As the teams assembled, ‘N Sync’s song, "Giddy Up," blared out of nearby speakers. Each team formed a tight huddle to discuss strategies. From Abs’ group, Chris could be heard belting out positions since his team would be first in the field.
"Amanda," JC interrupted his fellow ‘N sync, "what position do you want to play?"
"Katie and I can play in the outfield," she answered decisively.
"Then Amanda and Katie will be in the outfield, but we need at least one more guy out there," Abs told them.
Howie raised a finger, "I’ll take the last position."
"Good," Chris took over his managing job again. "Remember to stay spaced out enough and to kick some butt!" he yelled. The rest of the team hooted in agreement.
"We need a cheer," Jeff voiced.
"Amanda is a cheerleader," Kristen informed them.
"Are you really?" asked Nick Lachey.
"Yeah, I was," Amanda confirmed.
"Got any ideas?" Rich wondered. Amanda shook her head.
Katie whispered to Kristen, "What should we say? Uh...Lord lead us on, go!" It was an inside joke that Rebekah had made up for a part in Hanson’s video, Tulsa, Tokyo, and the Middle of Nowhere. They both giggled quietly, glancing giddily at Taylor, who the joke was about.
"How about just let’s go team or let’s kick butt? Something simple," Aaron Carter suggested, flaunting his unusual maturity for an 11-year-old. They decided to take Aaron’s idea and did their cheer.
From the dugout, Justin Timberlakes’s team worked out a batting order. "Who wants to go first?" He glanced at the girls and Tim first.
Rebekah admitted, "I’m not any good at batting, and I don’t like doing it, so I don’t want to go."
Scott from Five patted her on the shoulder. Hoping they would get the same treatment, Erin and Theresa said, "I can’t either." Isaac grinned at them.
"Well, if no one else wants to go first, I will," offered Brian Littrell.
"Sounds good to me," Justin Jeffre said.
"And whoever wants to go after him can go, right?" Drew asked.
Kevin nodded. "Yeah, that should work."
A camera man shouldered through the huddle to get some shots of the discussion. Next to the camera stood John Norris, who was put in charge of interviewing Justin’s team. "What do you guys want your team name to be?" he asked the group.
"The Pirates!" Theresa exclaimed. Erin and Rebekah started cracking up.
"Arrrrrrr," Rebekah growled, impersonating a pirate. Everyone was very amused and readily agreed on Pirates, so Rebekah’s "arrrrr" could be part of their cheer.
John rolled his eyes. "The other team chose Abs’ Gumen (pronounced gum men). Whatever that means."
"Oh my gosh," Tim groaned.
"That must have been Katie’s idea," Theresa guessed. Tears rolled down her cheeks because she was laughing so hard.
"Katie’s the little quiet one, right?" Lance wondered with a twinkle in his eye. Rebekah nodded eagerly, matchmaking plans tumbling around in her head.
