NM State Aggies vs UTEP Miners Volleyball 10-3-23

Mari looking Sharp on the schedule poster.

It’s finally happened.  I’m phoning this one in.  I’ve had a long day, not a hard one, just long.  I’d prefer not to dwell on this game, frankly.  The day started off well.  I had a great burger at Legend Burger.  I went over to dad’s apartment and watched afternoon playoff baseball.  The Rangers beat the Rays, 4-0.  I was happy (though I also like the Rays).

 

Right after the baseball game, I went back home and left for Aggie Volleyball an hour later.  I sort of wished I’d taken a nap.  This was going to be the Aggies’ first conference meeting against UTEP in volleyball.  So, it’s still a rivalry game, but somehow a bit diminished, since they could be meeting up to three times a season.  At least the teams will for sure to see each other every season.

 

A great crowd showed up of over 1,500 and there was a buzz in the air.  An unidentified high school girls volleyball team sat in on the north end of the court.  There was a section of Miner fans and a few scattered in the crowd.  I noticed injured setter, Peyton Castillo, sitting by herself on the bench.  She looked forlorn and beautiful there, as she wistfully watched the team warm up.  Coach Jordan walked by and gave her a fist bump.  (Perhaps later in the match, he’d be wistfully watching her and wishing she was setting for him.)  He also chatted with Barbara “Mother” Hubbard on the sidelines.    

 

Morgan Stewart was back.  I think that might confirm my thinking in the last match that she was out sick (like me).  Starr Williams had her lengthy hair tied for this match.  (Maybe she should undo it given the results.)  Molly Johnson, our lovely grad assistant was briefly pressed into service as a ball girl, before she was relieved.  The Miners were wearing their interesting detached arm sleeves, like the last time I’d seen them.  Their 5’3” libero, Alyssa Sianez, was dressed in pink.  Bold choice.

 

Set 1

Basically, it all went right for the Aggies in the first set, which felt kind of cruel later.  They had four aces by four different players and only one error.  Mari Sharp, Kacia Brown, Ryleigh Whitekettle, Starr, and Aleka Darko all had kills.  The Aggies were blocking UTEP well.  In the huddle, the girls were enthusiastic.  Peyton was hopping in to join them.  The Aggies took it 25-12 and made it look easy.

 

Yes, I did take my usual play-by-play notes.  I’ll highlight a couple of interesting points.  6-4 Aggies, Rilen Garcia made a great offcourt save.  Mari managed get it back over the net.  Kacia finished the point with a kill.  This got a “Boom!” out of PA Ed.  7-5 Aggies, Alecka had a kill off a beauty of a set by Rilen.  21-11 Aggies, Starr let a pop up ball by the net drop harmlessly out.  23-11 Aggies, Aleka with an overpass kill.  24-12 Aggies, Mari fired into two blockers and still got the kill.

 

Set 2: Aggies 1, Miners 0

UTEP Coach Wallis made some adjustments.  UTEP got out to an early lead and never let it go.  Suddenly, the Aggies couldn’t get past Miner blocking.  The Aggies were no longer serving well, though they were serving in.  UTEP weren’t acing (in fact, they kept erroring), but the Aggies were suddenly having trouble receiving and digging.  The Miners took it easy, 14-25. 

 

4-5 Miners was about as close as it got after the set started.  The Coach challenged a touch and got it overruled.  6-10 Miners, a setter dump shot.  That was working for the Miners tonight.  11-14 Miners, the Aggies lost the point on a double touch.  During the point, the ball actually sat on top of the net for a moment.  12-16 Miners, Kacia was blocked on the point.  The coach took a timeout.  It was interesting in that he only talked to the team for about 30 seconds. 

 

Before the set, the main donors who financed the new playing surface were honored on court.  Thank you.  That was an upgrade.  During one break, the Cheerleaders were tossing the black and white baseball hats to the crowd.  One of them ended up in the hands of a ballgirl.  She held it for a little bit before finally tossing it to the crowd.

 

Set 3: Aggies 1, Miners 1

The teams changed ends again.  The Aggies huddled together without the coaches.  I’m not sure who was doing the talking, probably Kacia.  One of the high school girls worked it to Dance Cam earning hoots from her teammates.  Ashley Herman, who had started the first two sets, started on the bench here.  She resumed her role of fist bumping the coaches and high-fiving everyone before the set started. 

 

The Miners jumped out to a 0-4 lead, which included another setter dump shot.  The coach called a quick timeout.  He talked to setter Bianca Perez separately.  (Several players got talked to separately in these two sets.)  There were some heavy duty volleyball fans behind me.  They highlighted the setting specifically as being a problem tonight.  The Aggies would tie the score three times, at 7, 8, and 9.  8-8 Mari made a great play on a free ball to save the point and Ashley finished it with a kill.  9-9 Starr hammered one.

 

Unfortunately, the Aggies could not get ahead.  They soon went behind 10-15 UTEP.  The Aggies were looking dejected on court.  Honestly, Miner service errors single-handedly kept the Aggies in it.  I counted five.  Late in the set and down 16-22, Maggie Lightheart and Alex Connaster came in.  The team responded and got it to 20-22, but that point was overturned to make it 19-23 Miners. 

 

Ryleigh tried to come in, but the coach sent her back.  21-23 Miners, Alex and Maggie teamed up for a block and got the crowd into it.  22-24 Miners, Alex had a kill.  At 23-24, UTEP took a timeout.  Maggie had been on serve here and was all smiles in the huddle.  However, the Miners would take it 23-25 with a kill.

 

Set 4: Miners 2, Aggies 1

The Aggie player huddle featured Mari and Kacia doing the talking.  The UTEP players were dancing to the PA music.  There was a beautiful blonde on the team in a leg cast.  She was still dancing and smiling.  (I couldn’t identify her.) 

 

Again, the set was close.  Ashley had a couple of early kills.  The Miners took the lead at 3-4.  Starr and Mari each had a couple of kills to keep it close.  Ryleigh could not get it going and was blocked at 8-10.  Then UTEP had their final service error and with a kill by Kacia it was tied at 10.  

 

Unfortunately, UTEP pulled ahead to 10-12 on an ace where Kacia and Darian Markham collided.  Ash and Starr got kills, but a block on Starr took us to the Media timeout, 12-15 Miners.  Maggie came in and had an acrobatic kill that dropped into the corner at 13-16.  Anji Vishwanathan came in as the Aggies went down by 6.  She almost got credited with a kill, but was called for a lift (?). 

 

Morgan finally came into the game.  Mari and Ry took the shots.  Each got a kill and were blocked.  Mari and Ash teamed up for a block to get it to 17-23.  Timeout UTEP.  They were still loose, as an assistant coach was on camera for Bongo Cam.  18-23 Miners, Ryleigh came up with a solo block.  She then got a kill on the next point, but it was challenged and overturned. 

 

That brought us to Match Point #1.  The coach was pissed and so were the fans with that call.  Ash held it off with a kill.  Miner Kaya Weaver seemed to finish it on an overpass kill, but that was waved off on a net violation.  She’d end it with a kill on the next point anyway.  Miners take the set 20-25 and the match 1-3.

 

Our stat of the match is UTEP 4 aces to 12 service errors!  No.  Actually, our stat is UTEP winning 15 to 6 in blocks!  (Yikes on both of those stats!  And the Aggies are good at blocking.)  The Aggies had 5 aces and only 4 service errors.  Unfortunately, four of those aces were in the first set.  Aggie serving didn’t matter after that. 

 

Ryleigh Whitekettle and Starr Williams both had negative hitting percentages for the match.  The Miners nullified both of the Aggies’ heavy hitters.  Oddly, neither side had much in the way of kills, especially for a four-set match with two sets close.  Mari Sharp led everyone with 13 kills.  Ashley Herman had 8 kills.  Kaya Weaver was the only Miner in double digits with 12 kills.  Aggie setters Bianca Perez and Rilen Garcia only had 17 assists each.

 

UTEP was a bit subdued after the win.  They’re going to have to play again tomorrow, so it wasn’t a good idea to gloat.  Coach Jordan made a brief statement to the team and then dismissed them.  Honestly, I think the Aggies have more talent, but they were out-coached tonight.  Coach Wallis made a winning adjustment and wasn’t given anything to really worry about after that.  Coach Jordan made a lot of lineup changes after the second set, but couldn’t find the magic of that first set. 

 

I made the loser play of the night.  I got home and dropped my keys right after I’d parked my truck.  It took me five minutes poking around the cabin like a drunk to find them.  (In fairness, they got behind the seat and were buried under junk.)  At some point, it stopped being funny.  What a way to end the night!  Here’s to a better tomorrow.    

Baseball Pre-Postseason Report 2023

Everything worked out as I predicted.  In the AL East, the Yankees ran away with it and the Rays were exposed as frauds.  The Indians won the AL Central for their outgoing manager, Tito Francona.  The Astros had no trouble winning the AL West.  In the NL, the obvious choices of the Braves, Phillies, and Mets made the playoffs, while the Cardinals and the Padres easily won their divisions.

 

Oh, what’s this?  You’re fact-checking me?  Please.  I am errorless.  Just a glance at the playoff standings shows that . . . well . . . Ehh! . . . Let me get some white-out for this post.  So actually, the AL division winners were the Orioles, Twins, Astros and the wildcards were the Rays, Rangers, Jays.  For the NL, the Braves, Brewers, Dodgers won their divisions, and the Phillies, Marlins, Diamondbacks took the wild card slots. 

 

It was a season of disappointments and a few pleasant surprises.  Some teams are on both lists.  The teams that aren’t on either list, didn’t matter.

 

Our Disappointments

The Rays: These guys blew everyone away in the opening month of the season, but came back down to earth.  Pitching injuries and the loss of Wander Franco to scandal hobbled the team and allowed the Orioles to pass them.  They’re real good, but should have been the AL favorites.

 

The Yankees: Who could have guessed sinking an enormous amount of money into two players and neglecting the rest of the team could have backfired like this?  (Not me, apparently.)  Not to mention they had previously sunk a whole bunch of money into star players that now currently suck.  Management needs to get their heads screwed on straight and realize that there is no “Salary” component in the Baseball Pythagorean win/loss formula.

 

The entire AL Central: Oh, how I’d love to see the Tigers and Royals return to greatness.  So much for that.  I basically hate this division.  Saying they’re collectively a “disappointment” is a misnomer, since there were no expectations.  The Twins have won the right to be dismissed early from the playoffs again.  Carlos Correa’s third choice in terms of teams he picked in free agency has paid off.

 

The Angels: They make this list every year.  If they’d just lose Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, they could be right there with the AL Central in terms of non-potential and we could all just forget about them.  Losing Trout and Ohtani will not make this franchise better, especially since they’ll get nothing for them (when they could have).  Losing Arte Moreno as an owner will.

 

The Mariners: You could see this one coming.  (Well, I did.)  But given how hard they played in the second half and just missing out on winning the AL West or a Wildcard still kinda hurts.  I can’t even fault management, since they did actually improve the team at the trade deadline.

 

The Rangers: Given the amount of money and talent on this team, they should have won the AL West going away.  Then again, as I said above, that doesn’t guarantee success.  Nobody believed in this team at the beginning of the season.  However, there’s more in the next section.

 

The Mets: It’s almost a new category of failure.  They not only over spent, they blew the thing up at the trade deadline.  At least the failure was admitted to.  And then they fired Buck Showalter after the season.  If you thought he was the problem, why did you wait until after you blew up the team?  You could have gotten rid of him first and seen if it made a difference.  (They may be making room for Shohei and Craig Counsell.)

  

The Padres: Then there are those that live in denial.  They could have traded at the deadline and made the team better in the near future.  They failed.  They could have even added significantly to the team and decided not to.  Instead, the team made a run there at the end just to rub it in. 

 

Management and the players have both been blamed, but nobody’s really figured out who capped this team.  Do GM AJ Preller or Manager Bob Melvin need to go or perhaps both of them?  Will trading Juan Soto be addition by subtraction (along with some other players)?  Do they need to add a clubhouse leader?  If nobody knows who’s truly at fault, random firings aren’t going to improve the situation.

  

The Cubs: They spent and were competitive, but they’re the Cubs.

 

The Reds: They looked good out of nowhere, but then flamed out.  Elly de la Cruz’s first season and Joey Votto’s final season weren’t enough to drag them into the postseason.  It management will add to this team, they may have a future.

 

The Pirates: They briefly thrilled the baseball world at the beginning of the season, but also faded.  At least they didn’t finish last in the NL Central.  Next year, we should get Oneal Cruz vs Elly de la Cruz battling it out over who owns the last name, “Cruz.”  (I’m looking forward to this.)

 

The Cardinals: Last place in the NL Central was reserved for these guys.  Apparently, Yadier Molina was the only thing holding their pitching staff together, because without him, they were nothing.  This team still has some bright spots, but they’re all on offense.

 

The Dodgers: They overcame quite a few injuries this season and the DBacks to win the NL West.  Why are they on this list?  Because they’ll be disappointing in the playoffs.

 

The Giants: I’m not sure who thought the Giants were really going to be competitive this season.  (Judge and Correa certainly thought they weren’t going anywhere.)  But the snap firing of miscreant manager Gabe Kapler seems to indicate they thought they should have been winning this season.

 

The Rockies: Congratulations on your first 100-loss season!  After all those bad teams, this was the one that finally broke through. 

 

Pleasant Surprises

The Rays: They weren’t a fraud and even after losing a bunch of pitching and Wander Franco, they did not fade or give up.

 

The Orioles: After they took over the AL East lead from the Rays, they never looked back.  Even when the Rays tied them, they withstood it.  Management didn’t really add anything at the trade deadline, but apparently they didn’t need to.  Their Triple-A team just won their championship.  It all looks good, but they lost their ace closer, Felix Bautista.  We wish them the best.

 

The Rangers: Given how many starting pitchers, even great starting pitchers, they lost over the season, a terrible bullpen with over 30 blown saves, and the frankly low expectations, this team did pretty well to hold it together and make it to the playoffs with two good teams nipping at their heels.  (How did you guys lose out to a team, the Astros, who had a losing record at home!)  Did they overachieve or underachieve? 

 

The Braves: Like the Inquisition, nobody expects a super team.  Ronald Acuna Jr. accomplished baseball’s first 40 homer/70 stolen base season.  Even if the Mets had performed this season, they likely still would have been blown away.  Experts are questioning their pitching staff, though.

 

The Marlins: I thought they had real talent.  They did.  Good on them.

 

The Diamondbacks: This was the only team to give the Dodgers a run for the West this season.  They’re a scrappy bunch with some great pitching. 

 

Oh, I have to make more predictions.  I know I’m going to miss most of the playoff games.  That’s a lock.  For the AL, I’ll go with the Astros and Orioles.  (If the bracketing was different, my choices would change.)  For the NL (I’m going to surprise you), the Phillies and Diamondbacks.  In the World Series, I’m in for the Phillies over the O’s.  Yes, Bryce Harper, the child of destiny, will be the MVP. 

Baseball Journal September 2023

MLB.TV kind of stopped doing daily free games during the month.  The Rangers’ radio coverage started becoming spotty with the start of Football season.  The El Paso Chihuahuas continued to slide into oblivion.  I didn’t have a lot to report on as the regular season ended. 

 

8-29-23

Admittedly, I’ve gotten a bit lazy covering baseball stories lately.  There was a potentially interesting development in the post-trade deadline player market.  This was the last day of the season that teams could cut players and make them available to other teams.  It’s more complicated than that (I’m writing this a month after it happened), but any team willing to take on a released player’s salary could have them without a trade.

 

The Angels took advantage of this and unloaded everyone they traded for to give Shohei Ohtani a chance to compete for the postseason.  (Of course, him and Mike Trout were injured by this point.)  The Yankees also cut loose Harrison Bader.  He was good there when he was healthy, but couldn’t stay that way. 

 

Some Player Union Reps were disturbed by this mass dumping that done purely for salary purposes.  Get used to it.  Later in the season, teams want that waiver trade deadline that was done away with and this is how they’re getting it back.       

 

9-2-23

I was watching the MILB Showcase game on Stadium between the Triple-A Norfolk Tides versus the Worchester Red Sox to see Joey Ortiz.  In the seventh, the coverage kept showing the WooSox mascot, an anthropomorphic steam whistle.  He was going to be doing something between innings and was in the tunnel, but he was constantly in the shot in the background of the batter.  He was having a good time interacting with the fans, so they kept focusing on him in between pitches.  [By the way, the Tides would go on to win the Triple-A Championship.  The Orioles have a lot of talent sitting in Triple-A.]

 

9-8-23

Daniel Johnson had some magic tonight as he hit a walk off laser beam home run in the ninth with two outs for the Chihuahuas.  Great to see DJ doing well. 

 

Not so magical were the Rangers tonight.  I watched the scoreboard with increasing apprehension as they lost to the A’s.  Not a big deal except for losing three to the Astros at home this week and all three losses were nearly by double digits.  Worse, with the football season starting, I can’t even listen to them on the radio on weekends anymore.  They’re fading fast.

 

9-15-23

Daniel Johnson is still putting on a show.  He hit a three-run homer in the eighth to tie the score.  (The Isotopes still won the game.  Sigh.)  Single-A call up Jose Sanabria impressed with his first hit, a steal, scoring a run on an infield single, and playing well on defense. 

 

The Rangers have now lost three ace pitchers this season with Max Scherzer going down.  Well, stick a fork in them . . . Wait, they’ve just won six in a row, including a three-game sweep against the Blue Jays, whom they were chasing.  Is this going to be like the Rays?  They’ve lost pitchers all year long and lost Wander Franco to scandal and are now only one game back of the Orioles for the AL East lead.   

 

9-15-23

Rangers’ winning streak ended in Cleveland.  An oddity of the game was backup catcher, Austin Hedges, becoming the pitcher in the bottom of the eighth with the Indians up 12-0.  Hedges had a scoreless inning pitched, but in the top of the ninth, the light-hitting player drove in two runs.  With the advent of the universal DH, these were two rare runs driven in by a pitcher (not named Shohei Ohtani).  The game was so out of hand, I actually missed all of this, but heard about it in the postgame show. That was interesting in itself, as the guys were way too giddy and had communications issues between them.  Weirdness.  Also, the Rays beat the O’s again.  The AL East lead is tied.

 

9-16-23

Shohei Ohtani has been shut down for the season.  His arm injury was keeping him from pitching, but his oblique injury was what sidelined him completely.  Shohei also cleaned out his locker before the announcement.  I’m not betting on the Angels re-signing him in the offseason.  I’m not betting on Mike Trout still being an Angel next year if the rumors are true.  Owner Arte Moreno should be forced to sell the franchise for wasting all the best years of the two best players in baseball for their generation. 

 

Actually, I’m wondering who’s going to want Shohei.  No matter how much Baseball beat writers hype up his free agency, Shohei is a huge risk at this point to commit the kind of the money his agent will be looking for.  He’s likely going to be on the shelf most of next season as a pitcher.  Logically, he should take a short-term, somewhat modest deal, and bet himself to get the big contract after he’s proved he’s healthy.  Keep dreaming.  It’ll be 10 years, $600M and probably result in complete franchise destruction for any team not named the Dodgers or the Yankees.  (I’m looking at you, San Francisco.) 

 

Unfortunately, the result of the two-way experiment is going to make a byword of Shohei’s name.  “Nah kid, you ain’t gonna hit no more.  We just want you to pitch.  We don’t want to Shohei you.”  This has already happened with Hunter Greene on the Reds.  I’m not saying the Unicorn isn’t going to come back to form after recovering from his injuries, but enjoy whatever you’re going to get from Shohei Ohtani in the future and don’t look for a third coming (Babe Ruth being the first). 

       

9-20-23

This is a story I can’t quite wrap my head around.  The Tampa Bay Rays got a new stadium in St. Petersburg.  Wait.  Isn’t this the reason given for their poor attendance? They’re not actually located in Tampa Bay and fans have to drive across this long bridge to get to games?  (There’s reportedly a sign on the bridge telling motorists to make sure they’re got enough fuel to cross it.)  This is also going to be built next to the current stadium and is just going to be another domed stadium without a retractable roof?  I just don’t understand this.   

 

With the A’s more-or-less committed to moving to Las Vegas, that does fix the worst stadium situations in the league and open the door to MLB expansion.  Those two teams’ stadium problems were the only thing holding that up.  But, now I’m hearing about other teams crabbing about their stadiums.

 

I’d already heard about the Royals wanting a new downtown stadium after Kaufman Stadium had been refurbished before their two recent World Series appearances.  Suddenly, the White Sox want to move.  Their recently remodeled stadium (whatever the name currently is) isn’t good enough.  The Brewers are citing structural concerns with their retractable roof.  The Orioles ownership, in the midst of packing their classic ballpark from finally having a winning season, also wants a county-paid-for remodeling, or they’ll move.  I want to say I also heard something about the Diamondbacks and Chase Field.  Why not? 

 

There seem to be two drivers here: demand and opportunity.  There are cities wanting a franchise, like Nashville and Salt Lake City.  They’d probably prefer a new one, but there are other cities that would lose out and gladly take somebody’s castoff.  So there’s demand.  The opportunity is the success of Atlanta’s Battery District next to their new stadium.  The new stadium in Tampa Bay plans to include a residential district with it.  In Arlington, there’s a whole entertainment district that was built with the new ballpark.  The revenue from the real estate around the ballpark can make these publicly-financed stadiums a lot more palatable to the citizens.         

 

9-23-23

After coming home happy from Aggie Volleyball, I managed to catch the bottom of the ninth with the El Paso Chihuahuas playing at the Sugarland Space Cowboys.  The pups were up a run and three batters later, they’d lost.  This was their seventh loss in a row, a team record.  Also Tim Hagerty hasn’t been calling the games this week.  I wonder if he’s out sick.  [I sent him an e-mail.  Tim was being honored by Vermont State University.]  The Chihuahuas did win their last game of the season the next day.  The broadcast ended with a heartfelt prerecorded message from Tim.  He spoke about the season highlights and thanked the fans.

 

 

9-27-23

I almost missed it and I was so pissed at myself.  MLB.TV has been a bit stingy on showing free games for the last two months.  Tonight, there was a relevant game on and I didn’t tune in until the seventh.  The game was the Cubs and the Braves.  Chicago is fighting for a Wildcard slot. 

 

I’d seen a clip from last night’s game, where Seiya Suzuki dropped a flyball, which led to the Braves winning.  In this game, I saw the Cubs make two bad errors, which let the Braves back into the game.  Usually, the Cubs only have this kind of self-inflicted drama in home games, but this was in Atlanta.  The Cubs did not roll over though, until they ended up losing in the tenth.  That was after Ronald Acuna Jr. stole his second base of the game and was then driven in as the winning run.  I did miss that steal, which was historic.  Acuna became the first MLB player with a 40 homer/70 stolen base season.  That’s what I get for stepping out the room for 30 seconds. 

 

Also, the Padres managed not to set an MLB record by finally winning an extra innings game tonight.  They had been 0-12 this season up to this point.  Meanwhile, Nathan Eovaldi has made it back into the Rangers’ rotation.  He’s not 100%, but can still pitch.  Max Scherzer is rehabbing in hopes of making it on to the team for the postseason.  The Rangers need to win two games of their last four to win the AL West (along with several other scenarios, but this is the easiest one).

 

9-29-23

The Giants suddenly fired Gabe Kapler today as manager.  Admittedly, he was personally the reason why I haven’t been rooting the Giants the last couple of years.  His proud Anthem knee-taking made it impossible for me to root for them.  That said, it was hardly his fault that the team didn’t land Aaron Judge or Carlos Correa.  He also didn’t let the team languish in the offseason or at the trade deadline.  This was a deflection by Farhan Zaidi and Giants’ management.  Rehire Kapler and then fire him for the right reason.       

 

10-1-23

I got to listen to the Rangers on Thursday.  The announcers sounded so confident, as any combination of two wins/two Astros losses would give the Rangers the AL West.  They took a one-run lead into the ninth against the Mariners.  Aroldis Chapman put the next three M’s batters on base.  Relief pitching managed to get two outs, but finally gave up two runs on a double and they lost. 

 

Friday, the Rangers lost 8-0.  They did come back and win on Saturday, which I got to watch Saturday night.  On Sunday, I went over to see dad and watch the NASCAR race and watch some of the Cowboys game.  By doing so, I passed on the final free day on MLB.TV.  On the other hand, at least I didn’t have to listen to the Rangers lose 1-0.  (I did hear the very end of the radio postgame.)  They lost three of four to a team they’d swept last week.  Meanwhile, the Astros won four in a row against a DBacks team that was playing for something.  And that’s how the Rangers lost the AL West.  (In fairness, the Mariners were also playing to get in, but didn’t.)   

Boxing Report: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Jermell Charlo

 

Given that my co-worker, Mike, was going to Las Vegas for the fight with his Canelo-loving girlfriend, Laiza, and she didn't get him a ticket was telling me something.  That Mike didn't bother telling me anything about the fight was telling me the rest.  This was not going to be worth watching (or reading, up front apologies).

 

Wait.  I've already written about two fights this year (5-11 and 4-16).  I don't need to write about any more fights this year to maintain my sports writing credentials.  (Here are my credentials: I have a computer, somewhere to post, and an opinion.)  Well, I took notes.  I'm not doing anything else.  I guess I'll do this.  And that's as enthusiastic as this post is going to get. 

  

This Super Middleweight championship fight was at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas.  Canelo's punching bag tonight would be Jermell Charlo with a 37 (50% KO)-3-1 record.  He's a US boxer, but of course, he would have no home ring advantage.  TV Azteca did lots of crowd shots, so I was scanning for Laiza.  I only noticed musician, Steve Aoki.  For that matter, Canelo came out with a couple of rappers singing.  It wasn't much of a walk-out.

 

Round 1

Let's do this.  (Whatever.  I guess.  I'm watching the Cowboys game and a NASCAR race right now at dad's and wishing I was home watching the last weekend of the MLB regular season.  Or not, as the Rangers lost.)  I don't think either fighter threw a punch for over 30 seconds.  I was instantly regretting my decision to watch.  Eventually, they were mixing it up.  Canelo took a big swing that hit the ropes, but was pushing Char into them a couple of times.  Both fighters wrapped up before the bell.  Canelo took the round.

 

Round 2

Char stuck his arm out and probed.  This is not to be confused with punching.  Canelo got in some good exchanges while again putting Char into the ropes.  The ref broke up a wrap and warned Canelo.  Char went into a couple of headlocks.  Canelo got in a tremendous ab shot.  The crowd let out an “Ooooh!” like they'd taken the hit.  Canelo.

 

Round 3

The round started with an immediate headlock.  Both fighters then leaned into each other and were broken up.  Canelo forced Char back into the ropes.  Char bowed down and buried his head into Canelo's groin.  I felt a bit uncomfortable with this.  Canelo.

 

Round 4

Char came out more aggressive.  The crowd responded positively (while not actually rooting for him).  Char still ended up in a couple more headlocks.  He completely doubled over at one point.  Canelo.

 

Round 5

Canelo came out slugging harder.  The two wrapped and were broken up.  Canelo then leaned on Char and looked tired.  Char got in a couple of good hits and the crowd roared.  Me and the coverage gave this round to Char.

 

Round 6

They started off dancing around and then wrapped up again.  Char took a headshot before ending up in a headlock.  Canelo was warned.  The fighters wrapped up twice and were broken up.  Canelo got in a good shot and the crowd responded.  Canelo then pushed Char into the ropes and then held him there while punching him.  Canelo.

 

Round 7

More dancing.  Char took a hit while on the ropes.  He staggered then momentarily fell to a knee.  The crowd exalted, but then Char got back up and the fight (unfortunately) continued.  Char was pinned and punched again on the ropes.  Char got warned on a punch and lost a point.  Canelo.

 

Round 8

The crowd was chanting something as the round began, probably, “We want our money back!”  There was a vicious exchange in the ring.  Canelo pushed Char off him into the ropes.  Char stumbled throwing a punch.  Canelo had a little reach around on Char.  Canelo.

 

Round 9

Char’s corner had to be wiped up before the round could start.  He seemed to get a second wind and Char got in some good exchanges.  After taking a barrage of blows, Canelo looked annoyed.  I had Char.  The TV coverage still had Canelo.

 

Round 10

Canelo chased Char around the ring.  More headlocks.  At one point, Canelo was just standing there with Char under his arm.  Canelo got in a good gut shot.  Char took a huge swing at Canelo’s head, but missed.  Canelo.

 

Round 11

Canelo drove Char into a post.  They have to be broken up a couple of times.  Both fighters were looking tired, as was everybody watching, which you might guess from the yawning.  Canelo.

 

Round 12

More headlocks.  The fighters were leaning on each other.  The crowd was booing a bit, as they now all realized they’d been had.  Char did unload at one point and the crowd took to its feet.  Finally, the fighters just sort of stood around (literally) and ran out the clock.  Canelo.

 

Well, at least everyone got what they wanted, except for a good fight, and that was a Canelo victory.  He posed at the turnbuckle and got a cheer from the crowd.  There was a unanimous decision and everyone agreed that the fight sucked.  Then the judges unanimously ruled that Canelo won (duh).  TV Azteca talked over the Jim Gray interview.  One of the commentators then talked to Canelo over the ropes afterward.  The interviewer called the fight “Absolute domination.”  Canelo said the key to his victory was “Patience.”  I’d also add the audience’s patience.  

Comics Review: Sabrina the Teenage Witch Complete Collection Vol. 1 Part 2

In Part 1, we looked at the nascent Sabrina character.  (And that’s only a quarter of this book and I didn’t cover everything.)  The character was still fairly sketchy in concept.  

The familiar classic Sabrina character suddenly came into sharp focus in 1969 in Archie’s T.V. Laugh-Out #1.  With the success of Filmation’s 1968 The Archie Show cartoon, a Sabrina cartoon would follow in 1970.  This comic book seemed to be testing out the cartoon concept.  (And the cartoon version of Sabrina is quite charming, by the way, and has a breathy Marilyn Monroe-like voice.)

 

This would be your standard look for Sabrina through the 70’s and 80’s.  Aunt Hilda and a new character, Cousin Ambrose, were her family.  Sabrina was totally integrated into the Archie Gang and she’s also having to keep her witch heritage a secret.   

    

In the same issue, Aunt Zelda is introduced, she’s not used a whole lot in these stories, and Harvey, Sabrina’s new regular boyfriend.  Harvey is mostly a foil for irritating Aunt Hilda, like Archie and Mr. Lodge.      

In the second issue, Salem, the other regular cartoon cast member, is introduced.  The cat was only in Sabrina’s first two comic book appearances and then dropped.  Salem is a girl in this and mostly teased Hot Dog in the cartoon show.

Old School Ethel has got issues, especially when you put her next to Sabrina. 

 

Great Archie artist, Harry Lucey, does a couple of stories in this volume.  I hadn’t seen this one before. 

 

Two Archie (The Archies band), Sabrina, and Josie and the Pussycats stories were in Laugh-Out #7.  This couldn’t happen in animation at the time, since Josie was being produced by Hanna-Barbera and the other two by Filmation.  The stories were a bit unwieldy, but it’s fun to see all of the main Archie characters together.     

Sabrina was (sort of) given her own title in the Archie Giant Series.  Two issues made an odd diversion into Gothic-like horror.  This only sort of works when Sabrina forgets she’s a witch and when her powers don’t work or can’t use them.  I think the modern day Sabrina Horror comic probably showcases this better, but that’s straight-up horror (and really uncomfortable to read).    

I feel like Sabrina works better in lingerie than the other Archie girls.  There are three cousins introduced in various stories.  (Not pictured.)  They’re basically all various shades of hippies.  I’m not sure if they were trying them out or just there to make a story.  Since they don’t show up again, I guess that answers the question. 

 

Sabrina is featured in a story in Archie’s Christmas Stocking in 1971.  In 1972, she’d have her own Christmas special with Sabrina’s Christmas Magic.  She goes off to find Santa Claus in one story.  Another has Aunt Hilda finding religion at Christmastime.      

Oooh, boy.  What did I say about Big Ethel earlier?  Here she falls for Hot Dog, who Sabrina has transformed into a groovy hippie.  Yeah, Ethel really got rimmed in these old comics.

 And here’s how Sabrina keeps her shapely figure over the holidays.

 

Almost needless to say, I recommend this book for any Sabrina fan.  It’s very entertaining and informative about the development of the character.  There’s no Volume 2 of this that I can see.  I don’t know if I’d want that one, because chronologically, Sabrina definitely enters a dry spell (pardon the pun) of creativity from the material I’ve seen from the rest of the 70’s and 80’s.   

 

Again, you can check my previous “comprehensive” post about the history of the character.  This book has been an education in the early days of the character.  My post pretty much picks up where this leaves off. 

 

From reading this, I ask the question, how much do we owe our conception of Sabrina to the 70’s cartoon?  I think Sabrina would have eventually been a character with her own title without it.  Sabrina had an instant appeal when introduced.  She might have had a more varied background, but probably would have ended up in about the same place.  Sabrina just got there quicker via the cartoon.