Robofootball: Doublespin

In the following weeks, the situation turned for the better for Reynolds on nearly all fronts except for maybe his next meeting with his uncle. He took Rudy “The Gorilla” Garrioli, his offensive coordinator, and Dino “The Dinosaur” Maroni into his confidence regarding the upcoming Seattle game. The Seattle Slayers were 1-4 with that close win over Arkansas the previous week. Seattle would win against Daytona too in a couple of weeks, and even pull off an upset against Anaheim on their last game of the season once the Japanese parts shortage took full effect to finish a not so stellar 3-9. Two wins would be against 0-12 teams and the other against a 6-6 team.

Seattle was mostly made up of Gen 2 players with Gen 1 backups. They had invested in a Gen 3 quarterback; however, it had gone down early in the Arkansas game as the throwing arm control module replacement did not arrive in time for the game against the Robocats. Mark, the controller for Michigan’s own Gen 2 #18 clone quarterback for Jess, did a decent job. Jess was still in recovery with Dr. Hobson and did not make the train trip. Antwan caught some important passes from the Gen 2 QB and Ichiro continued to run his #22 like a graceful gazelle amongst clumsy water buffalo. Dino had made some good calls on defense and the Seattle Gen 2’s proved to be no match for the Kettering designs that were standing up to the Japanese Gen 3 models just fine. Seattle had spent all of its seed money for season 2 on the Gen 3 quarterback and had none left over for other Gen 3 players. As a result, they were little more than a 2nd tier team at best and the Robocats leapt out to a 28-3 halftime lead.

With the most recent little conference with his Uncle Dano in the forefront of his mind, Reynolds dug deep into the well, pulling out a few old Gen 1 backups that had seen little playing time this season. There were barely enough controllers left from last year who were familiar with their basic operations as about half of the thumb jockeys had been replaced by Kettering students. No matter, Reynolds ordered some on auto play just to see how they would perform, including the Gen 1 quarterback, the 3rd stringer behind Jess and the Gen 2 clone. The Gen 1 had provided some memorable laughers last year and this game would be no exception. Rudy the Gorilla called for a 30 degree pass play just 15 yards out. Antwan was hiding in the locker room in favor of his double on the field.

The Robocat Gen 1 quarterback was given instructions in automated or auto pilot mode with no direct controllers. As preprogrammed, the Gen 1 QB caught the hike exactly 2 yards back from center, and then swiveled left to the proper degree setting as if it were the central dot of a protractor. It made as if to throw as intended, but the ball did not come off of its padded magnetized hand. In order to compensate, it moved another 60 degrees counterclockwise which was more like -30 degrees, and made a throwing motion again. This time the ball came off its padded hand only the ball was thrown backwards. It was ruled a fumble naturally and a Slayer corner was able to pounce on it before it went out of bounds. The corner returned it for a Seattle touchdown. Reynolds didn’t mind and stuck with the Gen 1 QB for one more series when it pitched a handoff 3 yards over the head of a non-Ichiro controlled backup running back. Seattle recovered again and only had to cover 18 yards for another quick 3rd quarter touchdown to cut the deficit down to 11 at 28-17.

Reynolds called a quick conference with the coordinators, “Rudy, better get us another touchdown to be safe.”

“Yeah boss, we should be able to do that.”

“Dino, let’s maybe not give up more than 1 touchdown.”

“Yeah, that’s a good cushion, we should be able to handle these clowns.”

“Okay, let’s see if we can maybe keep a 2-score lead, but no more than that, then run some time off, got to be under 21, right?”

“Yeah,” both coordinators said; after all, they were family and had been basically put into their positions by Dano Verlucci. They understood.

“All right then, let’s put the starters back in on offense, let’s leave the defense with backups for now, as long as we get another touchdown.”

“Okay boss.”

“Remember to waste some clock Rudy,” Reynolds added. It was weird to see the empty seat next to him. Hobson had been to every game so far, but, like Jess, had no reason to take the trip to Seattle. Reynolds was hoping that Jess was being freed of all the crap that Hobson had stuck in him.

With Mark at the Gen 2 QB controls and Ichiro running, they scored another touchdown to make it 35-17. Rudy had tried to kill time by calling more runs, but Ichiro was gobbling up first downs on 2 plays and sometimes even in a single play. Reynolds’ biggest concern was that something might happen on defense, an interception or fumble recovery or what have you. He certainly didn’t want or need an accidental score, but he couldn’t very well tell the eager controllers, especially the enthusiastic Kettering students to ease up or stop doing their best. What he could do was throw in all of the backups as he had mentioned to Dino. His fears would prove to be unfounded as the Slayers managed another TD 4 minutes into the 4th quarter to make the score 35-24 in favor of the Robocats. Reynolds didn’t want to overcompensate and blow the game, but luckily 21 points was a serious cushion to work within. It wasn’t like 2 or 3 points in basketball where one stray half court shot could make a huge difference.

“Burn clock,” he muttered to Rudy while calling for more backups on offense. Rudy nodded back, calling more run plays to the full back or a backup not controlled by Ichiro. They still managed two first downs without throwing before being stopped on the next 3 downs. They had to punt but they did pull several minutes off of the clock.

“I want all of the starters back on defense,” Reynolds announced to the room. There was a major controller shift as Dino replaced Rudy at the podium after the punt. “No more points.” Reynolds added to inspire his defense, but unbeknownst to them with the exceptions of his coordinators, Reynolds wanted no more points for either team. The defensive starters came through and stopped the Slayers. Reynolds then forbade Rudy from calling any pass plays and grounded Ichiro too. As was his wish, neither team scored the rest of the game.

Reynolds sighed with relief at the end of the game. He was feeling some pressure. His team was now 3-3 at the halfway point of the season and he had stayed under the spread as ordered, and now there would be a much needed week off for everyone, including Jess. He could count on his coordinators to quell any rumors about his unorthodox substitutions made during the game, mostly about bringing backups in early when the score was relatively close. They could always say that it was a test for seeing what the bench warmers could do. On top of that, the coach made the calls whether anyone agreed with them or not; furthermore, Reynolds was directly connected to the Verlucci Family and had the ear of Dano Verlucci. Those who pissed off the Verlucci’s in any way shape or form, were basically playing with angry rattlesnakes during mating season.

Reynolds was anxious to get home too and skipped the all night train ride with the team in favor of a commercial flight. He did not wish to bother his uncle about a special private flight using Dano Verlucci’s private Lear Jet. Seattle was some distance away and the family jet was parked in a hangar in Detroit as Mr. Verlucci did not personally attend the game in Seattle. Reynolds still held out hope for his young quarterback, and extracting him from Hobson’s clutches might not be such a bad idea either. Hobson could still prove to be a liability, but since Reynolds had promised research funding for the good doctor, and he was a man of his word, Reynolds felt that he could trust the doctor to keep quiet. If not, there was always an implied “or else” and the Verlucci’s, unlike parents and some teachers with unruly children, followed through on their implied threats to maintain order and discipline.

“When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche