The Lady Vols
It was the SEC championship between Tennessee and LSU. Tennessee played horrible in the first half. They were down by 15 at halftime, and Coach Summit was livid.
"That was the worst half of basketball I have ever seen. It was a total lack of effort and concern. I know just what you need." She walked into her office and retrieved her paddle.
"All eight of you are going to feel this on your bare bottom. Everyone except for Laura will receive six swats. Laura, you are my senior captain and point guard. I expect a little more from you. You will receive eight swats. Ladies, I want you to line up by the lockers and bare your bottoms. Bend over, put your hands on the lockers, and stick those bottoms out."
As they lined up, Pat couldn't help but smile at the paleness of her six white players' bottoms. Playing basketball at UT meant there wasn't much time for things like tanning.
"Do not put your hands back to block or rub. This will earn you extra swats."
Pat went down the line giving each girl one swat. After the third round, she informed the girls that the rest of their paddling would be given individually while everyone else watched. One by one they took the remainder of their swats. Finally, it was Laura's turn. She had five swats remaining. She took the first three with little reaction. However, she burst into tears on the 4th swat and reached back to rub her burning bottom.
"Laura, that will cost you get an extra swat," Pat said. Laura slowly bent back over.
CRACK!
Laura repeated her previous actions. Pat knew now that Laura had taken all she could without reacting this way.
"Laura, you will receive two more swats to end your paddling. Jessica, hold her arms to keep her bent over for the remaining two swats. Afterwards, I will leave all of you to condole one another and compose yourselves."
Jessica took hold of Laura's arms and held them tight.
CRACK!
CRACK!
Pat took her paddle back to her office then left the locker room. Eight young, crying ladies stood hugging and comforting each other and comparing and rubbing each others' red, tender bottoms. When they could wait no longer, they gingerly restored their clothing and returned to the court.
Tennessee played much better the 2nd half. They slowly erased the halftime deficit. They were down by 2 with 3.2 seconds left. Timeout was called. Pat designated Laura to take the last shot.
Laura received the pass and shot. The ball swished the net just as time expired. The team stormed the court in celebration. They were also glad to finally give their bottoms a break from sitting on the hard bench.
Later, Coach Summit spoke to them.
"Ladies, remember. Give your best and you will be fine. Otherwise, I will paddle your bare backsides again. I want you to have fun, but play your best while doing so."
TechTiger email
I have no doubt that many sports fans would like the coaches to paddle their underperforming teams. Interesting story, although I would have expected slightly more protesting from the girls. Perhaps just a bit of a reaction from them would fill the story out.
Emma Jane email
A nice story and I like the idea of the stern coach paddling the girls at half time. Although for me, it seemed to struggle to fit into 500 words, with so many girls and the actual game to work into it. I also would have liked more of a description of how the girls were feeling and how they reacted to the paddling.
Dyke Grrl/Jigsaw Analogy email
I get a sense of *drama* from this story, what with it beginning halfway through a losing basketball game, with the coach of the losing team feeling angry about that. I did miss a sense of interpersonal drama--the coach was the only one who spoke, and I was a little surprised that her team didn't have a reaction to their coach spanking them. Does she spank them frequently, so this was no surprise to them? Were they so exhausted from the first half of the game that they didn't have the energy to protest? Had Coach Summit made this threat before the game started, so they knew what was going to happen? There is a lot of potential drama in this story, and it would be interesting to see it written from different viewpoints. How would the story be different if narrated by Laura, or Jessica, or even Coach Summit?
Mija email
This reads a bit more like comedy than human drama, but then there's something classic about a sports story / locker room tale. Aside from not really fitting the category, it's a fun story with lots of nice touches. I wished for a bit more personality on the part of any of the characters, but that's a difficult thing to do in 500 words and this story, perhaps fitting for a sports story, is more focused on the action.