Boxing Report: Canelo Alvarez vs Sergey Kovalev 11-2-19

Did you know that there were three sequels to the Magnificent Seven?  I was aware of a couple, but I hadn’t seen them.  (There was also a short-lived TV show and a recent remake that disappeared into the ether.)  Today, the Charge network was showing all four films.  I watched all of the original masterpiece.  However, during the first follow up film, I had turn away to check on something else on the schedule.

The Stadium network was going to be showing the undercards for the big Alvarez/Kovalev fight tonight, along with some commentary.  Or, they would be.  When I tuned in, they were showing a Men’s College Soccer match that had run over.  Credit to Stadium for sticking with it to show a winner.  (I think Stadium’s Internet site went to the fight coverage.) 

Colgate tied the score late to force overtime.  I’m sure that’s what everyone tuning in wanted.  They would beat Navy, 2-1 on a penalty kick thus thankfully avoiding double OT.  The winning player tore off his shirt, ala Brandy Chastain, revealing his sports bra.  I wish I was making a joke here.  I can’t un-see this.  I can’t even fathom why the guy was wearing it.  That couldn’t possibly be fashionable.  Could it?  Oh, sh . . . oot!  I have actually seen this somewhere else (7-7-19).  A guy on the Mexican national team was wearing one.  Why? 

The boxing coverage was joined in progress.  They were showing a pre-fight documentary about Canelo.  That was probably the part I really wanted to watch.  Canelo was going to be moving up two weight classes for this fight.  After that, they went to the MGM Grand arena and a couple of hosts.  They in turn sent it over to their fight reporter. 

Hey, it’s Claudia Trejos.  I haven’t seen her in forever.  Me and my fight-fan friend, Mike, like her a lot.  I finally got to hear her in English.  She called Canelo, “Fat.”  Okay, she said, he was fighting at the heaviest he’d ever been.  Translation: fat.  Claudia doesn’t pull any punches.

“If you’re joining us for this, you are a true die hard,” said one of the announcers.  No kidding.  There was no crowd there for the first bout.  The ref for the next fight was lounging at ringside watching this fight.  They showed the trainers talking to their fighters between rounds (with occasional profanity).  You could even clearly hear the trainers shouting instructions during the fight. 

The next bout featured a 17 year-old fighter going against a 32 year-old.  Don’t feel bad for the kid, he was bigger and taller.  He needed a note from his parents to fight professionally.  He was also homeschooled, but was planning on attending high school as a senior to go to the prom.  Claudia asked him if he was more concerned with finding a prom date or winning this fight.  The kid won the fight, though I’m not sure if that was the correct decision from what I saw.

The last fight of Stadium’s coverage was the debut of Evan Holyfield, son of Evander Holyfield.  Evan destroyed his opponent in seconds.  He knocked him down and the ref immediately stopped the fight.  The other guy was nearly in the act of running away when he was knocked down.  With that, the coverage abruptly ended.     

Meanwhile on the local CW affiliate, we had more soccer.  The El Paso Locomotive, in their first year of existence, was deep in the playoffs.  They won 3-0 over Sacramento to advance to the USL Western Conference championship.  Impressive.  The guys there had the bras on too.  This is beyond my comprehension.  (Just another reason to hate soccer.) 

 

A couple of hours later, TV Azteca picked up the coverage.  Their hosts interviewed Canelo himself to start the show.  Evander Holyfield was interviewed about his son.  “I never had one end that quick,” he said.  The first undercard ended quick with a knockout.  I missed it.  I was still watching that Magnificent Seven marathon.  The other undercard match ended way early with a knockout as well that I also missed.  The coverage had to vamp for an hour.  They showed highlights of the women’s undercard match that I didn’t see.  The women beat each other to bloody pulps before the ref called it between rounds. 

After an interminable wait, it got worse.  The Russian anthem took ten minutes.  The cute Mexican anthem singer was checking her phone waiting for her turn.  Kovalev looked taller and bigger.  He was definitely not a fan favorite there.  Canelo looked okay.  He didn’t look fat.  Canelo was trying to become only boxer to hold four world titles in four weight classes with this fight, so there was some historic significance to it.  In the break before the fight, Chris Evans (you know MCU Captain America) was doing a Mexican commercial.  He spoke in English, while the girl with him spoke in Spanish.  Not quite as weird or good as those Sylvester Stalone Mexican boxing commercials, but still weird.

Let’s get ready to . . . not say something that is apparently trademarked, since they didn’t say it before this fight.

Round 1: Canelo was very defensive.  His gloves were way up guarding his head.  He landed a couple of hard shots.  Canelo wrapped up briefly.  I gave the round to Canelo.  The commentators gave it to Kovalev.  He got in more punches, but they didn’t hit hard.

Round 2: Now Kovalev was hitting harder.  Canelo got in one good combination. Kovalev took the round definitely.

Round 3: Canelo was now swinging harder.  Kovalev was a bit more tentative, but it was otherwise more of the same.  Kovalev.

Round 4: Both fighters were more active at the start of the round.  Kovalev wrapped up and looked a bit tired briefly.  The crowd was getting unruly sounding.  Kovalev.  I’m not quite getting Canelo’s strategy of making like a turtle and taking an occasional wild swing.  This doesn’t seem like a winning strategy against anybody.  Did this happen because I was watching?  I have no luck in watching good fights.

Round 5: The crowd was chanting for Canelo and then booing.  Kovalev wrapped again. I had Kovalev, though he still hadn’t hit Canelo hard.  The commentators gave it to Canelo.

Round 6:  There was a low blow by Kovalev, but it was probably by accident.  The crowd was chanting again.  Kovalev was pushed into the ropes and wrapped again. Canelo definitely.  He got in a good head shot.

Round 7: The announcers were sounding a bit desperate.  Kovalev wrapped again and Canelo head-locked him.  Canelo got in another good head shot after.  Both of them wrapped up.  The crowd was urging Canelo on as they both looked tired.  Canelo.

Round 8: Kovalev came out more aggressive.  Canelo wrapped.  In another wrap, the ref warned Kovalev about a head-butt.  Both fighters did some extended dancing around.  The crowd started booing.  Canelo was backing up to avoid the hits.  Kovalev.

Round 9: Kovalev got a good shot on Canelo’s jaw.  Kovalev was warned again for a head-butt.  The crowd was roaring.  Canelo took another shot to the jaw, as the ref kept having to break them up.  Kovalev.

Round 10: The fighters started off wrapped up after a couple of swings.  There was another warning to Kovalev on a head-butt.  Canelo got in a really good jab at Kovalev as he backed him into a corner.  After, Canelo was just defending and not swinging back.  He got in a couple of shots before end.  I gave it to Kovalev from the number of hits.  The announcers give it to Canelo, probably on that one hard hit.

Round 11: There were a couple of more wrap ups.  Kovalev was warned about hitting back of Canelo’s head.  Canelo then turned savage and cut loose going for broke.  Canelo hit Kovalev with left uppercut to the head.  Kovalev staggered momentarily.  Canelo wound up and fired a huge right into Kovalev’s jaw.  The big Russian dropped into the ropes like a ragdoll.  There was no getting up for him.  The ref called it immediately.  KO.

I would have liked to have called Mike, mostly to hear his Canelo-loving girlfriend screaming with delight over the fight, but it was midnight.  (Daylight savings time didn’t end until 2:00am.)  The coverage kept insisting it was live, but I had my doubts.  The post-fight interview was in Spanish and way too fast for me for me to pick up anything.

Neither fighter really looked hurt (blood and black eye stuff) afterward.  During the fight, Kovalev looked more tired, more often as Canelo wore him out.  I guess I was wrong: Canelo did have a winning strategy.  It was a risky one though.  He pulled this one out of his butt.  The judges wouldn’t have given him this fight on a decision the way it was going (not without a lot of controversy). 

Who could believe it?  I actually got to see a knockout in a big fight.  Who knows?  I might even start enjoying watching fights. 

My Exhaustive MLB Postseason Report

Ahem.  Nudge.

Huh?

Ahem.  Hey, Jdh417 remember that World Series thing?  Do you remember that whole baseball thing in general?

Oh!  Shoot!  Yeah.  I’m all over it.  Take two.

Hello, I’m Chet Jdh417 and here’s everything you needed to know about the World Series and postseason baseball. 

Sigh.  Take three.

Hi, my name is Jdh417.  “Hi, Jdh417.”  I haven’t written about baseball since September.  I am a bad baseball writer. 

I doubt anything I write here will disprove that statement.  Baseball starts disappearing for me later in September when football starts.  This isn’t because I stop caring about one sport for the other.  It’s because baseball starts disappearing off the radio at that point.  In early and mid-October, baseball goes into a witness protection program that creatively shuffles their playoff games between irrelevant cable channels. 

MLB, why do you not have an Internet package for the playoffs?  Seriously, when your current TV contracts expire, let them go.  FOX is about to relegate your World Series to late night tape delay on FS1 at the rate they’re going.  They’ll also go picture-in-picture to show full commercials during the game.  (Right now, they’re only doing little micro commercials whenever there’s a break in the action.) 

So, I was sort of cutoff from sitting down an enjoying the coverage except for a couple of games.  My excitement level wasn’t there to begin with, since I wasn’t really rooting for anybody.  When the World Series started between the Astros and the Nationals, the sports media attempted to generate some controversy with a couple of stories, but they really didn’t catch on in the mainstream.

There was something about a Houston executive yelling at somebody during their ALCS celebration.  A baseball reporter had been tweeting out a domestic violence hotline number every time accused abuser Roberto Osuna entered a game.  (That’s journalism today for you.)  I think the executive got fired.  Osuna and the reporter are still employed.  Also, an MLB umpire tweeted out that he’d support a revolution if Trump were impeached.  Obviously, he has to go.  We can’t have anybody expressing “wrong think” opinions in the media.

Houston was being painted as the villain initially I think.  I had my own personal animus against the Nationals.  Max Scherzer, who I assume is a Player Union rep, went on this little tirade last year about the slow movement of MLB free agents (3-22-18).

As players, we need them to secure the biggest and longest contracts.  We need this class to push the market higher and higher as revenues go higher and higher.  When revenues are at all-time highs, increasing to historic levels, that warrants historic contracts.  We don’t need to hear more excuses about teams not spending actively this year to make sure their resources are available next year.  Things better start acting normally. 

It was almost poetic justice when he got scratched for neck spasms from the biggest game of his career in Game 4 of the World Series when his team desperately needed him.  I actually kind of felt bad for him.  Then Scherzer went out in Game 7 and gritted his teeth and pitched his heart out.  It was hard to root against him there. 

Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle is a virtue-signaling prick.  He was probably chanting from the bullpen with the Washington DC crowd, “Lock him up!” when President Trump made an appearance in Game 4.  Still, he’s a Star Wars nerd (that has a lot less cache with me than it used to) and is somewhat clever.  When he picked a catcher, Kurt Suzuki, in Spring Training, he told the other catcher, Yan Gomes, “But I’ll be thinking of you the whole time.”

When the Nationals lost three games at home and they looked to be done, some conservative commentators chimed in by calling them “the Deep-Staters” and that they deserved to lose.  (There was no comment when the Nationals went ahead and won, of course.)  That moniker likely applied to their fans buying those expensive playoff seats.  However, departed conservative commentator, Charles Krauthammer, wanted the Nationals to win a World Series more than anything in the sports realm before he passed.

In Game 6, there were a few incidents for water cooler talk.  These were, of course, hyped up to raise interest in Game 7.  When you get this deep in a series, any little event, even if it didn’t really concern the outcome, is going to be magnified.  I have no idea whatsoever what was going on with Alex Bregman and Juan Soto carrying their bats to first base after hitting home runs.  “Let the kids play,” right?  “Bat flips are cool.”  This was just an extension of that.  Are you still wondering why there are “unwritten rules” in baseball?  This will get worse until it is corrected.

Oh, then there was also in Game 6 some controversy over some obscure rule and the umpires’ ruling on it.  “This rule will have to changed in the offseason to prevent this kind of travesty from happening again.  Thank goodness, at least it didn’t affect the outcome and right team won.”  I have no opinion on the play.  I don’t care.  This was a minor call that was blown all out of proportion.  Then there was an absurd escalation and outrage over the call by the media.  Nauseatingly, a bunch of commentators, who didn’t have a clue about the rule beforehand, started speaking on this self-generated issue endlessly with mock authority.  I really could have lived without that.  

To tie all this together (hopefully), all of these attempts at controversy, politicization, off-the-field player actions and statements, and even on-field foolishness only dulled my interest in the series.  I didn’t appreciate this nonsense getting mixed into my sports entertainment.  Attaching a moral component to a secular activity almost assuredly ruins it.  

This doesn’t even get into some intrinsic issues that baseball has now.  The home run/strikeout/walk dynamic of the current game is diverging too far from the way the game should be played in order to be entertaining.  One ESPN Radio commentator went off on a rant during his World Series coverage about the length of the games.  In this case, I have to agree.  The host wanted a pitch clock and for the batters to stay in the damn box.  I like that, but it’s the extra commercials that are making these playoff games run long.  Constant pitching changes don’t help.  At least, the limit on mound visits has helped.  Pitchers and catchers in the World Series were consulting on every pitch two years ago. 

My pure sporting interests were already conflicted.  I like the Astros and their players (especially Bregman), but the Nationals had a pretty good underdog story.  Here was a team that had lost their star player in the offseason and had underperformed at the beginning of the year (19-31).  They came back to get into the playoffs.  They came back on the Brewers in the ninth inning in the Wild Card game and then got rid of the Dodgers.  Thank you for that on behalf of everybody (except for Dodger fans obviously).  There was a 24-game regular season winning differential between the Astros and the Nationals.  They were definitely underdogs.     

This series was over three times before it finished.  After Washington took the first two games, Houston had a very low win percentage.  After Houston took the next three games, Washington had an even lower win percentage, if not historically zero from losing three home games in a row in the playoffs.  After Washington took Game 6 though, Houston was thought to be done and that was correct, except that the Astros still had a slim lead late in Game 7. 

Between the Astros’ theoretically much better bullpen and Gerrit Cole on standby, not to mention a better offense, the win percentage had probably swung to Houston again.  It wasn’t until the Nationals blew it open that prognosticators could finally feel fairly confident picking a winner.  The Nationals had come from behind to win five elimination games in the postseason.  The stats would have said that was nearly impossible.

For an unprecedented seven-game series (in any sport) where no home team won a game, nobody offering an opinion was going to be looking smart.  I stopped making predictions or having any expectations, probably after Game 2.  I learned my lesson early.  For others, I’ll recap.  Win Percentage is another BS stat like WAR.  WP is basically meaningless when applied to any specific game you’re watching.  It only has historical value, if that. 

For that matter, “Experts” don’t know who’s going to win a specific game or series either.  Just because someone is paid to give sports opinions and study the stats (or pay their staff to do it or just read other people’s analysis), that doesn’t mean that they can tell the future.  Anybody could make a sports prediction and have about as much chance of being right as an expert.

I’m okay with commentators making predictions for light-hearted fun (unlike the NFL where there’s serious betting money involved), but I’d prefer they’d use most of their time to set up the matchup and discuss strategy.  Unfortunately, expert guesses on the outcome are the centerpiece of the coverage.  Guys sitting a bar can do that for themselves.  Nobody needs to be paid a bunch of money to mouth off on who they think is going to win.

I just loved listening to Stephen A. Smith before Game 6.  “THE ASTROS ARE GOING TO FINISH THIS TONIGHT!  JUSTIN VERLANDER IS ON THE MOUND TONIGHT AND HE CAN’T LOSE!  THIS IS JUST AS I PREDICTED: THE ASTROS IN SIX!  IT’S GONNA HAPPEN TONIGHT!”  Meanwhile, everyone listening was thinking the same thing: Hey, dummy.  The game is tomorrow night. 

Regrettably, a lot of the in-depth coverage and analysis wasn’t a whole lot better.  The sports media tends to create storylines before the game and will stick to them regardless of what happens on the field.  I heard any number of times how bad Washington’s bullpen was compared to the Astros’.  It didn’t matter that the Astros’ bullpen got clobbered early on, the storyline stayed the same.  You can argue my statement there a bit, but my premise is correct.  As soon as reality deviated from the storyline, the storyline should have changed.  Stubbornly insisting that the stats would revert back to their season averages isn’t a meaningful position to take in a short series.

All that said about what a waste of time predictions are, of course I did my own Preseason Preview (3-27-19) like I do every year.  It’s for fun and an excuse to talk about baseball (and embarrass myself at the end of the season).  It’s also about as accurate as anyone else’s.  In other words, I made a lot of the same obvious choices and looked bad anywhere I went out on a limb.

   

I had the AL right, except for the Red Sox.  I was too optimistic on the NL side.  This was of course the one year I didn’t pick the Nationals and neither did anyone else. Looking back on my Hot Stove Special (3-7-19), OMG!  I actually called it. 

Watch them go to the NLCS just to spite everyone.

The Nationals did just that and more. 

I was right about the Cardinals doing well, but their big acquisitions, Andrew Miller and Paul Goldschmidt, were mostly non-factors.  I did pick the Indians to not make the playoffs initially and correctly, but waffled and had them as a Wild Card.  I was right about the Twins taking the Central division. 

When I talked about the Rockies’ moves, I didn’t even mention them losing DJ LeMahieu.  I think he’d just about lost his second base job with Colorado for light hitting.  SI listed him as a Yankees’ bench player in their season preview.  Then he suddenly turned into a monster with the bat.  I was a fan of his, but now I’m angry at him for not showing that kind of talent in Denver.

 

Yep, Philadelphia did win the offseason with Bryce Harper and other acquisitions.  The Nationals losing him was thought to be their death blow.  There was even talk at the trade deadline about trading Scherzer.  The sports media then had to unanimously leap to Harper’s defense as the Nationals kept winning in the postseason.  DC didn’t finally win a postseason series because they lost Harper.  No!  No!  It was just an amazing coincidence.  How utterly predictable that the media would protect their “investment” in a star player they endlessly promoted.  Bryce Harper is a great player, but to this point, he is a team loser, a jinx.

And on that note, when I wrote about the Astros picking up Zack Greinke at the trade deadline (7-31-19), I said it was a loser move.  It was weird that I was right and wrong about him.  He pitched well, but the team did lose with him as predicted.  On an Astros’ website, the fans seemed to be blaming Manager AJ Hinch for the Game 7 loss for taking him out too early.  I also heard criticism for not bringing in Gerrit Cole.  Cole seemed pissed that he never got into the game.  Right after the game, he was already saying he was officially a free agent and no longer spoke as a team member.

 

Can I at least end this with some positivity?  I felt good for Ryan Zimmerman, the first Nationals player.  He was out with an injury for most of the series, but I was really glad for Kurt Suzuki.  He stole the bit from Elvis Andrus, but Gerardo Parra’s Baby Shark walkup was amusing.  This was the oldest team by player age in the MLB (I think).  This was a lot of those players’ last chance for a trophy. 

There were several candidates for MVP, but Stephen Strasberg, 2-0 in the World Series and 5-0 in playoffs, was an easy choice.  He was rather soft-spoken and reserved in receiving his award.  After getting shutdown, probably prematurely, in his first season and not getting to pitch in the playoffs then, this award may have been long overdue.  His adorable little girl (Reagan?) stole the show bouncing up and down off him.

Was anybody else surprised by the large number of Nationals fans there in Houston?  Meh.  Deep-staters.  I’m kind of happy that the Expos, on some level, won a World Series.  Now I feel bad for the Mariners, the last remaining team that hasn’t made it to the Series.  Like the Expos, the Mariners have had plenty of good players and teams.  It just hasn’t come together for them yet.  If the Cubs and Nationals can win in this century, there’s hope for them.

NM State Aggies vs CBU Lancers Volleyball 10-28-19 Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

Admittedly, this wasn’t the best place to break this evenly, but it was the most dramatic.  To recap, the Aggies had lost the first two sets.  They’d played valiantly and led late in each, but the Lancers had overpowered them.  The storyline seemed to that Savannah Davison wasn’t able to activate her usual high-energy game to lead the team.

Set 3: Lancers 2, Aggies 0

The Aggies were looking disorganized receiving and passing, but as has been noted elsewhere, this is normal and they are good out-of-system.  This is a product of their sheer talent, but I can see where Coach Jordan thinks they’d be much better with more discipline.  The Lancers were employing an interesting strategy blocking.  They’d bring a defender underneath the blockers at the net.  She’d have her hands out to dig.  That would help on balls going straight down between the blockers and the net, but would leave part of the court wide open.  I don’t think I’ve seen anybody else doing this.  

2-1 CBU took an early lead getting ace.  Sav wasn’t able to return it.  2-2, beautiful Megan Hart won the point on a tip.  3-3, Sav didn’t move at all on a CBU kill.  I could see that the Lancers were actively aiming at her on serves and kills.  I’m pretty sure Savannah noticed it too and she didn’t appreciate the attention.  We didn’t realize at the time that this was the turning point in the match.  Cue the rising dramatic music. 

5-5, CBU had a net serve.  6-6, Natalie Mikels had a net serve.  7-6, CBU took the lead on an ace.  7-7, Ashley Anselmo got a touch for kill.  8-7, the Aggies took the lead on a tip by Savannah.  CBU made a pancake dig on the point, but then let it drop after.  They had given up on the point too soon.  9-7 Aggies, Julianna Salanoa got the kill.  9-9, CBU aced.  10-10, Sav got a kill on a touch.  She’d gotten her second wind.  11-10, the Aggies went up on a block by Megan.  The crowd let off a big cheer.

Curiously, Coach Jordan was sitting quietly on the bench for this set.  I’m sure he was fully engaged in what was going on, but he looked like he was almost mentally resigned to defeat tonight.  12-11 Aggies, Megan again with a kill.  12-12, Krysten Garrison had a net serve.  13-13 Aggies, Sav made a kill in anger.  That was apparently what the Coach wanted to see.  He was up and yelling now.  13-12, Sav made a great save off court.  Cat Kelly ended the point with a kill on a touch.  The call was disputed.  The refs talked it over, but allowed it to stand.  The CBU captain objected to no avail. 

15-12 Aggies, Savannah had an ace leading to the media timeout.  The Raising Cane’s giveaway was during the break.  The section to our left won.  The loudmouth fan behind me, Ron, and his friend, Ginny, shouted, “They won last time!  Call another section.”  This was incorrect.  Last time (10-26-19), the section across the court won.  That’s where I was.  He was right in that the giveaway alternates between those two sections though.

16-12 Aggies, right out of the break, Sav served up a second ace.  She was mad.  17-12, Sav with a kill.  A CBU defender tried a kick save at the net.  18-12, Sav was still on serve.  Timeout Lancers.  18-13, CBU finally broke the run on a block.  That was a 6-0 run.  The Lancers came right back with a 6-0 run.  Coach Jordan burned both timeouts trying to break it up.  He seemed calm while talking to the team. 

19-18 Aggies, Lia Mosher got a kill through a block to break the run.  20-18, Lia had another kill.  21-19, Lia with tip.  She was on fire.  22-20, Ash got the kill on a touch.  23-21, Sav with a tip.  24-22, Meg with a tip.  Finally, 25-22, the Aggies won Set 3 with a block by Savannah.    

   

Set 4: Lancers 2, Aggies 1

You wouldn’t know from the crowd that the Aggies were still losing.  There was no letdown in the crowd’s energy.  They went crazy during a t-shirt toss.  A teen volleyball girls team was dancing in sync for the camera on the video screen. 

Savannah got the Aggies’ first point at 1-1 with a kill.  The dramatic background music starts getting louder.  3-2 Aggies, Natalie Mikels dropped in a sneaky dump shot.  4-2, Sav and Lia combined on a block.  5-3, Sav with another kill.  She was looking reinvigorated.  This was a good thing, because Cat was looking winded.  6-4, Meg got a kill off the blockers.  7-4, Analyssa served an ace, but out-served on the next point.

The Lancers made a comeback.  7-6 Aggies, CBU won the point.  Krysten went into press row trying to get the dig.  7-7, CBU got an overpass kill.  8-8, Nat had an out-serve.  9-8, the Aggies went back to the lead with a kill shot by Cat.  10-8 Aggies, Nat made a set that sort of looked like a dump shot, but was actually a pass to Julianna, who killed it.  Very sneaky.  11-9, Ashley had another kill.

The Lancers came back again.  11-11, Sav was blocked.  CBU seemed to be serving at Cat now.  13-11, the Aggies retook the lead with a pair of kills by Megan.  14-11 Aggies, Sav and Lia combined on a block.  14-13, CBU got an ace off the tape.  15-13, Sav got another kill.  Annie had a dive dig on the point.  This took us to the media timeout.

16-14 Aggies, Savannah had an out-serve.  17-14, Lia got the kill through a block.  17-16, the Aggies were called for four touches.  18-16, Cat came back with a kill.  18-17, CBU won the point, but the Aggies had two diving fist saves on the point.  They were really hustling.  19-17, Jules got a kill.  20-17, CBU made an out-swing, prompting a timeout.  The Aggies were the first to 20 in all four sets.  In the break, the camera found an older guy doing the scissors.  The crowd loved it.

21-17 Aggies, Sav got a kill on the sidelines.  22-19, for some reason, CBU was in complete confusion on this point.  They were still rearranging themselves during their serve.  One of their girls tripped and fell during the point.  Ash got another kill.  23-20, a questionable call gave CBU the previous point, but another one gave the Aggies this one.  Makeup call?  I think the officiating otherwise didn’t get in the way too much during the match.  24-20, a block by Lia got the Aggies to set point.  Lia finished it with a kill to win it, 25-21. The crowd was loud enough that I couldn’t hear the radio call in my earbuds. 

Set 5: Aggies 2, Lancers 2

In the break, another older fellow was doing a really fast scissors to Jump in the Line on camera.  What a way to fire up the crowd as they cheered him.  Savannah was the first out on the court out of the huddle.  She was by herself and looked around.  Where is everybody?  Sav took advantage of the spotlight and danced briefly.  I was on pins and needles, but the girls were keeping it loose.

1-1, Cat hit the backline with a kill.  She was getting a second wind.  2-1 Aggies, Ashley and Julianna combined on a block.  3-1, Sav and Jules combined for another block.  The loudmouth fan wanted a double touch on the Lancers anyway.  4-4, CBU took a brief lead, but let it go on a net violation.  Kiley Tonge came in to serve.  5-4, Meg hit the sideline on a kill.  “She terminates the point!” Adam Young exclaimed over the radio. 

6-5 CBU, the up official overruled on a kill by Sav to take away the point.  6-6, Meg and Sav blocked out on the point to tie it.  7-6, Megan gave the Aggies the lead with a kill.  8-6 Aggies, Sav got a kill into two blockers.  The teams changed ends.  9-6 Aggies, Krysten hit the tape with a nervous serve, but it was in.  Sav got the kill. 

9-8 Aggies, the Lancers were making a comeback.  Coach Jordan took a timeout.  A little boy tried scissoring for the camera, but couldn’t quite do it.  “A” for effort.  10-9, Sav with a kill.  11-10, Meg with a kill.  12-10 Cat with kill.  Me with a kill.  Just kidding, but this Aggie team does have a lot attack options.  Timeout CBU.  Good talk.  They took the next two points and tied it on an Aggie net violation. 

13-12 Aggies, Jules got a big kill.  The refs finally noticed a guy recording with a smartphone with a bright light on it.  They asked him to turn it off.  It was distracting.  That’s the second time I’ve seen that this season.  14-13, Sav free balled a shot and it fell in untouched for a kill.  She put her hand to her mouth in shock.  14-14, unfortunately, Sav gave back that lucky shot with a swing into the net. 

15-14 Aggies, no problem, Sav came right back with a kill.  The crowd was all standing and cheering.  Kiley came back in to serve for the match.  She’s regained the Coach’s confidence.  Appropriately, Savannah finished it with a kill.  The Aggies took Set 5, 16-14, and the match, 3-2.

The girls on the bench immediately stormed the court.  That was their twelfth-straight win the hard way.  I was a bit horse from yelling afterward.  The happy departing crowd quieted down to where I could hear the radio again.  Coach Jordan’s postgame interview had me laughing in his dismissal of his own team.  “We stopped feeling sorry for ourselves after two sets and started playing hard.”  He startled an otherwise ebullient Adam to the point that he apologized.  The Coach couldn’t even say anything nice about Savannah, other than she’d finally started playing decently by the third set. 

Three Lancers were in double digits in kills, including 17 by Morgan Sester.  Anywhere in the WAC except for the Pan Am Center, CBU would have easily done enough to win in all aspects of the game.  They truly had the Aggies on the ropes.  They only really made one mistake.   

Megan Hart led the Aggies with 18 kills.  She was the steady force tonight.  Credit to the Lancers for not getting discouraged like most teams do as Megan was raining shots down on them from orbit.  Ashley Anselmo had great game with 12 kills.  That was a career high for her right when the team needed it.  Cat Kelly had 9 kills on a night where she likely gassed for most of it.  Julianna Salanoa (8 kills, 5 blocks) and Lia Mosher (6 kills) came up with some really big plays too.  As usual, the Aggies led in kills, 71 to 60.  They were also up 13 to 8 in blocks.  Both teams were close in aces (8 CBU, 7 Aggies) and not too far off in service errors (6 CBU, 9 Aggies). 

Early in Set 3, I think Coach Jordan had mentally given up on winning this one, so give the credit to the players for not wanting to lose this one on their home court.  They had to win him back over.  The crowd never left or gave up on the team either.  All those teenage volleyball girls were especially indefatigable.  Even when you’re down two sets, remember that every set starts 0-0.  The other team can’t run out the clock.  They still have to earn the win.        

So what was the Lancers’ mistake?  They shouldn’t have made Savannah Davison angry.  In the first two sets, she only had a couple of kills.  Other players did a great job of stepping up, but that wasn’t enough against CBU tonight.  After they triggered her, Sav flipped the switch in Set 3.  By the end of Set 5, it was all her taking the big shots.  Sav finished with 16 kills, 18 assists, and 6 blocks.  As much as I’ve said how talented and deep this team is, as of this game, we just found out how important having Savannah is against a tough opponent. 

Autographs

At the end of the match, the young volleyball players in the crowd rushed the court.  The players started congregating by the sideline seats.  Gasp!  Could it be?  PA Ed then said something about autographs.  Yay!  I wasn’t going to be shutout of meeting all of the girls this season.  I waited until the radio postgame was over to go down.  Looking at the long line of little girls, I told Ron and Ginny that this might take a while.

  

As I walked across the court, I ran into Assistant Coach Hertel and congratulated him and shook his hand.  I passed by Adam and gave him a smile and a thumbs up.  I was at the back of the line.  Thankfully, though there were 1,500 tweener girls in front of me, I was in back with a few adults.  That guy that did the scissors was right in front of me.  Disaster almost struck as the last poster was handed out just as I reached the table.  Coach Hertel came to the rescue and brought in an armful of posters.

First, I have to address a couple of absences.  It occurred to me after Saturday’s game I hadn’t noticed red-shirt freshman Zoe Abeyta.  I guess she left the team.  It wasn’t until after the autographs and from looking at the roster that I realized I didn’t see Brielle Sterns there.  After her multiple season-ending injuries, I wonder if she was forced to quit volleyball altogether.  She’d played so well as a freshman before her first injury.  I’d seen her in uniform during warmups, but she didn’t participate.  She looked very unhappy and terribly thin.

The PA music tuned down when I got to the table, so I didn’t have to shout.  I knew all the girls’ names and used them with everyone.  I think it pleased them or at least didn’t get me slapped with a restraining order at the end of the line.  All of the girls were really nice.  First up, I finally got to congratulate Analyssa Acosta on starting.  She was all smiles on the recognition of her efforts.  Next, I told Megan Hart she was awesome.  I then sighed, leaving my feelings for her unexpressed.  She looked so beautiful. 

I also finally got to tell Julianna Salanoa that I knew she was going to be a great player the first time I saw her.  That was when she was introduced on court for the first time (8-19-17).  (Boy, did I nail that one.)  She gave me that killer smile of hers.  I asked Brenda Hernandez where her softball-playing sister, Brandy, was.  She probably gets that a lot and took it well.  Lia Mosher liked my black Borderland Invitational t-shirt.  I complimented Lindsay Blakey on her swings in practice.  Hopefully that helps to keep her spirits up, since she hasn’t played this season. 

I pointed at Brie Mortensen and told her she’d be starting someday without explaining my opinion.  “Okay,” she said genially.  Her reaction was either incredulous, like it was beyond expectations, or nonplussed, like she expected it.  I wasn’t sure which, so hopefully I’ve either motivated her or validated her.  I told Katie Birtcil she’s had three set-winning shots.  “Yeah, I guess that’s my job,” she didn’t entirely sound enthusiastic, since she’d only been brought in when the team was way up in points.  I think she was only feigning that she didn’t know how many times she’d done it though.  I may have undercounted.             

Cat Kelly seemed like such a sweet girl.  I called her a “Dynamo,” and she blushed and said, “Thank you.”  Kaleigh Thomas seemed a little startled that I knew her name, since she hasn’t played at all this year.  “At last, a redhead on the team,” I said.  Autumn Gentry, sitting next to her, commented on her hair too.  Okay, wow, Autumn is even better-looking close up than the knockout she is on court.  She was also really nice.  I told her she was Ron’s favorite.  “Well, at least I’m somebody’s favorite,” she said wistfully.  He really should have come down to meet her. 

I restrained myself from telling Kiley Tonge congratulations on getting out of the coach’s doghouse, since he let her play tonight and in some key spots.  I probably wanted to remind Halle Razo that she was the libero last year when they won the WAC championship.  Whatever happens next, she’ll always have that, but there’s no reason why she couldn’t be the libero again next season if she gets the coach’s confidence back.  On the other hand, that would have been awkward mouthful to blurt out, so I didn’t.               

I told Savannah Davison that the coach was very complimentary of her play in his postgame interview.  “You’re being sarcastic aren’t you?”  “Yeah.”  I hope I properly afterward emphasized what a great job she’s doing.  Between the coach wearing her out and her own probably very high expectations of herself, I’m sure she could use some praise for her efforts.  Lastly, I greeted sweet Brigette Lowe again.  She had a big stain on the shoulder of her uniform.  I said she looked like she’d been playing baseball and had slid in the infield.  Thinking about it now, I hope that wasn’t dried blood.  (Probably not.)               

Ice Cream is for winners!  We went to Caliches afterward and used the coupon on the back of Ginny’s ticket.  The clerk there asked about our evening and I gushed about the game.  He said he had a class with one of the volleyball girls, but didn’t know which one.  I asked him to tell her congratulations on the win and thanks for the autograph.  While we were there chatting, the Twin Peaks theme came on over their outside speakers.  I was the only one who identified it.  Strangely, the same Billie Eilish song we came into Pan-Am Center with came on there at Caliches.  I guess that closes the loop on tonight.  What a great time!   

NM State Aggies vs CBU Lancers Volleyball 10-28-19 Part 1

The Aggies were about to play their third game in five days.  This was going to be another tough matchup with the Cal Baptist Lancers.  They’d already beaten them on their home court in four sets (10-7-19).   That was the match with 18 service errors, but the Aggies still won.  I was concerned about this game even though CBU had a losing record overall and in conference.  The Aggie girls had to have some fatigue from the last two games.

Ron was able to go tonight and he brought a guest.  Since the person he was caretaking for had finally passed, Ron’s schedule was much more open.  He was with one of the deceased’s relatives, Ginny.  They were all good friends along with her husband.  He was hoping going to this game would brighten up their moods.  It did, but really they were both already fairly loose.  It was like a burden had been lifted from them after the passing.  Ron was concerned about finding future employment, but was otherwise in good spirits.

Some of the inside of the Pan-Am Center had been done up for Halloween and the Basketball Trick-or-Treat event tomorrow.  I’d kind of wanted to go to see the Men’s team’s practice, but not enough to take a night off for it.  Game 6 of the World Series was also going to be Tuesday night.  There was a wall of construction paper gravestones posted in the concourse.  There were jokes written on them.  Some were for opposing teams who had lost here and the date when it happened.  Seattle U Redhawks: Entered a no-fly zone.  UTRGV: Too many letters, not enough points.  CSUB Roadrunners: Not fast enough.  UMKC: Good BBQ. 

Whoa!  It’s another entry in the attractive opposing assistant coaches segment.  CBU’s glamorous blonde assistant coach Michelle Wright was on the sidelines.  I’d noticed her before (11-10-18), but there would be no time for ogling tonight.  Action on the court would be too serious.  I was struck by their libero, Nicole Aberu, from Peru.  She was one of the taller girls on the team, as opposed to the usual shorter defensive players for the position.

For an odd Monday date, there was a good crowd.  It seemed like around 900.  Once again, there were a large number of young teen girls present.  They were with a youth volleyball league and were recognized later with an announcement.  The girls livened up the place and that would prove to be helpful.  During the player introductions, beautiful Megan Hart tossed her autographed mini-volleyball to be grandstand behind her.  The girl on the receiving end missed it and it rolled back on to the court.  Alertly, Savannah Davison broke from the line to retrieve it.  Brenda Hernandez on the reserves got it back to the girl.

Set 1

Natalie Mikels started the match well with an ace.  That was good to see after all those errors the last time these teams played.  3-1 CBU, the Lancers came back with their own ace.  5-2 CBU, Julianna Salanoa broke up their run with a kill.  5-3 CBU, Jules won a joust at the net for another point.  8-5 CBU, the Lancers long served to side out themselves and did it again at 9-6.  “High risk, high reward.”  9-7 CBU, Megan got her first kill and that got a rise out of the crowd.

10-7 CBU, Krysten Garrison net served.  11-8 CBU, Sav came up with a kill to break up the run.  11-9 CBU, an attacker whiffed on a bad set to give the Aggies back the ball.  11-10 CBU, Lia Mosher put in a hard kill.  11-11, the Lancers were called for a double touch.  12-11 CBU, Sav made an out-serve.  Both teams were playing tight.

13-11 CBU, Cat Kelly was blocked at the net.  The Lancers let out a big cheer.  Their reserves did a dance.  They’d do this on any big point they won.  13-12 CBU, Megan pounded one.  13-13, Jules brought the thunder too and the crowd roared.  14-14, Cat got her first kill as she powered one through the Lancer blockers.  15-14 CBU, the Lancers took the lead going into the media timeout.  Analyssa Acosta nearly dove into the grandstand trying to save the point.

The Aggies equalized it at 15 with a block by Ashley Anselmo and Jules.  16-15, the Aggies finally took the lead as Halle Razo hit the backline with an ace.  18-15 Aggies, Ash dotted the line going crosscourt as the Aggies were on a run.  Timeout Lancers.  That loudmouth fan guy was behind us.  I think he knew one of the Cheerleaders throwing out t-shirts and was calling for one. 

18-16 Aggies, CBU took this point.  Yikes!  Nat nearly went into the courtside tables trying to dig it.  19-17, CBU took this point.  Ash made dig off court during the point.  19-18, CBU kept up the comeback.  Annie made a dive save on the point.  For the second time in the set, Megan made a dig with her elbow at the net.  The Aggies were putting in the effort tonight.  CBU tied it at 19 on an out-swing by Sav.  Timeout by Aggies.  Judging by the music tonight over the PA, I think 80’s/90’s music night was canceled.  Too bad. 

20-19 Aggies, Meg got the lead back with a tip.  21-20, Megan got another kill.  There were two pancake digs on the point.  CBU got the lead back, 22-21, on an ace.  23-21 CBU, Meg had an out-swing.  Timeout Aggies.  23-22 CBU, Meg came back with a kill, but the Lancers would close it out on a tip, 25-23 CBU.

Set 2: Lancers 1, Aggies 0

The Aggies had dropped the first set at Cal Baptist in the team’s first meeting.  No panic yet.  The Aggies started Set 2 with a big kill by Ashley. CBU made a save off court on the point.  2-1 Aggies, Ash got another kill going crosscourt.  Brigette Lowe came in.  3-1, Megan had a solo block.  4-1, Meg and Brigette combined on a block.  CBU came back after some Aggie errors.  4-2, Krysten had an out-serve.  5-4, a net violation was called on the Aggies.  5-5, Meg shot wide.      

The Aggies came back.  6-5 Aggies, Cat had a kill.  7-5, Annie served up an ace.  7-5, CBU took this point.  Sav dove for the ball and couldn’t get it.  She pounded the floor.  8-6, Julianna got a block.  8-7, Yagoda Jedrzejczak had a big kill for CBU.  9-7, Ash went crosscourt again for the kill.  10-8, a CBU swing dropped in.  11-8, CBU made a long serve out.  11-10, CBU aced as Savannah couldn’t handle the receive.  12-10, Megan stole a move from Sav and flew in for a kill. 

13-10 Aggies, Meg had another kill.  Brig made two digs on a point that was very disorganized.  We had radio call tonight.  Adam Young described the point as, “Not pretty.”  14-11, Brigette got her first kill.  15-13, Cat got a kill after two attack errors on the previous points.  Media timeout.  16-13, Annie painted the line with an ace.  17-14, Cat fired a laser for a kill.  18-14, Jules and Cat combined on a block.  Timeout Lancers.  On the sidelines, Megan was blowing her nose.  It wasn’t affecting her play, but I wonder if there’s more illness going through the team.

18-15 Aggies, Nat had a net serve.  The Aggies were still doing better serving than their last game against CBU.  19-15, Ash crossed it for a kill again.  19-16, a CBU shot dropped in.  Coach Jordan looked like an opera singer on the sidelines.  He was “singing” loudly and was very expressive with his hands.  20-16, the Aggies got to 20 first again on another kill by Ashley. 

20-18, Ash had her first attack error as the Aggies took a timeout.  The Cheerleaders tossed souvenir hats into the crowd.  I got a good look at one as a guy Cheerleader came near our section holding one, getting people to cheer for it.  It was a regular hat with a leather Aggie patch on the front.  I had doubted it was an all-leather hat when it was announced in the last game.

20-19 Aggies, Savannah was blocked.  CBU tied it at 20 on an ace.  Megan tried to dig it off the floor.  Timeout Aggies.  21-20, Meg made a kill at a defender’s ankles.  22-21, CBU took this point.  Megan had a dig on the point, as Sav had another attack error.  CBU took the lead, 23-21, as Megan was blocked.  24-21 CBU, with a kill, the Lancer reserves started going crazy.  24-22 CBU, they had an out-serve, but finished it on a block, 25-22.

Halftime

On the radio, Adam said Savannah had been named the offensive player of the week in the WAC this morning for her performances last week.  So far, she only had one kill tonight.  Given their high-jumping play, it wasn’t hard to imagine that Sav and Cat had tired legs in their third game in five days.  Even with some great contributions from other players, the team just wasn’t the same without those two pounding in most of the kills.

In the stands, the teen girl volleyball teams were doing the Macarena.  Before the third set started, the crowd spontaneously broke into a, “Go Aggies!” chant.  In spite of the score, this one wasn’t over yet.

Continued.