Wayne23

March 12: #36 RPI. Dare we hope for an 8 or a 9? #12 East. We play #5 seed, #17 ranked Georgetown, 23-8. I kind of like our chances. At least I think we have a chance. March 16: 75-60! Ike had 20, 3, 2, 4, Jed had 17, 4, 2, 13, 3, 3 for Ren, 13 for Bic, and 6, 6, 4, 5 for Ty. We jumped out quickly and never trailed. Matt twisted a knee. Not real bad but he won’t be at 100% for our next game. It’s #4 seed, #5 ranked Gonzaga, 31-3, 16-2 next. We need to play really good ball to have a chance in this one. March 18: 67-81 to Gonzaga. 16, 10, 2 for Ty but he fouled out. The starters played fairly well but their bench beat ours. Great season, and we’re only losing Matt Cone. He’s been a great one for us though. April 4: #1 Oklahoma won it all. Awards: Ty Bill, POY, freshman OY, Ike Ash Defensive POY. Jed Ray and Ty made 1st team. Matt made 2nd team. April 9: “I’m stayin’ in Rhode Island.” April 23: We ask for money and get $2,000. 22-10, 12-6, tourney title. 91-61, .599. Off-17, Def-27, Recruit-65, Scout-3, Player Development-22, Reputation-17. Team Prestige is up from 6 to 11. We're feeling good about next season!

February 16: “I know, we gotta talk.” “I’m guessing you’ve been thinking it over.” “I hate ta say it but Frankie’s right. That’s way too many technicals. I gotta calm down. I always believed it’s good to get one in certain situations but I see that I’m way outta line here. You gotta help me though.” “How do I do that, yell for you?” Dave laughed. “No, try ta calm me down before I start getting’ too far out of control.” “Well… I can try.” “I’d appreciate it.” February 19: 61-41 over FDU. 19, 9, 4, 2 for Ty, 17, 3 for Jed. 7 TOs and we never trailed. Dave brought a towel to the bench. I figured he do a Coach Tark and chew on it but he buried his face in it when he wanted to yell. One of the refs he got along with was doing the game. A few minutes in he came over to the sideline. Never looked at Dave but spoke with him. “What the h*ll is with the towel.” “I gotta learn ta shut up, Jim. I’m just gonna bury my face in the towel when I get p*ssed.” “Good idea, Coach Tarkanian. You gonna shave your head, too?” Dave laughed and said, No, but I ain’t gonna bite your head off.” “If you did you’d have more brains in your stomach than you do in your head.” They both laughed. 57-70 at CCSU. They went to the line way more often than we did but even Dave could see that was because our guys were half a step slower than CCSU. He did some yelling but it was at the players. They just never executed the fixes he put in. Tough night. 14, 10, 3 for Ty, 15, 3 for Jed, but 18 TOs, our most for the year. Matt fell to the floor and came up dizzy. It was late in the game so we sent him to the locker room. He’s day to day but he was talking clearly after the game; seemed fine. Last week of the regular season. We host Stan Francis, 6-19, 5-11. They managed to beat us there. Then we’re at 10-15, 7-9 LIU. We won by more than 20 at our place. We need a 2 win week. We’re 16-9, 10-6, RPI #58, so we should play in one of the tourneys. We’re in 3rd, one ahead of Wagner, one back of Sam Franklin, and we actually could still move up or down. February 26: 59-41 over Stan Francis. We played with determination. 13, 8 for Ty, 14, 3, 3, 2 for Ren, 15, 2 for Ike. 4 TOs. Big win! 59-43 at LIU. Again, we were really focused. 14, 14, 3, 2 for Ty, 16, 6 for Ike, 17 for Jed. We end the regular season at 18-9, 12-6, alone in 3rd, RPI #52. +6.8 PPG, -1.4 RBs, +4.5 TOs, + 2.9 assists. We play 9-18, 7-11 FDU, the #6 seed, in the 1st round. Beat them twice. Oh, Dave has one T since the meeting with Frankie. That was three games ago so he has to behave for 2 games. Trust me, he is VERY aware of it. March 1: 74-65 over FDU. They hung around but never really threatened us. 20, 2, 3 for Matt, 16, 3, 4 for Jed, 17, 3 for Ty, but the whole front line was in foul trouble all night. Al Mack played well filling in and our guards had hot shooting hands. 8 TOs. We can never seem to dodge Sam Franklin, 20-9, 14-4, and the #2 seed. We split with them. We’d love to win this one. Their starting SG and leading scorer tore up a knee yesterday and he’s out for the season. One of their bigs is also out. The door is open. March 2: 65-45 over Sam Franklin! 19, 4, 3, 2 for Matt, 14, 8, 4 for Ren, 15, 2, 2, 4 for Jed. 9 TOs. The title game is against CCSU, the #1 seed at 24-5, 15-3. We won at home and lost there. March 3: 71-58 and the title! 18, 7, 3, 6 for Ty, 17, 8, 2, 2 for tourney MOP Jed, 11, 13, 4, 2 for Ren. 12 TOs, 36 RBs and we’re going back to the Big Dance!

February 5: Another good week, which we needed. 68-44 at Mount Mary. Great team effort, 7 between 7 and 14 points, 34 RBs, 10 TOs. 12 RBs for Ty. Then a battle at home but we won it 73-68 over Silly Hat. 21, 6, 2, 3 for ty, 14, 7, 5, 4 for Jed, 15 for Ike. At 12-9, 6-6 Wagner, who beat us at our place, then at 9-13, 5-7 Robert Morris, who we beat by 14, but 2 road games. February 7: “I had quite the interestin’ evenin’.” “It was your anniversary yesterday, wasn't it?” “Yeah, I bought flowers, you know, the whole deal. Lacy came downstairs carryin’ two suitcases. I figured she had a show somewhere. She put one a the suitcases down, handed me a manila envelope, said, “Happy anniversary, a$$h*le,” and walked out. “I opened it and it was divorce papers.” “Nice timing.” “I guess I wasn’t surprised but what a sh*tty way to do it.” “Yeah. I called my lawyer from the first divorce. She’s real good. Lacy’s got more money than I have so I don’t want her gettin’ what I’ve worked for.” February 12: 60-70 at Wagner. Refs don’t beat you by 10 but Wagner went to the line 32 times. We went 17. Of course 4 of those free throws were caused by Dave’s 2 technicals; one came early and the other after the game was decided. 15, 11, 3, 2 for ty, 18, 3 for Jed but we had 3 guys in foul trouble and the bench did not get it done. “I can’t believe these guys beat us twice this season.” “They improved a lot this year.” “We friggin’ didn’t!” 64-57 at Rob’t Morris. Refs were at us again but we overcame it. Dave only got one T. 16, 5 for Jed, 13, 3 for ty but he fouled out in 22 min. Bic had 11, 2, 2 from the bench. Dave actually did a good job with this one. RMU closed it to 3 with 96 seconds left and they called a TO. Dave huddled the guys and told them exactly what he thought RMU would do- go inside to their PF. He said for Ren to be looking for it and to step in for the steal. It worked out exactly that way. Ren got the steal, threw it ahead to Jed who laid it in, got fouled, and made the free throw. That was that. He really does know his stuff. Alone in 3rd, one back of Sam Franklin, 3 back of CCSU, 2 ahead of 4th place team- Wagner. This week it’s 8-15, 6-8 FDU at home, then conf. leader CCSU there. We won at our place but this won’t be easy. When we got home Frankie called both of us into his office. “Dave, this is about you but Red is your #1, and I know how much you trust him.” “You firin’ me?” “No. That’s the furthest thing from my mind. I WANT you coaching this team.” “What then?” “One ejection, and 7 technicals in 10 games. The refs are on you because of it.” “That ain’t fair, they’re supposed to-” “They’re human, Dave. There are 2 or 3 veteran officials that you do well with but you’re all over the a$$e$ of pretty much every other official. “ “Most of ‘em don’t know their a$$ from the basketball. I ain’t gonna-” “Yes, Dave, you ARE gonna. The people above me are concerned about the reputation Bryant is getting. They don’t like it. I’m under orders to suspend you for-” “WHAT!” “Calm down, d*mn it. Let me finish. I’m under orders to suspend you, very publicly, if you get more than 2 technicals in any five game stretch for the rest of the season.” Dave got up with fire in his eyes. I was really worried that he was going to attack Frankie, and I got up to try to hold him back if need be. Thankfully he thought better of it and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. “What the h*ll are we going to do with him, Red?” “He’s under a lot of pressure right now. Lacy is divorcing him and she’s going after everything he’s got, which isn’t all that much, incidentally.” “Only because he spent most of it raising h*ll with her.” “Yeah, but, and please keep this to yourself, all of this is a reaction to losing Margie. He truly loved her, and he’s a long way from getting over her suicide.“ “But she dumped him.” “Frankie, stop reading that f***ing blogger. Margie left because she was heartbroken over the miscarriage and hysterectomy. Dave was working to get her back and he really thought he had a chance.” “I never knew that.” “I figured. Look, let him cool down for a day or two. If he doesn’t bring it up with me then, I will.” “That sounds like a good plan. I’ll let the provost know we’re working on this and that I’m confident we can get Dave to calm down a little. Frankly, 2 Ts in five games is pretty generous.” “Well, for everybody except Bob Knight and Dave McGee, maybe.”

January 1, 2020: 57-68 at Sam Franklin. 15, 4, 4 for Matt, 13, 5 for Jed but we didn’t get it done inside. “D*mn! We need Ash!” 53-37 with Mount Mary. 24, 7, 3, 5 for Ty. 15. 4, 3, 4 for Jed. 9, 5, 6 for Ren Hay. 4 TOs. “We just gotta stay close ‘til Ash gets back, 3-4 more games.” Lacy hasn’t come on the last few road trips. Dave doesn’t talk about her- ever. Hey, he might make a year with this marriage. Jean just got a promotion. She’s now the lead nurse on first shift. Nice raise too. We can use the money. We’re okay but there isn’t much going into the college fund. Now there should be more. Next we visit 5-7 Silly Hat and then host 7-4 Wagner. January 8: NOT a good week. 67-72 at Silly Hat. 25, 2, 3 for Ty, 3 others in doubles, 11 TOs, -1 RB. We lost because we let them shoot 51.1%. 51-55 vs. Wagner. 18, 5 for Jed, 14, 6 for Ty. Matt fouled out, both bigs were in foul trouble all night and we mostly played 4 and even 5 guards. “One more week. We gotta go at least 1-1 or when Ash gets back we’ll be so far behind it won’t matter. Hell, we oughta go 2-0 with the teams we’re facin’ this week.” We host 5-9 Robert Morris and travel to 3-10, 1-3 FDU. January 15: 65-51 over Rob’t Morris. The guard really got it done, 16, 7, 4 for Ren, 15, 4, 5, 3, 2 for Matt, 14, 3, 1, 2 for Jed. 11 TOs. 68-62 at FDU. 21, 5, 2, 2 for Jed, 16, 4 for Ty. CCSU and Stan Franklin this week. “All right! Ash will be back an’ now we’re in position to make a move.” January 22: 72-68 over conf. leader CCSU. 25, 4, 6 for Jed, 14. 9 for Ty, 16, 4, 6 for Matt. Down 15 but came back late. Digging holes for ourselves as we did last season. 52-59 at Stan Francis. Ty twisted an ankle and was ineffective. Day to day. Jed was in foul trouble all night. We didn’t get the offense going, 29.1%. “Damn road!” 2 at home this week, 6-11 LIU, then 11-7, 6-2 rival Sam Franklin. “We ain’t getting’ along too good.” “You and Lacy?” “Yeah. When I stopped wantin’ ta go out every night she kinda lost interest. She’s a party girl all the way. At first she stayed home except when she had a gig but now she’s out every night.” “Not good.” “No, I’m thinkin’ about leavin’.” Not a big surprise but too bad. January 29: 68-46 vs. LIU. 10, 7, 3 for Ty but lots of guys stepped up. 83-55 over Sam Franklin. 25, 4, 3 for Jed, 13, 8, 2, 2 for Ty, 11, 7 for Ike, who is finally getting back into game shape after the long layoff. 3 TOs all night. “Love beatin those guys! We’re tied for 3rd. 2nd is in reach but we’re 3 back of CCSU in 1st. At 7-12, 5-5 Mount Mary, then we host 8-12, 4-6 Silly Hat.

December 11: 46-61 at #25 New Mexico. 19, 13 for Ty, +8 on the boards but except for Ty we just couldn’t generate any offense. At least Jed Ray will be back for our next game. Next week we host 6-2 Cornell. Dave is drinking in hotels on our road trips. Lacy sometimes comes on the trips sometimes not. When she has a singing gig she stays home, but her career isn’t exactly taking off outside of the Southern New England area and the geezer communities in FL and AZ. December 18: 75-52 over Cornell. 19 for Matt, 12, 8 for Ty, 10, 7, 7 for Jed in his return. 8 TOs. The final pre-conf. game is at 4-5 Mississippi. December 25: 70-67 at Mississippi. Jed is beginning to show why he’s a 5 star frosh, 31, 5, 3. 10, 7 for Al Mack, 8, 7, 2 for Ty. 12 TOs. We start conf. play with at old nemesis Sam Franklin, 5-5. Then we host 2-7 Mount Mary. We celebrated XMas early in the day since we had an 8:00 p.m. flight. It was nice but Dave and Lacy weren’t as into it as usual, and there seemed to be some tension between them.

November 20: 58-57 at Savannah ST. We came back from down 17 to take our only lead of the second half with a 15 footer at the buzzer by Ren Hay. 16, 6, 2, 2 for Ty Bill at C. 13, 7 for Ike Ash at PF. Ren Hay sprained an ankle and is out for 10 days to 2 weeks. 68-48 over Milwaukee in our home debut. We led most of the way. 14, 5, 4 for Ty, 17 for Bic Robb from the bench, 11 each for Matt Cone and Jed Ray. 8 TOs. “Chew on that you blogger b*tch. Winnin’ will shut you up!” This week we have a tough one at 0-1 NC ST. then we’re at 2-0 Western Carolina. November 27: Tough week. 49-52 at NC ST. We couldn’t hit shots in key situations. No one stepped up on O. Highest point total was 10. 65-78 at Western Carolina. D was awful, they shot 54.8%. 14, 8, 2, 3 for Ty, 15 for Matt. We haven’t found our chemistry yet. Now that Hay is healthy he and Robb are getting Ahab’s minutes. This week it’s 1-2 Chattanooga here, then we go to #25 UNLV, 4-1. December 4: 85-54 over Chattanooga. 19, 4, 4 for Jed in his best game so far, but all 5 in doubles. We had only 3 TOs all night. The injury bug hits again. Jed Ray strained abdominals and is out for about 2 weeks. Hay and Ahab will get his minutes. 80-73 over UNLV. 19 each for Ike and Matt. 13 for Ren. 8, 7 for Al Mack in reserve. 11 TOs. Injuries are killing us. Ike Ash, starting PF, broke a toe and is out for a month and a half. Big trouble. Here’s Dave at the postgame press conf. “Trainer says it’s broken. What can ya do, injuries happen and we’re getting’ clobbered with them right now. Ya gotta play who ya got. Al Mack an’ Ben Ahab will get the minutes. Two starters out for a week and a half is gonna be tough.” And to me after the press conf.: “I cannot friggin’ BELIEVE this. Three friggin’ injuries, an’ we lose a big guy. 2 starters out. Sh*t!” Next week only one game, thankfully. We’re at #25 New Mexico, 5-3.

April 30: “The son of a b*tch doesn’t even sign his blog, AND he friggin’ spells my name wrong! If I ever run into the b*st*rd I’ll let him know what ‘taken to the woodshed’ means. He’ll have more bruises than Walmart’s apples! (Author’s note: A former UConn men’s basketball coach who shall remain nameless once made this exact offer, live during a press conference to the illiterate chief sportswriter for the Hartford Courant.) I can’t believe he dragged Margie’s name into this. That was unfair, and I’ll tell ya Red, I actually cried when I read it. I got my faults, fine, but Margie was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I’d give my friggin’ right arm ta have her back.” “I’m with you on that one, Dave. But Dave, it might be a real good idea if you and Lacy spent a little less time in Rhode Island night spots. You know?” “Yeah, yeah. I guess I’m leavin’ myself open. But the guy didn’t need ta rip me like that. I’m a good coach. My players like me. If he asked them they tell him- and no, I’d don’t mean only when I’m around.” “Invite him to a practice. That’s where you’re at your best.” “Frig him. I wanna invite him to a funeral the b*st*rd! Oh, he likes you okay. How much did you pay him?” Dave smiled after saying that. “Hey, you know I’m after your job.” “That’s the LEAST a my worries!” “An’ a long line a ex-wives. Two! One that died. If she hadn’t I know we’d a got back together sooner or later.” “Let it go, Dave. Anything you say will only make it worse. The only way to shut these guys up is to win.” “Yeah, I guess.” June 5: 2 open slots. We still need good bigs. June 12: We get Yi Joo, a good looking PF from China. June 26: 2 scholarships, 2 bigs? 1 and 1? Looking at 3 PGs, 3 Cs. None of our guys were drafted. I predict Brad Doss will knock ‘em dead if someone gives him a shot and I predict Luke Myer will get significant playing time in the NBA. It seems like the party that is Dave’s marriage to Lacy is still going strong but they both are beginning to look older than their years. August 21: We offer to a PG and a PF, both of whom are showing interest. September 18: Got one. PG, Ric Green. He was at #286 when we started with him. He’s at #91 now but that will change twice more. Close with the big guy. No tourney again. We’re still loaded with road games but Dave says get more challenges. No ranked teams but lots of 2 ½ to 3 star teams on the road. None of them will come to us. Got the big guy, PF Matt Hei, #198 right now. October 2: First practice, always an exciting day. We’re confident that we can be a better team although we still are short a big guy. We’re picked 2nd, behind Wagner and ahead of CCSU, Sam Franklin, Rob’t Morris. “No idea yet. Prob’ly depends how good Jed Ray is. He didn’t look like no 5 star guy today.” “He’s a freshman. It may take some time.” “Don’t know if we got time.” “Dave, you need to get more sleep. You look like my dad.” “Yeah, I am a little tired. Lacy and me been talkin’ about toning the h*ll raisin’ down a little. She’s tired, too.” “Good idea.” November 6: Here’s the lineup, for now: senior Matt Cone, junior Ren Hay, and soph Bic Robb will all get time at the Point. Frosh Jed Ray will play SG. Cone, Robb, and soph Ben Ahab will play SF. Soph Ike Ash, a transfer from OK ST, and frosh Ty Bill will start inside with soph Al Mack backing them up. We start at Savannah ST, then home with Milwaukee.

(Author's Note: Guest post from PointGuard) Bryant's Defiant Client (April 29) As those of you who faithfully read this blog well know, I’m a graduate of Bryant and a fervid fan of their sports teams, but also one not to pull my punches. When problems arise at Brant, they need to be addressed. Today’s case in point: Bryant’s mens’ basketball program: We’ve all seen it before. Most notably in the entertainment world since life there is so public. Star Charlie Sheen destructing before our eyes. Lindsay Lohan burning bright as a child and dimming as a teenager and 20-something due to an inability to handle the pitfalls of life. But if happens in all walks of life where stars in their chosen fields of endeavor fade and burn out. Are we now seeing that at Bryant? A few short years ago Bryant hired Dave McGhee as head coach of their moribund basketball program. He quickly infused life into the program and his teams have become big winners the past few years. But we also see a frenetic coach on the sidelines...a guy who hollers constantly whether it’s at his players, the opposition, or more commonly, the refs. We’ve also viewed his tirades in post-game interviews which have become legendary and prime fodder for the media reports and youtube videos. Rumor on the street is that McGhee has difficulty with personal relationships as well. He’s has a long line of ex-wives. McGhee recently married Lacy Day, who was Miss Rhode Island (and runner-up in the Miss America pageant. They’ve become a very public couple at numerous hot spots where liquor flows like water. These are venues McGhee has been known to frequent often on his own as well. McGhee’s previous wife during his tenure at Bryant, Margie, committed suicide after a tempestuous relationship that saw at least two separations. The only constant in Dave McGhee’s life seems to be his 1st assistant coach, Michael “Red” O’Connor. O’Connor grew up with McGhee and the two have been nearly inseparable since. There are those that say that O’Connor is McGhee’s Sancho Panza or Doctor Watson. O’Connor is the polar opposite to McGhee, with a personality that is quiet and reserved, so much so that he refused to be interviewed for this article. Or possibly it is a best friend who is unwilling to discuss the foibles of his comrade in arms. But as we watch Bryant’s Dave McGhee lurch from one perilous tight-rope walk to the next, we all wonder when he may become the next Karl Wallenda...and possibly bring his program along with him as well in a terrifying and deadly fall.

March 1: 58-64 to Sam Franklin. Back and forth but we didn’t play with a lot of heart. 9 TOs, but -11 RBs. I think we’ll go to a tourney but it won’t be the big one. March 4: Sam Franklin won the tourney. I asked Dave about the marriage. “The party never stops.” March 12: #2 seed in the East in the CHI. We’ll play Western Michigan, 17-13, 9-7. March 14: 77-55 over Western Mich. 19, 11, 4 for Brad, 19, 4, 4, 2 for Luke, 3 others in double figures. Next is #6 seed Penn, 20-12. They upset #3 IPFW. March 21: 61-68. 12, 4, 3 for Luke, 16 for Matt. They were just a little better. Three big losses to graduation, Luke, Jon, and Brad. We’d better catch some big guys. March 26: We get Ty Bill, PF, #117. That’s one. April 4: #1 Syracuse wins it all. Awards: Brad is again POY, Def. POY, and 1st team. Jon Cook also makes 1st team. Luke makes 2nd. April 9: Northeastern called. I thought Dave might listen but, “I ain’t leavin’ RI.” Dave says the party with Lacy is going even stronger now that the season is over. April 16: We got Dal Adam, #175 PF, Dar Sail, #225 PF. April 23: I ask for budget dollars. We get $4,000. Team Prestige drops from 10 to 6 but with our draft class we hope better days are ahead. We went 19-11, 11-7. Dave’s overall record is: 69-51, .575. His numbers are: Off- 14, Def- 22, Recruit- 55, Scout- 2, Player Development- 18, Reputation- 13. He looks tired, and not all that healthy.

February 5: 74-78 to Mount Mary. +13 TOs, -16 RBs. Their bench won it. Ours has been solid all season but it wasn’t there tonight. 65-62 in OT at FDU. Back and forth all night. Luke Myer took 9 threes and made one- the winner. 12 TOs, 40 RBs. We’re in a logjam at the top of the standings, 5 teams within a single game., We’re 1 back of the 3 at the top. Our nemesis, Sam Franklin, 11-10, 7-5, tied with us, is here. Then we’re at 7-14, 3-9 Robert Morris. “We gotta win 2 this week.” February 6: It was a nice wedding. Neither the bride nor the groom got drunk until at least halfway through the reception. February 12: 70-45 over Sam Franklin. 22, 5 for Luke, 18, 4, 3 for Matt. 10 TOs. 55-67 at Rob’t Morris. This loss probably sank our hopes for a first place finish. Brad and Jon both fouled out and we aren’t deep enough to survive that. 3 teams ahead of us, 2 back of first place Mount Mary. LIU, 7-16, 4-10, is here. We have a tough road game at 2nd place Stan Francis, 12-11, 9-5. February 19: 62-55 vs. LIU. 18, 9, 4 for Brad. 9 TOs. 44-54 at Stan Francis. 16 TOs, -7 RBs. “44 friggin’ points. 29.4%. 5-27 on threes.” Silly Hat is in. It’s a battle for 4th place with a hope of 3rd. We wind up the regular season at 8-17, 5-11 Wagner. February 26: 76-51 over Silly Hat. 27, 8 for Luke, 21, 9, 3, 2 for Brad, 14, 5, 2, 2 for Bic. 11 TOs, 37 RBs. 61-59 at Wagner. Whew! 18, 7, 5, 2 for Brad, who made 2 free throws at the end for the win. Considering he’s the worst free throw shooter we have it was nervous time. We didn’t play well but we won. We wind up as the #4 seed, tied for 3rd place with CCSU. Frankly, it has been a disappointing season. 18-9, 11-7 looks good but it’s a step back from last season. A good postseason would help. We play 14-13, 10-8 Sam Franklin in the round of 8. We exchanged big wins with them.

January 1, 2019: 71-59 over CCSU and another full house. 25, 10, 3, 6 for Brad, 18, 3 for Luke, 9 TOs. A frustrating loss, 56-58, at Mount Mary. It was close all the way. No one ever led by more than 7. 22, 12, 2, 4 for Brad. 13 TOs. They had the last possession and made the shot. Stats were pretty even. We lost because we went 5-13 at the line. “Friggin’ pathetic. Hit friggin’ 60% and we tie or win.” 7-4 FDU is here then we go to 5-6 Sam Franklin. January 8: 83-50 over FDU. 16, 11, 2 for Jon, 16, 7, 3 for Luke, 15, 5 for Brad, 14, 4 for Bic. 9 TOs, 34 RBs. 71-85 at Sam Franklin. 18 for Ren, 12 for Matt, 11 each for Brad and Bill. -12 RBs. We let them shoot 65.8%, 62.5% on threes. “Friggin’ road problems again. D*MN! Friggin’ Sam Franklin always gives us fits. We played like zero D!” 4-9, 0-4 Robert Morris is here, and then we go to 4-9, 1-3 Long Island. The wedding is set for Feb. 6, 100 days from the first time they met. Crazy. January 15: 75-51 over Rob’t Morris. 27, 8, 3, 3 for Brad, 15 for Luke. 7 TOs. 56-48 at LIU. We were down 9 at the half but we made some adjustments. Here’s Dave at halftime. “Okay, just a couple things. First, when 31 comes in get ON him. He’s the reason they’re winnin’, an’ you guys are leavin’ him open. He gets an open look somebody sits. The rest a the D ain’t bad. On O Brad’s seen the ball like three times. Work it in to him. Do the in, out, in thing to either him or Jon, back out, then quick in to Brad an’ BOOM. 8 TOs in the first half. Take care a the ball. The goal is no more than 5 in the 2nd. You’re the better team, play like it.” And we did. 23, 9, 2 for Brad, only got those 5 TOs in the 2nd half, and we were +6 on the boards in the 2nd. 7-8, 4-2 Stan Francis here, then 1st place Silly Hat, 11-4, 5-1 there. That would be a big win. We’re one back of them with three other teams. January 22: 63-69 to Stan Francis. 29 fouls on us, 12 on them. 18 for Luke, 13, 7 for Jon, but all 5 starters were in foul trouble all night. We played 4 guards for almost half the game. Dave got 2 T’s and the boot. He was not careful at the postgame press conference. “D*mn refs killed us. They take 25 more free throws an’ we’re in zone half the night. Worst I’ve ever seen.” That will cost him some money. 70-51 at Silly Hat. 15, 4 for Luke, 12, 5, 4, 1, 2 for Brad, 11, 4, 5, 6 for Matt, 13, 4, 3 for Ren, 9, 5, 2, 2 for Bic. +10 RBs. 18 TOs but they had 20. 8-9, 5-3 Wagner is here, then it’s on the road with 11-6, 4-4 CCSU, who we beat by 12 here. Dave was fined $5,000 for his postgame outburst. He doesn't make all that much money so that had to hurt. January 29: 86-68 over Wagner. 20, 12, 4, 5 for Brad, 15, 5 for Bic. 7 TOs, 34 RBs. 53-81 at CCSU. 18, 10, 3 for Brad, 13, 5, 3, 2 for Luke, and not6 much for anyone else. 10 TOs, 33 RBs, but not much outside D. They hit 18-34 on threes. “I can’t believe they shellacked us that bad. I’m disgusted!” We’re tied for 3rd, with 2 other teams, 1 back of the lead. 11-8, 7-3 Mount Mary, tied for 1st, is in, then we go to 10-9, 4-6 FDU. Dave’s not in the greatest of moods but he says he’s fine with Lacy and they “raise all kinds a h*ll” and laugh a lot when they’re together.

December 11: 63-78 at Oregon. 18, 2, 6 for Matt, 17 for Luke, 9, 4 for Bic, but like Temple they were too quick for us to guard effectively. We went 2-3 and that helped some, but not enough. 8 TOs, but -7 on the boards, and they shot 51.9%. We were 16-33 on threes or it would have been even uglier. “Guess we got a ways ta go, partner.” “It’s good to play these teams, Dave. They show us what we’re aiming for. Next year with Jed Ray we’ll give these teams a real run. Hey, later this year we just might.” “Yeah, we’re makin’ progress.” 5-2 Kent ST is in town this week. They’ll be a challenge too, but at least it’s at home. December 18: 75-46 over Kent ST before our first full house. The noise helped. 18, 10, 2 for Jon, 13, 6 for Ren Hay, 11, 3 for Luke, 8, 5, 2 for Brad but he only played 16 min. due to fouls. Al Mack had 7, 5 spelling him. That felt good since we know how thin we are up front. 23, 7, 2 for the bench. 8 TOs, 37 RBs. And this was a good team we shellacked! “D*mn it feels good, Red!” It does indeed. At UTEP, 1-7 for our last pre-conf. game. They’re a big conf. team and they’ve played a tough schedule and if our guys don’t come to play they’ll be in trouble. Dave will be all over them about that. December 25: 77-57. A great road win against a team from a good conf. Brad was huge, 19, 13, 5, 5. 16, 3, 4 for Matt, 14, 7 for Jon, 7, 6, 5 for Luke, 10, 3, 2 for Bic from the bench, and 9, 7 for Ren. 15 TOs (-1), but 41 RBs! 7-2, RPI #35. +9.6 PPG, +4.0 RB, +4.0 TOs and only 11.3 per game, which is excellent. We start conf. play at home with 7-2 CCSU, then it’s off to 4-5 Mount Mary. These two are usually at or near the top of the conf. It was quite a XMas. Lacy seemed to enjoy spoiling my kids as much as Dave did. After we had opened the last present Dave made an announcement. “Ladies and gentlemen, as of this morning, Lacy and I are engaged.” Yikes. They met two months ago today, and it’s been a nonstop party. I’m not seeing a lot of practical here. Nor am I seeing a foundation for day to day living. After they left, Jean and I chatted. “Train wreck waiting to happen.” “Oh no worries, Jean, they’ll be fine until the booze runs out.” “Exactly.” Poor Dave, not a practical bone in his body.

November 20: 56-49 over Lipscomb. 15, 9 for Brad Doss, 8, 11 for Jon Cook, 9, 3, 3 for Luke Myer, 9 for Al Mack from the bench. Dave suspended Geo Dock for 2 weeks again. He let him know it was his last chance. +7 RBs, +2 TOs. 73-61 at Ill. ST. 17, 7 for Brad, 3 others in doubles, 9 for Bill Fine from the bench. Dock is gone, kicked off the team. Now we know why LSU dumped him. This week we’re at 0-1 Temple, one of the better teams on the schedule, then it’s 1-1 USC Upstate. After that we get 2 at home, finally. November 25: “Red, Red, get outta bed. Hit yer wife on the head. Come an’ party with me an’ Lacy an’ Ted, at Paddy Dwyer’s Homestead!” “Very clever, Dave.” “Everybody here thought so. Hear ‘em laughin’?” “It’s 1:15 a.m., Dave.” “I know, I thought I call early enough fer you to come out.” I hung up and went back to sleep. We finally met Lacy yesterday, or Thursday, whatever, it’s the middle of the night right now. She and Dave came over for Thanksgiving. They were both on their best behavior with the kids, but headed for a bar as soon as the kids went to bed. Lacy is definitely one fine looking woman, but the first traces of the booze are just beginning to show in her face if you look carefully. Jean told me that, I didn’t see it, but then I’m smart enough to know a married man doesn’t look that carefully at another woman if he wants to stay happily married. Jean’s a great looker and she works to stay in shape. I’m not interested in anyone else. November 27: 59-70 at Temple. 19, 11 for Brad, 16, 3, 2, 3 for Luke, only 13 TOs, but they were quick. They got a lot of open shots and they hit them, 53.1%. 79-69 at USC Upstate. Big game for Brad, 28, 9, 5, 4. 12, 7, 3, 3 for Jon. 14 for Ren Hay, 11 for Matt Cone but both were in foul trouble all night. Bill Fine and Bic Robb did a good job subbing for them. Only 4 TOs for the team. 3-1 for the opening road trip and we’ll take it. 2-2 Army comes to town followed by 2-0 Indiana ST. December 4: 90-61 over Army. We really put it together. I don’t remember us scoring 90 since Dave and I got here. 20 for Luke, 19 for Brad, 14, 3, 4 for Bic, 13 for jon, 11 for Bill. 4 TOs again, which is terrific. 67-62 over Indiana ST in a real battle. We were down 10 early, three times. We cut it to 4 by halftime, then quickly went up 8 in the 2nd half and never trailed again, but they had it to 1 or 2 with the ball a few times. 22 for Luke, 13, 7, 2 for brad, 9, 10, 2 for Jon. +10 RBs, but 17 TOs, 12 in the first half, which is why we started so slowly. A one game week as we go across the country to Oregon, 3-2, and the toughest team on the schedule. This one will tell us how good we are. 5-1, RPI #47.

April 30: The funeral was small. Dave looked so sad and so grimly determined to keep it together. It was difficult to explain to the kids. Bobby’s almost 6 and Sandy almost 4 so there’s not a lot that makes sense about this, but then, is there for any of us. June 5: Looking at a couple of transfers. June 16: We get PF Ike Ash from OK ST but not sure how much he’ll help. June 26: 4 scholarships. We’d like 2 bigs and 2 guards. Looking at 3 PGs, 6 PFs, 1 C to start with. It’s been 2 months since Margie died. Dave has been quiet. As far as I know he isn’t drinking but he isn’t himself, no fire. August 11: “I don’t know, Red. I can’t seem to get interested in anything but the team. When I’m done my work for the day I just sleep. I used ta sleep about 5 hours a day now I sleep about 10.” “Dave, you’re depressed. It’s not surprising considering, but it’s not good. I know you won’t see a therapist, but are you running?” “Nah.” “Start running again. Exercise helps. It releases some kind of chemicals. I’d do 3 miles in the morning and 3 more in the afternoon or evening.” “Yeah?” “I think within a few days you’ll feel a little better.” “What the h*ll. Couldn’t hurt. And I did gain a few pounds.” August 21: We offer to 2 PGs and 2 PFs. One of the PGs has us as one of his picks and he’s #28. From RI, of course. September 2: “I gotta admit, Red, runnin’ ain’t solvin’ nothin’ but it’s helpin’.” “Maybe you should get out more, too. Come with Jean or me when we take the kids to the park or wherever.” “Yeah, I’d like that. Bobby and Sandy always cheer me up.” September 18: Got him! #34, PG Jed Ray. Biggest catch ever! Lost a guy too but who cares! I thought there was a slight chance of getting invited somewhere but no luck. We’re beefing up the schedule a little. Not too much because 6 of the 9 pre-conf. games are on the road, but about 3 challenges. September 25: Wiped out. All 3 of the other guys we offered to went somewhere else. Try again next week when the new ratings come out. October 2: Looking at a bunch of new recruits. 1st day of practice looks promising. We’re really deep in the back court but we’ll need to go small. Good bigs but not many of them. A major injury to a big would put us in a lot of trouble. We’re picked first in conf. again this year. October 9: We offer to 2 bigs and a PG. It’s usually a waiting game at this point. Geo Dock was causing trouble in practice so he’s out for 2 weeks. Dave doesn’t mess around. October 16: Man, big guys just don’t want us. Frustrating chasing PFs and Cs. October 26: “Hey, I met somebody last night.” “Oh?” “Yeah, I went ta Capo in Providence an’ Lacy Day was there.” “The name’s familiar.” “Getting’ to it. Anyways, her and me hit it off right away. Oh, she was Miss Rhode Island 10 years ago, she’ 29. 2nd runner up for Miss America. She’s a singer now. Last night she wasn’t singin’ though, just hangin’ out.” “So what’s she like?” “Friggin’ drop dead gorgeous and a real h*ll raiser.” Just what Dave needs- or not. November 5: “Me an’ Lacy had a h*ll of a time last night. She was singin’ at “The Root Cellar.” Place was packed an’ they all loved her, but I’m the one she went home with- well, her place, actually. Man she is-” “Dave! Spare me the details.” “Ha! Old married man!” (He laughed) At least the spring is back in his step. November 6: Here’s the lineup, at least for now: Junior Matt Cone and soph KS ST transfer Ren Hay at PG, Cone, senior Luke Myer, and frosh Bic Robb at SG. Soph LSU transfer Geo Dock and Luke at SF. Seniors Brad Doss and Jon Cook start inside with frosh Al Mack backing them up. As I said a few weeks ago we are extremely thin up front. Mack isn’t really ready, but it’s him or an SF. We start on the roads at Lipscomb and then Illinois ST.

March 1: We play 10-17, 6-12 Wagner in the round of 8. 88-68. 24, 7, 2, 2 for Brad, 22, 1, 6 for Luke, 13, 6, 5 for Hal, 9 for Bill. 7 TOs. Brad twisted his wrist. He’ll play though. A rematch with 18-10, 11-7 Sam Franklin. They beat us by 2 last week. March 2: 68-58. 29, 5 for Luke, 17, 9 for Hal. 12 TOs, 36 RBs. #6 seed Stan Francis, 15-14, 9-9, for the title. Beat them by 32 but then they beat us by 5. March 3: 72-50, the title, and we’re going to the Big Dance! 4 in double figures and we never trailed. “Whooee! Red, you said last year we’d do this. Way to go, man!” And Dave celebrated by getting drunk, for the first time in almost 9 months. April 4: #1 ranked Florida won it all. Awards: Brad Doss was conf. POY, defensive POY, and 1st team. Luke Myer and Matt Cone made 2nd team. I thought at least one should have made first. Dave got COY, and he deserved it. “Hell, Red. If I could cut it in half I’d give half ta you. I’d be nothin’ without ya. Hope ya never leave me.” “No intentions of doing that, Dave.” April 9: A decent offer, Austin Peay, #17. “I ain’t leavin’ Rhode Island.” April 16: We get another PG, Bic Robb, #165. April 23: Got SF Trey Bran, #179 SF. I ask Frankie for another facilities upgrade but I don’t expect to get it. I don’t. Team Prestige up to 10. 23-8, overall record of 50-40, .556. Finally over .500 lifetime and it feels good. Dave’s ratings are: Off- 11, Def- 17, Recruit- 41, Scout- 2, Player Development- 14, Reputation- 11. Great year and looking forward to another one! April 26: “Dave, it’s 2:15 in the morning and I’m really tired. The kids were up half the night.” “I ain’t drunk.” “Then what-” “Margie’s dead. Pills.” “Oh Jesus! I’m so sorry. Do you want me to come over?” “I’m in the car headin’ fer your place.” “I’ll wake Jean.” We were shocked but we weren’t surprised, if that makes any sense. I sent Jean to bed at 3:45 so she’d get at least a little rest before the kids got up, but Dave and I were still talking when Bobby and Sandy came downstairs. He hugged the kids and had breakfast with them. When they went off to play he said, “I don’t even want a drink.” “Good, that’s the worst thing you could do right now.” “Yeah.”

February 5: A huge week! 79-52 over CCSU. We never trailed after the first minute. 26, 14, 3, 2 for Brad, and 6 others had between 7 and 10 points. 8 TOs, 39 RBs. 79-64 at LIU. We got down by 12 early but for once we came back; we owned the second half. 15 for Luke, 13 each for Ed and Jon. Alone in 1st, 1 up on CCSU and Mount Mary, 3 or more over the rest with 6 to play. 8-13, 4-8 Wagner comes to town and we go to 11-10, 8-4 Mount Mary- a big game! We’re putting Jon Cook back in the starting lineup for Ed Marn. He’s playing better. February 7: “It ain’t the same, Red.” “What isn’t?” “Margie an’ me. It’s like she’s got nothin’ ta give. I can’t get her ta smile mosta the time.” “After what she went through it’s pretty natural that she’s depressed.” “Yeah, but she’s REAL depressed.” February 12: 73-60 vs. Wagner. 29, 10, 2, 2 for Brad, 11, 4, 3, 3 for Matt, 10 for Myer, 9 for Fine. Fine hurt his calf. Out about 10 days. Pete Mel will get his minutes. 75-64 at Mount Mary. HUGE win! 24, 4 for Luke, 10, 8 for jon, 14, 2, 5, 6, 1 for Brad, 13, 3, 5 for matt. 21 TOs but we survived it. Luke Myer sprained his wrist. Out 8-10 days. We’re mighty short on guards for the next week or so. 18-5, 11-3 with 4 to play. Up 2 on CCSU, 3 on 3 teams, with 4 to play. Robert Morris, 11-12, 7-7, is here. They beat us by 14 last time. Then we go to 10-13, 6-8 Stan Francis. We beat them by 32 here. February 19: 72-52 over Rob’t Morris. 20, 10 for Brad, 16, 4 for Hal, 13, 6 for Jon. 9 TOs 55-60 at Stan Francis. 15, 8 for Brad. 4 others had 8 or 9. I think the lack of depth at guard hurt us. We’re one up on CCSU. Final week of the regular season starts at 8-17, 5-11 FDU. Then we’re home with 15-10, 9-7 Sam Franklin. “She’s leavin’ again.” “I’m not surprised, but Dave, it has very little to do with you.” “Huh?” “She’s lost and hurt, and she probably just wants to be by herself because she doesn’t have anything to give and doesn’t want to take right now.” “I guess that makes sense. Life sure is frigged up.” February 26: 56-48 over FDU. 20 wins and 1st place assured. 11, 14 for Brad but it was a team effort, especially on D. 50-52 vs. Sam Franklin. Not a great way to finish but the game didn’t mean anything. 12 each for Brad and Matt. 9 TOs but this was not our best effort.

January 1, 2018: 66-54 over Silly Hat. 29, 8, 2, 2 for Brad. 7 TOs. 74-77 at CCSU. Once again we fell behind early and outplayed the other guys for 60% of the game but it wasn’t enough. 25 for Luke, 18, 7, 2 for Brad, 11, 4, 2 for Matt. Only 8 TOs. They beat us at the foul line, but only because they shot them better than we did; they had 23 tries, we had 22. “We gotta stop digging these friggin’ holes that are too deep to crawl out of.” “Yep. Slow starts are killing us.” “I’m gonna pull the trigger quicker. If we start slow I’m gonna sub in with 2, maybe even 3 guys. AND… I’m gonna announce that at practice!” 3-8, 1-1 Long Island is here, then we go to 5-6 Wagner. Margie seems healthy so far and she says she’s not getting much morning sickness. January 8: 71-60 over Long Island here. 22, 5, 2, 2 for Brad, 15, 5, 2 for Luke, 11, 5, 7 for Matt. 8 TOs. This small lineup has, for the most part, been great with the ball. Weirdly enough, 71-60 over Wagner there. 20 for Luke, 10 each for Brad and Ed, 9 each for Bill Fine and Jon Cook, who had 11 boards. 16 TOs, but it was only -1. +9 RBs. Sub Dan Jon hurt his shoulder. He’s day to day. (Author’s note: My first injury of any kind since my first season here. Strange.) This week we host 1st place Mount Mary, 7-6, 4-0. Then we go to 6-7, 2-2 Robert Morris. We’re +8.0 PPG, +3.5 RBs, +1.9 TOs, +3.6 assists. A couple of little tweaks in the backcourt but we aren’t messing with success. January 15: 81-61 over Mount Mary here. 26, 13, 3 for Brad, 14, 6, 5 for Matt, 13, 3, 5 for Luke, 8 and 6 for Jon Cook. 9 TOs, +7 RBs. Arrggh. 55-69 at Rob’t Morris. 13, 6 for Brad, 15 for Jon, but 17 TOs. We shot 32.9% and we let them shoot an unbelievable 62.9%! A frustrating loss. “Jebus! We gotta win on the friggin’ ROAD! We beat the #1 team then sh*t the bed on the road!” One game back of Mount Mary again, tied with 3 teams, but 2 or more ahead of the rest. This week it’s 2 at home, first is 6-9, 2-4 Stan Francis, then 5-10, 2-4 FDU. “We friggin’ better win 2 this week or there’ll be h*ll to pay!” Nice to see Dave getting his sunny disposition back. January 22: 79-47 over SFU. Never trailed. 21 for Luke, 17, 2, 5 for Matt, 14, 11, 2 for Brad, 11, 10 for ed. 7 TOs, 35 RBs. 67-47 over FDU. Never trailed in this one either. 14, 11, 3, 3 for Brad, 16 for Luke, 11, 2, 4 for Matt. Ed. Hal and Jon all played well. 5 TOs, +5 boards. “If we could play all our friggin’ games at home we’d be ranked!” Tied for 1st with Mount Mary. 13-4, 6-2. RPI #77. Two on the road this week. We NEED a split, at least. First it’s 11-6, 5-3, 3rd place Sam Franklin, then 7-10, 3-5 Silly Hat. January 24: Margie had a miscarriage. She lost a lot of blood before 911 arrived and is in ICU but she’s expected to make it. “I never been so scared in my life, Red.” “Hang in, Dave. They say she’ll be okay.” “Jebus! She went through hell. If I hadn’t come straight home from practice she’d a died. She was unconscious when I got there.” “You saved her life, Dave.” “Complete hysterectomy.” “No babies, Dave.” “Ah hell, I don’t care about that. We’ll adopt. I love all kids.” January 27: Margie is out of ICU and doing well. She is really depressed about losing the baby, and even more so about the hysterectomy. Dave is being wonderfully supportive. January 29: We got the split. 64-56 at Sam Franklin. 25, 2, 5 for Luke, 10, 8, 3 for Matt, 12, 5 for Bill Fine from the bench. Lots of foul trouble and lots of TOs, but we had enough. 65-72 at Silly Hat. Same old story, we fell way behind early and couldn’t catch up. Dave did have a quick trigger but it didn’t change anything. – 11 RBs. Good news? We’re tied with CCSU for 1st place, and only Mount Mary is 1 back. This week CCSU is here. They’re 9-10, 7-3, and they beat us by 3 at their place. Then we go to 6-13, 4-6 LIU. We won by 11 at home. As expected PG Cal Wait did not hit the SAT score. We’re waiting before offering the scholarship.

November 20: Great start, 2 road wins. 85-69 over A. Roberts. We thought Brad Doss might be special and he certainly was in our first game, 28 and 15. 11, 8 for Ed Marn at PF, 12, 3, 5 for matt Cone, 11, 1, 3, 2 for Luke Myer from the bench. 11 TOs, 38 RBs. 68-55 over Towson. 15, 5 for Luke, 10, 1, 4 for Bill Fine from the bench, 11 with 5 assists for Hal Cam, 7, 6, 3, 5 for Brad. +9 RBs, but a horrible 25 TOs. “D*mn! Are we ever gonna learn to handle the friggin’ ball!” At 1-1 Lipscomb, then 0-2 Kennesaw ST. November 27: 76-58 at Lipscomb. Front court dominated, 20, 5 for Brad, 11, 12, 4, 2 for jon Cook, 13, 5 for Ed Marn. Matt Cone is not off to a good start, he fouled out. Luke Myer had 10, 4 in his place. 15 TOs. 60-64 at Kennesaw ST. 19, 10, 1, 2 for Brad, 11, 5 for Ed, 10, 2, 2 for Bill. 14 TOs. We didn’t get great shots, especially outside, 4-18. Matt is simply not playing well. We decide to give Luke Myer more time. Cook will lose some time. Myer will take the Point more than Cone. We’re hoping this will increase Cone’s scoring. Finally a home game then 2 more on the road. 1-2 Lafayette is here then we go to 1-2 Texas Tech, the toughest team on the schedule. “Almost 6 months without a drink.” “That’s great, Dave. How’s it going with Margie?” “Real good. But still no baby on the way.” “It’ll happen when it happens.” “I guess- I hope!” December 4: 67-56 over Lafayette in the home opener. 21, 6 for Brad, 15, 2, 4 for Luke in his first start, 15, 3 for Matt in his first game off the Point. 9 TOs. We could have rebounded better but we’re going small so we expected that. 58-66 at Texas Tech. They opened a 26 point lead at about 15 minutes in. We beat them from then on, but it wasn’t enough. Still, we showed grit. 21, 15 for Brad, 15, 3, 2 for Matt, 12, 4, 3 for Luke. 12 TOs, 31 boards. Texas Tech was a better team. We did okay. “I think maybe we got our lineup.” “Could be, Dave.” “We need to get more from 2 and 4 but we’ll see.” One game week, the 6th road game in our first seven, It gets better after this. We’re at Radford, 4-2. Still tweaking, a few more minutes for Cook, Fine at the 3 more when he’s in with either Cone or Cam at the 2. I’m sure we’ll keep adjusting but all in all, we’re 4-2 and doing okay. December 11: 62-53 over Radford, there. 28, 11 for Brad Doss who is really a player. Don’t know what Auburn had inside but it must have been a lot to let him slip away! 11 each for Luke and Matt who are doing great in their new roles. 18 TOs didn’t make Dave happy, but +9 RBs did. “Ya know, we could go 7-2 pre-conf.” “That would be awesome.” “Feelin’ mighty good about this team!” Scary! Dave’s being positive. “We still need more from the 2 and 4 spots though.” That’s more like it! RPI is 101, the highest since we got to Bryant. 4-4 Wash. ST is in this week. December 18: 61-58 over Wash. ST here. We never trailed after the 2nd minute but they reduced a 20 point lead to 3 and had a shot at the end. Fortunately it was long. Strange game, 19, 5 for Bill Fine, and 10, 4 for Jon Cook, both from the bench. Brad had 11 but only 3 boards. Ed had his best game in a while, 5, 8, 2, 3. 12 TOs, 30 RBs. We end the pre-conf. schedule at home vs. 2-6 Hartford. RPI is 56. “D*mn! Ain’t that something!” December 25: 76-60 over Hartford. 24 for Matt, 19 for Luke. 11 TOs. We didn’t rebound but we didn’t need to. We start conf. play with 4-5 Silly hat here, then we go to 2-7 CCSU. They were projected to finish 3rd but they haven’t looked like it so far. We aren’t planning to take them lightly. 7-2, RPI #49. It was great to spend XMas with Jean and the kids and Dave and Margie. So nice to see them together and looking happy. As always they spoiled our kids. Bobby and Sandy don’t even ask Jean and me for presents in the weeks before XMas. They go right to Dave and Margie, and they get everything they ask for. I’ve told Margie that starting next year it has to slow down a little. She winked at me. After the kids went to bed we poured coffee. “Best XMas present of my life, folks. You wanna tell ‘em, Margie?” “You know you’re dying to tell them. Go ahead.” “She’s gonna have a baby! Late June!” “We had a lavish, loud, celebration. It had everything a celebration should have including NO alcohol. After they left we talked. “I really hope they can make it work, Red.” “It’s been more than six months, Dave looks great, says he feels great, and says he never even thinks about booze.” “Yes, but everything is going really well.” There’s that.

May 14: There have been lots of middle of the night calls from Dave but at least he’s drinking at home. June 6: We have 2 slots open for transfers. June 16: We get 2, soph PG Ren Hay from LSU, and soph, Geo Dock, a very good looking SG from Nome. Dave is really struggling. Margie is gone. She won’t accept his calls, won’t tell him where she is living. He blew it and he knows it. He has gone on the wagon. It’s only 5 days but it’s a start. He won’t hear of going to either AA or a therapist though. June 26: 4 scholarships. Ideally it would be 3 bigs and a PG, but we’ll see. Looking at 5 PGs, 8 PFs, 3 Cs to start. Dave is still sober. July 29: 48 days sober for Dave but he has an empty look. He’s still missing Margie but he’s missing the booze, too. He’s kind of mopey and listless. August 21: We offer to 3 PFs, all of whom are showing interest. Still trying to attract a PG. August 28: We go for a PG who’s in NY, hoping that he’ll become interested. Dave says he calls Margie’s number once a week and leaves a message telling her how many days he’s been sober. 78 right now. September 18: 6 of 9 pre-conf. games on the road. We’re going with easy teams for most of them except for Texas Tech. They’re that one tough team we like to face. Still no commitments but 2-3 are close. September 19: “She answered the phone!” “Margie?” “Yeah. Today’s 100 days and I called and she answered. Said she’d meet me for coffee.” “That’s great, Dave.” “I’m real nervous.” “Dave, you’re a good guy. You’ve got a heart of gold. Just stay off the sauce and everything will be fine.” September 25: We got one, Cal Wait, PG, #473 for now. We need to get some big guys. Plenty of time and we have money. October 2: We are definitely better than last year. I’m excited. We’re picked to win the conf. and I think we can do it. October 9: Got a big guy, Al Mack, PF, #582. October 14: “She’s comin’ back!” “That’s great, Dave.” “Yeah, she says if I can stay sober this can work. I’m sure workin’ on it. 125 days!” Truth is I’m amazed. Dave looks good, and he seems calmer. I think this is a long shot but fingers are crossed, Jean’s too. November 1: Margie’s back in the house with Dave and they’re talking about having a baby. It’s too soon. “Hey, I’m 38 and Margie’s 35. If we’re gonna do this…” November 6: Recruit PG Cal Wait drops all the way to #80, but Al Mack falls to 1096, ouch! Still chasing bigs. We’re close with one who we’ve been after for a long time. He jumped from 547 to 193. We have a lineup. Soph Matt Cone is our lead guard, playing some 1, some 2. Senior Hal Cam, junior Juco Bill Fine, and junior transfer from DePaul Luke Myer will battle for PT at 2 and some at 3. Junior UNLV transfer Jon Cook will start at SF and play some PF. Junior Auburn transfer Brad Doss looked great in the exhibitions and will start at C. Senior Ed Marn will start at PF. Lots of minutes are up for grabs. We start on the road at Anal Roberts and then Towson. Dave says no luck on Margie getting pregnant yet but things are going well and he hasn’t had a drink in a very long time. I asked what he spends the time on. Drinking took up a lot of his time. “Margie and coaching stuff.”

February 5: 60-59 over Silly Hat. -10 RBs, but we got the one that counted. We got the ball down one at the end again. Dave set up a play for Tim. It worked, Tim missed a 6 footer, but Mark got the tip in. We escaped. 11 TOs. 13 each for Hal and Matt but Hal had 7 of the TOs. 9, 6 for Tim. “See! You guys can do it when you get yer heads outta yer a$$e$! That put back by Mark was nuthin’ but heads up and hustle. If we get more a that we’ll do a h*ll of a lot better!” 40-52 at Rob’t Morris. 31.5%, 23.5% from long range. 18 TOs. Dave was too upset to talk to the kids after the game. I pointed out a few things, but in a positive way. 2 games out of 5th place with 6 to play. That top half finish isn’t looking so great. Dave got hammered in the hotel bar and I rescued him at closing time. Rescued the bartender is more like it. 15-6, 9-3, 1st place CCSU is in town. Then we travel to 10-11, 7-5 FDU, who beat us by 9 at our place. “We GOTTA win at least one this week or we’re lookin’ at 9th place. D*mn!” I’m not sure it’s that bad but it isn’t good. We had a long staff meeting to see if there was anything new to try. There isn’t. February 12: A great week! 61-43 over CCSU! Matt went crazy, 32, 6, 2. Tim had 15, 10, 3. We didn’t get a lot more, except for good work by Ed Marn from the bench, but it was enough. +13 RBs, -6 TOs. 70-61 at FDU. This was a very big win. 19 for Hal, 16, 9 for Tim, good play by the other starters and Ed Marn. 17 TOs but they had 24. 3 way tie for 4th. Can’t finish 1st or last but everything else is possible with 4 left. Last place Wagner, 6-17, 2-12 is here. Then we’re at 11-12, 7-7 Sam Franklin. We won 71-35 here but the road is hard. February 19: 45-32 over Wagner. A very weird game. 13, 11, 2, 3 for Tim. No one else on either team got more than 7 points. We were +4 RBs, +5 TOs. “The least pathetic team won.” “Hey, 3 in a row, Dave. First time ever.” “I didn’t say I wouldn’t take it.” 64-57 at Sam Franklin! We took an early lead, built it to 19 early in the 2nd half and hung on. The final was as close as it got. 20, 5, 5 for Hal, 20, 5, 4 for Matt. 12, 9, 2 for Tim who we will miss like crazy when he graduates in a couple of months. 11 TOs, our best road TO # since we got here. “WOOOOO!!! 4 in a row an’ tied fer 3rd! WOOOOOO!” 14-11, 11-5 Mount Mary is here. They only won by 5 there. Then it’s Stan Francis, 17-8, 9-7, there, to end the regular season. They won by 20 at our place. We gotta win the home game an’ hope fer the road game.” “10-8 would be pretty darn good.” “11-7 would be terrific!” “Well, we’re playing well. Let’s see what happens.” 14-11, 9-7, RPI #120. February 26: 48-53 to Mount Mary. 22 TOs, 2nd worst of the year. 13, 7, 2 for Hal, 12, 6, 2, 4 for Tim. Matt and Pete both fouled out and Dave got Tee’d up. 17 trips to the line for them, 4 for us, and that was the difference. 58-65 at Stan Francis. We blew a 10 point lead. We just fell apart in the last 5-7 minutes. 18 TOs, at least half of them late in the game. 26 for Matt, 12, 5 for Mark but 7 TOs. Tim had 8 RBs but they doubled him and he didn’t score a point; never took a shot! “Friggin’ guards never got the ball inside. No wonder we lost!” -8 TOs, -6 RBs. 14-13, 9-9 at the end of the regular season. We’ll play #4 seed FDU in the round of 8. They won by 9 at their place, we won by 9 at ours so it should be interesting! March 1: 66-49 over FDU! 9 TOs, 2nd best of the season. +4 RBs. 5 starters in doubles for the first time since we arrived at Bryant. We scored the first 7 and never trailed. #1 seed CCSU, 20-8, 13-5, in the semis. We lost by 16 there, won by 18 at home so who knows? Their starting C is out with a broken foot. March 2: 59-69. 23 TOs- 2nd worst of the year. +10 RBs wasn’t enough to counteract that. 19, 6, 4 for Hal, 15, 7 for Tim in what is most likely his last game here. We can hope for a trip to the CHI but I think it’s unlikely. March 3: CCSU won the title. March 6: Margie McGee came over to speak with Jean and me at about 8:00 last night. “I hope you two don’t mind but I really need to talk about this.” “Red and I don’t mind, Margie. Go ahead.” “I’m kind of at my wits’ end. Dave is so good in so many ways. I know that he loves me. He says it and shows it all the time. He’d never cheat. He’d never beat me or even mentally abuse me. We fight, but he backs down before I do. He’s great with kids. He’s good at what he does…” “It’s the drinking.” “Yes Red, it’s the drinking. It’s terrible. He’s never mean to me or anything like that but I just can’t deal with it.” “I understand.” “I love him to pieces but I just don’t know. I thought maybe a baby, since he’s so great with your two, but suppose it doesn’t get better. I don’t want my child growing up in a broken family.” “I can see that. It would be a huge risk.” “He really wants a baby but… I just don’t know.” We talked for at least 2 ½ hours. At the end she thought she’d tell Dave that if he wanted a baby he had to be sober for a year- not cut back, not drink less, but be completely sober for a year. March 12: Not selected, as suspected. March 19: CCSU made it to the 2nd round but that was it. March 26: PF Dwayne Johnson signed. He’s #74 so a real find. He was 263 when we started chasing him. April 4: Arizona won it all by 1 point over Duke. Awards: Tim Star is conf. POY and 1st team. Matt Cone is Freshman OY and 2nd team. Hal Cam is 1st team. April 9: Dave actually got 2 head coach offers. “I ain’t leavin’ Rhode Island.” That means Bryant, Brown, Providence, and his dream school and our alma mater, URI. April 16: We switch our scholarship offer to SG Ben Ahab, #150. The PG we’ve chased all season never gave us a tumble so we dropped him. April 23: We got Ben Ahab. Attendance increased this year- by 349 fans per game, so we ask for a facilities upgrade, figuring we have a shot at it. Frankie said yes. Up from D+ to C+. We end the season at 15-14, 9-9, RPI #142. Way better than last season. Team Prestige jumps one notch to 5. Our record for 2 seasons is 27-32, .458, but I feel really good about next year. Dave’s #s are: Off.- 7, Def.- 11, Recruit- 27, Scout- 2, Player Development- 9, Reputation- 7. April 25: “She left me. Took all her stuff and left.” “I’m sorry, Dave.” “My own friggin’ fault. I couldn’t quit drinkin’ fer more’n like a week an’ a half.” I didn’t say anything because there wasn’t anything to say. “It woulda worked if we’d a had a kid. I never drink around your kids.” “No but you start as soon as they’re in bed.” “Yeah. I guess I do. Sh*t! I really love her.” The next few weeks are probably not going to be a lot of fun.

January 1, 2017: 68-38 over Long Island. We put it all together in this one. 12 TOs, 23, 5, 2 for Matt, 21, 3, 3 for Hal, 12, 6, 3 for Tim. 42-52 at Silly Hat. 14 TOs, -11 boards. 16 for Matt, 11, 6 for Tim but 4 fouls for both, and we just didn’t get enough offense from our other guys. We’re giving Pete Mel John Kilt’s minutes. Kilt isn’t giving us much. “Hey, RPI 139. We never came close to that last year, Red.” “Wins help, and strength of schedule is up some.” This week we host 6-5, 0-2 Robert Morris and travel to 8-3, 2-0 CCSU, picked #1 in conf. in the preseason polls. January 8: Still winning at home, losing on the road. 59-55 over Rob’t Morris. 24, 6, 2 for Hal. 13 TOs. We were down 2 with 1:22 to play. Dave called a TO. “Look, you’re better than these guys. If they stay in the 2-3, Stan, set a good, solid pick for Hal. Do it ‘til they stop it. Hal, take the shot, don’t even look pass if you’re open. On D, you only got one foul Matt, stay in their PGs shirt. Tim and Stan, don’t chase your guy out side. Neither one a them 2 can hit anything past 6 feet. Stay the frig home an’ REBOUND! Mark, collapse in, your guy ain’t hittin’ sh*t. Let’s go!” Efficient. The rule is don’t tell them too many things, but he spoke to all 5 guys. It worked. We scored the next 6 and held on. 48-64 at CCSU. -5 TOs, -2 RBs. 14 each for Tim and Matt but Matt fouled out late. It was over by then though. “D*mn! We gotta start winnin’ a few on the road! We got a shot this week.” FDU at home this week. They’re 5-8, 2-2. Then we go to 4-9, 0-4 Wagner. Three teams ahead of us, three behind us, three tied with us right now. January 15: 34-43 to FDU. We shot 22% at home, 2-22 on threes. 11 RBs for Tim. We had one of our better crowds, 1547, but by the end most were gone. “Blew a great friggin’ chance. How the frig do ya score 34 friggin’ points! You guys got any little sisters that play hoops? Watch ‘em friggin’ shoot, maybe you’ll friggin’ learn somethin’.” When I write “friggin’”, yeah, that’s not what Dave is saying- ever, except maybe to a ref. 70-64 at Wagner. We really worked the offense to prep for this one and it helped. 2nd most points of the season. 18, 3, 2, 2 for Hal but 8 TOs, 17 for Matt but 5 TOs, 14 for Mark, 10, 8 for Tim. Pete Mel had 4 TOs. We had 19 TOs, 17 by our guards. Not good. But we got the “W.” 7-8, 3-3 Sam Franklin is here and then it’s 8-7, 5-1, tied for 1st Mount Mary there. 8-7, 3-3, RPI 154. We’re holding our own but the home game with SFU is a must win, pretty much. January 22: 71-35 over SFU. Matt Cone had 30. He couldn’t miss. 8, 8, 3, 3 for Tim. 9, 4, 6 for Pete from the bench. 32 RBs and 3- yeah, 3 TOs. 54-59 at Mount Mary. 20, 3, 3 for Matt who’s really hot, 17, 9, 2 for Tim. Not much from anyone else though. We got down 15 early and never quite got back even. We had the ball down one basket 5 times and never hit the key shot. “D*mn! It’s the road! It ain’t the road ta h*ll! Basket’s the same friggin’ size. The crowds ain’t all that noisy, everythin’s the same. Make the friggin’ shots! An’ fer chrissake take care a the BALL!” Still, we’re 9-8, 4-4, 2 back of the lead. If we could get something going good things could happen. Our longest win streak since we got to Bryant last season is still 2 games. We need to string some together. A tough home game with 14-3, 6-2 Stan Francis, then on the road to 8-9, 3-5 Long Island. If we’re going to get it together now would be a good time! We desperately need more from SF and PF but I don’t see it happening. January 29: Ouch! 49-69 to Stan Francis at home. 17, 4, 2 for Hal, 9, 5, 3 for tim, and not much for anyone else. 17 TOs, -6 RBs. Okay, they’re a better team. 56-57 at LIU. This one hurt. It was ours for the taking. 18, 6, 4, 4 for Tim, 13 for Stan. But 17 TOs (they had 20) and a pathetic 20 RBs (they had 19). It was a terribly sloppy game for both teams. We got the ball back with 8.7 to go. Dave called a TO and put in the play. “They been man all night. We ain’t run a clear yet. Stan’s been hot. Everybody else draw your man out. Matt get it to Stan. Stan take yer guy and go to the hole fer a layup.” The set up was perfect. Stan was ready for the pass with about 2 ticks left. Matt faked, passed, and their PG tipped it. It rolled along the floor as time ran out. January 31: “Red on the head!” “It’s a been a while since the last 2:15 a.m. phone call.” “I was so pissy Margie got real mad an’ tore my head off. I said frig it. I’m at Lefty’s. Come on down.” “Um, I was asleep?” “You ain’t now. C’mon.” I went. Dave was about as drunk as I’ve ever seen him. The bartender wanted to close and was about ready to call the police because Dave was giving him a hard time about getting one more drink. I told the bartender to give me 2-3 minutes. I managed to talk Dave into coming home with me. He wouldn’t go to his house; said Margie wouldn’t want to see him like this. He slept on the couch, was up at 6:45, and out of the house by 7:00. He told me later that he jogged home and he and Margie patched it up and went to get his car at Lefty’s. The woman is a saint! Three game losing streak, our longest of the season. We host 10-9, 5-5 Silly Hat, then go to 11-8, 5-5 Robert Morris. We need a win and two would be a whole lot better!

December 11: 64-60 in OT over Navy. It was a battle, no pun intended. Only 14 TOs- in 45 minutes! 19 for Star, 17 for Cone. RBs were even. Burd has been playing much better at PF. We’re giving him starter’s minutes. This week we’re playing our toughest game, at 7-2, UNLV, #23 ranked. December 18: 47-62 at UNLV. Not a huge surprise. 14 TOs and 40 RBs so we did some things really well. 27.7% shooting was not one of them. 18, 7, 3 for Matt, 10, 11, 2 for Tim, but they were the better team. 4-4 with one pre-conf. game to play. It’s a tough one. We host 6-2 Charleston. December 25: 64-40. 12 TOs, +13 on the boards. 11, 10 for Tim, four in double figures. “Yes! 5-4! What a great way to finish!” I agree. A two game improvement against slightly better competition- not that we actually beat any of the better teams, but still. All 4 losses were to decent teams, which means we won the games we needed to win. I’m sticking with that top half of the conf. prediction. We start conf. play here with 5-4 Long Island, and then travel to 5-4 Silly Hat. XMas was great. Bobby’s 4 ½, Sandy’s 2 ½ so they really had a great time. Dave and Margie spent most of the day with us, bought way too much for the kids, spoiled them and played with them all day, then went to Margie’s family’s place for dinner. They both had an absolute ball with our kids and had that, “Let’s have one of our own” look. I hope they wait a while. I’m rooting for them all the way but Dave’s track record is not good.

November 20: A great first week. “Best I felt since I got the job!” 70-58 over Army. 26 for Matt Cone, 17 for Mark Wilk, 14 for Hal Cam. Tim Start had 8 and 5 but fouled out and we’re in trouble inside without him. He’s really our only inside player. 14 TOs but -6 on the boards. Then 65-44 over Boston. 16, 4, 2, 2 for Mark, 15, 4 for Tim, 13, 4, 4, 2 for Matt, 9, 3, 4 for Hal. Ed Marn had 8 and 5. He may get more minutes if he can continue that. “Two cupcakes at home but still. Winnin’s good for everythin’ that ails ya!” “That it is, Dave. That it is.” We travel to 0-1 Quinnipiac then host 1-0 Fresno ST this week. This week will tell us, first, what we can do on the road, and second, what we can do against a decent team. November 27: Back to reality. 54-67 at Quinnipiac. “24 friggin’ TOs. I thought we’d fixed that.” “Matt only had 1.” “Yeah but everybody else had hair grease on their hands, I swear!” Matt, Mark, and Tim did the scoring. We’re thinking of Ed Marn for Stan Burd. We think Ed will give us more rebounding, which is another issue. 41-44 vs. Fresno ST here. 18 TOs this time, 5 by Matt. The D was great but for the first time all year we just couldn’t score. Here’s a little of what Dave is like during a game: “Stan, back door! Damn it we practiced that. It was THERE!” “Look inside, Matt! Work it to the bigs!” “C’mon ref! Over the BACK!” “Take it easy, Dave. You been on the kid all night.” “Look Jim, I haven’t yelled at you once. I never do.” “You know I’d T you up.” “Yeah, but you’re consistent, and you know what you’re doin’.” “It takes time, Dave. The kid’ll be fine in a couple a years.” “In the meantime he’s killin’ me- NO! That was a block!” “I’m tellin’ ya Dave, ease off.” “Okay, okay.” “Good rebound, Tim!” Basically, Dave yells throughout the game, start to finish. Encouragement, advice, calls plays, switches defenses, criticizes things they miss, gets on the refs- you name it. He has one of those foghorn voices that penetrates through any other noise. He gets Tee’d up, but not as often as you’d think. He usually knows when the ref has had enough. He makes terrific use of halftime and time outs but we’ll talk about those things another time. “Dave, we lost to the 2nd best team on the schedule by 3.” “But we shoulda won.” Burd must have heard us. He had a decent game. No changes yet. +11 RBs, our best all year. This is our only 2 game road trip, at 4-0 Howard, then at 3-2 North Alabama. I’d love a split! December 4: We got the split. 74-61 at Howard. 24 for Matt, 16 for Mark, 12, 6, 2, 2 for Tim, 10, 6, 3, 2 for Hal. 57-69 at North Alabama. 19 TOs, but that problem hasn’t been solved yet. 18, 5, 2 for Hal, 14 for Matt. We need to rebound better, and ball handling is still a mess. We’re getting about 7.5 more PPG than last year. 3-3 ain’t all that bad. We went 3-6 pre-conf. last year. I’d sure like a couple more wins before we go to conf.!” “Me too, Dave.” One game this week, and for the next couple. We're hosting 1-4 Navy this week. The marriage seems to be going well, but it’s only been a month. Dave says he still isn’t drinking in public except for at the hotels where we stay on the road. Learned his lesson? I’m not sure I’d go that far!

June 6: Jay Rodd, an SF who hardly played last year but who could have helped this year, transferred out. We bought the National Basic scouting report and we’re looking at transfers. June 12: We get 2, Jon Cook, a junior PF from UNLV, and Brad Doss, a junior C from Auburn. Looking for a guard. (Author’s note: House rule prevents me chasing anyone better than 150 rank.) June 16: We gamble on a PG from DePaul. June 19: We get him, Luke Myer, junior PG. Not sure he’ll be worth having but the way we recruit. “Damn! We done okay with transfers, Red. You and Alex did a great job.” “A lot of it was you, Dave. Parents love that strict discipline and kids believe in you.” “Well, we better do some winnin’ this year or that won’t be worth squat.” June 26: 3 scholarships. We want 2 PGs and a big but we’ll take what we can get. Looking at 8 PGs, 3 PFs, 2 Cs, all in the Atl. East, to start. “We damn well better do a better job of recruitin’ this year.” “I don’t know. We got a couple of good looking guys, and we got some transfers that will help.” “We’ll see.” July 17: Still after recruits. None of them are talking much but 2-3 are showing a little interest. August 21: We offer to 2 PGs and a C. “We better get some good guys here.” September 18: No one yet but we’re close with a couple. “How’d you do with Frankie?” “Well, we have a schedule.” “Yeah, I figured that, Red. Specifics?” “5 home 4 away pre-conf. You said cupcakes on the road, a little better at home if we could get them, which we mostly couldn’t. One or two challenges but possible challenges not sure losses. We worked hard. Here’s the list.” “Fresno ST at home. Yeah, that’s a test. Charleston? Maybe. Nobody willin’ to come here, really, right?” “Dave, we wore out the phone. If they come to our place and win it’s no help. If they lose it’s a disaster for them.” “Yeah, I get that. How ‘bout the road.” “Well, UNLV?” “Three cupcakes an’ UNLV. They’ll beat us, but it’s good ta have a team like that. Ya done good, Red.” “Thanks. You might want to thank Frankie, too. He worked hard.” “Okay.” “Red… no late night calls in 4 ½ months.” “I’m tryin’, Red. Margie got all over me an’ she was right. I ain’t quit, but I’m drinkin’ less, an’ drinkin’ at home or in the hotel where I’m stayin’ if I’m on the road. Drunk drivin’ will get me fired.” “I knew I liked Margie.” “I hope so. You’re gonna be the best man.” “... Great! When?” “November 4, Friday night.” “That’s great. Where?" "Her mother’s place. Turns out her mom is kinda rich and got this big ole fancy house. Offered an’ me an’ Margie thought it’d be good politics.” “Dave-” “Yeah, I know. But Jesus. I gotta try again. Margie’s real good for me, an’ I really do love her. It’s at 6:00 so Jean and the kids can come, too. I really want all of you there. You’re the only family I got.” “Wouldn’t miss it, Dave.” September 25: Got one. Lost one. We got Bill Fine, PG, #594 right now. Lost a PG but offered to another one. October 2: Lost the big guy. 1st day of practice. “We’re mighty thin up front.” “I think a little better than last year overall.” “We’ll see.” “We’re picked 2nd in conf. again.” “Yeah. Hope it’s more accurate than last year but Red, I just don’t know.” “Too soon to know much of anything, but I’ll tell you one thing.” “What’s that?” “Next year we win the conf.” “Big talk, buddy.” “You heard it here first.” November 4: It was a nice wedding. The groom’s only drink was the wedding toast. No time for a honeymoon but they’ll take a long weekend in the middle of the week. I’ll be in charge for three days. November 6: “I don’t know. We better than last year, Red?” “Definitely! Maybe not world beaters but we’re good enough to make the top half of the conf.” “I’d take that.” Here’s the lineup: Frosh Matt Cone who looks really good at guard with senior Mark Wilk. Wilk caused a lot of trouble last year but we think PT may solve that. Senior John Kilt will back them up. Junior Pete Mel is kind of out of the rotation right now but he played his way into a major role last year so we’ll see. Junior Juco Hal Cam, who looks like a scoring machine is at SF. He’s a natural SG but his ball handling has been awful so we’re hoping we can hide that at the 3 spot. Inside it’s senior Tim Star returning and juniors Ed Marn and Stan Burd getting the rest of the minutes. But except for Star inside minutes are there for the taking. We feel like we should score a lot more points this year. That was one of our issues last year. As to the other one, ball handling, we’ll see. We could be stronger on D after Cone, Cam, and Star. We start with 2 at home, Army and Boston. If we don’t start 2-0 it could be a long season.

March 1: 58-55 over Robert Morris. “It’s a friggin’ miracle!” Pretty much. +16 on the boards, 12 TOs, 15 and 15 for Mike, 13, 7, 2 for Rick Neil from the bench, and get this, the winner was a 28 footer at the buzzer by Tim Star, our Center. His first career three. “Hey, Mel passed it ta him cuz he was the only guy open. We had enough bad luck this year. I’ll take a little good luck.” #5 seed, 13-15, 10-8 Stan Francis beat #4 so they’re up in the semis. They beat us by 2 at our place and 19 there. “It prob’ly ends here but hey, we got that big win.” Mister Optimist! March 2: 68-58! We beat Stan Francis and we're in the finals! “Am I dreamin’? Did I die an’ go ta heaven?” I have no explanation. 21, 4, 2 for Cory Ken, 10, 9, 3, 2 for Mike Lane, 9 each for Mel (1 TO), and subs Rick Neil and John Kilt. 8, 7, 3 for Tim. It’s # 2 seed Mount Mary for the title. 18-11, 12-6. We beat them by 5, then they beat us by 14. “I can’t believe we’re playin’ for the title!” “And for a trip to the Big Dance.” “Crazy.” Maybe the team just put it all together at last. Who knows. March 3: “So friggin’ CLOSE!!!” 41-43. We knew their back court was strong and they were, but our front court made up for that. It came down to the last possession and their SG made a contested 19 footer. “We had a friggin’ hand right in his face.” “He’s a good shooter, Dave.” “Damn!” “Hey, it was a great finish and it gives me hope for next year.” 16, 5, 3 for Cory Ken who had a great tourney. He got hurt late and couldn’t go and that’ probably did us in. 7, 9 for Mike. We had 14 TOs but they had 15, and we were +7 on the boards. We won’t be invited anywhere but again, it was a good way to finish. Now to convince some recruits! March 5: March 17: The Northeast conf. is gone from postseason play. April 4: April 16: Hal Cam, an SG, and Matt Cone, a PG, sign. We still need a PG. April 23: We get PF Gee Tomm, but no guards. We were unable to fill two scholarships. We ask for a facilities upgrade. “After the way we sh*t the bed Gillardi won’t give it to us.” “I explained that it would help with recruiting. Let’s hope.” Denied. We end the season at 12-18, tied for 7th in a10 team conf. Our only goal was not to finish last. We met it so Team Prestige is up to 4. This year? Same goal. Dave’s ratings increased from 1 across the board to : Off- 3, Def.- 5, Recruiting- 10, Scouting- 2, Player Development- 4, Reputation- 4. “Dave, we really didn’t do all that badly. I mean we had so little talent. We scrapped and we battled. I’m thinking top half of the conf. this year.” “Jesus, I hope so. Losing this much sucks.” April 30: “I need to speak with Michael O’Connor.” “Speaking.” “This is Sgt. Billings at the Cranston barracks. I’ve got Coach McGee. We don’t want to charge him, but he’s sh*t faced drunk. If you can take him home we’ll let it go.” “I’ll be right there.” "Now what?" "He's at the barracks, Jean. If i pick him up and bring him home they won't arrest him.." "I hope he realizes how lucky he is to have you." "He does, Jean." … “Dave, this has got to stop. They could have arrested you.” “Yeah, I know. I shouldn’t have drove.” “Maybe you should think about cutting back on the booze.” “Maybe I should.”