Laggan Lard Butts by Eric Walters Read Free Book Online Page A

start of the game, and the Traynor Tigers hadn’t even come out for their warm-up. They hadn’t been delayed in traffic. It was their home game, in their gym, at their school. I didn’t think they were in their change room, desperately planning a way to beat us. All they had to do was walk out onto the court to do that.
    â€œWhere are they?” Tanner asked.
    I shrugged. “Want me to go into their dressing room and check?”
    â€œAren’t they going to warm up at all?” Taylor asked.
    â€œMaybe they figure they don’t need to warm up to beat us,” I suggested.
    â€œI’d be insulted if we didn’t resemble that remark.”
    â€œWe could surprise them,” Taylor said.
    â€œFor us to win we’d have to go beyond surprise, past shock and halfway to a miracle,” I said.
    â€œSo you
do
think we have a chance. Miracles
do
happen,” Taylor said.
    â€œA win would be really good for our campaign. If we can keep winning then we could give the Lard Butt cheer more exposure,” Tanner said.
    â€œYou sure you want Butts exposed?” I asked.
    â€œYou know what I mean. Can you imagine how kids would vote if we won the championship?”
    â€œI’m just trying to imagine how this crowd would react if we won today,” I said,gesturing to the bleachers. There wasn’t an empty seat. There had to be at least two hundred people here to watch the Tigers devour the Lairds.
    â€œHow come we never get crowds like that for our home games?” Tanner asked.
    â€œFirst, we don’t have that many kids in our whole school,” I said. “And second, since we’re a bus school most of them are gone before our games even start.”
    â€œThat makes sense. But wouldn’t it be great to have a big crowd cheering for us?”
    â€œIt would be great if we could do something that they’d want to cheer about. This crowd isn’t here to see a basketball game.”
    â€œThey’re not?”
    â€œNo. They’re here to see a basketball victory. They came because they want to see their team win, or, even better, blow us out. They came to see their team destroy us.”
    â€œCan you imagine how they’d react if we won?” Tanner asked.
    â€œI can’t imagine, but I’d love to see it.” I paused. “And, who knows, things happen.”
    â€œThen you do believe it’s possible!” Tanner exclaimed. “You do believe in miracles!”
    â€œI’d believe in them more if we had a center. Why couldn’t you two have been one really tall baby instead of twins?”
    â€œTalk to our mother.”
    Suddenly the crowd started to roar. Their team was finally coming out of the dressing room. The players went over to their bench, put down their gear and started a brief warm-up. The clock showed less than two minutes to the start of the game.
    â€œWe better warm up again as well,” I said.
    I dribbled to the three-point line and put up a shot. It went straight in!
    â€œSave a few of those for the game when we’ll need them,” Tanner said.
    â€œWe’ll need more than a few of those. We won’t be scoring much from the inside against their big man.”
    Mr. Davidson called us over to the bench, and we gathered around him.
    â€œUsual starters,” he said.
    That was about the only direction he ever gave us at the beginning of a game.
    â€œWhat defense should we start with?” he asked.
    â€œWe have to stop their center. Everything goes through him,” I said. “Zone, pack it down low, try to keep him from getting easy looks.”
    â€œHe makes them all look easy,” Taylor said.
    Their center was probably the best player in the whole league. He was definitely the tallest. He scored half of their points every game. I would have loved to see how they’d play without him.
    â€œCody can you make him pay for his points?” I asked. “In hockey