The Last Man

[Wayne23]

October, 2168: Lacy remains thrilled with her progress. She has left Jupiter and its moons, and is now studying Saturn and its moons. The focus on Titan will begin in February.

She is clearly learning a great deal. Her weekly reports to me indicate that clearly. They are brief, as requested, but they often lead me to ask follow up questions the give me a greater idea of what she is doing. Her Ph. D. question has been formulated for quite some time now, and the research, for the most part, is focused on addressing that question.

Amy is adjusting to life without Lacy., but she is always ready when we leave for our visits. We still go about every two weeks, and Lacy really makes a big deal of Amy, and spends all the time she can with her. Amy is taking an interest in Lacy’s work, and learning some things I really would not have thought she’d be ready to learn. A real positive regarding that is a huge increase in her interest in science. Amy is an artist, and I don’t think that will change, but it’s great to see her branch out in a new direction.

As I knew would happen, the weather patterns seem to be shifting. We’re getting more frequent and bigger storms. We haven’t had a really dangerous one yet, but we’re heading in that direction.

I’m considering trying to move to a new location before it gets any worse.

Next: Big trouble

[Wayne23]

3/9: #8 seed Tulsa, 12-16, 6-10, won the play in. They’re first. We won by only 7 there.

3/10: 87-49. 22, 13 for Wilk, 19 for Wats. +19 TOs.

#4 seed Cincinnati, 21-9, 11-5, in the semis. Beat them by only 3 there, but by 31 here.

3/11: 85-59. 25, 7 for Wats, 17 for Few, 12 assists for Cage. +12 RBs, 3 TOs.

#2 seed, #9 ranked Temple, 25-4, 12-4, for the title. We beat them by 12 at our place.

3/12: 72-73. We lost it on a 45 footer at the buzzer. Having said that, we really did not play well, and we should never have been in that position. They led by as many as 12, and we took our only 2nd half lead with 2.3 to go. We didn’t shoot well, 36.7%. We didn’t defend well, 48.8%. We didn’t rebound well, -3 RBs, and 11 less than our average. We were in foul trouble all night (Bad decisions more than bad officiating), and our guards were invisible on O.

This may cost us the #1 overall seed, but it may not. 28-2, 16-0. Still #1, and #1 in RPI by a WIDE margin.

#1 Midwest, #2 overall. Tough bracket.

We play 15-15 Penn.

3/16: 94-55. 5 with 13 or more.

#8 seed Oregon, 21-8, in the 2nd round.

3/18: 72-57. We led for the last 37 minutes. 14, 13 for Wilk, 15, 5, 4 for Cage. +9 RBs, +7 TOs.

Cage and Few both received slight injuries, but they’ll be back for our next game.

#4 seed, #19 ranked Duke, 24-9, in the Sweet Sixteen.

3/23: 73-52. 41-24 at the half. 18, 14 for Camm, 12, 9, 5 for Wats, 13 for Few. +20 RBs, +7 TOs.

#3 seed, #16 ranked Syracuse, 25-10 upset #2 ranked Michigan ST. On paper we should win easily, but it’s not usually that easy. Their strength is outside.

3/25: 91-71. 22, 12 for Wilk, 18, 6, 7, 4 for Few. +22 RBs.

And back to the Final Four! We play #4 ranked but #1 overall seed Louisville, 31-3. We beat them by 35 in November, but that was a long time ago. They are very good at SG and C, but we think we’re the better team overall.

On the other side it’s #9 ranked Temple, 30-4, vs. unranked #7 seed Iowa ST, 25-9.

4/1: 84-68. We led by as many as 23. 20, 7, 8 for Cage, 17, 9 for Wilk, 16, 5 for Few, 12, 9 for Camm. Great to get so much outside. +16 RBs.
It’s an all AAC final. #9 ranked Temple, 31-4, won 82-73. We beat them by 12 in the regular season, and lost by 1 for the AAC title. On paper we’re a much better team, but it didn’t work out that way last time.

4/3: 89-59 and the Fourpeat! It was close for 28 minutes or so. Then we went on a 14-0 run, and just kept stretching it out after that. All 5 starters had 10 or more. +19 RBs. 8 TOs. Great D.

Title #11 to put me ahead of John Wooden! I also took the lead in total wins, 1155, and I’m #1 in pct.

4/4: Awards: Andy Wilk was Final Four MOP. John Camm made 2nd team All American. I got National COY again. In conf., Camm was POY, Defensive POY, and 1st team. Wats was Frosh OY, and 1st team, Wilk was 1st team.

4/16: Had to hire a #1 and #2. As usual, only lousy choices.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. Got it.

Got the fourpeat. We’re going to be insanely good next season. If I get an offer from Michigan or Michigan ST next season, I might go.

1155-214, .844, after 39 seasons.

[Wayne23]

February, 2169: The weather has been deteriorating for the past few months but it never got really bad… until two days ago, when our long range forecasting equipment showed a huge storm in the distance. I immediately sent the signal to Lacy and then set about getting the ship and the boat ready for a bad storm. With about 10 minutes to go before the worst of it hit I got Amy and we secured ourselves in the safest part of the ship.

I could only hope that Lacy had received and heeded my warning.

The storm was not the worst we’ve ever experienced but it was very bad, and it lasted for about 12 hours. When it finally ended I sent another message to Lacy, asking how she was. I knew it would be at least
45 minutes until I heard back so I did a damage survey while waiting, and got the robots working to make repairs and bail out the water we’d taken on.

I did the same thing on the 80 foot boat.

An hour passed with no word from Lacy. Then another hour passed.

I decided I needed to go to her. I was hesitant about taking Amy but felt I had no choice but to take her.

When we arrived at her spacecraft I knew things were not good. First, we couldn’t find Lacy; couldn’t find any of the robots either. The craft is not that big, but there are three separate areas. I told Amy to sit in the first area and wait for me. There was no way to know what I might find and I didn’t want Amy to walk into something really bad.

Lacy was in none of the three areas. That meant she had to be in the HC, evidently with all of the robots. I called to Amy to hang on for just another few minutes, and entered the HC. I checked to see which program was loaded. I cringed when I saw that it was the hospital program. I went in. A holonurse met me. I explained who I was and asked for a report.

Lacy had two broken legs, a fractured arm, five fractured ribs, a severe concussion, and a possible skull fracture. She had multiple contusions and abrasions. She was in surgery having the fractures that could be set, set. Not much to be done about ribs and the skull, and the contusions and abrasions.

I gathered the robots together and asked what had happened, and if she had received my warning.

She had. She was in the middle of something critical when the warning came and she thought she could finish what she needed to do before the storm hit. For some reason she mistakenly thought she had 45 minutes, not 15. When the storm hit she was thrown across the room, and then just generally thrown about until the robots were finally able to get her secured, but by that time the damage was done. They were not able to get her into the HC hospital for a long time due to the storm, and she was in terrible pain all that time.

I didn’t learn much else on that first day. I told Amy what had happened and told her we’d be able to see Lacy after the surgery, but to expect her to be heavily sedated, and possibly in a lot of pain despite that.

When we finally did get to see her Lacy was more out of it than anything else. I decided to stay at the spacecraft for the time being. I sent a long, detailed message to the robots on the ship and one to those on the 80 footer, instructing them as to what to do during my absence. I also reminded them to notify me at once if a storm appeared in the distance.

We went to see Lacy shortly after waking up yesterday, and she was in severe pain. The ribs were the worst, and she also had a brutal headache.

She was concerned about the mission, and assumed I would force her to abort it.

“I don’t really see how you can do much for the next 6-8 weeks, Lacy. All of the fractures will pretty much keep you hospitalized. It might make more sense for that to happen on the cruise ship than here. I can’t stay here for all that time.”

“I know, but the nurses and doctors here can take care of me.”

“What does that gain you as far as the project is concerned?”

“The robots can gather the data. I can view things just as well from my hospital bed as I can from my work station. Dad, I can’t lose a whole year of work.”

“Let me think about it, Lacy.”

I sensed that she was shocked that I hadn’t given her an immediate no, but I know how much this means to her, and I know how hard she’s worked. I don’t have a solution, but I am considering options.

Day 3: I made a quick trip home, did what I had to do, and got back to Lacy as quickly as I could. I made the decision to leave Amy with her while I went home, then stressed about it for the entire time I was away.

I need to decide what to do about all of this. I talked with some cyberspace and hyperspace holoexperts, and some others that I don’t have a category for. Apparently while obviously the HC is inside the cruise ship, it is also wherever it heads off to. Don’t ask me how that’s possible, I have no idea. Anyway, Lacy was orbiting Titan when the storm hit the cruise ship, but she was also aboard the cruise ship, so the storm slammed her. In a way I knew all of that, but I don’t know the science involved.

Anyway, what now? That’s my dilemma. I’d like to allow Lacy to stay and complete the mission, but I just don’t think she’s well enough to be alone. I know, I know, robots, holonurses, holodoctors… But still.

Amy is asking to stay with Lacy but I’m pretty hesitant about that. I think about commuting back and forth between the spacecraft and the cruise ship but that’s just crazy. It would mean at least a couple of round trips a day, and there’s no way I would be able to keep up with the day to day tasks on the ship and the boat if I did that.

Day 5: For the moment I’m going to do what I can’t do. I’m leaving Amy with Lacy, and I’m doing the commute twice daily. This is strictly temporary.

I did put in place an automatic system on the space craft. If an alarm comes in warning of a storm, all programs automatically save and shut down, and the robots immediately escort any and all humans to the designated safe area, where they will ride out the storm.

Day 11: The commuting is exhausting me. I’m not sure how much longer I can do it.

Day 14: Lacy is doing much better. The pain is much more tolerable and the headache has finally left her. Mobility is a huge issue, and rehab is going slowly. With both legs and one arm broken it’s difficult for her to do the things she would normally be doing if there were only one or two fractures.

Amy has been acting as a nurse or maybe a nurse’s aide, really helping Lacy in all sorts of ways, both with healing and with her work. She just turned 12 but she is acting far more mature than an average 12 year old.

Day 15: I have decided to go back to the ship, and to visit Lacy only every other day. Amy will stay with Lacy to help her, and to keep her company.

If a storm comes up I will send the signal and activate the automatic programs so I know the girls will be safe. If I can, I will relocate the ship and the boat. Actually, that will be my first priority. I’ll get the holoexperts on the task of figuring in which direction we should cruise in order to find a safe spot.

Next: Lacy’s recovery, another bad storm

[Wayne23]

5/1: The usual reports.

Preseason #1.

6/5: There’s an SG from Oregon in the transfer pool that we like.

6/12: Got him.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We want 2 bigs. Looking at 10.

Wats, Wilk, and Camm went #1, 2, 3 in the draft.

8/7: 5 on the Norton list: C Jay Shin is #1, C Jam Sitt is #8, SG Dan Webb is #15, C Ben Cary is #19, and PG Del Tonn is #36.

8/21: We offer to an SF and a PF.

9/18: Got the SF, #3. Lost the PF but we offer to another one.

Preseason NIT vs. Canisius. Tough schedule.

9/25: Got the PF, #7.

10/2: First day of practice. We’re very good again. I think we have a real shot at a fivepeat.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Returning sophs Ron Cage and Mal Ells start at guard. Senior Del Tonn subs.

Frosh SG Jon Rich starts at SF, so we’re going with 3 guards.

Frosh Jam Sitt and Jay Shin start inside. Frosh Kwa Woes and juco junior Ben Cary sub inside.

[Wayne23]

11/14: 69-35 over Canisius in the 1st round of the NIT. The D was amazing. They shot 20.9%. 21, 15 for C Jay Shin, 16 for guard Mal Ells. We’re the #1 seed.

#8 seed LSU in the 2nd round.

11/16: 105-73. 26, with 11 assists for guard Ron Cage. 18, 7, 7 for Ells, 24, 5, 4 for SF Jon Rich. 14 RBs for Shin. +29 RBs.

#5 seed, #8 ranked Pitt in the semis.

11/18: 95-59. 27 for Ells, 20, 4, 5 for Cage, 18, 6 for Rich, 11, 12 for Shin, 12 RBs for PF Jam Sitt. +23 RBs, 7 TOs.

#10 seed, #9 ranked (In the new poll) Texas for the title.

11/20: 101-79. 27, 8 for Rich, 23, 5, 4 for Cage, 20, 4, 9 for Ells. 14 RBs for sub big man Kwa Woes.

We blasted through this tourney with an average PPG margin of +31!

Both recruits signed.

12/4: 8-0. Closest game- 13 points. Shin gets 18.6, 13.1. Rich gets 19.8. Ells and Cage are also in double figures. The 5th starter, Sitt, gets 8.6 and 9.1.

12/25: 14-0, #1, RPI #1. +23.7 PPG, +18.5 RBs, +4.1 TOs, +6.7 assists, +3.0 steals. Closest game is still 13 points. Rich gets 20 a game. Shin gets 18.6, 12.8. 14.9 for Ells, 12.4 for Cage. 8.6, 8.2 for Sitt. And the bench is playing very well.

[Wayne23]

1/15/2068: 19-0, 5-0, #1, RPI #1. 1 up on Temple, 2 up on 4 other teams. 52 point win over #16 Cincy, here.

1/29: 22-1, 8-1, #1, RPI #1. +25.6 PPG, +17.5 RBs, +5.4 TOs, +7.4 assists. 1 up on Temple, 2 on SMU.

Temple beat us by 3 there. Our D was awful. They shot 55.8%, 56.5% on threes.

Jay Shin is #3 on the Norton list. Rich should be there, too.

2/12: 26-1, 12-1, #1, RPI #1. 3 game lead in conf. Jay Shin remains #3 on the Norton list.

2/26: We end the regular season at 29-1, 15-1, #1, RPI #1. +27.2 PPG, +16.6 RBs, +6.1 TOs, +8.1 assists. #1 in all those categories, plus blocks and steals allowed. We win the
conf. by 4 games.

3/5: Never a good day. We lose 4, 3 starters: SG Jon Rich, C Jam Sitt, C Jay Shin, and back up PF Kwa Woes.

Jay Shin remains #3 on the Norton list.

[Wayne23]

April, 2169: Lacy’s fractures are healed. She is doing very well in rehab. If she had had fewer fractures she would be finished with rehab by now, but the process was greatly slowed down because she had so many.

She is very grateful that the ribs have finally healed. Every breath was painful for weeks.

The skull fracture and concussion are finally taken care of, and she no longer gets headaches.

Throughout this ordeal she managed to get data from her robots, and from observations she made from her hospital bed. She feels like she will need an extension of about two months to finish her work, but she’s not as far behind as she feared she would be.

Amy was very helpful to her in lots of ways. She got their meals, did a lot of legwork between the main observation station and the HC hospital, ran all sorts of errands, kept Lacy company, especially when the pain was at its worst. Lacy has been very proud of her little sister.

I did the commute every other day, and somehow managed to take care of everything I needed to do. It has been exhausting though. I feel like I’m going through the motions often, and living in a daze for far too much of the time. I am now going to visit the spacecraft only every third day, since Lacy is doing so much better.

I want Amy to come back home but she is battling me on that. She feels Lacy still needs her. I also think she would rather be there. She feels important and useful.

My issue is that I think it is hurting her education. She’s doing all the things she needs to do, but not with the depth and breadth she did when she was here. At 12 years old she needs to focus on learning.

We had a pretty bad storm last night. It offered a chance to test the automatic safety system for the spacecraft, and it worked perfectly. Lacy and Amy got through the storm with no injuries and with no damage to the spacecraft or its equipment. The ship and the boat suffered some damage, as they do in every storm, but none of it posed a real problem, and it will all be fixed by the end of the day tomorrow.

Next: Back to “normal,” moving out of the storm path

[Wayne23]

3/9: #9 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, 12-16, 6-10, in the quarter finals. We won by 21 there.

3/10: 79-41. 24, 16 for Shin, 15 for Ells. +28 RBs, +8 TOs.

#4 seed Houston, 20-8, 10-6, in the semis. We won by 17 there, then again by 17 here.

3/11: 93-65. 23 each for Rich and Cage, 19 and 14 for Shin, 18, 4, 10 for Ells. +16 RBs, 8 TOs.

#6 seed SMU, 15-16, 8-8, beat #3 seed Cincy, then #2 seed Temple. We play them for the title. We beat them by 34 and by 32.

3/12: 91-69. 21, 17 for Shin, 17, 10 for Sitt, 17, 6, 8 for Cage. 6 TOs.

32-1, 15-1, #1, RPI #1.

# 1 overall. We play Nebraska-Omaha, 18-13.

3/16: 77-46. 22, 16 for Shin, 16, 12 for Sitt. 15 for Rich.

#9 seed Michigan ST, 19-10, in the 2nd round.

3/18: 84-45. 25, 7 for Shin, 19, 7, 6, 5 for Rich. +23 RBs, 10 TOs.

#5 seed, #18 ranked Indiana, 25-7, in the Sweet Sixteen. We beat them by 13 there.

3/23: 85-61. 16, 15 for Shin, 20, 7 for Sitt, 14 for Ells, 11, 7, 3 for Rich. +30 RBs (54). 8 TOs.

#2 seed, #6 ranked Kansas, 30-5, in the Elite Eight.

3/25: 85-78. We were up 17 when Shin got hurt. I sat him for the rest of the game. Kansas got as close as 3 twice, but we hung on. 22, 5, 8 for Ells, 21, 6, 6 for Cage, 10, 11 for Shin, 12, 8 for Sitt. +16 RBs,

Shin’s injury is minor. He’s day to day and won’t miss a game.

We play #2 ranked UCLA, 33-3, in the national semifinal. Their C is the #2 player in the country; ours is #3.

On the other side it’s #3 ranked Iowa ST, 34-2, vs. #19 Oklahoma, 24-8.

4/1: 99-79. 26, 18 for Shin, who dominated their Center. 29 for Ells. +12 RBs.

#19 Oklahoma, 25-8, won by 12. We play them for the title. We beat them by 28 at our place in December.

4/3: 94-69 and the fivepeat. 22, 6 for Shin, 16, 2, 8 for Cage, 18 for Ells. 4 TOs for the game (+15).

4/4: Awards: Jay Shin was Final Four MOP, and 1st team All American. I got National COY again. In conf., Shin was POY, Frosh OY, and 1st team, along with Mal Ells and Jon Rich. Ron Cage made 2nd team.

It’s time for a new challenge. If the right offer comes I’ll go.

4/9: I’m going to Michigan ST.

4/16: We hire three lousy coaches.

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. Got it. Now at A.

38-1, Fivepeat, title #12. Overall I’m 1193-215, .847.

This is my last stop on the coaching carousel. Everything is falling apart, and there won’t be an NCAA for much longer. I’m here until it happens.

[Wayne23]

11/14: 73-63. They led by 9 early, 6 at the half. We really turned it around. 21 for SG Gar Rave, 16, 4, 7 for PG Val Jons, 15 for PF Ry Rich.

#1 seed, #6 ranked Michigan in the 2nd round. Tough matchup.

11/16: 72-55. We exploded out of the gate and were up 16 at the half. We essentially traded baskets in the 2nd and they never got close. Center Nate Sims had 30 and 15; great game! 14 for Rave, 11 for Jons. Our guards have been a very pleasant surprise so far. +14 RBs.

#12 seed Pepperdine in the semifinals.

11/18: 80-67. 15, 7 for Rich, 16, 2, 4 for Jons, 16, 7, 3 for sub big man Dal Baro. +13 RBs. The guards are scoring but we’re getting too many TOs, 16.3 per game.

#2 seed, #4 Duke for the title. Thrilled we got this far.

11/20: 51-69. They got out to a big early lead. We never really closed the gap. I’m thrilled we got to the title game.

All 5 recruits sign.

We’re #6 in the new poll but we won’t stay there. Still, this team looks better than I had expected.

12/4: 5-3. #10, RPI #13.

We lost to #1 Arizona by only 4.

12/25: 7-5, #24, RPI #12. +2.8 PPG, +3.0 RBs, +1.5 TOs. Center Nate Sims leads us with 14.3 and 7.8. The guards, Rave and Jon, are still scoring well, and TOs are getting better.

[Wayne23]

July, 2169: Amy is back on the ship. She’s not happy about it but she’s here. I let her spend weekends (3 day weekends) with her sister, so that helps a little. I give her assignments to complete on the weekend but they’re relate to art, literature, or to Lacy’s project, and they’re pretty much things she’d be doing anyway.

I am back to visiting Lacy every two weeks but keeping in touch daily.

So things are back to normal, or pretty close. I’m moving the ship. The computers and long range weather analysis equipment indicated that we should head southeast, and go about 700-800 miles. We’re on our way.

I’ve actually had time to do some hiking, and some of the other leisure time activities I enjoy. Saw Billie Holiday in concert in a club in Chicago the other night.

Lacy is still in some pain but she’s back on her project full time. She was supposed to finish up in February but she says it will probably be May now. I’m fine with that. When she gets back she will coordinate everything she saw and learned, and will start writing her thesis. She already has a thesis advisor, a holoexpert who did a lot of work on Saturn and on Titan.

Next: Big trouble