A Sports Day

Saturday, the 24th, was quite a sports day.  It started with the Texas Tech football team playing Baylor in Arlington, Texas.  The Tech team lost.  I went to see the Lady Raiders basketball team play the Houston Baptist Huskies.  The Lady Raiders won.  I stayed to watch the Red Raider basketball team play the Northern Colorado Bears.  The Red Raiders won.  The NBA Boston Celtics played the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas.  The Celtics lost.  Well .500 is not the best average, is it? 

Texas Tech Men's Basketball

Earlier this week, the Texas Tech Men's Basketball team played in the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Missouri.  The first game was against Southern Cal.  Tech won.  The team faced Nebraska the second night of the Classic, and I watched the pre-game show. Two of the announcers opted for Tech to win.  They also said that Tech might be a team the Duke team would lose to when they face them later in the season.  The Texas Tech basketball team has obtained some national credibility as a team!  Go, Texas Tech.

And it does not hurt that during the second game, Patrick Mahomes, Texas Tech alum and former football quarterback at Tech, and now headline making quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, was in the audience.

You cannot pay for publicity like that!

Saturday, A Lazy Day

I was able to sleep in Saturday morning.  I went for a walk, and read for a while before I started binge watching Blue Bloods.  In the course of watching TV, I did housework during commercials.  And got the chores done that I wanted to do.

Then I watched the Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma football.  It was a loud and crazy game to start with.  It ended poorly for Texas Tech.  So sad.

Football Polygamy?

My niece coined a term, "baseball polygamy" because throughout the course of her life, she as collected baseball teams that she likes, roots for, follows, or otherwise supports.  I think that is perfectly acceptable, and I have long been a fan of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees which is generally unheard of, but is what it is.  I also now follow the Arizona Diamondback, and because they are in the playoffs, the Houston Astros. 

So when it comes to football, I am generally a New England Patriots fan, although I like the New York Giants New York Giants, too.  However, this year, a former Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback, Patrick Mahomes is the starting quarterback for The Kansas City Chiefs and like many people in Texas Tech Raiderland, I have been following his performance and record. It is amazing. It is exciting. It is wild. So, that gives me another NFL team to follow. And, tonight, the New England Patriots are playing the Kansas City Chiefs.  We shall see how this resolves, and New England won.

But now, I am guilty of football polygamy.

Disappointment and Good News

This was a sports day. Texas Tech played West Virginia in Lubbock.  Tech lost.  West Virginia started too strong, Tech tried to come back but fell short.

I thought I was going to get to watch the Red Sox and Yankees MLB on TV tonight, but the game was played this afternoon, and was aired on Fox Sports.  There was another game aired regionally so it was not available to me. It was played during the time the Tech football game aired.  I got onto MLB and followed the game on Gameday at MLB. The Yankees won! That was good, but it would have been good if the Red Sox won, too.  

So, it was not the worst of sports days!

Sports Day Today

It was a beautiful fall day.  My plan was to watch some sports and do some errands.  I watched the Yankees vs. Orioles  MLB .  The Yankees lost.  I was able to run my errands, do some yard work, and even eat dinner al fresco and sit in the back yard, reading and enjoying the fresh air for a while.  Then, the Red Sox vs. Indians game came on.  My plan was to watch that game, and then flip over to the Patriots vs. Lions game NFL.  Well, the Red Sox game went into extra innings, and sometime in the 10th or 11th inning, it was announced the Patriots lost to the Lions 26 to 10.  Oh my gosh, imagine my surprise.  And to add insult to injury, the Indians won in extra innings!  Not a good sports day today.  

What is Wrong with CBS?

I watched the National Football League game between the Houston Texans and the New England Patriots yesterday.  The Patriots won.  The game was aired on CBS, and after that game was ended, they switched to the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns.  The game was tied close to the end of regulation time, and went into overtime.  I kept the TV on CBS, thinking they would show the overtime play.  But no, CBS went to their post game show, with talking heads and uninteresting patter.

What is wrong with CBS?  They could have had a barnburner of a TV show, but they blew it.  
And, for that matter, what is wrong with the NFL?  Their crazy overtime rules make no sense, are not competitive, and really do not resolve ties, but are more aligned to ensure the games end in ties.  Who wants a tie in professional sports?  Have we become that neutralized that we cannot expect sporting events to be decided in overtime?

Smart Phone

I did not think I needed a smartphone.  What did I know?  Look at me today:  I am working on the computer, and watching the Tigers vs. Yankee (Major League Baseball) game on my smartphone.  The game was supposed to be on TV, but Fox Sports has a full line up of college sports, which has faced a rain delay.  So in an effort to get complete coverage of their college games, most specifically University of Texas Longhorns vs. University of Maryland Terrapins on TV, the baseball game is being aired on the Fox Sports app.  So, I have my smartphone propped up in my book holder, and I can monitor the possible TV coverage, work on the computer, and watch the game!

Yeah smartphone!

Dilemma

My dilemma? Blue Bloods was playing on WGN America.  Texas Tech was scheduled to play against Oklahoma State in Big Twelve Football,  on ESPN2 and the World Series  is on Fox Sports Network.. 

I had decided to watch the Texas Tech game, and flip back to the World Series during breaks.  Some entity, Suddenlink  or Big Twelve or ESPN, in their infinite wisdom decided to air the Clemson vs. Georgia Tech game in the Lubbock area.  Well, that helped, actually.  I tried to load the football game on the laptop, but it kept saying "needs re-authentication" and I did not know what to do or how to proceed.  So, I loaded the football game on my IPhone and have the baseball game on the TV. I had to plug the phone in because the charge was so low, and I needed an extension cord to allow this. I had to change that configuration, because the first plug in was not charging the phone, but I got it to work with the second configuration I used.  

Am I able to pay good attention to either game, no.  But, I can go back and forth. And even if I do not keep up with the action, I can keep up with the scores.

Traffic

This is a home football weekend for Texas Tech.  The game is sold out.  On home football weekends in Lubbock, the hotel room prices are double and triple the usual price.  I was driving home from work yesterday and noticed there was an awful lot of traffic. I noticed that again today when I was out.  It just took me a couple of minutes to realize that this is a football weekend.  Football is big business in Texas, and this is one way it manifests itself:  increased commercial activity. 

Football Season Opening Night

I am not the kind of football https://www.nfl.com/ fan who watches every game, or even necessarily the opening game of the season.  But I do watch the New England Patriots play when their games are available to me.  So, tonight, I am watching the opening game with the Patriots playing against the Kansas City Chiefs. I don't care what anyone says, I am a Tom Brady fan http://www.nfl.com/player/tombrady/2504211/profile! 

A second reason to watch is that the Kansas City Chiefs is this is the team the Pat Mahomes http://www.nfl.com/player/patrickmahomes/2558125/profile is on. He was the star quarterback of the Texas Tech Red Raiders http://www.texastech.com/ for the last few seasons.  

A third reason to  watch is that Danny Amendola  http://www.nfl.com/player/dannyamendola/2649/profile is a starter for the Patriots.  Amendola was also a star for Texas Tech.

Texas Tech Football

The 2017 Texas Tech Football http://texastech.com/ season starts on September 2.  They are playing the Eastern Washington Eagles http://goeags.com/.  The game is being televised at 3 PM, so I will plan my day to allow me to watch the game.  Guns Up!

Football

So, I do not follow National Football League http://www.nfl.com/  much. Sort of the New England Patriots, and I like the New York Giants, but if there is something better to do, I do it.  Well, yesterday, I watched the end of the game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys.  I am definitely NOT a Dallas Cowboys fan, although I live amongst die hard Dallas Cowboys fans. I was glad to see the Giants win yesterday.  So, tonight, the Baltimore Ravens are playing in Foxborough, Ma. against the New England Patriots.  I did not watch most of the first half, but there is nothing else I want to watch tonight. So, I'll watch this game.

A Wonderfully Busy Day

So, I was able to sleep in some, but got up and did chores around the house.  Then, I watched the first half of the Texas Tech Vs. Texas football game http://www.texastech.com/news/2016/11/5/football-texas-tech-falls-to-texas-45-37.aspx.  At halftime, I got into my vehicle and drove to Amarillo, listening to the game along the way, to attend a wedding reception for a colleague.  I was honored to be invited.  When I arrived in Amarillo, I was early, so I found a spot in a park to stop and watch the Tech football game on my smartphone.  Have I mentioned that I did not think I needed a smart phone, but I really do enjoy the access it offers.

The wedding reception was very nice and met very many nice people. My colleague was so sweet to tell me how much it meant to her that I attended, and I am so pleased for the good fortune in her life. 

As I drove to Amarillo, there were sprinkles along the way.  During the reception, at a park gazebo, there was a short shower, but it was mostly misty. On my way home there were periods of mist, rain, heavy rain, wet roads and dry roads. The weather forecast tonight expects more of the same.

All in all, a good day.

New England Patriot's Football

I do not watch a lot of professional football. Sometimes, I watch the New York Giants http://www.giants.com/, and even more frequently, I watch the New England Patriots http://www.patriots.com/. Tonight, I am watching the Patriots play the Houston Texans http://www.houstontexans.com/, a team for whom I have no affection, although I live in Texas.

The pundits before the game thought Houston would win. HMMM. It will be interesting who wins.

Watching Sports

I like to watch sports on TV. In order of preference I like baseball http://mlb.mlb.com/home, NASCAR http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series.html, basketball http://www.nba.com/, and football http://www.nfl.com/. Mostly, I prefer to watch teams that I like, such as Texas Tech http://www.texastech.com sports, Boston sports, the New York Yankees, and NASCAR in general, the Sprint Cup Series more so than the Infinity Series or the Truck races.

What I have figured out is that I have a hard time sitting down and watching TV.  Just watching TV.  Occasionally, I can do just that. But often, I need to be doing something else: computering, doing word puzzles, knitting, other tasks.  So, I generally like the slower sports: baseball and NASCAR.  You might think NASCAR is not a slow sport, but there are minutes upon minutes of round and round racing before something happens.  Baseball has a rhythm with which I am comfortable.

So, the fast action sports are harder for me to watch.  I enjoy them, but I want to be doing something else. Like tonight. The Boston Celtics were playing the Atlanta Haws in the play offs.  The game was tied at the end of regulation play.  I thought I could watch the second half of the game and knit, but it took the entire second half of the game, and overtime to get two rows of knitting correct.  Basketball is too active a game to multi-task while watching.

What I did not mention is ice skating http://www.usfsa.org/.  I also like to watch ice skating, but it requires my full attention.

Sports

This is a Texas Tech http://www.texastech.com/gameday/ sports day.  This afternoon, the Texas Tech Red Raiders are playing basketball against Richmond.  The Red Raiders are winning but there is still plenty of time in the second half.   I wonder when Richmond came into town.  Travel has been bad, and there are a few spectators at the game, but travel in Lubbock is still very dangerous due to the winter storm we have experienced.

Later tonight the Texas Tech Red Raiders football team will be playing against Louisiana State University http://www.lsu.edu/ in the Advocare VI00 Texas Bowl http://www.advocaretexasbowl.com/. 

Tomorrow night, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders will play TCU http://www.tcu.edu/ which is a Big 12 Conference Game http://www.big12sports.com/.   I doubt I will go.  The weather has been bad, and unless tomorrow really warms up and the snow and ice melts off the streets in a big way, it will more treacherous driving than I want to do.  But, I will watch the game on TV.  I wonder how TCU will get into Lubbock, with travel being as spotty as it has been because of the snow storm that hit Texas this week.  Hmm.

The Patriots Vs. The Broncos

Okay, so tonight the New England Patriots are playing the Denver Broncos in Denver, Colorado  http://espn.go.com/nfl/schedule.  As the game is progressing, the weather is getting worse, with light snow to now heavier snow. It can be said that the weather conditions cannot really favor either team.  They both play in winter weather venues.  Perhaps the Denver elevation might make an impact. 

Football

So, I did watch  some of the Giants vs. Cowboys football game http://www.nfl.com/.  Even though I do not like the Giants right now, I definitely do not like the Cowboys.  So, the first half of the game has been fun for me to watch. Especially because the defense of the Giants has been so instrumental in the Giants good fortune. But ultimately, the Cowboys won. It was crazy.  Oh well. 

Lubbock High School Westerner Football and Band, Part 2

My friend and co-worker and I again went to the Lubbock High Westerner Football game to watch and support her son, who is in the band:

 
Actually her son is, in her words, the shortest one in the band:

 

 

I last heard the band two weeks ago.  I was impressed at how much better they sounded tonight than they did two weeks ago. They pretty much seem to have the marching down, but their first performance was pretty weak.  We stayed after the game and listened to the band director's comments. I thought she was spot on:  encouraging but corrective; acknowledging the much improved performance; reminding about procedures.

 

The Lubbock Westerners Football team wore uniforms meant to commemorate the survivors and victims of 9/11/2001

 

http://www.kcbd.com/clip/11838371/lubbock-high-wearing-special-uniforms-for-911

 

You cannot see the uniforms very well in my picture, but you can in the clip.

 

Before the game, I had the chance to go to the Lifestyle Center. One of the regulars was at the pool, and he is a long time teacher and former coach for the Lubbock Independent School District http://www.lubbockisd.org/pages/Lubbock_ISD__TX.  His take on the new uniforms was that the school district purchased them, including with donations from him and many other people, for the schools in the district to use them this year and in the future, rotating between the schools in the district, depending upon who had a game on or close to 9/11.  That is a really good idea, I think.