As we rejoin our favorite superheroes in the thralls of Madden, Fletcher has scored his seventh consecutive touchdown on the same pass pattern, and Richie isn't happy. Simon is whispering sweet nothings to a grapefruit.

 "Can we quit now? I give up," Richie said.

"Whatever," Fletcher conceded, knowing full well Richie could endure only so much beating before he quit in the second quarter on a regular basis. His attempt to give Richie a shot by calling the same play over and over again had only confused Richie even more. "You seen the new guy in town?"

Simon looked up. "Yeah, I seen him this morning at the gas station. He waved and said hello, like he was a friendly guy."

"Did you happen to notice anything different about him?"

"Besides that he was black?" Simon replied.

 Now would be a good time to inform our fans and haters that black people were uncommon residents in Logtown not because Logtown was full of rednecks, but rather most blacks thought it so foolish to focus so much attention and affection for outhouses when plumbing seemed the more desirable choice. Before this individual arrived, no blacks had moved to Logtown since the foundation district was formed. But back to our story....

 "I saw him at the grocery store," Richie chimed in. "I thought he was a traveling salesman or something, him being black and all. He even introduced himself to me, said his name was Joseph Shakur.  But he looked sort of familiar, like I'd seen him before."