Just a short blog tonight, as C and R have ot prepare for tomorrow’s road trip at …Santa Clara…a mile from R’s house. We are going to attempt to ride our bikes to The Leavey Center, although we heard it will be cold. That’s okay, we are making a pit stop at Mondo Burrito. That salsa should warm us up.
So how did the Stanford Women’s Basketball team do in their season and home opener against scrappy Fresno State? It’s funny, after the fact, and on paper, Stanford looks good. They won 72-61 yet struggled mightily in the first half against a team that is not in the top 25. Stanford Head Coach Tara VanDerveer said she wanted to run and shoot the three. Well, Stanford can shoot the three alright, they shot 16 of them. I guess Tara needed to specify they had to make them, too. Stanford only made 1 of 16, for a 6% three point success rate. Ouch. Fresno State was 6-25, for 25% success rate, by comparison.
Chiney Ogwumike scored 23 points and grabbed 17 boards. She was phenomenal under the basket. That really is her strength, getting the ball and worming it back up to score points. The bad news is Stanford gave up 25 offensive rebounds. In one ridiculous play, Fresno State must have grabbed five, six rebounds in one possession. Granted they kept missing, but Stanford seemed allergic to the ball.
In the first half, Stanford shot a lot of three and missed a lot of threes, and did not rebound well. When Fresno’s 5-5 guard gets 10 rebounds, you know the other team was clearly out hustling Stanford. In the second half, Stanny worked it to Chiney down low, and although there were some bad passes and forced mistakes, when they did get it to her, Chiney did her best Nneka impression and would not give up until the ball went in. Chiney saw limited time in the two exhibition games, yet turned it up a notch tonight. And played the whole game.
Good to see. Toni Kokenis saw limited action this game as well, coming off an injury, and when she was inserted in the second half about the time the game was tied at 42 all, her two quick steals for lay ups opened up some breathing room for Stanford. Guard Amber Orrrrange made some nice drives and ended up with 14 points.
Defensively, Chiney had four blocks and Tinkle had three. The team had nine total, although it seemed like more. They were fun to watch, but not so fun to see Fresno State driving to the basket, setting crisp picks and hitting them hard and scoring. It wasn’t until Stanford switched out of their man-to-man to a zone that they were able to limit Fresno State’s scoring chances.
Jos Tinkle was also relentless around the offensive basket. She had some nice boards and put backs and ended up with 20 points and 8 rebounds. An article in the paper stated Stanford needs to see more from the “twins” of Chiney and Tinkle, and C and R want to be the first to coin the phrase “TinkleTwins” (copyright pending).
However, Stanford needs to be more than the Chiney and Tinkle show. Last year it was the Nneka and Chiney show, but Stanford needs some diversity. Fresno State just sat in 3-2 zone on defense, resting and waiting to steal and score a quick lay up or on a drive to the basket. They didn’t need to guard the three-point line, obviously, and could stack up Chiney. Other teams will follow that template if there is not more creative scoring from others. And don't even get C and R started on Stanford trying to break a press (Chiney dribbling...gets it stolen for a layup the other way...)
Stanford is still a work in progress. A couple of bench players made some brief appearances, but if you don’t’ show Tara something, or worse, show her some mistakes, it’s right back to the bench for you. Why does this matter? One more game tomorrow, then it’s off to Hawaii, and a date with number 1 Baylor.
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Showing posts with label Santa Clara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Santa Clara. Show all posts
Friday, November 9, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Brandi’s Game
When soccer legend Brandi Chastain was near the end of her soccer career, two local teams, in leagues that have since disbanded, unceremoniously let her go. Brandi, rather than cry in her beer, threw herself one heck of a retirement party. She invited some of her closest friends, you know, all the World Cup and Gold Medallists she has played with over the years, and some stars of other sports and then did what she loved: played a soccer game. (She got to play on both sides so she could play with everyone on the field). Oh, she also invented a new charity just in time to give the proceeds of the game to said charity. How cool is that?
Well, Brandi is at it again, hosting a second game for her charity, the ReachUP Foundation. She’s not calling it a second retirement party, however most of the same people are coming, along with some news faces. Most notably for C and R, she is making some of the local women’s college coaches actually play the game. Being a coach over the years and asking player sot make plays, you forget, it’s always harder than you think!
Brandi recently wrote a blog for the Huffington Post entitled “The Importance of Determination.” In the article, she explains that her charity helps girls realize their dreams. The Reachup! Foundation was created to provide a community where young girls can be inspired, empowered and challenged to reach beyond what they feel their limitations may be. They produce content and programs that encourage girls to develop the skills necessary to make healthy lifestyle choices, become true champions and challenge young girls to reach for their dreams, from the website. Brandi says in the Huffington article; “it's vital for young girls to have strong, positive role models and to see the game they love played at a high level. Sport does this for girls and provides them with empowerment and positive body image.” Brandi also talks about not having strong female role models growing up, especially women’s soccer. And what a shame today girls today still don’t. Shame indeed.
If you are around Saturday, September 22, and find yourself near the San Jose Municipal Stadium, come out and see a game played with great passion and joy. And celebrate a great, cause, too. Then stay for the free Radio Disney Concert. It features some young things your younger kids have heard about. Friends scheduled to appear and play soccer are numerous: Friends scheduled to appear and play soccer are numerous.
Here is a more detailed timeline:
Ultimate Field Day is run by Disney. Noon to 4 PM, for everyone
Soccer Clinic with Brandi and friends 2-3 PM, and requires special ticket
The Parade of Teams is at 4 PM (youth teams and organizations like Girl Scouts, Girls on the Run, Girls For a Change, etc, to wear their uniforms/a shirt from their group and welcome the celebrity athletes onto the field).
The game kicks off right after that, at around 4:15.
The Disney stars will take the stage at 6:30
Click here for Tickets
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, as they will live tweet from the Brandi event!
.
Well, Brandi is at it again, hosting a second game for her charity, the ReachUP Foundation. She’s not calling it a second retirement party, however most of the same people are coming, along with some news faces. Most notably for C and R, she is making some of the local women’s college coaches actually play the game. Being a coach over the years and asking player sot make plays, you forget, it’s always harder than you think!
Brandi recently wrote a blog for the Huffington Post entitled “The Importance of Determination.” In the article, she explains that her charity helps girls realize their dreams. The Reachup! Foundation was created to provide a community where young girls can be inspired, empowered and challenged to reach beyond what they feel their limitations may be. They produce content and programs that encourage girls to develop the skills necessary to make healthy lifestyle choices, become true champions and challenge young girls to reach for their dreams, from the website. Brandi says in the Huffington article; “it's vital for young girls to have strong, positive role models and to see the game they love played at a high level. Sport does this for girls and provides them with empowerment and positive body image.” Brandi also talks about not having strong female role models growing up, especially women’s soccer. And what a shame today girls today still don’t. Shame indeed.
If you are around Saturday, September 22, and find yourself near the San Jose Municipal Stadium, come out and see a game played with great passion and joy. And celebrate a great, cause, too. Then stay for the free Radio Disney Concert. It features some young things your younger kids have heard about. Friends scheduled to appear and play soccer are numerous: Friends scheduled to appear and play soccer are numerous.
Here is a more detailed timeline:
Ultimate Field Day is run by Disney. Noon to 4 PM, for everyone
Soccer Clinic with Brandi and friends 2-3 PM, and requires special ticket
The Parade of Teams is at 4 PM (youth teams and organizations like Girl Scouts, Girls on the Run, Girls For a Change, etc, to wear their uniforms/a shirt from their group and welcome the celebrity athletes onto the field).
The game kicks off right after that, at around 4:15.
The Disney stars will take the stage at 6:30
Click here for Tickets
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, as they will live tweet from the Brandi event!
.
Monday, September 19, 2011
September 19th- Stanford Women’s Soccer V Santa Clara
With Stanford Women’s Basketball still a world away, C and R have been enjoying other women’s college sports, most notably volleyball and soccer. So when C saw that number one ranked Stanford soccer team was playing number 18th ranked Santa Clara at Santa Clara’s Buck Shaw Stadium, which is a mile away from R’s house, well, she knew they had to go.
The game was set for 8 PM on Sunday, September 18th, which happens to be a school night and late for a soccer game, but since the stadium was only a mile from R’s house, as she likes to point out every time we think about going to see Santa Clara, we were still in. When we heard they would retire Brandi Chastain’s number at half time, we knew were would be there early to get a good seat!
It was a beautiful balmy night, the day having been warm for our Bay Area neck of the woods, and we go there to watch both teams warm up. Now, C’s only dilemma was who to root for. See, when she, okay me, hate the pronoun thing, when I was coaching my daughter in recreational soccer, there would be special Santa Clara Women’s Soccer games where tix would either be inexpensive for groups or free for youth if you wore their soccer shirt. So we would pile the whole team in a few minivans and spend the glorious fall afternoons in the bleachers cheering on the Broncos and making up creative cheers for them! The girls loved it. One year I caught a T-Shirt flung into the stands and got it autographed by the whole team after the game. That year they went on to win the National Championship!
When we were going to those games, there was one Santa Clara player that did a throw-in in a crazy way. She would run to the line, then bend and place the ball on the ground, then place her head on the ball and flip herself over the ball, landing back on her feet. As she came upright bringing the ball from way behind her head she would fling it forward. The extra strength would make it sail halfway across the pitch. It was an amazing feat to behold and the girls loved it. “Look, look, she’s going to do the flip again!” they would nudge and tell each other.
One year, an opposing coach placed her defender an inch inside the boundary line, lined up just where the flipping throw-in player would land. She was to stand there and see if she could either disrupt the throw or get collision and a foul called on the player. The girls and I stared with horror as we realized what she trying to do as the throw-in player began her run. With hands over their mouths, we all held our breath, the flipper came upright and threw the ball and stopped her body from colliding with the other player. The girls sighed relief. I was more interested in the other player. Would she flinch or duck when the ball came around? (I know I would!). Amazingly, she held her ground and didn’t move, the only exception was she closed her eyes when the flipper went upright and threw it over her head, as if preparing for a crash. Do you know what kind of muscle control it would take to tell your body to not move a muscle when perceived danger is coming at it? Well, a lot! Just try not to flinch or protect yourself if someone is throwing a hard baseball at you! I dare you. So, I give that player huge kudos for braving that!
Anyhoo, the stadium and C have a long history of rooting for the Broncos. When C and R took their seats, a Stanford fan was trying to get the Stanford troops fired up by starting the “Go! Stanford!” chant. Then we saw Brandi Chastain right before the game started and nudged each other like the little girls! Also, big kudos for Santa Clara for getting a lot of students to walk over to the stadium and cheer loudly for the team.
So to solve our cheering dilemma, we tried to stay neutral, which was easy to do because both women’s soccer teams feature amazing athletes. It is such a joy to watch women compete at such a high level. Both teams played a similar possession-type game, although Stanford was more patient in holding the ball and waiting to pick their time to attack. They were rewarded with a goal in the 30th minute. Then Stanford did a quick free kick to a streaking player and got another goal at the 36th minute. It was 2-0 at the half.
Brandi came out at half time. They announced her number was retired, and listed her accomplishments, and dang, she is accomplished as a player! Then back to soccer.
The half resumed (with no rain and thunder and lightening of the Notre Dame game) and, we are sorry to report, Stanford got sloppy, making mental mistakes and unforced errors, and getting the ball stolen. So different from when we saw them play Notre Dame a few weeks ago where they played about as technically perfect game as you can imagine. With about 10 minutes left in the match and Santa Clara still down by 2, they started hustling after every ball and pressuring Stanford. The result was Santa Clara winning a lot of balls, or Stanford making mistakes to give them the balls. And, Stanford looked tired and just stopped chasing down balls. Santa Clara didn’t, so you got to admire them for never quitting. Unfortunately, SC’s plan of attack was speed, and Stanford could counter that on defense, so Santa Clara remained scoreless, with the game ending 2-0. We were also glad to see Stanford goalie Emily Oliver back in goal, when the last time we saw her vs. Notre Dame, she had banged her knee on a ND goal and was removed from the game.
Santa Clara is playing again this coming Saturday, and their opponent is NOT Stanford. Hmm, we might have to go and cheer for them outright, especially since the stadium is a mile from R’s house! Let’s just take a peek at the opponent…it’s Cal! Oh, now we really have to go!
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
The game was set for 8 PM on Sunday, September 18th, which happens to be a school night and late for a soccer game, but since the stadium was only a mile from R’s house, as she likes to point out every time we think about going to see Santa Clara, we were still in. When we heard they would retire Brandi Chastain’s number at half time, we knew were would be there early to get a good seat!
It was a beautiful balmy night, the day having been warm for our Bay Area neck of the woods, and we go there to watch both teams warm up. Now, C’s only dilemma was who to root for. See, when she, okay me, hate the pronoun thing, when I was coaching my daughter in recreational soccer, there would be special Santa Clara Women’s Soccer games where tix would either be inexpensive for groups or free for youth if you wore their soccer shirt. So we would pile the whole team in a few minivans and spend the glorious fall afternoons in the bleachers cheering on the Broncos and making up creative cheers for them! The girls loved it. One year I caught a T-Shirt flung into the stands and got it autographed by the whole team after the game. That year they went on to win the National Championship!
When we were going to those games, there was one Santa Clara player that did a throw-in in a crazy way. She would run to the line, then bend and place the ball on the ground, then place her head on the ball and flip herself over the ball, landing back on her feet. As she came upright bringing the ball from way behind her head she would fling it forward. The extra strength would make it sail halfway across the pitch. It was an amazing feat to behold and the girls loved it. “Look, look, she’s going to do the flip again!” they would nudge and tell each other.
One year, an opposing coach placed her defender an inch inside the boundary line, lined up just where the flipping throw-in player would land. She was to stand there and see if she could either disrupt the throw or get collision and a foul called on the player. The girls and I stared with horror as we realized what she trying to do as the throw-in player began her run. With hands over their mouths, we all held our breath, the flipper came upright and threw the ball and stopped her body from colliding with the other player. The girls sighed relief. I was more interested in the other player. Would she flinch or duck when the ball came around? (I know I would!). Amazingly, she held her ground and didn’t move, the only exception was she closed her eyes when the flipper went upright and threw it over her head, as if preparing for a crash. Do you know what kind of muscle control it would take to tell your body to not move a muscle when perceived danger is coming at it? Well, a lot! Just try not to flinch or protect yourself if someone is throwing a hard baseball at you! I dare you. So, I give that player huge kudos for braving that!
Anyhoo, the stadium and C have a long history of rooting for the Broncos. When C and R took their seats, a Stanford fan was trying to get the Stanford troops fired up by starting the “Go! Stanford!” chant. Then we saw Brandi Chastain right before the game started and nudged each other like the little girls! Also, big kudos for Santa Clara for getting a lot of students to walk over to the stadium and cheer loudly for the team.
So to solve our cheering dilemma, we tried to stay neutral, which was easy to do because both women’s soccer teams feature amazing athletes. It is such a joy to watch women compete at such a high level. Both teams played a similar possession-type game, although Stanford was more patient in holding the ball and waiting to pick their time to attack. They were rewarded with a goal in the 30th minute. Then Stanford did a quick free kick to a streaking player and got another goal at the 36th minute. It was 2-0 at the half.
Brandi came out at half time. They announced her number was retired, and listed her accomplishments, and dang, she is accomplished as a player! Then back to soccer.
The half resumed (with no rain and thunder and lightening of the Notre Dame game) and, we are sorry to report, Stanford got sloppy, making mental mistakes and unforced errors, and getting the ball stolen. So different from when we saw them play Notre Dame a few weeks ago where they played about as technically perfect game as you can imagine. With about 10 minutes left in the match and Santa Clara still down by 2, they started hustling after every ball and pressuring Stanford. The result was Santa Clara winning a lot of balls, or Stanford making mistakes to give them the balls. And, Stanford looked tired and just stopped chasing down balls. Santa Clara didn’t, so you got to admire them for never quitting. Unfortunately, SC’s plan of attack was speed, and Stanford could counter that on defense, so Santa Clara remained scoreless, with the game ending 2-0. We were also glad to see Stanford goalie Emily Oliver back in goal, when the last time we saw her vs. Notre Dame, she had banged her knee on a ND goal and was removed from the game.
Santa Clara is playing again this coming Saturday, and their opponent is NOT Stanford. Hmm, we might have to go and cheer for them outright, especially since the stadium is a mile from R’s house! Let’s just take a peek at the opponent…it’s Cal! Oh, now we really have to go!
Follow C and R on Facebook and Twitter, too!
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