Chapter 185 183: Swallowing the Microphone
For two consecutive weeks, he had delivered outstanding performances with a quarterback rating over a hundred, leading his team to victory. In this week's game especially, that final long pass connecting with Michael Crabtree for "The Catch" to complete the stunning comeback—all of it truly astounded the Alliance and sparked a flurry of discussion.
The initial curiosity driven by the "Chinese-American undrafted rookie" gimmick gradually faded. In its place was the excellent performance delivered under the title of "rookie quarterback." The interest in the gossip remained, but people were finally starting to take Lu Ke's on-field performance seriously.
Praise and doubt rose in equal measure, with both positive affirmations and negative dismissals coexisting. However, the majority adopted a calm, wait-and-see approach. There was no rush to support him, nor any knee-jerk criticism. Instead, people were beginning to genuinely evaluate his ability and potential. What was undeniable was that Lu Ke had proven one thing with two victories:
A player of Chinese descent could also achieve greatness on the football field!
The question now was, how long could this excellent performance last? The long season was only an eighth of the way through. And what was the ceiling for such an outstanding performance? The ups and downs of the regular season and the tension of the playoffs were filled with countless unknowns.
Amidst a chorus of discussion, shock, and awe, no one could deny Lu Ke's outstanding contributions in those two games. But Charles Davis was the sole exception.
The sixty-year-old Charles was best known as a commentator for ESPN's "Inside the Alliance," but before that, he had also been a professional football player, playing the position of Defensive End.
His career was active in the seventies. He spent his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning the team's first-ever Super Bowl trophy. He later moved to the St. Louis Cardinals—now the Arizona Cardinals—where he spent six years before announcing his retirement.
It was also worth noting that Charles's half-brother had a respectable career with the Dallas Cowboys.
After retiring, Charles found his place in the commentator's booth and found a new lease on life, gradually becoming one of ESPN's most-watched commentators.
Although maintaining neutrality and objectivity is a fundamental professional requirement for a commentator, football is like soccer in that a rival is a rival. Once a rival, always a rival. Charles never hid his loyalty to the Arizona Cardinals, so naturally, the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams, and Seattle Seahawks were his divisional rivals.
In the first week of the regular season matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, Charles's commentary remained largely objective. His disregard and skepticism toward Lu Ke stemmed merely from a lack of faith in an undrafted rookie of Chinese descent, a product of conventional thinking in the sport. However, in the second week of the regular season, his emotional bias began to show.
On one side were his divisional rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. On the other were the Dallas Cowboys, something of a second home team for him. Charles had unhesitatingly supported the latter. But now, with the game over, shame and frustration swept over him. What began as conventional thinking was slowly morphing into a personal grudge. The point of contention was becoming an intractable knot—the kind that could only be settled by a fight to the bitter end.
"Charles! Charles! Charles!"
Inside the ESPN studio, everyone was banging on the tables, cheering Charles on. The undisguised schadenfreude on their faces showed they were enjoying the spectacle. Seeing Charles stumble was a rare treat; seeing him stumble two weeks in a row was even rarer.
The arrogant, hot-tempered, sharp-tongued, and unyielding Charles had actually been bested by a no-name rookie, becoming a stepping stone for his history-making moment. The slap in the face was crisp and loud, decisive and brutal! This was, without a doubt, the most explosive, amusing, and thrilling moment from the commentary booth of the past two regular season weeks.
Now, the "Inside the Alliance" commentators were all heckling him, eagerly waiting for Charles to fulfill his end of the bet: eat the microphone!
Facing the camera's close-up shot, Charles didn't bother hiding his anger and frustration. He couldn't hide it even if he wanted to.
The veins on his flushed face were visible, his wide eyes looked like they might pop out of their sockets, and his tense muscles were on the verge of exploding. His gaze fell upon the specially made microphone on the table in front of him:
A microphone made from a banana.
If it hadn't been for that damned Chinese-American quarterback, who, during an interview, had deliberately joked, "I hope it's a chocolate microphone." With that one-liner, he had managed to mock, ridicule, and tease Charles all at once, truly turning him into a laughingstock and sparking endless online discussion—in the most unpleasant way possible. And so, the production team had come up with an ingenious solution today: a way for Charles to fulfill the bet without making Lu Ke's taunt a reality.
A banana microphone.
Looking at the specially shaped microphone before him, a surging wave of humiliation washed over Charles, making it almost unbearable. 'That damned kid!'
But the show was live. Over six million viewers were watching this episode. According to the director, this was the highest rating "Inside the Alliance" had ever gotten outside of a live game broadcast. It was pulling in more viewers than their game analysis specials, their recap and preview shows, and even their weekly news update segments!
In other words, over eight million people were waiting for Charles to fulfill his promise and make a fool of himself. So, Charles couldn't back out.
His hands clenched into tight fists, his jaw locked, and the veins on his temples looked ready to burst. After a deep breath, Charles picked up the banana microphone and began to wolf it down. He didn't bother to chew, simply shoving it into his mouth in one go, 'hoping this humiliation would be over as quickly as possible.'
But he moved too quickly, and the pressure in his throat was so intense he nearly gagged and threw the whole thing up. His hands clenched into fists again, his clipped nails digging deep into his palms. Only then was he able to suppress the urge to vomit, forcing the banana down and completing the punishment for his bet.
At that moment, it wasn't just the commentators in the studio who were cheering and hooting for Charles. The online forums had also completely exploded. The internet's peanut gallery was scrambling to post their thoughts and opinions, passionately spectating the drama. Clearly, this off-field gossip was more than enough to get everyone involved.
It was a solid slap to the face, and Charles gritted his teeth and took it. But now, instead of admitting defeat, he doubled down on his disbelief. A stubborn, almost perverse, streak flared up inside him. 'Could this undrafted rookie of Chinese descent really be that good?'
Even Peyton Manning, even Aaron Rodgers, were just rookies in their first season. What made this unheard-of scrub any different? Setting aside his subjective biases for a moment and re-examining the situation from an objective standpoint, Charles still arrived at the same conclusion.
"I lost the bet. I admit it." Charles conceded defeat cleanly, putting on a show of being a good sport. But it was just a show. The deep-seated prejudice in his heart immediately revealed itself. "But I'm still skeptical about the outcome of this game. Luck. The only reason the San Francisco 49ers were able to mount a comeback against the Dallas Cowboys was clearly because they had Lady Luck on their side."
"Oh? How so?" Edward Bowen took on the role of host and asked, following his lead.
Charles snapped his fingers, pulled up the game footage, and began his commentary. "With eighty-five seconds left in the game, the Dallas Cowboys were on offense. It was third-and-four. Tony Romo opted to pass to Dez Bryant, but the 49ers' Reggie Smith made a crucial defensive play, breaking up the pass and ending the Cowboys' drive. That left sixty-nine seconds on the clock for the 49ers."
"But if we look at the replay, you can see that before breaking up the pass, Smith's coverage was suspect for a holding penalty. The sophomore Dez Bryant is a big wide receiver, while Reggie Smith is a small cornerback. Physically, Bryant has the absolute advantage. To make that play, Smith had to pull Bryant's jersey. That's a foul. Holding!"
On the screen, Charles pointed out the foul.
Indeed, Smith did get a little handsy. A strict referee might have called it a foul, but a more lenient one would see it as legal defense. It all came down to the official's judgment. Calling it would have been correct; not calling it wasn't controversial either.
So, from a technical standpoint, Charles's analysis wasn't wrong.
"If the referee had thrown a flag for holding, it would have been a five-yard penalty, giving the Cowboys an automatic first down. With only sixty-nine seconds left, the Cowboys would've been able to run out the clock, and the 49ers' offense never would've gotten back on the field," Charles concluded.
In the time it took to analyze that one clip, Charles had already recovered his composure, looking confident once more. "It's only because they got lucky and escaped that call that the rest of the game played out the way it did. And more importantly, the 49ers were blessed by luck throughout. Number 14, their quarterback, was almost sacked while scrambling, and that final pass—Crabtree's catch had a healthy dose of luck to it as well."
"The final score was 21-20, a last-second comeback. It was thrilling, exciting, but also full of flukes," Charles said, speaking with a torrent of renewed confidence. "In the first half, Number 14 had at least three other passes that were off-target and a hair's breadth away from being intercepted."
With a sharp chop of his hands, Charles made his signature gesture and delivered his verdict. "They got the win, that's a fact, and luck is a part of the game. But they can't expect every game to go like this. Looking at this week's game, Number 14's actual skill is starting to fall behind the pace of the game. The sluggish first half and the rollercoaster fourth quarter are the best proof of that. As for next week, we'll just have to wait and see!"
Week one, a surprise performance. Week two, luck. What about week three?
Charles Davis had once again planted his flag firmly in the camp of the doubters and naysayers. However, that couldn't stop the public's growing attention and fondness for Lu Ke.