1 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to the ten Minute Storyteller. That's me Bill Simpson, 2 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: your host, narrator and author. We hear at the ten 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:19,680 Speaker 1: minute Storyteller endeavor to entertain you with tall tales or 4 00:00:19,720 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: rendered swiftly and with the utmost empathy. We pledge to 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:29,520 Speaker 1: pack as much entertainment, emotion, and exploration into the human 6 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:37,640 Speaker 1: condition as ten minutes will permit mini novels on steroids. 7 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:45,839 Speaker 1: This week we meet Bull. Tim Bull. Bull was a 8 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: heck of a high school athlete. Big, strong and fast, 9 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: Bull had a dream. He dreamed of a world without rancor, 10 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: a world where cooperation, not competition, ruled the roost. Bull 11 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: is middle age now where dreams go to die. Bull 12 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: Tim Bull, Tim Bull, Tim Burr, a giant of a man, 13 00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 1: bigger than life, a block out the Sun's sized, bloke, 14 00:01:27,440 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 1: over ten pounds at birth, towered over his kindergarten teacher, 15 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: could dunk in eighth grade, unstoppable on the high school gridiron. 16 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: Courted by countless acc coaches to come to their school 17 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: and play hoops. Big ten coaches came to his hometown, 18 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,440 Speaker 1: got down on their hands and knees and begged Tim 19 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: Bull to come to their school and carry the football 20 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: to glory. Tim said, then thanks, but no thanks. Tim 21 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: loved sports, but he didn't love the winning and losing. 22 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:12,560 Speaker 1: Especially he didn't love the winning. Winning made Tim uneasy, 23 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: not so much because he didn't like to win, but 24 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: because he didn't like to see others lose. All that 25 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:24,880 Speaker 1: winning and losing it made both sad. It made Bowl depressed. 26 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: He thought there must be a better way. Bull's little 27 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,480 Speaker 1: league coach used to say, it's not whether you win 28 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: to lose, boys, No, it's how you play the game. 29 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: But coach's words were a bunch of bunk. Whenever they won, 30 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: coach was giddy with joy and jubulation, but whenever they lost. 31 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:50,920 Speaker 1: Whenever they lost, he was surly and quick to cast stones. 32 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,600 Speaker 1: You should have tagged up and score on that fly ball, 33 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: to write Gomez, Or you feel that easy grounder to 34 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: third barker and they don't score a single run at 35 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:03,400 Speaker 1: any Do you know that? Do you know if that's 36 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 1: the way that worked out? Huh hah huh. Or I 37 00:03:07,040 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: want you to knock off that clapping for the other 38 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: side ball You got me no clapping for the other side, 39 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: No way, no how, no place for that kind of stuff. Sure, coach, 40 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: it's how you play the game, well, Bull. He loved 41 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: to play the games. He loved to track down the 42 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:29,240 Speaker 1: high fly ball to center. He loved a haul in 43 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: the pass on the deep post, over the middle, and 44 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: sprint for the end zone. He loved to rebound the ball, 45 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: start the fast break with an outlet to the wing, 46 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: dash down the court, set a pick roll to the hoop, 47 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: take the pass, and lay it up. Nothing felt so good, 48 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: so free, so wonderful. Nothing but you see. Bull also 49 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:55,840 Speaker 1: dug it when a player on the opposing team stayed 50 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: with a curveball, waited on it, and bam knocked that 51 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:03,760 Speaker 1: curveball over the fence. Even if the home run came 52 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: in the bottom of the ninth and his team lost 53 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: four to three, didn't matter. He loved that flyball. He 54 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: loved that homer. Or when he was playing defensive end 55 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: and the scatback on the other team took a pitch 56 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: out and sprinted down the sideline before Bull could lay 57 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:25,040 Speaker 1: a hand on him. He'd just stand there, grinning, amazed 58 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: and impressed at the boy's speed. Or when some big 59 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: man in the low post caught a pass from his 60 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: point guard position, faked right spun left and dunked over Tim, 61 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: leaving Bull standing there his jock strapped down around his ankles. 62 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: This kind of stuff gave Bull as much pleasure as 63 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: sinking the winning basket from mid court. Watching other athletes 64 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,599 Speaker 1: do crazy cool stuff made Bull happy, just like it 65 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: made him happy when his dad kissed his mom before 66 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: leav for work, when he struggled for a week or 67 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: more to make sense of Absalom Absalom before finally realizing 68 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: it was all about how man's desire for power and 69 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:18,279 Speaker 1: influence ultimately destroys and denigrates, Or when he watched his 70 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: little brother play the saxophone in the middle school band. 71 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 1: That's what gave Bull joy. At his high school graduation, 72 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: Bull was selected by his classmates to give a short speech. 73 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: He was not the valedictorian or the salutorian. He was 74 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: just big and beloved. He said, Hey, I gotta say, 75 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: high school sure has been a great time. I hope 76 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,479 Speaker 1: the rest of my life is this great. I think 77 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: it will be because I had this crazy, wild dream 78 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: the other night where everyone got along. Everyone you know, 79 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: supported each other, co operation over competition, a whole lot 80 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: of hugging and backslapping rather than arm crossing and backstabbing. 81 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,960 Speaker 1: More love than hate in that dream, I gotta tell you, 82 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:17,039 Speaker 1: more love than hate, more admiration than jealousy. So you know, 83 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:21,479 Speaker 1: fellow graduates, I foresee a world where the dude who 84 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: comes in last in the one hundred yard dash is 85 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:28,600 Speaker 1: celebrated even more than the dude who comes in first, 86 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 1: just because he was willing to go out there and 87 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: give it a go, give it a try. But really, 88 00:06:34,480 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: what's it matter who's the fastest or the strongest, or 89 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: the richest or the most powerful. What's it matter? What's 90 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:49,040 Speaker 1: it proved? What's the point? Well, Bull's older now, middle age, 91 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 1: hair thinning, paunch expanding, But he hasn't given up on 92 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: his dream. Nope, he still has hope, still believes in 93 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: a world without winner losers. Sure, plenty of doubts along 94 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: the way, okay, including his own inability to get along 95 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 1: with his wife and his kids. So much middling competition 96 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: and resentments, so much petty desire to come out on top. 97 00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,520 Speaker 1: Not a single day goes by without one and all 98 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: vying for power and control. So just how Bull wonders, 99 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,640 Speaker 1: just how can there be harmony and cooperation between the 100 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: genders and the races and the Nation States. When even 101 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:39,240 Speaker 1: a handful of biologically connected family members can't make it 102 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 1: through breakfast without squabbling and squawking, well, hell, it's just 103 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: enough to make a grown man weep. Sometimes, sometimes Bull 104 00:07:50,960 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: thinks he might just give up, say to hell with it. 105 00:07:55,840 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: After all, everyone's been telling Bull forevermore that he crazy, 106 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: totally out of his gourd. No winners or losers. What 107 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: a crock of shit that is. Man, they love to 108 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,920 Speaker 1: tell him, is an aggressive, competitive beast. It's not in 109 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: his jeans or buried in his DNA to get along, 110 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: to cooperate, to be kind, to treat others as you 111 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: would like to be treated. It's survival of the fittest 112 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: out there. Yep, that's what they tell Bull. That's what 113 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: they've been telling Bull for decades. I destroy you or 114 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: you destroy me. And all this has been well, it's 115 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,959 Speaker 1: been very tough on old Bull. Tim Bull, Tim Bull, 116 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: Timber Bull wishes sometimes that he was back in high school, 117 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: a big fish in a little pond, a giant, a 118 00:08:52,920 --> 00:08:58,760 Speaker 1: man among boys. Now he's kind of like well, like nobody, 119 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,320 Speaker 1: nobody at all, just another middle aged guy with big 120 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:17,960 Speaker 1: dreams that never came true. Thanks for listening to this 121 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: original audio presentation of Timbo narrated as always by the author. 122 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: If you enjoy today's story, please take a few seconds 123 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: to rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast, and then 124 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: go to Thomas William Simpson dot com for additional information 125 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:44,920 Speaker 1: about the author and to view his extensive canon. The 126 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: Ten Minute Storyteller is produced by Andrew Fleglsi and Josh 127 00:09:49,520 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: Colodney and as part of the Elvis Duran Podcast Network 128 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:59,480 Speaker 1: in partnership with iHeart Productions. Until next time, this is 129 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:03,000 Speaker 1: Bill Simpson, your ten minute Storytelling.