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dawnwave16 · 5 years ago

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A Magical Friendship

Let’s see who still reads my stories... As some may have noticed there are only 2 chapters of ‘Gamer Girl’ posted here on tumblr despite it actually being 5 chapters long. If you want them, they are up on AO3 but I got tired of ZERO feedback here so I stopped posting. If you like my work feel free to read everything there, depending if this story receives any feedback I might consider continuing to post my stuff here...

Rant over on with the story.

[Lily was 16 Hotch was 17 at a summer camp. This means I've changed the year that Hotch was born to 1963 and Lily's to 1964. She would have hidden her pregnancy with her robes and James would have helped her by saying that the child was his when she gave birth in the hospital wing.] The case should have been a simple one. Sure it was on a par with some of the worst they had ever worked what with the fact that the unsub was raping and torturing his victims before dismembering them while they were alive but with that level of planning and execution, it should have been easy to get the unsub to slip up. It hadn't been. The unsub had left no DNA for them, the cuts lacked tool marks and the bodies were too clean considering everything that had been done to them. They hadn't even been able to tell what had been used to clean them before they were dumped. It was beginning to look like the case was going to go cold. Reid was staring at the board they had been using for an hour when Morgan walked in and put a cup of green tea next to him. “What do you see, Pretty Boy?” “Something I'm not sure how to react to,” Reid replied softly his eyes yet to move from the board. “Explain,” Hotch said bluntly, having walked in behind Morgan. “All the victims fit the same profile. Petit, well off, successful women that are all unbelievably well-liked due to their kind and giving nature. Our unsub is somehow changing the victim's natural hair colour to black and their eyes to the same shade of malachite green, leaving no evidence as to how.” “We know all of this Reid. While we don't like it and find it unnerving, you seem to be taking that harder than the rest of us. The question is why?” Rossi cut in. “Simple, they are all being made to look like one person and unless they somehow have a twin, the only place they could have met her was in the UK. I know that everyone is said to have a physical twin somewhere in the world but given what these victims are going through, that seems unlikely to be the case here.” “Pretty Boy are you telling me you know who the unsub is trying to make their victims look like?” Morgan asked in disbelief. “Yes. And if my suspicions are correct, she is the only one who will be able to help us catch this person. The only problem is...” Reid trailed off. “Is what?” JJ queried. “No, not now. It won't impact on the case and in all honestly, I don't have any proof as to if what I suspect is true.” Reid said shaking his head before pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialling a number. “Hey, sorry did I wake you? Really? It's 08:30 AM so it should be 04:00 AM in London, did you have to wake up early for a meeting? Oh, wait so where are you? Alright then, um, can you do me a huge favour and come to the police station then? It's really important. Great see you in 5 minutes then!” Reid hung up the phone and looked at it in amazement. “What are the odds?” He murmured. “What are the odds of what?” Hotch practically demanded. “The person that I said all our victims resemble and that I suspect may be able to help us? She's here, in Salem, as a guest lecturer for something.” Reid said still looking amazed. This startled the team. Hotch was about to start asking Reid more questions when there was a knock on the door and he turned to see a pixie-like woman. She had long black hair tied neatly in a braid down her back which drew attention to her high cheekbones and pale pink, cupids bow lips. Her malachite green eyes were frames by thick lashes and a pair of black-rimmed butterfly glasses seemed to make her eyes even larger. She was dressed casually as she was wearing a pair of stonewashed blue jeans that she had paired with a slightly oversized red shirt printed with a gold lion and a pair of sneakers. She was also wearing a black double-breasted coat but it was hanging open. Morgan's jaw dropped as he looked her over a few times as if trying to confirm what he was seeing. Reid had looked up at the knock and smiled when he saw her. “Will! Hey, thanks for coming at such short notice. Guys, this is Willow Potter, we've been friends since we were children,” He said as he stood to greet her properly. “Penn, good to see you. It's been too long.” Her voice was soft yet it carried a hint of steal that let them know she was stronger than she looked. “So, not to be rude but what's up? You didn't say what was wrong on the phone and while I was trying to organise some time off to visit, you wouldn't have asked me to come here unless something had gone seriously wrong.” She smiled sadly as she spoke which helped to keep the tone light despite its severity. “The case we are working on has us baffled but what was of concern to me was how much the victims look like you. Take a look,” he said waving a hand towards the board. The details each of the women's deaths weren't written up but the team was worried about how she would react. She was quiet for a moment as she frowned at the board. “I don't know much about the case but I can see why Penn was worried, they do look a lot like me. Are there any details you can share without compromising your case?” Her voice was flat and gave nothing away which made Reid smile slightly. However, it was Hotch who answered her question. “They were all raped and tortured before being dismembered while they were still alive, then dumped in high profile areas. The problem is the unsub is leaving absolutely no forensic evidence and we have no way of tracking who could be next due to the changes he makes to his victims.” His voice was clinical as he spoke almost as though he was trying to shock her. “Any symbols left behind from where ever the women were taken from or even somewhere on their homes?” Willow asked calmly as she processed what had been said. Reid's head snapped towards her. “You think they might be part of Riddle's group?” He asked with a voice laced with worry. “The MO is identical to three members of his old group, so yes. I may be a teacher these days but I had way too much exposure to those sadists to be able to forget that type of thing,” Was her only reply as Morgan placed a video call to Garcia and Hotch called an officer over to ask him the same question. “What type of symbol are we talking about here? And why is it important?” Hotch demanded as the officer went to double-check. “Potentially, yes it is. If your unsub is who I'm thinking it is, your case just got a lot bigger than it already is. The symbol would be a skull with a snake coming out of its mouth.” Weirdly enough the description of the symbol seemed to come in distorted stereo as Willow and Garcia spoke at the same time. Willow's eyes closed as if she was in pain as she heard Garcia's words. “It was found at each of the victims' houses, burned into the door frame.” Garcia continued before looking at Willow, “Oh, um, hi. Sorry, I didn't expect anyone except my team to be there, I'm Penelope Garcia,” Garcia said slightly flustered. “It's alright, unfortunately, your case just got a whole lot worse and more complicated, though,” Willow said with a sigh. “Riddle's group?” Reid asked sadly. “Riddle's group,” Willow confirmed. “Would someone please explain what the significance of 'Riddle's group' is?” Hotch demanded. Willow and Reid exchanged a look before Willow looked at Hotch calmly. “As much as I want to explain it's the significance, I am bound by law to only be able to give you a highly summarised version until I know what everyone is cleared to know. I know Reid has the correct clearance for this, however that has nothing to do with his FBI clearance and more to do with the fact that he has been my voice of sanity since I was ten.” The team stared at Willow even as Reid watched her calmly. He could see the exact moment she came up with a plan and started smiling as a glint that normally spelt trouble for the one on the receiving end appeared in her eyes. “Hey, Garcia?” “Yeah?” “Try inputting Tom Marvelo Riddle, 1981 and Potter. It will throw up an alert that that is restricted information. It will also bring an agent to your office, which means I need to be clearly visible in your video call screen.” “Um, ok but” “The higher up's will block my requests to get the team read in. By them seeing me sitting with everyone here it'll force them to read every one in. If only to give me the chewing out that they'll want to give me.” Willow had a cheeky smirk as she said the last bit. “I hate when politics get in the way of getting a case solved and I'm not afraid of getting into trouble to get my way.” The team stared at her but Garcia did as Willow had suggested only to jump as her door was thrown open. The agent froze when he saw Willow smirking on the video screen. “Potter!” The agent growled. “You going to stonewall me or am I going to be allowed to get these guys read in so that we can get more killers off the streets? At the rate, you lot generally fuck around before you make a decision you are going to have another crisis on your hands that will make Newt's Mess look like a stroll in the park.” Willow had crossed her arms and was speaking to the agent calmly, however, the team could see the clear challenge in her eyes. “I will be reading in Agent Hotchner regardless of your decision just so you know if only so he knows why his team isn't going to be able to do the final takedown.” “What is it with you Brits thinking that you can do this type of thing?” The agent said throwing his hands up in the air. “Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that I have experience with chasing DE's and those associated with them? The fact that I took out their leader? Or maybe it is the fact that you are so concerned with possible outcomes that you can't see the forest for the trees? How many cases does this team solve per year? And how many cases do you lot get that sit stagnant on your desk that would

benefit from their expertise but don't get it because they are not read in? With all due respect, I'd recommend sorting out your priorities and realise that you could save more lives by asking for the help that you obviously need.” Willow stared at the agent until he suddenly threw his hands in the air. “On your head be it, Potter! But it's you that will be going before Lopez to defend your actions here. Don't forget to get them to sign the forms.” The agent turned on his heel then staked out the room slamming the door behind him. “That went well,” Willow said with a sigh of relief, flopping back into a chair her eyes closed as the unseen tension drained out of her. The team looked at her with a touch of confusion while Reid put his hand on her shoulder, silently asking if she was alright. “I'm ok, Penn,” she said quietly as Garcia let out a yelp as information suddenly became available to her. “Am I reading this correctly?” Garcia asked bemusedly, “Because if I am then I have to wonder how all of this stays hidden so well and how.” Reid motioned for everyone to take a seat while he closed the door and made the room as secure as he could. Willow cast a couple of discrete spells without taking out her wand and when Reid sat down next to her, the two of them tag-teamed with each other to get the team up to speed about the existence of magic. To say that their reactions would have been comical under any other circumstance was an understatement. “I'm sorry, we've seen a whole lot of weird things due to cases over the last few years but I just can't accept that magic is real with no proof.” Morgan spluttered. “That's fair. I didn't think magic was real either until I met Willow. Seriously, we didn't even know what it was until she was elven. All we knew was that if she didn't want us to be found, we weren't. If she didn't want food to go off or lose temperature or melt, it stayed the way it was.” Reid said with a smile as he remembered everything that had happened that summer. “Am I the only one that's confused as to how you two met?” Rossi said suddenly from where he was sitting. “We met and became friends when I helped her hide from her bully of a cousin while her family was in Las Vegas on a business trip for her uncle back when I was nine,” Reid explained calmly as Willow looked over his copy of the case files to get herself up to speed. “Willow had just turned 10 at the time and her Uncle's boss had insisted that she joined the family to give a better impression. We kept in touch after Willow had to return to the UK through letters and later through the odd phonecall whenever Willow could sneak one in. Oh, sure it had been difficult as neither of us had had much money so paying for our letters to be posted to each other but we made do. We had a small problem when she went to Hogwarts and we had to figure out how to get the letters to each other without the normal mail systems. In a fit of desperation, Willow eventually wrote to Gringotts and they recommended we get communication boxes. Willow ordered a pair through them and soon after that, we had each had a beautifully decorated wooden box inlaid with mother of pearl that had been enchanted to send whatever was placed in them to the matching box. It saves on postage and considering how much we wrote to each other that was probably a good thing.” The team smiled at Reid as he got lost in his memories. It was clear to them that there was something more between these two but they didn't know if the two of them had explored it yet so they stayed silent. “Before we continue with this case, can I just say that those details you asked me to look up are just tragic,” Garcia said suddenly. “I'm sorry about that Garcia. Getting you to try to pull the file regarding my parents' murder and the murder attempt on myself was the easiest way I could think of to get people to respond. Most people know I remember the night and more importantly, they know that I remember my mother's screams and my stepdad yelling for her to get away... Anyway, it's because of my views on it that it would automatically be flagged if someone searches for it.” Willow explained with an apologetic smile while the team, other than Reid, looked at her with a mix of sympathy and horror. “Wait, stepfather? I thought he was your father.” Reid said suddenly. “I did too until I read my mother's diary a week ago,” Willow quickly fished it out and handed said diary to him, “It turns out James was my stepfather and that he blood adopted me when I was born. Mom fell pregnant to a guy here in the States when she was 15 but managed to delay her pregnancy with a potion. She got hit with a spell that cancelled out that potion at some stage and after that, she hid it with baggy clothes and robes until she gave birth to me. She didn't give many details about who he could be though.” “She gave one that you would have missed but that gives my suspicion a bit more credence. She gives his first name and the name of the camp she was at when she fell pregnant.” Reid said quietly as he looked through it quickly. “Reid?” “Pretty Boy?” “Hotch, it's the same camp as the one you were telling us about the other day and...” Reid trailed off. “And?” Hotch prompted. “And your first name. She's written that she didn't get your surname and that her parents told her about three months worth of letters that they received and put aside for her but that her sister destroyed out of spite. It was what lead to their final fallout with each other and why she never wrote back, she didn't have an address to post them to.” Reid said looking at Hotch who was staring at both Reid and Willow in shock. “Apparently her parents had sent both of them to the camp as a last-ditch effort to reconcile their relationship. Both girls attended the camp under a false name and Lily wore contacts to hide her unusual eye colour. Either way, you'll need to do a paternity test to confirm all this,�� He added. “As nice as it would be to find out my birth father is alive and that it's possible for me to get to know him, we have a case that needs to be solved first. We are both still alive and I think I've proven I'm really hard to kill so the case takes priority right now,” Willow said with a wry smile which seemed to make the team realise that they had gone seriously off-topic. With all the paperwork sorted for them knowing about magic, it was relatively simple for them to piece together why there was no normal forensic evidence. A quick test from the MME (Magical Medical Examiner) told them which spells were used on each of the women, which also gave them the biggest clue as to who the unsub was. “Well other than a rather violent severing charm being used to dismember each of your victims there is significant evidence of the Cruciatus Curse, mild use of the blood boiling hex and the last spell used on each of the victims before they were killed was the mutilation hex. Magic signature detection spells have shown two unique yet similar signatures leading me to believe that your killers are siblings. Oh and because this was done with a spell, a normal coroner would have missed it but each victim had the dark mark on the underside of their patella, placed their post mortem.” The MME's voice was forcibly detached from what he was describing which told Willow just how bad each victim was. With a quick word of thanks to the MME, she made her way back to the team to give them the details. As she walked she went over different ways to track down the Lestrange brothers, muttering as she went which earned her several side-eyed looks for the local LEO's. After walking into the room and giving them all the details she knew a plan was quickly hatched and just as quickly put into place. Neither Reid nor Hotch was too happy about the plan but they agreed that it was the best they could come up with. Willow would play as the bait and several American Aurors would be her back up. This kept the BAU away from the scene and safely away from any spellfire but it also meant that they were essentially handing the case over to the people who were best equipped to handle it. Their part was done and the best part was they would have drastically less paperwork to do then they normally would. That didn't stop any of them from worrying about Willow though so their Auror contact decided to have a bit of a QnA session with them. It didn't take long for the team to ask about potions and it here that the Auror slipped up slightly. Hotch asked if wizarding kind had a way of working out who a sample of blood belonged to which lead to a discussion about heritage potions and how they worked in general as well as if they were affected by blood adoptions. Since the Auror didn't know all the circumstances he had readily answered the question and offered to show them how they worked. A quick look at Reid had him sighing and reaching into his wallet and bringing out what looked to be a letter faded from age. What scared them was the amount of what looked like blood that was staining the page. Reid refused to acknowledge the questioning glances as he asked the Auror how much blood was needed. Seeing the letter and guessing it was important to the man holding it, he admitted that they only needed a tiny piece if they were just trying to identify the person the blood belonged to and the next of kin. Reid handed the Auror the letter and with a quick spell, a small piece was removed without touching the contents of the letter. With the bloody paper added to the potion, he proceeded to drop a fountain pen into the pot he had used since it looked less suspicious. Once the potion had vanished due to the pen absorbing it the Auror was quick to place it on a clean sheet of paper and the BAU team watched in amazement as Willow's name appeared in a neat print quickly followed by

the names Lily Evens (Potter) and Aaron Hotchner. The name James Potter also appeared but with a line next to it that said it was a blood adoption. Everyone in the room stared at the results. Reid ran a hand over his face knowing he would now have to deal with an overprotective Hotch if he ever wanted to act on his feelings. Hotch, on the other hand, was wondering how he was going to get to know his adult daughter and what he should be doing to help her. The rest of the team were just as unsure of what they should be doing. After a further three hours of debates about magic that had followed the awkward silence brought about by the announcement of Willow's paternity, the door finally opened. It was Willow much to their relief however Spencer was quick to notice that she had changed into a button-down blouse and that there was a bandage peeking out from under the collar. “Are you ok?” He blurted out without thinking. “Yeah, I'm going to be on a potions regimen for the next month at least but I'm ok. It seems Dolenhov was with them and he decided to use his speciality curse against me. I dodged the worst of it by creating a marble sheet in front of me but I didn't make it big enough so the edge of the curse caught my shoulder.” Willow reassured him with a soft smile. She walked in and sat down on one of the free chairs tilting her head back and closed her eyes. “I think I'm a little out of practice with my dodging,” her wry comment made Spencer shake his head at her. “I think you've done more than enough of that type of thing in your life to have earned your retirement into being just a teacher, Will,” Spencer said just as wryly. “Besides it's been how long since you stepped down from being an Auror? Cut yourself some slack Will.” “You were an Auror? What made you decide to become one and why the drastic career change?” Hotch asked quietly. Willow looked at him in confusion until Reid handed her the paper from earlier with the heritage potion results on it. Her expression cleared up as she read it even as she sighed. “To understand that you need a fuller picture of what I've lived through. That is a very long story though and I know that this room will be needed by the police here so would it be possible to move this discussion to my suite at the hotel? I promise it's large enough for everyone to be able to sit comfortably.” Willow's voice was soft as she spoke, the edge of sadness making it apparent to the team that she didn't want to talk about her life and that she was giving herself the time to prepare herself to do just that. They made their way back to the hotel that Willow was staying at and were soon settled on the couches comfortably. Willow had brought a stone bowl out from the bedroom area of the suite and had set it on the coffee table. She had explained what it was and how it worked as well as the fact that this one had a projection function so they wouldn't have to touch anything in order to see what she needed to show them. She used a fairly happy memory from her visit to Vegas to show them how it worked and Spencer had blushed a bright shade of scarlet at the teams cooing over how cute he was when he was young. Soon enough though everyone was wishing for something stronger than coffee as they listened and watched some of the important parts of Willow's life. They soon understood why she had felt like she had no choice but to be an Auror and were even more grateful that she had stayed in contact with Spencer as he had been the one to act as her sounding board when she had faced the choice of retiring from the force while still in one piece. Sure she had her scars but she hadn't lost any limbs like some of the others. As for Hotch, he couldn't be prouder of his newly discovered daughter if he had tried. She was strong and focused and had been through what most would consider to be hell. Heck, they had had unsubs that had gone through less than what she had and yet they had snapped but his daughter was still standing strong. She was still able to laugh and smile despite everything which impressed him tremendously. It was very late by the time Willow had finished her story and the room service cart had come and gone with meals and desserts for everyone. The team had tried to pay for their meal but Willow had waved them off saying that she had it covered while Spencer watched in amusement, eventually bursting out laughing when they tried to insist. “What do you find so funny, Petty Boy? It's only fair that we pay for ourselves as shouldn't have to cover all of what we ate out of a teacher's salary!” Morgan demanded heatedly, which made Willow give in to her laughter as well. “Morgan, I have never touched my salary, most of it goes straight to charities to help orphans or those that are being abused. I live off of the interest my various investments make. To be honest, thanks to my inheritance I never have to work a day in my life and neither would my children or grandchildren. I work because I'd go mad otherwise. Besides, I like the fact that I'm teaching the next generation how to defend themselves.” They all headed to bed soon after that with Willow having transfigured most of the couches into very comfortable beds for everyone. It was only when JJ woke up in the middle of the night needing the toilet that she noticed that Reid was not on one of the transfigured beds and that there was a light shining through the crack of Willow's ajar bedroom door. A quick peek showed that Reid and Willow were both still awake and were talking to each other as the cuddled on the bed. Thankfully for her peace of mind, they were both fully dressed.

#criminal minds #harry potter #fem harry potter #harry x reid #au bio dad #mentions of violence #mentions of teenage sex #mentions of murder #mentions of torture

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yourdailykitsch · 7 years ago

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Texas Forever: Taylor Kitsch Is Doing Hollywood His Way (Exclusive) Taylor Kitsch isn’t here to impress. “I get so bored if I play the same or look the same in every role,” Kitsch says on a pleasant January afternoon in Pasadena, Calif. The 36-year-old actor is gearing up for the most transformative role of his career in Waco, the six-part Paramount Network miniseries about the 1993 siege premiering Wednesday, Jan. 24. The Kelowna, British Columbia, native plays David Koresh, controversial leader of the Branch Davidians, who, along with 75 of his followers, perished in a deadly fire following a violent 51-day standoff with the FBI. “Maybe it’s an older school mindset,” he theorizes, leaning back in his chair in deep thought, a cool, laidback confidence radiating from him. “I love the grind.” Kitsch first broke out onscreen in 2006, as brooding bad boy Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights, becoming a favorite among young female fans of the NBC drama. Since the show ended in 2011, he’s largely steered away from roles akin to the character that propelled him to heartthrob status, instead leaning into parts that weren’t exactly tailor-made for him to begin with: a gay activist in The Normal Heart, a villainous operative in American Assassin, a successful weed dealer in Savages and most recently, one of the elite firefighters battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in Only the Brave. “I grew up on these guys, like the Sean Penns and the Gary Oldmans. I think there’s a high to that. I love that challenge,” he says. “When I started studying acting that was kind of what it was about: figuring out your process to create these different characters.” As Koresh, Kitsch unlocks another hidden ability in his growing breadth as an actor, exuding a level of charm and magnetism in Waco that is both mesmerizing and mystifying, only because the man he portrays wasn’t a good man at all. “There aren’t many characters like this that exist. He’s enigmatic and crazy brilliant and crazy, period,” says Kitsch, who calls Austin, Texas home. In order to realistically embody the sect leader, Kitsch -- who also serves as an executive producer -- grew out his hair and dropped 30 pounds in four months; his 500-calorie diet consisted of egg whites, coffee, vegetables, a tiny bit of protein and, after 4 p.m., broth. “Losing weight when you already don’t have too much to lose, it’s no fun, but it’s just part of it,” Kitsch says of his transformation, adding that it played “a huge part in the cadence” of a “mad genius” like Koresh. “The way you walk, the way you feel… It reaffirmed how smart he had to be because it was never blunt force. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t intimidate that way.” It also required Kitsch to lose himself in Koresh’s world -- and he took it quite literally. For months leading up to filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last April, Kitsch devoted “eight to 10 hours a day” familiarizing himself with all facets of David Koresh’s intricate life. That included four hours of guitar and singing lessons, scripture readings, dissecting hours upon hours of Koresh’s tapes and researching his difficult upbringing. “It was almost laughable in the beginning. I would joke around about how much prep I had,” Kitsch recalls. There were moments during the production of Waco that proved challenging. Kitsch zeroed in on the sermons as being particularly “tough” to memorize and he became obsessed with nailing the improbable task. “I’m more known for saying less is more,” Kitsch says, alluding to his famous FNL character, Riggins, “so to be as talky as Dave… But when you’re mixing in scripture, it’s just so hard to infuse into my brain. I’d be in my house in Santa Fe and I’d have all these white boards all over the house of scriptures and psalms and everything that I had to remember in episode five, six or in a monologue. Everywhere in the house I could see it, I would say it out loud, walk over there, see it and say it out loud.” The most daunting part about playing Koresh, though, had nothing to do with memorizing nine-page sermons and everything to do with standing in front of a mic. “The singing and guitar was ******ing scary man,” Kitsch confesses, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. (Koresh performed with his band in local Waco bars and church services. Survivor David Thibodeau, whose 1999 book on which Waco is based, said Koresh recruited members through music.) “I’ve never been in a ******ing singing booth either, putting it on a track so we could go film it two days later. So I’d go in the studio with a real band, which is scary to begin with, and be like, ‘Hey, I’m about to sing ‘My Sharona,’ are you ready?’ and they’re like” -- he gives a knowing look -- “‘All right...?’ They were awesome and supportive, and I gained a lot of confidence from that.” There was once a time when Kitsch’s stardom was fast approaching elite status. Fresh off the success of Friday Night Lights, Hollywood came knocking with two very expensive tentpoles, Battleship and John Carter -- films that held the promise of proclaiming him the next franchise superstar. It just didn’t happen. Both films bombed at the box office and were panned by critics. “I’ll read articles, but I won’t go on Rotten Tomatoes,” Kitsch, who only recently joined Instagram, cracks. Though it didn’t seem that way at the time, in hindsight, his failures were blessings in disguise: Kitsch had the opportunity to redirect his career on a far more interesting path. “I feel I’ve stayed the course,” Kitsch says, analyzing his ups and downs with a refreshing candor. “I’m proud of the way I reacted to John Carter. I’m proud of the way I reacted to Battleship. I still have no regrets really. At the time in your life that these opportunities present themselves, I would have done it again knowing the circumstance and knowing what was going on. What I’m proud of is my work ethic throughout. I’ve never wavered. I feel like I’m getting better and better. I think Waco is a great example of that.” “When you have people who believe in you and give you these chances, I just won’t let go of that opportunity,” he adds, his steadfast loyalty and gratitude to those who have seen him as more than just a pretty face unwavering. “I don’t know if it’s something I’ve learned; it’s something I’m proud of -- that I’ve, in that sense, kept grinding. It’s kind of all I know now. I’ve always -- in sports, in life -- there’s a way I make it where I have to grind, you know what I mean? It’s the underdog thing. It carries me or I carry that with me, whatever that is.” Kitsch has rarely spoken about the much-maligned second season of HBO’s True Detective, in which he portrayed closeted highway officer and ex-military man Paul Woodrugh. He acknowledges that the 2015 season was far from perfect though his experience was “really, really positive” (“Obviously, it’s not the best case that people didn’t react to it that way,” Kitsch says). While it may seem, from the outside at least, to have been a contributing factor in the long gap between TV projects, Kitsch assures that wasn’t the case. “I remember watching season one [of True Detective] -- I haven’t told anyone this -- and sitting in bed and I was like, ‘If I could ******ing get on a show like that…,” he remembers. “You’re allowed to let go a lot easier when you understand you put everything you could that you had control over that you felt you knocked out. You can walk away a lot easier.” Kitsch still keeps in touch with creator Nic Pizzolatto (“I’d go work with Nic tomorrow”) and he’s looking forward to the third installment with Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (“They got an amazing cast”). There’s an ounce of disappointment in his voice when he eventually evaluates what went wrong. “Season one was incredible and I think it’ll go down as all-time, and that says a lot because there is some amazing stuff in the last 30 years. I think the bar was crazy high, which I have no problem swinging for, but there were some constraints in the timing of it,” Kitsch says. “Sometimes you’re on a movie or you’re in a relationship and the magic just isn’t there, or you are in one and everything just seems to play out the right way. I’m sure I could speak for the other leads in it -- man, we were all proud to be there. Everyone came beyond prepared -- you have to when you’re working with Nic -- and we swung.” Next for Kitsch is a tale that has stayed in his brain for the past several years, like an earworm that just won’t leave his head. Titled Pieces, Kitsch plans to write, direct, star and produce the feature film based on his 2014 short about three guys who grew up in the worst part of town with a sudden opportunity to change their kids’ and families’ lives. “It’s a bit savage-y. It’s a bit Western-y. It’s a grimy movie. Everything f***king goes crazy,” Kitsch says with a glint of excitement piercing through his deep green eyes. He’s never done anything this intensive before, executing his own idea from page to screen. Could this be Kitsch’s next chapter in his career? “We’ll see how this goes,” he says with an anxious laugh. Asked if he’s nervous about jumping into something so deeply personal that will truly be his, Kitsch didn’t mince words: “You should be. Hopefully, I’m nervous about my next job too. It’s a story that won’t leave me. I want to do this and I want to do it my way.”

#taylor kitsch #waco #tim riggins #True Detective

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shamehill56-blog · 5 years ago

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Penne with Mushrooms and Turkey Sausage

I’m trying to get ready for Maui which is totally unlike me. Planning for a trip that’s weeks away? My friends and family would have their jaw on the ground if they read this. (P.S. I’m hoping they read this/my blog.) I’m much more the type to pack the evening before or morning of.

More visible to my husband is the number of packages arriving at our door each day. Old Navy, Nordstrom Rack, Amazon, Zappos, and more Amazon. There may be more. But you see, much of it is being returned.

“Why do you buy so much only to return it?” asks the man who sees no need for a store beyond Kohls. “Because there is ZERO shopping near us, my dear. This is how I shop.” I respond. Literally, the last store in our “mall” (I’ll use that term loosely) announced its closing this week and the community is not shocked.

The reality for me is that the convenience and selection with online shopping will always trump going in person. I’m just not that girl, what can I say? All I’m hoping is that I can throw together some cute outfits in Maui while keeping in just 1 large, checked bag. That should be a challenge given how long we’re gone, but a blessing that our resort has free laundry service.

I’ve gotten increasingly more lazy when it comes to grocery shopping, too. Delivered groceries brings me such joy! Yes, my tomato paste never made it into my pantry (and subsequently not into my chili) after my last delivery (confirmed on the app as purchased and delivered), but my shopper was recently able to snag the dried mushrooms for this recipe which Mr. Prevention was just SURE they’d mess up.

This pasta was a hit with all the mushroom-y flavor, cheese, and savory sausage. As always, pasta is a hit in our house and this one satisfied the littles while offering knock-out flavor for the adults. A definite win-win!

Penne with Mushrooms and Turkey Sausage

Author: Nicole Morrissey

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 6 servings (scant 2 cups each)

Ingredients

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms

¾ cup hot water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

20 oz sweet Italian turkey sausages, casings removed

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

¼ tsp salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

⅓ cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth

12 oz uncooked whole wheat penne

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Place the porcini mushrooms in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse well. Transfer to a small bowl. Pour the hot water over the porcini and let soak until softened, about 20 minutes. Drain the porcini, reserving the soaking liquid. Chop the porcini, discarding any hard stems.

Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and increase the heat to high and cook, breaking up the meat, until no longer pink, about 6-7 minutes. Add the mushrooms, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Stir until the mushrooms begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped porcinis, wine, and bay leaf; boil until almost all of the liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes. Add the broth and the porcini soaking liquid and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the mixture becomes syrupy, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta, stir, and cook until al dente, about 11 minutes. Drain the pasta, add to the pan with the sauce and stir until the sauce coats the pasta. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: scant 2 cups Calories: 496 Fat: 17.2 Carbohydrates: 49.5 Sugar: 4.3 Sodium: 849 Fiber: 7.3 Protein: 33.2 Cholesterol: 67

3.5.3251

Be well,

Source: https://preventionrd.com/2019/03/penne-with-mushrooms-and-turkey-sausage/

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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biteblue81-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Penne with Mushrooms and Turkey Sausage

Author: Nicole Morrissey

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 6 servings (scant 2 cups each)

Ingredients

1 oz dried porcini mushrooms

¾ cup hot water

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

20 oz sweet Italian turkey sausages, casings removed

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

¼ tsp salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

⅓ cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth

12 oz uncooked whole wheat penne

1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

flat-leaf parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

Nutrition Information

Serving size: scant 2 cups Calories: 496 Fat: 17.2 Carbohydrates: 49.5 Sugar: 4.3 Sodium: 849 Fiber: 7.3 Protein: 33.2 Cholesterol: 67

3.5.3251

Be well,

Source: https://preventionrd.com/2019/03/penne-with-mushrooms-and-turkey-sausage/

0 notes

auburnfamilynews · 5 years ago

Link

The Minnesota Gophers Look to Make a Statement. (Jesse Johnson/USA Today Sports.)

War Eagle, everybody! SEC bowl season is here, and begins tonight in Houston, Texas. This is my favorite time of year, when I can sit back and watch lots of good teams from around the country, and see matchups of the sort I normally don’t get to see during the regular season. And mostly, I love to see how the SEC stacks up against the rest of the country. Lately, that answer has not been good. The SEC hasn’t had a winning bowl record since 2015. Last year’s SEC teams went 6-6, after fielding losing records in 2016 and 2017.

Auburn faces a historic matchup at noon on New Year’s Day, against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The two teams have never played each other in football. Minnesota has some pretty good scalps on its belt from this past season, including knocking off Penn State when the Nittany Lions were 4th in the country. A perfect season was derailed at Iowa, then the Gophers were thumped by 21 points at home against Wisconsin.

There is no question that Minnesota can pile up the points and the yards, with a tandem of 1000-yard receivers, a great quarterback in Tanner Morgan, and a 1000-yard rusher in Rodney Smith. The Gophers are averaging 34.3 points per game. I think Auburn will be stronger up front on defense, so we will likely see Minnesota utilize quick-passing strategies like most Auburn opponents have, this season. Auburn likes to use mostly man coverage. Opponents have tried to isolate size on cornerback Javaris Davis, and speed on nickelback Christian Tutt. Auburn will allow short completions, but until the Iron Bowl, few of those passes went for very many yards as the Auburn secondary is fundamentally very sound on tackling.

Auburn’s key to winning this game is to get some production out of the ground game. With a healthy Auburn backfield and offensive line, this should be possible. In their last game, Minnesota was blown out by Wisconsin 38-17. The Badgers did it by rushing for almost 5 yards per carry, and eating the clock.

The Outback Bowl will kick off at Noon Central Time on Wednesday, New Years Day, and will be televised on ESPN. We’ll have our usual trackemtigers.com open thread up and running for this one.

There is quite the slate of post-Christmas bowl action this season. I had a great time last night watching the mighty Miami Hurricanes get shut out 14-0 in the Independence Bowl against Louisiana Tech. That team has fallen fast in recent years.

Upcoming Bowl Games, after the jump!

In just a few minutes, the Military Bowl kicks off in Annapolis, Maryland. North Carolina will take on Temple in that one. I’ve been impressed by the job Mack Brown has done at UNC. There have been some stumbles, but the Tar Heels did win their last couple of games to get bowl-elegible, including a 41-10 thrashing of North Carolina State. Temple has lost 3 of their last 6, including blowout losses to SMU and Central Florida. I’ll take the Tarheels, in this contest.

This afternoon, Michigan State takes on Wake Forest in the Pinstripe Bowl from Yankee Stadium in New York. Wake was looking like a challenger in the ACC before a late-season fade. Meanwhile the Spartans barely made a bowl this year. This is the sort of game the Spartans seem to find a way to win, and they should have a crowd advantage as well.

SEC action kicks off at 5:45 PM in Houston, in the Texas Bowl. The Texas A&M Aggies take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Both teams underachieved this season, and I’ll be curious to see if the Aggies can get up off the mat after they were absolutely destroyed in the season finale against LSU.

This evening the Holiday Bowl features Southern Cal and Iowa. This should be a virtual home game for the Trojans. This will be a good opportunity to see what decent Big-Ten and PAC-Twelve teams do in a showdown.

Late evening action has Washington State meeting Air Force in the Cheez-it bowl in Phoenix. The Air-Raid meets the triple option, in this one. I like Air Force, in this game.

Saturday features 4 games, 3 of them are New Years Six games, and 2 are playoff games. A pair of 11:00 AM games precede the playoffs. First, Penn State takes on Memphis in the Cotton Bowl, in Arlington Texas. Memphis won the AAC title, while Penn State missed out on the Big Ten championship game. Memphis will be playing for pride, but it is worth noting that they lost head coach Mike Norvell to Florida State in recent weeks.

Also at 11:00 AM is the Camping World Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Notre Dame takes on Iowa State. Iowa State is a potentially explosive team, but lost some close games this season. I suspect the winner in this game is the team that is more excited to be there. Notre Dame fans were expecting to be back in the Playoff, this season.

At 3:00 PM on Saturday, we have the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl, in the first game of the college football playoff. LSU hosts Oklahoma in this one. I think LSU’s defense really came on in the second half of the season, and should be able to slow Oklahoma down. No team except Auburn really slowed LSU down, all season. LSU may be without the services of banged-up running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, but the Tigers still should have plenty of firepower ready to go in this one.

The other playoff game is Saturday evening, in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. Ohio State hosts Clemson. This is a matchup featuring the best of the ACC and the Big Ten. I think overall the ACC was the weaker conference, but Clemson played awfully well down the stretch, even so. Also, Clemson has been in the playoff every year since 2014, and knows what it takes to win it all. I would also point out that Clemson defensive coordinator has had a month to scheme up something for the Ohio State offense. In the past 4 Clemson playoff openers, the Tigers held Oklahoma to 17, Ohio State to zero, gave up 24 to Alabama in 2017, then held Notre Dame to 3 last season. I’m not looking for the Buckeyes to do any better.

Monday December 30th, we have a quartet of bowls. At 11:00 AM, we have the Servpro Bowl in Dallas, where Western Kentucky takes on Western Michigan. I’ll be honest. I know little about either of these teams.

At 3:00 PM, we have the Music City Bowl in Nashville. Mississippi State takes on Louisville in that one. Mississippi State did not have their strongest season, but did make it to a bowl game. Louisville was blown out 52-27 by Miami, and 45-13 at Kentucky in recent weeks. Here’s hoping the Bullies can win one for the SEC.

Also at 3:00 PM, there is the Redbox Bowl in Santa Clara, California. California takes on Illinois in that game. Again, I watched neither team play this season.

Monday Night features the Orange Bowl in Miami. Florida will take on the Virginia Cavaliers. The Cavs won their last 4 regular season games to take their division, then got blasted 62-17 by Clemson in the title game. Considering that Florida had close losses to LSU and Georgia, I think the Gators are much more talented, and should bring a lot of in-state fans to this game. If Florida is motivated for this game, I think we’ll see a big Gator win.

New Years Eve is a busy bowl day, this year. The action kicks off with the Belk Bowl in Charlotte at 11:00 AM. Kentucky will take on Virginia Tech. I keep on saying that Kentucky is unlikely to win with a wide receiver taking snaps at quarterback, and yet the Wildcats keep winning. The Hokies can put up some points, though. I don’t see Tech rolling over like Louisville did against Kentucky.

At 1:00 PM, we have the “Tony the Tiger” Sun Bowl, from El Paso, Texas. Florida State takes on Arizona State in that one. Both teams are trying to build for next season, after forgettable 2019 campaigns.

At 2:45 PM, the Liberty Bowl kicks off in Memphis. Navy will take on Kansas State in that game. Normally I’d rank the Big 12 ahead of the Mountain West, but I suspect Navy may be the more motivated team.

At 3:30 PM, there is the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl, from Tucson. Wyoming will take on Georgia State in that one. I can remember opening weekend, when Wyoming knocked off Missouri and Georgia State beat Tennesee. I would think Wyoming would bring more fans to this one, but I can’t really guess who might win this one.

At 6:30 PM on New Years Eve, the Alamo bowl kicks off from San Antonio. This one features Utah vs. Texas. Utah is fresh off an embarrassing loss to Oregon in the PAC-12 title game, while Texas has been embarrassing for a good bit of this season. I suspect that the Longhorns will fall once again, in their home state.

Wednesday, New Years Day is strangely quiet this bowl season, with only 4 games. Auburn will play in the Outback Bowl at noon in Tampa against Minnesota. Also at noon, the Citrus Bowl will be played in Orlando, with Alabama taking on Michigan. I would have really rather seen Alabama and Auburn play at different times. I think the Tide will play angry in this game, and send Michigan fans home grumbling.

The Rose Bowl game kicks off at 4:00 PM, in Pasadena, California. Oregon will take on Wisconsin. I like Oregon’s versatility on offense in this game.

The New Years nightcap is the Sugar Bowl, in New Orleans. Georgia will take on Baylor. This will be a tough game for the Bulldogs. Baylor is not an easy out. The Georgia skill position players have had a lot of injuries lately, and it has been a sub-par passing year for the Bulldogs. I’m thinking we’ll see a 5th straight Georgia post-season loss.

A couple of bowls were pushed to Thursday, January 2nd. The Birmingham Bowl kicks off at 2:00 PM, with Cincinnati and Boston College doing battle. I think the Bearcats will win this one easily. I wonder how well attended this game will be?

The Taxslayer Gator Bowl will be played Thursday night, with Tennessee taking on Indiana. Tennessee started the season off looking like the worst team in the SEC, then won 6 of their last 7 games. I think Vol fans and players are excited to be back in a bowl game after a 2 year absence.

Friday afternoon at 2:00 PM, we’ll have the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl from Boise, Idaho. The Ohio Bobcats will take on the Nevada Wolfpack. The extended forecast for this one looks to be rainy with temps around 40 degrees. Brrrrr.

Saturday, December 4th will have the earliest of the bowl kickoffs, with the Armed Forces Bowl kicking off at 10:30 AM in Ft. Worth Texas. Southern Mississippi will take on Tulane. I’ll be pulling for the Green Wave, who Auburn defeated 24-6 this past season.

The bowl season continues on Monday evening, January 6th, with the Lending Tree Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. Louisiana takes on Miami of Ohio in that one. I expect that the Ragin’ Cajuns will carry that one.

Finally, on Monday evening, January 13th we’ll have the College Football National Championship Game, from New Orleans. It is an interesting situation this season, as we have over a 2 week delay between the playoff games and the final. My prediction is that we will see LSU and Clemson do battle in this one.

The post A Week Crammed Full of Bowls! appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.

from Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog http://trackemtigers.com/a-week-crammed-full-of-bowls/

#IFTTT #Blogger #auburn #auburn fast #wareagle #AuburnFamilyNews #war eagle #sec #football news #aubu

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akaadisaster · 7 years ago

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Day 21! How Fun!

My favorite guest voice actor............. I have absolutely no idea. We've had several great voice actors and actresses, it's really hard to pick just one. So, I'm going to be cheap and say Sam Levine. Because Phyllis is best.

#30 day penn zero challenge #pz:pth #what now I'm not being a kiss up knowing that Sam reads these #never

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rinnysega · 7 years ago

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Since we have a month before Season 2 starts, there’s a 30-day Challenge I created a couple years ago for Penn Zero. If you haven’t done it yet, go for it! By the time you finish, it’ll be time for the new episodes!

Check it out here

#penn zero #pzpth

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jankedartist · 7 years ago

Photo

Day 7-Draw your OTP on a holiday of your choice ——— @herotrash

(Read it from left to right)

Sorry for not posting this yesterday. I had some stuff to do so I didn’t have time to finish this until today. So enjoy this short comic of Penn and Randy being dorks on Halloween night. I know Halloween is a few months away but let me have this. Also, please excuse my lame background. I’ll do better next time.

I hope you guys like it! ——– Please don’t remove my captions nor claim my art as yours! Thank you!

#penn zero part time hero #randy cunningham 9 grade ninja #pzpth #rc9gn #penn zero #randy cunningham #30 day challenge #30 day otp challenge #day 7 #digital art #sketch w/ color #fan art #marlene's weirdo art #picture and text post

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rickhorrow · 5 years ago

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15+5+5 To Watch : 92319

15 TO WATCH/5 SPORTS TECH/POWER OF SPORTS 5: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BIZ/TECH/PHILANTHROPY ISSUES FOR THE WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 23

with Jacob Aere

Indianapolis is the center of the golf world as the LPGA Indy Women in Tech tournament and educational program unfolds this week. The 2019 IWiT field consists of seven out of the Top 10 LPGA Tour money leaders and 17 Solheim Cup players. There are also numerous activities during IWiT Championship week that focus on women and children in technology: The Indy Women in Tech Summit comprises over 600 tech leaders in the community coming together to discuss diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with a session featuring LPGA Tour Pro Mariah Stackhouse and LPGA Chief Brand and Communications Officer Roberta Bowman. Tournament week will also feature the Eureka! Exchange – a fun and engaging area where kids can interact and have fun with hands on tech activities, curated by industry experts. Finally, Nextech’s Pathways to Tech presented by Saint Joseph’s College of Marian University allows two hundred high school students to learn about the different pathways to tech careers. This is a fun experience at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway pagoda providing an opportunity for the next generation of STEM/Tech leaders to interact with Indy tech companies and professionals.

IndyCar headed into its season finale Sunday afternoon at WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca with a roughly 10% increase in linear TV viewership and attendance jumps at half of its races this year. This was the first year of NBC Sports’ full-season media-rights pact with IndyCar, which had a new title sponsor in Japanese tech company NTT. According to SportsBusiness Daily, Hulman & Co. CEO Mark Miles believes the series had a good year when looking at key performance indicators, in addition to being a “terrific year on the track.” Miles said, “The two biggest things commercially were NTT as series entitlement partner, and we’re very happy with that…Then NBC -- we think they’ve done a great job.” The season finale was held at Laguna Seca this year after the series dropped Sonoma Raceway from its schedule. On Sunday, Josef Newgarden was crowned IndyCar champion as Colton Herta won at Laguna Seca.

Women’s World Cup drew close to $100 million in U.S. ad sales. Ad-tracker Kantar reported that the Women’s World Cup, which the U.S. team won in July, brought in an estimated $96 million in U.S. ad sales, more than double the company’s earlier estimate of $43 million. “Demand was high for the Women’s World Cup in the U.S.,” said Jeremy Carey, managing director at Omnicom Group sports ad buying agency Optimum Sports. “[Fox] sold every impression they could sell.” Kantar’s initial projection "did not include ad revenue generated by Spanish-language networks owned by Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal, including Telemundo, which accounted for about 11%" of the $96 million. Strong ad sales and ratings for a World Cup reflect team popularity and translate into revenue for U.S. Soccer. According to the Wall Street Journal, the "flood of ad dollars highlights the appeal of the tournament on Madison Avenue and its ability to drive revenue for TV networks." There’s been an “awakening” in terms of how brand clients are thinking about the Women’s World Cup.

As Oklahoma football celebrates its 125th year in program history, longtime OU partner Coca-Cola will pay tribute to the program by serving as “OU 125” presenting sponsor and introducing an integrated fan campaign for 2019-2020. According to Cynopsis Sports, fans can purchase commemorative 8-oz. glass Coca-Cola bottles customized with the OU 125 logo available while OU-branded 20-oz. Coke or Coke Zero Sugar bottles will offer an exclusive augmented reality feature showcasing milestone Sooner football moments with a cell phone and OU app. Coca-Cola also is developing an OU 125 photo mosaic built over the season through pre-game fan festivities during home games and online. This week, after an early season bye, OU dives into conference action against Texas Tech on the road to another target CFP semifinal berth. The OU-Coca-Cola tie up is only one of dozens of brand activations around college football’s big sesquicentennial celebration this year.

Online lender Social Finance, known as SoFi, will pay more than $30 million annually for the next 20 years to entitle the new NFL stadium under construction in Los Angeles, making it the largest deal in U.S. naming rights history. According to multiple sources, the partnership eclipses the previous NFL high-water mark of $20 million annually at MetLife Stadium, and Chase’s $30 million annual deal with MSG for extensive promotional rights that stop short of entitlement. It may also eclipse Scotiabank’s $40 million deal to rename Air Canada Centre in Toronto in 2017. SoFi’s CEO is Anthony Noto, the NFL’s former CFO. Along with stadium rights, SoFi becomes a sponsor of both tenants, the Chargers and Rams, and will sponsor the adjacent performance venue. SoFi becomes one of Silicon Valley’s biggest sports spenders; it has spent more than $200 million annually on marketing in recent years. It currently claims 800,000 members, with products including student loans, mortgages, personal loans, and wealth management. The company believes the venue will help it become a household financial brand.

Endeavor IPO is back on, aims to raise about $600 million. After a postponement in early August, entertainment giant Endeavor Group filed revised paperwork with the SEC as they move forward with an IPO. The company plans to offer approximately 19.35 million shares of stock for sale, at an estimated price of $30 to $32 per share. (As usual, the underwriters have an option for additional shares.) The company estimates they will received net proceeds of $547-$632 million after expenses. Public investors will own a piece of a money-losing company that carries $4.57 billion in long-term debt. And it will be firmly controlled by the top two executives (Ari Emanuel and Patrick Whitesell) and the controlling investor, Silver Lake Partners; together they will control about 88.5% of the voting power. Endeavor has expanded far beyond its traditional talent agency roots. In the past few years it has acquired the UFC mixed-martial arts circuit, fashion, and sports management group IMG, the Professional Bull Riders tour and streaming provider NeuLion. The transactions are key reasons why the company reported $4.5 billion in debt as of June 30.

The NHL and NHLPA are "believed to be making progress towards a potential three-year extension" of the CBA that would run through 2025, according to Sportsnet. The NHLPA's decision yesterday "not to trigger an early end to the current agreement ... should also raise hopes that an even longer extension might be in the offing." This development is a "welcome change for a league that has experienced three straight lockouts" and saw the entire 2004-2005 season "shuttered before the salary cap was instituted." It has "come about because the owners feel they have a fair system where revenues are split 50-50 and the cap is tied to the overall growth of the business." The NHL had "previously let its own deadline to re-open the CBA pass on September 1." Had the players "decided to trigger" a September 2020 end to the CBA, there was "some fear that it might derail the positive bargaining" that has already happened. Now the work can "continue without the semi-imminent threat of a deadline.” Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the league is "pleased with the players’ decision and looked 'forward to continuing to work with the NHLPA for the benefit of all stakeholders.'"

Emmy Awards force WNBA playoff game to move venues. The WNBA L.A. Sparks' semifinal game on Sunday against the Connecticut Sun marked the end of the Sparks’ season, all without "playing a single game in their usual home arena" during the series. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Emmys were being "held across the street at Microsoft Theater," but Staples Center was being used for the event as well. The Sparks, who "average over 10,000 fans per game, settled on the 4,000-seat Walter Pyramid at Cal State Long Beach" for Sunday's game. This was the fifth playoff game since 2015 the Sparks have had to "play away from Staples Center." Meanwhile, a previously booked event "prevented the Sparks from practicing at their temporary home" on Saturday, "forcing them to go to a local community college." Piling on these indignities, the Sparks were swept by the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA semis; the Sun now face the Las Vegas Aces in the finals.

Digital media rights will be the key driver for the growth of the sports industry over the next five years, with the fourth edition of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Sports Survey predicting growth in that sector of up to 9.7%. While the PwC paper is enthusiastic on the unrealized potential of digital, it does cast doubts as to whether sports organizations can benefit from online growth, with concerns that the major technology firms will instead be the ones to reap the benefits as both gatekeepers and producers of content. Also a factor, according to the study, will be “much lower growth rates” seen across traditional media streams, which are estimated to be at no more than 4.1% during the same period. Overall, the PwC paper does paint a positive picture of the overall sports market, predicting the industry to grow at a healthy annual rate of 6.4% over the next three to five years. That is below the 7.4% growth of the past three to five years, however, the study insists growth remains "robust."

HBO Sports laid out plans for its new all-access college football series set to debut in October with the docuseries 24/7 College Football. According to Cynopsis Sports, four programs will take part - Florida, Penn State, Arizona State, and Washington State – as “they meet the demands and challenges leading up to and through game day.” The series is narrated by Liev Schreiber and will run for four consecutive weeks starting October 2 with an hour-long special spotlighting the Florida Gators. “For many years, we have been enamored with the storylines and unrivaled traditions of college football, and we’re excited for the opportunity to expand the 24/7 franchise into the realm of college sports,” said Rick Bernstein, executive producer, HBO Sports. “Viewers will feel the tremendous electricity of some of the best atmospheres in the country, and see the meticulous preparation and challenges facing these programs in the build-up to game day and during the game action.” The series is a collaboration between HBO Sports and Lucky 27 Media and Sport & Story.

The Ryder Cup and Aon, a global professional services firm, unlocked a multi-year agreement establishing Aon as a Worldwide Partner of The Ryder Cup. Beginning in 2020, The Ryder Cup and Aon will introduce a multi-platform partnership that focuses on the risk reward narrative so authentic to the event. Aon has signed a multiyear deal to become a worldwide partner of the Ryder Cup. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal includes the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits; the 2022 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome; and the 2024 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island. Activation plans include the creation of a new award based around “defining moments” of the Ryder Cup. Details of the award are to come over the next few months. Aon already sponsors the Aon Risk Reward Challenge on both the PGA Tour and the LPGA that awards $1 million to the winning player on each tour who posts the lowest score on 65 designated holes at tournaments throughout the season. Aon joins BWM as the second worldwide Ryder Cup partner and deepens the company’s investment in golf.

The Trump administration has announced a national youth sports strategy that will reach beyond in-school physical education and into community-based programs. It will be funded by a legacy endowment with a goal of raising $100 million to provide grants intended to drive increased participation. Developed by the Department of Health & Human Services and the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition, the strategy largely will mirror a draft report issued in June. That report echoed many of the recommendations of those who previously studied participation declines, including the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. Among the focus areas: Recruiting and training of coaches and volunteers, creation of safe places to play, provision of quality equipment and strategies to increase participation among girls. Among the first to sign on in support of the endowment is NBC Sports Group’s Sports Engine -- a leading software provider for youth sports organizations -- which will offer a Premier League Fan Fest trip and other prizes in a sweepstakes to raise funds for the NEYS. Other founding supporters include the NHL, MiLB, UFC, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the AAU, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association and Boston Scientific.

Athletes attend Harvard to “Crossover Into Business.” The program, taught by Harvard Business School professor Anita Elberse, is "built to help professional athletes be better prepared for business activities during and after their active sports careers,” per Harvard's course description. Participants will each be matched with a pair of Harvard Business School MBA student mentors who will “develop their business acumen and empower them to make better business decisions.” The program is tailored to fit athletes' schedules and interests all while leveraging the "acclaimed Harvard Business School case method.” Athletes taking part in the latest cycle of Harvard Business School's Crossover Into Business program, according to the Boston Herald, include: figure skater Ashley Wagner; tennis players Caroline Wozniacki, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, and Andrea Petkovic; former NFLer Will Beatty; Knicks forward Reggie Bullock; Magic forward Amile Jefferson; NBA free agent Jose Calderon; and former NBAer David Lee. Last year NBA star Kyrie Irving attended the program, along with former NFL tight end Martellus Bennett; NBA players Paul Millsap, Zaza Pachulia, and Spencer Dinwiddie; and other athletes from the WNBA, MLS, UFC, and the American Ballet Theater.

Officials from MLS, the Independent Supporters Council, and supporters groups of the Timbers and Sounders met for "more than three hours on Thursday in Las Vegas" regarding the league's Fan Code of Conduct policy, and agreed to "continue talks on Tuesday," according to Soccer America. The meeting was called in an effort to resolve an ongoing dispute over the "ban on the display of Iron Front flags or banners" at MLS games. Supporters "want MLS to work with international experts on human rights to craft language in the Fan Code of Conduct that reflects and supports radical inclusion and anti-discrimination." MLS proposed an "evaluation of the treatment of the Iron Front flag" for the remainder of the 2019 season and a "broader evaluation of the Fan Code of Conduct.” Timbers Owner and CEO Merritt Paulson "praised the efforts of the two sides." He said, "We have always been advocates for soccer supporters uniquely having a right to exercise their voice on matters of human rights at games.” MLS has confirmed that for now, its policy banning the Iron Front flag remains.

The San Diego Padres are fine with Petco Park hosting the annual KAABOO festival beginning next September. The team has "taken strides to greatly improve how it protects the ballpark's playing surface," according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. Padres President of Business Operations Erik Greupner said that the team "upgraded the protective flooring it uses during in-season non-baseball events a couple years ago." The ballpark in recent years has hosted several concerts and Comic-Con with "no visible damage to the field.” KAABOO, an "upscale music, comedy, art and culinary festival" set to be held September 18-20, 2020, is heading to Petco "after being held for its first five years at the Del Mar Racetrack and adjacent fairgrounds." There is a multiyear contract to hold the event at the ballpark, and Padres season ticket holders will have "access to a special 'loyalty discount'" for the festival. Greupner said landing KAABOO is a "fulfillment of our promise to the people of San Diego that this publicly funded ballpark will (have) more than just baseball."

Top Five Tech

Esports will get a 24/7 mobile channel with VENN. According to USA Today, the online channel will debut next year with live studios in New York and Los Angeles and aims to be an online video home for esports and game culture - similar to that of ESPN for sports. The channel will be available as an app on streaming and mobile devices, and will offer channels on current video game and esports destinations such as Twitch and YouTube. VENN also plans to put itself on live streaming services such as Sling, YouTube TV, Hulu, and PlutoTV, as well as Snapchat and TikTok for a fittingly full digital presence. Although some of the content will be behind a paywall for enhanced viewer experiences, the majority of the content will be free to watch. In terms of funding, the network's co-CEOs announced $17 million and some of its investors include Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill, Blizzard Entertainment co-founder Mike Morhaime, and Blizzard's former global esports head Amy Morhaime. With esports on the rise across pop culture, it is fitting that they will have a space with the best coverage 24/7 on an online platform.

Esports’ Team SoloMid is working on a state of the art, $13 million training facility. The stadium will be the biggest esports training facility in North America at 25,000 square feet and will be finished by February, 2020. According to win.gg, TSM’s location will feature not only training rooms, but also a built-in gym and wellness center for the professional gamers. Determined to recreate the same successes found in traditional sports training facilities, TSM will also have an in-house sports psychologist. TSM’s goal is to optimize all aspects of its training processes and make esports teams just as well cared for as those in on-field sports. Although Team SoloMid has been dealing with a variety of difficulties in recent years, their new L.A. training location should put the team into a growth mindset.

Ex-punter and sports personality Pat McAfee signs a deal with FanDuel. The new multi-year partnership makes FanDuel the exclusive sports betting, daily fantasy sports, casino, and horse racing partner of Pat McAfee. In addition to promotions, McAfee will make weekly appearances on FanDuel’s “More Ways to Win” TV show. The show is hosted by former ESPN “Sports Center” anchor Lisa Kerney, former L.A. Rams and Seattle Seahawks reporter Dani Klupenger, TVG’s Dave Weaver, and FanDuel Sportsbook oddsmaker John Sheeran. In addition to his “More Ways to Win” appearances, McAfee will appear on various FanDuel podcasts, make regular appearances at FanDuel Sportsbooks, host daily fantasy contests on FanDuel, and take over FanDuel social media accounts throughout the NFL season. This is another example of FanDuel expanding as it is rapidly becoming one of the biggest sportsbook operators in the U.S.

Sports media company Whistle and the digital content studio OTRO have announced a multi-year commercial partnership. According to Variety, the two companies will collaborate on programming strategy, co-creating premium original content, and developing experiential activations. They will also work together on the development and monetization of content and IP formats globally. OTRO has tons of big names on its roster including David Beckham, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane, Neymar Jr., and Eric Cantona to name a few. In addition to co-creating content, Whistle will also help manage OTRO’S online merchandise store, which has recently begun to sell direct-to-consumer products. OTRO’s platform is to deliver player-made content directly to fans, a concept that is catching on quickly in the podcasting world.

The NFL and Facebook expand their content deal. According to Advanced Television, the multi-year partnership extension will see more NFL video content streamed globally through Facebook Watch. The move will expand on existing arrangements between the two which began in 2017. Over 22 million people watched at least a minute of an NFL recap on Facebook in 2017 and 2018, with 28% of these views coming from outside the U.S., showing global growth in the sport. Meanwhile unique viewers of the recaps grew by 32% in 2018 compared to the previous year. The NFL will continue distributing recaps from all 256 regular season games, as well as playoff matchups and the Super Bowl, plus video highlights from postseason tent pole events such as the Pro Bowl, NFL Scouting Combine, and NFL Draft. In addition to game recaps, the NFL will utilize Facebook Watch for distribution of a vast array of unique content, all of which make the NFL a more dynamic digital process.

Power of Sports Five

The Travelers Championship in Connecticut raises $2.1 million for 150 local charities. According to the Hartford Courant, representatives from all of the charities — including the primary beneficiary, The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp — were at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell last Tuesday to receive their respective shares. Since taking over as the title sponsor in 2007, Travelers has generated a charitable haul of nearly $20 million. The Travelers Championship donates 100% of its net proceeds to charity, and this year's effort brings the amount generated by the tournament to nearly $20 million since Travelers became title sponsor in 2007. At least 750 charities have benefited over that time. Next year, the tournament will have a huge international name added to the list in the likes of Reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Rory McIlroy, which will bring even more charity attention to the event.

After Steph Curry's business dabble into golf, he hosts his first charity golf event in San Francisco. According to ABC 7, the charity golf tournament was held at San Francisco's Harding Park golf course with San Francisco Mayor London Breed on hand to help kick off the day as teams gathered in their golf carts to listen to opening remarks. The tournament was presented by Workday and will benefit PGA Reach and Eat, Learn, Play - Steph and Ayesha Curry's new foundation that focuses on providing meals, education, and a safe place to play for underprivileged kids. Even though it is just Curry’s first charity tournament, the event proves his popularity as all 50 two-person teams were filled. The intent was to raise $1 million and the tournament was able to nearly achieve that goal by totaling $975,000.

Proctor and Gamble brand will buy 9,000 tickets to support equal pay for women. The consumer goods corporation’s Secret deodorant will spend $200,000 to buy 9,000 tickets to National Women’s Soccer League games in September and October as part of the brand’s growing effort to support equal pay and opportunity for women’ soccer players. According to Ad Age, Secret will buy 1,000 tickets at one home game for each of the league’s nine teams, offering seats to women’s organizations, youth sports teams, not-for-profit organizations, and other local partners. The brand will also give away Secret products, T-shirts and spirit towels to the first thousand fans at one game in each city. The effort follows an ad Secret launched in March promoting equal pay for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and a $529,000 donation split across the 23 USWNT players in July after it won the Women’s World Cup. Brands have been backing women’s sports, which have also seen a resurgence of interest in broadcast time thanks to digital platforms.

Colin Kaepernick is enshrined as a diamond necklace piece and auctioned off for charity. According to TMZ, Moses the Jeweler in New York City created the piece of Kaepernick and it took him a year to complete. The piece of jewelry cost $90,000 to make, and it was produced with 18k yellow gold. The jewelry is a replication of the famous moment when Kaepernick first began kneeling for the National Anthem as a member of the 49ers back in 2016. All of the profits from the piece will be donated directly to Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, an organization that preaches equality for all. Bidding for the piece starts in a couple weeks with the starting price being set at $90,000, with the potential to draw in even greater numbers.

UFC fighter Dustin Poirier’s shirt worn by rival Khabib Nurmagomedov brings in $100,000 for charity. According to RT, following their UFC lightweight title fight in Abu Dhabi, Khabib and Poirier donned each other’s shirt as a symbol respect, and later, the clothing articles made a positive impact with the proceeds from Khabib’s shirt going to charity. Not only was the impact felt for Khabib, but Nurmagomedov vowed to auction his shirt off to help Poirier’s “The Good Fight” charity with the funds to be used to build water wells and repair water supplies at an orphanage and school in Uganda.

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shaledirectory · 6 years ago

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Facts & Rumors # 311

Expo/Industry events for the next few months

Marcellus Utica Houston November 7-8 JW Marriott Houston Galleria 5150 Westheimer Road Houston, TX 77056

http://www.marcellusuticahouston.com/

Downstream Petrochemical Value Chain November 15, 2018 Eagle Sticks Golf Club 2655 Maysville Pike Zanesville, OH

https://bit.ly/2CWeXjs

For other events visit http://www.shaledirectories.com/site/oil-and-gas-expo-information.html

Latest facts and a rumor from the Marcellus, Utica, Permian, Eagle Ford, Bakken and Niobrara Shale Plays

Big Boys Will Be Driving U.S. Shale. Independent producers will forever be pioneers of the U.S. shale sector, but as the play matures, expect major oil companies to play a growing and critical role in its future development. Majors, with their financial strength and integrated solutions, are well-equipped to handle the structural challenges that the U.S. shale sector now faces, from insufficient pipeline and export infrastructure in the Permian and Gulf Coast, to excessive gas flaring in Bakken. The time also looks right for majors get more involved and “scale up” in shale. Big Oil remains very light in U.S. shale oil relative to other upstream assets in their portfolio. Majors have traditionally focused on “megaprojects,” schemes such as those in deep water or oil sands, where capital investments are massive and payback periods are long. Giants like Royal Dutch Shell plc and Total S.A. have already exited from Canada’s oil sands, where they believe breakeven costs are too high. The onset of the low-carbon energy transition also must be considered, and the fact is that oil sands emit more carbon dioxide than any other oil projects and must produce for many years—at relatively high oil prices—to deliver sufficient financial returns. U.S. shale oil, on the other hand, has proven its mettle at low prices, having stood up to OPEC in a price war. Breakeven prices for shale have been driven below $40 a barrel and are even lower for companies fracking the best rock. Shale is a “short-cycle” upstream asset, meaning new production can be brought on within months after investment decisions are made. Chesapeake Buys WildHorse. Chesapeake Energy Corp is buying oil producer WildHorse Resource Development Corp in a nearly $4 billion deal, it said on Tuesday, as it looks to increase oil production capacity during a period of rising crude prices. The Oklahoma-based oil and natural gas producer said each WildHorse shareholder will get either 5.989 shares of Chesapeake common stock or a combination of 5.336 shares of Chesapeake stock and $3 in cash, for each share they hold. WildHorse’s shares surged 13.5 percent to $20.50 in premarket trading, while Chesapeake shares slumped 8 percent to $3.42. The acquisition is expected to give Chesapeake about 420,000 high-margin net acres in the Eagle Ford shale and Austin Chalk formations in Southeast Texas, and help it save between $200 million and $280 million in annual costs. Chesapeake has been directing its capital toward oil production and shifting away from natural gas amid a rise in crude prices and a slump in natural gas prices. “We plan to focus the vast majority of our projected 2019 activity on our high-margin, higher-return oil opportunities in the PRB and Eagle Ford Shale, while decreasing capital and activity directed toward our natural gas portfolio,” Chesapeake Chief Executive Officer Doug Lawler said in a statement. Dominion Sells Blue Racer Interest. Private equity firm First Reserve on Thursday said it’s buying Dominion Energy's 50% interest in Blue Racer Midstream for an undisclosed price. Blue Racer is a joint venture formed in December 2012 by Dominion and Caiman Energy II to own, operate, develop and acquire midstream assets in the Utica Shale and certain adjacent areas in the Marcellus Shale. Midstreamer Blue Racer provides natural gas gathering, compression, dehydrating, treating, processing, fractionation, and transportation services, Kallanish Energy understands. "… We have a long history of investing in the Utica shale, most notably through our ownership of Ascent Resources, which is currently the largest natural gas producer in the basin,” said Gary Reaves, managing director of First Reserve. “This historical and current portfolio experience leads us to believe the Utica shale is one of the premier rich natural gas development areas in the U.S., and, in our view, Blue Racer is particularly well-positioned to capture this opportunity.” Blue Racer features more than 700 miles of gathering pipeline and 800 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d) of cryogenic processing capacity. The midstreamer has a number of customer contractual commitments comprised of multi-year pacts that include acreage and well pad dedications, first flow commitments, minimum volume commitments, and demand payments. "When we formed Blue Racer in 2012, Dominion contributed the initial gathering, processing and fractionation assets that allowed Blue Racer to establish a foothold in the region, that we expanded into a growing business serving the leading producers in the Utica and Marcellus shale plays,” said Stephen L. Arata, Blue Racer CEO. The purchase is being funded in part by equity from First Reserve Fund XIII and investment funds affiliated with First Reserve. The transaction is expected to close prior to year-end 2018. Cabot 3rd Qtr. Update. Cabot Oil & Gas Friday reported its third-quarter, all-natural gas production volume jumped more than 15% year-over-year, free cash flow skyrocketed sevenfold, and the net result of brokered natural gas jumped nearly $12 million. The strong positives led to a nearly 600% increase in net profit, while revenue rose a strong 41.4%, Kallanish Energy calculates. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, natural gas production jumped to 186.5 billion cubic feet (Bcf), up from 161.2 Bcf one year ago. Daily equivalent production rose to 2.03 Bcfe/d, compared to 2.03 Bcfe/d. Cabot's operations are primarily centered in Susquehanna County, in northeast Pennsylvania. Average gas prices during the quarter rose to $2.36 per thousand cubic feet, up from 2.03/Mcf. Cabot’s top executive was extremely pleased with free cash flow for the quarter jumping to $28.57 million, from just $4 million one year ago. "We returned to free cash flow generation during the third-quarter while delivering significant year-over-year growth in all financial metrics," stated Dan O. Dinges, Cabot chairman, president and CEO. The Houston-based independent producer reported zero oil and condensate production during the most recent quarter, which financially was a drop of $56.91 million reported for the third quarter of 2017. The net result of brokered natural gas $12.44 million, from just $730,000. Bottom line, net profit for the quarter totaled $122.34 million, up from $17.59 million. Revenue rose to $545.17 million, from $385.42 million. Penn Virginia Sold. The Houston oil and gas driller Penn Virginia Corp. was bought Sunday in a stock and cash deal worth $1.7 billion, including debt. Denbury Resources of Plano will acquire Penn Virginia and its 84,000 acres in the Eagle Ford Shale in a deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2019, pending shareholder approval. Denbury operates in multiple states across the Gulf Coast and Rocky Mountain regions. The company specializes in enhanced oil recovery techniques, which pump carbon dioxide into wells to boost their production. Penn Virginia's CEO John Brooks said in July that the company was seeking "a range of strategic alternatives," including a possible sale. Penn Virginia filed for bankruptcy in May 2016, about three months after crude price hit their low of about $26 a barrel during the recent oil bust. During its bankruptcy, Penn Virginia moved its headquarters from Virginia to Houston. The company employed about 80 people at the beginning of this year. The company emerged from bankruptcy in September 2016, though it said in its second-quarter 2018 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that as of Aug. 3, there were still claims against the company related to the bankruptcy. Rice Brothers 2.0 The brothers behind Rice Energy recently closed on their first investment in a fracking software company they believe will revolutionize the industry. The Rice brothers—Daniel, Toby and Derek—emerged earlier this year with the launch of Rice Investment Group (RIG), a $200 million multi-strategy fund focused on all facets of the oil and gas sector. Through RIG, the Rice brothers plan to target investments of $1 million to $40 million across the upstream, midstream, oilfield service and energy technology sectors, focusing on companies that are “electrifying the oil field.” “Said another way, we are looking for companies that can capture data from disconnected operations in the field to empower data-driven decisions on things that matter,” Toby Rice told Hart Energy. Rice, who sources and evaluates investment opportunities for RIG, said he believes the group’s latest investment—Cold Bore Technology Inc.—is one of those companies and will play a leading role in transforming the industry. Cold Bore is a Calgary, Alberta-based developer of fracturing optimization software cofounded by Brett Chell, the company’s president who Rice dubbed a “shalennial”—an oil and gas entrepreneur from the millennial generation. Antero 3rd Qtr. Update. Antero Resources on Thursday reported a net loss of $154 million in 2018's third quarter, despite turning a record 73 Appalachian Basin wells to production, Kallanish Energy reports. That compares to a Q3 2017 net loss of $135 million. The Denver-based company posted revenue of $1.1 billion, compared to $648 million a year ago. The turned wells included 58 horizontal Marcellus Shale wells and 15 Utica Shale wells. “We completed more wells in the third quarter than any other quarter in Antero’s history, with 73 wells turned to sales, a testament to the company’s outstanding operational team,” said chairman and CEO Paul Rady, in a statement. He noted capital spending will decline in the fourth quarter as the company is operating only five drilling rigs and three completion crews. Drilling efficiencies have allowed the company to idle three completion crews. “Having recently surpassed the 3 billion cubic feet-equivalent per day (Bcfe/d) of production milestone for the month of October, the fourth quarter is expected to be an important inflection point for the company as we expect to deliver attractive cash flow from operations growth combined with a reduction in spending,” Rady said. The company has also benefitted from higher liquids prices, company officials said. Antero said its 58 Marcellus wells had an average lateral length of 9,100 feet and an average 30-day rate per well of 18.3 million cubic feet-equivalent per day (MMcfe/d) on choke. The company said it expects to begin production on 27 additional Marcellus wells in Q4. It is running five rigs in the Marcellus area. The Utica Shale wells in eastern Ohio had average lateral length of 10,400 feet and an average 30-day rate per well of 17.7 MMcfe/d. Antero said it does not intend to operate any rigs or completion crews in Ohio in the fourth quarter as it focuses on liquids-rich locations in the Marcellus instead. Total Antero net daily gas equivalent production in Q3 totaled a record 2.72 Bcfe/d (29% liquids), a 17% increase over Q3 2017, the company said. Liquids production averaged 129,352 Bpd with 25% ethane recovery. That included oil production of 10,632 Bpd, a 15% increase over the prior year. Liquids production is 43% of total product revenue before hedges. Antero said it plans to spend $600 million on a stock repurchase program over the next 12 to 18 months. The company noted it suffered oil production curtailments in the latter part of Q2 and into Q3 due to trucking constraints. The curtailments negatively impacted production by an average 86 MMcfe/d during Q3. As previously announced in Q3, Antero Midstream and Antero Midstream GP announced plans to simplify the midstream corporate structure by merging and converting to a C-corp. Chesapeake 3rd Qtr. Update. Chesapeake Energy (CHK) reported third-quarter 2018 net income of $60 million, compared to a net loss of $41 million in Q3 2017, Kallanish Energy reports. Adjusting for items typically excluded, the company’s adjusted net income was $174 million, and adjusted EBITDA was $594 million. The company said that its quarterly cash flow from operating activities was $504 million, up 52% from Q3 2017 levels. Third-quarter reported its EBITDA for Q3 2018 was $504 million. Chesapeake reported it spent $619 million on capital spending in Q3, down from $692 million in the year-ago quarter. "Chesapeake continues to make significant progress on our strategic priorities, as demonstrated by our improved cash flow from operations, which was more than 50% higher than the 2017 third quarter due to higher average realized commodity prices and 13% growth in our adjusted oil production,” said president and CEO Doug Lawler, in a statement. The company, he said, plans to focus its 2019 activity in its high-margin, higher-return oil opportunities in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. Chesapeake’s Q3 2018 oil production was 89,000 barrels per day, driven largely by increased Wyoming production. The company reported its average rig count in Q3 2018 was 19 and 84 gross wells were spud, 81 gross wells were completed and 75 gross wells were connected. A year ago, the company had 17 rigs at work, spud 86 wells, completed 120 wells and connected 122 wells. In Q3 2018, the company’s average daily production was about 537,000 Boe, compared to roughly 542,000 Boe one year ago. Chesapeake’s top plays for oil were the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas, the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana and the Utica Shale in Ohio, assets which the company has sold. Its top plays for natural gas are the Marcellus in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the Haynesville in Louisiana and the Utica Shale in Ohio. “Momentum is building” in the Powder River Basin, Chesapeake said. Five rigs were moved there last July to drill in the Turner formation and it is experimenting with tighter well spacing’s. It expects to place 15 Turner wells into production in Q4 2018, and an additional 65 to 70 Turner wells in 2019, the company said. Its best Turner well produced a peak 24-hour average rate of 3,133 Boe/d (47% oil) from a 10,246-foot lateral. In the Eagle Ford, Chesapeake placed 29 wells into production in Q3 and expects to add 53 wells to production in Q4. Production numbers dipped in September and October due to localized flooding. It plans to add a fifth Eagle Ford rig in 2019. Higher gas prices in the Appalachian Basin boosted the company’s finances, it said. It placed seven Marcellus Shale wells to production in Q3 and expects to place 25 Marcellus Shale wells to production in the fourth quarter. It placed 11 Utica Shale wells into production in Q3. The Utica asset sale closed earlier this month. Williams 3rd Qtr. Update. Williams on Thursday reported third-quarter net income of $129 million, a $96 million increase from one year ago, Kallanish Energy reports. Cash flow from operations was $746 million, about $41 million more than Q3 2017. The midstream giant said its Q3 2018 adjusted EBITDA was $1.20 billion, up $83 million, or 7.5%, from Q3 2017. “This quarter’s strong execution and results highlight why we are so bullish on the future,” said president and CEO Alan Armstrong, in a statement. The company has positioned itself to be the leading natural gas infrastructure company and it sees full-year 2018 financial results “trending toward the upper end of our financial guidance for 2018,” he said. Williams has “a backlog of attractive investment opportunities,” he added. Armstrong credited some of the revenue growth to higher natural gas volumes in the Northeast along with the expansion of the Transco system in the Atlantic-Gulf segment. Those projects “helped significantly increase service revenue this quarter,” he said. There was a $227 million improvement in operating income associated with Transco Pipeline expansion projects going online. He said revenue will likely grow on the Transco system in the Q4 2018 and 2019 with added shipments on the $3 billion Atlantic Sunrise pipeline from the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania and the company’s Gulf Connector project. “Importantly, Atlantic Sunrise has opened up new markets for Marcellus producers, and that is driving accelerated growth in our Northeast G&P business segment. This growth will continue for many years,” he said. The Atlantic Sunrise can move natural gas as far south as Alabama. The company has also announced plans to expand natural gas pipelines out of Northeast Pennsylvania with Transco’s Leidy South Expansion, he said. Williams with corporate offices in Tulsa, Oklahoma, intends to rapidly expand its gathering systems and plants in the Marcellus, Utica, Haynesville, Powder River. DJ and Wamsutter plays, according to Armstrong. Higher prices for natural gas liquids also benefitted the company’s bottom line in Q3 2018. In the third quarter, Williams also closed on the acquisition of Williams Partners, sold its Four Corners assets for $1.125 billion and began operating assets in Colorado’s DJ Basin that had previously been part of a joint venture. CNX 3rd Qtr. Update CNX Resources reported third-quarter net income of $125 million, a strong turnaround from a loss of $26 million in the year-earlier quarter, Kallanish Energy reports. After adjusting for certain items, the Pittsburgh-based company had adjusted net income of $35 million. That compares to an adjusted net loss of $41 million in Q3 2017. The quarter was strong financially and for operational execution, the company said. Capital spending was $297 million in the quarter, compared to $150 million spent in Q3 2017, driven largely by increased drilling and completion activities in the Appalachian Basin. In the latest quarter, the company sold 119.0 billion cubic feet-equivalent (Bcfe) of natural gas, an increase of 18% from the 101.0 Bcfe sold one year ago. That was driven by a substantial increase in dry Utica Shale volumes from Ohio’s Monroe County, the company said. “During the third quarter, our team delivered targeted turn-in-lines with continued strong well performance,” said Nicholas J. DeIuliis, company president and CEO, in a statement. That operational execution led to expected production and lower cash costs, he said. The company’s Q3 2018 production included 70.6 Bcfe in the Marcellus Shale and 33.6 Bcfe in the Utica Shale. The Marcellus production was 17% higher than Q3 2017 production and the Utica Shale production was 67% higher than the year-ago production, the company said. In the quarter, CNX operated four rigs and drilled 23 wells including 15 Marcellus Shale wells in Greene County, Pennsylvania. It also drilled three dry Utica wells in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, three dry Utica wells in Monroe County, Ohio and two Marcellus wells in Tyler County, West Virginia. In the quarter, the company utilized three frack crews to complete 27 wells, including 15 Marcellus wells in Greene County, The company also turned-in-line 35 wells in the quarter. That included 15 Marcellus wells in Greene County, six Marcellus wells in Washington County, Pennsylvania, five Marcellus wells in Tyler County, West Virginia, four dry Utica wells in Ohio’s Monroe County and five wet Utica wells in West Virginia’s Harrison County. CNX said it expects 2018 production to peak in the fourth quarter with about 16 new wells expected to be turned-in-line. Total quarterly production costs dropped from $2.26 to $1.97 per Mcfe through reduction in lease operating expense, transportation, gathering and compression costs and depreciation, depletion and amortization, it said. Transportation, gathering and compression costs improved to a drier production mix and higher sales volumes, the company said. CNX also reported it has repurchased about 27.6 million shares for $425 million. The company has about $25 million left in its stock repurchase program that is set to expire on Dec. 31. It has an additional $300 million to repurchase with no expiration date. A total of roughly 8.3 million shares were purchased in Q3 2018. Eclipse Resources 3rd Qtr. Update. Independent producer Eclipse Resources, currently in the process of acquiring fellow independent Blue Ridge Mountain Resources, reported Wednesday recording-setting third-quarter revenue. Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30; hit $130.12 million, up from $91.55 million one year ago, Kallanish Energy reports. “For the third quarter of 2018, the company was able to achieve record revenue of $130.1 million, a 42% increase over the third quarter of 2017, while also posting a 46% increase in adjusted EBITDAX over the third quarter of 2017, which came in at a new company record of $66.8 million,” said Benjamin W. Hulburt, chairman, president and CEO. Eclipse’s crude oil and natural gas liquids jumped year-over-year, with crude production up more than 100%, to 574,800 barrels, while NGL production rose 34.2%, to 906,400 barrels during the three-month period. Natural gas production fell 14% year-over-year, to 22.98 billion cubic feet (Bcf), down from 26.72 Bcf. Higher commodity prices naturally helped the Pennsylvania-based independent, with oil reaching $52.67/Bbl, up from $42.42/Bbl, NGLs jumping to $27.66/Bbl, from $19.52/Bbl, while natural gas rose to $2.22 per million Btus (Mmbtu), from $2.20/Mmbtu. During the third quarter of 2018, Eclipse began drilling five gross (2.2 net) operated wells, commenced completions of eight gross (3.5 net) operated wells and turned to sales 13 gross (6.8 net) operated Utica Shale wells. Third-quarter operating income jumped into positive territory, to $21.19 million, from a $2.79 million loss one year ago. Profit for the quarter totaled $4 million, compared to a $16.69 million loss in the year-ago quarter. Commenting on the acquisition of Blue Ridge, estimated at an equity value of $908 million, Eclipse said progress on the merger closing is continuing as planned, with the deal expected to be consummated during the fourth quarter of this year. Pending completion of the merger, Eclipse said it’s received nonbinding commitments supporting an increase in the company’s revolving credit facility borrowing base of $150 million to $375 million, while extending the maturity of the credit facility to five years from the deal closing. Blue Ridge, headquartered in Irving, Texas, changed its name in 2017. It was formerly Magnum Hunter Resources, which declared bankruptcy in 2016 and ousted founder Gary Evans. Blue Ridge CEO John Reinhart will lead the combined company. He formerly was chief operating officer at Ascent Resources, initially created by Aubrey McClendon following his ouster from the company he co-founded, Chesapeake Energy. Reinhart had worked at Chesapeake for roughly nine years. Continental 3rd Qtr. Update. Strong production growth, particularly from its Bakken holdings, along with much-improved crude oil and natural gas sales powered Continental Resources to a more-than $300 million third-quarter profit increase. Also helping the Oklahoma-based independent producer were higher sales prices for both crude and natural gas: $65.78 a barrel vs. $43.27/Bbl in the third quarter of 2017 for crude; and $3.12 per thousand cubic feet vs. $2.74/Mcf one year ago for natural gas. Crude production jumped 17.1% year-over-year, to 164,605 barrels per day, up from 140,611 Bpd, Kallanish Energy reports. Gas production rose a strong 29.5%, to 793.79 million cubic feet per day (Mmcf/d), up from 613.06 Mmcf/d. The Company's Bakken production hit an all-time quarterly record, averaging 167,643 Boe/d in the quarter, up 23% from the year-ago quarter. During the quarter, the company completed 42 gross (26 net) operated wells flowing at an average initial 24-hour rate of 2,013 Boe/d. Continental currently has eight rigs drilling in the Bakken, up two rigs from last quarter to facilitate continued oil growth in 2019. In fourth quarter, production is expected to ramp significantly with up to 70 wells forecast to be completed by year-end 2018. "The performance and returns from the Bakken have been exceptional," said Jack Stark, president. "Our entire 2017 Bakken program, which included 133 operated wells, paid out by the end of third quarter 2018. Now that's capital efficiency." Continental third-quarter profit reached $314.17 million, up from just $10.62 million one year ago. Crude and gas sales jumped to $1.27 billion, from $704.82 million one year ago. Revenue for the latest quarter totaled $1.28 billion, up from $704.82 million one year ago. $5 NatGas. The natural gas market is looking rather tight, even as U.S. production continues to set new records. Inventories fell sharply last winter, leaving the country a little light on stocks heading into injection season. That did not concern the market much, with record-setting production expected to replenish depleted inventories. However, the past six months has not led to surging stockpiles, and inventories replenished at a much slower rate than expected. We are about to enter the winter heating season with inventories at their lowest level in 15 years. For the week ending on October 19, the U.S. held 3,095 billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas in storage, or 606 bcf lower than at this point last year, and 624 bcf below the five-year average. The reason for this is multifaceted, with seasonal weather playing a role, but also structural increases in demand. “Hot summer weather, LNG liquefaction demand, exports to Mexico, and the industrial sector have all mitigated the impact from an 8.7 bcf/d YoY production growth surge this summer,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a recent note. Low inventories and potential deliverability risks led the investment bank to hike its price forecast for the first quarter of 2019 to $4 per MMBtu, up from a prior estimate of just $3.40/MMBtu. Coal shutdowns have led to a lot of fuel switching. Moreover, new gas-fired power plants have opened up and continue to do so. The U.S. also became a sizable LNG exporter in 2016, and exports will continue to climb in the years ahead with more terminals coming online. New pipeline interconnections with Mexico should also lead to more shipments from Texas to the U.S.’ southern neighbor. Peak winter demand in the early 2000s stood at around 75 to 85 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d), according to BofAML. That figure spiked to 100 bcf/d last winter, helping to explain the rapid decline in inventories. There was a cold snap in early January, but the winter on the whole was “near normal,” BofAML argues, making the steep fall in stocks all the more remarkable. In other words, demand is structurally much higher than it used to be; the sudden tightness is not just because of a seasonal anomaly. But, as always, natural gas markets can be highly volatile, and very sensitive to extreme weather. A cold snap this upcoming winter could lead to a price spike, especially with the inventory buffer so low. “The Polar Vortex winter of 2013-2014 realized a record low salt inventory level of 54 bcf,” BofAML said. Salt inventories are those that can be called upon quickly. “Another Vortex, which on average has occurred once every 7 years in the 1950-2018 period, would be catastrophic,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch warned. Unlike 2014, the last time we saw a polar vortex and a natural gas price spike, this time around there is a lot less coal to fall back on in the event that inventories plunge to low levels amid soaring demand. As a result, natural gas prices might be forced even higher. “A cold winter paired with higher coal prices and reduced gas-to-coal switching could propel NYMEX natural gas to a brief spike over $5.00/MMbtu,” BofAML said. This does not negate the long-term bearish forecast for natural gas prices. The U.S. shale bonanza continues, both in the Marcellus and Utica shales in the northeast and the Permian basin in West Texas. “Past this winter, we expect production to overwhelm demand growth and lead to above-normal inventories by 2H19 and a risk of storage congestion in 2020. Our average price forecast for 2020 remains $2.55/MMbtu, reflecting bearish longer-term fundamentals,” BofAML concluded. Still, in the short run, structurally higher demand and the prospect of another polar vortex, or merely below average temperatures this winter, could overwhelm what has been record natural gas production. More Challenges for Rover. Rover Pipeline has been cited for three violations by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Kallanish Energy reports. The violations are for improper testing of pipeline welds, failing to comply with specifications or standards on repairing dents to the steel pipe, and failure to build the pipeline to avoid stresses on the pipeline. The agency said the company committed “probable violations.” The violations could have triggered multi-million-dollar fines, but the federal agency said no fines would be imposed. The company said it is not contesting the violations and has been working with the federal agency to correct the problems. It said it is “in general agreement” with the agency’s proposed compliance order. The company has spent in excess of $11.5 million in correcting the problems, it reported. Those violations have prevented Rover Pipeline from beginning commercial service on its Sherwood and CGT laterals to move natural gas from the Appalachian Basin, the company acknowledged. The violations were discovered in Phmsa inspections on Jan. 25, March 19-22, May 8-11 and June 18. The violations were issued by the Phmsa on Sept. 11 and came to light in a recent company filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that oversees interstate pipelines. Rover Pipeline, an Energy Transfer Partners’ subsidiary, on Oct. 25 filed a request with FERC seeking to begin full operations on the Sherwood and CGT laterals prior to Nov. 1. It said the problems with the Phmsa had been corrected. It said its shippers “have urgently requested Rover to place these facilities in service to allow their stranded natural gas supplies to be transported to Midwest markets.” A similar request was filed last August. Those two laterals are mechanically complete and the final grading and seeding have been completed, Rover Pipeline wrote. The company said it has also filed plans for additional ground-movement areas outside the construction right-of-way along the Sherwood and CGT laterals. The Sherwood Lateral runs about 54 miles from eastern Ohio into West Virginia. The CGT line runs roughly six miles from the Sherwood line to an interconnection with a Columbia Gas Transmission line. They are among the last Rover laterals to be approved for commercial service. The $4.2 billion twin pipelines had encountered trouble with leaks and spills from horizontal directional drilling in Ohio where drilling had been halted for a time because of concern by state agencies. Construction was also halted for a time in West Virginia because of erosion and sediment control problems along pipeline laterals. The 713-mile pipeline will move up to 3.25 billion cubic feet per day of Utica and Marcellus natural gas to the Gulf Coast, the Midwest and Ontario. Initial service on the pipeline began Aug. 31, 2017. HHEX Hires Former Range Exec. Huntley & Huntley Energy Exploration LLC (HHEX) said Oct. 30 it hired John Applegath, a former executive with Range Resources Corp. (NYSE: RRC), to serve as its senior vice president and COO. Applegath joins HHEX after recently retiring from Range Resources, where he served as senior vice president of operations from 2014 to 2018, leading both the Marcellus Shale division and, more recently, the North Louisiana division. “I am excited to join HHEX at this pivotal time in the company’s history,” Applegath said in a statement. “I look forward to returning to a basin I know extremely well and working with our industry partners, as well as the entire HHEX team.” HHEX is a privately-held energy company based in Canonsburg, Pa., that focuses on the upstream and midstream development of natural gas resources in the Appalachian Basin. The company has assembled a position in southwestern Pennsylvania of more than 100,000 largely contiguous and operated acres within the core Marcellus, Utica, and Upper Devonian fairways, according to the HHEX press release. At HHEX, Applegath will be responsible for the company’s operational and technical activities. His appointment is effective immediately. Huntley & Huntley Using Electric Fracture Stimulation. Huntley & Huntley, with some 100,000 acres leased in southwestern Pennsylvania, has kicked its shale drilling program into high gear this year. Yesterday we told you that a former Range Resources veteran in charge of Range’s Marcellus drilling program has joined up with H&H. We have more H&H news: The company has contracted with oilfield services company U.S. Well Services to use “electric fracking”–natural gas powered electric fracture stimulation. It’s more environmentally friendly than diesel-powered fracking, reducing noise by 99% and fuel consumption by 90%. Williams Wins Eminent Domain Case. Williams’ Transco Pipeline has just won a major eminent domain court case for its Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline project that will have implications for all pipelines. Yes, Atlantic Sunrise is now in the ground and flowing natural gas. However, a small group of landowners in Lancaster County opposed to Atlantic Sunrise resisted and would not allow Transco to build. So Transco sued and won a court order, based on the right of delegated eminent domain granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), to immediately take possession of those properties and build the pipeline. The landowners continued to fight the order and the case eventually ended up in federal court. EQT Midstream Plans New Pipeline. EQT Midstream, which is about to be renamed to Equitrans Midstream Corp. in a few weeks, recently issued its third quarter 2018 update. As you know, the two are about to split and become two independent companies. As part of the EQT Midstream update, the new midstream company leaders spoke about Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 303-mile pipeline from West Virginia into southern Virginia. MVP has experienced a lot of setbacks, most of them from a campaign of lawsuits filed by Big Green organizations. A new pipeline project related to MVP was mentioned prominently in this week’s quarterly update. The pipeline is called Hammerhead. NatGas Production Up in the Appalachian Basin. Over the past few weeks two new pipelines have come online: Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise and DTE Energy’s NEXUS. More capacity along Energy Transfer’s recently completed Rover also recently came online. The effect of the three combined has been dramatic. Production volumes have shot up another 1 Bcf (billion cubic feet) in the past month, to over 30 Bcf/d. And get this: While the Appalachian spot price for gas was $1/Mcf (thousand cubic feet) on Oct. 8 ($2 *below* the Henry Hub price), on Oct. 24 the Appalachian price was averaging $3/Mcf! Just 12 cents below Henry. A movement of $2/Mcf! Behold the power of pipelines and why we write about them so much. Joe Barone [email protected] 610.764.1232 Vera Anderson [email protected] 570.337.7149

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Texas Forever: Taylor Kitsch Is Doing Hollywood His Way (Exclusive)

Taylor Kitsch isn’t here to impress.

“I get so bored if I play the same or look the same in every role,” Kitsch says on a pleasant January afternoon in Pasadena, Calif. The 36-year-old actor is gearing up for the most transformative role of his career in Waco, the six-part Paramount Network miniseries about the 1993 siege premiering Wednesday, Jan. 24. The Kelowna, British Columbia, native plays David Koresh, controversial leader of the Branch Davidians, who, along with 75 of his followers, perished in a deadly fire following a violent 51-day standoff with the FBI. “Maybe it’s an older school mindset,” he theorizes, leaning back in his chair in deep thought, a cool, laidback confidence radiating from him. “I love the grind.”

Kitsch first broke out onscreen in 2006, as brooding bad boy Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights, becoming a favorite among young female fans of the NBC drama. Since the show ended in 2011, he’s largely steered away from roles akin to the character that propelled him to heartthrob status, instead leaning into parts that weren’t exactly tailor-made for him to begin with: a gay activist in The Normal Heart, a villainous operative in American Assassin, a successful weed dealer in Savages and most recently, one of the elite firefighters battling the Yarnell Hill Fire in Only the Brave. “I grew up on these guys, like the Sean Penns and the Gary Oldmans. I think there’s a high to that. I love that challenge,” he says. “When I started studying acting that was kind of what it was about: figuring out your process to create these different characters.”

As Koresh, Kitsch unlocks another hidden ability in his growing breadth as an actor, exuding a level of charm and magnetism in Waco that is both mesmerizing and mystifying, only because the man he portrays wasn’t a good man at all. “There aren’t many characters like this that exist. He’s enigmatic and crazy brilliant and crazy, period,” says Kitsch, who calls Austin, Texas home.

In order to realistically embody the sect leader, Kitsch -- who also serves as an executive producer -- grew out his hair and dropped 30 pounds in four months; his 500-calorie diet consisted of egg whites, coffee, vegetables, a tiny bit of protein and, after 4 p.m., broth. “Losing weight when you already don’t have too much to lose, it’s no fun, but it’s just part of it,” Kitsch says of his transformation, adding that it played “a huge part in the cadence” of a “mad genius” like Koresh. “The way you walk, the way you feel… It reaffirmed how smart he had to be because it was never blunt force. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t intimidate that way.”

In 'Waco,' Kitsch plays David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians, who faced off against police in the 1993 siege.

Paramount Network

It also required Kitsch to lose himself in Koresh’s world -- and he took it quite literally. For months leading up to filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last April, Kitsch devoted “eight to 10 hours a day” familiarizing himself with all facets of David Koresh’s intricate life. That included four hours of guitar and singing lessons, scripture readings, dissecting hours upon hours of Koresh’s tapes and researching his difficult upbringing. “It was almost laughable in the beginning. I would joke around about how much prep I had,” Kitsch recalls.

There were moments during the production of Waco that proved challenging. Kitsch zeroed in on the sermons as being particularly “tough” to memorize and he became obsessed with nailing the improbable task. “I’m more known for saying less is more,” Kitsch says, alluding to his famous FNL character, Riggins, “so to be as talky as Dave… But when you’re mixing in scripture, it’s just so hard to infuse into my brain. I’d be in my house in Santa Fe and I’d have all these white boards all over the house of scriptures and psalms and everything that I had to remember in episode five, six or in a monologue. Everywhere in the house I could see it, I would say it out loud, walk over there, see it and say it out loud.”

The most daunting part about playing Koresh, though, had nothing to do with memorizing nine-page sermons and everything to do with standing in front of a mic. “The singing and guitar was f**king scary man,” Kitsch confesses, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. (Koresh performed with his band in local Waco bars and church services. Survivor David Thibodeau, whose 1999 book on which Waco is based, said Koresh recruited members through music.) “I’ve never been in a f**king singing booth either, putting it on a track so we could go film it two days later. So I’d go in the studio with a real band, which is scary to begin with, and be like, ‘Hey, I’m about to sing ‘My Sharona,’ are you ready?’ and they’re like” -- he gives a knowing look -- “‘All right...?’ They were awesome and supportive, and I gained a lot of confidence from that.”

"I feel like I'm getting better and better."

There was once a time when Kitsch’s stardom was fast approaching elite status. Fresh off the success of Friday Night Lights, Hollywood came knocking with two very expensive tentpoles, Battleship and John Carter -- films that held the promise of proclaiming him the next franchise superstar. It just didn’t happen. Both films bombed at the box office and were panned by critics. “I’ll read articles, but I won’t go on Rotten Tomatoes,” Kitsch, who only recently joined Instagram, cracks. Though it didn’t seem that way at the time, in hindsight, his failures were blessings in disguise: Kitsch had the opportunity to redirect his career on a far more interesting path.

“I feel I’ve stayed the course,” Kitsch says, analyzing his ups and downs with a refreshing candor. “I’m proud of the way I reacted to John Carter. I’m proud of the way I reacted to Battleship. I still have no regrets really. At the time in your life that these opportunities present themselves, I would have done it again knowing the circumstance and knowing what was going on. What I’m proud of is my work ethic throughout. I’ve never wavered. I feel like I’m getting better and better. I think Waco is a great example of that.”

“When you have people who believe in you and give you these chances, I just won’t let go of that opportunity,” he adds, his steadfast loyalty and gratitude to those who have seen him as more than just a pretty face unwavering. “I don’t know if it’s something I’ve learned; it’s something I’m proud of -- that I’ve, in that sense, kept grinding. It’s kind of all I know now. I’ve always -- in sports, in life -- there’s a way I make it where I have to grind, you know what I mean? It’s the underdog thing. It carries me or I carry that with me, whatever that is.”

Kitsch broke through in 2006 as Tim Riggins on 'Friday Night Lights,' a character he played for five seasons. In 2015, he starred in the maligned second season of 'True Detective.'

Getty Images/HBO

Kitsch has rarely spoken about the much-maligned second season of HBO’s True Detective, in which he portrayed closeted highway officer and ex-military man Paul Woodrugh. He acknowledges that the 2015 season was far from perfect though his experience was “really, really positive” (“Obviously, it’s not the best case that people didn’t react to it that way,” Kitsch says). While it may seem, from the outside at least, to have been a contributing factor in the long gap between TV projects, Kitsch assures that wasn’t the case. “I remember watching season one [of True Detective] -- I haven’t told anyone this -- and sitting in bed and I was like, ‘If I could f**king get on a show like that…,” he remembers. “You’re allowed to let go a lot easier when you understand you put everything you could that you had control over that you felt you knocked out. You can walk away a lot easier.”

Kitsch still keeps in touch with creator Nic Pizzolatto (“I’d go work with Nic tomorrow”) and he’s looking forward to the third installment with Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (“They got an amazing cast”). There’s an ounce of disappointment in his voice when he eventually evaluates what went wrong. “Season one was incredible and I think it’ll go down as all-time, and that says a lot because there is some amazing stuff in the last 30 years. I think the bar was crazy high, which I have no problem swinging for, but there were some constraints in the timing of it,” Kitsch says. “Sometimes you’re on a movie or you’re in a relationship and the magic just isn’t there, or you are in one and everything just seems to play out the right way. I’m sure I could speak for the other leads in it -- man, we were all proud to be there. Everyone came beyond prepared -- you have to when you’re working with Nic -- and we swung.”

Next for Kitsch is a tale that has stayed in his brain for the past several years, like an earworm that just won’t leave his head. Titled Pieces, Kitsch plans to write, direct, star and produce the feature film based on his 2014 short about three guys who grew up in the worst part of town with a sudden opportunity to change their kids’ and families’ lives. “It’s a bit savage-y. It’s a bit Western-y. It’s a grimy movie. Everything f**king goes crazy,” Kitsch says with a glint of excitement piercing through his deep green eyes.

He’s never done anything this intensive before, executing his own idea from page to screen. Could this be Kitsch’s next chapter in his career? “We’ll see how this goes,” he says with an anxious laugh. Asked if he’s nervous about jumping into something so deeply personal that will truly be his, Kitsch didn’t mince words: “You should be. Hopefully, I’m nervous about my next job too. It’s a story that won’t leave me. I want to do this and I want to do it my way.”