Free Go Long! by Ronde Barber Page B

around—what with my new job and all. . . .”
    Tiki went into the locker room, curious to know what Matt’s little secret was. He’d said Tiki would find out soon enough. . . .
    â€œAll right, everyone,” Mr. Wheeler said. “Today, for those of you who are willing, I’d like to try something new.”
    A groan went up from many of the players.
    â€œI’ve got some very interesting video here—”
    â€œCan’t we play the game, not watch it?” Cody blurted out.
    Tiki could see Coach Wheeler’s face getting red. But before he could say anything to Cody, other voices started piping up.
    â€œNo disrespect, Coach, but we want to get out on the field!” said Sam Scarfone.
    â€œYeah!” a few others echoed.
    â€œLook, kids,” said Wheeler. “Let me explain something to you. This is not video of our last game. You guys know what you did wrong—and in case you don’t, we’ll be going over that with you on the field before our next game, I assure you.
    â€œThis tape is of Martinsville’s last game. I had a former student of mine record it for us. You might know him—Matt Clayton?”
    The name Matt Clayton caused a stir in the locker room. Many of them had played with Matt last year, and every one of them liked and respected him. But that didn’t seem to change their minds about watching more videotape.
    Wheeler cast an uncertain glance around the room. Tiki could almost read his mind. As a teacher, back in the classroom, Mr. Wheeler would never have tried to persuade his kids to do an assignment. Any kid who didn’t fall in line would have gotten a paper ball thrown at him.
    But as a brand-new rookie coach, Wheeler seemed unwilling to lay down the law to his team. Tiki wished he would do it, even if some of the kids didn’t like it. At least it would have shown the team who was boss—the coach, not the quarterback!
    Tiki saw the look in Mr. Wheeler’s eyes. He was trying to be sensitive to how his team was feeling.
    â€œOkay, look,” he said with a sigh, “ I happen to thinkthis tape could help us against our next opponent—but I understand why some of you might want to get out there right away and work on what you did wrong.
    â€œSo at least for today, I’m going to make this video session optional. I’ll run the tape for those of you who want to learn from it. The rest of you can go out on the field and work with Coach Ontkos and Coach Pellugi.”
    Cody was the first to stand up. “Great,” he said. “I’m out of here. Anybody else wanna get out on the field?”
    Sam Scarfone got up, then Joey Gallagher, and then, seeing it was okay, several boys got up at once. Pretty soon, all but a few of the Eagles had left the locker room.
    At last, Ronde stood up to go. Tiki shot him a surprised and angry look.
    â€œEverybody else is going,” Ronde whispered. “I can’t just be sitting around here watching video.”
    Coach Wheeler stood there shaking his head and looking at the floor. There were only three boys left in the locker room—Tiki, Fred Soule, and John Berra.
    Funny—they were the three who worked the closest with Cody; the ones he yelled at most when things went wrong.
    Tiki shook his head in dismay. He knew why Wheeler had given the players a choice. If he’d demanded they stay, and they still walked out on him, it would have been the final blow to his leadership.
    â€œWell, I guess it’s just the four of us,” said the coach. “So—let’s take a look at the Colts, and see where we can take advantage of their weaknesses and protect against their strengths.”
    As they watched the tape, Mr. Wheeler would pause it and point out strengths and weaknesses of the different Colt players.
    â€œNumber seventy-seven tries to bull you over most of the time,” he told John Berra. “If you let him by