“Thank you, David. We didn’t have a chance to find a guest this week, so I thought we would interview you.”
“It comes at a good time,” David said. “With Matt Long injured, and me recovered from a concussion, I’ll be starting against Arizona this weekend.”
Tracy and David did a good ten minutes of him going on about how good Arizona was and making sure he didn’t give them any poster material to rile them up.
Then Tracy turned the spotlight on David as she talked about all his accomplishments in football and baseball.
“What do you think sets you apart from everyone else?”
Tracy asked.
David almost went into his usual spiel, but he’d promised her an honest answer.
“The simple answer is that I love football. When I’m on the field, it’s our offense against their defense, with a stadium full of fans rooting for their team. We’ve called a play designed to defeat our adversaries on each snap of the ball. In practice, we’ve run it over and over again with the goal that it will be perfect.
“What makes it beautiful is we’re trying to achieve something that’s unattainable,” David said.
“Then why try to achieve it?” Tracy asked.
“If you don’t aim for perfection, you cannot obtain anything great, even though perfection is impossible. So, you have to reconcile yourself to failure. It’s not perfect, and you have to make your peace with that.”
“So, what do you do?”
“You go to practice the next day and strive for perfection,” David said with a silly grin.
“That sounds crazy,” Tracy said.
“Wonderful crazy, maybe,” David admitted. “What our coaches teach us is ‘to do our job.’ My job is to try to be the best quarterback I can be. To do that, I have to practice, I have to train, I have to watch a ton of game film. I pride myself on how much work I put in.
“My advice to other quarterbacks, and other football players in general, is to train as much as you can and as often as you can. For example, the day in the life of a typical football player starts at ten in the morning, lifting from ten to twelve. They then have to pause their workout to let their body recover.
“Next is practice, from four to six, and maybe watch some film. From there, they go home, eat dinner, study for their classes, go to bed, and do it all over the next day. That is two, maybe three training sessions for that day.
“Now imagine, if you will, I get up earlier and start working out. I’m up at dawn, and I go run for my cardio, and then I recover. Next, I’m in the weight room for an hour or two. I recover while I’m in class, and then I find someone to throw the ball to so I’m ready for practice. Next is practice, and then it’s time for film review sessions with the coaches. I then go watch more film on my own. That’s five, maybe seven, sessions of football-related activities a day.
“You ask what sets me apart. Look at how much more training I’ve done by simply starting at dawn. Now, I do that as the years go by, and the separation I have from my competitors and peers just grows larger and larger. Now I’m in my fifth year of working harder than anyone else. It doesn’t matter what kind of work they’re doing now, they’re never going to catch up.
“So, if you’re thinking about becoming good at anything, including football, you need to get up early and put the work in each and every day. Consistent commitment to your goal of perfection will get you there,” David said.
“Listening to you makes me realize what a slacker I am,”
Tracy said with a self-deprecating laugh.
◊◊◊
On his way to class, David’s phone rang.
“Come get me,” Cassidy ordered.
“I’ll be there next week.”
“No. Come get me now. I’m about to go crazy just sitting around all day. My dad won’t even let me do sixty minutes of hell with his stupid wimpy football team. He’s worried I might hurt myself.”
“Have the doctors cleared you for something that strenuous?” David asked.
David had to mute his phone because he busted out laughing when Cassidy went into full meltdown mode.
Everyone could jump off a cliff if they thought she was some kind of invalid.
“So, come get me,” Cassidy tried again.
“Next week,” David said and then softened his tone.
“Buttercup. Everyone is trying their best to take care of you. Your dad is only worried you’ll get hurt. You have to remember that when I called him, we didn’t know if you were going to make it or not. Maybe give him some slack.”
“I hate you.”
“How about when I come to get you, I bring you a chocolate cupcake from Mwokaji Cakery?”
They made the best cupcakes in LA.
“You better.”
‘The nerve!’ She hung up on him.
◊◊◊
Emily met Crystal for lunch. They went through the line and found a table in the back.
“How are you doing?” Crystal asked.
“What do you mean?”
Crystal opened her laptop, and the top LA paper had a front-page article about what happened Saturday. USC’s president had put out a letter. Emily skimmed through the lengthy story.
USC Fraternity Suspended After Reports of Possible Drug-Facilitated Attempted Sexual Assaults
The incidents were reported confidentially to the university through its Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Services (RSVP). The school said that the fraternity has been placed on interim suspension and is barred from hosting parties, social gatherings, or any other activities at its house.
Police arrested eight fraternity members when they live-streamed the attempted assaults on social media. All eight were released from custody Sunday morning. The police had no comment, as this is an ongoing investigation.
The national Sigma Upsilon Fraternity said it is ‘concerned by these serious allegations’ and intends to work with USC to investigate them.
“I plan to make sure they’re closed down. They don’t belong as Greeks with behavior like that. I still can’t believe that the four of you got yourselves into such a dangerous situation,” Crystal ranted.
“Thanks, Crystal. Way to blame the victim.”
Crystal’s eyes got big when she realized how that sounded. If Emily felt that she really meant it, she should be upset.
“I’m sorry, Em, I shouldn’t have said that. Of course it’s not your fault. I’m just upset that all this happened in the first place. We, as a sorority, let you down.”
“You hear tales of danger concerning getting drugged at a party. I just never thought it would happen to me. I’m not sure I want to go to any more parties for a while.”
“It should be fine. Everyone will be on their guard at the next party,” Crystal promised.
“It’s not just that. One of those guys is in my math class, and he tried to talk to me today.”
“We can’t have that. I’ll …”
“It’s okay,” Emily jumped in. “Chuy is in my class, too, and he offered to meet the guy in the parking lot. He promised to never come near me again.”
“I’ll have to personally thank Chuy for that.”
“Lars enlisted his fraternity, and they and the football team are walking the four of us to classes this week. Bear said David asked the team and Lars to be on the lookout for us. You’re lucky to have him as a boyfriend,” Emily said.
“I wish I’d thought to ask them to do that. Sorry, I hadn’t thought how you might be nervous with the Sigma Upsilon guys roaming the campus. I’ll be sure to thank all your escorts,” Crystal promised.