Away Games: Science Fiction Sports Stories by Mike Resnick Read Free Book Online Page A

no legal basis for denying Smith, McPherson, Cohen, O’Mara, and Tackenheim the right to play in this season’s post-season competition, since the rule was changed after they made the Bears’ roster.”
    The owners of the 47 other NFL teams have filed an official protest, demanding that the players in question be barred from the upcoming playoffs.
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    BEARS WIN 77-10, SUPER BOWL NEXT January 15, 2038 (UPI) The Chicago Bears beat the Hawaii Volcanos 77-10 this afternoon to advance to the Super Bowl. They overcame a 10-0 first-quarter deficit after the Supreme Court overturned the injunction barring linemen Smith, McPherson, Cohen, O’Mara and Tackenheim from playing. The ruling came down at 1:37 PM, and the Bears took the lead, never to relinquish it, at 1:43 PM.
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    “MONSTERS DON’T SCARE US,” SAYS McNAB January 22, 2038 (UPI) With the Super Bowl only a week away, and the Chicago Bears a 45-point favorite, Coach Terry McNab of the Alaskan Malamutes said that his team didn’t fear the Monsters of the Midway, and looked forward to the challenge.
    When asked how his defensive line, which will be giving away an average of 327 pounds per man, would cope with their offensive counterparts on the Bears, he merely smiled and said that he was working on a strategy.
    The Bears are expected to be 50-point favorites by the opening kickoff.
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    McNAB MISSES PRACTICE January 24, 2038 (UPI) Coach Terry McNab was missing from the Alaskan Malamutes’ practice this afternoon. Club officials had no comment.
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    RATHERMAN RESURFACES January 26, 2038 (UPI) Nobel Prize winner Alfredo Rathermann, who had been in seclusion since December 28, was spotted sitting in the stands, watching the Alaskan Malamutes prepare for their Super Bowl meeting with the Chicago Bears.
    When asked if he had a rooting interest in the game, Rathermann replied that his interest was “strictly professional.” He was later seen having dinner with Coach McNab and the owners of the Malamutes.
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    BEARS GO TO COURT TO BAR McNAB FROM SUPER BOWL January 28, 2038 (AP) With the revelation that Coach Terry McNab’s skull now houses two brains—his own and that of Professor Steven Hawking’s, which had been cryogenically frozen upon his death in 1998—the Chicago Bears went to court in an attempt to stop McNab from appearing on the sidelines during tomorrow’s Super Bowl.
    McNab’s physician, Dr. Alfredo Rathermann, called the Bears ownership “poor sportsmen” and pointed out that since McNab will not be playing, his presence will not break the NFL’s controversial new policy.
    “Besides,” said McNab as a hastily-called press conference, “I’m still the same 183-pound 57-year-old man I was last week. How can sharing the late Dr. Hawkings’ brain pose a threat to the Bears? Do I look like a Monster of the Midway?”
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    COURT RULES FOR McNAB January 28, 2038 (UPI) The U.S. District Court ruled that Coach Terry McNab’s presence will not conflict with stated NFL policy, and that he will be allowed on the field when his Alaskan Malamutes, who are 53-point underdogs, meet the Chicago Bears in tomorrow’s Super Bowl.
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    MALAMUTES UPSET BEARS, 7-3 January 29, 2938 (AP) In one of the great upsets of all time, the Alaskan Malamutes beat the Chicago Bears 7-3 in Super Bowl LXXIII.
    Using unorthodox formations and attacking from strange angles, the Malamutes’ new “Vector Defense” smothered the supposedly unstoppable Bears running game. Quarterback Pedro Cordero hit tight end Bennie Philander with a 9-yard touchdown pass at 3:12 of the fourth quarter for the winning score.
    When asked how his defense managed to penetrate the vaunted Bears line, Coach Terry McNab’s only comment was “E = MC2.”
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    MAJOR OVERHAUL FOR BEARS February 19, 2038 (UPI) In the wake of their devastating defeat in the Super Bowl, the Chicago Bears have fired Coach Rattler Renfro, and given