on it.  In this case, the hosts were asking if there was a controversy.  Was Zach Lofton rubbing it in with that jam at the end?  They were up by 7 with less than 20 seconds left.  Watching the play, Miami didn’t even bother trying to run back to stop him and essentially gave him the basket.  The hosts thought it was okay.  Me too.  Never mind that.  It was just a thrill to hear Zach and Aggies discussed on a national program.  I hope that clip makes it back to the team.  They’re going to get Christmas Eve off tomorrow and a well-deserved rest before the finale on Christmas Day.   

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-25-17

This was a Christmas present: the Aggies playing for a tournament win.  I’m sure the guys weren’t complaining about spending the holiday in Hawaii.  Santa Claus still delivers out there you know.  This game was at 1:00 pm local.  There were two games before this, starting at 7:30 am, and another one afterward.  There’s a bunch of teams out there.  Today’s opponent was the USC Trojans.  They’re very big and have NBA prospects, but have had injuries and suspensions.  Jack Nixon mentioned that USC has been pleased to draw 6,300 to their home games.  That’s about what NMSU draws with a fraction of their area population.  The Aggies were out early this morning for a non-mandatory practice, so they were taking this game seriously.           

Sorry, again.  I was a bit distracted while I was listening the game, so I kept missing important information all the way through.  The Aggie fans in attendance were into it as their team went up 7-0 to start the first half.  As the game went up tempo, USC took the lead.  The Aggies went cold and the Trojans went on a 9-point run.  USC fans were now getting into it.  Timeout Aggies.  The Aggies finally scored to break up a 13-point run.  Several Aggie players got in foul trouble and a chippy incident under the basket lead to technicals for both teams.  The Aggies were still rebounding very well, especially offensively.

Johnny McCants got a block that led to a layup and brought the Aggies within two.  The crowd loved it.  Late in the half, Zach Lofton started finding his shot to the tune of three three-pointers.  McCants got another block, which led to Lofton’s fourth three.  He had 12 points, all on three’s.  We were tied at 34 at the half.

The Trojans came out firing three’s to start.  The Aggies kept up with them.  The crowd was loud for both sides.  Lofton got his fifth three.  Another Aggie block added another layup.  With 13 minutes left, Lofton hit his sixth three-pointer. Sidy N’Dir put one in right after for a 7-point lead.  McCants racked up another highlight as he went airborne to slam in an alley-oop.  61-55 Aggies with about seven minutes left.  He picked up a couple of fouls right after that. 

Trojan three-point shooting was keeping them in it.  Five minutes left, Eli Chuha got a put back.  68-64 Aggies with four minutes left.  McCants picked up his fourth foul.  Chuha got a steal and a tip in at the other end.  72-68 Aggies, under two minutes left.  USC got a block and tied the score with under a minute.  Benny Boatwright scored his 33rd point of the evening for the Trojans on a three-pointer to give them a three-point lead.  A couple of free throws iced the game with seconds left.  Your final: Trojans 77, Aggies 72.  You just can’t win all the close ones.

Benny Boatwright was the unsurprising tournament MVP.  USC was also perfect in shooting free throws.  Zach Lofton led the Aggies with 28.  The team shot 46%, got 21 points off turnovers, and out rebounded USC.  There wasn’t a huge down stat for the Aggies.  The Trojans simply shot the ball better at over 50%.  Coach Jans took the blame in the post-game, saying the staff didn’t give the players the best opportunity to win.  He gave players virtually nothing but praise.  Jans said there was no stopping Boatwright this game, no matter what they did.  And the Aggies still have another road game before the end of the year.  They’re probably pretty gassed after all these close, tough games.  

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-28-17

The road Death March continued for the Aggie Men’s team, though Hawaii and California aren’t the worst places to spend the holidays.  They start conference play next week with three road games, but at least they get to come home after this game versus the UC-Irvine Anteaters. 

I was busy at work during the game, so I’m not going to pretend to do any sort of in-depth recap.  (Also I’m writing this right before going to the Women’s game today.)  In the first half, the Aggies were a little off on a couple of plays, but still ran up a 13-point lead, mostly thanks to some aggressive defense.  At that point, they might have gotten a bit tired.  The Anteaters capitalized and came back.  With a last second three, they got it to 26-24 Aggies at the half. 

The second half just about repeated the pattern.  The Aggies went up by 11, but this time mostly on better shooting.  The Anteaters were not going away.  By the two-minute mark, it was again a two-point game.  Zach Lofton came up big with free throws and a critical steal late.  The Aggies had a 6-point lead with 30 seconds left.  That was chopped in half by a clutch three, but the Anteaters took too much time getting it.  AJ Harris then got a layup to basically ice the game.  Lofton had the opportunity to jam one at the end, like at the Miami game, but held up, chuckling.  I guess he’d heard the criticism.  65-60 Aggies was our final.  The Aggies were -10 in rebounds and shot poorly at the foul line, but only had six turnovers.  This game was a good “taking care of business” for the Aggies.   

NM State Women’s Basketball 12-21-17

The Aggies were in the consolation game for the Long Beach invitational today and playing the home town Long Beach State 49’ers.  Their team’s star player, Shanaijah Davison, had actually committed to NMSU before Coach Trakh left for USC.  Adam Young described the attendance at the Walter Pyramid as “Slim,” which is terrible given that it was a home game.  He thought that Aggie fans might have been equal to the Long Beach fans there.  In the pregame, Coach Atkinson was totally okay with Brooke Salas’ last shot yesterday and would call for it again.  I agree.  Sometimes the rim just doesn’t care who’s shooting at it.      

The 49’ers came out in gold uniforms and gold shoes with black socks.  No comment.  It wasn’t that quiet during the game, but I could clearly hear Coach Atkinson on sidelines at times.  In the first quarter, Adam was impressed with Davison’s ball-handling moves while driving the lane.  The Aggies also had trouble defending 6’5” Emma Meriwether.   Too bad Aissatou Fall isn’t ready for prime time, because she’s the only one on the Aggies that could really match up with her. 

Gia Pack got a great finger roll shot off an assist by Zaire Williams and drew a foul for a free throw.  Gia came on late to spark a 10-0 Aggie run.  It was 18-12 Aggies after 10 minutes, with Gia putting up 13 of those points.  Brooke was having some trouble guarding Meriwether, as she was giving up 6 inches on her.  In the second quarter, Brooke still found a way by getting a steal off her by yanking the ball from her under the basket.  Meriwether came off with an injury from falling.  Brooke started heating up in the meantime with the shooting and defense.  Meriwether did come back in and started dominating again.  It was 33-26 Aggies at the half.

Adam came back from a break at halftime with something like the official Long Beach State rap going in the background.  Yeah, don’t get rid of your actual fight song just yet guys.  To start the third quarter, Brooke fell down in the lane and still made the shot and got a free throw.  She can’t help scoring at times.  She had 9 points halfway through the quarter and got the Aggie lead to 16.  Gia also came up firing to push it to a 24-point lead.  Monique picked up her fourth foul on a last second shot by Long Beach, which cut the lead to 60-43 Aggies. 

Scary moment in the fourth, Gia had a hard landing, but she stayed in.  I had to take a phone call at this point.  When I started listening again, the lead was down to 13 about halfway through.  The Aggies were shooting well.  Adam was amazed that they were 14 of their last 17 attempts.  Suddenly, Brooke fouled out of the game.  This came as a surprise to me.  Maybe she picked up a couple while I was on the phone.  If she was guarding Meriwether the whole game, I could see where she could have gotten into trouble.  The crowd sensed this was a turning point and got louder. 

The Aggies were committing lots of turnovers in this quarter, 13 in all.  Their lead went down to 7 after a 49’er three-pointer.  I could definitely hear the crowd cheering them on now.  With two minutes left, Gia was tripped bringing the ball up court under pressure.  She hurt her wrist falling to the floor.   Now Gia and Brooke were both out.  This was getting too frightening.  There was some confusion on the call on the play.  Adam was once again questioning the officiating.  The Coach even questioned the score on the scoreboard shortly afterward.  The Aggie lead was only 6 with one minute to play.  Gia came back on with her wrist taped up.  Unfortunately for Long Beach, their shots stopped falling in and they had to start fouling, which only increased the Aggie lead.  72-63 Aggies was our final.

In the postgame, the coach was a bit angry over that fourth quarter collapse along with the Aggies’ 24 turnovers in the game.  Gia Pack lead the way with 27 points and a purple heart (along with some purple bruises).  Brooke Salas had 23.  Zaire Williams only had 6 along with 9 turnovers.  At least the team was +8 in rebounds.  For the 49’ers, Emma Meriwether had a breakout game with 23.  She usually scores 7.  Long Beach is 2-10, but as advertised, they were a better team than their record.

I called Gia Pack the Aggies’ team leader.  Brooke has stepped up in the meantime, but I still kind of stand by what I said.  This team would probably work better if Gia did the majority of the scoring, Brooke got the rebounds, and Zaire distributed the ball (along with both of them scoring).  If anyone else on the team could step up in rebounds and assists to free them up to shoot more, that’d be great.  Brooke getting most of the points is causing that gap in rebounding (at least on the offensive end).  But, if Brooke is hitting the buckets, you gotta keep giving her the ball.  I think today sort of shows that my ideal would work, but it’s hard to trust putting the girls in certain roles when they go through those long dry spells of shooting.  The team is still trying to find its footing.  

NM State Basketball December 16-20, 2017

NM State Men’s Basketball

12-16-17

The Aggie Men got a taste of the big time tonight playing in the United Center in Chicago versus Illinois.  This was the Lou Henson Classic, which is a tribute game to the coach that holds the wins record for both universities.  Lou’s actually in the hospital right now, but was said to be watching the game. 

The Aggies came into this game expecting it to be physical.  They went down 8-2 early, but flipped that around with a 9-point run for a 13-8 lead.  Halfway through the first half, the Aggies were up 20-10 with Zach Lofton coming up big.  They had a 15-ponit lead at one point.  It was 38-26 Aggies at the half.  Then the roller coaster went over the hill.  In the first minute of the second half, the Aggies racked up five fouls, putting themselves in the instant foul trouble.  Guess they got a bit too physical.  Illinois then reeled off 10 straight points to tie the game.  They went on to take a 7-point lead at about the 10-minute mark.  Jack Nixon, calling the game, was disgusted. 

The Aggies weren’t done yet.  Thanks to some stiff defense and three-point shooting, the Aggies caught up and took the lead with five minutes left.  From here, the lead went back and forth, with neither team able to pull away.  With 23 seconds left, after a Jemerrio Jones’ steal, AJ Harris got a basket and a foul shot for a three-point lead.  Eli Chua then converted on both shots of a one-and-one to ice the game.  74-69 Aggies.  Who would have thought that this team could win off of some clutch free throw shooting?  Zach Lofton finished with 23 points to lead the team.  The key stat for the Aggies was getting 21 points off of turnovers.  The small Aggie contingent on hand in Chicago was elated.  Jack thought this was one of the best Aggie wins he’d seen.  Maybe he’s forgotten some games or was just caught up in the moment, but that’s still very high praise from the long-time Aggie broadcaster.        

NM State and UTEP Women’s Basketball

12-17-17

Forgive me for talking about UTEP again, but I keep running into them on the radio and they’ve had some interesting games this season.  The Miner Women were playing the ECU Pirates in Myrtle Beach at an invitational.  (I’m assuming ECU is Eastern Carolina University.  I never heard it specified.)  I couldn’t believe this game was on, given that they were preempting NFL coverage on a Sunday.  Duke Keith was there solo, but very enthusiastic to be there.  It didn’t sound like there was much of a crowd there, but the girls on both teams were making a lot of noise to make up for it. 

I joined the game in progress with the Miners up by 12 at the half.  ECU managed to cut it to 3 in the third, but UTEP drew 17 foul shots to get the lead back up to 8.  Okay, I must have zoned out for a moment, because suddenly the Pirates were leading in the fourth quarter.  The Miner girls must have zoned out too.  (Actually, they ran into foul trouble on their big inside players.)  Katarina Zec, the hot-shooting, hot blonde on the Miners, did what she does best and buried a three late.  (She wasn’t in for most of the game leading Duke to speculate that she was injured.)  UTEP retook the lead on that, but ECU came back and tied it to force overtime.

The station came back from commercial real late.  They missed a couple of baskets that Duke had to quickly recap.  UTEP retook the lead again.  Their big woman (that sounds terrible, I need to come up with a better euphemism), Tamara Seda, fouled out late.  Amazingly, she was the only one, since I think at least two other girls had four fouls.  The Miners pulled away for the final time for a 93-79 win.  The Miners set a team record with 42 free throw attempts in the game.  (Keep in mind that there’s no one-and-one’s in the Women’s game this season.  They’re all two-shot fouls.)

I missed part of the Aggie Women’s pregame show, since the Miner game ran late.  They were in Malibu playing the Pepperdine Waves.  Adam Young described the campus as picturesque.  (I seem to recall that The Battle of the Network Stars used to film there.)  Their venue only seats 3,000+ and is more like a high school gym.  There were only a few hundred in attendance, which Adam chocked up to the many distractions in the seaside community.  One of fans in attendance was none other than Coach Mark Trakh.  Not only was he the former Aggie Women’s coach, but he also coached Pepperdine (and was quite successful there).  Coach Trakh sat behind the Aggie bench, showing some clear partisanship.  Brooke Salas on the Aggies was also reported to have family and friends present as she’s from the area. 

The first quarter featured some great defense by Monique Mills and the Aggies.  (Mo was all over it this game.)  The score was 9-0 Aggies before the Waves finally scored five minutes in on a free throw.  The quarter finished 17-13 Aggies.  Pepperdine’s three-point shooting was keeping them in it.  Brooke was lighting up the scoreboard like a Christmas tree with 10 points in 10 minutes.  The Aggies really poured it on the second, going up by 20 at one point.  Pepperdine’s coach got frustrated enough to draw a technical.  It was 47-33 Aggies at the half.  Brooke had 17 points, Gia Pack had 14, and Zaire Williams had 11 assists.

Coach Trakh came over and chatted with Adam during halftime.  He just sounded happy and enthusiastic, which was great.  He said he’d watched all the Aggies’ game this season.  I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s still giving some of his girls some coaching advice throughout this season.  Where does he get the time, given that he’s coaching USC at the moment?  How was he even there watching the game?  Perhaps coaches take an afternoon off every so often.  While he loved his stint at Pepperdine, where celebrities would occasionally come by to practice with them, Trakh wanted the Aggies to win by 40 today.  This is like the best ex-coach ever.  (Suck it, Weir!)                         

In the third, Brooke was still decking the halls with a pair of three’s to start the quarter.  It was 69-50 after 15 minutes.  Again, the Waves’ three-point shooting was the only thing keeping this from getting embarrassing.  In the fourth, Brooke wrapped the presents for a new career high in scoring at 32, including 5 of 7 three’s.  (Stop it!  I’m sorry I was listening to ESPN Radio this morning.  It must have rubbed off on me.)  She picked up her third foul about five minutes in and was taken out.  She may have played the whole game to that point.  Zaire got a double-double with 13 points and 16 assists.  The Aggie bench was cheering her on late as she was within one of the school record in assists, but she was taken out late.  Sara Lopez came in briefly.  I never heard Dominique Mills’ name called, so she may be injured, since she usually comes off the bench several times in a game.

Our final was Aggies 86, Waves 64.  This was a great bounce back win after that debacle against Arizona.  The team got its first road win of the season.  Coach Atkinson got her first road win as a head coach as well.  This game was complete domination, but a couple of stats stood out.  The team made 14 of 23 three-point attempts.  They were also finally positive in rebounds at +7, which made the coach happy.  I have to think that having Coach Trakh there in the stands got the best of out the girls.  Maybe they could put a cardboard cutout of him behind the bench at all of their remaining games.  I don’t think Brooke needed the extra motivation, but maybe she wanted to put on a good show for him.  I can’t say they’d beat anybody, but if Brooke, Gia, and Zaire can all score in the double digits, this team will be hard to beat.    

NM State Women’s Basketball

12-20-17

The Aggies continued their West Coast swing in Long Beach.  Tonight, they were playing the Northeastern Huskies as part of an invitational.  The Huskies from Boston and Illinois State, who played Long Beach before this game, both took in the sights after they arrived in town.  The Aggies stayed in California after their game with Pepperdine and took a trip to the Santa Monica Pier on their off day.  This game started about 20 minutes late due to the length of the previous game.  The game was at the Walter Pyramid.  It’s a true pyramid.  It only seats 5000, but is huge and can fit three basketball courts or five volleyball courts inside.

     

The first quarter started well with Monique Mills hitting a pair of three’s.  Her sister Dominique Mills was also back playing in this game.  The Huskies, known for their three-point shooting, were also knocking down three’s.  It was 19-19 after ten furious, fast-paced minutes.  Play slowed down in the second.  The Aggies went cold, missing 11-12 field goal attempts in a five-minute scoring drought.  Mo and Brooke Salas both sat out a good deal of the quarter with foul trouble.  The Huskies were up by as much as 7 and finished with a 30-25 lead.  A last second three-point shot by Gia Pack was waved off.

Brooke had 13 friends and family in attendance.  Just at the start of the third, she shared a laugh with her mom sitting on the sidelines.  Zaire Williams hit a couple of three’s to tie the score early.  Mo got a steal and wide open layup and then a couple of three’s.  The Aggies went up by 8, but the Huskies re-tied it late.  Brooke scored at the end of the quarter to give the Aggies a 50-49 lead.

In the fourth, Adam Young, calling the game, started getting on the officials over questionable and missed calls.  The game couldn’t have been tighter at this point.  The Aggies went cold shooting for three minutes, but the Huskies only had a one-point lead with one minute left.  The Aggies took a one-point lead with 45 seconds left on a Brooke finger roll shot.  The officials had to stop to confirm a possession at 30 seconds.  The Huskies missed an open shot.  Again, the officials had to stop and figure out possession after a rebound.  Mo converted on a free throw with 17 seconds left for a two-point Aggie lead.  The Huskies hit a three for a one-point lead with 6 seconds left.  The Aggies drew up a play for the last shot.  Brooke took the ball inside for another finger roll that just swirled out.  65-64 Huskies in a heartbreaker.

Adam was almost choked up in disbelief.  So was I.  Brooke is so stoic, I have no idea how what she was feeling at the end.  At least she had plenty of family support there for her.  It’s probably a good thing that they’d be playing tomorrow and not have any extended time to dwell on this game.  The scoring was great with Monique Mills with 18, Brooke Salas with 17, and Gia Pack with 15.  They were also good on turnovers with 19, but were -21 in rebounds.  So far, the team doesn’t seem to have a consistent answer for the rebound issue.  Honestly, this game depressed me for the rest of the evening.  I hope the girls got over it quicker, since they’d be back in action tomorrow afternoon.  

Star Wars: The Last Review

So during the closing credits, Ron’s first comment about Star Wars: Last Jedi was, “Why are they listing Carrie Fisher?  She wasn’t in the movie.”  I had to think about that for a moment, “Ron, they finished shooting her scenes before she died.”  He had a quick burst of insight after that and acknowledged it.  I pressed further, “Did you think she was CGI for the whole film?”  Ron must have been damn impressed with the computer graphic’s animated acting.  I almost hated to spoil it for him. 

If you’ve somehow been immune to the marketing, your kids, or the forced march of nostalgia making you go to this movie, I have no qualms about spoiling it for you.  It’s a bunch of scenes from the previous Star Wars movies put in a blender.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t come out as a delicious smoothie, more like chunky vomit, where you can still identify the last meal in question in a pool of foul miasma.  I knew this movie was in trouble when my friends Ron and Mike, who like just about everything, were somewhat apathetic after having seen it.  People in my audience were heckling it.  I wasn’t mad at them; I was half-tempted to join in.  I can’t understand it.  Every review of this movie, professional and fan, loved this movie before it was released.  Hmmm.    

I’m not even angry.  (If I’d paid for the tickets, this might be a different story.)  I’m more appalled and saddened by the pure waste of this movie’s existence.  It wasted the time and money of everyone in the theater.  It wasted the Star Wars mythos worse than bad Internet fan-fiction.  It wasted the immense effort of everyone involved in the production.  Finally, while it’s going to make money, the studio wasted a whole lot of money to make what they going to consider to be a paltry profit on the movie itself.  They could have likely slashed the budget and made the same amount on it just because the movie has the words “Star Wars” in the title.  Now the merchandising and tie-ins and such, that’s the real money.  I can discern no creative impetus that mandated this movie be made apart from that.               

Unlike my review of The Force Awakens, there’s not going to be an accompanying piece where I explain how this could have been a better movie.  The only way this movie could have been better would have been if everyone in the charge of the production was fired and it was handed over to Marvel, who at least know how to make an entertaining movie.  I can see it now, a fleet of Star Destroyers and yet another Death Star fight Galactus.  (If Marvel does actually own the rights to him.)   And then the Guardians of Galaxy show up to save the day!  (Rocket: “You losers take a back seat.  The real heroes are here now!”)

Everyone questions the plot logic of this movie.  Surely this flaw was apparent from just reading the script.  The Prequel Trilogy actually had a better plot!  Why didn’t somebody in charge, who presumably had to okay this, throw it back at the writers and tell them to go back to the keyboard and come back with a decent story?  (It’s probably too late to get actual worthwhile characters for this series.)  There must have been some powerful forces at work that pushed this turd out.  Time itself might have been the biggest motivator.  These films are on a tight schedule and there’s only so much time for the writing.  Again, since there’s clearly no creative spark in this trilogy’s storytelling, the writers are just hitting plot points, tossing in some personal agenda, and introducing new toys for merchandising.  After big budget battles and effects are shot, there’s not much changing them.  (Not to mention, a main character actually passed away in real life.)  I suspect socio-political forces were at work too and some people in charge were not allowed to say “No,” to certain people making the movie. 

Was there really a “rebellion” going on in this movie?  They started off with four or five ships in the beginning and ended up with just enough people with make it a little crowded on the Millennium Falcon.  I’ve seen bigger protests with a bunch of snowflakes over a Milo Yiannopoulos speech.  The rebellion in the Original Trilogy was an actual credible threat.  The Empire should just be laughing at this rebellion and telling them to do their worst.  Their poor use of military resources to put down this minor uprising is actually a strike against them being allowed to run the galaxy.  (Meh.  It’s not like any of the other big governments of this series have done any better in that department.)

Why was Leia mad at Poe for wiping out their bomber force (all five or six of them)?  They basically had nothing to fight with anyway, may as well go out in a blaze of glory.  (And those bombers were so slow and big, they may as well have had bulls-eyes painted on them.  Even Imperial pilots could shoot them down.  And were they really “dropping” bombs in zero-g outer space?)  Poe seemed to be getting schooled a lot in this film, but I didn’t see anybody else in leadership displaying much in the way of brains or courage.  (They did have heart, so a trip to see the Wizard wasn’t necessary.)    

I kind of appreciate the limited scale of the space conflict.  The Prequels went way overboard in their fight scenes.  You couldn’t really follow what was going on.  The Original Trilogy probably had the right balance of action and scale.  Of course, this one went too far in the minimalism.  (Hey, maybe they actually did cut corners in production to save money.)  There’s that great scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers when the company of elves shows up to help defend Helms Deep.  Peter Jackson’s commentary said they’d done too good a job in showing how hopeless the defense was.  He had to put in the elves to make the fight scene more believable.  If the producers of The Last Jedi were trying to make a point with this absurdly puny level of resistance, I don’t know what it was.  Maybe the next film will pay this off (or give us Ewoks and another Death Star).           

 Mike summed up his review with, “Its Empire meets Battlestar Galactica.”  This was cinema’s slowest chase scene with a handful of ships being chased by an enemy fleet over the course of two hours.  This led to one of the dumbest, logic-jumping schemes ever: “Let’s take out their tracker so we can escape. But first, we have to go to Space Monte Carlo to pass judgment on the rich Disney executives partying there . . . err I mean evil weapon dealers.  Then we need to have a morally grey philosophical discussion with a mercenary.  Finally, we’ll sneak aboard the giant Imperial ship and get caught.  Any questions?  Yes, Poe.”  “Should I mutiny in the meantime to support this hair-brained plan?”  “You bet.  Yes, Laura Dern.”  “Should I blow up our last ship and myself to atone my equally stupid plan that I didn’t tell anybody about, thus leading to this scheme.”  “Sounds like a winner.   Don’t worry, we’ll somehow make it off the exploding Imperial ship to rejoin what’s left of this rebellion.  Okay, good meeting everyone.” 

My biggest complaint: Rey should have said “Yes” to Kylo.  Realistically, she could have had way more positive influence over the Kylo’s new empire, than continuing with this “rebellion.”  Also, it would have been so romantic.  Why did he want her anyway?  She looked even worse in this film than the last.  He’s no prize either.  During the temptation scene, I swear he looked just like Ross from Friends.  (Then an irate Rachel shows up, “This is what you call ‘Being on a break?’ offering your empire to this unattractive space hussy!”)  And could Poe now be interested in her too?  Amazing, it only took nearly two whole films for these two main characters to finally meet.  That’s some great storytelling there.  And her parents were “nobodies.”  Mystery solved.  I hope nobody lost any sleep trying to figure that one out.  Further, is it really necessary for every other person in the film to have an English accent?  It’s like Space Downton Abbey.  (Ooh, that’s good.  I’ll start banging out that script right after this.)         

Was there anything I liked in this movie?  Puppet Yoda.  Thank goodness the real Yoda finally showed up.  (Granted he was a bit demented.  I don’t think I’d want to seek wisdom from him at this point.)  Cranky, bad-ass old man Luke was fun.  His “Three Lessons” were the only real tension in the movie as they were rolled out.  The preachy fat Asian girl did kind of redeem herself in the end when she made her move on Finn.  Some of the little one-liners in the movie were pretty good.  They were just badly delivered and out-of-place.  The Original Trilogy always had a bit of a wink and nod to it.  The other movies have been too serious.  Oddly, Rogue One is the only other Star Wars movie that had some sense of humor thanks to that sarcastic robot.    

At least there was more Poe Dameron in this movie, more or less acknowledging he should have been a main character in the first film.  Him and Kylo seemed to be the only characters with any real free agency and growth in this series.  These two characters make hard decisions and have to live with the consequences and learn from them, like what nut-bar Yoda said.  Of course all of the rebels take a backseat to the real hero of the story, BB-8, who was constantly saving their butts when they screwed up.

Much like the writers of this movie would apparently like to burn all religious books (great idea, let’s start with the Koran, let me know how that works out), I’d like burn all the copies of this film and pretend it never happened and spare anyone else from seeing it.  I know it’s probably too late to do anything about the next film.  The rails have already been laid.  I really hope Disney stops after that before we all get burned out on bad Star Wars.  It’s okay to commit to another trilogy after this, but don’t do it until you’ve put somebody in charge who has a real story that they’re desperate to tell.  No more fanboy caretakers of the franchise with good resumes.  The story of the making of Star Wars began one borderline obsessed individual with a vision.  Go back to that.     

How the X-Men will enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe

With Disney buying most of Fox’s properties, Marvel has reacquired the rights to the X-Men.  I’ve seen a half dozen theories on how they’ll integrate them into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  They’re all wrong.  Marvel is going to re-concept them, albeit using the same characters.  I don’t know exactly how they’re going to re-do them, but I do know why.  The core concept is that mutants are the next step in human evolution.  Evil mutants are trying to enslave humanity and the X-Men are standing against them and protecting unaligned mutants, while humanity is discriminating against all of them.  This is going to prove too edgy for Disney, not to mention that mutants are used as allegories for several different groups.  The X-Men are too strongly identified with causes now, rather than being outlaw heroes in a superhero soap opera, which is what actually made them popular.  Further, the failed Inhumans TV show and concept blurred the line somewhat with mutants, as Inhumans are basically mutants with a common specific origin. 

As coherent as the Marvel Universe has tried to be outside of the comic books, mutants are an aberration.  All the other superheroes and villains have an explanation for their powers.  Mutants just have a hand-wavy excuse.  Born with random useful superpowers?  The Inhumans already made this look a little silly, which is why it’s been relegated to just the TV side.  Their powers were activated by a combination of genetics and world-wide dispersion of a special mist which triggered the change.  (Or something like that.  I don’t really care about the Inhumans.*  Nobody does.)  Originally, the X-Men were called “The children of the atom.”  Mutants came about because of the use of nuclear power and weapons, which mutated human children in the womb into a new species.  Later, mutants were retconned into being present in all of human history.  The Inhumans and mutants are two concepts that are a bit too close to each other.  If Marvel had known they’d be getting the rights to the X-Men back this quick, they’d never have introduced the Inhumans, certainly not as some sort of replacement for mutants.  (Maybe they wouldn’t have run the X-Men comic book into the ground as well.)   

Further, there’s a racial supremacy angle to the mutants that strangely both evil mutants and the X-Men acknowledge.  Both groups think they are the future and normal humans are the past.  The X-Men want to protect humanity against evil mutants, because they see themselves as superior and protectors of the lesser species.  Simultaneously, normal humans discriminate against and oppress mutants.  So, mutants are both Nazi’s and Jews at the same time.  It’s not entirely easy to empathize with superpowered beings against normal people who are just fearful of them, as opposed fighting normal Hydra soldiers and people like that.  Then there’s that angst-y dichotomy that some mutants wish they were normal humans (especially those with a non-human appearance), but some relish having superpowers and being different than normal humans.  There are evil mutants and X-Men that have both of those feelings.  This is all a difficult, multi-facetted concept for a superhero comic book, much less a movie.      

Fox’s The Gifted show has done a good job of showing mutants being oppressed.  What it hasn’t shown (or at least I haven’t seen it) is why they’re being oppressed.  A bunch of people born with superpowers would be celebrities, recruited by companies, the military, and government agencies in our world.  They’d be followed like royalty . . . unless there was a good reason to think they were all just dangerous.  This seems to go back to whatever incident has made the X-Men and the Brotherhood disappear, which has been referenced, but not explained, on the show.  They’ve also referenced at least one other act of unintentional mutant power use, which caused major damage.  However, the bias against mutants probably goes back further than that. 

Supergirl, with a similar angle on illegal “space” aliens on earth, has at times at least acknowledged why people are justifiably suspicious of aliens, since they’re not all nice like Kara and Clark.  (Of course, humans are usually portrayed as the real monsters.)  The Gifted has just shown one side of the argument, with those against the mutants just fulfilling personal vendettas or seeking creepy experiments on them.  They’ve also shown the mutant issue as being fairly common and wide-spread.  Logically, given how powerful and uncontrolled some mutants are, I can’t imagine this not resulting in some kind of horrific race war.  Unless mutants are very rare and basically in the shadows, it’s hard to imagine society not being consumed with the issue.       

So, this concept could work, but it’s going to make mainstream audiences a bit uncomfortable.  I think Disney execs are going to ask Marvel to go back to the drawing board with a more palatable presentation of the X-Men.  Otherwise, the mutant concept would take over the whole Marvel Universe.  It’s too big and would be used as a sociological tool in the hands of an activist.  (That’s already happened by the way in the Fox movies and TV show.)  That’s not what Disney is into, certainly not blatantly, because it won’t make them money or enhance their properties.  The X-Men have represented many different things during their existence to different people, fans and creators alike.  Satisfying all of them wasn’t going to happen anyway. 

Underground, outlaw heroes will be a good place to start, as the X-Men have always been more iconoclasts than superheroes.  Expect that.  They’ll work with other Marvel heroes, but won’t be trusted.  Villains may even court them.  (An intriguing moment in Secret Wars actually had Professor X contemplating the X-Men deserting the heroes and joining Magneto.)  Magneto and the Brotherhood will be a big enough threat to merit a crossover with the Avengers eventually.  I think there will be a true origin to explain why certain people have certain powers, to make it less random.  The change in the X-Men’s concept will be sold as how they could integrate them into the Marvel Universe without retconning anything or doing a goofy multi-universe.  Everything else is going to be up for grabs.  I’m not going to try to figure out how to re-do the X-Men and mutants in general, but I’ve at least warned you that you’re going to get something very different than you expect (but Wolverine will still be there).          

And what about the Fantastic Four?  Apparently, Fox didn’t actually own the rights to the characters!  Fox, and now Disney, owns the rights to distribute Fantastic Four movies, but not the actual characters.  Some film studio that I’d never heard of has the rights.  This might not be a big deal except this probably includes the rest of the Fantastic Four mythos like Galactus, the Skrulls, and the Silver Surfer.  Disney needs to work out a deal with these people or just buy them out altogether.  Certainly they can point to the previous Fantastic Four movies as a reason why this studio should let Marvel make the movies.  I want to see the Silver Surfer hanging out with the Guardians of the Galaxy!  I want my Fantastic Four/X-Men/Avengers/Guardians versus Galactus movie!  (Whoever makes that movie will die of a heart attack trying to coordinate it.) 

    

*I have to make one little sidebar to make about the Inhumans.  Medusa is thoroughly a comic book character.  She’s a chick with super-strong living hair.  Hair.  Without a serious change in concept (like psychokinetic force tendrils taking the form of head snakes), Medusa sounds more like something out of a shampoo commercial.  (“Do you want superhuman hair?  Try Inhuman Essence Blue.”)  And there’s the other thing.  You’d imagine a hot model doing that commercial.  In the comic books, Medusa’s also always been portrayed as glamorously gorgeous.  I don’t know how to say this more tactfully: the actress playing the part doesn’t quite live up to that.  She didn’t even have good hair. 

So, you’ve got this somewhat unappealing woman with a weird superpower.   What’s the first thing they did with her?  They shaved her head.  This made her even more unappealing and now useless.  And she’s one of the main characters.  Oh, and one of your other main character doesn’t speak.  And they live on the moon.  Was anyone surprised this didn’t work out?  After this actually somewhat faithful comic book recreation, I’m real sure Disney is going to have some adults in the room to make sure that the X-Men are not canonical to the point of looking ridiculous.