muse_shuffle | February Disc One
Track 04. I don’t ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way
[‘Under the Bridge’ - Red Hot Chili Peppers]
Co-written with pantherscoach
[Follows THIS]
Coach Taylor was watching Jason closely as a tape from of Jason’s glory days played to an end on the TV screen before them. He expected some sort of reaction by Jason but the ex-Panthers QB1 just watched calmly until the footage ended. “Sure you don’t want this stuff back?” he asked, gesturing to the television. It had all originally been Jason’s anyway, but Coach had taken it from him on Jason’s nineteenth birthday and promised to keep it safe for him.
Jason glanced at Coach with a small shrug. “Not really,” he admitted. “You would still have more use for the tapes than I would.”
Coach reached into the box and pulled out one of Jason’s older, well worn Panther’s jerseys and held it up. “You might get a girlfriend one day who wants this. It’s still all part of your past, Jason. Still part of who you are today. You might want to show your kids one day,” he coaxed, resting his elbow on the box beside him.
“If I can have kids,” Jason clarified and leaned back in his wheelchair. “If I even want my kids to be involved in football,” he added pointedly.
Coach raised his eyebrows. “Nice try but I’m not convinced you’ve lost any passion for football. You just lost the ability to live it. At least, you think you have. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Jason nodded. “Ah, yes,” he replied with a smirk. “The proposition.”
Coach met the smirk with one of his own and gave a brief laugh. “Feel like you’re walking to the gallows yet?” he asked, amused.
“Not quite walking, Coach,” Jason threw back jokingly. “I don’t want to come back as assistant coach,” he added, assuming that was what the proposition was. “Hell, I doubt I’ll even still be in Dillon when the season starts again. I’m looking in to other options and considering going back east to New York.”
Coach nodded slowly but his eyes were still intent on his ex-protégé. “Yeah, I thought that might’ve been your standard answer, which is why I’m not going to push it with you, son. I am kinda hoping, however, that you haven’t given up on the notion of coaching completely. Or given up on your passion for football.”
Jason tilted his head and his eyes narrowed a little, feeling slightly suspicious at the comment. “The passion will never die but that coaching thing, it wasn’t for me, Coach. Some of the Panthers want to make pro and those that don’t are there because they’re good enough to be there. Coaching Matt was a different story. He was thrown in the deep end as QB and needed someone to build his confidence and show him that he could do it. When it comes to the rest of the team, they’ve all got that in hand or you wouldn’t have put them on the team in the first place.”
“What if it was a team of Matt Saracens?” Coach asked.
Jason frowned. “I’m not following. A team of Matt Saracens does not a football team make,” he pointed out. “Someone’s got to be aggressive, to be ambitious, to be driven.”
“Figuratively,” Coach clarified, smirking. “But good point, Street. We’re offering a new after-school off-season program for kids that want to train up with an aim to try out for the Panthers either this coming season or next year. I’m running the program for the Athletics department but I’m not coaching them. They’ll have a team and play against other schools locally to build up their football skills and strengths needed for varsity. The program will finish when the new football season starts and those who want to will go on to Panthers try-outs. The proposition in this. They need a coach. Someone who can prepare the ambitious ones to have what it takes and teach them those very raw skills that the likes of Mat Saracen don’t have naturally.”
Jason was speechless at first, only blinking when Coach finished his proposal. ‘Why me?” he finally asked quietly. “You can’t tell me there isn’t someone else you can get better suited for the job. I don’t… have the same drive I used to.”
“I can and I will, Jason. And no bullshitting to me about losing your drive or your passion. The Jason Street I know will live and die with drive and passion. If anything, you have more drive than ever now. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You didn’t pull flipping Buddy Garrity’s house off just from a lacklustre interest. You were determined and you fought to pull it off with the same passion you went into every single Panthers game with when you were our QB. I think if anyone can give these kids the drive they need for a passion in football, it’s you,” Coach insisted, edging into the same determination he would have in a locker room team speech.
Jason held the Coach’s gaze seriously. “So it would be about four months?” he asked noncommittally. “Until the school year ends? Is it like a volunteer thing?”
Coach nodded in confirmation of the first question. “Until summer starts. It would be fully paid. You would be employed by the school, just like you were as assistant coach.”
Coach had gotten Jason on the tail-end of a hangover, so his head felt like it was spinning a little at the offer. But he didn’t want to commit to anything on a whim. He didn’t want to be burnt again or make another wrong move. “Can I think about it?” he asked.
“The first session is on Monday at the Panther stadium. Call me on the weekend with your answer,” Coach advised and leaned forward to hold Jason’s attention for just a little longer. “You lost your legs, Jason, not your soul,” he added with a nod and then handed Jason the worn football jersey with a hint of a knowing smile.
Word Count | 1,001
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way
[‘Under the Bridge’ - Red Hot Chili Peppers]
Co-written with pantherscoach
[Follows THIS]
Coach Taylor was watching Jason closely as a tape from of Jason’s glory days played to an end on the TV screen before them. He expected some sort of reaction by Jason but the ex-Panthers QB1 just watched calmly until the footage ended. “Sure you don’t want this stuff back?” he asked, gesturing to the television. It had all originally been Jason’s anyway, but Coach had taken it from him on Jason’s nineteenth birthday and promised to keep it safe for him.
Jason glanced at Coach with a small shrug. “Not really,” he admitted. “You would still have more use for the tapes than I would.”
Coach reached into the box and pulled out one of Jason’s older, well worn Panther’s jerseys and held it up. “You might get a girlfriend one day who wants this. It’s still all part of your past, Jason. Still part of who you are today. You might want to show your kids one day,” he coaxed, resting his elbow on the box beside him.
“If I can have kids,” Jason clarified and leaned back in his wheelchair. “If I even want my kids to be involved in football,” he added pointedly.
Coach raised his eyebrows. “Nice try but I’m not convinced you’ve lost any passion for football. You just lost the ability to live it. At least, you think you have. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Jason nodded. “Ah, yes,” he replied with a smirk. “The proposition.”
Coach met the smirk with one of his own and gave a brief laugh. “Feel like you’re walking to the gallows yet?” he asked, amused.
“Not quite walking, Coach,” Jason threw back jokingly. “I don’t want to come back as assistant coach,” he added, assuming that was what the proposition was. “Hell, I doubt I’ll even still be in Dillon when the season starts again. I’m looking in to other options and considering going back east to New York.”
Coach nodded slowly but his eyes were still intent on his ex-protégé. “Yeah, I thought that might’ve been your standard answer, which is why I’m not going to push it with you, son. I am kinda hoping, however, that you haven’t given up on the notion of coaching completely. Or given up on your passion for football.”
Jason tilted his head and his eyes narrowed a little, feeling slightly suspicious at the comment. “The passion will never die but that coaching thing, it wasn’t for me, Coach. Some of the Panthers want to make pro and those that don’t are there because they’re good enough to be there. Coaching Matt was a different story. He was thrown in the deep end as QB and needed someone to build his confidence and show him that he could do it. When it comes to the rest of the team, they’ve all got that in hand or you wouldn’t have put them on the team in the first place.”
“What if it was a team of Matt Saracens?” Coach asked.
Jason frowned. “I’m not following. A team of Matt Saracens does not a football team make,” he pointed out. “Someone’s got to be aggressive, to be ambitious, to be driven.”
“Figuratively,” Coach clarified, smirking. “But good point, Street. We’re offering a new after-school off-season program for kids that want to train up with an aim to try out for the Panthers either this coming season or next year. I’m running the program for the Athletics department but I’m not coaching them. They’ll have a team and play against other schools locally to build up their football skills and strengths needed for varsity. The program will finish when the new football season starts and those who want to will go on to Panthers try-outs. The proposition in this. They need a coach. Someone who can prepare the ambitious ones to have what it takes and teach them those very raw skills that the likes of Mat Saracen don’t have naturally.”
Jason was speechless at first, only blinking when Coach finished his proposal. ‘Why me?” he finally asked quietly. “You can’t tell me there isn’t someone else you can get better suited for the job. I don’t… have the same drive I used to.”
“I can and I will, Jason. And no bullshitting to me about losing your drive or your passion. The Jason Street I know will live and die with drive and passion. If anything, you have more drive than ever now. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You didn’t pull flipping Buddy Garrity’s house off just from a lacklustre interest. You were determined and you fought to pull it off with the same passion you went into every single Panthers game with when you were our QB. I think if anyone can give these kids the drive they need for a passion in football, it’s you,” Coach insisted, edging into the same determination he would have in a locker room team speech.
Jason held the Coach’s gaze seriously. “So it would be about four months?” he asked noncommittally. “Until the school year ends? Is it like a volunteer thing?”
Coach nodded in confirmation of the first question. “Until summer starts. It would be fully paid. You would be employed by the school, just like you were as assistant coach.”
Coach had gotten Jason on the tail-end of a hangover, so his head felt like it was spinning a little at the offer. But he didn’t want to commit to anything on a whim. He didn’t want to be burnt again or make another wrong move. “Can I think about it?” he asked.
“The first session is on Monday at the Panther stadium. Call me on the weekend with your answer,” Coach advised and leaned forward to hold Jason’s attention for just a little longer. “You lost your legs, Jason, not your soul,” he added with a nod and then handed Jason the worn football jersey with a hint of a knowing smile.
Word Count | 1,001