He looked out onto the field of the West Virginia Associates Stadium. A play had just ended and one of the athletes was writhing in agony. He could tell the player was in pain all the way from the "colored" owners box. A chime came through on the two-way communicator. He picked up the receiver, "Yes? Remove him from the field, take him to the locker room and scan it to be sure. Then proceed with reconstruction. He should be back on the field for the next period." A "Yes sir." Was heard on the other end. He watched as the coach had some staff members carry the athelete off the field to the "colored" locker room.
Runpass was a brutal game and for some time the Confederate Runpass Association only allowed whites to play. The game became lackluster and stale so the team owners thought it would be a good idea to allow a black team to compete to raise interest and revenue. They also saw nothing wrong with the chance to rough up some colored folks as well. The blacks complied and OI presented a group of athletes to compete and they did well. So much so that some of the confederate states wouldn't allow the blacks to play out of fear that there would be an uproar and violence would commence. The state of West Virginia among a few others was courageous and held many a game for black and white competition.
The communicator rang again, "Sir his achelles tendon is torn."
"Ok, get him into the tube right away and concentrate all regenerative tissue to that area, he'll be back on the field in no time." Another "Yes sir" could be heard over the comminicator.
Ever since the slave population and the Confederacy split, each territory had it's own reconstruction. The Confederacy kept rolling along reuniting all of their states, and the Black Territory became a fortress within its own right. In the Black Territory an organization rose as the leading and agreed conscious of the freed people. When the war first ended it was very difficult for both sides. At some points there was much vitriol. Some states stayed white exclusive while some others just segregated. Blacks were not allowed to stay after dark, but they could conduct business in these states. West Virginia was one of them.
As for Runpass. It was a game played with an oblong ball on a 100 yard field. The goal was to score by reaching the opponents goal zone with the ball in hand and the team that reached the goal zone the most times won the game. One side drove towards the goal zone while the opposing side defended it and each team's side had a full hour to post the most scores. Each team had four sets to score and if you gained 10 yards within a set you got to start the set from one again.
There was a knock at the door of the owners box, and he answered the door. There was a white man standing in the doorway, "Now let thatbe a lesson to you if you think y'alls players are gonna run all over my team." His southern drawl was entertaining. The tall black man looked back at him sharply and replied, "May the best team win." And he smiled. The white man turned red and stormed away. The OI board would be pleased to hear of the standing of their Runpass team. They were working on their second championship in four years since they were asked to join. The Territory felt this was an acceptable distraction.
He picked his receiver up and a connection picked up on the other side. "Sir?"
"Done?"
"Yes, he'll be playing after halftime."
"Great, let's show these guys how to win a championship at their own game." He looked back out at the field from the "colored" owners box. The bare white walls bore down on him, but winning makes things bearable. He smiled as the OI Athletics jogged back on the field, previously injured player included. Then he sat down, grabbed his notebook to keep records and watched the game.
