Monday
Will Gloom:
(Alarm clock sounds) Monday, 11 a.m. “AHhhhh”… Will checks his schedule and sees his show time of 3-7pm Monday thru Friday. Will usually doesn’t attend class on Monday’s, but somehow felt that Pouritin “might actually say something cool today.” Will’s father is often out of town and no longer has a mother (in any sense of the word). Will jumps in his Jaguar and heads to class after showering and crushing a couple Budweisers around 12:30pm. Will shows up right at the bell for class at 1pm and slouches down in his chair in the back with Mike and the rest of the class welcoming him.
Mike Pouritin:
Oh.. Good morning Gloom.. you get a nice nap in today? Really great of you to join us on a Monday. Whats it been about 3 or 4 Mondays off in a row now? Hey you didn’t give my team any love being ranked 9th in the state now did ya? You wouldn’t have helped us this year anyway. Anyway class we got a great assignment for you today. You have to go out and listen to some educating radio show, which no one is capable of in this room, so make sure you tune into a show that will fit that requirement.
Adam Turnquist:
8 am class and Adam is settled into his desk. Adam is a business student with an emphasis on business management and pre-law. Adam would like to be an agent one day and he and Gloom occasionally joke about that on the set.
“What should we do today bums?” As Adam gets back from class at 8pm. “Full day for me. Do you pussies wanna go get some beers? $3 youcallits at The Trough tonight. The bar wasn’t actually called the trough, it was the Pickle, but Adam referred to it as The Trough because of all the pigs and heffers that show up. Adam and a few of his roommates then went out completely blasted and brought some “trim” back. “Hey Jerry (Adam’s roommate) I think I’ve had that one before make sure you wrap up.”
Friday
Gloom:
Will wakes up at Adam’s and had one hell of a Thirsty Thursday. Will rolled out of the guest room, which was basically reserved for him, with an unappreciative look on his face. He thought back to his favorite movie ‘Anchorman’ when Ron said “we’ve been coming to the same party for 12 years now and in no way is that depressing.” Somehow for Will no matter how great things seemed nothing really ever mattered to him, except her.
Adam:
Adam had a productive night, but missed class for the first time in weeks. As Adam woke up he screamed “Success at the Trough!!!” The living room erupted in laughter with Will’s Gloomyness converting to a complacent smile. Adam kicked 2 girls out of his room and jumped into his room’s shower. Adam later joined the boys and agreed to do the show with Will for the day.
Mike P.:
Gameday for Mike and his Riverside Panthers against the crosstown rivals, Bayport. Mike ran a spread offense and it thirsted for a quarterback that could run and pass like Gloom did. The Panthers got rolled by the unranked rivals and Pouritin went to 2-6 all-time against Bayport. Coach P was asked during the postgame conference whether he missed his former QB Gloom who went 2-0 against Bayport and responded “I coach football players. Gloom isn’t a football player.”
The following Monday
Gloom:
“You’re tuned in to 106.7 COO Jams Talk Show. I’m your dashing host, Will Gloom here with my honorary co-host Adam Turnquist. Adam I gotta tell ya I don’t think much of this Coach P. His best player is sitting behind a desk and he doesn’t do anything about getting this guy to come out to play. This team had a lot of potential. They will need some leadership heading into the playoffs in a couple of weeks.”
Adam:
“Couldn’t agree more with ya Gloomy. Ya know this guy, the two of you used to be closer than anything before the accident.”
Gloom:
“Thats all for Adam today folks. Adam I’ll see ya.” “We got a lot of show coming up for you out there Riverside stay tuned were gonna head to break.”
Several weeks later (Wednesday)
Gloom:
Will showed up for class for the first time since the show with Adam. He looked exhausted. Will came to class with a dark water bottle with little attempt to hide what he had in the bottle. He smelled of marijuana and this time no one greeted him. Everyone was aware of what was up.
Mike P:
Mike started class like it was any other day. He asked the class if they were looking forward to the first section playoff game and the class was extremely excited and prideful about their Panthers. Mike focused class on Friday and informed the class he wouldn’t assign homework until next week. When class concluded Gloom was the last to leave and both acted as if they weren’t aware of the others presence.
Adam:
Adam had been calling Will for the past couple weeks. He didn’t get so much as a text or Facebook message back. He knew Will was unhappy with what had happened about the accident and they never talked about it. Somehow Adam had thought that talking about it would help him move on, but Will was hiding in plain sight. His radio show kept his mind on the now.
Monday
Mike P.
After his Panthers crumbled to lose the next 3 games heading into sections they actually pulled a victory out against the 2nd seed in the section. Mike felt like his team was poised to make a run in the tournament.
Adam:
Adam started to do his own thing after a few weeks away from The Trough and the bottle. His school was back to exceptional and his focus was on making it as an agent. He put off trying to mend his friendship with Will.
Will:
Planned to attend class everyday this week. Later after the radio show Will left flowers at his mother’s headstone. He sat up against the grave and passed out. Eventually he would be found by the caretaker who informed police. The police took Will to his empty home without charges.
2 weeks later Friday
Mike P./Reporters
Mike began fielding questions in the postgame press conference about facing crosstown rival Bayport. “Coach Mike do these guys own you without Gloom?” “Coach Mike can you beat these guys?” “Coach Mike do you think this is one of your most talented teams?” “Coach Mike this is your 3rd trip to the section finals how are you feeling about it this time around?”
Mike P.
Mike wouldn’t answer any of the questions. “I’m happy to be back here again and we are expecting a great football game. We worked very hard to get here and I appreciate the heck out of these players that came out for me.”
Adam:
Adam hung around the studio that night and waited for Will. Adam had listened to his entire show over the radio and knew he was in the building, but security was instructed not to allow Adam in. Adam was hoping Gloom would head to the section game with him, but he never came out that night.
Monday
Mike P.
Mike conducted class and wanted students to focus on class— repeatedly deflecting questions about the upcoming game Friday.
Adam:
Adam was a little down without his partner-in-crime. He kept himself afloat with his work and roommates, but things still seemed off.
Will:
Will showed up for school bringing the school’s homecoming queen right out in front of the pep rally and began making out with her. Students cheered, but what they didn’t know was that the queen had just left the team’s running back last week.
Tuesday
Running back:
The running back confronted Will in the hallway. “You just couldn’t let us have the moment could ya?”
Mike P:
Mike found his running back in the hall and quickly ushered his player away from his ex-QB.
Running back:
“Hey that’s too bad about your mom QB1. Gotta look both ways.”
Wednesday
Mike P:
“We have suspended our starting tailback for Friday night’s match against Bayport. The reason for that will stay in house and be handled internally.”
Adam:
Adam had started to hear negative talk about Gloom around classes. The Bayport students seeked out Adam to congratulate his best friend for handing them the game.
Will:
Will showed up for school. His usual crowd thought it was funny that he put a show on in front of the the school’s population. Normal day with many callers calling in from Bayport.
Friday
Will:
No show for classes and also took his first day off in months from his radio show.
Adam:
Called Gloom and talked briefly. Tried to get Will over for a few drinks and the game, but he said he had to hang with the homecoming queen.
Mike P:
Called a great game, but the team lost after fumbling the ball on the goal line for the winning score.
Running back:
“I would have taken that in for the score”
Reporters:
“What was the reason for your tailbacks suspension?”
Mike P:
“That will stay internal. The guys know what is at stake if they let those details surface.”
Following Monday
Will:
Did his radio show and attended school. “The running back suspended, Marshall Evans, says he would have taken the ball in for the final score. I guess he doesn’t remember ending the Panthers season last year when coughed it up on the final drive.”
Marhsall Evans (RB):
“Will is a baby man. Coach ran his mom over by accident and he can’t burden the rest of us with that shit, man. Time to move on.”
In an article published to the local newspaper.
Mike P:
The coach was left without anything he could do to his starting running back. Marshall was a senior.
Tuesday
Will:
Will came to class dressed to impress. He immediately confronted his former coach about Marshall.
Mike P:
Mike was always remorseful about what he did and it ate him up. He never came to Will to play football, because he couldn’t find it in him to ask a player to come back after taking everything away from him.
Adam:
Was in contact with Will and they went out to The Trough for the first time in weeks. Adam saw that he wasn’t himself and knew that it was something he had to climb out of himself.
Months later:
Will:
Will graduated high school and walked on at UW-Riverside. After starting a few games he didn’t think he missed football and quit.
Adam:
Adam finished his year on the Dean’s list. “Trough Success!!!” and its energy was nearly nonexistent after Will quit ball.
Mike P:
Called Will after he quit football and talked with him for the first time about the accident with his mom. He thought that Will would make a 180 degree turn after the talk. Mike thought he would drop off a pizza for Will at his residence where he used to spend time with his star QB. When Mike entered there was a man lying on the floor with a prescription bottle laying next to him.
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