THE ALL-PRO (21 page)

“Gee, Commish, when you put it
that
way, where do I sign up? Sounds so simple to do. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already.”

Froese’s smile faded. “I’m no idealist, Barnes. I know it won’t be easy. I know it won’t come without casualties. That’s why the players that side with me are going to be at risk. I need sentients that are strong, that can face the danger. What kind of sentient are you?”

“The kind that lines up on Sunday,” Quentin said. “I play football, Commish. That’s what I do. I think I’ll leave the politics out of it.”

“Gee, Quentin, that sounds so simple to do.”

“You’d be surprised,” Quentin said. “May I go?”

Froese gestured to the door. Quentin walked out of the beautiful office and into the hall. There he saw the two white-clad HeavyG guards standing with Gredok and Leiba. He also saw Maygon, the Creterakian civilian and a red-haired Human dressed in a long, white robe. Maygon wore a bright red suit with blinking green trim and platinum jewelry. He looked like a gag Giving Day ornament.

The white-robed Human flashed a warm, genuine smile. He extended his hand. “Quentin Barnes. I’m Kirani Kollok, owner of the To Pirates. Nice to meet you at long last.”

Quentin stared for a second, unsure of what to do. Yet another crime lord, yet another person who could either write him an enormous check or order his death. Quentin looked down at Gredok, whose eye turned black.

Shaking the man’s hand would anger Gredok, but that was politics and Quentin didn’t care about politics. Quentin had no reason to spurn a simple gesture of respect.

He shook the offered hand. “Nice to meet you, Mister Kollok.”

“I’m sorry if Maygon’s actions caused any inconvenience, Quentin. I hope to make it up to you. We want you in the Blood Red and no matter what that takes—” he flashed a glance at Gredok “—we’re going to make that happen. Well, I have to go meet with the Commissioner. Quentin, Gredok, enjoy your day.”

Leiba opened the office door. Kirani walked in, followed by the flying Maygon, then by Leiba, who closed the door behind them.

Gredok’s eye had somehow turned even blacker. “Barnes. Don’t say another word to me. Let’s go.”

The Quyth Leader turned and walked down the hall, his little feet pattering out a fast pattern. Quentin followed, feeling like no matter how hard he tried, he always wound up pissing someone off.

From
“The GFL For Dummies, Third Edition”
by Robert Otto
2684 update

GROWTH AND EXPANSION

Success means growth and growth means expansion. That has been the GFL way since Rob Froese took over as Commissioner. He has spent years increasing the number of lower-tier teams, but is he preparing for a shakeup of Tier One?

In 2683, Froese implemented major changes to the GFL’s two-tier structure. He created three new conferences: the 8-team Whitok Conference, the 10-team Union Conference and the 10-team League Conference. He also disbanded the 10-team Human Conference, spreading those teams among the Union and the League. To fill the 18 open slots in these conferences, Froese promoted 18 Tier Three franchises up to Tier Two, bringing the number of T2 teams to 76.

Froese and the Empire Bureau of Species Interaction (EBSI) then allowed for the creation of 26 new Tier Three franchises — 18 to replace the promoted teams, along with 8 additional franchises. This brought the Tier Three total to 288 teams. For 2684, Froese added an additional 3 teams at the GFL’s lowest level, bringing the total number of teams in at all 3 levels to 389.

2684 NUMBERS: 389 GFL FRANCHISES

• Tier One: 22 teams
  
• Tier Two: 76 teams
  
• Tier Three: 291 teams
  

TIER THREE FREEZE

Twenty-six new franchises means a huge influx of Tier Three teams, the biggest single expansion in league history. Because of this, Froese has declared a five-year (ErT) moratorium on the creation of additional Tier Three teams. While there will be no new T3 teams during that time, there may still be some movement; if any T3 franchises fold due to bankruptcy or any other reason, they can be bought by any interested party and moved to a population center specified by the purchaser as long as there is a regulation stadium available.

NEXT PHASE – TIER ONE EXPANSION?

Commissioner Froese may have halted Tier Three expansion, but he has his sights set on Tier One growth. For the 2685 season, he is proposing the addition of two more franchises. This would bring the T1 total to 24 teams.

Tier One is currently organized into two 11-team divisions: the Solar Division and the Planet Division. If Froese is successful in adding two T1 franchises, he will likely re-organize Tier One into six conferences of four teams each — three conferences in the Planet Division and three in the Solar.

The six conference champions would make the playoffs, as would two “wildcard” teams, one from each division. The end result would be an eight-team playoff, the same as we have now. Also similar to the current structure, the winner of the Planet Division playoff would face the winner of the Solar Division playoff in the Galaxy Bowl.

Froese feels this new structure would create more rivalry among the four-team conferences, as well as remove the confusion of multiple tie-breakers that are often used to fill out the current playoff structure.

THE NEEDS OF TIER THREE

Froese’s restructuring plan runs even deeper. He may connect Tier Three and Tier Two in a promotion/relegation structure identical to that of the T1/T2 relationship.

The current upper tier interaction means that the two teams finishing last in Tier One are relegated to Tier Two, while the two teams that finish at the top of the T2 Tourney are promoted into Tier One. Froese proposes also relegating the worst team in each of the eight Tier Two conferences. Those teams would drop down to Tier Three, while the top eight teams in the T3 tourney would be promoted to Tier Two.

“This interconnected reward and punishment system has been used on Earth for over seven centuries,” Froese said. “If it works for soccer, it can work for gridiron. We need to ensure competitive play at all levels and provide the best franchises with an opportunity to advance.”

If implemented, this change would unify the promotion/relegation strategy for all three levels of professional football. Teams from the smallest markets could fight their way from Tier Three up to Tier One, while Tier One teams could tumble from the pinnacle of accomplishment to the lowest levels of football in just two seasons.

GROWTH TRACKING

• 2679: 350 franchises
  (Rob Froese’s first year as Commissioner)
  
• 2681: 356 franchises
  
• 2683: 386 franchises
  
• 2684: 389 franchises
  

MICHAEL KIMBERLIN HELD
the messageboard. He read over Quentin’s answers. Quentin had spent two hours the night before studying for this test.
After
reviewing the Isis Ice Storm roster for the thousandth time, of course, but he
had
studied.

They sat in Quentin’s living room aboard the
Touchback
. He was committed to educating himself, but still felt inexplicably embarrassed when his other teammates teased him about Kimberlin’s tutoring. Kimberlin knew this and didn’t seem to mind keeping the studies as quiet as possible.

The massive offensive lineman looked up. “Excellent work, Quentin.”

“I get it all right?”

“Not all,” Kimberlin said. “You’re still having trouble with angular momentum, but it’s safe to say you now know more about basic physics than seventy-five percent of the sentients in the galaxy. Your countrymen back on Micovi wouldn’t even know you.”

Quentin nodded. That was the truth, although physics had little to do with it. He had changed so much in the past two years.

“Time to move on to other subjects,” Kimberlin said. “First, though, what happened on the
Regulator
? I am dying to know. Are you suspended? Is Ju?”

“I got a fine,” Quentin said. “Just watch the Galaxy’s Greatest Sports Show. I’m sure they’ll give all the details.”

“And Ju?”

Quentin shrugged. “Gredok got him out of the meeting. As of now, Ju is still cleared to play. No suspension.”

“Does Froese have more information on the murder?”

“Maybe,” Quentin said. “All I know is we have our starting running back lining up in Week One against the Ice Storm.”

Kimberlin nodded. “That is excellent news. Well, you’ve done a good job at learning about your fellow football-playing species. Now we shall learn exobiology basics on the other races.”

“I’ll pass,” Quentin said. “We’re into the season now. I have to focus on football and football alone.”

“There is more to life than football, Quentin. You have come so far. Do you not trust my ability to teach?”

“Well, yeah, but come on — extra biology?”

“
Exo
-biology.”

“Exo-schmexo,” Quentin said. “Why don’t you just give me random story problems? I don’t need busy-work like biology and history.”

“All of this would be easier if you didn’t complain like a child at every small task. Don’t you believe in setting goals?”

Quentin sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course I believe in setting goals.”

“Fine.
My
goal is to turn you into a Renaissance man. A beerswilling, primitive-belief eschewing, violent one, to be true, but a Renaissance man nonetheless.”

“That sounds awesome.”

Kimberlin smiled. “Really? It does?”

“Yeah, really fantastic. By the way, what does
eschew
mean? And what’s a Renaissance man?”

Kimberlin sighed. “Quentin, do you feel like you’re a better person for learning what I have taught you thus far?

Quentin bit his lip and looked at the ground.

“Well? Do you?”

Quentin nodded.

“And I ask you again — do you trust me as a friend?”

Kimberlin was going to play the friend card? Damn. “Yeah, Mike, you know I do.”

“Then just go through this lesson with me. It won’t take long. Our first road game takes us near the Prawatt/Sklorno border. So if I teach you about the Prawatt, one could argue that it is related to football.”

“Prawatt is to football as John Tweedy is to eloquence.”

Kimberlin laughed. “Did you just use an analogy
and
the word
eloquence
?”

“Is that
Renaissance
enough for ya?”

“It is,” Kimberlin said. “But you still need to learn some of this. In known space, the only place more dangerous than Prawatt territory is the Portath Cloud.”

“Why is Portath more dangerous?”

“Because at least we know that most sentients who stray into Prawatt territory wind up in a fight for their lives. The ships that go into the Portath Cloud, however, are never heard from again. I have a text you need to read. One chapter a night.”

“
Homework
?” Mike was asking too much. “The regular season is a week away, man. I have to study football at night.”

“For a professional athlete, your voice squawks like that of a little girl. One chapter a night, Quentin. I do not think this will fracture your intellect. And it’s not good for you to focus on only one subject. Studies show that retention rates drop considerably when one stimulates only a specific region of the brain and that—”

“Fine,” Quentin said. “Anything to avoid one of your longwinded explanations. What’s the name of the damn text?”

“The Biology of Our Enemies,” Kimberlin said. “Sub-title: Structures of the Threat Races.”

“Sounds like a real page-turner.”

“You might be surprised. Did you know that the Prawatt originated on Earth? At least, that’s the theory.”

Quentin automatically started to repeat what he’d been taught as a child, that the Prawatt were spawned in hell by Low One, but he caught himself in time. Gaining knowledge had an annoying drawback of exposing just how ignorant he used to be. Whatever the Prawatt were, they were no more a demon than the Ki, the Quyth or the Sklorno.

“I’ve never heard that they came from Earth. That’s ... what’s the word you use ... illogical?”

Kimberlin smiled and nodded. “Tell me why.”

“The Prawatt are these shapeshifting machines. They’re monsters. If they came from Earth, why wouldn’t they just cut out the middle man and take the Earth over?”

Michael crossed his massive arms over his massive chest, then nodded. Quentin had learned that body language meant something to the effect of:
your thinking is correct, even though your answer is wrong
.

“In the eyes of the Prawatt, Humans like you are the
monsters
,” Kimberlin said. “The Prawatt supposedly originated on Earth but were wiped out in a genocide around 2015 or 2016 Earth time.”

“They escaped?”

“Some of them, possibly. Or perhaps they were recreated somewhere. It is not known. What is known is that they made their first detectable punch-drive flight in 2424. A little-known sentient race, once thought extinct, had returned from the grave.”

“We have a word for that in the Nation.”

Kimberlin raised his eyebrows, waiting for the answer.

“We call that
being undead
,” Quentin said. “Zombies, vampires, stuff like that. Monster machines coming back from extinction? Gimme a break.”

“Again,
you
are the monster to
them
. And they are
not
machines. They breed, they reproduce, they create art.”

“Blah-blah-blah. Art is for pansies, anyway.”

Kimberlin’s mouth opened and his eyes narrowed as if Quentin had insulted his mother. “Art is for
pansies
?”

“Or, as John might say, super-mongo pansies.”

Kimberlin sighed and shook his head, as if Quentin were the saddest sentient in all the land. “Well, fine. The Prawatt also have their own forms of dance.”