#'it's been TWELVE YEARS' Michael bemoans.

[somuchbetterthanthat]

Michael&Leon Fake Dating Plot For ReasonsTM except a day in they both realize that literally nothing has changed in their behaviour except some kissing. They're both baffled by this.

"Have we been dating this whole time?" Michael asks, bemused.

"...I'm starting to understand why Sofia didn't like you," Leon muses.

"Wait, Sofia didn't like me??????"

"I didn't say because I wanted to spare your feelings," Leon admits. "She wasn't subtle though."

Everybody else around the table is holding their breath. They're like. We're so close. We're so close to getting them to realize. We're witnessing an historical moment.

[buckleyblueyes]

buddie + coming out

Jess this got...so fucking long. I'm putting it under a cut. (send me a ship and a word and I'll give you a head canon)

Okay, so Buck first. I imagine that Buck first realized he wasn’t straight when he was in high school. He didn’t mention it to his parents because it’s not like they were that interested in who he was dating anyway. But he did come out to Maddie back then. They were driving around her jeep (coming out in cars is Real okay) and there was some cheesy pop music on the radio (it was the early 2000s) and he didn’t have the word “bisexual” just yet, but she asked if he was dating anyone/if he had a crush on someone and he said “uh...yeah. His name’s Jamie.” and she just took it in stride. Just kind of “oh, okay.” and then he added quickly “I still like girls, too, though” and since she was already through college at this point, so she knew sexuality wasn’t just gay and straight, so she didn’t even blink. “So, tell me about him” and he did. When he was done, she grinned, told him she wanted to meet Jamie some time, and turned up the radio. They drove around some more singing along to whatever cheesy pop song played next.

As far as Buck coming out as an adult, at some point in his late teens or early twenties he found the word bisexual. He never really tried to hide it, but he also never went out of his way to broadcast it. He never felt ashamed of his sexuality, per se, but he never felt proud of it either. It was just like...sometimes he dated guys, y’know? Anyways so flash forward to when he joins the 118. He doesn’t make a big deal out of it, but at some point early on Hen describes him as “a straight white boy” and he’s like “bold of you to assume I’m straight” “you’re not?” “not even a little” and leaves it at that. Sometimes he mentions hookups with guys during his 1.0 phase, but other than that he doesn’t really talk about it. He comes out to Eddie sometime in season 3, when he’s bemoaning his loneliness and Eddie says “you’ll find the right girl someday” and Buck suddenly realizes he’s never actually told Eddie he’s into guys so he responds. “Right person, actually.” and Eddie blinks twice. “What?” and Buck sighs. “I’ll find the right person, I’m bisexual.” and Eddie blinks again. “Oh...Cool…” and then they just move on.

Which brings us to Eddie. Eddie does not come to the realization that he’s queer until much later in life. He worries he might be gay in high school, because everyone else is interested in dating and girls, and he’s just. Not. Everyone always tells him that he and his good friend Shannon would make a good couple, and he’s pretty sure she has a crush on him, but he just likes her as a friend. Until one day, the summer after they graduate from high school, he looks at her and his heart starts racing and his palms are sweating but it’s not from the Texas humidity and oh my god. Is this what liking someone feels like? This is terrible, actually. But he was right about Shannon having a crush on him, so they start dating, and it’s great. And Eddie is relieved because falling in love with Shannon means he’s straight. He was just a late bloomer, like his mom said.

Anyways, so flash forward about twelve years and Eddie is starting to think he was wrong before. Oh, God, he was so wrong. He’s not sure when Buck went from his best friend to someone he was falling in love with, but it’s too late to go back now. But it’s fine. It’s fine. Buck is straight anyway, so it’s not even worth getting worked up over because it’s never going to happen and--Buck isn’t straight. Oh, hell.

And then he meets Ana, and she’s, well. She’s pretty, and he likes that she guesses his name right, but then he blows up at her and also she’s his son’s teacher, so that’s kind of weird. And then the pandemic hits, and he’s forced into close quarters with Buck and it gets impossible to deny his feelings to himself any longer. But he doesn’t know what to do about it. The problem for Eddie is that he’s only really had strong feelings for two people ever in his life, and the word ‘bisexual’ doesn’t to fit. More like ‘these two people in particular-sexual’ but that doesn’t really make sense.

So, when Ana comes back into his life, it seems like the easy way out. Nobody has to know that he has all these weird, confusing, not-heterosexual feelings. He’s 33 years old, who has a sexuality crisis at 33? Of course, the universe has other plans. He gets shot, he almost dies, and he realizes he doesn’t really feel anything for Ana and he probably never will, and predictably by the time he’s finally ready to confront his feelings and sexuality, Buck is dating Taylor. Great.

Anyways, so Eddie goes to Hen for help figuring himself out because if anyone would be able to help, his married lesbian friend seems like a very good bet. And he’s right. He explains how he’s only ever been in love with two people and that gender doesn’t seem to be a big factor in it, and she points him to the concept of asexuality and aromanticism, and more specifically demisexuality/demiromanticism and it just clicks for him. He wasn’t a “late bloomer” after all. So, I guess Hen is the first person Eddie comes out to. And he doesn’t really feel the need to come out to anyone else at that point because it’s not really anyone’s business.

Eventually, he and Buck get together. And for Buck, telling people isn’t a big deal because he’s been out as bi for years. Eddie isn’t reluctant to tell their found family, or even the rest of the 118. But he is nervous to tell his biological family. He doubts they’ll be too happy about him being with a man, let alone understand the concept of demisexuality. He starts with Abuela and Pepa, the family he’s closer to (literally and figuratively). He comes out to both of them at the same time, at Abuela’s, over a home cooked meal. He tells them that he and Buck are dating, that he loves him. Pepa puts a hand over his and gives it a gentle squeeze. “I’m proud of you,” she says. “It was about time you put that boy out of his misery.”

Eddie chokes on a surprised laugh. Then he looks at Abuela. Abuela is quiet for a minute before standing and walking around the table to where Eddie is sitting. She pulls him up to standing and gives him a tight hug. “Te quiero.”

Next he comes out to his sisters, who are pretty chill about the whole thing, and lastly his parents. His parents liked Buck when they met briefly, so if Eddie was going to be with a man, at least he picked a good one. And given that the rest of the family already knows and is supportive, it’s not like anyone would be on their side if they had a problem with it, and they want to keep seeing their grandson. So they just say “okay” and accept it in the most passive way possible.

Anyways this got SUPER DUPER long and detailed, so I’m going to end it with this: After they’ve been out (both Eddie coming out and Buck and Eddie being out as a couple) for awhile, Hen drags them to that year’s LA Pride with her, Karen, and the kids, and they end up meeting up with Michael, David, Harry and May there (and Bobby who is wearing a t-shirt that says “Free Dad Hugs” in rainbow letters, Buck takes him up on the offer immediately).

[diinofayce]

Shadows on the Horizon - 11

Pairing: Winter Soldier! Bucky Barnes x OFC! Layne Hardin | Word Count: 2k | Warnings: no Bucky this chapter, minor swearing| A/N: This is a sequel to my story Like a Whisper in the Night | Shadows on the Horizon Masterlist

“Why weren’t we told that there was an Amber Alert out for our niece?” Layne asked the room of men.

“It looks like it flew under our radars entirely,” Tony answered, his nose buried in his tablet.

Danny and Layne stood in front of Director Fury, Tony, Natasha, and a hologram of Charles Xavier. Layne watched as a hulking man in a too-tight black shirt and black jeans pace back and forth out of image behind Professor Xavier, his pacing and heavy footfalls made her anxious.

“Logan, you’re making the live feed glitch,” Danny quipped having felt his sister’s underlying distress and the large man looked at the camera, blinked twice in realization, and then moved off screen.

Tony flipped through digital pages on his glass tablet as he read through the reports on Layne and Danny’s seventeen-year-old niece, Madeline. “It looks like she ran away from your brother’s care. He and his ex have seventy-five, twenty-five split custody with him getting the kids every weekend. She and her father got into a disagreement, which the younger kids didn’t know what it was about but reporting quite a bit of fighting, and then she took off in the middle of the night after he grounded her to her room. Apparently.”

Layne and Danny looked at each other with quirked eyebrows. Madeline had only been six when they last saw her and Lucas had to have been two or three, they didn’t even know Michael and Cheryl had a third child - a little girl by the name of Rosaline. Lucas was now fourteen and Rosaline was twelve, so while their reports had been coherent enough they still weren’t much help.

“I already talked to Cheryl,” Layne said with a slight wince. Her ex-sister-in-law had always been much more kind than Michael but having always been almost thirty years her elder, the two women were far from close. “She’s very sorry to hear of your passing,” Layne added with a smirk, looking at Danny.

“That’s very kind of her,” Daniel murmured with a roll of his eyes. To everyone outside of the immediate Avengers Initiative and the X-Men Force, Daniel had died in the line of duty while performing an undercover mission. It made his job of infiltration and espionage much easier. His persona of Specter was kept extremely classified and when he was required to attend briefings outside of the need to knows he wore a full hooded gas mask like covering that had a bit in vocal distorter.

“Apparently,” Layne continued, “When Tony held the press conference confirming my official place with the Avengers she had a bunch of questions. Cheryl made sure to press to not bring any of them to Michael and that she would try to get a hold of me. Cheryl was afraid that Madeline was exhibiting powers but apparently, after the initial round of questions she didn’t have anymore and Cheryl dropped the subject entirely.”

“So, what do we know?” Natasha asked, propping one hip up on Fury’s desk despite his scathing glare and crossing her arms over her chest.

“We know she does, in fact, have powers, powers that hide even from Cerebro,” the Professor spoke up, his fingers laced under his chin as he ran his fingertips back and forth over his bottom lip.

“That doesn’t surprise me seeing as she’s basically a blind spot and a dampener to us,” Daniel quipped, running his fingers through his chocolate curls.

“So how did Hydra find her first?” Layne asked looking between the spy and the genius.

“Well, the two of you threw a major wrench into their operation. Taking out Ava List and a handful of bases. Daniel has a very solid lead on Colonel Stryker,” Natasha listed, ticking the items off on her finger. At the mention of Stryker’s name a low growl was heard from the Professor’s side of the feed just off the view of the camera. Natasha paused, casting a glance at the outburst before continuing. “Even though Daniel is listed as dead I’m sure someone over on Hydra side doesn’t believe it. You’re actively and publicly dating Hydra’s best and favorite weapon, who they got back for all of thirty seconds before you stomped on that again. I’m sure they’ve been watching your families for a very long time.”

“I think, if I may, that if young Madeline was asking for Agent Hardin to begin with that maybe we’ll only get anything further than speculation by having them speak,” the Professor offered carefully.

Layne had known it was the next logical step and she had been fully prepared for having to go and speak to her niece, but there was a niggling habit that she had formed of separating herself from her family. She reminded herself again that Madeline was still just a teenager and that she had been picked up from wherever and then tortured, she was scared and alone and Layne was probably the only one that could make her feel a little better at this point.

“Do you have a room for her, Charles, when we’re done?” Daniel asked the hologram and the elderly man smiled.

“I always have rooms, Specter. I’ll have Rogue set one up for her arrival.” With that, the hologram closed and Fury stood up.

“And who gave you the go-ahead to send her upstate?” Fury asked calmly, staring Daniel dead in the eyes.

“Her mother,” Daniel growled protectively. “She’s still a minor, Fury, it’s not your call. It’ll also be good for you to remember that I don’t work for you, I work for them.” Daniel smirked at Fury’s impassive face, noting the seething hatred in his good eye, before spinning on his heel and exiting the conference room.

“What do you think?” Fury asked rounding on Layne.

Layne shrugged and kept her face neutral. “It’s her and her mother’s choice, not ours. I could have chosen to stay down in the labs full time if I had really wanted, but at the end of the day they’re an academy whose sole focus is teaching and strengthening those kids. When she gets a grip on her powers fully and comes of age, she can decide what she wants to do. I know you think we’re pawns in your chess game, Director, but until you take away our free will you can’t force us to do anything.”

Natasha’s expression glowed with disguised pride, while Tony openly beamed - he loved when the Hardin’s snarked at people that weren’t him.

“You will keep in mind, Agent Hardin, that unlike your brother - you do work for me,” Fury scolded.

Layne quirked her head to the side and furrowed her brows. “Funny. I feel like Ms. Potts signs my paychecks. If that’s all then,” Layne smiled brightly and gave a little wave as she turned and strutted out of the director’s office.

Fury sighed heavily and tilted his head towards Natasha. “She’s around you too much,” he bemoaned as he sunk back down into his chair.

~*~

Twenty minutes later Layne entered interrogation room six with a few sodas and a box of pizza from her favorite pizzeria down the block. Madeline was still sitting stoically at the table and staring at herself in the one way mirror. Layne looked at the glass and frowned, taking her key card and swiping it along the frame causing a set of shutters to slide down and block the reflective surface.

“When Hydra took me, I couldn’t look at myself for months, every time I did I just relived it all,” Layne said softly setting down the pizza and drinks on the table.

Madeline looked slightly relieved as the shutters slid down and looked up at Layne for the first time.

“When?” she asked, her voice thick and raspy.

“A little over a year ago,” Layne answered sitting down across from her niece.

“Did you hurt people?”

“I thought I did, but your Uncle Daniel was protecting me. I didn’t know about it for a while, though.”

“Mom said he died,” Madeline commented, looking up at Layne with fiery amber eyes. “But I see him.”

Layne reached out slowly and wrapped her hand around Madeline’s wrist, rubbing the skin soothingly with her thumb until the girl’s gaze cooled.

“We don’t want to let people know that he isn’t. Did you tell anyone that you could see him?” Layne asked carefully and Madeline shook her head, pulling her wrist out of Layne’s grip.

“No, they were too focused on you and the man that they put in the chair. That’s your boyfriend, right?” Madeline questioned and Layne nodded.

“Yeah, he is.”

“He’s kind of scary.”

Layne smiled softly and folded her hands in her lap. “Sometimes, when he has to be. He’s actually a giant teddy bear though.”

Madeline picked at the broken skin around her fingernails nervously so Layne just sat and watched, not wanting to press her too hard and too quick. “They…they said they were going to make me use my powers to hold you back so that you couldn’t use yours. Then they were going to make him kill you so that he would listen to them again.”

Layne nodded slowly and swallowed a lump that formed in her throat. “Yeah, yeah that sounds like them.”

“Why didn’t you call Mom back?” Madeline asked suddenly.

Layne shook her head slowly, “I never got a call from your mom.”

Madeline pursed her lips and picked at the skin around her nails, Layne ran her hand over her mouth to cover the quirk in her lips at the familiar mannerism.

“Your mom filed a missing person’s report on you. Lucas said in the report that you were fighting with your dad, can you tell me about it?”

Tears swam up and surfaced on the girl's eyes but she blinked them back and swallowed heavily. She stalled momentarily by pulling one of the boxes of pizza to herself and inspecting the inside. Simple five cheese blend which seemed to satisfy the need for distraction as she pulled a piece off of the pie and took a large bite. Layne waited patiently, grabbing one of the diet sodas and cracking it open.

“I told Dad I wanted to call you myself. I saw you on another news conference, it was with the Black Widow, I told him about my powers. I told him I wanted to see if you could teach me how to use them so that I could help save the world too. He got really mad, screamed about how you were a disgrace to the family and how you were dating a monster because of everything,” Madeline’s voice was barely above a whisper as she chewed at her pizza.

Layne nodded and sighed, that definitely sounded like her eldest brother. “Do you remember where they found you?”

Madeline looked up from the soda she had just opened with confusion. “They came and got me from the house. Dad grounded me to my room, but I heard him on the phone calling one of those…conversion camps? The ones where they take your powers away. I tried to call Mom to come and get me, but my phone wasn’t working.”

Layne tried to keep her face neutral despite the burning anger she felt in her gut. Her brother, possibly knowingly, called Hydra to his front door. But whether out of ignorance or not she knew she would have to step in. Fishing her phone out of her pocket she slid it across the table to her niece.

“I told your mom you were safe, you should give her a call and then we’ll get you to a real room so you can get some sleep,” Layne said softly and pushed her chair back to stand up.

“What about Lucas and Rosie? What happens when Dad finds out they have powers too?” Madeline asked playing with the phone in her hands.

Layne froze with her hand on the door handle and looked back down at her niece. “I’m going to take care of them, don’t you worry. Call your mom, eat, and then I’ll have an agent take you to your bedroom, okay?”

Madeline nodded her head. “Thanks, Aunt Layne.”

“Anytime, kiddo. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

Daniel rocketed out of the observation room when Layne closed the door.

“Go bags, now. Wheels in ten,” Daniel barked and him and Layne both ran to the elevators.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Nikita season two full review

How many episodes pass the Bechdel test?

91.3% (twenty-one of twenty-three)

What is the average percentage per episode of female characters with names and lines?

38.91%

How many episodes have a cast that is at least 40% female?

Twelve, which is essentially half the episodes so I’m not gonna list them all here. 

How many episodes have a cast that is less than 20% female?

Zero.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Nineteen. Ten who appear in more than one episode, four who appear in at least half the episodes, and two who appear in every episode.

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Sixty-two. Seventeen who appear in more than one episode, five who appear in at least half the episodes, and one who appears in every episode.

Positive Content Status:

High quality; a consistently uplifting strong-women narrative, with all of the complexity and grit to make it real instead of just flimsy box-ticking (average rating of 3.08). 

General Season Quality:

Also high quality; sometimes I missed the simpler, more contained narratives of the first season, but the expansion of scope and implication was a natural development which this season embraces to the full, and that makes for a plot that barely pauses to catch its breath, and yet never becomes too overwrought to be believed.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) under the cut:

Gotta say, I think this show, more than any other, keeps me guessing as to what will come next at every turn. I mean, LOST was a wild ride chock-full of plot twists, but that was a very deliberate part of the show’s hook so it was never shocking that it was shocking, if you follow. Nikita is a different level; it doesn’t have a you’ll-never-guess-what-happens-next approach, it’s kinda like the show just rolls along, doing what it does, totally oblivious to the fact that its plot is moving at breakneck speed and never giving the audience long enough to try and navigate its trajectory in advance. I am very pleasantly surprised at how well they’ve made that work for them, though as you have all seen it still kinda throws me for a loop when I’m trying to offer some kind of episode-by-episode commentary. As I’ve said before, that really ain’t a bad thing.

Like any show, they have their missteps (Sean needs work; still not exactly sold on the Cassandra/Max stuff; Amanda gets less fun the more we learn about her), but by and large they’re recognising their strengths and playing to them. Most notable and wonderful being Maggie Q as their lead character, of course; the fact that the show is literally named after Nikita might make it seem obvious that she’d be treated to the most narrative attention and given the most meaty story to sink her teeth into, but in all honesty I was still surprised by how dedicated the show is to Nikita’s position at its centre. Considering she’s a woman - and not even a white one! - I would have been wholly un-surprised if they had served us a more ‘balanced’ narrative in which her co-stars had similarly-weighted personal arcs (as much as I bemoaned Alex’s B-plot status through much of this season, it was born primarily of a desire for Alex to be more directly linked to Nikita’s story and to the relationship they had shared in season one; certainly not any desire to see Nikita herself less centralised). I believe I’ve been rather transparent about how deeply I have fallen in love with Nikita as a character and with Maggie’s portrayal of her, and I remain frankly astonished at the nuance and complexity of the work being done there: Nikita is certainly not just a Strong Female Character cliche, and as sexy and badass as she is the story never allows either of those things to be considered defining traits. 

I’m gonna talk a bit about Nikita’s relationship with Michael this season, because in a show that changes drastically over the course of a handful of episodes (to say nothing of the cosmic shifts from one season to the next), that relationship stands out to me as having formed a backbone-consistency that both builds upon the existing structure from season one, and improves vastly upon it. Yeah, the thing with Cassandra and Max was kinda weird and convenient and - while it worked out better as a narrative decision than I expected - not one of their stronger moves this season, but Nikita handled the revelation like a champ and weathered the situation with Michael as a supportive partner; even though this represented a very real prospect for them going their separate ways, the personal connection underpinning the relationship remained strong and unalterable. In the first season, I was dubious; it seemed awful cliche for them to be attracted to one another, it made for some awkward machinations sometimes in order to keep them antagonistic-but-not-enemies despite being very literally expected to kill one another at the first opportunity, and in flashbacks to Nikita’s time as a recruit Michael’s interest in her sometimes had a vaguely predatory flavour. Once they got together, however, the show made a very wise decision - supported unwaveringly throughout season two - to make that connection the least-complicated part of their lives. Which is a breath of fresh air since unnecessary romance drama is a mainstay of television despite being THE WORST, and it also allows them to explore a very adult relationship for its strengths instead of its trials. These are pragmatic people, highly trained spysassins, and it would be unrealistic for them to become ‘soft’ in relationships, since that kind of emotional vulnerability is only good for getting everyone dead. But, by the same token, they’re still human and like any human they’ll find a way to explore their emotions within their context, and since they’re both in the same boat there’s no need for them to internalise everything until it manifests in unhealthy ways. Consequently, they navigate obstacles together, they see one another’s shortcomings and work with or around them rather than trying to ‘change’ one another, and they allow room for argument and conflict in the knowledge that surface tension is normal and does not imply a rotten foundation. In short (ha, from me?), the relationship is healthy. It’s the ‘two broken people’ cliche, but believable. Full of mess, no fairy tale or magic fix, just two people being good for each other. It’s a wonderful thing.

Contrast that with Alex’s arbitrary bland-good-guy love interests; Sean is above and beyond better than Nathan, but he’s still not doing a thing to subvert the cliche and give the impression that he has any real narrative function beyond ‘but we gotta give Alex a boyfriend! For, like, reasons!’. While I appreciate that that in itself is something of a subversion of the old ‘hot-chick-with-zero-personality’ love interest cliche for male characters, it’s still some rubbishy hetero nonsense; if the character has no function outside of forming a romantic or sexual relationship with one of your actually-functional characters, delete them. Stop pretending that not being single is of vital importance, as if fully-rounded and fulfilled single people don’t exist (also, entertainment media could do us a favour and stop acting like being single for more than a couple of months is CRAZY AND UNBEARABLE. When I was a kid I was under the firm impression that dating was like a full-time job from the age of sixteen onwards, with only about a month of holiday time accrued per year during which it was considered acceptable to be single. But anyway, I digress). I am also tired of female characters struggling to make it a single season of tv without having a guy thrown at them, as though there’s some fear of them not being relatable or interesting without a man around. Hence, also, part (but not all) of my reason for being displeased at the Amanda/Ari connect, as well as the implication of some unrequited interest from Amanda directed at Percy. It’s unnecessary and it undermines Amanda’s own lust for power by combining it with a sexual interest in powerful men and an irrationality associated with romantic competition or rejection (the suggestion that she only deposed Percy after he shattered her fantasy of partnership with him; her instantaneous hatred of Carla culminating in a literal kill order). The idea that she’s secretly been with Ari for 10+ years doesn’t seem to gel with anything else and comes across more as the writers just trying to be shocking (and as I noted at the beginning of this, one of their strengths is in being nonchalant about their twists), and even if Amanda ends up turning on him as soon as he’s no longer useful to her the whole thing kinda stinks of the implication that her desire for power itself is undercut by willingness to share it or even just play second fiddle to a man; in effect, that she’s trying to ‘marry in’ to positions of power by attaching herself to already-powerful men, and that is desperately at odds with the idea that a person of her talents and ruthlessness would be hell-bent on being Head Bitch in Charge in the first place. There was no need to even mention her being interested in Percy, nor does she need to be literally in bed with Ari (for the last decade!) in order for them to be figuratively in bed as business partners. No one suggests that Ari or Percy or any other powerful male in the narrative needs to have a sexual stake in the matter in order to form an allegiance with a potential rival. I’m jus’ sayin’. Hope they resolve their Amanda issues next season instead of making them worse.

...seriously though, name me another tv show that is 1) more than five years old, and 2) has a non-white female lead character - not a co-lead, an actual singular Main Character who is neither white nor male. There are few enough I’m aware of in recent shows, but back when Nikita started, or before that? I got nothing. Please share if you think of one.

[paulbenedictblog]

%news%

New Post has been published on %http://paulbenedictsgeneralstore.com%

Fox news Panthers, Bucs ignite unpredictable QB carousel - NFL.com

Fox news

INDIANAPOLIS -- Jameis Winston is no longer the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' No. 1 option at quarterback for 2020. Cam Newton is terribly likely essentially the most easy option for the Carolina Panthers, and head coach Matt Rhule knows it.

These were two of the enormous takeaways from a frantic Tuesday of press conferences at the NFL Scouting Combine, which equipped essentially the most easy indication but about how the quarterback carousel will dash in the impending weeks. NFL organizations don't demonstrate all their playing cards in public, nonetheless it be pretty obvious which groups were searching ahead to continuity and which groups were originate for picks.

The Panthers files was once the greatest surprise. NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday ahead of Rhule spoke that the Panthers were intent on transferring ahead with Newton as their starter. Effectively being and timing would possibly additionally very well be two big elements why, besides to to Newton's high-shelf talent. Rapoport reported it will additionally very well be months until Newton's foot is sport-ready, which would complicate or stall any alternate market for him. After taking note of Rhule keep in touch, nonetheless, it was once obvious that he evaluated Newton's prior play and was once "unbelievably inflamed" to peep him in his offense.

"I fully want Cam right here. There is without a doubt about that," Rhule acknowledged Tuesday.

These are without issues the strongest comments all offseason from the Panthers group about Newton's sad future. Even though right here's a rebuilding Twelve months for the crew, the mix of Newton's well being, contract, talent and the likely lack of alternate alternate choices makes this a easy resolution. Rhule would possibly maybe nonetheless draft a quarterback to manufacture alongside Newton, then assessment what he desires to accept as true with after 2020. There is itsy-bitsy or no likelihood the Panthers would possibly maybe fetch a extra productive quarterback in free agency or a extra proficient quarterback in the draft.

A month prior to now, the Panthers appeared extra at chance of fetch a quarterback swap than their division opponents in Tampa. After Tuesday, that is clearly no longer the case.

"As a head coach it be a must to come to a resolution 'Is there the next option?' " Bucs coach Bruce Arians acknowledged Tuesday about Winston. "I truly do no longer know who's accessible. [GM Jason] Licht can talk to agents now, so we will fetch out with any luck in 36 or 48 hours."

This quote well encapsulates this DGAF piece of Arians' profession. No longer simplest is he overtly admitting that tampering is on the menu in Indianapolis alongside pricey steaks and minute cocktails, he's additionally entirely happy to point out you which of them quarterbacks he'd rob over his quarterback. Arians was once asked who he'd fetch up the cell phone for.

"Tom Brady. Philip (Rivers) is but any other guy. We'll peep," Arians acknowledged.

It be nonetheless probably that Winston finally ends up back in Tampa with the transition tag and even a two-Twelve months contract, nonetheless Jameis sounds fancy a fallback belief. Arians called Winston an "unknown amount" after 5 years in the league and bemoaned his sloppy December. It be worth wondering if this chatter motivates Winston to hunch in numerous locations, it is no longer forever really indispensable what the Bucs' passion level is.

If Jameis does pass on, one probably touchdown declare would possibly additionally very well be Las Vegas. Raiders fashioned manager Mike Mayock did an even searching job extolling Derek Carr's virtues Tuesday by announcing he ran Jon Gruden's offense "at a high level," while additionally noting they are originate to upgrading each and each set including quarterback. The Chiefs are no longer originate to upgrading quarterback. Neither are the Texans, Cowboys and even Payments. Mayock and Gruden -- who noticeably didn't keep in touch Tuesday -- were far extra definitive about Carr's function as their franchise quarterback a Twelve months prior to now in Indianapolis. I couldn't assist nonetheless peek Mayock declare that pocket presence is one in every of the greatest traits he looks for in a quarterback, and he's undecided if that is a skill you might maybe be taught. That is no longer one in every of Carr's defining traits.

The Titans, fancy the Raiders, are searching at this quarterback market closely without making too stable a dedication to their incumbent starter. Titans GM Jon Robinson acknowledged "we will peep the design in which it goes" with free agent Ryan Tannehill, while coach Mike Vrabel was once entirely happy to keep in touch about his weak buddy Tom Brady. This is in a position to maybe all be posturing for negotiations with Tannehill, nonetheless Vrabel doesn't seem fancy a guy who feels its principal to posture. He was once entirely happy to praise and fetch jokes about his relationship with Brady without ruling out pursuing him. It really does seem that half of a dozen NFL groups are horny in a high-stakes sport of rooster, ready to peep who moves first.

The Broncos, nonetheless, are sitting this one out. Govt John Elway acknowledged he would were occupied with free agents fancy Brady and Rivers in old years, nonetheless 2020 is various thanks to Drew Lock.

"We fetch he can accept as true with it for a prolonged time. Drew is our belief," Elway acknowledged.

Mitchell Trubisky stays the belief in Chicago, too. Given two months to mosey back statements about Trubisky as Chicago's Week 1 starter, GM Ryan Perambulate doubled down on the thought. Coach Matt Nagy intimated there would possibly additionally very well be opponents at the set with a high quality backup, nonetheless Perambulate clearly isn't forever really ready to accept the possibility that his alternate up for Trubisky would possibly maybe elaborate this technology of Bears football.

In fairness to Perambulate, Nagy and each person else who spoke Tuesday, resolution makers are set in a tense declare in Naptown. They don't even know the foundations they'll be running below with the collective bargaining agreement striking in the balance, and so they're factual weeks far off from enacting their offseason visions. They want to fetch files in March, no longer at the podium in February. That's the reason so many coaches and resolution makers maybe envy Invoice Belichick's method to the media at the combine. He doesn't keep in touch in any appreciate.

With all that quarterback enjoyable out of the technique, right here were my other takeaways from Tuesday's press conferences.

1) Franchise tag season is upon us. Elway confirmed that safety Justin Simmons will fetch the tag if the Broncos can't come to a prolonged-duration of time agreement. Bengals coach Zac Taylor acknowledged he was once "very confident" that A.J. Green would possibly maybe be on the crew, which implies that Green is at chance of fetch tagged, too. Chiefs GM Brett Veach made it certain defensive lineman Chris Jones isn't forever really going wherever, so he's at chance of fetch tagged. Pass rusher Matthew Judon will hang to defend set in Baltimore with GM Eric DeCosta optimistic they are going to stamp him to a prolonged-duration of time deal. At worst, Judon is at chance of be tagged. At last, Chargers GM Tom Telesco mentioned the tag as an option for tight terminate Hunter Henry, which is continually a stamp that is exactly how this would hunch down.

2) Taylor received giant files when LSU quarterback Joe Burrow made it certain he's no longer going to tug a vitality play if selected No. 1 total by the Bengals.

"Yeah, I'm no longer gonna no longer play," Burrow acknowledged with the nonchalance of a 23-Twelve months-weak who knows he's extremely factual at what he does and is ready to be rewarded handsomely for it.

3) Jets fashioned manager Joe Douglas did his simplest to tamp down any alternate speculation about safety Jamal Adams, expressing some self assurance they'll fetch Adams a "Jet for lifestyles."

4) Three of football's simplest left tackles can be back subsequent season, ending speculation about retirement. Niners fashioned manager John Lynch acknowledged Joe Staley can be back. The Rams indicated they are terminate to a deal to bring Andrew Whitworth back, and Colts GM Chris Ballard acknowledged that Anthony Castonzo indicated he'll play in 2020. In Castonzo's case, the Colts nonetheless must determine a contract for what would possibly maybe be one in every of the tip tackles on the market.

5) When I asked Giants fashioned manager Dave Gettleman if he expected left take care of Nate Solder to be on his roster subsequent Twelve months, he equipped the verbal equivalent of "humina humina." That is one to peek. Within the meantime, Giants coach Joe Snatch refused to individually title a single participant on his roster so to permit them to know they all hang a orderly slate with him. Even Daniel Jones. Snatch then spent most of his time with the media explaining this protection.

6) Being attentive to Rams fashioned manager Les Snead, it sounded fancy linebacker Cory Littleton is L.A.'s greatest free-agent precedence. Defensive lineman Michael Brockers would possibly additionally very well be the bizarre man out in free agency and edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. can be viewed as less integral to defend than Littleton.

7) Jaguars fashioned manager Dave Caldwell's comments on Gardner Minshew were valuable. Whereas Caldwell made a pair of cursory certain statements about Prick Foles, Caldwell acknowledged Minshew was once the form of quarterback Jacksonville would possibly maybe "fetch round." Caldwell well-known that Minshew's stats were better than those of any other rookie (fancy Kyler Murray or Daniel Jones, even supposing this rob is up for debate) and that the Jags want a quarterback who can fetch plays off-script. That is no longer Foles' strength. I produce no longer blame the Jaguars for being desirous about Minshew, nonetheless Foles' contract is outwardly unmovable. That makes Caldwell's lifestyles sophisticated in the impending weeks.

8) Caldwell didn't guarantee that Walter Payton Man of the Twelve months Calais Campbell would possibly maybe be back with the crew, indicating that it would possibly probably maybe depend upon how but any other moves play out this offseason.

9) After a pair of years of collecting as noteworthy vitality as probably in Houston, Texans coach/GM Invoice O'Brien is delegating one responsibility: Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly will call plays subsequent season.

10) Falcons fashioned manager Thomas Dimitroff introduced that tight terminate Austin Hooper and linebacker De'Vondre Campbell will hit free agency without unique contracts from the crew, likely that technique they are headed in numerous locations. Hooper is decided to strike it rich, especially if Hunter Henry is kept off the market.

11) After a pair of years of leaping by salary cap hoops to defend his crew together, Eagles fashioned manager Howie Roseman has extra flexibility this offseason. I stumbled on it piquant that he acknowledged he views this season because the originate of a three-Twelve months building direction of in phrases of their roster. Most GMs are alarmed about this Twelve months, whereas Roseman shows the work in phrases of prolonged-range planning. He acknowledged he's no longer taking a peek to supply protection to compensatory picks; he's taking a peek so to add talent. (In other words: Leer big headlines out of Philly this offseason.)

That is it for Tuesday. Tune back on Wednesday to peep which unique quarterbacks are nonetheless buying for esteem.

Apply Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.

[thesportssoundoff]

“A Very Good Card In A Very Divisive World” UFC 209 Preview

Joey

Feb 27th, 2017

Well well! It's time to do one of these deals, eh? Time and general malaise on MMA has prevented me from really writing one of these out but it's well overdue now. The UFC returns to Las Vegas and it's got a really, really solid showcase for us with a really good PPV card, a decent prelim slot and some great FP prelims to occupy our time on a Saturday night. I'll be going from combine footage to UFC 209 on a string so I'll be all sport'd up. The main card is anchored by two tremendous fights for championships. Sorta. The main event is a rematch of a FOTYC for 2016 when Tyron Woodley defends his championship vs Stephen Thompson. The co-main event is the fight of the year for me thus far as undefeated Russian lightweight phenom Khabib Nurmagomedov takes on the real funkmaster of the UFC in Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight championship. If Conor McGregor is bullshitting us, again, then it might as well be the real championship. The main card features a wealth of veterans and "names" like Rashad Evans, Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem. OH! and Lando Vannata is back fighting a scary powerful stand up specialist in David Teymur. That fight's going to be fucking cool. There's a few heavyweight scraps on the FS1 slate plus Mirsad Bektic is back! Anyways let's get our numbers right real quick:

Fights: 12

Debuts: 3 (Daniel Spitz, Cynthia Calvillo, Andre Soukhamathath)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 3 (Todd Duffee out, Daniel Spitz in/Igor Pokrajac out, Gadzhimurad Antigulov in/Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs Ed Herman cancelled)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 7 (Tony Ferguson, Wonderboy, Tyron Woodley, Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Rashad Evans and Lando Vannata)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 2 (Albert Morales and Rashad Evans)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 8 (Khabib Nurmagomedov, Tony Ferguson, Dan Kelly, David Teymur, Mirsad Bektic, Darren Elkins, Luis Henrique and Luke Sanders)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 6-4)- Daniel Spitz, Cynthia Cavillo, Andre Soukhamthath

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 5-6)- Daniel Spitz

Second Fight (Current number: 3-8)- Mark Godbeer, Luke Sanders (Tyson Pedro and Paul Craig also but they're fighting so who knows)

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- I suppose we need to address the elephant in the room, primarily on ticket sales being poor thus far. Now we've been here before; ticket sales don't equal PPV sales so who knows what this event will do with the main revenue getter. NOW having said that, I'm reminded of Jim Cornette's "venue that needed a show, not a show that needed a venue" line about Royal Rumble 1997. Vegas is a finicky market and we've seen big shows struggle to sell tickets there (UFC 182 and 183 struggled to move tickets) and if you don't have a BIG main event, you're sort of going to lose going there. They booked a venue needing a show and while UFC 209 is an amazing card, it''s not a "Vegas" card. Now where would this show do better numbers? With New York and Texas out of the equation, you're kind of stuck finding the right sort of venue for two big title fights. Wonderboy is from South Carolina and Woodley is from Missouri so maybe something southern-y would work although you leave out Tony and Khabib as well. I wonder if Florida would've been a good fit for a PPV or even maybe making a return to Atlanta. Whatever the case, ticket sales either will or they won't fix themselves.

2- This main card really does have something for everybody. Wonderboy/Woodey 1 was really great and heavy on drama, the trashtalk between Khabib and Tony Ferugson has only amplified that this is a great fucking fight for a title that may or may not exist nor matter, Overeem/Hunt and Teymur/Vannata are for those of you who love striking and if granddads fighting is your game then Rashad Evans/Dan Kelly should be all the rage. The prelims have some fantastical fights with divisional relevance too, namely Darren Elkins vs Mirsad Bektic at 145 lbs and Marcin Tybura vs Luiz Henrique.

3- So the main event is hard to predict because rematches more often than not don't follow the tone of their predecessors. The first fight between Woodley/Thompson was almost all striking outside of the Woodley dominant rounds (1 and 4) where he found a way to get the fight to the ground. The first round was off a caught kick and the fourth was off an insanely tight looking guillo that Thompson somehow survived. The rest of the fight was a Tyron Woodley fight with bits of a Wonderboy Thompson fight mixed in. Woodley lived against the fence, picking his moments for big power shots while Thompson was happy to point box and take advantage of Woodley's lulls. So what can change in the rematch? I suppose Woodley can try for more takedowns and Wonderboy can try to kick more. Otherwise the fight will look the same, the question being whether we'll get more rounds like 1 and 4 or more rounds like 2, 3 and 5. I 'unno.

4- Fair to say Thompson vs GSP would never happen but what about Woodley vs GSP? If money is the goal (and it is), I wonder if Nick OR Nate get a call from Dana about fighting the winner.

5- The Khabib vs Tony Ferg fight is SUCH a tough one to call. Both are really great wrestlers in unconventional ways. It's hard to imagine a single fighter as strong as Khabib at 155 lbs who can wrestle the way he does and at the pace he does. Tony Ferguson's wrestling is slippery, unorthodox and his submission game may be the best Khabib has faced. Ferguson was taken down at will vs Danny Castillo but that may have been primarily due to his desire to try and work for submissions. That's not going to work vs Khabib who if he takes Ferguson down will probably notlet him up. In Ferguson's favor, he's fought at altitude for five rounds before with zero let up and Khabib's striking is subpar at best even if he packs serious power. This fight is going to be awesome.

6- LET'S SAY for the sake of argument McGregor ducks the winner of this fight between Tony and Khabib. Who is next? Edson Barboza if he beats Beneil Dariush?  Poirier/Alvarez winner? God don't tell me Michael Chiesa!

7- Will Mark Hunt get a live mic if he wins? I'm betting he doesn't.

8- Are we all  overlooking David Teymur? Sweden is kind of a big market for MMA and Teymur, a kickboxer who has taken to MMA very quickly, is super powerful in his hands and feet and won't be at a serious athleticism disadvantage vs Lando. What's more, he went through TUF which exposed him to a wide variety of fighters and styles. I'm not sure if Teymur wins but given how Lando is quickly on the path to superstardom, it feels like its the UFC's luck for him to drop the ball.

9- How did Rashad Evans get cleared? Will he even make weight for this fight?

10- Nice to see Luke Sanders back. For those who  forgot, Sanders stepped up on like two weeks notice to submit Maximo Blanco in a round. Then he disappeared! He pulled a ghost to steal a phrase. Sanders is a really strong talented sturdy bantamweight but Iuri Alcantara only loses to the elites of the world (even Frankie Saenz is pretty stout) so this is a fine test for Luke.

11- We bemoan the lack of genuine 205ers but the UFC's giving us two really good young fighters in Tyson Pedro and Paul Craig. Both are under 30, coming off big wins and in the case of Pedro, they may be a lot of upside in that package. I'm excited to see that fight and IMO it's main card worthy.

12- If I told you Darren Elkins has had 16 UFC fights and he just finished 1 of those fights, would you be surprised?

Must Wins:

1- Tyron Woodley.

Well duh. Remove the title fight aspect from it and Woodley's STILL got the most pressure on him. Woodley is a guy who talks a lot about social justice and trying to do the right thing in a rather muddled MMA  scene and social climate. His words will have power regardless of whether he's champion or not. For Woodley though, his social impact and his big money fights can only come through with a win in a main event.

2- Tony Ferguson

"El Cucuy" doesn't have an in to the road to UFC stardom. He doesn't have a big Russian fanbase that can be mobilized to try and garner support. He isn't from some big city where the UFC can go and run shows based around him. He's not a talker either. Tony's just a tremendous fighter who puts on top notch performances and finishes fights. That has never meant less than it does now. Ferguson beating Khabib, given the legend of Nurmagomedov and his standing in the company, would basically catapult him into superstardom. If such a concept exists.

3- Rashad Evans

The UFC did Rashad a solid by giving him a fighter who for the most part isn't going to trouble him a whole bunch. While BJ Penn got Yair and Arlovski got Ngannou, the UFC is giving Rashad a very good wrestler/judoka with okay-ish power and okay-ish submission skills. It's Rashad's first fight at 185 lbs and it's a sensible test to see what he still offers to the company and what he offers at a new weight class.

Five Underlying Themes:

1- How they dance around the rather obvious concern that Conor McGregor might not even defend his 155 lb title while promoting an interim title.

2- If the three man booth, Anik, DC and Rogan, can improve from a decent debut. Primarily whether or not Rogan and DC improve their chemistry.

3- Will the UFC suffer its second decision heavy PPV in a row?

4- Is Lando Vannata still on his way up the rankings as a star?

5- The continued remaking of the HW division with three fights including a really good one as the prelim headliner.

Predicting (Bonus) Winners!

Current record: 12-12 (Missed on: Houston card, UFC 208, the Canada card. Went 4-8 on the last show I did, UFC on Fox)

Tyron Woodley Tony Ferguson Rashad Evans Lando Vannata Mark Hunt Marcin Tybura Mirsad Bektic Iuri Alcantara Mark Godbeer Paul Craig Amanda Cooper Albert Morales