[legendsport]

Toronto, ON: March 13, 1920:

Jack Barrell sat in front of his locker, reflecting on his first full season in the NAHC. The Toronto Dukes had just finished their last game (a 7-6 home loss to Montreal) in what had been a difficult season for Jack for reasons both personal and professional.

For one thing, he missed Marie and Agnes. They had stayed in Montreal, where Marie could speak the language and where their neighbor, Mrs. Fortier, could help with the baby. Jack had been living out of a hotel room in Toronto. It helped to have a club owner who also owned a world-class hotel and was willing to give his athletes a (somewhat) reasonable rate. Still, Jack missed his wife and got back to Montreal as often as he could, though it never felt like it was enough.

There had been some good moments - the Dukes had played in Montreal on February 18th, two days before Jack's 22nd birthday, allowing Jack to spend some private time celebrating (just a bit early) with his wife before the team played their next game back in Toronto on the 21st.

It also turned out that the Dukes were actually pretty good. This despite Burr Knowles being a disaster as a coach, and no great shakes as a player either. He hadn't lasted the full season, getting fired by Bert Thomas in late January. He'd stayed on the roster as a player, which had been... awkward until Thomas released him with five games left on the schedule.

Knowles' release came when the team had just acquired a good defenseman from Montreal in a last-ditch effort to win the league. Philippe Boutin was a good two-way player and was famous throughout the sport for being able to "curve" his shot. He only played seven games for the Dukes before the season ended, but in that time, he had shown some of his new team mates how to use their wrists to spin the puck. A good, hard shot was needed to make it work, and all the Dukes already knew the hardest shot on the team belonged to Jack Barrell. So Boutin taught Jack his technique. The results were initially mixed - Jack did score a few goals, but he also curved it off target a few times. So that remained a work in progress.

The new coach, Gideon Knight, had only one qualification for coaching the team. He was both Bert Thomas' good friend and coincidentally a minority owner. To his credit, Knight had been a hockey referee and played a bit of amateur hockey, but his biggest passion was horse racing where he had a reputation of being hard on his trainers. He'd raised some eyebrows by suspending Hank Lucas - without pay - for a game after the rowdy player had openly challenged his authority at practice. After that, the players groused privately, but toed the line (a paycheck was a paycheck).

Jack had played in all but one of his team's 24 games, missing one game after taking a shot off his ankle that left him barely able to walk for the better part of a week. His 12 goals tied him for fourth-best on the team - he wasn't happy about that, but considering his limited playing time behind Hank Lucas (who secored 22 goals), he reckoned it was acceptable.

The team posted a solid 15-9 record for the season, good results considering the behind-the-scenes drama with Knowles & Knight. But that was only good enough for second place to the 18-6 Ottawa Athletics. With the NAHC not holding any postseason playoffs, the Athletics would go on to face the TCHA Champions for the Challenge Cup, while the Dukes would go home. In Jack's case that meant two days and nights with Marie and Agnes and then a train to Springfield to get ready for baseball season.

Jack reckoned that maybe Bert Thomas was right after all.

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Washington, DC: March 26, 1920:

Danny Barrell was very, very angry. Coach Beckmann had told him that although he could practice with the baseball team, he wouldn't be suiting up for games. "You're not ready, Dan," the coach said, then patted Dan on the shoulder and finished, "Keep working - you've got big things ahead of you."

Danny bit back a bitter reply. He'd show Beckmann.

So while baseball was frustrating for the freshman, track and field was going very well. To his surprise, Danny found that he really loved the decathlon (now that he had learned what it actually entailed).

Danny had mastered the technique (and had the upper-body strength) for the pole vault. The high jump too. He had a great throwing arm - Rufus had told him he could have been a pitcher if he'd wanted (Danny didn't). That throwing arm came in handy in the outfield in baseball, but it also worked quite nicely for some of the decathlon's events too. The shot put, the discus and Danny's personal favorite: the javelin.

Coach Spangler wasn't overly generous with praise, but Danny could see how he stacked up to the other members of the team... so he knew he was good at this stuff.

It was just so... unfair that he couldn't play in the baseball team's games.

He slammed the door to the townhouse, and heard his nephew start crying immediately. Danny swore softly to himself.

Potentas poked his head out of his first-floor office.

"What is wrong, Daniel?" he asked.

"Nothing. School stuff." Danny replied, not wanting to try to explain it to Potentas.

Claudia had appeared at the top of the stairs, holding baby James, rocking him as she tried to sooth him.

"Sorry, Claudia," Danny said, loud enough for her to hear, but doing his best not to shout.

She frowned at him and came carefully down the stairs.

"Why did you slam the door, Daniel?" she asked.

"Ah... Coach Beckmann's an idiot."

"How so?"

Danny looked at his feet and said softly, "I won't be playing in any baseball games this season. Coach said I wasn't ready."

Claudia sighed and said, "I am sorry to hear that."

Danny explained that he would be practicing with the team and that Beckmann ensured him he'd play next season. "But I want to play now," he said firmly.

"Your coach - you said he is a knowledgable man. Perhaps you should trust that he has your best interests at heart," Claudia said calmly. The baby had fallen asleep.

Danny nodded. He found it hard to stay angry when talking with Claudia. She had a way of soothing him somehow.