Go Long! by Ronde Barber

Tiki agreed. “So . . . you gonna talk to him?”
    Ronde did a double-take. “Tiki, man—it was your idea!”
    A car drove up, and Cody got into it. “Now, you see?” Tiki said, shaking his head. “It’s too late! Why didn’t you go talk to him when you had the chance?”
    Ronde sighed. Sometimes it was impossible to talk to Tiki. And if that was impossible, forget about talking to a kid like Cody!
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    Two long days had gone by. After practice Wednesday, the boys returned home, and Mrs. Barber already had dinner cooking. Ronde and Tiki were both hungry, and they settled right down to eat—their favorite, Mom’s world-famous mac and cheese.
    They were still annoyed at each other. All week long neither one of them had said anything to Cody. So instead of talking, they took turns leafing through the Roanoke Reporter , looking for the article about last week’s game.
    Because the paper only came out on Wednesdays, and the Eagles played their games on Thursday, it was always a long wait till they got to read about it.
    Last year, it hadn’t been that interesting reading about the team, because as bench players, they were rarely mentioned. But this year they were starters. And so this week, they both knew their names would be all over the article.
    â€œListen to this,” Tiki said. “‘The first game of the new era for the Hidden Valley Eagles was a huge, mistake-filled disappointment. The Eagles, a preseason pick to repeat as District Champs, lost to a William Byrd Badgers squad they should have handled easily. Worse, the Eagles had every chance to win, and didn’t take advantage.’”
    â€œWhat does it say about you and me?” Ronde asked.
    â€œNow, Ronde,” their mom said, “let your brother read.” She had been about to dish out another helping for both her sons. But now she just stood there, as curious as they were.
    â€œâ€˜New Eagles Head Coach Sam Wheeler says the team’s first game may not be a good example of how they will play in the future. He says he is putting in a new system that should bring out the best in his team.’
    â€œâ€˜â€œI’m a believer in the mental game,” Wheeler said, adding that the Eagles need to be the best-prepared team on the field, mentally as well as physically.’”
    â€œMom, did Tiki tell you we didn’t even get onto the field at practice today?” Ronde said.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œCoach just played videotape of our game and made us imagine winning,” he told her.
    â€œHe probably thinks you boys aren’t focused enough,” Mrs. Barber said.
    â€œThat’s right, Mom,” Tiki agreed. “Coach Wheeler’s really smart. I’ll bet if we all just do what he says, we’ll start winning soon.”
    â€œThere you go,” said Mrs. Barber. “That’s the spirit. You need to get with the program, Ronde.”
    Ronde wished he could believe in it, but he had his doubts. Most of the other kids thought Wheeler was weird.
    Sure, Cody had gone way overboard about him, but Wheeler wasn’t exactly perfect. Ronde couldn’t see how the new coach was ever going to get the Eagles to play their best for him—tape or no tape, mental game or no mental game—especially if he couldn’t stop a kid like Cody from stirring up trouble.
    â€œâ€˜The team did show flashes of greatness,’” Tiki went on reading. “‘The Barber brothers, Tiki and Ronde—’ Hey, that’s us!”
    â€œWhat’s it say? What’s it say?” Ronde asked, suddenly excited.
    â€œâ€˜Although his fumble of the opening kickoff cost his team seven points, Ronde Barber ran an interception back the length of the field for a key touchdown, as well as batting away a sure touchdown pass from Kyle Martin of the Badgers. And his identical twin, Tiki