[legendsport]

Augusta, Georgia: March 20, 1914:

"What are you doing here, sport?" Joe Barrell, aka Buck Barnwell, asked his younger brother. Joe had spied Rollie standing outside the Noble Jones College Athletic offices while walking across the quad on the way to class and hustled over to ask what was going on.

Rollie, standing with a canvas bag slung over his shoulder smirked and said, "Same thing as you... Buck."

To say Joe looked skeptical would have been an understatement. He waved an arm at the red brick athletic building and asked, "Christian wanted you? We don't swing golf clubs on the gridiron, bub."

Rollie slapped his brother on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Unlike you, I have no desire to go out and get clobbered over and over again."

"Then what are you doing here? Did Mom or Pop send you to keep an eye on me?"

Rollie dropped his bag on the ground. "Well, for one thing, I intend to get a college education. That's what Mom and Pop both want. Mom worries about you, but Pop seems to think you can take care of yourself. So no, I'm not here to spy on you. But to answer your first question, yes, Coach Christian does indeed want me."

Joe frowned, "But not for football?"

Rollie shook his head. "No, not for football. You do know that Coach Christian also coaches both baseball and basketball, right?"

Now Joe shook his head and said with a smile, "No offense, bub, but you're not very good at baseball."

Rollie shrugged. "That's true. Apparently the Reid and Barrell baseball gene skipped all of us until maybe Jimmy... But Danny looks like he'll be a good ballplayer."

Joe bristled and said, "I could have been a good ballplayer myself you know."

Rollie chuckled and retorted, "Maybe, but you were always more interested in kicking up a ruckus than actually playing the game."

Joe shrugged - he knew his brother was right on that score.

Then his mouth dropped open and he said, "You mean... Coach Christian wants you for the basketball team?"

Rollie pointed to his own nose. "On the nose... Score one for the pug."

Shaking his head, Joe asked, "Can you even play?"

A very familiar voice behind him chimed in, "I would think so. I'm not in the habit of taking on young men who aren't capable of performing at a certain level, now am I, Buck?"

Joe turned to see Coach John Christian standing behind him. John Christian was a legend. A stellar football player at Sadler College in Massachusetts in the late 1880s, he had immediately gone into coaching. A native of Ohio, he had gone to school in the Northeast and found his true calling as a coach in the South. After helping make first Opelika State and then Central Carolina into football powers, Christian had been lured to Noble Jones College. And as Joe had pointed out, he ran not only the football team, but also the baseball and basketball squads. And, for good measure, also coached the track team. He was stern, but incredibly creative with his strategies and, perhaps most importantly, was able to connect with and command the respect of his players.

"Good morning, Coach," Joe said with a smile. "How are you today?"

Rollie was smirking. He had never seen his brother act so deferential.

"Good morning, Joe. I am fine and dandy." Christian replied, then raised an eyebrow and asked, "Don't you have a class you should be attending?"

Joe looked at his watch and with a start replied, "Yes, sir, I sure do!" Then he took off at a trot.

Coach Christian smiled as Joe departed and then looked at Rollie. "Well, Roland. I hope you're somewhat more conscientious than your sibling."

Rollie smiled back and replied, "It'd be hard to be less conscientious than Joe, sir."

Christian's eyebrow rose again with an unspoken question, so Rollie continued, "Well, Joe's always been a bit... umm, impulsive, I guess is the best way to say it."

Christian nodded, "I have noted that as well. But he is a fine young man, and one hell of a football player."

"That's what I've been told, sir."

Christian narrowed his eyes and said, "I've heard you're quite the golfer, Roland."

Rollie shrugged - boasting wasn't in his nature so he replied, "I've been told that as well, sir." He said this with a small smile, then frowned.

Christian picked up on the frown and asked, "What is it?"

Rollie took a deep breath before replying, "Well, since you ask. I had been caddying to earn some money. But the American Golf Association just handed down a ruling that anyone caddying past the age of 16 would lose their amateur status. And... well, I'd like to be a pro... someday, but for now, I'm still entering amateur tournaments.... so..." he trailed off with a sheepish look.

Christian, by all accounts a true sportsman, said with a grin, "You know... We have a golf team here at Noble... Perhaps we'd have a spot for you."

Rollie gave an almost comical double-take. "Golf, here?"

Christian nodded, "Of course. I've heard that many colleges are adding golf to their athletic departments."

Rollie asked, "And are you coaching that team as well?"

Christian chuckled and shook his head, "No. Golf is a sport for which I have no aptitude. I will content myself with baseball, basketball, football and track and field. That keeps me busy all year long, I assure you."

"I can only imagine, sir."

Christian was suddenly all business. "I shall put in a word with Coach Thompson." Rollie assumed this was the golf coach.

Then the coach asked, "Your grades? Still good?"

Rollie nodded and said, "Yes, sir." And they were. Rollie would be graduating high school in two months. He had been living with his grandfather. No more home schooling for him - and he was proud to have discovered that he was just as prepared as (if not more than) his peers at the high school in Atlanta.

"Excellent. While I have some power over the admissions people for my athletes, we do not tolerate dolts here at Noble Jones," Christian said sternly. Rollie bit back a crack at his brother's expense. He wasn't sure the coach would approve.

Christian clapped his hands once, briskly (Rollie noticed that the coach did most things briskly) and said, "Let's get inside and get you started on the paperwork for enrollment this fall, shall we?"


NOTE: I'm sure you've noticed the mentions of Noble Jones and Sadler - these are fictional colleges. The Figment universe has a full complement of fictional colleges in addition to the pro teams. If you want to check out additional stories relating to college football - with basketball coming soon - check out the site at legendsport.com. I will be adding specifics on the fictional schools there as well.