2059.15 Sky Writing-Watson reflects on the season

[Krathan]

Charlotte owner John Watson still felt sick. His beloved Flyers had lost in the first round of the playoffs to division rival Montreal after a thrilling game 163 victory to secure the final Wildcard spot.

He sat hunched over in the middle of his luxury sectional in one of the four living room style setups in his home. His personal assistant Nicholas brought him a new cup of hot chamomile tea and set it on the coffee table in front of him. “Is there anything else you need Mr. Watson?”

“No…” Watson responded softly, following the end of the word with an ambiguous breath and head lift that made it seem possible he would add more. Nicholas waited until Watson's head dropped silently back down into his hands before leaving the room again.

“Why…why?” Bemoaned Watson as he lifted his head again, looking to the heavens to continue his line of questioning. “I just want to win. I want a Brewster so bad.”

“NICHOLAS! GET ME MY GENERAL MANAGER!”

The call came through just a minute or so later. It was Nathan Garrison. “Mr. Watson, you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes, Nathan, I did. Thank you for calling so quickly.” Watson was speaking without an edge in his voice. That was inconsistent with the discussions between these two over the last couple of years. “I wanted to say a couple of things.”

Garrison responded calmly. “Of course, how can I help?”

Watson continued.”Well, first of all, I want to say that maybe I was wrong to say you didn’t know what you were doing. I mean, the team was good this year. Really good. You put together a good group here.”

“I appreciate that. I agree that it was a good group. Unfortunately it didn’t work out quite the way I hoped it would in the end there.”

“Right, right. That’s what I wanted to talk about. I want a Brewster Nathan. I want it real bad.”

“So do I. That’s my number one goal. You may recall I said that when we first spoke. And I don’t want just one. I want to make it a habit.”

“I do remember that. I seem to also remember discussing fiscal responsibility. I’m still not sure we’re on the same page there.” Watson paused for a movement before continuing. “”Ok. What needs to happen to take the next step...to finish the job?”

“Well, this is where things get more complicated. Part of it comes down to money. I know the budget you gave me but while we have a little bit of cap room now, with this development lab up and running, and the new costs associated with development, we’re in kind of a tight spot. I’m going to work with what I can find, but there may be some things we have to try that we would do differently if money was no object.”

“I hear you, but that’s not really the world we live in is it?”

“No, Mr. Watson, it’s not.

“Well, then, I guess we need to sell a ton of season tickets. Then maybe we can find some more money to work with.”

“Right. I was hoping that would happen, but with this whole V-25 thing and the leaked scouting reports, it seems like fan interest is down across the whole league. We’re trying to ride the wave of success and see if we can get fans to buy more tickets…but it’s hard to say how that’s going to go until they officially go on sale. I’m hopeful…but it’s unpredictable right now.”

“I’m on the fence about you right now, you know. I’ve moved away from the panic button but we’ve got to turn last year’s success into the start of something, not just a fond memory. Got it?”

“That’s what we’re trying to do. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Watson stood up and walked across the room. “He better not be messing around. I don’t want lose anymore.”