NM State Aggies vs NM Highlands Cowgirls Women’s Basketball 11-11-25

 

There’s five Aggie Sporting events in the next six days that I was planning on going to, so I took the week off. That’s also all of the events I was planning to go to this month. I’ve also been sort of dreading tonight’s double header with Aggie Women’s and Men’s Basketball, but it’s been boring enough at home to this point that I’m good to go. Two back-to-back basketball games against DII opponents, New Mexico Highlands, might not be that entertaining. Worse, they could be very entertaining, which wouldn’t bode well for the rest of the season.

The ladies played their first official game against#18 USC last week. (I was at their exhibition before that.) We weren’t surprised by an 87-48 loss. However, Lucia Yenes did surprise us with a 27 point and 5 rebound performance. That led the team in both categories. Imani Warren had 11 points, but unfortunately that was almost all of scoring.

Emma Christiano had 4 assists, which was the team high. Coach Adams told a story about her on the Aggie Coaches Show. The team’s first game together was a trip with the Men into Mexico. Emma was crying after the game. The Coach asked her if she was okay. “Coach, these are happy tears.” Emma was just so happy to be an Aggie after growing up a fan.

I have a couple of not so heartwarming Aggie Sports stories. Aggie Football had another heartbreaking loss over the weekend to Kennesaw State. After giving up 24 points to start the game, the Aggie defense held the number one team in C-USA scoreless for two and half quarters. The offense went to work and got it to within 3 at the end of the game. Unfortunately a missed 50-yard goal ended the game. 24-21 Owls final. Kicker Ryan Hawk was also injured on that play is out for the next game.

(Odd note, the winless Sam Houston State Bearkats were on national TV on the CW playing Oregon State last weekend. LA Tech will be playing on there this weekend against Washington State. The “PAC-12” is desperate for opponents.)

Meanwhile, Aggie Softball Coach Kathy Rodolph and Associate Head Coach Cat Heifner left the program. They were here through the Fall exhibition schedule, which I now regret not going to. Coach Rodolph had expressed enthusiasm for new AD Joe Fields. This seems like a firing or a sudden sharp disagreement since the new season is just a few of months away. Assistant Coach Benet Higgs was promoted to Interim Head Coach, as there’s not enough time to do a search for a replacement. An ESPN article had no explanation. I’ll see if I can get more information. Good luck to Kathy and Cat. Though things had fallen off the last two seasons with the conference change, they did a great job here and are responsible for all of the success the Aggie Softball program has ever had.

I went to tonight’s game way early, anticipating traffic issues and wanting to get a decent parking spot. Inside the Pan-Am Center, I once again turned down a souvenir from the lovely Sydney McIntosh, former Aggie Volleyball player. I already had a rally towel. Some ROTC members were selling sweatshirts with the word, “Bastard” on them. I presume this had something to do with the Veteran’s Day Bataan Memorial Death March event from this morning in Las Cruces. Maybe? (The “Battling Bastards of Bataan” from WWII? They were a New Mexico National Guard unit.) I’m not actually sure they were selling them either.

I just missed the Aggies warming up on court, but a Flag Honor Guard was there. The Highlands Cowgirls came out and were enthusiastically greeted by a section of purple-clad Highlands fans. The team looked kind of short. They had one 6’1”, Adrianna Torrez, who was from Las Cruces. She gave a big, happy wave to her cheering fans in the crowd. The team was mostly from New Mexico with two international players. One was from New Zealand and a tall, pretty blonde, Jessie Ford, from England.

The team was rushed off the court for the Anthem. Even the Refs left. The Aggies were in the locker room. Happy Veteran’s Day. (For further insult, the Aggies were wearing camo warmup tops.) One of the refs looked like a grandma, but the fittest, hardest grandma ever. I wouldn’t mess with her. Coach Adams was wearing a jacket with “Aggies” written on the back in rhinestones. It was a good crowd at 1,238. A bunch of these fans were parents of some little cheerleader girls, who’d be performing at halftime. Mrs. Hubbard was again here, though still in a wheelchair.

I have to mention the music today. There was a cool remix of Van Halen’s Panama on the PA during warmups. On the way over on the radio, I heard two interesting remakes of more 80’s standards, Head over Heels and Don’t You Forget About Me. Regrettably, this is best modern music come up with: 80’s remakes.

First Quarter

I wasn’t even close on the scorecard for either team. Why did I bother? A lady did ask me if I was keeping score. Apparently not. The first play was a foul on Loes Rozing, but NMH missed both free throws. That was a bad sign for them. Imani scored the first points going off the glass. Anna Csenyi followed that with a 3. Kapolei Antielu (I think that’s an American Indian name) got the first Highlands points with a jumper. Kamalani Anitielu (I sense a relationship) intercepted a bad pass by Loes and converted on it for a jumper. Imani came right back with a steal and a layup. Lucia scored and drew a foul shot. It was 10-4 Aggies about 6’ left in the quarter.

Kamalani scored another NMH basket and the team briefly went to a full-court press. Emma came in after a tie up. She made an immediate assist to Imani and a made a steal and an assist to Anna for a layup. (Unfortunately, the official recap didn’t have assist stats.) It was 14-6 Aggies with 4’ left.

In a timeout, they introduced the “Say ‘Cheese!’ Cam” sponsored by a cheese company. Vets in the crowd were asked to stand up for a round of applause. Back to play, Imani made another steal and Morane Dossou found Lucia Lara for a layup. (I’m going to list Lucia Yenes as “Lucia” and Lucia Lara as “Lucia L.” I kept it straight in my notes, at least.)

Emma made another steal, but Morne was called for a charge going to the basket. Emma then took a hard foul and went to the floor. Unfortunately, she missed both free throws. Kamalani stripped Emma of the ball next, but went out and turned it over. Cowgirl Aspen Salazar then elbowed Emma to the court. There was confusion over the foul call. NMH took a foul shot, but it was waved off and didn’t count as the refs reconsidered. Highlands missed a long last second shot and got serenaded by the Band with “Airball!” It was 18-8 Aggies after 10 minutes of play.

Second Quarter

AD Fields was here. He circulated around the Pan-Am Center smiling and shaking hands. He mingled with the Highlands’ section amicably. On court, Loes intercepted a pass and got it to Iyana Beh for a layup. Lucia put in another layup after. Then there was a delay, as the refs got confused on possession. The crew was having some moments, but I’m not calling them out, because I don’t want Hard Grandma coming after me.

Imani and Aspen exchanged layups. Imani made a behind the head pass to Iyana for a layup. Someone lost a shoe on the play. I did not see any players with only one shoe. Was it a ref? Everyone saw something fly across the floor. 28-10 Aggies with 7’ left. In a timeout, Imani went to the Trainer’s table to get worked on, like in the exhibition game. I’m concerned about her health for the season. I noticed during almost any break when Emma was on the floor, she’d go over to the Coach for a discussion. Coach Adams said she was “Curious,” and wanted to keep learning.

NMH went on a run. Aspen hit a 3 and a steal led to a layup by Aniya Johnson. The teams traded turnovers on bad passes. Lucia made a jumper, but Kimora McClure came back with a coast-to-coast layup. Lucia answered with a 3. 33-19 Aggies with 4’ left.

After a bad pass by Iyana, Kimora hit a 3 to get it down to a 10-point Aggie lead with 3’ left. The Aggies took a timeout. Briefly on the video screen, they showed a preseason poll of C-USA Women’s Basketball teams. The Aggies were near the bottom and the graphic quickly disappeared. Imani came back in. Deavion Wilson was in and made a layup and Loes followed that with a layup. 38-26 Aggies with 1’ left. Emma got involved in a held ball tie up that nearly ended in a fight. I don’t think Highlands was happy with Emma’s transfer. It was 38-28 Aggies going into halftime.

Halftime

The Borderland Dance Group of little girl cheerleaders lined up and came down and performed on the court. A multitude of parents had their phones out and were calling down to their daughters. A group of ROTC cadets were introduced after the performance. Along with a group of ROTC from UNM, they had made a 200+ mile relay marathon run to Albuquerque to deliver the gameball to the Aggie/Lobo Football game. They’ve done this every year for the game.

Third Quarter

The crowd was slightly smaller after the little cheerleaders left, but it was still a good crowd. Emma made a jumper to start the quarter after a pair of Aggie misses. Emma smiled and waved to family (?) sitting on the sideline afterward. Cowgirl Adrianna made a steal on Imani. Lots of fouls were getting called. Lucia made a pair of free throws and it was 42-29 Aggies with 7’ left. The Aggies added to the lead with Imani finding Lucia for a layup. 48-31 Aggies.

Twist Cam was activated . . . with music by Cher? Where’s Chubby Checker? It’s hard to twist to Do You Believe in Life After Love? Back to play, Emma took a charge from Hailey Long, giving up 8” in height and likely over 50 lbs. in weight. Emma came up smiling and clapping her hands. In another timeout, Aggie Volleyball was in the Student Section and on Bongo Cam. Rilen Garcia was getting head-patted by her teammates. I didn’t realize they were here.

Loes accidently hit Emma in the face with the ball. Emma was taking some shots tonight. Though I wasn’t hit in the head, I was zoning out a bit and watching the Volleyball team. (I did see Maggie Lightheart in the concourse later and sighed wistfully.) Lucia L. made a shot and a foul shot with it. It was 58-38 Aggies with 10 minutes to go.

Fourth Quarter

Kamalani made a 3 to begin the quarter. Lucia made a rebound and made a basket right back. Hailey made a jumper. Kapiolani and Jessie got steals for Highlands. Keira Hudson, who had started, came back in and played with Emma, though I think they’re both point guards. Keira was fouled and made a couple of free throws. 62-43 Aggies with 7’ left in the game.

Lucia made a bucket and drew the foul and put an elbow into Jesse’s mouth. Jessie came right back with a bucket. Lucia got two more free throws and Jessie was fouled and missed hers. Kapiolani made a block on Kiera and Brynn Hargrove scored. The Highlands’ bench went wild. The Aggies weren’t too disturbed. Emma and Imani were on the bench and chatting and having a good time. After a NMH turnover, the Band piped up and said, “Go play soccer!” It was probably worth going to the game just for that taunt.

Highlands went on a 6-point run with about a minute left. The Aggies took a timeout, though it was 71-53 Aggies. During play, Emma and an assistant coach were yelling at the court. I don’t know what over or even if it was about the same thing. It was very passionate. Kiera got lots of free throw practice and ended up making 6 in the fourth quarter. The Men were waiting in the tunnel now for the game to end. Brynn and Loes traded 3’s before the end. Aggies win 78-61.

Kapolei Antielu led the Cowgirls with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Kimora McClure, Aspen Salazar, and Brynn Hargrove each had 9 points. They shot 32% overall with 30 points in the paint and 25 points off turnovers.

Lucia Yenes had another big game for the Aggie with 23 points. Imani Warren had 15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, and probably a couple of steals which weren’t listed in the stats. Anna Csenyi had 10 points and Roes Rozing had 9 points with 7 rebounds. The Aggies shot 52% overall, 30% on 3’s, and 85% on free throws. They had 52 points in the paint, 25 points on turnovers, and 18 fast break points.

In the game recap, the Coach credited Emma Cristiano with calming down the team when she came in. She also praised Lucia Lara, who had 10 rebounds in the game. I don’t know what this game means for the team for the rest of the season given the level competition they were playing against. They’ve got some potential, especially Lucia. I had no notes after the game. I was hustling out of my prime seat to go to the concessions and to find another seat for the Men’s game to follow.

Comics Review: A Package from Archie

Over the last few months, I’d noted a couple of Archie comics that I was interested in. I’d sort planned on getting something for Black Friday in November, but then something came up on their website. Then they offered free shipping for $20 orders, like they usually do on a monthly basis. I decided to put the order in now.

Unfortunately, I got what I paid for on free shipping. Unlike my past orders that came in boxes and were in perfect condition, this order came in a cardboard envelope. The items were a bit bent or rolled and one of the items was damaged before it was put in transit.

Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 Go to Work (2019)

This was the item that prompted the order. It also got the order to $20 for the shipping deal. I love this cover (though it is a bit rolled). It’s absolute peak pop art. It’s also from 2019 and was listed as a “treasure find.” I thought they might have been limited in number, so I ordered quick.

I don’t think this issue was actually ever released. I wonder why this didn’t make it out the door. Was there a defective printing issue with them, but didn’t throw them away. Mine had a few pages that were joined together at the edges. I separated them and the comic was okay and not really damaged. It’s printed on slick paper, so it’s well preserved, at least.

This is the image from the back page promoting the next issue. Veronica looks more happy here than she usually does. The stories inside might have been all new when this was released. The tales feature the girls getting jobs. Veronica reluctantly enters the job market and predictably isn’t Employee of the Month material. In the last story, she starts selling off artifacts around the house on “MeBay” to earn money, instead of getting a job. Unfortunately, this includes her father’s Picasso painting. He has to quickly outbid others to get it back.

Overall, it’s kind of cute, but nothing special. I did get what I wanted with that cover, though.

Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 Spy Girls (2025)

I saw this offered a while back and was interested, but have no local affiliate for Archie floppies. I like Betty and Veronica as spy girls, Agents B and V. Maybe it’s the outfits. I’m not sure what this was originally an homage to (Spy Kids? Batman? I don’t think so), though it certainly has plenty of wacky gadgets like James Bond.

It’s sort of a follow up to the old Archie The Man from Riverdale stories (or Betty as The Girl from Riverdale). I reviewed a reprint volume of them.  They really should update the concept. Put the boys in classy suits and the girls in jumpsuits and have them fighting some evil organization.

Once again, I love the cover. There is a strange anomaly on it. The boy on the cover, Chester, isn’t in the comic. Given that there’s one new story and two reprints, I wonder if there was supposed to be another new story in the issue. Unfortunately, in spite of it featuring Tania Del Rio and Holly G doing the story and art, it’s pretty unimpressive. I hate saying this. With only 5 pages to work with, they didn’t seem to be expending a lot of effort.

The rest of the comic is reprints. I already had the Agents B & V origin story from 2009. It is fun and looks great (like the pinup above), but it’s continued. I read the conclusion in a digest, but I don’t currently own it. (I reviewed these issues on MySpace back in the day.) They reappeared in 2011 in issues of the Betty and Veronica solo comics. I only have the Betty issue (#192), which sucks since the two comics together make up a double cover.  (They did this bit before with The Prom-Crashers two-part story in Veronica #194 and Betty #180. These I also reviewed on MySpace.)

Finally, there’s a 60’s reprint of Betty The Girl from RIVERDALE. It’s goofy. I don’t know why these RIVERDALE stories are so silly. I’m not saying Agents B & V is realistic. They’re just funnier and make more sense.

With this order, I might be done with new Archie floppies. The new Christmas ones I’ve gotten have been disappointing.  This issue was at a discount, but a $5 cover price for 5 pages of new material is too much. They do a good job of teasing these issues with marketing (there’s one coming out in the near future that looks interesting), but they’re not delivering. These floppies really should be all new material like they used to be, otherwise there’s not much point to them. (I guess they’re cheaper than the digests, but without the wide distribution.)

Archie Jumbo Comics #362

This one was the most damaged of the bunch. This one was clearly at the top of a stack of digests from the printer. There are hard strap marks across the cover. They should have put something over the top of it before securing it.

I don’t usually buy Archie digests, except for Christmas and Halloween ones. This one features a Sabrina story as a new story. (I wonder why they put it here instead of in Betty and Veronica.) Oddly, my Barnes & Noble doesn’t stock the Archie titles, so I had to go to website to get it. (They have Betty and Veronica consistently and Milestones with Jughead.)

This was a fun little story with Sabrina going back to the 80’s. I haven’t seen Dan Parent drawing a lot of Sabrina, but he clearly enjoys it. Unfortunately, it is a “little” story at 5 pages. This story works as is, but I’d like another, longer time travel story to the 80’s.

These are mostly summer-based stories and mostly unremarkable. It’s Archie having girl trouble, broken up with stories of him getting into general trouble. Plenty of girls in bikinis, at least.

There’s only two longer stories. One is an adventure story with the gang off on a treasure hunt in Central America. I like this opening panel of Archie and Jughead finding a room full of golden artifacts. Mr. Lodge dismisses this discovery in search of an even bigger find.

The other longer story features Little Reggie, but as his super villain alter ego, Evilheart. Him and Little Archie and Little Veronica run afoul of this hot villain, Black Widow. Reggie keeps sabotaging everyone and himself trying to cause evil and ends up disappointed by the happy ending. I would have saved this villain to fight the teen versions of the kids. Pureheart and Evilheart would have been fighting over her.

If I’d found this on the newsstand, I still probably would have gotten it, though with the same result of being unimpressed. Certainly I would have gotten it in better shape off the newsstand. Unless you really want the Sabrina story, I’d pass on this.

I’m more than concerned about Archie digests in general. For Halloween and Christmas this year, Archie hasn’t offered any traditional digests. They’ve discontinued them in favor of a new format. They’re publishing 96-page digests on pulp paper in a slightly larger format. The regular digests were 192 pages and on white newsprint. It’s hit and miss as to whether there’s a one new story in either style. Both are selling for $9.99. Worse, it seems they’re only putting out one of these larger digests every other month, instead of four digests a month. I’m concerned about Archie Comics in general.

Archie Decades: The 60’s

This one at least came in good shape. I was a bit reluctant to get this, but I was still looking for more stories with Veronica with the short and sassy haircut. I’d already gotten the Betty and Veronica 60’s volume, and I was a bit disappointed with that. The Dan Decarlo artwork was great and so were the fashions. The stories weren’t so good and there were only a few stories with Veronica’s short hair. This time, we got the whole package with Harry Lucey’s dynamic art and Frank Doyle’s comedy writing.

This was my favorite story in the book. There was a similar fourth-wall breaking story in the B&V 60’s book. I showed this one to a co-worker and she giggled all the way through it.

What a panel! Like I said, Lucey was “dynamic” in his drawing.

Without even explaining the context, this is another great action comedy panel.

Just to warn you Betty-lovers, Veronica is Archie’s main squeeze in this book. Some of Betty’s appearances here are of the “Crazy Betty” variety. Of course the joke here is that Archie’s torturing himself trying to get with Veronica, while he could have equally gorgeous Betty with no effort. That is the original love triangle.

Not to say, Betty doesn’t have her moments in this.

Betty’s not the only one who’s crazy.

Sigh. It’s hard to disagree with Archie wanting Veronica, though.

Just don’t leave her alone in the kitchen.

Hard to believe, but sometimes Archie does assert himself. Notice that Veronica seems to be okay with this.

And a man can’t even have a moment of solitude. With two hot girls chasing you, you want to fish? (Jughead is a bad influence.) There are some stories with Veronica in the short hair (and she’s a doll). This style only lasted for a couple of years. You can even see over the stories where it gradually grew back to its usual length.

The boys occasionally get dressed up and look sharp. Maybe about halfway through the volume, Archie stops wearing the bowtie and sweater vest and goes with a casual look.

Of course, not everything looks great from the 60’s. Why is Reggie wearing a suit with fur on it?

It’s a little odd that I didn’t really like the Archie digest and the Betty and Veronica 60’s trade, but did like the Archie 60’s trade. It’s all in the execution, I guess. I will say that this book probably saved the order for me, otherwise I would have totally regretted it. I might put in another order for Black Friday, even though I still have a small stack of digests unread that I got used. It’s hard to stay away.

MLB Postseason 2025

This postseason has been a complete bust for me.    I got to see three of the Wild Card games that I went down to my dad’s apartment to watch.    Other than that, I could only listen to radio coverage when I had an Internet connection at work.    However, I’ve mostly been absorbed with current events and haven’t listened; I’ve only been keeping up with the scores.

The first two games were the Padres versus the Cubs.    I was pleased that the Orioles’ color commentator, Ben McDonald, was working those games.    I enjoy his Southern accent and enthusiasm.    I had a rooting interest in the Padres, but I wasn’t desperate to see them win.    I took down a few nearly unreadable notes.    To give you an idea of diligent I was, I forgot to write down the final score for both games.    (The Cubs would win the series.)

I might have been more interested in watching the ticker in the corner of the coverage that was showing the other series, the Tigers versus the Indians.    After the Dodgers dismissed the Reds in two games, they switched the schedule to broadcast the Tigers and Indians in the afternoon.    Here I do have a rooting interest for the Tigers as a longtime fan.    I watched this game more intently and enjoyed the Tigers’ victory.    It was nice revenge after their incredible collapse in the regular season to hand the Indians the division.   

Elsewhere, the Yankees beat the Red Sox in the Wild Card series, but amusingly fell to the Blue Jays in the Division round.    (It was amusing to me, at least.)    Also in the Divisional round, the Dodgers dismissed the Phillies.    The Brewers eliminated the Cubs.    I also have a rooting interest in the Brew Crew with Aggie great, Joey Ortiz, and former Chihuahuas manager, Pat Murphy.   

The Tigers played the Mariners in what turned out to be an epic battle.    The series went to a fifth game.    Tarik Skubal pitched well, but so did the M’s.    This one went well into the night to the tune of 15 innings, but the Seattle fans carried their team to victory.    This was the second lengthy extra innings game of the postseason.    MLB might want to reevaluate their stance on not having the automatic runner after the regular season.    [Post World Series Edit: You haven’t seen anything yet, pal.]

After that full series and nearly double-length Friday game, the Mariners had to travel across country to Toronto to play the Blue Jays on Sunday.    Not only did the M’s win that game, they won the day game on Monday.    Fatigue will not deter the Team of Destiny, until they went back to Seattle and got clobbered in Games 3 and 4.   

In Game 5, down 2-1, Cal Raleigh homered to tie it.    After 3 walks, Eugenio Suarez hit a grand slam to win it.    (And I missed it.    I’d walked out of the room when it happened.)    Back to Toronto, this series would go the full 7.    In the seventh inning with Seattle up by a run, George Springer hit a 3-run homer that won it for the Blue Jays.    Meanwhile, the Dodgers dismissed the Brewers in four.    Shohei Ohtani personally ended the Brewers in Game 4 with 3 home runs and got the win pitching with 10 strikeouts.

Both season previews that I got in March picked the Blue Jays to finish in last place in the AL East, so their appearance in the World Series was highly unexpected.    Meanwhile, I noticed a couple of members the sports Media trying to drum up support and viewers for the Dodgers.    They were saying what a great team they are and you should really watch their greatness.   

The Media promotes the Dodgers all year and are well aware how unpopular they are because of the franchise’s free spending.    They want to justify their coverage and their support for the Player’s Union against a salary cap (since they interview players all the time).    You have to love the Dodgers.    You simply must.    The MLB isn’t the NFL.    The Sports Media has no interest in doing comprehensive baseball coverage; they just want to cover the Dodgers and the Yankees.

In spite of their long series, the Blue Jays were the surprise Game 1 winner in Toronto, 11-4. It was called a Dodger “pitching implosion.”  Ohtani did homer.    I noticed that Ty France was playing for the Jays.    He was actually pretty productive as a pinch hitter.    The Dodgers came back with a 5-1 win in Game 2. Will Smith had 3 RBI’s.

Then, the disaster occurred.    Game 3 went 18 innings. Shockingly, we’ve done this before in the World Series between the Dodgers and the Astros.    That one took much longer because there wasn’t a pitch clock then.    This one was a 6-5 Dodger win off a Freddie Freeman home run. Ohtani was on base 9 times in the game.    (He was issued a lot of walks in extra innings.)

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer off of Ohtani for a Game 4, 6-2, Blue Jay win.    It was Vlady again in Game 5, as the Jays began the game with a pair of homers and won, 6-1.    Back to Toronto, the Dodgers took Game 6 behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s pitching in a tight, 3-1, game.    A double play with the tying runs on ended the game.

The finale in Game 7 took 11 innings.    The Dodgers came back in the game to tie it in the ninth, and then win it, 5-4, on a Will Smith home run.    Yamamoto won the MVP for getting three wins in the series.  I didn’t see any of this.    I didn’t even listen to most of it, even when I had the opportunity.    I just wasn’t into it.    I’m only documenting this (in a half-ass way) because I was covering the season and should finish it.   

This is the first repeat World Series winner in quite a while.    So much for saying that, “Money isn’t buying championships in the MLB.”    Next season, the Dodgers are going to buy all of the major free agents and carry $2B in deferred salaries.  They’ll start stockpiling extra players in Triple-A.

It was just a lousy weekend for sports for me.    Saturday, the NM State Volleyball girls were unexpectedly swept by LA Tech, a team that was winless in conference.    Everyone seemed to be playing, so I have no explanation.   

Vanderbilt lost to Texas.    Former Aggie star quarterback, Diego Pavia, led a three-touchdown comeback in the fourth quarter and the team almost recovered an on-side kick to continue the game.    From a disappointment standpoint, I’d almost rather they’d just gotten blown out.    I did not have following Vanderbilt Football on my Bingo card, but they’ve been on national TV three times this season.       

Aggie Football got creamed by Western Kentucky.    I don’t even want to talk it.    In the evening, Connor Zilisch with his 10 wins came in second in the NASCAR Xfinity Championship to Jesse Love with his 3 wins.    The Chase format really picks the true champion.    The World Series was on the radio and then powered down for the night right before first pitch.    Nobody else on the dial was carrying the game.    I was intermittently following along with the scoring.    Everyone was very excited about the game and said it was one of the best World Series ever.        

I’m partly angry I couldn’t watch for yet another year.    I might be even more angry that it was another World Series where I didn’t like either team and had no rooting interest.    Last year, it was the Dodgers and Yankees, two teams are easy to either love or hate.    This time, I still hated the Dodgers and their big payroll, but also disliked the Blue Jays, because I didn’t want Canada to beat the US again, as they did in hockey earlier in the year.    Whoever wins, we lose. I like so many other MLB teams.    I got spoiled over the last 20 years with rooting for teams I liked.

On Sunday, I reluctantly watched the NASCAR Cup Championship, expecting the worst.    It almost happened.    Denny Hamlin, my second most disliked driver, was about to finally cruise to his first championship.    With three laps to go, the driver I was rooting for, William Byron, blew a tire and brought out a caution.    Hamlin made the wrong choice on tires in pit lane and ended up losing to Kyle Larson.    I wasn’t even happy with the defeat.    The coverage had made sure to mention Hamlin wanted to win for his dying father.   

(Why the dislike for Denny?    He’s antagonized the fans, he’s a whiner, and he’s been overly aggressive at times.    These are sins that winning a championship will paper over.    However, he also started a race team pretty much just to give my least favorite driver, Bubba Wallace, a seat.    That one I’m not going to let go on.)

Next weekend, I still won’t have an Aggie Sports event to go to, and then too many to go to the following week.    Hopefully, I won’t be as disappointed.    Baseball related, maybe I’ll do a Hot Stove special next month.