02-14-2019, 06:05 PM
(This post was last modified: 02-14-2019, 06:13 PM by JKortesi81.)
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
I have got to say, this summer was like no other for Carlito Crush. It was filled with the highest of highs, and yet, the lowest of the lows. Let’s start from the beginning. The Orange County Otters just won the Ultimus Bowl. I was coming off of an excellent string of games, and I could FINALLY say I was an Ultimus champion. People don’t realize just how hard that is to do, honestly. It’s still mind blowing that there are going to be all time NSFL greats who never win a title. I’m extremely thankful that I will no longer be one of them.
From there, it was a bit of a whirlwind. Why you ask? Well, I tend not to get too into my personal life here, but, well, I got married! I suppose I should get into that story. Not too long ago, I was at an event for a local football league. I was early to this particular event, and a lot of people weren’t there just yet. I saw my friend Mary from across the way and walked over to see her. She was standing with one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen. Mary introduced me to her friend Veronica. There was something about her that really drew me to her. Needless to say, she felt the same way. I got her number that night, and we got to talking a bit for the next few weeks. It was like I’d known her my entire life. So of course I did the smartest thing I’d ever done and asked her to go out with me. She introduced me to a lot of things I’d never known before. Did you know there was black rice? I didn’t. I found myself eating more shrimp for some reason. Last season when I started having a mid-career crisis about how I was losing my talents, she introduced me to the “Keto” diet. It’s had a profound effect on my body and my way of life.
Needless to say, she’s changed my life in ways I never thought possible. Even now, she’s been improving my life in tiny ways. And that’s hard to do. I’m a stubborn human being at times. It’s just how I was raised. I have my principles and I stick to them. Anyway, it was a slam dunk for me to tell her before the playoffs began that if we won the Ultimus, I’d marry her. She doesn’t know this part, but I’d have done it even if we’d lost.
The wedding was a blast. My dad informed me my grandmother’s health would prevent her from flying off the island, so Ronnie just told me we’d have the wedding in the Dominican Republic! That’s the type of woman I’m marrying folks. We flew all of our friends and family to the DR, including my Otters teammates. Needless to say, it was a big wedding. While we didn’t go all out with frills and everything, we had a LOT of guests. I’ll be cocky about it, I *did* pay for everyone’s flights.
At the wedding itself, I had gotten word that one of my teammates, the tackling machine Mason Brown, was planning to play a joke on us and tackle the cake. I knew that with Mason, this wasn’t a joke. So I smartly ordered two cakes, and had the venue hide one in the back. Of course, as we were called over to cut the cake, Brown came flying in and just speared himself through the 7 layer cake. Veronica was horrified. Mason got up with this huge smile on his face and said “HAPPY WEDDING HAHAHAHAHA”. I have no idea why he thought this was a great plan. He’d later say it was a way to make things special. I’m pretty sure his years of concussions played a role. Anyway, before Ronnie lost it, I motioned for the other cake to come out. And out it came! Bigger and better than the one Mason murdered. She was so happy when she saw it come out!
Needless to say, he made it memorable.
The rest of the night was just what you’d expect it to be. Lots of dancing, lots of drinking, and then even more dancing and drinking. It was a night I’d never forget, surrounded by the people I love. Just a perfect day and night. It’s the definition of family, for sure.
I spent the next couple of weeks in the DR, showing Veronica where I grew up. I showed her all about my love of sand castle building. To her credit, even if she thought it was stupid, she sat there with me in the sand, helping me craft a pretty nice castle. She paid attention to what I was saying and didn’t just dismiss it like others have done in the past. I know, its not always the most exciting thing in the world to people, but it means a lot to me. To have someone take an interest in it is an amazing feeling.
It appears there was more good news on the way. Veronica told me she was pregnant. There’s a pretty good chance it happened during “marriage consummation”. The time lines check out anyway. I was so excited. I was going to be a father. That meant immediately telling my own dad. We were leaving the Dominican in a few days to go back to Orange County. We’d have to have a party with my family at home first!
For those who don’t know or remember, my father, Brutus Crush, was a professional wrestler. He was a champion all over the United States, but never quite made it big in the WWF. After a few years of becoming incredibly popular, he was finally going to get his shot to make it in the big leagues. Right before he got there, he found out he got my mother pregnant with me. Knowing that he couldn’t be on the road all of the time when he had a son to raise, he retired from the ring in his prime, and moved back to the DR. I’ve always felt I owed it to him to make it big, and that’s why I came to the USA to play American Football in the first place.
When I first got home before the wedding, I brought my dad a replica of the Ultimus trophy. I made him replicas of all of my awards, as he requested to put them on my mantle. Dad and I just sat in our living room, looking at the trophies and talking about life. He compares my MVP trophy to his World Title. He told me I had truly done him proud.
I damn near couldn’t sleep the night before. It was going to be so exciting to see the look on Dad’s face when I told him I’d get to be a father too. I had the best role model of all time for it, that’s for sure. I eventually passed out, and woke up super early, eager to get over there. Veronica and I drove over to my parent’s house and we arrived to a very scary scene. There were police cars and an ambulance. I jumped out of my car and sprinted inside the house. My mother was crying hysterically, being consoled by our neighbor Juanita. She looked at me, trying to hold back tears, to tell me that my father, Brutus Crush, the champion of the world, passed away in his sleep last night.
I’d never get to tell him he was going to be a grandfather.
This is the part where I was referring to the “lowest of the low” part from earlier. The next few days were a blur as we planned his funeral. The entire Republic was going to be on hand. As we were preparing to head to the church, my mother approached me. She said she found a letter that my dad wrote me, and gave it to me. Naturally, I ripped that sucker open as fast as I could.
“Carlito,
If you’re reading this, then I’m not with you anymore. For that, I’m truly sorry. I know that as I write this, my time on this Earth is very short. I have to apologize to you immediately. We didn’t have the wedding in the Dominican because your grandmother was sick. It was because I am. Assuming that I’ve passed away, you should know that I was diagnosed with a very aggressive Pancreatic cancer. By the time they found it, it was too late for me. I waited much too long to ever see a doctor, and now I’m paying for it. Your mother doesn’t know that I was sick, because I didn’t want her to worry. I know you’re going to tell her, and that’s okay now, hopefully she won’t be too mad at me.
Everything I told you when you first came home still holds true my son. I’m extremely proud of you. I raised to be a good, upstanding human being who was good to people. I raised you to use your God given talents to their fullest. I raised you to being loving and caring. You’ve exceeded all of my own expectations, and I’m sorry if I had never fully let you know that. I don’t have to tell you to take care of your mother. And make sure that you take extra care of Veronica. She’s a delightful woman, and I’m proud that you’ve made her a part of this family. You’ve taken the Crush name and you’ve done things with it I never could. I’m so appreciative of how you represent this family and our name. Because in the end, it’s the only thing we’ll always have.
Good luck my son. You’ll be okay with out me. I love you.
- Dad. “
Needless to say, I read that completely in tears. I’m in tears right now, typing it as I go. Losing my father was one of the worst experiences of my life. For the few days between his death and that letter, I was lost. But somehow, as he always has, my dad came through for me. As much as I wanted to be mad at him for not telling us he was sick, it didn’t matter anymore. The last few weeks I had spent with him were amazing, and for him to be in that much pain without any of us noticing was almost impressive. I told my mother the truth right away. She claimed she had a feeling something was wrong, but my dad was always “too strong” for us, and there’s no way he’d ever admit to anything. She was surprised he went to the doctor at all!
The rest of the offseason was a blur, understandably. I learned so much about family in those months, that I even signed a two year contract with Orange County. To some, that means nothing. But I’ve been living off of one year deals for so long now. But this year, I just felt like I needed to stay at least two more years. I’m not sure where I’ll be at by then. I’ll have a child, hopefully a son, to raise. Granted, playing football and being “on the road” at most 10 times during the year isn’t the same as traveling the country wrestling every day and being gone all of the time, but my father taught me that family is the most important thing in the world and you sacrifice parts of yourself for it. He did that with me.
Now, I’m not saying I’m ready to retire just yet. Don’t be silly. I’ve learned there’s a few good seasons left in these legs. But as I’ve said before, my time is drawing shorter. My play this season hasn’t been too bad either! In our first game, we played the Yeti. A lot of the preseason predictions had this as the Ultimus matchup. That’d be a crazy game for me, all things considered. I had 6 catches for only 57 yards. Not bad, not great. Then we walked into Yellowknife and got our asses handed to us pretty badly. I had 4 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown though, so I did my part. If that wasn’t bad enough, we had to play San Jose next and they were looking for a little revenge. They got it in the form of a 38-17 beat down of us. They held me to 1 catch for 32 yards, my worst game as an Otter, I’m pretty sure. That’s highly disappointing stuff right there. All of a sudden we were sitting at 1-2 and not sure what was going on. I remember practicing our asses off for our Week 4 game against New Orleans. Things finally started to click for Showbiz and I. 6 catches, 126 yards, and a touchdown for me. We won 45-21. That was a big one to get us back on track. Then Baltimore came to town with a terrible record. They’re falling apart. But we just couldn’t get anything going! We ended up gutting out a 14-13 win. I was only 2 catches for 30 yards though. It was pretty bad. In Week 6, we traveled to Arizona to get our first road win of the season. We got it in the form of a 31-23 victory. I really tore up Arizona this game, as I had two long touchdowns In the first three minutes of the game! I wound up going 5 catches for 137 yards and the 2 TDs. It was a great feeling. Showbiz and I are on the same page a LOT in practices, but when the real game comes we miss out a little.
For the season, I’m sitting at 24 catches for 465 yards and 4 touchdowns. My season is going about the same as my offseason. A lot of ups and then the next week some downs. Here’s hoping I can get that going the way I want it to. I had a very strong second half last season, I know I can get my consistency back no problem. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.
It’s amazing to think about my career to this point. I started in Colorado, suffered through a winless season, got traded twice (first to OCO, and then to NOLA for the playoff run in S10), won the MVP, set the touchdowns in a season record for wide receivers, lost a few Ultimii, and then finally won one. I’ve always been so concerned about whether or not I’d make the Hall of Fame, but at this point, I’m not sure it even matters to me anymore. It’s less about personal accolades for me now, and I’m all about the team. Like I said, this offseason had the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. But if there was truly one lesson I learned, or should I say re-learned, this summer, it’s that family matters most. My wife, and my unborn child are most important, of course. But my Orange County teammates? They’re family too. This family right here? We’re going to go back to back. I can’t wait to prove it to you. I love you dad. (2562)
I have got to say, this summer was like no other for Carlito Crush. It was filled with the highest of highs, and yet, the lowest of the lows. Let’s start from the beginning. The Orange County Otters just won the Ultimus Bowl. I was coming off of an excellent string of games, and I could FINALLY say I was an Ultimus champion. People don’t realize just how hard that is to do, honestly. It’s still mind blowing that there are going to be all time NSFL greats who never win a title. I’m extremely thankful that I will no longer be one of them.
From there, it was a bit of a whirlwind. Why you ask? Well, I tend not to get too into my personal life here, but, well, I got married! I suppose I should get into that story. Not too long ago, I was at an event for a local football league. I was early to this particular event, and a lot of people weren’t there just yet. I saw my friend Mary from across the way and walked over to see her. She was standing with one of the most beautiful girls I’d ever seen. Mary introduced me to her friend Veronica. There was something about her that really drew me to her. Needless to say, she felt the same way. I got her number that night, and we got to talking a bit for the next few weeks. It was like I’d known her my entire life. So of course I did the smartest thing I’d ever done and asked her to go out with me. She introduced me to a lot of things I’d never known before. Did you know there was black rice? I didn’t. I found myself eating more shrimp for some reason. Last season when I started having a mid-career crisis about how I was losing my talents, she introduced me to the “Keto” diet. It’s had a profound effect on my body and my way of life.
Needless to say, she’s changed my life in ways I never thought possible. Even now, she’s been improving my life in tiny ways. And that’s hard to do. I’m a stubborn human being at times. It’s just how I was raised. I have my principles and I stick to them. Anyway, it was a slam dunk for me to tell her before the playoffs began that if we won the Ultimus, I’d marry her. She doesn’t know this part, but I’d have done it even if we’d lost.
The wedding was a blast. My dad informed me my grandmother’s health would prevent her from flying off the island, so Ronnie just told me we’d have the wedding in the Dominican Republic! That’s the type of woman I’m marrying folks. We flew all of our friends and family to the DR, including my Otters teammates. Needless to say, it was a big wedding. While we didn’t go all out with frills and everything, we had a LOT of guests. I’ll be cocky about it, I *did* pay for everyone’s flights.
At the wedding itself, I had gotten word that one of my teammates, the tackling machine Mason Brown, was planning to play a joke on us and tackle the cake. I knew that with Mason, this wasn’t a joke. So I smartly ordered two cakes, and had the venue hide one in the back. Of course, as we were called over to cut the cake, Brown came flying in and just speared himself through the 7 layer cake. Veronica was horrified. Mason got up with this huge smile on his face and said “HAPPY WEDDING HAHAHAHAHA”. I have no idea why he thought this was a great plan. He’d later say it was a way to make things special. I’m pretty sure his years of concussions played a role. Anyway, before Ronnie lost it, I motioned for the other cake to come out. And out it came! Bigger and better than the one Mason murdered. She was so happy when she saw it come out!
Needless to say, he made it memorable.
The rest of the night was just what you’d expect it to be. Lots of dancing, lots of drinking, and then even more dancing and drinking. It was a night I’d never forget, surrounded by the people I love. Just a perfect day and night. It’s the definition of family, for sure.
I spent the next couple of weeks in the DR, showing Veronica where I grew up. I showed her all about my love of sand castle building. To her credit, even if she thought it was stupid, she sat there with me in the sand, helping me craft a pretty nice castle. She paid attention to what I was saying and didn’t just dismiss it like others have done in the past. I know, its not always the most exciting thing in the world to people, but it means a lot to me. To have someone take an interest in it is an amazing feeling.
It appears there was more good news on the way. Veronica told me she was pregnant. There’s a pretty good chance it happened during “marriage consummation”. The time lines check out anyway. I was so excited. I was going to be a father. That meant immediately telling my own dad. We were leaving the Dominican in a few days to go back to Orange County. We’d have to have a party with my family at home first!
For those who don’t know or remember, my father, Brutus Crush, was a professional wrestler. He was a champion all over the United States, but never quite made it big in the WWF. After a few years of becoming incredibly popular, he was finally going to get his shot to make it in the big leagues. Right before he got there, he found out he got my mother pregnant with me. Knowing that he couldn’t be on the road all of the time when he had a son to raise, he retired from the ring in his prime, and moved back to the DR. I’ve always felt I owed it to him to make it big, and that’s why I came to the USA to play American Football in the first place.
When I first got home before the wedding, I brought my dad a replica of the Ultimus trophy. I made him replicas of all of my awards, as he requested to put them on my mantle. Dad and I just sat in our living room, looking at the trophies and talking about life. He compares my MVP trophy to his World Title. He told me I had truly done him proud.
I damn near couldn’t sleep the night before. It was going to be so exciting to see the look on Dad’s face when I told him I’d get to be a father too. I had the best role model of all time for it, that’s for sure. I eventually passed out, and woke up super early, eager to get over there. Veronica and I drove over to my parent’s house and we arrived to a very scary scene. There were police cars and an ambulance. I jumped out of my car and sprinted inside the house. My mother was crying hysterically, being consoled by our neighbor Juanita. She looked at me, trying to hold back tears, to tell me that my father, Brutus Crush, the champion of the world, passed away in his sleep last night.
I’d never get to tell him he was going to be a grandfather.
This is the part where I was referring to the “lowest of the low” part from earlier. The next few days were a blur as we planned his funeral. The entire Republic was going to be on hand. As we were preparing to head to the church, my mother approached me. She said she found a letter that my dad wrote me, and gave it to me. Naturally, I ripped that sucker open as fast as I could.
“Carlito,
If you’re reading this, then I’m not with you anymore. For that, I’m truly sorry. I know that as I write this, my time on this Earth is very short. I have to apologize to you immediately. We didn’t have the wedding in the Dominican because your grandmother was sick. It was because I am. Assuming that I’ve passed away, you should know that I was diagnosed with a very aggressive Pancreatic cancer. By the time they found it, it was too late for me. I waited much too long to ever see a doctor, and now I’m paying for it. Your mother doesn’t know that I was sick, because I didn’t want her to worry. I know you’re going to tell her, and that’s okay now, hopefully she won’t be too mad at me.
Everything I told you when you first came home still holds true my son. I’m extremely proud of you. I raised to be a good, upstanding human being who was good to people. I raised you to use your God given talents to their fullest. I raised you to being loving and caring. You’ve exceeded all of my own expectations, and I’m sorry if I had never fully let you know that. I don’t have to tell you to take care of your mother. And make sure that you take extra care of Veronica. She’s a delightful woman, and I’m proud that you’ve made her a part of this family. You’ve taken the Crush name and you’ve done things with it I never could. I’m so appreciative of how you represent this family and our name. Because in the end, it’s the only thing we’ll always have.
Good luck my son. You’ll be okay with out me. I love you.
- Dad. “
Needless to say, I read that completely in tears. I’m in tears right now, typing it as I go. Losing my father was one of the worst experiences of my life. For the few days between his death and that letter, I was lost. But somehow, as he always has, my dad came through for me. As much as I wanted to be mad at him for not telling us he was sick, it didn’t matter anymore. The last few weeks I had spent with him were amazing, and for him to be in that much pain without any of us noticing was almost impressive. I told my mother the truth right away. She claimed she had a feeling something was wrong, but my dad was always “too strong” for us, and there’s no way he’d ever admit to anything. She was surprised he went to the doctor at all!
The rest of the offseason was a blur, understandably. I learned so much about family in those months, that I even signed a two year contract with Orange County. To some, that means nothing. But I’ve been living off of one year deals for so long now. But this year, I just felt like I needed to stay at least two more years. I’m not sure where I’ll be at by then. I’ll have a child, hopefully a son, to raise. Granted, playing football and being “on the road” at most 10 times during the year isn’t the same as traveling the country wrestling every day and being gone all of the time, but my father taught me that family is the most important thing in the world and you sacrifice parts of yourself for it. He did that with me.
Now, I’m not saying I’m ready to retire just yet. Don’t be silly. I’ve learned there’s a few good seasons left in these legs. But as I’ve said before, my time is drawing shorter. My play this season hasn’t been too bad either! In our first game, we played the Yeti. A lot of the preseason predictions had this as the Ultimus matchup. That’d be a crazy game for me, all things considered. I had 6 catches for only 57 yards. Not bad, not great. Then we walked into Yellowknife and got our asses handed to us pretty badly. I had 4 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown though, so I did my part. If that wasn’t bad enough, we had to play San Jose next and they were looking for a little revenge. They got it in the form of a 38-17 beat down of us. They held me to 1 catch for 32 yards, my worst game as an Otter, I’m pretty sure. That’s highly disappointing stuff right there. All of a sudden we were sitting at 1-2 and not sure what was going on. I remember practicing our asses off for our Week 4 game against New Orleans. Things finally started to click for Showbiz and I. 6 catches, 126 yards, and a touchdown for me. We won 45-21. That was a big one to get us back on track. Then Baltimore came to town with a terrible record. They’re falling apart. But we just couldn’t get anything going! We ended up gutting out a 14-13 win. I was only 2 catches for 30 yards though. It was pretty bad. In Week 6, we traveled to Arizona to get our first road win of the season. We got it in the form of a 31-23 victory. I really tore up Arizona this game, as I had two long touchdowns In the first three minutes of the game! I wound up going 5 catches for 137 yards and the 2 TDs. It was a great feeling. Showbiz and I are on the same page a LOT in practices, but when the real game comes we miss out a little.
For the season, I’m sitting at 24 catches for 465 yards and 4 touchdowns. My season is going about the same as my offseason. A lot of ups and then the next week some downs. Here’s hoping I can get that going the way I want it to. I had a very strong second half last season, I know I can get my consistency back no problem. In fact, I’m looking forward to it.
It’s amazing to think about my career to this point. I started in Colorado, suffered through a winless season, got traded twice (first to OCO, and then to NOLA for the playoff run in S10), won the MVP, set the touchdowns in a season record for wide receivers, lost a few Ultimii, and then finally won one. I’ve always been so concerned about whether or not I’d make the Hall of Fame, but at this point, I’m not sure it even matters to me anymore. It’s less about personal accolades for me now, and I’m all about the team. Like I said, this offseason had the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows. But if there was truly one lesson I learned, or should I say re-learned, this summer, it’s that family matters most. My wife, and my unborn child are most important, of course. But my Orange County teammates? They’re family too. This family right here? We’re going to go back to back. I can’t wait to prove it to you. I love you dad. (2562)