Chapter 77

The Penn State players stared at the ground as the Longhorns swarmed onto the field to celebrate their championship. Christian stepped over beside me. I looked up at my friend.

"I guess this is a good news, bad news situation," Christian said with a forced smile on his face. "The bad news is obvious. The good news is we don't have to dance on TV."

"Dance?" I asked. I had no idea what my friend was talking about.

"Your birthday," Christian said. "Don't you remember? We promised a dining hall full of scouts we'd dance on the 50 yard line if we won the national championship."

"I'd forgotten," I admitted. "I guess not embarrassing myself on TV is one small consolation."

"It is," Christian agreed. Christian and I trudged towards the tunnel, following our teammates. No one wanted to watch Texas celebrate their victory. Mike Montgomery spotted Christian and me walking away.

"Do you guys have time for a quick interview?" Mike asked.

"I'll pass, Mike," Christian said politely.

"Not, tonight, Mike ... sorry," I added. I knew if I talked with the press right now, I would say something I would regret. We walked on. I guess Zack saw the exchange.

"Why did you blow off Mike?" Zack asked as he caught up to me. "He's a good guy. You should fulfill your responsibilities as a captain and talk with the man."

"I'm so pissed right now that I know I will say something I'll regret," I countered. "It's safer this way."

"If you're going to be a professional you better get used to handling defeat," Zack said. "The best teams in the NFL lose 25-30% of their games. Compose yourself, get your head on straight and go face the press. It's hard but it's the professional thing to do. God knows, I know about this."

"I don't want to rip anybody in the press," I answered. "It's better this way."

"Bullshit!" Zack fired back. "Are you blaming Jared for our loss?"

"No, I don't blame him," I replied. "Asking Jared to hit a fifty-two yard field goal to win the game is asking too much of a first year kicker. We shouldn't have been down that much at the end."

"Do you blame Jon?" Zack asked. "Do you think he is a bad quarterback?"

"No, it's not Jon's fault," I explained. "Jon had some rough times this game but it wasn't all his fault. Jon will be a good quarterback, given more time and experience. He was kind of like Ed Fritz a couple years ago when Ed was pressed into service down at LSU. Ed had a really ugly game that day. Look where he is now."

"Exactly my point," Zack replied. "Do you hold yourself personally responsible for the loss? The preliminary stats would indicate otherwise. You are being credited with six catches for 142 yards receiving and two touchdowns. You picked up another 27 yards running and threw a TD. That's not too shabby."

"I wish I could have gotten closer to the goal line on that last catch," I said. "I was worried if I fought too hard to break loose when they collared me that the time would run out and we wouldn't have a chance at the tying field goal."

"They did have you collared when you went down," Zack agreed. "You did the right thing when you went down on contact. Now, like it or not, you are done with college football. Now you need to act like the professional that you are going to be. Go see Mike and do your job, so Mike can do his. Tell him what you just told me. That's how a professional acts."

"Yeah ... yeah, you're right," I agreed. Christian had been standing beside me listening to the exchange between Zack and me.

"He's right," Christian said, motioning for me to follow. "Let's go talk to Mike."

"Yeah, I agree," I said. "Thanks for keeping my head on straight, Zack."

"That's what friends do," Zack answered.

Christian and I had to do a little searching to find Mike Montgomery. We found him near one end zone, having just wrapped up an interview with Mike Johanson.

"Hey, Mike, sorry for blowing you off before," I said when he saw us. "We needed to get our heads together."

"Kyle and I can do an interview now if you still want one," Christian added.

"I understand completely, guys," Mike replied. "I'm sure this is a tough loss to take." Mike spent a couple minutes talking with us. His questions weren't difficult. Mike asked me to evaluate Mike Johanson's performance during the game.

"I have to give total credit to Mike Johanson," I answered. "He covered me as well as anyone has ever done it in college. He played a tremendous game."

Mike Montgomery tried unsuccessfully to stifle a laugh. When he recovered his composure, Mike explained, "Your former teammate is upset with himself with how poorly he played. You gained well over a hundred yards receiving today. Mike hasn't allowed any receiver to gain over a hundred this season. You scored two touchdowns. Mike gave up only six this season, before today. He said he felt like you were taking him out to the woodshed again like you did back in high school. What is he referring too?"

"Oh ... that," I said. "I think he's referring to an incident during his first training camp with the Wolverines. He was acting pretty cocky back then. Ed, my brother Andy and I did take him to task a little. We scored touchdowns on him on something like five or six consecutive plays. Our defense was tired of his boasting too. They were in on the trick. They left Mike out one on one with me or Andy and made it easy for us to score. Mike got our message about teamwork after that. He's a tremendously talented cornerback. The bottom line is Mike went out and did his job today. His team won. My team lost. Credit is due to his play."

"That's a very magnanimous thing to say, Kyle," Mike responded. "I will pass your kind words on to Michael's parents, assuming I can find them in this sea of people."

Mike went to question Christian about his performance during the game. Christian was our leading receiver with eight catches for 127 yards and a TD. Brian Henson matched my six catches but didn't make it into the end zone. Bob Smith caught four passes. Charlie and Damian caught one each.

Christian and I retreated to our locker room when Mike was done. We had no interest in staying on the field while the BCS awarded the national championship trophy to the Longhorns.

Coach Burton spoke to the team briefly. "I know tonight didn't go the way all of you planned," Coach Burton said. "In spite of how things turned out, I am so proud of the way this team played all season. All of you played your hearts out all season. Coach Martin, Trevor Conwell, and Damian Thompson have done a hell of a job leading this team this season. I salute you. Seniors, all of you will be sorely missed next season. Everyone else, we will go back home, regroup and get ready for the next season. I know the Nittany Lions will be back better than ever next season."

"Can I say something, Coach?" Chip asked as he struggled to stand. He shifted his weight off his injured left ankle. Coach Burton nodded his consent. "I want to thank Kyle, Damian and Trevor for their leadership this season. I want to thank all the seniors for the examples they gave us younger members of this team. You taught us the right way to play football. Thank you. I also promise all of you, next season we are going to come back to this game and get it right! On to Pasadena!" Chip chuckled. "Of course I mean next season's BCS Championship Game, not the Rose Bowl. Nebraska, Michigan or Ohio State can have that one. On three everyone ... On to Pasadena!"

The younger players on the team repeated Chip's chant three times, until the locker room echoed with sound. We showered and dressed, eager to get out of this locker room and back to our warm beds back at our hotel. Coach Burton walked out to the buses with me. He offered me a seat up front beside him.

"Are all your travel arrangements set, Coach?" Coach Burton asked. "I wouldn't want to leave you stranded when we leave tomorrow morning."

"They're set," I answered. "My brother and sister-in-law and Penny are meeting Zack, Leigh Ann and me for breakfast at seven o'clock tomorrow morning at our hotel. Will is going to give us a lift to the airport. We're all flying home together to Philly."

"It sounds like you're set," Coach Burton replied. He paused and took a deep breath. "This is one of the hard parts of coaching, saying good bye. I'm doing exit interviews with the rest of the seniors but I won't have that opportunity with you. Maybe we can get together some weekend when you're back on campus this spring. I'd like to have your input on your experiences with this team."

"I'll make sure you know ahead of time when I will be back to campus," I agreed. "I know I'll be back for Thon weekend." I chuckled. "Unless you want to do the exit interview on the BJC floor, it'll have to be another weekend later. Penny and I are lined up to be one of the team's dance couples."

"That would be a sight," Coach agreed. "You and Penny dancing beside Mrs. Burton and me while we did an exit interview. That would be funny. Let's do it sometime in March or April. Will you be here for Pro Day?"

"I plan to be," I answered.

"One other thing, Coach," Coach Burton said, " ... and I mean 'Coach' in the most literal sense. If things don't work out for you after you get drafted this spring or when you're done playing football, call me. I will always have a spot on the staff for you."

"I appreciate the offer, Coach," I replied. "I doubt I will take you up on it right away. If I decide against playing in the NFL, I will be looking for a teaching and coaching position nearer Philadelphia. Penny has a five year commitment to veterinary school at Penn."

"I don't know why an Ag school like ours doesn't have its own veterinary school," Coach mused. "It seems like a natural for Penn State."

"It would have solved all kinds of complications in my life the last four years if it had one," I agreed. Coach got quiet and looked out at night time Phoenix as the bus took us back to our hotel.

The buses dropped us off at our hotel close to midnight. Trevor and I went straight to bed. He had a 6:30 am breakfast. I didn't need to be downstairs until 7:00 am to meet Penny, Will, Abby and company.

I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. The loss stung too much. I kept going over where we went wrong. I didn't blame Jared for missing the field goal. At that range, the best kickers only made the field goal 50% of the time. Jared was a good kicker. I didn't see how I could have gotten more yards on the last catch. Mike was on my tail. The two safeties had me pinned in. If I fought to break the tackle I risked have the ball batted out of my arms or fighting for yards until the time ran out. That wouldn't have helped.

Chip certainly played a fantastic game. My already high estimation of Chip's talents had risen during this game. His throws were deadly accurate. He stood in, took a beating in the second half and still put the ball on target to the right receiver.

I certainly didn't blame Jon for our loss. He was thrown into a huge, pressure filled game with no time to prepare. He had some rough spots to start with but he settled down and played well enough. His interception happened because Brian lost his footing. That wasn't Jon's fault. I couldn't blame Joe Cleveland for falling on Chip. Those things happen in a football game.

I kept coming back to the same conclusion. We had been unlucky that day. Trevor, Bill, Mike and Jerry had gotten good pressure on Todd Landry all game. He could have been injured just as easily as Chip was. If we had played the best of three games against Texas, we could have beaten them two times. It just hadn't been our day. I finally fell asleep around 1:30 in the morning.

--oooOooo--

I woke up a little before 6:30 on Tuesday morning. Trevor was finishing his packing by the half light from the bathroom.

"You ready to take off?" I asked as I climbed out of bed.

"I'm packed and ready to go," Trevor answered. "Damn ... this is tough. You have a good flight back to Philly."

"You have a good flight too," I agreed.

"I'll see you at the Senior Bowl," Trevor added as he headed for the door. Chuckling, he added, " ... and at the Thon. Your driver will have orders to kidnap you if necessary to get you and Penny to campus on time."

"That won't be necessary," I replied. "Have a safe flight back to campus."

I showered, dressed and packed my things. I found Aaron Morano, Zack, Leigh Ann and Laurie in the lobby saying good bye to our team as they left the hotel to board the buses for the airport. I joined Zack in saying good bye to our team as they headed out. Penny, Will, Abby and Rose showed up just before the last team members stowed their luggage below and climbed aboard the buses. The nine of us waved good bye as the three buses pulled out and headed for the airport.

"I heard rumors you were in town," I teased Aaron after the buses left. "I was expecting to see you on the sidelines, like other years."

"I made arrangements to come see the game too late to get a sideline pass," Aaron explained. "I was stuck way up off the field in a box..." Aaron chuckled. "President Spanier insisted I watch the game with him."

"I see," Zack teased. "Champagne and caviar ... I see how it is."

"No, no ... we had burritos and tacos ... and lot of other good southwestern food," Aaron said.

"Aaron, I want to introduce you to my fiancée, Penny Edwards," I said. Aaron smiled and shook Penny's hand.

"Enchanted," Aaron said. "Kyle always has exquisite taste in women. I don't understand how he could find someone so lovely who is willing to put up with him."

"This is Aaron Morano," I countered. "He's been a pain in my backside since ninth grade. Aaron flew in Sunday night after his team got beaten by the Bears up in Chicago."

"It's very nice to meet you, Aaron," Penny said. "Kyle has told me so much about you."

"Are we ready for some breakfast?" Will asked. "Some of us have morning planes to catch." There was no need to introduce Will or Abby to Aaron. They had all been in Leigh Ann and Zack's wedding party two years ago.

"Let's do it," Zack agreed.

We headed inside to the Mission Grille for breakfast. The restaurant served much the same thing as we had eaten at our buffet table the last ten days.

During breakfast Aaron asked, "Have you and Penny figured out where you want to leave your car during the Thon? I need to get the arrangements set at some point in time."

"I really haven't focused on something that far ahead," I replied. "I did suspect you were the source of funds for the ride and charter flight."

"Actually, both of us are chipping in," Zack added. "You made Leigh Ann and me dance. You made Aaron and Tania dance. You and Penny are NOT getting out of dancing at the Thon."

"I'm not surprised both of you are involved," I replied. "What do you think, Penny? Would it be better if I left my car in Philly by the apartment or out in Berwyn at school for the weekend?"

"Definitely out at your school," Penny said."It's a whole lot less likely to get broken into in Berwyn than in Powelton."

"You heard her," I said. "I guess I'll drive myself to school on Friday morning and will need a ride on Monday morning."

"We'll set it up, Kyle," Aaron said.

"We probably need to get moving," Will said, " ... at least those of you riding with me. We've got a 10:15 flight to catch. How about you guys? Do you need to rush off?"

"My flight leaves at 11:25 this morning," Aaron said. "Zack agreed to act as my chauffeur for the weekend."

"Leigh Ann and I have a 12:05 flight back to Milwaukee," Zack added. Zack waved for our waitress. "I'll catch the bill, everybody."

"I'm a poor college student," I commented. "I would be honored to let you be the first to buy me dinner now that the NCAA doesn't care who pays my way."

"It is nice not to worry about that shit, isn't it?" Aaron commented. "Pretty soon you won't be poor anymore." Aaron gave me a wink. "Make sure you take a good hard look at your agent candidates next weekend. You'll be hard pressed to beat Max."

"I plan to take a good look at all five," I responded.

"Good for you," Zack said. "I hear you convinced Dad to sit in and help."

"Yes, your dad was gracious enough to agree to help," I said. "I really appreciate his thoughts. I have Penny, me, my dad, your dad and my Uncle Dave, who's an attorney, doing the interviews."

"You got all the bases covered," Aaron agreed. Zack paid our bill and we headed out of the restaurant. Everyone said their good byes. Zack, Aaron, Leigh Ann and Laurie followed us out to the parking lot as we loaded up. They waved good bye again as Will pulled the rental mini-van onto Fifth Street and headed for the airport.

Check-in, luggage, security and finding your gate were a much bigger hassle going on a commercial flight than I was used to after four years of travel on the team's charter. A plane load of Penn State fans was checking in at the same time as us. They were flying to Philly too, on one of the alumni association's charters. I shook hands, accepted condolences over our team's loss and signed a few autographs while we waited.

Will, Abby and Rose boarded promptly at 9:45. People traveling with small children went right after first class passengers boarded. Penny and I had to wait another ten minutes until our rows were called. Luckily my fiancée had an aisle seat. She graciously allowed me to squeeze into that seat.

Apparently the charters that Penn State used were set up with more room than standard airliners. The seat spacing was smaller than the distance from my backside to the front of my knees. The only way I fit was to prop my knees up on the seat in front of me or to stretch them out in the aisle. I better make it into the NFL. I was going to need the money to pay for first class tickets from now on.

We had booked a non-stop flight to Philly. The trip took over five and half hours. The airlines served us small sandwiches and bags of chips, along with drinks. Thankfully Abby had come prepared. She had extra snacks that she distributed to everyone to keep us satisfied.

Penny, God bless her, listened as I rehashed the game again. I didn't come to any new conclusions. Chip had played brilliantly under severe duress. Mike played outstanding coverage against me, partially negating my talents. Still I had six catches for 142 yards. I caught two touchdowns and threw another. Mike's speed, height and leaping ability meant Chip or Jon had to hit a moving target smaller than a basketball at fifteen to twenty yards. Chip could do it. Jon wasn't as accurate.

Jon being forced in to take Chip's place was the decisive moment in the game. That isn't a slight against Jon. If the same thing had happened two years ago and Chip had taken Zack's place against USC, we most likely would not have won the game. Chip getting hurt was just ... happenstance. Six inches one way or another and Joe Cleveland is landing somewhere other than Chip's ankle. It all boiled down to luck. Texas had it and we didn't last night.

Penny was sympathetic and consoling. She helped me keep my head together. I was talked out after about forty-five minutes. Our conversation turned to our coming week. Penny had a comparative anatomy lecture in the morning and was at a lab all afternoon. I had to report to Penn State Brandywine Campus at 9:00 am. I volunteered to go shopping and prepare dinner for the two of us after I finished with my classes. Penny's lab was over at 5:00 pm.

There must have been a good tailwind on our flight home. We were on the ground ten minutes ahead of schedule. Will, Abby, Rose, Penny and I made our way to the baggage claim area. The fine gentlemen at the airport needed nearly forty-five minutes to get our luggage from the plane to us. Will, Abby and Rose called for a shuttle bus to the hotel where their car was parked. Penny and I took another shuttle to the airport's long term parking.

I followed Penny off the bus at the proper stop. She led me across the parking lot to my trusty old VW.

"Here's your key," my lover said. "I made sure to take good care of the key over the long weekend. I didn't want us stranded in this big parking lot."

"I was prepared," I replied, giving her a wink. I pulled my spare key out of my pocket. "We weren't going to get stranded."

"That's what I love about you," Penny responded. "Be prepared, always the good Boy Scout."

We loaded our luggage in the trunk and backseat of my car and hopped in. I paid our parking fee and headed into Philly per Penny's directions. After we passed under I-95 and were safely headed north on Industrial Highway, I went to turn on the radio so we could have a little music. I reached for the on knob when I got a shock.

"Honey, where did this radio come from?" I asked as evenly as I could manage.

"Surprise!" Penny said. "Call it an extra Christmas present. I knew you didn't have time to go out and replace the radio with one that is safe for our neighborhood while you were home for Christmas. I went out and got it for you while you were in Phoenix. I hope you like it. It has a detachable face to discourage burglars."

My old radio wasn't anything special. It was the original one that came with the car. It had a CD player and cassette tape player. Most likely it was considered top notch when the car was new – in 1995. Now it was kind of old, but it worked.

"I guess it's OK," I said.

"You'll like this one," Penny replied. "It plays CDs like your old one and it has a USB port. I bought a flash drive to go with it. You can download your MP3 collection onto the flash drive and listen to MP3s when you drive to and from school. I thought that made more sense than getting a satellite radio and you having to pay a fee every month. You bought the MP3s already. Why not listen to them?"

"Plays MP3s?" I said. "That's cool. Thank you. This was very sweet of you." I turned the radio on and drove about thirty seconds before another question occurred to me. "Is the neighborhood where we live really that unsafe that someone would break into an old beater like this VW and steal an ancient radio?"

"It's safe enough if you take the proper precautions," Penny answered. "Always take the face of the radio and stick it in your pocket when you park the car. I'll make sure you know the things you need to know to be safe in Philly. I'm sure you didn't have to deal with any of this in little State College."

"We have crime in State College," I answered. "You needed to lock up and protect your things. But since you know this area better than me, I will listen and learn."

"Do you want to stop at the McDonalds ahead?" Penny asked as we approached the north end of the airport complex. "I'm starved."

"I am too," I agreed. "How about something a little classier? How about Chickie's and Pete's? I know we're heading in the general direction of the stadiums."

"We could do that," Penny agreed. "It's a few blocks off our route home but it'll work."

I followed Industrial Highway, which turned into Penrose Avenue, about three and half miles until I found Packer Avenue. I remembered from my other visits there that Chickie's and Pete's was on Packer Avenue. I pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later. The restaurant wasn't busy. The waitress seated us immediately.

Penny ordered a hot roast pork sandwich and crab fries. I ordered the jumbo crab cakes and a combo fries. The fries were a mix of regular and sweet potato fries with crab seasoning and white cheese dipping sauce. I ordered a beer. Penny had a diet Pepsi.

We were nursing our drinks and waiting for our food when Pete Ciarrocchi spotted me. He headed straight over to our table.

"Kyle Martin, it's a pleasure to see you here in my place this evening," Pete said effusively. "I'm surprised to see you here tonight. The local station just reported on your team's return to State College fifteen or twenty minutes ago."

"I'm student teaching outside Philly this semester," I responded. "I just flew in to the airport here a few minutes ago. My fiancée and I were hungry. Your place is the first place that came to mind for dinner."

"I'm delighted you stopped by," Pete responded. "I'm very sorry about your loss last night. I think the whole state was cheering for your Lions."

"Texas is a tough opponent," I replied. "They played extremely well and we had a bit of bad luck. C'est la vie."

"Enjoy your meal," Pete said. "Thank you for stopping by."

Our food arrived shortly afterward. It was every bit as good as our last visit. The TV was still tuned to Sports Center. They released the final BCS standings while we were eating. Naturally Texas was ranked #1. Alabama's big win over Oklahoma pushed them up to #2. I was pleasantly surprised to find us ranked at #3. I expected us to drop at least three or four spots after our loss. The remainder of the top ten were: Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Nebraska, Boise State, LSU and West Virginia

The drive home took around fifteen minutes. I double parked in front of the main entrance to the Court Apartments. Vincent Rizzo, the doorman I met last month, was on duty. Penny and I unloaded our bags onto the sidewalk in front of the building.

Vincent and Penny would watch our bags while I found a parking spot for my car. I circled around a couple blocks and found a space about a block and a half from the apartment. I remembered to grab the radio face plate and flash drive from the radio. I walked back to the Courtyard and found Vincent outside guarding my bags. Penny had started moving things upstairs already.

I thanked Vincent for his help, gathered up my things and headed upstairs for my new home. I dropped my bags in my closet in our bedroom. Penny let me use her patch cable to hook my laptop up to the internet. I hadn't checked e-mail in a couple days and I had urgent business to research before tomorrow morning.

How do I get to Penn State Brandywine from here? Where could I get breakfast? There was no food left in the apartment. Penny cleaned it out before she went home for Christmas. I found my answers along with the location of a grocery store near Media that I could stop at after I finished my student teaching prep at Brandywine Campus.

I received quite a few e-mails from my friends and my brother Andy. Everyone commiserated with me over my team's loss. I sent a thank you back to each of them. When I finished on-line I made a mental note for myself. I needed to get to a computer store and pick up a wireless router so Penny's computer could stay hooked up to the internet while I would be free to roam around the apartment with my laptop and stay connected too.

I spent some time unpacking and organizing my things before Penny and I went to bed. We made love before going to sleep that evening. It was a good way to start off our life together.

--oooOooo--

The alarm woke me at 7:30 in the morning. I stumbled off to shower and shave. Penny was awake when I went back to the bedroom.

"Good morning, honey," Penny said cheerily when I walked back into the room.

"Did I wake you?" I asked. "I tried to be quiet."

"I got used to waking up early last semester," Penny explained. "I had an eight o'clock class three days a week."

"I'm going to head out," I said. "How does spaghetti sound for dinner?"

"That's fine," Penny agreed. "Have a good day. I love you."

"You do the same," I replied. "I love you too."

No one bothered my car overnight. I headed out of the city on Market Street, which turned into the West Chester Pike outside the city. I found the Wawa right where I expected it, just before I got to Route 1. I had been in the Wawa convenience stores a couple times before. I found they would be an excellent place to get breakfast on the run.

They had five varieties of coffee to choose from. I could have a breakfast sandwich made to order or I could grab one of the ready-made sandwiches. They had doughnuts, muffins and Danish available too. I could get used to the place.

Traffic wasn't too bad on Route 1 as I went around Media. More people were coming into the city than were heading out like I was. I had no trouble finding my turn onto Route 352. The Penn State Brandywine campus was a couple miles up the road. The visitor's parking and administration building were right where I expected to find them.

I spent most of my day with Mr. Jonathan Atkins, a grad assistant half dozen years older than me who worked for Professor Charles Buchanan. Jonathan, as he insisted I call him, was an inch or so shorter than me and thin as a rail. I probably would be built like him too, if I hadn't spent the last seven and a half years lifting weights and training to play football. He had wire rimmed glasses. Jonathan's jet black hair was conservatively short and neatly groomed.

I spent an hour filling in forms and paperwork. Jonathan gave a quick briefing about the talk Professor Buchanan gave the other eleven student teachers Monday. The professor was out visiting each of the schools today, making sure everything was starting off properly for the student teachers. I spent the rest of the morning reading through the CI 495E Student Teacher's Guidebook.