Chapter 14
"You, Sir, are a cad," Courtney told me, as she took a bite of her orange sherbet ice cream.
I choked on the coffee I was drinking, then laughed.
"Cad? I didn't think anyone still used that word," I replied musingly.
"And why not? It is a perfectly good word. It describes to a T, your attitude to my request to explain your American football. How you people can call what you play, 'football', is beyond me," she replied, her dancing eyes.
I thought a moment and decided that while it was true I had chuckled over her confusion about American football, calling me a cad seemed a little over done.
"The problem with you Brits, is that you confuse soccer, a perfectly descent game, with a sport called football, a totally great game," I replied loftily.
"Well, you will have to explain this 'American football' to me. We have a group that is scheduled to be here, later in the year. That's all anyone seems to be talking about. We have reservations for several games, as a matter of fact."
"Hmm, well, what did you want to know about? I will see if I can explain things to you. Just remember, I am an amateur... an 'armchair quarterback', as they call us," I responded.
"Well then, start with the home team. The Rams, I believe they are called?" she asked.
"Ah, the St. Louis Rams. Now there is an actual soap opera that is a success story. Let's see. Ok, a little background first. Remember I took you to a baseball game a couple of weeks ago? Remember? It was right after you came back from England for your job here?" she nodded.
"Well, that team is the baseball Cardinals, or the St. Louis Cardinals. There used to be a football team of the same name, but the owner packed them up lock stock and barrel, and moved them to Arizona.
"There was a big stink about it at the time, but apparently he got a better tax deal, with that state's government. After all, professional team sports is 'money first'. Loyalty to your fan base is a distant second. They do expect you to be loyal to them, and support them in everything they do, though. Strange, if you ask me.
"Anyway, a few years back, several people decided that it was time for St. Louis to get another football team. Since new expansion teams were being brought into existence, and a couple teams made moves from one city to another, they applied for expansion status.
"They were refused at first, saying that the city could not support baseball and football teams simultaneously. Well, to get that problem out of the way, a retired politician decided to show the football commission that there was a market for a team here, and sold something called personal seat licenses. They went for several thousand dollars each, and thousands of these were sold, even before there was a team!
"So with that question removed, St. Louis and St. Louis County got together, and decided that the tax payers must build a new separate stadium for this new team. This is why there are two stadiums in St. Louis.
"Now then, everything was almost in place. This group had scouted prospective teams, and they settled on the Rams who were playing for a different city back then. Oh, that city cried foul when the Rams decided to move, lawsuits were threatened. I don't know if anything was filed in court or not. California still has a football team, so it didn't seem to really harm that state.
"The then commissioner of football, Paul Tagliabue, decided that the Rams could not go to St. Louis, anyway. He hadn't authorized a move; so, too bad. Well, that didn't sit well with the people who went to all this trouble to get a football team here, nor was the owner of the Rams thrilled with this decision. So together with the St. Louis people, the owner of the Rams and the retired politician, launched a lawsuit against the commissioner and the NFL. They sued for restriction of business, or something like that. The long and short of that battle is the NFL and the football commissioner caved, and the Rams moved from California to St. Louis.
"The football commissioner got his revenge by counting seats in the new stadium, then changing the rules about the teams hosting what is called a Superbowl. The new stadium in St. Louis found itself a few thousand seats short, seating-capacity wise, and there was no way for St. Louis to earn money by hosting a Superbowl. That was a childish lashing out; but children with authority have always, historically, abused any power when it was given to them," I paused.
"Hmm, sounds like sports is also highly politicized, here in America. Ok, now tell me about downs, and goals, and the other rules," she said, grinning.
"Whoosh! You don't want much, do you? I suggest we continue this discussion in the car on the way to my house. You have just asked a question that is going to take a long time to explain. I have access to old games videos at home. Lets go watch one or a few, and I will explain them as they play," I said.
She nodded, and rose to her feet. She signed the bill that was on the table, as she was authorized all meals. She was also allowed the occasional guest, free, in her hotel dining area. They had a good chef, I will give them that. She had an apartment located in the hotel. She rarely used it, just when she was busy. Usually, she came home with me.
After getting on I-70 West, we traveled the reversible lanes out of St. Louis. It was a pleasant drive. About fifty minutes later, we were at the house.
"You really need to work on getting your American drivers license," I said teasing her.
"Actually, I have an international license that is good, here in the US. I just like you driving me. This is, after all, your job to do... win my heart, correct?" she replied with a grin.
I'll be damned, she could have driven herself all this time! Ok, she wanted to play? I grinned as a thought came to me. I didn't think she knew I was a licensed helicopter pilot. I would surprise her one day soon. I'd pick her up and fly her home in a rented copter. That would straighten her out... maybe.
We watched a few games after we had arrived home, making an evening of it. We didn't finish until after the second game was over with, and I had explained what was going on, and I will give her this, she picked up on it very quickly. She actually liked football! My kind of girl, indeed.
2001 was now a little over half over, and we were enjoying ourselves. I had picked her up with a rented copter once, and she was definitely surprised! It was a nice time, actually.
I also took her back twice to a couple different times to look over older model automobiles to buy. I settled on one of the Model T's that Henry Ford mass produced, and a car called a Cord. The Cord was very good car indeed.
I also bought a couple cars from other dealers as prospects in the now, and stored them in a rented garage in Hazelwood. I had much more space in my rented garage, I just needed to get a few more cars so I would have a descent inventory. I did purchase a few newer model cars, from the 1940's, but nothing newer than a few 1949 Fords.
Not all my 'time dives' with Courtney into the past was for business, though. We went to the opera on several occasions, and to plays and shows of all sorts. I transported us to Europe and let her see her ancestors as they had lived in the past. She was always amazed and very grateful for the brief trips we took. I made sure they were safe though. I was not going to allow anything bad to happen to Courtney, no matter where we went in time.
For example, one day Courtney seemed very tired from work, and a bit depressed. She had been working with a small company that had decided to go with the services that she was so good at, and nothing had seemed to go right. A series of unfortunate circumstances occurred, which caused the company which hired them to leave early and lodge a complaint against her. This devastated Courtney.
After the hotel looked into everything, they told her to forget it. They said that the new customer was not being reasonable for the situations that had arisen. Courtney had NOT been responsible for most of the problems, and those that she was responsible for, were caused by the situations that circumstances had created.
Still, she had not had a complaint lodged against her for over two years, and she took it hard, and personally. I decided that we needed a vacation. So late August, I went 'time diving' and did some shopping for her.
I then showed her the new wardrobe I had purchased for her, and she chuckled at some of the feminine items she was to wear.
"These foundation garments really make me glad I live in the 21st century," Courtney told me after presenting herself to me, dressed in late 1800's finest middle-class attire.
I had already taken the liberty to exchange some gems and gold for ready cash of the period. I gave her some to spend as, 'mad' money. I transported us to a fairly deserted area, in the St. Louis of the 1890's. We made our way a short distance to a steamboat company, and purchased tickets to New Orleans.
I jumped us forward a bit, to just before we had to get on board the paddle wheel steamer we were to take. I had researched them carefully. This one had well appointed staterooms for the time. If you had the money, no matter how crowded the boat, you could always be comfortable. It also had a good history of finishing its runs, and didn't have any disasters along the way. It had retired in the early 1900's after serving the company that owned it, quite well indeed.
I bought new trunks for us, as well as let Courtney do some shopping. Finally the day came to board, and a few hours later we were off! It was a slow trip of course, but Courtney needed to unwind, after debacle of that last job she had done. I was more than pleased to do what I could to relax her. We checked in as husband and wife, of course.
We were scheduled to take this boat down, and then its sister boat back, after a short visit to New Orleans of the late 1890's. One thing I was not prepared for, was Courtney announcing after six days of traveling, that she was bored. She was used to modern life. The slow pace of the 1890's, the restrictive clothing for women of the time, and what was considered 'proper' for women of the time; were, basically, driving her nuts!
I informed our steward that we would be getting off at the next stop, due to a sudden problem. I asked that the proper people be notified. I was asked if they had done anything to upset us. I told them that the service was exemplary, I just had remembered a business proposition I had to take action on. Oh, yeah. I said my wife was not feeling well, due to the boats movement. I thought it best to get off, to let her get her 'land legs' back.
Ok, I admit it. It was an easy excuse, and a cop out. But women were believed to be prone to those things. It was also something that was an acceptable excuse to the 'powers that be' of this period. I decided not to tell Courtney I had done this, using her for the age-old excuse as to why my plans were changing. I think it was a wise decision on my part.
After departing the slow moving river boat, we found a quiet out of the way place. I moved us and our personal effects, back to our own time, and my home. The total time elapsed, according to my computer, was about seven seconds. I wondered if the additional 'away time', was due to my transporting another person with me? I usually had the return down to about five seconds. That was something to think about.
Courtney was happy to be back, and I asked her if she wanted to go somewhere or some when else? She said she needed to recover from this particular trip, first. She hugged me and said as soon as she got out of her old-fashioned clothing, she was going to make my life 'interesting', in a different way.
"Minx" I replied, doing my best 'villainous waggle' of the eyebrows.
"A girl's got to do, what a girl's got to do," she said over her shoulder, leaving for the bedroom we shared.
"Hey! Need some help with your foundation garments?" I asked hopefully.
She paused at the door and looked at me, "I think I could use a hand, kind Sir. My maid seems to have disappeared."
Well, well, well. So she wanted to play huh? I made my way to where she disappeared, anticipation growing in me.
Edited by TeNderLoin