Act 1 Part 1: This Team Stinks




(Bound Brook High School Echo 1976)



That's what a player literally senses at the start of a game as the team bunches inside a locker room door. 

Someone forgot their clean socks and is wearing a moldy pair. Another is superstitious and won't wash their lucky undershorts. At least one of the toilets down the hall doesn't flush. Add the menthol bite of liniment and the aerosolized sweetness of pre-tape spray to the isovaleric acidity of excitement and there you have it, locker room stench. 

The smells are enough to knock somebody over, but not these bodies. Some bounce back-and-forth on sweaty feet. Others joke about the partying they'll be doing that night. At least one will go around grabbing a teammate from behind and popping their back. Still others will hide to the side, turning more pale as the minutes tick away until game time.

The crowding together of heated players starts to feel oppressive, like the feeling in a sauna when you've had enough steam and desperately need to get out for a breath of fresh air. 

Then a coach pulls open the double doors...




Comments

  1. OSweetNatureAugust 15, 2021 at 7:47 AM

    They all look happy! You must have won that game!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OSweetNatureAugust 15, 2021 at 7:52 AM

      I never really thought about the smells of the locker room and how that would be a part of the pre-game awareness of the players!

      Delete
    2. David BeattyAugust 16, 2021 at 4:45 AM

      One revels in any small victory. Who won? It's all that matters at the time, but doesn't matter anymore.

      Delete

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