Chapter 30, enjoy! Decided to double post again because I've got a couple more chapters prewritten and this is a parallel to the last chapter.

*Don't forget to read Ch 29*

"I'm Slammin' Sammy Mead and it is finally Friday! Kick off is in just a few minutes as the Dillon Panthers take on the Westerby Chaps. Now the Dillon Panthers have only won one of their four games so far, but don't write them off yet, they can still come back from this slow start to their season," Sammy Mead announced over nearly every radio in Dillon.

As kickoff approached, a small crowd gathered at Hermann Field. The first game of the season the crowd was huge, they wanted to see the Panthers have yet another successful season, but as the season went on, fewer and fewer spectators gathered. Some people were upset the Panthers weren't winning, others were upset about the coaching change from Mac McGill to this new coach, and several hated the way this new coach, Coach Barnett, coached.

There were high expectations for Coach Barnett. Previous Coach Mac McGill took the Panthers to state 4 of the 5 years he head coached the Dillon Panthers Super Team, winning 2 state titles and one runner up title. Not to mention the expectations left behind by Coach Taylor who coached the Panthers to a state championship and runner up and the East Dillon Lions to their first state championship before the two teams combined.

"It is now kickoff time for the Dillon Panthers coached by Monte Barnett!" Sammy Mead announced over the radio in Buddy's Bar and Grill.

"Riggins! Turn that crap off!" A drunken customer shouted to Tim who happened to be bartending.

"Yeah, that coach is ruining Dillon's reputation!" Another drunken former Dillon football fan added.

"You're options are Dillon, Westerby, Arnett Mead, or Laribee, what do you want to listen to?" Tim asked, his voice thick with annoyance. This had become an every Friday occurrence, and every Friday the crowd of drunken former Panther fans grew.

"I guess you can keep it on," The customer grumbled as he took another sip of his whiskey. "But Tim, doesn't it bug you that this dude is tarnishing Dillon's image?"

"Dillon has made it to the State quarter finals every year since you were a Freshman, that's 12 years, and this guy is about to flush it all down the toilet!" Another drunken former fan exclaimed.

•

"This is pitiful, down right pitiful," Buddy Garrity told Dillon's mayor, Lucy Rodell, in the stands of Hermann Field.

"His former players had nothing but good things to say about him, and his record was great," Lucy replied as she looked at the scoreboard that reflected Dillon's trailing score with a look of disappointment.

"But now his kids are old enough to play varsity and he's catering to them," Buddy stated as the team broke from their huddle and the offensive players returned to the field, including Coach Barnett's three sons.

"And they can't play very dang good," Lucy added.

"The crowd keeps getting small and smaller after every game."

"I have noticed that," Lucy sighed as she looked around the half full stands. The town of Dillon lived and breathed football, or so they used to.

"Tim has said the crowds at the bar on Friday's have been huge," Buddy told her. "I might just start spending Friday nights there from now on, this is terrible," He added.

"And there's nothing the boosters can do?" She asked.

"Well, we would need approval from the school board and superintendents of East and West to fire him and it would be really hard to find a replacement in the middle of the season," Buddy answered.

"So we're stuck with this all year?"

"They probably won't make it to the playoffs, so at least for the regular season. And I don't think we could get anywhere with the school board and administration because the superintendent at East loves him."

"My God..." Lucy sighed as she watched one of the Coach's sons, the one playing quarterback, throw the ball directly into the hands of the opposing team resulting in the other team getting 6 more points ahead. The Panther fans watched in defeat as the Panthers fell further and further behind over the last quarter pf the game.

"Buddy," A booster member greeted him with a handshake after the game. "I think we need to have a boosters meeting sometime this week."

"I do too, and the sooner the better. How about tomorrow night?" Buddy replied.

"Sounds great, I will let everyone know."

Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think! I finally got out of my writing slump for this story!