Sir Artemis, the Great Pretender

Sir Artemis established his reputation as a superior rugby player in southern England. He was a hard working and convivial cog in a well oiled team called the Predators. Sir Artemis didn't seek the headlines. He just did his job. The requirements for his position on the team were simple, really. All he had to do was line up against two offensive players and either maintain his ground or push one of them back into the backfield. When he was able to create penetration, his other teammates on the defensive line had an easier path to the ball carrier because they only had to beat one guy. Artemis took care of two behemoths while his defense teammates tried to win their one on one confrontations with the rest of the offensive players. For at least four or five times a game, this strategy resulted in a tackle of the runner for a loss.

In short, Sir Artemis supposedly made the rest of the team look good. He did the dirty work in the middle and gained fame indirectly by the achievements of others. The logic was that Artemis created mismatches because of the other team's need to double team him and his ability to occasionally beat that double team. And, at a minimum, he could almost always maintain his territorial foothold in the middle of the field.

The great savant, Michael of Avalon, who owned a competing team which played in the Land of Newt, coveted the services of Artemis who brought fame and glory to his former team by being the man in the middle. Since, for Michael, the glory of living is to generate fortunes through entertainment rather than through actual achievement on the field or off, he offered up one million dollars of guaranteed money to this humble defensive prodigy. The move was meant to create a buzz about the team during the off season and to hopefully acquire a player who would continue to play at the same level that he displayed in the past.

But, lo, the present nor the past may not be a reliable prognostication for the future. Artemis decided that the money which magically appeared in his bank account negated his need to hold up his end of the contract. He seemed to believe that he earned that money through past achievements and thus had no need to actually work and perform in the present to claim that compensation. And, indeed, he was correct. The money was in the bank. He had no need to perform at all. He could now just show up for mandatory meetings and practices, perform at a perfunctory level during the games, and live off of that guaranteed money that would continue to accumulate over the next two years.

And, in addition, Artemis decided that with his new found fortune and his presumed leverage over the team, he could become more vocal in expressing his opinions about his role on the team and how he could best be utilized in a scheme that, to him, obviously needed to be skewed to best suit his particular and special talents. For Artemis, it wasn't about the team. It was now all about him being able to express himself and force his will on an organization which he perceived had no recourse but to listen to him and bow down to him.

Of course, management and the coaching staff attempted to sway him by telling him that he would sully his reputation by acting and performing in this manner. His response was that he would now be a hero in some personally perceived social and cultural milieu because he could now stick it to the same organization which had been sticking it others for years. In Artemis's mind, it was payback time, baby. He could now make management squirm, and he had no need to bow down to the team or to respect the team's owners in any way. And, in fact, he could now embarrass the same man who gave him one million dollars to work for a few minutes on a Saturday afternoon, frolicking with two other men who may or may not be motivated to perform at other than a mediocre level.

So, during his first season in the Land of Newt, he would run out onto the field and push the opposing line around for a few plays and then suddenly fall prostrate on the ground as if a massive debilitating injury had occurred. He would then take a few plays off and suddenly rise from the purgatory of season ending injury, trot back on the field and fiddle around for a few more plays.

Artemis found that he could get away with this ploy quite easily. The problem was that the fans and, indeed, the coaches embraced him as a warrior who could overcome adversity and play hurt, rather than as a malingerer who was sticking it to the team.

So, he decided that he needed to step it up a notch. He decided to openly and brazenly question how the coaches were using him while he was in the game. He decided that he didn't want to always play in the middle of the line. He said that he wanted to play away from the center so that he could use his strength and agility to make more tackles. In reality, what he wanted to do was disrupt the team, aggravate the coaches and embarrass the owner, the man who gave him one million dollars.

He felt pleased that he had finally caused so much consternation that his first Predator's coach, Piney the Appeaser, had to gently admonish him personally at a practice session during the Christmas holidays and respectfully request that he leave the field. At last, Artemis had been so obnoxious that he had finally frustrated Piney. That was an achievement that Artemis could now cherish the rest of his days.

Now, there is a new leader in town, Saul the Elder. It is said that Saul doesn't allow such shenanigans on his team. However, Sir Artemis perceives Saul as just another representative of an evil organization which has suppressed others for years.

So, who will win this micro struggle? Will the organization allow Sir Artemis to disrupt the team because of that one million dollar mistake? Or, will Saul make a bold move and banish Sir Artemis from the team?

Right now, I'm betting on Saul. But, I'm just wishing and hoping.