To Boldly Go

[Wayne23]

1/20: 95-106 in OT at Northern Illinois. We should have won this one. They scored the last 7 in regulation when we missed the front end of three 1 and 1s. To make it even more frustrating, we only missed 4 free throws all night. VERY frustrating loss. 26, 4, 4 for Howe, 14, 9, 8 for Hank.

1/24: 73-44 over Ball ST here. Up 22 at the half. Balanced scoring and 49 RBs (+24).

We're a team that scores more outside than inside; a lot more. But generally it works for us. Our big guys rebound and usually play decent D, and we force lots of turnovers. We have two four star big guys coming in next season, so that should really help inside.

Back up guard Jam Carr sprained a finger. Out for about 10 days.

[Wayne23]

1/27: 59-77 at Kent ST. Tough opponent on the road. Not surprised. We were down 17 at the half and never really in it. Howe and Morr had 15 each but no one else did much.

1/29: DAMN!!! We lost our #1 recruit when he didn't hit our SAT score. 2.7 GPA and we're only 900. Didn't expect that at all.

1/31: 63-52 at Eastern Michigan. Nice road win. We led just about all the way, by as many as 14. 15 for Howe. Balanced scoring from 6 other guys.

We're 15-6, 7-3, in 3rd in the East Div., one back of 1st. 8 to play, 2 of them tough road games. Our A. D. Says he'll be happy if we finish in the top half and we'll do that barring serious injuries.

[PointGuard]

Sounds like the teachers were just passing the kid because he was the star basketball player.

[Wayne23]

Yep. That happens. He was a foreign player and a 2.7 is usually a lock with those guys.

[Wayne23]

2/3: 82-54 over Northern Illinois here. This was a laugher. 14, 11, 4 for Hank, 16, 9 for Nels, 18, 1, 6 for Howe. +20 RBs, 11 TOs.

PG Ed Howe: This is a pretty good team and I'/m really excited about how good we could be next season. The only guy we're losing is SF Kris Hank, and we have at least one really good looking big guy coming in. We could make some noise next year!

2/7: 82-72 at Miami (OH). Great road win over a top team in the conference! We took an early lead and held it. We were the quicker team which meant they needed to do a lot of fouling. We won it at the line going 31-38. Cris Stry led the way with 18, 3, 2. Ed Howe had 17 and 3. 10, 12, 4 for Nels. Only 6 TOs.

We're 1/2 game back of 1st in the East, 2nd best team in the conf.

Backup guard Cory Star hurt his leg. Out for a few days.

I take my regular shift as pilot but as we travel through open space there's really almost nothing to do most of the time. There are deflectors to be certain that we don't get impacted by a dust particle or a small piece of space rock. On the extremely rare occasions when something bigger may be in our flight path the navigator on duty plots a course to evade, and the pilot enters the course. When the danger has passed the navigator gets us back on course for the planet system we're headed to and the pilot does the work. Otherwise we just sit there. The computers alert us if there's anything we need to know. Given the speed at which we're travelling, it's beyond human capability to monitor effectively.

As a pilot I am required to spend an hour every single day doing simulations of various kinds- navigating through tricky areas like the triple planet system we recently visited. We practice for dual star systems, planets with tricky moon configurations- anything we might need to deal with in our travels. It's actually kind of fun most times, and it keeps our skills sharp.

We're still more than five months from our next destination. Long range sensors are giving us a little information. It appears that there are two planets and three moons in the system we're headed toward that may be in the "Goldilocks zone."

[Wayne23]

2/10: 64-72 at Ball ST. Beating two top opponents back to back on the road was probably too much to hope for. They led most of the way. We got close a few times but never quite close enough. 16, 10 for Nels. +10 RBs.

2 back of Kent ST, 1/2 up on 2 teams. 5 to play.

2/17: 95-79 over Akron here. Big time offensive game. 25, 11, 6 for SG Cris Stry, his best game ever. 17, 6 for Nels.

I was on duty during the "night shift" with Ruby as navigator. She spotted an object at the very edge of the computer's ability to sense it. It appears to be large but it is too soon to know how large, as well as whether there may be a danger of it crossing our flight path. But it bears watching.

2/18: The object has been under observation for 24 hours. It is gigantic, planet size. And it's heading straight for us.

2/19: The object we're tracking poses a significant danger to us. We will alter course to get out of its flight path, but the concern is whether we will be able to get far enough away to be out of its gravity well.

2/20: Estimated date when the object will pose a serious problem is 3/3. We continue to alter our flight path and to monitor the object closely.

[Wayne23]

2/21: 94-78 over Miami (OH) here. We're really scoring points right now. 20, 10 for Rowl, 20, 4 for Howe, 19, 5 for Morr, 15, 9, 7 for Hank. +15 RBs.

One back of Kent ST, 1 up on 2 teams with three to play, but 2 are on the road.

Backup inside player Mick Morr hurt his hand. Out for about a week. He's our #1 big guy off the bench so that hurts.

The object is moving from our starboard to our port in an arc that would, if we did nothing, either strike us or come so close as to destroy us in its gravity well. Daily meetings of command, pilots and navigators have us on a path that will hopefully get us out of that gravity well. We are now certain, or virtually certain that there will be no direct impact but we are less certain regarding escaping the gravity well. We are at max speed in the path we feel gives us the greatest chance of survival, but there are no guarantees.

[Wayne23]

2/24: 57-72 at Bowling Green. This one hurts. They're the worst team in the conference. Damn! The O had been on fire but tonight there wasn't even smoke- 32.1% from the floor. 18 TOs.

We're still tied for 2nd in the East.

We're 7 days from closest approach of the object and still moving as quickly as we can to get out of its path. It is monstrously huge, at least as big as
Jupiter, and solid. It's just space debris, not a rogue planet or anything like that. Covered with ice but solid rock beneath.

The people who do those things are estimating whether we'll get clear of the gravity well, and so far it's right on the edge between we will and we won't. That means it could destroy us, we could escape unscathed, or we could escape with some level of damage, who knows how much. These are stressful times.

[Wayne23]

2/28: 97-90 in OT at Buffalo. We needed this one! We blew a 10 point lead late in regulation then Howe stuck a three at the buzzer to send the game to OT. We dominated the OT. We refused to quit in this one. I was proud of my guys despite the fact that they let Buffalo back in. 6 players in double figures led by Kris Hank with 17, 11, 8. 19 each for Howe and Stry.

Alone in second with 1st place Kent ST here for the regular season finale.

Still a lot of uncertainty regarding how we'll fare with the massive space object. There is definitely a chance that it could destroy us. There's a great deal of tension being felt throughout the ship, which is understandable. The non-tech people are saying that the Captain needs to shut down all non-essential systems and divert the power saved to the engines. Nice Star Trek type idea except it doesn't work that way. Maximum speed is maximum speed, and that's what the engines are producing right now. There's nothing we can do that would make us go faster. Three long days until closest approach.

[Wayne23]

3/3: 76-71 over Kent ST. Great win that puts us alone in 2nd place in the conf. at the end of regular season play. It was close, single digits all the way. At the end they hit three threes to put a scare into us but we made our free throws to ice it. Huge game for SG Cris Stry, 32 points, 4 RBs. 12, 12 for Nels, 14, 3, 6 for Howe. +11 RBs, but 20 TOs.

We end regular season play at 21-8, 13-5, RPI #49. We probably need to win the tourney to make the NCAAs but we'll play someplace after the conf. tourney.

+8.0 PPG, +8.6 RBs, -1.5 TOs but 14.0, which is not good. Howe leads us with 16.9, followed by Stry with 14.0. Nels gets 9.2 RBs. Hank leads with 5.0 assists.

It's nearly 10:45 p.m. ship time (We use a 24 hour clock), and closest approach is minutes away. We're feeling the pull of the gravity well but so far it's not a problem. The #1 crew are at their stations with other crews on standby.

10:47: Closest approach in 2 minutes. The ship is making strange noises, no doubt caused by the pull of gravity. Even though we're very far away from the object it is visible and it is truly monstrously big.

10:48: Slight shaking being felt.

10:49: Closest approach in a few seconds. The ship is vibrating... Now the ship is shaking HARD. Everyone is strapped down. Anything not tied down is tumbling all over the place... The ship feels like it wants to tear itself apart... Very scary time right now...

10:52: And the worst is over. Damage control is ongoing. No assessment of damage yet but there have been injuries, and there is damage to the ship.

But we survived. The vibrations have stopped.

3/4: Seventeen minor injuries, several them due to some damned fools who didn't strap in properly, and the others to people struck by flying objects that had not been secured properly. In other words, all injuries were preventable. The Captain is not happy, and after they recover, the injured parties can expect disciplinary action due to their negligence.

No irreparable damage to the ship, but several things that need repair. Some damage to the hull, and some in the kitchen, but everything else is too minor to mention. Robots will get outside and repair the hull damage, and kitchen repairs are almost complete.

It will be a little while before we can safely return to our course toward the star system we are headed toward. This will delay our arrival by two weeks.