December 28 Zak:
I said, “Can’t wait.” This I could have waited for. First, the game. We were awful, 50-69. -10 TOs, major foul trouble, no one stepped up on offense. Horn had 8 and 8, probably our best performance, but he fouled out, and Joe Mily didn’t have it tonight. Two of our three guards were in foul trouble all night long. We let Maine score 30 in the paint, our worst performance in that regard in a very long time. They also had 18 fast break points to our 4. Their bench had 29, ours had 6. Basically, they beat us in every area. Hopefully just a bad night and not a sign of things to come.
But the worst part came next. The airport was fogged in so we couldn’t leave until late afternoon the day after the game- today. We decided to have lunch at a local restaurant. There’s not much in the area but there’s one place that’s decent. It has a dining room and a bar.
Halfway through lunch I needed to use the men’s room. I thought nothing of it, just got up, and walked there. On my way out, just as I opened the door to exit the men’s room, I got it. Another shot of whiskey right in the face. Damn!
I walked back to the table. I didn’t need to say what had happened. Dr. Payne reached into her bag and took out the blood draw supplies. She quickly did the draw and called a taxi to take her to the nearest hospital. We won’t get the results until Friday.
Of course Mike Boss and the guy from WNRK were both right there. I spoke to our kids, more to let them know that I was completely sober and completely coherent, than for any other reason. Then I called Wes, and then Dawn, to tell them that it had happened again.
Wes said I would be suspended, with pay and benefits again, until the blood sample came back. I was allowed to fly back home with the team, though.
December 29 Mike Boss The Newark News “The Sports Boss”:
Fun in Maine. I was having lunch at a local spot in Orono on the day after the game. We were fogged in and couldn’t fly home until later in the day. The NJIT hoops team was also there. And guess who wound up smelling like a whiskey distillery again? You guessed it, Zak Zachery. The cover up started immediately but they aren’t fooling me!
December 30 Wes Chino:
“Zak, glad I got you. Listen, the blood test results are in. No alcohol in your system. The suspension is over and you can come on in, and coach the game tonight.”
Tommy Gunn:
71-59 over Stony Brook here. I gotta say, with everything he’s got on his mind, he’s doing a good job here. This one was back and forth for the whole first half. At halftime, as we always do, the coaches got together as the kids got drinks, snacks, used the john, and all that. The outside shot was keeping Stony Brook in it to that point. We were in good shape fouls wise, only Camp had two, so we decided to go all man, at least for a while. That would get a hand in the face of the outside shooter. We felt like we were the stronger team inside and didn’t need the 2-3 to plug up the lane. It worked! Stony Brook made 7 threes in the first half but only 2 in the second, and their shooting pct. went from 63% in the first to 38% in the second. We had a great night taking care of the ball, +10 TOs. Individually, Kris Brew had 17 and 9, and all 5 starters were in doubles. It was a really good night for us.
Wes Chino, Pete Cummings, Zak
“This can’t get out, Zak, but you now have a shadow.”
“How’s that?”
“I’ve hired the services of the Graystone Detective Agency. They will have a man, posing as a member of the athletic department, shadowing you from the time you come onto the campus, until the time you head for home. He’ll go on road trips and room with you.”
“Jesus, I’ve got a baby sitter!”
“It will be more than one guy, of course. They’ll rotate people. The idea is to catch whoever is doing this to you, and then make him tell us who’s behind it.”
“Okay, I guess.”
“The one thing is when you and Dawn go out in public, off the job. If you want him, we can provide that, as well.”
“I’ll talk to Dawn but I don’t know about that.”
“Okay, you need to text a number I’ll give you when you leave home for work. They’ll get the text and have someone in the parking lot when you get here. He’ll stay until you leave. If you decide to do it off the job, same procedure.”
January 1, 2021 Zak:
Dawn and I didn’t make it to midnight last night. We decided we didn’t want the “chaperone” in our lives when I’m not doing anything work related. Then we had a quiet night at home, watched a video. It ended at around 11:30 and we said the hell with watching the ball drop and went to bed.