NM State Aggies vs Chicago St Cougars Volleyball 11-14-19

Oooh, I actually have juicy gossip about one of the players.  A couple of days ago, I was accosted by a co-worker, who knows I’m a fan of the team.  “Hey, I’m dating a volleyball player,” he said, rubbing it in my face.  Apparently, they weren’t too close, as I had to correct him on her name.  He’d met her while working at his other job at a food truck, which was parked outside of a bar.  The player was a bit obfuscated, told the co-worker that she thought he was handsome, and they struck up a conversation.

The co-worker was pretty excited about the prospect of going out with her, because she’s very attractive.  He was bragging to a couple of other co-workers about it when I came in.  I told him what I knew about her, which was basically what I knew about her playing ability.  “She’s great, except for her bad taste in men,” he said.  He was waiting to hear back from her. 

After today’s noon game, I got to work and told him, “Hey, I saw your girl playing this afternoon.  She was looking good.”  “Don’t say that.  It’s creepy.”  Then he suddenly realized I had some potential for contact with her, “Don’t say anything to her about me.  Don’t mention me.”  Oh, darn.  I was hoping to help.  (Actually, if I’d had the opportunity to, I would have.  He should have warned me earlier.)     

By the way, the player in question isn’t Cat Kelly pictured above.  (Or beautiful Megan Hart.  That would have really upset me.)  Unfortunately, the news about Cat isn’t so amusing.  Her hamstring is torn.  Cat wouldn’t be playing today or on Saturday, since these games don’t really matter.  The Aggies have already clinched the #1 seed at the WAC Tournament.  (I sold that clinching win over GCU last week a bit short.  They only have three losses in conference, two of which are to the Aggies.)  In the pregame show, Coach Jordan didn’t sound hopeful she’d be back for the tournament.

The coach was more upbeat talking about Chicago State.  They were 1-13 in conference, but their win was in their last game over Utah Valley.  They’d also played some other teams pretty tough.  As mentioned, this was a very odd Thursday noon game, which the girls wouldn’t be used to.  (Aggie Men’s Basketball would be playing this evening.  They would beat Southern handily, though they were really cold in shooting to start the game.)  When the girls came out on court in uniform to do their circle cheering, they seemed a bit low-energy.  You might notice that I’m foreshadowing a bit here.  

Ron and I didn’t come together to the game.  He said he’d try to make it later and made it just before the game started.  I was sitting with Danny, but he had to leave after a couple of sets.  I hope the girls at least noticed that there was a good crowd for them.  Given the time and day, having nearly 700 was pretty good.  Ron noticed that they were really only missing the kids today in attendance.  (The ballgirls on the sidelines were the only young people there.  Ron wondered why they weren’t in school.)  There were a few college students in the south grandstand.   

The tape marking out the court was blue, which I hadn’t seen before.  The previous tape was taken up for Women’s Basketball.  I’ve seen the blue tape on another dual purpose court.  Perhaps it doesn’t interfere with basketball play as much as the white tape.  I noticed Brielle Sterns was back with the team in the practice, though she wasn’t playing.  There’s hope she’ll be able to play next year.  Brenda Hernandez’s hair keeps getting pinker.  The Cheerleaders were there working this game.  We did have radio call.  Lastly, the Cougars all watched the Aggies’ intro video with rapt attention. 

Set 1

Brigette Lowe was starting in place of Cat today.  Natalie Mikels began the match with an ace.  However, she out-served on the next serve.  Chicago State went on a short run, but Julianna Salanoa broke it up with a kill, 3-2 CS.  Halle Razo came in early to serve.  The coach had warned he’d doing a lot of subs today.

And then the wheels kind of came off.  The Cougars went on a big run to 8-2.  Timeout Aggies.  They were having trouble digging and were hitting it out.  CS was getting some good kills.  Their team and reserves were way up in excitement.  As the coach had warned, they didn’t look like a 1-13 team.  Jules pounded a nail out of the timeout to sideout, 8-3 CS. 

9-4 CS, Megan got a kill off a block.  The team then got called for a couple of fouls.  Meg came back with a tip at 11-6.  The Aggies started making a comeback.  11-8, Lia Mosher and Jules combined on a block and CS took a timeout.  There was a t-shirt toss by the Cheerleaders.  One of the shirts didn’t make to some fans over the east tunnel.  A staff member took a few tries to get it up to them. 

11-10 CS, Savannah Davison made a flying kill to get within one.  A net violation ended Analyssa Acosta’s great serving run on the next point.  Chicago State went up 14-10 after a couple of Aggie attack errors.  15-10, Brigette was blocked.  She was playing as the opposite hitter for the first time and learning how on the job.  15-11, Jules got a crosscourt kill.  17-13 CS, this point might have been the low point of the match for the Aggies.  There was total confusion as the team just let a passed ball drop on court. 

At 18-13 CS, Coach Jordan took a timeout.  The coach didn’t seem mad yet, but then we found out later what he said.  I’ll get back to that at the end.  18-14, Jules pounded another one out of the break, but the Cougars then went on a run.  20-14, they aced.  Jules nearly went into the press table trying to dig it.  21-14, they blocked her on a shot.  22-14, another Cougar ace. 

23-15 CS, Ashley Anselmo broke up the run with a kill.  Jordan George came in to serve.  24-17, Sav had a kill, but that was it for the Aggies.  Chicago State took Set 1, 25-17.  Oh boy, were the Aggies missing Cat.  This team had seemed so deep this season, but as the coach had said earlier, they don’t have that depth at outside hitter.  Not having Sav at full strength for the first two sets against CBU (10-28-19) almost caused a loss.  Cat is another key piece that there isn’t an easy replacement for.  Since she wasn’t going to be playing, the rest of the team was going to have to figure it out without her.

Set 2: Cougars 1, Aggies 0

Kiley Tonge started for this set.  She got a dig immediately, as Jules started this set off with a kill.  2-2, Kiley ducked under a CS serve that went out.  4-2 CS, freshman Katie Birtcil came in.  The Cougars hit the tape on a swing that dropped over.  6-2 CS, a bad set totally missed Sav.  It looked bad.  6-3 CS, another Cougar out-serve.  7-3 CS, Sav served into the net.  Service errors are absolutely contagious.  7-4 CS, Meg and Katie combined on a block.  8-4 CS, usually dependable Annie had a net serve.

Adam Young on radio reported that the crowd was, “Stunned,” by events on court.  True, but I wasn’t entirely surprised.  I listed the reasons why this was a “trap” game earlier.  Last year, Chicago State lost here in straight sets (11-17-18), but still managed to give the Aggies one their hardest sets of the season. 

9-5 CS, Jules pounded a kill.  She is turning into a big time player.  10-6 CS, Natalie physically moved Brigette into another position before the Cougar serve.  Chicago State ended up being called for out-of-rotation on the point.  The CS coach and their captain complained to the up official to no avail.  Too bad they didn’t have Nat positioning their players.  12-8 CS, Ashley got a kill and another on the next point.  12-9 CS, timeout Cougars. 

The Aggies continued their comeback.  14-10 CS, Meg with a tip.  14-11, Megan with a block.  14-12, Megan with a kill.  14-13, Sav said, “Don’t hog the ball.  Let me do something!” and had a kill.  She then tied it at 14 with a kill.  The Aggies took the lead with an ace by Krysten Garrison.  16-15 Aggies, a Cougar swing hit the backline to finally side out on a long serving run by Krysten.  After all her serving troubles earlier this season, she’d gotten it together. 

The Aggies built on their lead.  17-16 Aggies, Meg got another kill.  19-17, Jules put down the hammer.  The crowd was not quiet now.  20-17, this point was an insane, long rally.  One of Sav’s digs brushed the video board, but was still in play.  The point ended with a CS swing into the net.  Timeout Cougars, probably just so everyone could catch their breath.  Ron’s highlight of the match came here.  The Cheerleaders were giving out Aggie hats.  He signaled for one and a girl hand-delivered it.  He was beaming afterward.

Back to the action, 20-19 Aggies, Chicago State got an ace.  CS tied it at 20 after another long rally.  The Aggies had two free balls, Brig almost went into the sideline table for a dig, and Savannah made a great fist dig falling backward.  21-20, the Cougars retook the lead on an overpass kill.  That was off a bad pass by Sav.  The coach pulled her for Jordan G.  21-21, the score was tied again with Brigette getting her first kill.  22-21 Aggies, Brig got another kill.  Jordan had a dig on the point.  22-22, we weren’t done yet, as Nat had a net serve.  23-22 CS, timeout Aggies.  23-23, Cougar net serve.  24-23, Sav was back in and got the Aggies to set point with a kill.  25-23, the Aggies took Set 2 on another kill by Savannah.  Kiley was serving at the end.

Set 3: Cougars 1, Aggies 1

Nat had another ace to start.  The ball was returned out.  Analyssa grabbed Brigette to keep her from trying to dig it.  1-1, Brig was called for being into the net on the next point.  A misplay seemed to be destined either way.  2-1 Aggies, Jules killed it with a tip.  Kiley was back into serve.  3-1, Ash had a kill.  4-1, Sav had a kill.  Nat had to physically move Ashley out of the way to get a dig on the point.  6-1 Aggies, timeout Cougars.

The run continued.  7-1 Aggies, Ash and Jules got the block.  There was a short delay as a wasp or bee invaded the court.  The players all backed away from it.  8-1, Ashley and Jules got another block.  9-1, Sav with a kill.  9-2, the Cougars finally sided out.  That was a great serving run by Kiley.          

12-2 Aggies, four touches was called on CS to end a long rally.  The players argued.  They had had a great pancake dig on the point.  13-5, four touches was called on the Aggies.  Coach Jordan was yelling at the refs.  14-6, Megan broke up the CS run with a kill.  15-6, Lia had a massive overpass kill.  15-7, Brig was called for being in the net again.  16-7, a double touch was called on the Cougars.  The Aggies got bailed out on that call, because they were otherwise going to give up a kill.

16-8 Aggies, Annie out-served.  17-18, Chicago State did the same.  Still contagious.  19-8, timeout CS.  Coming out of the break, a couple of players had to wave for a ball to serve, as the ballgirl wasn’t paying attention.  20-11, CS took this point.  Ashley seemed to be hit on the nose.  She was okay and her lovely face wasn’t damaged.  21-11, strangely both teams protested the ref’s call, but the Aggies got it.  22-11, Ash and Meg combined on a block.  23-11, Jordan G was back serving.  Sav got a kill.  23-12, Sav had a net violation.  Was this the call du jour of the down official or were the girls just clumsy?  24-13, Ash with the kill to get it to set point.  25-15, the Cougars had an out-serve to give Set 3 to the Aggies. 

Set 4: Aggies 2, Cougars 1

Savannah high-fived one of the ballgirls as the teams exchanged sides.  Honestly, the ballgirls mostly seem to be oblivious to the score or who’s winning.  Anybody at the press table not calling the game doesn’t seem to be into it either.  They’re all busy with their jobs. 

Sav started the set with a kill.  At 4-0 Aggies, the CS coach took a quick timeout.  The Aggies were on a roll going back to the last set.  Julianna’s serving run was broke at 5-1.  A Cougar swing rolled along the tape and fell in.  5-2, the Cougars had a panicked exchange on their side, but managed to get the ball over and hit Natalie for the point.  6-2, Sav had a kill.  7-2, Krysten had another ace.  8-2, Lia crushed a kill.

9-4, the Aggies took this point, but nearly lost Megan as she fell to the floor.  Thankfully, she was okay.  9-5 Aggies, Sav had an out-serve.  She then had an out-swing that got the coach yelling.  10-7, CS had an out-serve.  11-7, Lia had a kill.  There was a delay right after as the balls were inspected and one was tossed out.  Was there a bad ball causing the bad serves? 

12-7 Aggies, Brigette and Jules combined on a block.  13-8, Brigette slammed one in.  You could see her getting more comfortable and confident on court this set.  14-8, Sav with the overpass kill.  15-8, Sav and Jules combined on a block.  Sav also had a great dig on the point.  15-10, Jules had an out-serve.  Okay, it wasn’t the balls.  16-10, Megan kapow!  (I’m running out of ways to describe kills.)  17-10, CS was called for being into the net.  Maybe it was just the ref wanting to call it.         

18-12 Aggies, Jordan G was back in to serve.  19-13, Meg slapped one down.  Chicago State then went on a run.  19-15, timeout Aggies.  Brig got an unintentional dig off her shoulder on the point.  She came back with a kill on a touch at 21-16.  She followed that up with a crosscourt shot.  Timeout Cougars.  The ballgirls danced and goofed around during the break.  Hey, we’re not in school and we’re hanging out at a volleyball game!  Out of the break, Nat again moved Brigette around in the rotation.  She has a good head for the rules.  23-17 Aggies, Ashley had an overpass kill.  24-17, Ash with another kill.  24-18, the Cougars made a good block on Sav.  25-18, Ashley ended Set 4, and the match, 3-1, with a kill.

That was a workout.  In the postgame interview, Coach Jordan heaped praise on Chicago State’s effort today.  For his own team, he was less effusive.  Here we found out what he’d said in that one timeout in Set 1.  He was threatening to put in the reserves and call it a day, unless they the girls on the court started playing harder.  What a motivator!  (Meanwhile, the reserves were like quietly, Yay! I might get to play today!)

The Cougars did play very hard today.  As soon as the Aggies finally got used to playing without Cat, Chicago State was in trouble after that.  Josi Borum had 14 kills to lead CS, with Kirah Williams-Shephard next at 12.  I’m not sure why this team doesn’t have more success.  They look like should play well and they do.  No offense to their coach, but I wonder how they’d do with Coach Jordan handling them for a season.  Don’t make me go rooting for a conference opponent here with a plucky attitude.

Savannah Davison was her usual great self with a double-double of 16 kills and 11 digs.  Ashley Anselmo stepped up with 10 kills.  Megan Hart had 9 kills and Julianna Salanoa had 8.  Brigette Lowe had 5 kills starting and really got into the swing of it late in the match.  All she needs is more playing time.  Team stats were close for the match.  Both teams had 10 blocks.  The Aggie serving was decent with 7 aces, while staying out of double-digit serving errors.

After the match, Ron told me that his hat-delivering Cheerleader fell while being lifted during the postgame celebration.  I totally missed that happening.  She was hurt pretty bad, but she did what any good Cheerleader would do.  She got up, smiled, and finished the routine.

Cat Kelly came over to the stands afterward.  She was probably talking to her dad.  I couldn’t resist going over to wish her good luck in healing and telling her that she’d done a great job this year.  She thanked me and gave me a slightly embarrassed smile.  It’s almost like nobody ever tells these players how good they are (certainly not the coach).  I hope Cat will be okay to play.  She missed out on the end of last season because of illness.  With the great job she does on court, Cat certainly deserves to play in the postseason. 

Just to sing Cat’s praises for a moment, she seems undersized for the outside hitter position.  She also doesn’t have the showy flash that the other girls have in getting kills.  But, there she is getting double digit kills all the time and being a solid defender in digs and at the net.  You notice her, but don’t realize how important she is until she’s not there.  Lack of injuries has made this team great this year.  With two games before the tournament, the Aggies have time to work out how to play without her, but they’re better with her.

Ron and I had an early dinner at Day’s Hamburgers.  This was mostly because it was near my work, which I went to early.  I admit, this matinee game worked out well for my schedule.  I got to see a game without taking time off.  After a great burger, we walked over to Zia Comics nearby.  I got a couple more comics to review and we picked up ice cream there.  Actually, I found out ice cream and comics aren’t a good combination, as I accidently smeared the cover on one of them with my cone.  That’s okay.  It was a good day.

More Comic Reviews: B&V, D&D, and Swamp Thing

Well, this was certainly a grab bag that I picked up last week. 

Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1: Supernatural Stories

I have bought Classic Archie Comics at comic book stores before.  While the main line Archie has gone away from the classic look, they are still using it in digests and the Your Pal Archie title.  It’s meant for kids with the friendly artwork and reduced price.  I suspect Zia Comics was okay with me picking it up anyway.

There are four short stories inside.  They fill up the entire interior.  There were no ads, so you’re getting your money’s worth.  It’s also printed on thick, bright, slick paper, so it’s physically of better quality than Marvel or DC comics.  The stories are silly and cute.  The artwork is functional.  I’ve seen Dan Parent do better work on covers and pinups.  I wish could see that in his stories work. 

I’m not going to say this was a great comic, but I was grinning the whole time I was reading it.  Maybe it was nostalgia or the innocence of the setting.  I enjoyed it.

The next issue might be interesting whenever it comes out.

           

DC Dollar Comics: Swamp Thing

This is DC’s analog to Marvel’s True Believers $1 reprints.  I think this was to promote the new Swamp Thing DC streaming service TV show, which was canceled right after its first episode debuted (too high production costs).  I decided to pick this up instead of the $5 Swamp Thing 100-page Giant that was also just released.  While the Giant had a Zantana story listed, I went with the cheaper option.  I was also interested in the Bernie Wrightson artwork.  I seem to recall this character and Marvel’s swamp creature, Man-Thing, were introduced within a month of each other.  Weird that only one of them caught on.  Perhaps it was the art and Len Wein story made the difference.

I’ve only ever read one other Swamp Thing comic.  It was part of a DC anthology.  He was sort of a low-key supernatural hero.  This issue featured Swamp Thing’s origin.  All I’ve really known about the character came from the 80’s movie.  (I think Adrienne Barbeau’s “performance” in that movie may have introduced more young boys to puberty than even Slave Leia from Return of the Jedi.)  The comic book story is sort of like it basically, but definitely different in execution. 

It’s certainly a horror comic and more hardcore than the movie, but not that scary.  It was set up as a continuing series, which probably took some bite out of the horror element.  I’m not sure if any of this ties into Alan Moore’s famous run with Swamp Thing being some kind of nature avatar.  This was okay for what it was, but suffers from being too functional as it was an origin story.

Dungeons & Dragons: Baldur’s Gate

This was actually the issue I’d gone to the store to get from seeing this week’s solicitations.  I don’t know why other than the “100 pages of D&D for $6,” it was advertised as.  That’s kind of irresistible to me at least.  On the other hand, I’d had plenty of warnings that this was going to disappoint me.  Why didn’t I listen?

First, it features Boo on the cover.  What’s wrong with the miniature giant space hamster?  One A, it’s a dumb concept creature from Spelljammer made worse in miniature.  Two B, it meant his even dumber master, Minsc, would be in this.  I’d already been exposed to these ridiculous gag characters in a giveaway comic, which I think I no longer have.  We’ll make that point #2, as said comic is reprinted here right at the beginning.  Worse still, the fourth story just features Minsc.  The first story mostly features Minsc.  The second and third use the other characters in the group, but they suck, so that doesn’t help.

Point #3, I could have figured out beforehand this going to be a bunch of reprints.  What I should have figured out was that it was just going to be the first issues the various Baldur’s Gate limited series.  It was going to be a teasing disappointment that would dissuade me from buying the trades (even if I’d liked the comics), since I’d just bought the first issue of each right here.

You’d think after my last IDW D&D comic purchase, I would have learned my lesson.  Make that point #4.  Fifth, IDW did an excellent D&D comic for fourth edition, so it’s not like they’re incapable to putting out a good genre comic.  It was clever, adventurous, and the characters were sharply well-drawn in their personalities.  These Baldur’s Gate stories have none of that.  I doubt any group of players would do the injustice of playing characters be so bland or foolish, no matter how tactically-minded they were.  I could see a bad DM setting up these stories though.  

Sub-point 5 A, one of these stories has Dragonborn character in it.  What dumbass DM allowed this character race into the game?  What were you thinking?  Why is this a part of the published game?  Well, Jdh417, this just adds more choices to the game to make it more fun and acceptable to modern audiences.  Shut up!  Shut up!  Shut up!  You deviant heretic, shut up!  You and your kind are banned from D&D.  That’s right.  I’m gatekeeping and you’re on the outside looking in for your unnatural half-dragon-luvin’ ways.  Pervert. 

     

The first and last issues reprinted have the best artwork.  The first one features Delina, the pretty Elf mage.  She looks good, but isn’t much of a character.  The second issue is more cartoony, while the third tries to be more realistic (and fails).  I just don’t have anything good to say here.  Don’t buy this or any of the current IDW D&D comics.

So surprisingly, Betty and Veronica win the smackdown here, if this was an actual comic book review fight.  It does occur to me that a bunch of reprints and gimmicks are the only thing enticing me to go to the comic book store.  I don’t think this is going to last for me much longer.  

NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Women’s Basketball 11-13-19

Oops.  Here I am fan-cheating again with a rival school no less.  I’d been looking forward to seeing UTEP’s Katarina Zec again since the last time I’d seen her here (12-10-17).  The gorgeous Serbian blonde was a standout in that game.  I’d also heard that she’d played well from Aggie fan Danny, who’d seen her play last week.  They’d beaten UC-Riverside, the Aggies’ first opponent this season (11-7-19), pretty badly.

The Aggie Women beat their second opponent, Denver, on the road by 3 last week.  Gia Pack had 29 pts, including five three’s, and led in rebounds.  Aailyah Prince had 20, and freshman Soufia Inoussa had 9.  This was another hard early season matchup.  The Aggies only beat them here last year by two points (12-11-18).

On the other end of the gender spectrum, the Aggie Men’s Basketball team was blownout yesterday by UTEP at the Don Haskins Center.  The Miner men are a much improved team.  They beat national runner-up, Texas A&M in a scrimmage earlier and got some tongues wagging.  Their best player from last year, who was averaging a double-double per game, isn’t even a starter this year with their improved talent level.  Meanwhile, the Aggie men have a bunch of injuries.  Trevelin Queen played well, but the Aggie offense never really got going.  Coach Jans almost stiffed Jack Nixon for a postgame interview because he took so long to chew the guys out in the locker room.  That loss ended a 9-game winning streak over UTEP.

Ron and I were going to tonight’s game.  We went for an early dinner at What-a-burger first.  Oddly, we both got stuffed.  It’s pretty hard to fill Ron’s large stomach, but the Monterrey Melt did it.  We both somewhat agreed we needed to get to El Paso sometime to find a Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich.  We need to get one of these delicious things before they’re banned for killing and/or addicting people.

We got there very early and saw warmups.  Kat was looking good.  After I pointed her out, Ron was entranced.  Kat was looking good playing too, as she was popping three’s.  On the Aggie side, I noticed injured players, Kalei Atkinson and Tayelin Grays, on the sidelines taking care of a little toddler boy.  I think he was Coach Atkinson’s son.  The girls seemed to be enjoying this company.  Later, a couple of Pan-Am staff girls were shooting baskets with him.  He tripped and fell down at one point and cried a little.  One of the girls picked him up and hugged him until he felt better.

It was a pretty good crowd.  The Student section was filled more than usual.  Was it for the rivalry game or the $1K scholarship giveaway tonight?  UTEP brought some fans.  Most of them were behind their bench.  Kat looked up from the court and flashed a big smile at some fans behind us who were cheering for her.  (I was restraining myself from cheering for her.) 

Gasp!  Suddenly, we noticed by the court a very familiar figure.  It was our graduated star player, Brooke Salas.  Umm, she looked good too.  Her long blonde hair was permed out a bit and her figure had attractively filled out a little.  And, what the heck was she doing here?  She came here all the way from Europe from that pro Spanish team she’s playing for because she knew I’d be fan-cheating on her with Kat tonight.  Wow, that’s dedication.  Seriously though, I never expected to see her here again.  According to her team’s Twitter, she’s as awesome there as she was here.  Brooke circulated around to greet some of the boosters.  She also took over watching the toddler.            

PA Ed wasn’t doing the game tonight.  That was too bad, because he would have singled out Brooke at some point with an announcement, whether she wanted it or not.  He likely also would have made an announcement recognizing the championship-winning Aggie Volleyball team, some of whom were here.  Student violinist Christina Mitchell, whose name I think I got wrong last time, again did a great Anthem.  UTEP’s Coach Baker congratulated her after she finished.  I also found out I’ve been getting the band’s name wrong all this time.  They are the Roadrunner Revue, not Review.  

First Quarter

The first points of the game came on an offensive rebound by Adenike “Nike” Aderinto.  She passed to Prince for a bank shot bunny.  Kat came back with a layup and a defensive rebound.  (Yes, I’ll be covering her here right along with the Aggie highlights.)  Aggie fans and Miner fans sat down.  (I guess they sit for their team’s first points, while Aggie fans sit for the opponent’s first score.)  Prince (still easier to type than Aaliyah) dropped in another shot and picked up a free throw.  Kat came back with a three.  Gia picked up a rebound.  Kat was guarding her for the game defensively.

Prince saved a deflected pass and put in a layup.  Amanda Soderqvist’s first shot was a made three.  Katia Gallegos for UTEP got a steal and a layup.  Micayla Buckner did a good job boxing out under the basket with three rebounds early.  The action was so furious I wasn’t even looking at the score, but it was close.  UTEP went on a short run and took a 4-point lead while Gia was sitting out for a quick break.  The Miners got the Aggies on a shot clock violation with some good defense. 

Gia got a steal, but no points came off it.  Prince then got a steal and a layup.  As she ran to the basket you could tell what she really wanted to do was dunk it.  Unfortunately, she’s lacking that level of verticality in her game.  Gia then took a hard tumble into the Cheerleaders under the basket.  She got her first points of the game on a pair of free throws with the foul.  That gave the Aggies a 17-16 lead after the first quarter. 

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  This time the contestants were fully costumed, which meant that they had a lot of trouble dunking the ball in their inflatable T-Rex outfits.  Brooke was holding the toddler up behind the Aggie bench so he could watch.  Otherwise, she was having to chase him around a lot.  Taking care of this little boy was wearing her out more than when she was playing here.  The kid didn’t stop for timeouts.  

Early in the second quarter, Gia got a bucket when Kat wasn’t on her.  Unfortunately, that was her only field goal for the first half.  The Aggies went up 21-16.  The band collectively did the Macarena during a break.  Soufia got a steal.  She passed it to Prince, who hit a ten-footer.  Nana Sule got a block.  Soufia was fouled on the fast break and converted on the free throws. 

Gia fouled Kat on a shot.  Kat came back with two free throws, a layup, and a 15-footer.  Best not to get her mad.  The band was piping up at Coach Baker, “Sit down, coach!”  UTEP went to a full court trap and retook the lead, 28-27.  They were also in the bonus.  Prince got a layup to get the lead back.  Kat answered with a three, but Amanda then hit another three.  It was 33-32 Miners at the half.

Halftime

Brooke was finally relieved for a bit on child care duties.  She went over the other end of the court and visited with, I think, her old teammate and friend, Sara Lopez.  Good to see her around.  For the $1K scholarship drawing, a member of the band won it.  He was happy as heck and veritably skipped down to the court to collect his prize.  They asked where he was from.  “El Paso!” he shouted.  The UTEP fans cheered. 

Third Quarter

UTEP was still manning a full-court press.  Miner Michelle Pruitt came on strong with three baskets under the rim.  Prince missed a couple of shots and fouled a player and had to come out.  UTEP was now up 40-32.  Didi Echols dropped in a three to break up the run.  Adrianna Henderson was in and got a steal.  Kat gave her a hard foul and Adrianna converted on the free throws.  The Aggies got a turnover with a half-court trap.  There was a timeout with the score, 42-37 UTEP. 

Out of the break, Shania Harper came in and got a basket from under the rim.  Kat fired an airball and the Aggies rebounded it, but lost it on a bad pass by Gia.  Henderson (easier to type than Adrianna) missed on a three, but got her own rebound and made a layup.  Soufia got an offensive rebound.  Amanda converted on another three to tie the score at 44.  On the other end, a UTEP player was injured under the net and came out.  Amanda had fouled her, but came over and helped her up.  The Aggie defense stiffened and forced a shot clock violation.  Henderson made a steal, but no points came of it.  The Aggies were again down by a point, 47-46.                 

Fourth Quarter

I finally noticed that Gia was not in at the end of the Third Quarter.  She also didn’t start the fourth.  “Get that man a chair!” the band was still having fun with Coach Baker.  Buckner (easier to type than Micayla and I’m going to stop explaining how lazy I am with my typing) made a ten-footer in the lane.  The Aggies went up 53-51.  Prince got a steal and a layup.  She had her tongue out, ala Michael Jordan. 

I often pinpoint a turning point in close games.  This one seemed so innocuous at the time, but now I see this was where all the momentum shifted.  There was a lengthy officials’ review on a turnover.  It was initially ruled UTEP ball, but looked on the replay that it was actually a Miner foul.  The refs eventually decided and talked to the coaches and even to the TV commentators.  Possession stayed with the Miners.  It wasn’t so much the call, but that long delay gave the Miners time to regroup.

The Miners made the next shot and got a free throw.  They forced an Aggie turnover, but then turned it right back over.  We were tied at 53, but then there was Pruitt again with a shot clock-beating basket for a UTEP lead.  UTEP again went to a full-court press.  I saw Brooke with some fans in the north grandstand.  I was kind of hoping for an overtime game.  Maybe she’d work her way around to our side of the stands.   

Gia was finally back in with under five minutes left in the game with UTEP up 55-53.  Buckner got a steal, but there were no points off it.  Soufia came up with a rebound and got it to Gia for a layup to make it 57-55 UTEP with three minutes left.  Then the dagger.  Kat hit a three to make it 60-57.  Coach Atkinson took a timeout.  The UTEP fans were now standing.  I’m not sure what triggered that. 

The teams exchanged a couple of misses.  The Miners took a couple of timeouts with under 30 seconds left and the score unchanged.  Prince took a final meaningful Aggie shot that missed and then had to intentionally foul right after.  The Aggies had to do that a couple more times to put UTEP in the bonus.  Katia hit both free throws.  With about 13 seconds left, the crowd was deserting.  There was one more intentional foul and Katia hit one of those, but that was already more than enough.  UTEP won 63-57.   

 

The scoreboard was again not showing the player stats.  Unbelievably, my scorecard added up for the second time in a row.  Who needs official stats?  Katerina Zec paced the Miners with 17 points.  She was also the hottest player in the game.  (Notice how I’m cleverly excluding Brooke Salas, some volleyball players, and a couple of Pan-Am staff members from direct comparison with her.)  Kat played the entire game and definitely showed some senior leadership.  Michelle Pruitt had 14 points, and Katia Gallegos, who is a local El Paso product, had 11.

Aaliyah Prince led all scorers with 22 points.  Amanda Soderqvist came up big with 3 three-pointers and 9 points.  Unfortunately, the story was Gia Pack’s 6 points.  Ron blamed Gia for the loss.  He said she was making a lot of bad decisions on court and thought the coach had sat her out for that.  I wish I could have heard the postgame interview.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some injury or illness involved here.  Maybe Kat was just covering her really well.  (Gia did lead the team in rebounds.)  Ron also said the Aggies were passing very poorly.  They were really only handing it off to each most of the time.

My analysis is that the Aggie Women have had a tough schedule to this point and it’s probably going to get worse on Sunday against the Lobos.  (They’ll be lucky if Lobo fans don’t outnumber their fans in the Pan-Am Center.)  The evening was not a total loss (even there was no ice cream afterward).  Beautiful volleyball star Megan Hart stopped in the aisle nearby to talk to some boosters.  I bravely stepped up to her to say, “Congratulations,” for their regular season championship win.  I got a smile and a, “Thank you.”  Sigh. 

Sports Journal November 2 to 10-19

Let me go ahead and recap some other Aggie Sports news and other sports here.  I’m not sure where else to put all of this other than in a separate post.  Aggie Soccer beat UTRGV 3-1 last week for a great win in their final game.  Corey Kizer had two goals and was the WAC Offensive Player of the Week.  Senior Jess McDow scored her first career goal in her final game.  Unfortunately, they needed help to get into the WAC Tournament and didn’t make it.  With four wins, they did double their number of wins over last year.

Aggie Volleyball also beat UTRGV last week, in straight sets no less.  They were 41 to 20 in kills and held Barbara Silva to 3 kills.  Wow!  (I wonder if there was something physically wrong with her.)  I forgot to mention an Aggie player while getting team autographs at their last home game.  I noticed setter Natalie Mikels had a broken finger that was taped up with a splint.  It was on her right hand, so she was serving with that.  My goodness.  Several girls have taped up fingers, but Nat must be playing through some real pain.  I’m sorry I skipped her in that recap.

Volleyball played CSU-Bakersfield on the road the same night as the Women’s Basketball’s opener, but it started an hour later.  It was a four-set win.  The first set was a 30-28 extra points thriller.  That one went to the Aggies, along with Set 3, which also went to extra points.  The team was a massive 14 to 6 in blocking.  Megan Hart, Lia Mosher, and Julianna Salanoa were a wall.  The team had 13 service errors, but 10 aces.  Savannah Davison, Julianna, and Meg led in kills.  Jules was swinging at over a .500 clip.  (The announcer from the Twitter highlights kept butchering her last name.)

Saturday, Aggie Football played their third “money” game of the season on the road versus Ole Miss.  I had the game on the radio while I was watching TV.  Flipping around, I stumbled on the El Paso Locomotive playing in the USL Soccer Western Conference final.  They were up 1-0 at Salt Lake City at halftime.  The match wasn’t on the TV schedule I’d seen.  Also, there was no sound until late in the match.  Even then, it was only crowd and field noise.  Early in the second half, SLC tied it and El Paso went a player down from a red card.  (It seemed undeserved.  Maybe the player had gotten a yellow earlier.)  The tied match went into a second OT with SLC winning 2-1.  This was still a great franchise debut for the El Paso team.

After that, I went over to the mall to try Subway’s new Garlic Cheesy bread on a meatball sandwich.  I found out they were hideously expensive.  At some other fast food places, I might have done it anyway, but the chances of Subway introducing an excellent new item worth the price seemed very slim.  After watching a video last night of the Amazing Lucas having a near orgasmic experience with the new Popeye’s Chicken Sandwich, I wasn’t in the mood to experiment with something that was surely just going to give me indigestion.  So much for food reviews.           

After I got back home and started fixing a sad meal for myself, I listened to the end of the football game.  The Aggies lost 41-3.  Amongst all these depressing events, right before the end of the game, Jack Nixon announced that Aggie Volleyball had won in straight sets at GCU this afternoon.  This win secured another WAC Championship for the school.  Alright!  As near as I can tell from the stats, the Aggies simply out-hit them, because they didn’t do it on defense. 

I saw some pictures from the free Halloween event with the Aggie Men and Women’s Basketball teams at the Pan-Am Center.  There was a good crowd there for autographs and to see the Men practice.  I wish I could have gone.  On Tuesday this week, the Men beat DII Western New Mexico to start their season.  It was a pretty easy win, even with a short bench because of a couple of injuries.  Local player Tennessee Owens made his debut featuring the coolest name on the team. 

The actual main news of the night was that a Division II school had beaten GCU in Phoenix by 9.  Yikes!  Commentator Justin Hawkins said, “I’m glad I’m here instead of doing that game.  I’d hate to be doing that postgame with Coach Majerle.”

On a personal note, while I’ll probably be listening or watching most of the Men’s games, I likely won’t be recapping every one.  Covering games while I’m at work is too frustrating.  I might do ones when I’m at home.  I worry that my lack of devotion might somehow jinx the team.  I just hope I can get to see them in-person this season.   

  

I was going to finish here, but I have more soccer to report on.  Yes, really.  And, no, I still don’t really like soccer.  I’ll make an exception here.  Sunday morning, the Patriot League was having their Women’s Soccer championship.  The opposing teams were Army and Navy.  You think this might be a good rivalry match? 

The match was being hosted by Navy at their Annapolis campus.  A bunch of “Middies” in their dress uniforms were in the crowd to cheer on their team.  They were fully into it on any Navy attack.  Dramatically on the other side of the field was Chesapeake Bay.  Several small craft darted about out on the water.  A large fence bordered that side of the field, but a couple of balls from play did end up wet.  

There was some family drama in the stands.  The parents of two of the players were shown, but their girls were on different teams.  When one of the girls told her Marine father that she wanted to go to West Point, he said, “Over my dead body!”  Diplomatically, he was wearing a Patriots jersey today.

Navy pretty much dominated the first half in possession.  Good defense by Army’s goalie, Sydney Cassalia, and their back line stiffed the Midshipmen.  I latched on to cutie Army defender Sydney Shafer as my favorite for the match.  Army scored first as Morgan Walsh blew past two defenders, stayed on side, and beat the Navy goalie one-on-one. 

Navy’s first best chance came in the second half.  Jeana Freeman was hit directly in the face by a ball that Army was trying to kick out of the box.  The ball ricocheted, took an odd curve, and just went wide of the goal.  Another player, Caitlyn Doran, had had to come out earlier after making a header on a goalie kick.  She was knocked to the ground as the ball hit her in the wrong spot and she had to come out.  The player did come back in later.

Navy kept up the pressure.  In the Army box, Carolyn Mang kicked a left-footed knuckle ball between Sydney and the post to tie the score.  Victoria Tran got the Navy go-ahead goal with sheer determination.  She’d fallen in the Army box, but still took a left-footed kick while on the ground.  The ball rolled just out of Sydney’s reach into the goal.       

Late in the match, I saw two things I hadn’t seen before in soccer.  The ref waved off a corner and instead had two girls contesting a drop kick, like a hockey faceoff.  On the final play with about 15 seconds left, Army had a free kick about 10 yards from the Navy box.  Sydney, the goalie, ran downfield to be inside the box as another attacker.  Wow, pulling the goalie, just like hockey.  (If only this sport was more like hockey.)  The ball pinballed around the net before being kicked out right before time expired.

Navy won the championship, 2-1, and would be going to the NCAA tournament.  Well, that was not “Sports ASMR,” as I have before referred to soccer as.  Nothing like a championship game between two longtime rivals.  That was physical, passionate, and emotional.  Sydney was crying on the sidelines.  She’d done a great job.  I hope she wasn’t blaming herself.  The Navy team, out on field with the trophy, and the Midshipmen in the stands all stood and sang the Navy alma mater song, Blue and Gold.  It was a great scene. 

NM State Aggies vs UC-Riverside Highlanders Women’s Basketball 11-7-19

It’s not the same without Brooke Salas and the Mills twins.  I knew that going into tonight’s season opener for Aggie Women’s Basketball versus UC-Riverside.  Between missing their playing abilities and their looks, this season’s team was going to have a new appearance and some big shoes to fill.  I’d already heard Athletic Director Mario Moccia lamenting losing Brooke on the Aggie Coaches Show this week.  She’s playing with a professional team in Spain right now.  I think she’s doing well.  If can find player stats on the team website, let me know.  Monique and Dominque’s defense will be missed.  They also brought some outright glamour to the team. 

I’d not had a great day waiting to go to this evening’s game.  Out-of-town visitor, Ginny, would be coming with me and Ron again.  Ron had left me hanging a bit as to whether we were going to get dinner before or not.  I kept holding off on eating lunch because I was otherwise going to go to the mall to try Subway’s new Garlic Cheesy bread.  I ended up not eating and not doing anything all day while waiting.  Luckily, we all went out for dinner at McAlister’s.  Ron ordered the largest sandwich on the menu.  It was about 5” tall.  I was probably hungry enough to have eaten one myself.

When we got to the Pan-Am Center, we were greeted by the Roadrunner Review Band.  They were doing their usual pregame march around the concourse singing the Aggie fight song.  It’s good to have the live band for the game.  They were playing a very quick, up tempo version of the fight song tonight.  The Sundancers were also there.  They were practicing in a corner of the court.  There was one group of Cheerleaders down on the floor.  Another group was in the stands in uniform watching.  They’d come into perform later.

UCR was warming up out on court.  The Aggies played them last year (12-28-18) and lost a one-point heartbreaker.  Credit to Coach Atkinson for scheduling a tough game right off the bat.  From listening to the radio call, they’d lost one of their star players in their first game, a loss to the UNM Lobos.  (They’re playing UTEP right after this game to complete a southwestern tour.)  They’d also lost their coach, I guess right before the season started.  One of their assistants was the current interim head coach.  The whole team was wearing some really cool-looking sky blue shoes.

The Aggies came on court coming down through the stands.  They were not wearing the turquoise throwbacks, but rather in their normal white and crimson uniforms.  PA Ed missed them arriving and didn’t introduce them.  Big things were expected of star Gia Pack and from Aaliyah Prince this season.  My pick to have a good year, Kalei Atkinson, came on to the court on crutches.  She’s already done for the year with an ACL injury.  She at least had a great smile going.   Tayelin Grays was also injured for tonight, but should be back in the near future. 

Aissatou Fall is no longer on the team.  I guess the experiment of trying to teach the very tall foreign exchange student how to play basketball for the first time at the DI level was over.  Pam Wilmore was also not on the team.  She might have been a point guard this year.

The team has picked up some new players and almost new.  Nana Sule and Rodrea “Didi” Echols were over their injuries from last year.  Nana was wearing a leg brace.  She looked a little gimpy at times.  Graduate student Micayla Buckner was recruited as a big middle player.  There were two announced recruits from Sweden on the team.  Watching practice, how to put this delicately, I only saw one white girl out there.  Sure enough, Soufia (pronounced “Sofia”) Inoussa was black.  I’m sure she has an interesting lifestory.  She was starting tonight even though she’s a freshman.  Soufia had impressed Coach Atkinson before the season. 

On that subject, we start our Coach’s Fashion segment.  Coach Atkinson was wearing tight shiny black leather pants.  I saw a violin player practicing in the tunnel.  Once again, we all got to hear a great rendition of the Anthem by Christine Mitchell.  It was delicate, but stirring.  The player totals from the Men’s game on Tuesday were still up on the board.  They tried to fix it, but couldn’t get it working tonight.  Timing, timeouts, and the score were working okay.  A new WAC Championship banner was hung, along with an NCAA appearance banner.  The team intro video was very well-produced.  I was impressed. 

Lastly, I’ll list the crowd as being okay, but less than volleyball.  There weren’t a lot of kids present.  Last year’s full stats were on the back of tonight’s program.  Of the game attendances listed, the Aggie ladies only played in front of four-digit crowds twice last season.  (The WAC tournament games were all listed at zero.  Given they were usually playing multiple games back-to-back, they likely only counted the Men’s games.  I’m sure there was at least 1,000 there for the Women’s championship.)  There were 6,500 at their NCAA appearance at Iowa State.  Then there were 5,300 for their game in Albuquerque against the Lobos.  All the other games were in the hundreds.  What are they doing there at UNM to promote Women’s Basketball so well there?       

First Quarter

I’m out of practice keeping a scorecard and notes during a basketball game.  I think for the first time, I got a scorecard to add up on the first try.  I’m not even double checking it; I’m just going to take a victory lap.  My note taking took a while to get going.  They’re a bit scattered for the first three quarters, but I think they came out better in the fourth.

Myself and a few others were standing until the first opponent basket at the beginning of the game.  Ron and Ginny, who’d had a busy day, declined.  I think the Highlanders scored on about their third trip down.  Nana had the first good Aggie play that I noted as she made a steal, but there was a turnover right after.  UCR had two turnovers on travel calls early on.  Gia grabbed a good rebound on a miss. 

Marina Ewodo on UCR stood out early with a pair of close in baskets.  She was pretty.  She was tall and slim with great highlighted hair pulled back in a braid.  The Aggies were tight and had a couple of bad pass turnovers.  Coach Atkinson subbed in four and only left Gia in with them. 

Marina put in another basket, but Gia answered with a three.  Another steal led to a Gia layup.  UCR had a couple of turnovers, but the Aggies couldn’t convert on them.  Coach Atkinson was stomping and screaming on defense on one possession.  The other new Swedish player, Amanda Soderqvist, picked up her second foul, which led to another round of mass subs. 

Gia got another great rebound, but there were no points off it.  She then picked up a steal and nearly an assist, but still no points.  Finally, Prince (it’s easier to type that than Aaliyah) and Gia passed the ball back-and-forth on a possession, which led to Prince getting a layup by charging into the lane.  She did the same before the end of the quarter and picked up a foul shot as well.  16-15 Aggies after ten minutes.  Both teams were shaky, which kept the score low and close.

Second Quarter

Dino Dash was back.  The contestants, dressed in inflatable T-Rex suits trying to dribble and dunk, is always a crowd-pleaser.  This time, they let the contestants have their hands free instead of in the suit.  That made it easier for them, but maybe less fun for the audience. 

Highlander Daphne Gnago found a seam under the basket for four points at the start.  Marina added another basket as part of a six-point UCR run to give them the lead.  Adenike “Nike” Aderinto broke it up with a basket.  Gia grabbed another rebound.  She passed to Adrianna Henderson, who got a layout, but it was waved off on a charge call. 

After a timeout, Prince broke up another UCR run with a basket.  Marina picked up her second foul.  Aggie defense started picking up.  Prince blocked a shot.  Gia had some good defense and caused a UCR travel.  This happened in front of the Aggie bench, who went crazy cheering.  Prince got a layup off a turnover.  Next, she picked up a rebound and passed to Gia for a layup.  The Aggies got back into the lead, 26-25, before the half.

Halftime

The Cheerleaders in the stands joined the ones on the floor.  They laid out some mats and performed a big routine.  Great job.  For the half stats, both teams were turning it over a lot.  Prince was leading the Aggies with 11 points.

Third Quarter

Marina picked up her third foul right off the bat and had to come out.  The Highlanders didn’t miss a beat.  Prince had another layup in the lane to break up a four-point run.  Soufia got her first college points as Gia was double-teamed.  Soufia then got a steal and passed to Prince.  She was breaking for the basket, but was tripped on the way and had to settle for foul shots.  Prince was fouled two more times to put the Aggies in the bonus.      

Soufia got a layup.  Highlander Keilanei Cooper went down under the basket and came up limping, but stayed in.  Timeout.  Aggie super-fan Tom was on Flex Cam.  He didn’t flex, but he got a cheer anyway.  The Aggies began pressuring in the backcourt.  Soufia got a steal, but that only led to a turnover, not points. 

Marina came back in.  She took a shot to tie the score at 36.  Daphne was hurt on a play at the basket, but got the shot for the Highlanders.  She then got a layup and a foul as part of an eight-point run.  The Aggies took a timeout.  The scoring increased to a ten-point run with both teams in the bonus.  Gia got a free throw to finally break it up.  47-37 UCR.

Fourth Quarter

The Highlanders were up by 10 to start the fourth.  Gia put in an early shot.  On one UCR possession, they got three offensive rebounds and before scoring.  Ron was shouting, “Box out!”  The Aggies went to a full court defense.  Nana pulled down a rebound and got a basket.  The crowd started getting into it.

49-43 UCR, Aggie freshman Shania Harper came in for the first time.  She was an immediate sparkplug.  She got a rebound and converted on two free throws.  Gia took a hard foul to earn a couple of shots.  Timeout.  Kalei was holding a clipboard tracking the team on the sidelines.  She went over and talked strategy with Gia before she made her foul shots, 51-47 UCR.  Gia hit a three to make it 51-50, just a one-point deficit. 

With the crowd already roaring, Prince came up with a steal, a layup, and a foul shot.  The Aggies retook the lead, 53-51.  Timeout.  The band started playing a recent rap song that I’d been hearing at the Pan-Am for most of the volleyball season.  They stay current.  Out of the timeout, Prince got a strip and a wide-open layup to make it a four-point lead.

UCR was fouled and missed their first foul shot of the night.  That was the only one they missed.  The Aggies were pretty good in that category too tonight.  Gia put in another three to make it a six-point lead.  UCR came back as Marina put down two free throws and a ten-footer, 58-56 Aggies.  There was an official timeout after an Aggie turnover as they tried to determine a possession. 

With a bit more than one minute left, the Aggies had a shot clock violation.  25 seconds left, timeout UCR.  Highlander Skyler Lewis scored to tie it up at 58.  Timeout.  The Aggies had the ball with 13 seconds.  They took another timeout on a contested inbounds.  Gia finally took the last Aggie shot on a layup, but it missed in the middle of a heavy defense.  Highlander Ann Jernigan rushed the ball down the court.  Not wanting to foul her, the Aggies ended up letting her have the game-winning layup.  There was one second left on the clock, but the Aggies turned it over.  UC-Riverside won it with an 8-0 run at the end, 60-58.

Here’s a bright spot, Aaliyah Prince had a career game with 24 points.  Gia Pack did well with 18 points and **8*** rebounds.  She also had 3 three-pointers.  Unfortunately, she was the only Aggie with any made three’s.  Both teams had plenty of turnovers.  They’re still trying to get in sync this early in the season.  UCR was +6 in rebounds and had three players in double figures (Daphne Gnago 15, Marina Ewodo 14, Skyler Lewis 12). 

Aggie defense picked up well later in the game, but let up at the end.  It felt like there was one crucial error in late in the fourth.  The Aggies were up two after making a great comeback in the quarter.  With three minutes left, they started milking the clock.  That was the wrong time to let up. 

I’m encouraged by Gia’s and Prince’s play, but the team needs another steady scorer to chip in.  (As per last year’s stats, Gia and Brooke scored half of all the Aggie’s points.)  I wish Shania Harper and Soufia Inoussa weren’t freshman, because I could see either of them taking over that part with a bit more seasoning.  The team also needs to get more of a three-point shot working for the team in general. 

That was exciting and disappointing.  As the crowd broke up, I noticed Mario sitting by the sidelines with Men’s Coach Chris Jans.  That was a nice show of support from him to be here.  Though we weren’t winners, myself, Ron, and Ginny had ice cream anyway over at PQ Treats.  I probably made my last mistake of the day with my choice of flavor and topping. 

Ginny and her husband will be leaving town this weekend.  She enjoyed going to a couple of Aggie sporting events over the last two weeks.  Ron had been telling her about our times watching various games over the last few years.  She now understands the appeal.  I’m looking forward to the next game, though I admit it’s to see Katerina Zec playing for UTEP.  I’m hoping for an Aggie win, but I might be rooting for her a bit.