I Wouldn't Mind
Happy Dance
I am currently waiting in a large conference room for the General Manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning to interview me. I had promptly arrived at the arena in downtown Tampa at 2 P.M. ready for my interview at 2:30 P.M. Once the security guard had cleared me he gave me directions and told me he would alert the GM that I had arrived. I thanked him and headed in the direction he had pointed.
The door to the conference room opened an in walked a man roughly 6-foot-tall in his early fifties. He was dressed in a nice suit and was reading something on his phone. It wasn’t until he looked up that I realized who this man was. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t believe who was standing in front of me. I hadn’t kept up with who was coaching the NHL teams let alone who was the GM or them.
“Hi, you must be Ms. Jones. I am Steve Yzerman, the General Manager for the Tampa Bay Lightning.” He introduced himself. He held out him hand waiting for me to shake it. When I didn’t take it for a second his brow furrowed. Oh great first impression Rylee I scolded myself.
It took me a minute to gain my composure and take his outstretched hand.
“Sorry. Yes, I am. But please call me Rylee. It’s an honor to meet you.” I said star struck.
“The pleasure is all mine” He smiled warmly. “So, Jon tells me that you are quite the asset to his team and that all the players love you. What made you want to work in sports medicine?”
“Well in all honesty it was you. I grew up on this sport. Watching you and the Red Wings play is all that I ever wanted to do. I couldn’t see myself doing anything that didn’t involve hockey. I know from experience that a great physical therapist can make all the different in the recovery of an athlete. I have had times where the PT was great and helped me and I was back playing fast and stronger than before. I also have had times where the PT was really only there to get paid, they didn’t seem to give, pardon my language, two shits about the players.” I explained.
“Oh, you have played before?” He asked sounding surprised.
“Yeah I started when I was about 8 and played all through college. I play every now and then at practices with the Admirals. Unfortunately, after tearing my ACL and fracturing my tibia my senior year it’s not nearly as much as I would like.” I said smiling.
“Well although your resume is short I trust Jon’s word about you. He and I go way back, and he knows when he has something worthwhile. Not to mention you’ve showed great loyalty being with the Admirals for 3 years. I’ve noticed that’s hard to find, specially in someone so young. I would like to offer you an assistant physical therapist job. If that goes well, you will be bumped up to a head physical therapist. How does that sound?” He questioned.
“Are you serious? I would love too. When would you need me to start?” I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t believe that I was getting the job.
“How does next Friday sound? Gives you about a week to go back to Virginia, get packed, and get back here to settle in. We will help find an apartment that is affordable for you. Until that happens we will set you up at one of the hotels near the arena. He stated.
“Thank you so much Sir. I am honored to work here.” I exclaimed.
“Please call me Steve. Sir makes me feel old.” He joked smiling as we stood and walked toward the door. “You can meet the team next week once you get back. The security guard that checked you in will get you your passes before you leave today. I look forward to seeing how you work with the boys.”
“Alright I guess I shall see you next week” I said extending my hand. I was still in shock that this was happening. I didn’t know what else to say and I didn’t want to stick my foot in my mouth in front of my new boss.
“It was a pleasure to meet you Rylee. I love knowing that I had the chance to help bring someone closer to their dream. Sounds like you didn’t quite get to finish your original one. You my dear are going to go far with a passion for this game like that.” He responded and shook my hand smiling.
I smiled as he turned and walked away with his phone attached to his ear. I had to take a few short breaths. I couldn’t believe that I had just met one of my idols, let alone got a job offer from him. He was so humble even after being one of the biggest names in hockey for as long as I can remember. As I walked back to the elevator I couldn’t stop smiling. I was so ecstatic I looked around to see if there was anyone else around. When I saw that the coast was clear I did a little happy dance while waiting for the elevator to reach the 3rd floor.
The elevator chimed alerting me of its arrival and the doors slid open as a tried to compose myself. There were two well-muscled guys in the elevator. They couldn’t have been more than 26 or 27 and were both over 6 feet tall. I hung my head as the heat in my cheeks rose knowing that they had seen the end part of my little dance. They exited, and I quickly entered and pressed 1 only looking up as heard them start to walk away. Just in time to see the one with sandy brown hair and a birthmark on the side of his face turned around and looked at me.
“Cute dance” He said with a thick accent. The blush returned in full force as the doors slide closed.
I was mortified. I couldn’t believe that they had seen that, even worse that he had to comment on it. As I reached the security desk the blush had subsided, and I quickly asked for my passes wanting to escape before causing myself anymore embarrassment. He led me to a small backroom where he took my picture and printed it onto a laminated badge. He clipped it to a lanyard that had the franchise logo on it. I thanked him and walked out into the mid-afternoon sun.
This was going to be my new home in under a week, I couldn’t wait to tell my parents, they were going to be thrilled. Dustin and the rest of the team however were not going to be as happy. I had only told Dustin, I didn’t want to get my hopes up in case I didn’t get it. But now that the offer was real I was going to have to break the news to them. They would be sad I was leaving, at the same time they’d know that I couldn’t pass it up. It was just as big of an opportunity for me as it would be if one of them got called up to a big team. The admirals were the Lightning’s AHL team, so it was a possibility that I was going to see some of them again.
I smiled as I headed back to the hotel. I decided to walk since the hotel was only like 10 minutes away. I took in the hustle and bustle of the city. I loved it here already and I wasn’t even officially here yet. This season was going to be interesting to say the least.
