Fight Fiercely Harvard

[Wayne23]

11/27: Rather an excellent start I must say, 5-0 after two weeks. We have, to date, been exceptional in every way. +17.0 PPG, +4.8 RBs, +3.8 TOs (a remarkable 9.4 per game), and +3.0 assists.

Lane Will has been superb, averaging 16.8, 7.4, 3.2 blocks.

12/4: W have entered the NCAA rankings for the first time in school history at #19. We are overjoyed!

12/11: We are at 9-0, are ranked #16, and our RPI is #16. The latter is greatly inflated.

+13.9 PPG, +6.9 RBs, +2.5 TOs (still 9.4), + 2.7 assists. We are 2nd in the nation in both team rebounding and in TOs.

Whilst Lane Will is truly dominating we are more than pleased with the play of all seven of those who garner the lion’s share of playing time, as well as with Ad Loyd, who makes the most of the few minutes he is given. Should injury strike he would surely be ready to step in.

12/25: The winning streak ended in game 11 at Nicholls ST. We followed with another loss at #21 Georgetown. Then we recovered with a nearly awe inspiring 107-66 win against Rhode Island.

We stand at 11-2, #20, RPI #38 as we begin Ivy League play. +11.6 PPG, +5.7 RBs, +2.6 TOs, +3.0 assists. A most satisfactory pre-conference record.

As previously stated Lane Will is easily our finest player, but he has a great deal of help at all positions.

Fenny has come to Cissy and me to tell us he will no longer attend school. As he will turn 11 next month this is, to say the least, disconcerting.

“It is a complete waste of my time.”

“How so, lad?”

“Father, they teach me nothing of interest, and almost nothing that I do not already know. And their methods are beyond boring. We sit and listen all day. I won’t do it!”

He is on semester break for the next three weeks. Cissy and I had a long chat after he retired for the evening. We shall seek out alternatives. We have assured Fenny that we take the matter seriously, and that we shall make every effort to resolve it in a fashion that is satisfactory to all concerned.

[Wayne23]

1/1/’18: We are no longer in the top 25.

1/8/: 13-2, 2-0. We have returned to the Top 25 at #23. RPI #22.

Lane Will continues to lead us and I continue to be generally pleased with the effort from the 8 who play regularly.

We defeated the hated foe from New Haven by a mere 5 points here. Rebounding was our undoing, or near undoing, surprisingly. We shall endeavor to remedy that situation at practice.

(Author’s note: I am now playing out all conf. games at speed of 10. If the score is close with less than 4 minutes to play I slow down and coach.)

1/12 After a good deal of soul searching, conversation, and research of various types, Cissy and I have discovered a solution to the problem of Fenny’s refusal to attend school. Hence he shan’t!

Our research indicated that via the engagement of two excellent, well qualified tutors, each of whom will meet with him twice weekly, Fenny can essentially be in charge of his own education.

The tutors shall provide structure, and determine the rigor of the work done, but, in most cases Fenny himself shall determine the type and nature of the learning.

His STEM tutor understands that Fenny must learn as much math as he possibly can, but since this is an area of interest we foresee few issues.

The Humanities tutor will ascertain that Fenny reads the books a well-educated man must, and will further ascertain that they are understood on many levels. A thorough knowledge of world and U. S. history and geography is also a must.

Fenny already has a piano teacher. No change is contemplated in that regard. The teacher is wonderful, and as part of her work, she discusses music history with Fenny, as well as basic composition.

Cissy will be the Physical Education tutor, and will provide the occasional art lesson and/or experience.

We estimate that Fenny will spend 3-4 hours on formal study, four days per week, in the above areas. The rest of his time is his, to do with as he pleases, given parental approval, of course, and given that his academic progress meets or exceeds our standards.

All parties are at present quite pleased with this arrangement.

1/22: 17-2, 6-0, #18, RPI #8. 2 game lead in the Ivy.

We are dominating in conference. Four of our wins were by 15 or more and the other two were by five.

(Author’s note: Really enjoying playing out the games, even at max speed. And taking over in the final moments is fun. Too tedious, at least for me, to do it for every minute though.)

To date Fenny’s schooling, or mayhap his non-schooling plan is going very well.

1/29: 19-2, 8-0. #15, RPI #7. The RPI is completely unrealistic. We hold a three game lead over Columbia.

We continue to win easily. 4 of our last 6 are away, which may change things a bit.

+12.1 PPG, +4.6 RBs, +4.2 TOs, +4.1 assists. #9 in the nation in PPG, 12th in RBs, 2nd in TOs.

Will is #1 and Arn #3 in RBs in the Ivy. We have 5 of the top 12 in assists in conf.

[Wayne23]

2/12: 21-4, 10-2. Defeated by one on a last second shot in that gauche hangar in New Haven. Most upsetting! Two wins and then a night when we played poorly at Princeton.

Still, we have a three game lead with two to play so the conference is ours.

We have still not landed a recruit. We are courting four for our two open scholarships.

Cissy came to me with some wonderful news. She has accepted the position of chair of the U. S. Olympic tennis committee.

Fenny continues to be happy with his new education plan. His tutors tell us that he is doing excellent work, and is accepting challenges to go beyond what we have asked of him.

2/19: We end the regular season at 22-5, 11-3, two games above Columbia and Princeton.

Ranked #14, RPI #10, both of which are too elevated.

A much need respite lies ahead.

+10.7 PPG, +4.0 RBs, +4.3 TOs, +2.5 assists. Lowest TO rate in Div. I.

2/26: At long last we receive a commitment. Ty Ande, PF, #133. One more to go, hopefully.

[Wayne23]

3/1: Quarterfinals:

1 Harvard 72–49 Brown 8. 25, 11 for Will, 12, 11 for Arn, 14, 8 for SF John Snee. +20 RBs.

2 Columbia 69–50 Dartmouth 7

3 Princeton 75–82 Yale 6

4 Cornell 95–73 Penn 5

3/2 Semifinals:

1 Harvard 78–70 Cornell 4. +9 RBs, +6 TOs. Arn had 19 and 7.

2 Columbia 77–62 Yale 6

3/3: Final

1 Harvard 66–54 Columbia 2. +9 TOs. 16, 7 for Will.

It is indeed gratifying to win yet another Ivy crown!

Cissy has been quite busy with her new duties.

3/12: 25-5, 11-3, #17, RPI #7. We are hopeful that a #5 seed is within the realm of possibility. Dare we hope for a #4?

#6 East. We play #11 seed VCU, 21-10, from the Atlantic 10.

3/16: 90-64. +11 RBs, +7 TOs. Arn had 31, 7. All the starters were in double figures.

#3 seed, #14 ranked Miami (FL) is next. Their PG has a slight ankle injury. He will play, but is at 87%. This promises to be a challenging encounter.

3/18: 64-74. +17 RBs, +2 Tos, but we shot a mere 28.8%, which did us in. We say goodbye to seniors Lane Will and John Snee. Snee played well for us but Will may be the best who has ever donned the Crimson. He shall be sorely missed!

4/4: #1 Florida defeated #3 Duke, 96-76 for the national title.

Awards: Lane Will was named defensive POY, and first team in the Ivy. While we were disappointed that he did not repeat as conference POY, in truth, we had a great deal more talent this season and so, important as he was, he “shared the glory” on the team, as it were. Forward Josh Arn was named to the second team and I received the coaching award.

4/16: A wonderful surprise. We became involved with juco recruit Dee Keel, PF, #24, quite late. We did so because academics is his #1 area of interest. We offer. He accepted!

4/23: We ask for a facilities upgrade which is much needed. Denied. Drat!

I have been reprimanded by A. D. Clausen P. Gherkin. It seems that I am bringing harm to the image of our university. I am to refrain from making any further efforts to recruit junior college or transfer students with a GPA of less than 3.0. Bringing in recruits who do not meet those standards is “not conducive to the high academic standards expected of the students at our exceptional university. We are first, foremost, and only an academic institution which strives to maintain the very highest standards.”

He sent this as a note. It would seem to me that it should have been discussed in a meeting.

I went to his office to discuss it. I pointed out that my student/athletes almost all reached the 3.0 standard by the end of their first academic year here at Harvard.

I was told that the matter was not open for discussion.

It is noted.

Cissy is quite busy with her duties with the U. S. Olympic Committee. There is a fair amount of travel involved. She finds the work gratifying.

Fenny continues to excel in his academics. This program seems ideal for him.

While we are losing Lane Will, perhaps the finest player we have ever had here at Harvard, I feel that, overall, we will be a better team next season. Time will tell!

Cissy has a window of time, as do I. We will spend a month cruising the South Pacific in our 58 foot cabin cruiser.

Dizzy Phrytch will take charge of the team while I am away, but we will be in communication as needed, at least on a daily basis.

Fenny will remain at home. His nanny will also be in contact with us as needed.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Dizzy: Per instruction from Coach Smythe we have purchased the usual Atlantic East Gold and national basic scouting reports. All is well.

5/25: I am back. The South Pacific was paradisical.

6/5: We have found a transfer who meets our new requirements.

6/12: Landed him! Lou Camp, Duke sophomore PG. 3.9 GPA. He could not get minutes there but will start for us next season, I would wager.

6/26: 4 scholarships to fill. Looking at 15.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs and 2 inside players.

9/18: The schedule is a bit more challenging this season.

9/25: Two recruits have committed to the Crimson: PF Jay Burk, #55, and PG Joe Forr, #840, but we feel his stock shall rise.

10/2: First day of practice. If we remain relatively injury free we shall do well but we are not deep.

10/9: Cris Hite, PG, #129 commits. We need an inside player.

11/6: Our lineup is as follows, for the moment at least: We are deep and experienced at guard. Returning starters, senior Erik King and junior Jay Fred will start. Junior Ad Loyd will back up, and
soph Ray Jeff is waiting in the wings.

Soph Jim Ware, a transfer from Tulane, starts at SF, backed by last year’s starter, junior Don Phil.

Inside it’s returning senior starter Josh Arn and junior juco Dee Kell, with junior Arkansas transfer Tony Robb first off the bench.

I think this will be a very strong lineup.

Cissy continues to do a good deal of travel.

Fenny, as part of a major project, is traveling with Cissy. He is creating a text based tennis game featuring real players, historical players, and fictional players, of both genders. They will play on all types of courts in all of the tournaments, and will improve their game via a practice regimen, fitness training, a diet component- let us say that the game is multi-faceted.

Fenny plans to market the game to schools and to students and families. It will contain a history and a geography component, with built in assignments and tests and quizzes, \along with suggested projects.

Fenny sees this as the first of a series of educational games focused upon gaming and sports, but with serious educational aspects.

A very large educational gaming company is very interested.

[Wayne23]

11/27: 4-1. Lost to #21 Pitt, there. 4 of 5 were away.

Our backcourt is playing marvelously. Our forecourt is not at the standard I want, need, and expect. Don Phil will immediately begin to receive more playing time. Other changes are under consideration.

Our three committed recruits all signed. We are pursuing two inside players for our remaining roster position.

12/11: 8-1, RPI #28. The inside game is doing a bit better but still not as well as we would like. Our guards are carrying us, +8.5 TOs, +4.3 steals, +2.9 assists.

Don Phil has returned to the starting lineup at SF. We lose just a wee in rebounding but gain on scoring and gain considerably defensively.

We have defeated some good teams, including Weber ST, Tennessee, Penn ST, Rutgers…

Fenny is drawing some interest with his text based tennis sim. He is consulting with some graduate students here at Harvard both regarding certain aspects of programming the game, as well as with the academic tie in. A world renown professor of gifted education is extremely enthused regarding the educational possibilities.

Millionaire gaming guru, Gerry Gorky, of Wolfbane Studios, the leader in the text based sim field, has taken a strong interest in the game, as well as in Fenny’s plans to incorporate the academic aspect into other games.

Gorky was quoted as saying, “We at Wolfbane Studios want IN on this! We would love to expand our market to schools and students by marrying our best in the business games with this academic component. We are prepared to offer young Mr. Smythe a very attractive percentage of revenues generated by the tennis game and any other games which may arise in the future.”

Gorky went on to say, "Look, we're the biggest name in text based gaming, by far. We can give this game exposure they won;t get anywhere else, and when the other games come on board I can all but guarantee terrific sales. I'm willing to partner with the right people if the deal makes it worthwhile."

12/18: Ranked! #22, RPI #19. 10-1.

12/25: 11-2, #22, RPI #53, at the end of pre-conference play.

+14.1 PPG, +1.3 RBs, +7.8 TOs, +2.7 assists, +4.6 steals. While C/PF Dee Kell is our leader in both scoring and RBs, this is and has been a guard oriented team all season.

For the first time in living memory two Ivy schools are ranked. Cornell is #25.

[Wayne23]

1/8/’19: 13-2, 2-0. #20, RPI #24. Two easy wins to begin conference play.

Returning Don Phil to the starting lineup has paid huge dividends.

Fenny tells us that the tennis portion of his game is complete. He expects the academic aspects to be fully incorporated within the month.

Negotiations continue apace with both Educational Gamery, and Wolbane Studios, both of whom very much wish to market the game.

1/22: 17-2, 6-0. #14, RPI #14. We hold a two game lead in conference. For the most part Ivy games have not been close. BUT, we play our two strongest opponents away, at the very end of the season.

All five starters average 10.1 or more points per game.

1/29: 18-3, 7-1, #13, RPI #12. My poor coaching late in the game led to a one point defeat at Princeton. I am not pleased with myself.

Today Fenny signed a contract with Wolfbane Studios, and they will be the exclusive distributors for Fens Tennis, as well as for any and all future games from FenSmythe Inc, Fenny’s business.

Millionaire game developer Gerry Gorky said, “We at Wolfbane Studios are overjoyed at the opportunity to distribute games for FenSmythe Inc. We feel that this will be a very lucrative enterprise, but more importantly, the educators we have worked with tell us that these games have the potential to make a tremendous positive impact on learning for, potentially, millions of students.”

FensTennis will be available for purchase on February 1. Other games are expected to follow as early as this fall.

[Wayne23]

2/12: 22-3, 11-1, #10, RPI #8. We hold a 2 game lead with 2 to play. Both opponents should be challenging.

FensTennis launched successfully on Feb. 1. Given the unique nature of the game that Fenny is only 12, there was a great deal of publicity. We are told sales are exceeding expectations.

2/19: 23-4, 12-2, #11, RPI #11, 1st place by 2 games.

Going to the last game of the regular season we held a one game lead over Princeton. As fate would have it they were our opponent, here in Cambridge. We played the game of our lives, taking an early lead and extending it to as much as 29. The game was never close.

Going to post season play we are +13.2 PPG, +3.3 RBs, +8.1 TOs (#2 in the nation with 9.8 per game), +1.8 assists, and +3.7 steals.

[Wayne23]

3/1: Ivy Quarter Finals:

1 Harvard 79–65 Dartmouth 8. +18 RBs, +7 TOs. 17, 8 for Arn, 15, 9 for Kell, all 5 in double figures.

2 Princeton 75–82 Yale 7

3 Cornell 62–54 Brown 6

4 Columbia 78–69 Penn 5

3/2: Ivy Semifinals:

1 Harvard 86–46 Columbia 4. I do believe this is the very best we have yet played during my tutelage. +16 TOs. 20 for Phil, but excellent play all round.

7 Yale 67–59 Cornell 3

The “gentlemen” from New Haven seem to have found a certain rhythm at a rather fortuitous time. During the regular season we defeated them by 13 there, and 16 here.

3/3: Ivy Finals:

1 Harvard 79–50 Yale 7. The outcome was never in doubt. +28 RBs. 15 and 15 for Kell, 19, 4 for Phil, 10, 9 for backup inside player Tony Robb.

On to the NCAA tournament!

3/12: 26-4, 12-2, #15, RPI #10.

#4 West. We play #13 Coppin ST, 21-9, Mid-Eastern Athletic. Three Ivy teams made the NCAA. Princeton won the play in and lost in the first round. Cornell lost in the first round.

3/17: 79-70. 40-29 at the half. +8 TOs, +5 RBs. A team effort, with five players in double figures.

#12 seed Boise ST, 22-11, Mountain West, upset #5 seed Arkansas, so we play them next. We feel that we are the stronger team.

3/19: 79-89. -4 RBs, +12 TOs. We allowed them to shoot 53.8%, including 14-28 on threes, and that was the critical factor. We simply did not play particularly well. So it goes.

4/4: #2 Florida defeated #1 Louisville for the national title.

Awards: Junior PF Dee Kell is POY, Defensive POY, and 1st team along with senior PF Josh Arn. Junior PG Jay Fred makes the 2nd team, and I am, once again, COY.

4/23: We ask for a budget increase. Approved, $8,600.

We end the year 27-5, 12-2. #15, RPI #10. My career record is 100-30, .769.

+12.3 PPG, +3.2 RBs, +8.2 TOs (#1 in the country at 9.8), +1.5 assists, +3.8 steals.

Fens Tennis is a hit. It has been on the market for two months. Gaming Guru Gerry Gorky, of Wolfbane Studios says that he has never had a game take off as quickly as this one.

Gorky went on to say, “Fenny Smythe and his team of academic advisors are hard at work adding an academic component to our entire line of team games- football, pro and college basketball, hockey, and golf. Most of our customers will want to stay with the current versions but the academic versions will be available as soon as we can make that happen. We are stretching our R & D budget to speed things up.”

When asked what was next Fenwick Smythe said, “Baseball and soccer, in that order. Baseball by sometime this summer.”

Interesting times lie ahead.

[Wayne23]

Wondering if the inimitable Gary Gorski, Esq., will appreciate the fact that I have placed him in this dynasty. Oh, there's more Gary ahead... MUCH more! The names have been changed to protect...