Game Date: Pre-Campaign Start Date

Brasidas Born...

St. Augustine is a reasonably quiet place in north Florida that can rightfully claim to be the oldest city in the nation. It isn't as well known as it's northern counterpart, Jacksonville. It normally isn't that violent, either.

Normally.

One calm summer's night in July 1994, a common thug decided to accost an old lady and rob her of her Social security check. Then he made a mental leap and decided to make it a steady income by foisting an extortion plan upon her. He felt pretty proud of himself for coming up with that idea. Easy consistent money is always pleasing to a criminal heart. However, this would not go unnoticed for two reasons: Someone else was watching that night, and the lady wasn't a pushover.

Christopher Hamilton was watching that night, and he was determined that this crook wouldn't get away with it. The old lady later came to Chris with the problem, thinking him a nice boy she could confide in. Chris had been reading about the Peloponnesian War, and had been particularly taken by Brasidas, a notable Spartan commander. What the old lady, Mrs. Willis, said sealed the deal for Chris. She said, "I wish somebody would spear that guy."

Unfortunately for the criminal, Chris had just been reading a book on hoplite armor and weapons complete with exploded views to demonstrate construction. So Chris tells Mrs. Willis to be patient and tell some other neighbors about her problem. Who knew? They might become later victims. Meanwhile, while constructing his armor out of discarded road signs in the junkyard and his weapons from scrap metal and the local hardware store, Chris started to observe the criminal's habits in order to arrange an unpleasant surprise. He built his armor while keeping in contact with the neighbors, who quietly supported Mrs. Willis. They supplied Chris with valuable information on the criminal's whereabouts. When the criminal came to extort Mrs. Willis, he was quickly subdued by Chris, calling himself Brasidas after the famous Spartan. It was a good thing that Chris was feeling generous, because after surprising and quickly subduing the criminal (being surprised by armored figures with spears and shields has that effect) he had to protect the criminal from Mrs. Willis, who had filled her purse with concrete just for the occasion. He then had to talk the neighborhood out of severely beating the criminal, which he did quite nicely. Afterwards, the neighbors spoke of an armored man named Brasidas who helped to clean up the local streets and who spoke very well and persuasively.

After the first encounter, Chris thought about improving his armor. The initial showing looked good, but he wanted bulletproof equipment. He also wanted to equip his spear and sword so that he could subdue criminals instead of kill them. The weapons could still kill if they had to, but Chris was averse to killing, which he thought would make him no better than the criminals he would be chasing from now on. He learned how to bulletproof his armor and soon did so. He funded this by getting funds from many local business owners saying he was raising money for the public good. Somehow, he was able to talk the owners out of the funds without really explaining how the funds were to be used past "a possible science project." Chris learned fencing and spear techniques so he could effectively used his weapons and armor. He got an unexpected chance to try it out on the night of the St. Augustine - Nease football game. He was supposed to start, but he found himself having to break up a drug deal. Chris thought he'd just swoop in, attack, leave the opponents to the police and attend the game which would be attended by scouts from Florida State, Florida, Miami, Auburn, Clemson, Michigan, USC and Notre Dame.

Unfortunately for Chris, the drug dealers were not discombobulated by the appearance of Brasidas. They were surprised, but reacted well. They pulled out their firearms and started shooting. Brasidas managed to throw off most of the attackers' aim, but the leader managed to accurately place a couple of shots. When the armor worked, and Brasidas was able to continue pursuit, the leader took a drastic step: he took a pretty passerby hostage.

Now Chris had a dilemma. He felt he had to rescue the young girl from the drug dealer's clutches. But he was missing kickoff, and Coach didn't know where he was. After quickly calling Coach to let him know he'd be late, he pursued the drug dealer. Chris doggedly pursued the dealer until he finally caught up with him and rescued the girl. Fortunately for Chris, the drug dealer thought he'd hurt Brasidas more than he had, and had retreated rather slowly, viewing his hostage more of a prize than a hostage. Brasidas quickly attacked the dealer, making the most of the dealer's overconfidence. The girl escaped, but Brasidas had to subdue the criminal with his spear and sword after a long fight. After being subdued, the dealer asked who had beaten him. Chris swiftly replied "Brasidas" and then retreated from the scene.

Unfortunately, in the time it took to attack, pursue, and subdue the dealer, combined with the time it took to evade the police without attracting notice and get back to the stadium, the game was nearly over. Miami was eventually impressed enough with Chris to recruit him, but who knows what might have happened if Chris had played? St. Augustine won without his help, but people still talk about how Nease would have been crushed if Chris Hamilton had played in that game.