Chapter 19

I woke up groggily in the middle of the night with my lip and hands throbbing. I got up after moving Vicky to the side and went to the washroom and then took a couple of aspirin with a glass of water. I got back to bed and fell asleep quickly.

I woke again to the alarm buzzing and reached over to shut it off. It was only five thirty but I knew I should get up and get going to be at the arena for six thirty. I showered and shaved and slipped back in to bedroom to grab some comfy travelling clothes for the long bus ride.

I made myself some toast for breakfast and then when I was ready; I went in and looked in on Vicky.

"Honey, I have to get going, if you want to use the car you have to get up to drive me" I said.

She groaned and opened her eyes slowly.

"What time is it Michael?" she groaned.

"It's about six ten Darling. I have to be there at six thirty so you need to get up now if you want to use the car" I informed her.

"Fine, I'm up, I'm up" she said as she pushed herself up.

I helped her to stand and made sure she got into the washroom without hitting anything on the way.

I went in and made her a cup of instant coffee. She came out looking more awake and looking ready to go with her hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"You look good with your hair like that Vicky. You have a beautiful neck Darling" I said to her as I handed her the coffee.

"Thank you Sweetie for the compliment and the coffee. I really need it this morning" she replied and took a sip.

"Ok, two minutes to get dressed and off we go Michael" she said as she took the cup and walked over to her apartment, dressed in her night gown.

I watched her until she got in her apartment and then gathered my stuff and locked up the apartment. I carried my stuff to the car and put it on the back seat and was heading back when Vicky came up dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

I gave her a hug and a kiss and then led her to the passenger side door.

"What was that for Michael?" she asked with a smile.

"You look so beautiful this morning Darling. I'm the luckiest man in the world to have you as a girlfriend. I'm going to miss you this weekend" I replied.

"Oh, thank you Sweetie, but I don't even have make-up on silly" she said.

"That's why I'm so lucky, you look that beautiful without make-up" I responded with a smile.

"Sure, tell me this when you're leaving for three days so I can't properly thank you Michael. I can't wait until you get home" she told me.

I started the car and we drove quickly over to the arena. I pulled into the parking lot and saw the bus was just pulling in.

"Ok, have a good weekend with Becky and the girls. You can use my apartment if you need to camp some girls over there. I'll see you two on Sunday" I said.

"Thanks Sweetie, we will have a good time. Becky and I will be waiting for you when you get back. So go have fun, study hard, have a great game and remember no women, ever" she stressed.

"Yes Ma'am" I replied and got out. She got out and walked around to the driver's side and gave me a gentle kiss as she wrapped herself around me.

I heard Frank's voice say "No wonder he goes berserk when someone pisses her off. Jesus, I'd cheerfully shoot someone if they made my girlfriend too pissed to send me off like that!"

Vicky stopped her kiss and looked at him with her hands on her hips and said "Frank, you did want him to play well didn't you?"

"Yes Vicky I do" he said with a smile.

"So let me finish my motivational technique without interruption please?" she said.

"Yes Ma'am" he replied with a chuckle and walked away.

She turned back and hugged me again and kissed the good side of my mouth. She went on her tippy toes and whispered in my ear "Sweetie, this is your motivation speech; Becky gets real horny if you hit someone hard, I get real horny if you get one or more assists, and we both get real crazy if you score one or more goals. If you do all three, you are going to have your world rocked when you get back. So, play as hard as you can and your ladies will make sure you enjoy the reward Sweetie."

"I'm suddenly very motivated to play very, very well Honey" I said with a grin.

"Good, we will be watching Michael, make us proud and come back to your women" she said.

I grabbed my bags and had just said good bye to Vicky when Fred Benson walked up.

"Hello, young lady, you must be Miss Waters, I'm Fred Benson, the head coach"

"Yes I am Mr. Benson, It's nice to meet you Sir" Vicky replied.

"I just wanted to come over and apologize in person for the incident last night. Both the words and the actions are intolerable and we have dealt harshly with all five of the people involved. I will be speaking to the whole team and there will be further actions taken to make sure everyone knows proper respect for women and teammates. Furthermore, I would like to thank you for controlling this young man here so no one was seriously hurt."

"Thank you for the apology Mr. Benson" Vicky responded. "It was a particularly insulting and hurtful comment so I am glad to hear that some action will be taken to ensure that the whole team respects the women associated with either team. It is the third incident in the last two weeks that I know of that some player has verbally or physically attacked women in or just outside the arena. The women's team and the girlfriends do not feel safe in that arena with some of your players. There has been some talk about filing sexual harassment charges against some of the players or the whole team in general, to get some action taken."

"It seems that I have let things slide too long around here and have been too lenient" Fred stated. "Rest assured extra efforts by me and my staff will be taken, including counselling and whatever else is recommended. Please, if possible, let me have the weekend and a couple days in the new week to get the proper people in place to monitor and set up everything before that action is taken" he asked.

"I will talk with some of the girls who have expressed that intent and try to get you a few days Sir. It will help that the team is away but some supervision of the players not on the trip should be part of the plan for this weekend if they will be here at the arena. It is usually those players that are involved in a lot of the issues as they have more unsupervised time and are usually the younger, more arrogant players" Vicky suggested.

"Young lady, you are correct in your points and before I leave, I will have that group of players corralled and under heavy supervision. "Is there anything else you can suggest?" he asked.

"Not at this time, but I will discuss this with the women's team and all the girlfriends and provide Michael with that input upon his return. I will leave a message on his cell if something important comes up that has to be addressed sooner. Thank you for taking this issue seriously sir." She responded.

"Thank you Miss Waters for your help in this matter and rest assured it will be taken care of. Mike, I must compliment you on your excellent taste in a girlfriend. Not only is she a beautiful young lady, she is also very intelligent and direct woman. I can see why several people have told me to ensure that Miss Waters does not become the least bit annoyed" he said to me with a smile.

"I'm pretty sure there is not one person on the team who wants that to happen, especially me Mr. Benson." I said seriously.

"Gentlemen, enough about me, you have a trip to get ready for and players to corral. I'm sure Mr. Benson will take all appropriate actions necessary and the players will stop harassing both the ladies and Mike. Mike and I will have a discussion on how we both feel about our participation with the team by Wednesday after things have been implemented. It was nice to meet you Mr. Benson" Vicky spoke.

"And you Miss Waters" he replied. "Have a good weekend."

"Thank you Sir, I will" she responded. "See you later Michael, have a good trip and a great game."

"Ok Vicky, I'll call you tonight if I can. Have a great weekend" I replied as I handed over the keys and closed her door after she got in. I waved as she pulled away and walked over to the bus to put my gym bag in the bottom compartments and carried my book bag onto the bus and found an empty seat near the back. I pulled out my logic books and finished off the assignment and started to read ahead until the coaches came around and made sure everyone was accounted for and team assistants came around and made sure the rookies had everything they needed. I went over the checklist with one of them and told him I had everything, including my ID. Finally everyone was set but before the bus got moving Fred got up and had a few things to say.

"Some of you might know that last night there was an incident involving several members of this team. A young lady was spoken to in an intolerable manner and a fight ensued. Upon further investigation, it was found that five members were going to jump one other member and his girlfriend in the parking lot. Suffice it to say that things didn't work out as planned for the five.

This and other incidents have brought several things to a head.

One, some or many people are not happy with decisions the coaches have made in regards to personnel and have taken matters into their own hands.

Two, multiple incidents involving players of this team have been brought to light in regards to how women have been treated in and around this arena. Verbal, physical and sexual abuse has happened with witnesses to these incidents and with terrible consequences for all parties involved.

Third, several ladies, both girlfriends and members of the women's team are considering filing sexual harassment charges against players and the team as a whole. Should this come to pass, with the cases and witnesses that can be produced, several players and possibly the whole program will be shut down.

Fourth, several players have become so disgusted with these events that they are seriously considering quitting or transferring to another college.

I have never in all my years coaching this team had this much trouble, this much disrespect for women, this much disharmony and frankly I am disgusted with the lot of you. That any team member thinks so poorly of members of the opposite sex, women that could be sisters, daughters or granddaughters of someone in this bus, to verbally assault or worse physically assault them is despicable. I have spoken to the Athletic Department head and they will be helping with obtaining counselling, workshops, additional supervision and extra security in and around the arena to protect these ladies from you until this team can be trusted. It is hoped that with these steps implemented immediately that the ladies in question, can be convinced that additional steps do not have to be taken.

In regards to how a large proportion of this team has been objecting to certain personnel decisions the coaches have made, I have this to say. All of you are here by invitation of this University to have the privilege to play hockey here. All of you can be uninvited just as easily. For anyone to have the arrogance to feel that they know best on who should be on the ice is ludicrous and will not be tolerated. Any such verbal or physical intimidation or abuse will be met with harsh discipline.

I am not happy with the leadership on this team for not stepping up and stopping or at least reporting the abuse. It is a travesty that you are called the captains and assistant captains of this team and you could let this happen. Those honours can be taken away as well, should your leadership not improve, which would not look good when it comes to a further career in hockey.

Finally, to those who are disgusted with what has been happening, I join you in this disgust and pledge to show you that my staff and I will straighten out this team very quickly, even if it means we are fielding a team filled with members of the house intramural league, that would love the opportunity to play for the University of Michigan Wolverines. Please delay any decisions until we can show everyone how serious we are to change the attitudes, the culture and the harmony of this team.

We will be having meetings with all of you individually on this trip and when we get back. There will be mandatory team meetings where School councillors will conduct seminars and possible investigations.

Now, does anybody object or have issue with anything I have said or plan to do? Does anyone think they know better than the coaches on who should be playing for the Wolverines? Does anyone have a different opinion on the way any and all women period should be treated? If so, then please gather your stuff and leave the bus."

No one spoke or got up.

"Then I take it that we are on the same page. We have some ladies joining us on the bus as team assistants, training personnel and tutors. We also have some councillors that are being rushed over to join us on the trip. Should any of these women be spoken to, touched or even looked at inappropriately, the person will be summarily thrown off the bus into the hands of the nearest police station up on charges. Is that understood? I was going to say Gentlemen but you don't deserve that title. I asked if that was understood?!"

We all answered "Yes Sir".

"Ok let them in please Frank. The ladies will sit up front so clear out some of the front rows now! I don't give a shit if someone has to sit in the damn washroom!"

The front four rows were vacated and the guys came back to find a seat. They quickly found seats until for some reason, only I had an open seat beside me.

There was muted discussion with the ladies and the other staff and they sat down. One last group of two older gentlemen joined us at the last minute and were found seats. Then the bus finally got under way.

Fred spoke up "I want the captains and assistant captains up here now. Clear out the next set of seats and have them sit where the captains were."

There was more movement as the players switched seats. Fred went in on them roughly, tearing a strip off of each one of them, quietly but since no one was talking, we could all here the tone, if not all the words. After about fifteen minutes they were told to go back to their seats but to leave the seats up front empty. It was interesting to see what they would do, stand up, or make someone else stand.

They were angry as they came back and found no seats available except the one beside mine. Steve Mason, the defenceman, sat down beside me while the others glared at him. They looked at each other and then sat on armrests where they could rather than kick someone out of their seats. Hazing rookies was not on the agenda this morning I guessed.

Fred introduced one of the older ladies and she got up and gave the freshman sexual harassment speech to the bus. At the end she gave the University policy on offenders and the actions that could take place.

Fred thanked her and said "You have all heard the speech and the appropriate discipline. Those actions will be enforced to the maximum for any incident by any member of this team. Furthermore immediate dismissal from the team and immediate revoking of any scholarship will occur. Are the rules and discipline understood?"

"Yes Sir" we answered.

The morning continued with a teamwork speech by another councillor and then a leadership instructional video was played on the monitors hanging in a couple of spots.

All of it was stopped when we crossed the border into Canada for the shortcut up to Niagara Falls to cross into New York again. We all showed our ID and our personal bag and then got back on the bus. There was changing of seats but at least I got one. We continued on our way and they left us alone for a bit until the rookies were called up front. I grabbed my bag and made my way up to the front. Fred just said to sit in the empty row and then the student tutors went over our studies.

A girl came up and asked "Hi, I'm Pam, and you are?"

"Mike Stewart" I replied.

"Ok, let me get your sheet" she said as she looked through a bunch in her hands. "Ok, here it is, so Computer Science major, with programming and logic, Algebra and Creative writing. A little more intense than most hockey players so I don't know how much assistance we have on this trip, the Algebra and maybe the Creative writing perhaps. But, let's pull out the assignments you have due and see where you are at first."