From: indexhtml@netscape.net   
      
   Story: The Long Ride Home   
      
      
       Chapter I   
      
       When I moved to Watermelon Mountain, I'd been coaching basketball for   
   about ten years.  I'd played in high school and collage, and when I   
   graduated, since I wasn't even close to be good enough for the pros, it was   
   just natural to gravitate to coaching kids basketball.  So I had my day job   
   accounting at a big lumber mill, and my night job, coaching basketball.   
   During the season it was a toss up as to which job got more hours, it   
   didn't leave much time for a social life.   
      
       I'd moved to Watermelon Mt.  From Great Falls.  It was a smaller town.   
   But the pay was almost double.  In Great Falls, I'd coached 3 teams of   
   twelve year olds to state championships, and three others to the finals, so   
   I naturally expected the local recreation department to fall all over   
   themselves when I came to town.  But it didn't quite work out that way.   
      
       When I went in to the rec department, they told me that all the teams   
   had coaches.  In fact the only opening they had was a girl's team.   
      
       "Girl's!" I exploded.  "Girls don't play basketball.  They play at   
   basketball." This was probably the wrong thing to say to Ms.  Baxter.  She   
   turned green and almost threw me out of her office.   
      
       "Mr.  Cole." she said evenly, standing up.  My God, the woman was huge.   
   "I have one team without a coach.  It is a twelve year old girl's traveling   
   team.  You have excellent references from Great Falls, but here, we think   
   there are more important things than winning championships." Spoken like   
   someone who'd never been close to be a champion, I thought.  "If you would   
   like to coach this team, we would appreciate it, and I would put your name   
   at the top of the list for next year.  If this is beneath your talents,   
   then I suggest you try Boise." Boise was 45 miles away.  I took the team.   
      
       We had our first practice the next Monday.  I wasn't expecting much, but   
   I was pleasantly surprised.  The girls were serious basketball players.   
   They played hard, they listened.  They hustled from one end of the court to   
   the other.  This might not be so bad.   
      
       There were seven girls on the team.  Bobbie, Aimee, and Monica were   
   eleven and in the fifth grade.  Carrie was twelve and also in the fifth   
   grade.  Brandee and Miranda were twelve and in the sixth grade.  Elizabeth   
   or Liz was fourteen and an eighth grader.  She was in the league on a   
   special waver because she'd been sick for a couple of years and missed out   
   on sports and wasn't at the level of other eighth graders physically.  All   
   the girls got along, and they were kind of cute, as little girls go.   
      
       I took over the team from Bobbie's father who hadn't had a clue what he   
   was doing.  When I took over, we had three weeks until the first game.  We   
   spent the first week working on basics, passing, shooting, and dribbling.   
   It gave me a chance to get to know the girls, their strengths and   
   weaknesses.  Not surprisingly, The ex-coach had them all in the wrong   
   spots, so the second week I put them in new positions and started working   
   on how to play aggressive b-ball.  I would have like to spend about three   
   weeks on basics, but we just didn't have the time.  The third week, we   
   spent playing a lot of 4 on 4.  I moved the girls around between the two   
   teams, because they had to get used to how everyone played.  The ex-coach   
   had them practicing twice a week for an hour.  I changed it to three nights   
   a week for two and a half hours.  The girls ate it up.  I ran their little   
   butts off and they came back for more.  Brandee told me that Watermelon   
   Mountain's traveling team hadn't won a game in six years, so I added a   
   Saturday practice for four hours and told the girls that if they didn't win   
   at least half their games, I was going to find the geekiest boys at their   
   schools and make them kiss them.  I told them they were `sad and pathetic'   
   a lot, so they voted to be the Watermelon Mountain Pretty Pathetics.   
      
       Our first game was against the Hilton River Panthers at home on the   
   first Saturday in February.  They thought we'd be an easy warm-up for the   
   season because they knew our reputation, but they learned different in the   
   first twenty seconds of the game.  Miranda stole the ball from their center   
   and speeded down the court to score an easy two.  By the end of the first   
   quarter, we were up by seven and we never left the lead.  When the girls   
   shook hands after the game (64 - 43) the Panthers were not very   
   enthusiastic.   
      
       After the game, Liz's mom came over and told me that Liz would probably   
   need a ride to the away games, because she didn't drive and her father was   
   in the Navy and away.  I told her no problem, and got directions to their   
   house a few miles out of town.  Monday, Brandee called and told me that   
   she's need a ride too.  It turned out that Brandee lived about a quarter   
   mile from Liz, so I told her to meet me there and she could show me where   
   she lived when I took her home.   
      
       We had a good practice on Tuesday.  I worked them hard for two hours and   
   then sat them down for a team meeting.  I spent twenty minutes telling them   
   everything they'd done wrong against the Panthers, and then surprised them   
   with the new uniforms.  You should have seen their faces light up.  The new   
   uniforms were black satin shorts they went about halfway to the knee, I'd   
   always hated the really long shorts that many basketball players wear these   
   days.  The jerseys were a black airflow over a red t-shirt.  All in all,   
   pretty cool.  The girls ran into the locker room and changed.  The parents   
   were starting to arrive to take them home and the girls came out and   
   modeled their new uniforms for us.  Ms.  Baxter surprised me by showing up   
   to congratulate them on the first league win in eight years, Brandee had   
   been wrong.  After everybody else had left, she thanked me for my hard work   
   and told me that I'd get first pick of a boys team next year.   
      
       Life was good.   
      
       The next afternoon, I was running a little late because of a problem at   
   work, but fortunately, when I got to Liz's house, both girls were outside   
   waiting for me.  I went inside to talk to Liz's mom for a minute.  I told   
   her that I thought the game should be over by eight, that we'd probably hit   
   some kind of fast food, about a two hour drive, so we should be home by ten   
   thirty or eleven.  She said she'd call Brandee's mother and let her know.   
      
       When I came out to my car, I was surprised that both girls were in the   
   front passenger seat.  I had a Camaro that didn't have a lot of room in the   
   back seat, but I figured the two girls would huddle back there and giggle   
   and gossip during the drive.  They were seated side by side and all buckled   
   up, so I got in, fastened my seat belt and took off for Salmon Island.  We   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)