Hereafter

[Wayne23]

2/9: At 12-11, 7-7 Kona. We won by 21 at home.

2/10: We take an early lead. Up 14 after 10. 53-40 at halftime. No D by either team. 14, 4 for Gard. Shooting 59.45 to 36.7%. Up 20 with 10 left.

96-82 but it wasn't that close.

22, 6 for Gard, 14, 11 for Rich, 11, 3, 5 for John, 11, 7 for Gain. +8 RBs, +20 in the paint.

Webb is back. He drops all the way to #20 on the Norton list.

23-2, 13-1. 1 up on Virginia, 4 or more on the rest.

“People of the ship. We come in peace. Do we have your permission to speak with you?”

The Captain answered, “Welcome. We are happy to speak with you. Our mission is one of exploration and peace.”

“We are in pursuit of the Romm. They were moving in your direction when we lost sight of them.”

“They were here. They held us captive for a month and a half before we freed ourselves.”

“How were you able to get free? This is unusual where the Romm are concerned.”

“You must know of their fear of the dark. We used that, completely removed all light from the ship, and they fled.”

“Yes, this is their only real weakness. It is good that you found it.”

The conversation continued for some time. It seems the Loi are sort of the police in this part of the galaxy. They have been chasing the Romm for decades.
There have been several confrontations and many battles. The balance of power is about even according to the Loi.

They asked us in which direction the Romm had gone and we told them. At first we didn't know but once we realized they were gone and we got to the bridge our sensors picked them up. The Loi headed off after them.

[Wayne23]

2/12: At 7-16, 4-10 Georgia Tech. Their starting PF is out and their best player, their SG, is hurt and if he plays probably won't play much.

We won by 33 at our place. If we play decent ball they can't beat us.

2/13: We take an immediate lead. Up 14 after 10. 46-29 at the break. 16, 5 for Tony. Webb seems rusty; he needs to work the kinks out. 3
TOs to 13. +32 in the paint. They go on a run; get it to 5. Up 11 with 10 to go.

91-73. 31, 10 for Tony, 14, 5 for Gard. 11 fewer TOs, 10 more RBs, up an amazing 42 in the paint, and +16 on 2nd chances.

With 5 to play we're still up only 1 on #5 Virginia. We're now #3, NET #2. It's a two team race.

Everything is back to normal except food. The food producers are still resisting any partial measures to improve the quality and variety of food served onboard.

“Anything like that will simply delay getting back to 100% by a significant time frame. We urge the Council to support us in this so that we can get food quality and variety up to the level it was at as quickly as possible.”

The Council supported them by a 10-2 margin.

[Wayne23]

2/14: 13-11, 7-7 Louisville is here. Seems like most of the conference is rebuilding this season and Louisville is no exception. On paper this is an easy game. While they're 4-3 vs. ranked teams they score 14.7 fewer than us and give up 2.6 more. They turn it over.

2/15: Quick lead. Up 11 after 10. 37-27 at halftime. 9, 2, 5, 4 for Marn, 8, 4 for Tony. 9 fouls on us, 3 on them. 3 TOs to 12. +12 in the paint. A run to start the 2nd. Up 25 with 10 to play.

78-47. Lock down D! 17, 4, 8, 4 for Marn. 13, 2, 8 for Webb, who looks like himself tonight. 12, 7 for Rich, 11, 7 for Gard. 7 TOs to 23. +12 inside.

Virginia lost so we're up 2 with 4 to play.

I haven't talked about aging. When I set this afterlife up I said I wanted to age normally up to a certain point, probably in my late 70s, and then adjust. That might mean any number of things; I'm 49 so it will be awhile. At this point I want to continue to coach in this timeline probably until I reach my late 70s, so it should all work out.

[Wayne23]

2/16: #25 Syracuse, 18-8, 9-6, is here. Jim Boeheim, at age 101, continues to coach at Syracuse. They have a very good Center. 2-2 vs. Top 25 teams.

2/17: We take an early lead. Up 5 after 10. 41-35 at the half; it's a game! 15 for Marn, 9 for Webb. +8 RBs, +6 inside. We took 11 more shots. -5 from the line, and Tony has 3 fouls. Up 18 with 10 to play.

93-62. 26 for Marn, a career high. 12, 17 for Tony, 14, 6, 3 for Gard, 12, 2, 6, 4 for Webb but 7 TOs. 11, 7 for Gain. +17 RBs.

Up 2 with 3 to play.

My job is finally getting to feel like it's almost back to normal. Everyone except the food growers is now down to 6 days, 8 hours a day. Hali and I work a little more than that but not a lot more. I'm getting to every department multiple times a week, which feels good. I'm seeing that most departments are running smoothly.

Food production is no exception.

“Jed, we're really getting close to being where we want to be. I know everyone is sick of the same old food, but I took a hard line for a reason. We want full dining services as quickly as we can get there and this is the way to go. We're right on schedule to be in full service by about March 25 or 26. That's the best we can do. Hopefully people can hang in there for that long.”

What choice do we have?

[Wayne23]

2/19: At 16-12, 8-8 Duke. We won by only 5 at home. They're 2-5 vs. ranked teams but they won the last two. On paper we're easily the better team, but we'll need to play that way.

2/20: We score the first 11. Up 15 after 10. 43-23 at the half. Shooting 50% to 33.3%. Great D again tonight. Up 21 with 10 to play.

79-67 but it was never in doubt. 22, 6, 8 for Webb, 14, 11, 3 for Rich, 14, 3, 3 for Marn. The other two starters had 10 each. 10 fewer TOs. +14 in the paint.

Rec Director Kelly Geer has been going all out with all kinds of creative new activities. It's helping but people want their food.

2/26: A week off really helped. Florida ST, 14-14, 7-10, is here. A win tonight clinches the regular season ACC title.

2/27: Early lead. Up 13 after 10. 40-15- wow, held them to 15! 10 for Webb, 7 for Marn. Our starting backcourt outscored their entire team for the half. Rich has 3 fouls. 3 TOs, +18 in the paint. They shot 19%. Up 26 with 10 left.

73-47. A very easy win to clinch the ACC. 18, 9 for Tony, 113, 4, 5, 4 for Webb, 13, 4, 3 for Gard, 12, 4 for Gain. +28 down low. 7 TOs.

Sub F/C Trev Meil hurt his foot. Day to day.

3/1: A terrible accident in the holo. A group of young people, early 20s, decided to do the most dangerous rock climb. They did everything they were supposed to do to prepare, met all the requirements. Then they went far beyond their capabilities while climbing. 6 of them were tethered together and they all fell to their death. Tragic, and totally avoidable.

“I call this special meeting of the Council together.. Rex.”

“Madam Chair, I move that we end all dangerous programs permanently.”

There was a second.

“Rex, you can't stop people from doing stupid things. If this passes people will find ways to make the moderately dangerous holo programs truly dangerous. At least with things the way they are now people need to do some training and pass some tests. I'm opposed.”

As is usually the case at Council the debate went on for a very long time. In the end the vote was 6-6.

“As Chair I have the right to break ties. I am choosing not to break this tie. The motion is defeated.”

“Wait! Why? Why aren't you voting and why aren't you in favor of the motion?”

“Fair question. I happen to agree with Mick. The best chance we have to minimize injuries and deaths in the holo chambers is with the program in place now. There's no cure for people doing stupid things, and occasionally they lose their lives doing those stupid things.”

Fair enough. I voted against the motion so I'm fine with this. I suspect lots of crew members won't be happy with us, but that's the way it is.

[Wayne23]

3/2: We end the regular season at 20-8, 13-6 Virginia Tech. We won by 22 at our place. It's always tough to get kids up for a game that means nothing.

3/3: Early lead. Tied after 10. 33-42 at trhe break. We are as flat as can be. 14 for Marn; no one else has more than 5. 5 TOs, +6 in the paint. But we're shooting 28.6% to 48%. I try to wake them up in the locker room and we'll max out the D. Their leading scorer, with 14, has 3 fouls. Down 14 with 10 to play; we're just not playing tonight.

50-80. Worst butt kicking I can remember in a very long time.

17 for Marn, 11, 10 for Rich and no one else did much.

3/5: Jim Rich declares for the draft. He'll be missed. Fellow freshman Clif Niel also declares. He didn't really figure in our plans. We lose three senior bigs, Nat Gard, Brad Gain, and Trev Meil, and #3 guard Joe John. The big guy we've been courting since the fall just signed with another team. Damn!

We end the regular season at 28-3, 18-2, 1 up on Virginia, 4 on VA Tech, 6 or more on the rest.

+16.2 PPG, +5.9 RBs, -7.3 TOs, +5.5 assists, +4.1 steals.

14.6 for Webb, with 6.6 assists. 12.0 for Marn. Rich gets 11.6 and leads in RBs with 7.3.

[Wayne23]

3/9: We play #9 seed Louisville, 16-15, 9-11, in the quarter finals. We won by 31 at our place. If we play our game we'll be fine.

All four games in the play in round were upsets.

3/10: It's a battle early. Up 4 after 10. A late run puts us up 44-33 at the half. 11, 7 for Gard, who told me before the game that as a senior he wants to extend the season as long as possible and he wants to go out with a bang. Tony has 3 fouls, as does his man. 7 fewer TOs, +16 in the paint, and we're shooting much better. We start the 2nd with an 11-0 run. Up 18 with 10 to go.

74-57. We were never in danger. 17, 10 for Gard, 13, 2, 3 for Marn. 13 fewer TOs, +26 in the paint.

[Wayne23]

3/11: #4 seed Miami, 22-10, 12-8, in the semis. We won by 18 at home. Again tonight, if we play our game we'll be fine.

Game time: Gard is matched up with their best player.

“I got this, Coach!”

Slow start for both teams. Up 5 after 10. Our typical late first half run puts us up 40-27 at the break. 12 for Rich, 11 for Webb. 10 fewer
TOs. Up 19 with 10 to go.

84-66. Again tonight we were never threatened.

20, 8 for Rich, 15, 2, 5 for Webb. Gard didn't have big numbers but he outplayed his man, +20 to -22.

10 TOs to 19.

[Wayne23]

3/12: As expected it is #4 ranked, #2 seed Virginia, 26-6, 17-3, for the title. They won by 10 at their place. Their SG had an incredible 41 and 15 and their PG added 15 more. We committed 20 TOs. So the pressure is squarely on our guards to redeem themselves. Virginia is favored by 2 ½. They're 5-0 vs. Top 25 teams.

Game time: As expected, close early. Up 9 after 10. A run puts us up 17 at the half. Their SG has only 11 and he has 3 fouls. It's a very different game from the last one. 14, 7 for Rich. +5 RBs, 5 fewer TOs, +14 down low. +14 from the line and we're shooting better. Up 23 with 10 to play. Subs are in with 2 ½ to play!

85-59. A very sweet win! Nat Gard, tourney MOP, had 25 and 4; his man scored 2.

“Told ya, Coach!”

18, 9 for Rich, 11, 4, 6 for Webb.+20 in the paint, +12 RBs.

We'll be a #1 but Memphis will be #1 overall.

#1 West. Wichita ST, who beat us early on, is the #2 in our bracket.

[Wayne23]

3/16: We play the winner of the play-in, #16 seed Southern Utah, 16-17. Can we win it all this year? We're a number one seed so we have to be in the conversation. Last year we didn't get that break I always talk about needing to win it all. In the last game the shots wouldn't fall, which meant the other team got the break. This year? It remains to be seen!

3/17: They stay with us early. Up 5 after 10. Up 43-32 at halftime. 10 each for Gard and Webb. -8 RBs but +12 in the paint. 4 TOs to 15.

Up 15 with 10 left.

81-49. They never had a chance. 21, 3, 9, 5 for Webb, 14, 0, 5 for Marn, 12, 9 for Tony, 13 for Gard. 10 TOs to 28.