On the big day I of course had called off practice but I had ordered all the men to arrive an hour before the game for stretches and a quick flag football game to warm up. Hugo was as pumped as the Football that seemed to be glued to his hand since he got the starting position. I think he sleeps with it.

The whole of London was pumped. I had made it so. I had hired every town crier all week to spread the word. I even had the Players go door to door so to speak to everyone they knew and tell them to come.

For the game I had rigged up a kind of huge copper megaphone that would be worked by an announcer. Sir Adrian worked it as he knew more about the game than any other non-playing Ager. The “Visiting” side of the stadium didn’t get anything I just didn’t have time.

Every one of my A&B apprentices was selling tickets. They got to watch the game for free and they all made a pence for the day which thrilled them. They sold them at the entrances to the rows of bleachers to try to limit sneak ins. I had Lawrence and Agatha collect the money from them multiple times to make sure it didn’t end up in there pockets.

After the start of the game most of them would be on concession duty and all of them would at halftime. I figured at that point any seats that were left wouldn’t be sold anyway if a few people got a free game I figure it could just mean more fans down the road.

I ended up setting prices at a shilling for the first row, half a shilling for the second and third, 5 pence for every row after until halfway up. From there to the cheap seats it was 2 pence and the last 5 rows were a pence. I also made it known to the ticket sellers that if there was seats available after the 1st quarter they were half price.

The first three rows sold out before kickoff. The lesser Nobles and some of the smarter of upper crust had bought them out. Luxury Boxes had already been paid 5 shillings apiece and the food is free (My shine not so much).

I had 500 seats in Luxury so minus the King and Matilda and even Stephen (Who I let in free of course) I still brought in over 120 pounds of silver off the Nobles. Put that with the money from the Noble games and I had enough to pay off my loan to the King.

That was even after his half. I made a big gesture of paying it all before the game. You don’t see over almost four hundred pounds of silver that often.

“I thought it couldn’t be done and just as this stadium sits here so does my money and it seems to have doubled”

“Our agreement was for one half the sales of tickets and the rest is a repayment of my loan. As well as a bonus as a token of my gratitude I also present to your majesty this lifetime pass for food and drink at any of my games and establishments.”

I had a grocery club card in my wallet which I had made into his VIP card. No one in the 12th could read modern English anyway and it was made of plastic which amazed him. It was really a no brainer as he was already eating for free already and this way I get to make it out like it’s a gift.

There were peasants who came from as far away as Scotland to see this game. I felt kind of guilty as most of them really shouldn’t be spending money on watching a game that was better off spent on food but people always do stuff like that. I’ve met gamblers that would rather gamble as eat or drug addicts that feed their habit before their families. I would make far better use of that money than they would, at least that's what I told myself.

Nobles came from even more far flung places. Other than my buddy Sir Charles from Denmark we had almost a hundred high ranking Europeans attending. The Empress must have made it known to all she knew in the Holy Roman Empire as they were well represented at the Game.

Before the game began I decided to sing the US national anthem. They wouldn’t understand the words but that song has some powerful magic in it even to skeptics of patriotism. No one would say I was ready for American Idol but I was always one of the best at Karaoke.

“This is the national anthem from my home country, America. It speaks about a will and spirit that transcends time. A will of a people that would take what was their God given right to have. We all have a right to pursue happiness. That is what Football is. A dream where anyone can achieve happiness whether you’re a dirt poor peasant or a noble if you work hard enough anything can happen. Seek out your happiness England!” I yelled through the megaphone. That roar shook the ground.

I sang like I have never sang before. I was throwing all kinds of funk on it and they were eating it up.

“Are you ready for some Football?” I yelled when I was done with the anthem.

The crowd was going crazy and the atmosphere was electric.

With gametime finally here my team walked from the “Home” side of the field while Hugo’s walked from the other. When we arrived in the center of the field a ref joined us. Speaking of refs I had changed the rules a bit as well as a few other changes for ease and necessity.

For starters, uh Agers have no clocks and there is no way in hell I am going down that headache filled road of trying to make one on short notice. There is no way to be exactly precise but I designed a type of water clock that would empty completely to signify a half. It would then be refilled at halftime. The container the clock was made out of had 30 marks to signify approximately 30 minutes. The water is shut off after a score, a timeout, or going out of bounds.

There was even an official water monitor that would yell out at each mark how many minutes were left.

I simplified the rules as well. Defensive contact was allowed anywhere as long as the ball was not in the air. Holding only occurred when a player was literally tackled to the ground without the ball. I kept all the obvious ones like unnecessary roughness which including things like punching, kicking, gouging, hitting below the belt, etc. Most of those would get you ejected and a penalty for your team. Then I got rid of most the others. I wanted to simplify as much as possible.

No kick offs, teams started the drive at the 20 unless you punted. There was only one designated punter for both teams. That would change eventually but do you know how hard it is with no experience punting or kicking to train someone else in it?

“Alright pick a side.” The ref said holding up a silver coin I minted for the occasion. KFL in a helmet on heads and a Football on tails.

“You pick Hugo. You’re technically the Away team they always guess the toss.”

“Heads”

“Heads it is” the ref said.

“We will kick.” Hugo said.

He was actually thinking it through. If you are impatient and headstrong you almost always pick to receive the ball first. Hugo had learned from me and I knew quite a bit about the game but we never discussed the coin-flip. It had seemed pointless in the grand scheme of things.

“Or he could be a chicken” I said to myself as I got near the bench.

“Where’s a chicken?” Goodwin asked excitedly

“No dammit there is no chicken.”

“Why did I not get to eat it before the game?”

“There is no chicken. I told you no eating right before a game because it makes you lethargic to eat before strenuous exercise.”

“Lethargic sounds delicious”

I don’t believe I have ever met such single-mindedness in a person as I have with Goodwin. Food was all he thought about although recently he seems to have gotten a taste for QB flesh. He was a sack artist so I fed the bottomless pit of his stomach and laughed about it the whole time like a mad scientist.

The first half was a back and forth slugfest. We went into halftime with a tie 7-7 game. I had ran one in for a touchdown. If only we had a highlight reel for that one. I know I broke a few ankles on the 27 yards I ran to make it the goal line.

Their touchdown came from a nice little shovel pass, which is when the QB throws it underhanded to the RB who is a few yards ahead of him. Hugo was surprising me at how well he retained all I had mentioned to him. I just casually mentioned what a shovel pass was to him I never even trained him or put it in the playbook.

My halftime was another masterstroke if I do say so myself. I got Agatha to train some of the Rump Roast girls to be cheerleaders. They were told it was a favor for me but they all got front row seats as compensation as well. Every one of them volunteered for it especially after they saw the outfits.

Agatha only had a week to train them and I only knew off-hand some cheers. I did date the head cheerleader for almost 2 years in HS but that isn’t exactly being one yourself. She did however never shut-up about it so I had a pretty good grasp of a lot of them.

Agatha however had made some creative adjustments. I heard it was a hell of show and we certainly heard about it from the crowd even in the Locker room. I went over our second half game plan and then I gave the boys a pep talk before we went back on to the field to fire them back up.

In the middle of the 3rd quarter disaster struck. While I was getting tackled after I had thrown the ball my middle finger got jammed. I could still throw but it was definitely messing with my accuracy. I didn’t let anyone know. Not to be tough but because I didn’t want them to panic.

I did however start running more which made me more predictable. After we punted Hugo made a great play action fake to the running back which had even me fooled and they scored a touchdown. On our next drive I lucked out calling the right play, a draw to Flash, when the outside linebackers were blitzing. Once he gets in the open field it’s over. He ended up scoring a 69 yard touchdown and left a vapor trail behind him.

At around 3 minutes left in the game I was intercepted. I forced the ball into double coverage which was a mistake with my bad finger. Honestly it was just a mistake bad finger or not I shouldn’t have done it.

I have a confession to make to my readers. Even though we only lost by a field goal my last game in High School I had been having an awful game. Threw for less than 200 yards and threw an interception. The only reason we won so many games is I had a good coach and a better defense. I was hardly ever the best QB on the field and it was happening all over again centuries ahead of schedule.

Hugo pulled out one hell of a drive for the one that really mattered. He went 4/5 for 60 yards and then scored the touchdown with a nice pass to his TE (Sir Wydo). He left me with only a few gallons of water left. I threw a few Hail Mary’s deep but none of them worked. We lost 21-14 which was a huge blow to my ego. I wasn’t even the best QB in the 12th century how sad is that?

“You played a hell of a game Sir Hugo. I honestly didn’t give you much of a chance but in the end it seemed I didn’t have a chance.”

“I had a good teacher Sir Arthur”

“That you did, that you did. I hope you know this just might have spelled your end in London.”

“I’m sorry sir. You must be very upset with me to be throwing me out.”

“What, No.” I said chuckling and grabbing him in a chokehold “I plan on building other stadiums in England and eventually elsewhere. Who do you think will QB for the team that plays in them? You’re a hot commodity son.” I then realized he wouldn’t know what that meant “Uh it means other lords will be vying for your services to compete with Henry’s Hero’s.”

Little Hugo was probably the most highly prized free agent on the market as no one else would be as prejudiced as I was, how ironic is that?

“But I want to stay here and play with you.” He said sincerely.

“Well we will see what happens but I’m afraid its King Henry who could in theory trade you.” They didn’t have contracts but all here swore fealty to the King. If he told you to go play for another team I guess you didn’t have much choice and I could see money influencing his decision.

“I will however see what I can do. I need someone to start a Football school that can train men to play for all the other teams I hope to start elsewhere. Do you think you could handle that? Coaching/teaching instead of playing professionally?”

He didn’t have an answer and since it didn’t come naturally I decided he needed time. I told him to think about it. There was no rush for a decision especially since it would impact the next decade of his life. I however made sure to present his winner’s trophy personally. It was bronze now but one made out of each player proportional silver from ticket sales would be presented on Monday.

They could melt it down if they wanted, sell it (it should bring much more than silver value as it was unique in the Ager world), or keep it. Even my team got one but it was half that of the winners. I split mine up evenly amongst my players to give them a slightly larger statue (it was a little to me but a lot to the peasants on my team).

I also gave my helmet out to a lucky fan. A kid that had come up to me after the game.

“You hold onto that now son. One day you’ll wear it on this field as its QB if you work hard and never give up.”

I felt a little guilty as judging by his and his father’s appearance they were peasants. He probably would never become a Knight let alone a QB. However these people need confidence. I meant what I said earlier about Heros and believing in someone that looks up to them, I wanted this kid to dream big.

Those that dream big will accomplish more than those that don’t, even if they fall short. His dad looked like he was about to cry as he thanked me. King Henry was not as impressed however.

“My team was supposed to Win Sir Arthur. How could the one that created the game lose it?”

“I didn’t create the game your majesty, I am but one of its many players. There is football saying that is as old as the game “Any given Sunday”. Football was always played on Sundays in my country and any given Sunday the lesser team can beat a better one if God is on their side. God saw fit to award Hugo this win who am I to question God?”

That got mumbles but he surely couldn’t complain much. I had doubled his money in a month and made England into front page news (although there was no news as there was no newspaper) around the whole old world. I was rapidly turning London into a 12th century metropolis and oh yeah his daughter was a close friend (maybe not the right word).

The King might not have liked the result but the close finish and the unlikely win by Hugo had turned Football into an overnight sensation. I already had a dozen requests for a team and stadium before I left the stadium. I would have to choose my next site carefully.

“So how’d we do?” I asked to Claire when the day was finally over and I got back to the Inn.

“I bought out every place I could find that would sell to me and we still sold out.”

“Great Job. Take a couple days off you earned it. Place whoever you have chosen to take your place in charge to see how they handle it.”

“Thank you Sir Arthur”

“I told you call me Arthur unless in a noble presence. I don’t care about such formalities.”

“Of course Arthur”

I ended up having hundreds of people show up looking for my autograph. One caught my eye along with every other man who saw her. She was stunning for an Ager, she even rivaled the Empress. Short at around 5’ but with beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair almost to her waist. She had to be from modern day Sweden.

“God I love being a QB” I said as I waved her to me.