Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 35: Next Year (Scout)

Ever since the loss in Kansas City, you could clearly tell that our focus as an organization was more determined, disciplined, and dedication for one goal. Whether it was the players on the team, the coaches, us in the front office and even all the employees who work the food court. We all knew what we wanted and we were determined to get it. We were so ready for the chance to win a championship and we felt deep down this upcoming season was the year.

That feeling was never more so evident when the Cowboys defeated Mahomes and Kansas City in the Super Bowl. We knew what this meant. Hell in Houston while heaven in Dallas. God, did I hate the Cowboys. Their fans are some of the worse. Every single season, they always believed it was their year to win it all and they always reminded us of their five Super Bowl rings and the fact that they were America's Team. It was as if they were treating us like their little brother. Mind you Houston is bigger in terms of population.

Everywhere you went in Houston, there were fans that wore Cowboy jerseys proudly and that didn't sit well with the loyalists. Some of those fans were actual bandwagoners who didn't know shit about the Cowboys. They just wanted to be fans of Dallas just because they were winners and they still considered us losers. Hello, we made the AFC title game the previous year I wanted to say. It wasn't the big game, but we were getting close. I was really hoping to beat the Cowboys next year for a couple reasons.

Aside from their awful fans, their general manager Luke was dating Brett, which I thought would put a strain on things. Though Brett had ensured me everything was okay, I still had my doubts. Ever since our vacation to Aruba, I was feeling pretty skeptical. It seemed that Luke was still persistent in courting Brett to come to Dallas and work for him. But Brett, to her credit, was also not keen on Dallas fans and I knew deep down, she took the Cowboys' win as motivation to get our team set up to beat them.

How she did so was something I never could've imagined. One month prior to training camp, Brett asked me to go pick up some new players at the airport. She didn't tell me their names other than she handed me a card that said "Aussie" and "Haka." I had no idea who the hell Aussie and Haka were, but I had no time to ask.

Driving to the airport, I arrived to wait for the two mysterious people. People around me were holding signs with different names and they were reacting with either hugs or hand shakes whenever their person showed up. I remember looking at some people that I thought to be the guys. One time, this big, tall African-American man came walking over to my direction and he must've been 6'7. In my mind, he was either a wide receiver or maybe a linebacker, which seemed to be a perfect fit for our team. I didn't having a tall wide receiver, because it made him an easy player to catch a pass.

"Emmanuel," I heard a voice say.

This Emmanuel went to the group of people sitting next to me. He was smiling at them as he hugged them and showed emotion. From the reaction, I figured they were his parents.

"Welcome home, son. How was France?" The mother said.

"Wonderful," Emmanuel answered. "Working with the orchestra was magnificent. We went around Europe to places like Sweden, Finland, and..."

The conversation decreased in volume as Emmanuel and his parents walked off. It was disappointing that my assumption was wrong because there was a part of me that wanted him to join our squad, even if it was as a decoy for a wide receiver. But, I kept waiting and waiting for these two guys to come.

It was about another half-hour and I was getting restless an annoyed. Part of me was frustrated that I was wasting time at the airport when I should be working on helping our team get better. I felt like an idiot, especially in the past when the Texans got embarrassed on national TV. The feeling of people laughing and saying negative things was bad enough. Yet, if I was being put on camera for waiting for people not to show up, it would've been the highlight of the upcoming season. I didn't want that feeling. I took out my phone and was about to call Brett expressing my anger.