Frank Merriwell V: The All-American Boy

[Big Six]

A century ago, thousands of American boys followed the exploits of Frank Merriwell, a young man whose athletic exploits on the playing fields of Fardale Academy and Yale were first recorded in a series of dime novels by Gilbert Patten.

I suppose it was natural, given my interests in sports and history, that I would enjoy the Merriwell stories, too. I've known them since I was a kid, and I recently read a few of them again.

That's what has inspired my latest dynasty idea.

It's the spring of 2003, and Frank Merriwell V is a senior at Hampton Roads Academy in Newport News, Virginia. Like his famous ancestor, Frank is a gifted athlete, a multi-sport star who excels in football, basketball, and baseball. He also makes As in the classroom and conducts himself with class, without coming across as a wimp, a goody-goody, or an arrogant jerk.

Frank has been heavily recruited by Division I programs in all three sports, but there's one factor complicating his decision.

He wants to play football, basketball, AND baseball.

The collegiate career(s) of Frank Merriwell V will come to life through three of my favorite games: OOTP8, Bowl Bound, and Fast Break Basketball. I chose each of those games because it's fairly easy to edit players without going into a database.

I'll be posting the stories of Frank's football exploits on the Bowl Bound dynasty page. His basketball career will be chronicled at Operation Sports' dynasty page for now, at least, since Fast Break's forums appear to be down. And, of course, his baseball career will be covered right here.

I'm posting in different forums for a couple of reasons. There are some very good dynasty writers who post on forums that don't get nearly the views that this one does. Hopefully, if you decide to check out Frank's story, you'll take a look at a few of the other dynasties that appear there. Maybe you'll be inspired to post one there yourself, if that's your thing.

Plus, I figure if you come here, you want to read about baseball...not football or basketball. Maybe I'm wrong about that; if I am, let me know and I'll post my stories about Frank's gridiron and hoops careers here, too.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the story of The All-American Boy.

[Big Six]

Here are a few of the "house rules" I've established for the Merriwell dynasties.

• I'll be coaching Frank's team in each sport, with the computer handling all other teams.
  
• In football and basketball, I'll be concentrating primarily on coaching. I'm turning all recruiting functions over to the computer, for several reasons.
  
• For one, I LOVE the recruiting aspects of college sports sims so much that I can easily spend hours there, and since this story focuses on a player, not a coach, recruiting isn't a big part of the story. And, I don't want my personal biases getting in the way of which players his coaches choose to recruit while Frank is in school. If they want to bring in a new guy at his position every year, so be it.
  
• I've edited Frank's skills to make him a talented Division I player in each sport, with the potential to develop into a star. His ratings for intelligence, work ethic, etc. are all outstanding, as befits his character.
  
• When possible, I've disabled the option to have players leave school early for the pros. I'm planning on having Frank stay in college for four years. I'm not sure he'll be quite talented enough to declare for a draft early, anyway.
  
• Frank will never play more than one sport at a time. If his football team goes to a bowl game, Frank won't be available for basketball until early January. I did, however, set the OOTP college baseball season to begin on April 1, so unless he's on a Final Four team, he'll be able to make the start of the baseball season.
  
• If Frank gets hurt in one sport and isn't healed by the end of the season, his injuries will carry over to the next. I'll bench him until he's recovered.
  
• I'm not sure what I'll do if Frank gets upset at one of his coaches and decides to transfer.

[Big Six]

April 22, 2003

“You know we’d be thrilled to see you at any of the schools you’re still considering,” Margaret Merriwell told her son. “They’re all excellent choices.”

The eighteen-year-old boy nodded his head. “That’s what’s made this so difficult.”

His father smiled. “But wouldn’t you rather have this “problem” than the one you’d have if you didn’t have such good offers?”

“You’re right.” Father and son, both named Frank, shared a laugh. Dad was Frank IV, his son Frank V. They were, of course, the descendants of Frank Merriwell, the famous multi-sport athlete who starred at Yale a century ago.

“Duke is the closest,” Frank’s younger sister Meg pointed out. “It would be easiest for us to see him play if he goes to Duke.”

“It’s not like Penn State or Notre Dame are on the moon or anything,” her brother replied. “Besides, you’re in school. You can’t go running all over the country every time I have a game.”

“I guess it comes down to this,” Frank IV said. “You still want to play all three sports, right?”

Frank V nodded. “I want to give it a try. Lots of guys have played two sports at this level, but I can’t think of anybody who’s played three. At least not for a long time.”

All his life, the boy had heard the stories of his great-great-grandfather’s exploits in football, baseball, track, and crew. He had also heard about the original Frank Merriwell’s sterling character, and young Frank had decided at an early age to make his ancestor his hero, his idol. His father had been pleased.

“It’s part of being a Merriwell, I think,” he had told his son. “Don’t settle for less than the best effort you can give, no matter what you do. And always be a gentleman.”

Young Frank’s face was creased in thought. “Duke is a great school, and their basketball program is as good as it gets. But the football team…”

“You’d like to play in a bowl game sometime?” His father laughed, and so did Frank V.

“Yeah, that’s about it. And I really liked everybody I met up at Penn State.”

“Better than Notre Dame?” his mother asked.

Frank V nodded. “I think so. It just…it felt right.”

“It sounds like you know what you should do, then,” his father said with a soft smile.

Frank smiled back. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and his whole body seemed to relax.

“I’ve got a few coaches to call.”

[AZTarHeel]

Whatever you do, Frank, don't, don't, don't go to Duke ... now, eight miles down the road from Durham is a nice little school called the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- that's the ticket

Seriously, looking forward to this one ...

AZ

[Left-handed Badger]

I read some of the Chip Hilton books when I was in middle school. I assume Merriwell and Hilton were kind of similar.