The freshmen on the team all stood in a circle outside on the basketball court, laughing nervously at what we’d just seen. The seniors had called us to the baseball house for what we thought was a team meeting to settle some differences in the squad, but it turned out to be an initiation ritual. They’d set it up for days, and we thought we were all fucked, in trouble, until they revealed that it wasn’t real and it was just a ritual sort of bonding exercise they did every year.
The seniors explained that we’d been doing this since the 70’s but that we were an especially scared bunch. I stood there and thought to myself that this was as good of a way as any to welcome freshmen to the program. I was happy to be there, I’d been an excellent player in high school, but didn’t exactly have college offers rolling in. But once I got into the school, the coaches agreed that I was worth taking a flyer on, since I was already going to be there anyway.