emidas 82 Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 By Renee Young It all ended with a crash. On one fateful August night, Emidas Blair died. At least, for seven minutes he did. This is the story of one unlikely hockey prospect that cheated death – not once, but twice – in order to achieve something nobody ever thought he would – taking the ice as a professional hockey player. However, this was not due to lack of faith in his ability – but rather, his dreams taking him on another athletic journey entirely. Childhood Emidas Blair was not your typical jock growing up. In fact, he wasn’t a jock at all – he was an incredibly clumsy nerd. His favorite activities as a child mostly involved some sort of screen and a controller in his hand. Labeled an extrovert early on by psychologists who attempted to get him to open up, Emidas preferred to spend a day inside playing video games to playing sports with his neighborhood friends. In fact, due to the amount of running required and associating with people, Emidas downright hated sports. His father was the local high school’s football coach, and actively tried on many occasions to get his son into sports. He would toss his son batting practice, he would have soccer shootouts with his son, and he would often challenge his son in games of H.O.R.S.E. – all the same effect. His son would just not budge on his hatred of sports. That would all change when the Blair family adopted a child close to Emidas’s age, Alex, and brought him home to live with them. They shortly became inseparable, and Emidas slowly let down his walls – both to people, and to sports. They quickly learned that Emidas’s favorite game was roller hockey – and thus they would play it day in and day out, blocking the neighborhood streets up with goals and kids without a care in the world. Soon the streets weren’t enough, and they wanted to move on to something bigger and better: Ice Hockey. Their first experience was exhilarating. The kids that had skates joined them down at the local pond, frozen over and ripe for the game. They spent hours that day playing, laughing, hollering, and appreciating being alive. Emidas and his brother didn’t want to leave, and decided not to – they played late into the night, until the streetlights came on in their neighborhood and then some. Only when their father showed up, smoldering in anger, did the brothers leave the ice arm in arm. As they neared their father, however, something went incredibly – one moment Emidas was looking into the face of his brother, the next he was gone. Frozen, he looked down at the hole in the ice where his brother stood – just in time for the ice below him to give way. High School It had been six long years since the incident on the ice, and Emidas still couldn’t believe what had happened. One moment he had an entire family, the next he was missing such an integral part of it. Day in and day out at school Emidas kept his head down in an attempt to distance himself from his classmates – he never wanted to experience loss as he did on that day ever again. He had not played a single sport that day, and he was determined to keep that streak intact – in memory of the man he lost that day. One person who would not accept that was his neighbor and the current high school football coach, Enzo Amore. Coach Amore knew that Emidas was genetically gifted and could not bear to let that go to waste. He would corner him during gym in an attempt to persuade him – no dice. He would pull him aside in the halls between classes to make him see what a gift his athleticism could be – no sir. Quickly exhausting all avenues, Enzo had one play left – he only hoped Emidas wouldn’t hate him afterwards. Coming home from school one day, Emidas immediately knew something was amiss. There was an extra car in the driveway, one that he knew all too well. Walking through the door, he feared the worst – and then he saw Coach Amore. Confused, Emidas looked around in a semi-panic until he saw who he was looking for: the person the car in the driveway was responsible for, his brother. Since that night on the ice, Alex had spent most of his life at a mental treatment facility, in an attempt to regain the facilities he had lost during his extreme hypothermia. Breathing a sigh of relief, Emidas turned back to Coach Amore, who almost looked apologetic as he started to speak. “Emidas, I’ve come here today to ask you to join the football team. Not for me or for the school, I know you won’t play for that. I want you to play for your brother, and for the father you lost that night. The father that gave his life diving into a freezing pond, because he knew your athletic ability was something worth dying for. He loved you both so dearly. If he could see how your brother is now, he would do anything to help him. Well, you can. If you join my team, get into a good college, and show the pros what I know you have inside of you – you can take care of your brother. Maybe even get the old Alex back.” College On one fateful August night, Emidas Blair died. At least, for seven minutes he did. A freshman at UCF, Blair had been participating in rushing a fraternity when tragedy struck – the house they were pledging in had caught on fire, trapping dozens of college students. The pledges were in the basement when the house was engulfed, and by the time they realize what was going on it was too late. They fought valiantly through the fire, attempting to get out – most even did. Emidas, having grown into the responsible and heroic man his father was – would not leave without getting everyone out of the building. As he helped his fellow pledges to safety, he realized the screams coming from above were not the searing sounds of the fire, but rather more fraternity mates who were trapped. As his pledge brothers begged and pleaded for him to leave, he could not in good conscience leave people to die. As he headed toward the stairs that looked like they could collapse at any minute, he remembered his father’s sacrifice. It would not be in vein, Emidas thought. I will get through this. I just have to get up these stairs. It all ended with a crash. When Emidas awoke, he saw his family surrounding his bed in tears. As he called their names, they slowly turned, as if in disbelief that he could be alive. Embracing his family, Emidas realized that not only did they have to go through thinking he was going to die – but the similarities between that night on the ice and his fraternity fire were hit too close to home. Surrounded by family, Emidas knew one thing – he would get through this, and he would live his life to the fullest – making his father proud. Pros Fortitude Leadership Dedicated Athleticism Blair is one of the first players in the facility, and the last one out at night. He believes in practice makes perfect – and he believes that nothing can ever be perfect. His past ordeals have made him tough both mentally and physically, giving him a rare fortitude even amongst athletes. If surviving two near death experiences isn’t the tough you are looking for, then you’re not looking for tough enough players. Through his natural ability, hard work, and dedication, Blair has become a natural leader both on and off the ice. He is not afraid to put his team on his shoulders – or even more importantly, know who to give that responsibility to and when. Despite being relatively new to the sport, Blair is surprisingly athletic on the ice, showcasing a rare combination of strength and speed. Cons Loyalty Family Experience Loyalty may not be a con to many people, but for Emidas it most assuredly is. Blair is one of the most loyal people on the planet – to a fault. He will immediately defend a teammate no matter what, and he will immediately cover for a friend no matter what hijinks were involved. Blair earned a rap in high school for being a troublemaker due to constantly covering for his friends’ mishaps – something that could easily turn his reputation in the VHL sour. In the same vein, Blair’s second weakness is his family – whereas most hockey players develop a thick skin, Blair’s is worn thin for his family. A player can get under his skin instantly by bringing up his father’s passing, his brother’s condition, or - for good measure - both in the same breath. Emidas’s lack of experience on the ice, due to his tenure on the football field – will almost assuredly hurt him as a prospect at first. Many players have spent their entire lives on the ice, and Blair has spent merely months. 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Moderator Baozi 1,658 Posted August 8, 2014 Moderator Share Posted August 8, 2014 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-105190 Share on other sites More sharing options...
emidas 82 Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-105781 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Svoboda_3 Posted August 13, 2014 Share Posted August 13, 2014 Overview- 3/3 1,523 words. The pros and cons and the lack of content sadly hurt a full grade here. Aside from that, this was a great biography with a lot of detail and information. Your structure was bang-on and the flow was immaculate. It's really nice to see some of the new members pouring a lot of effort into these larger tasks off the bat. I know I struggle with motivation to do the biography, so good on you.Grammar- 2/2 DAMN! Great job here. Emidas's - Emidas'Presentation- 1/1 Awesome job!Pros- 1.5/2 143 words. Not quite enough content for full marks.Cons- 1.75/2 181 words. As per the rubric, it states that these must be at least 200 words.Overall- 9.25/10 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-107557 Share on other sites More sharing options...
emidas 82 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 (edited) Thanks. I tire of the traditional sim league biography, so I wanted to branch out and try something different, really tell a proper story - I hope it was enjoyable to read I must have just blanked on the length of the pros and cons. Oops. That's completely my bad. Thanks for the grade! Edited August 14, 2014 by emidas Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-107676 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid1486 577 Posted August 14, 2014 Share Posted August 14, 2014 Weren't we supposed to ditch the hockey stuff from the bios way back when, since that's what a rookie profile is for? Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-107683 Share on other sites More sharing options...
emidas 82 Posted August 14, 2014 Author Share Posted August 14, 2014 Weren't we supposed to ditch the hockey stuff from the bios way back when, since that's what a rookie profile is for? No idea. I tried to make mine about his actual life Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-107696 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ball 453 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Bump, cmon guys this need another grade and it's been forever Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-113158 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Admin Will 4,660 Posted August 27, 2014 Senior Admin Share Posted August 27, 2014 Woah, grading failure here. Sorry bud, this long for a grade is ridiculous. Content: 3/3 Good read here. I don't find many biographies enjoyable and interesting to read, but yours was very well written and I can say that I actually had fun reading it. Grammar: 2/2 Great! Presentation: 1/1 Looks good. Pros: 1.75/2 The rubric doesn't actually set a hard, 200 word minimum. It says "should be around 200". Now, 143 is still probably a little short for full points. But other than that, very well written. Cons: 2/2 Same as above. However, I think 181 is definitely in the range of "around 200". Full points. Overall: 9.75/10 FINAL: 10/10 Link to comment https://vhlforum.com/topic/10972-the-rise-and-fall-of-family/#findComment-113736 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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