The Last Man

[Wayne23]

1/1/2057: 8-4, 2-0, RPI #67. We beat Illinois there by 1 in OT. Hell of a game! Then we beat Nebraska by 33 at home. The Big 10 is weak this year but we haven’t played the good teams yet.

1/15: 12-4, 6-0, #21, RPI #27. including a win at Michigan by 16, which was tied with us for 1st in the Big 10 at the time. These guys are amazing me. We have a 2 game lead in conf.

1/29: 16-4, 10-0, #16, RPI #20. My guys continue to amaze me. 3 game lead in conf. +10.0 PPG, +4.4 RBs, and we’re getting a LOT better in that category, +5.1 TOs. 4 guys getting between 12.7 and 11.0 PPG. Dean and Leis get the RBs.

2/12: 18-6, 12-2, #15, RPI #19. 2 game lead on Michigan and #25 Maryland, 2with 4 to play. 3 of the last 4 are at home.

2/26: We end the regular season at 21-7, 15-3, #14, RPI #21. We win the Big 10 by 2 over Michigan and Maryland, 4 or more over the rest. I never, in my wildest dreams, expected to win the conference. +10.1 PPG, +3.8 RBs, +5.7 TOs.

3/5: No one goes pro. This may be the last season that happens given that we have incoming guys rated at #4, 9, 15, 17, and 27.

My North Carolina team has 3 losses but they’re the #1 ranked team.

[Wayne23]

August, 2160: Lacy is still eager to learn about everything. I have HC consultants to help her with every possible area of interest, and I feed them a program with teaching techniques and “How to” advice regarding how much to give her, what level the material should be at, how much to challenge her… But I still feel the need, as well as the desire, to supervise her education closely, and to be available to help her, to answer her questions… I was never a classroom teacher, but coaching is teaching, and I educated myself, right from the start of my coaching career, on effective teaching methods, and kept taking classes and workshops in that area throughout my coaching career. This is perhaps my most enjoyable task.

Amy is 3 ½, and she is in preschool in the HC. While I know a great deal les about working with children that age in an educational setting I supervise her education in the same way that I supervise Lacy’s, and I find time to work with Amy on her school work.

I also spend free time with the kids, both separately and together. I am all that they have and I take my responsibilities very seriously.

My other responsibilities take up a huge amount of time. I hate to do it but I am thinking of setting the 80 foot boat loose. It’s one more thing to keep track of, and I think the odds of needing it are pretty low.
Still, I need to think that out a lot more, as well as consulting further with holoexperts.

Six days ago one of the robots contacted me- we actually communicate by a wireless device. I was told to don a hazmat suit and report to the bottom deck. I did so as quickly as possible. The robot had discovered a loose wall panel while cleaning down there. Evidently the mop it was using slammed the wall too hard and jarred the panel loose. When the robot went to fix the panel it came loose in his hand.

Behind it was some very old and disgusting mold and mildew that had never been discovered. I took a sample in a hazmat level container into the HC, and had it tested in a HC lab by a holoscientist. Bingo! It was the source of the Ebola type virus. We immediately set up a procedure for our smallest robots to get back there, clean it out, and return to a sealed space where they and the stuff they cleaned out could be fully decontaminated. We then decided to follow the same procedure throughout the ship- to set up the same procedures in every part of the ship, area by area, to get behind every wall with the smallest robots, and to make sure every hidden surface was completely cleaned, disinfected, and, if necessary, decontaminated.

We’re about halfway through the procedure and we have found several areas where the virus was lurking. I wish we had thought of this sooner.

At the recommendation of the holoexperts the kids and I moved to the 80 foot boat for the duration of this process. That was done as soon as I brought the very first sample to be tested, and we’ve stayed on the 80 footer ever since.

I brought the programs the kids use for education and entertainment, as well as a few for me. I’m a little concerned about being away from the ship for this long, but if I’m needed the robots will let me know. I have a hazmat suit here just in case.

Day 9: The cleaning, disinfecting, and decontamination of the ship has been concluded. We returned to the ship today, and the little robots are now following the same procedures on the 80 foot boat. We don’t think there’s any real need to do that, but I’m taking no chances.

Next: The new normal

[Wayne23]

3/7: #8 seed Northwestern, 13-15, 8-10. We beat them by 27 at our place.

3/8: 77-59. 41-23 at the half. 17, 15 for Dean, 6 others made great contributions. +17 RBs, but 19 TOs, which is unusually high for us. We’ll work on it.

#4 seed Iowa, 17-11, 11-7, in the semis. They won by 15 there. They have one scorer, their SG. We need to play way better and shoot way better than we did when we played them earlier. We shot 32%.

3/9: 92-75. 31, 6, 4 for SG Tad Morr, 25, 11 for Leis. 14 for Dean. We shot 49.3%. +14 RBs. 14 TOs, which is better than last game, but anything over 11 or 12 isn’t good enough.

#2 seed Michigan, 20-9, 13-5, in the title game. Weirdly enough we won by 16 there and they won by 7 at our place. They can play. We’ll have to bring our A game.

3/10: 65-58 and the title! 22, 10 for Leis. No one else had more than 10, but it was enough. +16 RBs, which was a huge factor, but 20 TOs nearly did us in. This is a big concern. The margin was never greater than 8 points, so it was a nail biter.

3/12: 24-7, 15-3, #12, RPI #18. Normally, the winner of the Big 10 tourney would get a #1 seed. The conference was weak this year. I’d love a #2 but it’s more likely to be a #3.

##3 Midwest. We’ll play UL Monroe, 20-11. They’re actually a very good #14. Their SG and SF can light it up.

3/16: 84-67. It was close for about 27 minutes. 20, 11, 3, 5 for Leis. 4 others with 12 or more. 10 TOs (+17).

#6 seed, #22 ranked BYU, 24-8, in the 2nd round. We opened the season beating them by 10 in the NIT. Their 6th man broke his arm in today’s game. They’re strong outside.

3/18: 74-65. 27 for Morr, 16, 7 for Leis. We led by as many as 18 but it was close for almost 30 minutes.

#2 seed, #5 ranked Marquette, 27-8, in the Sweet Sixteen. Their starting C and best rebounder broke his leg in today’s game. They’re still a very good team though, especially outside.

3/23: 69-80 in OT. WE stayed right with them for 40 minutes but in the OT we disappeared. 14, 14 for Dean, 14, 12 for Leis. +18 RBs, but 25 TOs killed us.

Great season though. It exceeded my expectations by a wide margin.

4/3: North Carolina beat UConn by 17 for the threepeat.

4/4: Awards: Tad Morr was named Big 10 frosh OY, and Lars Dean defensive POY. Dean and Leis made 1st team. I got conf. COY.

4/23: I ask for another facilities upgrade. No.

26-8, 15-3, owned the Big 10, made the Sweet Sixteen. I’ll take it! Overall, I’m 827-182, .820.

Looking forward to a great season!

[Wayne23]

February, 2161: The robots finished up the work on both boats and they both seem completely rid of the virus.

Lacy just turned 8 and Amy 4 and they continue to love nothing more than learning new things.

I continue to do all the things I need to do. The incident with the virus, where we needed to evacuate to the 80, foot boat has convinced me that we need to keep that boat, even though it adds to my workload. I tend to read during my free time. I’m usually too tired to do much else. Lacy is pretty self-sufficient but that doesn’t mean I can just ignore her. She needs me to spend time with her. At age 4 Amy needs me to spend a lot of time with her. She tags along when I’m doing lots of the things I need to do. I have no issue with that unless I think it’s not safe, in which case I leave her below, with a robot or robots. Some of the robots are programmed to play with her, not just to watch her.

The weather for the past couple of years has been slowly getting warmer. It is now normally in the 70s during the day and in the 60s or high 50s at night. We get rain occasionally but there have been no storms for a long time, and when we get wind it tends to be gentle wind. The weather patterns have been nothing if not changeable, so no doubt this too will change at some point.

Next: I have an accident

[Wayne23]

5/1: The usual reports.

Preseason #2, which is a little high, I think.

6/5: We see a PG transfer we really like. Nah, we’d have to cut somebody.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We want a guard and a big. Looking at 10, 5 guards, 5 bigs.

8/7: 3 on the Norton list: Center Wade Wain is #4, PG Lam Sten is #6, SF Ryan Asby is #48.

8/21: We offer to a PG and a C.

9/18: Got the PG, #12. Lost the C. We offer to another C.

No in season tournament this year. Strong schedule.

9/25: We get the C, #7.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We should be very good. It’s hard to say how good.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Returning senior Rod Chad and frosh Lam Sten start at guard. Sophs Rob Lann and Tad Morr back up.

Juco junior Ryan Asby is at SF, and Freshmen Emm Jeff and Wade Wain start inside. Wain is supposed to be a superstar. He’s looked like one in practice.

Backing up inside are sophs Gary Gore and Sean Tomm, and senior Joaoa Salo.

This looks like a team that could go a long way.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2 close wins, at Ohio by 9, and here over #11 VA by 5. The new guys all look good.

12/4: 6-0, #5, RPI #3. We beat #1 Duke, by 5 here, and fell in the rankings- WTF!

12/25: 9-0, #4, RPI #1. +15.1 PPG, +5.8 RBs, +7.3 TOs. We’re #1 in RBs, TOs, steals allowed, Point margin. Wain (16.1), Sten (14.0) and Asby (12.6) lead us in scoring, but four others get 7.0 or more. Wain averages 9.6 RBs.

We’re #4, but #3 Duke, who we beat here, has 3 losses, and #2 Georgia has 2.

[Wayne23]

August, 2161: We had six pretty good months. Things got into a routine. I managed to delegate a few more things to the robots. The kids were getting used to being alone with just each other and me. And then, while I was inspecting a worn engine part I yanked too hard on something and a few hundred pounds of engine came crashing down on me. I signaled the robots for help but I knew I was in trouble. They got me out from under the engine parts and hauled me to the HC hospital, then went to repair the damage. MY damage was a broken leg, a severely sprained wrist, arm, and shoulder, five broken ribs, and bumps and bruises too numerous to count. The holodoc told me I would need to be in a hospital setting doing rehab for at least 5-6 weeks.

I called Lacy and Amy into the room and explained things. I told Lacy I was sorry, but she’d need to take on some of my responsibilities. She’d often accompanied me when I did inspections, check ins, and such, so I knew she could do it, but I hated having to put all of this on an 8 ½ year old. She, unsurprisingly, was more than willing to help. I told her she absolutely had to have at least one robot with her whenever she was doing any of this work, and she agreed, and promised.

Amy will have to spend a lot of her time in here with me, since she needs supervision and human contact. She’s fine with that. She knows she can bring her toys and her school work in here, and she knows how to enter a HC program, both one that is already running and a new one. Ordinarily, she’s not allowed to do either of those things without some sort of supervision, either human or robotic, and that’s still the case.

Damn! I didn’t need this. Oh, and broken ribs are a nightmare. It hurts every time I inhale. The broken leg is annoying, but not all that painful, but the wrist and shoulder hurt like hell. I feel like I can only take pain meds at night because they make me drowsy, and I can’t have that when the kids are up, so my days are really unpleasant.

The girls each have their own room, but Amy is sleeping in Lacy’s room until I’m better. It just makes sense, and Lacy was thoughtful enough to offer on her own. She’s such a great kid.

Next: A long recovery

[Wayne23]

1/1/2058: 2-0 start to Big 10 play.

1/15: 14-1, 5-1, #2, RPI #1. Minnesota beat us by 4 there, in a game we should NOT have lost. In a 3 way tie for 1st in the Big 10.

1/29: 18-1, 9-1, #2, RPI #1. In 1st by 2 games over 4 teams. +13.1 PPG, +5.4 RBs, +7.8 TOs. Wain gets 15.9 and 9.8.

Wade Wain is #12 and Lam Sten #30 on the Norton list. Wain should be higher.

2/12: 20-3, 11-3, #3, RPI #1. We’ve lost all three on the road. Tied with Maryland for 1st, 2 others 1 game back.

Wade Wain is #12 on the Norton list.

2/26: We end the regular season at 24-3, 15-3, #2, RPI #1. We win the Big 10 by 1 over Maryland, 2 over Michigan, 3 over Michigan ST. +12.0 PPG, +5.2 RBs, +6.7 TOs. Wain has 15.1 and 10.1.

3/5: We lose 2 starters to the draft, PG Lam Sen, and PF Emm Jeff.

Wade Wain is #8 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

November, 2161: Well, it took a long time. I was starting to think I’d be a permanent invalid. Thankfully, I finally started to mend, and as of yesterday I am a free man!

I started doing all of my “chores” again yesterday. Lacy came with me. She’s been keeping me informed all along but she wanted to go with me for my first time back. She offered to take on some of the responsibilities permanently. I told her I’d think about it. While I really do believe that a certain level of work is healthy for kids I need to think about how much I want her to do. It will be the safest things, and I don’t want it to be too much, but I can definitely use the help.

Amy says she’s happy not to have to spend so much time in the HC. I guess it was getting boring.

Normal never seems to last long but I’m enjoying it while it’s here.

Lacy informed today that she wants to be a scientist when she grows up. I told her nothing would make me happier.

Next: Stormy weather

[Wayne23]

3/7: #9 seed Penn ST, 11-17, 7-11, in the quarter finals. We won by 18 there but only 10 here.

3/8: 74-54. 41-16 at the half. 4 starters with 10 or more and the other one had 12 RBs. +10 RBs, +7 TOs.

#4 seed Michigan ST, 19-9, 12-6, in the semis. We won by 15 here, and then by 15 again there.

3/9: 89-81. Close most of the way. 21, 8, 3, 4 for Wain, 12 each for Chad and Sten. +8 TOs.

#2 seed, #13 ranked Maryland, 22-7, 14-4, for the title. We won by 25 here, lost by 9 there. They can play.

3/10: 90-76. 26, 4, 9 for Sten, 19, 8 for Wain.

3/12: 27-3, 15-3, Big 10 champs both regular season and tourney, #1, RPI #1. Looks like #1 overall.

#1 overall. We play Loyola-Maryland, 15-16.

3/16: 74-54. 22, 16, 4, 2, 4 for Wain. +10 RBs.

#8 seed Arizona ST, 22-10, in the 2nd round.

3/18: 89-64. 21, 9 for sub big man Gary Gore. One of those games where there was a whistle every other time down the floor. Fortunately, our bench had 43, there’s had 23.

#5 seed, #21 ranked Louisville, 21-9, in the Sweet Sixteen. They have a very good outside game but we have an edge inside, we think a big one.

3/23: 73-72. Rod Chad hit a three with .2 seconds left and we escaped. 24, 11 for Wain, 19 for Chad. +8 RBs, +6 TOs, but we didn’t shoot well and we didn’t defend all that well. “Survive and advance.”

#6 seed, 24 ranked Houston, 23-9, in the Elite Eight. They beat the #3 seed, then the #2 seed. On paper we should win this game.

The other side of the brackets is in shambles, #12 vs. #11 seeds, and #5 vs. #10 seeds. On our side, Duke, #1, vs. GA Tech, #3.

3/25: 102-81. 51-37 at the half. 29, 14 for Wain, 18, 9 for Asby, 13 with 10 assists for Sten. +17 RBs.

And we’re in the Final Four for my first time here at Indiana, in only my 2nd season.

We face #3 seed, #18 ranked Georgia Tech, 26-10, who beat #2 ranked Duke. We’re a big favorite to win both this game and the next.

On the other side it’s #11 seed Ohio ST vs. #10 seed Oklahoma ST.

4/1: 72-86. Not tonight. We led by 7 early, 4 at the half, and gave up 50 in the 2nd half. 56 fouls called, 28 on each team, BUT 2 of our guys fouled out, 2 others had 4. None of their guys fouled out, one starter and one sub had 4. Still, the refs were only one part of it. Far bigger was the fact that we shot 33.3%, they shot an amazing 63.4%, 61.5% on threes. Very, very disappointing.

4/3: #18 ranked Georgia defeated unranked Ohio ST by 6 for the title. It should have been ours.

4/4: Awards: Wade Wain makes 2nd team All American. I get national COY. In the Big 10, Wain is POY, Frosh OY, and 1st team. Lam Sten makes 2nd team. I get Conf. COY.

4/16: we again hire a lousy #2 assistant because we can’t get a good one.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. Yes. WE go from B+ to A.

31-4, 15-3, but disappointing. We should have won the national title. Overall, I’m 858-186, .822 after 30 seasons.