Unexpectedness

Unexpectedness Coach John Tim Lasky [SPOTLIGHT ON COACH AND JOHN] COACH: Last year wasn’t so great. COACH: We prepared hard for last season, but we took everything lightly as a whole. JOHN: Oh come on, Coach, cheer up. Our new teammates have high expectations this year. JOHN: They’re all very athletic and come with great amount of skills capable of making us a winning team unlike last year. COACH: I don’t know John. We might be a little under-experienced because our veterans graduated last year. COACH: We were mentally strong as a team, we were fearless, we had everything to win, but it didn’t happen. COACH: We were so close to winning the State Championship or at least reaching it. JOHN: Coach, you need to be more positive and look towards the future. If we prepare even harder to reach our goal, there should be no reason it can’t happen. JOHN: We just have to take everything that failed from last year and improve. Our defense last year wasn’t top-notch, even with one of the best big-men in our conference. JOHN: There are only a few more weeks until kickoff. We need to prepare while we have time, Coach. COACH: We’ll begin starting the day after tomorrow. [LIGHT FADES TO BLACK] JOHN: My name is John, I was my team’s starting quarterback last year. We had high expectations to make the championship game because of our individually improved players. Notice how I say “individually” not team. JOHN: We had star players on our team, we had one of the best coaching, the best defensive and offensive plays, but for some reason we lacked effort and teamwork. JOHN: I look back at some of the old film from last year and I can clearly see why we didn’t even surpass a .5 win/loss ratio. JOHN: Most of our players think it’s an individual performance. Our high school is one of the most-looked at high schools for college football prospects because of previous student-athletes that were enrolled here that later made it to the league. JOHN: Our coaches are known for great player-development. This attracts a lot of high school players to transfer to our school or simply attend. JOHN: But anyways, our players want to show off to college scouts. They like to use our school as a step-up to the higher level. JOHN: I’ve talked to my coaches about it, but it just seems as it rubs off and my criticism gets nowhere. JOHN: But hopefully this year, everything changes and maybe we can actually win and pursue the championship. [LIGHT FADES FROM BLACK TO WHITE] [COACH AND JOHN ARE IN THE FOOTBALL OFFICE TALKING TO EACH OTHER DURING OFF-SEASON FROM LAST YEAR] JOHN: Our players like to show off. They want to play more to themselves rather than as a team. COACH: Are you sure? I think it’s mostly because we aren’t focusing and taking our opponents lightly. JOHN: Why would I not be sure about a topic as serious as this? If you don’t talk to our players soon and fix this, we’ll end up being the same or even worse and not improving from last season. [PRESENT DAY. COACH AND REST OF TEAM ARE IN THE LOCKER ROOM] COACH: Alright, listen up. Starting from today, we start fresh. Forget everything we’ve done previously; it doesn’t work with you guys. COACH: Even though this is just high school football, there shouldn’t be a reason that you should take it lightly. Think of this being your professional career. Would you rather play as a team and win? Or would you like to play as an individual and lose every single game of the season?