Chapter 26

Jefferson High won the first game of the playoffs nine to six in a pouring rainstorm during which Jason, and later Mike, had great difficulty even gripping the ball well enough to pass it. Kyle was called on to kick field goals when their drives stalled inside the thirty-yard line. For Kyle, these would normally be "chip shots", but the sloppy field made each of them challenging. Unfortunately, they lost the next game on a bitterly cold night where the wind was blowing across the field and the ground was too hard for the cleats to grab. Players on both sides lost footing, and several ball carriers lost the ball as they fell unexpectedly. Kyle did make two field goals but it wasn't enough for a victory.

Once their season ended, Kyle, Jason and Mike had plenty of time to investigate colleges. Mike was not interested in large schools, and being the back-up quarterback in his senior year did nothing to raise the interest of any of the major schools. Jason and Kyle, however, were a different story altogether. They had been the winning combo on a very winning team, and several large Midwestern schools issued invitations to them to visit.

They even managed to get Mike included in one of the invitations to a Big Ten school well known for its parties. The visit as such was terribly handled and a major disappointment as a college prospect visit, because from the hour of their arrival until the morning of their departure, all three were a small part of a very large party where the beer flowed continuously and both guys and girls spent a lot of time undressed. This was something completely different from anything Mike had experienced, and he spent most of the first night and morning of the second day in bed with a very cute blonde girl from Minnesota whose name he still can't remember. When asked by others later what they thought of the school, they recalled going to the game, and seeing some of the facilities, but not much after that.

Jill was moderately surprised to discover that among the clothing still in the dryer following Kyle's return from the visit were two very sexy ladies' panties, which she did not recognize as either hers or Emma's. She walked into his bedroom twirling them on each hand. "Oh, Kyle, did you forget something?" she teased.

Emma was sitting next to him on his bed. "Those aren't mine!"

"I didn't think so. Maybe Kyle has developed a fetish for wearing women's underpants."

Kyle still had an almost lost look on his face. "Where did those come from?"

"From your laundry after your trip. Must have been some college visit!"

Emma joined in the teasing, "Were they students or just entertainers?"

Jill looked closely at the labels in each, "These are not cheap panties, believe me. These girls have some money."

"Maybe I should go back there and see if I can find out who they belong to, sort of like that prince and the slipper you were talking about. I could just go up to some pretty girl and ask her if she had lost her panty somewhere. Of course, she'd probably have to show me that she hadn't," Kyle was on a roll now. "And then, who knows..."

"You'll do no such thing, Kyle Winston. You don't need to be checking out anything like that." Emma snapped back.

"Why, Emma, honey, you almost sound a bit jealous. Jill let me see those again, maybe if I look closely at them, maybe they wrote their names in them." Kyle was obviously enjoying getting Emma worked up again. "Oh yeah, it's coming back to me now. Those there..." he pointed to the panty in Jill's right hand.

"Nevermind." Emma grabbed them before he could reach them. "I'll take care of them.

As she turned and walked from the room, Jill added, "Kyle, you are mean and cruel, you know that?"

"Well, not always, but it is fun to see Emma get all worked up like this." He was laughing when Emma hit him in the arm again.

"Why do you always do this to me?" She hit him again and then stomped out of the room as if to demonstrate her sincere anger.

"Because I know that you will react just the way you do."

She stuck her head back into his room. "Were they pretty?"

"Who, the girls at the party? Yeah, most of them were really pretty."

"No, the girls that you ... these girls?" she held up the panties.

"Oh, I dunno. I don't remember which girls those belong to. They might have been, yeah."

"Oh, Kyle!!!" She said in an exasperated voice. "You are impossible."

One day after school, Coach Saunders called Jason and Kyle to his office. He introduced them to a man that he had known for many years, who just happened to be the offensive coordinator for the University of Michigan.

"Boys, he began, after introducing the man, this gentleman has been one of my closest friends for many years. We played alongside each other for four years and he stood up for me at my wedding to Marcie's mother. He has been in my office watching game films and videos of you two both on the practice field and in the games. Whatever he says here to you today will be the truth, you can count on that."

"Boys, I have been looking at game films for many, many years. I have seen some real talent, and I have seen some duds. What I saw today of the two of you, in tandem and singly, were some of the best performances that I have seen in more years than I want to count. Each of you has an abundance of talent that can blossom into something amazing, given the right coaching and training. I can tell you right now that I and my fellow coaches at Michigan can work with you and help you attain that level of excellence, most probably better than any other coaching team in the country. It's what makes our teams so successful, and probably the reason why so many of our former players have moved on to play professional ball. I would like to invite you to come to the campus, meet with the coaching staff and some of the players, visit the campus and talk with faculty advisors in whatever field you wish to study, and then see why our school is the right one for you. Most importantly, we would also like your families to join you that weekend so that they will see the opportunities as well."

Two weeks later, both families flew to Ann Arbor on a corporate jet that just "happened" to be in their airport and heading to Michigan. Mr. Danfoss, Jason's dad, was concerned that taking the plane was a violation of recruiting rules but was assured by several "business reps" that were already on the plane that it was perfectly fine.

One of the men responded to his concerns. "We had some business meetings to attend about thirty miles out of town and this is the nearest airport. I was speaking with one of the coaches, and he said that you were coming up to visit this weekend, so we thought we would just see if you wanted to ride along with us."

Neither Emma nor Jill had ever flown on anything other than a commercial airline and both were quite impressed with the luxurious décor. It was not a long flight, just over an hour, and by the time they landed, they had become quite comfortable with everything.

Upon landing, a stretch limo quickly shuttled them to the on campus hotel. They met their host for the weekend, one of the junior assistant coaches, who briefed them on their itinerary. Friday evening they were welcome to dine at the restaurant in the hotel. In the morning, there would be a tour of the athletic facilities, the athletic dorm and the main campus. After lunch, each boy would meet with the department head of the subject each had previously indicated as a potential area of major study. Jason and his family would meet with the Dean of the Engineering School, while Kyle, Jill and Emma would meet the Chairman of the Political Science Department. After those meeting, they would meet with the football coaching staff, followed by a dinner with several of the current team members. On Sunday morning, another plane had offered to take them home.

The amount of attention shown to them during this visit surprised Emma. While she had never even been on a college campus before, she had anticipated that their arrival and subsequent visit would not be much different from going shopping at a new mall. "Do you think that they treat all potential students this well?"

"No, Emma, definitely not, but Jason and I aren't just the average student coming to visit. They would like us to come to this school and play football on their team, and they know that several other schools, including some of their competitors in the same conference are also after us. So, no, this is not your ordinary campus visit. This is going to be show-time."

Emma walked a little slower so that she would be behind the group somewhat. Kyle was beside her and she asked him softly, "So, can I sleep in your room tonight?"

"I don't think Jason would mind, but he might get a little jealous because he'll be sleeping there also."

"Why? I was looking forward to being with you."

"Because that's how they assigned the rooms, dummy. You sleep with your mom."

Dinner that evening was another surprise, a very pleasant one. The dining room in the hotel is one of the better restaurants in the entire city. But during dinner, Jason's dad wanted to find out a little more about Kyle, and that discussion became a downer for Kyle.

"I understand that your father writes books, Kyle."

"Well, yes sir, he did write some books."

"What kind of books does he write?"

"I don't know, I have never read any of them, and I don't know much about them."

"He never tells you what he is writing?"

"Uh, no sir. He was killed about six years ago."

"Oh, I am sorry. I didn't know."

"I really don't know much about him. I know he worked for the government somehow, but I have no idea what he did. He was gone a lot when I was a kid."

"And you lost your mother this summer?" Mrs. Danfoss asked.

Kyle nodded affirmatively.

"That is so sad. We didn't know this."

Jill came to the rescue of the conversation. "What did you think of that plane today? Wasn't it beautiful?"

The Saturday morning tour and walk-around was much the same as the boys had seen in Iowa City. Because it was a "bye week" with no game scheduled, there were team members everywhere, working out, lifting weights, swinging on apparatus, and swimming, just as they had at Iowa, without using their legs to kick.

"Just think of the strength that it takes to do that, Dad," Jason said as they watched the men swimming. "I can't believe they can do that."

"It is pretty phenomenal to see, isn't it? Especially considering that those guys are all pretty 'beefy' guys."

When one player stepped from the pool, Emma gushed, "Look at the muscles on that guy. What a hunk!"

"Control those urges, Emma," Jason responded. "We can't have you chasing after superman there. He may already have a girlfriend."