NM State Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Women’s Basketball 1-19-19

I didn’t realize until I sat down to write this, but this is my first live, in-person report for the year.  Today was promoted as “Space Day.”  Fans were encouraged to wear space-themed gear to the game for seniors Baylee Robinson and Stabresa McDaniel, and a poster was also produced for them.  I wore my crimson Star Trek shirt, though I think I was the only one wearing themed wardrobe today.  The team is recognizing their seniors for the next few home dates.  I am looking forward to “Brookie Cookie” day next month.  I’m sure Brooke Salas is cringing.  (Tell Aggie Marketing to stay away from her until she’s eaten a couple and is in a better mood.) 

Regrettably, neither of today’s honored seniors played today.  I saw five girls not suited out to play.  The rest of the team was wearing their throwback Roadrunner uniforms again.  Maybe it’s going to be a weekend thing for the rest of the season.  The Sundancers and the Cheerleaders were there.  The Roadrunner Review Band was there and they were psyched, I could tell immediately.  Oh, and there was a nice-looking tall brunette referee on court. 

There’s a new video board at the scorer’s table.  Ron, who was with me today, saw it when he was here last week.  The crowd was okay.  There were two sections of Utah Valley fans, but they weren’t sitting next to each other.  The group behind us was probably there for a player from New Mexico and another from El Paso.  They cheered for them during the introductions.

  

First Quarter

My mechanical pencil failed when I first attempted to fill out my scorecard.  I had to use my pen.  My concentration wavered several times during the game and there was one basket that I marked that was nearly waved off.  Somehow, I actually scored everything correctly.  I’ll use pen from now on.  (No, I won’t.)

Both teams came up empty on their first couple of trips.  I was worried it was going to be one of those kind of games.  #3 Maria Carvalho for the Wolverines broke the seal on the game with a three-pointer.  She was hard-to-miss on court.  While actually reasonably pretty, her hairstyle was shaved around the sides with the hair on top tied into a topknot which left a thin band of bare skin around her head.  At this point, she’d likely be better off shaving the whole thing and starting over. 

Ron was interested in #40 Josie Williams.  He was interested in her 6’5” height and being well-built.  He thought they’d be passing it underneath the basket to her all game, but that didn’t happen.  She had great hair, long and flowing.  She should really offer some hair care advice to her teammate Maria.    

Eventually, a few shots got in for both teams.  Utah Valley went to the nail on a shooting foul.  The Band started singing or humming during opposing foul shots.  I said they were feeling it today.  The first timeout was for the media at under five minutes, 5-7 Wolverines.  An entomology professor was honored on court.  PA Ed stumbled all over the various bug names that he was studying.  Most of the crowd was grossed out at the mention of them. 

Aaliyah Prince came off the bench.  She made a great steal from a taller player, but lost it going down court.  Kalei Atkinson also came in and came out firing with a pair of back-to-back three’s.  Brooke missed a three at the buzzer, but the refs stopped to review the shot.  During the delay, I could see the contestants for the Dino Dash fighting each other in the wings, waiting to come on.  The refs ruled that Brooke was fouled.  She’d make two of the three shots, though the TV coverage had already gone to commercial.  It was 15-8 Aggies after the first quarter.

Second Quarter

The Dino Dash contestants performed well, which is to say, funny.  The pretty ref was laughing at the spectacle, although she did call a flagrant foul on one of them.  Pistol Pete came by and shook my hand.  This was the handsome Pete, and I’m not just saying that because he said “Howdy,” to me.  He has a good manly look to him.  He’s perfect for the part.

The high-level of defense for both teams continued in the second quarter.  Nobody scored for several minutes.  Prince would pop a three.  Then, she got a steal.  Her and Tayelin Grays passed the ball to each other on the break, and Prince got the layup.  The Aggies went up by 10.

Unfortunately, they went into a scoring drought right after and Utah Valley got a free throw and a three to get close.  A gentleman next to me asked where Stabresa was.  She must be injured, since she’d played well in the Aggies’ last game.  This guy was really into it, yelling at the team like a parent.  (I was sitting there keeping a scorecard and notes, and I’m saying he was into the game.)  Specifically, he was getting frustrated that the girls couldn’t seem to score in the paint.  They were getting point blank shots, but missing them.   

#20 Alexis Cortez hit another three to give the Wolverines the lead.  Monique Mills hit a last second three to end the half and give the Aggies back the lead, 25-23.  I was really struck though by Mo just walking off the court afterward like she hadn’t done anything.  It was strange reaction in the lack of any reaction.  A little fist-pump would have been merited at least.

Halftime

A little girl dance group performed to start the break.  After that, a Cheerleader group from Roswell High School came out.  They marched out without shoes and proceeded to absolutely work it for a couple of minutes.  They were in sync and acrobatic and got the crowd cheering for them.  It was Bring It On!-level cheerleading.  I was seriously impressed.  Several people in the crowd taking video of the performance left right after, so they must have been their parents. 

Third Quarter

The band played the team in with Sweet Caroline.  I hadn’t heard them play that before.  They were really frisky today.  Oooh, I finally noticed some members of our champion Volleyball team nearby.  There was captain Tatyana Battle, Jordan George, and Ashley Anselmo (who I spent ten agonizing minutes trying to remember her name, I have the team autograph card on my fridge for Pete’s sake).  Ash looked really classy with her hair up.  Kiley Tonge seemed to be sporting a new silver blonde hair color.  Lastly, beautiful Megan Hart is letting her luscious hair grow out.  If they’d walked by at any point, I’d have congratulated them on their great season.  Oh, well.

On court, Brooke made a great steal at half court and hustled to keep it inbounds.  Unfortunately, the team lost the ball and Alexis turned it into another UV three-pointer.  Brooke was getting some points in the second half that she wasn’t getting in the first.  She was able to cut under the basket twice for easy layups.  The Wolverines did hit another three to take the lead. 

Prince was back in and hit another three to regain the Aggie lead.  Gia Pack followed that up with three as well.  Brooke got off a great pass on a fast break to Adenike Aderinto for a basket.  Still, the Wolverines were keeping it close.  It was 40-39 Aggies after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter

Oh, this was bad.  On the first play of the quarter, Brooke got knocked down to the court clutching her knee.  Thankfully, she was okay and kept playing, but she was in some real pain there for a moment.  That could have been bad for everyone. 

Prince hit another big three to increase the Aggie lead to 45-39.  On one possession though, the Aggies got like three offensive rebounds, including a great leaping one by Kalei, but couldn’t score.  Still on the same possession after the rebounds, Utah Valley committed two fouls and gave the ball back to the Aggies, who still didn’t score.  I’m sure the team will have trouble later watching the film on this sequence.

The Aggies nearly turned it over on a shot clock violation on another trip, but Gia hit a three at the buzzer.  Okay, now I know the girls are practicing these buzzer-beater shots.  While the refs reviewed the shot, Gia took a bow of sorts at half court.  That’s the way to celebrate those.  I was glad the refs decided she got the shot off in time, since I’d already marked it off in pen.

52-41, the Aggies got a steal on a Wolverines’ inbound, but still didn’t score on it.  Utah State turned it around with a steal and a layup, 52-45.  Timeout Aggies with two minutes left.  The Band began dancing to the PA playing Ah Ha’s Take On Me.  They were having a great time. 

Back to play, Tayelin slipped and fell taking the inbounds pass and turned it over.  She then committed two fouls.  Utah Valley closed in to 52-47 with 35 seconds left.  The Aggies got the ball back.  The UV bench started screaming at their teammates to foul.  They tagged Brooke, who sank two.  The Wolverines hit a quick three, 54-50.  Tayelin was fouled.  She calmly dropped in both shots to ice the game.  Nice comeback for the freshman guard.  58-52 for a good Aggie win.

The Aggies were really short-handed today.  Players were being cycled in-and-out constantly.  The Mills sisters were not scoring today and weren’t in for much of the second half.  Brooke Salas led with 15 points, 18 rebounds, and only one foul.  Aaliyah Prince was a real sparkplug with 11 points.  Gia Pack had 10 and Kalei Atkinson had 9.  The bench definitely stepped up. 

The Aggies displayed a new banner afterward for the Women winning the conference last season.  The Aggie Cheerleaders came out and unrolled mats out on the floor and brought out a box of trophies.  This was not for the team though.  Ron and I figured out that a cheerleading competition was about to be held in the Pan-Am Center.  If the other teams were as good as that Roswell team, the thought of staying was tempting.  However, I wanted lunch and they were probably going to clear us out before it started.

I’d been craving Raising Canes for about four weeks.  A new fast food place is about to open next door to it with steak burgers and ice cream.  I’m interested in that ice cream, since Canes doesn’t do desserts.  Instead, we went over to PQ Treats where I used a gift certificate.  I got a minty fresh Frozen Tornado.  While Ron was in the bathroom, Aggie Softball star, Kelsey Horton, came by and got dinner at the nearby grill.  She was hard to miss as she was in uniform.  The team must have been practicing.  If she’d come anywhere near, I would have totally fangirled on her, and my breath would have been so minty fresh too.  Even without being able to give any adulation to Kelsey or the Volleyball team, it was a great afternoon.   

Artifacts: My Alpha Fighter Model

This is one of my most prized artifacts, an actual Robotech Alpha Fighter model.  However, this isn’t some pricy import obtained from a very well-stocked anime-themed outlet or website.  I actually bought this before Robotech was ever on the air here in the US.  I found it at a variety store near where I used to live in El Paso.  Dollar stores are only a pale, pale imitation of the old variety stores that used to be.  Variety stores were great places for kids because they usually had awesome toy departments.  In any case, this was about the least likely place you could imagine finding exotic models directly from Japan. 

Suddenly one day at this store, a pile of these cool-looking Japanese models showed up.  There were several shelves full of them with a full variety of mecha from the Genesis Climber Mospeada show.  If you’re a Robotech fan, you’re likely crying right now over the thought of acquiring something like this so easily.  I’ve certainly haven’t stopped crying. 

It gets worse.  Not only did they have the models, they were selling fully transforming Alphas in blister packs.  They were maybe a little bigger than a TMNT figure.  Oh yeah, they were cool.  They were also expensive for the time (now, they’re effectively priceless).  I could not procure funding for one of these mecha (from my parents, I had no money).  I was lucky I got this one model, probably for a birthday present.  So, I’m left with only a haunting memory of what could have been.  People often speculate what they’d do if they could time travel.  I already know.  I’ve got a mental shopping list of places in the past I’d be hitting.

I’m just putting up this one picture of the model, because I pretty much butchered putting it together.  I think the paint job is actually red fingernail polish.  (No, I can’t tell you now how that came about.  I don’t remember or am repressing it.)  I’ve never been a great modeler in spite of lots of practice as a kid.  This is a fairly sturdy model though.  I did actually play with it and the little included figure (which I modified with an improvised gun).  This led to me changing my mind about whether the landing gear should be up or down more than once.  If you’re a good modeler, you don’t want to see the bottom of this.

Piling on the irony, these models were probably being sold just a couple of years before Robotech came on the air.  By that time, my model was sitting in a box in the garage with most of the rest of my toys.  While Alphas were prominently shown in the opening credits, it probably wasn’t until the Invid Invasion episodes that I finally recognized it.  Hey, that looks familiar!  At that point, I rescued the model and put it on display.  Of course, the models and toys at the store were long ago taken down and sent to who knows where.  (Who knows how they got here to begin with.)  All I could do was weep.  

Here’s the rest of the box.  Anybody who can translate Japanese, feel free to do so in comments section.  I’m actually curious.  I know this was kind of a sad story to relate, but I hope it was interesting.  I am grateful, however, that I have this really cool model.

NFL: National Fraud League

We’re going to interrupt my regularly scheduled Aggie post for “a giant ‘see I told you so.’”  I wrote a couple of hours before the NFC championship that Rush Limbaugh would be “regretting kissing and making up with the NFL.”  (That post will come up in a couple of days.)  I had no idea that it was going to be happening later in the evening.  I thought it was going to be because of the players being their usual racist, anti-American, jerkoff millionaire selves.  I had no idea that the entire sanctity of the league would be called into question.

Oh, ho!  The glory that showered down upon me as I heard a national radio personality finally saying in front of millions of listeners exactly what I’ve saying for years!  The NFL is a big F***ing fraud!  You idiot loser “fans” who worship at the pagan altar of your sports god, how did that taste going down your throats?  Have you puked it up yet?  Are you seeing the world a little more clearly now?  Remember, Rush is an actual NFL expert (for a fan).  If he’s questioning the legitimacy of the sport, that’s a really harsh indictment. 

You know, Colin Kaepernick just picked the wrong cause to get on his knees for: the utter joke of players killing themselves on the field for a game that they have no real control over.  I might have joined him.  There’s no beating that third team on the field, the refs.  They’re undefeated.  Unlike WWE “referees,” these NFE (National Football Entertainment, because you can’t sell it as an actual sport) referees are no joke.  They will control the outcome and scoring in a game as they are instructed to by the league.

Predictably, the sports media is circling the wagons around the teat they all suck at.  I didn’t actually see the major offending play in question in the Rams/Saints game.  It doesn’t matter.  I’ve seen the officials screw up or no-call enough plays to know what happened.  “If only the Saints had . . .” or “If only Drew Brees had audibled a . . .” Blah, blah, blah.  Shockingly, coaches and quarterbacks don’t call plays based on the possibility of the referees getting involved in determining their outcome. 

Or do they?  I saw a couple weeks ago in the playoffs, a coach inexplicably go for two in a situation where it wouldn’t make a difference, because they still needed to recover an onside kick and score to have a chance of winning.  Another point wasn’t going to affect what they needed to score.  Ahem, except those two points covered the spread in the game.  How deep this go?  The league?  The officials?  The coaches?  The players?  Who’s pulling the strings? 

Rush suggested that nationalized wagering may clean up the sport.  What irony that would be!  Millions of degenerate gamblers demanding that the NFL be transparent and accurate in enforcing their rules during their games.  There’s no point in betting if you think the whole sport is rigged.  If betting ever falls off in the NFL, it’s doomed.  It’s the sole reason for its popularity.  No, everything else you’re thinking of is insignificant compared to the power of office pools, spread betting, and the double F word, Fantasy Football. 

Fantasy Football was supposed to render all discussion of game fixing irrelevant.  Playing stats, rather than the score, would keep most of the dummy dedicated fans happy regardless of a few blown calls.  That works great right up until the playoffs, where betting on the spread and the results take precedence.  There’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide during these spotlight games that display the full fraudulence of the league with everyone watching.       

How do you even clean this up?  They say, “NASCAR rules are written in pencil.”  Hey, what is a “catch?”  It’s apparently whatever the ref says it is.  Same goes for pass interference apparently.  There’s holding on every play of the game, you know.  It’s only called whenever a ref decides to throw a flag.  It’s arbitrary, or the exact opposite, on purpose.

I watched just enough of both games to get disgusted.  What I saw were games being decided on flags and reviews on every play near the end.  From the Patriots and Chiefs game, the most credit I can give is that the refs screwed both teams pretty equally on bad calls.  Perhaps there were two different agendas fighting over the outcome and using the refs to do it.  And these are the “best” of the crews working these games!

This should have been a crowning moment for the NFL, two conference championships going overtime.  They’d finally seemingly gotten over the whole “kneeling” thing and the fans had come back.  Instead, there are allegations that the Rams were “chosen” for the Superbowl to bolster their flagging fanbase in Los Angles before their new stadium opens.  Why not?  That’s as good a reason as any to fix these games.

So, have I really been proven right about the NFL?  Ultimately, the fans of this sport are going to have to decide that.  If they turn away from the sport again or demand changes for honesty in the sport, then that means everyone is seeing the NFL the way I see it, as a fraud.    

Sports Journal January 12-17, 2019

1-12-19

I’m going to backtrack a little bit before getting to today’s game.  While Coach Jans was “okay” with Thursday’s near certain loss to GCU (1-10-19), he was mad about that loss to CBU last week (1-3-19) during Wednesday’s Aggie Coaches Show interview.  He said something I found interesting during that discussion, “You can get mad at the players for not following directions and not paying attention, but you can’t get mad at a kid for missing a bunny.  That’s just part of the game.”      

Of course, the Aggies actually won that game against GCU.  Little wonder, they shot 50%!  Johnny McCants had a career high in points and added another highlight for his reel.  Jack Nixon was calling him “Miracle” McCants for his last-second winning shot.  I’m not sure that’s going to catch on.  Jack also commented on how “uncharacteristic” AJ Harris’ two turnovers at the end of the game were, along with Terrell Brown missing two free throws.  He wasn’t insinuating anything, I think.  Now suddenly I’m wondering.  Boy, the last thing NMSU needs is an NCAA investigation. 

AD Mario Moccia came on the pregame.  He said he talked to AJ after the game, just to reassure him that the team needs him.  AJ was actually out with the flu for this game and wasn’t even on the bench.  (If he was out with two broken kneecaps, I’d tell Mario to start looking for a new job immediately.)  This afternoon’s opponent, CSU-Bakersfield, who are 3-0 in the WAC, will be leaving the conference in the near future.  Mario said they just picked up a new junior college member, Dixie State.  They’re in Utah.  Ooookay.  Maybe I heard that name wrong.  

Mario was worried about today’s crowd before the game.  The student section was looking sparse.  Mario had hoped with the early start time that it wouldn’t conflict with the Cowboys’ playoff game in the evening.  He was begging everyone listening to come to the game.  Now I felt bad for now having planned to go to this game.  Certainly with the weekend afternoon game, a good opponent, a halftime Mascot basketball game, a free caricature poster, and an autograph session afterward, it would have been a good game to go to.    

First Half

The pregame said that the Roadrunners were very physical on defense.  Ivan Aurrecoechea found that out the first time drove the lane and was clobbered.  Ivan also had a cold, probably from AJ (probably from the team partying after their win on Thursday).  He ended up coming out early and didn’t come back for the second.  It was likely some heroic effort just to get him out on the floor.

 

Trevelin Queen came off the bench and tied the game at 9 on a three.  However, the Roadrunners were out-rebounding the sluggish Aggies (perhaps they’re all sick) and regained the lead, 9-20.  Timeout Aggies.  Two minutes of tongue-lashing later, the Aggies suddenly come out rebounding and drawing fouls attacking the basket.  Unfortunately, they were only 6 of 11 on foul shots in the first half.  The Aggies managed to crawl back into it.  Terrell Brown made a last second three to end the half, 22-29 CSUB.  (Are the guys all practicing buzz beaters now?)

Second Half

Jack was amused by the Mascot Massacre basketball game at halftime, as a bunch of costumed mascots attempted to play each other.  They even brought back the old Women’s Roadrunner mascot for another game (12-15-18).  For stats, Queen was the surprise Aggie high-scorer at the half.

The crowd was right back into it as the Aggies came out firing and cut lead to 5.  They were down by 3 after a three.  It was 35-36 CSUB, when McCants was given a tacky charging call before a media timeout.  The crowd booed as this was his second questionable foul call of the game.  Terrell Brown tied it on a free throw shot and took the lead on a couple more, 38-36 Aggies.  Brown put in a layup to make it 40-36 and force a Roadrunner timeout. 

The lead started changing on alternating possessions.  There were still 11 minutes left in the game with all this furious action.  Brown put in another three to make it 50-45.  The Roadrunners retook the lead 52-54 with six minutes left, but Keyon Jones got it back on a three, 55-54.  McCants added a couple of buckets at the rim to make it 59-54 with four minutes left.

Jack had some out-of-town news.  The Aggie Women had just won in 61-59 in Bakersfield on a buzzer-beating shot.  The girls must have been watching the Men on Thursday after their own game ended.  From the newspaper account the next day, it was Adenike Aderinto who got the ball on the inbounds with two seconds and made the shot.  Brooke Salas had 16, but nearly all of that in the first half.  Gia Pack chipped in 10, but what was really encouraging was Dominique Mills had a double double.  This is what the girls need to win; at least three players scoring in double digits. 

Back to the current game, Brown put in another three and then Keyon Jones had a layup to increase the lead to 10.  The Aggies were picking up all the offensive rebounds now.  McCants had a layup after a baseball pass inbounds with under a minute to make it 70-60 with under a minute left for another highlight.  73-62 Aggies win! 

I’m not sure what the crowd size was, but they were really into it.  That was a good halftime comeback for the guys today.  Credit to Coach Jans for his strategy change, clever sub moves, and/or screaming motivational speech at the half.  Terrell Brown led the Aggies with 19.  Not bad for a guy who’s not even on the schedule poster.  Shunn Buchanan had 12 for a career high.  Eli Chuha had a double double. 

Jack noted a little boy in line for autographs afterward.  He was dressed as a little Pistol Pete in line with chaps and cowboy hat.  During the game, he’d also talked about a tiny little boy working the mop by one of the goals.  He only came up to the knees of one of the players.  This is apropos of nothing, but the scene sounded so cute, I really regretted not being there.

1-17-19

Now everybody’s doing it.  After the Aggie Men had won on a last-second shot last week (1-10-19) and the Aggie Women won on a buzzer-beater on Saturday (1-12-19), the UTEP Miner Men also won on the weekend on a shot after a full court inbounds.  It was a literal sub-last second shot.  The other team protested the result, and I think ESPN analysts said that theoretically they couldn’t have gotten the shot off in the time remaining.  Okay, this is all swell, but Johnny McCants is still Clutch Supreme with the highlight of the year. 

I’d like to give you a detailed recap of tonight’s Aggie games, but it’s not going to happen.  It’s not my fault.  The video for the Aggie Women’s home game against Seattle U was supposed to be on Twitch, but they were instead showing a video game competition.  The coverage started off showing one of the competitors break-dancing before the match.  Really.  Needless to say, I didn’t stick with it.  The game was probably on TV, but not only was I way too busy to leave my desk . . . err . . . I also forgot to look.  These things happen when you’re busy!

At least I was able to follow along on Statcast.  Looking on, Holy Cats!  What a game to miss!  It was 20-23 SU at the end of the first quarter.  That’s 43 points in ten minutes!  Brooke Salas already had 10 points.  High-fouling replaced high-scoring in the second quarter to drive down the down the shooting.  It was 36-33 Aggies at the half.  They were shooting over 50%.  Brooke sat out with two fouls for most of the quarter.  Adenike Aderinto stepped up with 8, and Aaliyah Prince had 7 off the bench.

Brooke was interviewed yesterday on the Aggie Coaches Show.  Brooke came off really well, confident, pleasant, and wants to win and help the team.  She hopes to keep playing after graduation.  Adam Young brought up her potential records for this season, but she said she didn’t follow that stuff, but admitted her mom does.  Brooke acknowledged her problem in collecting fouls, so apparently she can’t help it.

Aggies poured it on in the third, 57-44.  Dominique Mills, whom Coach Atkinson nicknamed “D” on the Coaches Show, came on with 10 points.  Brooke was still sitting out most of quarter with 3 fouls.  The Aggies would win in a convincing fashion, 75-55.  Brooke Salas did play the fourth and finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 fouls.  Dominique Mills put up 15 points.  Adenike Aderinto had 11.  The team shot 52%, but troublingly, they went 1 for 9 in three-pointers.

I started listening to the Aggie Men’s pregame show for their road game against SU . . .  err . . . but I got distracted watching my waifu Dizzykitten on Twitch.  Well, she was doing an extended Q and A and she’s so pretty.  Anyway, I missed the first half wherein the Aggies held a slim 26-point lead, 50-24, at halftime.  They were only shooting over 60%.  The best that the Redhawks could manage was that they had a guy named Terrell Brown on their team as well.

I was listening to the second half.  The Aggies were using their bench players about halfway through, but SU wasn’t doing any better.  Coach Jans would ask the Redhawks Cheerleaders and a team photographer to move out from under the basket.  How humiliating.  Apparently, it’s a small venue and the girls were in line to get potentially run over.  I’m pretty sure I’ve seen their gym before in other sports.  While its capacity is under 1000, Jack Nixon reported that it was full tonight.

Speaking of Jack, the team just picked up a new sponsor.  He stumbled all over their tongue-twister name during the ad read.  It’s going to be a long rest of the season.  The Aggies got the Redhawks’ big men in trouble in the first half.  In the second, three SU players fouled out.  Late in the game, Trevelin Queen and Berrick JeanLouis got back-to-back jams that excited the crowd.  Huh?  I was hearing cheering.  There couldn’t have been that many Aggie fans there traveling with the team.  Jack pronounced JeanLouis’ name “Jaan Lou-is,” not “Jaan Lou-ee,” as before.  It’s like the “R-oww-t” 66 Casino ad read, instead of saying “Root” (Route) 66 Casino.

87-60 Aggies!  Holy crap!  Even Coach Jans was pleased during the postgame interview.  Three Aggies finished in double figures.  Eli Chuha had a double double. Heck, 15 Aggies played and all of them scored.  The team shot over 50%.  New long range threat Johnny McCants went 2 for 2 shooting three’s.  While the viewing and listening were a bit disappointing, the results tonight were sweet.

Sports Journal January 5-10, 2019

1-5-19

I thought I’d get the weekend off from sports writing.  The UTEP Women’s Basketball game was preempted for the FCS Football Championship game on the radio.  Unexpectedly later in the afternoon, another Women’s Basketball game came on Stadium.  It was the New Mexico Lobos versus the Nevada Wolfpack.  I’d seen the Lobos in person this season (12-15-18) and I’d also seen the Wolfpack on TV (11-25-18).  This was their first meeting in Mountain West conference for the year. 

The Lobos were on a ten-game winning streak, mostly winning by 20 or more each game.  They are number one in the nation in blocked shots and attendance.  (I’m not surprised at all about leading in attendance they way they travel.)  Out on court, size-wise, the Lobos seemed to have a definite advantage over the Wolfpack. 

However, Nevada does have an advantage in coaching.  Coach Amanda Levens, who I’d noticed last time, is a real cutie.  Certainly she looks very serious and intense out there, but she is cute.  She’s a highlight blonde and today Amanda was in a pair of blue jeans and a light blouse.  (Here I am doing a coach’s wardrobe segment for another team.)  There was another attractive referee on court too with pretty long, dark hair. 

First Quarter

The Wolfpack starters were introduced coming out through a curtain.  Kinda classy.  Both teams came out playing nervous with several turnovers.  At 6-2 Lobos, nearly five minutes in, Nevada scored their first points.  The Wolfpack Cheerleaders were finally able to leave the stands and come back down to the court.  (Aggie Cheerleaders are there until the opposing team scores.  Everybody has different traditions.) 

9-8 Nevada took the lead off of some continuing sloppy play by the Lobos.  You could hear their Coach Mike Bradbury screaming on court over the announcer’s microphones.  The team kept dribbling off their feet for some reason on the way to ten turnovers in the quarter.  It was 11-9 Nevada after ten minutes.

Second Quarter

Lobo #23 Jaedyn de la Cerda hit three early.  I remembered her from the Aggie game.  She’s kinda cute and absolutely torched the Aggies.  The game was getting rough with girls hitting the floor.  It was 17-17 after the Lobos took an ill-advised shot.  “Coach Bradbury isn’t going to have a voice by the end of this,” said the play-by-play guy listening to the coach’s reaction. 

That got the team’s attention and they went on a 10-0 run.  24-19 Lobos on a steal and a layup.  One Lobo got hit in face under the basket and went down.  The coach went over to check on her, but she stayed in.  30-22 NM at the half.

Third Quarter

Early, there was another Lobo steal and an attempted layup.  It was three-on-one and the one defender had three fouls.  The Lobos passed the ball twice and ended up coming away with nothing.  The only stat the Wolfpack were leading in for the first half was rebounding, and they were doing it well in the second half too.  It was keeping them in it.

Nevada was also doing it down under the basket offensively.  A Wolfpack player under the rim made a fake and got a Lobo player to jump on her back.  The girl hung there for a moment before they both collapsed.  They both came up smiling.  A little later, it was about the same play, but two Lobo defenders were standing over the Nevada player.  She pump faked and hesitated twice, got the basket, and the foul.  The Lobos finished with the lead, 48-44.

Fourth Quarter  

The Wolfpack had gotten within two late in the third, but the Lobos went on an 11-0 run.  It was 55-44 early and NM’s biggest lead.  A loose ball was caught by a fan by the side of the court.  The announcer identified him, by name, as a Nevada professor, who’s a big fan of the university’s basketball programs. 

60-57 Lobos, Nevada’s Terae Briggs suddenly couldn’t miss and got the Wolfpack right back in it.  Timeout Lobos.  More rough play, a Nevada girl went down hard after making a block.  After a review, a Lobo player got an “Unsportsman-like conduct” foul.  From what I saw, it looked like she kicked the other girl on the way down.  Needless to say, the Lobo girl got booed every time she touched the ball thereafter.

64-62 Lobos, an NM player fouled out on the next play.  She was one of their main defensive players.  It was tied at 64 with about 90 seconds left.  The Lobos got a steal and layup again to take the lead.  Nevada had the ball with six seconds left, but missed a last second three to win it.  66-64 Lobos win.  Now it’s an 11-game winning streak.  Hey, that was a great game.  I’m glad Stadium showed this instead of what was scheduled and that I was able to watch.

1-10-19

Two Aggie Basketball games were on tap tonight.  I had a bunch of work and some distractions later that kept me from really watching and taking notes, so this is going to be a bit spotty.  First up, the Aggie Women were in Phoenix to play GCU.  They didn’t have a good game there last year and got drummed.  (Checking back, apparently I didn’t cover that game.)  I had the GCU video feed up while I was working.  They have two professional announcers working for them.  They were good and fair in calling the game (unlike their student broadcasters).   

I did find myself looking at the Lopes’ Coach Nicole Powell.  I’d noticed her when she brought her team here.  She’s a very athletic and attractive woman.  I didn’t note Coach Atkinson’s wardrobe again.  I’m failing in fashion reporting.  Also, I’m still fascinated with the Mills sisters’ hair color choices.  Dominique was still red, but  Monique seemed to be going with a golden hue. 

And now, how to write a recap without any notes.  Brooke Salas had no field goals in the first quarter.  She wasn’t cold; seemingly the whole GCU team was keyed on collapsing on her whenever she had the ball.  Still, the Aggies stayed close, trailing 12-16 after ten minutes.  Brooke got her first basket in the second.  She’d already accumulated nine rebounds to that point, so she was playing hard.  The Aggies went down by as many as seven, but got within one on an Aaliyah Prince layup and free throw.  The Aggies were still down 24-28 at the half.

I missed the third quarter.  Brooke was finally able to get going on offense.  The announcers were impressed with her.  In the fourth, the Aggies got within two in final seconds.  Brooke got a steal, but then turned it right over.  The Aggie pressure defense got a turnover and time for a final shot.  Kalei Atkinson was fouled and missed both free throws (the second may or may not have been on purpose).  On the last Aggie play, needing a three, the inbounds went off Brooke’s fingers and out-of-bounds. 

51-54 Lopes win.  They led all the way.  The Aggies at least did better than last year, when they only scored like 39 and lost by about 20.  Brooke Salas had 16 points and 16 rebounds.  Gia Pack was next with 10 points.  Your stat of the match was zero, the number Aggie three-pointers made.

The Men’s Basketball game against GCU here in Las Cruces started at about halftime of the Women’s game.  I started off listening on the radio, as I was away from my desk.  Even on a rainy night without any special promotion, there was nearly a full house at the Pan-Am Center for this conference rivalry matchup.  They were into it too.  Watch out though, three bus loads of GCU fans and students also came to game.  They’d be cheering too. 

When I got back to my desk, I found the game on Twitch again and started watching near the end of the half.  There wasn’t a lot of chat going on with the game and it was only GCU fans talking.  The halftime score was 38-41 Lopes in a very tight game.  (Like I said, I was busy.)

By the time the Women’s game came to its disappointing end, the Men’s second half started.  Here, however, was my distraction.  I was watching DizzyKitten, also on Twitch, interacting with her chatroom.  She’d made an offhanded comment that she had a printer in the bathroom and Chat started teasing her.  It was her mom’s master bathroom and printer.  Finally, Dizzy left her room for a moment to ask, “Mom, Chat wants to know why there’s a printer in the bathroom.”  Also, there was a coffee maker and gun supplies in the bathroom.  It’s a large bathroom.  Obviously, I couldn’t tune away from this exchange.

On some level, I missed most of a super-intense second half.  I definitely missed a couple of great Johnny McCants’ jams.  On the other, the score remained close and nothing really changed.  The Aggies may have gotten the biggest lead of the game, up five, with under two minutes.  The Lopes came right back with a three. 

With under 30 seconds left, disaster struck.  Up by three, all the Aggies had to do was dribble out as much as possible.  Excellent ball-handler, AJ Harris, suddenly got his pocket picked for a layup.  Moments later, AJ turned it over again on the inbounds for another easy layup for GCU.  With 13 seconds left, the Aggies were suddenly losing by one.

Terrell Brown was fouled shooting when the Aggies got the ball back.  He’s the team’s best free throw shooter at 80%.  He missed both.  On the rebound, the Aggies intentionally fouled immediately with only a couple of seconds left on the clock.  The GCU player missed the front end of the one-and-one. 

And then a legend was made.  Local boy Johnny McCants got the rebound and dribbled to halfcourt.  Johnny is not known for his long distance shooting, in fact people were questioning why he was in this late in the game, since he doesn’t even shoot free throws well.  Well behind the halfcourt line, he calmly heaved the ball as only tenths of a second remained.  The ball went right through the net, barely touching the rim.   

76-75 Aggies win!  Johnny was instantly mobbed and dogpiled on court by the team.  My dad reported that Jack Nixon on the radio was out of breath for the rest of the broadcast.  Adam Young, doing the video, was in a bit of shock.  He’d seen endings like this on replay, but never live, much less calling the game. 

As the team partied in the student section, Coach Chris Jans admitted in the postgame interview he was already walking over to congratulate GCU Coach Dan Majerle before Johnny shot the ball.  He’d said he was actually not mad about the impending loss, since the team had played hard and well.  In any case, Coach Jans was euphoric, along with the rest of the Aggie fans.  Did we just steal one?  Maybe. 

The star of the game was Ivan Aurrecoechea with 20 points and 11 rebounds, a tremendous comeback from being blanked against CBU last week (1-3-19).  Terrell Brown had 15, Johnny McCants had 17 (a definite breakout game for him offensively), and Keyon Jones had 12.  It’s still hard to get a read on this team.  Hopefully, this last second win turns the corner for them on losing close games.  We’ll see who steps up for the next game on Saturday.

Sports Journal January 1-3, 2019

1-1-19

Happy New Year!  I don’t really mean that actually.  I’m just saying it since everybody else does.  I don’t think I actually celebrated any holidays last year or my birthday.  I’m just grateful things went smoothly last night for Year End processing.  Well, there was one big operator error: I didn’t bring anything for dinner.  I thought I would treat myself with a Big Tex sandwich at Church’s across the street instead.  Unfortunately, they didn’t wait for me and closed early.  The funny thing is, even without one of their sandwiches, I still had indigestion for the night.  I’ll give another chance to kill me with their food in the near future.    

No, I’m not going to be talking about the New Years’ bowl games.  I lost ABC over-the-air three weeks ago.  They don’t show the Rose Bowl anyway.  It was on the radio, but the station would be powering down for the night well before it ended.  (Bad reception.  The story of my life.) 

Who cares?  Today, it’s all about the hockey with the Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins.  Last time I watched a hockey game (11-23-18 Black Friday), I didn’t bother taking any notes.  This time I came prepared, though I still didn’t do much of a job of it.  At least I was well fed today.  I baked up a pizza from the freezer.  I wasn’t going to depend on a restaurant being open.

This year’s event was at historic Notre Dame football stadium.  It was 34 degrees with a breeze.  The skies were overcast and threatening, but it never snowed.  (They were hoping for some lake-effect snow.)  The stadium was a sellout with 76,000 very loud patrons.  The Blackhawks were perhaps favored, but both teams and other hockey teams were represented by the fans.  I think I counted eight broadcasters there for NBC, though I’m pretty sure they could have gotten by with just the expert play-by-play call of Mike Emrick.

The teams marched into the stadium to the Notre Dame fight song.  It was kind of majestic.  The Blackhawks got the scoring started with about 12 minutes left in the period on a power play goal on a point blank shot in front of the net, 1-0.  The Bruins came right back to tie it with seven minutes left, also on a power play on a shot in front of the net, 1-1.  In the last seconds of the period, Blackhawk goalie, Cam Ward, did the splits to stop a rush on him and got plowed over.  Patrick Kane immediately took the puck the other way on a breakaway.  Bruin goalie, Tuukka Rask, stoned him.

During the first intermission, Weezer was out performing.  They looked uncomfortable and there was some kind of sound problem.  That was about the only technical difficulty with the game.  In the second period, the announcers talked about the pucks, after one of them had gone out-of-play and ended up with them.  The pucks had a thermodynamic layer that changed color to purple, if they went above a freezing temperature and would then be taken out of play.  The guys there were coveting them, as they also had the special Winter Classic-Notre Dame logo on them. 

One of the Bruins, Zdeno Chara, is actually the tallest NHL player ever at 6’9”.  Viewing the game at a distance, you couldn’t really see his size until there was a closeup on the ice when he was standing next to another player.  He was involved in some light fisticuffs in the period, which was the only fight of the game (no penalties issued). 

Eight minutes left, there was a Blackhawk goal on a redirection to make it 2-1.  Three minutes left, two different players were taken off their feet on checks into the boards.  Pretty spectacular.  The Bruins tied the score, 2-2, on another power play goal.  (The penalty call seemed a little tacky though.)  Patrice Bergeron scored.  Before that, he’d made a great hustle play to breakup a short-handed breakaway attempt by the Blackhawks on the power play.

The third period started with a carryover power play for the Bruins from the second period.  There were two more penalties in that time which resulted in a 4 on 3 and a 5 on 3.  The Blackhawks killed it to the roar of the crowd.  They went on to stifle another power play right after. 

A referee went down on a check, so you knew the game was getting serious.  Nine minutes left, the Bruins got a 3-2 lead off a goal on a rebound by Sean Kuraly, who played up to the crowd afterward.  He got some cheers, though the crowd was mostly for the Blackhawks.  On one contested play later, the crowd wanted a call.  From Mike Emrick, “The fans want a penalty, but it’s not up to a vote.” 

Two minutes left, Ward stopped two-man breakaway by himself.  He left the net empty with about 90 seconds in the game with the crowd making deafening noise.  But, the Bruins got a breakaway on a delayed penalty and fired one in unopposed to make it 4-2 Bruins, which was the final.

What a great game!  Part of that was the great ice surface for today’s game.  This is the first Winter Classics I’ve seen that didn’t have any delays for weather, sunshine, or having to fix problems with the ice.  It’s going to be used for public skating and then a Notre Dame hockey game versus Michigan over the weekend.  The players made a handshake line as fireworks went off, and then they raised their sticks to salute the crowd.  All the players said in interviews afterward that they were appreciating this, since there was no guarantee of getting to do this again in their careers.  This certainly got my new year off right.

1-3-19

This was my second missed game for Aggie Women’s Basketball this season.  I can’t take off work for every game, if for no other reason than I can’t deal with all the makeup work when I get back.  I nearly fell a day behind just trying to watch this game on TV in the break room.  I actually had enough literal paper-shuffling type work that I was still busy while watching, even without being around my computer. 

Tonight the Aggies were playing their first conference game against California Baptist, who were playing their first-ever WAC game.  CBU has a nice-looking team and some attractive assistant coaches.  Their Britney Thomas is actually the daughter of a former Aggie Women’s basketball star.  I noticed Georgia Dale from Australia.  She’s kinda cute.  On that matter, one of the female referees, while severe in expression, was rather attractive.   

It looked like a light crowd tonight.  I think the students are still on break, though there were some young people dressed as bananas.  I didn’t get an explanation for that.  The band was a no-show, but the Cheerleaders were there.  I missed noting Coach Atkinson’s outfit tonight, but for my team fashion segment, the Mills twins both had their hair colored red.  I might be a bit standoffish on this change; they looked good to begin with.       

What also looked good was Brooke Salas in the first quarter.  She had some points, a steal, and four rebounds early on.  As it turned out, CBU was barely trying to rebound.  They were more focused on their specialty of shooting three’s, which was keeping them in the game.  Gia Pack added one of her own at the quarter buzzer to make it 26-15 Aggies after ten minutes. 

The Aggie girls kept up the lead, 38-28, in the second.  I saw Dominique Mills make a very pretty pass to her sister Monique Mills under the basket.  CBU didn’t let them get away with that play twice though.  Graduate student Stabresa McDaniel came off the bench and added an authoritative three.  I basically missed the third quarter, 57-45, but Bre must have turned it on then, because she was scoring like crazy. 

In the fourth with three minutes left, I stopped everything to watch.  The Lancers had closed it to 67-62.  Bre set a great screen for Brooke, who hit a jumper, 72-63.  Then Brooke got a layup and the foul shot to make it 74-63.  CBU would stay with the Aggies thanks to some deep three’s, but NMSU would close it out, 76-69.   

Stabresa McDaniel had a heck of a game with 21 points.  Brooke Salas followed that with 20 points and 17 rebounds.  Ron was at the game without me, incurring my jealousy.  He e-mailed me after and said the Dino Dash was hysterical.  I asked for some details, so he sent this back.

It was a good game, but they started the 4th up by 12 and proceeded to blow the lead down to 5.  They weren't flat, but just not making good shots & racking up 4 team fouls in first 3 or 4 minutes.

Dino Dash was two girls, they did the same going across the court, getting a ball, dribbling back and making the basket, then it got interesting.  One got the mid court ball and the other put up a great defense.  Everyone was cheering and laughing.  I'll have to start recording them.

(I may also be jealous of Ron’s recap writing.)

About when this game finished, the Aggie Men took on CBU in Riverside, California.  I was trying to catch up working while this game was on, so I was having trouble paying attention.  The Aggies came out shooting flat and the Lancer Men were putting up three’s like the CBU ladies, but the guys were rebounding well.  It was 11-22 Lancers about halfway through the first half. 

At one point there was a foul on the Aggies.  The referees had an extended discussion about it.  Jack Nixon said, “I don’t remember who the foul was on, it’s been so long.”  The refs talked to the coaches, “Coach Jans doesn’t look unhappy.  Well, no more unhappy than usual.”  It turned out to be a foul and technical foul shots which resulted in a five-point trip, 20-28.  Jojo Zamora got a slam as part of a seven-point run to make it 25-32.  It was 29-32 Lancers at the half.

Back at my desk, CBU was putting up video of the game over the Internet.  It looked like a good crowd there.  The Lancer announcer said the team was looking for a “signature win” in their maiden WAC game.  I picked up the game again with 12 minutes left in the second half.  CBU was up by 10, though one of their players had already fouled out.  In fact, both teams were in the bonus.  Oh no, I thought.  The game slowed to a crawl with constant foul shots.

I was busy enough that it was difficult to continue following along as the game dragged on.  Another Lancer fouled out with five minutes left.  They’d end up losing four players before the end.  The Aggies played 12, so they were able to distribute their fouls better.  With a bit under three minutes, the Aggies were down five. 

With a bit over a minute left, there were a couple of steals in quick succession.  An Aggie got called for a reach on the last one.  Coach Jans got hit with a technical for arguing.  Milan Acquaah (Aqua), who finished with 36 points in the game, made all four free throws and put the Aggies down eight.  That was about it.  76-82 CBU final.

Terrell Brown led the Aggies with 22.  Jojo Zamora, AJ Harris, and CJ Bobbitt also scored in double figures.  Noticeably absent was Ivan Aurrecoechea, who didn’t score.  I wonder if he’s injured.  (From the Lancers’ announcer, we also got another pronunciation of his last name.)  I checked the final stats and the Aggies did better at about everything, even rebounds, but not in shooting percentage.  Dad, who was listening to game, said CBU was also making their free throws at the end (they shot more and better).  I wasn’t able to listen to the postgame.  I wonder if Coach Jans apologized for that technical.  Much like Coach Atkinson’s last week (12-28-18), that really didn’t help.

Sports Journal December 29-31, 2018

12-29-18

I indifferently listened to the UTEP Miner Women playing the Tulsa Golden Hurricane this afternoon.  I didn’t have much else going on.  The Miners were late showing up for the game.  By the end of the first quarter, it was 25-4 Tulsa.  UTEP was 2 for 13 shooting.  They came into the game down a player from a practice injury, so they only had nine players on the roster.

In the second, Katarina Zec came in and hit a three.  “They’re within 19,” exclaimed an enthusiastic Duke Keith doing the play call.  Strangely, he didn’t have access to the stats either, like Adam Young yesterday.  Duke didn’t have anyone to help him though, so he was lost during halftime.

It was 35-16 Tulsa at the half.  I was on a phone call for a while during the third.  Kat made a couple of threes, but it didn’t really get close.  Tulsa won 66-45.  They broke a 15-game losing streak to UTEP.  Katarina Zec at least had a good game with 16 points to lead the Miners.   

12-30-18

Aggie Basketball double header today, unfortunately of the overlapping kind.  First up, the Men were in Fort Collins to play the Colorado State Rams.  The broadcast started a bit late due to technical difficulties, which would have some consequences for me later on.  The abbreviated pregame had Jack Nixon talking to the person in the NM State athletics department who makes the football schedule.  It was a short talk, but interesting.  Being independent, NMSU has actually picked up games by playing teams that had openings because contracted games fell through.  The home schedule is the hard part, since no one wants to come here.

Three Aggie players were coming into this game injured, Ivan Aurrecoechea, Johnny McCants, and AJ Harris.  They were wearing boots before game because of bad ankles, but were good to go at the tip.  Eli Chuha was away on undisclosed family business.  Still, the team didn’t seem too worried. 

First Half

It sounded like there was a good crowd there.  This was mostly because the Rams came out shooting well and took the lead and the crowd made themselves known.  Jack passed along a “Hello” to NM State from a former Aggie Cheerleader who was now working for CSU.  He suspected she’s changed allegiances.  Jack praised a Rams player going to the nail to shoot free throws, who prompted bricked both of them.  You could even hear the clanks.  “Broadcaster’s curse,” lamented Jack.    

The Aggies tied it at 20 on a CJ Bobbitt three.  Timeout CSU.  McCants was getting in on the scoring early and then blocked a shot coming out of the timeout.  It felt like that sparked the team.  The Aggies suddenly roared out front, 32-22, with five minutes left.  Timeout Rams again.  Terrell Brown hit a three right out of that, 35-22.  It was 39-26 Aggies at the half.  The game was on a blistering pace as the half only took about 45 minutes to play.

 

I had been listening to the Cowboys/Giants’ game before turning over to this game.  (Remember, I did exempt the Cowboys from my NFL ban.  Also, I was waiting on a call that never came and didn’t have anything better to do.)  I probably should have turned back to the football game when the basketball game didn’t come on on-time.  I flipped back over at one point and heard Brad and Babe call what they were saying was “The last play for the Cowboys.”  Cole Beasley made a nice catch, but out-of-bounds in the endzone.  Game presumably over, Cowboys lose. 

I turned back over a couple of times to try and catch some of the postgame and the second time, I found out that play had been reviewed.  It was called a touchdown and then Cowboys went for two, instead of one, and got the win, 36-35.  Crap, I really missed out on one there, especially since I’d heard the rest of the game. 

Meanwhile, the Aggie Women were still in California to play the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.  Adam Young was broadcasting from the chilly “Thunderdome.”  In the pregame, he reminded us of the last time these teams played (12-29-17).  That was a 30-point loss.  I was there.  (Actually, rereading the post, I apparently had too much fun writing it.  You know, trying to make the crap sandwich palatable.)  UCSB didn’t have a great team last year and don’t have one this year either.  They lost to Coach Trakh and USC earlier in the season.  That’s about all I’m interested in.    

First Quarter

None of that losing by 30 today.  Gia Pack came out on fire.  She had 10 points and a handful of three’s early on.  The Aggies were subbing a lot.  Pam Wilmore came in for first time this year, recovered from an injury.  She’s a true point guard, so that freed up Gia to take some more shots.  It was 14-13 Aggies at the media timeout.  Aissatou Fall came in as UCSB has several really tall girls.  Wilmore got her first points off a finger roll.  Bayee Robinson, also in for her height, was in and blocked a shot.  Gia and Brooke Salas actually came out together for a couple of minutes.  It was 21-15 Aggies after a furious ten minutes of action.

Second Quarter

The Men were up 60-50 with 12 minutes left in the second half.  Gia poured in two three’s in a row, 35-22.  The UCSB head coach threw up her hands in frustration.  Brooke scored her tenth point and then got a finger roll and a foul shot for 13.  It was 44-30 Aggies at the half.  They were shooting 60% from the field.

Third Quarter

Back to Colorado during halftime, I rejoined the game with about two minutes to go.  The Aggie reserves were playing, so I assumed they were winning big.  And they did.  88-68 Aggies.  I shamefully admit my attention drifted during the postgame, so I can’t tell you which players did well.  I think several were in double digits.  Back to Santa Barbara, it was 48-41 Aggies, but the Gauchos were making a comeback.  Brooke was bombing though and scored her twenty-second point late.  61-55 Aggies after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter

Aaliyah Prince scored immediately at the start of the fourth.  She’d scored last four points for the Aggies.  She also took a foul and put in two free throws and got an assist to Kalei Atkinson.  The Gauchos were still shooting well and closed to 67-64.  They managed to get within two.  There was Prince again, this time with a steal and assist to Gia for a layup.  In the last two minutes, Gia got two free throws on an intentional foul.  She got fouled a bunch at the end.  Not that the Gauchos wanted to, since they knew she was a good foul shooter, but she kept getting the ball.  On the last play Brooke pulled down a rebound to finish the game with a double-double.

Aggies win 81-73.  That was a lot better than last year.  11 or 12 players (I heard both numbers) played for the Aggies today, who shot 58% as a team.  With Pam and Tayelin Grays helping on point, Gia Pack went nuts with 29 points.  Brooke Salas had 24 and 10 rebounds.  Aaliyah Prince came off the bench with 10 points.  This is a lot better-looking team going into WAC play this week.

12-31-18

47 degrees and a slight breeze, but clear blue skies over El Paso for this eighty-fifth Sun Bowl.  (Nobody pays me to mention the sponsor.)  This might be the only bowl game that CBS broadcasts (ESPN owns almost all of them).  For whatever reason, the network and the bowl like the arrangement.  I’m pleased for it, since my ABC affiliate disappeared three weeks ago.  Other than Aggie games, this is only college football game I usually watch for the season.  I would think the game was on the radio somewhere locally, but it wasn’t on either El Paso sports station. 

I always love the aerial view of the Sun Bowl.  It looks so dramatic set up in the Franklin Mountains with a commanding view of the city.  Verne Lundquist retired a couple of years ago from calling the game.  He always seemed to enjoy it.  The replacement guys seemed happy to be there, though the weather leading up to the game was not pleasant.  They brought in the usual beautiful sideline reporter that usually keeps me from changing channels too early.  The stadium looked a bit empty at the start, but filled in pretty well during the first quarter. 

The teams were the Stanford Cardinal and the Pitt Panthers.  The pregame said this would be Stanford’s air raid versus Pitt’s ground game.  Unfortunately, neither team did much of either in a scoreless first quarter.  Pitt finally busted out a big run to the Stanford 10 right before the end, but had a settle for a field goal to start the second.  It was a curve ball with late-breaking movement that just got inside the right upright. 

Okay, then my attention started to drift.  They showed a bumper scene of the El Paso downtown ice rink.  Surprisingly, there were a bunch of people there.  The announcers made fun of the size of the rink.  “I got more ice in my backyard at home.”  It was 10-7 Pitt at the half.  I hate to say, my favorite part of the broadcast was, unexpectedly, the studio halftime show.  One of coaches busted out a guitar and sang a folk song about the season, while his co-hosts freestyled along with him.  How fun was that?

It was 14-13 Stanford late when I came back to it.  That would be the final score.  I had been watching some of the “Party like it’s Space:1999” marathon, so I’d missed the two big plays of the game.  Stanford got their second touchdown when their quarterback fumbled the ball on the goal line into the arms of a receiver.  It must have been considered a shovel pass, since it didn’t hit ground and because I don’t think you can score on a fumble.  The other big play was a missed field goal by Pitt that was so bad, they didn’t even reshow it later.  Too bad for Pitt, they mostly dominated the game. 

Condoleezza Rice was on the sidelines celebrating with Stanford.  I guess she’s an alumnus.  I wonder if she’ll ever get that NFL job she wants.  Well, I got in my usual Sun Bowl watching before going to work for Year End processing again.  You never know if you’re going to get a good game or good weather for this event.  I still need to find a way to see one of these in person someday.  And this ends my 2018 sports reporting.  I’ll be at it again next year, which is tomorrow.