by Wayne23 » Sun Mar 27, 2016 5:09 am
3/1: Ivy League Quarterfinals:
#1 Harvard 67-#8 Penn 58.
#2 Brown 74-#7 Dartmouth 51.
#6 Princeton 65-#3 Cornell 63.
#5 Yale 59-#4Columbia-54.
3/2: Semifinals:
#1 Harvard 79-#5 Yale 57. This was sweeter than Aunt Fanny’s butterscotch fudge.
#2 Brown 66-#6 Princeton 65.
3/3: Final:
#1 Harvard 65-#2 Brown 50. It wasn’t that close. +10 TOs. 4 starters in double figures. Guard Jay Rhoe was tourney MOP.
3/12: Today’s the day! 22-8, 10-4, RPI #36.
#11 South. We play #6 Tulane, 23-7. They are the better team. We need to be certain that Jay Rhoe and Jan Wall find ways if we are to stand a chance.
3/17: 65-81. They were clearly the better team. We lose three starters including our 2 best players, Rhoe and Wall.
4/4: Awards: Jan Wall made 1st team. I was aghast when Jay Rhoe did not make at least second. Unfathomable!
4/9: We met all of our goals and did NOT advance in Team Prestige. We remained at 20. Again, unfathomable.
4/16: We gather in the final two recruits, Lane Weil, C, #59- our best rated recruit, and John Snee, PG, #565. We released a sub who will never play. Never fear, he was, as we knew he would be, immediately granted an academic scholarship.
4/23: We request an addition to our meager budget. Alas, it is denied.
Things I learned in my debut as a head coach:
Post-game food: After our first game, at home, I arranged to have canapes and tea- both hot and iced. I learned that this was quite unexpected and unacceptable for our lads. The victuals of preference may hardly be described as “food,” but alas, they will eat naught else.
Hours required on the job: They are veritably endless. Cissy is a marvelous and a patient woman, but she grew increasingly upset, at times verging upon the hostile, regarding how little time I was able to spend with her and with little Fenwick, our nine year old son. Sadly, Fenny has no interest at all in Dr. Naismith’s creation.
Manner of addressing one’s players. “Now lads, let us consider the beneficial aspects of the 2-3 zone” was perhaps not quite the style to which they had become accustomed. I learned to use more of the vernacular and they learned that while their coach “talked funny,” his store of knowledge was rather replete.
Decent, intelligent young men will exaggerate, and even prevaricate when placed in uncomfortable positions.
Cissy and I have been discussing vacation plans for nearly a month. Tonight we finally decided. Since we depart upon the morrow this was rather fortuitous. The Lear gives us the ability to make last minute plans, of course.
We had at first considered our beach house in New Zealand, but late April in the Southern hemisphere is not beach weather.
For that same reason a return to Patagonia seemed ill advised.
We considered the Riviera but really, how cliché!
In the end it came down to our farm in the Highlands or our cottage in Victoria.
While Scotland owns our hearts in many ways, and while it would be nice to play a round or two at the Royal and Ancient, only 2 miles away, we decided upon Vancouver Island.
The farmhouse near St. Andrews is on the site of an 1,800 acre working farm, and the house itself is palatial and elegant. We try to get there at least every other year, so we shall undoubtedly visit in 2017.
The cottage in Victoria is cozy, three stories, only eight bedrooms- plus servants’ quarters, of course, but that goes without saying.
Cissy will have the opportunity to play tennis with some of the very best, as Vancouver is hosting the senior ladies’ Canadian Open whilst we are there. Oh, I have been remiss! Cissy played on the Ladies Tour for five years before our marriage. In 2005, her most successful season, she was a finalist at Wimbledon, and made the semifinals both at the Australian Open and here at Forest Hills. Alas, she never was able to win a major, although she did quite well, all in all. She continues to play regularly and, at 33, she remains marvelously fit.
I must tell you about my family background, and of course Cissy’s as well. That shall come in due course. At the moment I must complete my packing as the hour grows late. I shall return to this narration upon my return from lovely and serene Canada.