UNIVERSE BOWL IX: PROLOGUE II

George Washington's Slaves' Locker Room. . .

Darth Shemalyah slowly enters into a Playoff Planet locker room, currently holding the entire squad of George Washington’s Slaves.  The female Sith Lord is followed by her two apprentices, Brek Nyram and Nik Landsoh.  Shemalyah looks at her team and smirks.  She uses the Dark Side to float her body atop one of the benches located in the center of the room.  All eyes are on Shemalyah as she begins to speak.

Darth Shemalyah:  

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.  There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that's first place. This team has finished second before and I don't ever want this team to finish second again. There is no second place bowl game, but if there were, it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an FFL team zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.

Every time a combatant goes to ply his trade he's got to play from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's okay. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

Running an FFL team is no different than running any other kind of organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is. It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there - to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules - but to win.

And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat. I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in myself, and I believe in  this team. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious!

Having completed her motivational speech, Shemalyah looks to her team.  The entire Slaves’ squad gazes at their peers in awe.  This is the first time the Sith Lord has spoken more than a few words and all realize this fact.  Silence.  The locker room then erupts in a frenzy, all chanting: Slaves!  Slaves!!  Slaves!!!  SLAVES!  SLAVES!!  SLAVES!!!