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Jake:I’m throwing a temper tantrum…Send
Rakell:I know, but Lana and I are going out. I know Levi will be with the team, so we made reservations for Cajun Seafood…Send
Rakell:Hey you…focus on the game…Send
Then what? he wanted to write back…She kept lobbing the ‘after the Super Bowl we’ll talk,’ but he was done talking. It was clear to him what they both wanted.
There was no way to avoid the endless stories leading up to the Super Bowl; the football analysis was that the game would be a battle but that the Kentucky Stallions had a slight advantage over the Sacramento Condors. The coverage did add that JakeSkyler and Dwayne Bradshaw seemed to have gelled into an unstoppable force.
The newscasters chatted about theirmeet cutenearly eight years ago on the sidelines after the University of Texas beat Missouri Bluff at the Mojito Bowl in Florida. They repeatedly showed the footage of the two, playing on opposing sides, uniting after the game, hugging, then Jake poking Dwayne’s chest emphatically, saying, “If the man upstairs listens to me at all, someday we are going to play on the same team and then look out. Damn you got somesticky fingers,you know that Bradshaw?” Jake’s animated Texas drawl, professing his admiration for Dwayne, was picked up on a nearby microphone.
Dwayne’s response was, “Just so you know,Pretty Boy, I watched you, too. And damn, you got something special, not to mention those dancing feet. Truthfully, I studied you, and I always knew where the ball was going by watching your chin.”
“My chin!” Jake exclaimed before they both broke out in laughter. For several years following, the sportscasters would retell that interaction, saying those two petered out and the man upstairs probably wasn’t listening. Still, the sports world’s curiosity was piqued when Dwayne joined Jake in Sacramento and convinced him to make his permanent home in Austin. There was something uncanny about those two; their swagger seemed only outdone by their bond and how both of them boasted about their moms. Yet the media never failed to throw in a line about their reputation with the ladies.
The morning leading up to the biggest game of the year, the news outlets had the footage of Rakell jumping up and down, cheering for Jake while sitting in the San Antonio owner's box on a continuous loop. The commentators were speculating on the event and the outcome of the Super Bowl.
Commentator One:“Jake Skyler absolutely knows her; he knows every woman between the ages of twenty and forty inAustin—I meanreallyknows them,” he said on a chortle. “She probably got dumped by him and is trying to win him back. Honestly, given the choice between Jake and Roman, I think I’d snag Roman, grandson of the San Antonio Lone Stars’ owner, in line to inherit a sizable fortune, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.”
Commentator Two:“Jake’s been tight-lipped, claims he doesn’t know her, but you saw how he lit up when we asked what he thought of the whole thing; he said, “I loved it!” He knows her. Rest assured, we will have our cameramen on the lookout for her, and she’s going to be at the Super Bowl, no doubt. But I have a different theory; I think this woman, Rakell McCarthy, the nextSports Illuminatedmodel, is someone Jake knows but hasn’t been able to land. We know she lives in Austin, so chances are they know each other.”
Commentator Three:“So you think they are friends or maybe had a brief history? Seems Skyler’s been keeping a low profile in the ladies' department, which I’m sure is disappointing to all those ladies dreaming of that pretty boy. Damn, he really is pretty. What’s with the Sacramento coach? It’s like a beauty contest in Sac Town with those two quarterbacks. The backup quarterback, Tracey, looks like a model, too. The two of them could be on the front of a magazine. Then there’s Rodger. He’s as plain as they come, yet you won’t meet a more down-to-earth guy. I heard Skyler asked him to suit up for the big game.”
Commentator One:“Hell yes, he asked Rodger back. Skyler may not always lead with his head, but he’s smart enough to know he can’t win this without Rodger. I heard that Rodger got on the phone with Skyler during the San Antonio Lone Stars’ playoff game and gave him a pep talk. That’s the way Jake told it in an interview last week, but I know Rodger, and he was probably calling Skyler to task. Heard he was with his family in San Antonio watching the game.”
Commentator Three:“I heard from some of the other Sacramento guys that Jake’s really missing Rodger, that he seemed sort of lost without him in the beginning. Also, that he wasn’t super welcoming to Tracey. Didn’t really give him a lot of credence because Tracey’s out of Dartmouth, not exactly a football haven, and Skyler makes it known he comes out of one of the most legendary football schools in the nation…which he says has the best fan base, the University of Texas. Now some may argue that Alabama or Ohio State or…”
Commentator One:“We all know the strongest college fan base is Penn State…does anything compare to whiteout? No way!”
Commentator Two:“Wisconsin has the best fans in the nation; even in zero degrees they go with no shirts and chests painted with a big W, eating congealed brats… best fans and best college band.”
Commentator Three:“We know, Jerry. ‘On Wisconsin!’”
Commentator Two:“Til I die.”
Commentator One:“Okay, okay guys, let’s go back to the on-field coverage since we're gearing up for the Super Bowl. I think it’s interesting that both teams for this year's lineup are fairly new. Kentucky Stallions have only been a franchise for twelve years and the Sacramento Condors for less than four. Two baby franchises meeting at the biggest game in the country.”
Commentator Two:“I know. The Kentucky Stallions owner has been in the horse racing business for generations, but she’s a big football fan, so when her grandparents left her a fortune, she put together an impressive array of investors to start this franchise.”
Commentator One:“Well, the visible partners of the Sacramento Condors, Nick and Mateo, are hotel magnates who own hotels all over the world. Nick is from Northern California and really wanted to see Sacramento have a franchise. He’sresponsible for the design of the summer training facilities in Tahoe. I guess he spent every summer there and has been quoted saying, ‘If Tahoe can’t inspire you, you can’t be inspired.’ His business partner Mateo is from Spain but loves American football.”
Commentator Three:“Somymoney’s on Kentucky. I think they are the stronger team. Their quarterback, Ronnie, is out of San Francisco, played backup with the Forty-Niners, he’s seasoned, reminds me of Brady, doesn’t get rattled, as if nothing fazes him. Skyler is a little more unpredictable. I’ve seen him become undone, mostly at himself, but you have to bemind toughfor a game of this caliber, and it can’t help that everyone’s speculating about the Jumbotron girl.”
They all laughed. “Let’s cut to the field, Sacramento’s own Sylvia Gonzales, Sylvia…”
Sylvia Gonzales:“Hi, I am so excited to be here in New Orleans following our very own Sacramento Condors all the way to the biggest game of the year.”
Commentator One:“So you talk to Jake and Dwayne regularly—any read on how the Condors are feeling, Sylvia?”
Sylvia Gonzales:“Well, they’ve been watching films, training, and honestly, the energy of this team has been really high. Jake’s big brother, Rodger, has been in Sacramento for the past week and a half, which always has a calming effect on Jake. Dwayne is, for lack of a better word, jazzed. As he put it, he’s itching to be on the field. Also, I want to highlight the new kid, Grady Fox. He’s only twenty-four years old, and this year, he’s proven to be an effective tight end; it seems like his football maturity skyrocketed this year. He was a solid tight end for Boise State but not a high recruit. Coach Easton has a way of seeing potential talent.”
Commentator Three:“Grady looks like he’s seven feet tall out there, but stats say six-five at two-forty-five, big kid andagile, impressive. You nailed it, Sylvia; Coach Easton does see talent that others would pass up. Case in point, Jake Skyler…the football world was surprised when Coach Easton tagged Jake Skyler as lead quarterback with Rodger as backup. We would have all predicted the other way around. But considering Rodger’s back injury several years ago with the Albuquerque Atoms, Rodger may have opted for backup.”
Sylvia Gonzales:“I can’t answer that because Rodger is a class act. I have asked him that very question many times, and he always says, ‘Skyler’s our quarterback for a reason: talent and determination. You will see soon enough.’ Rodger has been saying that about Skyler for the past three years. Looks like he may have been right.”
Commentator Two:“Okay, before we sing Skyler’s praises, we have to ask, any news on the Skyler cheerleader in the Lone Stars’ box?”
Sylvia Gonzales:Her eyebrows raised, eyes twinkling, “Maybe, gentlemen, but I know how to keep secrets.”
