Three days after Dick Cedar's airport challenge, Mike Tucker has announced the formation of Team Tucker—a ragtag coalition of independents and outcasts united against the PPLA establishment.
"I can't do this alone," Tucker acknowledged at a press conference held in his modest workshop. "Cedar has unlimited resources, the best equipment, and twenty years of building his empire. All I've got is the truth—and some friends who believe in it."
“We're underdogs. We've always been underdogs. That's exactly how we like it.”
The team roster reads like a who's who of anti-Cedar sentiment. Julian Calabassas, Tucker's longtime friend, has come out of retirement despite his persistent tremors. "My hands shake, but my heart is steady," he declared.
Also joining: Gustavo "Gusto" Merida, whose "Downtown Brown" plumbing service has long operated outside PPLA sanction. And Lefty Beaumont, a former Cedar ally who claims to have "seen the light."
"Dick Cedar doesn't care about plumbers. He cares about money," Beaumont told reporters. "I spent ten years making him rich. Time to make things right."
The team faces immediate challenges. Their combined equipment is valued at a fraction of Team Cedar's resources. Several members are under investigation for various code violations. And they have just six months to prepare for the most demanding competition in plumbing history.
"We're underdogs," Tucker admitted. "We've always been underdogs. That's exactly how we like it."
Training begins immediately at a secret location somewhere in South Georgia.
