The Team Doctor
by M.C.
A professional football team meets the new team doctor - a tough, beautiful woman


It was two weeks before training camp was scheduled to begin. The first squad
of football players began to arrive at the doctor's office for their
pre-training physical. It was the standard procedure for a professional sports
team to undergo a complete physical before beginning the rigorous practice
drills that would turn the out - of - shape men, coming back from the off
season, into well conditioned athletes; physically ready to begin another
long, tough campaign on the gridiron. This year, in an effort to improve the
team's dismal performance over the past several seasons, the new owner decided
some changes were in order. In addition to replacing several of the coaches,
it was decided that the old team doctor should also be replaced by a younger
one. One who would be much better suited to give the players the attention
they needed in order to become a winning football team. As the large,
powerfully built men waited in the reception room, the door to the doctor's
office opened and a beautiful woman with long blond hair stood in the doorway.
She smiled at the surprised athletes." Welcome to my office, gentlemen. My
name is Dr. Karen Armstrong; your new team doctor. Now, who would like to be
examined first ? "

Greg Thompson, the massive defensive right tackle who had a reputation for
being a ladies' man, quickly stood up and said in a voice loud enough for
everyone to hear," I guess I'll be the first to ' check you out '." He winked
at the other players and they all smirked back. Dr. Armstrong sighed as she
looked him over," very well then, Mr. Thompson won't you please come inside."
As the 295 pound man entered, followed by the 160 pound woman, he gave his
teammates the thumbs 'thumbs up' sign. "Go for it Greg," one of them was heard
to say and the others laughed. Dr. Armstrong closed the door behind her; the
players waiting outside couldn't help but notice the strange smile on her
pretty face as she did so.

" Well Greg," Dr. Armstrong said as she removed her long sleeve frock
revealing, for the first time, her surprisingly large forearms and biceps," I
trust you had an enjoyable off - season. Looking at that pouch (stomach) of
yours, I'd say you put on quite a few extra pounds." Greg smiled," it's no
problem doc, I can take these pounds off in no time, I always do". To make his
point, he flexed his large muscles and proudly proclaimed, " you see doc, I'm
in great shape." "Oh, you are, are you ? Well, we'll see about that ". Her
voice, which sounded so sweet before, suddenly began to sound a bit more
menacing. Karen approached the large man who, at six feet five inches tall,
towered over her five foot eight inch frame. " I want you to put those big,
strong arms of yours around me." Greg couldn't believe his luck, this was
going to be much easier than he thought. As he put his massive arms around her
she said, " now squeeze me, tough guy ". He began to squeeze her, lightly at
first, but then she called out," Oh come on now, surely a big, strong man like
you ought to be able to squeeze harder than this." He added more pressure, but
Karen simply began to giggle, " you call this a squeeze, my little sister can
do better tee, hee, hee." Greg was beginning to get angry now and squeezed
harder still." Looks like you've been slouching the past few months, Mr.
Thompson. I'm afraid you're not in as good a shape as you thought you were."

Visibly angry now the powerful man growled, " O.K. doc, if it's a squeeze you
want, it's a squeeze you're going to get." Greg then began to use all of his
tremendous physical strength in an attempt to put this arrogent, teasing woman
in her place. But, dispite his very best efforts, and much to his dismay, the
beautiful woman just stood there...giggling. Then, she put her arms around him
- they could barely reach around his waist - and began to squeeze back. As she
did so, Greg began to feel the power of her muscles. He soon began to have
trouble breathing, and he started to weaken. " Boy, you football players sure
are cuddily," she teased. The harder Karen squeezed him the weaker Greg
became. He desperately tried to fight back, but to no avail. Amazing as it
seemed, she was simply too strong for him. Finally, with most of his strength
gone, he dropped his large arms at his sides; he was beaten. Karen released
her vicelike grip and let the stunned football player slowly slump to the
floor." Rest up there sweetie pie while I write a few notes to myself. Then
we'll continue with your physical."

She comely walked over to her desk and made a few notes on her clipboard. "
I'm afraid we're going to have to work on your strength, Mr. Thompson. As you
know, the new owner of this football team would like to win a few games this
season. In order to do that, it would certainly help if the players were in
reasonally good shape; don't you agree? " Her taunting - plus the fact that
she easily beat him in their bear hug contest - infuriated him. Greg stormed
to his feet . " My, my, we look angry. Tell you what Greg, why don't you give
me your best shot into my stomach...let's see what kind of punch you've got."
Under normal circumstances, Greg would never hit a woman. But he had just been
humiliated by this one and was very disoriented. Without even questioning why,
he made a fist and sent it hard into her abdomen. " THUD !!", the sound
reverberated off the walls of her office. But the beautiful woman doctor just
stood there smiling. "You call that a punch?," Karen laughed , " no wonder
that your team gave up the most points in the N.F.L. last season. Come on,
tough guy, hit me again."

Again he sent his powerful fist into her midsection, and again she took it and
just stood there smiling." That one was a little bit better, it almost hurt
tee, hee, hee." Enraged now beyond control, he started to throw punches at
her, not just aimed at her stomach but anywhere he could. Karen just stood
there however, blocking his blows with her arms. Finally, after about two
minutes of this, she grabbed his right arm as he attempted to strike her and -
in a perfectly executed judo throw - sent the 295 pound man crashing to the
floor on his back. As he lay there, stunned and completely out of breath,
Karen comely looked at her watch. " This isn't good at all Greg. After only
two minutes of moderate physical exertion, you're completely exhausted. I'm
afraid I'm going to have to recommend some serious endurance training for you
in addition to the weight training."

Greg Thompson lay on his back in a state of shock while Dr. Armstrong added
some more notes to her evaluation sheet. When she finished, she walked over
and helped the humbled man to his feet." Well Greg, it looks like we have some
serious work ahead of us," she said as she escorted him to the door. The other
players stared in surprise when the door to Dr. Armstrong's office opened and
she led him out. Gone was the smug and arrogant look that he had on his face
when he entered. Now, it was replaced by an expression of shock and
uncertainty. As he slowly made his way to the exit of the reception room, Dr.
Armstrong called out after him," Oh and Greg, one more thing; I'll be
examining you again in two weeks ...and I expect to see a dramatic improvement
in your physical condition by then If not, you might find yourself looking for
another job." She turned towards the stunned football players, smiled and
said," all right boys, who wants to be next? " For the remainder of that
afternoon the beautiful woman doctor examined, one-by-one, the rest of the
players on the football team; it was a very humbling experience for them.

That Evening

Karen Armstrong lay on her couch with her feet up as her boyfriend, Mike
gently massaged them." Another hard day at the office, honey ? " he asked her.
She nodded, " Sweetie, you wouldn't believe how childish these supposedly
macho football players really are. Hit them with a few good punches and they
start to cry like babies." There was a knock on the door." Come on in," Karen
called out," it's open." The door opened and a large, well built, attractive
woman in her early 50's entered. " Well, how did it go today, darling ? "
Karen frowned," not too good I'm afraid. What on earth possessed you to buy a
football team in the first place, mother ? Don't you already have everything
you could ever possibly want ? " Margret Armstrong, the founder and CEO of
Armstrong Enterprises, shook her head." Daughter you have absolutely no idea
how things work in the world of business and what a successful football team
would mean to my company's balance sheets. If they were to win the superbowl,
our profits would double. Is there any chance of that happening honey ? "
Karen shrugged her shoulders," I don't know mom, these guys are going to need
a lot of work. They may have the potential but they're going to need someone
strong to push them to new heights; someone who is tougher than they are;
someone they can't bully or intimidate; someone who can make them reach their
true potential." Margret and Karen exchanged a wordless glance.....and Karen
sighed. Looking over at her boyfriend she said," Mike, it looks like I'm going
to be rather busy for the next few months."

Two Weeks Later

The entire football team was gathered near the head coach as he called them
together for their first practice. All around him were the members of the
coaching staff. Off to one side, virtually unnoticed by everyone, sat a lone
figure on a bench, shrouded in a warm-up jacket with a hood. " Men, as I'm
sure you're all aware by now, we have a new owner and she's expecting great
things of us this year," he began." There have been several changes in the
coaching staff and, as you all know, we have a new team doctor," - growns
could be heard throughout the assembly of players." We've even added a special
'strength and endurance' coach to help get you all in shape as well as to
motivate you." As he spoke, the figure over on the bench rose and slowly began
to remove the warm-up jacket. " So, I'd now like to formally introduce you all
to the newest member of our coaching staff who also happens to be the new team
doctor...guys meet Dr. Karen Armstrong." All of the players dropped their jaws
in stunned silence as they stared at the beautiful figure that now stood
before them. " Hello boys, remember me? "

"Push it ! Push it ! Harder ! Come on guys, DON'T SLACK OFF !!" Karen yelled
at the exhausted men as she led them once more around the track. Unlike most
coaches, she didn't stand around and simply give orders but personally
participated in everything they did. Whether in the weightroom or on the
track, she never demanded more from them than she demanded from herself. At
first it was difficult for the men to accept her stern disipline; several
players asked to be traded and several others were simply cut from the squad.
Karen expected 100% from each and every football player on the team. She was
never one to berate a player in front of others, believeing it was both
unprofessional to humiliate them in public and bad for the team morale.
However, whenever she felt someone was slacking off, Karen would invite him
into a special room for a private "talk". It became known simply as ' Dr.
Armstrong's room'. Nothing that happened in there was ever discussed openly;
although sometimes, when a player emerged, he appeared to have been crying.
Whatever she did to them in her room seemed to pay off as there would be a
remarkable increase in their desire to practice hard from then on - and she
never had to take the same player in there more than once. As time went on,
Karen's iron will and and fierce determination to build them into winners,
earned her their respect and devotion. She was, slowly but surely, molding
them into champions.

When they began to run through the plays, Karen would participate as well. A
firm believer in teamwork, she didn't approve of one player showing up another
- believeing that it caused jealousy and hurt the team's unity. When the new
fullback, their cocky All - American first round draft choice just out of
college, proudly flaunted his ability to run circles around the older linemen,
Karen inserted herself on the very next play. She met the hotshot rookie head
on and unceremoniously sent the 215 pounder flat on his back." On our team we
play together," she told the stunned runningback as she helped him up,"or we
don't play at all. I hope you'll understand soon, because I'll continue to
flatten you until you do." He quickly learned the meaning of teamwork. After
the practice, Greg Johnson - one of the players that had been showed up by the
flashy young ball carrier - approached Karen. " Dr. Armstrong, I want to thank
you for what you're doing for this team. You - you're amazing." She laughed at
him. " Why that's very sweet of you to say that, Greg. I'm glad to see you
don't have any hard feelings about that little 'incident' in my office awhile
back." She patted him on the buttocks before adding in a slightly sterner tone
- but also with a wink - " now, isn't it time for your wind sprints ? "

As hard as she seemed, Karen also had a soft side. Her door was always open to
the players and she was available 24 hours a day to deal with any problems
that they might have; be it medical, professional as well as personal. Because
she was a woman - albeit a very tough woman - the players felt that they could
confide in her much more easily than the head coach or one of his assistants.
When a player needed some time off for family reasons she would always
approve, and even offer them her advice. This was never a problem with the
head coach as he learned early on that Karen was not to be crossed. She knew
that these were not simply athletes but complete human beings and they should
be treated as such. In this way Dr. Armstrong - through her strength,
discipline and compassion - was able to take a demoralized group of men who
had won only two football games the previous season and forge them into
winners. After three months of very intensive training, the team with the
worst record in the N.F.L. was now feeling strong and confident... ready to
take on the world.

Five Months Later

The final gun sounded, the superbowl was over. " We did it, we did it," the
exuberant players shouted," we won the superbowl !! " As the players stormed
into their dressing room for the traditional post game celebration they
carried on their shoulders, in addition to the head coach, the team doctor -
Karen Armstrong. They all knew that without her, this great victory would not
have been possible. It was she that drove them to greatness. Although they may
not have appreciated it early on, all the players now had to acknowledge that
it was only due to Karen's tough training and stern discipline that they were
able to succeed. As the champagne began to flow, Margret Armstrong - the owner
of the football team and Karen's mother - took her daughter aside. " Honey,
I'm so proud of you and the job you've done....though I always knew you could
do it." Karen smiled at her mother and said," thank you, now what I really
need is a vacation." Margret reached into her purse and pulled out an
envelope. " Just what I was thinking. Here are two first class tickets for you
and Mike; an all - expense paid vacation in Hawaii for one month. I will
expect you back at the beginning of next month, however." Karen looked
suspiciously at the only person on the planet that she can not dominate. " Why
next month, mother; what haven't you told me? " Margret winked at her
daughter. " Honey, this football idea worked out so well for my company that I
decided to buy a baseball team. Spring training begins in one month and, of
course, I expect you to be there." Again Karen and her mother exchanged a
wordless glance, and again Karen sighed.