Chapter 49 - An Important Game
In the afternoon, Jimmy, who had finished training, walked back home with the three members of the Cooper family, who were also heading home.
That afternoon, he had had a friendly competition with the team captain, Tommy, who turned out to be much nicer than the rumors suggested.
On the other hand, Ally approached Jimmy to clear up some misunderstandings and, especially, to apologize. Almost on the verge of tears, she explained her point of view, which Jimmy understood perfectly. He kindly responded that there was no problem.
The truth was that distancing himself from her had been a bit cruel, especially since she wasn't to blame for the behavior of the adults, who always complicated things in situations like that.
Jimmy also expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that the world forced them to follow strict rules that were unnecessary for people with their level of intelligence.
For him, the smartest should have more rights. Or rather, more freedom to act without relying so much on adults.
Unfortunately, reality didn't work that way.
Later, after agreeing that they could do things together in the future, they said their goodbyes.
As for Jimmy, he couldn't stand Sheldon, who had recently become obsessed with comics, announcing that he wanted to have the largest collection in the world.
Of course, it wasn't Jimmy's business what Sheldon spent his money on; that was up to his parents. The profits the Cooper family had made were enough to live a more comfortable life.
Jimmy, on the other hand, had practically unlimited access to resources thanks to his sole investor, who seemed fascinated by the possibility of achieving immortality.
Although it wasn't entirely false, Jimmy secretly knew that all he would do would be to program a digital version of users who wanted to preserve a part of their consciousness in the network.
But when the body dies… that was inevitable.
…
Days later, on the last day of the weekend before the holidays, Jimmy decided not to exercise. Instead, he went to the Cooper's house and watched the NFL broadcast with Coach George and his family.
In front of the TV, a custom flat version that Jimmy had created, George watched the game while explaining the rules to Jimmy, who honestly hadn't researched anything about the subject.
"Professional American football games are divided into four quarters of fifteen minutes. The first and second make up the first half. Then there is a break, usually twelve minutes, and the second half is played. There are also short breaks of about two minutes between each quarter," George explained, a lover of the sport, to Jimmy, who was truly just absorbing everything.
Jimmy nodded with curiosity.
"There are three main ways to score: the touchdown, the field goal, and the safety," George said, getting excited as he started pointing to the screen.
"A touchdown is worth six points. You get it by crossing the opposing team's end zone with the ball. After that, you have an opportunity to score an extra point with a kick, or you can try a two-point conversion from close range."
"And the field goal?"
"If you can't advance to score, but you're close enough, you can try kicking the ball between the posts. If it goes in, you score three points."
"And the last one?"
"The safety is worth two points," George replied. Then he said, "It's rare, but it happens when an offensive player is stopped inside their own end zone or commits a serious foul there. In that case, the points go to the defense."
The exhibition game between the Cardinals and the Longhorns, broadcast live, had already entered the third quarter.
The Longhorns were on offense, but they had been pushed back near their own end zone by the Cardinals' defense.
Maybe the next play would be an opportunity for the Cardinals to score a safety.
In normal games, that play is uncommon unless there is a big difference in skill between the teams.
Seeing that the Longhorns' four offensive attempts were about to end, George exclaimed excitedly:
"Damn it! If you don't want to give up a safety, send the kicker onto the field already!" It was clear that George sympathized with the Longhorns, the weaker team.
"When you're on offense, you have four tries to advance ten yards," George continued, no matter how exciting the game was, explaining to Jimmy, who was like a sponge, soaking up information. "If you make it, you get another four attempts. If not, the ball goes to the other team."
"And what if you know you won't make it?" The heartfelt question, Jimmy had never faced this feeling before.
"Then you punt," George said, understanding the issue and continuing, "On the fourth try, you can kick the ball as far as you can into the opposing team's territory. That way, even if you lose possession, they will start from farther back."
Indeed, on the field, the Longhorns' coach thought the same as George. He called a timeout on the fourth try and sent the kicker out.
"That's it!" George said, waving his hand.
Although the situation on the field wasn't favorable for the Longhorns, there was still the last quarter to go. And in American football, anything can happen.