NM State vs CSU-Bakersfield Men’s and Women’s Basketball 2-8-18

I had an irritating night at work.  I’m only saying this to make an excuse for taking poor notes for these two games.  The Men and the Women weren’t playing at the same time exactly, but the games were overlapping, which also made it hard to follow both.  I don’t make the schedule.  I’d prefer to listen or watch both separately.

A couple of Aggie pregame items first.  Earlier in the week, the Aggie Coach’s Show went an extra half hour going over new football recruits for national signing day.  NMSU managed to steal some recruits from UTEP and other regional schools.  Coach Martin again thanked the fans.  He said it really helped make the case for the school when he could show video of a full stadium and people storming the field after a big win.  During the Men’s pregame tonight, Athletic Director Mario Moccia said that the Men’s big game against Grand Canyon on Saturday wasn’t a sellout yet, but was set to be their highest revenue game ever. 

The Men’s game started first.  The Bakersfield Roadrunners gave the Aggies a rough time in their house last month (1-13-18).  That was partly because of their physical play, but also because the Aggies were finishing their epic eight-game road trip.  I thought that game was amazing for Roadrunner player Moataz Aly getting three goaltending calls.  I was glad to hear Sidy N’Dir was back playing for the Aggies for this game.  He’d gotten pretty roughed up in the last game.  

Once again, the Aggies came out cold against the Roadrunners.  They could not hit any three’s.  As Jack Nixon reported Coach Jans saying on the sidelines to a player, “You’re open because they don’t think you can hit it.”  Still, the Aggies were keeping it close at 14-14 inside of ten minutes.  The Aggies started to get the upper hand as the half went on.  I kept getting busier at work and couldn’t take many notes.  AJ Harris hit Jemerrio Jones for a jam.  Joe Garza came into the game and got a steal.  It was 18-14 Aggies with seven minutes remaining.  Garza got fouled on a three-point attempt and converted on all three foul shots.  Garza also pulled down a rebound.  Gabe Hadley showed some defense and rejected a dunk attempt.  Jack loved it.  The Aggies pulled away 31-18 at the half.

Oh, this was perfect.  I’m having a bad night at work and I hear that I’m missing a game of Mascot Basketball during halftime.  That’s just great.  Here’s a good halftime stat: the Aggies were 11 for 11 in free throws.  That’s how you make a physical team pay.  The Women’s game started at about this time, since I had video for that one, I more or less switched over, but kept an eye on the Men.  It wasn’t much of a game though.  The Aggies were up by at least 20 for most of the half.  The final was 69-43 Aggies.  Zach Lofton led the way with 14 points.  Jemerrio Jones did the dirty work with 20 rebounds.  Gabe Hadley hit a couple of threes.  Joe Garza finished with 9 points, second in scoring, including two three’s.  I’d heard the coach call him and the rest of the bench out after the last game, so apparently Joe heard him.  This was a great game for the team and Grand Canyon is coming in Saturday having just lost tonight.

Meanwhile, the Aggie Women were in Bakersfield.  Their last game against the Roadrunners was here (1-13-18).  The Aggie girls had to make a great comeback in the second half with the crowd behind them to get the win then.  The Aggies were coming off a great, 79-77, win on Saturday at UTRGV.  I didn’t have access to any live coverage, but the paper had a sizable article about the game.  Zaire Williams hit a three to force overtime and hit a pair of free throws for the win.  Gia Pack had a great night with 29 points.  Brooke Salas didn’t have a particularly good game.  If it was because she was being guarded well, then her teammates did what they were supposed to do: make the other team pay for leaving them open.   

I was able to watch tonight’s game thanks to the WAC Digital Network.  Thanks.  It was the Bakersfield feed.  The WAC scoring underneath video was actually 30 seconds ahead of the team scoring.  They also identified the Aggies as UMKC, but with Aggie logo.  This was corrected at some point in the second quarter.  The first thing that strikes anyone watching a Bakersfield game is their shocking solid blue floor.  That has to be a bit of a distraction for opponents.  Their facility is a large gym.  They had a good crowd and it looked like many students were there.  They also had a very pretty blonde cheerleader.  I didn’t get to see enough of her. 

This matchup was #1 (Aggies) versus #2 (Roadrunners) in the conference.  The Aggies came out playing a press defense and managed to get a steal on a trap, but Brooke lost it moments later.  I was still busy with work.  I missed most of the first half.  The Aggies were leading after the first quarter, 16-11, and at the half 29-25.  The Roadrunners made a deep three at the buzzer, which seemed ominous at the time.  Brooke wasn’t playing when I was watching in the second quarter.  She had two fouls.  I don’t think she was injured.

In the third, it was tied at 35 with four minutes left.  Brooke was still not playing at the time, but finally came back in before the end of the quarter.  The fourth started 37 all.  Unfortunately, the Aggies went cold shooting were down by eight halfway through.  What felt like the back-breaker was Gia getting her pocket picked at midcourt and that turning into a layup.  Tonishia Childress hit a three to get in within six with under a minute, but it was too late.  62-52 Roadrunners was the final and they took over first place. 

Monique Mills actually led the way for the Aggies with 12 points.  I’m glad to see her back on track.  She was also wearing her shorts hiked up like that SDSU girl last week.  I guess it’s a fashion thing.  Everyone else was in single digits scoring.  Basketball analysis isn’t my forte (neither is any other sport), but the only real standout postgame stat I saw was this: the Aggies had 19 turnovers and the Roadrunners got 18 points off those turnovers.  I have to think Brooke sitting out a significant amount of the game hurt the team.  Duh.  Her not being a factor for these last two games has definitely made it hard for the team.  I don’t know if she’s injured or sick or just being guarded better, but they need her to beat these better teams in the conference.

Women’s College Basketball Miners, Blazers, Falcons, and Aztecs February 2-3, 2018

2-2-18

UTEP Miners vs UAB Blazers Women’s Basketball

If you’re questioning why I’m covering any college women’s basketball team not named NM State, I’m right there with you.  My nearest excuse is: Well, it was on.    If I was watching the game, instead of just listening to the radio call, I could at least say that I couldn’t resist seeing Katharine Zec.  Though I was at work, I got to listen to much of the game.

The crowd was reported at 700 for this game versus the UAB Blazers, but they were pretty active and into it.  The Miner Men’s team was there cheering them on.  Unfortunately, the girls came out cold and flat to start to the tune of 9-0 UAB.  But UTEP came back and it was 18-12 UAB after ten minutes.  In the second, the Miners went down by as much as 10, but clawed their way back into it.  Zec hit a three before the buzzer to give UTEP a 34-32 lead going into the half.

Steve Kaplowitz and Tracy Miller on the radio call spent some time in the third quarter talking about the food that’s served at Coach Kevin Baker’s weekly show.  I’m kicking myself that I can’t remember the restaurant.  They also noticed he was calling out plays named after states: “Arkansas!  Tennessee!  Oklahoma!”  UTEP led for most of the entire third quarter, but the Blazers took a slim 54-52 lead at the end. 

For the fourth, the Blazers went on a 5-0 run for a seven-point lead.  That became an 11-point lead after just three minutes.  That became a 22-point lead after seven minutes.  Almost needless to say, the Miners were not defending or shooting well.  By the end, Kappy and Tracy were calling out the team for quitting during the quarter.  The final was 84-64 UAB.  Here’s a couple of stats.  Rachel Childress on the Blazers hit five three’s in the fourth quarter.  UTEP was 8 of 19 on free throws.  Their main inside player, Tamara Seda, was particularly bad.  Coach Baker seemed flummoxed in the postgame.  I’m a bit shocked as well.  I’ve seldom seen games that close turn out so badly. 

KROD is unfortunately dumping the girls’ Sunday game on the Internet so that they can carry the Superbowl pre-game over the air.  It may be my disdain for the NFL talking, but who cares about the pre-game?  The basketball would still be ending over an hour before the football started.  UTEP Coach Baker may have initially thought they’d been scheduled to play at the same time as the football and said earlier that they’d have an ipad on the sidelines with game on.

(What has happened to me that I’m advocating for Women’s sports over the Superbowl?  The girls on the team probably wouldn’t even be arguing for themselves over the NFL.)

2-3-18

Air Force Falcons vs SDSU Aztecs Women’s Basketball

In spite of a myriad of Men’s college basketball games on, I decided to watch this Women’s game.  Perhaps I was missing the Aggie girls this afternoon.  They weren’t here, or on TV, or on the radio.  I was just glad to see Stadium putting on some live sports, instead of rerunning that high school tournament again. 

For this Mountain West matchup in Colorado Springs, the Air Force Academy Falcons were wearing blue, with the SDSU Aztecs in white, reverse of the usual home colors.  One of the Falcons female assistant coaches was in a matching blue jacket and another was in a matching blue dress (and looked pregnant).  The starting lineups were a bit non-traditional.  All of the Falcons were guards.  Only one of the Aztecs was a forward and the other four were guards.  I wonder if this may be the future of basketball.     

They were playing in an arena, not a gym, which was probably about the same size as the Pan-Am Center.  I was also a bit surprised by the light crowd.  It looked like a nice place to watch a game.  I would have thought the other cadets would be there supporting their team.  There wasn’t a band there, which surprised me, since I know they have a band.  There were cheerleaders, which shouldn’t have surprised me, but for some reason it struck me as incongruous to be a military cadet and a cheerleader.  (This is making me sound bad, isn’t it?  Sorry.) 

The two guys doing the commentary were very knowledgeable and enthusiastic.  They were definitely questioning the officiating at times, as they were seeing obvious fouls that the refs weren’t.  Unfortunately, my unfamiliarity with teams and that I was just sitting back and enjoying the game meant that I was being pretty lax in taking notes.  For the first half, all I have is that the game was pretty physical and the quarter scores: first 17-10 Air Force, second 28 all.  It was a tight game.

 In the third, Air Force had one possession where they got three rebounds and a steal, but still came away with no points.  They did get a deep two, a steal, and a layup to take the lead.  That got the crowd into it.  However, the Aztecs were leading 49-47 going into the fourth.  SDSU was using a lot of players in the game, trying to combat the altitude fatigue.      

The fourth quarter got wild and rough.  Players were hitting the deck left and right.  Five minutes in, the Falcons had retaken the lead, 57-49.  During a timeout, one of the announcers was startled when he realized that the Aztecs hadn’t scored for the entire time.  Coming back from commercial, they showed the Falcon mascot along with a fan holding a white board.  He had, “Baylee fix your shorts,” written on it.  This was referencing one of the Aztec girls who was wearing her shorts hiked up.  The announcers were a bit baffled by this fashion choice as well.  I’d noticed her too.  She was a rather attractive blonde that was chewing gum the whole game.

The Aztecs were down by eight with about two minutes left.  For some reason, they didn’t try fouling to stop the clock.  They were playing almost like it wasn’t the fourth quarter.  Ultimately, they just let the Falcons run it down to zero.  Then again, the Aztecs only scored two points in the quarter and those were free throws.  Maybe they were conceding defeat.  Our final: Air Force 61, SDSU 51. 

The coverage ended almost right after the final buzzer.  No interviews or postgame.  It was still 15 minutes until the top of the hour.  The game had finished well ahead of schedule.  Someone did mention that they were playing a hockey game after this.  That couldn’t be right.  Don’t you need an overnight to put the ice down?  Regardless, this was a pretty entertaining game.  Certainly you got to see a little of everything.  At times, I thought either team would have easily taken the Aggies, but just as many times, I was pretty sure the Aggies could have taken them.  Given the physical nature of the game, certainly they would have taken a beating either way.   

NM State Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Men's Basketball 2-3-18

While I would have liked to have gone to this game, I decided against it. I didn’t want to ask for tickets again from work and wasn’t sure if you had to buy tickets in advance to get into the $5 section.  It was also debatable if I’d have anyone to go with.  I was tempted to go to see Aggie Tennis on Saturday.  The game was at 2:00 and admission was free.  This was likely the only time they’d have matches scheduled in the afternoon on a weekend that wouldn’t conflict with some other event this year.  Unfortunately, I woke up at noon.  That has a way of driving the initiative out of a person.  Admittedly, the only reason I wanted to go was to see Eli Arnaudova, who is likely the best-looking female athlete at NMSU.  That’s saying something, given that there are quite a few good-looking girls playing for the Aggies.  Other than sitting there and admiring her, I would have at least had a new live Aggie sports experience to write about.

First Half

Instead, I’ll be writing about sitting at home watching the basketball game on TV.  That was another reason to not bother going.  Does the university know that some of their home games in basketball and football are on over-the-air television?  Some more games are even on cable.  This game with the Aggies versus the UTRGV Vaqueros was joined in progress.  The ACC game on before it took 30 minutes to play out the last two minutes.  (That’s what actually happened, not a joke.) 

I listened to Jack Nixon and the radio call until the game came on TV.  I could hear Coach Jans screaming at the top of his lungs over Jack’s mic on the sidelines.  The Aggies were committing fouls and not playing well in general.  It was 6-0 Vaqueros early.  The TV coverage came on and I switched to that.  (Sorry, Jack.)  Adam Young’s color commentator, Coach Rus Bradburd, said that Coach Jans was even yelling at the cheerleaders for not being spirited enough.  Well, it worked.  The Aggies came back to life.  There was an Aggie fast break and a no-look pass for a basket followed by Sidy N’Dir making a block on a fast break on the other end.  (I’m kind of glad I wasn’t there in terms of keeping a scorecard.  Events were going too fast for me to write anything down.)           

At the media timeout, it was 11-8 Vaqueros with about 15 minutes left.  The Aggies’ leading scorer, Zach Lofton, was looking a bit rusty shooting from being off earlier this week against Northern NM.  Coach Rus was really enjoying watching Jemerrio Jones’ passing.  He called his distribution, “Democratic.”  “He may pass it to us at some point,” he added.  The Vaqueros went to a full court press.  Johnny McCants beat it and jammed it in, making it 19 all at the 10 minute mark.

Oh, ho.  This was good.  Jemerrio made a bounce pass between the legs of a defender to Eli Chuha for a layup to give the Aggies a 21-19 lead.  Put that one in the highlight reel.  The Aggies built on their lead for the next couple of minutes.  Joe Garza came in for a spell.  There was a camera shot of Coach Jans.  Adam liked his new crimson jacket with a Pete logo on the lapel.  It was cool, if you’re a coach.  I’m not running out to buy one.  (Still waiting for one of those Aggie band hockey sweaters.) 

Four minutes left, Zach got it to McCants for his eighth point of the half and a 32-25 lead.  Then McCants got block at the other end.  Zach kept the next shot for himself and put in a three, 35-25.  The Vaqueros were still going with a full court press.  They stripped Sidy at mid-court, but he ran back and blocked the layup.  Inside of a minute left, Zach got a steal, a layup, and converted on the foul shot for his fourteenth point.  I thought I said he was “rusty” earlier?  Jemerrio was in double digits in rebounds at 13.  It was 42-30 Aggies at the half.

Second Half

The little Razzle Dazzle Cheerleaders were out entertaining for halftime.  Being home, I was able to easily get something to eat for dinner.  Hmm, I still want to try one of those Aggie burgers though.  Sidy twisted his ankle early on.  I think I saw him come back in later.  The Aggies started losing some steam and composure in general.  The Vaqueros made a comeback and got it within four on a quick layup at 44-40 within the first five minutes.   

The Aggies woke up during the media timeout and made it rain.  Zach hit a deep three.  Keyon Jones hit a three.  Another timeout, but the Aggies were still on a roll.  Keyon hit another three, then Zach put in another one.  Within five minutes, the Aggies had gone on a 12-0 run and boosted the score to 59-42.  Zach wasn’t done.  He faked out a defender so bad, he fell down, or as Coach Rus put it, “He broke his ankles.”  Zach then popped another long three his prone form.  Zach was wearing a big smile as he skipped merrily back down court.  66-45 Aggies with eight minutes left.

The rout was on.  Zach hit another three a couple minutes later.  I may have to put in a macro to save myself the trouble of writing that out several times for each Aggie game.  The camera showed the bench guys loving the fireworks.  With four minutes left, the Vaqueros got their last highlight with a steal and a layup.  Gabe Hadley came in a put in a three right after, 78-61. 

The Vaqueros couldn’t take anymore of the Zach Show.  As he drove the lane in traffic for a layup, he got hit four separate times by the defenders.  The refs stopped play to look at the carnage, so we all got several slow-motion replays.  The camera caught Shunn Buchcanan on the bench grooving to Taylor Swift’s Look What You Made Me Do.  The team will probably punish him for that.  The refs decided to hand out a foul and a technical, which awarded Zach four free throws.  With under two minutes, Zach appeared to get cramped up.  He fouled a Vaquero player to get a stoppage to come out.  That smartly dressed blonde woman I’d seen at the Utah Valley game worked on him on a table on the sidelines.  He didn’t come back in.  There wasn’t much need left for him to do, as he’d done plenty this evening.

Our final was Aggies 90, Vaqueros 67.  During the handshaking, the opposing coach pulled Zach aside and talked into his ear.  I’m guessing he was telling him something encouraging.  Zach Lofton finished with 34 points.  Jemerrio Jones finished with 20 rebounds.  The team is now an undefeated 7-0 in the WAC.  In the postgame interview, Adam asked Coach Jans about his new jacket.  He said if they hadn’t won, he would have burned it.  I saw a few fans wearing the new team caricature shirt, based on the poster.  I saw that advertised on the team Twitter.  I sent out an e-mail about it to someone at work, who had threatened to steal my poster.  Attendance was listed at over 5000, which doesn’t seem too bad.  Coach Rus said, “Watching this team is the best value in entertainment in the country.”  Hard to disagree.

RIP Chief Wahoo

Well, this was inevitable.  They’ve been building up to this for the last couple of years.  The Cleveland Indians’ mascot is now persona non grata at the stadium and the on the team uniform starting next year.  Coincidentally, next years’ All-Star Game is being hosted in Cleveland.  Commissioner Rob Manfred clearly twisted some arms here.  The Atlanta Braves will surely face this issue with their new stadium certain to be hosting the game in the near future.  Somehow, they’ll also have to force the fans there to stop doing the “Tomahawk Chop” for rallies. 

Next up will be name changes.  This has to happen too.  The Indians will still be selling Chief Wahoo merchandise locally to “protect” their trademark.  In other words, the team knows that others would be making a killing selling gear with the Chief on it and can’t abide anybody profiting on their own stupidity.  This hypocritical situation will create a new “crisis,” which will result in a name change, which will eventually cascade into a Braves’ name change.    

If you’re for expunging all Native American references in this country, this is a bright future to look forward to.  As it stands though, this solution to this imaginary problem made exactly no one happy.  The fans are incensed.  The snowflakes who mandated this are still angry.  Chief Loose Slots and the Wampum tribe at their sacred casino grounds could care less.  Okay, that last one was a cheap shot, but still accurate on some level.  Just about everyone I’ve heard heralding this decision (always with the words, “But there’s still a long ways to go.”), wasn’t a Native American.  You’d think that group would be loudest, since they were the ones being theoretically offended.  Will this character erasure and potential name change help the team itself?  Not even that.  There is no “Chief Wahoo Curse.”  He was on the uniform the last time the Indians won the World Series in the 40’s.                 

What’s annoying here is that the Indians were so named because of a former Native American Cleveland baseball player, Louis Sockalexis.  PC revisionists keep denying it or questioning the motivation, but it really does trace directly back to him.  Sockalexis was a good player and I think the fans, certainly as the years went by, liked the idea of the naming and loved the name itself.  “Indian” connotes a powerful warrior in this culture.  When you consume an image, you take on its power (or at least you wish your favorite sports team would do so in this case).  “Native American” just means another whiny civil rights group.  Who would name their team something silly and weak, like Chihuahuas? 

As for Chief Wahoo, the current itineration is a great logo (admit it), perhaps not that of a fierce warrior, but it is friendly and iconic.  (Yes, it was designed to appeal to children.  Get ‘em while they’re young.  It’s like the grandparents of guys who made the El Paso Chihuahuas’ logo were involved.)  You’d have to have pretty low self-esteem to see yourself as a smiling, bright red character with a big nose.  Alternatively, and more accurately, you’d have to be an SJW, who doesn’t see individuals or understand inoffensive symbolism.  These people only see stereotypes and put everyone they see into a category. 

I will admit to my own biases here.  I’ve known one Native American fellow, Fonz, when I was at college.  He was way cooler than my childhood idol from Happy Days.  Fonz did look like your Hollywood casting call for an Indian brave.  He was tall, broad shouldered, muscular, had long, thick dark hair, and a pleasant, friendly face.  Be still my heart.  I’m swooning like a Jane Austin heroine.  If he were a comic book character, we’re talking Thunderbird, Warpath, or Apache Chief, but more handsome.  His best characteristic was his personality.  He was simply one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.  As per the maxim: women wanted him; men wanted to be him.  I spent an afternoon girl-watching with him once (and he was so sweet in his ogling, you women would still love him).  It’s one of my favorite memories from my time working at EPCC.  If I could get his opinion on this issue, I’d take it as my own without further reflection.        

My own modest proposal is to rename the team, The White Liberals, in honor of those who forced the change.  Their mascot should be a big-headed character in the form of House Minority Leader Representative Nancy Pelosi.  She could stand at the front gate of the stadium calling each white person who entered a “racist.”  Nan (her affectionate nickname) could then demand they buy government healthcare with their ticket, and then she could sneak illegal aliens into the stadium into the seats of paying fans.

NM State Men’s Basketball January 27-30, 2018

1-27-18

I was typing up the Women’s game this evening while listening to this game between the Aggie Men and the UMKC Roos.  I wasn’t paying the closest attention, in other words.  During the pre-game, Jack Nixon conducted an impromptu interview with a former Aggie football player now in the military who was in attendance.  Jack mentioned that Johnny McCants was starting tonight with a couple of starters hurting.  The Roos only had eight players available for the game.  Several Aggie fans were in Kansas City for the game, along with some friends of Coach Jans from Wichita St, his former school.  The arena there was historic as it hosted many early NCAA tournaments.  

First Half

McCants started the game with a jam.  On the change of possession, there was a long review on a possible shot clock violation by the Roos, “This very important possession 53 seconds into the game,” drawled Jack.  McCants put in another jam.  The Aggies were leading early 15-6 with under 10 minutes left, before the Roos went on a six-point run.  McCants got another jam to make it 17-12.  Next year, this kid is going to be an offensive force.  Right now, he’s mostly in for defense.  Zach Lofton’s first points came on consecutive shots with two minutes left to make it 27-15.  Jemerrio Jones got a layup, 29-15 Aggies.  Zach got a steal, a basket, and a free throw.  It was 32-15 with under a minute, after a 13-point Aggie run.  However, it was 32-20 at half after a three and a layup by the Roos.

Second Half

The next 20 minutes weren’t hugely interesting.  12 minutes in, after the Aggies built up a huge lead, the Roos went on a run for five points.  Timeout Aggies.  From there, the Aggies dominated and started putting in the reserves.  Aussie Gabe Hadley hit a three to make it 58-34.  Joe Garza came in to the delight of the fans back in Las Cruces.  Zach hit an open three to make it 61-40, which really ended it.  73-48 Aggies was the final.  The Aggies shot 40% and were +15 in rebounds.  Zach Lofton led the team with 19 and the team is now 6-0 in the WAC.

1-30-18

Tonight’s game was a non-conference match versus the Northern New Mexico Eagles.  The Aggies played the Eagles in Rio Rancho the last two years.  Jack Nixon interviewed the Eagles’ coach Ryan Cordova.  He was glad to be in Las Cruces to do some recruiting here and in El Paso.  It’s also a “money” game for them, as NMSU pays them to play them (not a lot though).  Athletic Director Mario Moccia planned for this game to be at home this year, since there’s a new coach here (again).  NMSU likes visiting other parts of the state to increase the university’s prestige in New Mexico.  They’re hoping to visit Hobbs someday for a game.  Jack also talked to Aggie Baseball coach, Brian Green.  He drew some parallels with football team, where a few years in, everything came together.  The baseball team’s lost some great players to the draft, but Coach Green has parleyed that into another nationally ranked recruiting class.  I’m eager for baseball to start. 

First Half

Zach Lofton was out for this game because of a couple of bad knees.  Coach said he could have played if absolutely necessary, but not for this game.  The Eagles went up early 8-4 about four minutes in.  After a media timeout, the Aggies came back to outscore the Eagles 10-2, but the score was just 14-11 Aggies with 11 minutes left.  Jack sounded disappointed.  Here’s Johnny McCants to boost everyone’s spirits with a jam, 21-17 with seven minutes left.  A couple of minutes later, it was 21 all.  The Aggies might have been trying to figure things out without their leading scorer, Lofton.  McCants got the crowd back into it with one-hand jam with three minutes left as the Aggies started to pull away, 30-21.  Before the end of the half, all three Las Cruces players were out on court, McCants, Joe Garza, and Kevin Moore (on the Eagles).  Garza hit a three at the buzzer.  Jack and the crowd went wild, 39-21 Aggies.

Second half

I started watching the President’s State of the Union address during halftime and during the second half, but with subtitles so I could still listen to the game.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t multitasking well and missed writing several highlights.  Aggie fans were having a good time anyway as the team piled on, 56-30 with 11 minutes left.  At 60-35 and five minutes left, the crowd was grumbling over bad call.  Jack lightly chastised them.  But soon enough, they were cheering as an Eagle missed two free throws, meaning free Chik-fil-a for the fans.  Jack got in a “Hello Neumann,” as Elijah Neumann of the Eagles entered the game and took a shot.  The final was 71-45 Aggies. Jemerrio Jones led the way with 14 points and 16 rebounds.  Coach Jans was not happy in the post-game, specifically over the team’s 24 turnovers.  Well, this game was better than letting the Aggies go cold for a week waiting for the next game on Saturday.

UTEP Women’s Basketball January 26-28, 2018

I listened to the UTEP Miner Women play on Friday (1-26-18) and Sunday (1-28-18).  I admit that I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to either game while they were on.  It occurred to me that what I really wanted was to be watching these games so I could see more of Katarina Zec.  I’d run into Coach Kevin Baker’s show earlier in the week on the radio, which I did enjoy listening to.  He seems like a really nice, upbeat fellow, which contrasts with the usual coaching duties of yelling at the players and the refs.  There was also an interview with an assistant coach (didn’t get her name), who had an amazing pedigree in education.

I was working Friday night and was pretty busy.  The ladies were in Houston playing Rice, a good team in C-USA.  It sounded like a really good crowd there.  A reportedly good-size contingent of UTEP fans were in attendance.  Scoring was low to begin with.  Katarina got most of her scoring early, but cooled off later.  The rest of the team wasn’t doing well either.  Tamara Seda was big presence on defense and UTEP went down big when she was out for foul trouble.  It was 29-15 Rice at the half.  The Miners had overcome 15-point deficits twice this season, but it wasn’t to be today with the final, 56-42 Rice.

Sunday, I had the NHL All-Star game on TV, but had the Miners on the radio.  I hadn’t seen that All-Star game in a few years, since it’s been on cable.  I didn’t realize they’d radically changed the format.  I guess I didn’t like it, since I kept flipping channels.  The Pro Bowl was on at the same time.  That was poor scheduling on the NHL’s part, though the Pro Bowl is even less interesting.  I ended up mostly watching a Mexican sports/soccer highlight/talk show with Ivette Hernandez, who made the show highly engaging. 

The Miners were playing the North Texas Mean Green in Denton.  (No matter how dissatisfied I get with the El Paso Chihuahuas’ name, I’m always comforted by the much worse team names out there.)  They were playing in arena nicknamed “The Super Pit.”  Duke Keith, calling the game, was downright offended by the name, I guess in comparison to “The Pit” in Albuquerque (which they’ve attempted to rename into something corporate, but it’s not going to stick). 

Katarina again scored early.  That was apparently all I wrote down, other than the 34-29 UTEP halftime score.  Ivette is very distracting.  Actually, though the game was fairly close, it just wasn’t very interesting as neither team was scoring much.  The fourth quarter took this to an extreme.  It was 44-41 at the start of the quarter.  Katarina made a three, which was the only field goal for the Miners for 10 minutes!  That’s right, they only made one shot from the field in this quarter.  They flat out didn’t score at all for the last two minutes.  The only good news was that the Mean Green weren’t much better.  The final was 50-48 Miners.  That’s 13 combined points for the quarter. 

With the score that close, regardless of the offensive futility, it was pretty dramatic at end.  The Mean Green (I’m grimacing typing that) had nine seconds with the last shot and were only down one point, but missed.  They fouled Jordan Alexander on the rebound with less than a second left.  She missed the first free throw, but made the second.  For the last play, the Greenies heaved the ball at mid-court and hit the rim.  Game over. 

Wait!  Nobody touched the ball afterward.  Should the clock still have time on it?  Who has possession?  Finally, the refs ruled that hitting the rim started the possession and ended that game.  Whew.  Coach Baker, after meeting with a multitude of friends and fans there, said in the post-game interview that Jordan was supposed to miss that second free throw, because the other team touching it would have ended the game.  So, six points in the quarter and one of them was an accident.  Well, this game turned out to be interesting after all.         

NM State Aggies vs UMKC Roos Women’s Basketball 1-27-18

I’ve had sleep issues all week, mostly in terms of badly oversleeping.  Saturday morning I had to make sure to get up for this noon game and even set my alarm.  I didn’t need it, but I really didn’t want to get up this morning either and have been dragging my rear all day.  So, in spite of a great game, I was totally under-reacting there and while writing this.  It’s just me; it wasn’t them.

Ron was having multiple family problems and had to cancel on Friday.  For my part, I was gritting my teeth going, because I was missing the Detroit International Auto Show and the 24 Hours of Daytona coverage on TV.  I watch these events every year and enjoy them.  Why couldn’t this have been the usual 2:00 game?  And why were both shows on at the same time?  Why don’t I have Tivo?  #First World Problems.  One of my favorite streamers on Twitch, Winter, a Starcraft player, talked about going to the auto show this week with his girlfriend, who works for a car company.  I had a whole new reason to be jealous of him (though he was paying for the day trip with some exhaustion during his nocturnal stream).            

I must be tired; I’m rambling.  There weren’t any posters up front when I got to the Pan-Am Center.  I had five different people at work who wanted their own Aggie Men’s Basketball Caricature poster after seeing mine.  Oh, well.  For lunch, I got a Pete’s Combo.  I hadn’t eaten at the Concessions in probably two months.  I forgot why I stopped, so it was time to go back.  The bun wasn’t fresh, as usual, but it wasn’t badly stale.  At least the dog is pretty meaty and flavorful.  That raspberry tea soda is really good.  I’m glad I tried that a while back.   

The crowd looked fairly good for the game.  The Old Man was back, though he wasn’t cheering as much as usual in this game.  The Cheerleaders were going around selling something.  They all avoided me, so I didn’t find out what.  Just as well, I was juggling my drink and meal at the time I sat down.  (If that one Goth-y cheerleader or the redheaded one had come by, I probably would have bought anything from them, but they wasn’t even there today.)  Pistol Pete was by the tunnel entertaining a young girl’s team.  They would come out on court to be with the Aggies during player introductions.  They were also seated behind the visiting team and hopefully gave them the business.  The regular, deep-voiced PA was there, Ed Carnathan.  I finally got his name from a newspaper article.  He’s also a pro-wrestler, as I found out from an Internet search. 

I did a double-take when Coach Atkinson came out.  She was clad in a black leather jacket and, I think, skin-tight crimson leather pants.  It was a bold fashion choice.  She filled it out nicely, but it seemed un-coach-ly.  On the other side, there was a good-looking blonde assistant coach for the UMKC Roos.  She was in a more traditional high heels and dress outfit.  (Yes, I’m still fascinated by assistant coaches.)  A young girl came out to sing the Anthem and did a good job.  Let’s start the game.         

First Quarter

I’d read that Gia Pack had a great game last week against Utah Valley (which I didn’t cover, since I was at the concurrent Aggie Men’s game and it wasn’t on the radio anyway).  She picked up right where she left off.  Gia started all the scoring with two quick baskets and a three.  Jasmine Cooper got in a bucket from down low.  Brooke Salas then put in a three.  It was 12-0 Aggies after about four minutes of play.  Timeout UMKC.  I was really impressed with the assists that the Aggies got on those baskets, great passing.  They were also pressing really hard on defense. 

The Roos got their first basket on a three, five minutes in.  Meanwhile, Brooke fell on a pretty blonde Sundancer sitting behind the goal as she went for a layup.  The blonde was smiling afterward, so I guess there was no harm done.  That’s the most interaction between the team and the spirit squads I’ve ever seen.  Monique Mills came into the game sporting a new hairstyle.  It probably wasn’t the best choice, but she’s pretty enough to pull it off.  You could at least more easily tell the difference between her and her identical twin sister, Dominique.  (Have they tried switching uniforms yet to confuse the coach?)  Mo still seems to be lacking the confidence she had earlier in the season though.  She’s either passing up shots or not making them.  If I knew what to say to help, I’d do so, since I know she can play. 

After the start of the game, a large group of 4-H members started streaming in.  They took up more than a full section.  It was 4-H Day at the arena, since NMSU was hosting a retreat for the group.  A couple of different promotional videos were shown during the game, though they didn’t say what the 4-H stood for.  (Or maybe I should have paid better attention.)  Most of the club members were from around the state and out-of-town, so initially, they were a bit uninvolved in the game.  It was 25-11 Aggies after 10 minutes.         

Second Quarter

Little basketballs got tossed into the crowd between quarters.  Part of me really wanted one, but there were a bunch of little kids around me who wanted them more and probably deserved them.  One came my way and I decided to just dodge it and let someone behind me get.  The 4-H section got really excited about the giveaway.

This wasn’t a good quarter for the Aggies.  The only highlight I have listed was Brooke making a flying block about three minutes in.  Jeneva Toilolo got a basket after the rebound, but gave a hard foul and put the other girl into the goal, much like what happened to her a couple of weeks ago (1-13-18).  I think it was Aries Washinton who was injured.  The air went out of the building until she was able to get up and go to the sidelines.  She came back in later, though Kristen Moore shot the free throw for her.  It was hard to read Jeneva’s reaction to the event.   

The Aggies didn’t score for several minutes, while the Roos got back into the game.  The crowd was taken out of it.  One memorable turnover had Gia making a no-look pass into the lane right to a Roo player.  Brooke finally broke the drought with a three with under a minute left.  The Aggies were still well ahead at the half, 32-23, but Coach Atkinson slammed her hand into the press desk at the buzzer.  She was furious.  My God, everyone in the Pan-Am Center could hear her yelling at the team all the way from the locker room during halftime.  Just kidding, but I’m glad I wasn’t anywhere near that team meeting.     

Halftime

On court, a group of Aggie Women’s Basketball alumni were honored.  Afterward, a kid hip-hop dance troop performed to the delight of the crowd.  While I was in the bathroom, a member of the band was there and another fan asked him about their new Aggie hockey sweaters.  The fan said what I was thinking, “They should be selling those to the public.”  I had a large water-based Vitamin C drink right before going to the game and that large raspberry drink while there.  I ended up in the bathroom three times over the course of two hours.  Back at my seat, I could see Pistol Pete talking with the kids of the alumni on the sidelines.  He’s not just a mascot; he’s an ambassador.     

Third Quarter

Coach Atkinson stalked back out on court, still angry.  The team seemed fairly loose though.  The Mills sisters were smiling as they chatted.  The crowd stayed fairly quiet as neither team dominated during the first several minutes.  About four minutes left, Zaire Williams hit an open three that ignited the crowd and the team, as Brooke scored right after.  Brooke picked up a foul on the other end under the basket right after that.  The Roo girl let off a scream at her.  Brooke just stood there nonplussed and looked at her with an expression that said, “What?”  During the break, the 4-H officers were introduced on court.  They were all women and several had truly spectacular hair.  Is cosmetology part of 4-H?  One of the girls even had a punkish, short, slightly orange cut that looked good.             

Back to the action, Jasmine soon after went down under the Roo basket, grabbing her knee.  The contact didn’t seem that bad, but she was in some clear pain.  Once again, the building went quiet.  Coop couldn’t walk off court, but was able to walk it off on the sidelines.  Her teammates’ reactions were a bit odd.  They ignored Coop’s situation and were laughing about something.  For the players in any sport, sometimes it seems like they treat injuries as contagious or totally deny what they just saw.  Later, an errant Roo pass later went down the tunnel to the locker rooms.  A Roo player had to run down the hallway to get it before play resumed, just like at a schoolyard.  Brooke took a half court shot a second after the buzzer.  It hit the rim.  The Aggies increased their lead 50-36. 

Fourth Quarter

I was sitting in the section behind the Aggie bench, where I usually sit when I’m by myself.  (Ron prefers mid-court on the other side.)  I was right in front of the loudest female Aggie fan in the building.  She’d been behind me before, but she was really into it today.  It turned out that the team needed that this afternoon.  Being where I was, I could see the reserves.  There was a player there I couldn’t identify.  She wasn’t suited up and wasn’t on the roster, but she wasn’t a coach or assistant.  Who is the mystery woman? 

Aaliyah Prince started this quarter.  She’d come in near the end of the third.  Prince was the only other reserve player who came into the game.  The Roos started the fourth with a six-point run.  Timeout Aggies.  During the extended TV break, the Roadrunner Review band broke out a Dixieland version of the Aggie fight song and sang during part of it.  The crowd applauded the performance. 

Coop came back into the game, but the Roos kept scoring.  They were on a 12-point run with their bench into before Zaire connected with Coop under the basket with six minutes left, 52-48 Aggies.  Brooke then won a tugging match for a rebound on the other end.  By this point, the crowd was back into it.  Coop went to the line for free throws.  I could swear I heard the Roo bench heckling her.  If it wasn’t them, I don’t know who was doing it. 

Three minutes left, Brooke got a steal at mid-court off Aries Washington and was fouled going to the basket.  It was 57-41 after the free throws.  Zaire found Tonishia Childress going down court for a layup.  The crowd was fully engaged.  Then came what may have been the pivotal point in the game.  Kristen Moore, the Roos’ second highest scorer behind Washington, fouled out with two minutes left.  I say this because the Roos had closed the gap.  Right after foul, India Johnson stole an inbounds pass for a layup to make it 61-58 Aggies.

Zaire was fouled and converted on both free throws, 63-58 Aggies.  One minute left and both sides were in the bonus, fouling like crazy.  Gia got knocked down twice on one defensive possession and there wasn’t a call, putting the crowd into an uproar.  Jasmine blocked a three.  Gia was fouled and hit both free throws.  Coop was knocked down after the second free throw in a scuffle.  She complained to the refs, who had took a lengthy delay to review the footage.  Taruz’s Sandstorm, a great high-energy dance number, played during the break.  The camera found a member of the band dancing and kept it on him working it.  The crowd loved it. 

By this point, even the 4-H people were enjoying the game regardless of their usual team affiliation (a bunch of them may have been Lobo fans from the northern end of the state).  With 10 seconds left, the Roos got a layup and took a timeout.  The band shouted, “It just doesn’t matter!”  It was true.  The Aggies’ foul shooting had iced game before that.  Our final: Aggies 70, Roos 62.

I have two stats of the game.  Stat #1: 26.  That was the number of points scored by the Roos in the fourth quarter.  That beat out the Aggies’ 25 in the first.  Aries Washington was the top scorer for the Roos with 22, with 16 in the second half, mostly in the fourth quarter.  I have to think that if Kristen Moore had stayed in, this might have been a different game as she also came up big in the fourth.  Congrats to the team for not losing heart after that blowout first quarter.  They also made a good adjustment in denying the Aggies easy backdoor passes under the basket.  The Aggies kept looking for it and if they had kept getting it, this would have been decided a lot sooner.

Stat #2: 14.  That was the number of free throw points by the Aggies in the fourth quarter.  They had zero free throw points in the first three quarters.  I’m not sure what their percentage was, but it was clutch when it counted.  14 of the Aggies’ 20 points in the quarter were free throws.  That was the difference in the game.  Brooke Salas led with 24 points in addition to doing everything else.  Gia Pack had 17, but those 6 free throws in the fourth were huge.  Jasmine Cooper played tough and Zaire Williams had some great assists.  I can see where the coach got frustrated with the team for letting the Roos back into the game twice, but they showed some real resilience in closing it out.    

I wish I’d been better rested before this game so I could have gotten into it more.  I only barely had enough energy to take notes and keep up the scorecard, not get emotionally involved.  It was an odd game where the Aggies seemed to always have it in hand, but suddenly you saw the scoreboard and the Roos were breathing right down their necks.  Regardless, the Aggies are 5-1 in conference and first in the WAC.  The whole 4-H club went down for pictures with the team afterward in small groups. 

I saw lovely Megan Hart and possibly Tatyana Battle from the volleyball team looking at the display plaques around the concourse.  I had a Frozen Tornado from PQ Treats afterward and tried one of their green teas.  The ice cream was great.  The tea was very strong, but not bad.  No napping happened when I got home.  I was writing this.  I know that noon isn’t early, but I think I would have enjoyed today more, if this had been an afternoon game.