Calling Destiny?

[Apollos]

“We need to do something. Something big….” he said into the receiver, almost speaking to himself. For three days the usually larger than life owner of the Long Beach Oilers, Chris Van Hauter, had been locked in his office attempting to hatch a plan.

Seven years prior, Van Hauter had unceremoniously departed the world’s premier baseball competition, the PEBA, after arriving at the uncomfortable decision that it was simply impossible to turn a profit while playing in front of the league’s most apathetic fan base. Now he had that same sinking feeling. Seven seasons of middling gate receipts and lots more losing had left his beloved franchise in the same position it was at the time they left Tempe: penniless and forgotten.

While initial expectations following the move to Long Beach were largely optimistic, Van Hauter quickly realized that the World Independent League was not large enough to feed his wallet or his ego. Relegated to playing in front of dwindling crowds, with a group of teams and owners who weren’t quite good enough to see the PEBA, Van Hauter and his Oilers were reduced to an afterthought in the landscape of professional sports. The somber low of that autumn day in 2023 when the Tempe Knights officially shuttered their corporate headquarters, continued to reverberate in his mind. Van Hauter had searched for a way to bring his life’s passion back to relevancy and time was running out. His legacy was forever tarnished, his outsized expectations unfulfilled. Van Hauter was having a mid-life crisis of sorts, only it had happened a decade too late and time was running short. For a man who made his name by turning the Knights into one of the loudest, brashest organizations in pro sports; who was known for parties that rivaled those hosted at the Playboy mansion, even he was surprised at the gravity of the predicament now facing his organization.

To most, the choice would be clear: sell the franchise and divest yourself of the helpless Oilers who couldn’t make a nickel if they doubled attendance, reduced payroll, and adhered to the WIL’s thrifty salary cap. To Van Hauter it represented a final opportunity to prove himself. To bring himself back into the public consciousness, and return his organization to the national spotlight. But how?

Van Hauter placed his phone down and disconnected the call. Leaning back into his plush but understated leather office chair, Van Hauter rolled his hands over his face and exhaled deeply. “Where did the magic go?” he said rhetorically. Van Hauter turned and gazed out the window, repeating himself: “where did the magic go?”

At dusk, the view of the Long Beach skyline was pleasant. It wasn’t dramatic, like standing at a cliff’s edge gazing at a flowing waterfall, or watching the sunset from a deserted tropical oasis in the South Pacific. It was what you expected from a beach town-turned small city. But tonight it reminded him of all that had gone wrong over the last decade. Undramatic, uninspired, and most of all, ordinary. Van Hauter despised ordinary.

Somewhere near the beachfront a mortar round went off. The noise caught his attention immediately, but it was the bright flash of brilliant red and gold in the sky that sparked something. Van Hauter lost himself in thought and stared, between thinly spread fingers, unblinking, while the pyrotechnics continued their dance in the indigo colored sky.

Suddenly, as if returning to a memory from years ago, he extended his arm to the adjacent oak desk and grabbed for a worn notebook. Thumbing through the small, tattered pages with urgency he found the page he was looking for and searched with an outstretched index finger. “Mmhmm,” he muttered as he appeared to find the entry he was searching for. Van Hauter hurriedly grabbed for his phone and dialed.

“Hi,” he remarked, trying to sound confident when the callee answered. “It’s been a while. I’m wondering if you’ve given any thought to coming home?”

Van Houter was trembling with nervous energy, but for the first time in years he had an idea that just might work…

[Arroyos]

Can't wait to find out what the old boy's hatched. This sentence is a gem: "Van Hauter lost himself in thought and stared, between thinly spread fingers, unblinking, while the pyrotechnics continued their dance in the indigo colored sky."

[Borealis]

Van Hauter is a bold guy - his bold prediction about turning Tempe into a winner was spot on - until Hancock was jettisoned away, so don't bet against him (unless it's in a Streets Casino).

Great start Brian - love it!

[Sandgnats]

Excited to see what's next!