AUTHOR'S NOTES: The first part of this probably could have been in with the last chapter, but it might have been too long. I'm phobic about chapter length. But I did get the roping scene in here! Much of it is my own creation, since there's no dialogue in the movie for that part. Hope I did OK.
A NEW TEAM – CHAPTER FOUR – LET'S WORK TOGETHER
"This is more crowded than a truckload of cattle," Dwayne complained. It was the day after Team USA had met in their disastrous scrimmage, and for today's practice, Coach Bombay's first move had been to tie the team together with Dwayne's rope. Team USA was now a huddled mass of blue and red jerseys.
"Somebody better watch their hands," Julie warned.
"Aw, I smell something," Averman said.
"GOLDBERG!" The team accused.
"It wasn't me!" Goldberg tried to defend himself.
"No," Portman said proudly, raising his hands. "It was me!"
"Why do guys enjoy their gas so much, anyway?" Julie asked, sounding annoyed.
Dwayne was prepared to answer, but Coach Bombay jumped in. "I don't know how to make this any clearer," he said. "You are a team. You need to learn to work as one. Now as one, skate."
Half the team jerked to the left, the other half to the right. Soon the huddled mass of red and blue jerseys was squirming on the ice, everyone accusing everyone else of making the wrong move.
"You see?" Coach Bombay said. "Everyone goes his own way, everyone falls down. Now try again."
Getting up as one was even more difficult. Despite impassioned pleas from the team, Coach Bombay refused to untie them. When the kids were finally upright again, Portman commanded, "OK, everyone to the right!"
"Who made you boss?" Fulton countered. "Everyone to the left!"
The two boys' pulling made the fall even worse than the last time. "Ow!" Dwayne cried as he knocked heads with Portman.
"Hey, watch it, Tex," Portman said.
"You can argue all you want," Coach Bombay said. "But I am not untying you until you move as one."
It took half an hour of arguing, head banging, falling, and getting back up, but Team USA finally, finally, could skate as one.
"Now you're getting it!" Coach Bombay affirmed. "That's it! Teamwork! Communication! Which way, Captain Charlie?"
"Right!" Charlie said, his voice muffled by the bigger Fulton in front of him.
"Right turn!" Coach Bombay said, and the team lumbered after him. "Charge!"
"Man, Texan coaches don't do anything like this," Dwayne said. "Must be a Minnesota thing."
Two hours later, an exhausted Team USA took a knee at center ice. Julie was sweltering beneath her thick goalie pads.
"You guys are starting to look like hockey players," Coach Bombay said. "You worked hard today. But hockey should also be fun." He picked up Dwayne's rope. "Ranger Dwayne?"
"Yes, sir?" Came Dwayne's thick Southern drawl.
"Round me up some stray cattle!" Coach Bombay commanded, tossing the rope to Dwayne.
Dwayne grinned. "My pleasure!"
The team quickly scattered to all corners of the ice, trying to get away from Dwayne's rope. The red-haired kid everyone called Averman was the first to go. Julie wasn't surprised. Averman seemed a bit slow.
"Here I come, Julie!" Dwayne warned, speeding towards Julie.
"No!" Julie said, backpedaling away, even though she knew Dwayne had her cornered. "Dwayne, no, no no!"
"Gotcha!" Dwayne exclaimed, throwing the rope around her.
"Aw, man…" Julie complained as Coach Bombay blew his whistle and called her out.
"Hey, little lady! I'm comin' for ya!" Dwayne yelled to Kaley.
"Uh-uh, no you're not!" Kaley said, shaking her head.
"Yes I am!" Dwayne said, sending his rope out. But then it was almost like Kaley disappeared. "Huh?" Dwayne asked, looking around.
"Nice try, Cowboy," came a voice from behind him.
"Hey! Now that's cheatin'!" Dwayne said.
"No it's not!" Kaley said. "It's just an advantage of being short!"
Dwayne decided to take advantage of the moment and rope Kaley. "Gotcha that time!" He proclaimed.
"Shoot." Kaley removed the rope from her shoulders.
"Quick! He's coming!" Guy grabbed Connie's hand and pulled her away.
"I got the lovebirds!" Dwayne announced proudly.
"You're both out!" Coach Bombay yelled from the sidelines.
"I got the coach!" Dwayne said, slinging his rope around Coach Bombay.
"Hey!" Gordon said in surprise.
"You tied us up!" Goldberg said. "Now we get to tie you up!"
"Uh-uh guys, uh-uh, no way…" Gordon's protests were to no avail as the team wound him up in Dwayne's rope.
Three days later, the team gathered in TCU's cafeteria for breakfast and the unveiling of the Wheaties box. The picture had been taken the day before and everyone was excited to see it.
"You kids ready?" Tibbles asked, standing in front of the huge "box," which had a white sheet thrown over it.
"Come on, show us!" Kaley said, her voice bordering on whining.
Tibbles whipped the sheet off the "box," revealing a picture of Team USA in their official warm-ups. "There you go."
Dwayne stood up and pointed to the picture. "Hey y'all, that's us!"
"Duh," Fulton said.
"And just in case anyone asks who you are…" Tibbles reached into a box and pulled out a smart-looking red, white, and blue jersey with the letters "USA" printed boldly on the front.
USA? Charlie thought. But we're the Ducks!
"Brought to you by those wonderful people at Hendrix for all your hockey needs," Tibbles said, showing the Hendrix logo on the jersey's sleeve. "Fulton, there you go." He tossed the jersey he was holding to Fulton. "Coach, here's yours." He threw another one to Coach Bombay.
As the rest of the team flocked to the box, Charlie leaned over to Coach Bombay. "Looks great, Coach," he said quietly. "But we're the Ducks, and this stuff says Hendrix all over it."
"They're our sponsors, Charlie," Coach Bombay explained.
"Yeah, I know," Charlie said. "But can't we be USA Ducks? Or at least keep our own colors?"
Coach Bombay shrugged. "Business stuff," He said, getting up to talk to Tibbles.
Business stuff? Charlie thought. This is hockey! Not a business!
"Hey Charlie! Catch!"
Charlie looked up just in time to get his jersey right across the face. "Uh, thanks, Adam!"
Kaley had decided that living in Minnesota was a double-edged sword. The winters were cold and dry as could be. For Kaley's first winter in Minnesota, she'd gotten an unusual amount of snow. The second had been mild in the snow department but extreme temperature-wise. Maryland's winters were mild, and there was an occasional snowstorm. But they never lasted long. Minnesota's summers were hot, but lacked Baltimore's soggy, oppressive humidity. It was seventy-five degrees outside, so Miss. MacKay had decided to have school outdoors. On a seventy-five degree day in Baltimore, it would be too hot to even think about going outside.
"Ancient Greece was the beginning of Western civilization," Miss MacKay was explaining. "In Greece they didn't have professional sports or Wheaties boxes. So the athletes competed for another reason. Anyone know?"
"Falafels?" Goldberg tried.
"You wish, Goldberg," Connie said amidst other comments from the group.
Miss MacKay gave a patient smile and looked around. "Charlie?"
"Pride." Charlie answered.
"That's right," Miss MacKay confirmed. "The various states flew their flags and wore their home colors proudly."
"Did America always dominate?" Fulton asked hopefully.
The team gave annoyed remarks, while Portman defended, "It's a good question!"
"No," Miss MacKay shook her head. "America wasn't around back then. Keep in mind that compared to other countries, America is still very young. Still forming its own identity. America's a teenager, just like you."
"Like us?" Jesse asked.
Miss MacKay nodded. "You bet. A little awkward at times, but always right there on the verge of greatness."
Kaley smiled. That was a nice way to put it.