Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Jan 21, 2024 0:13:40 GMT -8
Everybody knew when Dan was out. They pulled him into the manager's office just minutes before their first practice back from the winter break. Sam spotted the kid go inside just before Dan, and he didn't need to be inside the room to know what they were saying. It was over for Dan. It had been coming for a while, but it didn't hit Sam any softer.
Dan didn't take it well, either. The guys in the locker-room froze with their gear half-laced as Dan's shouts bounced through the narrow space between the players' cubbies. Dan's mild-manner had become a common subject of criticism by Cannons fans and media, an aspect of his game that even Sam wished he could change. It came as a complete surprise to everyone that Dan could even yell. He refused to be demoted to a reserve role, instead stomping out of the office and leaving the practice facility for the final time.
Daniel Jones' professional career was over, everybody knew it. Sam knew it, hell, even Dan knew it. Sam was sick about the incident for days, ranting in bed to Stella, "Even if it's for the good of the team, after all this time with us, after all the hard work he's put into it...to just let him go like that..." He even blamed himself. The Cannons were good, but they weren't Puddlemere good, and the Christmas loss had the potential to be a season back breaker. Maybe things would have been different if he'd focused on the game. Maybe Dan would still have a job if he hadn't shrugged the game off in anticipation for his Christmas vacation with Stella.
It took a week for Sam to finally acknowledge Noah. He found the kid hanging out on the pitch after practice when all the players were heading home. Sam turned to Stella, placing a kiss on her lips and saying that he'd catch up with her at his place.
"You know," he called as he approached Noah. "You can have all the talent in the world and still stink at Quidditch. It isn't about what you can do, it's about what you can put yourself through and still come out the other side better. You can't learn that from regular drills. They think you're too valuable."
Noah Bradley
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Keeper
I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be and satisfaction feels like a distant memory |
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Post by Noah Bradley on Jan 21, 2024 10:28:58 GMT -8
Noah remembers the moment very clearly. He had been called into the office and sat down. At first, he was worried they were kicking him off the team. Noah didn't know how he would feel about that. Being on the sidelines was kind of eye-opening for him and he started to wonder who he was doing this for. Was it for himself or for his father's approval? He sat and stewed in his feelings for a few moments before Dan was called in and it clicked. Noah watched as his team painfully lost around Christmas, watching how Dan struggled to block the goals Ballycastle was making, and he had felt so frustrated. But here he was with the manager, listening as he told them Dan was pulled from playing and made a reserve and that he, Noah Bradley, would be replacing him.
He supposed he should have been happy with this news, but seeing how Dan reacted had him feeling incredibly guilty. The rest of the team weren't exactly thrilled about this news either and Noah did his best to keep his head down. The next week he just trained with the team and then went home to write to Ophelia.
Noah felt incredibly lonely during that. In school, he had friends and a social life, but here it was just him. Stella was there to help him get out of his funk, but he could feel the glares he got from Sam and honestly he wanted to avoid any animosity. Talking with her did help him realize that his father was just a miserable sod and that he'd kill himself trying to make him happy. It wasn't like James Bradley showed any affection for his children. And after his mother died, Noah didn't want to see him anymore.
Practice ended and Noah's mind was still churning. The tall wizard dropped his broom on the turf and picked up his water bottle, chugging it. He wasn't expecting to be approached, so when he heard Sam's voice behind him he sputtered. "What?" Noah turned to look at him, his mind starting to process what he had just said. He wiped his mouth as he considered it, part of him wondering if Sam was telling him he sucked. "Then what do you suggest I do?" Noah spent most of his years at Hogwarts honing his craft, but he could admit that professional Quidditch was a whole other ballgame than school. He felt a little out of his depth here.
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Jan 27, 2024 11:16:42 GMT -8
It was never Sam's intention to make Noah feel unwelcome on the team. He actually thought in the preseason that Noah was a nice addition to the team. Maybe a little raw, but a high ceiling type who could really succeed in their league if he could access that next level. The next level rarely came out in a rookie season. It was easy for seekers like Stella to succeed immediately because it was a position that relied on so much raw talent like speed. But keeping was a different position that required discipline and practice. Dan had been playing near a low floor for a long time, but Sam finally had him playing the best Quidditch of his career and to lose someone that he'd put so much work into hurt.
It was almost unfathomable to think about putting together a whole new keeper program for Noah, but Sam did it. If they were riding with a new keeper, he was gonna take it all the way to the end. So, after moping around for a bit, Sam finally started watching Noah, studying his game in practice. He'd even gotten ahold of some game film from Hogwarts to take notes off of, and soon he was ready with the pros and cons, what Noah did well and what they'd have to work on. It wasn't that Sam didn't trust the Cannons' coaching staff to develop him right. But, he really believed in the power of hard work and knew that the team would rather treat valuable rookies with kid gloves than to throw them straight into the gauntlet. As far was Sam was concerned, anyone who wasn't willing to jump straight into the fire wasn't worth a roster spot. Not with what he was building.
So he found renewed conviction in Noah. And when the kid asked, "Then what do you suggest I do?" Sam smiled. It was a nice start.
"Honest assessment?" Sam asked. "I was up all night watching your film, and I think you're good. You've got reflexes and that's what I can't teach. But you catch with your body, which is sloppy, and you don't always make the best choices when passing the quaffle back to your teammates. We can work on that, if you're willing. And I won't make it easy on you. Nothing worth doing is easy."
- Noah Bradley
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Keeper
I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be and satisfaction feels like a distant memory |
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Gauntlet
Jan 31, 2024 16:16:00 GMT -8
via mobile
Post by Noah Bradley on Jan 31, 2024 16:16:00 GMT -8
If it hadn’t been for Stella’s sound advice, Noah would probably still be stuck in his old mindset of pleasing his father. It took him nineteen years, but he finally gave up on that impossible task and focused on making himself happy. Part of that was making sure that he excelled in all aspects of his life. If he could be the best possible version of himself, then he would have achieved ultimate happiness. Or so he thought. He didn’t actually know if he’d be truly happy after all that, but he was willing to put in the work and figure it out.
There was another topic that Stella had given him some advice on and that was Sam Spade. Noah didn’t have a problem with any of his teammates, but after he replaced Dan he had been worried about what the team thought of him. This used to never bother Noah, but the stakes were higher in professional Quidditch and the last thing he needed was to make enemies on his own team. She made it clear he was a good guy who was only disappointed about how everything went down, telling him to give him a chance. Noah didn’t see why not, like I said he didn’t have a problem with him. So, when the chaser approached him with some advice, Noah was keen to listen.
A small burst of pride spread through his chest as he complimented his skill and reflexes, and he took what he said about his catching and choices to heart. Noah nodded solemnly along as he spoke. He could see how his choice of using his big, burly body to block shots may have worked during school, but it was a problem in the big leagues. And if Noah was completely honest, he always felt a bit nervous when he had to throw the quaffle back to his team, never knowing who he should throw it to. Sam offered his help and the keeper thought on it for a moment before nodding his consent. “Yeah, that’d be alright. I don’t want anyone to go easy on me. I’m not here because I wanted easy.”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Feb 7, 2024 15:41:39 GMT -8
Part of what made Sam so partial to Dan was his willingness to be coached. Sam felt a bit of a kinship with Dan because neither were the most athletic kids on their teams growing up. The difference was that Sam had worked all of his life to perfect the skills he could to make up for the skills he lacked. Dan didn’t have that drive, but he had been eager to please Sam and the result was his best play since he was Hufflepuff’s star keeper.
It didn’t take long for Sam to see that same coachability in Noah. Hotshots would join the team fully formed, expecting to have everything handed to them and refusing to take anyone’s direction. They typically flamed out as quickly as they arrived. But the eagerness with which Noah agreed to take Sam’s advice was promising, and now he was already seeing his next great project. The fog that had settled around his mind over the last few weeks was clearing as he finally began to see the path forward. Maybe Sam didn’t expect to start from square one in the middle of the season, but he could already see the headlines praising the Cannons for salvaging their season amidst the wreckage. That challenge was enough for Sam to push full steam ahead.
“I don’t want anyone to go easy on me,” Noah said. “I’m not here because I wanted easy.”
His statement raised an important question for Sam. He studied the kid over before he followed it up with, “Why are you here?” It wasn’t meant to be something deep or soul searching, he just wanted to feel Noah out for his attitude, still determining if he was the aforementioned hotshot. “Everyone wants to be a superstar, but can you be a teammate too? That’s the most important thing to this team. We’re not any one player, we all lift each other up and work our hardest every day. So it’s a simple question: why do you play?” - Noah Bradley
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Keeper
I go crazy 'cause here isn't where I wanna be and satisfaction feels like a distant memory |
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Post by Noah Bradley on Feb 8, 2024 4:28:09 GMT -8
Maybe once upon a time Noah thought of himself as some big hotshot, but those days were long behind him. Leaving Hogwarts kind of did that to you. Once you saw how big the world really was, you kind of realized just how miniscule you were in the grand scheme of things. It could also have been years of being told he wasn't good enough getting to his head, but he wasn't entirely sure that was the case. Noah was different now. He didn't care about the things he used to. He thought that maybe he had Ophelia to thank for that.
The young wizard was taken aback by Sam's question and his gaze fell to his water bottle as he considered it. For months, he had been asking himself the same exact thing. Why was he here? At first, he wondered if he was here for his father, but as time went on he realized that pleasing him was no longer his motivation. Noah brought the water bottle to his lips for a swig before answering, "I'm here because I want to be." It was a simple answer, but a truthful one. "I'm not interested in fame or fortune. Really, I couldn’t give two shits about that. I just -" the boy sighed, lifting his eyes to gaze upon his Captain. "I want to be better each and every day." Noah offered the man a shrug, like it wasn't a big deal. "I don't want to let anyone down," he added. The team took a chance on him and he didn't take that lightly.
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