Basketball 2111

[Wayne23]

Basketball 2111

4/30/2111: My name is Tor Blen. I’m 35 years old and I’ve just taken on the head coaching job at the University of Hartford. I’m thrilled to be here after 13 years at the high school level, the last 10 as a head coach. We won the state title for the last two years, and four times all in all, but I was beginning to think an offer from a Div. I school would never come. It did. I said yes! It won’t be easy but I hope to turn the program around here, and then move up the ladder.

My first year goals, as set by my A. D. Finish in the top 3 of the America East Conference and win at least 10 games. We’ll see.

I’ll tell you a little bit about the world I live in before we get this thing started.

The world went to hell in a handbasket during the first half of the last century. When the dust finally settled there were about half as many people, in the country and in the world, as there had been when the century started. Far as we know, and we don’t know, that’s probably still about the same, say 3.5-3.7 billion in the world, and maybe 160 million in this country.

Most of the people are poor. Wages are ridiculously low and the average work week is about 50-55 hours- IF you can find work. Most can’t, and they live on the dole, which is mighty slim pickings.

Very few finish high school, and extremely few go to college, only the very, very bright, and those lucky enough to get athletic or artistic scholarships. 13 very lucky kids will come to U. Hartford because they can play hoops.

The most basic necessities of life are barely provided for. Most people live in very overcrowded apartments, often 5 to 10 people in a three or four room dwelling that is not in very good shape, getting barely enough food to eat. Things like fruits and vegetables are seldom seen luxuries for most. No new construction has happened for more than a half century except for mansions for the wealthy and business establishments and such. The powers that be don’t give the smallest damn for the people below them. Okay, more on that later.

[Wayne23]

5/1: First day on the job! #244 recruiting class. So not great.

I’m going with Motion and Princeton for our man to man offense. On D it’s 50% man to man, about 30% 2-3, about 20% 3-2, and a little full court man to man press, but not much. BUT I spend about 75% of practice time on D. Unusual, but it works for me. I recruit for guys who can play D, and big guys who can rebound, little guys who can handle the ball. Shooting comes after all of that.

I couldn’t afford good assistants but it is what it is. We’ll buy the East Gold scouting report.

I go with an offensive pace of about 7, big on RBs- 9 for O, 10 for D, Def. intensity of 7.

6/26: Five scholarships to fill. I’ll go for the best 5 players I can get, regardless of position. Given that we’re not a highly rated school it could be tough going.

“Tor, we’re hungry. We freeze in the winter, roast in the summer. We live in a 2 bedroom apartment with nine other people.”

“I know, Rav. I just got here.”

“You’ve been here almost two months.”

“Look, I’m trying to get you and Lara jobs. It’s tough. Nobody retires, nobody quits. Someone has to be fired or die for a job to come open.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Look, we get to invite a family to dinner once a week. It’s you and your family every single week, and it will be until we can get you here. You’re my only brother, my only
family except for Nell.”

“I appreciate it. That’s the only decent meal we get all week.”

“I check for openings every day, or Nell does. But you don’t have any special skills so…”

“Yeah, I know. I should have gone to school, but you know how it was.”

“Yeah. If I wasn’t a good basketball player I would never have been able to go.”

“I wasn’t that lucky. And I sure wasn’t smart enough to get into college that way.”

“I won’t stop trying, Rav.”

“I know. It’s just really hard.”

Most people eat in a cafeteria. Breakfast is a bowl of some kind of porridge, plain, with no added milk, sugar or anything else. Lunch is a stew, often with veggies like cabbage, turnips, carrots, potatoes-whatever is growing, or pulled from storage. In the winter that isn’t much and the stew is often pretty thin.

The evening meal is veggies again with a small piece of meat or fish, maybe a ¼ pound if you're lucky; often less. There's a piece of bread with both lunch and dinner. Breakfast offers coffee or tea, both black. Lunch and dinner come with water to drink. Dessert? Fruit? Forget it.

The meal is served by cafeteria staff. You hold your tray out and they put on it what they put on it. Complain and it's taken away from you. It pays to stay on their good side. Your meal ticket is punched when you enter the cafeteria. Lose it and you don’t eat- for the rest of the month. The tickets are issued monthly.

At the university and for workers with important jobs, the cafeterias are also there, as are the meal tickets. The food is served the same way, but the food is of much better quality and there is more of it. You can expect a piece of fruit at lunch and dinner, and there is limited sugar and milk for the coffee and tea, which are available at all three meals.

No food leaves any of the cafeterias at any time. As mentioned above, at the university and at the important job site cafeterias, a family can invite another family to dinner once a week.

No one has any idea how the rich people eat but it isn’t in cafeterias. There are no non-wealthy elites. The university President and his family eat in the cafeteria.

8/21: Very tough going with recruiting. Not much interest being shown by recruits so far. I’ll be sure to save a good amount of $ for spring recruiting.

Only one guy showing any interest at all, a PF. We offer to him.

9/18: Going for a weak schedule but most of our pre-conf. games are on the road.

9/25: A recruit signs! Dee Slay, PF, #214. 2 others showing a little interest.

10/2: 4 recruits have said no so far. But we’re seeing a little more interest from a few.

We’re picked 5th in the 9 team America East Conf.

11/6: Some uncertainty, particularly at Sf and regarding sub minutes. 10 man rotation:

Junior Ike Kell starts at PG. Senior Jeff Dyes backs up.

Senior Jay Buon is at SG with soph Lal Dass in support.

Senior Cal Tron starts at SF with senior Pat Fall fighting for the starting job.

Soph Josh Hart starts at PF, subs at C. Frosh Jon Call and soph See Walt sub at PF.

Junior Mat Carr is at C.

Expect lineup changes.

I was born, in 2076, into one of those very poor families I talked about awhile back, and only my basketball ability allowed me to rise above it. But I only rose above it as of May 1 when I started working here at U Hart as head coach. High school teacher/coaches don’t make any more money than anyone else does so I know what poverty, crowded living conditions, disease without any meaningful health care options- I know what all of that is like.

My wife Nell has suffered two miscarriages, largely due to our poor diet and our lack of access to health care. We did NOT want children until we landed a head coaching job at a university, if we ever did, but accidents happened, and she and we both went through a lot. Our greatest hope is that now that we have a healthy diet and decent health care we can start a family.

My college years were good. I was a scholarship basketball player here at U. Hart., College athletes are very well fed compared to most people. It is very nice to get back to decent food and a decent, uncrowded place to live. And yes, I want to do all that I can to help my brother Rav to get a job here so that his situation and that of his family can improve. I try very hard not to be political but the way people live in this modern world is simply not right. I would think there’s a way to allow people to live decently, especially if they’re willing to work hard. I probably can’t do anything about that but I sure don’t like the way things are.

[Wayne23]

11/13: Well, it’s here, the start of my first season as a head coach. I’d have to say that my hopes definitely exceed my expectations, but if I stay patient and keep teaching, and tweaking the lineup, I think we have a shot at finishing in the top 3 in this weak conference. Our other goal of 10+ wins is something I very much hope to achieve. But we’ll see.

Recruiting efforts continue. There are still 4 scholarships to fill and there’s not a huge amount of interest, but my recruiting assistant and I are working on this every day. The internet is back, mostly through public computers in schools and public libraries. Cell phone technology is still around but very, very few of the guys I’m recruiting have even a single cell phone in the family. The cost is prohibitive. I have a cell, provided by the university, but it's not much use to me. So we email and wait for a reply, mostly. It’s pretty tedious. Public transportation sometimes gets us to a live visit with a recruit and more rarely gets a recruit here for a campus visit, but recruiting is not what it was in the 2nd half of the 20th century and in the early 21st. Realistically, if we are able to fill 3 of our 5 scholarships with guys who have the potential to help us, we will have had a good recruiting year. Our program is coming off of 5 straight losing seasons, and a finish of no higher than 6th in the conf. in any of those. That was two years ago. We finished 8th last season.

11/20: 1-1 in two road games. The win was in OT and the loss was a blow out. Too soon to make any changes but we need to score more and we need to take better care of the ball.

Our only committed recruit signed, a PF with a final rating of #182 overall; not bad. Still working hard to attract the others we’ve offered to.

11/27: 2-2. Again, all 4 games have been on the road. Changes coming but I’m going to stay patient for one more week.

12/4: 3-3 in 6 road games. RPI #285. The staff and I got together last night. Pat Fall is going to start at SF and sub a little more at SG. Cal Tron isn’t getting it done at SF and sub SG Lal Dass will sit. Jon Call will pick up See Walt’s minutes.

4 of our last 5 pre-conference games are at home so we could and should have a winning record when we go to the America East games. We’ll keep tweaking the lineup as needed.

As to head coaching in general, I’m loving it. Losses are tough, and it’s very stressful during close games but I’ve always wanted to do this as my life’s work and my greatest hope is that I can continue to do it for the rest of my working life.

We’ve now been on the job for seven months. Nell and I are eating better, living in MUCH better conditions, and we’re happier than we’ve ever been. We’re thinking that it’s almost time to start that family we’ve dreamed of for so long.

12/11: 4-4, RPI #286. Interestingly enough, and frustratingly enough, we lost our home opener. But then we won on the road.

12/18: 6-4, so we'll go to conf. play with a winning record! I’m thrilled. Like all coaches I now want to do better than just a bit over .500; winning our final non-conf. game, at home, would make us 7-4. That’s the goal! RPI is only #295, which means we’re not a very good team, but we’re winning. True, we’re beating lousy teams, but our conf. is not exactly loaded with powerhouse teams.

12/25: 6-5. Crap! RPI #315. PPG -0.9, #196 for PPG, #173 for PPG Allowed. +5.5 RBs, our greatest strength. -1.6 TOs, an area where we need to do better.Our D needs to improve; given all the practice time we spend on D it should be better, but I put in a new system and I know it will take time for the guys to learn it. Offense, particularly scoring, are probably about where they'll be, given that we don't focus much on O. On the positive side we’re only 4 wins away from one of our goals, 10 or more wins.

SG Jay Buon leads us with 16.5 PPG but he’s a poor ball handler. Inside players Josh Hart, 14.7, 9.0 and Mat Carr, 10.9, 9.3, give us a strong presence inside. Our PG, Ike Kell, moves the ball well; we get a lot of TOs, but Kell isn't responsible for many of them. Pat Fall has been an improvement at SF.

But we’re not deep, and we’re losing starters Buon and Fall, and subs Dyes and Tron, four of the seven guys who get meaningful minutes. Recruiting needs to show some success or next year will be a real problem.

We’ll start AEC (America East Conference) play this week at home vs. 4-7 UMass-Lowell, then travel to 2-9 Maine.

12/26: A terrible tragedy for the U. Hart. community. On rare occasions the school finds the money to fund an outing. Yesterday, Christmas, was such an occasion. A bus trip was provided for 55 of our community members to go to NYC to see the lights and such.

On the way home the bus blew a tire and careened off the highway and plunged 100 feet. All 55 people on board plus the driver were killed. The entire community is in deep mourning. Public transportation is the only option for most people, either locally or for long distances. Everyone knows the buses are not properly maintained, and neither are the roads. We all gamble every time we board a bus. But there's little choice, so we do it anyway. This kind of tragedy is all too frequent. Private cars are only owned by the wealthy or by those in powerful positions. The U. Hart. President has a car at his disposal but no one else does. At other universities some of the wealthy students have their own cars. But there are no wealthy students here, at least none that I know of.

12/29: I went to personnel this morning to see if the horrible tragedy might possibly lead to jobs for my brother Rav and his wife Lara. I was told that no, they would not be getting jobs, but now they are at the very top of the waiting list, Rav for anything in maintenance or cafeteria work, and Lara for anything in the cafeteria or in cleaning.

I'm hoping to find a tiny ray of sunshine in all the gloom. Hopefully this is it and it will mean work for my family soon.

I hadn’t mentioned it yet but my wife, Nell, is an English professor here at U. Hart. When I got the coaching job she got a position- not tenure track, that doesn’t exist at this university. But she teaches three writing classes, and that brings in a little extra money for us. Nell has a very high I. Q., and she tested in the top 1% on her SATs. That got her into school and later into grad school. She has an M. A. in English, which these days is all one needs to teach at many universities. We met when she got a job at the high school where I was teaching and coaching. I'm 35, she's 28. Oh, I have an M. A. in secondary education. I did my grad work part time, mostly in the summer, given that coaching took up so much of my time during the school year.

Money… Money doesn’t mean a lot. It exists, but there’s not much of it, and it’s sort of hard to explain. Our living expenses, food, housing… are deducted from our salary.
That costs about 80% of what Nell and I make. The other 20% goes for things like clothing. We try to make our limited wardrobe last as long as possible because clothes are expensive, especially shoes. We try to save a little each payday, but it’s difficult. Again, we think we can support a family, one or at most two children, but it will be close.

The long range goal is to move up the ranks to a better university. U. Hart. is low. Moving up to a mid-major would have us living in really great conditions, at least comparatively. Moving to a major would have us living well by almost any standards. All of that will depend upon my being successful here, of course, and it’s not likely to happen quickly. Pressure? You could say we’re under pressure, yes.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2112: 8-5, 2-0. GREAT start to AEC play! RPI #282. We beat UMass-Lowell by a single point at home when PF Josh Hart hit an 8 footer with a hand in his face at the buzzer. He had 17, 13 to lead us. SF Pat Fall had 15 and 9, and SG Jay Buon had 13, 6. Sub forward Jon Call had a really great night with 12. +12 RBs, which was a huge factor in the win. 18 TOs though.

Then we won by 13 at Maine. Buon had a great night with 23, and Hart had 13, 7, 6. Fall had 15 and 6. Center Mat Carr isn’t putting up huge numbers on O but he is getting it done on D and on the boards. 15 TOs, but they had 20.

This week we’re home to a tough Vermont team and at Binghamton.

The new year finds Nell and me very grateful for what our new life has provided us with.

1/8: 9-6, 3-1. RPI #248. Vermont beat us by 7 at our place. 18 TOs and -3 RBs. As usual, Hart, Fall, and Kell played well, but Buon had an uncharacteristically poor game, in foul trouble all night, and Carr was just so-so. We won by 13 at Binghamton. 17, 10 for Carr, and great D on his man. Solid, but unspectacular play by the 6 other guys who get minutes. +7 RBs, +4 TOs. It’s very early but we’re tied for 1st with Vermont, and we’re one win away from reaching one of our goals. I’m feeling good!

1/15: 10-7, 4-2. RPI #234. We beat Albany by only 2 at home. Mal Carr, who had 24 to lead us, blocked a shot at the buzzer to preserve the win. It was a great block and a gutsy move considering that he had 4 fouls at the time and if he had fouled it was possible that we would have had to play OT without him. 14, 11 for hart. Buon has been committing way too many fouls lately and it’s hurting us. As a senior he should be showing more control.

We lost by 16 at MD- Balt. We let them shoot 50.8% and we seemed a step slow all night.

Admittedly, it’s a long bus ride to Baltimore, and mechanical trouble delayed our arrival, so we were tired. That’s an explanation, but it’s not an excuse. Kids this age should be able to overcome that sort of thing. We do all that we can to be sure our buses are safe, but mechanical difficulties are very frequent. The university, especially since the Christmas tragedy, is prioritizing safe tires above all else on the buses. I can’t argue that.

So with ten regular season games to play we already have our 10 wins, and at least at this point we’re in great position to finish in the top 3 in the AEC. So far so good!

1/22: 11-7, 5-2. A one game week. We beat Stony Brook by 7 at home. RPI #216. In a 3 way tie for 1st in the AEC. 23, 13 for Hart, 20, 2, 5 for Kell. Buon is still not playing as well as we think he should be.

1/29: 12-8, 6-3. We split 2 road games this week and I’ll take it! But 23 TOs in the loss which is absolutely unacceptable. We followed with only 11 TOs in the road win. Good news in that Buon seems to have re-found his shooting touch, 18 and 17 in his last two games.

RPI #206; I’d love to get below 200! -0.1 PPG, #178 in PPG, #167 in PPG allowed; I’d like to do better with the latter. +6.2 RBs, and we’re #14 in that category. -1.3 TOs, #138.

Buon still leads us in scoring with 14.6, but Josh Hart is closing in with 14.2, and he leads us with 9.5 RBs. The best news is that Hart is only a soph. We’re in a 2 way tie for 2nd, ½ game back of 1st, 1 up on 4th.

2/5: 13-9, 7-4, RPI #195. Finally below 200! Alone in 2nd, ½ back of 1st, ½ up on 3rd. We beat Manie by 15 at home. 23, 10 for hart, 22, 6, 4 for Buon, 10, 2, 10 for Kell. +16 RBs, only 12 TOs.

Then Vermont beat us by 18 there. 16, 11 for Hart, 17 for Kell, 10, 11 for Carr, but 21 TOs (-13).

Sub forward Jon Call turned an ankle. He’s out for about a week.

2/10: Great news!!! My sister-in-law Lara was just hired to do cleaning in the dorms here at U. Hart. No job yet for Rav, but her job means they will be assigned campus housing and they will be able to take their meals here. He’ll need to get here in time for meals from his job downtown, but that shouldn’t be an issue. He gets out of work at 6:00 and the cafeteria here is open until 7:00. Under normal circumstances he should easily be here by 6:30 or even earlier. They are thrilled. Rav still really wants a job here, of course, but this will make a big difference in their lives and in the lives of their two daughters, ages 7 and 4.

2/12: 14-10, 8-5, RPI #197. In a 2 way tie for 2nd, 1/2 back of New Hampshire with 3 to play, 2 at home.

2/19: 15-11, 9-6. RPI #182. Alone in 3rd, 1 back of 1st. The road loss was not our finest moment, or mine either. The refs were awful, calling 23 fouls on us, 11 on them, which was pure bull- well, you know. I picked up my first T of the season, and then, in the final minute, my second, which means I was ejected. I don’t know if we would have won with decent officiating, but I know we never had a chance tonight. And, for the record, I have not complained much at all about officiating this season.

1 game to play, at home with New Hampshire, who are tied for 1st. They crushed us by 18 at their place but we’re a better team now.

2/26: 15-12, 9-7, RPI #216. -0.5 PPG, #186 in PPG, #180 in PPG Allowed. +6.1 RBs, #17, -1.5 TOs, #157. We lost the finale but the team battling us for 3rd lost too, so we wind up finishing 3rd in the AEC and achieving both of our preseason goals.

New Hampshire beat us up in the finale, by 17. We lost 3 of our last 4, which is not good. I’m guessing we’ll need to win the AEC tourney to be invited anywhere. That’s a tall order.

Senior guard Jay Buon leads us in scoring for the regular season with 15.0. Soph Josh Hart got 14.4, and led us with 9.2 RBs. Junior Center Mat Carr got 10.7, 8.6.

2/28: We play #7 seed Maine, 10-17, 8-8, in the quarter finals of the AEC tournament. We beat them by 13 and 15 during the regular season. Interestingly enough they are favored by a ½ point.

[Wayne23]

3/1: 68-57. We played terrific D all night long, holding Maine to 34.6%. Josh Hart led us with 17 and 11. Kell had 14 and Buon 11. +10 RBs and only 12 TOs (+5). Great win!

#2 seed Vermont, 16-12, 10-6, in the semis. They beat us twice, by 7 and 18, and they’re favored by 2 ½. If we are to have any hopes of continuing beyond the AEC tourney we have to win this one. It won’t be easy.

Arthur “Pop” James, the chief custodian and head of supply at the Chase Arena, the main sports center here at U. Hart., and the place where we play and practice, suffered a fatal heart attack last night. He was known and loved by just about everyone on the campus.

3/2: 63-83. They were easily the better team and we were only really in it for the first 7-8 minutes.

3/3: We lost to the champ. Vermont won the AEC title by 20 points.

“Pop” James’ death opened a spot for Rav. He was hired today as the #2 custodian at Chase (The #2 guy got promoted to #1). That’s wonderful news as he now will be able to walk to work, and he will be working right here in the building where I work. His shift is 4:00-midnight, but he’s not too upset by that. He will still get to eat all meals with his family, and on nights when there are no games in Chase it will be a quiet atmosphere, which is something well suited to his personality. His nights off will vary, usually Sun. and Mon., or Mon. and Tues., due to the heavy usage of the facility on weekends.

16-13, 9-7, RPI #. -0.8 PPG, #193 in PPG, #173 in PPG Allowed, +5.7 RBs, #18, -1.6 TOs, #150. I am thrilled with our first season. It is VITAL that we recruit well between now and the end of April though. We need to pick up a couple of decent guys.

3/12: As expected, our season is over. Again, I couldn’t be more pleased.

3/15: Nell tells me we’re going to be parents! Baby is due on 10/18.

4/3: #3 Duke is the champ.

4/4: Awards: Soph PF Josh Hart is AEC POY and 1st team along with senior guard Jay Buon. Junior C Mat Carr makes the 2nd team.

4/9: I doubt that I’ll be offered a head coaching job after only one season, but who knows.

4/10: Two teams offered. Neither was a step up. I am very happy to stay at U. Hart. for a while longer. Now to snag some recruits!

4/16: We get an SG, Jam Bows, #233. Still chasing a few.

4/23: Got 2 PGs, #265, #567. We wound up with 2 PGs, an SG, and a PF.

We ask for recruiting money. We get $8,500!

Great first season. 16-13, 9-7, 3rd in conf. Met all of our goals. If a couple of our recruits come through for us we can have another good season. We’re pretty solid up front going in, and we have one good guard and a couple who may develop. Our D and our ball handling need to get better.

I could have talked a little more about U. Hart. We’re a small school, but then most schools are a lot smaller than they used to be. We have 125 students on athletic scholarships of one kind or another, about the same number on artistic scholarships, and maybe 350 or so on academic scholarships. At the major universities there are students paying their own way but there really are probably none doing that here. The school isn’t prestigious enough to attract people with enough money to do that.

[Wayne23]

5/1: Recruiting class is rated #49. I’m thrilled and I truly hope it’s an accurate assessment! We buy the East Gold scouting report.

Nell and I spoke for a long time last night. We agreed that if we get the opportunity to go to a better, or a higher ranked school this spring we will go. While it’s nice to be with my brother and his family, they are well situated here, and I no longer need to stress about their well being. There’s nothing holding us here and my goal has always been to climb as high as I possibly can in the coaching ranks. We won’t move just to move, and we’ll only move to what seems to be definitely a better situation, but if things develop properly we will definitely move.

6/5: Room for 3 transfers. I dropped 2 guys because they became academically ineligible and they were never likely to help us even if they had been eligible. Hoping to land some transfers. We offer to 3 PGs.

6/12: We get 2 PGs. Both look like they’ll be able to help us. One started for NC ST!

6/26: 3 scholarships. We’ll go 2 bigs and a guard or 2 guards and a big.

I haven’t said a whole lot about how we got to where we are as a society. Some place the roots in the 2010s, some in the 1980s, others as early as the 1960s. In any case, from about 2020 on the U. S. was pretty much an oligarchy, a one party dictatorship. The wealthy had managed to convince enough of the poor and the working class that the “lib’ruls” were going to take their guns, make them gay, turn them atheist, and make them ruled by women. Lefties called this campaign, “Gunz, Godz, Gayz, and (va) Ginaz.” It worked! Feeding the fears of the poor, the poorly educated, the dissatisfied… worked really well. They didn’t need to convince everyone, hell, not even a majority, the way the system was set up.

“Gunz”: From 2020 on the federal government was completely ruled by one party- all three branches, and enough of the states were the same as to make change all but impossible. And then, over the next couple of decades, the ruling party- well wadda ya know! Took away the guns. It became illegal to privately own firearms. First, they went after assault rifles and the like, then handguns, then hunting rifles. It wasn’t all that difficult. The general feeling was that they never came close to getting all of the guns, but they probably got about half of them within the first year, and over time they chipped away, getting more and more, until there weren’t enough left in private hands to matter.

“Godz”: In 2030 an amendment to the Constitution made Christianity the religion of the state, and made membership mandatory. And not just any form of Christianity. At first it was a number of denominations- evangelical, born again (not that there was much difference), and Roman Catholic. In 2042 membership in the RC church was made illegal. So by 2042 everyone had to belong to and evangelical or born again church. AND… everyone had to attend Sunday services. It was possible to be excused for a medical reason but it wasn’t easy.

“Gayz”: That one was easy. Being gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or anything like any of that was illegal and punishable by a prison sentence. Being caught committing “gay sex” was also punished by imprisonment. Politicians and preachers were caught often, and strangely enough, their sentences were often commuted early when they were not dispensed with altogether.

“(va)Ginas”: Women’s rights disappeared- almost all of them. As did all forms of birth control and, of course, abortion. Again, preachers and politicians wives, sweethearts, daughters… had no difficulty getting pregnancies terminated. Same for the wealthy. And all of those groups seemed to have much smaller families than did everyone else.

The work week grew to 55 hours, 10 hours a day on Mon.-Fri. and 5 hours on Sat. for most, but five 10 hour days and one 5 hour day for almost everyone. Wages went down and down and down until, by 2050 or so, people were working for bare subsistence wages in most cases.

Medical care was unavailable except for the wealthy and powerful in almost all cases and circumstances.

The sad effect of this latter policy was a sharp uptick in disease, and eventually, in 257, a modern plague that rapidly spread worldwide and cut the population in half before it was brought under control. If you manage to pin down a medical researcher he will say that another such plague is both overdue and inevitable.

As stated earlier most people lived in overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation. It was the norm for 10 or more people to share a bathroom.

Protests were put down with maximum violence. Firing into crowds was the normal response from the authorities. Oh, they kept the police and the military loyal by providing them with much better living conditions, and with pensions. No one else got pensions. You worked until you dropped. If you couldn’t work any more you were sent to the modern equivalent of 19th century “poor farms” where death by neglect usually didn’t take long to occur.

So that’s the way things are here in the U. S. and in many other countries around the world. There are still a few countries where people live decently, but no one really knows how many, or how decently they actually live. There is little to no contact with other countries, even with Canada and Mexico since our borders are completely closed and walled over.

Again, the very bright and talented, the very best athletes, and the very best artists are able to secure better lives for themselves and for their immediate families. How much better depends on how bright, how talented, and how needed they are.

As I’ve said I will improve my lifestyle considerably if I am able to climb the coaching ladder.

8/7: Recruiting, as it did last year, is going slowly. We’re not having a lot of luck attracting people. I thought that given our success last season we might do better. 2 guards showing minimal interest.

8/21: We offer to a PG, an SG, and a PF.

9/18: No in season tournament. We feel like we’re close to landing at least 2 recruits. We’ll see.

9/25: We get a PG, #184.

10/2: We lose one.

1st day of practice. We’re picked 2nd in the AEC.

10/4: Aron Mikale is born. He weighs in at 6 lbs, 11 ounces. Mom and baby are doing great. It’s indescribable to become a parent. WOW!!!

11/6: Lineup not fully settled yet. Actually, not nearly settled yet. 9 man rotation:

Frosh Cam Gard starts at PG with soph Mark Gure backing him.

Junior Lal Dass is at SG with senior Ike Kell subbing.

Frosh Des Slay starts at SF and frosh Jam Bows subs.

Junior Josh Hart is back st PF, subbing at C. Soph Jon Call backs up at PF.

Senior Mat Carr is back at C.

We’re solid inside but PG, SG, and SF are all up for grabs.

We need to recruit 2 more guys.

It’s great being a new dad. Can’t believe Aron is a month old already!

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 to start the season, one on the road then one at home. Jo0sh Hart scored 25 and 23 in the two games. Mat Carr hit the boards hard. . Still sorting out the rest of the lineup but we’re solid inside, as we expected to be.

Our only committed recruit signs.

Voting. First, it’s mandatory for everyone over the age of 18. Second, it’s really easy. If you want to vote for the ruling party you ask for a blue ballot. If you want to vote for the other party you ask for a red ballot. If you don’t want either, you ask for a green ballot. Guess what? Everybody asks for a blue ballot. When the results are “tabulated” the ruling party is announced as having received some percentage of the vote in the 95% range. It varies from election to election. Again, I’ve never seen anyone ask for anything other than a blue ballot.

Voting stopped mattering at all in 2020. The incumbent President was soundly beaten, both in the popular vote and in the electoral college. He claimed the election was rigged and refused to leave office. The other party could not compel him to leave office in favor of the duly elected candidate since his party controlled the Supreme Court.

He remained in office until he died of a massive stroke on February 1, 2023. The POTUS who followed him was a theocratic fascist who put most of the religious policies in effect which are still the law today. Anything resembling a free state died with the election of 2020, and anything resembling freedom of or from religion died in 2023. It has been nearly a century since this was a free country.

11/27: 3-1. We won on the road and then messed it up by losing at home. Hart is our go to and Youngstown ST shut him down in our home loss. We’ve practiced that and how to find the open man when it happens but we didn’t execute. I’m not happy about that.

I’m looking at lineup changes but I want to wait one more week before making any moves.

12/4: 5-1. Great week, a home win then a road win. RPI #126. We’re handling the ball much better so far this season and our D is stronger. Call gets more minutes, Gure loses all of his minutes. Bows shifts from SF to SG.

12/11: 7-1, RPI #114. We’re not playing great teams but I’ll take the wins! We’re playing good basketball.

2 of our last 3 non-conf. games are on the road. I’d love to go 2-1 in these three games. We’ll see.

12/18: We split the two road games this week, and I’ll take that any time.

12/25: 8-3 going to conference play. Damn! We lost the home game. RPI #179. +6.3 PPG, #61 in PPG, #137 in PPG Allowed. +6.3 RBs, #34. +2.2 TOs. We’re making too many TOS but we’re causing even more. Hart leads us with 16.0, 7.8.

We're 4-1 on the road and 4-2 at home. I am NOT happy with our home record!

12/28: Rav had an accident at work. He was moving some heavy boxes when a stack of them fell on his hand, fracturing it. The hand was trapped and he was alone in the building. He was able to free himself and call for help only after a long struggle. Fortunately, here at U. Hart. he won’t lose his job. If this had happened at his old place of employment he would have been fired because he was unable to work. Here he gets a week off then comes back and does whatever he can do with one hand incapacitated. Fortunately he hurt his left hand and he’s right handed. The week off here is without pay; we’re not all that benevolent. But at least he will keep his job.

Baby Aron is almost three months old. He recognizes Nell and me and smiles whenever he sees us. He’s a real joy and an easy baby. He only wakes once during the night. We change him, Nell nurses him, and he goes back to sleep. Nell took three weeks off from her teaching job. Well, someone else taught her classes but she did all of the planning and correcting. When she went back to work we placed Aron in the excellent child care program here at U. Hart. It’s small and does a terrific job with the kids. Everyone who has a child there raves about the place. It costs us some money but it’s not all that much and it’s well worth it.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2113: 10-3, 2-0. Great start to AEC play. RPI #168. Both wins were by 2 points, but a win is a win!

1/8: 12-3, 4-0, RPI #145. We’re doing lots of things well. TOs aren’t great but better than last season. D is better, too. Hart leads us with 15.9, 8.3.

1/15: 14-3, 6-0. RPI #127. At least so far we are owning this conference. Hart just had a 34, 12 game. SF Des Slay has become our #2 scorer with 13.7. Only one game this week.

1/29: 16-4, 8-1, RPI #119. +7.6 PPG, (#78 PPG, #58 PPG Allowed), +7.7 RBs, (#18), +1.9 TOs (#76). 2 game lead in the AEC with 7 to play.

2/5: 17-5, 9-2. RPI #127. Lead is only one over New Hampshire, 2 over Albany. We play both of them on the road so winning the AEC is far from being a sure thing.

2/12: 19-5, 11-2. Good week! RPI #110, and back to a 2 game lead in the AEC. 3 left to play but 2 are on the road vs. the two teams tied for 2nd place. Albany this week.

2/19: 19-6, 11-3. We lost at Albany by 13. We gave up 88 points. 1 game lead over them but New Hampshire lost twice and they’re out of it. So we’ll either finish 1st or 2nd.

2/26: We end the regular season at 20-7, 12-4. We lost at New Hampshire but Albany lost on the road so we win the AEC! Winning the tourney may be another story. RPI #136.
+7.1 PPG, #74 in PPG, #73 in PPG Allowed. +7.1 RBs, #19. +1.8 TOs, #64. Hart leads us with 14.7, 8.1. SF Des Slay gets 14.3, and PG Cam Gard gets 11.4.

I haven’t talked much about entertainment. Given that few people have either cell phones or computers in their homes, entertainment is mostly live sports, theater, and concerts, and film. Most people go to the movies once or twice a week and go to the local theater on campus to see a play or some type of musical performance. There’s something like that every Friday and Saturday evening, and on Sunday afternoons.

There is television, but programming is pretty limited. There are only three channels, and one of them broadcasts only religious programs.

Sports are popular, too, all of them U. Hart. sports. Lots of people come out to see our team. We usually sell out or come close to it. That wasn’t the case before I turned the program around but this season tickets can be hard to get. In season, people attend soccer, baseball, softball, volleyball, tennis… There is also a large recreation league which features opportunities to play all of the sports above and things like table tennis, racquet ball, billiards… Our rec department also organizes card and table game leagues and tournaments. While people work long hours, we tend to be more active than the people of earlier times. I’m told people play table games and card games at home, too.

[PointGuard]

Seems as though you possess a crystal ball about the future.

Wish I could have checked with you before the Kentucky Derby. I then would have bet all my liquid assets (all $3.95 of them) on Country House. Would have multiplied that to about $250!

[Wayne23]

I could have told you. You should have asked!