Way Back When

[Wayne23]

4/3: #1 Michigan ST beat #2 Duke by 3 to win the national championship.

“Alma, I don't like the sound of that cough.”

“Oh, it's only a cold, Jacob, but keep your distance. No need for you to catch it.”

4/4: Awards: Cris Mack is Conf. P POY and 1st team. Art Cary is Def. POY and 1st team. They both definitely deserved the recognition! I am named conference COY.

4/6: “Jake, Alma is in hospital. The doctors fear she may have pneumonia.”

“Oh dear. I'll go right away.”

4/7: Alma is not doing well at all.

4/9: TP is up to 22.

Kansas ST, in Conference C, is very interested in discussing their open head coaching position. I decline.

Alma seems considerably better today.

4/11: Alma is in grave condition following a relapse. The doctors have made it clear that her life is in danger.

“Dr. Laakso, what can be done?”

“Precious little, Mr. Last. In these cases the patient reaches crisis and at that point they either recover or...”

4/12: My beloved Alma left this life at 3:30 this morning. Arthur and I were at here side, each of us holding one of her hands. I am devastated.

4/23: Life goes on, difficult as it is. The days are difficult and the nights are horrible. I lie abed with my eyes wide open, and sleep won't come until I am utterly exhausted.

I ask for a budget increase.

I don't get the increase.

We lose 4 players to graduation, Cris Mack, a vital cog in our machine, Deon Jack, our starting Point Guard, Davy Hank, our 6th man, and Marc Mill, who rarely played. We have landed only 2 recruits, a PG and a PF. We are after one other.

29-4, ranked #14. Round of 16. Very good season.

After 3 years my record is 84-14, .857.

[Wayne23]

5/1: We're moving up not to Conf. O, but all the way up to Conf. L.

#171 recruiting class.

5/29: We lose only one, a forward who would have gotten minutes.

We need 2 guards and a big. We offer to a B and a C and an unrated.

6/2: 0-3.

Round 2: I offer to 3 Bs, 2 PGs and a PF. 3-3! 2 will start and the 3rd will be my #3 guard.

6/25: We'll go to East Coast and Big Apple camps.

6/26: 7 scholarships. Ugh. Whatever. If we don't get them here we'll get them at transfer time.

I have very little interest in anything in the 2 ½ months since Alma died. I'm doing my job, but even that is an effort. I don't follow the news, I don't listen to music. I mostly lie in my bed and look up at the ceiling.

[Wayne23]

7/11: Recruiting is keeping me busy, which is very good since I still just stare aimlessly when I have no work.

7/25: My A. D., Ted Baer, had a talk with me. He wants me to shape up. I told him I'm working on it. He said I need to work harder.

8/21: We offer to 3 PGs, an SG, a PF, and 2 Cs.

There is all sorts of talk regarding the practicality of aeroplanes or areoplanes, or whatever they are called. People see them used to transport the mail, apparently with the pilot tossing a mailbag out near the post office and having the postmaster pick it up wherever it lands.

Another projected use is in war time, flying overhead and spying on troop movements and military targets and then landing and telling the
Generals what they saw. The possibility of the pilot throwing bombs out of the areoplane is also mentioned.

Some people talk about things related to weather forecasting but that seems very far fetched to me.

I find I am beginning to be able to concentrate better. It is my greatest hope that I will be something like myself when practices begin.

[Wayne23]

9/18: We get 2, lose 2. We get an SG, #71, and a C, #77.

I thought we might be invited to an in season tourney this season. Nope.

Some good teams at home and 2 ranked teams on the road.

9/25: We get one, lose 2. We get our #1, a PG ranked #55.

10/2: We get 2 more, lose 2 more. We're probably going to lessen our efforts, at least until Spring. We have 3 guards, 2 bigs. We'd like 2 more bigs, if possible, but we might do better to get them through transfers. Pondering it.

First day of practice. Bench coach Jon Hart and I spoke after practice and we agree that this could well be our best team yet. We jumped all the way up to
Conf. L, and we fully expect to win it!

10/9: We lose a recruit.

I must say my focus is considerably better. I am able to concentrate as much as necessary to do my job fully. I still miss Alma terribly, and very likely always will, but I can now function.

11/12: Here's our lineup:

Soph Sean Rich, a transfer from Clemson, is at PG, and he has looked amazingly good in practice.

Soph Art Post, who started at LSU last season, is at SG. He has also looked very good.

Senior Art Cary, a natural SG, where he started for us last season and the year before, starts at SF.

Frosh Alan Wite is the first guard off the bench. Senior Tim Eshe is the next guard, and senior Curt Chad follows.

Senior Joel King starts at PF, as he did last season.

Junior Dal Kent, who started at Louisville last year and the year before, is at C. He's a real glass eater.

Fly York, a senior, is the first big off the bench. He started last year for us. Senior Ted Good is 2nd, and soph Sam Turn is 3rd. Finally there's senior Ezra Sims.

[Wayne23]

11/13: At Eastern Kentucky to start the season. We think we're a much better team. We'll see.

11/14: 46-39 at the half. C Dal Kent and Art Cary lead us. They're staying close in the 2nd.

82-80. They missed a three at the end. 22, 10 for Kent, 21, 7, 3 for Cary, 19, 4, 3 for SG Art Post. +24 in the paint.

11/16: At #25 Alabama. It's their opener so we don't know a lot. They're favored.

11/17: 31-33 at the half. They led by as many as 11 but we kept chipping away.

85-64. An amazing 2nd half, 54-31. We couldn't miss. 31, 5, 4 for PG Art Post. +12 RBs. This was a BIG win!

11/18: Arthur and I went to Providence and heard the most incredible voice I can even imagine exists. Enrico Caruso gave a concert. Unbelievable voice!

Arthur and I get together from time to time. He's a good friend.

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 UAB is here. They have a very good PG, but then so do we. We think we have a big edge inside.

11/21: 47-31 at the half. Kent and Post are really playing well.

82-61. 23, 21, 3, 2, 4 for Kent, 20, 3, 4, 3 for Post. We dominated inside.

It was a costly win. Dal Kent hurt his leg and will miss our next game. Fly York will start.

11/23: At 1-1 UConn. They're favored. With Kent out we could be in trouble.

11/24: 18-42 at the half. We can't get anything going without Kent.

58-81. Not tonight. 15, 6 for Cary, 13, 3, 7 for Rich, 10, 3, 5, 5 for Post.

[Wayne23]

11/27: #24 Charleston, 4-2, is here. Back at full strength we feel pretty confident.

11/28: Up 11 at the half. Our guards are playing very well and having Kent back makes an enormous difference.

86-72. 21, 5, 3 for Cary, 20, 9 for Kent, 19, 2, 8 for Rich, 15, 5, 6, 3 for Post.

Starting PF Joel King hurt his calf. He'll miss a game. York will start.

The plague of automobiles grows worse and worse. They go much too fast and the stench of their motors is awful. I actually saw THREE of them on the streets yesterday!

I forgot to mention that President Roosevelt was handily re-elected. He is too cocky by far for my taste but I must admit he has done well in the office.

My interest in music and other things is finally returning. I like, “Meet Me in St. Louis,” which is new, and “Sweet Adeline,” which every quartet and other group seems to include in every musical performance.

11/30: 4-1 Georgia is here. We're a big favorite but this team can play. Their PG is very good and will challenge Sean Rich. We seem to have an advantage in the paint.

12/1: We score the first 12. Up 24 at the half. I didn't expect it to be this easy.

79-50. 22, 14 for Kent, 16, 3 for York. 6 TOs to 20.

[Wayne23]

12/4: 2-4 Temple is here. Rough season for a usually good team. They can score outside.

12/5: 46-19 at the half. We're running away with this one.

78-43. Ugh! 17, 10, 3 for Kent, 16, 9 for Cary, 13, 3, 8 for Rich, 14, 3, 6 for Post. Big edge inside.

Nothing to be learned or gained from a game like this and the next one will probably be worse.

A week off between games.

I take a lot of long walks. There's some sadness involved since Alma and I walked together so often, but the area is quite lovely at all times of the year, and it is peaceful here.

12/12: 2-6 NJIT is here. I don't even want to play this game.

12/13: It is the rout I expected, 51-29 at the half.

99-73. It was never a game. 18, 13 for Kent, 21 for York, 18, 3, 7 for Rich. 6 TOs to 20.

SG Art Post hurt his back but he shouldn't miss a game.

Fly York now starts at PF in place of King.

[Wayne23]

12/18: 6-2 Buffalo is here. They're playing well but in their only game vs. a decent opponent they got thrashed.

12/19: 45-22 at the half. We need to ramp up the schedule next season.

90-59. Another runaway. 19, 9, 3 for Cary, 14, 11, 6 for Post. +25 RBs.

Curt Chad, who rarely plays, hurt his leg. Day to day.

12/25: At 3-5 Appalachian ST. They can score outside but they can't do much else.

12/26: 44-28 at the half. We badly need a challenge. Hopefully Conference L will provide a few.

80-61. 21, 7 for Kent, 22, 2, 3 for Rich.

1/1/1905: We end pre-conf play at Central CT, 2-7. They have a very good SG.

1/2: 45-42 at the half. We're actually getting a challenge, mostly because we're flat as can be.

93-79. Took awhile but we finally woke up. 19, 10, 3 for Kent, 15, 1, 10 for Rich, 12, 3, 2, 4 for Post.

[Wayne23]

1/8: At the end of pre-conf play we're 10-1, NET #8. We're on the verge of being ranked.

+17.2 PPG, #1 in the country in points scored. +7.4 RBs, -6.3 TOs, +5.6 assists.

Dal Kent leads us with 17.1, 10.0. 14.5 for Post, 14.3 for Cary6, 12.4 for Rich, 11.2 for York. King gets 7.8 RBs. Rich gets 7.1 assists.

We start Conf. L play at 7-5 Harvard. I don't think they can score enough points to challenge us.

1/9: 51-31. We're scoring at will. 32 points for the bench which has played a lot.

95-62. We expect to have some challenges in Conf. L play, but we'll have too many of these. 29, 13 for Kent, 15, 2, 6 for Cary. +22 for the bench. +21 RBs, +24 inside.

1/11: 7-5, 1-0 Siena is here. Should be another walkover.

1/12: 36-22 at the half. Tough D! 15, 5 for Kent.

73-54. 22, 8 for Kent, 17, 6 for Cary.

Funny new song, “Everybody Works But Father.”