#MVP running back candidates

[waledxman123]

Saquon Barkley’s Record-Breaking Performance Bolsters NFL MVP Hopes in Week 12

The NFL’s Week 12 action provided no shortage of highlights, but Saquon Barkley’s stunning performance stood out as a defining moment in the race for the league’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Barkley, the dynamic running back for the New York Giants, delivered a jaw-dropping display of skill, determination, and leadership that not only fueled his team’s victory but also solidified his status as a top contender for MVP honors this season.

A Day for the Record Books

In a pivotal matchup against a fierce division rival, Barkley etched his name in the record books with a career-high performance. The versatile back amassed over 250 all-purpose yards, including 185 rushing yards and three touchdowns. His ability to evade defenders, exploit gaps in the defense, and maintain composure under pressure left fans and analysts alike in awe.

read more in google news

One of the highlights of the game was a 75-yard touchdown run, where Barkley showcased his unparalleled blend of speed, agility, and vision. This play epitomized his dominance on the field and served as a reminder of why he was a highly-touted draft pick.

Barkley’s Impact on the MVP Race

The MVP conversation has often been dominated by quarterbacks, but Barkley’s consistent excellence this season has redefined expectations. He has been the cornerstone of the Giants’ offense, accounting for a significant portion of their scoring and yardage. His ability to deliver in crucial moments, as evidenced by his Week 12 heroics, sets him apart from other candidates.

read more in google news

Barkley’s performance also comes at a time when traditional MVP frontrunners, including quarterbacks, have faced inconsistency. Analysts argue that Barkley’s contributions as both a runner and receiver make him a more versatile and impactful player than many of his peers.

Giants’ Playoff Hopes

Barkley’s dominance has also rejuvenated the Giants’ playoff hopes. With his leadership on and off the field, the team has rallied to secure critical wins, including the Week 12 triumph. As the season progresses, Barkley’s ability to sustain this level of performance will be vital in keeping the Giants competitive in a tight NFC playoff race.

A Historical Perspective

If Barkley were to win the MVP award, he would join an elite group of running backs who have achieved this honor. The last non-quarterback to win the MVP was Adrian Peterson in 2012, following his own historic season. Barkley’s ability to dominate in a quarterback-centric league underscores the significance of his candidacy.

read more in google news

Looking Ahead

With five weeks remaining in the regular season, all eyes will be on Barkley as he continues to make his case for MVP. The Giants’ upcoming schedule includes tough matchups that will test his resilience and consistency. Should he maintain this trajectory, Barkley has the potential to become one of the rare running backs to break through in the MVP race in recent years.

Final Thoughts

Saquon Barkley’s Week 12 performance was a masterclass in athleticism and determination. As he propels his team forward and captivates football fans worldwide, his name is becoming synonymous with excellence this season. Whether he secures the MVP title or not, Barkley’s impact on the game is undeniable, and his Week 12 outing will be remembered as a turning point in an already illustrious career.

[prettygirl-gabi]

Dating UConn's wbb members

Paige Bueckers

Spicy Polaroids

Paige almost chokes when you slip the Polaroid into her bag before a game.

“You’re gonna distract me before the game even starts, babe,” she says, biting her lip but carefully tucking the photo into her locker.

She’ll glance at it during halftime and text you afterward: “This good luck charm is undefeated, don’t stop.”

Date Nights

Paige loves casual dates, like late-night drives to grab fast food or watching a movie together in her dorm.

She’s all about cuddling, constantly pulling you into her lap.

“You’re comfier than any blanket I own,” she teases while wrapping her arms around you.

Game Day

She looks for you in the stands every single time she scores.

After the game, she rushes straight to you, still in her jersey, and hugs you tightly.

“I think you’re my real MVP,” she whispers, planting a kiss on your forehead.

Arguments

Paige hates fighting with you, but she gets defensive when she’s stressed.

“I don’t want to argue right now,” she sighs, running her hands through her hair.

After cooling off, she always comes back with an apology and cuddles. “I hate when we fight. I just… I love you too much to stay mad.”

KK Arnold

Spicy Polaroids

KK grins mischievously when she finds the photo in her bag.

“You’re lucky I didn’t open this in front of the team,” she says, smirking.

She keeps it tucked in her wallet as her “good luck charm” and kisses it before every game.

Date Nights

KK loves adventurous dates—bowling, arcade nights, or even roller skating.

She’s competitive but lets you win every now and then just to see you smile.

“Fine, you win. But don’t get used to it,” she jokes, pulling you in for a kiss.

Game Day

KK always blows you a kiss from the court.

After a win, she makes a beeline for you, lifting you in a spinning hug.

“This win’s for you,” she says, kissing your cheek.

Arguments

KK gets frustrated but tries to stay calm.

“Can we just talk about this?” she asks, holding your hands.

She’s quick to apologize and makes up for it by taking you out for ice cream or bubble tea.

Jana El Alfy

Spicy Polaroids

Jana blushes furiously when she finds the photo in her locker.

“You’re really trying to kill me before the game, huh?” she mumbles, her cheeks bright red.

She keeps it hidden but stares at it whenever she needs a confidence boost.

Date Nights

Jana prefers quiet, intimate dates like cooking dinner together or stargazing.

She loves when you play music while she cooks, often pulling you into a slow dance.

“I don’t need a fancy night out when I’ve got you,” she says softly.

Game Day

Jana is shy about PDA but always gives you a subtle nod or wave from the court.

After the game, she’ll wrap her arms around you and whisper, “I played better because I knew you were watching.”

Arguments

Jana gets quiet during arguments, but she’s always willing to talk it out later.

“I hate when we fight. Let’s fix this, okay?” she says, pulling you into a hug.

Allie Ziebell

Spicy Polaroids

Allie stares at the Polaroid, smirking.

“You really know how to get me hyped for a game, don’t you?”

She’ll tuck it into her phone case as a constant reminder of you.

Date Nights

Allie loves creative dates, like painting classes or going to a museum.

She’s always taking candid photos of you.

“You’re prettier than anything in this gallery,” she says with a grin.

Game Day

Allie always gives you a thumbs-up before tip-off.

After the game, she insists on taking pictures with you.

“One for the memories, and one because you’re my lucky charm,” she says, snapping selfies.

Arguments

Allie tends to get sarcastic when upset but quickly apologizes if she hurts your feelings.

“Okay, I was being a jerk. Let me make it up to you,” she says, offering to take you out for a treat.

Ashlynn Shade

Spicy Polaroids

Ashlynn whistles when she finds the Polaroid.

“You’re bad for my focus, babe,” she teases, winking at you before the game.

She keeps it in her bag, saying it’s her “secret weapon.”

Date Nights

Ashlynn loves spontaneous dates, like late-night drives or surprise ice cream runs.

She’s big on PDA, always holding your hand or kissing your cheek.

“I want everyone to know you’re mine,” she says confidently.

Game Day

Ashlynn gives you her jersey after every game, saying it’s “good luck” for next time.

She always winks at you from the court after scoring.

“That one was for you,” she mouths.

Arguments

Ashlynn is fiery during arguments but hates leaving things unresolved.

“I love you too much to keep fighting. Let’s figure this out together,” she says, pulling you into her arms.

Would you like the rest of the team written out, or any adjustments made?

[zoeology31]

Was delayed slightly due to being Unable To Fucking See but we're good now so it's post-series recap time baby!

We took a series from the best team in baseball! The vibes were frequently bad and we stranded 800 runners in scoring position, but we did it, and with the back end of our rotation against the front end of theirs and while missing three of our best hitters!

I have been more than happy to eat crow over my early season opinions of Santana, Kepler, and Margot, they all stepped up big multiple times this homestand and have been great in their respective roles (bizarre and frankly unsustainable pinch-hitting streak notwithstanding). Santana might very well win a gold glove at age 38.

The MVP of this series was the pitching though. Extremely strong performances from Ober, SWR, Festa (career best for the latter two), and Sands, as well as great bounceback outings from the bullpen big three after their respective blips. And all against a top-of-the-league lineup with a perennial MVP candidate and a lot of good sluggers. If the rotation can stay consistent like this, we'll be in great shape for the stretch run (but please Falvey, add another starter so we all feel better).

We should be getting reinforcements back tomorrow in Lewis and Miranda, which will get the lineup that much closer to full strength and let a rather overmatched Julien and possibly Lee reset at triple-A. And speaking of the bullpen big three, Beef Stew is back at last! (and Topa might actually exist too!) We've successfully treaded water and maintained ground in the division, now let's see what we can do as we get healthy.

[lboogie1906]

Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was a football running back who played in the NFL for 13 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Penn State University and was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 1972 NFL Draft. He spent his first 12 seasons with Pittsburgh, earning nine Pro Bowl selections, and was a member of the Seattle Seahawks in his last. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His father, Cad Harris, served in WWII and was stationed in Italy during the war. His mother, Gina Parenti Harris, became a “war bride”.

He attended Penn State University, where he played on the Nittany Lions football team. He was a blocker for the running back during his first year at Penn State, he amassed a career total of 2,002 yards rushing with 24 touchdowns and averaged over 5 yards per carry while catching 28 passes for 352 yards and another touchdown. He led the team in scoring.

He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in eight seasons, breaking a record. The running back tandem of Harris and Rocky Bleier combined with a strong defense to win four Super Bowls following the 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979 seasons. He was the MVP of Super Bowl IX; he rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries for a 16-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He was the first African American as well as the first Italian-American to be named Super Bowl MVP. He was a major contributor for the Steelers in all of their first four Super Bowl wins. His Super Bowl career totals of 101 carries for 354 yards are records and his four career rushing touchdowns are tied for the second-most in Super Bowl history.

He married Dana Dokmanovich. They had one son together: Franco “Dok” Harris, who ran as a third-party candidate in the 2009 Pittsburgh mayoral election and finished in second place. His brother, Pete Harris, played football for Penn State.

He served as part of the advisory board of Penn State’s Center for Food Innovation and was named a Conti Professor by Penn State’s School of Hospitality Management. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[mentalisttraceur-software]

I can now wrap any in-terminal REPL program with

my custom history setup (histdir, synced with Syncthing, with inotify/etc watches pulling in new history entries as they sync in, with narrowing fuzzy search to grab/re-run/delete entires), and

my moderately customized vi-style editing, copy/paste, scrollback navigation, and so on (editing commands and cursor positioning are translated into a handful of practically-universal control/escape key sequences to send to the REPL)

all without any degradation/regression in the REPL's native interactive terminal features. Besides just being nice in its own right, this is a strong benefit by default over comint, where I'd otherwise need to find, wait for, or implement a language-aware+integrated mode on a per-language/per-REPL basis like. For example,

in Python's REPL I hit Tab and it auto-completes as much as it can, and then if I hit Tab more it prints out the available matches;

in Ruby's "irb", I get those litte live indicator updates in the prompt as I type, the completion candidate TUI Just Works, and so on;

in node.js, I get the live evaluation previews below my input line, the shaded completion candidates appearing as I type, and so on;

because it's just those programs running in a full-fledged terminal, and yet I've got my own history, line editing, and ability to move around in the output, because the terminal is implemented in Emacs and that opens some doors.

It's not perfect. In fact it's basically one big fragile hack (or multiple hacks, depending on how you want to taxonomize), and there's some things that this approach can simply never get right.

For example, the Node.js REPL treats right arrow and Ctrl-E not just as motions to the right but also as accepting the current completion candidate - but in order to achieve these wonders, I have to send those keystrokes to the program, so in Node I get suggested autocompletes committing into the input line when not intended... although it's amazing how little that bothers me (I barely even noticed at first) because it doesn't move my cursor in most situations, and I can just "d$" or "cW" or "R" or whatever when I don't want them.

Also, these quirks only happen when I'm doing my vi-style stuff. I can still drop down to just the stock REPL experience if I need to, by just using what I already know - staying in vi "insert mode" and bypassing any remaining keybinds with the same escaping/quoting/send-next-key-verbatim keystroke that I use everywhere else in Emacs.

Also, after using histdir for about ten days, I can already notice the performance limitations of the initial MVP - the brute-force, quickest+simplest solution was an O(n^2) synchronous de-duplicating load into a ring every time I start a histdir-using buffer. In these first ten days, my Eshell history grew from a blank slate to ~350 unique history entires, ~1100 total history entries. This now causes a perceptible (still sub-second, but now perceptible) delay. On my computer it's still "instant".

Deleting all but the newest call timestamp file for each entry brought it back down to seemingly instant on my phone, which was exactly the kicking-the-can-down-the-road technique I was planning to use to keep this MVP practical longer, and I think I can probably keep that going for a few months.

Of course, many optimization opportunities here are obvious, and I'll tackle them... basically once the slowdowns are bad enough to annoy me (unfortunately I am easily annoyed by perceptible latency which is directly within my power to solve; fortunately, some low-hanging fruit are practically touching the ground). Or before a public release. But speaking of...

None of this is cleanly separated out into its own reusable pieces, let alone factored to be as decoupled+composable+flexible as would be proper for public packages/libraries/tools. It's not even documented/commented - not even a little. One day, hopefully. Currently I want+need to focus my time and effort on a job search, so unless a living wage worth of donations materializes, probably not soon. In the meantime, most of it lives inside my .emacs file, which is public, and I'll flip the "histdir" script's repo from private to public as soon as I'm satisfied from usage experience that the current directory layout is good enough to be an official v1 (I'm like 99% there already).

I started implementing an MVP script for histdir 11 days ago. Then initial Eshell integration. Then added the ability to remove, search, and inspect histdir entries. Then reused the same stuff I already had for history fuzzy-find in Emacs in order to get really pleasant history removal UX. Then mirrored what I did for Eshell in Comint. Didn't like the Comint limitations and the need for language-specific enhancements to be as good as the stock CLI REPLs. Fiddled with sending raw tabs to processes under Comint, gave up on that. Did the first significant implementation on top of the terminal provided by Eat, but the approach was a dead-end: I was trying to annotate every character to distinguish terminal output from in-buffer edits, only send the in-buffer input when Enter or Tab was hit, and then track which characters in the output were actually part of the current input that were already sent and were echoed back so I knew to include them in the history but not in the next send - I eventually got it to the point that it basically worked for Python's REPL, but tripped over itself terribly in Node.js. (Each sentence so far was about a day each.)

Then, as of about 5 days ago, I started down my current path. At first it was just histdir integration. I had given up on vi-style integration and just decided to do the minimum: I needed to know where the input of a REPL started and ended, and copy the text out so that I could save it as a history entry. Okay, easy enough, basically every terminal REPL understands Ctrl-A and Ctrl-E for moving cursor to start and end of the input line - send Ctrl-A, wait for the terminal to redraw the cursor position, send Ctrl-E, wait again, and those two cursor positions are your start and end. And deleting is also easy, basically everything understands Ctrl-U (it turned out not everything in practical use today does - a couple years ago Reline had a bug with it and f.e. Debian's Ruby still ships with it), but Ctrl-K is basically the same thing (in the other direction) and works on every REPL I tested. Inserting a history entry into the cleared input text is just normal sending input to the process. Most of that first day was not spent on sending the control codes - it was figuring out why the cursor in the terminal and the "point" in Emacs weren't matching up, except sometimes they were, and it took me a while to really understand the behavior.

So then the last few days have been me incrementally going from "okay, just a couple teensy super-simple vi-style key-bindings for the whole-input-line-deleting stuff I already have" to "just one more vi-style thing that I can see how to implement now", and as my understanding of what Eat offered and how it worked grew, so too did my ability to see how this could work.

The biggest breakthrough was yesterday, when I came up with the approach of progammatically sending inputs to align the REPL's cursor with the buffer's point just before any editing operation. This profoundly simplified and optimized the remaining problem. Prior to that, I was thinking I'd need to translate every motion within the buffer when the cursor was in the REPL's input line into an input to the REPL to move the cursor accordingly. But then I realized that nope - we only need the cursors to be in the same spot when editing starts, and only in that moment do we need to check if the Emacs point is in the REPL's input, and determine+send how many left/right movements are needed to put the REPL's cursor there. With that figured out, by yesterday night I could move my cursor around freely with any conceivable Emacs command, not just keybinds that the REPL knew, and it automagically Just Worked whenever I started inputting characters into the REPL. It truly is magical. One of the few computer UX things that has felt that way to me, and the first one I've personally crafted.

Then today, spurred on by this game-changing approach, I implemented

, vi-style replace (both "r" and "R"), including hitting backspace while still in replace state to peel back the new text and get back to the old, going off the end of existing input and still being able to insert/backspace as you'd expect, being able to move the cursor while in replace state with in-REPL keybinds for moving the cursor and having the replace and backing out the replace work correctly (I had some help in the form of the Evil package automagically remembering the replaced characters in a little list in-memory) (I am sure there are some edge cases to be found in this, but I got it fairly solid in my testing, so at this point I'd be more worried about me having made a breaking typo or vi command keystroke that I didn't notice after all the testing and before saving+committing+pushing); and

full vi-style delete/change commands - any vi-style motion can be used to delete exactly the text it covers in the underlying REPL, (I have some concern about multi-byte characters and the like - but as far as I've thought it through, it should all Just Work so long as Emacs and the underlying REPL count things consistently) (again I benefitted a lot from Evil's design here - I was feeling like this would be a really big task, but it turned out to be a very small and simple one for the most part, because it turns out Evil had the same idea that I came up with when writing my vi-style window split management - you split your code up into "operators" which compose with literally any "motion" code which moves the cursor position / window selection / whatever);

oh and visual selections and registers Just Work, because again, these things just compose - vi-style motions move the selection around, Evil gives the operator the coordinates from the start and end of the selection (just as it would cursor position from before and after a motion), and then my custom operator receives that and takes moving the underlying REPL's cursor and sending key codes for things like Delete and Left Arrow to actually cause the deletion (and of course copying the text first, because in vi every deletion is also a copy for later pasting)

vi-style paste, so that's the standard "p", the traditional/BusyBox variant of "P" where the cursor stays at the front of the pasted text instead of moving to the end of it (because I prefer it that way, I find it a far more useful distinction), and my personal addition of "replacing" paste (which I've been binding to "gp" and "gP" ever since I implemented it for Emacs+Evil a few months back) - that is, you paste the normal vi way, but the text overwrites as it inserts, as if you were in replace state ("R").

And with that... I'm basically blissfully happy. I'd be blissfully happy just from having achieved these UX improvements. But also I never in my wildest dreams thought I would achieve them all this fast. ~10 days. Automatic history sync between devices (of course I owe most of that to Syncthing - all I did was make a questionable history storage scheme that works well with it), my preferred history UI/UX with fuzzy search (owe the initial big-picture UX inspiration to Atuin and most of the the in-Emacs implementation to Vertico and Consult), and full vi-style editing/motions (owe much of this to Evil for being a really good Vim for Emacs, plus I wouldn't be on the vi direction if it weren't for BusyBox vi), and literally every other personal efficiency I've made available within a couple of keystrokes in my Emacs (all because Eat did such a great job of bringing a better terminal emulator to Emacs, in a form that was more readily available and more amenable to exploratory hacking than something like vterm), for basically any shell or REPL.

[cavenewstimes]

Watch the highlights and best plays from the Eagles' 28-22 win against the Rams

The Philadelphia Eagles rode star running back Saquon Barkley all year to a division title, and now they are one win away from a conference championship. The MVP candidate, just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, continued his career year with another monster performance Sunday.   Barkley had 205 yards rushing and two scores — primarily in the snow — to…

[prevnews]

Who is the Most Famous Cowboys Player?

The Dallas Cowboys, often referred to as "America's Team," is one of the most iconic franchises in the history of the National Football League (NFL). Over the years, many players have donned the star on their helmets, each contributing to the team's legacy in different ways. With so many legendary figures, determining the "most famous" Dallas Cowboys player involves weighing factors such as career achievements, impact on the franchise, cultural significance, and contributions to the sport. While several candidates deserve recognition, one name often rises above the rest: Emmitt Smith.

Why Emmitt Smith Stands Out

Emmitt Smith, widely regarded as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, played the majority of his illustrious career with the Dallas Cowboys from 1990 to 2002. Smith is not only synonymous with the Cowboys but also holds records that solidify his place among the sport's all-time greats. His fame and impact on the franchise are undeniable for several reasons: - Record-Breaking Career Emmitt Smith's name is etched in the NFL record books. He is the league's all-time leading rusher, with 18,355 rushing yards, a record that has stood since 2002. He broke the previous record set by Walter Payton, and his achievement remains a benchmark for running backs in the NFL. In addition to his rushing yards, Smith also holds records for 164 rushing touchdowns and 4,409 rushing attempts, which showcase his durability and consistent high-level performance. - Three Super Bowl Victories Smith was a cornerstone of the Dallas Cowboys during their dominant era in the 1990s. He helped lead the team to three Super Bowl victories (XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX), making the Cowboys one of the most successful franchises during that decade. His performances in those Super Bowl runs, particularly his ability to deliver in crucial moments, cemented his status as a key figure in the team's success. In Super Bowl XXVIII, Smith was named the Super Bowl MVP, showcasing his value and impact on the team's championship win. - NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Other Accolades In 1993, Emmitt Smith became the NFL MVP, the first and only running back in Cowboys history to achieve this honor. That year, he led the league in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, carrying the Cowboys to another Super Bowl victory despite missing the first two games due to a contract dispute. He also won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award in the same season, further highlighting his dominance. Throughout his career, Smith earned eight Pro Bowl selections and was named to the All-Pro First Team four times. His accolades made him not only the most celebrated Cowboy of his time but also one of the most decorated running backs in NFL history. - Durability and Longevity Smith's career longevity was rare for a running back. He played for 15 seasons, 13 of which were with the Dallas Cowboys. Running backs often face shorter careers due to the physical toll of the position, but Smith's ability to stay healthy and consistently perform at a high level contributed to his fame and legendary status. His remarkable durability allowed him to break records and set standards that remain difficult for today's players to match.

Other Famous Cowboys Players Worth Mentioning

While Emmitt Smith is often considered the most famous Dallas Cowboys player, other players have also had a significant impact on the franchise and the sport. Here are some notable mentions: - Roger Staubach Known as "Captain America," Roger Staubach is one of the most legendary quarterbacks in NFL history and played his entire career with the Cowboys from 1969 to 1979. Staubach led the team to two Super Bowl victories (VI and XII) and was named the Super Bowl VI MVP. His leadership, skill, and status as a symbol of the team's success in the 1970s made him an iconic figure in Cowboys history. Staubach’s story also adds to his fame; he served in the U.S. Navy, including a tour in Vietnam, before starting his NFL career at age 27. His reputation for leading game-winning drives and being a true team leader has solidified his place as one of the most beloved figures in the franchise's history. - Troy Aikman Troy Aikman, another key figure in the Cowboys' dominant era of the 1990s, played quarterback for the team from 1989 to 2000. Aikman was a three-time Super Bowl champion (XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX), and his consistency and leadership were crucial to the team's success. He was named the Super Bowl XXVII MVP and went on to earn six Pro Bowl selections during his career. His partnership with Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin formed the core of a dynasty that defined the NFL in the 1990s. - Michael Irvin Nicknamed "The Playmaker," Michael Irvin was a key offensive weapon for the Cowboys during their Super Bowl-winning years in the 1990s. He played his entire career (1988–1999) with Dallas and was known for his physical style of play and ability to make big catches in crucial moments. Irvin helped the team secure three Super Bowl victories and earned five Pro Bowl selections. His intense playing style and personality made him a fan favorite and a central figure in the Cowboys' success. - Tony Dorsett Tony Dorsett, another legendary Cowboys running back, played with the team from 1977 to 1987. Dorsett rushed for over 12,000 yards during his career and was a key player in leading the Cowboys to victory in Super Bowl XII. His 99-yard touchdown run in 1983 remains one of the most iconic plays in NFL history. As a Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star, Dorsett's fame extended beyond the Cowboys, cementing his place in the sport's history. - Bob Lilly Known as "Mr. Cowboy," Bob Lilly was one of the most dominant defensive players in Cowboys history, playing for the team from 1961 to 1974. Lilly was a Pro Bowl selection 11 times and earned seven All-Pro First Team nods during his career. He was also a key figure in the team's Super Bowl VI victory. His reputation as a cornerstone of the Cowboys' defense helped establish the franchise's early success and made him a legendary figure in the NFL.

Why Emmitt Smith Is Often Considered the Most Famous

While several Cowboys players have achieved fame, Emmitt Smith's combination of individual records, team success, and cultural impact sets him apart. Here’s why he is often viewed as the most famous Dallas Cowboy: - Enduring Records: Being the all-time leading rusher in NFL history is a monumental achievement that places Smith at the top of any list of football legends. This record is a lasting testament to his skill and work ethic. - Prominent Role in a Dynasty: Smith was a central figure in the Cowboys' dynasty of the 1990s, playing a vital role in their three Super Bowl victories. His performances on the biggest stage helped solidify the Cowboys' reputation as "America's Team" during that era. - Cultural Influence: Beyond the football field, Smith's fame extends to appearances in popular culture, including reality TV and charitable work. He won "Dancing with the Stars" in 2006, further enhancing his visibility and legacy outside of football. - Lasting Fan Connection: Cowboys fans and football enthusiasts alike continue to celebrate Smith's career. His jersey remains one of the most popular among Cowboys memorabilia, and his name is often synonymous with the team's most successful period.

Conclusion

In the rich history of the Dallas Cowboys, Emmitt Smith stands out as arguably the most famous player. His record-breaking career, pivotal role in the team’s Super Bowl successes, and cultural impact have made him a household name. While other Cowboys legends like Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin have also left an indelible mark on the franchise, Smith's achievements and fame extend beyond the gridiron, making him the face of America's Team for many fans. Ultimately, Smith’s legacy as the all-time leading rusher and a three-time Super Bowl champion continues to resonate, ensuring his place as the most iconic player in Cowboys history. Read the full article

[houkagokappa]

Last time I played dnd we rolled d20 and d100 on the random encounter table and ended the session there, bc it was late already and our dm wanted to give us some time to think if we'd rather take the d99 encounter instead. Ngl I was scared, but also curious to see what the most extreme encounter would be, which we settled on, since it felt good to follow the dice rolls.

This coincided nicely with the holidays, since our dm came to Finland and we could have our first live session ever! (for this campaign, with everyone present, I was traveling last time he came to visit). I haven't seen him in over a year, and I've never met two of the other players so that was super fun!

As for the game, our dm gives us recap rewards and allowed me to decide or roll on a scale from 1-4 how difficult the encounters would be, with the rewards matching the difficulty level. I ended up rolling for it, and we got a 4, the highest possible outcome yet again!

In game, we weren't met with a sudden death, but terrifying situations that kept escalating. First we met a lich candidate with an air elemental and some zombies under his control. Instead of attacking, he wanted to bring us to his master, the King of Thunder, who needed us as "instruments". We followed, since we weren't sure "no" would be an option (and were curious to see what he wanted with us) and were asked to retrieve some of his students from one of the most dangerous places on the island we're stuck on due to a curse. We had to go through a portal to get there and weren't allowed to return without them.

The portal lead to the caldera (which we were traveling to anyway), where we first met some magma mephits and a molten magma roper. Although our dm kindly let us know it was a deadly encounter, we had good strats to deal with them and I wasn't too worried. Every time the roper grabbed one of us, our wildfire druid was able to use their wildfire spirit to teleport us back to safety. I dealt a good amount of damage with a bunch of fun extra dice and modifiers the warlock gets, while our sorcerer and artificer helped out here and there wherever necessary and did really well too. Another fun moment in the fight was when I addressed some pirates that attempted to sit out the fight, urging them to join and rolled a nat20 to actually make them do so. At this point in the session, I was mostly concerned over our resource management.

The druid used a bat to scout ahead and we spotted the students we came after down a chasm with lava all around. They let us know they couldn't move thanks to some monster keeping an eye on them, and while we were talking about what to do, we had to roll for another encounter. This time there was some illusion magic at play, that created a double of our sorcerer, and when I touched her, I was embraced by a sorrowsworn that started to drag me to throw us both down the cliff we were standing on. There was nothing I could do, I failed my throws, and our dm had me falling down with everyone being surprised and unable to do anything. That was until we realised the druid did get an attack of opportunity and backtracked a little. Luckily they had the warcaster feat, but even with that, the options weren't great. The only thing that seemed possible to use was thorn whip, but it has usually failed for them, so they assumed it wouldn't work yet again. The gods were on our side today though, because they rolled a nat20 and I was saved. Well, the sorrowsworn attacked me again and I fell unconscious without being able to do anything, but our druid was a real mvp in this fight and cast plant growth (on moss!) to slow them down and teleport me away once again. Our artificer got me up with a healing potion and I got my revenge by casting repelling blast and throwing the sorrowsworn off the cliff alone.

We skipped out on exploring and looting the place beyond what the bat did, to save the students before running out of all our resources to more encounters and possible traps, and had a great idea of using leomund's tiny hut as a safe base. It worked, but not as well as we thought it would. We were safe inside, and popped in and out to throw some ranged attacks against the monster that turned out to be a tlexolotl. Then we realised I couldn't do that as the caster or the spell would end. Meanwhile, the tlexolotl crushed the ground around us, so no one could get out anymore and if we'd try, we'd fall into lava and our instant death. Luckily our sorcerer could twin fly on her and the artificer and they got some attacks in, while retaining the hut as a safe base. The druid had summoned two eagles for transportation purposes, that they tried to keep away from the fight since we needed them to get back up again, but decided to let them attack and we saw how much damage the tlexolotl was able to do. It would've oneshotted me if I was in range and failed my throws.

In the end, I think our dm got soft on us/our druid specifically (or possibly worried about the fight dragging out too much and it getting late), bc she had some plans that seemed difficult to pull off that she was asking him about (and an early morning tomorrow), and he announced that the tlexolotl got annoyed at went away for a bit (instead of escaping due to how hurt it got which was our initial goal), which allowed us to escape.

The npc's were in a rush to go through the portal, and we didn't want to stay behind. On our way back we met the pirates again who looted the whole place we had cleared up, so we barely got any treasure ourselves, which this place apparently was full with :/

But we did survive. And we got tons of xp.

It was super fun, although last time we exited a deadly dungeon we were robbed right afterwards, so I'm still worried about what the King of Thunder will do next and how we'll get back on our mission to steal some logbooks from a black dragon we probably also gotta fight, which may or may not be that bad after all of this.

[904sad]

Oh, look, Christian McCaffrey just got a contract that reset the market for running backs. Looks like the 49ers know who the real MVP candidate was after all.

[packernet]

New Post has been published on https://www.packernet.com/blog/2024/01/22/10715/

Picture Credit

As the 2024 NFL season unfolds, the Green Bay Packers, one of the most storied franchises in sports history, find themselves at a crucial juncture. The team, under the leadership of Jordan Love, has shown a remarkable turnaround, demonstrating resilience and skill that has propelled them close to a playoff berth – a feat that seemed distant just a season ago.

Jordan Love: The New MVP Contender

Jordan Love’s rise to prominence this season has been nothing short of meteoric. Stepping into the shoes of a former MVP, Love has led the Packers with poise and efficiency. His performance against the Minnesota Vikings, where he threw impressive passes, underscored his potential and solidified his position as an MVP candidate. This transition marks a significant shift for the team, as they moved on from their previous MVP in a pivotal off-season decision.

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: A Strength for the Packers

The Packers’ current roster boasts a young and dynamic group of wide receivers and tight ends. This depth has been evident throughout the season, with players like Bo Melton showcasing their talent, particularly in the game against Minnesota. The team’s strategy in recent drafts, where one out of every three picks has been a pass catcher, has paid off. This success means that for the 2024 draft, the Packers can focus their attention on other areas of need, given the strength they already possess in these positions.

Jaire Alexander: A Key Defensive Player

On the defensive side, Jaire Alexander remains a pivotal player for the Packers. After a brief suspension, Alexander’s commitment to the team has been clear, expressing his desire to continue contributing to the Packers. His presence in the secondary is a crucial factor in the team’s defensive strategies.

Future Matchup: Packers vs. Bears

As the regular season draws to a close, the Packers face decisive games against other teams.  Wins for the Packers would not only secure a playoff berth but also demonstrate their remarkable turnaround from the previous season. 

For fans and analysts alike, these games are a focal point in NFL betting picks, as they could go either way given the high stakes. The Packers’ upcoming performances are crucial for the Packers and NFL teams across the league, as they could influence the playoff landscape significantly.

Building on Depth and Resilience

The Packers’ journey this season has also been about depth and resilience. Injuries, a common hurdle in the NFL, have tested the Packers, but they’ve managed these challenges admirably. Players like Reed and Wicks have faced short-term injuries, while Watson and Musgrave dealt with longer-term issues. Yet, the team’s depth allowed them to absorb these setbacks without significant disruption to their game plan. This resilience speaks volumes about the team’s overall strength and the effectiveness of their training and medical staff.

A Focused Draft Strategy Ahead

Looking ahead, the Packers are poised to approach the 2024 draft with a focused strategy. With the wide receiver and tight end positions secure, attention will likely turn to other areas of need. The secondary, offensive line depth and the future at running back are key areas that may see new talent. 

Green Bay’s history of identifying late-round talents suggests that they could find valuable players beyond the initial rounds. This strategy of building a well-rounded team will be crucial as the Packers look to sustain their success and adapt to the evolving demands of the NFL.

Conclusion

The Green Bay Packers’ 2024 season is a testament to strategic planning, player development, and the unyielding spirit of a team that is synonymous with resilience in the NFL. As they stand on the brink of a playoff spot, the Packers exemplify the blend of new talent and seasoned strategy, making them a team to watch out for in the postseason. Their journey this season is a narrative of revival, hope, and the relentless pursuit of excellence, characteristics that define the rich legacy of the Green Bay Packers.

[darkrider22]

3 days intramurals

day 1-The opening ceremony,10/25/2023

So it was the first day of our annual intramurals here at Kepler.I was part of the lightning jams team and I was exited. So,I woke up early, change to my team t-shirt, and skeedadle to the school.When I arrive,oh yeah it was chaotic alright,many kids were playing badmenton every where and when you look up you will just see bunch of shuttlecocks flying, it was a barrage.Some kids were just playing on their phones.We waited for us to go,when we were on the line we chanted loud and it was very fun.After that very loud chant we march onto Sungkal and chant alot like "lez go lightning". We finally arrive and saw our parents and sat down on the floor and chant again and again until the ceremony started and again it was fun.Then we saw the grade 1-4 dance and many band performances.We headed back to school for lunch.During the afternoon I participated in chess and not suprise I loss.So I rush to sungkal and played badmenton doubles and won,I was very happy.And thats the first day of our intramurals

day-2 The Games,10/26/2023

Ok it was day two and it was basketball,yes,I joined.During the 1st and 2nd quarter we were able to get a lead on the other team,3rd quarter it was close,oh yeah I forgot to mention that I was practically useless,during the 4th quarter we were behind and loss and there MVP was Tim of Golden Flames.Next,afternoon,I already mention that Me and Kevin won the badmenton doubles so we were on the next round.Are first opponents was Angela and Crimson,and we beat them with close scores,next was Niño and Mekaelle and we won again, we were in the championship and our final opponents was a both grade 5 there name was Joss and Liam and they were good that they almost beat us but Me and Kevin won we were the champions.And thats the second day of our intramurals.

day 3-Awrding,10/27/2023

The last day,this was the day we know whos gonna be the winner in this event. We started at 2:30pm and first up was the intruducing of the candidates for the mr. and mrs. Intrums,and the cheerdance my was full energy willing to lose their voices for them to win .And now the winners for the mr. and mrs. Intramurals and alot of Lightning jams contestans were winner we celebrated running and jumping.And now the winner of this imtramurals 2023 was (drumroll)Lightning jams I was filled ith hapiness I finally won. l also got an award for being the champions in badmenton doubles.And thats the last day of our intramurals.

-Farhan

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 017: Let's get smashed (ASM 116-118)

MASTERPOST

So John Romita Sr. just died. A great artist. I don't need to tell you, by this point.

1973 is here! Now, as I said, I'm very familiar with the few upcoming years. But will I look at them differently? Hmm!!!

The issue recaps what happened last time, and it feels surreal to now see exactly what happened. It's pretty much how I imagined it, except slightly more complicated.

Richard Raleigh is back! Or rather, here. What's up with that?

Well, turns out issues 116-118 re-publish Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine #1 (that special in black and white!) but edit it to fit continuity. In the original print (of ish 116), Stan Lee explains that SSM#1 was published around an election year, and they felt like the new election year was apropos for a lil' lifting, handled script-wise by my baby Gerry Conway, and visuals-vise by John Romita Sr. naturally.

So let's read them!

Ah, Romita. Your art never disappointed.

Maybe it's my contemporary look, but this single panel on the right raises so many alarm bells it's hilarious. I've head that kind of words coming from my politicians. *sigh*

The GwenPeter drama continues, and with the recent realization that Romita worked on romances, it all makes a lot of sense.

Man, I'm sure I commented on that back when---

Yup.

It's very nice to see how much Romita's art improved (more perspectives! And the colors help him a lot too.

You know, as we get on to issue 117, I feel like Conway's writing is easier to understand for me, as-in, not difficult at all, whereas Stan's writing was often annoying to parse due to some expressions. You really see the difference. Of course, Stan wrote the original issue, but Conway pretty clearly rewrote pretty much everything.

We've got a new masked baddie, and he reminds me of when the Kingpin's son was the antagonist for a bit. I hope we get to see him and his mother again!

Back to the gentleman's club (with no George Stacy in sight, since he died), Norman is still interesting and Robbie continues to be the MVP.

Yeah, Pete, things haven't really changed.

...I'm saying that, but actually, it's the opposite in my country now. Presidential candidates are about appealing to the voting majority... that is, old people. That is, people who don't work anymore but support the government's effort to raise the age of pension YES THIS WAS A POLITICAL POST FROM THE START MUAHAHAHA no but seriously. OLD PEOPLE WHO AREN'T GONNA BE AFFECTED BY IT ARE THE ONES MOST SUPPORTING IT. what a bunch of assholes.

anyway.

The multiple references to Peter's ulcer make more sense now too! Forgot about that. Poor baby. (Honey you're about to live through the worst two years of your life, and I will be seated. With popcorn. Actually, I have a coke and crackers. Yes, it's not even noon yet. Who cares. I'm a freelancer. My schedule is random.

Robertson's digging into Raleigh makes him a prime target (as usual), so the Disruptor's about to attack him with the Smasher. But wait... Huh?

In the reader's letters, people are praising Gerry Conway and overall issue 113. Which. Yes. He gets the soap opera. He gets it!!!

In issue 118, Robertson tries his best against the Disruptor, and to be fair, his best is a whole lot. Of course, he isn't fit to fight him, but still!

As the final battle, rages on, those messages down there interspede, and it's a genius move. It wasn't present in the original and I've got to say, it's excellent. It gives pacing, foreboding, and foreshadows what's about to happen...

The Disruptor says "he won't run off with his tail between his legs like a jackal" and oh boy, did they know about the upcoming villain of the same name? It's a line present in the original, but I can't help but wonder...

Of course, the Disruptor was actually Raleigh all along (it couldn't be anybody else), which makes his behavior kind of wonky, but oh well.

This set of issues is fine, I love me some intrigue, and we get to see the supporting cast, but it lacked something. As to know what, exactly, I'm not sure.

In the letters, Bill Creighton complains that the supporting cast hasn't had much appearances recently (before the previous batch of issues) and Stan reassures him that Conway, as was already seen, is attached to showing more of them. He also teases a bigger part for Harry soon... and laughs maniacally. Muahaha.

[lboogie1906]

Franco Harris (March 7, 1950 – December 20, 2022) was a football running back who played in the NFL for 13 seasons, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Penn State University and was selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 1972 NFL Draft. He spent his first 12 seasons with Pittsburgh, earning nine Pro Bowl selections, and was a member of the Seattle Seahawks in his last. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was born in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His father, Cad Harris, served in WWII and was stationed in Italy during the war. His mother, Gina Parenti Harris, became a "war bride". He attended Penn State University, where he played on the Nittany Lions football team. He was a blocker for the running back during his first year at Penn State, he amassed a career total of 2,002 yards rushing with 24 touchdowns and averaged over 5 yards per carry while catching 28 passes for 352 yards and another touchdown. He led the team in scoring. He rushed for more than 1,000 yards in eight seasons, breaking a record. The running back tandem of Harris and Rocky Bleier combined with a strong defense to win four Super Bowls following the 1974, 1975, 1978, and 1979 seasons. He was the MVP of Super Bowl IX; he rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown on 34 carries for a 16-6 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He was the first African American as well as the first Italian-American to be named Super Bowl MVP. He was a major contributor for the Steelers in all of their first four Super Bowl wins. His Super Bowl career totals of 101 carries for 354 yards are records and his four career rushing touchdowns are tied for the second-most in Super Bowl history. He married Dana Dokmanovich. They had one son together: Franco "Dok" Harris, who ran as a third-party candidate in the 2009 Pittsburgh mayoral election and finished in second place. His brother, Pete Harris, played football for Penn State. He served as part of the advisory board of Penn State's Center for Food Innovation and was named a Conti Professor by Penn State's School of Hospitality Management. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellenc https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpf7IYgvikz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[cavenewstimes]

Mike Tomlin says Joe Burrow is playing at an 'MVP-caliber' level ahead of Steelers vs. Bengals showdown

The NFL’s MVP race is taking shape as we gear up for Week 13. Quarterbacks Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are among the front-runners to win the award, along with running backs Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry.  Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s name would undoubtedly be included among the league’s top MVP candidates if not for Cincinnati’s 4-7 record entering Sunday’s home game against the…

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

Let’s talk: RUN Episode 135

by Admin 1

Today was the conclusion of this episode trilogy and we got to find out who would have to climb Mount Achasan much the same way Namjoon and Tae did a few years ago. The challenge? Each member entered a room one by one and chose one of the cue cards lying on a table (I laughed way more than was probably appropriate at how the PD tried to make them unsure of their card choices just to see what would happen) and based on what was written on the card had to hide a certain object. Once everyone was done, the hunt would begin though the only clue they had to go by was that the objects have something to do with K-pop and Korea.

Right at the start (before choosing their cards) we got Jimin with his hand under Tae’s chin talking about how, while Tae is great at keeping a straight face as he guards someone else's secret, it isn’t the case when its his own.

Hobi says that Tae will surely try his best today while Jimin points at Tae’s face saying that this is how he smiles when he’s lying. Namjoon adds that it’s a mysterious smile.

While choosing a card Tae reached out to his angels so they would help him figure out which of the three remaining cards he should choose. His angels said the second or third and, in the end, he decided on the third one, which turned out to be a Yoongi poster much like the ones they had in the after performance pictures at MAMA etc. 

Another funny one was when JK was choosing his card. At first it wasn’t shown what was actually written on it, but once the hunt began, it was revealed that it was the cue cards which he, at first, decided to simply hide in his pants. Because of course. He even went to the bathroom to check if they were visible when he sat down or stood a certain way. Can we take a moment to talk about how his sweater made him look so big but once he lifted it to hide the cue cards, he was basically like half the size (which I don’t mean in a mean way or anything, just that his clothes were very “misleading” and we all know how JK has a tiny waist, you know?).

While Seokjin went in to pick up his card (he was last so only one was left), we got to see a conversation happening between the waiting members where Namjoon wondered if they’ll have to go through all the garbage bins. This, of course, made Jimin nervous since he hid his objects (a pair of jipsin) in two garbage bins. And it only got worse when Hobi saying the following: 

Going back to Seokjin, we got to see that his object was last year’s Season’s Greeting box and honestly, he’s the MVP of this episode because his hiding place for that big box was truly genius. Galaxy brain type genius.

So, once all the objects are hidden the members have 30 minutes to find them. While Namjoon, Seokjin and Tae basically go to the same room, we watch as JK moves about to finally find a place to hide his object without the members noticing it. In the end he goes back to the room they were in for the majority of the episode and hides the cue hards on the PDs desk.

True to his words, Hobi really does check the garbage bins first and, of course, he ends up finding what Jimin hid there. This of course prompts the other members to go check any other garbage bin they come across.

Next JK, Seokjin and Tae all head up to the second floor where in reality nothing is hidden so they’re basically just wasting their time. Namjoon also finds his way upstairs and ends up finding merely a paper plane which he isn’t sure is one of the objects and yet he still takes it with him just in case, he also makes a mess spilling bedding (?) out of a closet type thing as he searches through it.

Jimin comes across a dried flower buquet which he decides is suspicious and thinks it might be one of the objects so he goes on to interrogate the other members and to see if they’ll agree with him. And yet, even as he tries to explain that perhaps it could have something to do with Korea, everyone disagrees and Jimin eventually lets the idea go.

Meanwhile Tae decides to check a trapdoor type thing in the ceiling of one of the room he entered with Seokjin, which in turn makes Seokjin nervous since it’s similar to the place where he hid his object. Kim’s sharing a brain cell for checking ceilings.

We also get Hobi trying to see if the jipsin perhaps belong to Tae, who says no, and then try Seokjin which gives us a moment that immediately reminded me of a Seokjin and Namjoon interaction in the behind the scenes of their Wembley concert where Seokjin is talking to some cameras or something while Namjoon appears next to him and whines about something, I’m not sure what, which leads Seokjin to raise his finger in a silencing manner at Namjoon, since he was interrupting Seokjin, and voila Namjoon did immediately turn silent.

Hobi giggles and repeats what Seokjin told him while walking off...just to approach Namjoon and ask him of the jipsin maybe belong to him, but Namjoon also says no and how he’s jealous that Hobi managed to find one of the objects.

JK and Namjoon check the elevator but find nothing though Namjoon notes that one of them could’ve gotten creative while someone else says ‘what a fool that’d be’ while Seokjin overhears them as he walked past the elevator and giggles to himself, pleased.

But he didn’t realize that Tae was right behind him and picked up on the fact that he giggled (and apparently also the staff?) and thus wondered why, deciding to also check the elevator. And yet, despite being smart with the ceiling before, he does check the elevator a bit more than Namjoon and JK had, but still ends up empty handed.

With five minutes left the PD gives them a hint that one of the objects is rather big so they take off with new energy to find it. Tae walks back into the cafe like room and says that Jimin had cold hands almost as though he’d touched the snow. In that moment we get a flashback to earlier where we get the following:

Tae reaches for Jimin’s hand and asks him if he went outside since his hands are cold. I’d like for us to note Tae’s thumb on Jimin’s fingers because I’m endeared, as well as the way Jimin looks at Tae told the end of that gif where he says “This is to fool you. Don’t be fooled.” In the background Namjoon suggests that maybe Jimin simply washed his hands instead. Not convinced by just holding his hands to realize that they’re cold, Tae takes Jimin’s hand again and puts it against his cheek, confirming that indeed it is cold and he agrees with Namjoon’s suggestion.

And yet, in the present, Tae has as though forgotten all about that and is rather sure that Jimin must’ve hidden something outside on the balcony in the snow. At one point the members even follow him outside, intrigued by Tae’s sudden conviction, and yet all it leads to is Namjoon watching him through a tilted window and telling Tae that the director said that nothing was hidden by any of the members outside.

Not quite convinced Tae asks someone off camera (please can we talk about Tae’s adorable red nose from the cold omg) who also tells him that there’s nothing outside. Tae basically fooled himself. And with that their time runs out and the hunt is over, the members gathering back again in the main room.

The PD asks the question of “Who is the most simple-minded in BTS?” and I was basically howling when Seokjin first laughed mid-sip and then both him and Namjoon turned to each other claiming the other as the most simple-minded. I’d like to very much object since both of them are anything but simple in most ways, as far as we know, but I still appreciate the moment and the shoulder and thigh touching, as well as Seokjin looking cute as he laughs and tries not to spit out his water.

We also had Jimin being a Namjin enthusiast basically telling (and reenacting with, kinda) Tae about what they just did while seeming very amused and entertained by it. Same, Jimin, same.

They laugh about that a little more while also pointing out how the maknaes could be very sneaky about their hiding places and eventually Hobi simply decides he’ll “test” every member one by one in a quest to figure out to which of them the jipsin belong. The first one is Tae which gives us a moment that I’ve seen some compare to a “similar” one from back in 2013 or 2014 but personally I don’t particularly think that’s a good memory to associate with this generally just funny moment. But maybe that’s just me.

Next Hobi tries Jimin, who of course says no and yet turns very much red. Hobi lets him go, but Seokjin remains convinced that it’s Jimin, so even as he stands opposite Hobi and is asked if the jipsin are his, he tries to point at Jimin with his eyes and then, once he’s sitting again, puts his hand over Jimin’s hard to check if he’s lying.

Even after he checked all the members, Hobi still thinks it’s Seokjin so they have a vote to see whom the majority suspects. Here even Tae votes for Jimin being the owner. But in the end Hobi does choose Jimin, who in turn thinks that maybe it’s all just candid camera and the reason why no other object was found is because he’s the only one who actually hid anything. Which of course isn’t true. The winner of the entire episode trilogy is announce and they receive a box of Bangtan goodies.

Before the episode comes to a close, and we also find out who will go to Mount Achasan, the members are to reveal where they hid their objects. While they are amazed by all the hiding spots, the one that truly blows them away is Seokjin’s, since he quite literally hid his in the ceiling of the elevator. Look at JK’s big eyes of awe and surprise. Awww.

And with that the episode is over. It was really, really fun, though I think the game was a little too hard. Maybe if everyone knew what objects they are meant to find they actually would’ve been able to find them, but still, it was also fun to watch like this.

[akaashisupremacy]

Curiosity

Summary: Hajime Iwaizumi runs into an old friend yet again. Second chances don't come often so will he able to make a move before their time is up?

Iwaizumi x fem!reader/Oc || Read it on A03

Genre : romance, friends to lovers 

The day had gone by quicker than Hajime Iwaizumi thought it would. It was now or never.

It all began last week, when he ran into Hiromi Miura, a friend from college, in a small Vietnamese restaurant in Ginza a month after he moved to Tokyo. As he lined up for a seat, he noticed the figure in front of him was familiar. He tapped her shoulder and waved. Hiromi was so surprised that it took her a moment to realize it was her old classmate.

“Iwa??” she said in disbelief.

They got a seat together to catch up. Normally, Hiromi would be nervous about have lunch with one other man, but she had been on so many failed dates lately that at least she knew lunch with Iwa would not end in disappointment.

“You’re eating here? This place must be legit huh?” he said, remembering that she worked for a food publication. She chuckled.

“Definitely has my seal of approval.”

The restaurant was small and Iwa was rather tall. He could feel his knees touching hers from time to time. She crossed her feet behind her chair so they didn’t have to apologize mid-conversation when they bumped into each other.

“I’ve been meaning to call you by the way. Do you know any good markets around where I live?” he pulled out his phone to show her the area where he was staying, “I’m not too familiar with the area yet, so you’ll have to tell me where is it on the map.”

Iwa lived almost at fringe of the city. His home was located not too far away by bike to one of Hiromi���s favorite wet markets. She took his phone a little more enthusiastically than he expected her to and pinned a location.

Hiromi loved showing people around her favorite food spots. If being a food guide was more lucrative, she would ditch her dayjob altogether.

“Here! There’s a wet market where I’m friendly with the stall owners right here.” she pointed, “It’s about a 15 minute bike ride away from your place. I can help you get good deals. Not too many tourists too.”

And that was how Iwa found himself inside a wet market with Hiromi, on an early Monday morning. On most mornings, Iwa liked to jog and not do chores, but Hiromi had been so enthusiastic about the market that he let himself get sucked in. He tried not to yawn as she waved at every other stall.

“Another market day for work? Did the production team ask for your help again?” tutted an old woman at a vegetable stand.

Did he really look that dressed down?

“No, I’m bringing a friend around, hopefully a soon to be regular. Yamagata-san, this is Iwaizumi. He just moved here.” she chuckled, gesturing at him. Iwa politely bowed and greeted her.

As Iwa picked out some vegetables, Hiromi continued to chat with the old woman, guiding him every now and then to a vegetable that looked fresher than what he had picked out.

“I thought he was a production boy., You know one of those boys that drives your company van and carries your stuff.” Yamagata-san commented good naturally, “Too handsome for a production boy.”

When Iwa was about to pay up, Hiromi disappeared over to the next stall. He sighed and made his way to the counter at the back. Behind the desk, he saw a simply framed black and white photo of Yamagata-san with a candid smile, reaching out to a customer. The background seemed to blur and the old woman was the star. Next to that was a smaller photo of Yamagata-san and…Hiromi.

Was Hiromi some sort of MVP for this stall or something?

“Miura-chan took that photo of me,” said Yamagata-san, taking notice of Iwa, “I told her that I didn’t need such a big photo of myself so I insisted on having one with her.”

“What was the photo for?” he asked, peering again at the two photos.

“She ran an article on the oldest stalls of the market saying we were the heart of the community or something like that. When the story came out, she even gave us a glossy magazine that had my picture on it. She made us sound big and important. She was really grateful that we let her talk about us so she gave us a framed photo of ourselves to remember her milestone by. It was her big solo article I think.”

After hopping from one store to another, sometimes to say hi and others to buy produce from, they settled in for early lunch at yakitori or grill restaurant. The sun was high in the sky. While waiting to be seated, Hiromi bought cool green tea for the both of them.

“This is so good! Damn!” he sighed in pleasure. The drink relieved the sweat gathering at his back. Hiromi grinned in satisfaction.

“Iwa can I ask you something?” she tilted her head towards him.

“Shoot.” Suddenly he felt unnerved and tense. What could this be about? He bit down on the tip of the straw.

Her eyes were with amusement, “Did you not notice that the fruit vendor was making eyes at you?? She’s totally into you and I tried to wingman for, but you just shrugged and paid up.”

“Wait, for real?” he asked, taken aback by his lack of self-awareness.

Hiromi nodded her head vigorously, “That was cold!’

He slapped his hands on his forehead, “Well, I wasn’t really interested in her anyways.” he sighed, his eyes flicking towards her before looking away.

Hiromi recalled a time in college, when a circle of their friends were having lunch together. One of the girls that had a crush on Iwa tried to make a pass at him.

“I would date you if I could, Hajime-kun,” she blushed. Everybody’s eyes turned to Iwaizumi who continued eating and only stopped because someone had nudged him.

“Thanks, I’m flattered,” he nodded. It had taken him weeks to realize that she was trying to confess to him.

“Do you remember that time in colle-“ she began but was interrupted. He was cringing as he remembered the same memory.

“Don’t bring up that lunch incident, Hiromi. I know you’re going to. Just NO.”  he groaned, “I get it! I’m dense.”

Hiromi was trying to restrain her laughter. He could hear her stifle her giggle beside him. She tried not to look at him. He straightened up beside her and nudged her knee with his.

“I wasn’t interested in her anyways.” he said, thoughtfully looking at her.

“Clearly not,” she snorted, browsing through the menu, “You should see what you want to eat before they seat us.”

He placed his hand a little bit behind her and peered over her shoulder. He could feel her arm pressed against his chest. They were seated so closely his nose almost touched the side of her head. She remained oblivious to him.

After they were seated, Iwaizumi finally brought up what he had been noticing.

“How does everyone here have a photo by and with you?” he asked, “Are the photos really required by your work?”

Hiromi looked a little embarrassed. She cleared her throat and sighed, “People like to take. They take stories and never give the people they take from. They take their food and their ideas, which is really not fair.

“It took me a while to earn the trust of the community here but once I gave them a copy of their story, it made them realize I was sincere about wanting to give back to them. The black and white framed photos, that was on me. We had some budget left so I got them their own photos because they’re important even if their job is not glamorous.”

“You’re really passionate about your job huh?” he said. The food had just arrived and they began to rearrange their bowls and plates on the table.

“It’s not my job I’m passionate about, it’s people and their stories. I’m just lucky enough to be paid enough to do this.” she smiled.

“Don’t you feel the same way about your job?” she asked, “You like volleyball so much you turned it into a profession.”

“I do, but I’ve just started in my new job. Passion takes time if not at least a little bit more experience. Maybe by next year, I can feel the same way about my work.”

———————————————————————————

“Thanks for bringing me here.” he said as he loaded up his bike with his morning purchases.

“Thanks for lunch,” she said. Iwaizumi had paid while she was at the restroom to thank her for introducing him to her community market.

Urgency prodded at his back. It was now or never. As she handed him some of his packaged vegetables, he hastily turned to her.

“Can I see you again next week?” he said it so quickly, he wasn’t sure she fully understood him.

“Oh, do you want to try a different market?” she asked, carefully taking out the strawberries from her bag and transferring it to his bag.

“No, no this market looks great —“

“I know right! It’s not the best or most comprehensive market, but it’s a good market if you’re looking to build a community with.” she beamed with pride.

Iwa straightened his back and cleared his throat, “No, like a date.”

She paused and stood to meet his eye. “Oh…I guess this is why you weren’t interested in the vendor huh. I really thought she would be your type! She even plays volleyball.” She looked away while slowly recalling signs from earlier today: the knee nudge, the lunch, his lack of interest in other women in the market.

Iwa could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He forgot how nerve-wracking it was to ask someone out. Sweat was pooling around his temples just standing there.

“Ahh not really, I am actually interested…in you. I thought you might like me too, that’s why you agreed to go out with me today…y’know to test the waters…” he stuttered, “but..ah…turns out you just really like markets. I realized that I should have been more forward.”

Hiromi was simultaneously flattered, mortified and a little confused. She kept quiet. In the back of her mind, she entertained the thought that maybe this was an unofficial date, but she had convinced herself that Iwa was invested in buying cheaper fresher produce.

“It’s ok if you don’t want to. You look uncomfortable,” he said, waving his hands side to side, breaking her out of her reverie, “We can pretend like this never happened.”

She hesitantly replied, “Well, I’m on the weekend and my hours are flexible on Thursday because it’s a reading day for me…” She was praying in her heart that she got her schedule right.

Her reply caught Iwa off guard. Nevertheless, he jumped to the chance to spend a day next week with her.

“That’s great! I’m away next weekend, but Thursday sounds great.” he smiled, looking hopeful, “Let’s meet then?”

“I know it’s kinda early, but I think I have to put it out there that my schedule’s really erratic some days. That’s kind of put some people off.” he shrugged. His schedule was one of his occupational hazards.

“We’re out on a Monday, I think I’m aware.“ she nodded. Although outwardly calm, she was ready to faint. She couldn’t wait to tell Itsumi that she had a date with a seemingly decent guy?

“Oh and Iwa?” her face schooled itself into a more serious expression as he gave her his full attention, “It’s non-negotiable for me. If you want to insist on being able to date other people, I’ll have to cancel next week.”

“I had a small spat with this guy I was dating and I…walked in on second date while he was making out with someone.” she gritted her teeth, heaving a sigh.

“Ok, I won’t see anybody else while we’re seeing each other. Deal?” he couldn’t help but smile.

“I’m not very good at dating. I haven’t been in a good relationships in awhile. I’m gonna need your patience.” she said softly, turning to him, her eyes wary.

“I’m kind of aware.” he nodded, “I’ll make the most of the time you can give me.”

When she left she felt dumbfounded. She had recently sworn off dating and now she was on another date?

“Itsumi, you’ll never guess what just happened!” she called up her coworker.

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This is part 2 of a series on Iwa living in Tokyo after he moves back from California. If you’d like to keep up with the next chapters (which will include questions to help them fall in love *hint hint*), comment or message!

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3

Series taglist: @itstheee-ha-chan