Comics Reviews: 3 Marvel Reprints and an Archie Christmas

Basically all three of the Marvel reprints are ads for omnibus volumes.  Since they’re essentially teasers, it’s a bit hard to judge them individually.   

True Believers #1: Marvel Knights-Iron Fist

This was the Iron Fist origin story, kind of.  It showed Danny Rand being tested and accessing the Iron Fist power.  It shows the tragic story of how he got to K’un Lun as a child.  The premise is kind of flimsy.  (There might also be a bad misprint in it.)  However, the worst of it, is that there’s no real motivation shown for why Danny wanted to be a Kung Fu bad ass.  Presumably, this comes later, but for your standard origin, you’d best spell out some things up front.  (Or alternately, make everything a mystery and start with showing the character in action as a hero.)    

Anyway, Danny is shown using the Iron Fist for the first time, though just against a robot.  If you’re wondering, that panel with Cobra Commander and his pals gets repeated about four times in this comic.

Marvel’s Greatest Creators #1: Misty Knight-Iron Fist

Misty Knight, Danny’s future girlfriend, makes her debut here.  Iron Fist is fighting an Indian Kali cult here.  This issue has a lot of good martial arts and supernatural action.  However, nobody has a gun here, even though this all takes place in New York City.  Since there’s no explanation as to why not even the bad guys will use one, one has to severely suspend one’s disbelief.  Of course, this is a Kung Fu comic.  Presumably, readers aren’t buying it expecting gun play.        

Danny Rand is still a complete cipher and way too functional here.  For the story, he only really interacts with Misty and that’s just a “misunderstanding” fight.  (There is no formal introduction between them.)  Both this issue and the other annoyingly use the second person narration, even though they’re scripted by different writers.  It’s obnoxious.  

Marvel’s Greatest Creators #1: Luke Cage, Power Man

For whatever reason, this comic is extremely wordy.  It’s trying to impress you with its literacy, but ends up being almost unreadable.  

However, the action and the story are right there.  Heck, it starts off with Cage about to be snapped in two, strapped to the bottom of a bridge that’s about to open.    

Cage is such a bad ass, he even sleeps in a tiara and still looks like a bad ass.  He is, “One bad mutha . . . shut yo’ mouth,” as a song about him might say.  

He’s fighting a couple of Batman-esqe colorful street villains.  There’s the Piranha with steel teeth biting him.  (How unsanitary and sort of alternative lifestyle-like, if you get my drift.)  He’s also fighting Cockroach Hamilton, who wields a six-barrel shotgun and hangs out with cockroaches.  Cage has got superpowers and a strong moral compass, but without a proper foil and a sense of humor, he does border on parody. 

Honestly, Power Man and Iron Fist aren’t bad characters, but didn’t it didn’t really come together for them until Marvel combined them into one title.  Iron Fist joined Cage’s private eye agency at some point.  That was kind of genius.  The two characters are so different that they complemented each other well.  The only reason anybody other than comics geeks know about these characters is because of their Netflix shows and the Defenders.  Unfortunately, they didn’t do a Heroes for Hire show and pair these two up.  I guess it was because Cage’s character had been more popular and had a history with Jessica Jones. 

(Actually, the last issue of Power Man and Iron Fist had Iron Fist disintegrating himself healing someone and Power Man getting framed for killing him.  He ended up on the run from the law.  Sweet Christmas!)       

Archie Christmas Spectacular #1

Going through one of my comics boxes, I discovered I’d bought an Archie Christmas Spectacular #1 last year.  It was a totally different comic; it just had exact same title. This years’ edition features a classic Harry Lucey cover with modern coloring.  It’s very attractive.  Apart from the cover, the rest of the issue is new material. 

The comic features four short stories, no ads, and a reduced price.  First up, the gang has a run in with the Bee over Christmas spirit.  I love that first panel.  In the second story, Sugarplum and Noelle, a couple of recurring Archie Christmas characters, end up unknowingly double dating Archie at a party.  That works out for Archie about as well as you’d expect.  

Next up is a baking contest, theoretically.  In actuality, it’s a bunch of cheesecake-y shots of Veronica.  (Betty too, but mostly Veronica.)  It’s not a great story, but who cares?  This is the reason to buy this issue.  Lastly, Santa himself joins the gang for some karaoke.  (Yeah, I am not over seeing Veronica in those little hearts shorts.)

I took out all of my Archie Christmas comics and sat down and read them a couple of nights ago before bed.  Archie does a great job with the season.  Admittedly, some of the older issues were better than this one, but it’s hard to regret the purchase (especially Veronica’s sleepwear).  What can I say?  It’s a tradition.  

NM State Aggies vs ASU Sundevils Women’s Basketball 12-18-19

I hate to do this, because this will make this post way too long, but I have to start by recapping three previous games.  Real life has intruded on me being able to write and post in a more timely manner. 

12-4-19 vs Western NM Mustangs

I missed going to this game.  I had the day scheduled off, but wasn’t able to take it.  Even if nothing had come up, I wasn’t sure about going to a game against a DII school.  However, with only three home games this month, I would have otherwise liked to have gone.

The game was on the WAC Digital Network, but it was only single-camera coverage with no radio or TV call.  Given that I was at work and busy that made keeping up with the game difficult.  Not to mention, I came into the game late in the first half.  The first thing I noticed was that they may have missed me there.  It was a terrible crowd, listed at 635.  The other thing I noticed was the score.  Gia Pack hit a three right before halftime to make it 31-28, otherwise the score would have been tied.

Coach Atkinson must have found, “New ways to motivate,” her team in the locker room.  Again, I was barely able to watch, but the Aggies pulled away in the second half.  The team forced a bunch of turnovers and scored off them.  The Aggies also went 49% in shooting, though most of the other stats close to even.  With under a minute left, Kaela Chavez with the Mustangs hit back-to-back three’s to get their bench charged up.  She went 3 for 3 for three’s for 11 points total.  The Aggies won 75-56.  Gia Pack led with 26 points, 18 of those in the second half, and went 4 of 5 shooting three’s.  Freshman Soufia Inoussa had 13, and Didi Echols had 10.  The Aggies took care of business here, though they had to play harder than they had probably anticipated.

12-7-19 vs Weber State Wildcats

I had tried to get my dad to go to see this Saturday afternoon game, but he just wasn’t interested.  I think the Weber State Men’s team is pretty good, but the Aggies beat their Women with a paddle, 77-47.  Gia Pack scored 18, and Amanda Soderqvist had 12.  Hopefully, these last two games have gotten the team’s confidence back up.  

12-16-19 at UNM Lobos

I listened to this game in Albuquerque over the radio.  It sounded like a good crowd at the Pit, and there were over 5000 there.  Since beating the Aggies here (11-17-19), the Lobos were on a losing streak.  They’d lost their first two conference games and lost to ASU, the Aggies’ next opponent this week, by 37.  For that game, they went 0-18 shooting three’s and were -32 in rebounds.  Two players had also left the team, including Najala Howell, the UTEP transfer.  No reasons were disclosed.  Don’t get overconfident with all this news though.

First Quarter

There were two clock issues to start the game.  Aggies picked up three quick fouls before anyone scored.  I guess they were trying to play more physical.  The Lobos started the scoring three minutes in.  The Aggies got their first score four minutes in.  Don’t let that slow start fool you.  The Aggies took their first timeout as the Lobos built up a 10-2 lead.  The quarter ended 21-6 Lobos.  They’d hit two three’s, while the Aggies had committed 6 turnovers.

Second Quarter

Gia Pack was hustling, even if the shooting wasn’t there, as she collected 5 rebounds to this point.  Jaedyn de la Cerda, who’d led the Lobos in scoring last time, was firing three’s here, but missing.  She seemed to be forcing it.  Adenike Aderinto found a seam and got two baskets down low.  Micayla Buckner got three baskets in the lane.  Aisia Robertson, the Lobos’ star who’s been injured since last season, was in and was looking good tonight.  44-20 Lobos at the half.  They had 8 three’s.  The Aggies had zero.

Third Quarter

During the half, there was some kind of Pow Wow show going on.  I feel a little cheated that I wasn’t able to watch this.  Gia had 7 rebounds, but 4 turnovers to this point.  Aaliyah Prince only had 2 points.  The third period was more of the same, though the Lobos came out fouling immediately for some reason.  Jordan Hosey suddenly picked up 3 fouls.  78-47 Lobos.

Fourth Quarter

Coach Atkinson lost two arguments with the officials on back-to-back calls.  She was still fighting for the team, but it’s hard for the opposition to get calls in the Pit.  The Lobos emptied their short bench late.  Jaedyn missed a layup off a great assist and the crowd groaned, but she did hit a three to put the Lobos up over 100.  107-53 Lobos was the final.

At 54 points, this was the biggest margin of victory in the rivalry series and was the Lobo’s sixth straight win.  Five Lobos finished in double figures.  Jaedyn de la Cerda had 16.  Gia Pack had 18 points, but had 7 turnovers.  The Lobos dominated with 41 fast break points to 2, 23 turnovers to 8, and 17 three’s to 1.  Amanda Sodersqvist had the one.  She seemed to be having a hard time shooting and was way off on most of her attempts.  The Aggies were +4 in rebounds. 

12-18-19 vs ASU Sundevils 

I really narratively needed to preface today’s game with that Lobo game.  Given the Aggies would be playing the team that just crushed the team that had just crushed them, I was apprehensive, but actually somewhat giddy.  There’s always the possibility of seeing something historical, even if it’s historically bad.  Moreover, I was just happy to be able to get out and see a game after missing the last two (and the Volleyball Watch party). 

Ron was joining me.  I’d hoped dad would want to come, but he begged off again.  Maybe next time.  I can’t entirely blame him.  Both me and Ron were getting over nasty colds.  This was actually the first day since last week I was feeling more-or-less okay.  Ron had been to the doctor, but was still suffering from coughing fits. 

I’d been warned that this was Kid’s Day for this 11:00am weekday game.  I think it somewhat coincided with the last day of school before Christmas break.  There was a row of school busses already lined up in the Pan-Am parking lot when we got there.  We could see and hear a multitude of children before we even made it inside.  We ran into Aggie Marketing Director Nicole just inside the door.  She warned us which side the kids would be sitting on.

A bunch of kids were lined up in the concourse for some kind of giveaway at a table.  There was a costumed mascot there that I couldn’t identify, maybe it was the official city of Las Cruces mascot, since they were sponsoring today’s event.  Someone handed us coupons for Sonic.  Over at the courtesy table, there was an attractive Toys for Tots Santa poster.  I didn’t pick it up, since there was only one left and I hadn’t brought a toy.  (I came unprepared.)  Inside the arena, the kids filled one side and one end.  The official attendance was 1,600, but it seemed like a lot more.  It was 40 minutes before the game, nobody was on court, but the kids were chanting, “Let’s go Aggies!”  For the most part, there was a continuous roar from the kids for the whole game.

Ron and I sat behind the visitor’s bench.  ASU did bring a nice knot of fans with them.  I’d never been on this side before.  It was a different perspective.  Other regulars were sitting around us.  Down below, ASU brought their own radio broadcaster.  Next to him was a very pretty blonde, who seemed like either a production assistant or an assistant coach.  PA Ed consulted with her briefly, probably on how to pronounce their players’ names.  The glamorous Aggie marketing intern Emerson was also working with Ed.  No matter how bad the game got, at least watching Emerson was entertaining (except when that tall ASU fan woman below us kept obscuring my view of her).

Next to our section, the Roadrunner Revue band was depleted down to the level of a Salvation Army band.  Were the rest on break, or would the full band be there for the Men’s game tonight?  What they lacked in number, they did make up for it in energy.  The Cheerleaders and Pistol Pete were there.  Two Cheerleaders actually went to the visitors to ask for contributions for their raffle, where you could win a trip to the WAC Tournament.  They’re brave, but maybe not great marketers. 

Aggie fan Danny told us that the Sundevils were ranked #18 in the nation, though they were only fourth in their PAC-12 conference.  He also pointed out that one of their girls, Taya Hanson, was from the same Canadian town as our own beautiful volleyball goddess, Megan Hart.  Then there’s that other player that was built a whole lot like a well-built dude, Ja’tavia Tapley.  Kinda intimidating.  Am I being insulting or am I impressed?  Honestly, I’m not sure.  Apparently, she used to play for our former coach, Mark Trakh, at USC.   

The Aggies seemed to be aware of what they were facing.  When they came out on court, they seemed nervous and tight in warm up, even with the kids there.  Broadcaster Adam Young, who was doing TV today, walked by and waved.  Even he looked particularly grim.  (Or maybe it was because he’d be working with a huge pack of howling children directly behind him.)  Coach Atkinson came out in a black sweater, tight black pants, and spiked crimson boots.  She’s always fashionable.  

First Quarter

I only missed counting one basket today, but I’m still disappointed in myself.  If the final score had been closer to what I thought it was going to be, I’m pretty sure I might have abandoned the scorecard altogether at some point.  Across the court from us, the kids went crazy doing a countdown right before the Anthem.  With that, we were underway. 

The Aggies scored first on a Didi Echols’ jumper, though that was after two misses on the possession.  Ron’s comment was, “This is probably going to be their only lead of the game.”  Gia Pack hit an early three, as both teams played up-tempo.  It was 9-7 Aggies at the first break about five minutes in.  Thereafter, the Aggies had trouble scoring.  Micayla Buckner missed a couple of close shots.  Gia broke up five straight dry trips down court with a jumper, as ASU had taken the lead for the quarter, 14-11.

Second Quarter

Dino Dash!  I’m not sure if it was two kids in the T-Rex suits.  I couldn’t see any faces in the neck windows.  There was also an Aggie hat toss into the crowd.  In the ASU section, there were, what I’m guessing, three young men and their dad, possibly there to watch a sister playing.  A couple of the guys got up and ran out of the visiting section to go yell for a hat.  They succeeded and seemed to be impressed with it.  I’ve seen this at softball with some visiting parents collecting their opponents’ giveaways.   

An Aggie turnover and an ASU layup started the quarter.  The Sundevils seemed to really turn up the defense.  They forced a shot clock violation on the Aggies’ next trip.  Then they got a turnover at midcourt.  Amanda Sodersqvist took an unconfident shot the next time down.  There were two more Aggies misses on the next trip.  By this point, it was 20-11 ASU, four minutes in.  For some reason, the ASU coach was irate and called a timeout.  Your team was making shots and holding the other team scoreless.  I’m not sure what the problem was. 

A new break feature was introduced, Bongo Cam.  A bongo graphic was put on the video screens.  Fans, the kids, were encouraged to beat those drums.  Imagine an entire grandstand full of kids playing air-bongos across from you.  It was majestic.  The Aggies took their own timeout at 25-11 with four minutes left.  Hmm.  Ah.  If you haven’t noticed, the Aggies still hadn’t scored this quarter. 

PA Ed was starting to sound rather mechanical and uninvolved in the game.  I presume he was going to be doing the Men’s game tonight.  No sense in straining the voice for a lost cause.  Thank you, Adrianna Henderson.  With 1:30 left, she made a layup to keep the Aggies from being kept scoreless for over ten minutes.  They ended up with 4 points for the quarter.  Credit ASU’s defense, but the Aggies did miss several open looks.  32-15 Sundevils at the half.  Even the kids were a bit quiet for this quarter.

Halftime

I’d noticed some little girl cheerleaders with the kids.  They came down and perform for the half.  There was a giveaway toss into the crowd of Aggie Men’s Basketball replica WAC Championship rings.  Yes, the ASU brothers ran over and started shouting, “New Mexico State!”  They got one.  It helped that they weren’t wearing Sundevil gear.   

Third Quarter

We were finally sitting nearby Aggie super fan, Tom.  I noticed he had on a “5-Pete” Aggie Women’s Basketball championship shirt.  I was only wearing a “3-Pete” t-shirt.  Adenike Aderinto forced a Sundevil turnover to start the third, but the Aggies turned it over twice right after.  Timeout Aggies.  It was 37-15 at the 9:00 mark.  Baby Shark played on the PA.  Once again, there was an entire grandstand of kids doing the dance.

Back to play, Taya accidentally ran into a little boy with glasses seated by the goal, as she was trying to save a ball.  She made sure he was okay after she got up.  She seemed genuinely concerned, but the kid seemed unfazed by the event.  During the next break, we had another new feature, Fortnite Cam.  The children were all issued firearms and encouraged to shoot at one anoth . . . Or, they just encouraged to do the victory dances from the game.  The ASU brothers were posing.  One little boy was really working the floss and got a big cheer from the crowd. 

Back in play again, Gia made a great down court pass to Micayla under the basket.  She inexplicably tried to throw it back to Gia and turned it over.  There was another bad Aggie pass directly into the sideline signage.  AD Mario Moccia collected another loose ball sitting on the sidelines at the other end of the court.  Tayelin Grays was fouled and missed two free throws.  Meanwhile, Reili Richardson for ASU hit the rim on a shot.  It bounced straight up and went into the basket for a three.  It was that kind of game.  53-21 ASU.  The Aggies followed up their 4-point quarter with a 6-point one.

Fourth Quarter

The Hamburger-Making contest, which usually happens at football games, was brought out on court with the same amusing results.  It was serious though.  The teachers that were playing for competing for free Whataburgers for their whole schools.  Wow, what a generous prize!  With a musical cue, the entire kids section did the Macarena afterward.

Didi made a three to start the fourth, but the officials waved it off on a foul by ASU.  Man, the girls can’t catch a break today.  Or can they?  Another official reversed it, counted the basket, and gave the Aggies back the ball.  Okay.  We’ll take it.  From here, the Aggies finally started putting it in.  Aaliyah Prince hit a jumper.  Nike got a steal that led to a Soufia Inoussa layup.  The Aggie defense stiffed the Sundevils on the return.  Gia got a fast break layup.  Timeout ASU at 53-30, seven minutes left. 

After the break, the Aggies forced a turnover.  Gia got another layup and drew a foul.  The Aggies were stout on defense again.  Gia got another layup.  During a break, the kids did the dance for YMCA.  (That song is from the 70’s.  Where did they ever hear it before?)  Gia came up with a three out of the break.  Prince hit a jumper.  This really got the kids into it.  They were paying attention.

I noticed Marketing Nicole talking to some guys sitting higher up.  I think it was some players from the Men’s team, but I didn’t recognize who they were.  They were probably watching Ja’tavia and wondering how she’d match up with them.  Ron reported that Coach Jordan of the Volleyball team was sitting at the top of one of the grandstands, but I never noticed him. 

Prince hit another jumper.  Micayla fouled out.  As a nearby fan pointed out, she had five fouls with zero points.  Didi hit a jumper.  Freshman Shania Harper finally came into the game.  I was wondering where she was.  ASU had some free throws at the end.  The kids started pounding on their seats to disrupt the shots.  ASU tried to dribble it out to end the game.  Didi made an absurd flop attempt in front of the player to try and draw foul.  Nice effort.  Gia put in another three right before the end.  70-47 ASU was the final.

I’ll admit it.  I was expecting another 100-point game for the opposition.  Keeping the Sundevils under that total was something of a victory.  Let me give some credit to the Aggie defense.  They were making ASU work for their points.  Aggie shooting however, was terrible for two quarters of the game.  Ron thought ASU was just playing their bench in the fourth quarter, but the scoring actually doesn’t bear that out.  I’m not sure what got the Aggies going.  The game was more up tempo. 

The ASU coach was a lot less uptight at the end.  I’m sure she didn’t tell her team to back off, but might not have told them to play harder.  By the end of the third, the game wasn’t really in doubt.  In the first quarter, ASU played like they had just rolled off their bus and asked, “Who are we playing?”  They didn’t entirely seem like they’d prepared well for the game and were just looking to out-talent the Aggies.

Gia Pack led all scorers with 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Aaliyah Prince came in with 10 points, but really needs to start shooting more.  Give it up for Didi Echols.  She got 9 points and really hustled for the whole game.  Your takeaway stats for the game are 21-7 in points off of turnovers and 31-4 in bench scoring, all for ASU.  The Aggies aren’t taking care of the ball, aren’t making shots, and have no bench.

I don’t know if I should have been surprised by this, but there were autographs afterward.  I don’t know if it was a good or bad thing to do this after a bad loss and when several hundred kids would be going down for them.  We’ll call it bad for the players’ fingers and wrists, but probably good for their psyches to smile and chat with some kids. 

While I sort of wanted to give the girls some support today too, Ron was hungry and wasn’t going to put up with waiting around for another half hour or more.  We had a great lunch at Raising Canes.  I’d forgotten that the last time we went there (after the Lobo game), they were closed to clean up a mess.  It’d been a while.  This has been a disappointing season so far, but a weekday afternoon matinee game was kind of a cool way to spend a couple of hours, regardless of the result.  I’m okay with having a bunch of enthusiastic kids out for every game too.     

NM State Aggies Volleyball Postseason 2019

The Regular Season Review is here.

Regular Season Awards

Beautiful Megan Hart was the WAC Player of the Year.  She was hitting nearly .400 for the season.  Coach Jordan was the Coach of the Year for going undefeated in conference play.  Elected to the All-Conference First Team were Savannah Davison and Julianna Salanoa.  Every other team in conference would probably like Sav playing for them instead of against them.  Jules was ranked in the top 20 in the country for blocks.  

WAC Tournament

11-22-19 vs Utah Valley Wolverines Semi-final

I’d resigned myself to keeping track of this match via the team’s Twitter, since there wasn’t any radio call.  There weren’t even live stats for it.  I was heartened to see the Cat Kelly was starting.  As the coach would say later, Brigette Lowe was right there with the hitting and blocking, but Cat was better with the receiving.  The Twitter feed posted the Aggie highlights, but didn’t actually show the score until the end of Set 1.  The Aggies dominated 25-12.

There was sudden flurry of updates about halfway through Set 2.  The ESPN+ coverage had gone down.  The WAC Digital Network would now be showing the game.  Yay!  I immediately brought that up.  (No, I’m not doing a shot-by-shot recap.  I was working.)  The Aggies had dominated Set 2 early, but as soon as I started watching the Wolverines tied it up, as they blocked out beautiful Megan Hart.  However, Aggie blocking got them back ahead, and they won it 26-24 in extra points.

I was able to sit down and watch most of Set 3.  The Aggies got out in front as UVU had a pair of back-to-back double touch calls.  Megan had a tremendous off-speed kill that floated into the back corner.  Savannah Davison actually set Ashley Anselmo for a kill.  Lia Mosher had a kill that the UVU announcer described as, “Sounded like it came out of a cannon.” 

By mid-match, the Wolverines’ blocking came up big with four blocks in a row to give them the lead.  Once again, Aggie blocking got them back into it.  Sav came back with an angry kill to get the Aggies back in the lead.  They’d go on to finish it off 25-21 and 3-0.  The Wolverines were just as good at blocking (11 to 10 Aggies), but not in attacking.  The Aggies were up 50 to 25 in kills.  Savannah Davison led with 15 kills, Megan Hart had 12, and Julianna Salanoa had 9 blocks.  The Aggies were weak on serve, with 9 serve errors and only 3 aces.

The Utah Valley coach went over and congratulated the entire Aggie team afterward.  That was pretty classy.  While the Utah Valley fans had really shown up the teams’ previous meeting (over 1,600 on 9-26-19), it didn’t look like a great crowd there tonight for the home team.  They should have played the tournament here in Las Cruces.  In the postgame, Coach Jordan took a swipe at the WAC over the location, though it seemed like he thought that they should be playing at a neutral site.  (He was being kind of vague in saying it.)

11-23-19 vs GCU Lopes Final

I found out who won this Saturday evening match on Sunday evening.  I felt lucky that I finally picked the right El Paso TV station to get an update from.  The two I watched Saturday night only covered the Aggie/Miner Football game and Women’s Basketball matchup.   

Regrettably, I didn’t get much more information than that.  The Aggies beat GCU in straight sets for the third time.  (Even Chicago State won a set against the Aggies.)  I made excuses for the Lopes the first time, but after these three wins, I think the Aggies just had their number.  The Lopes did finish as the number two team in conference, so they weren’t bad.

According to the Las Cruces Sun-News recap, Cat Kelly personally overwhelmed the Lopes in the first set with 8 kills to win 25-17.  Set 2 was closer at 25-23.  For the third set, the Lopes showed some real grit by fighting off four match points to tie the score.  Cat put the team back in the lead with kill #15.  I did see the final point on the team Twitter.  It was truly epic as Savannah Davison finished it off with a kill, 26-24.

Beautiful Megan Hart is now a two-time WAC Tournament MVP.  In her interview, she referred to herself as a, “Big crybaby,” for getting emotional.  Savannah Davison made the All-Tournament team.  The coach had no comment on her performance, which is the nicest thing he’s ever said about her.  I’m just kidding.  I’m sure he grunted something that sounded vaguely affirming.  Then there’s Cat Kelly.  The coach did praise her tremendous performance, “On one leg,” as the interviewer put it.  It’s hard not to be impressed with the whole team for not dropping a set for the tournament.

NCAA Tournament

12-6-19 vs BYU Cougars

The team would have to wait until after Thanksgiving to find out who their opponent would be in the NCAA Tournament.  They had a viewing party at the Barbara Hubbard Room on that Sunday after.  I meant to go, but I’m going to have to finally mention something personal.  My mom was in the hospital for the last two weeks.  She’d gotten pneumonia and had existing serious health problems.  She passed away in the morning before this game.  Regardless of the outcome, I was happy to see the volleyball girls and to have a distraction for a couple of hours.

Unlike Oregon last year, host BYU did not charge for their TV coverage of this match.  Also unlike last year, there wasn’t any Aggie radio call.  Jack Nixon came home sick after the Aggie Men’s Basketball team lost in the Cayman Islands Tournament (who could blame him?  I didn’t feel so good), but his backup, Adam Young, didn’t call the Men’s next game.  I’m sure I heard initially that there was going to be radio coverage.  I don’t know what happened.  Was this another slight against the volleyball team this year after all the scheduling issues?

Regardless, BYU-TV put up a very professional broadcast.  I was impressed.  I ended up bookmarking their site, because they were advertising some interesting-looking Christmas programming during the breaks.  I got into their coverage as they were showing a prerecorded interview with their star player, McKenna Miller.  She is awfully good-looking and charming.  McKenna was also married.  At least one of her teammates was also mentioned as being married.  I think they were both hitched to guys on BYU Men’s teams.  The interview was extremely relaxed.  They must be chatting with the players on camera all the time. 

BYU was the #14 seed in the tournament and haven’t lost a home tournament game since the 90’s.  They didn’t win their conference, the WCC.  The Aggies played and lost to Portland from that conference earlier this season (9-13-19).  Portland came in last in the WCC.  That was not a good sign for tonight’s game. 

The commentators couldn’t quite help themselves in the looking forward to BYU’s potential next opponent in their draw.  They respected the Aggies’ accomplishments this year, but were expecting a win.  The pregame highlighted Megan Hart’s resume.  They also showed her on camera sitting on the bench, and she looked more beautiful than ever.  Gotta make sure to look good for the big game.  The rest of the team was referred to as, “Undersized, but athletic.”  The broadcasters were tickled at the prospect of beating Michael Jordan, referring to Coach Mike Jordan.   

The game was played at the Smith Fieldhouse.  It was an intimate venue with small grandstands on either side of the court and seating at the ends of the court with second deck balconies.  The fans were right on top of the action.  McKenna didn’t want them to move volleyball tournament games to the university’s larger basketball arena.  With their usual large crowds, they had a real home court advantage in the smaller building.

  

The seats were mostly filled (2,400 attendance), which made the crowd loud.  There was a rowdy student section right behind one of the service lines that might cause some opponent intimidation.  Before the match, they were swaying and singing to a Kayne West song on the PA.  BYU’s Men’s Volleyball team was there, along with the Utah girls, who won the game preceding this one.  The non-playing Aggie reserves were also in the stands.  The camera found Kassi Stotlz grooving in her seat during one break.  She’s always working it.  (Nice call by the broadcast director on that shot.) 

Set 1

Set 1 started promisingly with Natalie Mikels serving up an ace.  Unfortunately, this set went downhill for the Aggies shortly thereafter.  Lefty Cougar, Whitney Bower, went on a 16-point serving run.  She very nearly served-out the set, but hit it out on set point.  This was way too reminiscent of lefty, Willow Johnson (Randy Johnson’s daughter) going on an 11-point run for Oregon last year.  These lefties remind me of Crash Parker on the Aggies a couple of years ago, though she’s right-handed.  She has that kind of curveball action on her serve.  Perhaps the team needs to recruit or bring in somebody prep them for good left-handed serving.

The Set 1 final went 25-7 Cougars.  Ouch.  You knew it wasn’t going to go the Aggies’ way when Megan was getting blocked on her signature spike move.  The announcers were still very impressed by Savannah Davison’s high-flying acrobatics.  Analyssa Acosta made a tremendous dig on a swing by McKenna.  Brigette Lowe and Autumn Gentry came in went the set was out-of-hand.  It was a surprise to see the freshman, Autumn.  She must have impressed the coach at some point.   

Set 2: Cougars 1, Aggies 0

“What did we learn?”  This was what Coach Jordan asked his team in the huddle between sets, as reported by the sideline reporter.  The coach was able to point out some adjustments and calm down the girls’ nerves a bit.  This set went to BYU, but the Aggies fought it a 25-23 result.  Nervous serving was an issue.  For this set, the team was next to the student section.  Krysten Garrison regressed back to her early season form, but others contributed to the eight total service errors for the match. 

Julianna Salanoa got blocked on her signature low-swing over the net move, but Megan did get her first kill.  Ashley Anselmo was the one finding the seam with five kills.  Sav was coming up big with kills and assisting on blocks.  The announcers were not surprised at all by the Aggies coming back and making a strong showing.

Set 3: Cougars 2, Aggies 0

Natalie started off another set with an ace.  Early in, Ashley hit a kill into the announcers.  I think only a tin of mints was disturbed.  The Aggies got their blocking working and went out to a 3-point lead about halfway through the set.  But, there was that Whitney girl again serving to put BYU back in the lead.  McKenna put the Cougars up definitively with back-to-back aces, of which the team had eight total for the match.  The Aggies would fight off a few match points, including a swing that seemed to bounce and hit one of the balconies, but was still in play.  BYU won 25-19 in Set 3, and the match, 3-0.  The coach did make sure to put Brigette in before the end, as a nice nod to the senior. 

McKenna Miller led all scorers with 13 kills.  The Cougars did what few other teams managed to do this season in out-killing the Aggies, 41-32.  Savannah Davison was next with 12.  She may be “undersized,” but she’s also unstoppable.  Cat Kelly, who’s also probably in the undersized category, had 6 kills.  Senior Ashley Anselmo finished her college career strong with 6 kills.  Megan Hart only had 3 kills, but did have 3 blocks.  I think BYU had Megan game-planned and didn’t care what anybody else scored.          

Next Season  

I covered the current team in the Regular Season Recap.  I’d like to look ahead to next year here. 

With Megan Hart joining the staff as a graduate next year, the Aggies will at last have corrected their main deficiency in not having an attractive assistant coach.  No offense to Coaches Rubio and Hertel, but most of the other teams the Aggies were playing were cleaning our clock in this area.  Unfortunately, losing Megan on court is a bit more serious.  Beyond her kills and blocks, Meg’s 6’5” frame was an actual weapon of psychological warfare that demoralized opponents.  That element will be difficult to replace.   

I’m curious to see more of Autumn Gentry.  Not just because she’s good-looking (that certainly doesn’t hurt), but she’s listed as a setter and a hitter.  I’d like to see Brie Mortensen play some more.  Again the “looks” thing, but I have a feeling she’ll be good, but needs some play time.  However, the current setting corps, Natalie Mikels and Krysten Garrison, is returning, which would likely limit either of them getting in. 

I hope Cat Kelly can heal properly in the offseason, even though being injured didn’t seem to slow her down much in the postseason.  Savannah Davison is simply great.  She just needs to work on her serving.  Unfortunately, neither of them will get any taller, which was what BYU picked on.  

The team also suffered when Cat was hurt and when Sav had trouble playing.  I’d look for the coach to start grooming some more hitters, like Katie Birtcil.  Could Krysten be moved back to hitter?  The coach will probably not want to mess with a good thing between her and Nat setting, but Krysten’s got to get better with her serving too.  She either needs to cut down on the errors or start acing a lot more. 

Megan is going to be hard to replace on the front line, but Lia Mosher paired with Julianna Salanoa should still be very good.  I think Lia busts out next year like Jules did this year.  There’s plenty of other blockers potentially: Brielle Sterns (I assume she’ll be back and ready to play), Tessa Fisk, Lindsay Blakey, and Kaleigh Thomas.   

I hope Halle Razo wins back the libero job next season.  I felt bad for her, since she’d done a good job last year.  However, I think Kiley Tonge and maybe some others will be pushing for the spot.  I’m sure Analyssa Acosta’s story this season has inspired some of her bench teammates.     

Of course, Coach Jordan is out recruiting new Aggies as well.  After the successful Ashley Anselmo experiment, maybe he’ll consider another transfer.  Could he luck out and find a freshman, who’s ready to contribute immediately?  Well, cheers to this year of Aggie Volleyball, and I am looking forward to next year.  

Sports Journal November 23 to 30, 2019

11-23-19

This is a bit of a cheat here.  I didn’t watch or hear this Women’s Basketball game between the Miners and Aggies when it was played.  I’d been at Aggie Football versus the Miners during the afternoon and ate out in the evening.  I’d tried to get this game on the radio at home, but I’d come in late and the reception on the El Paso station had powered down for the night.

This was the reciprocal game after the Aggie home game (11-13-19).  UTEP won the first meeting in a fairly tight game, but in El Paso, the Miners dominated, 65-45.  UTEP led the game all the way.  Gia Pack had 18 points and Aaliyah Prince had 10 to lead the Aggies.  My dear Katerina Zec had 11 and two other Miner players in were double figures.  (Yes, I’m playing favorites.  I don’t have to cover UTEP’s players fairly.)  The significant stats were a 19-9 Miner advantage in bench points and the Aggies going 1-15 in three-pointers.  They did have a 13-8 edge in steals though.

11-24-19

I still didn’t know how the Aggie Volleyball team had done in their championship game on Sunday morning, but I got to watch the Patriot League Volleyball Championship on Stadium with Army versus American University.  I’d seen the Eagles play against Navy for the championship last year (11-18-18).  The Midshipmen had beaten AU on their home court to win it.

I didn’t take notes during the match, but I can sum it up by starting at the trophy presentation.  The MVP for the tournament was the AU setter, Olivia Wassner.  She was also one of the tallest girls on the team and helped with the blocking.  She had four dump shot kills in the match.  Olivia had run into one of the posts in the first set going for a dig and had to come out.  I was distressed, because I’d latched on to her as the cute one on court.  During that time, Army came back and won Set 2.  When she got back in, American got back on track and won the match 3-1.  Don’t say that people don’t notice good setter play. 

11-25-19

This was a Monday morning game for Aggie Men’s Basketball versus the Colorado State Rams in the Cayman Islands Classic.  I think AD Mario Moccia scheduled this to pick up (and launder) some offshore contributions for the university.  The man will do anything for NMSU. 

   

I woke up late and came in at halftime.  The Aggies had had a big lead to start the first half, but the Rams came back.  They tied it on a pair of free throws at the end of regulation.  In overtime, Jabari Rice went off to the tune of 12 of this 21 total points.  The Aggies scored 14 points total in OT.  Trevelin Queen followed with 19 total for the game.  The Aggies couldn’t hold a big lead, couldn’t lock it down at the end of regulation, and didn’t close it out well in overtime, but they got the win, 78-70.

11-26-19

This was another morning game for Aggie Men’s Basketball.  They were playing the South Florida Bulls.  Strange that there still seemed to be more Aggie fans (or Cheerleaders) there.  However, the Aggies had two more injured players: Shawn Williams with a turned ankle and Terrell Brown with a stomach virus.  Terrell played well initially, but his morning bout of nausea probably got the better of him later.  Shawn scored 13 to lead the team.  Trevelin Queen was held scoreless in the first half.  Johnny McCants made up the difference with 10 points.  This was reversed in the second half.  Trev came on with 10 points and McCants didn’t score again.

The Aggies were up 32-20 at the half and never looked back, winning 65-45.  They were playing against a team that was nationally ranked in creating turnovers, but the Aggies came out ahead in that category today.  When Jack Nixon started talking to Coach Jans after the game, he said this was the Aggies’, “Best game of the year.”  The coach thought that was pretty astute analysis. 

During halftime, Jack interviewed Sherry Jans, the coach’s wife.  Mario had said they’d hired Jans just to bring his wife here.  She was indeed as charming as I’d heard.  Jack called her, “The first lady of Aggie sports,” which I think I heard him also call the football coach’s wife.  Never mind that Barbra Hubbard is the Aggies’ actual first lady.  We’ll just diplomatically say that we’re lucky have them all.

11-27-19

The championship game for the Cayman Islands Classic came on in the evening, while I was at work.  I ended up joining the game in progress in the second half.  I didn’t even know who the Aggie Men’s Basketball opponent was before tuning in.  They were up 49-43 over the George Mason Patriots at the time.  The Aggies’ biggest lead was 15 earlier, but GM’s full court defense was stifling them in the second half.  With seeming inevitably, the Patriots took the lead with five minutes left. 

Terrell Brown hit a three to regain the Aggie lead, but it went back-and-forth from there until GM started pulling away.  The final was 68-64 George Mason.  The score really wasn’t that close.  Jabari Rice had 19 points, but 16 were in the first half.  His last three came when it was too late.  Trevelin Queen had 14 points and Johnny McCants had 11.   Coach Jans sounded depressed and disappointed afterward (and like his voice had been rubbed raw).  This was definitely a lost opportunity.   

11-29-19

We had an afternoon game on Black Friday with Aggie Women’s Basketball today.  The 1-5 Aggies were playing the 0-4 Georgia State Panthers.  Maybe I should have gone shopping.  I had my misgivings in the first quarter when Aaliyah Prince accidentally bounced a pass off of Gia Pack’s head.  Then, Nana Sule attempted to enter the game off the bench still wearing her warmup jacket and was called for improper wardrobe by the refs.  Prince was finding the basket though and had all 9 of the Aggies’ first points.  Amanda Soderqvist hit a three and Gia had 2.  The Aggies led 17-15 after ten minutes.

In the second quarter though, the Panthers’ offense picked up and they jumped out to a 9-point lead.  An emphatic block on Amanda got their defense doing.  Gia hit a pair of three’s late to get the score closer and had 11 points before the half.  34-31 Georgia State at halftime.  Somebody leaned on the final horn for about ten very loud seconds to stop play.  It was about as loud as the Georgia State coach, who was barking orders for the entire game.

I had a hockey game on TV at the time, but poor reception kept me from really watching it.  The Bruins beat the Rangers 3-2.  The announcers had amusingly been throwing dirt on Boston’s chances since the first period, after New York had scored the first two goals. The Bruins scored the winner late in the game.  After they’d won, the team came over to the glass and saluted the crowd.  It felt like a big win for them.

The third quarter started with a 5-0 Panthers’ run that prompted an Aggie timeout.  Nana made it to the free throw line and missed both shots.  She hasn’t scored in five games and has frankly been a disappointment this season.  Micayla Buckner accumulated three fouls trading infractions with the down-low player on the Panthers.  Gia hit another three in this quarter.  45-40 Panthers going into the fourth. 

Unfortunately, the Aggies never really got closer.  Amanda hit another three to bring the Panther lead to five again, but Georgia State just kept adding on.  Strangely at the end, the Aggies made no effort to foul.  In fact, the Panthers stopped the clock for a timeouts twice when their players got trapped.  The game ended 59-51 Georgia State.  Again, the final horn went off for ten seconds. 

Gia Pack led the Aggies with 17 points and 10 rebounds.  She’s just about back to playing like her old self.  Aaliyah Prince finished with 11 points.  She really cooled off after that hot first quarter.  The big difference was again in bench points.  This could really be a problem.  Shockingly, the game itself only took an hour and 37 minutes (from my counting).  The refs seemed to let quite a few fouls go.  It was like everyone involved wanted this one over as quickly as possible.   

11-30-19
Aggie Football finished their season with a 49-28 loss at Liberty University this afternoon.  It’d been close at the half, but turnovers and bad defense had doomed them.  We’ll have to hope for a better season next year.  The Aggie Women’s Basketball team played the Western Michigan Broncos in the evening at UTEP.  The Broncos had been crushed in the tournament yesterday by the Miners by 30 points.  They took it out on the Aggies.  In the first quarter, the Broncos were hitting on their three’s and took a 31-16 lead after the first quarter. 

In the second quarter, Western Michigan got into immediate foul trouble, including their star player, who had to sit out.  They maintained their lead, 48-38.  Gia Pack at least was having a good game with 15 points to that point.  At the start of the third quarter, Didi Echols picked up two quick fouls and had to sit with four total.  Gia kept scoring and the Aggies came within one point of tying twice.  It was 59-58 Broncos after three quarters.

To start the fourth, the Aggies briefly took the lead.  Freshman Soufia Inoussa got in on the scoring.  The Bronco’s star came in and fouled out halfway through the quarter.  The teams tied at 72 with about two minutes left.  Micayla Buckner fouled out for the Aggies with under a minute left.  Soufia hit two free throws to put the Aggies within one with 16 seconds left.  She then got a steal with 10 seconds left, but the Aggies turned it right over and had to foul.  They went down by three after a couple of free throws and ultimately lost 79-76. 

This was a discouraging result, but had a couple of bright points.  Gia Pack finished with 29 points, so her offense definitely seems to be back on track.  Soufia Inoussa was next with 12, excellent for the freshman.  Aaliyah Prince had 10.  However, Western Michigan had two players with 20 or more and that was even with neutralizing their star player.  In the game right after, the Miners would beat Georgia State by three in a thriller.  They are looking good (especially Katerina Zec), though I think (unsure because of poor radio reception) that their star Ariona Gill was injured in the game.