January 2008 Archives

Jan 27th-Battle of the Bay

This is the big advertising campaign for the Battle of the Bay that Michelle Smith of the SF Chron was talking about. I am sorry, but these are not flattering pictures of Candice and Devanei. Couldn't the women have been in basketball action? However, you think the Stanford marketing department does things for no reason? No, this ad campaign was part of something bigger. Both colleges want this to be an "event" to get more fans to both games. During halftime, they unveiled a specially created Axe trophy for this rivalry, just like the football team, and I thought that was cool. Now on to the blog!

I get the honor of driving to the game, as R knows it will be a madhouse of cars. She is expecting a sell-out, and I hope she is right. As we turn onto the main campus drive, we are met by a long line of cars. Our favorite parking lot is full and so is the backup one by the pool. We drive past the soccer field and the spot by the fence where we saw Jillian Harmon and crew at the Women’s Soccer game at the beginning of the season, she so full of life and confidence in the team. We park in a puddle of mud, and I ain’t talkin’ ‘bout the band.

As we hoof it to Maples, R wonders what else is going on to make it so crowded. No less than 5 different groups remark to each other, loud enough for us to hear, that there must be something else to cause this lack of parking. We pass the empty soccer field, tennis court and track. We see the spring baseball team having practice and a handful of parents peering into the pool at their young charges swimming.  No big events here. I think the growing crowd is here just for the women, and remark that to R and every group we eavesdrop on. It’s the women, stupid, I want to shout. The women are the reason everyone is here. Plus, R astutely reminds me, many fans form Cal have probably traveled from the East Bay to be here.

Good thing we have R’s tickets, yet we have to stand in line to get in. Long lines at the concession stand mean no popcorn and Sprite for us. We walk into Maples, up the stairs, and emerge into a sea of Cal even though this is the Stanford student section. Boy, R sure was right about the Cal fans making the trip  across the Bay.  I see there are little white plastic pom-poms laid out on the seats. I have to have one and grab one from an empty seat. Then I glance over at our padded seats and see they have covered the paid seats with them, so I put mine back. I see a grandmotherly Cal fan holding a blue and yellow pom-pom and I tease her to put that thing away, she won’t be needing it here. She laughs good naturedly and shakes it a little for my benefit. I lose track of R in the crowd and when I see here, she is holding a white pom-pom with a smile on her face that says, look what I found! I tell her they have them on our chairs so we don’t need to “appropriate” them from here, and then tell her I did the exact same thing.

We make it to our seats (and pom-poms), and watch the place fill up. It almost makes it to the rafters. Later we learn there was over 6,000, about a 1,000 short of a sell-out. We end up “appropriating” after all, taking two extra white pom-poms from the chairs in front of us (What? You snooze you lose!) and shake them around during all the pre-game hype.

Usually our area is not crowded and R and I can spread out and scatter our stuff, but we are all in close quarters. The seat next to me gets taken by a very nice gentleman. Tip off happens, and Hampton from Cal wins it. I am very nervous for the Cardinal. And to make matters worse, the Very Nice Gentleman (VNG) is rooting for Cal! He cheers loudly when they score. Then Stanford goes ahead 9-3 and at each basket I make sure to wave that pom-pom a little in his line of view. My girl  Candice sinks her 4th free throw in a row and I wave like a maniac.

R notes that JJ Hones is the starting guard. She remarks that one year ago today, with the same opponent, JJ Hones started and then went down with a torn ACL injury in the first minute . The Cardinal couldn’t recover emotionally and Cal handed Stanford their only PAC-10 loss of the 2006-7 season.

The game is physical, as I feared, and the refs do not seem to be protecting Stanford, and I am worried. Yet Stanford plays stifling defense and Cal cannot buy a basket. Jayne, with help from the double team, contains their center, Devanei Hampton, who ends up 1-of-8 from the field with 3 total points. One for eight! That was huuuuge!Cal attempts some threes, but you can tell they are pressing and not comfortable with it. They miss. With each Cardinal rebound I shake my pom-pom, much to VNG's chagrin. At one point I over-zealously hit R in the face. Sorry. 

Stanford seems to not move on offense, which worries me that they are one - dimensional, and instead  they make quick passes around the perimeter. This time, their 3 pointers are falling, and Stanford takes control of the game. They are leading 32-16 at the half. My VNG who was rooting for Cal gets up and leaves!

When Stanford does throw it inside, it is to Jayne, but not Kayla. I can’t understand why they under-use her. However, Jayne is quickly doubled teamed as well and she passes it back out. So much so that Gwen Knapp of the Chronicle notices and writes about her unselfish play.

In the second half, Cal cut Stanford’s lead to 8, but back-to-back three-pointers by Hones and Wiggins sparked a 10-2 run that put the Cardinal back up by 16. The lead never got below 10 again. With no offense under the basket for Stanford, Cal let them shoot outside, which was not a bad gamble, as Stanford hits around 30% per game. This time Stanford could hit them, as they got a season high 9 three pointers, 4 from JJ Hones. The final score was a 72-52 win for Stanford and a packed parking lot on the way out.

Also in the second half, Wiggins drove more to the basket. She only made 6-for-15, but made all 14 of her free throws as she was fouled on her drives to the basket. She ended the contest with a game-high 28 points. Wiggins now has 2,204 career points, 11 away from tying Kate Starbird's school record of 2,215. Maybe R and I will see it next game, but she is driving.

Kudos to the SF Chronicle for running an article a day in their sports section about the Stanford-Cal game happening this Saturday. All of them where on the front page, too. And I think they were all written by that wordsmith, Michelle Smith. Here is a good one about Candice Wiggins, and the pressures of being a senior.

Did ya see the game between Stanford and Arizona State? We almost didn’t. We thought the tip off was at 2:00, then saw it listed at 1:00 at the last minute. When we tuned in, we had missed a few minutes. And we almost turned it off. Man, Stanford had no offense. It’s not like they couldn’t buy a basket, they didn’t know how to get the ball to the hoop. No one moved on offense (they kinda looked like our Tuesday team a few season's ago!). Stanford were down by 14 at one point, and fought back to down by 11 at the half. Not the play of a top ten team. Boy, I wonder what Tara said at half time, having been privileged to be in the locker room at half time at another game. In that game, Stanford was killin’ it, yet she was stern, so I can imagine she read them the riot act for this one.

All I can say is, thank goodness for Candice. She scored 13 of her 18 points in the second half. And Stanford did play some great defense. I later read in the paper that Stanford limited Arizona State to just five second-half field goals. Whoa. State did make some free throws in there, but that is pretty significant defense for 20 minutes of basketball.

It was close again in the final seconds, with Stanford up by 1. Kayla Pederson, who just had her high school jersey retires and with half of her Arizona fan base in attendance, was at the line for 2. Okay Stanford, key free throws, a problem all year, and yes, she missed the first, but made the second to put Stanford up by 2 with 17 seconds. Stanford let their best player catch the inbounds pass in the key and get a clear shot off for the tie, but luckily she missed. Boy, Stanford, nothing like making it close. Pohlen grabbed the rebound and was fouled and she made both of hers to put us up for good and seal the win 60-56, but we did not look good and could easily have lost.

Stanford is now in second place in the PAC-10, and number one Cal is coming up. Needless to say, they have a lot of work to do before then.

Just in case you have been wondering what we have been up to in the winter season, our Tuesday night basketball team won the championship, my daughter went to her first formal dance and wore a very pretty (and expensive) formal dress, and she joined the boys wrestling team, all in the same month. How's your winter going?

Stanford won its 10th straight against Arizona and are safely in third place in the PAC-10. Good ol' Candice scored 19 and Kayla, who I am starting to like more and more, tied her season high with 22. And surprise, surprise, Morgan Clyborn scored 10! Stanford won 89-64 but it was disturbing to read Arizona trimmed a 23-point deficit to 74-60 with about six minutes left. Jayne and Kayla then had back-to-back inside baskets to take away all hope. Did we mention Stanford is in third place in the PAC-10? Second place is Arizona State, our next opponent, and first place is Cal, our next next opponent. That's why we are so worried. We need to play good ball against Arizona State and not let them come back from a 23 point deficient, and we have to play great against Cal 'cuz you just know they are going to come out swingin'. Rough up our girls a bit, on our home court and all. Did we mention we are worried?

The wonderful Michelle Smith wrote an article about how women's basketball jumps when TV says to. TV, in its infinite wisdom has moved Sunday's Stanford -Arizona State game against the AFC Championship Game. Great! Why, because they can, and we don't get enough viewers to complain. She also reported that Cal and Stanford unveiled a joint ad campaign for the Jan. 26 meeting between the two Top 10 teams at Stanford. They have given it the tag "Battle of the Bay" and I think the number one so they can number the future contests. Michelle says the ads feature Candice and the Bears' Devanei Hampton. And "it's very cool," she says. I can't wait to see it, as I can't find it on the net anywhere. Michelle also pointed out that UCLA and USC sell out, so "there's no excuse not to fill Maples." Y'all hear that?

Boy, what a difference a game makes. The game against Oregon was like night to Oregon State's day. Oregon State's team was flat in warm ups and lukewarm during the game. Oregon had hustle in their warm-ups and came out fast and furious. Not that the score will reflect that. Stanford rose to Oregon's energy and also played inspired ball.

Candice was honored before the game for winning USA Basketball’s 2007 Female Athlete Of The Year, and she was gracious but uncomfortable in the attention. She couldn't wait to get on the court and when she did, she was back to her old self. She quickly got to 20 points with some incredible fast breaks and Stanford went on to win 83-49. But it was much more fun to be a part of this game, as you could feel Stanford's energy and enjoy their incredible athleticism. The only holdover from Thursday's Oregon State game to Saturday's game was the French Fries!

Add another one for Candice, although this is the first time she has received this award. She has been named the WBCA National Player of the Month for December. The initials stand for Women's Basketball Coaches Association. In that span, she lead Stanford to a 6-0 record, and with a win over No. 10 Baylor and an overtime win over No. 1 Tennessee. She also averaged 20 points a game and is in sole possession of second place on Stanford's career scoring list. She is now on the short list for the 2008 State Farm Wade Watch as one of the top 26 players in the nation.

R: Popcorn and a small sprite, please. C, you want anything?

C: Since I am paying, I would love a soft pretzel. Extra salt, please.

R: What about a hotdog?

C: Please, this is enough salt as it is. Let’s wait until halftime instead!

R: Deal. Let’s go find our seats.

C: Great, I love watching the Cardinal warm up. Wow, Oregon State's warm up lacks any fire or passion. They look unhappy to be here, almost like they know they are going to lose.

R: I agree. They look like they are just going through the motions.

C: Hey R, who is that?

R: Who is that where?

C: On the floor, for Stanford, right over there.

R: That’s Jayne Appel.

C: I know THAT is Jayne Appel. I mean THAT. I mean that person at the end of Jayne’s line.

R: The end of that line, that’s Kayla Pederson.

C: No! Kayla just walked to the end of that line. This is starting to sound like a bad who’s on first routine. I mean the person between Jayne and Kayla.

R: Oh, that player. That is one of Stanford’s freshmen, the one that hurt her back and hasn’t played a game all season.

C: Oh yeah. What is her name again?

R: Cimino, Ashley something, Cinnamon something.

C: Cinnamon! I love it. Well, I hope Cinnamon gets to play tonight. Oregon State is not that good, and I bet Stanford is going to play their subs a lot. Can you open this mustard pack for my pretzel? I always end up getting it all over myself.

R: Sure. However, don’t mark a notch in the win column yet. Stanford overlooked the past two teams and wound up losing both.

C: Yeah, they had sloppy play and no intensity. Let’s hope they rebound from that tonight. Wow, look how short the Oregon State team looks.

R: I bet Jayne wins the tip off!

C: And she does! Look, they are totally fronting Jayne, with no help towards the basket. Pass to Jayne, easy lay up to the basket! What’d I tell ya!

R: You called it! Look, same play to Jayne, oop, she went too far under the basket, ah, reverse lay-up.

C: They are doubling up on the point guard, look at Jayne, she’s about twice the size of Oregon State’s point guard and she and Ros totally engulfed her, now Ros steals the ball, lay up!

R: Wow, they are playing with such intensity, most notably Jayne. And Jill Harmon, she sure is quick.

C: No wonder the Oregon State’s coach called time out. Look, here come the cheerleaders, wait, the time out is over before their routine started. I guess they are used to the much longer TV timeouts.

R: Yeah, this game must not have been deemed exciting enough for TV.

C: Hey. Look at Stanford’s band leader. Isn’t that cool the way she moves her baton up in down in time to the music?

R: And it’s usually a guy leading the band.

C: I’ve seen her once before. I wish I could do what she is doing, moving in time and jumping up and down.

R: You would be a natural.

C: You know how they sell a spot to sit on the bench? They should sell a chance to get to lead the Stanford band. I would bid on it.

R: Game’s back on and the subs are coming in right away.

C: I guess Tara is holding to her pledge to rest Candice. She doesn’t even have any points.

R: Tara better be careful. If Candice doesn’t play much and only has a few points, that could drag down her game point average and hurt her chances for the draft for the WNBA.

C: Hey, why is the crowd behind the Stanford bench suddenly cheering?

R: Look, Tara is putting in the new freshmen. It’s Cinnamon! She’s going in the game.

C: Oh my gosh, Stanford made a three pointer, and Morgan Clyburn is in the game. That means there is no one to go down the Stanford bench and give high fives to everyone.

R: Look, Ros is taking her place.

C: Good thing.

R: Looking at the bench, I see Jayne constantly talking to anyone near her. She just talks and talks.

C: Another three, now both Ros and Jillian are doing Morgan’s job for slapping hands on the bench. And oh, Cinnamon made her first points of the season. The informed Stanford crowd gives her extra applause.

R: Haftime, want to go get that hotdog?

C: Of course, with extra mustard. Let's go

****************************

R: Game is back, Candice picks up her second foul.

C: And she only has one point. She now has more fouls than points.

R: Jayne is tearing it up, she’s up to 25, and we have doubled their score.

C: Lay up by Candice, and one. She now has 4 points.

R: That is far below her usual game average. And she has not played that much. A lot of the bench got in this game.

C: I bet Tara doesn’t care about personal numbers.

R: Hey, game is over, Stanford almonst doubled their score, 81-45. Let’s move into white ball mode. I hope we get one.

C: Ah, no luck! Good game, though. Good to see them take those losses personally and come out hard. If only they could have done that after one loss.

Okay, it was nice to open the paper and make it to the front page of the sports section of  the SF Chronicle, and see Stanford women are on the front page! Wow, again? And then I examine closer and see they lost! So, what, Stanford women only makes the front page when they lose? Wait, I stand corrected, Stanford women made the front page when they won, they won big time over Tennessee. Now, since then, two straight losses and mentions on the front page.  We haven’t lost 2 two consecutive games to PAC-10 games since 2004, haven’t been below 500 in the PAC-10 since 2001, and haven’t lost  successive games against UCLA and USC in Los Angeles since 1994, according to R’s San Jose Mercury article.

I wasn't there, but Michelle Smith of the Chronicle was. She said, "The confidence and toughness that has pulled the Cardinal out of tight spots all season took leave these last few days in Los Angeles, replaced by mistakes, missed shots and missed opportunities." Yikes!

How did my Candice do? Not, too well, according to Michelle. USC's Camille LeNoir hit a jumper over Wiggins with 8 seconds remaining, to go ahead by one. Then Candice had the ball and USC coach Mark Trakh had to look away. She shot a last-ditch, off-balance leaner with two seconds on the clock, and it fell far short of the rim and Stanford fell 73-72.

How about R's Jayne? Appel had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Wiggins stayed at 17 points and Kayla Pedersen, I am glad to see, redeemed herself from her 0-8 night against UCLA by scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds for the Cardinal. 

What happened? Well, Stanford was 3-for-20 for three's, and 11-for-20 from the free-throw line. VanDerveer honed in on it when she said, "It came down to a three-point-shooting contest and we lost. We had 20 (three-point) looks and we've got to make free throws, not just down the stretch, but throughout the game."

Gee, I wonder what practice will be like when the Cardinal gets back to Maples?

*ring ring*

R: Hey C,

C: I know, I know….

R: Stanford got crushed. In the Mercury, they have a picture of Jayne Appel getting beat up.

C: In my paper, the Chronicle, it sounds like Stanford couldn’t make a shot. They lost by 13, 69-56, to an unranked UCLA team.

R: I know what happened. I bet UCLA said we can rough them up and they played us tough.

C: Imagine my surprise to see Stanford on the front page of the sports section, and then to read it was a loss, a huge loss. I think you are right about them roughing us up. Our toughest player, Kayla Pederson, was 0-8 from the field.

R: But she had 13 rebounds.

C: My paper said they missed easy shots. All except Candice, who scored 29 points.

R: My paper said they shot about 29 percent from the field, and that just isn’t going to get it done.

C: Yeah, you are right. My paper said Candice tried so hard to carry her team, that she finished the game with a chipped tooth, a cut on her chin and a sprained jaw!

R: Wow.

C: And now she’s not 5’11 and a half anymore!

R: What?

C: Kidding. VanDerVeer said her team lacked fire, which we saw against Washington.

R: And now Cal will think they can come in her and rough us up. I am worried about this upcoming game.

C: Geez, don't tell Cal about this! Maybe the PAC-10 is not going to be as easy as they thought.

And we thought it would be a quiet break from basketball until the next Stanford game, but Candice cannot be quiet (quieted?) Today she was honored as USA Basketball’s 2007 Female Athlete Of The Year!

Stanford University All-American Candice Wiggins, who was part of four separate USA Basketball teams in 2007 and helped those teams to three gold medals and a flawless 23-0 record, has been named USA Basketball’s 2007 Female Athlete of the Year, USA Basketball announced today.

Here's her quote:
“Having the privilege of representing the United States and the opportunity to play with such a talented group of women is something for which I am very proud,” Wiggins said. “It is truly humbling not only to be chosen by USA Basketball for this award, but also to have the honor of joining the long and distinguished line of basketball players who have earned this recognition.”
And let's look at that long line, starting with trail blazer Carol Blazejowski, and ending with last year's winner Diana Taurasi, with multi year winner Lisa Leslie sprinkled throughout he middle.

And now she is eligible for the 2007 U.S. Olympic Committee Female Athlete Of the Year Award. And although they mistakenly have you listed as 5"11, you go, Olympic Candice!