Peggy woke me up and made me run with her. I was in charge of pushing the boys in their running stroller. Duke must have been growing up because we saw three squirrels, and he decided to let them live. Either that or Peggy had gotten through to him that dragging her across someone’s front lawn while she had the boys was not in his best interest.
We walked into the kitchen for breakfast and found that Mom had made sausage and eggs with hash browns. I was a happy boy because there was hot sauce. It was amusing how little things like water pressure for your shower and hot sauce to add zing to your food made coming home seem like heaven.
“What are your plans for the day?” Dad asked.
“I need to go lift and then get ready for baseball camp.”
“Yuri called to remind you football practice starts at one.”
“Yeah, why not? I’ll call Moose and see if we can do my baseball stuff later.”
“We’re going to your new restaurant for dinner tonight,” Mom told me.
I just let it roll off me. I hadn’t been home even a day and already had too much to do.
The back door opened and in strolled Paul.
“Look what I have,” he said, showing me a bag of Cuban coffee.
He also had a stove-top espresso maker. You put the water in the bottom, and when it got hot, it pushed the water up through the coffee into a reservoir at the top. I poured sugar into a small bowl and added a little coffee to it so it could be beaten into the sugar froth for the topping.
Peggy was the only smart one and didn’t want to try it. Mom and Dad made faces, but I was betting that once they felt the effects, they’d be back for more.
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Coach Hope was there to open the weight room for the football team. I think he wanted to talk to me because he volunteered to be my spotter. Usually, Wolf did it, but he was in Chicago for the summer.
“Cassidy had a good time, and she told me you were a perfect gentleman … with her,” Coach Hope threw in for good measure.
“She has a big mouth if she’s telling you personal information like that.”
“How did she do?”
“Cassidy did great, for the most part. She wouldn’t protect me from the crocodiles, though. With respect to her acting as my trainer, I couldn’t be happier. She didn’t let me slack off very much. If she hadn’t been there, I probably would have been a total slug,” I admitted.
“Is she still going to Japan with you?” Coach Hope asked.
“She seems to be looking forward to showing me where she lived while you were stationed there.”
“It’s a great place. A little crowded, but I have no complaints about my time there. That was the time she got serious about martial arts. You’ll have to get her to take you to her old dojo. They’re amazing.”
That caught my attention. It was definitely going on my to-do list.
“How’s football coming?” I asked.
“Good. Trent has improved with the extra work from seven-on-seven and the summer workouts. He’d be ready to start if he wasn’t behind you,” Coach Hope admitted.
“Make sure he signs up for some camps this summer. The two I would recommend are Kentucky and Ohio State. He’ll learn a lot and get some exposure.”
“Don’t forget, Michigan is coming here to hold a camp. What do you think of that?” he asked.
“Coach Haber isn’t making any friends in the business. I expect the others are just jealous they didn’t think to do it first. I got a tweet that they may go to Rome for spring break during spring practice. It’s not like the football program doesn’t have the money. I read somewhere they averaged $87 million in football revenue over the last three years. That’s $17 million more on average than Ohio State and $40 million more than Wisconsin.
“So, if Coach Haber wants to hold a camp to try to lure me to Michigan, I say go for it. It certainly will give all the football prospects in the area exposure to a big-time football camp,” I said.
“Are you considering going there?”
“They’re on the short list. Right now, I’m also considering Ohio State, Michigan State, Alabama, Kentucky, Clemson, Florida State, Texas, Oklahoma, Stanford, and USC.”
“Three from the Big Ten and then two each from the other Power 5 conferences. I’m surprised you don’t have more from the SEC,” Coach Hope said.
“I have ties to Kentucky and Alabama that I don’t have to the rest. Georgia seems to have gotten their quarterback for the next few years, and who knows what’ll happen at LSU with their new coach? You look at Missouri and how their team walked out over some racial issues, while Ole Miss is one misstep away from a meeting with the NCAA. I guess if I were to expand my list, Florida and Tennessee seem to be making some noise. As of right now, I’m not ruling anyone out, but I need to start getting serious soon,” I said.
“I’d say your list is fine. If it were me, I would probably take Kentucky, Michigan State, Texas, and Stanford off. I just don’t see them competing for a national title anytime soon, and I believe you need to experience that.”
“We’ll see. I have nine months or so to decide.”
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