The Last Man

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. Peer, Mapp, and Gost look really good on O.

All recruits sign.

12/4: 5-1, #11, RPI #25. In the loss 27 fouls were called on us, 12 on them.

12/22: 8-2, #16, RPI #18. Headed for the JAG Holiday. We’re the #2 seed and we play #18 ranked Miami of Ohio, 10-0.

12/23: 79-64. All 5 starters had 12 or more. +11 RBs.

#3 seed, 322 ranked Oregon, 7-2, in the semifinals.

12/24: 64-60. We almost blew a 16 point lead. 18, 8 for Gost, 14, 5, 5 for Joon.

#4 seed LSU, 5-5, for the title.

12/25: 70-60. We led all the way, by as many as 17. 22 for Joon, 16, 6 for sub big man Ban Love.

11-2, #9, RPI #2. +11.0 PPG, +3.8 RBs, +3.0 TOs. Joe Gost is getting 16.6, Cal Joon, 14.8, Carl Mapp 14.6.

[Wayne23]

August, 2165: The earthquake and tidal wave seem to have triggered something. We’ve had violent storms off and on for the past six months. None have been close to as bad as the one that almost sank us, but a few have been impressively bad. As usual, storms mean repairs, bailing, and clean up. Unfortunately, they also mean a very frightened Amy. She is really traumatized by these storms. I’m discussing it with the holotherapists and shrinks but we haven’t come up with any useful solutions. Yes, I stay right with her during the storms, or Lacy does, often both of us do, I listen to her when she expresses her fears, and I have placed a cot right next to my bed where she can sleep if she gets nightmares, or if she just feels she wants to. Lately, she wants to sleep with Lacy.

Lacy’s fine with that except that she’s a night hawk, but she’s kind enough to lie with Amy until Amy falls asleep, and then she gets up and works in her room. But she can’t go into the HC in case Amy wakes up. So she does other things. She’s such a terrific kid.

If Lacy’s in the middle of something she really wants to continue she pages me and I come in and read or write in Lacy’s room while Lacy goes into the HC. If Amy wakes up I’ll be there.

In any case Lacy and I are really concerned about Amy. We can’t prevent the storms from happening.

Other than that things are going well. Lacy is functioning as the cosmologist she wants to be at age 12 ½. I insist that she continue with the rest of her education so she’ll be well rounded, and she doesn’t fight that, but she spend countless hours working in her field, usually with one or more holoexperts in the field, and in related fields.

Amy continues to be fascinated by art. She paints in a few different media and styles and she is learning to sculpt. She likes science, math and reading, but she fights me a little on history and on English grammar and usage. Eventually she gives in but she can be a handful, especially when I catch her avoiding those subjects in order to concentrate on her art. Lacy never was difficult at all, but all kids are different, and beneath it all Amy is a terrific kid.

I have less free time with all of the storm cleanup and repair. I’ve really been getting into the New Orleans music scene. I get to see early and middle Louis Armstrong, and so many others, and I get to interact with the holo versions of the musicians, which are incredibly authentic. I spend almost as much time in the Greenwich Village folk scene of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. I really hunger to spend more time than I have in those places, and with the great 20th century pop and very early folk/blues people.

Next: The worst storm yet

[Wayne23]

1/1/2062: A 1 point win at SMU. It was close all the way. We had the last possession and Cal Joon drained a 16 footer behind a double screen. He had 28. Joe Gost had 17, 7.

1/15: 16-2, 5-0, #4, RPI #1. By the skin of our teeth- 2 one point wins, one by 5. We beat #3 Cincy by 10 here.

1/29: 18-4, 7-2, #6, RPI #1. +9.1 PPG, +3.2 RBs, +3.2 TOs. We’re alone in 3rd, 1 back of 1st in conf.

Joe Gost is #13 on the Norton list.

2/12: 22-4, 11-2, #5, RPI #1. Still alone in 3rd, 1 back, with 3 to play, one of them at #1 ranked Cincy. The lowest we can finish is 3rd.

Joe Gost is #15 on the Norton list.

2/26: We end the regular season at 24-5, 13-3, +10.2 PPG, +2.4 RBs, +4.2 TOs. Alone in 3rd, 2 back of 1st.

3/5: We lose two frosh who didn’t play much but who had great potential, C Etan Bard, and PG Ben Diss.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #11 seed South Florida, 8-20, 5-11, won in an upset. We play them first. Beat them by 22 here.

3/10: 77-62. 21, 3, 6 for Joon, 13, 9 for Peer. +16 TOs.

#2 seed, #10 ranked Temple, 24-4, 15-1, in the semifinal round. They won by 17 there. We expect a battle.

3/11: 66-83. They were the better team. 21, 4 for Gost, 16 with 7 assists for Joon

3/12: 25-6, 13-3, #8, RPI #2. Let’s see where we go and how high we’re seeded. Hoping for a #2.

#1 South! Love it! We play New Jersey Tech, 15-15.

3/17: 67-54. They played really well. 16, 9 for Mapp, 15, 6, 3 for Hodd. +9 TOs.

#9 seed Butler, 20-10, in the 2nd round.

3/19: 77-63. 18, 6, 3 for Gost, 12, 10 for Hodd. +10 RBs, 11 TOs.

#4 seed, #16 ranked Pitt, 26-6, in the Sweet Sixteen. They can play, but we think we’re better.

3/24: 78-70. They stayed close most of the way. We stretched it out in the last 2 minutes. 15, 6, 4, 3 for Peer, 13, 8 for Hodd, 14 with 6 assists for Joon, 12, 4, 3 for Mapp.

#2 seed, #7 ranked Indiana, 28-6, in the Elite Eight. Their Center, team leading scorer and #2 rebounder, broke a finger in today’s game. This is NOT going to be easy.

3/26: 75-89. Down only 1 at the half, but our starting guards were both in foul trouble and both picked up another foul in the 1st minute of the 2nd half. That did us in.

4/3: #5 Maryland beat #10 Temple by 17 for the title.

4/4: Awards: Jim Hodd was conf. Def. POY. Joe Gost made 1st team. Cal Joon made 2nd team.

4/16: I need to hire 3 assistants. The usual lousy assistants are hired.

4/23: I ask for a contract extension. No.

28-7, Elite Eight. Overall, I’m 977-206, .826. Should hit 1000 wins next season.

[Wayne23]

February, 2166: A truly horrible storm two nights ago. I woke to an alarm, checked it, and saw a warning that a really bad storm was on its way. It appeared that I had about an hour so I got the robots to secure everything on both the ship and the boat.

With about a half hour to go I woke the kids. I knew this would be far more frightening for Amy if she was woken from a sound sleep by the storm. I gave her a few minutes to wake up before telling her why I woke her. I expected a bad reaction and I got one, but Lacy and I tried to comfort her and we assured her that we would both stay with her.

When the storm hit, it was obvious very quickly that it was a really bad one.

We suffered through four hours of being tossed about like a ping pong ball. The ship went fully under water several times, and it took on massive amounts of water. It felt like it was going to roll over sideways several times as well, and once we were under water for so long I was convinced we were done for. Finally, the ship came up out of the water though.

Amy was terrified throughout the storm. Lacy and I did what we could but nothing helped. She was in a state of panic for much of the time. We finally sedated her. She slept in my arms for the worst of the storm.

When it was finally over there was a tremendous amount of damage to the ship, a LOT of water that had to be removed quickly, three robots were missing, and there was no sign of the 80 foot boat.

Two days later the 80 footer is still missing. There are automatic signals and beacons but we have not seen or heard any of them. The assumption is that the boat sank. No way to know for sure, at least for now.
We’re searching.

Lacy and I are explaining to Amy that the boat survived the storm, which means it can probably survive any storm. It’s not comforting her much. We’ve set up regular sessions in the HC with a child psychologist in there. We hope that in time it will help. Some sessions are alone, some are with Lacy, some with me, and some with all three of us. The therapist has said it will be a long haul.

Birthdays came and went again. Lacy is now 13 and Amy is 9.

Next: A surprise

[Wayne23]

(Author’s note: One of the recruits who committed and signed is not appearing on my roster.)

5/1: The usual reports.

Preseason #3.

Little used big Ban Love transfers.

6/5: There’s some talent in the pool. Going after at least one guy.

6/12: No luck.

6/26: 4 scholarships. We want at least 3 bigs. Looking at 15.

8/7: 3 Norton candidates: SF Joe Gost is #7, SG Lan Main is #36, PG Tel Walt is #37.

8/21: We offer to a PG, a PF, and 2 Cs.

9/18: Got 2, lost 2. We offer to 2 new guys. We got a PG, #11, and a C, #8.

No in season tournament this year. Mostly ranked teams in pre-conf. play.

9/25: Got the other 2: a PF, #4, and a C, #14.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We feel like we’re in the hunt for the national title, but we may be a year away.

11/6: Here’s the lineup:

Frosh Tel Walt starts at PG and juco junior Lan Main at SG. Frosh Jed owen baks them up.

Soph Joe Gost is back at SF.

Juco junior Kurt Shef and frosh Reed Barr start inside. Backing up are seniors Juan Jorr and Brad Hamp, and junior Jim Hodd.

We’re #1 in conf., and #3 overall behind Duke and Michigan in the latest poll.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start. We beat #10 North Carolina easily at home. Reed Barr looks very good at C, but he’s a head case.

12/4: 6-0, #3, RPI #1. We just beat #2 Duke by 25, and they have 2 losses. How are they ahead of us? Joe Gost, Reed Barr, and Lan Main are leading the way on O.

12/25: 9-2, #3, RPI #2. Lost at #7 Seton Hall by 1, and at Michigan ST by 4. Lost both because of horrible free throw shooting.

1/15/2063: 13-3, 4-1, #3, RPI #3. We lost at #4 Cincy, badly. We play them here in the last game of the regular season.

1/29: 17-3, 8-1, #3, RPI #3. +15.1 PPG, +7.3 RBs, +5.6 TOs. In a 2 way tie for 2nd, 1 back of Cincy. Joe Gost leads us with 16.5 and 8.6. Len Main gets 17.0. We’re #1 in RBs.

Gost is #12 and Main #23 on the Norton list. Gost should be higher.

2/12: 21-3, 12-1, #3, R$PI 32. Alone in 2nd, 1 back of Cincy, 2 up on Memphis.

Joe Gost is #10, Lan Main #19 on the Norton list.

2/26: We end the regular season 24-3, 15-1, #3, RPI #1. +17.1 PPG, +6.2 RBs, +6.3 TOs. Alone in 1st in conf.

3/5: We lose #4 guard Carl Mapp to the draft.

[Wayne23]

April, 2166: For the past two months we’ve been experiencing storms. None have been as bad as the one that sank the 80 foot boat but a few have been pretty bad. Amy’s psychotherapy in the HC has helped her to cope. She still doesn’t like the storm at all but she seems less panic stricken by them.

And today, two months after the horrible storm, we saw an object way off in the distance. As we got closer we saw that it was a boat. As we got closer still it looked more and more like our boat. None of our signals or flares drew any response. Eventually we drew up beside it and it was the 80 foot boat we thought had been sunk.

I sent robots over to it. They found very extensive damage to almost everything, and there were no robots on board. I assume they were all washed overboard during the storm.

We’re retraining some of our extra robots for duty on the boat and printing new ones.

It will take a long time to get the boat back into “ship shape” but it can and will be done. It is essentially a derelict ship, dead in the water, for now. We want to get the essential systems fixed quickly so that it can navigate if we get another storm.

As soon as we can we’re going to cruise due north, as much as 1000 miles, in hopes of getting out of the current storm path. That path clearly changes over time. We’re going to try to predict it so we can stay ahead of it.

Next: Boat repairs, storms

[Wayne23]

3/9: #9 seed Houston, 12-16, 5-11, in the quarter finals. We beat them by 40 here, then 16 there.

3/10: 82-55. 26, 6, 6 for PG Jed Owen, 15, 11 for Gost, 10, 13 for Barr, 18 for Main. +16 RBs, 10 TOs.

#4 seed Temple, 19-10, 11-5, in the semifinals. They are very balanced, no one outstanding but everyone is decent. We won by 29 at our place.

3/11: 74-63. It wasn’t that close. They made a charge at the end, when it was too late. 24, 7 for Owen, 22, 8 for Barr. +8 RBs, 12 TOs.

#2 seed, #6 ranked Cincinnati for the title. They won by 24 there, then we won by 17 here. On paper we’re the better team but we expect a very tough game.

3/12: 99-73. We came to play! 32, 12, 5 for Gost, 20, 10 for Barr, 17, 7 for Main, 14, 6, 6 for sub guard Tel Walt. +15 RBs.

27-3, 15-1, #4, RPI #1. #4 makes no sense. We should be a #1, maybe # 2 or #3 overall.

#1 South, #3 overall. Good, let Michigan and Duke fight it out in the national semis. If we get that far this will benefit us.

We start with Kennesaw ST, 17-13.

3/17: 69-44. It was never a game.

#8 seed Virginia, 19-12, in the 2nd round. Good PG but not much else.

3/19: 80-63. They led by 7 early in the 2nd. I burned a TO and raised the roof and my guys woke up. 30 for Main, 15, 10 for Owen, 10, 9 for Barr. We’ve played better.

#4 seed, #8 ranked Miami of Ohio, 29-6, in the Sweet Sixteen.

3/24: 88-68. 52-35 at the half. 26, 7 for Gost, 16, 5, 6 for Owen. +12 TOs.

#3 seed, #12 ranked Seton Hall, 25-8, in the Elite Eight. They beat us by 1 there, in December. They may be a little stronger outside but we think we’re a lot stronger inside.

3/26: 80-78. Whew! We led by as many as 14 but we faded late. Gost fouled out with 7 ½ minutes left and then Main fouled out with 3:11 left. At the end Seton Hall had the ball. We played good D but they got their best shooter loose. He took an open 20 footer but it went just a little long as the buzzer sounded. +10 RBs, but -5 TOs. Survive and advance!

We’ll play #3 seed, #10 ranked Arizona, 28-7, in the national semifinal. We think we’re the better team but we expect a struggle.

On the other side it’s #1 overall Michigan, 36-1, vs. #5 seed, #16 ranked Fresno ST, 26-7.

4/1: 80-67. We led by as many as 19, and it was settled by the 28 minute mark. 22, 8, 3 for Gost, 19, 7 for Barr, 14, 8, 4 for Main, 16, 9 for sub big man Juan Jorr. +9 RBs.

As expected it’s 37-1 Michigan for the title. They have 2 bigs banged up; the starter will play, the sub won’t. They have a very, very good backcourt. They’re a 2 ½ point favorite. We’ll need to be at our best.

4/3: 78-79. 19 lead changes, 5 ties. We led by 14 in the 1st half, 7 at the half. I’ll get to the end of the game in a second but we lost this one at the line, shooting 22-40, 55%, which is inexcusable. Most other stats were close to even. 29 for Main, 18, 11 for Gost, 12 for Owen. At the end we led 78-76. We missed the front of a 1 and 1 with 4.8 left and they got the RB. After a Time Out they worked it to their #3 guard.

We had a hand in his face with time almost up. He threw up a 24 footer which went in off the backboard. Given that the shot was from behind the foul line I don’t think he was planning a bank shot. So we lost on a lucky shot. BUT, if we had hit our free throws we would not have been in that position. Tough, tough loss.

4/4: Awards: Joe Gost was Conf. POY and 1st team. Reed Barr was Frosh OY. Lan Main made 2nd team.

4/23: I ask for a contract extension. I get it.

32-4, 15-1, made it all the way to the title game and lost by one. Great season.

Overall, I’m 1009-210, .828. #1000 came at East Carolina in the next to last regular season game.

Looking for a national title next season.

[Wayne23]

August, 2166: The robots are still repairing the 80 foot boat. The issue is continuing storms. A few things get fixed, we get a storm, a few more things need to get fixed. We’re making progress but the boat is not in great shape, too much damage has been done. We’re committed to fixing it though, and we will.

The cruise ship is 100% at this point. The storms do damage but we fix it as quickly as possible.

The storms have been bad, but not as bad as the very worst ones we had.

In between storms we cruise to the north, but it’s a slow process. We want to keep the boats together and the 80 footer is out of service so often that we’re not making much progress.

The kids are doing well. Lacy is pretty much a 13 ½ year old astrophysicist. She collects data, does experiments, writes theories and tests them…

Amy is doing better with her fear of the storms. The therapy has helped a great deal. She is still afraid of them but it is a far more rational, controllable fear.

Her art studies are going really well. She loves water color first, and oils second, and she produces some remarkable work for her age.

I continue to be too busy, but I do manage time for hikes, games, and the like. I’ve been into classic pinball lately, and I’m really enjoying that.

Next: Repairs completed, we head north