MVP #2
Page 5
Hamilton’s quarterback looked good. But one of the other Hamilton players really stuck out. His name was Logan. He was taller and bigger than most of the other players. Even though the quarterback called the plays, Logan kept telling the other players what to do.
“I can’t believe you just dropped that pass!” he yelled at one. “We’re not going to win with mistakes like that!”
A few plays later, Logan exploded when one of the smaller Hamilton players didn’t run fast enough. “My grandmother runs faster than that!” Logan hollered. “You’re out for the next five plays.”
The player went and sat on the sidelines while another one took his place.
“Wow, Logan’s hard on his teammates,” Max said. “That kid was running fast.”
Kat nodded. “Yeah, he likes picking on people,” she said. “It’s too bad because Logan actually seems to be a pretty good player.”
Hamilton kept practicing. And Logan kept yelling at different teammates. When a player flubbed a handoff, Logan got three other kids to tease him. The three kept dropping the football and pretending to cry. Logan laughed out loud. But it looked like the player who had made the mistake was the one who really wanted to cry.
Shortly after, the football team took a break for water. Max looked over his notes. He had written down a bunch of Hamilton’s plays and formations and taken notes on the different players.
“They’re a really good team, even if Logan’s mean,” Kat said.
Max nodded. “They are definitely better than us,” he said.
He looked at the notebook in his hands. He thought for a moment, and then his eyes lit up.
“But we’re a good team, too,” he said. “And more importantly, they’re not perfect! They make mistakes just like us. And Logan’s big, but he’s a bully. I think we can win!”
Max tapped the notebook against the back of his hand. Then he threw the notebook into the dirt. “What did you do that for?” Kat asked. She leaned over and picked it up.
“You know, we are a good team. Too good to be doing this,” Max said. “We need to win because we did our best. Not because we spied and cheated.”
Kat looked at Max for a moment. Then she nodded. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “This seemed like a good idea, but we’re better than this. Let’s rip up the notes and leave!”
Max took the notebook back. Then he pulled out the pages he had written on and tore them all up. He tossed them into a nearby trash can.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said.
Kat nodded. They slipped out from under the bleachers and tried to sneak around to the other side of the brick wall.
“Hey, stop them!” called out one of the Hamilton players. Max and Kat froze. They’d been spotted! “They’ve been spying on our practice!”
The players on the Hamilton team started to run for Max and Kat!
“Quick!” Kat said. They scrambled around the brick wall and ran for their bikes.