losing it. I gotta keep it together. Be a leader.
“You boys can drop the ball here as well as anywhere else,” Coach Murray stated flatly. “All I see is a football stadium. You’re football players, here to do a job. We’re not some damn tourists. So, quit gawking around. Yeah, this stadium is big, but you boys gotta remember we’re here to do a job. You know what the Badgers do here? They play football. There isn’t any magic to it. What are we here to do?”
No one answered.
“I said, what are we here to do?” Murray’s voice grew loud and commanding.
“Play football.” A few desultory voices responded.
“I can’t hear you.”
“Play football!” This time, the voices were loud and clear.
“All right then. You boys remember that. I won’t put up with any star struck bullshit from any of you. Do any of you corn fed farm boys get what I am telling you?”
There were a few nods here and there. Galen just stared silently around at Camp Randall.
“Just remember, boys. People come here to play football. If you’re here as spectators, then you’re wasting my time and yours, and I’m going to be pissed that whole four hour ride home. It’s good we’re here today to get the gawking over with. Let’s go do the grand tour.”
Most of the boys eagerly trooped off after Tom. Galen, alone, remained standing where he was. He allowed the strap from his bag to roll off his shoulder. The bag dropped to the ground, and he pivoted about, taking it all in. The red brick walls, the fields, the stands. Exhaling slowly, he tugged at his Vikings baseball cap. Would Kjersten come to the game? Please, God, let her come and please let me play great. His next thought was less charitable, Cam Fawst never made it to a State Championship Game in high school. He shook his head. All this stuff is making me crazy. He couldn’t let his family and Coach Murray down, and he wouldn’t let Eagle River down. Keep your head clear. Be focused. Forget about Kjersten and Cam.
“Hey Galen,” Troy called to him from the tunnel to the locker room. “Coach wants you down here now. You aren’t going to believe.
* * * *
Cam shifted in his stadium seat. “Kjersten, I still don’t understand why you’d want to come to a high school football game in this crappy weather.”
“It’s the State Championship game. Everyone from Eagle River is here, today,” Kjersten beamed, waving to another friend. “It’s awesome.”
In response, he grunted. He glared up at the sky from which a misty rain was beginning to fall. “I can think of about a hundred places that I would rather be.”
“Come on, you love football.”
“Playing it, not watching high school kids.”
“High school kids from your home town, and you asked to come. Hi Lauren! Hi Maddie!” Kjersten waved to friends from Eagle River. “I’m going to go talk to them, okay?” She glanced over at him with some concern.
“Yeah. Sure,” Cam decided to let her off the hook. Today was the first time that they’d been out together since Cat and her goons had beaten him up. Afterwards, Cam had lain low for a few days, claimed he’d had the flu. He’d stayed out of the weight room and out of public until his face had looked normal. Thankfully, I wasn’t seriously hurt. That would have sucked. He hadn’t pressed charges or pursued it in any way. Doing so would have brought him some seriously negative attention from the press. But Kjersten hadn’t called, not once, the whole week. Things are going south with her, too. This was why he’d called her, because now that he was losing her, he wanted to hold on. She’d blown off his invitations at first, but when he’d called on this particular morning, she’d mentioned that she was going to the Eagle River and Milwaukee Jefferson game and he said he was, too. Once he said that, there was no way that she could gracefully back out of going with him.
It’s not going well, Cam acknowledged. The tension between
“You boys can drop the ball here as well as anywhere else,” Coach Murray stated flatly. “All I see is a football stadium. You’re football players, here to do a job. We’re not some damn tourists. So, quit gawking around. Yeah, this stadium is big, but you boys gotta remember we’re here to do a job. You know what the Badgers do here? They play football. There isn’t any magic to it. What are we here to do?”
No one answered.
“I said, what are we here to do?” Murray’s voice grew loud and commanding.
“Play football.” A few desultory voices responded.
“I can’t hear you.”
“Play football!” This time, the voices were loud and clear.
“All right then. You boys remember that. I won’t put up with any star struck bullshit from any of you. Do any of you corn fed farm boys get what I am telling you?”
There were a few nods here and there. Galen just stared silently around at Camp Randall.
“Just remember, boys. People come here to play football. If you’re here as spectators, then you’re wasting my time and yours, and I’m going to be pissed that whole four hour ride home. It’s good we’re here today to get the gawking over with. Let’s go do the grand tour.”
Most of the boys eagerly trooped off after Tom. Galen, alone, remained standing where he was. He allowed the strap from his bag to roll off his shoulder. The bag dropped to the ground, and he pivoted about, taking it all in. The red brick walls, the fields, the stands. Exhaling slowly, he tugged at his Vikings baseball cap. Would Kjersten come to the game? Please, God, let her come and please let me play great. His next thought was less charitable, Cam Fawst never made it to a State Championship Game in high school. He shook his head. All this stuff is making me crazy. He couldn’t let his family and Coach Murray down, and he wouldn’t let Eagle River down. Keep your head clear. Be focused. Forget about Kjersten and Cam.
“Hey Galen,” Troy called to him from the tunnel to the locker room. “Coach wants you down here now. You aren’t going to believe.
* * * *
Cam shifted in his stadium seat. “Kjersten, I still don’t understand why you’d want to come to a high school football game in this crappy weather.”
“It’s the State Championship game. Everyone from Eagle River is here, today,” Kjersten beamed, waving to another friend. “It’s awesome.”
In response, he grunted. He glared up at the sky from which a misty rain was beginning to fall. “I can think of about a hundred places that I would rather be.”
“Come on, you love football.”
“Playing it, not watching high school kids.”
“High school kids from your home town, and you asked to come. Hi Lauren! Hi Maddie!” Kjersten waved to friends from Eagle River. “I’m going to go talk to them, okay?” She glanced over at him with some concern.
“Yeah. Sure,” Cam decided to let her off the hook. Today was the first time that they’d been out together since Cat and her goons had beaten him up. Afterwards, Cam had lain low for a few days, claimed he’d had the flu. He’d stayed out of the weight room and out of public until his face had looked normal. Thankfully, I wasn’t seriously hurt. That would have sucked. He hadn’t pressed charges or pursued it in any way. Doing so would have brought him some seriously negative attention from the press. But Kjersten hadn’t called, not once, the whole week. Things are going south with her, too. This was why he’d called her, because now that he was losing her, he wanted to hold on. She’d blown off his invitations at first, but when he’d called on this particular morning, she’d mentioned that she was going to the Eagle River and Milwaukee Jefferson game and he said he was, too. Once he said that, there was no way that she could gracefully back out of going with him.
It’s not going well, Cam acknowledged. The tension between
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