On that cold day in May, Gio Bianchi woke up at 10 AM in a crappy studio apartment in St. Louis. He woke up only to the sound of his ringtone, as he had overslept his alarm. Bianchi raised his head and looked at the number. A 503 area code, huh. Seems like Portland had some interested for young Bianchi. While Gio didn't recognize the number, he also knew that there was a DSFL team based out of Portland- the Pythons. Maybe it was someone from their organization. After all, he had declared from the draft a little later than most, and thus, had to be claimed off of waivers. After thinking all of that in a span of a few seconds, Bianchi tapped the "Accept call" option and put the phone to his ear.
"Hello? This is Gio Bianchi."
"Hey, Gio! Just letting you know that we're going to fly you out to Portland to meet with some executives."
"What?"
"Yep! You're going to Portland for a meeting."
Gio instantly rose up out of bed.
"For what?"
"A meeting with the Pythons GM, silly! We'll see you in Portland at 2 PST. Have a safe trip!"
Then the disembodied voice hung up.
Gio looked at his clock. It was now 10:01 AM in Central Time, meaning it was 7 AM in PST, meaning that he had around 7 hours to get from St. Louis to Portland. He didn't even know that he was going anywhere today, never mind the other side of the country. In haste, Gio managed to pack his bags, miraculously buy a plane ticket to Portland, change, and ram his gas pedal all the way to the St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Luckily for him, it was a slow day at the airport, so Bianchi was able to be at his gate by 12 CST, meaning it was 9 AM in Portland, meaning he now had just 5 hours to get from St. Louis to Portland. The duration of the flight? Four hours and 15 minutes.
"Shit," Gio thought to himself. "I'll definitely be late."
Gio hopped on the plane and hoped to god that the flight would be on time. Luckily for him, it was. He was able to get off of the plane by 1 PM in Portland. He now had an hour to spare, and decided to use that by hailing a cab to the Pythons' front office. Just out of curiosity, Bianchi looked up how long of a ride that would be.
55 minutes.
Gio hailed a cab and told the driver to floor it. The driver had no problem obliging, and went way too fast throughout the city of Portland. Somehow, the cab never got caught speeding, and with that, Gio was finally at the Pythons front office, at 1:59 PM. He walked in, and looked at the reception desk. Without even saying a word, the woman at reception said:
"Right this way, Mr. Bianchi. Mr. Paw is very excited to meet with you."
Mr. Paw, huh? That's most certainly a name. Gio hadn't heard of this GM before. Maybe he was incredibly hostile. Maybe he was nice. But speculation won't do much, Gio thought. He had to open the door to Paw's office and meet the man himself.
Gio opened the door, and was ready for anything. But all he saw was a desk, and a man behind that desk. "Hello! I'm Mr. Paw. Pleasure to meet you."
Frazzled, Gio said "I'm Gio, Gio Bianchi. The pleasure is mine. Just out of curiosity, why did you bring me in here today?"
That question put a shocked expression on Mr. Paw's face. Gio had worried that he had said something he shouldn't have. But luckily, Paw chuckled and said-
"I simply think you would be a great addition to our squad. You entered the draft late, yes, but it seems like that was a blessing in disguise. We watched your second season at Missouri with great interest and think you'd be a valuable addition to the team."
Bianchi was shocked. After he had announced his declaration for the draft, nobody had really reached out to him from the DSFL. Now, he was sitting in front of a general manager, having an interview with him like he was just a normal guy. It was truly surreal, especially because he didn't know that it was going to happen until 10 AM this morning.
After twenty minutes of answering question after question, it seemed like the meeting had come to an end. The men shook hands, and Bianchi was feeling good about his chances of being a Python. But then, Mr. Paw called out "Gio! One more question."
Gio stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"
Mr. Paw said, "How open would you be to changing positions?"
Gio had to sit down for this one. He had been a wide receiver all his life. It's all he knew. He had never really played another position before, and the possibility of him playing another position was tantalizing. Gio knew that if he said no, he probably wouldn't land on a team. While he was scared to retire from being a Wideout, he was excited to potentially spread his knowledge of the game to another department.
"Yes, I am," Gio said.
"Great!" Paw replied, "Hopefully I'll see you soon. And by the way, here's a plane ticket."
Paw handed Gio a plane ticket back to Missouri. Gio then knew that this was planned out from the start. The Pythons punked him. Bianchi took the ticked, said his goodbyes, left for the airport, and headed back to Missouri, ready for anything.
A few days later, Gio got another call- this one from the London Royals. He could not go to London and meet the execs in person, but they met via Zoom and had a good conversation about the team, London, and Bianchi's future. While Gio was excited to be a Royal, he knew that his future was not in England. He knew that it was in Rip City.
5 days after travelling to Portland, Gio woke up to yet another phone call, from the same number that had called him to get to Portland. Gio accepted the call, and he knew what was coming up.
"Congratulations! Welcome to the Pythons!"
All Gio could say was "Thank you!" before he was hung up on. Bianchi didn't even care. He was now a Python! And he was pretty damn ready for whatever laid ahead of him. He knew he could do it, and he knew he was going to do it.
Welcome to the Pythons, Gio Bianchi. Today starts the rest of your life.
"Hello? This is Gio Bianchi."
"Hey, Gio! Just letting you know that we're going to fly you out to Portland to meet with some executives."
"What?"
"Yep! You're going to Portland for a meeting."
Gio instantly rose up out of bed.
"For what?"
"A meeting with the Pythons GM, silly! We'll see you in Portland at 2 PST. Have a safe trip!"
Then the disembodied voice hung up.
Gio looked at his clock. It was now 10:01 AM in Central Time, meaning it was 7 AM in PST, meaning that he had around 7 hours to get from St. Louis to Portland. He didn't even know that he was going anywhere today, never mind the other side of the country. In haste, Gio managed to pack his bags, miraculously buy a plane ticket to Portland, change, and ram his gas pedal all the way to the St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Luckily for him, it was a slow day at the airport, so Bianchi was able to be at his gate by 12 CST, meaning it was 9 AM in Portland, meaning he now had just 5 hours to get from St. Louis to Portland. The duration of the flight? Four hours and 15 minutes.
"Shit," Gio thought to himself. "I'll definitely be late."
Gio hopped on the plane and hoped to god that the flight would be on time. Luckily for him, it was. He was able to get off of the plane by 1 PM in Portland. He now had an hour to spare, and decided to use that by hailing a cab to the Pythons' front office. Just out of curiosity, Bianchi looked up how long of a ride that would be.
55 minutes.
Gio hailed a cab and told the driver to floor it. The driver had no problem obliging, and went way too fast throughout the city of Portland. Somehow, the cab never got caught speeding, and with that, Gio was finally at the Pythons front office, at 1:59 PM. He walked in, and looked at the reception desk. Without even saying a word, the woman at reception said:
"Right this way, Mr. Bianchi. Mr. Paw is very excited to meet with you."
Mr. Paw, huh? That's most certainly a name. Gio hadn't heard of this GM before. Maybe he was incredibly hostile. Maybe he was nice. But speculation won't do much, Gio thought. He had to open the door to Paw's office and meet the man himself.
Gio opened the door, and was ready for anything. But all he saw was a desk, and a man behind that desk. "Hello! I'm Mr. Paw. Pleasure to meet you."
Frazzled, Gio said "I'm Gio, Gio Bianchi. The pleasure is mine. Just out of curiosity, why did you bring me in here today?"
That question put a shocked expression on Mr. Paw's face. Gio had worried that he had said something he shouldn't have. But luckily, Paw chuckled and said-
"I simply think you would be a great addition to our squad. You entered the draft late, yes, but it seems like that was a blessing in disguise. We watched your second season at Missouri with great interest and think you'd be a valuable addition to the team."
Bianchi was shocked. After he had announced his declaration for the draft, nobody had really reached out to him from the DSFL. Now, he was sitting in front of a general manager, having an interview with him like he was just a normal guy. It was truly surreal, especially because he didn't know that it was going to happen until 10 AM this morning.
After twenty minutes of answering question after question, it seemed like the meeting had come to an end. The men shook hands, and Bianchi was feeling good about his chances of being a Python. But then, Mr. Paw called out "Gio! One more question."
Gio stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"
Mr. Paw said, "How open would you be to changing positions?"
Gio had to sit down for this one. He had been a wide receiver all his life. It's all he knew. He had never really played another position before, and the possibility of him playing another position was tantalizing. Gio knew that if he said no, he probably wouldn't land on a team. While he was scared to retire from being a Wideout, he was excited to potentially spread his knowledge of the game to another department.
"Yes, I am," Gio said.
"Great!" Paw replied, "Hopefully I'll see you soon. And by the way, here's a plane ticket."
Paw handed Gio a plane ticket back to Missouri. Gio then knew that this was planned out from the start. The Pythons punked him. Bianchi took the ticked, said his goodbyes, left for the airport, and headed back to Missouri, ready for anything.
A few days later, Gio got another call- this one from the London Royals. He could not go to London and meet the execs in person, but they met via Zoom and had a good conversation about the team, London, and Bianchi's future. While Gio was excited to be a Royal, he knew that his future was not in England. He knew that it was in Rip City.
5 days after travelling to Portland, Gio woke up to yet another phone call, from the same number that had called him to get to Portland. Gio accepted the call, and he knew what was coming up.
"Congratulations! Welcome to the Pythons!"
All Gio could say was "Thank you!" before he was hung up on. Bianchi didn't even care. He was now a Python! And he was pretty damn ready for whatever laid ahead of him. He knew he could do it, and he knew he was going to do it.
Welcome to the Pythons, Gio Bianchi. Today starts the rest of your life.