Tomorrow?

[Wayne23]

Tomorrow?
1/1/1: This tablet diary is top secret. The consequences if it were found- well, I don’t want to think about that so I’ll need to make sure it’s not found.

Today’s date? Yeah. I’ll get to that. Anyway, it’s a “brave new world.” Basically, the Bill of Rights has been replaced with “Everything not compulsory is forbidden.”

We have curfews. You can go out after 8:00 p.m., but you’d better get your ID booklet stamped or if you get stopped on your way home- well, we’ll get to that, too.

We have ID booklets that need to be shown and stamped just about everywhere we go. A new one is issued on the first day of every new year. Got mine today.

How did all of this happen? Quickly and easily, as it turns out. That thing everybody said could never happen here happened. The people supported it, voted it into office, and then
watched as it did what it did. Once they figured out what they’d done it was too late to undo it.

Maybe the best way is to tell it as I go along. I’m a college hoop coach and this story is more or less about college hoops, so let’s start there.

[Wayne23]

4/9: My name is William “Will” Phyte. I played hoops here at UMass Lowell. When I graduated I got the job as #3 assistant here. Worked my way up to #1 and after three years the head coach job here came open. I applied. The retiring head coach really went to bat for me and they took a chance. I got hired. Today.

First job is to hire assistants since the other two both took jobs elsewhere. Our budget is pretty small. I get 3 guys who are okay.

We’ll go with Princeton and Triangle on O, mostly man on D. We won’t press much.

Our only goal is to not finish last in the America East.

5/1: We buy basic national and international scouting reports although it is very difficult to get an international player. And no Muslims. It’s not easy to get non-Christian foreign players but Jews, Buddhists, Hindus- all possible.

So UMass Lowell has a lot of commuters but all of my players live on campus. There’s a little more freedom on campus in that as long as those of us who live here do not leave campus we usually can roam around freely until midnight. The library is open until 11:30, as is the Costello Athletic Center.

Oh, I’m single, and I live in the athletic dorm. I’m one of the adult residence hall monitors. We have our own cafeteria here at Costello Hall, the dorm. Plenty of food, and it’s cheap. The coaches are in charge of menus and we make sure there’s more healthy food than junk.

I have a small office at the athletic center. Social media is gone, but news and sports sites are still up, as is email, and every athletic program in the country has its own website. Also, every game is televised via the web, so our scouting assistant can watch any games, and they stay on the two teams’ sites so he doesn’t need to watch live. Oh, email is still a thing. Texting is not.

I’ve lived in this town all of my life. My dad, Al Phyte, is the Chief of Police. He managed to keep his job when things… changed.

6/25: We aren’t spending the money to go to any camps.

6/26: 5 scholarships to fill. We’ll take what we can get, but hopefully at least 2 bigs and at least 2 guards. But 3-2, 2-3, whatever. We’re looking at 20 guys to start.

7/4: This is now a HUGE holiday. Yes, it was always big but now it’s a day to celebrate the nation and its rulers. You know, kind of like Mayday in the former USSR.

After church, which is now mandatory, everyone went to a parade, either the local one or one in a big city nearby.

Yes, it is now mandatory to go to an approved Christian church service on every Sunday, and on designated religious and patriotic holidays. And make d*mned sure to get your ID stamped. Jewish? Buddhist? Hindu?
Anything else non-Christian? Okay, you can go to your service, in addition to going to a Christian service. Not Muslims though. There are no longer any Muslims here.

7/31: Not a lot of interest from recruits so far.

8/2: Terrible night. The dorms are locked at midnight. If anyone isn’t home by then they need to wake us up. We then contact the police, and they come out to investigate.

At about 1:30 in the morning I heard a knock on my window; obviously, I live on the ground floor. A knock at that time of night is both strange and dangerous. I turned the light on in my room and heard a whisper. As I got closer to the window I recognized my dad’s voice. He was asking me to open the window. I did.

“Let me in. Be quiet.”

Dad climbed through the window, closed it, and pulled the shade.

“Son, something’s going down here. You stay in your room whatever happens.”

“What-”

“Stay in your room! I gotta go. STAY IN YOUR ROOM!”

Then he left. About 15 minutes later there was a loud knocking at the door. Eddie Coy, the hockey coach was on duty. He answered. I could hear most of what was going on. It was the Diamond Squad- essentially the Federal Police. NOT people to mess with. They went up the stairs. There was some commotion. They were clearly taking someone away. The noise and confusion pretty much made it impossible to know who or how many.

After they left, Eddie knocked on my door.

“They took one of your kids and left this,” Eddie said.

He handed me a paper. “Clay Varga is no longer enrolled at UMass Lowell. He will not be back.”

Clay is a sophomore on my team. He has a scholarship but he isn’t someone who was ever going to play much. He’s a very quiet kid who seemed mad at the world. If someone had asked me to guess who on my team might be hauled away by the Diamond Squad I guess Clay would probably have been at the top of the list. Still, this is so wrong in every way.

The worst part is the feeling of helplessness. If I lodge a complaint or even make an inquiry I get put on a list. And believe me, no one wants to be on that list. Oh, and no one will ever hear a word about Clay again. There is no way to know what happened to him.

Now I have 6 scholarships to fill.

Dad came over after breakfast. We had a long talk in my room. He said a member of the Diamond Squad had woken him up and told him to get to me, and to warn me to stay out of the situation. These are not happy times.

8/21: We offer to 3 bigs, 3 guards.

9/18: Weak schedule. Wins build programs and I want some!

9/25: Got one, lost 2. PG #588.

10/2: 1st day of practice.

Got another guard, #167.

11/6: 8 man rotation.

Senior Jus Flan and walk on junior Kareem Price start at guard. Senior Jem Joss backs up.

At SF is our best player, senior Mike Pero. Soph Sid Mann backs up.

Starting inside are senior John Best and frosh Kyle Roll. Junior Adam Daws backs up.

We’re not having much luck with recruiting.

The Provost here at UMass Lowell has disappeared. No one is saying it but everyone knows it’s the Diamond Squad. The position has been posted as vacant.

[Wayne23]

11/16: 78-65 over The Citadel here. 21, 6 for SF Mike Pero, but he had 8 TOs. 17, 5 for Center Kyle Roll. Inside sub Adam Daws had 12, 4, 2. +14 RBs but 18 TOs.

11/19: 66-36 over SE Louisiana here. Terrific D! They shot 25%. 13, 14 for PF John Best, 13, 7, 2 for Roll, 14, 4 for Pero, 12, 4, 3 for PG Jus Flan. 39 RBs and 11 TOs.

11/20: One of our 2 recruits does not sign. Didn’t expect that. His GPA is 2.9.

Times are hard. People have been losing their homes due to inability to make mortgage payments. People are living 2 or 3 families to a house, living on what they can get from part time jobs, minimum wage jobs… The elderly have it hardest with Social Security and Medicare gone. There is a huge homeless population. There are soup kitchens but they can’t keep up. The lines are very long and the food runs out before half those waiting are fed.

So sad to see elderly people and mothers with babies in their arms walking away from the food lines not having been fed.

There are so many young mothers with babies on the street. The end of legalized abortion and birth control has led to a huge increase in the number of babies being born into conditions of abject poverty.

Drug addiction and prostitution are way up, as is the crime rate. Desperate people do desperate things.

11/23: 55-72 at IFPW. 15, 3, 3, 3 for Pero. No one else had more than 8. We were flat.

11/26: 90-75 over Grand Canyon here.23, 7, 3 for Best, 22, 5, 4 for guard Kareem Price, 16, 4, 7, 2 for Flan, 17, 5 for Pero. +14 RBs.

We’re rebounding very well so far, but we need to take better care of the ball.

11/30: 65-52 at Northern Kentucky. 20 for Price, 18, 4 for Pero.

The weak schedule is getting us those wins so far.

12/3: 58-61 to Lamar here. We were up by 8 with about 10 minutes to go. Then the shots stopped going in. 24, 5 for Pero.

12/4: 4-2, RPI #127.

12/7: 73-55 over Lipscomb here. 18, 5, 3 for Roll, 14, 3, 3 for Best, 10, 6, 2 for Pero. Only 7 TOs, best game of the season in that category.

12/10: 84-57 over Niagara here. 5 guys in double figures. Only 8 TOs.

Ty Rogg is getting some of Jem Joss’ guard minutes. Joss has been a disappointment. Adam Daws has gotten all of Sid Mann’s sub minutes at SF and PF.

12/13: 80-59 over New Jersey Tech here. 21, 6 for Pero. Three others in double figures. An easy win.

12/17: 71-69 over Cal-Riverside here. Never more than 7 points difference. At the end Pero hit a three, rebounded a miss at the other end, gave it to Price who gave it back to him, and he drained a 14 footer with less than a second to go for the win. 16, 8 for Pero, 11, 6 for Best, 13 for Price. +8 RBs, 10 TOs.

12/21: 58-66 at Navy. We shot 32.7%, and we let them shoot 51.5%. 20 TOs didn’t help. 30 fouls called on us including a T on me, 20 on them, and that was the biggest difference. Pero fouled out and 5 others ended up with 4. It was awful, and I let the three blind mice know it.

12/25: We end pre-conference play at 8-3, RPI #185. +10.1 PPG, +5.2 RBs, +3.8 TOs. I’m thrilled. But most of these were at home, and most were against really poor teams. Let’s see how we do in conference.

[Wayne23]

12/28: 65-47 over Binghamton here to start conference play. 19, 6 for Pero, 12, 6 for Best. +13 TOs, +10 RBs.

Tammy Carr, the office manager here at the athletic department is gone. She was in a lesbian marriage, which is now illegal. I assume her partner is gone as well. They refused to knuckle under and continued to live openly, so it was only a matter of time. Fortunately, they didn’t have children. There is so much needless human suffering these days.

1/4/2: 82-73 at Albany. 23, 5 for Pero, 22, 2, 7, 3 for Flan. +8 RBs.

About the year thing. Last year- well, the year before now, it was decided that the past was forbidden. History would only be taught beginning with the takeover by the current leaders, and the conditions leading up to it- and believe me, that “history” was pure fiction. To reinforce this the new year, last year, would be designated “Year One.”

So kids in school are taught about the last few years only, and that curriculum, as with ALL curriculum, is 100% mandated, and it is created at the top, and must be taught exactly as given to the schools and teachers. Oh, all schools are Christian schools now, and there is no mention of things like evolution, the Big Bang… None of those things are funded for study at any university in this country either.

1/7: 78-63 over UMBC here. All 5 starters in double figures. +9 TOs.

1/11: 63-70 at Vermont. They went to the line 40 times, we went 20. They shot 51.2%, we shot 38.2%.18, 11 for Pero, 10, 2, 9 for Flan, but no one else did much. The road is never easy.

1/14: 65-36 over Hartford here. 18, 9 for Pero. 41 RBs (+16).

1 up in the loss column over 4 teams.

No interest from recruits. It’s frustrating.

1/18: 80-81 at Maine. Back and forth all the way, 21 lead changes, 12 ties. They had the ball last and hit a 17 footer. 28, 5 for Pero, 17, 4, 2 for Price. Tough loss.

1/21: 82-66 over Stony Brook here. 19 each for Roll and Price. +10 TOs.

1/25: 80-70 at New Hampshire. 22 for Best, 18 for Pero, 13, 4, 4 for Flan.

The water wars have been horrible. Water is no longer free for most people, and lots of people are dying because of that. We’re okay here, and many places are, but other places are not. Fracking is polluting fresh water supplies, and it is using up enormous amounts of water. In other places, where water has to be brought in, prices and profits are very high.

1/28: 67-58 at Binghamton. 21, 6 for Pero. +11 TOs.

Starting PF John Best injured his finger. Out about 10 days. Daws will start, Mann will back up.

1/29: 15-5, 7-2, RPI #103. In 1st, ½ game up on Hartford, 1 on Maine and Stony Brook, 2 on Vermont, 3 or more on the rest, with 7 to play. +10.4 PPG, +4.3 RBs, +4.7 TOs.

Dad came to visit. He immediately suggested we go for a walk. We did.

“Don’t say anything, I mean ANYTHING indoors without assuming that the Diamond Squad is hearing it.

“Okay, here’s what I’m here to tell you. If you haven’t already been you’re going to be approached about joining some underground movement to stop the people running things. Don’t do it. First, the person approaching you is more likely than not to be a Diamond Squad agent. If not, then the Diamond Squad will infiltrate the group soon- REAL soon. Saying yes, or even maybe, to one of these people will get you disappeared. Count on it.”

“But Dad, something’s gotta be done.”

“I know. But they’re too strong and too organized, at least for now. Son, this is ugly and it’s getting uglier all the time. But all you’d be doing is throwing your life away.”

“Yeah but-”

“Will! Listen to me! Look, in my position I’ve got contacts. I see what the Diamond Squad is doing. I see what they’re worried about. If the time comes when there’s a real chance to stop these bastards, believe me, I’m in, and I’ll get you in. But not now. Not yet. Stay alive, stay free while we wait for that day.”

“Which may never come.”

“Governments fall. Dictators fall. Sometimes it takes a long time, but eventually they always fall.”

[Wayne23]

2/4: 76-65 over Albany here. 6 players scored between 8 and 11, and 5 others scored.

2/8: 67-70 in OT at UMBC. More foul calls on them than us but our PG fouled out and 3 other starters had 4. Not having Flan in OT hurt. Close all the way, and we missed a free throw at the end of regulation that would have given us the victory.

A peaceful demonstration in Cleveland ended when the Diamond Squad fired into the crowd. They never tell us these things but rumors are that there were thousands demonstrating, and hundreds killed.

2/11: 75-63 over Vermont here. Another team effort. 15, 5, 4 for Price. +14 RBs, but 20 TOs hurt.

2/12: 17-6, 9-3, RPI #89. 1 up on Maine, 2 up on 2 teams, with 4 to play.

2/15: 73-64 at Hartford. Big win! 30 for Pero, the most points anyone has scored all season, and it felt like every time we needed a basket he got one; 6 threes. 17, 8 for Roll.

2/18: 75-64 over Maine here to clinch 1st place! We were down 8 near the end of the 1st half. We hit a three at the buzzer and controlled the 2nd half. 24, 7, 3 for Pero, 16, 12, 3 for Roll. +13 RBs. 20 TOs though.

2/22: 72-82 at Stony Brook. 21 TOs (-6), -5 RBs. We let them shoot 57.1%, and you can’t win when the opponent shoots that well. Simply a case of poor D.

2/25: 76-63 New Hampshire here. 26, 5 for Pero, 17, 4 for Daws, 13, 4 for Best.

2/26: We end the regular season at 20-7, 12-4, RPI #91. Alone in 1st.

2/27: The stock market crashed today. No one except the very wealthy invest, no one else has any money, but this is not good. It was predictable and predicted. (9% of the people simply do not have any money to purchase anything except for the absolute basics. With no customer base it was inevitable that businesses would fail, and they’ve been failing, big businesses and small. This was a gigantic crash; the market lost 75% of its value. Most people are barely getting by, if that. While this will hurt the wealthy more than anyone else it will hurt the rest of us, and believe me, we can’t afford any kind of loss.

[Wayne23]

2/28: We play #8 seed Binghamton in the first round of the conf. tourney.

3/1: 79-51. 23, 5 for Best, 17, 8, 3 for Roll, 14, 6, 5 for Pero, 14, 3, 4, 4 for Price. +10 RBs, +6 TOs.

The #2, 3, and 4 seeds in the tourney all lost.

We play #5 seed New Hampshire, 13-15, 8-8. We won by 10 there, then by 13 here.

3/2: 82-71. 15, 5, 3, 2 for Roll who has been really hot for the last 2-3 weeks. 4 others in double figures.+10 TOs.

#7 seed Albany, 14-15, 6-10, for the title. We won by 9 there, and then 11 here.

For the past couple of days it has been panic in the streets, shortages, long lines to get vital supplies. We’re a bit isolated here on campus, but for how long.

There has been a marked increase in the number of arrests and “disappearances.”

3/3: 73-72. What a game! They were up 10 early, and we didn’t take our first lead until 5:57 to go, and then the lead seemed to change on every possession. We had the last one, down 1 with 8.8 to play.
We took our time, looked for our guy, Pero. He was doubled, but that gave Kyle Roll a little room. Flan got it to him and he hit an open 8 footer at the horn. 23, 8 for Pero, 13, 7, 2, 2, 3 for Roll, 14 for Daws, 13 for price. 22 TOs but they had 25. It was that kind of a game.

So we’re in the Big Dance!

3/8: There are a lot of hungry people all over the country, and a lot of angry people. Demonstrations and protests. People are asking for nothing more than food and water. So far no shooting into the crowd but a lot of attack dogs, a lot of tear gas, a lot of billy clubs.

3/12: 23-7, 12-4, conf. title, RPI #79.

#13 Midwest. As good as we could have hoped for. We play #4 seed, #20 ranked LSU, 20-9. They’re the best team we’ve played all season.

3/16: 62-74. We hung in for a long time but eventually they wore us down. 20, 5 for Mike Pero, 14, 13 for Kyle Roll, 12, 6, 3, 2 for John Best. We played hard. No regrets.

3/23: The military has invaded North Korea. This has been a war of words and threats for more than a year. There are many who say the only way we can defeat North Korea is with nuclear weapons. The Russians have made it clear that if we use those, they will retaliate, here. Most folks understand that the war is about distracting our people from the economic depression, and hopefully, using it to generate work, money, and hopefully, food and drink. All non-students age 18 and older, male and female, have been conscripted into the military.

3/25: Our invading army has been slammed in North Korea. Very heavy losses and a massive retreat back over the border to South Korea. For whatever reason air support was minimal, and it was mostly shot out of the sky by the North Korean air force. Amazingly enough the North Koreans did not pursue our retreating troops beyond their borders.

3/28: Things remain quiet in Korea. Word is that we are retooling to attack again.

4/3: Kansas won the national title.

4/4: Awards: Kyle Roll was Frosh OY and 2nd team. Mike Pero made 1st team; I thought he should have been MOP. I got COY.

4/5: Our troops attacked North Korea again. The air support was much, much better. The result? Well, we’re still in North Korea, but we didn’t advance very far.

4/7: Our troops were again driven across the border into South Korea. Losses were heavy.

Many of us are surprised that the government is broadcasting bad news from the war front. We didn’t expect that. We thought there would be either silence or lies.

4/10: Again, we are regrouping in south Korea.

4/11: The North Korean air force heavily bombed our troop positions in South Korea.

4/13: Our government announced that we are withdrawing from Korea.

4/14: North Korea invaded South Korea. They overwhelmed both our troops and the South Korean troops and appear to be in control of major portions of South Korea.

4/16: We get 2 recruits, a 2nd PG, and a C.

4/20: We suffered devastating losses in Korea. Most of our ground troops were killed or captured and most of our planes were shot down. The remainder of the troops and a handful of planes are back home. We also lost several ships, but the losses at sea were not nearly as bad as the other losses.

4/22: The national government announced that 17 generals and civilian military planners were executed for their “incompetent handling of the North Korean military situation.” 22 other were arrested and await trial.

4/23: We get 2 more recruits, both PGs. We wind up with 4 PGs and a C.

We lose Mike Pero, Jus Flan, and John Best.

Great 1st season, 23-8, regular season and tourney champs.

We ask for a facilities upgrade. No.

The depression was certainly not helped by the North Korean invasion. People are starving. Many are being arrested for stealing food, for demonstrating, for looting…

Hard times.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Back for season 2. We buy only the national basic.

5/5: The government is making an effort to get people fed. Believe me it’s very basic, but lives are being saved.

6/5: Terrible news. Kyle Roll transferred out. He would have been our best player.

We go after 2 transfers.

People are getting food and water in enough quantities to survive, but just barely.

6/12: We get both: Fan Trae, PG, Brad Cord, PF.

6/26: 3 scholarships. Looking at 15 for now.

7/7: A truck driver delivered a small package to the office today. I happened to be there when he arrived. Turns out he was my biology professor here.

“Professor Duncan!”

“I’m Jim Duncan, Coach.”

“But-”

“Jim Duncan.”

“I don’t understand.”

Professor Duncan took me aside.

“Will, please don’t call me ‘Professor.’”

“But-”

“I was an evolutionary biologist. That field of study doesn’t exist anymore. As a matter of fact, it’s illegal. Please don’t draw attention to the fact that I was a Professor. It could get me into serious trouble.”

The times we live in!

7/21: Our military has invaded Venezuela. Frankly, we need a war to distract from our economic disasters, to give young people something to do- fight and die, and to provide jobs- there are a lot of thing soldiers need, like uniforms, rations, munitions, equipment…

Venezuela has long been an “enemy” and they’re very weak. North Korea was way too string an opponent. These guys we can handle.

Oh, North Korea now rules all of Korea, and the name of the country that encompasses both Koreas is now “The People’s Republic of Korea.”

7/28: We have taken complete control in Venezuela. Our occupying forces have installed a government friendly to our interests.

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

The situation in Venezuela is calm, but their army, under our supervision, is completely on top of things.

Our military has gone into Colombia, and has joined with their military in an attempt to overthrow the government there.

8/25: Our military and the Colombian military have taken control of the country.

9/2: A military government now rules Colombia.

9/18: We feel we’re close with all 3 recruits. Our schedule is slightly stronger than last year’s.

9/25: We get one, we lose one. Got a PF, #222.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re picked to finish 6th in conf. We’ll do better than that.

There are rumors that our military is drawing near to the Colombian border with Ecuador.

10/5: My dad warned me months ago that I would be approached about joining an underground movement to work against the government. That finally happened today. It came via anonymous email. I deleted the email.

10/9: Jed Abra commits. PG, #481.

10/12: Troops enter Ecuador. There are questions regarding whether we’re becoming overextended militarily, but to this point we have local troops joining us. And there’s also the fact that every man and woman between the age of 17 and 29 who is not in school is now in the military. In the case of those who have children, if there is a single parent he or she is placed in a domestic unit, and does not leave the country. If two parents the two designate one for domestic duty only.

Food, water, and other basics are more abundant here now. Many people seem to suspect that this comes at a great cost to the people in the countries we have conquered.

10/20: Ecuador falls. A military government is in place. Our troops are headed for Peru.

10/25: Our troops enter Peru.

11/4: We have installed a military government in Peru, and our troops are headed for Bolivia. We have told Argentina, Chile, and Brazil that they have nothing to fear from us. We’ll see.

11/6: We have a lineup but we expect changes.

We’re going with three guards. Frosh Jona Hart will get most of the minutes at SG. Frosh Chad Rae starts at PG and backs up at SG. Junior juco Rai Leep backs up at PG. Walk on Kareem Price is waiting in the wings.

Returning junior Sid Mann will start at SF. Returning junior Tro Nahr will back him up.

Senior Adam Daws and frosh Jay Fowl start inside with returning junior Jin Worr backing them up. Frosh Art Hill is hoping for his chance.

[Wayne23]

11/14: 66-60 at South Dakota ST. 27 for SG Jona Hart, 15, 4, 2 for SF Sid Mann. Weird game. 24-24 at the half, and then in the 2nd both teams hit lots of shots. -11 RBs, +9 TOs.

11/17: 82-65 over Delaware here. 15, 8, 2 for Jay Fowl at PF, 17, 5, 4, 2 for Mann, 16 for PG Chad Rae. +9 RBs, +8 TOs.

11/20: Both of our recruits signed. We’re still hoping to land a big guy.

11/21: 70-73 to Tennessee Tech here. Close all the way. They hit a three with less than a second to play for the win. 19 for sub guard Rai Leep, 15, 4, 2 mfor Hart, 10, 6 for Fowl. Stats were pretty even. It’s never good to lose at home.

11/24: 79-70 over Middle Tennessee ST here. We finished strong, going on a 14-3 run at the end of the game. 13, 8 for Daws, 18, 3 for Hart, 3 others in double figures.

We have defeated Bolivia and installed a military government. On to Paraguay.

11/28: 88-79 over Stetson here. 17, 2, 3 for Rae, 16, 6 for Leep, 13 for Hart, 12 for Daws. +15 TOs.

11/29: 86-84 at Houston Buttfest. We were up by 16 with 16:22 left, but we almost blew it. Rae Leep finally worked himself free for a millisecond and hit a 16 footer with less than a second left for the win. He had 26, and we need to start him. 18, 5 for Rae, and 12 for Hart. Fowl had 14, 5. +6 TOs.

We expected this to be a team that was strong inside. We haven’t bee. Our strength has been at the guard position. We’re going to try a 3 guard set up for a while.
Paraguay surrendered without fighting us.

Both Argentina and Brazil have refused us permission to send our troops through their territory to go to Uruguay. We have told them we accept their decision… for now.

We are moving in the other direction, into Guyana, French Guyana, Surinam, and Panama.

12/1: 80-74 over Wagner here. 20, 5 for Hart, 12, 2, 2, 3 for Rae. Good bench play. We were down 15 early in the 2nd, and then the shots started dropping. The final score was our biggest lead, and the only time we led by more than 4.

12/4: 6-1, RPI #42.

Guyana, French Guyana, Surinam, and Panama all surrendered without a fight, as did Costa Rica. Nicaraguan troops are fighting fiercely, and troops from Honduras and Guatemala are aiding them.

12/5: 57-68 at South Dakota. We lost this one at the line. They were 25-29, we were 10-15, and Fowl only played 18 minutes. 20, 4 for Leep, 15, 4 for Rae. We just don’t have a big inside game. Going with 3 guards seems to make sense but we’ll have trouble with big teams.

12/8: 82-65 over winless Arkansas-Pine Bluff here. 17, 16, 4 for Daws, our best game by a big guy all season. 18, 5 for Rae, 11 each for Leep, Hart, and Mann. 37 RBs, 9 TOs. To be fair, Ark-Pine Bluff is pretty awful.

Fighting in Nicaragua is fierce. Lots of casualties on both sides.

12/12: We bring in a series of very heavy air strikes. They turn the tide and Nicaragua is ours.

12/13: 72-80 at New Jersey Tech. We let them shoot 75% in the 1st half, 62.5% overall. Can’t win when that happens. And then they took 30 free throws, we took 11. +10 TOs, -7 RBs. We’re still not getting much from our bigs.

12/15: 85-72 over Hofstra here. All 5 starters in double figures. 7 TOs but only 20 RBs.

We’re trying to decide whether to leave the 3 guard. Tough decision. We weren’t rebounding before. I don’t know that we’re rebounding any worse now, and we’re scoring more, but it’s still a tough call.

12/17: Honduras surrenders and Guatemala is close.

12/19: 77-63 at Texas Rio Grande Valley. 5 in double figures, Daws had 10 RBs, we were +1 in RBs (and +9 in TOs).

Little used Art Hill banged up a hip. Out about a week.

12/21: Guatemala is taken. Our government is not saying a word regarding whether we will press on. Mexico is the only country we do not control in the Americas aside from Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. The latter three have announced that they have signed a pact that states that an attack on one of them is an attack on all of them. All three countries have good size armies, navies, and air forces.

It seems unlikely that we will attack Canada, but Mexico seems like a likely target.

Europe, Asia and Africa’s major powers have been expressing great concern regarding U. S. military maneuvers.

2/24: Xmas Eve demonstrations and protests spring up in major cities all across the country. People are no longer starving but 95% or more are living a bare subsistence existence. People are working 12-14 hour days just to barely get by.

12/25: We end pre-conf. play at 9-3. RPI #93. +5.9 PPG, -2.9 RBs, +7.0 TOs.

[Wayne23]

12/26: 76-67 at Hartford to start conf. play. Daws only had 2 points but he had 10 RBs, for the 2nd game in a row, 8 assists, and 3 steals. 24 for Leep, 15, 4, 4 for Rae. +6 RBs, +7 TOs. Good game!

Demonstrations and protests continue across the country. Again, people now have enough to eat, or most do, but there is no disposable income for most people. They live paycheck to paycheck and hand to mouth. No one knows how many homeless there are but the number is clearly in the millions. Almost no one has health care, and the law no longer mandates that hospitals treat people who cannot pay.

Our military is holding onto what they’ve gained and they seem to be consolidating resources. There are no signs of an attack on Mexico or anyone else.

12/29: 85-67 over Stony Brook here. It was close for about 30 minutes, and then we got it together. 16, 6, 3, 3 for Fowl, 13, 6, 6 for Rae, 18 for Hart. +8 TOs but it was a sloppy game. We had 16 TOs, they had 24. We shot 51.9% to their 42.9%.

1/2/3: Tough loss, 70-71, at New Hampshire. Never more than 7 points separated the 2 teams. At the end they had the last possession and hit a 17 footer. 16, 3, 4 for Leep, 10, 6, 3, 3 for Fowl. They took 16 more free throws.

1/5: 89-52 over Binghamton here. 27, 1, 8 for Leep, 17, 6, 3 for Hart, 14, 4, 2 for Rae, 9, 3, 3 for Price. So our guards scored 67 of our 89. 31 RBs though, and 8 TOs.

1/9: 88-80 in OT at UMBC. Great road win. They tied it at the end of regulation with a luck shot- a 30 footer, but we controlled the OT. 22, 5 for Rae, 19, 2, 2 for Price, 12, 6, 2 for Leep, 14, 3 for Hart.

1/12: 84-56 over Albany here. We had a total of 4 TOs! +16. 21, 4, 2 for Hart, 9, 10, 7, 5 for Daws, 15, 2, 3 for Rae, 14, 4 for Leep.

Sid Mann hurt his leg. Day to day.

We’re alone in 1st.

1/15: 14-4, 5-1, RPI #88.
Protests continue on a 24/7 basis in most major cities. This administration came in with less than 50% popular support. They immediately privatized both Social Security and Medicare, ended welfare, made both abortion and birth control illegal, set up conditions where most jobs in the country became the equivalent of part time entry level jobs, ended any regulations protecting the water supply, the environment, and the like, privatized education and set up a situation in which most schools became religious schools- and on and on. But they made it clear from the first that they would rule with an iron fist and brook no dissent. Curfews were put in place, as well as the ID booklet system. Travel was restricted. Then conscription put most young people in the military.

People are very unhappy with the administration. The final straw was a law which made it illegal for citizens to own weapons. The manufacture and sale of all weapons and ammunition to anyone except the police and the military was made illegal. There has not been a formal confiscation of weapons, but with gun ranges gone, and hunting only allowed via permit, and with a weapon housed by the hunting “escort” weapons are disappearing.

It appears that while, as I said, there has been no confiscation program put in place, whenever the police become aware of guns in a home, those guns are taken.

People expected to vote the administration supporters out in the midterm election, but that election was cancelled, and it appears very likely that this November’s Presidential election will not take place.

The military continues to consolidate, and there are no signs of an attack on Mexico or anywhere else.

1/19: 61-70 at 2nd place Vermont. We expected a tough game and we got one. They shot 51.2%, we shot 34%, and that was the story; the other stats were all about equal. 12, 6, 4, 2 for Jin Worr, our 6th man, and 11, 3, 3 for Kareem Price, our 7th man. Daws played 9 minutes due to fouls, and Hart played 12, for the same reason. The # of calls was about even, but key players picked up our fouls.

We’re still 1 up in the loss column- over 4 teams.

1/23: 79-68 over Maine here. 21, 6, 3 for Leep, 12, 8, 6 for Daws. All 5 starters in double figures. +10 RBs.

1/26: 75-56 over Hartford here. 25, 2, 4 for Leep, 10, 8, 3, 4 for Daws, 14, 6 for Fowl. +13 TOs, +6 RBs.

1/29: 16-5, 7-2, RPI #81. 1 up on Vermont, 2 or more on the rest. +9.1 PPG, -0.8 RBs, +6.5 TOs.

Our troops are advancing on Mexico from both the north and the south.

[Wayne23]

1/30: 63-76 at Stony Brook. -18 RBs, very poor outside shooting. 17, 3, 2, 3 for Fowl, 16, 3, 2 for Hart.

1/31: Our troops enter Mexico from both south and north.

2/2: 89-67 over New Hampshire here. 24, 6, 4, 4 for Leep, 17, 4, 6 for Hart, 16, 8, 4 for Rae, 11, 7, 3 for Daws. +10 RBs, +5 TOs.

My teams are usually strong inside, and I prefer that. Outside teams live and die by the outside shot. When you get your points inside you get them more consistently. But, our team is stronger outside this year, so what can I do!

Fierce fighting in Mexico.

2/5: 17-6, 8-3, RPI #93. Tied for 1st with Vermont, 1 ½ up on Binghamton.

2/6: 49-56 at Binghamton. The offense was absolutely pathetic, as was the officiating. We took 6 free throws, they took 27. Again, we live and die by our outside shooting, and we died by it tonight.

We lost, Vermont lost. Still tied with them for 1st but now Binghamton is ½ game back and Maine is 1 ½. 4 to play.

The battle in Mexico seems to be a stalemate. There seem to be some Russian troops and some North Korean troops fighting with the Mexicans, and perhaps even some Chinese. And there are definitely Russian planes involved.

2/9: 75-61 over UMBC here. 20, 9 for Fowl. +11 TOs.

Vermont beat Binghamton so we’re still tied with the, but 1.5 up on Maine and Binghamton- only 1 in the loss column. 3 to play.

2/11: The fighting remains fierce in Mexico, with neither side seeming to be taking the edge.

2/13: BIG road win, 73-60 at Albany. 17, 2, 2, 2 for Leep, 12, 7 for Rae, 12, 4, 4 for Daws.

Vermont lost so we’re 1 up on them, 1 ½ on Maine with 2 to play (Maine has 3).

2/19: 19-7, 10-4, RPI #19. 2 left- Vermont at home, Maine away. Tough way to
finish!

2/20: 71-50 over Vermont in a big win. Our 5 starters all scored between 11 and 14. +9 TOs, +3 RBs. We jumped out to an early lead and never let them get back in it.

Maine won, so the regular season finale at their place will decide first place. They’re 1 back but if they win they get the #1 seed.

2/23: 68-69 at Maine. The frustrating thing is that we blew a 20 point lead. The shots would not drop at the end, and Daws fouled out with just under 5 minutes to play. We were +11 RBs, but -3 in the last 4 minutes. Tough loss.

Heavy casualties on both sides in Mexico and a real standoff.

2/26: We end regular season play at 20-8, 11-5, tied for 1st. RPI #76. +8.6 PPG, -0.1 RBs, +6.0 TOs.

We wound up with the #1 seed and will play #8 Hartford, 9-18, 5-11.