Whatever their motivation, high school umpires generally tried to do their best. Did they make mistakes? Absolutely. But the tape showed something completely different. The man had intentionally made wrong calls for reasons known only to him.
Today, we had our first conference game against Washington. I remained under strict orders not to do anything ‘provocative,’ as Vice Principal Palm put it, to attract a larger crowd. Everyone remembered the number of people who showed up at Washington last year for their fundraiser, and no one believed we could handle that right now.
My grandmother did tell my dad that since I won the Academy Award, the increased security at the games and high school cost the city money, money it didn’t have. Our former mayor had embezzled funds, and most of those funds hadn’t been recovered. Our former mayor had apparently decided that if he had to do the time, he was keeping the money. In a way, I couldn’t blame him.
City government was supposed to be nonprofit, so the loss of the funds and the new strain on public safety combined to make a significant financial problem. Dad said Grandma had been in contact with both the county and state to see if they would somehow help out. But that was just a shot in the dark with no real financial help for the city on the way.
On the football front, Michigan approached me and suggested that if I recommitted, Mike’s scholarship would be revoked. They’d done some digging and discovered that Mike wasn’t really ‘Michigan material.’
If I hadn’t talked to the offensive coordinator I would be working with, and seen the abysmal way he dealt with control issues, I would have accepted. Michigan was a good fit for the three of us, but I sadly realized I really had to go in another direction.
The other bit of information I did dig out of their head coach was that if I didn’t recommit, Mike would keep his scholarship. As much as I hated the guy, he was a good athlete. Mike was more of a pocket passer than me and looked like a top-tier quarterback when you saw him throwing the ball to Damion. Heck, with Damion as my receiver, I could do it left-handed, and he would make me look like a pro, too.
Mike, being a pocket passer, fit Michigan’s style of play better than I did. Michigan really wanted my mobility because their offensive line needed a serious upgrade. All too often against better competition, their quarterbacks were running for their lives.
Hearing that I held Mike’s scholarship in my hands almost made me want to suck it up and recommit. However, that wasn’t who I wanted to be, and it left a bad taste in my mouth that Michigan would even make the offer. Somehow, this seemed like they were going back on their word because they’d already told me Mike was staying. In the end, it wasn’t hard to say ‘no.’
Wolf and Tim talked to me about our next step. With the NCAA dragging their feet on issuing waivers for my image rights, I needed to confirm that wherever I went, I wouldn’t have a problem.
Mr. Morris had prepared draft documents and a summary sheet that laid out what I would need in place. Those agreements would ensure I could meet my nonathletic commitments and not have them conflict with the university’s needs. He’d sent both USC and Oklahoma the information, and we’d received confirmation that they were both willing to provide us with what we wanted.
With that worked out, we planned a trip to Oklahoma next weekend and in-home visits from both schools next week. Personally, I felt this had dragged on long enough.
Major League Baseball represented another iron in the fire. I gave that avenue a slim-to-none chance, but wanted to explore my options. I wouldn’t consider skipping college unless it looked like I would slide into a high spot in the first round. Otherwise, it made more sense to go to college and keep both my baseball and football options open.
We’d been told to expect several scouts to attend today’s game. They wanted to put eyes on me now to see whether I would fit in their organization. At least Coach Haskins had agreed to manage their visits, which made me happy. It saved me from having yet another thing to juggle in my life.
On top of all that, I was also flying to Cincinnati today. Grace had some news on Dare’s drones and asked that he and his mom accompany me so we could discuss it. I’d arranged the rental of a plane to take advantage of my new license.
I glanced down, and my trusty hound looked ready to drop, so I slowed to a walk.
“You okay?”
Duke looked up at me expectantly, panting like a freight train. I walked him home and opened the back door. We stepped inside, and I saw his water dish was empty, so I walked into the kitchen to fill it for my buddy.
I found Angie sitting at the kitchen table, looking pissed off. I didn’t need to deal with her drama today. She’d claimed the boys’ upstairs playroom as her bedroom for now.
