NMSU Aggies vs UTRGV Vaqueros Women’s Soccer 10-29-16

I arrived at the New Mexico State Soccer Complex 10 minutes late for the start of the match.  I was still deeply unhappy with the result of the volleyball match 10 minutes ago.  I actually made sure to check the scoreboard, which is visible from the parking lot, before I paid for a ticket.  If anyone had already scored I would have turned around and left.  It was scoreless.  I decided to go in.  I was really only here because I’d planned on being here before I left home, not because I felt like going.  Why I was going to soccer games here in the first place, I still haven’t figured out.

The grandstand was full, likely owing to it being Senior Day and the regular season finale.  I could only easily find a seat in the front row near midfield, and in front some loud, obnoxious fans.  It took a few minutes adjust to the complete disconnect between watching a volleyball game in an indoor arena to being at an outdoor soccer match joined in progress.  It was like switching channels between two sporting events, but in fact I had actually physically switched locations.

Our opponents were the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, who will called the Vaqueros from here on out to save my fingers.  Does it make sense to name a Girls’ team Vaqueros, male cowboys?  Vaqueras maybe?  Is that a Spanish word?  They are decked out in bright orange.  The Aggies are in white with crimson trim.  The more I see them, the more I want one of those jerseys.  The Vaqueros seemed to have a bit of a size advantage.  
       
I was about 15 feet from the sidelines, so I could really see the action when it came by the crowd side of the field.  I could actually see the girls sweat and even hear them hitting each other.  The very real possibility of the action flying into my face kept me very alert.  (It wouldn’t surprise me if that wasn’t the reason why most of the play occurred in the middle and far side of the field.)  Much of the play for the match was on the Aggie end of the field.  This caused the soccer crowd no end of consternation, which they voiced continuously.  It was like sitting next to the coach on the other side of the field, multiplied several times over.  Thank goodness these people weren’t at the volleyball game to make a bad situation worse.  The credit I hand them is that they show up pretty consistently (as per the program attendance figures) for a team that isn’t that good.  

The first Aggie chance I see happened at 14’ (left in the half) on a breakaway.  There’s a collision between the player and the Vaquero goalie.  12’ and there’s a mess in front of the Aggie goal.  Thankfully, the Vaquero’s didn’t have the numbers to capitalize on the opportunity.  10’ the Vaqueros get a great rush downfield in front of the Aggie goal which fizzles without an open player to pass to.

“Be aggressive!” a fan right behind me screamed out.  10 seconds later after a turnover, he shouted, “But don’t collapse your defense!”  That’s great.  I’m sure that helped.  4’ Aggie #18 Reilly Marks made a solo breakaway and took a shot between two defenders.  “Pressure!” shouted the man behind me for the hundredth time as the Vaqueros worked the ball back into the Aggie end.  1’ Aggie keeper #1 Ashley Martin collided with a Vaqueros player.  The player went down and had to come out.

The half ended at nil apiece.  Officially, the Aggies had 3 shots on goal to the Vaqueros 2, but the opposition had dominated the match in ball control and opportunities.  A fan screamed at the Vaqueros to go to the locker room, which seemed really unnecessary.  It might have been one of their own fans.  The locker room is part of the nearby football stadium.  (I think it’s the Coca-Cola Weight Training facility for the football team, which is awkward since the university just switched to Pepsi.)  The Aggie girls stay on the field for halftime instruction.  I’m not sure if there’s room for both teams to use the building at the same time.
          
Halftime entertainment was another game of musical soccer, which the PA had a good time with.  I like this guy, but there’s not a whole lot of announcing to do at a soccer match.  Substitutions are called out, announcing “One minute remaining,” counting down the last 10 seconds, credit for opponent goals, and those, oh so sweet, Aggie “Goooooooooooooal!”calls.  Baseball and softball are kind of limited to just naming players.  Volleyball announcing gives the scoring, but some personality can be put into it.  The top end is the football announcers, whose job is to motivate the crowd, along with giving play results.

There’s some people in the crowd wearing Texas A&M shirts.  Maybe that’s near UTRGV.  The A&M Aggies will also be the NMSU Aggie football team’s opponent a couple hours later at College Station.  (The final of that was like 55-10.  You can guess who won.  NMSU actually beat the spread and earned $1.5 million to act as A&M’s tackling dummies for the evening.)  I decided my seat was officially terrible as these A&M shirts and everybody else walked in front of me during the game.  Kids running up and down the aluminum planks shook everything in the front row, including me.  At least the warm afternoon sun was well behind me, and sitting up front, I was shaded by everyone behind me.  I still had the Gatorade I bought at the volleyball game with me for hydration.

The second half began.  #0 Raeann Garcia was now between the pipes, err . . . in the net for the Aggies.  Actually, I had to read about that on the website.  I got confused by the switch at the game and thought I’d written it down wrong.  I wasn’t there for starting player introductions to begin with.  No explanation was given for this platooning of goalies.  Perhaps Ashley was injured on that last play of the first half.  A fresh keeper may have been a good idea anyway, because Raeann was about to get a workout.  

44’ the Vaqueros took a long shot on goal, followed by roller.  Both were stopped.  The loudmouth behind had moved for the second half, but don’t worry, there were still plenty of idiots around me shouting out instructions to the girls.  38’ there’s a two on two in front of the Aggie goal.  Great defense by #28 Sarina Stockton (I think, it was hard to see the number that far away) stopped the drive, but she paid the price and came off hurt.  37’ Raeann came out to stop a breakaway.  32’ #10 Aileen Galicia took a long shot at the Vaquero goal for the Aggies’ first chance.

At this point, after that crushing volleyball loss, I was in a really bad mood and was starting to expect a loss, or worse, a scoreless tie.  I was mentally telling myself, if these girls lose or tie or go scoreless here, I’m not coming back next season.  Enough is enough.  I can’t stand these people in the grandstand, and I don’t even like soccer to begin with.  Okay, now we have some real stakes involved in the outcome.            

At 29’ we had possibly the play of the match.  Raeann came out to the top of the box to make a diving deflection of a shot.  The ball remained in play in the box.  Another Aggie player ran to the net and kicked away a second shot.  The ball was still loose in the box.  Raeann finally smothered a third shot rolling on the ground.  The crowd roared and applauded in approval.  (Finally, they’re happy.)  The whole exchange took seconds, but was riveting.

24’ on a near corner kick, Aileen made two headers on the play before the Vaquero keeper caught it.  21’ a near miss on the Aggie goal.  20’ two Aggies almost get to a dangerous back pass to the Vaquero goalie.  I don’t know why coaches allow their players to do that.  16’ Raeann made a jump save.  15’ the Vaqueros employ some trickery on a penalty shot at the top of the box.  Fakes by a couple of players allowed a third to get a clear shot on goal.  It just went a bit too high.  11’ the Aggies mounted a good coordinated attack.  The final shot just went wide.  9’ Raeann caught a chest high shot.  8’ remaining and a shot is kicked into the base of the stands hard enough to shake the whole structure.  Good thing that didn’t go into the crowd.

6’ there’s a busted Aggie play on the right wing in the Vaqueros’ box.  #3 Audrey Chavez powered through a defender to pass the ball to Aileen.  She’s covered, but forced her way forward to find an opening and took the shot.  It was a hard angle, but the ball flew right into the upper left corner of the Vaqueros’ net.  “Goooooooooooooooooooooooal!”  The opposing goalie had no chance on it.  None of that play should have worked for the Aggies.  They were outnumbered and in a bad position.  The Vaquero defense probably had it played right.  Aileen and Audrey just willed their way past them and in to score.                
           
For the next five minutes, there was not much drama, as the Vaqueros were unable mount any offense.  They knew they’d been beaten today.  The Aggies won 1-0.  The Vaqueros had dominated the match, but come away with nil.  The official shots on goal stat showed it even at 4 to 4 surprisingly.  My player of the game is #0 Raeann Garcia.  She may have only played a half, but it was a heck of a half.  Finally, I was worried that my plain crimson shirt with the big Aggie button stuck on it was unlucky and I wouldn’t be able to wear it to games anymore.  I’m relieved.

After the match, the girls came out to midfield to wave to the crowd.  After a talk by the coach, the Senior Day ceremonies started.  Unlike a couple of other such ceremonies I’ve seen, the opposing team didn’t stick around to watch or participate.  The girls made two lines and the seniors walked between them, one at a time, and received roses while the PA read off their accomplishments.  #22 Gabby Campbell’s exit was particularly memorable as one of the team’s captains.  At 4’11” she’s a crowd and team favorite for her tenacity.  As the PA put it, “Gabby wears a size 3 cleat, but is leaving behind some big shoes to fill.”  The girls gathered for a picture by the grandstand where the graduating seniors’ numbers had been sprayed on the field.  I wished I’d had a camera.  The fans were invited to go down to the field to talk to the players.  I was tempted, but I needed to go get dinner and the World Series started in a half hour.

So, this made everything better after that disappointing volleyball loss.  No, no not really.  Still stings.  So I’m now a dedicated soccer.  No, I still intrinsic problems with the sport, and I’ve even found a new reason to dislike it: the fans.  I’d been warned about soccer fans, but I thought that kind of bad behavior was just limited to international matches (in particular Mexicans at US vs Mexico matches).  I never dreamed that’d be an issue at a small college affair.  The ubiquitous old man and his annoying cheering seemed positively quaint compared to the rest of the crowd.  At least he was cheering for the girls, not yelling at them.    

But, I admit, I’ve generally enjoyed the experience of watching these games in-person.  This may mostly have something to not being able to change channels there at the stadium.  Having a few cute girls on the field hasn’t hurt either.  This brings me directly to Aileen Galicia, who has been a definite selling point for the program for me.  She has a very slight build, but plays with the relentless determination of a star player.  This isn’t the only time I’ve take over in a match.  I would not be surprised to see Aileen continue playing at a higher level when her college days are done.  If NMSU can recruit and develop a couple more girls with her attitude and ability to play with her, this program would be a winner.

Okay, they won today.  I’ll be back for some more next year.  You guys earned it.    

NMSU Aggies vs CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners Women’s Volleyball 10-29-16

Boy, this is hard.  Two days later and I’m still upset.  I actually re-wrote parts of this three times, which is why it’s late.  Things started bad for me right off the bat.  I’d heard the radio commercial offering free t-shirts to the first hundred fans.  I showed up an hour early only to hear a lady in front of me get told that they’d already run out.  I never found out what the shirt looked like, so I’m not sure how sorry I should be about it.  This turned out to be the least of my disappointments.

At least I came prepared for a wait and listened to Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson on audiobook.  Unfortunately, I could just barely hear it over the stadium music.  The CSU-Bakersfield Roadrunners were practicing on court.  They have some pretty good-looking warm up uniforms.  The program listed them as a senior heavy team, and they don’t have a lot of height up front.  The Aggies came out in pink sweatshirts.  There was stretching, practicing digs and sets with the coaches, and remind me to never show up this early again.  

The cheerleaders arrived the worst for wear and looking unhappy.  One-gunned Pistol Pete was with them.  Adam Young was at the broadcast table looking bored, waiting to start calling the game.  The crowd filled in nicely right before the match, perhaps about 900 to 1000 (though it was listed at 700+).  They were the smart ones.  The regular PA voice was not present.  For some reason that felt like a bad sign.  The soccer PA would have been a good alternate, but he would be working a soccer match later that afternoon.  The Roadrunners were unimpressed with the introductions, especially when they got muffed and the Aggies got introduced out of order.            

Set 1

Honestly, the action was so fast and furious I couldn’t hardly keep up with any notes.  Both teams seemed well-matched and playing well.  For the Aggies’ part, #6 Tatyana Battle got a pair of aces in a row on serve.  Bakersfield #16 Carol Grasso was tagged by Adam on the radio as their star player.  She had a massive, hard beach volleyball style serve, but her first was dug out well by #4 Ariadnne Sierra (“Ari”), and turned into a kill by #20 Sasha-Lee Thomas.  I noticed #12 Megan Hart seemed to be jumping better than I’d seen before and got a kill.  

At 11-8, Ari made three great digs and #3 Jordan Abalos finished it with a kill.  Ari came right off after that play and stared gulping Gatorade.  She was gassed.  Adam had said earlier that her, Jordan, and Sasha-Lee had all been sick with the flu.  (Those were the ones I heard mentioned.)  This was the first evidence I really saw of it.  Anybody in the crowd who wasn’t listening to the radio, or didn't know the girls personally, probably wouldn’t have known about this.  Ari came back in after a minute.  Late in the set, Tatyana served up two more aces and the Aggies won 10 points in a row off her serve.  The Aggies took the first set 25-14.  That score really doesn’t give you an idea of the high level of play that both teams had going.

Ari was all smiles afterward, so she seemed okay.  6’5” Megan Hart started high-fiving her teammates.  She teased 5’2” Ari, who couldn’t hope to reach her raised palms.  Jordan Abalos’ grandmother was again in attendance and was featured on Flex cam with Pete.  The music was good from the DJ.  Everything seemed well.

Set 2, Aggies 1, Roadrunners 0

The girls changed sides.  Now that I had a good view of their bench, I immediately noticed that the Roadrunners had no lack of confidence and had a lot of spirit.  They took an early lead.  On one point, one of the girls tried to climb the official’s ladder to save a point, so they really were into it.  The Aggies managed to tie it at 9-9 on a blocked shot.  11-14, there was major contention after a kill by Jordan was called off.  Coach Jordan and crowd screamed at the official.  (I should mention that it was mostly an adult crowd, not a huge number of kids.)  

Adam had said in a previous game that Tatyana’s defense was a bit suspect.  She had a couple of missed digs in this set in a row.  She seemed surprised by them.  Maybe there was a coverage issue.  I suspect the Roadrunners were actually aiming at her.  To her credit, Tatyana did much better in the rest of the match.  At 12-17, Jordan got a kill shot hard enough to knock down the defender, but this was pretty much the only Aggie highlight of the set.  The Aggies won an ugly point at 17-21, which prompted a Bakersfield timeout.  They would come back out and win the set 18-25.

Set 3, 1 all

To cut to the quick of it, same score for this set, 18-25 Roadrunners.  Jordan seemed exhausted and was making errors on offense and defense.  I’ve seen her play a bit hurt, but her steady presence still allowed her teammates to take up the slack.  She’s played every point in every game I’ve seen, while the other girls all get cycled in and out.  Jordan is just so valuable in every part of the game.  If she wasn’t well, I would have suggested taking her out for a spell and letting Sasha-Lee captain the team.  Unfortunately, Sasha was having an even more quiet game and likely wasn’t well herself.

There were a few highlights.  #1 Brianna Ainsworth got a great dump kill.  Tatyana reeled off another ace.  #15 Hannah Combs made the first appearance that I’d seen and got a kill.  #14 Kassandra Tohm (“KC”) got a kill and an ace.  And, that attractive sideline reporter from the football game appeared.  She was in shorts this time.  Whew.  I am cheating on the volleyball girls here, looking at another girl at the same event?

Set 4, Aggies 1, Roadrunners 2

My first note of this set reads, “Aggies looking peaked.”  It’s looking like they were playing that first set on pure adrenaline.  When they had that shock loss to the Lobos a couple of weeks ago, it was right after having played the day before.  I’m sure the Lobos did too, but they were playing at home.  The Aggies were no doubt fatigued from play and the trip.  This is feeling the same.  

Coach Mike Jordan blows up over another questioned call.  He has his captain, Jordan, talk to the official, but the coach gets the yellow card.  (I wonder what the etiquette is about talking to officials in this sport?)  The Roadrunners are, meanwhile, all enthusiasm.  At 4-3 KC gets a kill and it’s the first Aggie lead since the first set.  Roadrunner #13 Sydney Haynes rattled off several points on her serve.  (I hate to admit this, but I kept noticing her during the match.  She was rather striking.)  Jordan comes back with a kill and an ace.  With the score tied at 12, Bakersfield takes a timeout.          

      

14-14 the Aggies take the point, but only after an overrule by the head ref.  The crowd was standing and up and arms over the original call.  The Bakersfield coach almost got yellow carded on the overrule.  I don’t know if the officiating was bad this day, or if the emotions were just really running high here.  I wouldn’t say this was a turning point in the match, but rather the last gasp.

At 15-18, I finally see Jordan get frustrated on court.  It’s a bit of a shock.  Having some small idea of what she’s like, no doubt she was mad at herself.  The Bakersfield girls are out-cheering the crowd at this point and running on to court every time they win a point.  I even see one of the young men ballhawking on the sidelines clearly get irritated with them.  (The usual young girls that work the sidelines seem almost oblivious to the score.)  Adam called out the Aggies getting blocked on a point by “the worst blocking team in the conference.”  

The crowd started getting into it late, and I can’t hear the game call in my earplugs.  (I couldn’t cheer myself as I was having my own problems getting over a cold.)  18-23 was a truly epic point that seemed to take a full minute, which would be an eternity for a volleyball point.  The Roadrunners took it and that was it.  19-25 final, 1 set to 3, Bakersfield wins.  The Roadrunner girls storm the court like it was a championship.  The Aggies’ 26 match WAC winning streak comes to an end.  I suppose the Aggies could take it as a point of pride that beating them in a game that probably didn’t hugely matter would elicit this kind of emotional reaction.  (I don’t think there’s bad blood between the teams either, certainly not a long-standing rivialry.) 

Looking over the stats from the paper, the girls got close to their usual numbers.  Tatyana may have really carried the team this day for the most part, but she needed help.  Unfortunately, the team got an abundance of stats they didn't want in errors.  Grasso for the Roadrunners did well, even with her flamboyant serve not working, but nothing really jumps out on the other side.  In other words, the Aggies did themselves in.  Credit the team’s talent that they kept it close in the three losing sets, but they didn’t have that extra energy to beat an inspired opponent.  Not that I know anything about volleyball, but cycling out all of the sick girls more to keep them fresher might have helped.  Having the team’s two 6’5” towers, Megan Hart and #24 Lexi May (who I don’t think ever entered the game) playing together would have really maximized the Aggies’ height advantage.            

Well this sucked.  I found myself taking this loss overly personally, to the point of even questioning my own self worth during the end of the match.  Oh well, the crowd deserted the arena immediately, and me with them.  I’m not sure where everyone else was going, but I was already late to get to the nearby Aggie soccer match.  I’d already figured out beforehand that somebody was going to have to win this match real efficiently for me to be on time for both events.  I would have been okay with being late for a win.    

Just to make me feel even worse, there were tables set up in the concourse where the players would be doing another autograph signing.  I felt like I was running out on them.  I already had a signed poster and doubted I could be charming and informed in front of the girls again, but I would liked to have said something supportive to them.  I hope they still had a good crowd for autographs, though if some of the girls are sick, should they really be meeting with the fans?  

This would normally not merit mentioning in a recap, but I’d been fighting a cold all week.  (I’m calling it a cold because I never needed to puke.)  I was still going to work, and I was mostly okay until Thursday night when I exerted myself helping to set up a meeting.  I shouldn’t have gone in Friday (certainly not as grumpy as I was), but I was better by the end of the night.  After taking some Thera-flu-ish stuff and sleeping all Saturday morning, I was okay to go to sit down to watch volleyball (and soccer afterward) that afternoon.  

That said, I can’t imagine having full-blown flu and going out and playing volleyball at a high-level the next day.  Since the girls played great on Thursday and the radio broadcast didn’t mention anyone being sick that heard (unless I missed it), I kind of have to assume they got sick the day before the game.  At least three key Aggie players were likely either doped up on cold medication or, if that’s not allowed by the NCAA, they were really gritting it out hard.  In either case, even getting one good set out of them was impressive.  They weren’t going to be making good decisions or playing sharp consistently under these conditions.    

Of course, nobody on the team would make an excuse of this.  “We were terrible,” and “Honestly, we deserved that,” and “They outcompeted us,” were the LC-Sun News quotes from Coach Jordan and KC Tohm.  I’ve seen some good, even impressive performances, by individual injured players this season, but this may have been multiple players playing through an induced mental fog and exhaustion.  I realize I’m highly biased, and I’m not going to get mad at the team whether they win or lose, but I’ll say they didn’t lose this game for overconfidence or overlooking this opponent, or even from playing sloppy.  This was a potential conference winning game.  You bet the Aggies wanted to win this.    

After the game in the radio interview, Coach Jordan said he wished he’d put in the reserves.  In the paper, he thought this loss was good for the team, to help re-focus them to closing out the season.  Perhaps there’s even some thought that these teams are going to meet again in the conference final, and the coach wanted to make sure the team would really want to beat the Roadrunners bad next time.  All that said, the coach really wanted to win this match.  Three of his best players sick, were still likely better than leaving freshmen out on the court for most of the game.  If this wasn’t an important game, winning the conference in front of the home fans, he might have done things differently.  As it was, all Coach Jordan could do was get frustrated that there wasn’t any combination of players he could use on this day that could win after Set One.  

The worst of all is this might be the last time I get to see the team this year.  I found out I can’t take the week of the WAC tournament off.  I could see the championship game on Saturday, but there’s no certainty of who’s going to be playing.  I say let’s try today’s match up again in the conference final with the Aggies at full strength.  We'll see what happens then.  

I hope this isn’t my last New Mexico State volleyball post this year.  If it is, I’ll just say now how much I have enjoyed watching and briefly meeting these lovely, pleasant, and talented young women.  Since nobody’s graduating this year, I can look forward to seeing them all again next year.  (I hope to see some of #2 Analyssa Acosta then.  She was so sweet during the autograph signing.)  Even with today’s loss, it’s hard to imagine the team improving on their record, but if they can improve their play with this year’s experience added to them, they’re going to be awesome.     

MLB Playoffs 2016

By the time I’d posted my predictions, they were already wrong.  I foresaw that possibility, but felt I had to put it up, as is.  At least there was some unintentional comedy value to it.


10-4-16
The Flash season premier distracted me, but I got to hear some of the AL Wild Card game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.  Given the high-powered teams involved, this was surprisingly a pitchers’ duel, so much so that it went into extras, tied at two.  In the 11th, Edwin Encarnacion hit a game-winning, walk-off three-run homer to give the Jays the win.  With that, my predictions already start off wrong.  On the one hand, I thought the game was going to be in Baltimore.  If I’d known that it was going to be Toronto, with their Lebatt’s bottle-throwing fans, I might have made a different prediction.  (And, I doubt Oriole players will be tossing any more balls into the stands there for a while.)  Worse, I was giving it to the O’s because I thought they had a better bullpen.  Alright, cue the circus music as we rematch the Jays and the Rangers.


10-5-16
In spite of the great NL Wild Card game match up between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets, I totally missed the game on the radio to go to Aggie Volleyball.  If I’d stayed home, I still would have missed part of the game to see the Arrow season premiere.  I saw a guy at the volleyball match watching the ballgame on an iPad.  He had the right idea.  During the intermission, I asked Ron for a game update and was shocked that it was still scoreless in the 7th.   I did hear the top of the first before leaving, and I remembered that I heard the commentators say that they thought this would be tight contest with Noah Syndergaard and Madison Bumgarner pitching.

I got the final box score later of 3-0 Giants.  Perusing the stats, I saw the unlikely hero being Conor Gillaspie with a three-run homer.  Far more familiar was the goat in the situation, Mets’ closer Jeurys Familia.  I seem to recall stuff like this happening last year for the Mets.  Bringing him in in a non-save situation likely didn’t help.  The stat of the game came before the game: Bumgarner was 4-0 pitching at Citifield, and he’s the best post-season pitcher ever (by ERA).  He pitched a complete game in the shutout.

I watched the local news and saw the winning home run on the sports (and the volleyball recap).  Afterward, the new female anchor (haven’t caught her name yet) commented on liking Syndergaard.  “They call him ‘Thor’ because of his long blonde hair.  I think he’s cute.”  There was awkward silence from the guys sitting on either side of her.  Apparently even women aren’t allowed to oogle the opposite sex in public, much less men.


10-6-16
Rangers versus Blue Jays Game 1.  Since this is the early game, I’m able to hear this game on the radio.  That’s the end of the good news.  The Rangers lose 10-1.  It wasn’t even that close.  I think Cole Hamels may have been injured for the last month and not said anything, because this loss is not shocking given his recent outings.  He was not helped by the defense which had a couple misplays and an error.  Jose Bautista received a standing boo for his first at bat.  In the 4th, he hit a three-run homer, sans any bat flip, though a fan did charge the field afterward anyway.  In the other game, Cleveland beats Boston 5-4.

 
10-7-16
5-3 Jays over Rangers.  I was listening to the game while at an NMSU soccer match.  After I heard Darvish give up three home runs in an inning, I suspected this series may be over.  If neither of the Rangers’ aces were in top form, I don’t have much hope for the rest of the rotation.  Two full houses for hot day games in Arlington were seriously unhappy.  The Indians beat David Price and the Red Sox 6-0 and take a 2-0 series lead, just like the Blue Jays.  And the worst of it for the Red Sox next year, no Pappi and Price is only going to get worse.  Glad I’m not in Boston listening to their sports talk media right now.  Dodgers beat the Nats.  The Cubs beat Johnny Cueto and the Giants 1-0 on a Javier Baez home run.  


10-8-16
The Cubs beat the Giants 5-2.  Giants’ pitcher Jeff Samardzija was knocked out after a couple of innings, though Cubs’ pitcher Kyle Hendricks got injured off of a line drive and was also taken out.  After the game during player interviews, the crowd at Wrigley was singing so loud that you could barely hear the players speak.


10-9-16
The Rangers were eliminated today by the Blue Jays, 7-6 in 10 innings.  I actually got home in time from the softball game to have heard it, but the local affiliate wasn’t picking it up.  I kinda forgot about it, but tuned in later to another station after dark.  They were carrying the game, but it was a weak signal.  About half the time, all I could hear was Hilary Clinton screeching at the debate on a conflicting station.  I couldn’t turn it off quick enough.  While Roughned Odor did hit a two-run homer in the game, it was his error in the 10th that gave the Jays the win.  Much like last year, a defensive miscue by the Rangers decides the series.  I’m only grateful that this didn’t get dragged out a couple more game to make the heartache worse.
 
Washington beat the Dodgers.  Who cares?  Either team will lose to the Cubs.  The Red Sox survive another day, but only because a hurricane washed out their game today.  I might be a bit depressed.


10-10-16
The Indians eliminate the Red Sox.  Bring on the Blue Jays.  Washington beats LA.  For two teams not known for doing well, it was the best case scenario for them to meet here.  Somebody’s going to have to win this, so somebody’s guaranteed to move on.  I found the Cubs and Giants game on the radio.  Unfortunately, it was a weak signal and, ironically, crossed with a sports talk network, who were talking about the game.  So, the game fades out, and I’m listening to commentary about the game on the other network.  It’s still not the best way to listen to a game.

Cubs pitcher, Jake Arrieta, hit a three-run home run in the game.  Even the pitchers can mash on the Cubs.  In the 8th, Connor Gillaspe again comes up big, driving in a couple of runs to tie the score.  The Giants manage to take the lead, but a Kris Bryant home run in the 9th ties it again.  By the 13th inning, I just couldn’t stay up, not with reception this bad.  In the morning, I flip on ESPN radio to get the result.  45 minutes later, I remember why I never listen to them.  The network managed to offend, irritate, and bore me the entire time.  I never even got the score, they just mentioned that there’d be another game that day in the series.  As I found out later, the Giants had won with Joe Panik playing the part of hero.


10-11-16
The Dodgers win.  I still don’t care about this Dodger/Nationals series.  I start watching the Giants versus the Cubs, but end up watching The Flash instead.  I may not be fully into this.  Giant pitcher, Matt Moore, actually drives in a couple of runs by the time I rejoin the game.  Who needs the DH?  In the 9th, Moore comes out as the Giants have a three-run lead.  Five relief pitchers later, the Cubs have scored four runs and end up winning the game.  I don’t even know what to say, other than the Giants need to upgrade their bullpen.  The Giants even being in the playoffs was a bit questionable, and the Cubs are a pretty awesome team this year.  You have to like the Cubs against anybody left in the playoffs.


10-13-16
It was a decisive Game 5 between the Dodgers and the Nationals.  Whoever choked the least would win .  . . the opportunity to be beaten by the Cubs in the next round.  With a one run lead, Kershaw came in for the Dodgers to face Daniel Murphy and close it out.  Sheer drama, except that it was a four and half hour nine inning game.  40 players were used.  Maybe we need some rules changes to make these spectacles more bearable for the viewers.


10-14-16
I finally saw the video of Vin Scully’s last game call.  I got choked up.  What great broadcaster and fellow.  The Indians and the Blue Jays started their ALCS series.  It was a full house in Cleveland, which was good to see given how poor their fan support has been over the last few years.  Francisco Lindor’s two-run homer was all the scoring in the game.  The Indians win in a very tidy two hours and 44 minutes.  Laz Diaz’s wide strikezone may have sped things up a bit.


10-15-16 to 10-22-16
Admittedly I haven’t been watching much of these playoff games.  The elimination of the Rangers and Giants dampened my enthusiasm, along with the extremely poor TV package of the MLB playoffs.  I don’t know if anybody is really watching given where the games are.

The Indians won their series 4 to 1.  All the games were pretty close.  Andrew Miller (MVP) and the bullpen carried the day for the Tribe.  The biggest news was some Canadian A-hole suing the Indians on behalf of “indigenous peoples” over their name and logo, until a judge said, “Take off a’.”  The games almost weren’t broadcast in Canada.  The team was actually named in honor of an actual “Indian” player (regardless of what Wikipedia says), but go ahead and rename the team get rid of Chief Wahoo.  Just replace the name with the Cleveland LeBron’s (until he moves on to another city) and use that capital “C” logo that at least three other professional teams use (that I can think of off the top of my head).

Meanwhile, the Cubs beat the Dodgers 4 to 2 in their series.  The Cubs went into a serious batting slump in the middle of this, but when they were hitting, they were mashing.  Clayton Kershaw did well in much of the playoffs, but in the sixth and decisive game, he was hittable.  On some level, he’s a victim of his own success.  Two different managers have leaned on him on short rest and too many innings.  The inevitable result is Kershaw blowing it in the playoffs (though in that game six, his defense let him down).  This time, it came later rather than sooner.  The Dodger bullpen still isn’t trustworthy enough to take the ball away from him.

Who wins the rings?  The Cubs should with their stats, but the Indians have all of the intangibles, including manager, Terry Francona, who’s won it all twice.  Both fan bases should really be into it.  So, the anointed ones versus the team of destiny.  I’m not calling it.  I do worry that if the Indians win, LeBron James might charge the field and take credit for it.  If the Cubs win, there will be blood in the streets of Chicago, so no difference from a typical weekend in the Windy City.

NMSU Aggies vs Georgia Southern Eagles Football 10-23-16

I didn’t expect to be attending this game.  However, there were free tickets handed out at work and my boss, Ron, came back from a week-long out-of-town conference wanting to go.  Were I in his place, I would not have wanted to have moved this weekend out of my easy chair.  So, let’s go.  We had an early dinner at McAlisters deli first.  I mention this only to push their new green sweet tea, which is excellent, and to mention that several other Aggie fans were there.  In fact, a rush of people came in right after we got our order.

Even with a leisurely meal (and you can’t imagine the spectacle of watching someone eat an entire muffeletta in front of you, the sandwich is as big as the plate), we ended up in the stadium a good half hour before the game.  There was plenty of parking on campus for this game, unlike the Lobo’s game.  Our tickets were next to the endzone seats on the north end.  Not great, but the cheerleaders were in front of us.  They were wearing pink t-shirts for the “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” promotion, except for one of the girls, who was just wearing her black sports bra.  (That was an engaging distraction until she put a shirt on).  The stadium was dotted with pink in the crowd with fans wearing old and new pink Aggie shirts.  Several fans in our section had nice portable stadium seats, since I thought odd, since these weren’t good seats.

The video board promoted an “Aggie Country Pass,” that got you into any sport, except football and men’s basketball for $100-something bucks.  I mentally ran the numbers and decided that it probably wouldn’t work for me until I’m retired and have time to go to all the games.  What’s frustrating about these offers they mention at the games is that I can’t find them on NMStateSports.com website to research them.  Meanwhile, I found out football and men’s basketball had raised their season ticket prices dramatically when a couple of co-workers mentioned it.  One of them grunted out a cuss word about it.  He is definitely not a person who uses that kind of language, so this is a passionate subject.            

Out on the field, the local Onate High School band performed and was followed by the “World’s Most Dangerous Band,” the Aggie Pride band.  The band had a separate edgy, dramatic PA, rather than the regular baritone PA, who did the game call and much of the rest of Aggie home sports.  The two bands finished and went up into the stands and would share a section together.  I wondered about this before I realized that Georgia Southern didn’t bring a band.  The visitor’s section looked fairly sparse, but they generated quite a bit noise when their team came out.  They did bring their eagle-suited mascot.

Ron nudged me and pointed out a trio of glamorous young women, who came out on to the Aggie sidelines from the entrance tunnel.  They stood behind the team for a while during the pre-game.  I had to wonder what their relationship was to the team.  The crowd filled in nicely, with an announced attendance of over 10,000.  Horse-riding Pistol Pete (as opposed to the two other Pete's) came in ahead of the team, wearing a pink shirt.  The horse even had pink highlights.

First Quarter
The Eagles moved downfield well.  Nearly right off the bat, we got a long official’s review of a play.  This was a poor way to start any game.  The Aggie defense held on a 3rd down and limited the drive to a field goal.  The cowbells were aplenty among the fans for that and every other 3rd down for the game.  0-3 Eagles.  The cheerleaders started throwing little footballs into the crowd to get them excited.  I found the good number of pretty girls in the crowd wearing shorts exciting.  The Aggie offense was not exciting and went three and out on their first possession.

A co-worker came by and sat next to us.  Her husband started watching the Cubs versus Dodgers playoff game on his phone.  Before the game, Ron asked if I’d rather stay home to watch baseball, but lacking cable and the three-digit station the game was on, I didn’t care.  (The MLB playoffs TV situation has got to be unacceptable to everybody.)  At best, I might have been able to get the game on a bad reception AM radio station.  In any case, the Cubs were up one early.  The husband got irritated and stopped watching.  I’d guess he was a Dodgers fan.

The Eagles got a big quarterback run off an option and got downfield quickly, but the Aggies intercepted one of Kevin Ellison’s passes in the endzone.  The Aggies only managed to get to midfield on the turnover and had to punt.  A new Georgia Southern quarterback came in for the next drive, perhaps because of the interception, though they alternated their QB’s throughout the game.  I couldn’t keep track, even with the radio commentary in my ear.  I was glad I’d gotten a program on the way in, otherwise I would have never believed that the opposing team had a player named L.A. Ramsby.  This guy had to have been born while the Rams were in St. Louis.  His parents were prophetic (and dumb for naming their kid something so stupid).

At the end of quarter, there was a sponsored contest for a fan to kick a field goal.  If he could kick the ball into the truck parked behind the goal, he’d get (something illegible, it was a large cash prize, I need to improve my handwriting).  Unfortunately, it was miss and only worth a free oil change.  I noticed one of the regular Pistol Pete's working the endzone crowd.  I wondered where he was.

Second Quarter
The Aggie defense got another 3rd down stop in the red zone.  After another Eagle field goal, it’s 0-6 Eagles.  The net behind the goal doesn’t stop the ball as usual.  The Aggies got the ball back and had a big 3rd down conversion, which I didn’t see as the people in front of me stood up to leave.  Another co-worker and her family arrived.  Her son was working one of the cameras on the field.  The radio call mentioned an Eagle defensive player that had me going for the program again, Ironhead Gallon.

The Aggies made it into the Eagles’ red zone.  There was a beautiful misdirect on a pass that left a receiver wide open for QB Tyler Rogers for a touchdown.  Arghhhh!  And once again, the kicker missed the PAT and hit the upright.  Why is this guy still the kicker?  This is the same guy who was missing these things last year.  Is there anybody else on the team who could just come in to kick the point afters?  It’s six all in any case.

More mini-footballs were thrown into the crowd to placate them.  A co-worker got one.  Ron had one bounce off his knee, but didn’t come up with it.  People were standing for the balls, and I couldn’t see the game.  My radio signal started going in and out.  I moved my little radio around, finally clipping it to my hat.  I almost managed to strangle myself on the wires in the process.  The next big play I saw was the Aggie defense getting a sack on a Georgia Southern 3rd down.  Update: the Cubs go up 3-0 in the 3rd.

The Aggie offense went into a hurry up and managed to quickly move the ball into the Eagle’s side of the field.  A time out by Eagles stalled the drive.  The Aggies settled for a 42 yard field goal.  9-6 Aggies.  The Eagles got the ball with Ellison back in as quarterback.  Another interception for the Aggies!  Unfortunately, the offensive drive stalled after a couple of false starts.  They probably got out of sync on their hurry up.  The other Eagle QB came in and went three and out.

Me and Ron both lost our radio signal for several minutes before the end of the half.  It was strangely, eerily quiet with the game call.  The Aggie offensive made a good drive downfield, but it again stalled.  On a 4th down on the Eagle’s side of the field, Rogers dodged a couple of tackles, but had to throw it out of bounds.  We go to the half, 9-6 Aggies.  The team got a good cheer as they came off the field.

Halftime
The co-workers leave.  One of them had to go to a high school game that was going on at the same time.  That was bad planning on somebody’s part with the public schools, but I don’t think it hurt attendance at either game.  (High school football is big here.)  When I went to bathroom, I ended up seeing a couple more co-workers.  The bathrooms at the stadium are better than the troughs at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, but not as good as at other Aggie sports venues.  I skipped visiting the concessions, since I wasn’t particularly hungry or thirsty.  There isn’t anything hugely appealing there either.  I noticed a sign over the concessions saying that they were run by a non-profit entity.  This might explain the lack of appealing fare, though not their prices.  Presumably the Papa John’s tent is run for profit, though at $4 a slice, they’re likely running at an even larger cost overhead than the stadium concessions.

The halftime entertainment was a large pink ribbon that was brought out on field and a moment of silence.  The cheerleaders were out in the concourse, selling pink shirts.  There was a posthumous video board message from the Aggie’s honorary team captain from the last couple of years, Lori Paulson, who died from cancer.  Several players stopped their warm-ups to see her for a moment.  The team and the crowd stopped to make a finger “L” to honor her when Lori’s family was on field.  Update: 5-0 Cubs in the 6th.

Third Quarter
A good pass to Larry Rose III and a roughing the passer penalty tacked one afterward, got the Aggies on the other side of the field quickly on their first possession.  On a 3rd and 11, Rogers ran for a first down.  Suddenly, I’m distracted by an attractive female reporter on the sidelines wearing very tight pants with high boots.  I don’t recognize her.  She might have been with the local campus news.  She continued to be a distraction for the rest of the half.  There’s another first down on a Rogers’ run, but the Aggies had to settle for 20 yard field goal.  12-6 Aggies.  (The kicker’s normal with regular field goals, just not point blank shots.)

The PA called out for the dreaded “Kiss Cam.”  One couple really got into it.  The PA had to warn them to “Just kiss.”  The Aggie defense forced a fumble on an Eagles on a 3rd and long.  This got the biggest cheer out of the crowd for the game, but unfortunately it only resulted in a missed field goal from 33 yards.  The Aggie defense came up big again as they got a stop on a 3rd and short right after.  After a punt, the Aggie offense fumbled in their end.  QB Ellison got some good yardage running, but this had the evitable result of him getting his bell rung.  After he had to come out, his replacement wasn’t able to convert a 3rd down inside the 10.  Another field goal, and its 12-9 Aggies.          

There’s a surprise onside kick after the field goal, and the Eagles recovered at midfield, but they were offsides.  The re-kick bounced a couple of times when it got to a returner, who touched it, but didn’t catch it.  The Eagles recovered the ball deep in Aggie territory.  The crowd collectively groaned.  End of quarter.  The Sundancers performed on our end of the field.  There was an ad on the video board for the New Mexico State volleyball team.  There’s a nice giant image of Jordan Abalos with it.  The radio call mentioned the team a couple of times as they had won this weekend.

Fourth Quarter
The Eagles started the quarter with a quick touchdown.  Their kicker missed the PAT.  It must be contagious.  12-15 Eagles.  After the score, two guys with Georgia Southern flags and their eagle mascot charged into the endzone.  I finally notice that there were cheerleaders on the other side of the field.  There were about eight of them, which maybe explains how I didn’t see them.  We have about 30 in front of us.

The Eagle defense held and then they blocked the Aggie’s punt.  The ball rolled to the Aggie 40 before the Eagles recovered it.  From there, a screen pass went all the way to endzone.  Touchdown Eagles, 12-22 now.  Final update: Cubs win 5-0 over the Dodgers.  They’ll face the Indians next week.  Between these two historically losing franchises, somebody’s gonna win.  T-shirts were thrown into the crowd, but only on the student side of the stadium.

The Aggies took to the air as the quarter wound down.  They were greatly aided by a pair of pass interference penalties.  On a 4th and 11, Tyler Rogers made it running.  And then, an interception.  The crowd started deserting en mass.  Ron and I were left nearly by ourselves in the section.  A co-worker wearing a really smart Aggie polo came over to say, “Hi” before he left.  (I have some shirt envy now.)  The cheerleaders came up into the crowd and handed out, I think, pink bracelets to everyone wearing pink, which didn’t include us.

A kid below us held up a sign, “Striking for head coach.”  Striking is the name of the tee-retrieving dog.  I have no counter-argument at the moment.  The video board announced a 5th quarter following the game, where kids are allowed to run on the field.  That’s a nice touch.  Attempting to run out the clock some more, the Eagles turned it over on downs.  Rogers passed the ball very efficiently, resulting in a quick touchdown, and the PAT was good.  19-22 Eagles.  Where was this kind of offensive tonight?  Alternately, Georgia Southern’s defense may have gotten tired by the end.

The Aggies attempted an onside kick of their own, but the Eagles recovered with a minute, 19 seconds left in the game.  After the Aggies used their last timeout, they could no longer stop the clock.  We left right before it went final.  Ron was angry and depressed.  He likely would have left earlier if the score hadn’t been close.  I don’t know how we lost.  We had almost four times as many cheerleaders, a dance squad, a band, and Pistol Pete!  Almost needless to say, the player of the game is the Aggie defense for playing so stout and keeping the game close.  A little more consistency on the offense and this would have been an Aggie win.  

                              
                             

On the way out, I got a handout of a couple more Aggie cards.  Check out the resume on this Charley Johnson guy!  Does he have any eligibility left?  We, and some other Aggie fans, ended up at the PQ Treats nearby.  Ron and I took advantage of their shake special, and they were good, helping to wash down the bitter defeat.  On the way out, I suggested to the soda jerk (that wasn’t his title, but I so seldom get the opportunity to use that term) that they should have an Aggie Gameday special, something with crimson and white ice cream.  Well, all I have to say is let’s hope the volleyball team doesn’t take after the football team next weekend.

                        

NMSU Aggies vs Eastern Arizona Softball 10-16-16

After two overtimes and getting autographs at the soccer match, I entered the next door softball stadium just as the warm-ups were finishing.  The soccer PA had mentioned the free softball game a couple of times during the match, but there wasn’t much of a crowd.  The Aggies’ official photographer was out working both events, but I got the impression he’d just assume not be here either.  Hard to blame anybody, since the games don’t count and the stands are directly facing the hot sun.  Since it’s a free game there’s no program, no announcers, no scoreboard, and no scorecard.  So take my game recap with a grain of salt.

I noticed the team’s former catcher and just graduated senior, Tatum Reedy, was sitting at the scorer’s table.  I kept wanting to go over to ask what her plans were now and to say that I enjoyed watching her play, but I wasn’t sure how that would go over.  Though she wasn’t in the game, Tatum couldn’t suppress occasionally working in some encouraging chatter during the game to the girls.

Tatum’s apparent successor #2 Alexis Maynez, started behind the plate for Game One.  She greeted the home plate ump and introduced herself.  (Yeah, I could hear that.  It was that quiet.)  I like the way she’s always shouting out stuff during the game to the girls and her pitcher.  New Mexico State’s opponent is Eastern Arizona College.  I don’t know what their name is, and there wasn’t even a recap of this weekend’s games on the Aggie website.  We’re going to go with EAC and AZ to identify them from here out.

Some of regular senior citizen fans were present.  A couple of guys were talking about yesterday’s games, which I missed being at the volleyball game.  Ron’s nemesis was there.  I found out his name is Tom.  He started his usual cheering when the game started, but then stopped and moved to a spot further away from the field.  He said he thought he was disturbing the visiting team.  (Like I said, it was quiet there.)  An EAC fan entering the stands in a Cubs shirt started up a discussion of the National League championship series.  His wife was wearing a Dodgers shirt.  I suspect some tension brewing in that household.  

On the other side of the stadium, a couple of fans were tucked under the pavilions for shade.  Meanwhile, I was using an umbrella to keep from getting toasted (along with my third application of sunblock for the afternoon).  This proved dangerous as I completely couldn’t see an early foul ball coming over the screen.  Luckily, it missed me by a good margin.        

#14 Kayla Green started the game.  She’s got a lot of moving parts to her pitching motion and something was off.  After a hit by pitch and a pair of mis-pitches, a runner came in from third to score in the 1st inning, making the score 0-1 EAC.  In the bottom, #17 Kelsey Horton hit a pop up on infield with #10 Amy Bergeson on first.  The ball dropped untouched near first between three infielders and rolled foul.  It was a live ball, but somehow it was treated like a foul by the AZ girls.  Amy scored and Kelsey took second.  Somehow, I think that has to count as an RBI double, since nobody touched the ball or misplayed it.  Kelsey was thrown out trying to steal third and we’re 1-1 after one inning.

There was a conversation about the Aggie volleyball game this evening versus the Lobos, and I was able to chip in with the time and radio station for it.  I’d written that down and had my radio with me ready for it.  Kayla unfortunately can’t find the strike zone in the 2nd inning.  Coach Kathy Rodolph took her out and put in #22 Fahern Glackin.  Kayla went back to the bullpen and started working with an assistant coach.  The bases were loaded with one out, but Fahern got out of it without damage.  The bottle of water I’d brought with me that I’d saved for this game turned to vapor as it hit my mouth.  It wasn’t very refreshing.

In the 3rd, an EAC hitter tripped on first base getting a single.  She’s okay, but I’m trying not to laugh.  A double play ended the Aggie half of the inning.  In the 4th, a Texas leaguer brought in another EAC run.  We’re 1-2 AZ after four.  I notice that the Coke sign is still in the outfield.  Along with new uniforms, the softball team will be changing that next year too.

The 5th started off with a home run by EAC.  Fahern came out and Kayla came back in.  A young man behind me made the foreshadowing comment about her offspeed pitch that, “You could swing at it twice and still miss it.”  With that, her first offspeed of the afternoon drew a gasp from the entire crowd.  This was the classic Kayla we love watching.  She finished off the rest of the inning quickly.  The Aggies loaded the bases with one out in their half.  A sac fly brought in one run.  A popped up bunt dropped in.  The runner on third made a break for it, dodged the tag and scored.  We’re at 3 all after five.

Kayla gets three ground outs to end the top of the 6th.  I should mention that #13 for AZ is pitching a pretty good game.  The team defense is letting her down.  There’s some ribbing going on in stands between Dodger and Cubs fans.  This kind of chatter is something I wasn’t getting during the spring games.  Kayla racked up three more ground outs in the 7th.  The Aggie Soccer team, not in uniform, came by.  I smile and applaud Tuti Tirado, whom I’d talked to while getting her autograph.  I’m not sure if she recognized me (or she thought I was cheating on her, watching another women’s team).

For the top of the 8th, I figured that they’d call the game at this point, since it was an exhibition.  The two coaches came out and just agreed to keep playing.  No umpires were involved.  A double play ended the top, and a new AZ pitcher came in for the bottom.  In the 9th, the senior crowd abandoned ship.  The soccer teams also left.  I don’t blame them.  It’s hot and unpleasant, and they’d already sweat enough for the afternoon.  Plus, I doubt they understood the concept of playing a game until somebody wins.  (Just a joke.  Don’t get mad.)  Kayla racked up a couple more ground outs and a strikeout.  The 10th and 11th innings pass without notable activity.

The new Aggie pitcher, #21 Samaria Diaz, comes in for the 12th.  An AZ batter bunts to move a runner on first to second, but the runner over slides at second and is out.  But with a runner on, the next batter hits a monster two-run homer to give EAC a 3-5 lead.  I take the blame for this.  I fiddling with my radio earplugs, getting ready to listen to the volleyball game, and wasn’t paying attention to game.

The least I could do at this point was put my new Aggie hat in rally mode and help the team win.  (I’ve actually done this before.)  #3 Victoria Castro gets it started with a double.  #15 (Misty Hoohuli?) brings her in, and then scores herself on a #18 Rachel Rodriguez hit and an error.  With the score tied, Rachel scores the winning run on fielder’s choice.  You’re welcome.  It was literally the most unenthusiastic extra innings win ever.  Nobody on field celebrated.  They almost kept playing.  And we still have another game to play today.

(Really guys, couldn’t you have done this walkoff thing in the 7th?  And why didn’t I think to use the rally hat during overtime at the soccer match?  I’ve been having problems with new hat, but it really came through in the clutch though.)

During the intermission, I sat in the shade and ate a pear that looked like it had aged a week from being out in the sun that afternoon and a chocolate muffin that had probably achieved nuclear fusion temperatures.  I chugged the last of my water vapor from the bottle before it evaporated.  I chatted with the EAC/Cubs fan in the bathroom for a moment about the Cubs’ win earlier in the week, and I start listening to the Aggie volleyball game against the Lobos on my radio.

For Game Two, Samaria was back out to pitch for the Aggies.  Most of the regulars seemed to be back out for the Aggies.  I can’t tell you about the EAC players.  Long shadows were breaking over the stands and the field.  Just looking at time, I was pretty sure they were not going to get this game in before sundown.  Would they turn on the lights for this?

In the top of the 1st, a double play occured off a pop up that doubled off a runner on second.  (No infield fly rule?)  In the bottom of the inning, AZ returned favor with a caught liner that doubled off a runner, completing another double play.  I notice that the Aggies in the dugout have really turned up the volume on their singing with the greatly diminished crowd.  Between innings, the EAC coach came over and actually chatted with a couple of their travelling fans in the stands.

In the 2nd, the Cowboys won over the Packers at Lambeau 30-16, and the Aggie volleyball team went up 1 set to none on the Lobos in Albuquerque.  Five foul balls fly out of stadium during the top of the inning.  The EAC coach told her bench players to run out and get them.  (I think they have a pretty limited supply of balls for the game.)  In the bottom, another Aggie is caught stealing.  They aren’t getting any benefit of doubt calls from the umps this time, unlike last week.  The next batter is thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.  The running game may not be there for the team.                    

It may be from being out in the sun all afternoon, or perhaps I’ve poisoned myself from the fourth application of sunblock, but I briefly become delusional.  I start thinking I’m the only one in stands (which isn’t far from reality) and that the girls are out there playing just for me . . . Oh, hey!  Victoria just hit a three-run homer with two outs!  I snap out of it, and the Aggies are up 3-0 after two.

In the top of the 3rd, Aggie #11 (?), the new catcher, guns down a runner trying to take second.  In the bottom, Amy gets a single, steals second, and takes third on a bad pickoff throw.  She almost takes home too and almost gets tagged out diving back.  The EAC fans are upset about the call.  Fahren drives her in, and Amy gets the hustle award.  4-0 Aggies.  Kelsey gets a single and moves to second on an error.  #11 (?) hits an RBI single, 5-0.  #8 Hayley Nakamura gets a bunt single to load the bases.  Hit by pitch, 6-0.  Victoria, another RBI hit, 7-0.  Meanwhile in Albuquerque, the Lobos take the second set.

By the 4th inning, the field is completely in shadow.  In the 5th, the lights come on.  So much for the game being called on account of darkness.  The AZ left fielder makes a great catch on a liner.  However, Aggie #7 (?) later triples.  #24 Corrin Green doubles her in.  8-0 Aggies.  What’s the mercy rule number?  Victoria gets an RBI double, 9-0.  Are we there yet?  In the 6th, Aggie #9 (?) singles and ends up on third after a misplay.  #23 (?) drives her in on fielder’s choice.  10-0 Aggies.  Apparently, there isn’t a mercy rule in effect.

Samaria finished off the shutout in the 7th with a 10-0 win.  Well done.  The EAC coach came out on the field.  She asked if they could go ahead and play the bottom of the inning so one of her pitchers can get some work.  Sure!  Three outs later, it’s over.  It’s finally over.  The Aggies are tired, but happy.  From what I’ve seen, the team looks pretty good.  I’m looking forward to next year.

Okay, I’ve been outside at the university for 8 hours today.  I’m finished and done.  Shoot, this is my seventh Aggie game in the last two weeks that I’m attending, taking notes, and writing up.  I’m Aggie’d out.  At least, I’m off this coming weekend.  Unfortunately, I won’t be going to the football game, though I’ll be listening on the radio.  After I get home, crap!  The Aggie volleyball team loses in four sets.  Adam Young, calling the game, is stunned.  It was a team with an 11 game winning streak meeting a team with a 7 game losing streak.  Neither streak was going to continue indefinitely, especially with the Aggies dinged up and tired from a bunch of matches, including one yesterday and then having to travel today.  Something had to give.  Oh, I hate to end on this.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to see them return to form in two weeks.                  

NMSU Aggies vs Utah Valley Wolverines Women’s Soccer 10-16-16

It was a bright, warm cloudless, windless day for outdoor sports.  I was already sweating by the time I got to the complex parking lot.  This was bad omen, since I was also planning on going to see the softball double header right after the match.  Since the last time I’d seen the team, they’d played the UMKC Roos to a tie.  This was considered to be a very good effort against a much better team.  (“A tie.”  “Good effort.”  Soccer.  Sigh.)

I picked up a hot dog, chips, and a Mountain Dew before the match at the concessions.  I was hungry enough to quickly eat the meal without complaint.  The large grandstand was unexpectedly nearly full.  By the program stats, if the other two games I’ve been at had over 400, I’d say this crowd might have been near 600.  Good to see the team getting plenty of support.  I finally swallowed my pride and brought an umbrella for shade, but was afraid to open it with so many people around me.  I also figured out what the little pavilions on top of the nearby softball stands are for.  That’s where the PA and the rest of the staff sit when calling soccer games.  In front of the stands, I could see a young woman instructing the little ball kids on what to do.  These kids were a bit younger than the other ones I’ve seen.

The teams and officials went out for introductions.  Again, I’m struck by how young and small the girls seem here.  Maybe it’s because they’re further away out on the large pitch, or maybe it’s just in comparison to the other female athletes in volleyball and softball.  Our opponents today are the Utah Valley Wolverines.  They have a 7-6-1 record that the Aggies at 4-10-1 wouldn’t mind having.  The UV girls are in attractive lime green/dark green uniforms, with their goalie in an off red and black top.  The team let out a scream of a cheer before being introduced.  The Aggie girls were looking good in white with crimson trim (and I’d still like to have one of those shirts).  Local girl, #16 Christina Bertoldo is one of the starters.  During the anthem, a fellow behind me sang it out.  And with that, we’re playing.

Our first opportunity comes with 42’ minutes left in the half.  (I’m not counting back to figure out the proper soccer accounting of time.)  #10 Aileen Galicia takes a shot on a breakaway.  The crowd is still filled with a bunch of would-be coaches, shouting out instant criticism to our players.  Early on, a fan, I hope a parent, starts shouting instructions to one of the little ball kids.  I’m not kidding here.  I’m tempted to shout back, “He’s four years old, and he’s not in the damn game!  Shut up!”  At least there’s enough people present that there’s also plenty of encouragement.

I notice the Utah Valley girls were doing a lot of holding and grabbing early on.  The refs do as well and call it.  The ball mostly stays in the Aggie end of the field for the half.  At 29’, #0 Raeann Garcia comes out of the box for a save.  At 21’, a ball on the sidelines rolls in between one of the ball kid’s legs as he tries to catch it.  Everyone gets a laugh, though I’m cringing waiting for a call from the stands, “You do that again and we’re putting you up for adoption!”  Thankfully, this doesn’t happen.  17’, there’s some great passing and positioning for the Wolverines in front of the Aggie net, but they miss.  The crowd around me was yelling at the girls to shoot and I suddenly realize I’m sitting with fans of the other team.  Well, they act the same as our fans at times, but were generally more encouraging.

The half continued with more shots on the Aggie goal, including an almost intercepted dangerous back pass to the goalie.  I was tempted to start shouting myself at that point.  I’d seen a goal scored off that before.  8’ left and a great chance for UV gets stopped on a hand ball foul in the box.  Finally, Wolverine #10 Breanna McCarter finds the net on a shot.  0-1 Utah Valley.  [Edit: Somehow I missed making a note about the first goal of the match.  I might have been waiting for an announcement of the players involved that never came.  I am an idiot.  I mean really.  Given all the other stuff I'm taking notes on and I miss a goal?]  The crowd is really getting on the Aggie girls now.  Maybe it works, as at 6’, Aileen makes another breakaway attempt, which causes the goalie to come out to stop her.

4’ and a UV shot goes way high and hits the metal scoreboard behind the Aggie goal with a resounding “clang.”  My remaining Mountain Dew has become boiling hot in the 90 degree heat.  It’s no longer refreshing.  A couple more attacks on the Aggie goal are broken up.  Within the last minute, an Aggie breakaway is called offsides . . . at midfield?  How does anybody score in this sport with rules like this?  The half ends with the Aggies having 1 shot on goal and 1 corner, to the Wolverines’ 1 goal, 3 shots, and 2 corners.  Of course these statistics are meaningless except for the goals, but they have to put something up on the scoreboard.

Our halftime entertainment is again a game of musical soccer, this time with a group of young girls.  Once again, there’s some rules confusion, which the PA has a good time teasing the girls with.  One of the parents started shouting instructions at one of the girls.  I kid you not.  Out in the heat running around, the two finalists end the game exhausted and soaked and presumably having gained more appreciation for the players.  The winner got free tickets to next week’s football game for her whole family.

The Aggies were standing by a wall next to the nearby football stadium in the shade, getting instructed by coach.  I don’t see the Wolverines anywhere.  I hop up and grab a cup of courtesy water from a cooler by the entrance.  God bless them for not making me pay $3 for a bottle of water.  Having a little space around me when I return, I pop my now vintage El Paso Diablos giveaway umbrella.  I’d been afraid of accidentally hitting someone with it or blocking their view.  Most people with umbrellas sit on the top row.

We don’t have to wait long for something to happen when play resumes.  At 43’, on their first opportunity, the Wolverines make a good pass in front of the goal and it’s kicked in.  All too easy.  The UV bench screams.  Unfortunately, there’s no announcement about who did it so that I could give them proper credit.  [Edit: It's Wolverine #15 Adrene Harding, with an assist by McCarter, our first goal scorer.]  The crowd gets ominously quiet at 0-2 Utah Valley.  The girls on the field are making more noise than the crowd.  There’s actually lots of chatter on field during the game, you just can’t usually hear it, except for yelling and the occasional “Aggie up!” shouts from the girls.

40’ there’s a yellow card as a UV player runs over an Aggie player.  36’ and Aileen gets a shot off in front of the goal that goes just wide.  From some conversations going on in the crowd, I notice two former Aggie players nearby.  I found myself eavesdropping on one of the girls as she described the horrible injuries that ended her career.  She seemed to be okay now and was extremely pretty, so I think things will work out for her.          

At 24’ left, there’s a slow developing two on one breakaway towards the UV goal.  #21 Holly Abdelkader just barely kicks it past the goalie coming out on her, and the ball slowly rolls right into the net.  #3 Audrey Chavez gets the assist.  We’re now at 1-2 Wolverines.  The PA had scarcely finished his “Gooool!” call when at 22’, Abdelkader gets the ball outside the penalty box and slams a hard shot right into the net.  If the first Aggie goal caught everyone by surprise by being so quiet, this one finished with an exclamation point.  #12 Kelly Burton gets the assist.  We’re at two all and a brand new game.

I look over at the pretty ex-player.  She’s had head down over her phone the whole time.  I wonder why she’s here.  Well, I at least am excited.  The Aggies keep up the pressure for much of the rest of the half.  The Wolverine keeper makes a couple of good saves on attacks.  Aggie #22 Gabby Campbell, the smallest player on the field gets a good opportunity at 4’.  She gets a big cheer from the crowd and appears to be a fan favorite.  The PA announces “One minute remaining,” with a sense of urgency, and the crowd gets into it before regulation ends.

What happens next is amazing.  The PA actually explains the rules for overtime.  Trust me, there have been several times at Aggie sporting events where I wish they’d explain the rules.  The Wolverines get on the offensive.  7’ left and the Aggie keeper Raeann and a UV player collide by the net.  With the overtime, criticism of officials also steps up.  4’ and Aileen makes a solo charge downfield.  She's slow to get back afterward, probably cramped up.  The Aggies get two chances in the final minute.  The UV goalie makes a good punch save on one and a mid-air catch on a corner kick.

We start a second 10’ overtime.  The Wolverines make a couple of attacks, with Raeann having to come out to stop one of them.  With a couple minutes left, the refs let a couple of obvious UV holds go.  The crowd doesn’t seem to expect any better officiating at this point.  The whistle blows and it ends in a 2-2 tie.  In hockey, they play four on four for OT to open up the game a bit, then they go to a shootout.  Just saying, that soccer and the NFL are the only sports that allow ties in games that count.  Still, it was a great comeback for the Aggies.  It’s just a pity that the rules don’t really facilitate a better chance at a resolution.

An autograph session was announced for after the game.  Unlike the volleyball signing, this affair is a bit disorganized.  This is mostly due to this event being held on a field and tables have to be brought in and there’s no chairs for the girls.  It’s also a bit loud and rushed.  I do get to speak to #24 Tuti Tirado for a second.  She’s another small player and is from Puerto Rico and played on their national team.  I told her that I saw her profile on TV, which immediately brightened her day.  I asked her if what she about the facilities and equipment here at NMSU being better than Puerto Rico’s national team is for real.  I can just barely hear her over of the crowd, but she did confirm that.  

I’d hoped to talk to #20 Dominique Rivera, since she’d been featured in that profile too.  I’d also wanted to tell Aileen Galicia how impressed I was with her in the previous game with Chicago State.  I was going to tell Christina Bertoldo that I work with her sister in law.  Most of all, I wanted to congratulate Holly Abdelkader and ask if she was related to or knew of the hockey player with the same last name (such a cool name).  I didn’t even finish with the same poster I’d started with and was lucky there was a signed poster left over at the end.  (A little boy got mine with his name signed on it by the girls.  I was almost resigned to going away empty-handed.)  Still, as I said in another post, given the physical distance between the fans the players on field, some get-togethers are crucial to building a relationship with the sport.

It was a pretty good morning at the pitch.  I enjoyed it, even though there wasn’t a winner.  Soccer has a way of lowering your expectations.  Unfortunately, their last home game is probably going to conflict with the last volleyball home game, unless there’s a very efficient winner at the volleyball match.  That’s bad scheduling there.  My opinion of soccer hasn’t really changed over these three games, but at least I found these games with the Aggie girls entertaining and liked supporting them.        

                            

NMSU Aggies vs Chicago State Cougars Women’s Volleyball 10-15-16

I have to start this looking backward.  I saw the match on Thursday (10-13-16) versus the UMKC Roo’s on Aggievision.  What a tremendous win for the Aggies.  They went down two sets to a good team and battled back to tie it.  In the 5th set, the Aggies went down 1-5.  #20 Sasha-Lee Thomas, who had been used sparingly due to an ankle injury, just took over.  She was directly involved in winning about seven points in a row.  The Roo’s made a comeback, but the Aggies would finally take it.  #6 Tatyana Battle had a career game, while #3 Jordan Abalos had another 20+ kill game.  (I was at work at the time and not taking notes.)  #12 Megan Hart was a starter and #24 Lexi May platooned with her for much of the game.

However, Sasha could barely walk by the end of the match.  #13 Alexsa “Crash” Parker also had an ankle injury and was mostly limited to just serving, which is one of her strong points.  If Jordan was playing hurt in the last game, at least she looked good here.  In the post-match interview, Coach Mike Jordan said the girls played through some “yellow puddles,” but came through.  I hate to imagine what he’d have said if they’d lost.  Congratulations to Adam Young for not having any reaction to what the coach was saying while he was interviewing him.  

This brings us to today’s match on Saturday.  I’d like to thank everyone involved in Major League Baseball for putting both league championship series on obscure cable networks, so that I wouldn’t be able to watch, thus making it a very decision to go this afternoon.  The parking lot in front of the Pan-Am Center was pretty full.  There was even a tailgater party.  An unidentified student association had a table set up.  I’m not sure if they were handing out anything.  I was too shy to find out.  The building had two large pink ribbons mounted on the front for New Mexico State’s “Tough Enough to Wear Pink” campaign for breast cancer awareness.  This is a well supported promotion by the community.

Inside, there was a table set up with various cancer awareness material.  The Pink Panther was behind the table, taking pictures with kids.  It was cute with kids running up for a hug.  Who doesn’t like a mascot?  The souvenir table was packed with customers.  No, you read that right.  I was surprised too.  Here I’d finally decided to get a new hat and couldn’t get at it.  There didn’t seem to be anything new there.  A bunch of young girls just wanted some team gear.  I just picked up lemonade at the concession, since I was planning getting a meal after the match.  (If only the Chihuahuas people ran the concession here.)

The stands were filled with a riot of hot pink.  There were plenty of styles of pink shirts, but I think they were handing out shirts somewhere though I didn’t see where.  It was just as well.  I’d be afraid to wash one of those shirts with anything else.  (Two words to get me to not wear an article of clothing: wash separate.)  The Aggie team staff was in pink, and even Coach Jordan wore a light pink dress shirt.  The team wasn’t in pink (I’ve seen the softball team in pink before), though there was some pink trimmings.  #12 Frankie Taylor, the Cougars’ libero, was in a light pink shirt.  I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not.

There was a good crowd present (attendance later announced at over 1,000).  The people behind me were talking about Thursday’s game.  I didn’t see any girls’ volleyball teams present, but there were plenty of kids.  There are three women working as officials, including the attractive blonde woman I’d noticed from another match.  I get the impression that there aren’t that many refs to work these conference games.  We’ve got a DJ spinning the tunes.  The cheerleaders, along with the guy cheerleaders are present.  Pistol Pete is in the house, as is the women’s basketball team (who get shown the video board later).  This time, I’ve got a radio with me to listen to Adam Young’s commentary.  I have to turn the volume way up to hear it over the crowd and the music.  
       
Set 1
The Aggies roll off four points to start the set.  When the Cougars get their first point, they let off a small scream of a cheer.  Crash comes into serve and Sasha-Lee, who didn’t start, comes in.  Her and #14 Kassandra “KC” Tohm get a point off a block.  Sasha gets a kill at 8-3.  She seems okay playing.

Adam mentions something from Thursday’s TV broadcast about the Aggies changing systems.  I can almost see that they’re playing a bit differently style-wise, and occasionally there’s some coverage assignment issues.  Unfortunately, the analysis went over my head.  In any case, I’m enjoying getting some informed commentary with the action.  There’s just a slight delay between live action and the radio.

#15 Hannah Combs comes in and gets a good kill that just hits the line.  #1 Brianna Ainsworth follows that up with an untouched ace on the back line, 12-5.  Crash serves up an ace at 16-10.  Unfortunately, errors bring Chicago State back into the game.  18-14, Jordan gets her first kill.  At 20-16, Brianna tries a dump kill.  The ball comes back over, but she manages to kill it into the backcourt.  21-17, the Cougars’ Frankie Taylor, that I mentioned before, makes three diving saves on the play.

The Aggies end up taking the set 25-19.  Tatyana leads the way with six kills.  I notice that #12 Megan Hart doesn’t come in during the set.  She’s ends up not coming in for the game.  I hope she’s okay.  Between sets the Pink Panther, excuse me, “Pinky” as he’s announced, comes out on to court for a breast cancer awareness message.


Set 2 Aggies 1, Cougars 0
Aggie #5 Brigette Lowe enters as a starter for this set and promptly scores two points off a kill and block.  I hadn’t seen the freshman in a game before.  At 5-0 Aggies, Chicago State takes a timeout.  It was a good one as the score was tied at 5 shortly thereafter.  Timeout Aggies.  Another spot runs for the Sideout Club promising exclusive after match events.  With the players?  Dinner and dancing perhaps?  Since most of the girls are taller than me, they’ll have to lead, but that’s okay since I don’t really know how to dance.  I really feel like they’re teasing me with this ad, just ever so tempting me.

6-7, a Sasha-Lee kill ends a run.  She gets another and limps off the court.  Or is it another kill?  The Cougars argue the point and after a conference, the refs call for a replay of the point, which the Aggies lose.  Well, that’s one way to do a replay that doesn’t involve watching a ref put on a headset and stick his head under a hood.  Actually this rule was so unexpected to me, I didn’t know what to make of it.  It must have been really confusing for anyone not listening to the broadcast.

9-9, Crash serves up an ace to tie.  11-11, Jordan gets a kill to tie it.  Do you get the impression this was a closely fought set?  14-13 Sasha-Lee gets the kill and the Aggies take the lead.  During a timeout, another guest comes out on court, an older woman.  She’s introduced as Jordan Abalos’ grandmother.  She was diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year, and she’s beaten it.  God bless her, she gets a standing ovation from the crowd.

From here the Aggies take over.  Adam finally makes a comment on the officials after a late call.  There’s been some hesitation on some calls.  A Sasha-Lee kill at 24-18 brings up set point.  Chicago State gets the next point, though Crash makes a spectacular save during it.  KC gets a slap kill to end the set, 25-19.  KC I’ve had a little trouble identifying since her hair color and style have changed since her program picture, which identifies her as Kassandra, though she’s always announced as KC.  She now sports dark hair with distinctive light purple highlights, which looks attractive without being showy.

During the intermission, I ran out to find a bathroom.  Running, because I’d noticed many of them were closed on my way in and I had to find an open one.  I also made it to the souvenir table and finally got the new hat (serviced by a very nice young woman).  I just made it back to my seat before the start of the 3rd set.  I may never get to see the intermission entertainment.

Set 3 Aggies 2, Cougars 0
It starts contentiously with a long point, which ends on a kill by Tatyana.  Crash is starting this set and takes the first Aggie service.  Though they lose point, Crash gets a great dig during it.  Adam states that she’s probably good to start tomorrow’s game.  The next point, however, is a bit scary as Sasha-Lee takes a kill shot right to face.  A referee stops play for a minute as she composes herself.  Sasha stays in for the next point, but comes out right after.  Hopefully, this doesn’t leave too bad a mark on her after the game.  Sasha has such a pleasant face and great smile.

The Aggies go down 2-5 and become a bit flustered.  At 3-6, Jordan Abalos starts the comeback with a kill.  #24 Lexi May comes in and helps on a block with Jordan to bring the score to 8-7 Aggies.  Lexi then gets a great soft kill at 11-9.  Wait, Pistol Pete walks by and gives me a high-five while he’s working the crowd!  Okay, back to game.

14-9, Sasha-Lee is back in and gets the kill of the match.  She reaches over the net and smacks an overpass hard enough to leave a crater on the court.  Obviously that’s an embellishment, but I’d like to think she worked off her frustration over getting hit.  15-9 and Tatyana slams a kill and joins the party.  16-9 Crash serves up an ace.

Chicago State was not done yet.  20-15 is another late call by the officials.  I would at least say that volleyball generally doesn’t seem to be ruled by the officials, unlike football.  The officiating I’ve seen in my limited exposure has generally been efficient and unobtrusive.  20-16, the Cougars win a long point.  21-16, Jordan gets a fine defensive kill.  Chicago State goes on a run, but is ended at 23-20 by another Jordan kill.  At the first set point, Tatyana gets a kill to quickly end the set (25-20) and match (3-0).
                   
A big crowd went to the floor to get autographs.  Jordan got held up taking pictures with fans on court and doing an interview on camera.  Pistol Pete may have taken her place in line until she got settled.  I could finally hear my radio better with less crowd noise and had to turn it down.  Coach Jordan finished his interview with a “Go Cubs!”  Hey, I could talk baseball with the coach at the exclusive booster parties.
       
Our player of the game is Jordan Abalos’ grandmother.  Obviously determination runs in the family and it’s even contagious amongst teammates.  While there were many standouts playing, let’s credit this as a team victory.  While the team occasionally veered close to self-destruction, they stubbornly refused to do so.  The spotlight rotated around several players (Jordan 13 kills, Tatyana 12 kills, Sasha-Lee 9 kills, KC 7 kills, and Hannah and Brigette had some good playing time) as they were picking each other up during the match.  Short-handed Chicago State (they only had three girls on the bench) also played with quite a bit of heart, but the Aggies have too many good players to stop them all for a whole match.  It’s been a productive, but painful homestand for the Aggies, and the girls have another match tomorrow afternoon in Albuquerque.  Hopefully, they can gut out another win against those Lobos.