Fun and Games

[PointGuard]

At a law enforcement training conference, two experienced men make contact after starting out together as police officers in Boulder, Colorado.

Jake: This conference is a bust. Too much of this required ethics training lately. Hell, in the past cops could do as they damned well felt was needed to get the job done. Lately we got all these do-gooders trying to make us cops out to be the enemy.

Frank: You got that right. But you’ve done well, becoming the Colorado Springs chief of police.

Jake: Yeah, things have gone well. But you’re doing great yourself. Being a captain on a major PD like Denver is a big deal. Hell, you probably make as much as I do.

Frank: The pay will never be enough for either of us for what we have to go through, what with the community complaints and the staffing problems. I got this detective working for me who all of a sudden got his tail in knot over some random murders in Denver and a whole hell of a lot of other places. Now he’s got tunnel vision on one guy for God knows what reason. I just can’t seem to shut the guy down though.

Jake: Hey, don’t feel alone. At least you have a detective working on murder cases. I got this patrolman, Portowski’s his name, who I think wants to make an earth-shattering case so he can jump up the ladder real quick. But he’s stymied by how to link up disparate cases in different parts of the country. A couple days ago he came in saying how he thought maybe the guy committing these murders was a singer or comedian who travels all around the country. But I told him some of his cases had occurred over a number of years in different localities so that just didn’t make sense since singers and comedians travel all over rather than move their residence from city to city. I said if he really has cases that are linked, it’s more likely a business guy moving up the ranks by taking on new jobs or a federal government employee who gets transferred every so often. Heck, that guy who is running for President who keeps saying government employees in agencies we don’t need are leaching all our tax money may be right.

Frank: Yeah, that guy has a lot of loony ideas he keeps spouting off about. But it could be that one of those government guys not only is lapping at the food trough but doesn’t have enough to do and decides he wants to knock off people.

Jack: Hell, for all I know it could be Santa Claus who is unemployed on every day other than December 24 and 25.

Frank: Ha! Well, hopefully both of our guys soon get tired of spinning their wheels. Damn, it’s time for us to go back for another boring session for this waste-of-time conference. Let’s try not to lose contact again like we have the last several years.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1986: 13-0, 2-0, #7, RPI #2.

1/15: 16-1, 5-1, #7, RPI #$. The win streak ended at 15 when we lost by 1 at #1 ranked Duke on a last second 22 footer. We’re tied with Duke for 1st in the ACC.
Buck and Robb continue to lead us.

1/29: 20-2, 9-2, #7, RPI #6. We’re #1 in the country in PPG Allowed. Tied for 2nd in the ACC with #2 ranked North Carolina, 1 back of #1 ranked Duke. Yes, it’s a tough conference. Jon Buck is #11 and Gray Latt #23 on the Norton list. Rob is as good as either and he should be there, too.

We’re definitely banking a scholarship. There’s no one available who we want.

2/5: HUGE win at then #2 North Carolina this week. We beat them by 12 with great D and +16 RBs. 21, 11 for Buck, 11, 16 for Robb.
#5, RPI #3. Tied for 1st with Duke.

I wanted to celebrate but thought it might be too obvious so I waited until later in the week when we were at Clemson. The night we beat them I found a male prostitute, tied him up in an alley, blindfolded him, and bashed in his head with a rock. Very satisfying! I’ll use that method again.

2/12: 23-2, 12-2, #5, RPI #2. Alone in 1st in the ACC. Jon Buck is #16 on the Norton list.

2/26: It all came down to the last regular season game, at home, vs. #1 ranked North Carolina. They beat us by 10. Our D, which has carried us all season, let us down.
22 TOs was even worse.

We wind up in a 3 way tie for 1st, the #2 seed. #5, RPI #3. +15.3 PPG (#95, #2), +10.6 RBs (#7), +1.8 TOs (#108).

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #7 seed GA Tech, 17-12, 9-9, in the quarters. Beat them by 24 and 27, and heavily favored to do it again.

3/10: 61-51. The D did it for us. 17, 8, 4 for Latt, 13, 14 for Robb, 14, 9 for Buck, 13, 7, 3 for SG Clay Frie. +23 RBs.

#3 seed, #2 ranked North Carolina, 27-4, 15-3, in the semis. We won by 12 there, lost by 10 at our place. They’re favored by 4 ½. We need to stop their excellent outside game to have a shot. D is our strength; if it’s there we’re good, if not we’re out.

3/11: 68-61. The D was there. We held them to 28.8% shooting. Our rebounding was terrific, +19, and our ball handling was awful, 23 TOs. But we needed to stop them outside and we did, 7-32 on threes. 17, 11 for Robb, 14, 11 for Buck.

#1 seed, #1 ranked Duke, 27-4, 15-3, for the title. They beat us by 1 there. They’re a big favorite though. They probably have the best guards in the country and their C
is world class. Once again, it’s up to the D. But we also need to take care of the ball.

3/12: 67-78. They shot 46.4%, which was enough. We shot 37.3%. 24, 4 for Latt. Nobody else did much.

Still hoping for a #1 seed, 28-4, #5, RPI #3.

#1 South. We play #16 South Carolina ST, 18-12. Pretty happy with that.

3/17: 83-52. As expected, no contest. 23, 9 for Robb. +15 RBs.

#8 seed West Virginia, 19-12. This is a game we should win.

3/19: 86-88 in OT. We couldn’t put them away. They broke out to an early lead. We eventually caught up and went ahead late but they came back to tie it at the end of regulation. There were lots of reasons why we lost, but 14-27 from the line, including 1-4 in the last minute of regulation probably accounts for it best.

I’m frustrated. I feel like I’m never going to take that one final big step here at NC ST. If I can, I’m going to move.

4/3: #7 Memphis wins it all. I thought our conf. would take the title but it didn’t happen.

4/4: Awards: Junior PF Jon Buck makes the ACC 1st team. I am Conf. COY again.

4/9: Let’s see what happens…

Going to Michigan! There’s some work to do but the potential to win some national titles is there.

4/16: I need to hire a new staff. All 3 assistants left.

I like all 3 guys I hired. It’s nice to have money to work with!

4/23: I ask for a facilities upgrade. Got it! B- to B+.

I had a great run at NC ST but it was time to move on.

Overall, I’m 382-139, .733.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #56 recruiting class. We buy the Gold national and international.

6/5: 2 spots for transfers.

6/12: We went for a guy but didn’t get him.

6/26: 5 scholarships. We’ll go 2 and 3 either way.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, an SG, an SF, and a PF.

9/11: We lose 2.

9/18: Wow! Got 4, lost one. Got an SF, #4, a PF, #5, a PG, #26, and an SG, #35. One more to go!

Alaskan Classic vs. Georgia ST. Some challenges at home in the pre-conf. schedule but easy games on the road. We’re rebuilding.

I’ve been getting to know Ann Arbor. We’re less than an hour from both Detroit and Lansing, and sort of between them. Detroit has so many murders I doubt that any I commit there will cause any ripples.

9/25: We lose one, offer to a PG.

10/2: We get the PG, #18. Great haul!

1st day of practice, we’re picked 7th in the Big 10. We hope to do better than that. My A. D. wants us in the top 3. That’s a real challenge.

Got my 1st Michigan kill. I went to Detroit and lured a female prostitute into an alley, blindfolded her and bashed her skull in with a rock. Good times!

10/30: My very best player, by FAR, Kima Crao, is barely eligible. I keep having him study more, with a tutor, but it hasn’t helped his GPA at all so far. If he goes ineligible
in Dec. I’m in a lot of trouble.

11/6: 7 man rotation. We’re not deep. It seems unlikely that anyone other than these 7 will get significant minutes:

Senior Nat Gord is at PG. Senior Kima Crao is at SG. Frosh Dave Vare subs at both guard spots.

Soph Dan Jonn is at SF.

Junior Reg Hall starts at PF, subs at SF.

Soph Lon Dane starts at C. Senior Sam Mack subs at PF and C.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0.

All 5 recruits sign. SG Kima Crao is definitely our best player but SF Dan Jonn is playing really well, too.

11/24: 3-0. Crao got 27 in our last game.

Headed to the Alaskan Classic; we’re the #2 seed. We play #7 Georgia ST., 2-0.

11/25: 69-63. Crao was the difference, 29 and 8. 13, 12 for C Lon Dane. +17 RBs.

#3 seed Georgia Tech, 3-1, in the semis. They don’t seem to have jelled yet but they have lots of potential. Hope to catch them before they get it together.

11/26: 87-73. 23, 8 for Crao, 17, 3, 7 for PG Nat Gord. Most points we’ve scored all season; most points we’ve given up all season. +10 RBs.

#8 seed Colorado, the lowest seed in the tournament, for the title. They’re 3-1. On paper it’s a toss up.

11/27: 54-55. Sloppy game where neither team could get anything going. 20, 8 for Crao but no one else did much of anything. This is a game we should have won. We lost
it when we missed an open 15 footer at the buzzer. They doubled Crao, as we expected them to. We got it to Jonn but he missed the shot.

12/11: 7-2, ranked #13, RPI #28. We lost one on the road on a night when we played lousy D. Otherwise we played solid ball. Crao gets 20.1 per game.

12/18: Finally got Crao’s GPA up to an acceptable level. He should be eligible for the spring semester and he should graduate in the spring.

12/25: 9-2, #14, RPI #13. +8.6 PPG (#177, #10), +6.1 RBs (#22), +3.5 TOs (#97).

Headed for Big 10 play.

I haven’t had much time to pursue my “hobby.” Too much to do in building my new team to where I want them to be. So far that’s going well.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1987: 11-2, 2-0. Won at Maryland despite a ridiculous 27 TOs.

College Park, MD has some pretty seamy sections. I went into one of them after the game with U. MD, and found a drugged up guy looking like he was trying to find someone to mug. Got him with a licorice dart. 28 of my 54 victims have been by the licorice dart method. The nice thing about that is they’re not showing up as murders on any police records.

1/15: 13-4, 4-2, #16, RPI #12. We need to take better care of the ball. The conf. is not as strong as usual this year but it’s still strong.

1/29: 17-4, 8-2, #15, RPI #7. Alone at the top of the Big Ten. +8.6 PPG (#100, #39), +7.5 RBs (#16), +1.5 TOs (#148). Frankly, there’s a long way to go but we’re definitely exceeding expectations.

On our trip to Lincoln to play U. Nebraska, I got a drug dealer on the street with a dart. He was in the middle of a deal. Must have seemed strange to his customer. They were about to exchange the money and “merchandise” when the dealer reached for his neck then slumped to the ground. The customer literally ran away. Funny. I just walked away.

2/12: We’re slumping. 18-7, 9-5, #17, RPI #17. Now in a 3 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of 1st, but we’ve lost 3 of our last 4.

I know it’s just frustration but when we were in Minneapolis for the game with U. Minnesota, I got a bus driver on a busy street. Some kind of a tour bus. He stepped out of the bus for a smoke and I nailed him from about 35-40 feet away. It was a great shot, got him right in the face, left cheek. I should probably slow down.

2/26: And we close on a role, winning our last 4. 22-7, 13-5, #16, RPI #14, alone in 1st in the Big Ten. Everyone else seemed to collapse. +7.1 PPG (#106, #39), +6.7 RBs (#19), +1.2 TOs (#151). We really need to take better care of the ball. SG Kima Crao continues to lead us with 22.3. Center Lon Dane gets 12.1, 8.4.

Heading for the post season in what has been a much better season than I anticipated.

[Wayne23]

3/7: #9 seed Michigan ST, 14-14, 9-9, in the quarter finals. Beat them by 23 at home but they are favored by a ½ point. This is not a typical Mich. ST team but they have weapons. We’ll need to play well. They lost 8 of 10 before winning the play in game and there’s no doubt they want to play well in the tourney to salvage something from a poor season.

Just calculated that I have killed people in 18 states plus Puerto Rico

3/8: 60-48. Great D! 16, 10 for Crao, 15, 10 for C Lon Dane. +17 RBs but 21 TOs.

All of the other favorites lost today, but the league is so tight and so jumbled that it’s hard to say whether that’s good or bad.

We play #5 seed Indiana, 16-13, 11-7, in the semis. Neat them by 13 and 12. But again, they’re favored by a ½ point. They’re hard to stop in that everyone contributes on O so there’s no one to key on.

3/9: 70-80. Our D let us down. We let them shoot 51%. Dane was in foul trouble all night. 24 for Crao, 14, 9 for PF Sam Mack.

The tournament was in Columbus, with Ohio ST hosting. I’d never killed anyone in Ohio before so I went out and got a female prostitute. The usual. Blindfolded her in an alley and bashed her head in with a rock.

23-8, #16, RPI #15. Hoping for about a #4 seed.

3/12: #4 Midwest. We play #13 High Point, 23-7.

3/16: 67-66. We didn’t win we escaped. They were way tougher than expected. We took them too lightly and it almost cost us. At the end we got it to Crao and he hit a three. They brought it down but couldn’t get a good shot off. 18 for Crao. We were lucky.

#5 seed Marshall, 28-5, in the 2nd round. We’re favored by a point and a half but their balanced attack can be tough to deal with. A win here would mean we met all of the goals my A. D. set for us.

3/18: 53-66. We were awful. We shot 33.3% and had 21 TOs. We simply couldn’t get anything going on O. Crao had 21 and 8 in his last college game. We’ll miss him.

4/3: #1 Duke is the champ.

4/4: Awards: Senior Kima Crao and soph Lon Dane make the Big Ten first team. I am Big Ten COY.

4/9: Not looking to go anywhere but you never know.

I’m staying.

4/23: Asking for another facilities upgrade but I doubt I’ll get it. I get it! B+ to A!

24-9, #15, RPI #15. Overall, 406-148, .733.

I have very high hopes and expectations for next season. 5 terrific looking recruits coming in.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #1 recruiting class! We buy Gold. Preseason #3.

6/5: Room for a transfer if we can find one we like.

No one we want.

6/26: 2 scholarships. We want guards.

8/7: Frosh PF Jon Sugg is #1 on the Norton list. Frosh SF Dee Turn is #5.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs and we feel we have a great chance with one and a really good chance with the other.

8/27: Went to the little town of Lincoln, Maine to try to seal the deal with one of the 2 recruits I offered to. Since I’d never killed anyone in Maine I used a licorice dart to
get a guy coming out of a little diner. It was after the breakfast rush and there was no one on the street except for the victim. Up to 20 states plus P. R.

9/18: Got the 2 PGs, #2 and #18. They’re both excellent students so we’re done with recruiting for the season.

Las Vegas Winter Jam vs. Washington ST. More challenging schedule this season.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re picked to win the Big Ten. Looks like we’re going with a one guard set, at least to start practices. We’re thin at guard.

11/6: 7 man rotation:

Frosh Shea Donn is at PG. Junior Dan Jonn starts at SG, subs at SF. Soph Dave Vare subs at both guard spots.

Frosh Dee Turn is at SF. Frosh Jon Sugg is at PF.

Junior Lon Dane is at C. Our only senior, Reg Hall, subs at PF and C.

I think we’re a year away from a serious challenge at the national title but expectations are high!

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police, “Chief, I need the department to send me to Scotland Yard in London.”

“Say what!”

They’re using DNA testing, first police force in the world to use it, and it’s pretty amazing.”

“Okay, but why does that mean I need to send you there?”

“Well, first it could put us at the very top of law enforcement in the entire country. It could solve a lot of cold cases, and probably free some people who were wrongly convicted.”

“Yeah, but all of that will get over here soon enough if it’s everything you say it is, and from some things I’ve read it just might be. You want us to spend a lot of money we don’t have on something that will be here in a year or two anyway.”

“I have no doubt I can bring in Coach Tuthry with DNA evidence. He HAS to have left his DNA behind at some of the murders, particularly the ones where he knifed people or slashed their throats.”

“Christ! That again.”

“There are at least a dozen of those, maybe more, and a few other murders that I think are his. I can bring this guy down.”

“No sale. When the DNA technology and procedures get here you can learn them and proceed with your mania then.”

“But chief-”

“No! Now get out of my office. I’m busy.”

[Wayne23]

11/13: Byline, Joe Danaghy, Detroit Free Press: The boys down the road in Ann Arbor, at U. Michigan, look like they’ve got the tools to have quite a season this year. Coach Wayne Tuthry managed to grab 4 blue chip freshmen, and 3 are going to be in the starting lineup come opening night, which is tomorrow. If you’re planning to go you’re out of luck unless you already have your tickets. The first three games, all at home, are already sold out. U. Michigan fans have the team they’ve been waiting for for a long time and the phones at the ticket office are ringing off the wall full time, we’re told.

Back to those freshmen. Shea Donn, who in most years would be the phenom that got all the ink, is #3 on the list of “hot shots.” He’ll start at the Point, and great things are expected of him, but hold on. There’s more, MUCH more.

Small Forward, Dee Turn, is rated the #5 player in the country. And no, that’s not the best news.

Power Forward, Jon Sugg is the preseason pick to be the national Player of the Year.

Add in returning vets junior Dan Jonn at Shooting Guard, junior Lon Dane at Center, and experienced subs senior Reg Hall inside, and soph guard Dave Vare, and the Wolverines look like a threat to win it all.

Coach Tuthry says he thinks they may be a year away, and seeing as he’s a little thin at guard he may be right, but let’s enjoy this team.

Tuthry is a reporter’s nightmare. He is one of the quietest guys in coaching, a real Bud Grant, Tom Landry type. Any time you get more than a short phrase or grunt in answer to a question you’re a lucky writer. But he manages somehow. He’s been successful everywhere he’s coached, and he definitely exceeded expectations in his first year here last season.

He has one (and only one) colorful habit. He almost always has a piece of black licorice in his mouth, the short, hollow kind. Hope he brushes his teeth often!

So stay tuned folks, I’ll be keeping you up to date with the Wolverines all season.

11/20: 2-0 start. Beat #17 and #6, by 18 and 28 respectively. PF Jon Sugg and SF Dee Turn were all we expected and more in these two games. Still ranked #3.

Both recruits sign.

11/29: I just need to step in to say that last night, at Vermont, Jon Suggs had 20 points and 30 rebounds. THIRTY rebounds!

I was so excited I had to go out and do my thing. I had lined up a drunk and was just loading up a licorice dart when a cruiser pulled up to me. The cop got out and started walking toward me. When he got close enough I unloaded, getting him on the left front side of the neck. I thought about tracking down the drunk but decided that one was enough. I can add Vermont to my list of states. #60!

12/4: 5-0, #8, RPI #5. Turn is getting 17.8, 12.4, and Sugg is getting 15.2, 17.0. We lead the nation in RBs, Blocks, Points Allowed, and are 2nd in RBs allowed.

12/15: 7-0, #7, RPI #3. Heading for the Las Vegas Winter Jam. We’re the #1 seed. We face #8 Washington ST, 6-1.

12/16: 77-74. We came out flat and they built an early 11 point lead which was still at 8 at the half. It took us a long time to take the lead, and we never led by more than 6. Not a good night. 28, 16 for Turn, 22, 10 for Sugg. +13 RBs, +6 TOs.

Hopefully we’ll play better tonight against #5 seed ST Joe, 6-2. The oddsmakers don’t really give them a chance. The #2, 3, 4 teams all lost in the first round.

12/17: 81-74. We didn’t play much better in this game. It was close all the way and we never asserted ourselves. 21, 11 for Turn, but they held Sugg to 9 and 8. Shea
Donn, at PG, had 18, 5, 7. We didn’t play great D.

#7 seed Boise ST, 6-4, for the title. This is a team we should crush and that’s what I’m demanding. I don’t make fiery speeches but I let my boys know I expect a much better performance tonight.

12/18: 79-60. Better. We never trailed and led by as many as 26. 26, 9 for Sugg, 12, 12 for Turn, 14, 8 for C Lon Dane. +18 RBs, 8 TOs.

12/25: 11-0, #3, RPI #2. +22.7 PPG (#9, #7), +20.3 RBs (#2), +1.1 TOs (#50). 17.1, 13.1 for Sugg, 18.2, 11.5 for Turn. Hell of a one-two punch! C Lon Dane gets 10.9,
5.6, SG Dan Jonn gets 10.2, and PG Shea Donn gets 9.3.

The Big Ten is a lot stronger than last season but then so are we.

12/26: Byline, Joe Danaghy, Detroit Free Press: Happy holidays, sports fans. The Michigan Wolverines are taking the state by storm. They’re 11-0, and #3 in the nation. Lots of people think they should be #1. Their one-two punch of #3 ranked Jon Sugg and #4 ranked Dee Turn is leading the team to mostly pretty easy wins. The team slowed down in the Las Vegas Winter Jam, where they were pretty much sleep walking for the first two games, but they won the tourney.

The Big Ten has 4 top 25 teams, but the feeling here is that the Wolverines will finish on top.

Oh, if you're thinking about getting to a game you'd better know somebody. The entire season, every home game, is already sold out.

Detective Paul Wondry, Denver Police, “Chief, I want to file for an order to exhume the bodies of Elvira Coombs and Millie Fortas. Tuthry killed them both with a knife and I’ll bet there are DNA traces.”

“You’ll never get an order for Coombs’ body. She was a billionaire. Her heirs won’t allow it.”

“Even if we tell them that we think it can lead to the arrest of her killer?”

“Doubtful at best. Besides, what’s the likelihood of finding DNA evidence on their bodies. Wouldn’t you be better off seeing if the clothes they were wearing when they were killed are still around someplace?”

“Already checked that. They’re not. One of those killings happened 11 years ago and the other one about 8 years ago. The clothes have been thrown out or misplaced.”

“Then it’s a blind alley.”

“Damn it, Chief!”

“Relax, Paul. Look, next knifing you think is his, get on it right away and get the victim’s clothes. Course you still need Tuthry’s DNA. How you gonna manage that? You’ll need to show some kind of probable cause to get a judge to let you take a sample.”

“Working on that, Chief. But Jesus, you're saying someone else has to die before we can do anything.”

"That's the way it is sometimes, Paul."

[Wayne23]

1/1/1988: 13-0, 2-0, #2, RPI #2. Beat #12 Indiana by 5 there.

1/15: 17-0, 6-0, #2, RPI #2. We continue to play really well.

1/19: We got crushed last night at #15 Illinois. The refs definitely had it in for us. Some truly horrible calls against Turn, Suggs, and C Lon Dane.

We never had a chance. The win streak ends at 18.

1/29: 20-1, 9-1, #2, RPI #2. Alone in 1st in the Big Ten. PF Jon Sugg is #3 on the Norton list. SF Dee Turn is #7.

2/12: 24-1, 13-1, #2, RPI #2, 2 game lead in the ACC with 4 to play.

Jon Sugg is #3 and Dee Turn #7 on the Norton list.

2/26: We lost the regular season finale. Frankly, we didn’t show up. I was NOT happy. The game meant nothing, we had the Big Ten sewed up, but still, that’s how bad habits form. We end up 27-2, 16-2, #2, RPI #2. We won the Big Ten by 2 games. +18.2 PPG (#5, #8), +17 RBs (#1), +2.0 TOs (#18). There’s no doubt this team is a major contender for the national title.