(Task One-675 words)
September 18th, The year of our lord 2059.
I write to you today to give an update as to my playing status for the football club the New York Silverbacks. It has been a great 8 years playing in the concrete jungle and I wouldn’t have wanted to play anywhere else. The other day however I noticed that upon waking the aches and pains sustained over the past years of playing, aches that in past seasons would have dissipated within a good night's sleep, stayed with me into the next day. It was upon this realization that I recalled similar instances throughout the last season, instances that on their own I had dismissed as perhaps sickness or a particularly rough practice. Now I realize that this was wrong. I fear that the time of my prime has likely come to an end. The time comes for all and it appears the hour has struck with fate's cruel hand upon me. I saw it happen to Tugg Speedman and Ken Oath during my rookie season 7 years ago. In the cruel callousness of my youth I assumed they had done something wrong. Perhaps they had spent too many nights partying or had not worked hard enough at practice. Maybe if I focused on transitioning into more yoga-like exercise or allowed my conditioning to reach its peak then I could avoid the same fate that has befallen hundreds of players to come before me.
Obviously now, I know this to have been an impossible goal. Time takes pieces from every man, from the very best to the most mediocre, and I am certainly no exception. As I move into this, the final phase of what has been a better career than I could have possibly imagined, I find at the center of a storm of emotions a placid calm and gratefulness for the opportunity of a lifetime, one many wish for, but few are granted.
Your obedient servant, Mandrews McHollywood.
…
Alright that’s enough of that. This last season went so much better for the team as a whole than I could have possibly asked for. 14-2 is easily the best record this team has ever had before or during my tenure on the team. I’m not sure anyone had New York being the regular season champions in the predictions before the season started, I certainly know I did not, but all the same that’s what came to pass. Unfortunately, that was the end of the positives for the season, as good as it was, as we suffered our first ever championship loss to the Baltimore Hawks. That makes me, as a user, 0/5 in championships in the 3 years. 0/3 in ISFL Ultimus’s, 2 losses as Joel Drake and now 1 as Mandrews, and 0/2 in DSFL Ultiminis, both as Mandrews one as a Grey Duck and one as a Coyote. Life is, as Thomas Hobbs once said, Nasty, Brutish, and short.
As a player, Mandrews has continued his streak over the past three seasons of topping 1100 yards and at least 9 touchdowns. He’s been named to the S43 pro bowl and has a chance, albeit a slim one, to slip onto the second-team all-pro squad in a week. I’m not sure he will make the cut, but I think it is far from impossible.
Of course now, with his 8th post-draft season over and done with, a whole 25% of his TPE is set to be stolen away and so, for the first time since March 26th, Mandrews will be at less than maxed as a wide receiver. Of course he will still be among the best in the league and should still see time as WR1 in the upcoming year, but since 13 seasons is the absolute max a player can play in the ISFL, Mandrews’s career is nearing its end. It has been better than I thought it would be and I think he’s got a real shot both to become the best receiver in NYS history and a Hall of Famer.
September 18th, The year of our lord 2059.
I write to you today to give an update as to my playing status for the football club the New York Silverbacks. It has been a great 8 years playing in the concrete jungle and I wouldn’t have wanted to play anywhere else. The other day however I noticed that upon waking the aches and pains sustained over the past years of playing, aches that in past seasons would have dissipated within a good night's sleep, stayed with me into the next day. It was upon this realization that I recalled similar instances throughout the last season, instances that on their own I had dismissed as perhaps sickness or a particularly rough practice. Now I realize that this was wrong. I fear that the time of my prime has likely come to an end. The time comes for all and it appears the hour has struck with fate's cruel hand upon me. I saw it happen to Tugg Speedman and Ken Oath during my rookie season 7 years ago. In the cruel callousness of my youth I assumed they had done something wrong. Perhaps they had spent too many nights partying or had not worked hard enough at practice. Maybe if I focused on transitioning into more yoga-like exercise or allowed my conditioning to reach its peak then I could avoid the same fate that has befallen hundreds of players to come before me.
Obviously now, I know this to have been an impossible goal. Time takes pieces from every man, from the very best to the most mediocre, and I am certainly no exception. As I move into this, the final phase of what has been a better career than I could have possibly imagined, I find at the center of a storm of emotions a placid calm and gratefulness for the opportunity of a lifetime, one many wish for, but few are granted.
Your obedient servant, Mandrews McHollywood.
…
Alright that’s enough of that. This last season went so much better for the team as a whole than I could have possibly asked for. 14-2 is easily the best record this team has ever had before or during my tenure on the team. I’m not sure anyone had New York being the regular season champions in the predictions before the season started, I certainly know I did not, but all the same that’s what came to pass. Unfortunately, that was the end of the positives for the season, as good as it was, as we suffered our first ever championship loss to the Baltimore Hawks. That makes me, as a user, 0/5 in championships in the 3 years. 0/3 in ISFL Ultimus’s, 2 losses as Joel Drake and now 1 as Mandrews, and 0/2 in DSFL Ultiminis, both as Mandrews one as a Grey Duck and one as a Coyote. Life is, as Thomas Hobbs once said, Nasty, Brutish, and short.
As a player, Mandrews has continued his streak over the past three seasons of topping 1100 yards and at least 9 touchdowns. He’s been named to the S43 pro bowl and has a chance, albeit a slim one, to slip onto the second-team all-pro squad in a week. I’m not sure he will make the cut, but I think it is far from impossible.
Of course now, with his 8th post-draft season over and done with, a whole 25% of his TPE is set to be stolen away and so, for the first time since March 26th, Mandrews will be at less than maxed as a wide receiver. Of course he will still be among the best in the league and should still see time as WR1 in the upcoming year, but since 13 seasons is the absolute max a player can play in the ISFL, Mandrews’s career is nearing its end. It has been better than I thought it would be and I think he’s got a real shot both to become the best receiver in NYS history and a Hall of Famer.