Hereafter

[Wayne23]

1/17: Up 7 after 10 but we're not making shots. Up 9 at the break. Up 18 with 10 to play.

91-63. We weren't that good; they were that bad.

17, 4 for Milt, 14, 5, 5, 3 steals for Maxx, 16, 4 for Blen, 11 each for Mann and Ward.

+10 RBs. We shot 55.4%, made 13 more shots. We owned the paint.

11-5, 3-2 Arizona ST is here. They're not the team they were last season. They're good outside and they play D so, as usual, we need to play the game inside.

The Council met to discuss the “noise” coming in from various probes. It is continuing. If it's an attempt at communication we haven't figured it out yet. At times there clearly seem to be patterns and at other times not so much. Nothing much to do but keep monitoring.

[Wayne23]

1/20: Back and forth. Up 2 after 10. Up only 3 at the half. Up 4 with 10 left. It's a battle! Late run!

76-67. It was close almost all the way. Quite a battle!

17, 10, 3, 4 steals for Mann. 12, 5, 4 for Blen. 14, 2, 3 for Ward, 12 for Smid.

+13 RBs, which was big. We took 14 more shots, made 7 more. +12 in the paint.

Ranked #11. 16-2, 5-1. in a 3 way tie for 1st with 2 teams a game back. Still early.

At 7-10, 2-4 Washington ST. This is a team we should beat, but on the road you need to play well.

People are reporting an eerie feeling.

“It's like there's something here.”

“Feels like we're being watched.”

“It's just weird...”

[Wayne23]

1/24: Close early. Tied after 10. We're shooting .222. 26-21. We're shooting .300. Up 8 with 10 to go. Late run.

64-44. We shot a dismal .302. They were worse, 29.4%. We won it at the line, 27-33 to 9-16. NOT a good night. Two subpar games in a row.

15, 9 for Mann. +7 RBs, 11 TOs. +8 in the paint.

We need to play better than this and especially shoot better.

At #9 UCLA, 17-3, 6-1, in a 3 way tie for 1st with us and Utah. This shapes up as our toughest PAC 12 game, no doubt. They have a world class SG and a
decent PG. We think we're stronger inside. We score more points, they give up fewer. They're 3-0 vs. top 25 teams. We'll need to be at the top of our form.

The ship is way too quiet. It's like people are thinking if they don't talk about it maybe it's not there.

But something is here. We all feel it. VERY uncomfortable.

[Wayne23]

1/27: Their SG is killing us early. Down 8 after 10. Down 3 at the half. The SG had 23 in the 1st. We decide to guard everyone else. Run! Up 13 with 10 left.

86-75! HUGE WIN! The SG lit us up for 31 but we stopped everybody else. It worked!

16, 10, 3 for Blen, 16, 5, 3 for Mann, 13, 0, 4 for Ward, 13 for Milt, 10 for Smid. Our bench really came through.

18 TOs but they had 24. They shot 54.2% to our 46.8% but we took 14 more shots and made 3. We made 2 more threes and 3 more from the line.

16-5 on 2nd chances.

We're alone in 1st with 3 teams one game back.

#8 in the polls.

9-10, 2-6 Oregon here. We won by 14 there. Hart, Maxx, and Sims did the damage, and we took great care of the ball.

The Council met again. Sad to say there was a feeling of hopelessness. No one had any idea at all about what's going on or what we might do about it.

[Wayne23]

1/31: They take an early lead. We come back. Up 8 after 10. The run continues. Up 23 at the half. Up 19 with 10 to play.

74-55. Never a doubt. 15, 11 for Mann, 16 for Sims, 11, 6, 6 for Maxx.

+6 RBs, 8 TOs to 20. We took an amazing 30 more shots, made 13. We owned the paint.

At the halfway point we're #8, NET #3, 19-2, 8-1, alone in 1st in the PAC 12. Only UCLA is one back, Stanford and Utah are 2 back.

+11.9 PPG, +4.0 RBs, -6.1 TOs, which is great!

Mal Mann leads us with 12.5 and 8.6. Blen gets 11.9 and Maxx 11.2.

6-14, 1-8 Oregon ST is here. They're the worst team in the conf., and this should be a romp.

2/1: We were in the middle of a Council meeting when the notice came:

“Prepare to meet our Envoy.”

It was a voice coming from who knows where. Slightly accented Standard English.

“The Envoy will be a holographic projection of our Commissioner. His body will remain here and you will see only a projection. Do not be alarmed. We mean you no harm.
The Envoy will arrive in five of your minutes.”

And so it did...

It seems we were heading toward a section of space that is restricted. Those who live there- Yes, you read that correctly- do not wish to interact with other intelligent life forms. We were told to move in a different direction.

“All sectors shown on the projection are closed to you. Nothing else in this region of the galaxy is restricted.”

Questions? Well yes, we did have a few. Quite a few.

The entity mostly didn't answer them.

“As you travel the galaxy you will make many discoveries. Life is scattered very thinly in the galaxy but you will likely encounter it.”

It had been monitoring us for a long time and knew everything it needed to know about us.

“Since you travel to explore and to learn, and since you have no desire for conquest or subjugation, you will be allowed to go on your way without interference except in the sectors noted. There are dangers in space, but there are very few hostile races that have managed to achieve space travel beyond their local solar system. You will be safe, for the most part, from violent beings. But take care.”

With that the Envoy left. There was so much more we would have liked to have learned from it...

[Wayne23]

2/3: It's hard to get up for a really weak opponent. We take an early lead. Up 10 after 10. Up 19 at halftime. Up 22 with 10 left.

93-70. Boring. 19, 6, 8, 3 steals for Maxx. 17, 6, 3, 4 steals for Hart. 16, 6, 3 for Mann.

Only 5 TOs to 22. We took 29 more shots, made 15. An amazing 44-8 in the paint.

Not much more to say about this slaughter.

At a really good Stanford team next, 14-7, 6-4. We score 6 more per game and give up about 1 less. We're +6 on RBs, and their real weakness is TOs. We should be able to turn them over.

We're #4. We're in fast company!

As you might expect people on the ship were talking about exactly one thing. The Captain decided that the visit from the Envoy would be available to the entire crew.

Those working could listen as they did their jobs, and everyone else could watch the Council chambers via video. I'm guessing this had 100% viewership or listenership.

What did it mean? Where do we go from here? Those were two of the most popular questions and most of the other questions were related to those two.

The Council decided that it made sense to “digest” the encounter with the Envoy. The Council adjourned for 48 hours.

2/5: The reconvened Council was standing room only so the Captain made the meeting available on video and audio again.

We discussed what had happened, what it meant, and discussed a new course. We had been going in a circle since the Envoy's visit.

After consulting with the navigators we headed in a direction that seems to have potential for lots of things- a star with 3 planets in the “Goldilocks Zone,” a comet, lots of meteors, a couple of rogue planets- you name it.

We formed a committee to work on how to interact with other life forms that it now seemed clear that we would meet on our journey.

Throughout all of this people who were not on the Council kept interrupting with questions. It was disruptive and not helpful at all. Finally the Captain addressed this,

“Crew! Look, I know there's a lot to discuss. I know there are genuine concerns and lots of uncertainty. We will set up a forum for your questions to be heard and addressed. All of them will be taken seriously. But we can't turn this into a free for all. Please trust that you will be heard and that we are giving the most serious consideration to everything about all of this. There will be no instant answers, and no instant decisions. We will think and talk about all of this at length. And you will have a chance to be heard.”

“Who makes the decisions?”

“Karl, you know our decision making process very well. You've been on the Council in the past. We vote on something. If 10% of the crew doesn't agree with the decision and are willing to sign a petition, the issue goes to a referendum of the whole body after time is set aside for debate. That's how this is all going to work. I hope we won't send every little thing to referendum, but I absolutely respect the process and we'll hold as many of them as we need to.”

That kind of slowed down the tension a little. People overreact. I have no doubt some people were convinced the Captain was going to use this to set up a dictatorship.

First, she has no interest in that. That's not how she thinks. Second, if she or anyone else tried, the vote on the Council would be 12-0 against. But people don't always see that.

The coming days, weeks, and probably months, and even years should prove even more interesting than what we've already encountered. But then, that's why we came on this journey!

[Wayne23]

2/3: It's hard to get up for a really weak opponent. We take an early lead. Up 10 after 10. Up 19 at halftime. Up 22 with 10 left.

93-70. Boring. 19, 6, 8, 3 steals for Maxx. 17, 6, 3, 4 steals for Hart. 16, 6, 3 for Mann.

Only 5 TOs to 22. We took 29 more shots, made 15. An amazing 44-8 in the paint.

Not much more to say about this slaughter.

At a really good Stanford team next, 14-7, 6-4. We score 6 more per game and give up about 1 less. We're +6 on RBs, and their real weakness is TOs. We should be able to turn them over.

We're #4. We're in fast company!

As you might expect people on the ship were talking about exactly one thing. The Captain decided that the visit from the Envoy would be available to the entire crew.

Those working could listen as they did their jobs, and everyone else could watch the Council chambers via video. I'm guessing this had 100% viewership or listenership.

What did it mean? Where do we go from here? Those were two of the most popular questions and most of the other questions were related to those two.

The Council decided that it made sense to “digest” the encounter with the Envoy. The Council adjourned for 48 hours.

2/5: The reconvened Council was standing room only so the Captain made the meeting available on video and audio again.

We discussed what had happened, what it meant, and discussed a new course. We had been going in a circle since the Envoy's visit.

After consulting with the navigators we headed in a direction that seems to have potential for lots of things- a star with 3 planets in the “Goldilocks Zone,” a comet, lots of meteors, a couple of rogue planets- you name it.

We formed a committee to work on how to interact with other life forms that it now seemed clear that we would meet on our journey.

Throughout all of this people who were not on the Council kept interrupting with questions. It was disruptive and not helpful at all. Finally the Captain addressed this,

“Crew! Look, I know there's a lot to discuss. I know there are genuine concerns and lots of uncertainty. We will set up a forum for your questions to be heard and addressed. All of them will be taken seriously. But we can't turn this into a free for all. Please trust that you will be heard and that we are giving the most serious consideration to everything about all of this. There will be no instant answers, and no instant decisions. We will think and talk about all of this at length. And you will have a chance to be heard.”

“Who makes the decisions?”

“Karl, you know our decision making process very well. You've been on the Council in the past. We vote on something. If 10% of the crew doesn't agree with the decision and are willing to sign a petition, the issue goes to a referendum of the whole body after time is set aside for debate. That's how this is all going to work. I hope we won't send every little thing to referendum, but I absolutely respect the process and we'll hold as many of them as we need to.”

That kind of slowed down the tension a little. People overreact. I have no doubt some people were convinced the Captain was going to use this to set up a dictatorship.

First, she has no interest in that. That's not how she thinks. Second, if she or anyone else tried, the vote on the Council would be 12-0 against. But people don't always see that.

The coming days, weeks, and probably months, and even years should prove even more interesting than what we've already encountered. But then, that's why we came on this journey!

[Wayne23]

2/7: HUGE crowd and the place is rocking- 99% of the fans are yelling for Stanford, of course.

Slow start and we can't hit shots again. Up 4 after 10. The refs are not helping us. Down 5 at the half. Up 5 with 10 to play. We're still shooting poorly but we're taking a lot of shots. Late mini-run puts us in charge!

73-64. Late play has been a trademark. We're really coming through in the clutch.

21, 7, 3 with 3 blocks for Blen. No one else had more than 9, but lots of guys scored.

+12 RBs and that was big, as was 8 TOs. We shot an awful 31.4% but took 26 more shots, making only 4; but it was enough. We beat a really good team on their home floor.

UCLA got beat. We now have a 2 game lead over them and Utah.

7 to play, 5 at home. Next is #17 Washington, 18-6, 6-5, here. They have as good a back court as we've seen but we think we're a lot better inside. They play tough D. We feel like if we play really well we should be okay. It would be nice to make some shots.

Little used C/F Jam Moro hurt his back. Out about a week.

As the days go by the incident with the Envoy isn't receding from anyone's thoughts. It's what people are talking about, wondering about, stressing about. Every 2-3 days the

Captain puts out a bulletin with an update on what's going on and on what the Council and its various committees are thinking, but there's a sense of almost paranoia on board.

[Wayne23]

2/10: We score the first 8. Up 12 after 10. Up 10 at halftime. Up 8 with 10 left. They're staying within range.

70-52 as we finish strong again. 18, 3, 5 for PG Jay Ward, 14, 7 for Mal Mann, 13, 3, 7, 3 steals for Maxx.

We shot 40% to their 35.3% and took 14 more shots. Our guards rose to the challenge and outplayed theirs.

13-10, 7-5 Colorado is here. We crushed them by 32 there. This is a game we should win.

[Wayne23]

2/14: We fall behind early. We need a wake up call. Down 8 after 10. Okay, we're back! Down 1 at the break. We're not getting it done. Min-run puts us up 6 with 10 left.
They come back again.

81-72. We scored the last 11 points. Too close for too long. Their guards really pounded ours. We won it from the bench (+12) and inside.

16, 6 for Sims, 11, 14, 3 for Mann. +5 RBs, only 8 TOs to 19. We let them shoot 51.9% to our 39.1%. We took 12 more shots. But the foul line was the biggest difference, 29-34 to 7-10. +10 in the paint.

UCLA lost again. They're 3 back with 5 to play; Utah is alone in 2nd, 2 back.

At 15-10, 6-7 Arizona. We won by 25 at home. On paper we should win, but they take care of the ball.

A big surprise. At the beginning of tonight's Council meeting Karl Graves presented a petition calling for a special election for the Council. Council elections are held annually with 1/3 of the Council seats up each year. This petition calls for ALL Council seats to be up for election, some for one, some for two, some for three year terms.

Karl claims to have 15% of the crews' signatures. I guess we knew there was some discontent but this seems like a lot.

The Captain accepted the petition and directed the Council clerk to verify the signatures.

“If the signatures are valid, and I'm sure they are, we will vote on whether or not to have a special election on April 1.”

“What! Why not now!”

“Karl, you're out of order. Standard procedure is to have 4-8 weeks for campaigning before an election. April 1 puts us at about 6 weeks. I suppose you can petition for a change to that but it is standard procedure.”

Karl kind of muttered a little but didn't really say anything. It should be an interesting 6 weeks!