The Tale of Johnny Gloke

Oklahoma Football; Wikimedia

Johnny Gloke was a farmer by trade, but,having great aspirations, he began to become bored with his work and wanted to find a job allowing him honor and fame. So for quite some time he was much more intrigued by sitting around thinking of what he could do rather than tending the crop.

One day Johnny Gloke was walking around his farm trying to find something to do. He was in the barn and came across a leather football. He walked outside and saw a beehive hanging from a tree about forty yards away. He wound up and threw the football and struck the beehive right in the middle and knocked it down. He was overjoyed at his success and his heart raced as he accomplished the throw.

He now knew what his path would be to fortune and honor. So he set out to find the best college football program to go play for. He grabbed his football and headed for college.

He came across a college, The University of Oklahoma. Oklahoma needed a quarterback and Johnny Gloke knew he was the guy for the job. The school needed championships and the coach was offering fame and honor in exchange for a championship. John knew this is what he was meant for and rose to the occasion.

As the season started Johnny knew he was not the biggest nor the strongest so he had to be smarter and outwit the rest of the teams. Johnny would watch his opponents and figure out different ways to outsmart each team and find a way to win. He would stay in the pocket and carefully watch for an opportunity to strike.

At the end of the season came the Big 12 championship. Johnny knew his opponents were tired and used this against them to try and win. He outsmarted and outplayed his opponent by waiting until the fourth quarter to use up all his energy and took advantage of his opponents while they were down and tired. He became victorious in bringing a Big 12 championship back to Oklahoma. He gained his fame and honor and lived peacefully for small time.

A month went by and Johnny Gloke was then asked to play in the National Championship. His heart sank, as he thought they only wanted one championship but they wanted something bigger and better. Johnny would have to play the best team in the land and Johnny did not know how he would outsmart this opponent. Johnny knew the other quarterback was better but rose to the deed anyway because of his previous valiant accomplishment.

As the game started on the very first play the opponent's quarterback broke his leg and could no longer play. The other team could not bear the fact that their quarterback could no longer play and did not know what to do. Johnny took advantage of this and won the game.

Thus, Johnny Gloke was victorious a second time and lived a life full of fame and honor with his new wife . They would eventually become the most famous people in Oklahoma and would never look back again.

Author's Note:

The original story was just called Johnny Gloke by Joseph Jacobs. It is an old English fairy tale that features Johnny who was tired of being a tailor and wanted to do something that would bring him fortune and honor. Johnny one day was laying around and killed at least fifty flies with one stroke and made a decision to grab an old rusty sword and head for a land where he could find his fortune and honor. He came across a land where the king was offering a place in the castle as well as his daughter's hand in marriage for slaying the two giants in the woods. Johnny set out for this but instead of using strength to beat the giants he waited for them to tire and then he surprised them and cut their heads off. He led the king to believe he defeated them with strength and then the king asked him to take on a rebel army that was going to dethrone the king. Johnny had to say yes and was given a horse to take them on. Johnny fell off the horse and the horse kept running at the army. The horse ran into gallows that wrapped around its neck and kept on. This scared the army into thinking Johnny Gloke who had slain the giants was here to hang them all. Johnny got lucky as they retreated and he was then named king.

I changed the story into a tale of football and kept Johnny's name the same. Instead of defeating giants he won a conference championship by using his opponent's weakness against them.. Upon winning that championship Johnny was asked to play in a national championship instead of facing a rebel army. He would get lucky as he did in the original story and the quarterback would break his leg. This led Johnny to be victorious and have his fame and honor.

Bibliography

More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs; The Tale of Johnny Gloke