The Roar of the Crowd Read Online Free PDF Page B

Manny?”
    Manny laughed. “I don’t think so, buddy. Determined, but not mad. We’ll get another chance . . . I think.”
    “You’ll clobber ’em, Manny.”
    “You said it, Sal.”
    “Did you make any great plays today?” Sal asked.
    “No. I didn’t do much of anything. Coach was working with the starters all day. We’ve got another tough game this week.”
    They entered the kitchen and Manny gave his mom a hug.
    “Hi, sweetie,” she said. “We’re running late. I had a meeting and your dad’s swamped with work, so dinner won’t be for a while.”
    “That’s okay,” Manny said. “Me and Sal will set the table and do whatever else you need. I’ll get cleaned up first.”
    “That’s great.”
    After he showered, Manny sat on the bedroom floor with Sal and helped him build a tower with Legos.
    “How come we’re not big, Manny?” Sal asked.
    “I don’t know. We just aren’t. Dad’s small. Mom’s small. So we are, too.”
    “I’m gonna be giant,” Sal said. “I’m gonna be a quarterback.”
    Manny laughed. “Don’t count on it. Dad weighs less than some of the guys on my team, and they’re only in sixth grade.”
    “I’ll lift weights.”
    “That’s good. But small guys can do a lot of things, Sal. We’re usually faster, too.”
    “Yeah . . . I guess I don’t want to be big, Manny. I wanna be just like you.”
    “Thanks, buddy. Now let’s go set the table for dinner.”
     
    The bad news came at Wednesday’s practice, when Coach Reynolds called the kickoff team together.
    “We got burned twice last Saturday, fellas, and that really hurt our chances to win the game. This week we play over in Newark, and that’s another very powerful team. You know that I want every player on this team to get a fair shot, but we need to make some changes on the kickoff squad. Our left side is a little weak, so for now I’m putting a few of the defensive starters there. We’ll re-evaluate things as the season goes on.”
    Manny, Donald, and two others were off the kickoff team for now, replaced by the starting linebackers and Jason Fiorelli. The displaced players headed off the field to watch the kickoff squad go through the drill.
    Manny kneeled at the sideline but kept his helmet on, blinking back a few tears. Donald paced back and forth, muttering to himself and smacking his fist in his hand. The other players stood silently, watching the action on the field.
    Finally Donald came over and kneeled next to Manny. “This sucks,” he said. “All we needed was some experience. We got that last week. We’d have no problem this week, I guarantee it. We’d stop those suckers cold.”
    Manny just stared at the field. Eventually Anthony came over and stood next to him. Anthony was way too slow for the kickoff team, but he was the anchor of the offensive and defensive lines. So he was in for every play except the kicks. Manny’s eyes only came up to the level of Anthony’s shoulder pads.
    “How you doin’, Manny?” Anthony asked.
    Manny shrugged.
    “We could use your speed on those kickoffs,” Anthony said. “But I guess what we mostly needed was a little more strength.”
    “Yeah,” Manny said softly. “I got pushed all over the field last week.”
    “Well, don’t feel too bad. Those guys were big. Even I got pushed around a little. ’Course, I pushed back pretty good.”
    Donald stepped closer, punching Anthony lightly on the arm. “We just weren’t thinking,” Donald said. “I mean, that was our first game. Give us another week of practice and we’d be unbeatable.”
    “Well, Coach said he’d re-evaluate,” Anthony said. “I hope so. You guys deserve to be playing. Maybe this isn’t the end.”
    “It better not be,” Manny said. He sniffed hard and spit. “We’ve been working too hard to spend the rest of the season on the sideline.”

10
    Left Out
    T he game in Newark was on Sunday afternoon, so Manny’s family went to the early mass. The bus was to leave at eleven,