Tegan's other press conference . . . etc.

[The Babbage Islands]

Several hours after the World Cup announcement, a smaller invited gathering occupied the well-appointed media center at the Dover Inn near the stadium. A somewhat more relaxed Tegan Nash was once more in the spotlight, together with Football Federation of Babbage general secretary Richard Valdemar.

Nash addressed the group. "Hello again, everyone. We have to stop meeting like this." After the expected chuckle, she went on.

"It's been a long day all round, so we will keep this short. There are two announcements. First . . ."

For a moment, the poised professional image broke as she visibly choked up.

"First, I have played my final match in a Bumblebees uniform."

The assembled listeners exploded into activity for a moment at the news, as the star midfielder gathered her composure again.

"There comes a time for each of us to move on, to progress. For me, that time is now.

"I will not yet be retiring from professional football. I am still under contract to Petardos S/A, and I expect to have one or two more good runs at the league title and the Champions' Cup there before that contract is up. Thirty-six isn't that old; look at Laborious Hawk.

"So why leave now? Why play for club and not country?" She turned to the other person on stage. "Richard has the other announcement; that may answer some of your questions."

Richard Valdemar strode to the microphone as Nash stepped to one side. Reporters exchanged puzzled looks and quick fragments of conversation in the interval.

"My friends," as the room silenced once more, "I have very good news for you."

"This afternoon, I asked Tegan to marry me. And she said yes."

Every camera in the room came to life. At Valdemar's gentle nudging, Tegan came up to his side.

"I don't have the words to describe how I feel. I miss Janice. I will always miss her. She was a tower of strength, an extraordinary mother, and my best friend. But we agreed many years ago that if one of us went home early the other should feel free to remarry. Andrea and Kenny know that," and he waved to his son and daughter quietly standing in the rear exit. "We told them about an hour ago, though I think Andrea knew this was going to happen before I did."

"Tegan is stepping down as Bumblebees captain because one of the two of us had to leave. Conflict of interest. She's subject to a regular selection process, and I would always be suspected of undue influence as long as she stayed. But not now."

The smiling couple turned to face each other. "Sweetheart," Richard began, "I think this is yours." He produced a ring from his pocket, and awkwardly settled it on the proper finger. One journalist started to clap, then another, then a roomful.

[The Babbage Islands]

My, what a day! I'm so excited I don't know what to think! I look forward with all my heart to becoming Mrs. Richard Valdemar, in addition to being Tegan Nash.

At least the wedding planning will be simple. A Mormon temple ceremony, or sealing, doesn't call for customising by the couple, their families, or a bunch of wedding planners and hired help. We'll make the appointment and be there, and the number of other church members present will be limited by the relatively small room. The sealer will be assigned by the temple presidency. End of story.

The reception could be a huge bash if we liked, but it won't be. Although it is my first marriage, we're united in keeping the party for his second low-key out of respect for his late wife. I think the hard part will be deciding where--what city, for heaven's sake!--to have it.

The only downside to all this is leaving the Bumblebees. The national team has been so much a part of me that watching from a distance will be a shock. But rest assured, I'll still be blogging about Babbage football for some time. I'm watching closely the race to succeed Ganz Ijak as manager. Michelle Germaine of Delaclava is the interim, because you have to have someone in charge. They actually flipped a coin between her and Allison Salamida for the post, I think to clarify that both of Ganz's top assistants are under equal consideration. I know that Dick is looking at other candidates and that applications are open.

Don't ask me who to pick, I genuinely have no preference. Michelle has the better coaching resumé, but Allison had a Hall of Fame playing career with two World Cups for Cassadaigua and the four-peat for Belgium FC. They're both lovely women, they know the game inside-out, each has a way of handling players and public alike. We can hope there's a way to hold on to both if one gets the nod. Defender Jerry Kirkpatrick should be the new captain.

I wonder if we'll see another shift in offense for the coming matches? We were loaded in midfield for a number of years, one of the reasons we started the 4-6-0. But our emerging strength is at forward. Jason Olson is an established first-rank striker, Bethany Martin is coming off a domestic top scorer title, and Glen Svoboda has only scored something like 10 goals on just 13 caps. How do you keep any of them on the bench? 4-3-3 or 3-4-3, anyone?

Now that I'm away from the heat of the moment I think the bid announcement went well. The surprise change by the lawyers was an awkward moment, but looking at the assembled media it was a good move. A World Cup final at Whitecliff would be all kinds of awesome.

Smile!