Man-Boy
WARNING!!! If you have NOT READ Emerge Chronicles aka EMCRON parts 1-3 do not read past this point. Go back and read REUNION, Smart and Brave, and the Battle of Kimmer Sea Plains first.
“Back on in five, four, three, two,” a man in headphones spoke to two people sitting at a dark desk. Behind them were multiple high-definition television screens showing highlights and random clips from different sports. Both people at the desk sat up straight, looking at the ON-AIR indication sign, waiting for the lightbulbs to turn from red to green. The red light flashed three times and then turned green; they were now live on air from coast to coast.
“Thank you for watching Sports Central. I am Jet Johnson, and my colleague here is the beautiful Mia Sam. For those of you who are just joining us, welcome,” Jet said, looking at Mia. “Now, Mia, before we went to break, we were about to start talking about Michael Sanchez from LMU or, as he is known to us in the sports world, Rsan.”
“What an athlete he is, Jet,” Mia said. “Not much is known about his personal life. His coaches and friends have played the role of gatekeepers to those secrets over the years. What we do know is his athletic ability is ridiculous.”
“Ridiculous athletic ability, almost Herculean. Rsan has more championship gold than anyone I know, and he isn’t even a professional yet.” Jet added to the conversation.
“He really should be called Midas instead of Rsan, even though he sets the competition on fire. The bonus is he’s way too easy on the eyes with those teal eyes of his. Can add hearts on fire to the list also,” Mia said, fanning herself with a sheet of paper, causing Jet to chuckle.
“Ooookay, then,” Jet said, pushing a glass filled with water over to Mia. “For the flames.”
“Haha,” Mia laughed and picked the glass up, taking an exaggerated big gulp from it.
“Well, let us get right to it, shall we? We at ASPN (Athletic Sports News) have been granted the very first official interview. Folks, this will be his first interview ever past the traditional talk-to-my-coach line he has used on every reporter since his freshman year in high school,” Jet announced proudly.
“We have been drawing lots here at ASPN headquarters to see who gets to do it. I hear some people are offering to trade show time slots to land this,” Mia said.
“That we are, that we are,” Jet said with an embellished expression at the camera. “Anyway, he really is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. Whichever topics are discussed, the only topic that matters in the end is which sport he will choose to go pro in. Rsan has his obvious choices of football or baseball. But we cannot forget that he is also an accomplished national judo champ and is third in the world at Judo. He could easily be first if he were not as committed to the collegiate sports world. Can you say TEAM USA? We are not going to even touch on his boxing skills, and MMA is knocking on the door to get him too. Modeling contracts and even Tim McGann, the billionaire owner of WNA (Wrestling National Association), has thrown his hat in the ring. The dude is offering thirty million for a one-year contract, guaranteed. The WNA is even willing to pick up the tab on a 100-million-dollar policy against future injuries for the next five years. Regardless of what sport he plays after his tour with his company ends.”
“Unheard of, and Oh you casually forgot to mention he is a doctor. Paging Dr. Fire!” Mia said.
“You are right, Mia. A lot of this hype is because of how little we know about him outside of his athletic prowess. It is what makes the mythos of Rsan into something like an origin story from a comic book. It is why I cannot wait for this interview,” Jet Johnson said.
“Tell them, Jet, how we got the privilege of this first interview. Never mind, I will tell them all,” Mia said.
“You just going to read my card, Mia,” Jet laughed, throwing his notes into the air.
“I never heard of this, but ASPN has paid Rsan a million-dollar fee to be the first to have the news on where he will end up and his first exclusive interview. The best part, 100% of the fee is going to scholarships and cancer research,” Mia said, smiling.
“Whichever franchise or sports end up getting Rsan certainly will be much better for it,” Jet said. “We do not have much time left in the show, but someone from ASPN will sit down with him shortly after he graduates from LMU next week to find out what Rsan’s career path will be.”
“Thank you for joining us tonight on Sports Central. I am Mia.”
“And I am Jet Johnson. See you in the A.M.”
***
Dean Feeny of the prestigious Luke Medical University was wearing black graduation robes with three black velvet bars spaced equally along each of the sleeves. A multi-colored sash, along with different colored corded ropes announcing his many accomplishments in education, hung around his neck.
“Marcus Sampson,” Dean Feeny said, calling out the second to last name in the “S” section of the list of graduating students. There was only one other name left in the “S” section not called yet, but there was a red line drawn through it. The red line served as a reminder for Dean Feeny not to read the student’s name aloud. Feeny looked over at the section cordoned off for the press. In years past, they would have only needed a small section, but this year, it swelled to the most he had ever seen. They were all readying their cameras, zooming in on the stage to get the best shot for their news outlets.
Dean Feeny sighed, wishing the name was not crossed out, and the young man and his family were here to share in all he had accomplished. For a fleeting moment, Dean Feeny thought of their first meeting before refocusing his attention on the ceremony he was taking part in.
The student whose name he had just called walked across the stage, his family and friends in the audience cheering and whistling proudly. The dean waited for the auditorium to settle down before speaking the next name. He moved on to the next name, “Sicily Taylor.” The crowd was obviously surprised and began to whisper amongst themselves. Some were even checking the program, scanning for a particular name, just to ensure it was there. Even Sicily’s family was caught unawares. For weeks, the Taylors joked their group would sound pitiful compared to the group cheering for the person called before Sicily. There was a noticeable delay in the celebration from Sicily’s family and friends in attendance before they started to shout earnestly as if to make up for the momentary lack of noise on their part.
Dean Feeny continued to read through the names on the list. He waited until all the diplomas had been handed out. Shaking the hand of the last student before returning to the podium to continue with his remarks. “As you all know, it seems I have skipped a name.” the audience cheered. They all must have thought this was done on purpose. “To those who don’t know this extraordinary young man I skipped, let me tell you how I met Michael R. Sanchez or, as many of you know him, Rsan.” The crowd cheered and whistled at the name the dean had said. As if his name was their cue, a few audience members held up signs representing their favorite professional sports teams as if they could sway Rsan’s opinion on his future career path. Even a student who was a fan of WNA stood up, taking off his graduation robe and revealing a wrestling cosplay outfit while shouting, causing many around him to take snapshots for their social media accounts. Dean Feeny waited for them to calm down.
“Before the start of his freshman year. I believe it was early June, to be exact. This man-boy barged into my office,” the crowd laughed at Dean Feeny’s joke. “He told me he had been waiting for five hours to see me,” Feeny recounted the story of his first meeting with ‘man-boy’ Michael to the audience as he relived it in his mind. He referred to Michael as a man-boy because he was a gifted athlete. Physically speaking, he did not even appear to be eighteen. Rsan dominated the football field in high school as a running back and outside linebacker. Leading his team to win four state titles. A four-time champion is a rare feat for any sport at the high school level. But what made Michael unique was that football was not the only passion he pursued. He was also a four-time state wrestling champion, a national judo champion, a three-time state champion in baseball, and a golden glove boxing champion for his age group in Florida.
