#So I watched the geno media availability | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

imaginespazzi · 2 months ago

Note

Nivi! How are you, bestie? I'm just here for a quick drop-by again, just to check in and say hi.

Life hasn't slowed down much the past few weeks so I still haven't had time to do a long review but please know that every GH chapter is like a shot of serotonin straight into my veins.

You had so many good lines in Chapter 10 that gave me a good chuckle btw, i loved it.

Also, I'm never ever getting tired of Paige-Azzi-Stephie scenes. Like ugh, this lil family makes my day always. Brooo, Stephie's possessiveness! She a little master manipulator huh cause this:

“Mama,” Stephie says loudly, cutting Paige off as she turns to Azzi, “do you know if Aunty Chérie is in town?”

“I was just thinking,” Stephie barrels on casually, “maybe we could go see her and she could give me cuddles and kisses since app-ently Miss Buecks is too busy to give them to me-”

^This was absolutely DIABOLICAL from that little girl hahahah. She knows EXACTLY what to say to get what she wants from her Miss Buecks. Like mother, like daughter truly.

And our Drew cameo, it's finally here! Oh boy, the confrontation is really gonna be something, i already know. Yeah for sure I think Drew's gonna have slight feelings of jealousy or yearning in a way that Stephie gets to experience what he missed out on, but more than anything I think he is gonna be super protective of her and not wanting her to ever go through what he went through when Paige and Azzi broke up.

I do wonder what Azzi's reaction will be if and when they finally get around to talking about the "plan" in place of Angie potentially taking over P's role and the team maybe no longer needing P after this one season. I know P says it's nothing they can't work through , but well we all know how much of an overthinker Azzi is and so she's prolly already gonna jump straight ahead to scenarios of well what's that gonna look like if P has to move to the OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY and how that's gonna affect Stephie. Ugh, the angst is about to ANGST, i feel it.

Anyhoo, i guess this is kinda a medium-sized review? As a small token of my appreciation haha.

As always, thanks for taking the time to feed our souls with your talent! Can't wait for the next (whenever that may be)!

P.S: I think I'm rooting for a Liberty-Sun finals series. I do love the Lynx and I know how much you love Phee so I wouldn't mind if it was the Lynx (and I think it will prolly be them anyway over the Sun) but I do have such a soft spot for CT and I looooove Nai, so I am rooting for them over Minny, sorry babes. I'm rooting for NY though so at least there's that!

Oh and I watched Geno's media availability today, and he didn't seem all too impressed after the first practice session lol but it is the first one and there's a lot of new pieces so like he said, it'll just take time. But it better take less time than it did last season cause idk if I can suffer through another painful non-conference stretch. ALSO grandpa seemed annoyed at having to be cautious with Azzi LMAO, like if it was up to him, she's back on that court playing as much as possible ASAP. Imma need him to chill on that though. Like no one wants to see princess back on court more than me (well, maybe apart from Azzi herself and blondie) BUT her knees better be 200% before she's back on there!

I said "quick drop-by" and look what we got instead - typical hahah.

OK imma stop now. Love ya, bestie. Take care of yourself always! 💗

-🙋‍♀️

BESTIE I MISSED YOU I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU <3

Babes I get you don't even worry about it. Life is gonna do life things and whenever you have the time to do one again (hopefully I write again lol) I will be seated to read it!

But I'm glad you've been enjoying GH.

Honestly I love writing Stephie so much. She's just an evil genius and she's so smart and perfect and funny which off course she is, she's literally mini-Pazzi.

Ugh babes you always just get my writing because that's exactly how Drew feels towards Stephie. There's definitely some wistfulness there seeing her get that "family" that was in way stolen from him but he's already enamored by this little girl and he would never want her to face what he has.

Azzi's reaction is going to depend on when she finds out and how she finds out tee hee :) I've given y'all so much fluff, it's only fair I give the angst fiends some angst soon.

Well I hate to break it to you babes, but no Liberty-Sun finals for and you and I fear it's looking quite grim for the Liberty in general right now. But at least we'll always have MVPhee too root for!

Oh god I didn't have time to react to Geno's availability but I fear grandpa did not real squelch any of my fears about this team. My biggest side-eye was actually his lack of complementariness about Jana and I'm a little fearful for my frontcourt where apparently Ice (??) is looking like the best player?

He's definitely dying to have Azzi back out there but if that girl plays more than 15 minutes in at least her first 5 games, we will be having words! I have Farleigh-Dickinson circled on my calender for the earliest possible game we can see her and that would give her a couple of easy game before the team would really need her so he better not play her more than 15 if she does play then.

#ask #UCLA ANON LOML FR <3 #did a little squeal of happiness seeing you in my inbox again

7 notes · View notes

conspiracyzone · 2 years ago

Text

Book and Documentary post

The first book I researched is called "The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR" by Brian Tuohy. This book is available online, or on Amazon for only about $17. In this book Tuohy discusses different sports conspiracy theories, including rigged games, biased officials, and player misconduct cover-ups. He also explores how sports conspiracies relate to social, cultural, and political concerns of power and corruption. The book provides thought provoking conspiracies about the world of sports, and in my opinion was a very interesting read. Throughout the book, Tuohy provides evidence to support his claims, drawing on a variety of sources, including court documents, media reports, and interviews with athletes, coaches, and other insiders.

There are many NFL conspiracy theories discussed in "The Fix Is In: The Showbiz Manipulations of the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and NASCAR". One of the most prominent NFL conspiracies explored in the book is the allegation that the outcome of Super Bowl III was fixed in favor of the underdog New York Jets, who defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. According to the conspiracy theory, the NFL and the television networks that broadcast the game wanted to create a compelling storyline and boost ratings, and saw the Jets' victory as a way to do so. Some have suggested that the officials intentionally made bad calls that favored the Jets, or that the Colts were told to lose the game in order to help the league. Tuohy examines various pieces of evidence to support this theory, including the amount of money bet on the game and strange behavior by some of the key players and coaches. The author also exclaims that there is no definitive proof that the game was fixed, and many have disputed the claims made by Tuohy.

One popular documentary that I recently watched on Netflix and found interesting is "Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez." It is a great series and it is directed by Geno McDermott. The documentary explores the life and career of former NFL player Aaron Hernandez, who was convicted of murder in 2015 and committed suicide in prison in 2017. The different episodes explore the many controversies and allegations surrounding Hernandez, including his troubled childhood, drug use, and possible involvement in other crimes.

There are three very detailed episodes in this series and each of them dives deep into what went on inside the mind of Aaron Hernandez and the conspiracies surrounding him. The first episode covers the killing of Odin Lloyd, which was the case that Hernandez was convicted of first degree murder. Other major points of this episode are covering and interviewing close friends of Aaron throughout his life. The second episode heavily covers Aarons life as a rising football star at the University of Florida all the way up to the starting tight end of the New England Patriots. According to sportingnews.com, "Several people interviewed said Hernandez got away with a lot of issues at Florida. The documentary discusses his alleged involvement in an assault of a bartender, his potential role in a double shooting in Gainesville and his rampant drug use." The final episode focuses mainly on the trail, and the horrific aftermath. People and close friends around him started to become terrified of who Hernandez has become and were nervous to be around him due to his sudden personality change. Eventually Aaron was put away in jail where he would commit suicide. Even though Hernandez was only convicted of one murder, there are many theories that he committed many more unethical crimes.

Overall, I learned a lot about conspiracies in the sports world from these two pieces of work.

0 notes

rinkrats · 4 years ago

Text

Jen: It was definitely something that you wanted to be perfect. There’s no one more deserving to be more recognised. And knowing he had to do it without the fans there - you know, you just wish he could have got that ovation that he deserved, and celebrate it with them. So we wanted to make it extra special.

We were set for Valentine’s Day against the Capitals, and here we were doing it instead on Feb 21st… To be honest, the stick he got on the ice is back at the engraver’s, getting the date put on it for his 1000th game. We started in January, reaching out to all the teams. Not one person we asked said no.

And I can tell you that you guys saw quite a few videos from a lot of high-profile people, but Sid actually got a personal video with over 45 minutes of messages from friends, families, people at home, guys he played with at Rimouski… To not have fans, we wanted to make it extra special for him.

Steg: You had to be cognisant and respectful of the superstitious nature of Sidney Crosby. How did you handle that part of it?

Jen: So, I never, ever, ever said the word to him. I never said the word 1000 to him once. I think it was Wednesday the week before, and I said, ‘Hey, Thursday’s a day off, and I’m thinking Friday you’ll be available’. And he looks at me and I’m like, “FRIDAY… you’ll be available, because the media will want to talk to you’. And he gave me the wink, like, okay. We never said anything but he knew it was gonna be the first time he answered questions about it. I didn’t bring any requests to his attention prior to that.

We had an idea to watch his first game with him, but we haven’t done it yet because we didn’t wanna ask him till it was here. So, yeah, we’re superstitious from that factor. I actually called his sister and I said, ‘Taylor, you gotta help me. How do I proceed with this one?’ and she helped with the family stuff. I called Kathy, his girlfriend, and she helped with the friend stuff. It’s funny to see how many people - I can’t imagine what he felt like hearing all the messages and watching all the videos, because there were a few of them that made me tear up, because he is just so respected across the board at all levels of the game.

Steg: Whose ideas were they?

Jen: (on Sid’s 1000th game tribute mosaic) ...One of the funniest moments of last Saturday was, after the game was over, I saw Geno bending over and he was counting to make sure there was a thousand!

(on tying the skates) You know, I don’t know what player came up with that but that was probably the highlight of the night for him. He didn’t even notice. He was so in the zone. And he turned around and looked around and was like, ‘Oh my god’. When they switched legs, I was laughing so hard. They really full on went in. I fully expected they would have done it in Washington too since they won. (Metzer: He would have required it right?) Yeah, I thought for sure this was gonna be a new mandate! That everyone was gonna have to tie their skates just like him.

Metzer: Sid’s such a great human, but it humanised him, seeing the emotion. When he came together with Geno and Kris Letang, was that kinda a cool moment for you guys too, to just see the big three having an emotional moment. You could just see the affection between those three guys.

Jen: It was actually quite funny to me because of everything that’s been in the media recently about the core and the changes in management, what the future of the team looks like. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the three of them have such an incredible moment - and I’ve seen them win three Cups together. They really were sincerely proud, sincerely thankful for each other and all the things they’ve accomplished together

Steg: It was nice to see Sid with his girlfriend too.

Jen: Yeah! Kathy’s wonderful. I didn’t want him to be alone out there. We had to ask the league for permission to have the guys on the ice, cus we felt like he was on an island by himself with no fans in the building.

...I feel like for someone who’s in his 16th season, nothing’s slowed down. On the ice or off the ice. He is still such a big magnet for our team and attention - and deservingly so. He shows up day in and day out.

The night of this game, there was a long delay before he did media and the true story was, we couldn’t find him. He worked out after the game (laughs). He brought a protein shake to media with him. We were looking all over for him. Sid was so long because after he took all his pictures, he went and worked out. We couldn’t find him! His teammates had all already worked out, showered, there was a cake- and it was just so funny. No one knew where Sid was. He was working out.

-Penguins Live Weekly on Sid’s 1000th game with Jen Bullano, 27 Feb 2021

In which sid is utterly sid...

#geno making sure they got sid's gift RIGHT #sid... just being sid...#text #long post #sidney crosby #evgeni malkin

472 notes · View notes

beggingwolf · 3 years ago

Note

oooh... 37/53

37. Coming Out Fic and 53. Mutual Pining

so, anon, I was trying to ficjam with the lovely @idontlikeem/@malk1ns on this one, and she, uh, basically did all our exposition for us:

part of why geno was so anxious to get to the us is--he's sick of having to date women for appearances. he is gayyyyyy and while okay he's not super interested in being a poster boy, he's sick of hiding from the people he's close to and living in fear of the law.

so he's out, for a given measure of the word. everyone in the league knows, mostly. and he's spoken often of how incredible it is, to be relatively open about who he is, and he'd never want to go back into the closet full-time again, not for anyone or anything. like, sure, it's not public-public, and maybe it never will be, but...he can exist in his world without hiding. it's pretty good. even if his captain IS gorgeous and straight and totally unobtainable.

meanwhile. sid, who's been under a microscope since age 7, can't even fathom what it might be like to be open with anyone about who he is and what he wants. but he's heard geno say so often, he won't date someone who's fully closeted, he isn't saying anyone has to come out but it wouldn't be good for him, he just can't do it.

so sid, uh. comes out. in the middle of his media availability on getaway day, after they win the 2016 cup, he just. says it. and then gets up and leaves. disappears to canada. geno, who in this world doesn't really go back to russia all that much, because while he's still politely and publicly straight enough to play for the national team, and he's wealthy and important besides, he doesn't really like being there and having to sneak around, is still in pittsburgh when this all happens. he tries to get to sid, but sid basically high-tailed it out of the arena, chartered a private flight, and left.

because after all, sid can't be with geno unless he's out, right? and he's never given less than 100% at anything he's done.

he just. maybe didn't think this one through. and so he panicked. and left before he could actually, like. talk to geno?

(thank you, Lis, for your contribution 😂)

Coming out is hard. It's so hard, and it's sometimes hardest when you know you're going to be treated by others with more kindness than you've treated yourself.

Sid's sexuality was an anomaly at first, and then a secret. He'd been weird, and then he'd been ashamed, and then he'd been willing to do anything for hockey. He liked girls just fine, so it was an easy trade off. He didn't need men in that way, and a few decades of locker room banter and crass language had given him a very comfortable track to ride along in. That part of Sid was strange, fucked up, queer in the oldest sense of the word, and Sid... Sid had already sacrificed a lot for hockey.

What was one more thing?

Then Geno came along, and he'd been uncompromising. Sid had been pulled into a meeting with Mario and ownership—he was going to be the next captain, they'd told him, and Geno was going to come out whether the team liked it or not. It was going to be Sid's job to make sure the team liked it.

"Can you handle that?" Mario had asked Sid seriously, and there was a weight in his eyes, a you need to do this.

Nausea churned in Sid's gut, threatening to come up his throat, but he'd nodded.

Anything for the team. Anything for hockey.

And then he'd had to look at Geno and know, know all by himself until ownership finally came to an agreement with Geno and laid down the facts to the whole team and staff before a practice. Geno was going to be out. Anyone who had a problem with that could take it up with ownership or Sid.

Sid had stood there, his mouth dry, and Geno had given him a small smile.

Panic raced through Sid so quickly it hurt.

The first year had been rough. It had been hard to see Geno looking guys up and down, finding them at bars, slowly becoming comfortable enough in America to start taking them home.

Sid had gone back to Nova Scotia that summer, gotten a girlfriend, and done his best to get over it.

A decade later, Sid doesn't flinch when Geno takes guys home. It hurts in a different way, though. At first it had been a sharp, frantic pain—a no, what is he doing, he can't do that—but over the years it's changed into a dull ache. Sid knows what Geno's fingers look like wrapped around a man's bicep flirtatiously. Sid knows what Geno does when he expresses interest, how he leans in and has a way of making himself seem fair and sweet even if he towers over a guy.

The ache lives in Sid's gut. It feels like want.

Geno'd had a boyfriend for two seasons. He'd been Russian. He'd moved in with Geno four months into the relationship, all the way from Moscow. Geno had brought him to the arena, and Sid had stuck out his hand for a handshake and caught Geno watching him.

Sid had checked the tightness at the corners of his lips, trying to make sure his smile was sincere. He has Geno's back, he... it's his job to make Geno happy and safe here, and—

When they'd broken up, finally, Sid had coaxed Geno out for sushi, with the buffers of Tanger and Flower to sit in the booth with them so Sid couldn't do anything stupid.

He'd been able to delay it but not quench it. The dam breaks after the Cup—finally, they get it again, Sid gets it again, it wasn't a fluke the first time in '09, and after the concussion, after all the trades, they get the Cup again—and Sid remembers the feeling of Geno under his arm as they held the Cup.

Sid is drunk enough on the feeling of it that it suddenly doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter that he'll get kind words from the front office and Mario and his teammates and Geno. It doesn't matter that they'll all love him and he'll still hate a part of himself, and when faced with all their love, it'll be only him who hates himself, he'll be the only reason he—

It trips off of Sid's lips, and he goes on autopilot as he moves to extricate himself from the scrum. He can't look at Jen's face—the horror that will be there, the knowledge that there are no plans nor preparations for this, nothing like the intricate maps drawn up for Geno—so he keeps his gaze on the ground and all but runs away.

He's on a plane back to Halifax within two hours.

He turns his phone off. It's stupid. It's cowardly. Sid is a coward, and he's stupidly brave, and it sort of feels like the world is ending.

He goes out on his boat the next day with Taylor. She'd shown up at his back door while he was making a smoothie, tapping on the glass and frowning at him until he'd let her in.

"I brought cookies," is all she said, which meant his mom had coped by baking.

The lake's still. It's too early for the pleasure boaters to be out with their speedboats and tubing gear. The water laps gently at the hull, and Sid leans back in the driver's seat.

"Geno called," Taylor says.

"Don't," Sid says.

"Sid."

"Stop. Please."

Taylor stops. She picks at the nail polish flaking off of her toenails before reaching for one of the premade protein shakes Sid had tossed into the built-in cooler hidden in the seats. They don't speak again until Taylor asks Sid about his Cup day plans, which is such an olive branch that Sid feels even more ashamed—he's practically a decade older than her and he's acting like this, Christ—and chats with her about a few ideas. She wants to hire a friend to make the cake. He's fine with that. He's fine with anything.

When they land just after noon, Taylor jams her hat back onto her head and turns to look at him.

"Mom wants you over for dinner."

Sid yanks the rope tighter as he fastens the boat to the dock.

He's a coward, but he's his father's son, and if he can't face his family head-on, then he really did come out for nothing, because he'll need even more courage to face Geno.

There are a lot of hard conversations to be had. His mother cries as she asks him how long he's known, and Sid has to sit there and watch the color leech from his father's cheeks.

His dad hugs him so hard before he leaves that night. The quiet I'm sorry almost breaks him, but Sid makes it home and into bed without losing it.

It's the hardest thing he's done since his concussion. It's harder, in some ways. The concussion was something done to him.

He's doing all this to himself, and, well—

His Cup party is alright. It's good, even. It's always better when the Cup's within reach, and no one brings up the media scrum, not until Sid's four beers deep and the sun's only just starting to set and he can just laugh it off.

That's when he sees Geno, just a few feet away, turning away from Taylor with a smile on his face and locking his gaze on Sid.

Sid freezes.

Geno just smiles wider and takes a step closer. Sid's heart... Sid's heart feels like it takes in a deep breath for the first time in a long time. Maybe forever.

"Hi, Geno," Sid says.

#ficlet #tag game #uh oh scoob I think the author is projecting again!

28 notes · View notes

rayadraws · 5 years ago

Note

end of an era

Oh my gosh anon, our waiting is OVER. Patiently, not so patiently yearning… wishing… hoping… dreaming… we have IT.

I gotta talk about it, because of course I do, ahhh! This will be long, sorry…

I got my hands on the OVA this morning, about half an hour before work. I watched it, yelled on Discord and then went to work, practically vibrating the whole day until I could go home and watch it again and write down my thoughts!

Before release I had seen what available video clips and screenshots we had, plus a summary given to me by a Japanese mutual, in somewhat limited English. I was unsure what to expect but I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I might! I understand that there’s a lot one can be confused or perhaps even put off by in the OVA but. Well. I enjoy seeing a vulnerable Genos (if like 90 % of the fanfic I’ve written wasn’t an indication lol) so I just ate it all UP. And since I’ve written a fic about him getting amnesia specifically, I was very curious to see how off the mark I was.

I won’t give a proper summary, there’s a good one by Nysh for that. Nor the animation. JC Staff is what JC Staff is. I’m instead going to just… muse and compare and go wild with my own personal headcanons - in that regard, this OVA was excellent, because it does give some hints about what makes Genos tick. Hold on to your butts…

Oh, and need I say that there will be SPOILERS? XD

—

Before I wrote my own amnesia fic, I did some research. So, what is amnesia? Well, the popular TV show version is one thing, of course RL is another. There are several kinds of amnesia, with different causes and different treatments. But the two main categories are longterm memory loss, where you can’t recall past memories (often up to what caused the amnesia) and short term memory loss, where you have difficulty forming new memories. You can get one or both. In my fic, Genos deals with both. In the OVA, he appears to have longterm memory loss only, as he tries to find Fubuki again to help him defeat the monster (if only he knew Saitama would by far have been a better choice!), so he remembers her. Not to mention at the end, when he’s trying desperately to apologize…

There is no instant cure for amnesia. Emotional support is important, medication (if it’s caused by underlying disease, which it can be) and psychological therapy can also be useful. Saitama is doing the right thing in the OVA by remaining calm and trying to avoid agitating Genos or pushing him to remember.

After he first wakes up, Genos is very lost, he only remembers his name and that he’s a cyborg - but not why! It’s really heartbreaking when you think a little more about it - imagine waking up in a cyborg body and not remembering why/how that happened… We actually discussed that on Discord before we had the OVA, what if he wakes up and doesn’t remember… but nahh, that’d be too dark, right? APPARENTLY NOT.

I can’t explain why Genos would be so heavily influenced by media around him as he is. That’s just made up for the humour… but if I were to try to find an actual in-world explanation, hm… Well, we do know he can be a Drama Boy. We also know he tends to be very standoffish and reserved towards most people, which I think is related to his trauma, in a few ways (he doesn’t want to get close to people due to the risk of once again experiencing the pain of losing them - and spending four years more or less on your own during your late teenage years is not an ideal environment for learning how to socialize…). We also know that when Genos finds something or someone he considers important, he latches on. So you could see it as being part of that, perhaps. Lost and confused he looks for anything that would make some kind of sense, trying to find a sense of direction or idea on whom he might be.

What exactly did you forget? Your quest for revenge or the sale you briefly remember later? Knowing Genos, it could be either…

He reacts in confusion to his body telling him that there’s an elevated energy signature nearby - I LOVED this. I wonder if he saw it as a note on his HUD, or if it’s more ingrained, more subtle. The way he got antsy and couldn’t sit still… it’s like his proximity sensors act as an extra sense, like Spiderman’s spider sense…. An extra sense that’s probably saved his life on more than one occasion.

He takes off, feeling like it’s his body moving, not him. I don’t think his body has an separate will of its own, but I have always hc:ed that he probably has systems that can calculate stuff for him mid-fight - how to move, where to release his weapons and at what strength etc. A little helpful internal computer. It’s a LOT for one little monkey brain to keep track of, so it wouldn’t be crazy to think he has some help with that, I think. And here, I don’t think his body is truly moving on his own without him having any control of it… more like muscle memory? Like there are times where I think I’ve forgotten a password to my work computer if I’ve been away for a week but then I sit down and my fingers remember the typing motions on their own. I imagine it’s something like that. He doesn’t know what to do, so he’s going where his instincts tell him.

Fubuki, ah, ever the scheming one. I enjoyed her showing up and being casual at Sai’s place because that’s how I like to write her in my fics. You can see the exact second when she goes into Business Mode, playing hard to get to lure Genos closer. Too bad she didn’t consider just how much his personality changed too, came on way too strong in the end…

And!!! A couple of times Genos puts his hand in defense, without seeminly knowing why, or doing it intentionally really. Hmmmm where…. have I seen this before…

He jumped when a warning flashed at the corner of his vision. It was his proximity sensors going off, his HUD informed him. On instinct, he ducked down behind the nearest tree. He should go back. Kuseno would keep him safe. But if he moved, the stranger might see him too. Don’t turn your back on an enemy.

His sensors told him the direction and the general size of the approaching being, but he couldn’t actually see it between the tall trees. It was moving very fast. He ducked lower, ferns brushing softly against his cheek. On instinct, he held his palm out in front of him, open and pointed at whatever was approaching him.

I am SO glad that I called this in my fic, it’s a small detail but it adds a lot I think! Raising his palm as a threat is second nature to Genos, even when he doesn’t consciously know why he’s doing it…

It’s interesting that throughout, Genos keeps referring to himself as “boku”, which is usually reserved for a male who is younger than 16 (though there are exceptions - Amai Mask also uses it, probably as part of his charming idol persona). Usually Genos refers to himself as “ore”, which is mostly used by adult men, more informal and can be viewed as disrespectful, depending on circumstance (Genos is not typically respectful towards people, if they are not Kuseno or Saitama). Combined with how meek he is, man… Okay, ONE said that before the mad cyborg attack, Genos’ personality was about the same as it is now. So why is he so different? Well… I don’t think that’s too shocking, really. I mean, if you lost all your memories and sense of self, realized you were a cyborg for some reason???, ended up alone in a weird city, not knowing where you were or what to do, and suddenly people pointed at you asking you to fight a terrifying monster even though you have no idea how to fight… you’d probably be terrified too! I think we can assume his personality change is caused by his amnesia. But we can probably also assume that a Genos who never had his village attacked and never got involved with fighting/being a hero would not grow to be exactly the same as canon, anyway. He’d probably be a rude brat… but yeah. At least a few degrees less aggressive/ready to throw down!

Again with the hand!

A thought I had reading the exchange between the monster and Genos… it reads almost like how you might expect Genos’ meeting with the mad cyborg might have looked like, only in a sad, reverse kind of way. These lines - “I’m not ready yet… I’m not ready to die here… not yet!” - like, dude… that sounds exactly what might have gone through his head back then. Maybe the first inkling of his past returning to him at that second…

He feels something, remembers something, is shocked.. and it comes back… “I cannot win like this!”. And then he remembers Kuseno, and Saitama…

Once more, those lines together: “I’m not ready yet… I’m not ready to die here… not yet! I cannot win like this!”

We’ll probably never get it verified, but I find it very, very likely he used more or less these exact words, or something very similar, after meeting the mad cyborg.

Also, as much as I appreciate the closeness between Genos and Saitama, I AM glad that he remembered Kuseno first - he’s known Kuseno for four years, Saitama for less than 2 months, when this takes place. It’s only right and it fits very well with his character introduction too, where he thought he was dying and his last thought was an apology to Kuseno. A nice nod. I enjoyed that animation sequence a lot too!

When he remembers who he is, Genos feels so bad about his actions but he still can’t deny what he said before… Saitama’s face… omg… Bless them both.He brings Saitama wild/game meat - d'ya figure he bought it or, um… got it for free? I mean, that’s… exactly the kind of creature he fought… maybe he’s learnt Sensei’s ways…

And Saitama is happy he’s back. He cares about Genos! He likes him like he is, as intense and blunt and socially awkward as he is! What a sweet note to end the OVA on!

#opm s2 #ova 3 #anime spoilers #ova spoilers #amnesia #ahhhhAAAAAHHH

87 notes · View notes

celebritylive · 6 years ago

Link

Mama June Shannon has yet to break her silence after being arrested on drug possession charges, but her daughter Lauryn “Pumpkin” Shannon has decided to speak out.

At the start of Friday’s episode of Mama June: From Not to Hot, WE tv aired two messages addressing Mama June’s recent troubles.

“We share our viewers concerns for June Shannon and her entire family. We are monitoring events as they occur and are focused, as always, on the entire family’s well-being,” read a statement from WE tv. (The text was identical to one the network previously shared on social media on Tuesday.)

Then Pumpkin, 19, shared her own statement, saying, “Hey guys, as you know, you’ve seen the stuff out in the media and our family is going through a rough patch.”

“But this year alone we have had a lot of happiness. And when my mom and Alana were out in California and everything seemed good. Then the next couple months rolled around and things took a turn,” she added. “We’re sharing our story in hopes that it helps another family and I sincerely want to thank our fans for always being there and loving and supporting us.”

The messages do not appear in the online version of the episode available to stream on WE tv.

Mama June, 39, has remained silent on the legal issues and hasn’t posted anything on Twitter since last week, when she live-tweeted the season premiere of her reality program.

We share our viewers’ concerns for June Shannon and her entire family. We are monitoring events as they occur and are focused, as always, on the entire family’s well-being.

— WE tv (@WEtv) March 19, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

RELATED: Mama June Allegedly Had Crack Cocaine, Crack Pipe on Her During Alabama Arrest

The reality star was arrested on March 13 on drug possession charges in Alabama, a spokesperson for the Macon County District Attorney’s Office previously told PEOPLE.

Shannon was arrested on possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia charges after she allegedly had crack cocaine and a crack pipe on her, the spokesperson said, adding that the substance was undergoing testing.

She was arrested with boyfriend Eugene Edward Doak, who has been charged with third-degree domestic violence, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. The spokesperson alleged Doak also had suspected crack cocaine and a crack pipe.

The spokesperson said Shannon’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 27.

A representative for the reality star did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

RELATED VIDEO: Mama June Questions If She’s Pregnant as Her Boyfriend Gets Arrested in From Not to Hot Trailer

Two days after her arrest, Shannon went on a Twitter spree as she began live-tweeting the season 3 premiere of Mama June: From Not to Hot.

“Sorry I’m so late starting tweeting the show but don’t forget to watch the most outrageous moments right now,” she wrote. “Let’s get ready to start the season off good #mamajune.”

An hour later, the reality star again apologized for getting a late start, explaining that “my internet has been down and where I’m at does not have cable that picks up wetv.”

Hey y'all sorry my internet has been down and where I'm at does not have cable that picks up wetv but hopefully u r watching my outrageous moments got everything to work now so here I am live tweeting what are you thinking about the most outrageous moments and what is your fav

— Mama June (@MamaJune_BooBoo) March 16, 2019

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

While live-tweeting the episode, Shannon also gave a special shoutout to Doak, her boyfriend of three years.

“Yes the most outrageous moment is me getting genp to possibly marry me so we’re going to see what happens this season so let’s get to watching now,” she wrote, referring to the moment during the episode where Doak, 43, got down on one knee — and gave her a promise ring.

Although the reality star initially didn’t seem to know what to make of Doak’s gesture during the episode, she shared on Twitter how moved she was.

“I have to say so very sweet what geno said yeah it is not an engagement but hey if you do a promise then hey I can get another ring out of it LOL,” she added.

Mama June: From Not to Hot airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on WE tv.

from PEOPLE.com https://ift.tt/2OtVCIF

#Celebrity

0 notes

cover32-yahoopartner-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Eli Manning to tie brother Peyton with 208th consecutive start vs. 49ers

Elisha Nelson Manning has the ability to go on about his business without any visible signs of the noise that comes with being an NFL quarterback in the nation’s largest media market.

Even as his New York Giants are 1-7 and the noise related to his competence as a quarterback, as well as his future, grows louder No. 10 just keeps it moving. This is a skill that cannot be taught. No level of training can help one acquire such traits, it’s simply a part of his personality.

Lost in the noise of the Giants’ 51-17 loss to the Los Angeles Rams was Manning etching his name among a select group of quarterbacks. He became only the seventh quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 50,000 yards in a career.

The other six are his brother Peyton, Brett Favre, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Dan Marino, and John Elway. Favre, Marino, and Elway are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Peyton Manning, Brees, and Brady will join them.

This Sunday’s game against the winless San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium will mark another milestone for Manning. He will make his 208th consecutive regular season start, tying his brother for second on the all-time list. Only Brett Favre has more consecutive starts at the quarterback position with 297.

On Nov. 21, 2004, Manning started in his first career game: a 14-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Since then, Manning has won 109 regular season games, eight postseason games and two Super Bowls.

He’s one of only five players to win multiple Super Bowl MVPs (Brady has four, Joe Montana has three, and Manning, Bart Starr, and Terry Bradshaw each have two). Manning has also thrown 332 touchdowns (seventh all-time behind his brother Peyton, Favre, Brees, Brady, Marino, and Fran Tarkenton) to 221 interceptions and owns every significant Giants franchise passing record.

Of course, No. 10 will downplay the significance of starting in his 208th consecutive regular season game. It’s because of the season the Giants are having and because it’s simply his nature to shrug off such milestones, even one that involves his older brother.

“I mean, I guess yes and no,” Manning said when asked if this Sunday’s start has meaning. “I’m happy to be out there each and every week with my teammates. That’s a goal of mine to stay healthy, to play through injuries, to be accountable, and so, like I said, that is important to me to be there for my team and my teammates. But it’s not about breaking a record though.”

And Manning has definitely played through some injuries. He separated his shoulder early in the 2007 season and was expected to be sidelined for a several weeks. Manning didn’t miss a game. When he broke his ankle in the 2013 regular season finale, Manning was back before the start of training camp like nothing ever happened.

Even if it’s not in Manning’s nature to toot his own horn, it doesn’t mean his iron man prowess is lost on those around him.

“Well, he’s a true pro in terms of taking care of his body,” said offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan. “I don’t imagine him doing anything other than, when he gets home, spending quality time with his wife and kids. He’s not out running the streets, obviously, but you know, he does — you look at what he’s eating. It’s hard to find him putting anything but nutritious things in his body and you guys have all documented the whole how he goes through his routine as far as stretching his arms, you know, stretching his shoulders and so forth.

“His commitment is full time. It’s not just what he does in the film room and preparing himself. It’s not just what he does on the practice field. But, I think in all phases of his life he has a great balance and a perspective and certainly has served him well through this long streak.”

Backup quarterback Geno Smith knows how difficult it is to stay healthy in the NFL. He was injured last season with the New York Jets trying to avoid a sack but tore his knee when he was hit by a second defender. Smith missed the remainder of the season before signing with the Giants in the offseason.

“It’s definitely a skill,” Smith said. “You can’t practice it because you don’t get hit in practice. But 208 straight starts you’ll get good practice at it on Sundays. You just have to go with the hit. It’s like when you fight for extra yards or you’re trying to stay up, sometimes they got you. Tom Brady does it. Peyton does it and those guys play forever.”

Manning said in the summer he wants to play into his 40s. He turns 37 on Jan. 3 and has two years remaining on his contract. Head coach Ben McAdoo has said that, at some point, he wants to take a look at some of the younger players: namely rookie quarterback Davis Webb.

Webb is the Giants’ highest quarterback selection in the draft since the Giants drafted Philip Rivers and traded him to the then-San Diego Chargers for Manning in 2004. Webb, who didn’t run anything close to an NFL offense in college, has spent the season watching and learning from Manning.

The Giants are also looking at this year’s crop of college quarterbacks. The Class of 2018 is already drawing comparisons to the Classes of 1983 (which included the Hall of Fame trio of Elway, Marino, and Jim Kelly) and 2004 (which included Manning, Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger). It would be prudent to see what Webb has learned and what he can do before deciding on a course of action related to the quarterback position.

Regardless of the team’s record, Eli Manning deserves more respect than he has gotten throughout his career. If the noise bothers him, you cannot tell by looking at him. He simply goes about his business regardless of what some fans, the media, and even his head coach has said about him.

The most important ability is availability and No. 10 has been available for every Giants game for the equivalent of 13 full seasons. It’s something that deserves recognition, even though it will get drowned out by the noise of the Giants’ first 1-7 start in 37 years.

– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for cover32 and covers the NFL and New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.

AROUND COVER32

Patriots bring back Martellus Bennett

Does Sean McVay represent a changing of the guard among NFL coaches?

Fantasy Football Week 10:Top Adds | Top Drops

Bye week solutions for the Oakland Raiders

Interested in writing for cover32? Follow the link to apply!</

#_uuid:4789d716-b213-3f4d-93b4-474ff7d0b4fc #_author:Curtis Rawls #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DIJnLEAX #_revsp:cover32_362

0 notes

flauntpage · 7 years ago

Text

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four

Throughout the 2016-17 season, as the University of Connecticut women's basketball team steamrolled through the most difficult schedule in the country and surpassed the all-time record for most consecutive wins, coach Geno Auriemma maintained his steadfast belief that his team would, at some point, lose. He didn't just seem to think it would happen, though: he sounded like he wanted it.

Then came a Final Four matchup against Mississippi State, one in which Connecticut was heavily favored, and suddenly Auriemma's prophecy came true. Auriemma believes that the fact that they hadn't lost in the past is what caused his team to fall short that night—a reality brought home for him during that 66-64 loss to the Bulldogs.

"For me, probably the collective look on their faces during one of the timeouts where I think they sensed that this is different," Auriemma said, recalling the signature moment for him from that night in Dallas. "This is not like every other game we've played and you could see the look in their eyes like this moment might be a little too big for us. It was written all over their body language."

In many ways, the 2016-17 Huskies were burdened with history as much as supported by it. Most of the 111 straight victories between a November 2014 loss to Stanford and the epic upset by Morgan William and Mississippi State in the 2017 Final Four were racked up by a team led by a trio of now-WNBA players: Breanna Stewart, Moriah Jefferson, and Morgan Tuck, all of whom graduated after winning a fourth straight NCAA title in 2016 (and got picked 1-2-3 in the WNBA Draft).

In Stewart's opinion, the reason Auriemma talked up a loss so often is that it is his best available tool for motivation.

"Coach Auriemma uses losses to motivate us even more," Stewart said in a text message. "He never lets us forget about them. Throughout the entire postseason last year and into the preseason this upcoming year I'm sure it is something he keeps harping on to make sure the team is more prepared the next time they step on the court and make it so it doesn't happen again. The loss to Mississippi State is going to have them coming back even better and even hungrier than last year."

Notably, last season's Huskies didn't lack for talent, nor for results. Connecticut finished first in the country in points per possession, and third in defensive points per possession, all while facing the toughest schedule in the country and endless attention to their win streak. The team's top four players—Gabby Williams, Kia Nurse, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Napheesa Collier—are all expected to be first round picks once they reach the WNBA Draft (the first two in 2018, the latter two in 2019).

Gabby Williams hasn't forgotten what it felt like for a moment to see Morgan William's shot launch just above her outstretched hand, ending the Connecticut season two games ahead of schedule. And she agrees with Auriemma, it is just what Connecticut needed.

"Because how can you tell somebody that they're doing something wrong, but they keep getting the right result," Williams said at media day as Sunday's season opener approaches. "So he's like look it we, of course we did it wrong because look at the result we got so it's tangible proof. And I'm hoping that it gives us some more edge. I think that's something that we lacked last year, was just having an edge. So hopefully it makes us a little more rough this year."

Williams said she sees it manifesting itself in practice already—Auriemma will tell Nurse or talented sophomore point guard Crystal Dangerfield they never do something."And their like, 'Okay, well then watch me do this.' And I'm like, 'Oh! Alright.' Yeah hit 'em back. It's little stuff like that."

While few saw Connecticut as likely to suffer a defeat last season, it was generally understood to be the best shot any team would have at the Huskies for a while, The big four return a year older, as does Dangerfield. Talented 6'6 center Azura Stevens transferred from Duke, providing size last year's Huskies did not possess, while a top-rated recruiting class led by ESPNW's number one in the country, guard/forward Megan Walker, gives Auriemma numbers he didn't have to throw at people last year.

Add in the loss Auriemma believed was necessary for team growth, and the sense is that the South Carolina title last year was a brief interlude, rather than a changing of the guard. Not that Auriemma would mind if it happens again.

"I think what happened last season is exactly what needed to happen," Auriemma said. "Not because we need any extra motivation to win. I just think we need it to lift all the stuff we've been carrying around with us the last couple of years and just play free and clear and be like everybody else, and understand that losing is not the end of the world. We've created an environment, unfortunately, that whenever we lose it's 'What did Connecticut do wrong?' That's not fair to anybody. My players, the other players, the other coaching staff. Oh, the only time Connecticut loses is when they play bad? We get no credit for playing great? We need to put that to rest if we're going to become legitimate in a lot of people's eyes. We have to lose, and that losing is healthy for everybody."

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

0 notes

amtushinfosolutionspage · 7 years ago

Text

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four

Throughout the 2016-17 season, as the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team steamrolled through the most difficult schedule in the country and surpassed the all-time record for most consecutive wins, coach Geno Auriemma maintained his steadfast belief that his team would, at some point, lose. He didn’t just seem to think it would happen, though: he sounded like he wanted it.

Then came a Final Four matchup against Mississippi State, one in which Connecticut was heavily favored, and suddenly Auriemma’s prophecy came true. Auriemma believes that the fact that they hadn’t lost in the past is what caused his team to fall short that night—a reality brought home for him during that 66-64 loss to the Bulldogs.

“For me, probably the collective look on their faces during one of the timeouts where I think they sensed that this is different,” Auriemma said, recalling the signature moment for him from that night in Dallas. “This is not like every other game we’ve played and you could see the look in their eyes like this moment might be a little too big for us. It was written all over their body language.”

In Stewart’s opinion, the reason Auriemma talked up a loss so often is that it is his best available tool for motivation.

“Coach Auriemma uses losses to motivate us even more,” Stewart said in a text message. “He never lets us forget about them. Throughout the entire postseason last year and into the preseason this upcoming year I’m sure it is something he keeps harping on to make sure the team is more prepared the next time they step on the court and make it so it doesn’t happen again. The loss to Mississippi State is going to have them coming back even better and even hungrier than last year.”

Notably, last season’s Huskies didn’t lack for talent, nor for results. Connecticut finished first in the country in points per possession, and third in defensive points per possession, all while facing the toughest schedule in the country and endless attention to their win streak. The team’s top four players—Gabby Williams, Kia Nurse, Katie Lou Samuelson, and Napheesa Collier—are all expected to be first round picks once they reach the WNBA Draft (the first two in 2018, the latter two in 2019).

Gabby Williams hasn’t forgotten what it felt like for a moment to see Morgan William’s shot launch just above her outstretched hand, ending the Connecticut season two games ahead of schedule. And she agrees with Auriemma, it is just what Connecticut needed.

“Because how can you tell somebody that they’re doing something wrong, but they keep getting the right result,” Williams said at media day as Sunday’s season opener approaches. “So he’s like look it we, of course we did it wrong because look at the result we got so it’s tangible proof. And I’m hoping that it gives us some more edge. I think that’s something that we lacked last year, was just having an edge. So hopefully it makes us a little more rough this year.”

Williams said she sees it manifesting itself in practice already—Auriemma will tell Nurse or talented sophomore point guard Crystal Dangerfield they never do something.”And their like, ‘Okay, well then watch me do this.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh! Alright.’ Yeah hit ’em back. It’s little stuff like that.”

While few saw Connecticut as likely to suffer a defeat last season, it was generally understood to be the best shot any team would have at the Huskies for a while, The big four return a year older, as does Dangerfield. Talented 6’6 center Azura Stevens transferred from Duke, providing size last year’s Huskies did not possess, while a top-rated recruiting class led by ESPNW’s number one in the country, guard/forward Megan Walker, gives Auriemma numbers he didn’t have to throw at people last year.

“I think what happened last season is exactly what needed to happen,” Auriemma said. “Not because we need any extra motivation to win. I just think we need it to lift all the stuff we’ve been carrying around with us the last couple of years and just play free and clear and be like everybody else, and understand that losing is not the end of the world. We’ve created an environment, unfortunately, that whenever we lose it’s ‘What did Connecticut do wrong?’ That’s not fair to anybody. My players, the other players, the other coaching staff. Oh, the only time Connecticut loses is when they play bad? We get no credit for playing great? We need to put that to rest if we’re going to become legitimate in a lot of people’s eyes. We have to lose, and that losing is healthy for everybody.”

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four syndicated from http://ift.tt/2ug2Ns6

0 notes

yahoo-puck-daddy-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Jagr Watch 2017: Where will Jaromir Jagr end up next season?

There was perhaps no sadder moment in the NHL offseason than when Jaromir Jagr tweeted out his free-agent lament: There have been no calls to the 45-year-old legend from general managers.

For the first time, we all started to really consider if this was the end of the line for the ageless one, despite 46 points and 17 minutes per game for the Florida Panthers last season.

We also all started fantasy casting ways for Jagr to continue his career in the NHL, but those options were flying off the table during free agency. The Kings addressed their old-ass right wing need with Mike Cammalleri. Carolina added Justin Williams and is stacked up on the wing. Despite Brendan Shanahan and Lou Lamoriello in Toronto, there’s probably not a fit there, either. And so on.

But that will not deter us from finding a home for Jagr in 2017-18.

We don’t offer any palpable inside information here. The man is a modern day Jedi, and Jedi are not often known for their candor. Well, except for Anakin, who couldn’t stop with the creepy proclamations of lust for Padme. And look how that ended up.

Here’s a look at some Jagr Watch possibilities, if he decides to grace this planet with his talents for another season.

Arizona Coyotes

The Coyotes used to be the go-to place for legendary players to ride off into the intense desert sunset (Hull, Roenick) but their recent treatment of aged veterans clearly signals a change in policy (see: Doan, Shane). That said, super stat nerd John Chayka clearly understands the possession impact Jagr makes, the team has a need on right wing and their cap space is larger than the GDP of some island nations.

Calgary Flames

See, this is an interesting one. It hits on a positional need for the Flames. It’s a team that has some cap space. It’s a team that has the type of young forwards for whom Jagr can be an inspiration.

Does he fit the Flames? Here’s FlamesNation on it:

If Jagr is expected to be a top line player, he’d almost certainly be alongside Gaudreau and Monahan – two 60+ point young forwards – and considering the way Glen Gulutzan deploys his forwards, Jagr would undoubtedly be put in a position to succeed. From there, all he’d have to do is keep up with a couple of players in their early 20s, which he’d already been doing during his time in Florida. Same stuff, different team, another year older. That’s what we’re looking at.

He could make a top 10 power play even better. And we’re all for the Adventures of Jaromir and Johnny, Hockey Rock Stars.

Detroit Red Wings

We’re not entirely sure why the Red Wings would do this, but then we’re not entirely sure what the Red Wings are doing overall. Jagr on a one-year Vanek contract? They haven’t had an immovable object on the power play like this since Johan Franzen. (Also, this would greatly increase the chances that Jagr picks up an octopus and fashions it into some kind of cephalopod mullet.)

Edmonton Oilers

The idea of Jagr, at this point in his career, skating with Connor McDavid is like the idea of Tony Bennett singing with a speed metal band. But if there’s one virtue Jagr has that fits here, it’s his mentorship. Having Jagr’s work ethic, and the way he uses his body, as a model for Leon Draisaitl and Jesse Puljujarvi would be great. And it’s not like they don’t have the cap space.

The ECHL Florida Everblades

No, please, stop supporting this. This is what minor league hockey teams do for aging stars in other sports, like the Iowa Chops and Brett Favre. We’re not ready for Jagr as joke meme.

Kladno HC

He owns his hometown team, having played there during the most recent lockout. If he wants to play, he can play. If he wants to help grow the game back home, he could do that too. And while Jagr might be a supporting cast member in the NHL, he’d be King Hockey back home.

Plus there might be a whole new generation of models that want to blackmail him on social media.

Montreal Canadiens

Look, if you’re going to keep Tomas Plekanec around for another season, might as well bring in his Czech national team (and Kladno) linemate and do something with him, right? Plus, Jagr on the half wall of a power play that features Brendan Gallagher in front and Shea Weber on the blue line? Hey, this could work! (But please, everyone: NO ONE TELL JAROMIR ABOUT THE TAXES.)

New Jersey Devils

This would be a second go for Jagr with the Devils. All About The Jersey makes the case that Jagr still fits:

So what is the reasoning behind signing a 45-year-old player to a team in a still-ongoing rebuild? Simply put, he makes them better right now and requires zero commitment long term. The Devils have a need at right wing, and he is hands-down the best one available at this point. And this summer, Ray Shero has made it clear that he doesn’t really want to offer term to any players if he can avoid it, making a guy like Jagr, who wouldn’t command anything past one year, ideal.

It’s hard to imagine him going to back to Jersey, especially now that Patrik Elias is no longer active. But hey, they have the roster and the money if staying in the NHL is paramount to him.

Ottawa Senators

I mean, it’s already an (e4) for Jagr to the Senators:

So I just received a #snapchat of my buddy at Ottawa Airport with Jaromir Jagr! Interesting #Sens #Ottawa

— Djugarden (@dju089) July 17, 2017

What would Mike Hoffman ask for if Jaromir Jagr needed No. 68? A yacht?

But honestly: Where would he fit and why do they need him and wait hold on maybe Eugene sees ticket sales here?

Pittsburgh Penguins

C’mon, we all want this to happen.

This matchmaking was the genesis for #JagrWatch a few years ago. We all want this water to be under the bridge. We all want to see Mario and Jagr recreate this photo. (Even if Sid and Geno did a decent job of it.) We all want to see him on Malkin’s wing so he scores 36 goals and ties Gordie Howe. OK, maybe Red Wings fans don’t want to see this.

It doesn’t matter if he’s an empty husk of a shell of himself and needs to be dragged up and down the ice by his mullet by younger, better players: Jagr on the Penguins would be the “Selanne returns to Winnipeg” moment we never got, times a billion.

Professional Tryout Contract

Life in the NHL, under the salary cap, means that plenty of star players have to go this route near the end, from Scott Gomez to Christian Ehrhoff. We all want to believe that Jagr is an actor who just gets parts but never has to audition for them, but maybe he needs to if he wants a callback. Here’s to the fools who dream. Crazy as they may seem.

San Jose Sharks

Thornton and Jagr would be the best line pairing ever put together in NHL 07.

Vancouver Canucks

As much as Jagr and the Sedins would be the greatest nostalgic act to hit arenas since the G’n R reunion, sadly there are only 20 minutes in a period and a good portion of that might be spent watching them skate out of their own zone. Also, with the Sedins there, Vancouver doesn’t even need Jagr as a veteran mentor.

Vegas Golden Knights

YEAHHHHHHH, we’ll bet the “Don’t Pass” line on this one.

Finally … Gulp … Retirement

Jagr deserves better than some ignominious farewell in an NHL offseason, treated with the dignity of an old car that ends up on someone’s lawn with “OR BEST OFFER” written on the window. He’s a hockey deity. The mind boggles over the notion that he won’t go out on his terms, or that he can’t help someone next season.

But if this is the end, and perhaps it might be, we’ll go back to a previous point: Sign a one-day deal and retire as a Penguin. That’s the only way we could cope with the retirement of Jaromir Jagr without a farewell tour.

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS

yahoo

#_revsp:21d636bb-8aa8-4731-9147-93a932d2b27a #NHL #_uuid:1dc7d2f0-5a0c-3d02-805c-271f2c3326ce #_category:yct:001000863 #_lmsid:a077000000CFoGyAAL #_category:yct:001000001 #$nhl #Jaromir Jagr #_author:Greg Wyshynski

0 notes

claudecat17 · 8 years ago

Text

Random O's Thoughts on a Rainy Day

I figured I'd fill in the gap between games by maybe complaining about things a little bit, and just sorta free-form this here thing for a change. Which reminds me: at some point next week there will be a guest post by Tom, non-political in emphasis but still very worthwhile. The door's always open for anyone that cares to write something up. Chances are I'll be fairly lazy during the O's road trips when it comes to posting here, so have at it!

The attendance thing has been gnawing at me since that second game. And I know I've probably said as much as can be said about that before. We all know the myriad reasons that the yard isn't even half full during the week, especially this time of year. No need to rehash all that. I've also written extensively about how I think this issue could be fixed, pointing the finger at the club's lackluster marketing efforts. This is the key to the future of the team if you ask me.

Think about it. What if this downward trend in butts in seats continues? In a few more years it'll be maybe 7-8k on weeknights if nothing changes. Granted, the bulk of the revenue comes from television and other media sources, but at what point do the powers that be do something about those empty seats? What does it mean, if anything, if there aren't enough people to fill even a quarter of 'em on weeknights? The money will still be rolling in as long as MASN and the like maintain viewership, but at what point does it become simply too embarrassing?

Perhaps things will only change when things become so dire that the buzz around town, on radio and among fans at large, begins to focus even more on the attendance thing. It's already reaching critical mass if my circle of fan friends and acquaintances is any indicator. And depending on which sports talk radio host you can stand to endure, it's becoming topic number one there too. The fact that we're just two games into the season, that conditions were primed perfectly (excellent weather, incredibly compelling first game) for an uptick in the second game's crowd yet it was still embarrassingly small... this does not bode well for the O's marketing status quo to remain viable.

Time will tell, but the O's would be well served by not dragging their heels too much longer. It's long past time to begin (actually resume) offering discounts on upper deck seats and all the other things I've talked about before here. A complete overhaul of the marketing approach is long overdue. It's time to be proactive, before the team loses Manny Machado and the shit really hits the fans (pun intended).

What else? Oh yeah, I see that the O's have made a few more minor roster moves. It has not been a good year for poor Dariel Alvarez. Now, I can't pretend to have any knowledge of how these things work, but it sure seems callous for the club to cut bait with the guy just as he's set to undergo Tommy John surgery, this after they've already forced him to become a pitcher, seemingly against his will.

So who's on the hook for that surgery? Does Alvarez remain nebulously in the team's clutches? Was the cutting of bait purely procedural? I'd hope that somebody's had a sit-down with him to explain all this, but knowing what little I do know of the inner workings, nothing would surprise me. My innate cynicism has in no way been tempered in my years at the yard, this year especially.

The overwhelming sense one gets being in my position is a sort of "penny wise pound foolish" vibe. For example, in watching coverage of several Opening Day games on the tube, I noticed that most clubs staff their gates with personnel clearly identified as separate (and presumably better trained, higher paid) from the rest. People with "SECURITY" in all-caps on their apparel, often beefy dudes looking very professional and intimidating.

At our yard? On a busy day you may be processed by an entire team of people that don't do the whole metal detector shuffle thing regularly. They may even be rookies, thrown into the fray with no clue beyond the 15-20 minutes spent on this during their several hours of training sessions. This won't ever be an issue in a big way until it is. My hope is that nobody sneaks something truly dangerous in with bad intent. It could be a lot harder to do that if the O's spent the dough to hire security professionals.

At all levels, you see folks being saddled with too much responsibility for their pay grade. It's heartwarming, and indicative of how much people enjoy the heck out of just being at the yard at all, to see people happily doing so much more than they probably should be doing. Unfortunately this can translate to bad information flowing. It's fairly common for fans to ask me questions that they've already asked others who have given them bad info. This is fine when it comes to food locations, but when it comes to ticket policies or pricing, this can be bad.

I've heard things that are genuinely stupid, and it's difficult if not impossible to get the truth at times. A few people, very believably, told me that they tried to buy upper deck tickets last year on very lightly attended nights, only to be told at the window that all they had left were pricier seats down below. Seats at 3-5 times the price up yonder. Now that's a serious issue, if true.

And I lean towards believing it, if only because of the number of discrepancies I've personally seen, differences between what you see online as sold seats and what you see in person. Or being told that folks have tried to buy tickets somewhere specific, only to be told that those aren't available. Differences between what's available online versus through the window. Sounds to me like the whole ticket sales infrastructure could be substantially improved.

How about the "new" food choices this year, hurriedly publicized just a couple days before the first game? The closer you look into it, the more you realize it's mostly the same old stuff, just gussied up a bit with a few new sauces, a few new shapes of bread. No new physical locations. Still no more Geno's or Polock Johnny's, still no more Natty Boh or the lounge it once inhabited. Seems like they were backed into a corner and had to quickly improvise something. Some of the signs weren't even changed by Opening Day.

So I guess that's enough. Cheery, huh? Just callin' it as I see it. Room for improvement in several areas, none of which really affect my own enjoyment of the wonders of Camden Yards or the baseball played therein (except possibly the gate issue). My primary concern continues to be the marketing though. If they don't get that together soon it's only going to get worse. And I'm sooo tired of answering out of town fans' "where is everybody?!?" questions.

-------------------------------- Link to past posts, faster than the top-right icon thingie: https://disqus.com/home/forum/claudecatsplace/recent/ --------------------------------

0 notes

flauntpage · 7 years ago

Text

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four

In Stewart's opinion, the reason Auriemma talked up a loss so often is that it is his best available tool for motivation.

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

0 notes

flauntpage · 7 years ago

Text

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four

In Stewart's opinion, the reason Auriemma talked up a loss so often is that it is his best available tool for motivation.

Geno Auriemma is Glad UConn Lost in the Final Four published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv

0 notes

yahoo-puck-daddy-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Stanley Cup three-peat? Six reasons Penguins can win it again

Why does Sidney Crosby keep doing this, after literally having accomplished everything in his career that a player can accomplish?

“I think this feeling right now. You can’t match this,” said Crosby, after winning his second-straight Stanley Cup and third of his career on Sunday night. “This is what it’s all about, and to be able to share that with a group of guys, and a lot of them guys that you’ve played a long time with and understand how difficult it is and what you’ve had to go through and that kind of thing, to share it with family and friends. That’s what it’s about.”

[Follow Puck Daddy on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]

Victory is a narcotic, and Crosby is clearly addicted.

What’s left for him? Jeff Marek, on our podcast, joked that winning with another team would be one potential goal, but it’s hard to imagine Crosby ever being motivated to leave Pittsburgh. (Maybe he and Nathan MacKinnon take their talents somewhere one day as Cole Harbour bros.)

But here’s what we’re thinking, as far as next mountain to climb:

Three-peat.

No one’s done it since the New York Islanders from 1981-83, as part of their four-Cup dynasty. Mario never did it. Gretzky never did it (thanks to Patrick Roy). No one’s gotten even two in a row in the cap era before the Penguins did.

And you know what? It’s entirely possible the Penguins could win again next postseason, for three straight Stanley Cups.

Here are six reasons why:

Sidney and Geno

Let’s be real: The reason why the Pittsburgh Penguins were able to repeat comes down to four factors: Superb playoff goaltending from Fleury and Murray; a great coaching staff, from Mike Sullivan’s adjustments to Jacques Martin’s defensive assignments to Rick Tocchet’s lighting a fire under Phil Kessel’s ass when necessary; and, of course, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

You have two of the top three players of their generation – the generation right before McDavid and Matthews – on the same team, on the same power play and on two different scoring lines. The Nashville Predators had the best top four defensemen in the NHL this season. Out of six games, they were able to contain both lines at the same time once.

The joke that was Malkin not making the NHL 100 list finally has a punchline, which is him leading the playoffs in scoring, winning a third Stanley Cup and having the entirety of the hockey world invalidating that list because of his absence. His line with Phil Kessel drew the Predators’ top shutdown pairing – Subban and Ekholm – for a reason.

Which, of course, meant that Crosby’s line doesn’t see the top pairing. And that’s the choice every team has to make against the Penguins: Which generational talent gets our best defense, and which one do we hope and pray has an off night against our second unit?

As for Crosby, he’s cemented himself as one of the greatest captains in NHL history. Yes, Jonathan Toews will forever be known as the “best leader” his generation, mainly because he’s not even in the same conversation as Crosby on a production level and has to have some attribute to use in the debate. But as he showed in each round – in Game 7s, in critical moments like Game 5 against the Predators – a motivated Sidney Crosby is a top-five all-time player. If he’s healthy, the Penguins have a shot at the Cup for the foreseeable future.

Matt Murray

The Penguins don’t win without Marc-Andre Fleury’s two-and-a-half rounds. Especially the Washington Capitals’ series. They all said it after the Stanley Cup win, and it wasn’t hyperbole.

But all that ultimately means is that they need a veteran insurance policy if Murray goes down again next postseason, rather than Tristan Jarry, who still sounds like a character from a YA fantasy novel.

Because if Murray’s healthy … well, check the figures: Two Stanley Cups in his first two seasons. If he plays as long as, say, Tom Barrasso did, he’ll have, by our calculations, 19 Stanley Cup rings. (Hashtag one for the pinkie toe.)

OK, seriously: For all the talk of wonky glove side goals and the like, Murray has a career .928 save percentage and a 1.95 GAA in 32 playoff games, winning 22 of them. That includes four shutouts, three of them posted this season, including his best performance in the postseason in Game 6 against Nashville.

He’s unflappable and dependable, and unlike Corey Crawford (for example) can be the best player on the ice in multiple games in a series. And he’s 22.

The Cap Space

The Penguins are roughly $13 million under the cap at the moment, with Matt Cullen, Nick Bonino, Chris Kunitz, Trevor Daley and Ron Hainsey all UFA; while Conor Sheary, Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz are all RFA.

That’s the cap situation without Marc-Andre Fleury’s $5.75 million coming off the books, which it will thanks to the Vegas Golden Knights.

(An aside: The idea that Fleury did the Penguins a solid by waiving his NMC for the expansion draft at the trade deadline, so GM Jim Rutherford wouldn’t trade him, is one way of looking at it. The other way is that Rutherford leveraged that NMC waiving with the threat of a trade, which is unfeeling but great business.)

What that space buys you is another solid, puck-moving defenseman to help Kris Letang out (or, if he’s not healthy, move up the depth chart).

The Penguins were linked to Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets last season, and would be wise to revisit that. He makes slightly above $2.8 million next season before going RFA. They can afford him now, and going forward if they’re smart about it.

But most of all, regarding the Penguins’ cap: Cheap Labor.

Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Scott Wilson and Carter Rowney all make less than $735,000 against the cap next season. When you have 44 percent of your space tied up in Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Letang, that’s an incredible cap advantage for 2017-18.

“We were fortunate. We had some guys that were being developed,” said GM Jim Rutherford.

The Exhaustion

It’s been well-chronicled that many of the Penguins have played well over 200 games in the last year. And yet they skated the Predators off the ice in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final …

The good news for the Penguins is bad news for the rest of us: No Olympics or World Cup. Crosby, Malkin, Murray and others that would have left for the Games won’t have that extra mileage this season, nor will the schedule be as condensed in the NHL. That helps.

As we’ve seen with the Blackhawks, long playoff runs catch up with you. While the Penguins played through it to win this season, this wear and tear might be their greatest obstacle to three in a row.

The Leafs Haven’t Hatched Yet

It’s pretty clear that the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be a formidable Cup contender, with Auston Matthews as their leader and with some stud on defense they’ve yet to add. (Drew Doughty goes UFA in 2019, FYI.)

But they’re not there yet, which means the East is still the East. Can the Penguins advance past:

– A Tampa Bay Lightning team, whose composition next season is still unknown?

– Old war horses in the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers?

– Carey Price?

– Whatever the Flyers are doing?

– John Tortorella and a team they always beat?

– Guy Boucher’s diminishing returns?

– Jack Eichel?

– The Florida Panthers, who aren’t quite ripe yet?

– The Carolina Hurricanes, and ditto?

– John Tavares?

– The empty carcasses of the New Jersey Devils and Detroit Red Wings?

– A quivering bowl of red, white and blue gelatin?

The answer is, “of course they can.” At least next season, as they shoot for three.

Finally …

They Know How To Win

This might sound more nebulous than it is, but seriously: If coffee for closers, the Penguins are Starbucks.

“We had a group of guys who knew how to win,” said Rutherford. “We went into to Washington for that Game 7, those guys knew how to win that kind of game. Had to come home and play Ottawa, and we knew how to win that game. We never panicked. And then again in this series [against Nashville].”

When you watch teams like Washington and St. Louis flail about with great talent and a lack of results, you understand there’s an intangible difference between them and the teams that close the deal. There was a poise and confidence about the Penguins, no matter the situation, that was undeniable. That someone would make a play. That adversity wouldn’t rattle them. It wasn’t some B.S. supernatural sports belief in destiny; it was a self-assurance that they got this.

Even for the most focused champions in hockey, three in a row is hard to envision. With the restrictions on spending. With 31 teams. At time when defenses and goaltenders are better than they’ve ever been. (But yeah, leave Malkin off the top 100 in favor of a guy from the 1920s.)

But a Pittsburgh three-peat isn’t impossible, for the reasons we’ve spelled out here.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have an actual dynasty, instead of being all “hey, close enough” in the cap era?

—

Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.