After Dystopia

[Wayne23]

11/13: We start with #10 ranked, #1 seed Duke at the NIT. We’re the #16 seed.

11/14: 89-79. We were up 1 at the half. We made two adjustments and started the 2nd 17-4. Greg Duke had 16, 9, sub Dio Barq had 18. 41 RBs, 12 TOs. Great way to start the season.

#23 ranked, #8 seed Seton Hall in the round of 8.

11/16: 71-56. We never trailed. 11 players scored. 47 RBs, 11 TOs.

#6 ranked, #4 seed Georgetown in the semis.

11/18: 83-66. This went back and forth for about 17 minutes. We closed the half with a 9-0 run, then started the 2nd with an 11-1 run, and that was that. 16, 7 for sub Chaz Bert, but again, lots of contributors. +14 RBs.

I guess we’ve got a pretty good team here!

#3 ranked, #2 seed Pitt for the title.

11/20: 73-69, and the title! It was a war. It stayed within 5 points until about 2 ½ minutes left. Up one, we went on a 10-3 run, and then hung on.

Balance again. 11 players scored, we played solid D, and we took care of the ball and the boards.

#14 in the new poll.

4 at home coming up.

11/24: 78-68 over Southern Miss. We were a little sluggish, but we came on late. Lots of foul trouble but sub Dio Barq had 19, 7 from the bench. 45 RBs, 13 TOs.

11/27: 89-62 over Dayton, here. Subs Barq and Brix really played well, 12, 5 for Barq, 13 for Brix.. Duke, King, and Knox also had big games. 37 RBs, 9 TOs.

6-0, #5, RPI #2.

PF Del Land, #114, committed.

12/1: 74-52 over Iona here. No contest. 5 in double figures, good bench play.

12/4: 71-45 over Long Beach ST here. 13, 8, 5 for Wole at SG, 15 for King, 8, 9 for Knox.

I should have put together a more challenging schedule, I guess.

8-0, #4, RPI #3.

12/6: 74-73 at Western Carolina. The refs were not kind but our outside D could have been much better. Sub Dio Barq, who is getting starters minutes, had 11 and 6, including the game winner. 13, 8, 2, 2, 2 for Al Knox. 15 for Duke.

This was our first true road game after 4 on a neutral court and 4 at home. We’ll take the win!

12/11: Back home, and a 79-55 win over previously undefeated Tulane. 17, 11 for Knox, 16, 4 for Barq, 13, 4, 3, 2 for King, 12, 5 for Duke. +6 RBs, 9 TOs.

10-0, #3, RPI #3.

12/14: 76-65 at Central Arkansas. They were 6-2 coming in. 16, 7, 5 for Wole, 17, 7 for Knox, 12, 7 for Duke. 12 TOs. This is the best ball handling team I’ve coached.

Met someone a couple of weeks ago. Callie Hayes is a medical doctor. I knew her, of course, but had never had social contact with her. She’s not a hoops fan, and she’s not on the Council, so there was not a lot of interaction.

There was a musical review a week ago Friday, and as it happened she and I were seated together.

We chatted before the show and discovered that we share interests in reading fiction, and in theater and music. At Intermission she bought me a glass of wine and we continued to chat.

After the review we spoke for at least an hour. In the past 10 or 11 days we’ve managed to either see each other or chat on line every day. It’s early, but this feels good.

Oh, Callie is 31 (I’m 42). She’s short and rail thin. She’s a dedicated runner. Becoming an M. D. is a very different process these days. She studied anatomy, of course, and did all of the coursework possible. But her real learning took place when she apprenticed to one of our older M.D.s. He taught her everything she knows, according to her. And she knows a lot. She’s a surgeon, and what used to be known as an internist. We simply do not have enough medics to let them specialize all that much.

We are just beginning to be able to do delicate operations, and her greatest frustration is the relatively low success rates of such surgeries, but she says that the medics need to get through this stage in order to progress to where the success rate improves.

I did some checking. She’s #1 in survival rate among all of the surgeons in the 8 communities, and she seems to perform more complex operations than any of the others, as well. She is even called to other communities when there are particularly difficult surgeries that need to be performed.

She works too hard, which she admits. Lots of hours are spent teaching medical students, which is vital.

I’ll keep you posted as time goes by.

12/18: 72-71 at Maine. Brad Wole drained a 16 footer at the buzzer. Stats were close to even across the board. 12, 6, 6 for Knox, 12, 3, 6, 3, 2 for Wole. 2 one point wins so far.

12-0, #4, RPI #4.

12/22: 80-59 over George Washington here. 5 in double figures. +13 TOs, +9 RBs.

12/25: 67-52 at Binghamton. 15, 12, 3, 3 for Knox, 18, 6 for Duke. +15 RBs, +7 TOs.

We end the pre-conf. season at 14-0, #4, RPI #2. +14.6 PPG, +7.2 RBs, +5.1 TOs. This is a very good team.

Callie and I are very new but we managed to spend some of the holiday together. Just small gifts, books mostly.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2583: We open conf. play with a 70-53 win over No. Ill., here. 19, 8 for Duke, 15, 6, 2, 2, 2 for Knox. Sub Jar Mine hurt his shoulder. Out about a week.

For whatever reason we fell to #6 in the polls.

1/5: 87-72 at Toledo. 15 each for Knox and Barq, 13, 5, 5 for Lee. +8 RBs, +7 TOs.

1/8: 96-68 over what may be the 2nd best team in conf., Western Mich. 29 for sub guard Nat Brix, and 4 others with between 17 and 12.

17-0, 3-0, #3, RPI #1.

1/12: 87-72 over Ball ST here. 24, 9 for Knox, 15, 8 for Duke. 7 TOs.

Callie and I got to talking about books. When the old internet was restarted (before our time) most of the content was still there, including the on line books- essentially nearly everything that had ever been published. Before long it became an on line library. People just download what they want. Society has never restarted things like TV and movies in any but the most minimal sense. There are plays, music concerts, things like that, but not the constant, endless sources of entertainment that was in place before everything came crashing down. So lots of people read. But there’s not much in place to discuss books, outside of formal classrooms. People have talked about book clubs, book discussions, and all of that but no one has ever done anything to get that going. Callie has decided to explore that. She doesn’t have the time to really take an active leadership role but she wants to facilitate the start of book discussions, even book clubs, where groups of people all read the same book, and then discuss it. Sounds interesting. Oh, the whole thing would be in an on line forum, which would allow people from different communities to participate together.

1/15: I suppose the bubble had to burst. It did last night, 69-80 at Eastern Michigan. We shot poorly, 34.4%, but worse, we just seemed a step slow on D, all night long. We couldn’t seem to focus. I tried different players, different looks, but nothing woke us up. 16, 8 for Knox, 8, 6, 6 for Wole, but no one else did much. The officiating didn’t help, but the refs didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves.

1/19: 83-72 over Akron here. It was close for almost 30 minutes. -10 RBs, but +14 TOs. We are #2 nationally in TOs.

4 teams in conf. are at 5-1. We are one of them. 3 teams are ranked.

1/22: 86-75 at Miami (OH). 18, 6 for Knox. 8 TOs. We led all the way.

Jar Mine reinjured his shoulder. It’s not serious.

20-1, 6-1, #4, RPI #1.

Book clubs are the new “thing.” They are everywhere, about all sorts of books. This is a winner!

1/26: 78-70 at Ohio. We didn’t break it open until there were about 5 minutes to play. 6 players in double figures, +17 RBs. Threes kept them in; they hit 15 of them.

1/29: 70-63 over #24 Bowling Green here. They led by 9 early, then we came back, leading by as many as 16 in the 2nd half. 17, 8, 3 for Duke, 14, 8 for Barq. +16 RBs.

Al Knox is #12 on the Norton list.

22-1, 8-1, #3, RPI #2. +13.2 PPG, +5.9 RBs, +6.3 TOs (#1 in the nation).

There are now only 2 teams with one conference loss. We play the other one, Kent ST, there next.

[Wayne23]

2/2: 77-68. We led most of the way. 28, 11, 4, 2 for Knox, 16, 3, 5, 2 for Wole. +12 RBs.

We are the only team with 1 loss in conf., and only Kent ST has 2.

Barq hurt his hand. He’s day to day.

Book clubs are the talk of the communities. There are 3 on Shakespeare- Hamlet, King Lear, As You Like It, and the rest run the gamut from classic literature to romance novels, to juvenile fiction, to sci fi, to- you name it. English teachers are overjoyed!

2/5: 89-65 over Buffalo here. 20, 6 for Barq, 18, 7, 3, 2 for Knox, 17, 6 for King. +17 RBs.

We are now at least 2 games up on everyone in conf.

25-1, 11-1, and #1 in the country, which is pretty humbling. #1 RPI.

2/9: 70-45 at No. Ill. Unusual to win that big on the road. Everyone contributed on O, but it was the D that was terrific- 31.3%. +15 TOs.

2/12: 73-69 over Toledo here. Good teams win on an off night, and that’s what we did. 25, 4, 3, 2 for sub guard Nat Brix, and 19, 4 for King. +9 TOs. But -6 RBs, and we only shot 36.7%. We’ll take the win!

26-1, 12-1, #1, #1. Up 2 on Kent ST, 3 or more on the rest.

Al Knox is #11 on the Norton list.

2/16: 73-59 at Western Mich. Back and forth but we pulled away with about 8 minutes to go. 5 players in double figures, and we got a stop every time we needed one.

There seems to be some unrest in Toronto. They are ruled by a 5 member board- all male, all white, all over 40 years old. This has been in place for a very long time, and people there seemed to accept it. People lived well, there were no more restrictions than in any other community. But the younger generation seems to be uncomfortable with the lack of representation, and with the lack of democracy. A seemingly sizable group has formed. They have been speaking out at Council meetings, and holding protest signs at various places, mostly those places where the 5 Council members can be found. All 5 manage businesses of one kind or another. Although Toronto does not use money, the 5 are all considered powerful within the community, and frankly, they seem to live better than anyone else in the community.

So far all is peaceful, but this will need to be watched.

2/19: Our third 1 point road win, 63-62 at Ball ST. We led by 11 with 2:37 left. They hit 3 threes, then missed one, then hit 2 more. At that point we were down one with 4.2 to go. In what was a terrible mistake one of their players committed a blatant reach in foul with 1.1 to go. Greg Duke hit both, and that was that. Fouls and TOs hurt us, but we managed a win.

28-1, 14-1, #1, #1.

2/20: 78-49 Bracket Breaker win over Chattanooga here. 19, 11 for Knox, 4 others in double figures. 42 RBs (+21).

2/23: We close conf. play with a 71-60 win over Eastern Mich. here. 21, 8, 3, 2 for Knox, 16, 4 for Duke.

We win our division by 5, the conf. by 3.

Regular season ends 30-1, 15-1, #1, RPI #1. +13.6 PPG, +5.8 RBs, +6.2 TOs.3/4: Some broken windows and other vandalism as a protest in Toronto turns violent. Some reports indicate that as many as

10,000 people were protesting today. In a community of about 56,000, that’s significant.

The 8 Councils are meeting jointly on Monday night to discuss the situation.

3/6: The Councils, at the request of Toronto, will send observers who will be unarmed. They will have free access to interview anyone in the community and to go to any public place at any time.

[Wayne23]

3/7: #8 seed Ball ST, 13-15, 8-8, in the ¼ finals. We won by only 1 point there last week.

3/8: 74-59. It was never close. 7 layers scored between 6 and 15. +21 TOs was the key. They had 30!

#4 seed Bowling Green, 23-8, 11-5, in the semis. We won by only 7 here.

3/9: 86-77 in our 1st OT game of the season. 21 lead changes and 11 ties. We dominated the OT after almost blowing the lead late. They were at the line with time expired in regulation, needing 2 to win. The shooter hit the 1st and missed the 2nd. 20, 5, 7, 3, 3 for Wole. 20 TOs, our most of the season. +8 RBs. Our bench came up very big, 32, 11, 5.

#2 seed, Kent ST, 24-8, for the title. We won by 9 there.

3/10: 65-67. They won it on a half court shot at the buzzer but we didn’t play very well. We shot 32.1%. -3 RBs, +4 TOs. Our front line was in foul trouble throughout. We almost escaped but we didn’t play well enough to win.

This may cost us a #1 seed.

32-2, 15-1, #2, RPI #2 going to selection.

3/12: #1 South, #3 overall. We play 18-12 Scared Heat.

3/14: Lots of interviews and just conversations with the people of Toronto. They very simply want a representative form of government. And they clearly intend to keep fighting until they get it.

3/17: 64-58. Too close. For the 2nd straight game we shot 32.1%; if it happens again we’ll go home. We won because we had lots more talent, but we did not play very well. Too many fouls, too little moving without the ball on O. The D was fine.

Art Lee banged up a hip. He’ll play if we need him.

#8 seed TCU, 23-6, in the 2nd round.

3/19: 73-66. We’re still shooting very poorly, 34.9% tonight. 22 lead changes, 16 ties, and until we hit two free throws with 1.1 left, our biggest lead had been 5; theirs was 4. 24, 12, 4, 4 for Knox, who was a giant tonight. 13, 10 for Duke, 10 for Barq. 45 RBs. The front line was immense. Only 10 TOs. We did a lot right but TCU hung with us.

On to the Sweet Sixteen vs. #12 seed St. Joe’s, 23-12, who upset #5 seed Syracuse in the 1st round, then beat #13 seed Stetson in the 2nd.

3/21: The Toronto 5 man Council is refusing to consider free elections. Demonstrations are threatening to turn into riots. So far there have only been a few broken windows but the mood of the people is not calm and patient.

3/24: 75-63 and we’re back in the Elite Eight. 43-18 at the half. 19, 10 for Duke, 7, 12 for Knox, 10, 9, 3 for Wole. We shot 42.6%, which is a step up, but not great.

#2 seed, #9 ranked Kentucky, 25-8, for a trip to the Final Four.

3/26: 83-94. We couldn’t stop them, esp. in the 2nd half when they scored 52. 31, 14, 4 for Knox, 15, 5 for Duke, 13, 6 for King. +11 RBs, but -11 TOs. They were just too much offensively.

4/3: Florida wins it all.

4/4: Awards: I got national COY. In conf., Al Knox made 1st team, Greg Duke and Dio Barz made 2nd. I got conf. COY.

4/9: No interesting job offers- again.

4/11: At a joint Council meeting I proposed that we mandate a free and open referendum on government in Toronto. Their citizens would simply vote to keep the 5 member Council, or move to an elected 9 member Council. This sparked a heated debate. In the end it was decided that we would give Toronto more time to solve their own problems but would keep unarmed observers there.

4/23: We ask for a facilities upgrade. Denied.

35-3, 15-1, Elite Eight.

Overall, 216-52, .806 after 8 years as a head coach.

Callie and I are moving in together this weekend.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the National Gold and International Basic.

6/5: No transfers we’re interested in.

6/7: A Molotov Cocktail struck the Toronto Community Center and caused a fair amount of damage. It was done in the middle of the night, so no injuries.

6/9: The 7 other Councils sent the Toronto Council a strongly worded recommendation that they hold a referendum giving their citizens a choice of keeping the current form of government or going to an elected Council. There is actually support for keeping things as they are. T5hat’s the problem. No one knows how many want change and how many don’t.

6/10: Toronto sent word that they are taking our suggestion under advisement.

6/14: 125 protesters chained themselves to the entrances to the various factories in the community. None of them are able to be entered.

6/15: Impasse in Toronto. Our observers are reporting that negotiations are being held between the protestors and Council members. At least so far no one has been forcibly removed.

6/16: The Council has agreed to hold a referendum. It will be held on July 1, and will include one question: “Resolved, that the current form of government in Toronto should be maintained.” People will vote Yes or No. WE feel it should have been a choice between the current form and a 9 member elected Council, but it’s a step.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We need bigs more than guards.

7/1: The referendum ballots have been counted in Toronto. 11,189 voted yes, 21,942 voted no. The Council will meet tomorrow to discuss the next steps.

7/2: The Toronto Council has formed a 9 member committee to decide upon “the formation of a new form of government.” Interestingly enough the committee has 3 current Council members, 3 leaders of the opposition, and 3 people who are widely regarded in Toronto as having an open mind.

They are tasked with bringing a recommendation to the Council in three months, on October 2.

7/22: Things have been quiet in Toronto since the committee was formed.

8/7: Al Knox is only #47 on the Norton list. Given that he finished at #12 last season…

8/21: We offer to 2 bigs and a PG.

9/18: We get a PF, lose a PG.

We’re back in the NIT, and against Duke again. They’re #11 ranked this time. Schedule is much more challenging this season, esp. at home.

9/25: Got our 2nd big guy, a C. Lost another PG.

10/2: We get the PG. If everyone hits our SAT score we’re finished.

1st day of practice. Two straight 30+ win seasons, and 2 straight trips to the Elite Eight. Love to stay at that level!

The Toronto recommendation came in. They recommend a 9 member Council with 5 elected and 4 appointed. The 4 appointed members would be taken from the 5 currently serving. This will go to referendum on 11/1. It was NOT received well by the people of Toronto but the reactions, while very vocal, were peaceful.

Callie is pregnant. We decided we want a child a while ago so this is great news. Due April 27.

11/1: The Toronto proposal was rejected by a better than 2-1 margin. Hopefully the committee will get it right next time. New proposal due on 12/1.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Sophs Nat Brix and Del Kite start at guard, backed by juniors Brad Wole and Gar Grey.

Al Knox starts at SF, backed by Chaz Bert. Both are seniors.

Juniors Dio Barq and Ty Buck start inside, with junior Jay Tron in support.

[Wayne23]

11/14: 91-73 over #11 ranked, #2 seed Duke in the 1st round of the NIT. The front line was unstoppable. 28, 7, 3, 3 for Knox, 24, 9 for Buck, 13, 7, 2 for Barq. 39 RBs and only 10 TOs.

#7 seed, #22 ranked Oregon is next.

11/16: 75-73. We led by 19 early in the 2nd half. Oregon chipped away. But they never had a chance to tie or win. The final margin came as a result of a three with less than a second to play. 22 for Knox, 20 and 4 for Barq, 16 for Nat Brix.

#14 seed Purdue in the semifinal round.

The three members of the current Toronto Council resigned from the committee deciding what will be proposed on the December 1 referendum. This is widely seen as a sign that the committee will recommend a 9 member elected Council.

11/18: 64-56. We were 5 down at the half but we controlled play in the 2nd. 10, 9 for Knox, 14, 2, 7, 2 for Brix, 10, 7 for Barq. The only thing that kept it close was fouls. 22 called on us, 11 on them.

#1 seed, #1 ranked Florida in the final. This will be a challenge.

11/20: 64-79. Very good team, and they were a step quicker. We couldn’t get good shots because they were on us, and too quick for us to get open regularly. We kept working, but we were over matched.

Callie seems to be doing fine. She’s healthy, not gaining much weight and seems to have very little morning sickness.

11/23: 79-57 over previously undefeated George Washington here. 17, 10 for Knox, 21, 3 for Barq, 15 for sub Chaz Bert. +13 TOs (8), +6 RBs.

The word out of Toronto is that the committee will do the right thing and call for a 9 member elected Council. That’s just hearsay at this point, of course.

11/26: 74-58 over a good Texas Tech team here. 23, 8 for Barq, 11 TOs, 35 RBs.

11/27: 5-1, #9, RPI #14.

11/30: 86-72 over Illinois here. 59 in the 1st half! 22, 7 for Barq, 17 each for Knox and Brix. +7 RBs.

12/1 The committee in Toronto reported in. The proposal is for a 9 member elected Council. To be on the ballot a candidate needs 1000 signatures from citizens of the community.

In order to be elected a candidate must receive a majority of votes cast- defined as 50% plus 1. In the event that 9 are not elected, another election will be held a week after the first- same rules, but those elected in the first round are not on the ballot.

Citizens get 9 votes in round one, as many votes as there are open spots after that. In other words, if 7 are elected, then citizens get 2 votes in the next round. Voting continues on a weekly basis until the 9 slots are filled.

Candidates may drop out but no new candidates will be added. Members will eventually be elected for three year terms but in this go round the 3 receiving the most votes will serve for 4 years, the next 3 for 3 years, the final 3 for 2 years. There will be a year with no election, and then 3 members will be elected every year.

In case of a vacancy the spot will remain vacant until the next election when someone will be elected to fill the unexpired term.

The Council will select its own Chair and Vice-Chair.

This goes to referendum on 12/15, and if passed, elections will be held on 2/15 of next year.

12/3: 83-77 at Cal-Riverside. The road is never easy. We led most of the way, by as many as 22, but we faded late. The game was not as close as the final score. 30, 3, 3, 2 for Brix, 19, 4, 2, 2 for Barq.

12/7: 70-63 at Chattanooga. 12 threes kept them relatively close, but like our last game this one was not as close as the final score. 12, 13, 2, 3 for Buck, 14, 5, 4, 2 for Knox, 15, 2, 4 for Barq.

12/10: 80-78 over Miami here. Another late fade. We led by as many as 21. This time they had a shot to tie or win on the last possession. They missed a 12 footer. 10 TOs, and lots of points up front.

12/11: 9-1, #9, RPI #13. 4 pre-conf. games to play, all at home.

12/14: A 78-45 romp over Central Arkansas. 28, 8 for Barq, +12 TOs.

2 injuries- little used Len Craw will miss about 10 days with a knee strain, and sub guard Jay Tron is day to day with a hip issue.

12/15: The Toronto referendum passed with 88% of the vote. Candidate petitions must be submitted by 1/15/’84, and the election will be on 2/15.

12/17: 77-70 over Central FL here. It was close for 37 minutes. A 12-2 run put them away. 5 in double figures. 17 TOs, but they had 22. +6 RBs.

12/21: 64-48 over Boise ST here.17, 6 for Barq. 46 RBs, 10 TOs.

Chaz Bert hurt his back. Out about a week. Tron is back though.

12/24: 83-70 over Nevada here. A close first half but we dominated the second. 16, 10 for Buck, 16, 6, 5 for Wole, 3 others in double figures. 35 RBs, 9 TOs.

12/25: 13-1, #6, RPI #16 going to conf. play. +10.7 PPG, +2.9 RBs, +5.6 TOs.

[Wayne23]

12/31: 78-58 over Northern Illinois here to start conf. play. 19, 7 for Barq. + 7 TOs.

1/4/’84: 70-68 at Eastern Michigan. Sloppy game by both teams. We should not have struggled this much against a team that was 4-9 coming in. 22, 7 for Barq. 18 TOs, but they had 22.

1/7: 81-70 over Western Michigan here. 27 for Knox, 11 assists for Wole.

The word from Toronto is that there will be lots of candidates on the ballot.

1/11: 72-52 over Toledo here. 28, 7 for Knox, 10, 12, 3 for Buck, 15, 8 for Barq. 10 TOs, 36 RBs.

1/14: 83-69 at Ball ST. 5 in double figures, 3 of them subs.+7 TOs, good shooting- 49.1%.

1/15: 18-1, 5-0, #5, RPI #8.

36 candidates with valid petitions in Toronto. So 4 candidates for every Council seat. One4 month until the first round of the election. Remember 50% =1 vote is needed for election.

1/18: 81-64 over Miami (OH) here. Front line all in double figures, +11 TOs.

1/21: 58-44 over Ohio here. Strange game. It was 36-13 at the half, so the outcome was never in doubt, but the shooting was awful- 33.9% for us, 29.2% for them. 18, 8 for Knox, 12, 6 for Tron,
10, 8 for Barq.

6 of our last 9 conference games are on the road.

1/22: 20-1, 7-0, #5, RPI #7.

The Toronto campaign is interesting. About 18-20 candidates seem to be campaigning very hard, while the rest don’t seem to be doing much at all.

1/25: 81-71 at Akron. 19, 6, 3, 3 for Barq, and 5 in double figures. +9 TOs, +6 RBs.

1/28: 82-89 at #24 Kent ST in OT. 12 lead changes, 8 ties. They hit a 23 foot three at the end of regulation to take it to OT, and then they got hot, and we got cold. Cold shooting hurt, 33.8% for the game, 2-9 in OT. Al Knox hurt his back and didn’t play much. It doesn’t look serious.

1/29: Knox is #10 on the Norton list.

All of our committed recruits hit our SAT score.

[Wayne23]

2/1: 88-71 over Buffalo here. 27, 10 for Barq, 21, 9, 3, 3 for Buck. 42 RBs, 11 TOs.

The Toronto election is 2 weeks away. The same 18 or so candidates are campaigning hard while the rest do very little.

2/4: 78-72 at Bowling Green. Big win against a conf. leader. 22, 2, 5 for Brix, 20, 6 for Barq, 19, 3, 6 for Wole, 13, 7, 3, 2 for Knox.

We’re then only conf. team with 1 loss. Kent ST, in the other division is the only team with 2; Bowling Green is the only team with 3 losses.

2/8: 83-53 at Northern Ill. Never a game. 24, 7 for Barq, 19, 2, 4 for Brix. +11 TOs, +6 RBs.

2/11: 79-71 over a good Eastern Mich. team here. 23, 5, 2, 3 for Knox, 16, 8 for Buck. +9 TOs.

We’re playing for the #1 seed in the conf. tourney. Still only 1 game up on Kent ST.

2/12: 25-2, 12-1, #6, RPI #9.

Al Knox is still at #10 on the Norton list.

2/15: 70-59 at Western Mich. 18, 9, 3, 3 for Knox, 12, 7, 2 for Buck, 12, 1, 6, 2, 2 for Kite. +12 TOs.

Kent ST lost at Bowling Green so we have a two game lead with 2 to play.

Round one of the election in Toronto is over. 6 were elected. The three top vote getters will serve for 4 years, the other three will serve for three years. Interestingly enough one in the first category was
a current Council member, as was one in the other group.

Of the remaining 30 candidates, 7 polled strongly, 18 polled very weakly. There will probably be several dropouts before the next round, on 3/15. The six elected are the new Council as of right now. As others are elected they will join.

2/18: 70-84 at Toledo. D (The shot 48.2%), particularly outside D (15 threes), and fouls did us in. 20, 10, 4, 2, 2 for Knox, 17, 5, 7 for Wole.

The good news? Kent ST lost, too. We’re one up on them and Bowling Green in the battle for the #1 seed with 1 to play, and it’s at home. But first the Bracket Breaker.

2/19: 84-76 over #16 St. Joe’s here in the Bracket Breaker. 23, 3, 3 with 3 blocks for Knox, 19, 4, 5 for Wole, 13, 9, 3, 2, 2 for Buck.

2/22: 85-71 over Ball ST here and the #1 conf. tourney seed is ours! 22, 3, 5 for Brix, 20, 7 for Barq, 19, 7 for Knox.

Chaz Bert banged up a knee, but he’ll be fine in a few days.

3/5: End of regular season: 28-3, 14-2, #6, RPI #9. +10.6 PPG, +2.1 RBs, +6.1 TOs.

Al Knox is #7 on the Norton list.

A fishing boat from the New York community, fishing in the Atlantic, saw an unidentified boat off in the distance. They were unable to ID it, and when they changed directions to get closer the boat left the area. This is a first. It is definitely not from any of our communities. This is a first.

[Wayne23]

3/7: We play #8 see Akron, 12-16, 7-9 in the round of 8. We won by 10 there.

3/8: 90-82 over Akron. Our D was awful; they shot 50%, and 10-17 on threes. We won it at the line. We were quicker and they needed to foul to stop us. 22, 10 for Barq, 18, 10 for Buck, 17, 6 for Knox, but all three had foul problems, and Buck fouled out. 43 RBs, 11 TOs.

22-8, 12-4 Kent ST in the semis. They finished 3rd in the conf, but the East vs. West tourney format means we play them now. Should have been in the finals. Oh well. Bowling Green, the #2 seed, lost in the first round, so the winner of this game will very likely win it all.

3/9: 63-54. We led almost all the way. Barq, Wole, and sub Jay Tron led us.

#4 seed Ball ST, 16-14, 10-6, for the title. We won by 14 there and then again by 14 here.

3/10: 70-69. The game started with Buck scoring a lay up. Then they hit a 3. We went on a 10-0 run and never trailed again, leading by as many as 16. But they chipped away throughout the 2nd half, and had a shot for the win at the end. Fortunately for us the 12 footer they took, rolled around and out at the buzzer. We’ll take it. 20, 5 for Buck. +10 TOs but -7 RBs. Still, it’s a win.

We go to selection day 31-3, 14-2, regular season and tourney conference champs. #5, RPI #6.

Another unidentified boat was spotted by our fishing fleet.

3/12: #3 Midwest. We play 19-11 Navy.

3/15: 2 more elected to the Toronto Council. One was a member of the old Council. So there are now 8 members in place, 3 from the old group, 5 newcomers. 4/15 will be the date of the next round.

Three candidates polled strongly, but not quite strongly enough to be elected in this round.

3/17: 71-61. 7 players scored between 7 and 14. +13 TOs.

#11 seed Seton Hall, 19-10, upset #6 Gonzaga so we’ll play them.

3/19: 77-72. 24 lead changes, 14 ties. We made our free throws late to hold on, but not by a lot! 21, 8 for Buck. +8 RBs.

Dio Barq hurt his leg. He’ll play in our next but he may not be 100%.

#7 seed North Carolina, 21-13, upset #2 so we play them in the Sweet Sixteen.

3/22: 5 candidates left in the race for the final seat in Toronto. Everyone else dropped out.

3/24: 58-62. We faded late and blew an 11 point lead. Fouls hurt us. Brix fouled out and both Barq and Buck wound up with 4, and had to play cautiously for much of the 2nd half. 19, 11, 4 for guard Brad Wole. We didn’t shoot well, and they went to the line 15 more times than we did.

3/26: Our fishing boats continue to see other boats. They never see more than one, and it never comes near enough to get much detail. No way to know if it’s the same boat or not, and no way to know where it’s coming from.

3/30: Ball ST won the CHI.

4/3: Indiana won it all.

4/4: Awards: Al Knox made 2nd team All American. In conf., Dio Barq was MOP, which makes no sense considering Knox. Barq and Knox made 1st team. Ty Buck made 2nd team and I was conf. COY.

4/9: Going to Missouri, in the SEC, which is in the Cleveland community. We’ve done all we can do at Central Michigan. I was ready to move at least a year ago, maybe even two. We probably will take a step back while we rebuild but I welcome this challenge.

Callie is coming with me. M.D.s have no trouble transferring. The baby is due in about 3 weeks.
We have a great #1 assistant, but we’ll need to hire #2 and #3.

4/15: No one elected in Toronto; 2 were close. They vote again on 4/15.

4/16: Got a very good #2, not so great #3.

4/23: We ask for a budget increase. No.

31-4, Sweet Sixteen. Overall, I’m 249-56, .816. 6 years in a row at Sweet Sixteen or Elite Eight. 3 straight 30+ win seasons.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We get the regional Gold and the national and international basic. Goals: Top half of conf., qualify for the NCAA tourney, finish above .500, improve team prestige. I think we can do that!

5/3: Jin weighed in at 6 lbs. 11 ounces at birth today. Mom and daughter are fine.

5/15: The last Council member was elected in Toronto. 3 old, 6 new, 5 women, 4 men. People seem satisfied.

We like Cleveland so far. It’s the largest community, and it’s a little crowded in places, but the people are friendly, and there is a very active theater scene. There are three groups doing theater regularly, and one does regular musical concerts of all kinds as well.

6/5: A PF from Stanford looks really good. We’re going for him.

6/12: Fud Lake, SF, Michigan, signs.

6/14: Several more sightings of ships in the Atlantic.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We probably want 2 bigs.

6/29: One of the boats in the New York community fishing fleet was sunk earlier today. They had enough time to radio in that they were under attack, and later to say that the boat was sinking and that the crew were getting into life rafts.

The only Atlantic ports are New York and New Philadelphia. Both sent all their boats, rescue and fishing boats to the area of the sinking. The lifeboats had signal beacons, and were found fairly quickly. 3 members of the fleet were killed in the attack, and 7 others were injured, but all personnel were brought back, including the three who were killed.

There was no sign of the boat that attacked, and there was only one boat attacking.

6/30: All Atlantic fishing is suspended until such time as armed escort vessels can be constructed and equipped to travel with the boats.

This means 5-7 weeks before fishing can resume. Those fishing the Mississippi river will go to 2 days on, 1 day off to try to make up for the lost to the food supply. All 8 communities will be fine regarding having sufficient food, but the variety of diet will be lessened for now.

7/1: All 8 Councils held a joint on line meeting. Security at all communities will be increased, and it will be armed, with New York, Maine (New Philly) and Montreal significantly increasing security.

The arms that were put in storage after the attacks from Detroit have been brought out. Training in use of tanks and cannons will be resumed. The Councils are not ordering resumption of manufacture of arms and ammunition- yet.

There is no way of knowing who the attackers are or where they are coming from. They could be from the southern portion of the former U. S. but the climate there is thought to be too hot and arid to support large numbers of people. The thinking is that this attack is from Europe, the southern portion of the west coast of Africa, or from the southern portion of Chile. We don’t know that there are people living in any of those places, but they are the only logical areas.

7/3: We have shore patrols all up and down the Atlantic coast, from 75 miles north of New Philly to 75 miles south of New York. Those near the two communities are on the highest ground in the area, and with telescopes, as well as communication equipment that will alert all 8 communities if there are sightings. The 10 other patrols all rove over an assigned area. We are patrolling 24/7.

Crews were brought in from all 8 communities. As many non-essential personnel as could be spared have been put on patrol.

7/9: Nothing. No sign of anyone.

8/1: Still not a single sighting of a ship.

8/9: It took a bit more time than expected but Atlantic fishing resumed today. New Philly and New York will each send out one fishing boat a day. Each boat will have two armed escorts.

8/21: We offer to 2 bigs and a PG.

Still nothing to report from the Atlantic.

9/15: The patrols and escorts are using up lots of resources. It’s been almost three months with no sighting of anything threatening. The Councils are discussing cutting back.

9/18: We get a big, Cal Wick, C, #42, and Jay Diss, PG, #30. We lost the other big so we offer to another one.

We’re in the Sunshine Shootout vs. Rutgers. The rest of the pre-conf. schedule is not all that challenging. I want to see what we have this year.

10/2: Rash Wall, C, #167, committed.

1st day of practice. We look pretty good.

Picked #6 in our 14 team conf. I think we’ll do better.

11/6: We’re going with a 7 man rotation.

The guards are senior Dan Rich, junior Cal Herd, and soph Hays, all playing about the same amount of time.

Frosh Kyle Huts starts at SF.

Senior Aki Knox, and frosh Lew Thor and Juma Scot are inside.