Sports Journal September 16-21, 2018

9-16-18

No sports today.  If only somebody would invent an American sport for these boring fall Sundays.  The closest I came was tuning into Stadium for a college soccer match.  Then I found out it was a guy’s match and immediately lost interest.  Speaking of sports that end in a tie, I noticed here in Week 2 of the NFL, there was another tie.  Ha, ha, ha!  Some ESPN Radio pricks the next day blamed the players, instead of more properly blaming the rules.  For that, I add another derisive laugh.  Ha ha, ha!  Actually, out of sheer boredom, I did listen to some of the Cowboys’ game on the radio.  (For their players’ stand on the Anthem, I exempt Cowboy games from my ban.)  Congratulations to Brad Sham for 40 years of broadcasting and having the press box named after him tonight.

Rangers’ baseball on the radio was preempted for an NFL game in the afternoon.  Hopefully that game didn’t end in a tie too.  Ha, ha, ha!  I watched the TV Azteca Pasion Depotiva show to see what Yvette Hernandez had to say about the Canelo/Glovokin fight.  I didn’t understand what she said, but I sure liked the way she looked when she said it.   

9-17-18

The MLB.TV free game was the Mariners and the Astros, but it was audio-only, since the Astros are in my “local” area.  I couldn’t get into this game just listening.  The M’s won 4-1.  It was sellout in Houston thanks to another championship ring giveaway.

9-18-18

I did not like the MLB.TV free game matchup between the A’s and the Angels, but ended up watching and enjoying it anyway.  The fans in Oakland turned out to be part of the game, but unfortunately they weren’t helping their team.  Two different fans interfered with A’s players going after foul balls.  As few fans as were there, you wouldn’t think this would be a problem.  The one in the sixth may have cost them the lead, as the Angels capped off a six-run inning with a grand slam to make it 7-4.    

The crowd was all bundled up as you’d expect in Oakland on an early fall at night.  There was some guy behind home plate dressed as the Marlins Man.  The fans did contribute an interesting drum rhythm section during play.  And you could hear those soccer horns going occasionally, the hallmark of a low attendance baseball game.

 

Down 9-4 in eighth, the A’s did get tying run on base in a three-run inning, but 9-7 Angels would be the final.  Shohei Ohtani was in as a DH.  His off-season arm surgery will not keep him from being in the lineup next year.  While being an Oakland with football lines visible on the field, I found it interesting that the network broadcasting the game did a promo for 49’ers football.  “We’re your bay area home for all things 49’er!”  They’ve already mentally said “Goodbye” to the Oakland Raiders. 

From the MLB’s daily e-mail, I couldn’t resist clicking on a video (actually this happens just about daily, it’s a fun e-mail).  Padre Travis Jankowski was asked by a fan which minor league mascot he preferred, the Sea Dogs or the Chihuahuas, since he’d played for both teams.  He didn’t pick the Chihuahuas.  I think I’ve just about confirmed what the players think about the team name, though they like the facilities in El Paso and the fans.   

9-19-18

This was probably my last Rangers’ radio game of the season.  They faced the Rays in Arlington in the afternoon.  The game was delayed on my local affiliate as they switched over between FOX Sports Radio and the game.  At least I got to hear an interview with Charlie Blackmon in the meantime.  He sounded a bit down.  The Rockies have lost their last two games to the Dodgers and may have lost Trevor Story to injury, but Chuck Nazty was still interesting and insightful.

They were already in the second inning when coverage started.  Eric Nadel was again not calling the game.  He’s taken a lot of time off this season.  I know he’s been doing this a long time and the Rangers are rebuilding and probably won’t be good for a while, but surely he wants to hang around and broadcast in the new stadium in 2020.  Certainly the fans can’t wait for the new stadium.  They had deserted the lower bowl today to hide in shadow of the upper deck, away from the sun.     

The Rays were using their opening pitcher/primary pitcher strategy.  Their second pitcher in the game was technically a reliever, but with a 14-5 win/loss record.  The Rays are also playing for something.  Though the remaining schedule is working against them, they have a shot at catching the A’s for the second Wild Card slot.  They played with motivation today and won 9-3. 

The Rangers only highlight was Adrian Beltre homering in the fourth.  His future with the team or continuing to play altogether will be decided in the offseason.  Matt Hicks and Jared Sandler told the fans to cherish the Captain’s possibly final moments with the team.  The game ended suddenly in the ninth with the Rangers going down with a nary a whimper.

     

9-20-18

No baseball today.  After getting to work after watching Aggie Soccer, I was later able to watch Aggie Volleyball versus the Cal Baptist Lancers over the Internet.  This was the Lancers’ first WAC match.  They’ve just entered Division 1 sports, but their volleyball team has already racked up a very good record, including beating Mississippi State on the road.  They play in a small gym which is dedicated to volleyball (or can converted to a pair of small basketball courts).  They also have some students with mops cleaning the court during breaks.  That’s a great idea.

I was really impressed with their announcer.  Whoever he is, he scouted our team like a coach.  Like an opposing player once said about Vin Scully’s call of his play, “I was learning things about myself I didn’t even know.”  It was like that.  I had no idea Megan Hart had been recruited by Arizona.  No wonder she played so well against them. 

Halle Razo started at libero for the Aggies.  “Who’s the libero this set?” is becoming the game day question for the team.  In Set 1, the Aggies went down big early, but come back and tied it at 20.  But, CBU took it 25-23.  Set 2 was much closer, as the teams traded lead back and forth all set.  21-19 was an epic diving point for both teams.  CBU won it and the set 25-23.  The Aggies came back out fired up and took Set 3 25-19.  Jordan Pleasants became the libero for Set 4.  The team went on a 6-0 run on Briana Ainsworth’s serve and took it 25-20.  The announcer credited Tatyana Battle with 15 kills to that point.

Tied at 2 sets each, we went to a fifth and decisive set.  The lead went back-and-forth for most of the set and they were tied at 10.  CBU started going on a run.  The coach called a timeout.  The Lancer mascot ran across both sides of the court to hype up the crowd.  CBU ended up finishing the match with a five-point run to win it 15-11 and 3-2 for the match.  After this loss and Aggie Soccer’s loss, I was too depressed to write down the final stats.  Taty led the way in the kills and digs.  The announcer was really impressed with her.

9-21-18

The MLB.TV free game featured a marquee matchup between the Indians and the Red Sox with Trevor Baur facing Chris Sale.  Sort of.  Baur was rehabbing and came out in the second.  He was the opening pitcher then in the modern parlance.  The Red Sox took an early 1-0 lead.  In the third, Jose Ramirez came up with runners on the corners.  Sale got a groundout to end the inning.

My personal highlight of the game came right after.  They showed a commercial with Ice-T.  I think it was for an energy bar.  I didn’t get the name, but had no trouble remembering his lines.  “They offered to pay me in product or money,” pause, “I picked the money.”  The company’s tagline is “No BS.”  I’ll try to get their name next time to properly credit them.

In the fourth, Josh Donaldson hit a solo home run to tie it at 1-1.  Between getting Josh and Edwin Encarnacion, I wonder which Blue Jay the Indians will acquire next.  Sale was chased from the game after a Yan Gomes two-run homer made it 3-1.  In the fifth, Francisco Lindor doubled, and Michael Brantley got on with a perfect infield bunt hit.  Ramirez hit a sac fly to bring in Lindor and Brantley hustled to second, 4-1.

 

By the eighth, the Red Sox were up 6-5 after a four-run seventh.  I was away from my desk during that time and didn’t see it.  Indians loaded the bases in the bottom after an intentional walk to Lindor.  Brantley popped out to end the inning.  That was the Indians’ last threat.  7-5 Red Sox was the final.

Artifacts: Disney on Parade

Now here was a real find from Ron's salvage of old books.  Note the price on this.  $1 for this booklet from the 70's was a princely sum at the time.  Having never been to Disneyland, this doesn't have much nostalgia for me, but it is an interesting artifact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NM State Aggies vs South Dakota Coyotes Soccer 9-20-18

The weather forecast for today was for a 100% chance of rain.  Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 100% chance of rain forecast in this area before.  The rain started the night before and continued off and on during the day.  It never got really hard, but I wouldn’t want to have sat out in it.  Thankfully, the rain let up right before game time.  That’s about as lucky as you can get as a fan at an outdoor event on a day with a 100% chance of rain.  Unfortunately, that was all the luck we were going to have for this match.

I was going to be meeting Ron at the park, since we both had to go to work afterward.  It kind of sucks not being able to go out for diner afterward.  When I got there, the grandstand was covered in wet grass cuttings.  I chatted with Danny, who was there.  He said they’d just cut the grass before the match.  As an alumnus of South Dakota, he also pointed out that I was wearing their colors with my jacket (worse, it also matches the UNM Lobo cherry color).  I’d foregone any Aggie gear today, not wanting to get anything wet.  I was just wearing my NM State button on the jacket. 

It was actually a much more pleasant day than the previous matches I’d went to this year.  It was cool and overcast with occasional drizzles. There were some picturesque low clouds passing by the Organ Mountains in the background.  The 4:00 start and the weather initially seemed to scare away the crowd, except for a small hardcore group of Aggie fans (yeah, that’s me) and an equal number of SDU fans, who came with their team.  A couple of fans had set up a tent on the sidelines, which seemed like a good idea for today.  However, shortly after the match started, once again, a crowd suddenly materialized.  Most of the student athletes that were usually there, weren’t, but at least the more obnoxious parents also weren’t there or stayed quiet.

Ron came in just before the match too.  He’d gone by the Pan-Am ticket office and gotten an Aggie Country Pass like I had.  I’ve already used mine for 8 games and Ron isn’t available to go to weekday night games with his work schedule.  He said he did the math and that it would still work out to save him money.  I hope so.  I was really glad he came, because I was able to borrow one of his waterproof cushions to sit on, instead of the wet towel on the metal bleachers I was using.  (My cushion and seat weren’t going to work well in the rain, so I didn’t bring them.)          

On field, I noticed Dmitri Fong working out with the goalies.  She looked ready to go, though Ashley Martin did start.  There were only a couple of kids there, so the goalies would have to shag their own balls behind the goals during the match.  During the introductions there was a notable absence.  Aggie star offensive player, my dear Aileen Galicia, wasn’t in the lineup.  I don’t know why she was out, though I did notice a player on the sidelines on crutches.  I didn’t see her get injured in their last game in Albuquerque (9-14-18), but it could have happened when I wasn’t watching.  I’d heard Coach Baarts on the Aggie Coaches Show yesterday describe SDU as a tough play.  This was going to make it a lot harder.

The wet weather seemed to discourage the staff from putting anything out on the courtesy table, which included the program.  This meant I was working without a net at the soccer match (see what I did there) in terms of identifying the players.  Apart from the Aggies I knew, people in the crowd were shouting out some of the girls’ names.  They were actually mostly encouraging, instead of coaching or criticizing.  The crowd was unnaturally quiet during the match.  Maybe the gloomy weather had subdued them.  I was able to hear the girls on field shouting at each other and even Coach Baarts yelling on the other side of the field.

           

First Half

55 seconds in, the Coyotes worked the ball into the Aggie goalie box and scored.  The Aggie defense had completely broken down and Ash had no chance to stop it.  #3 Alexis Mitchell was credited with what looked like a point blank shot.  As bad as that was, it got worse when I got to work later and was able to look at the stats for the match.  The Coyotes didn’t score the goal; it was an own goal where one of the defenders had tried to kick out the ball and it deflected off another Aggie into the net.  That whole play really looked awkward, but I couldn’t figure out why at the time.  1-0 SDU.

The Aggies would come back with a couple of shots right after.  42’ left in the half, Micaela Milavec had a header chance.  Jess McDow followed that with a booming kick at the top of the box.  31’ there was a foul on a trip in the SDU box.  Jess took the free kick and fired it over the goal.  #1 Parker Rytz in goal for the Coyotes was pretty tall, so it was going to be hard to get a shot over her.   

27’ SDU took back the offensive with a shot.  I have an incomprehensible note here which seems to indicate that the Aggies had no defenders back for the play.  The Coyotes also had a corner at 25’.  The Aggies came back at 23’ as defender Kelly Burton took a long shot that was caught.  Team infidelity warning.  20’ #4 Taylor Cotter came in for South Dakota.  She was so cute with her big, bright eyes, I thought she looked more like a streamer from Twitch than a soccer player.  Her and Dizzykitten should be playing Fortnight together.  (Don’t know if you like video games Tay, but I think you could make a living at it if you don’t have any other plans after school.)  

17’ Jess took another shot from well outside the box.  She really has a powerful leg on her.  16’ Audrey Chavez came out.  Ron pointed out that a trainer was treating her.  She might have gotten a cut or hit on the head.  12’ Rebecca Mazzie had probably the best Aggie shot of the day.  Parker jumped and just tipped it out in midair.  The crowd actually went “Ooh!” over the play.

 

10’ sprinkles started falling on the field.  Umbrellas were deployed in the crowd.  I considered offering to run alongside Taylor to keep her dry with mine, but figured the players perhaps appreciated the cooling rain.  It was a short shower anyway and the last for the day.  6’ there was a scrum around the SDU net.  Jess took another hard shot.  3’ Becca was tripped at midfield.  SDU got the questionable turnover and took a shot that went over the Aggie net.  1’ Ashley came sliding out to stop a shot from #27 Zoe Anderson.  She is very quick.  Even with the lead, South Dakota only had 1 official shot on goal for the half.

Halftime

There was no scheduled entertainment at the half, but Dmitri came out with a trainer to workout at the net.  This was definitely the best halftime show they’ve ever put on.  I figured she must be getting warmed up for the second half.  Ashley had done a good job, but the coach must have wanted to see if Dmitri was ready to play.  I needed to visit the bathroom for a minute.  When I got back, Dmitri was on the ground getting stretched out in an odd-looking pose.  Ron and some mummers in the crowd said that she’d hurt herself going for a ball.  The coach and her teammates weren’t out of the locker room yet to see it, so she stayed in and started the second half.  I’m sure she wanted to play pretty bad.

Second Half

Dmitri got tested right away.  44’ she caught a soft liner.  She bellowed at the team to play up.  I could have heard her regardless of the level of crowd noise.  41’ Katie Martinez and a SDU player got into it without either getting a card.  41’ Alexa Barrera took a header shot which was caught.  40’ Dmitri caught a roller.  37’ Alexa got off a shot just over the bar. 

36’ the sun put in an appearance today.  The girls probably didn’t appreciate it as I could see them sweating more on field after.  35’ Becca threw down a defender at midfield.  I’m not sure if it was payback against the same player that had tripped her.  34’ foul in the Aggie box.  Oh, boy.  The PK by #28 Taryn LaBree went right in.  The goal wasn’t even announced and credited.  2-0 SDU.  That hurt.

31’ Michaela came out limping, as her foot may have been stepped on.  27’ Parker stopped a roller on the SDU goal.  I didn’t catch who shot it.  22’ Zoe got loose on a breakaway and just flat out ran right past the Aggie defender.  The girl has afterburners.  19’ Audrey knocked a girl down in the Aggie box.  Going back and reading this, I can see that this game was pretty rough.

13’ off a corner kick, I have Katie taking a hard header shot on goal.  Audrey might have been hit in the face on the play.  (Or I might not have seen the play well enough to attribute it correctly.)  The coach sent in a bunch of subs.  Several girls that I haven’t seen in before came into this game.  8’ Taryn LaBree rolled in another goal.  3-0 SDU.  It was another awkward-looking play where the Aggie defense completely broke down. 

A lot of the crowd deserted at this point.  A couple of minutes later, South Dakota sent in six subs to clear their bench.  #16 Maddison Sullivan came in.  She was really cute like Taylor, but had a different hair color.  They looked enough alike at a distance, that I thought they were sisters, until I got a look at their names on the roster. 

Alexa got in two more shots at the SDU goal.  I think she’s going to be good in the future.  If Aileen’s out for an extended period of time, let’s hope the future is the Aggies’ next the game.  With a minute left, Dmitri made a great kick save and followed it up with a jump block.  That’s our star goalie.  Unfortunately, she came up limping right after.  The coach certainly saw that.  At least I got to see her shine for a moment before she goes back on the DL. 

3-0 South Dakota was our final.  Both teams had 5 shots on goal, though the Aggies were up 16 to 9 in total shots.  So, they’re taking shots, but not getting good ones and converting.  The team has lost more games for lack of offense than defense even though they have been playing in a more offensive style.  It may be that the team simply doesn’t have the personnel to run in the style that Coach Baarts is trying to use (especially without Aileen), since Coach Delgado set up this team to play in a more defensive style.  That’s about as deep as my thinking is going to get on soccer theory. 

The Coyote team went to midfield and waved to their fans standing at the rail.  The Aggies retreated to their locker room.  “Now we know what the team plays like without Aileen,” I said to Ron as we were leaving.  I felt bad for him.  That wasn’t a great game to have dropped $140 on for a season pass.  At work, I felt worse for myself as I watched ***Aggie Volleyball** lose in 5 sets via the Internet.  (I’ll cover that later.)  We’re both planning on coming back next Friday for their evening game, but perhaps with diminished expectations. 

Sports Journal September 15, 2018

I was not going to the Aggie Football game this evening, but it was going to be a busy day of sports anyway.  Starting right off in the morning was an important matchup between the Dodgers and the Cardinals on FOX.  Both teams were playing to get in the playoffs.  Manny Machado got it started for LA in the first with a two-run homer.  They threatened to add more in the third with the bases loaded, but some good defense and a strikeout got the Cards out of it.

Oh, this is ominous.  FOX ran a little 10-second Wells Fargo commercial in-game during a pause in play.  This is a really bad sign for watching the playoffs on this network.  I’m already cringing.  And just to make me feel more insecure about the bank I work for, Capital One announced that they’re changing their branches into cafés.  (Do we have a branch here in the town?  I might be looking to suddenly move my money.)

Yasiel Puig homered in the fourth to make it 3-0 Dodgers.  He’s apparently been on fire lately.  In the bottom, while the announcers were chatting with Adam Wainwright (who was cheering on the team), Dodger starter Rich Hill walked the bases loaded.  Patrick Wisdom came up and sent one into Big Mac Land in the second deck for a grand slam.  4-3 Cardinals.  I remember him from the Memphis Redbirds playing the Chihuahuas.  He’s good.  Wisdom gave the St. Louis fans a quick curtain call from the dugout. 

That was the last Cardinal highlight of the day.  From there, the Dodgers took batting practice on Cardinal pitching.  Puig hit two more home runs.  He kissed his hitting coach after each one, a scene which got progressively more disturbing intimate with each homer.  The game finished with mostly bench players on the field and just Dodger fans in the stands.  17-4 Dodgers. 

Thankfully in the latter half of the game, a Women’s College Volleyball game came on Stadium.  It was an inter-service rivalry match between Navy and Air Force in Colorado Springs.  The AF announcers said this was the largest home crowd of the season for the Falcons.  It was SRO in their volleyball gym and the cadets were plenty passionate.  Their costumed mascot was there, along with a pair of live falcons.  There were reported to be a few Navy cadets present to root on the Midshipmen.  They were at the Air Force Academy as part of an exchange program.   

It was a gym, but it seemed to be specific for just volleyball.  The ceiling must have been fairly low, because several balls that were popped up hit the rafters.  Those balls were considered to be in play, just like when a baseball hits some of the catwalks at Tropicana Field.  A couple of balls ricocheted directly down on to the court for kills.

As usual, I focused on the prettiest, tallest blonde on the court, #12 Abigail Miksch of Air Force, in this case.  At one point in the match she fell into the front row of cadets seated on the court.  What a thrill that must have been.  The team also had an attractive assistant coach with about 3’ of long, flowing blonde hair.  Actually, I could never identify the coach of the team.  I think it was a guy, but I never saw him.

Air Force won the first two sets by the same score, 25-21.  Navy, down two sets and in a hostile environment, came back and won the next three, 25-19, 25-22, and 15-7, and won the match 3-2.  Both teams were nervous and each had double-digit service errors for the match.  The coaches were also a bit tight.  They went a combined 1 for 7 in challenges.  The play of the game was an Air Force cadet dancing in the stands between two of the sets.  Even the players stopped to watch him.

Next up was the Rio Grande Rivalry football game between the NM State Aggies and the UNM Lobos.  It was 109-th meeting between the football teams.  I actually had three tickets in my possession on Thursday courtesy of work.  Unfortunately, Ron and his brother canceled that night.  I’d had issues with people at work that week and decided that I didn’t want to go by myself, so I returned the tickets.  I missed being at the game and the catered tailgate, but the game was actually on local TV and radio so I was covered.  I sat there eating a bowl of ramen in front of the TV thinking, This is fine.  I didn’t need Rudy’s Barbeque.  This is okay.  I didn’t need Caliches ice cream either.  I’m good.  This is fine.  With that, I wiped away a few manly tears and watched the game.

 

Wow, the cameras showed a large crowd for the game.  It was estimated around 20,000.  The visitor’s section was filled with Lobo fans.  The game started off well for the Aggies.  Terrell Hanks ran back an interception for a touchdown, and Matt Romero took one in on a keeper for a 14-0 lead in the first quarter.  The Lobos converted on a short field to make it 14-7.  A couple of pass interference calls got Dylan Brown in range for a long field goal to make it 17-7.  It was a busy first quarter.

In the second quarter, it all started going downhill.  A pair of Romero interceptions were converted to touchdowns, 21-17 Lobos.  Nick Jeanty, last years’ backup quarterback, came in.  As a senior, he’d gotten into plenty of games over his career.  I was kind of shocked by how ineffective he was.  I’m not sure he completed any passes.  The last four minutes of the second quarter featured an absurd number of the penalties by both teams.  Another Aggie interception ended the half.

Red-shirt freshman Josh Adkins started the second half for the Aggies.  In his first series, he got a deep ball to Jonathan Boone, who caught it with his knees.  (A similar play happened last year, but I can’t remember when.)  However, the Aggies didn’t score there and the Lobos added another touchdown, 28-17.

By the fourth quarter, I was mostly watching the fight (I’ll get to that).  The Lobos added another touchdown, 35-17.  Adkins passed to Jason Huntley for a touchdown.  Huntley got a huge amount of yardage after the catch.  Adkins ran in the two-point conversion, 35-25.  The Aggies had another chance, but were intercepted at the goal line.  And then another interception went for a touchdown.  The final was 42-25 Lobos.  Their fans all stayed to the end.  The count for the Aggies was three quarterbacks and five interceptions.  Your guess is as good as mine who starts next week against winless UTEP.  At 0-4, this season is likely over for Aggie Football, but losing next week could portend a very bad season.

There was some baseball on the radio at the time.  I was a bit surprised to hear Aggie Football on my El Paso Rangers’ affiliate.  Much later, I caught the last inning on my night time affiliate.  The Rangers won 6-3 over the Padres.  Reception was so poor and I gave up on listening to the postgame.  Eric Nadel was not calling the game again.  It was Matt Hicks and another voice that I didn’t recognize.  Also on the radio, the Rockies lost to the Giants 3-0.  Your explanation was that Madison Bumgarner was pitching.  I think the Dodgers just moved into first place in the NL West with that result.

The big event of the night was another Saul “Canelo” Alvarez/Gennady “Triple G” Glovokin boxing match.  I covered their last one (9-16-17).  In that post, I said this: 

I want the rematch, but I do not want a repeat of this fight.  One of these guys needs to figure out how to beat the other and finish this. 

Spooky foreshadowing music. 

Unfortunately, that’s pretty much what we got.  Canelo was back to looking slimmer and more handsome at least.  I scored each round, but my heart wasn’t in it this evening with the Aggie loss (and my loss of barbeque and ice cream).  I’m just going to summarize this, since I’ve essentially already written this recap before.

For the first seven rounds, the guys traded some hard blows, but nothing really hurtful.  For nearly the entire fight, the guys stayed in the middle of the ring.  In the eighth, Canelo looked tired and there was a wrap-up at the end of it.  By the ninth, they were both exhausted.  G was backing up a bit to avoid engaging.  In the tenth, Canelo was staggered by a headshot and seemed dazed.  He stayed on his feet and G couldn’t capitalize on it.  In the twelfth, Canelo went to a knee briefly, but he might have just slipped. 

After the fight, both guys were spurting blood from their brows.  Canelo’s face was swelled up.  G had a pair of shiners.  I had Canelo winning two rounds and I was rooting for him.  The commentator scorer had him winning maybe four or five.  (The final scorecard was only flashed on screen for a moment.)  The only thing left now to save this fight will be a controversial decision, I thought.   

Right on cue, Canelo was given the win.  The judges were two for and one draw.  I seriously saw either G winning in a split decision or another draw.  I suspect I wasn’t the only one.  I called my co-worker Mike, who narrowly avoided having to go to this fight with his boxing/Canelo-crazy girlfriend.  (She couldn’t get free tickets again.)  Mike said he had Canelo winning all the way, but added that Laiza was nearby and he was afraid to say anything else.  

 

I don’t want to say this fight wasn’t entertaining, but it was really unsatisfying.  If the fight had gone another round, G might have been in trouble, since they had trouble sealing his wounds afterward.  I heard George Foreman earlier in the morning on local sports radio.  He refused to pick a winner, but did say about the last fight that the judges weren’t going to give it to G, a knockout artist, unless he actually knocked Canelo out.  Maybe that’s what happened here.  Certainly, they didn’t want to call another draw, but that’s really what happened.  Neither fighter could dominate the other.  I don’t know if anybody really wants a rematch either.

There were about a half-dozen movie promos before the fight.  I had no idea most of them were coming out, but they were mostly remakes.  The in-fight ads were pretty much continuous.  There was a McDonald’s ad that the announcers kept having to read every round.  It didn’t make me hungry for McDonald’s, but was making me hungry.