TEAM PLAY: off the record, "Goal"

[trobadora]

Title: Goal
Author: velocitygrass
Team: Play
Prompt: off the record
Pairing(s): McKay/Sheppard
Rating: R
Warnings: None
Contains: ( skip) Coach/Player relationship

Notes: Many thanks to mezzo_cammin, secondalto and fluffyllama for going over this!
Summary: Rodney McKay manages to lead Team USA to the World Cup final, but winning the match might not be the most important thing that day.

Once

Comments

[hilde]

I loved the gesture at the end! I really enjoyed this, esp the slow build-up of their relationship. Thank you :)

[ex_kisa_haw]

Oh, I love sports AUs! Especially for sports I know nothing about - and soccer is most definitely one of those.

I enjoyed Rodney as the coach and his recognition of John's talent and what he needed to be doing to develop it. I'd be interested to see what John does after this - does he go with promotional work, or continue to play somewhere? What kind of fallout is there?

I love the on air kiss as well, John coming out about both his sexuality and Rodney in a single play. Nicely done.

[melagan]

I like that John had to work at winning and it wasn't easy for him. And of course Rodney knows exactly which buttons to push to make it happen :)

[fanficfan123]

I think that John's kissing Rodney in front of the world's TVs and reporters, at the moment of this grand victory, was part of the strategic thinking and initiative that Rodney had inspired and nurtured: even though it would not sway the most bigoted, it is that much harder to malign a champion, especially when that victory is so closely allied in time and place to the great "win." Or, perhaps it was just (or as much) John's overflowing joy . . . .

AUs that draw on John's athleticism resonate so much with the character's/Flanigan's physical grace and abilities in canon/real life. Rodney as acerbic coach is certainly believable, given the way he is shown in canon to interact with the scientists he leads. Just as it is science, rather than personality, that matters most to Rodney as CSO, here it is the game/team goals rather than individual players.

[oceania]

Thank you for the image of John as a soccer player. They have the nicest bodies on the planet. Also I enjoyed the whole gay role model thing. We have this hero in Canada who wona lot of Olympic swimming medals. His name is Mark Tewkesbury. I read his book and saw the show where he came out to the country. He really is a role model and many of the kids I work with really look up to him. More athletes should have the courage.