The Diary of Michael Coleman

[nfcsouth25]

this is good

[G-Men72]

this is good so far, im liking it. its looks like hes in for a lot of trouble though

[woy1509]

very nice storyline, this is great so far.
the only question that i have is, why did footballfreak post this thread? lol.

[G-Men72]

thats what confuse me too. i think that was his name originally but he made a new account

[buckeyeryan]

Originally Posted by G-Men72

thats what confuse me too. i think that was his name originally but he made a new account

For some reason, when i tried to post the the original thread, i couldn't get in with my normal username. I made a new ID so I could begin it, but then when i started to add more posts, i was able to do it with my standard account.

[woy1509]

oh i see, well keep it up, it's looking great.

[Saints101]

I kinda like it

[buckeyeryan]

Saturday

Well, we won that final game, and now are headed to the playoffs for the first time in our school’s history. The crowd and band were rocking after the game, but only one thought keeps running through my head…..

Where am I going to get 500 dollars?

Today is Saturday, and I’ve only got four days before I’ve got to pay Lee.

I know momma doesn’t have 500 dollars, and she wouldn’t give it to me for this even if she did. And none of my brothers and sisters have any money.

Maybe on Monday, I can talk to Lee at school and convince him to change our agreement......


Coach Robertson called me up today just to go over a few things regarding my college opportunities. It seems that the last few weeks have helped me out a bit.

“Tre’, I’m happy to say that some Division I schools are starting to look at you,” Coach told me. “I know you want to play at a big name school, and you are getting closer to that. I’ve seen some interest from Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan, Cincinnati, Akron, you know… some mid-tier Division One Schools. That’s a big accomplishment for a kid who hadn’t even played football before this year. Now, you don’t have any definite scholarship offers from any of those guys yet, but at least they are inquiring about you.”

“What about Michigan State? Notre Dame? Penn State? Any of them askin’ about me?”

Coach Robertson shook his head no. “Not yet. The playoffs will be a good opportunity. I think that those schools just don’t value our competition to date as being a good test of your abilities. Put up the same kind of numbers against Lakewood this Friday night, and you might be lucky enough to catch someone’s attention.





Monday –

I caught Lee before classes started. I had to tell him that we needed to work something out about this money.

“Hey, Lee. Man, we need to talk…”

“Where’s my money?” It didn’t seem like he wanted to negotiate this at all.

“Lee, I can’t get you five hundred dollars, man. Let’s work something else out, okay?”

“No, Tre’. The deal was five hundred bucks. You agreed. Now I need the money tomorrow, or I’m going to Coach Robertson and the Principal about how you cheated on that History test, and how you’ve had a whole lot of “help” through that whole class. You better figure something out, and fast.”

All I could think about all day during class was finding some way to get that money. Practice that afternoon seemed extra long, even though we were preparing for the playoffs. I should have been excited about the opportunity, but I couldn’t think about any of that. As I showered after practice and changed my clothes for my walk home, I realized that I had backed myself into a corner, and that I was going to have to do something I didn’t want to if I was gonna get five hundred dollars by tomorrow.

For some reason, when I was working at the grocery, unloading boxes and helping bag customers’ stuff up, the owner – Mr. Jackson – really seemed to take a liking to me. He always worked around my schedule, and even paid me under the table in those times when I needed to work instead of be at school. He had even given me a key to the back door, something no one outside of management had. I hated knowing that I was going to have to take advantage of this, but I didn’t see any other choice.

That night, about 2 A.M., I snuck out of the house as quietly as I could. I walked down to Mr. Jackson’s grocery store, snuck around back, and unlocked the door. I knew the alarm code, and punched it in before anything started beeping. Without turning on the lights, I crept into the back office, found the petty cash drawer inside the office desk, and grabbed out five hundred bucks. I stuffed it into my pocket, and left as quickly as I could.

[G-Men72]

nice write up. this is getting really good

[buckeyeryan]

Tuesday –

I walked up to Lee’s locker after first period.

“Here’s your money.” I shoved an envelope into his chest. “Don’t bring this up again. I’m done with it. I’m sorry I ever made this deal.”

Lee just smiled and said, “Good luck Friday against Lakewood. I’m thinking the aftermath of my concussion will probably keep me out of the rest of the playoffs…”

I practiced harder and harder every day for the big game on Friday. Coach Robertson said that I should expect that ball 20-25 times at the very least. That sounds good. I’m thinking 200+ yards and a handful of touchdowns against a good Lakewood defense should get me some attention…



Friday –

Opening Round of the Playoffs
Opponent: Lakewood
(** Note: these aren’t the real stats from the game. Even on All-American with Sliders way in computer’s favor, the high school games are a joke. I think I ran for 600-700 yards in the first game, totally not realistic. )


From now on, every game will be the biggest game of my life. I walked out on the field, and tried to not think about everything that had gone on in the last week. My deal with Lee. The talk with Coach Robertson about all the colleges. My stealing the money from Mr. Jackson’s grocery. It was hard to focus on the task at hand – Lakewood – but I knew as soon as the game started, all those things would disappear.

I started quick, picking up 10 yards on my first carry, and then 12 more on my next one. Lakewood was big, but their linebackers weren’t that quick. I was able to bounce some runs to the outside, and I scored on our first possession from about 20 yards out. Our defense couldn’t hold them very well, and they were able to score as well.

At halftime, we were up 21-14. I had been playing pretty well, and our defense was slowly coming together. I probably had 110 yards and 1 TD, and I felt like I could do just as well in the second half.



Lakewood made some big adjustments on defense, though. They were bringing one of their safeties up close to the line, and really making it difficult for me to find any holes. Late in the fourth quarter, with the game tied 31-31, I finally busted a huge run off, going like 75 yards right up the sideline for a TD with about 2 minutes left. That put us up for good, 38-31. The last run of the game for me was the biggest, and it gave me some pretty good numbers for the night:




28 carries, 282 yards, 3 TD.

I’ll be expecting a call now, Mr. Charlie Weis.