Fun and Games

[Wayne23]

That's what I'm going for, PG. A psychopath who's humorless, driven, little to no capacity to feel much of anything, but a compulsion to kill and feel absolutely no remorse about it. Totally detached from nearly everyone and everything. At the same time he can put that aside and focus on the coaching, still without much emotion but with a strict attention to detail. In other words, as far as the coaching, a Bud Grant or Tom Landry type who focuses on the "Xs and Os" and not at all on the players. They're just chessmen to move around the board.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0. Ranked #22. We looked shaky in the first but good in the 2nd.

All 3 recruits sign. We still need a big guy.

“Father” George seems like a perv but I need to keep watching. Not totally sure yet. Rev. Jimmy John is a very talented conman.

12/4: 5-0, all at home, all against weak teams, but we’re finding our selves and coming together as a team. I think the lineup may be set. We have two very good players coming off the bench but neither plays enough D to get more playing time.

12/15: 7-0, RPI #74.

Headed to San Juan for the Caribbean Challenge. We play #5 seed Charlotte, 3-4. We’re #4. If both teams won through we would meet Air Force in the finals.

12/16: 64-56. 21, 8 for SF Fran Brax. Brax is a guard but we use a three guard system. He leads us in scoring with 15.3 per. 11, 12 for C Mike Newn, and 11 for sub
forward/center Don Jord. If Jord played better D he’d be starting, and I’m giving him more minutes. We need the offense and the rebounding. Wats plays good D but he doesn’t do much else.

#1 seed Stanford, 6-3, in the semis. They’re a huge favorite. They have a lot of offensive weapons and they play tough D.

12/17: 63-78. We were great early, up by 14, and still up by 6 at the half. But we faded in the 2nd half, and Stanford really got it together. We didn’t score enough points and nothing we tried stopped their very goof PF, who had 27. 12, 17 for Newn.

This doesn’t bode well for how we’ll do in the ACC. Stanford was the first really good team we played and we couldn’t keep up with them.

12/20: Starting SG Mo Wall sprained a finger. He’s out for a few days but we have a few days off so it came at a good time.

12/25: 9-1, RPI #84. +12.7 PPG (#232, #1), +8.8 RBs (#16), +2.0 TOs (#116). We need to score more points. Hopefully Jord’s additional minutes will help with that; actually, I’m going to start him. We also need to take better care of the ball. I would have thought our three guard lineup would have taken care of that, but that hasn’t been the case.

10 or our ACC games are against ranked opponents.

I’ve been following “Father” George for a while now and I’m convinced he’s as bad as his predecessor was.

As to Rev. Jimmy John, his scam is ridiculously obvious. It amazes me what people will fall for. Rev. Billy Bob's sucker list constantly increased in numbers, and the money he raised also kept increasing.

I want to hit them both but I really feel that I need to be careful.

Rev. Billy Bob’s drowning is still an open case. The police say they are calling it “suspicious” but they have no leads, and they think it could possibly be an accidental drowning. The fact that there seems to be no reason why he was in that area is what puzzles them.

Clearly Father Pete was murdered. They’re not talking about the fact that it was related to the fact that he was a pedophile but clearly that’s the angle they’re going after. They have interviewed just about all of the families in the parish who had young male children.

I’m thinking some kind of undetectable, or really difficult to detect poison for each of these two, maybe via the dart, maybe not, but again, I need to be careful.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1982: 10-3, 1-2, RPI #56. We beat #11 at home and lost to #16 away by only 7 points, but in this conference the tough teams never stop coming at you.

Jord has been a failure as a starter. I’m now going to give him and Wats equal time.

1/15: 13-4, 4-3, RPI #40. Pretty shocked by our last 2 games. We won one on the road and then beat #6 ranked Virginia by 20 at our place. Maybe we’re starting to jell.

1/29: 14-6, 5-5, RPI #35, alone in 8th in the ACC. +6.1 PPG (#267, #3), +5.1 RBs (#26), +0.4 TOs (#129). We just aren’t scoring enough points. But then we’re getting next to nothing from the PF slot.


Wats is starting again and Jord is only getting sub minutes.

We need to keep working. I’m losing only SF Fran Brax and I have three outstanding players coming in, so I just want to get these guys playing better and better so that next year we can contend.

2/12: 16-8, 7-7, RPI #43. In a 2 way tie for 8th with 4 to play. I think we have a good chance to go 2-2, but 3-1 seems unlikely- #2 at home, #16 on the road.

I got Father George about an hour ago. He likes to walk around the churchyard on evenings when he’s not raping kids. I felt I couldn’t make it look like murder so I used my old reliable licorice dart. I walked up to him and called his name. Since we’ve never met he had a puzzled look on his face. He smiled and started to greet me when I got him in the right cheek area.

I walked the three blocks to where I had parked and drove home.

2/26: We end the regular season at 18-10, 9-9, RPI #47. Tied for 8th and the #8 seed. +3.9 PPG (#287, #9), +3.5 RBs (#40), +0.3 TOs (#150).

I think we’ll need to win 2 in the ACC tourney to get invited to the NCAAs. This team has been Jeckyl and Hyde so who knows.

[Wayne23]

3/8: #9 seed Pitt, 18-10, 9-9, in the play in round. They’re a big favorite. We beat them by only 1 at home.

3/9: 77-75. We led by 27 with 14:52 to play and took a world class nosedive. They got it to 2 with 4.8 left, came down, got a guy open from 15 feet, and the shot rimmed out. We were very lucky. 29, 3, 5 for SG Mo Wall, 27, 2, 6 for PG Jay Crum. We got beat up inside.

#1 seed, #3 ranked North Carolina, 23-4, 15-3, in the quarter finals. They beat us by 23 there. VERY tough team, particularly inside.

3/10: 54-82. Ugly. To be fair they were simply that much better.

19-11, 9-9, RPI #47. Borderline for an invitation to the NCAA but probably not.

3/12: We’re in! #9 Midwest. We play #8 Seton Hall, 19-11. A win would give us a 20 win season but they’re favored by 5 ½. They’re very good outside and have a deep bench.

3/16: 48-75. Ugh.

Oh well. It was always about getting through the season and getting these guys to be better so that we could make a statement next season.

3/19: We get our last recruit, a PF, #106.

4/3: #3 Arizona wins it all.

4/4: Awards: Shut out, as expected.

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

I’m staying.

4/23: Asking for $ again. No.

19-12, RPI #49. Overall, 267-114, .701.

Rev. Jimmy John DePew is no more. I have to admit that I was stalking him. Finally found him going into a perfectly legit bookstore downtown. When he came out I “darted” him, quickly turned around, and walked away. As I turned the corner I had some commotion but I just kept going. They’ll be looking for a guy with red hair and aviator sunglasses.

The next one is #40. I’ll have to find a way to make it special.

[Wayne23]

5/1: #20 recruiting class.

A guard who probably wasn’t ever going to get minutes transfers out.

6/5: Nobody we want in the transfer pool.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We want at least 2 bigs.

8/21: We offer to a PG and 2 PFs.

9/11: We lose one.

9/18: We get a PG, #56. We lose one.

Memorial Tournament vs. #18 Stanford.

9/25: Got the other two, both PFs, #35 and #38.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re picked 10th. I think we’ll do a lot better than that.

11/6: Frosh Ry Wood is at PG. Junior Jay Crum starts at SG, subs at PG.

Junior Mo Wall starts at SF, subs at SG, so we’re going with three guards again, mostly. Soph Greg Mack subs at SG and SF.

Frosh Mal Leck starts at PF, subs at C. Our only senior, Mike Newn, is back at C.

I’m still thinking of how to make #40 special.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start, both home games against weak teams, but I’ll take it.

All 3 recruits sign.

Headed for the Memorial vs. #3 seed, #10 ranked Stanford, 2-0. The game is rated a toss up.

11/21: 72-67. They led by 12 early, by 5 at the half. 19, 15 for C Mike Newn, 19, 4 for SF Mo Wall.

#2 seed, #9 ranked Xavier, 3-0, in the semis. They’re strong inside, favored by 1 ½.

11/22: 62-72. They got out to a big early lead, as many as 18. We got close a few times but never quite close enough. 17, 6 for PF Mal Leck. 20 TOs hurt.

12/4: 6-1, RPI #28. We’re playing well except for the fact that we’re not taking care of the ball- 13.4 TOs per. Our PG, Ry Wood is leading us in scoring, assists, and steals,
and he’s our best defender. Mike Newn gets 11.1 RBs per. Giving the subs, Greg Mack and Don Jord, more minutes. They’re both playing well. Let’s see what happens.

I’m thinking the Mayor of Raleigh for my 40th victim. Here’s why: First, he’s a “celebrity,” so that would be an impressive kill. Second, he’s a jerk, a big boastful know it all. Third, he’s sloppy about security and proud of it.

I need to work out the details, but I like the idea.

12/25: 9-1 at the end of pre-conference play. The difference is that this year I think we’ll do better in the ACC. It’s a very tough league but I’ll be disappointed to finish worse than 10-8. Maybe I’m fooling myself, of course.

RPI #19. +11.4 PPG (#119, #14), +10.3 RBs (#7), +1.3 TOs (#101).

Observing the Mayor and getting his routines and habits down. He’s pretty unpredictable though, which doesn’t make this easier.

[PointGuard]

From a small cubicle in the Colorado Springs Police Department a lowly police officer walks purposely to the Police Chief's office and knocks on the door:

"Hey Chief, I need to talk to you."

"Jesus Portowski, I was just about to head out to lunch so make it damned quick. I'm hungry as hell."

"Chief, I'm sure you've been reading about the recent spate of unsolved deaths of religious leaders in North Carolina. Well, it got me to thinking. A few years ago we had all those unsolved deaths here in Colorado Springs and at the Air Force Academy. We ended up just putting them in the dead case file. But then I got thinking what if there was some relation between our cases and those in North Carolina."

"Come on Portowski, we haven't had any religious leaders die mysteriously here."

"No Chief, but we sure did have a lot of other suspicious deaths in the late 70's. So anyway, I called the Raleigh PD and am getting some details. One of the things they said was that they'd also been contacted by the Las Vegas PD who said they had been talking with investigators down in San Juan Puerto Rico and Omaha, Nebraska. It seems that all these places have had some murders, or at least deaths, that have some similarities. A lot of suspicious deaths of people just keeling over and dying and also a lot of knife murders. These go back a number of years."

"OK, Portowski, you've got me interested. What's your take on this?"

"Well Chief, I really don't know yet but I'm wondering if there's maybe not a serial killer out there doing all these. You know, moving around from place to place so there's no definite trail."

"We sure as hell don't have the budget to get into all these things all over the damned country and in the Caribbean, but go ahead and look more fully into the ones that occurred here and keep me advised on what you find. But you're doing this on your own time, I can't afford to have it cutting into your regular patrol work. And if you run into a freakin' brick wall, just drop it. I can't have you spending too much time on this."

"Thanks Chief! I'm gonna get right on it."

"Oh, and if this does turn out to be something that flies, you're not to make any public comments about it. That's MY freakin' job. Ya got that Portowski?"

"Yes sir"

[Wayne23]

You read my mind, PG. Something like this is in my plan for a few chapters in the future.

[Wayne23]

1/1/1983: 11-2, 2-1. We lost at #1 ranked North Carolina, badly. But I’ll take 2-1 with one road win.

1/15: 15-2, 6-1, #15, RPI #5. We’re top of the pack, but 11 games still to play in the ACC. Still, we’re looking good. PG Ry Wood leads us with
14.2. C Mike Newn gets 13.4, 11.4.

Getting closer to having a plan for the Mayor. But it’s going to have to be a plan with some uncertainty. He’s just a loose cannon. He rarely follows his agenda for the day, and leaves that agenda in all sorts of weird ways.

1/29: 17-4, 8-3, #17, RPI #6. Tied for 3rd in the ACC. 7 left to play, only 3 on the road. +6.6 PPG (#212, #15), +7.8 RBs (#11), -0.8 TOs (#136). If we were taking better care of the ball and scoring more points we’d be doing really, really well.

2/12: 19-6, 10-5, #15, RPI #21. Our final three regular season games are against 3 of the 4 teams with the worst records and 2 are at home.

I’m having no luck with the Mayor. It’s really tough to know what he’s going to do from moment to moment.

2/26: We end the regular season at 22-6, 13-5, #18, RPI #16. Tied for 3rd in the ACC with the #4 seed.

I drove all the way to Durham to hit a drunk weaving his way to his car in a parking lot on a remote street. Got him with a dart. I just needed to do someone. It’s been almost a year. I wanted #40 to be special but I got tired of waiting for the nut case Mayor.

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #12 seed Louisville, 15-14, 5-13, in the quarters. They have put together 2 straight upsets. We beat them by 9 and 15, but strangely enough they are favored by ½ point. I expect a win.

3/10: 72-64. It was back and forth for the first 5 minutes. We then went on a big run, 15-2, and we led the rest of the way. 17 each for PF Mel Leck and C Mike Newn, and 14, 5, 9 for PG Ry Wood but he had 7 TOs. It was a sloppy game; we had 18 TOs, they had 22.

#1 seed, #1 ranked North Carolina, 30-1, 17-1, in the semis. They crushed us by 26 there. We need to play near perfect ball and catch them on an off night to have any real chance.

3/11: 72-70!!! I’m in shock. They led by as many as 11 early in the 2nd half but we came back. We had trouble with the ball all night, 24 TOs (-12), but +8 RBs helped.
What really did it though was that we shot 54.2% and held them to 35.3%. PG Ry Wood led us with 17, and 6 others had between 11 and 6. We just never quit. At the end Wood sank a 23 footer off a double screen as the buzzer sounded. The officials reviewed it for at least a minute, which felt like an hour. They decided the basket counted and time expired while the shot was in flight. HUGE win!

It doesn’t get a lot easier, it’s #2 seed, #5 ranked Duke, 23-8, 15-3, for the title. They won by 8 at our place. They are as big a favorite as UNC was.

3/12: 73-87. No complaints. We got to the final of the ACC and beat the #1 team in the country. We never quit tonight but Duke was on.

24-7, #18, RPI #14. I’m hoping for a #3 or #4 seed, hopefully on the right side of the bracket.

3/12: #3 West. We play #14 Coppin ST, 21-10. This is a team we should beat but we can’t lose focus. I’ve had to get my bench coach to do some yelling; they’ve been too full of themselves after beating UNC.

3/17: 80-76. They got out to an early 20 point lead. I had to call 3 time outs before my guys woke up, and they didn’t really do that until the 2nd half, which we won 51-29. They outrebounded us by 8 but we did a great job with the ball, only 9 TOs (+9). C Mike Newn led us with 22 and 8, SG Jay Crum had 17, and PG Ry Wood had 14, 4, 7 with NO TOs. Once we started playing we played really well but if we wait that long again we’re gone.

#11 seed Gardner-Webb, 26-5, shocked my old team, Air Force, so we play them in the 2nd round. We’re a huge favorite. I’ve never been past the 2nd round of the
NCAAs and I’ll never have a better opportunity than this one.

3/19: 79-68 and I’m in my first Sweet Sixteen! It was close for 30 minutes or so, then we took over. Mike Newn simply overpowered their Center with 27 and 14. Both of our guards did some scoring. +15 RBs, and only 9 TOs again.

#2 seed, #8 ranked Oklahoma ST, 26-7. They’re excellent outside and have a very good Center and a long bench. We’ll really need to be on our game.

3/24: 49-56. We played great D but theirs was even better. We just couldn’t make key baskets and shot a pathetic 31.6%. 18 TOs didn’t help (-11).

Great season and Mike Newn is the only guy I’m losing. He’ll be a big loss, of course, but I have 2 very good looking big guys coming in.

4/3: ACC’s Duke, #5 ranked, is the champ.

4/4: Awards: Senior C Mike Newn makes the ACC 1st team. I am ACC COY, which is a great honor.

4/9: Would I move? If an absolutely elite team offered, I would. Not likely.

I’m staying.

4/23: I ask for money. Hopefully we’ll get some this year. Got $13,000.

26-8, #18, Sweet Sixteen. Great season. Overall, 293-122, .706, for 13 seasons.

4/25: I got the Mayor. There was a big celebration downtown, a parade, all kinds of speeches, and some other stuff. Late in the day, as the Mayor was working the crowd, across the street from where I was, I got him with a licorice dart, right in the back of the neck.

I’m sure there will be an autopsy and all kinds of inquiries, but he was 58 years old, very overweight, with a poor diet, he drank a lot, was rumored to take drugs… I think the autopsy will report that he just dropped dead. I have to say it felt good to get him.