It was almost 70 degrees, but once you stepped out onto the beach you could tell it was a few degrees cooler on the sand. Surfers could be seen up and down the strand, some walking back down the beach to counteract the drift as they headed back out to the frigid water, some sitting on their boards taking a break. Of course still more were out past the breakers, waiting for a wave to catch, but it wasn’t as crowded as you’d think, thanks in large part to the water temperature.
Barry and I headed down shore a little. I guess it was the temperature difference causing a fog, but everything in the distance was hazy. There was a dredging ship off the south end of the island that looked like a castle rising out of the mist.
Today was the first day I have worn a hood while surfing, and it was the first time I wore my own gloves (which I picked up on the way to Anna and Barry’s). All that along with my 4-3 wetsuit kept me pretty warm. In fact, I was expecting to get cold at some point, but with the hood, even when I ducked a few waves I never felt like it was anywhere near unbearable out in the water. The last time I went out surfing was probably a couple months ago and I was definitely out of shape. The water was choppy and I had to fight to get out so I didn’t do a whole lot, but I caught a few waves. The main thing was that I got out there, which will hopefully scratch my surfing itch for a little while.
Once I got out for good I sat and waited for Barry for a while before deciding to just head on in. There weren’t many surfers out anymore and I figured (rightly) that I must have missed him on his way in. As I was going to wash off my board I ran into Michael, guy I’ve done Grow Zone with before, and talked to him for a minute or two.
Before all that Amanda, Milly and I went to church then picked up some bagel sandwiches from Atlanta Bread. Back home we watched a bit of TV (The Soup and 30 Rock) before Barry texted me about the waves. After we got back we put Milly down for a nap then watched Saturday Night Live while Amanda heated up some leftover white chili to eat.
We started watching Fringe, but I fell asleep. I was actually planning on taking a nap before Barry texted me. I caught most of the episode though, and it was a weird one. It wasn’t weird in the way that Fringe deals with supernatural things, but in that it was listed as a new episode but obviously was out of continuity. We guessed it was just an episode they taped but never got around to airing.
Once that was done and Milly was put to bed Amanda and I watched Duke take on Wake Forest. It was a very physical game with foul trouble all around. The point differential stayed around four for the most part with the Blue Devils taking an eight point lead off a Jon Scheyer three pointer just before the half. Wake fought back, but Duke ended up going off in the second half once again and the final score was 90-70.
There was a controversial call about halfway through the second half. Mason Plumlee was going up for a fast break dunk and was fouled pretty hard by Wake’s Ish Smith and ended up hurt for a few minutes. While I think the foul was out of control, I don’t think it was an intentional foul, which is what it was ruled, even after review. Duke was already starting a run at that point, but as my brother-in-law pointed out multiple times via text throughout the rest of the game, it was at a debatably crucial point. Duke was already starting to gain momentum and that helped, but it didn’t help to the tune of 20 points.
Jon Scheyer was kept to single digits (nine), but Kyle Singler had 21, Nolan Smith had 20 and Miles and Mason Plumlee combined for 30 (19 coming from Miles!). Duke also only hit four of 13 threes. What’s promising about this and the last game is that Duke is no longer a team that “lives by the three and dies by the three.” Once they do start hitting them again though, man, they’ll be deadly because of another great thing shown in this game: Duke can score in the post. The third big point that I am really excited about it just how tough this Duke team is. The Demon Deacons were very physical. Mason got hurt and Kyle got fouled once and landed on his face. 6’4″. 190 pound Andre Dawkins went up to block and foul the very physical 7’0″ 230 pound Chas McFarland. It’s a tough team that does not back down.
Zach Dotsey