The Last Man

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the national and international gold.

PF Dal John transfers out.

6/5: Looking at transfers. We offer to an SG.

6/12: Didn’t get him.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We want 2 and 1, either way. Looking at 18.

8/7: We hove our first Norton candidate, Cam Reed, #44.

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

9/18: Got the Sf, #9, and the PG, #22. Still chasing the PF.

Coaches Classic vs. Xavier. Much tougher schedule this year.

9/25: We lose the PF and offer to a PG.

10/2: We get the PG, #17.

1st day of practice.

11/6: We have a lineup:

Junior Jay Slan and soph Key Lack start at guard. Senior Ben Robb and soph Dave Kana, last year’s starters, back up. Lack moves from SF to SG.

Junior Josh Reed starts at SF.

Juniors Bret Clem and Josh Brad start inside.

Subbing inside are soph Dal Pott and frosh John Roe.

We’re the #6 seed in the Coaches Classic. We play #11 seed Xavier.

[Wayne23]

October, 2153: Lacy is 9 months old. She’s walking, and she says a few words. She needs to be watched every minute because she is into everything. Stan and Ollie stay as far away from her as possible.

Living on a boat presents a special set of challenges with a little one once the baby starts to be mobile. These challenges will only increase for a while, until she’s old enough to understand about walking off the edge of the boat.

As a result all of us now live on my boat. It just makes sense. Joy does a lot of the childcare, of course, but the rest of us all take turns as well, both to give Joy a break and to get our “baby fix.” We’ve just added Lacy care to our list of revolving chores.

As to the other boat, the robots take care of it perfectly well, and each of us takes a day of inspection duty over there, making trips to check things every few hours. As long as the weather stays calm there’s no need to do more.

We had a planning meeting to discuss what happens if we get really bad weather again and we decided that we will stay on this boat if that happens. We want to face any dangers together. We think and hope that the robots can keep the other boat going about as well as we could, in any case. The bottom line is that we stay together.

Back to Lacy. She spends lots of time in an HC. It’s a much more controlled environment. By the same token we want her on the boat, in order to become accustomed to life on board, since there is little to no doubt that she will spend her entire life at sea.

Lana has been hinting more and more broadly that she is interested in a relationship with me. I’m finding the thought harder and harder to resist. I like everything about her, and have since the beginning. The better I know her the more that’s true.

But I’m not sure about becoming a parent for the first time at age 153. It just seems too weird somehow. I love Lacy, and I would love any baby. That’s not the issue. Lana and I seem to spend more and more time doing things together, and being alone, just the two of us. But I am honestly telling her that I need a little time to think this through, which I do.

My holoshrink is encouraging me to go ahead with it. Time will tell.

Next: Changes

[Wayne23]

11/13: 81-79. 23 lead changes, 15 ties. What a way to start the season! 21, 6 for SG Key Lack, 15, 5, 4 for Center Josh Brad. We had the last possession and Lack hit a 16 footer coming off a pick. It was one of those games when the idiot refs blew whistles all night long- 59 of them. We only shot 60.5% from the line, which kept it closer than it had to be.

#3 seed, #15 ranked St Joe’s next. Their SF is a big time scorer.

11/15: 85-80. They led by 8 at the half. We took better care of the ball after the break, and we tightened up on D. 19 for PF Bret Clem, 17, 6, 7, 3, 2 for Lack, 13, 6, 5 for PG Jay Slan, and 12, 6, 4 for SF Cam Reed.

#10 seed Pepperdine has ridden 2 straight upsets to the semifinals.

11/17: 86-66. Back and forth for about 10 minutes, then we took charge. Brad led us with 18 and 6, but lots of guys contributed. 7 TOs, easily our best of the young season.

This tournament was rife with upsets. #12 Western Carolina is our opponent in the title game. Their strength is more outside than in but they’ve looked really good in this tourney.

11/19: 75-64: They hung in until very late. At the last media TO we were up only 3. Sub guard Ben Robb led us with 16, 4, 4. +9 RBs, +7 TOs.

This team features excellent depth and balance. We have 8 guys averaging between 14.0 and 7.0, and #9 gets 4.8. Everybody rebounds, and all but one guy handles the ball well.

All 4 recruits signed.

11/20: We’re ranked #2 which is way, WAY too high. I think we’re a good team, and we may be top 15, even top 10, but #2 is too high. I’m not telling my guys that, of course.

12/4: The win streak stops at 7 when we lose to #19 Cincinnati there, 93-96 in triple OT.

7-1.

12/25: 10-2, #4, RPI #2. +10.2 PPG, +6.5 RBs, +5.3 TOs. Key Lack is getting 15.9 per game, Josh Brad 14.8 and 8.3, Ben Robb 12.4. 6 others are getting minutes and contributing.

I’m still not convinced we’re this good. This is a tough conference; it will be a true test.

[Wayne23]

April, 2154: Lacy is growing like a weed. At 15 months she’s into an curious about everything. She knows lots of words and knows how to get what she wants. She’s fearless and doesn’t understand some things can be dangerous. She needs to be watched every single moment. But she’s the joy of all of our lives.

Lana and I are getting closer to becoming a “couple.” I’m getting more comfortable with the idea, and I guess more ready. I’m thinking this is going to happen. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still one slow step at a time, but I’m more willing to take the steps.

The weather has been a little more active. We haven’t had anything close to a dangerous storm but we’ve had thunderstorms and high winds. All of us are concerned that the pattern might be changing again. We’re keeping both boats in as near to perfect shape as we can and trying to plan for every contingency. Our main concern, of course, is Lacy, and how we will keep her safe if the violent storms come again.

Next: Weather

[Wayne23]

1/1/2051: 2-1 start to conf. play.

1/15: 15-4, 5-2, #4, RPI #2. Okay, maybe I was wrong. We continue to play well, and continue to win lots of games. We’re giving up too many points, and we could handle the ball better
but we’re #1 in the nation in RBs.

1/29: 17-6, 7-4, #7, RPI #5. +8.3 PPG, +6.3 RBs, +5.2 TOs. Alone in 4th, ½ game back of 3rd. One of our goals is to finish 3rd.

2/12: 19-8, 9-6, #10, RPI #10. This is about where we should be ranked. We’re 1 ½ back of 3rd with 3 to play, one of them against #1 Duke, so it looks like the goal of finishing 3rd is in trouble.

2/26: We end the regular season 21-9, 11-7, #14, RPI #7. +7.2 PPG, +6.1 RBs, +5.5 TOs, in a 3 way tie for 3rd with the #4 seed in the ACC tourney.

3/5: No one leaves for the NBA again this year.

[Wayne23]

October, 2154: And the weather is back. Over the past 6 months the winds have increased, the rainfall has been steady, the waves have been way higher than we’d like. We have not yet had one of the killer storms that were too frequent last time the weather got that way, but we seem to be headed in that direction.

Speaking of direction, all of the nasty weather is coming from the northwest so we decide to cruise to the southeast. I sort of always thought one place was as good as another at sea so I stayed in the same general area. The boat caravan the kids were part of cruised a wider path, but not a lot wider.

At one of our evening meetings Marcie suggested trying to cruise away from the weather on the off chance it wasn’t as bad somewhere else. Given that we have absolutely nothing to lose we all agreed. We started cruising yesterday. Let’s see what happens.

Lana and I had a long talk last evening. I realized that this change in the weather is a big reason why I am hesitant to father a child. We discussed that. I’m reluctant. She says we should go ahead and do it because life has always been uncertain and this is just a different kind of uncertainty. After more than an hour I said that after we get through this storm cycle we can make our decision. She wasn’t happy with that.

Lacy isn’t sure what to make of the storms. She asks us to make it stop. When we try to explain that there really isn’t any way for us to do that, she’s not happy.

Next: a month of cruising

[Wayne23]

3/7: #14 seed NC ST, 11-18, 5-13, won the play in. We play them in the quarter finals.

3/8: 107-66. We were up 2 at the half. The 2nd half score was 61-22! We caused 19 TOs in the 2nd half, and we found the open man on just about every possession. 38 for Lack, 20 for sub Dal Pott. +17 TOs.

We play #1 in the country Duke, 31-0, in the semis. They beat us by 18 at our place. This is a very, very tough team.

3/9: 64-78. They were too much for us, too quick and too big. Lack had 28.

3/12: 22-10, #16, RPI #8. Hoping for a #3.

#2 West! Great news. We play South Dakota, 17-13.

3/17: 84-67. 24 for Lack, 13, 4, 5 for Clem, 11, 4, 4 for Robb. +12 TOs.

#7 seed Alabama, 22-9, in the 2nd round. They have a good outside game.

3/19: 79-77. It was close all the way. Key Lack hit the winner, a 16 footer with a hand in his face. He had 19. Robb had 16, 3, 6.

#3 seed, #15 ranked UConn, 25-7 in the Sweet Sixteen. They’re stronger outside than inside, and they’re a good team.

3/24: 91-90. Two very close games in a row. This one was also won with a buzzer beater, this time by Ben Robb, who hit an 18 footer off a pick. He led us with 30, 2, 8. Lack had 20. 12, 9 for Brad.

Whew, we’re barely escaping, but we’re still here!

#1 seed, #5 ranked Virginia, 27-6, in the Elite Eight. We beat them by 5 here, in December, and they won by 15 there in Feb. Their 6th man is hurt but he’ll probably play. They are a very solid team inside. We’re going to have our hands full.

3/26: 65-77. We stayed close for almost 35 minutes but they wore us down. My guys never quit.

Great season! And a step closer to where we want to be.

4/3: #1 Duke won it all.

4/4: Awards: Josh Brad made ACC 1st team. Key Lack made 2nd. They’re both back next year.

4/23: I ask for a budget increase. Got it.

25-11, Elite Eight. Overall I’m 623-161, .795.

[Wayne23]

November, 2154: We’re heading southeast. We cruise at about 15 knots so it takes a while, and we only cruise during daylight hours, just to be absolutely safe. While the robots have night vision that essentially lets them see as well as in daylight, we feel we need to have one of us awake and watching while the boat is moving. That’s yet another chore, and daylight hours are enough. Obviously, when the weather is bad we don’t cruise. So, after a month we’re not all that far away from where we started.

The storms are still with us, slightly more intense but not yet dangerously so, but that seems to be coming. This experiment to see if we can cruise far enough to escape the storms is still undecided.

Lana isn’t spending much time with me these days. I know she’s disappointed and tired of waiting for me to make up my mind. I feel badly about that but this is such an important decision that I need feel I’m doing the right thing.

The baby continues to grow and change, and she’s not a baby any more. She’s be 2 soon.

Next: Lacy is 2. Cruising.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We buy the usual.

Preseason #14.

6/5: OUCH! 2 bigs transfer out. We’ll survive, we’re deep there, but it means 6 spots to fill. We’ll look at transfers.

Only one guy we’re even mildly interested in.

6/12: We decide not to offer to the one guy.

6/26: 6 scholarships. We’re hoping to get 4 bigs.

8/7: Josh Brad is #30 on the Norton list and Key Lack is #36.

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, 3 PFs, and a C.

9/18: Got 4 guys: A C, #7, 2 PFs, #18, 222, and a PG, #25.

Going to the Alaskan Classic vs. Tulsa. Mostly ranked teams on the pre-conf. schedule.

9/25: Got the 2nd PG, #40, lost the PF. We offer to a PF.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We looked good, 8 deep, maybe 9.

10/9: Got the last recruit, a PF from China, #28. The SAT score may be an issue.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Seniors Jay Slan and Mal Ward start at guard. Junior Dave Kana subs at SG but may well wind up starting.

Junior Key Lack is back to his real position, SF

Senior Josh Brad and junior Bill Love start inside with senior Bret Clem breathing down their necks and junior Dal Pott getting minutes as well.

We’re #12 in the latest poll, and picked 3rd in the ACC.

[Wayne23]

January, 2155: Happy birthday to Lacy! We had a celebration, cake and all, and she loved it. She’s into everything and smart as can be.

We’re still cruising southeast. It’s possible that we’re staying ahead of the storms. They still hit, but none are really dangerous, so it may be that they play out before they get to us. In any case we’re going to keep cruising.

Otherwise things are about the same, mostly. Lana and I are talking again, and I’m about ready to break down. First, Joy and Kevin just announced that baby #2 is on the way, and due in
July, and second, life is to be lived. There are always going to be things that cannot be controlled.

Next: It’s a boy. Still cruising. Lana and I commit.