In The End, I'm Taking The Train Because My Lady Won't Let Me Greyhound.

I had to listen to Akatsuki. I was a fool to think I could get away with riding the Greyhound to head to Canada without having a ride from hell. In a vision, so the story goes, Lady Akatsuki, in her experience, unbeatable state with a conduct worthy of a heavy cruiser or battleship, told me this, and I quote...

"You need to back my sister ship Inazuma. She'll take you there. She's done it before. As a train called the Coast Starlight, she can take you to Seattle and let her sister Ikazuchi carry you the rest of the way to Vancouver as a bus. Going Greyhound," she says, "is wasted money and is a ride for fools and plebs who steal a living being talentless autistes on the lam. Besides, you always wanted a peachful ride, right? Destiny awaits you at Union Station. I know this for a fact. If you choose to be stubborn, I have an anchor that I can put to use on someone other than...you know who.


"Commander! I'm making you take the train, and you'll love me for it so much that you'll never want to let me down ever again...in fact, when you come home fully refreshed, you'll let me do whatever I want with you so you can enjoy my company more!!! And...I'll even let you pat my head. Ufufu..."

That's what she told me in my vision. The sweetener at the end closed the deal, big. And the person she referred to, if you already figured, is her ladyfriend Hibiki, or Verniy. A bilingual phoenix that plays the foil, the fool, the uke...I had to change my choice once the funds were available. I leave on Oct. 5, return on Oct. 11, four nights of lodging, and now, an itinerary to build.

I never wanted to do Greyhound, anyway. What the hell was I thinking, brushing with the possibility of taking the hound to Vancouver and back? What's up with that? Actaully, the Amtrak Thruway Coach is all the Greyhound I really need. And I have never ridden Coast Starlight, ever. This train is too important and is akin to melting all over Inazuma as an admiral in KanColler. I need a long-distance train ride in my life so that I can realize how important America and Canada are to me. I want to melt all over the amazing scenery and slices of life.

So I am extremely pleased that I made the right choice and reserved the train. It is my hope that I can muster enough money from my work to cover for lodging, foot, and visiting a few other towns, like, perhaps, Nanaimo. Something like that.

Thus, to Lady Akatsuki, I offer you my thanks for pointing me in the right direction. In the end, Amtrak was what I always wanted to use. Richie Havens was right all along: "There's something about a train that's magic. All Aboard America. All Aboard Amtrak." And Akatsuki simply is unbeatable.

Nevada Wolf Pack: 2016 College Basketball Invitational Champions

RENO, Nev. -- Nevada's Tyron Criswell has won several individual awards since he started playing basketball in his youth.

But it took until his last college basketball game to win his first team championship after Nevada's 85-82 win against Morehead State in the ninth College Basketball Invitational on Friday night.

"It feels good to win an individual award, but when you win a big one with your team it feels so much better, especially when you know you're team's been through so much," said Criswell, who scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Nevada freshman Cameron Oliver added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Lyonell Gains led Morehead State with 17 points, shooting 8 of 13 from the field.

Winning the clinching game of the best-of-three series wasn't easy for Nevada.

Morehead State's Xavier Moon nearly tied the game with a last-second half-court shot in overtime that bounced off the rim.

"With the half-court shot, from my vantage point, I said, `Here we go: double overtime," Nevada coach Eric Musselman said.

Criswell helped erase Morehead State's lead and put Nevada (24-14) in position to win with 13 seconds left in overtime.

After Nevada guard D.J. Fenner's pass to guard Lindsey Drew was deflected under the basket, Criswell grabbed the loose ball and made a layup to put the Wolf Pack up 83-82.

On the Eagles' next possession, DeJuan Marrero missed a layup and Fenner grabbed the rebound. He converted both free throws before Moon's last-second shot missed and the game ended.

"Mission accomplished: send our seniors out the right way," Musselman said. "For our freshman (they) can sit back and think about all the experience they got ... to springboard us into next year ... all those guys got better obviously with all these extra games and extra time together. Even myself, I know I'll be a better coach coming back next year getting these extra games."

Nevada's ability to get to the free-throw line was vital. The Wolf Pack shot 37.5 percent from the field, but converted 39 of 45 shots from the line. Morehead State (23-14) shot 46.7 percent from the field, but only converted on 6 of 13 free throws.

Nevada's crowd of 9,043, far surpassing the season average (6,416), proved important for the Wolf Pack as it did throughout the CBI tournament. Home teams were 13-3 in the tournament.

Nevada led by as many as 12 points with 15:06 left in regulation, but Morehead State rallied.

"That's what we did all year," Morehead State coach Sean Woods said. "We don't stop playing. We are going to play until the final buzzer and that's what we did tonight."

With six seconds left in regulation and the Eagles down two points, Marrero went to the free-throw line and banked his first shot off the glass. He made the second free throw.

Oliver missed a 3-pointer to win the game in regulation.

Nevada Wolf Pack: 2015 Arizona Bowl Champions

The Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Colorado State Rams 28-23 in the inaugural Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Tuesday night. It was a gritty, grinded it out performance by the Wolf Pack as they leaned on an explosive rushing attack and a solid defensive performance to give them their first bowl victory since defeating Boston College in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl back in 2010.

Nevada running back James Butler was named offensive MVP of the Arizona Bowl as he ran for 189 yards and scored two touchdowns while Wolf Pack defensive end Ian Seau was named defensive MVP as he recorded five tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, a pass break up and forced a fumble tonight in Seau's final game as a member of the Wolf Pack. Seau got the action started in the first quarter of the game when he sacked Rams quarterback Nick Stevens causing him to fumble the ball which was recovered by Wolf Pack defensive end Rykeem Aytes and ten plays later, Nevada capitalized on that turnover when Brett Zuso kicked a 19-yard field to give the Wolf Pack a 3-0 lead.

The Rams took the lead in the second quarter when Stevens scored on a one-yard touchdown run and after the extra point, Colorado State took a 7-6 lead. After the score, the Wolf Pack answered back quickly when James Butler scored on a 77-yard touchdown run to give Nevada a 13-7 lead. After the Rams scored on a Wyatt Brown field goal to make it 13-10 Nevada, the Rams kicked the ball off to the Wolf Pack's Elijah Mitchell and he took it 96 yards for the touchdown to give the Wolf Pack a 19-10 lead after Zuso missed the PAT. The Rams were able to tack on another field goal before the half to cut the Nevada lead to 19-13.

In the second half with Nevada up 22-13, Colorado State went on a 12 play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped off with a nine-yard touchdown run by Jasen Oden Jr., to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 22-20. In the fourth quarter, the Rams took the lead when Brown connected on a 38-yard field to give Colorado State a 23-22 lead. Nevada got the ball back with 3:40 left in the game and scored on an eight play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by James Butler as the Wolf Pack retook the lead 28-23. The Rams had one final chance to retake the lead late in the game and despite having no timeouts, the Rams were able to orchestrated a quick hitting drive that got them in scoring range. But in the final seconds of the game, Stevens connected with Jordon Vaden but Vaden could not get out of bounds as time expired.

With the bowl win, Nevada ends their up and down season on a high note by going 7-6 and gained some much needed momentum headed into the offseason as Brian Polian and his Wolf Pack look to improve on their consistency and hopefully become a factor in the Mountain West in 2016.

Shots

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done

Am I out of touch?
Am I out of my place?
When I keep saying that I'm looking for an empty space
Oh, I'm wishing you're here
But I'm wishing you're gone
I can't have you and I'm only gonna do you wrong

Oh, I'm going to mess this up
Oh, this is just my luck
Over and over and over again

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

Am I out of luck?
Am I waiting to break?
When I keep saying that I'm looking for a way to escape
Oh, I'm wishing I had what I'd taken for granted
I can't help you when I'm only gonna do you wrong

Oh, I'm going to mess this up
Oh, this is just my luck
Over and over and over again

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

In the meantime can we let it go
At the roadside that
We used to know
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away
At the bay side
Where you used to show
In the moonlight
Where we let it go
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away

And there's always time to change your mind
Oh, there's always time to change your mind
Oh, love, can you hear me?
Oh, let it drift away

I'm sorry for everything
Oh, everything I've done
From the second that I was born it seems I had a loaded gun
And then I shot, shot, shot a hole through everything I loved
Oh, I shot, shot, shot a hole through every single thing that I loved

In the meantime can we let it go
At the roadside that
We used to know
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away
At the bay side
Where you used to show
In the moonlight
Where we let it go
We can let this drift away
Oh, we let this drift away

And there's always time to change your mind
Oh, there's always time to change your mind
Oh, love, can you hear me?
Oh, let it drift away...