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“Unfortunately, doing their best might not be good enough.”
    I was confused. What did that mean?
    â€œWhat I’m going to tell you has to stay between me and you. You can’t talk to the other players about this.”
    â€œI won’t, not if you don’t want me to. You can trust me, sir.”
    â€œI know I can, Moose.” He got up from his chair, circled around and sat on the edge of the desk, right in front of me.
    â€œThese are really good boys. They’re all working hard. What I don’t know, though, is, do they have enough to win?”
    I was shocked. I’d never heard him talk about anything but success.
    â€œI’m going to have more than a few boys on this squad who are going to be starters but really shouldn’t be. I just don’t have anybody better.”
    â€œYou tell them what they need to do and they’ll do it,” I said.
    â€œIt’s not that easy. They’d have to grow four inches, gain fifty pounds and become more coordinated. There’s only so much theycan do. What we need is for those who have the ability—people like you—to make up for what they can’t do.” He paused. “I need you to be even better.”
    â€œYou know I’ll do whatever needs to be done,” I said.
    â€œInjuries are going to be critical for us. We don’t have any depth. Do you think people would be willing to play through pain?”
    â€œNo pain, no gain,” I said, echoing his words. “We’ll do what has to be done.”
    â€œYou can’t speak for everybody. I’m asking you. Would you play through the pain of an injury?”
    â€œI’d do whatever it takes.”
    â€œWhatever?” he asked.
    â€œAnything.”
    Coach didn’t say anything for a while. He just sat there, staring down at the desk. Didn’t he believe me? Finally he spoke.
    â€œYou know those protein shakes that you all drink,” he said. “Do you know what’s in them?”
    â€œTony’s secret recipe. Lots of ice creamand milk, but he won’t tell anybody all of the ingredients.”
    â€œHe won’t even tell me, but I know that all of them are bought in nutrition stores, all of them are over-the-counter ingredients. Legal ingredients.”
    Legal? I was reassured but disturbed at the same time. I hadn’t even thought that anything in those drinks could be illegal.
    â€œSome of those ingredients are anabolic— that means building muscle tissue. That’s why you and your teammates are getting stronger so fast. I guess you’ve noticed.”
    â€œIt would be hard not to notice,” I said. I looked down at my arm. It was bigger.
    â€œI’m going to be honest with you, Moose. I need you to be a leader both off the field and on it. I need you to make up for the limitations of your teammates. When you’re on that field, I need you to be unstoppable. I need you to be a one-man wrecking squad. I need you to be a monster out there. Championships are won on defense, and you need to be the heart of that defense. Can you do that?”
    I felt my heart racing. “I’ll try.”
    â€œI need you to do more than try.”
    â€œI’ll do it.”
    â€œWill you? Will you do whatever it takes?”
    â€œAnything.”
    He smiled. “You know, my sons are just little guys. I hope that they can grow up to be as fine a young man as you’ve become.”
    I felt myself blushing.
    â€œI’m as proud of you as if you were my own.” He paused. “There’s still one more step you could take.”
    â€œWhat is it?” My mind raced, trying to think of what it could be. Did he want me here more often, working out? What could it be?
    He put a hand on my shoulder. “I want you to talk to Tony.”

Chapter Ten
    Within fifteen minutes of me talking to Coach Barnes, Tony came up and told me that the two of us should talk— but that that