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+---- Thread: The Double Champ Goes Home for a Bit (/showthread.php?tid=104743)
The Double Champ Goes Home for a Bit - GoonerBear - 03-20-2020
INVERNESS, Scotland, United Kingdom -- Following a long, victorious season in which he lifted the Challenge Cup for the first time and donned his third gold medal, Manhattan Rage defenseman Reginald MacIntyre made a week-long visit home. The city, which had been intrigued in the boy who decided he wanted to leave the Highlands to play a foreign game, received its native son with a rousing celebration and guarantees he drank for free during his stay. MacIntyre, of course, timed his trip to both arrive after IIHF and to arrange for his day with the SHL's most coveted prize - the Challenge Cup.
MacIntyre had a massive day with the Cup, and the city arranged for that day to be in his honor. The festivities included a parade, plenty of food, even more plentiful drink, and a speech from the Highlander himself which covered typical thanks to his family, his teammates, his coaches, and the city for all their backing to push him to attain the heights in hockey he has.
"I can still look back fondly on those harder times when me da' would settle me in and say 'you'll never get another chance like this. You're already behind the curve. You drop now, you'll never recover.' Sure, I guess I had to have some natural talent in there somewhere to reach the professional ranks. Talent just gets a man there. The kind of work where a man puts his nose to the stone and works on his craft day after day...that's the base requirement to stay in those ranks. To even be considered one of the best, hard work combined with talent gets you in the door. It takes so much more in a sport like hockey to be called the best. To be called a champion. Today, I'm thrilled I can finally come home a champion, now and forever."
At the conclusion of the public speech, the celebration shifted to the city's ice hockey center. A large red drape lay over a box, and a pulley mechanism was in place to unveil the curtain at the proper time. The city's mayor stepped up, with MacIntyre to the side.
"Reginald MacIntyre...you are a right odd man. This is not a culture that lends itself to obsession with the game of ice hockey, though you caught a fever and have spread it to the rest of our city, especially in the past few years. The Manhattan Rage have been the top-rated team in hockey viewing in Inverness, perhaps throughout the Highlands. Your near-misses agonized us as they did you. Your triumphs for Great Britain have enthralled us. But this past campaign was the one that had us partyin' the hardest throughout the night. A while ago, we got to talking after you helped Great Britain bring home its first gold medal in the IIHF Championships. At that point, we said 'bring us back a Challenge Cup and we'll make you a statue!' Well...throughout your postseason run, we got to serious thinkin'. And after the Finals were complete, we commissioned it. Now, with the new season on the horizon, after a while of work..."
The pulley was then activated to cast aside the drape and unveil a bronze statue of MacIntyre, standing in position as he usually did along the blue line, ready to make a play or keep the puck over to sustain the attack. The crowd burst into a roar at the reveal, and he and his family gathered in joy on stage.
"A deal's a deal, lad. There be the Cup. There be your statue. Bringing home another gold has us pretty well sold it was great timing as well."
The day concluded with other activities resuming as normal, including exhibition ice hockey games at the newly-dubbed Reginald MacIntyre Ice Hockey Center. The Cup was prominently featured at the games, as well as a long pull of whisky from the bowl. It is reported MacIntyre drank no less than 10 drinks' worth from the Cup. He has also ensured the Cup has been thoroughly sanitized before sending it along for his next teammate to have his turn with it. When asked about the wild celebration throughout that day and the rest of his trip, MacIntyre only had this quote:
"I would like to apologize...to absolutely nobody! The double champ does what he wants!"
At the end of the week, MacIntyre caught a first-class flight back to New York. Hopefully by the time he arrives, the hangover will have subsided and he will become fit to participate in preseason activities for the Manhattan Rage before their title defense. For now, he rests and revels alone, victorious atop the SHL mount - Challenge Cup above his head, gold medal around his neck.