*The Disappearance of Cooter Bigsby

[timeconsumer]

The Disappearance of Cooter Bigsby

By: Buck Maverick

In the weeks following the Ultimus win of the Yellowknife Wraiths there has been no shortage of Wraiths players appearing in the media. Players have signed new endorsement deals and filming commercials, they are giving interviews, promoting their new merchandise lines, or any other number of things. But one player has remained absent from the spotlight, Cooter Bigsby. Although in the twilight of his career it was very normal for the Yellowknife Quarterback to avoid the media, it has slowly become more apparent that Bigsby isn't simply hiding from the cameras, he is missing.

We all saw on the cameras as time ticked down to zero, the black and blue confetti dropped from the ceiling and swirled around the field as the Wraiths players celebrated the end of the curse. We watched as the players gave interviews to reporters, and as MVP running back Mathias Hanyadi hoisted the trophy above his head in front of the roaring home crowd. Reporters had swarmed around Bigsby to get his take on the storybook ending to a rollercoaster of a career as he nodded and gave his brief answers. The night wore on and the celebration moved off the field and into the locker room.

“Yeah, I talked to him after the game,” begins Mathias Hanyadi, as we sit in his kitchen in Yellowknife and discuss how events unfolded that night. “We were in the locker room, we were drinking champagne straight out of the bottle, we were posting pictures and videos, talking about how we were going to spend our offseason celebrating. We were the Champs.

“I didn’t really notice Coot much the whole time, he mostly kept to himself in the locker room anyway. We were all teammates, but he wasn’t really anyone’s friend, does that make sense? Coach came in to hand out the game ball and congratulate everyone, talk about how much we’ve earned it and all that. He was there during that.

“Maybe about half an hour later, I don’t know exactly, I notice Coot isn’t anywhere around. That wasn’t very weird to me, but what was weird was his locker, it was empty. We all come to the game in street clothes with a backpack or duffle bag or something with us, and there were no street clothes or bag in his locker and his safe was open.”

“Did anyone see him packing up or leaving?” I ask Hanyadi.

“Not that I know of, but I went back and looked at the videos we posted that night and look at this.” He picks his phone up off the table and shows me a video of himself and wide receiver Rodriguez celebrating and dancing in the locker room. “I didn’t see it at first, but look in the background here, there’s a couple seconds where his locker is behind us, and it looks like he’s packing his bag. It’s kind of hard to see because his back is to us, but that’s what it looks like.”

“What happened after you noticed he was gone?” I inquire.

“I wanted to go look for him so I could say goodbye and congratulations, since I knew that was the last time we’d ever play together. I knew he always liked to take the tunnel out of the stadium so I looked there first.”

“What tunnel?” I ask as I write down notes from his story.

“In the new stadium they built this tunnel that you can use to get outside near the staff and player parking lot. I think it was meant as a quick way to get guys into an ambulance or something, but sometimes the players used it as a way to get out of the building if they wanted to avoid reporters, Cooter used it a lot for that. He would usually park his RV on the far side of the lot so it was closer to that door.”

“Anyway I head for the trainer’s room since the door to the tunnel is near there. It was unlocked so I was pretty sure he would have gone that way. I jog down it and through the door and end up outside in the back parking lot. It was really dark and cold that night. There was snow piled up along the fence and the building, and a thin layer of it on the ground, and I could see some fresh footsteps in it.

“So I follow those and yeah, they’re headed right for his RV. I jog up, I’m cold as hell because I didn’t put on a jacket or anything. And there he is leaning up against that nasty old RV of his, engine on and window down, smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer.”

“Did he say anything to you when you showed up?”

“Yeah, he said something weird like: ‘You always were the fastest guy on the team.’  I didn’t really know what he was getting at. I asked him “Big, what are you doing out here? We’re the Champs! Come on back inside with the guys.”

“But he didn’t go back with you.”

“Nah, he tells me: ‘I’m pretty tired, I think I’m just gonna go home. You guys go have fun, you earned it.’

“I could tell what he was doing though, how can he go home? He lived in that damn RV, he wasn’t going home, he was home. I say back to him, ‘Come on Big, it doesn’t have to end like this. The guys still want you around. You can still come back next year, be a coach or something.”

“And how did he respond to that?”

“Oh, you know Big he acts like a hero in a bad action movie sometimes. He killed his beer, threw the can into a snow drift in front of the RV. Then he reached down into a pile of snow next to the front tire and pulled out another beer and just kind of stared off at the stadium for a minute and just says ‘I don’t think so, Mat.’ And then he climbed into the driver’s seat.

“I asked him where he was going. Why doesn’t he wait until the morning, I tried to get anything out of him. He lit up another cigarette and said out the window, ‘Somewhere warmer than here.’ Then he put it in gear and pulled out of the spot. And that was it, that was the last time I saw or heard from him, his RV driving out of the parking lot with his ugly mullet flapping behind him.

I finished scratching down some notes on my pad and asked Hanyadi, “What do you think of that trucker who said he saw him crossing into Mexico?”

Hanyadi shrugged, “I’m not sure really. There can’t be that many RVs like. What kind was it again?”

“1985 Ford MRV26.” I answer.

“Yeah and with Canadian plates and guys like him driving? Who else could it be? Our GM said he’s still waiting to hear back from US Border Patrol to find out if he actually crossed into Mexico or not. But we do know he drove across the border into the US just south of Calgary into Montana about 3 days after the game.”

I nod in agreement, having heard the same report. Hanyadi and I talk a while longer, we shake hands and agree to keep each other informed if he turns up. But deep inside we both aren’t confident we will. And we haven’t.

And with that, the trail goes cold. Nobody knows for certain where Cooter Bigsby is now in these weeks following Hanyadi’s conversation with him that night. If the rumors are true that he crossed into Mexico about two weeks ago then he’s moving quickly and could be anywhere at this point. We can only sit and hope to see if he shows up again.

[Rradum]

What a sendoff. Well fucking done.

[moonlight]

I wonder if he'll show up for his HOF ceremony?

[CLG Rampage]

I wonder if he'll show up for his HOF ceremony?

nah, beer n women in Mexico call

[flyeaglesfly29]

Raise a glass to the Man, the Myth, the Legend!

[HENDRIX 2.0]

Sometimes it makes me sad, though,
Cooter being gone. I have to remind
myself that some birds aren't meant
to be caged. Their feathers are 
just too bright...

...and when they fly away, the part
of you that knows it was a sin to
lock them up does rejoice...but
still, the place you live is that
much more drab and empty that
they're gone.

I guess I just miss my friend.

[Raven]

Off to go cook meth out in the desert

[CLG Rampage]

Forreal tho, I'm gonna miss you. There's damn near zero chance we can bring you back into Yellowknife, what with expansion coming up and where we're likely gonna fall in draft position. But you were always a driving force for the team and the locker room, and I'll remember the time I played with you fondly. I wish we could have won more than one ring for Cooter, but at least he got the send off he deserves.

Hopefully some day I can join you in the Hall.

[timeconsumer]

Forreal tho, I'm gonna miss you. There's damn near zero chance we can bring you back into Yellowknife, what with expansion coming up and where we're likely gonna fall in draft position. But you were always a driving force for the team and the locker room, and I'll remember the time I played with you fondly. I wish we could have won more than one ring for Cooter, but at least he got the send off he deserves.

Hopefully some day I can join you in the Hall.

[CLG Rampage]

old one sucked lmap