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epicbuddieficrecs · 2 years ago

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Weekly Recap | December 25th-31st 2023

Happy New Year everyone! May 2024 be better than 2023, and may season 7 be good to us!!!

Complete

Battle Born by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (NHL AU, Established Buddie | 11K | Teen): Buck comes down with appendicitis during the playoffs. He decides to play through it.

🔥 through tooth and claw (to where you are) by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (Post-S6, Hurt Buck, Getting Together | 18K | Teen): With a reverent hush, Christopher said, “Whoa, it’s so close.” And it was almost as though Buck needed to have that obvious fact pointed out to him before the vague dread of animal instinct that had been pooling in his stomach could solidify into a real, actionable fear. It’s so close. Something’s wrong. AKA: The Rabid Coyote fic

we’ve got something permanent (i mean in the way we care) by callmenewbie/ @callmenewbie (PWP, Breeding Kink | 7K | Explicit): Buck has baby fever and it’s Eddie’s job to give him what he wants. Kind of.

Here Where We Should Be (Kiss Me, It’s Christmas) by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (Christmas, Getting Together | 5K | General): It’s Christmas and Eddie decides he can’t possibly wait any longer to start kissing Buck.

well, I hate to be a bother, but it's you and there's no other by allisonRW96 / @homerforsure (Getting Together | 3K | Mature): Eddie starts dating again and learns a few things about himself. The most surprising one? He's actually ready this time. Now he just needs to get Buck on board.

in a little while (you will find some relief then) by allisonRW96 / @homerforsure (Hurt Buck | 10K | Teen): Buck gets a severe case of poison oak. He handles it about as well as you'd expect.

🔥 The Nearness of You by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (Work Trip | 17K | Teen): Eddie reassured himself that he could do this. Other teams coming in were probably going to be staying at the same hotel in the same double rooms and it was very possible that none of them were going to be having sex. Or even lying awake at night thinking about it.

We Can't Succeed but We Love Trying by letmetellyouaboutmyfeels/ @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels (PWP, Breeding Kink | 15K | Explicit): In which Eddie has the thought that if Buck's gonna "donate" his sperm anywhere, it should be with, well. Eddie.

all it took was a backwards baseball cap by honestlydarkprincess/ @honestlydarkprincess (PWP, Getting Together | 5K | Explicit) : Or, the one in which Eddie loses his shit at Buck wearing a backwards baseball cap. Seriously, can this man get more attractive? Is he trying to kill Eddie?

drawstrings by browney3dgirl6/ @hoodie-buck (PWP, Getting Together | 3K | Mature): Eddie helps Buck fix his drawstrings. How was he supposed to know it’d lead to him sitting in Bucks lap?

🔥 come with me, together, we can take the long way home (series) by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (Canon compliant | 105K | T to M):

Get me through the night; Make me feel alright (Post-S3 Finale | 11K | Mature): After an emotionally-gutting reunion with Abby, Buck turns to old coping mechanisms. Eddie helps him find a better way. In Uncertain Times, The Uncertain Rules Apply (Pre-S4 | 22K | Teen): Covid comes to LA. Eddie copes. Or doesn't. Holding out for Something More (Stuck in Reverse) (Post S4E3/Lone Star Crossover | 26K | Teen): LA is coming out of lockdown and the world is returning to some sense of normalcy. But going back to the way things were hurts more than Buck expected. While his therapist challenges him to confront what he really wants, the team takes a trip to Austin... and El Paso. so far from being free (S4E4: 9-1-1 What's Your Grievance?, S4E5: Buck Begins | 46K | Teen): That’s Daniel. He was our brother. Buck doesn’t know what to do with the past tense. He never had a brother. He’s always had a brother. He gained one and lost one in the same breath and it feels impossible.

carry my heart home to you by allisonRW96/ @homerforsure (Getting Together | 4K | Teen): After his parents join him for a therapy session, Buck starts to learn that some people are never going to be able to give you what you need. And some people are.

if you say it with your hands by hammersmiths/ @henswilsons (S2 | 10K | Teen): Buck thinks it must be a habit he still hasn’t dropped from his days in the army, or maybe it comes with the territory of being a dad – but Eddie can nap pretty much anywhere. or, Eddie starts casually falling asleep against Buck, and Buck is very normal about it.

🔥 into thirty separate parts by hammersmiths/ @henswilsons (S6 | 12K | Teen): “Theoretically,” says Buck, as soon as Eddie picks up the phone, “your ex writes a book about you.” There is a pregnant pause. “…Right,” Eddie decides on, finally. or, Taylor’s book comes out.

close friends (that you lowkey want to fuck, but in a totally platonic way) by rowan_wood/ @transboybuckley (Getting Together | 2K | Teen): Instagram rolls out a new feature, and Buck doesn't totally understand how it works.

I'm still standing in the same place where you left me standing by trysetmeonfire/ @try-set-me-on-fire (POV Bobby, Hurt Eddie, Getting Together | 8K | Teen) Bobby deals with the ramifications of a misplaced confession

Keep My Heart Warm In Yours by callmenewbie/ @callmenewbie (Christmas, Post-S6, Getting Together | 18K | Mature): Christopher decides that he wants to go skiing, Buck makes it happen and the cabin at the foot of the mountains turns out to be quite the romantic backdrop for their little getaway.

Hiding the Christmas Present (of You and Me) by Princessfbi/ @princessfbi (Christmas | 7K | General): Buck thought he was going to spend Christmas alone. His family decides to correct that assumption.

If I Fall, Can You Pull Me Up? by Princessfbi/ @princessfbi (Hurt Buck, Established Buddie | 7K | General): Eddie could pick Buck from a million miles away. Buck’s entire being was like one bright light in an otherwise cloudy sky. So, he was really interested to know why some stranger was wearing his boyfriend’s turnout coat and pretending to be him.

Used to Think That Lovin' Meant a Painful Chase by Princessfbi/ @princessfbi (Getting Together | 4K | Teen): It’d been fine when Buck had Eddie’s dick in his mouth. It wasn’t often that Buck got to see Eddie come undone but he’d been treated to a private showing and the pride he had being the one to take Eddie there was indescribable. But then things got… weird. Or maybe, it was Buck that got weird? He still wasn’t really sure where it started, to be honest.

for all the words unspoken by Maira/ @carrierofthepaperclips (Work Trip, Getting Together | 5K | Teen): "Buck." Eddie had already dropped his bag and was standing next to the bed, hands on his hips. "We've slept in the same bed before. I'm pretty sure we'll manage to do the same in this one, it's humorously large. Don't!" He held up a hand as Buck opened his mouth. His lips twitched, though, so Buck took it as a win. ... or, the one with only one bed.

underneath the tree by devirnis/ @devirnis (PWP, BDSM | 2K | Explicit): Frowning to himself in concentration, Eddie carefully folds the wrapping paper around the corner of the box. He has no idea how his mother makes this look so easy, even after she walked him through it earlier on FaceTime. Under the tree, Eddie’s present whines plaintively.

WIP

🔥 Precious & Fragile Things by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Small Miracles AU, Angel Buck | 20K | 8/? | Teen): Buck is the Fallen Angel of Petty Temptation, who has been tasked with tempting human Eddie Diaz to sin and enjoy life, but just a little. He thinks the job will be easy - get in, get out, go back to Peru to continue messing around with eternity. But when Buck arrives in Los Angeles, he finds Eddie is harder to tempt than expected, and more compelling than Buck had hoped.

🔥 Things We're All Too Young to Know by Daisies_and_Briars/ @cal-daisies-and-briars (Canon, S1 through S6 | 102/? | 276K | Mature): This is a love story. Even if it doesn’t always look like it. Even if it doesn’t always feel like it. A look back on Eddie and Buck's lives up to now, and what led them to each other, interpreted from the current 9-1-1 canon.

Love Ends. by rowan_wood (Exes to Lovers | 4/17 | 5K | Explicit): But what if it doesn't?

in my head by yourcatfishfriend/ @your-catfish-friend (Friends With Benefits | 8/9 | 30K | Explicit): Buck is confidently bisexual. Eddie isn't sure. Buck helps him figure it out.

Re-Read

🔥 Always, All Ways by ashavahishta/ @ashavahishta (A/B/O AU | 85K | Explicit): Buck’s the only omega in the 118. He’s got secrets, and walls a mile high. Eddie’s the alpha determined to knock them down.

#buddie #buddie fic #buddie fanfiction #buddie fic rec #buddie fanfic #epic buddie fic rec #911 fanfiction #911 fic #911 fanfic

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hockeygirl101 · 3 months ago

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The lake house

Part seven: make up or make out?

Warnings- 18+ content, please be advised. Contains- slight choking, Dom Quinn, heavy make out, sex talk, sub reader. Thank you.

Once we get to the market, my mom and Ellen run off to do the real shopping while I stroll around. Walking around looking at all the little booths selling different things. I walk past a small jewelry booth, I stop and look at a necklace that’s got small gemstones going around it.

“How much?” I ask the lady sitting behind it the booth.

“$20.” She stands up walking over, I start digging through my purse for some cash when I feel someone behind me, I turn and see Quinn.

“I got it.” He hands the lady a $20 and take the necklace and hands it to me. “Here” he says softly .

“I was going to pay.” I state, caught off guard slightly, I thought he was at the indoor rink with all the other guys. “Why are you even here?”

“Turn around” he ignores my question, I gently turns me with his hand in my waist. I lift my hair up and he clasp the necklace around my neck. “Perfect.” Mumbling as he touches the necklace gently. I let out a small huff, walking away knowing he’ll follow.

“So why aren’t you playing hockey?” He walks up beside me, I can feel the heat radiating off him.

“Didn’t wanna, plus mom forgot her wallet so I was dropping it off, saw you. Needed to see you.” Quinn gently takes my hand in his, I don’t pull away or try to fight it. I just let it happen.

“So you’re spending the day with me then?” I look over at him, he has a smirk on his face.

“Only if you’ll let me.” I nod, not saying anything back. We continue to walk around and look at the different booths. Quinn buys whatever I look at for more than two seconds, even after I keep telling him I can pay. He just goes on about how he has to make up for loss time.

“You know, I haven’t given you my answer yet.” I say as we sit down to drink the coffee Quinn bought us. “What if I say no?”

“You won’t, I know you better then you think I do. Plus with your dad and Luke on my side I think I got a pretty good chance.” He smiles at me, not even seeming fazed by my question, or the possibility of me saying no. I smile and look down trying to hid it.

The problem is, Quinn’s right. He does have those people on his side, plus both our mothers. I look back up at him, taking in his face. He’s grown up a lot since I saw him last. The playoff beard still sitting on his face, his hat grown out, tucked messily into a Canucks hat. His eyes seem brighter than when I last saw them. Then it dawns on me, Quinn looks happy. For the first time in a while he looks genuinely happy.

“What.” He questions me, noticing me staring. I blink quickly and shake my head.

“Nothing, just looking.” I pick my coffee up take a big sip.

“Just looking? No thinking?” He looks at me with those bright eyes, it makes my stomach flip slightly.

“I’m thinking too, thinking you’re right. I won’t say no. But I want rules, and if you break them Quinn, I’m done. I’m serious this time, not a single chance more.” Suddenly Quinn is beside me, practically on my lap.

“So you’re saying yes?” He leans in closely whispering to me. I gaze up at him for a minute, making a quick pro con list in my head.

“I’m saying yes, for now.” I nod, a smile breaks out on Quinn face, he leans in and kisses my cheek.

“That’s all I needed Bug.” He throws his arm around me. “Let’s go tell my mom uh? She’ll be happy.” He says standing, keeping his hand on me. I smile at him and stand. Nodding he takes my hand carrying my coffee, he starts to lead me to the main building where all the produce is kept out of the sun. When we walk in he immediately spots our moms. Quinn squeezes my hand jerking his head in their direction. I nod and he guides us through the rather crowded space. A few people stop and stare at him. One kid even asking for a quick picture. Quinn agrees, letting go of my hand for all of the two seconds the photo took before grabbing it again. The boys mom smiles at me and thanks us. Quinn quickly pulls me into his side as we finally reach our moms. Ellen looks up, running her eyes up and down us, narrowing her eyes when she sees Quinn’s arm around my hip. She gasp and starts tapping my mom tigger her attention.

“For gods sakes Penelope, turn around and look at our children.” Ellen finally says to my mom, when my mom turns around she immediately gasps.

“Stop it. You two are fucking with us.” She says in an excited high pitched voice. Her and Ellen run up to us, wrapping us in a bear hug. “Oh Averie baby I’m so happy for you.” My mom whispers in my ear.

Finally they pull away, Quinn’s grip tightens around me, I smile up at him. He’s already looking at me with pure adoration on his face, it makes my heart skip a few beats.

“I’m happy too mom.” I finally say looking at her and Ellen. The moms both squeal with happiness.

“Me and her are going to head back now, do you guys need anything?” Quinn says before taking out his wallet and taking out a few bills and handing them to his mom, which she takes happily.

“No Q thank you though.” She says smiling at the both of us. “Oh I’m just so happy you two did it.” She says smiling, I’m scared her teeth might break.

“We know mom. Okay see you guys back at the Gilmore house.” Quinn takes my hand leading us away, I wave over my shoulder at them. “My cars just over here okay?” He says looking back at me, I smile and nod, letting him guide me. Quinn had always casually taken over everything for me when we were younger. Always making sure I was behind him safe, it lets me focus on what’s around me. He smiles down at me, it’s quick before he turns and walks us over to his car. He opens my door before walking around and getting in.

“Can I ask you something?” He says once he’s seated, still not Turing the car on.

“Yea quinny” I turn my body to face him more.

“Can I kiss you now? Or do I have to earn that?” He smirks at me. I laugh and shake my head, I lean in a little and he takes it from there. He smashes his lips onto mine, his lips feel hot and it makes my head spin. He gently bites my lower lip making me open them, he slides in tounge into my mouth. I moan slightly at the contact, which makes him put more pressure into the kiss. It’s messy, teeth clanging together. His hand is tangled in my hair, and he’s got a slight grip on it. My hand is gripping his bicep, the other on his shoulder pulling him into me. It feels as though time has stopped, Quinn is all I can hear, see, feel and smell. He overwhelms all my sense, and I love it. Finally he starts to pull back, breaking the kiss he started up at me. His lips slightly swollen, hair a mess from me running my hands through it. He’s panting like a dog in heat, and his eye, those beautiful eyes, they’re black. His cheeks are cover with a small blush.

“I need more” his voice is rough, it sends shivers up my spine, all I can do is nod before he’s on me again. This kiss is slower, more controlled, but still head spinning. Kissing Quinn like this reminds me of being a teenager, making out in the car of your high school boyfriend. His hand falls from my cheek and lands on my throat, Quinn squeezes it slightly making me gasp. He pulls away and looks at me.

“You wanna go back now?” I nod frantically, knowing the second we get back to my house, all the self respect I have for myself will fly out the window. He smiles and turns the car on and pulls out onto the road. As we’re driving he places his hand on my thigh, giving it a head squeeze every now and then, almost ti remind me he’s there.

Finally he pulls into the driveway, he gets out and walks around to open my door.

“Walk in front of me.” He says in a low voice, I give him a puzzled look. “We just made out in the car, and now my body’s acting like I’m 16 again so walk in front of me.” The tone he uses shows no space for debate. I giggle and nod walking in front of him. Thankfully the only one who greets us is Bella, my old lab.

“Dad and them are still out, probably going out to dinner, and I know mom and Ellen are going out to dinner tonight too.” I say quietly looking up at him, he smirks and nods.

“Are they? Is that your way of asking for something baby?” He’s looking down at me, making me feel smaller than I already am. I can feel the red on my cheeks, I nod slowly and quickly. Quinn lets out a small dark chuckle. He takes his hands and runs them down the side of my body. “Well what do you want princess? You gotta tell me.” He leans down and starts kissing my neck gently, making me squirm in his touch.

“Want you quinny please.” I let out a whine, Quinn stills. His head snaps up to mine, his eyes somehow even darker than in the car.

“Say it again.” He demands, his hands still moving all over my body.

“Said I want you quinny, please.” I pout at him, he smiles and lifts me up, my legs wrapping around his waist.

“Yea? Where do you want me baby?” He starts to walk towards the stairs, gently putting me down in the first step, making us eye level. “Come on tell me.”

I look down and bite my lip, looking back at him I stare into his eyes.

“Want you inside me please.” I beg him, placing my hands on his belt loops, tugging him closer. “Need it.”

Quinn snaps, “get upstairs now.” I turn and run up the stairs, I can hear Quinn walking behind me. I get into my room and sit on the edge of the bed. When Quinn walks in he nods his head.

“Good girl.” He says it so casually, as if it doesn’t make me want to jump on him. I rub my thighs together, Quinn takes notice quickly. He clicks his tounge. “You really do need it don’t you.” He skates his head in fake pity. I’ve never seen Quinn like this, this side seemingly only for the bedroom. He makes my skin hot as he walks over, looking at me like prey.

“It’s okay baby, I’m gonna be nice. For the most part.” He smile at me, and now I know.

I’m in for a long night.

#the lake house ✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼#ask ave #quinn hughes x reader #quinn hughes smut #quinn hughes #jack hughes #luke hughes #vancouver canucks #nhl #hughes brothers #nj devils #jack hughes x reader #luke hughes x reader

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krakenbait · 2 months ago

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bragging rights bracket update #4

g'day, bracketeers!

i know round 2 has started already, so apologies for the delay, but no one busted due to the last series, so i was less inclined to try to be funny. however, everyone who picked the jets can now breathe a sigh of relief, you're not cooked... yet. tbd what happens against vegas.

if you, like me, no longer have any stakes in the nhl playoffs, may i direct you to the pwhl playoffs? game 1 between the toronto sceptres and the minnesota frost is tonight at 7, and the montreal victoire and ottawa charge face off starting tomorrow. it's best-of-five series to decide who fights for this year's walter cup! (and for some shameless promo, go check out my friends at the ice garden for all your pwhl coverage needs)

okay, back to our regularly scheduled programming. commentary under the cut as usual!

86 points

Djoker's bracket - what goes up must come down?

85 points

ki's confusion - "he's just standing there! menacingly!"

76 points

here we go again :| ( @morganfrost) - if you can hold position, this could be the first podium finish for a member of the devils server.

73 points

@andreisvechnikov's bracket - noted goal scorer jaccob slavin

70 points

witchmarner ( @connordewar) - you stay here and make sure he doesn't leave.

69 points

Do it for Stromer ( @stromesquad) - you can't score any more points now. sorry, i don't make the rules.

66 points

the mcstrome agenda - i've decided i'm making wanted "posters" for all the unidentified brackets. WANTED: BRACKETEER DEEPLY INVESTED IN THE DYLAN STROME - CONNOR MCDAVID NARRATIVE.

63 points

jt's kombucha tap ( @assistantcaptainmitchmarner) - i am very curious about the results of the mascot bracket (my bet's on gritty)

Baracket ( @donnorcewar) - how did i not notice you had the wild to the cup finals?

60 points

@builthebobder's bracket - inconceivable! (i do not think that means what you think it means)

59 points

MLE's bracket - i've spent way too much time this week staring at statistical models and their acronyms that i took a moment to remember what "mle" stood for.

define insanity ( @tavaresfucker) - now that i think about it, it really is odd that the leafs are blue.

53 points

abeja's bracket - enjoy.

NewJerseyNates ( @puck--off) - enjoy.

46 points

nat 2 serious ( @natashastarkk) - oh dear. you've hit your points ceiling already.

43 points

so that's a nope ( @shea-theodore) - what's your average nyt mini crossword time?

Infinite Jets - "good bracket construction" and "potential of me roasting you" are negatively correlated.

ottawa state of mind ( @arsonandhockey) - you do still have three of your final four. in march madness that would be solid... minus, you know, that you're busted.

33 points

deepest desire - also unidentified! WANTED: WILL MAKE A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL(S) FOR THE CANES TO WIN

Blasphemy! Heresy! ( @circle--of--confusion) - okay, i gotta ask about the... satanic popes? that are also glam rock? all over your blog, i'm confused

Carpe_history's bracket - and yet another unidentified bracket! WANTED: A VERY SAD MINNESOTAN

one lost bruins fan ( @patron-saint-of-boston-hockey) - nooobody knows, the trouble i've seen

30 points

i want this. yes. ( @dabeautyleague) - if i could, i'd give you extra points for actually identifying yourself.

several "hey"s later (me) - can i just fast forward to the cup at this point, i don't want to watch this

brackeT, t stylez ( @imperatorrrrr) - i hate to say it, but you're cooked. your point ceiling is 45... which is still 1 point less than nat.

#bragging rights bracket challenge #brag-cket updates #scp25

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chirpingfromthebox · 1 year ago

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youtube

I forgot to post about this back when it came out. But this was an interview with two prominent figures from the management side of the PWHL from a few days back. I was expecting it to be a bit dry, but they actually address quite a few prominent questions.

I was originally going to skip doing this one as it's somewhat long, but I've been seeing a number of things they talked about coming up in discussions here, so I thought y'all might be interested to hear what they have to say.

I'll transcribe what I personally found to be the most interesting elements that came up, but know I'll be cutting down some of the remarks and only doing some of the questions, so definitely watch the video for the full story.

Since this is already going to be a massive post I'll spare you my musings on the answers.

Transcriptions of some of the questions under the break.

At the table are Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations Jayna Hefford & Advisory Board Member Stan Kasten.

And I believe this was after Game 2 of the finals and before the start of Game 3.

For context on who these two are in a bigger picture, what little I know is:

Jayna Hefford is a HIGHLY successful and influential former Canadian hockey player who's been working in the field of women's hockey ever since she retired from playing. If I tried to sum up her career we'd be here all day, so let's just say she's in the Hockey Hall of Fame for a reason.

Stan Kasten comes from a background of running/managing large sports teams, though mostly baseball. He is even the current president of the Los Angeles Dodgers and also one of the co-owners. He seems to have had a brief foray into hockey as the president of the NHL's Atlanta Thrashers for a few years. The Thrashers no longer exist and I think they moved and became what are now the Jets? (I dunno, I shouldn't be your source for NHL history, that's for sure.)

--------------- INTRODUCTIONS ---------------

STAN KASTEN: I can’t describe the pleasure this is for me to be here [at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota]. The last time I was here I told you that I thought that day, the 13,000*, really convinced us that we were going to make this work.

[* the first home game for Minnesota had an attendance of 13,316.]

But even then I couldn’t have imagined how the year would play out. How we would set attendance records, sponsorship records, and viewing records. So our media strategy was a success. But of course the thing that made it work, really, was what I said opening day: we got the hockey right.

And that’s because of Jayna [Hefford] and her staff. You know, we didn’t know our playoffs ‘til after the last game on the last day. Who could have imagined that we’d put together a system that would've worked out that perfectly. You see how close and competitive the playoffs have been. And as exciting as this is for all of us, we can’t wait to get started on year 2, because we know with all Summer to prepare, it’s gonna be even better.

JAYNA HEFFORD: When we kicked off this league we had a few goals and—at least on the hockey side—one of them was to create parity across the league. And through the draft and the player dispersal, the player signings that we put in place, we were able to do that.

And to Stan’s point, I don’t think we could have wrote the script any better the way it played out and came down to the last game of the regular season to decide who was in the playoffs. We certainly achieved that.

Secondly, innovation and creativity was a priority for us. We wanted to find ways to improve the game. To make it more engaging for fans, to make it fun. We didn’t want to change hockey in the traditionalism of hockey, but we wanted to do things a little bit differently.

So implementing the Jailbreak rule, implementing the pick your own opponent, the Gold Plan*. All of those things are new. But I think right now, and of course we’re going to debrief post-season, but right now the response from all of those things has been overwhelmingly positive. So we will continue to try to be creative and think outside the box and present the game in new ways to people.

[* It didn’t come into play this season, so in case anyone isn’t familiar: The Gold Plan is the system by which after a team is out of contention for the playoffs during the regular season, any wins they get would be factored into where they’d be placed in the draft order for next season. It was designed to be an incentive for teams out of the running to still play their hardest and strive for wins.]

...

So excited to be here now for the next two or three games. And really it’s been a remarkable, amazing journey this last number of years, but really this last 8 or 9 months. And as Stan said, I don’t think I could have envisioned this playing out the way it did. The excitement around this, and the response from our fans, and response from media. So we’re just thrilled with where it’s at and I know this is gonna wrap up in a really great way in the next number of days.

...

--------------- LOOKING AHEAD, WHAT ARE THE CHANGES/CHALLENGES FOR NEXT YEAR? ---------------

STAN: We didn’t have our business staff in place until about 60 days before the season started. So we have a lot we can still do.

The most obvious one was merchandise. Having, you know, the amount of inventory that we needed was a challenge for us. Getting an online business started, in two countries, that was a challenge. So all these two country problems are different than other leagues.

By the end of the season we did really well on merchandise. But we have more coming and more designs and greater inventory. The one good thing is that we sold everything that we could make. I mean, it was just flying off the shelves when we could get it to arenas. And the online business has been strong also. Those things are challenging when they’re start-ups, and as I said, they’re start-ups in two countries, so we know how to do it now. It’s gonna get a lot better going forward.

JAYNA: And I think what everybody is waiting for is names and logos. So that’s one big thing that’s coming. So I think that’ll be really exciting to be able to build those brands and make those brands significant in the markets and communities we’re in.

STAN: It’s interesting how the name thing played out. We did not start out to do that, but because the lead time required in these things, we just thought it was better to just skip that for now and just go with: PWHL and the location.

And that has had an amazing unintended consequence of anytime anyone has talked about any of our teams all year, you had to say “PWHL.” So our league has gotten more exposure in the first year of its existence than any league in history ‘cause they kept repeating our name.

Again, we didn’t plan it that way; it just worked out that way. And it was about mid-season that I started hearing from fans and players, “You know, we kinda like the name the way it is.”

We’re gonna have team names. And I invite people to adopt those names too. But you can feel free to continue to call it what you’ve always called it. And we will be selling merchandise with both of those names. So these names aren’t going away because they have become popular. But for those of you who like team names, we’ll be addressing that as well.

...

JAYNA: ...Of course we feel like we have incredible talent on the ice every night now, but putting the best on the ice is about putting the best on the ice. And we know there’s a number of incoming players. So it will get more challenging. Good players will have a hard time making this league. But when you think about the product we’re gonna put on the ice? It’s gonna continue to get significantly better every single year as we welcome in newer and younger players. Then at some point we’ll look to add teams, when that depth of talent is at the right place in our minds. But right now it’s just exciting to look at all the new and fresh talent that’s going to step in.

--------------- WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE DIVERSITY AND ATTRACT MORE BLACK FANS TO THE GAMES? ---------------

JAYNA: I think the first thing is representation. And we have some incredible athletes in our league that continue to be great role models, be active in their communities. And when you think of Sophie Jaques and Sarah Nurse and players that continue to give back and become something that young girls can look up to? I think all of our players do that for a lot of different communities of people.

And I think the one thing that’s really special about our league is- I feel it every game I’m at, it doesn’t matter what market we’re in, is that there’s a sense of inclusivity in our buildings. People are here and they’re excited and they’re happy and they feel welcome, regardless of who they are. And they feel free to be themselves. I’ve talked to many, many people that have never felt this way in a hockey rink. So we’ll continue to do that on the culture side.

I think what we want to do is continue to grow the game for young girls and I don’t think there’s any limits on who those young girls are. We want people to fall in love with the game. And I think we approach our business side and staffing side the same way. We want to bring people in who love the game and we want to bring people in that represent different communities.

--------------- WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR NEW YORK TO POSSIBLY PLAY IN ONE VENUE INSTEAD OF THE THREE OR FOUR THEY USED THIS SEASON? ---------------

STAN: When the season is over we’re gonna review everything. Every city, every venue that we’re in, and we’re going to try to improve. We’re aware of the New York situation. It wasn’t ideal this year. But we’ll see what ways we can improve the situation. We’re not ready to say here today which way we’re going to go or what we’re going to do. But I can tell you that certainly one of the things we’re going to spend a lot of time looking at.

REPORTER: What do you guys think is the ideal venue situation?

STAN: The ideal venue situation is to play in the biggest NHL venue in every city. And merit playing there. We’re not always there yet in every market. But in big markets, as you might know, the big venues are there because there are a lot of events and a lot of teams in those cities. That gets into availabilities. We don’t want to be in a big venue, but have to play on a Tuesday morning, right? We wanna play on weekend nights or nights in general.

So it’s a complicated matrix of considerations that goes into where we choose to play, when we choose to play, what’s good for the team, what’s good for the visiting team, how we travel. It’s complicated.

It’s complicated with 6, it’ll be more complicated the bigger we grow and the more games we have. Those will be good problems, but we don’t ignore it. We’re thinking about all of it. And you saw in this year when we found an opportunity that we thought would work for our fans in cities where we could go to big venues, we did it. I would call them experiments and in general I’d say those experiments were all wildly successful.

--------------- WHEN CAN WE EXPECT NAMES AND LOGOS? ---------------

STAN: Sometime this Summer. I don’t have an exact time, but you should be counting the days.

--------------- HOW DID THE GATE RECEIPT REVENUE COMPARE TO WHAT YOU EXPECTED? ---------------

STAN: I will tell you that, yes, it exceeded what we thought we were going to- it exceeded our early projections. But that’s partially because we made the strategy decision to also greatly exceed our expected expenses.

Let me give you an example. You know how women’s hockey games have been broadcast in the past, right? Single camera from upstairs. It isn’t what we chose to do. We made the conscious choice to spend a lot of money to make it a major league professional broadcast. And I think all of you who watched our games would agree. That’s what we delivered. It was expensive. But we think it’s gonna pay off for us in the long run.

Additionally we didn’t hire three people and slowly build each franchise. We went right to 120 people by opening day and now we’re over 200 people. So that was a lot of expense that we didn’t expect right away, but we said, “you know what? We’re all in. So let’s do year 4 expenses in year 1.”

So yeah, and that resulted in a lot more revenue. And that’s why we think our decision to invest in the league, which is what I call expenses, was the right one. We’re on the right track. The investments we made are paying off.

--------------- WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT NEXT SEASON’S SCHEDULE, NUMBER OF GAMES, AND POSSIBLE NEUTRAL-SITE GAMES? ---------------

JAYNA: Well, in terms of number of games the league will go up to 30. And that’s in our CBA that 24 regular games in the inaugural season will move to a minimum of 30 next year. In terms of neutral site games, we do expect that there will be more of those next season. I don’t have a timeline for our schedule to be done yet, but we do expect more games, more neutral-site games next season.

--------------- WHAT WAS THE CONSENSUS ON THE OFFICIATING THIS SEASON IN THE LEAGUE? ---------------

JAYNA: I don’t know if you’ll ever get a collection of people that all agree on officiating in any sport, in any league. So we’re actually really happy with where we’re at.

We set out initially to find the best officials we could find. We worked closely with the NHL, the AHL, Hockey Canada, USA Hockey, to select the top officials. We obviously also adjusted the standard of play to this league. It’s not full body checking, but there is an increased level of physicality in the game. So I think we spent the early months of the season really trying to figure out where that line is and get people comfortable with it.

Now where we’re at I think players have figured it out to some extent. Of course not everyone’s going to agree on that. But the way I see the players playing the game now, and their awareness of positions they’re in, and to be ready for that physicality has changed. So, are we right there? We’re probably not right there yet. But we’re really happy with where we’re at, we think the officials have done an incredible job in the league this season.

--------------- ARE THERE PLANS FOR DRAFTED PLAYERS WHO MIGHT NOT MAKE THE PWHL ROSTERS? ---------------

JAYNA: I think trying to figure out what the right solution for that is in the short term is at the top of our list of things to do. You know, building one league in 9 months, but to build a whole ecosystem for hockey? It’s just not something that we can do right now. But we are thinking creatively around places that players could play if they don’t end up on our 23 or 26 player rosters next season. So it’s a bit of a work in progress. But in speaking to number of stakeholders there’s many many people that want to figure out a solution to this so that we can keep more women in playing the game at the highest level.

--------------- DO YOU LOOK AT THE LEAGUE AS A “WOMEN’S SPORTS” SUCCESS STORY OR HAS IT MOVED BEYOND THAT? ---------------

JAYNA: I think that we are very different from most men’s leagues. I think we’re very different than many women’s leagues. I’d like to see us stand on our own as a sports league. But in saying that I also believe that this time for women’s sports and the success of one feels like it’s a success for all. We’re all big fans and collaborate with folks in the WNBA and the NWSL, and it feels like we’re all working together to raise women’s sports. So I don’t know if that’s an appropriate answer, but I feel it’s a little of both.

--------------- HOW DO THE INVESTORS FEEL ABOUT THIS FIRST SEASON? ---------------

STAN: I have one investor, he is ecstatic.

...

--------------- WHAT IS THE POTENTIAL FOR DOING A BEST OF 7 GAMES SERIES IN THE FUTURE? ---------------

JAYNA: This is a little bit like getting asked about expansion 3 months in. Great question. Would I love to see a best of 7 series? We’re sitting here 1-1, you know of course I would. But I think we’re really excited about the format we have now. This is new for women’s hockey. Even the best players in the world who’ve won multiple Olympic gold medals have not played in a best of 5 series. I think we’re seeing that it’s challenging. There’s a lot of travel, there’s fatigue, the volume that they’re experiencing is huge

So I think we’re really good where we’re at right now. Somewhere along the line I could see us maybe expanding, but again, year 1? The two best of 5 series have been a really great format for us.

STAN: And that comes from someone who’s won 4 Olympic gold medals.

JAYNA: [laughing] I’ve never played in a best of 5 series either.

STAN: Exactly.

--------------- end of interview ---------------

#pwhl #jayna hefford #stan kasten #Youtube #pwhl transcriptions

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miketownsends · 11 months ago

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Have been wondering for a bit, since it flew completely off my radar for all of the time it was happening. What was/is Blaseball? Like I know from wikipedia that it was a baseball horror game (?) but it really gives no impression of like. What was it like, what was so special abt it?

blaseball was, at its core, a cosmic horror baseball simulator, with some kind of TTRPG-adjacent aspects. it’s… hard to describe. in so many ways it was something you needed to be there for. but i can try!

there were 24 (originally 20) teams, based in both real (Seattle, Tokyo, Boston, etc) and fake (Atlantis, Hellmouth, Hades) locations. seasons lasted a week. games played out every hour on the hour starting at 7:00am PST on Monday and running until 99 games had completed. games were played out under various weathers, such as Solar Eclipse and Feedback, that could impact the players or the game at random. the postseason played out on Friday evening and Saturday. election results occurred on Sunday.

elections were the big interactive portions of blaseball. throughout the week fans could bet in-game money on the outcomes of games. you could then use that money to buy votes. the votes were used to either vote on Decrees, which were rule/game changes (decided by popular vote) or to try to improve your team through Blessings or Wills (decided via raffle). these could do anything from buffing a player to stealing a player from another team to giving your entire team a specific blood type to killing off your least-idolized player and replacing them with a new one to… any other number of things. this forced a kind of collaborative community effort because teams would prioritize certain things and try to steer their fans toward putting their votes toward those things to increase the odds of their team getting picked in the raffle.

the community was the big thing about blaseball and it’s why it’s kind of hard to explain what it was really like now that it’s over. every blaseball player was just a name and a randomly generated collection of stats. the community gave every one of these players personalities and stories and lives. the teams had their own lore and “personalities” as well, kinda. different teams prioritized different things and had their own team culture. some teams were really stat-focused, some were really insular, some were more heavily into lore and narrative.

i think i will tell you the story of The Resurrection of Jaylen Hotdogfingers. i’ll try to keep it brief. (it will not be brief, i’m so sorry)

in season one, the Seattle Garages are not a very good team. their lone bright spot is their ace, 4-star pitcher Jaylen Hotdogfingers, who is the best pitcher in the league. (she is also mayor of Seattle.)

at the end of season one, the fans vote for the Decree to open the Forbidden Book. why? obviously, because it is Forbidden. (this is the first but not last time blaseball fans ran headfirst toward consequences just because they could.) this has several very immediate consequences, one of which was the incineration of Jaylen Hotdogfingers. this is the first ever incineration. it is permadeath. moving forward, any games played under the solar eclipse weather carry the risk of a player being randomly incinerated and replaced with a new, randomly generated player. the Garages lose a lot of players to incineration in the early seasons, which combined with Jaylen’s targeting give rise to a significant “fuck the gods” sentiment amongst the fans.

as per Garages lore, Jaylen’s final words before she was incinerated were “we’ve just gotta make it to the playoffs.”

seasons pass. the Garages are still bad but getting better, slowly. they win a couple pitching blessings, which helps a little. one of the other Garages pitchers is a guy named Mike Townsend. he’s… pretty bad. definitely no Jaylen. Mike gets unfairly scapegoated for the team’s struggles, to the point where there is a real actual real-life song called “Mike Townsend (Is A Disappointment)” written about him by Garages fans. (this starts The Garages the band, which now has like 20+ albums and hundreds of songs. they are on Spotify.)

going into season 6, a new site feature is introduced. fans can choose to idolize a player and then they can earn passive income whenever that player strikes someone out or hits a home run or whatever. cool! partway through the season, a player for the Boston Flowers, Caligula Lotus, is incinerated. Caligula is a popular player, and quite a few fans had her idolized. one of those fans noticed that, rather than having the option to now idolize a new player, they are still idolizing Caligula even after her death, which means they can still see her player page. prior to this, players who were incinerated were just… gone. no way to access them anymore.

the player goes to report the bug. they are informed that this is not a bug.

about 15 minutes later, someone from another team, the Canada Moist Talkers, comes into the Garages channel of the blaseball Discord. they drop a link to Jaylen’s player page with just the message “we know how to get her back.”

one of the Blessings that season was a Blessing called Lottery Pick. this would allow the winning team to steal the 14th most idolized player in the league. (the top 20 players are visible on an idol leaderboard.)

Jaylen’s page had a button that allowed her to be idolized.

all hell breaks loose in the Garages channels (and throughout the rest of the Discord as word gets out). the thought is this: with some coordination, Jaylen can be moved into the 14th spot on the leaderboard. this will, theoretically, allow the team who wins the Lottery Pick to steal Jaylen from… wherever she is. (her team is listed simply as “Null Team.”)

the Garages close their channels to visitors briefly to discuss amongst themselves whether or not they want to attempt this (the Garages mantra is “the Garage is always open,” so closing the channels is a huge deal). it’s a HUGE, fairly contentious, discussion. there’s, obviously, a million things that can go wrong. a different team could win the Lottery Pick. Jaylen could get bumped out of #14 last minute. no one knows if it’s even possible to steal a dead player (and if it is, there will DEFINITELY be consequences). other teams are interested in potentially resurrecting former players, too, but the overarching league-wide sentiment is “first in, first out” - if the Garages decide they want to try and get Jaylen back, they get first crack at it, so the Garages HAVE to come to a decision.

no matter what, SOMEONE is going to push the button. Jaylen has, by this point, already made her way onto the leaderboard. the Garages fans decide “well, someone’s committing necromancy; might as well be us.” they inform the league they’re going for it and everyone starts strategizing to hold Jaylen at #14. some fans of other teams switch teams temporarily to the Garages just to put votes into the Lottery Pick blessing in order to increase the Garages’ chances of winning.

meanwhile, the Garages (the blaseball team)? actually having a pretty good season for once! they manage to make it into the playoffs for the first time (“we’ve just gotta make it to the playoffs”). they sweep the Philly Pies (two-time champions) and the Hades Tigers (two-time champions) to make it to the Internet Series (where they are then swept by the Baltimore Crabs, but that’s okay).

fan sentiment on Mike Townsend has also shifted by this point. he’s still not very good but he’s become beloved. fans mostly find his terrible pitching kind of endearing. there is a new song about him called “Mike Townsend (Is A Credit to the Team).” the song contains the line “your redemption arc is coming up.”

the morning of the elections comes. Jaylen is still firmly at #14 on the leaderboard. all anyone can do is wait for the results.

the Garages win the Lottery Pick, with 58% of the vote.

Jaylen returns to the Garages. as was the case with other similar Blessings which stole a player from elsewhere in the League, Jaylen replaces the worst player on the team for her position (pitcher).

the Garages’ worst pitcher is Mike Townsend.

usually, in a situation where a player is stolen from an active team, it would just be a player swap. however, Null Team is not an active team and Mike cannot be sent there, so instead, Mike is sent to the Shadows. at this point, the Shadows are a mostly-unknown and inaccessible site feature. he’s not DEAD, but he’s no longer on the Garages’ active roster. within an hour there is a song called “Mike Townsend (Knows What He’s Gotta Do)” about Mike getting Jaylen back for the team.

his redemption arc.

Jaylen’s return gives her a status called “Debted” that simply says “this player must fulfill a Debt.” no one knows what it means. probably it will be bad (it is). in the moment, it doesn’t matter. Jaylen is safe. she’s home. it’s a victory against the gods, against the Peanut. (the Peanut is a whole other story.)

this is not even close to the end of Jaylen’s story, or Mike’s, but this is more than long enough. and this is just one story - a big one, since it had a wider impact on the narrative, but every team had hundreds of stories like this. about big things, about small things. they took a random number generator and spun it into an infinite amount of stories. they made narratives out of spreadsheets.

it really, truly sucks that it’s gone.

#harboneger #answer #this probably explains very little. i’m so sorry #it’s such a hard thing to describe #i could tell stories for DAYS #i have a shark wearing a party hat and playing a guitar tattooed to my arm because of this game #there will never be anything quite like it again i fear

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iam93percentstardust · 1 year ago

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*insert french laugh* Did someone say to send a prompt? Ahoy! Have no fear for I am here. How about stevetony kiss prompt with the dialogue "i think this is the part where you're supposed to kiss me"? Could Steve be the one to also say it? <3

naferty fren!!! yesss always happy to write steve for you <3

@soliloquent-stark also requested this prompt + "If you win, I'll kiss you" so I rolled y'all into one

Steve does follow his physical therapy plan religiously, and sure enough, by the time the next season—his final season, as a senior now—rolls around, he’s declared fit to play. And, fuck, does he play. Determined to prove himself even better after his recovery, to prove that Rollins couldn’t get him down, he leads his team to victory after victory and then to the playoffs and now to the championship.

Tony ducks into the locker room before the game, ignoring the good-natured wolf-whistles and catcalls from Steve’s teammates as he picks his way through the equipment littered across the room. It’s been an open secret for ages that Steve was seeing an omega, and after his injury last season, it became an open secret that Steve was specifically seeing Tony because he kept showing up to fuss over him, but none of them would ever turn him in. They have too much respect for their captain and quarterback, and anyway, most of them think the zero fraternization rules are just as ridiculous as they do.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Steve says, beaming at him. “How was your exam?”

Tony makes a face. He hadn’t flown over with the team yesterday, being required to take an exam for one of his courses—something about mechanics, which Steve had listened to all the ranting about, nodding sympathetically since that was about as much as he understood.

“That bad?” Steve asks.

Tony scowls. “No. It was boring. If you’re gonna make a big deal about this exam being the ‘hardest exam of the entire semester’—” he adopts a suitably dramatic tone for the quote—“then it should at least be difficult, right? I overstudied way too much for that thing. I don’t think it took me more than about ten minutes.”

“Maybe that’s just because you’re impressive.”

“Or maybe Dr. Kean’s not nearly as scary as she thinks she is.”

Steve hums. He doesn’t completely agree—no one knows how smart Tony is better than he does after years of listening to Tony telling him about his inventions—but he’s not going to argue the point. He wasn’t there; for all he knows, everyone was done with the exam after ten minutes.

“I’m glad to see you here,” he says instead. “I wasn’t sure you’d make it.”

Tony makes a dismissive gesture. “What’s a little light sprinting through the airport to catch the next flight?”

“And the TSA let you?”

“I told ‘em I was going to support my alpha, and they practically made a hole for me themselves. They’re big Steve Rogers’ fans, you know.”

It’s Steve’s turn to make a face. He doesn’t know how he feels about having fans. No, that’s not true. He knows exactly how he feels, and he doesn’t like it.

Tony laughs, “Yeah, exactly.”

Steve hears the coach starting to round people up for the pregame pep talk and says, “You better get out there. Don’t want you to miss the kickoff.”

“Hmm, yeah, probably,” Tony agrees and starts to walk away, grinning when Steve reels him back in. “What?”

“Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?” Steve asks.

“No?”

That innocent look on his face isn’t fooling Steve one bit. He reminds him, “Kiss for luck?”

Tony thinks about it, then gives him a teasing smile. “Hmm, I’m gonna have to go with no.”

Steve blinks at him. “No?”

“Yeah, no. But if you win, I’ll kiss you then.”

He darts away before Steve can catch him to kiss him himself, cackling like mad as he dodges his hand. Steve watches him go and shakes his head fondly. Well, now that Tony’s laid a challenge on him, guess he’ll have to win.

Looking back on it, he’ll be able to remember the game in excruciating detail. He’ll be able to sit down with Tony and watch the highlights and comment on what he was thinking at each moment of the game. Today though, it feels like barely a minute has passed before he’s standing in the winners box, looking at Tony beaming from ear to ear while someone asks him how he feels.

“Amazing,” he says honestly. He almost says something about Tony, but stops himself at the last second. That moment feels too private, too them to share on national television. He gives another couple of soundbites before the mic moves to Peter, who’d made the winning touchdown in the last second, literally.

“I think I just kind of blacked out when I caught that last ball,” Peter says blankly, still clearly in shock. “I just ran for it. I’m lucky I moved at all.”

Everyone chuckles and then they’re finally allowed down off the stage. Steve makes a beeline straight for Tony, vaguely acknowledging the people who try to talk to him. Tony is waiting for him with a softer, more teasing smile.

“Congratulations, quarterback,” Tony says once he reaches him.

“Thanks,” Steve says, grinning at him. “Now, if I remember correctly, I think this is the part where you’re supposed to kiss me.”

“Oh, is that what part this is?” Tony asks, arching his eyebrows.

“Pretty sure. I did win, after all.”

“Well, if you won,” Tony says exaggeratedly, but grabs ahold of Steve’s jersey and yanks him in. He smiles again, bright and warm and so, so proud, and then leans up and kisses him. And it’s a perfect moment, the best way to cap off the best season Steve has ever had. Steve wraps his arms around him, holding him close, and kisses him and kisses him and kisses him.

#alle writes #alle answers #stevetony #if you like please reblog #i have another request for this prompt but specifically with tony #so that'll get rolled into the second kiss prompt fics

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evermoredeluxe · 10 months ago

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Hailee anon: I more find it interesting because most of the time the rule is you don't talk shit about someone's partner. The stuff with Gisele was definitely weird and hard to explain because a lot of the undertones was "she's doing this stuff to Tom" even though it was and is clear Tom is the one deciding not to eat strawberries etc. The fact sports media came around on Taylor pretty hard at the start of the playoffs makes me think they've done some reflecting on how they talked about famous partners in the past and are trying to do better.

oh yeah the media and some influential people in football (stephen a smith, pat mcafee etc) have been very welcoming and nice to her, even going as far as to defending her. and i honestly ignore all the misogynistic ones, but i know they are there for sure. it’s a lot of the people from others teams fandoms that hate chiefs (because they’re just better than their teams) and hate her

#anonymous #replies

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imaginespazzi · 9 months ago

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BESTIE! It is good to have you back around. Anything new or just crushed w school work?

First of all, happy W Playoffs Semifinals Day 1 ! And lets go Liberty! (though in all honesty I like all the teams left overall). Cant wait to watch and Im just hoping for no sweeps after the 1st rd provided no 3rd game. Which, if youll allow a soapbox moment, all the series should be at least 5 games and automatically have games at both places! Hill I will die on

Argh. Yeah my final Mystics thought/sentiment basically boils down to ~well better than nothing~ Really curious to see the rules/system the leagues organizes re expansion along w the next draft! Ok slightly surprised by Curt getting the axe but was really floored by Spoon. I guess those organizations seem known for some odd, not necessarily beneficial decision making though.

Its so odd to see her in action in Kentucky gear! Superficial, and maybe Im still just adjusting, but I feel like the VT colors suit her appearance more than the royal blue. I do feel like the weirdness and finality of the change is probs kinda hitting Kitley as official practices for next wcbb season begin, so funny that you mentioned. In fact I saw somewhere on here that she was listening to what was formerly her "Georgia" playlist recently. Though w this girl and her emo ways w music, I dont really know how much meaning to quite attribute to that. And at least just going off my personal observation within the general world of college athletics, this is def the time of year where the recognition of change/a fresh start really sets in for players. And Im sure its true in a sense for Liz, as she realizes that its the fall but for the first time she isnt going back to school. Would think that the playoffs and knee rehab are a providing a decent distraction though!

GH Ch 10 🤌. Possessive Stephie was a great laugh and the beginning of Pookie dramatics + contract discussion have me eager for the next read! (Uncle Drew 🥹)

BESTIE HI so I'm like years too late to answering this but hey at least I'm here!

Lmao choosing tonight to answer this is actually really funny cause in hindsight you did get half of your wish! The Liberty made is so fun to root for them in the semis and have now decided they are going to make is so difficult to root for them in the finals. I was a little conflicted to begin with an after this first final...yeah maybe I need to cool off lmao.

Also a great day to answer this cause we do know the rules now and well....was that late run that established absolutely nothing worth only having ~10% of a chance of getting Paige Bueckers, Mike??? T-Spoon getting the Axe was an insane choice and I have no idea what the Sky is thinking with that. Curt was also such a random choice but mayhaps LA will get Stephanie White now (I say because I can't stand the idea of her going to the Fever)

It's definitely strange not seeing her in the VT uniform and the blue is pretty but just doesn't feel like her yet. And while not the biggest thing, I'm sure it's one of those tiny changes that adds to Liz probably feeling a little bittersweet about this whole time.

Ah yes...the next read that I totally have made so much progress on mmhm

#ask #☕️ anon my love <3 #you didn't add your emoji but i'm like 99% sure this is you lol

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gossipontheasphalt · 9 months ago

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Top 10 Favorite Drivers in NASCAR History

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the list of my top 10 favorite NASCAR drivers of all time. These are the drivers that I highly prefer, compared to all the other drivers in the history of the sport. This list only has somewhat to do with how good of a driver they were on the track, this is mostly personal bias. I would also like to point out that this is all my personal opinion. I you want to talk about your own favorites, feel free to put your own top 10 down in the comments. With that out of the way, let’s begin.

#10: Ross Chastain

He is probably the youngest driver on this list. Ross Chastain grew up in Florida, as a watermelon farmer, and this is something that he references constantly throughout his career. This guy has a watermelon addiction. In the early days of his career, he did something that was very unconventional, and something that nobody has done since then. He was infamous for competing in nearly every single race, across all three of the top series of NASCAR. The reason why this is rarely ever done is because of how much stress it can put on a driver. Having to concentrate on three different racing series takes a lot of time out of a driver’s schedule. You gotta respect his dedication.

While he truly stood out in the Xfinty series and truck series, his time in the cup series was not very impressive, rarely finishing on the lead lap. In his defense, he wasn’t in the very best equipment. He finally started competing for cup series points in 2021, and started seeing much better results, now that he was driving for a much better team. You can also chalk up his good results to the amount of practice he had, having run several races already. The following season in 2022, was when his career really took off. For the first time, he was able to make the NASCAR cup series playoffs, scoring two wins, and finishing second in the standings.

This was also the season, where he infamously pissed off almost the entire field. There were numerous occasions of him knocking other drivers out of the way, as opposed to passing them cleanly. His wildest moment definitely occurred during the second to last race of the season at Martinsville. He was on the verge of missing the championship four, so he attempted something that by all accounts, should not have worked. He put the car in fifth gear and nailed the gas all the way down on the outside lane. He rode the wall through turns three and four, gaining six positions, and destroying the right side of his car. Due to his background as a watermelon farmer, and the fact that he always smashed a watermelon every time he won a race, this move was dubbed the hail melon.

Because of how dangerous this move was, NASCAR banned this move the following season. Since 2022, Ross Chastain hasn’t been to the championship four, but has won a couple more races, and still consistently finishes in the top 10. It’s unknown what’s going to happen with him next, but it will probably involve several more watermelons getting destroyed. Who knows? He might cause another reason for a rule to be changed at some point.

#9: Robby Gordon

Oh dear, this is a very controversial pick. Forget what I just said about Ross Chastain’s rough driving, this guy was a maniac behind the wheel when he was in NASCAR. He did more than just bump other drivers, he flat out wrecked other drivers. Dude also had a massive temper, constantly getting angry with other drivers, and shouting profanities at them when he felt like they were being dumb. Somethings, he would reach his boiling point and get physical. He also has quite a bit of a history with being in court, having sued numerous companies in the later years of his career. What puts him on this list is something that he did that I think other drivers should do more often. In 2007, Robby Gordon was leading late in the Busch series race at Montreal.

Then, while the race was under caution, second place Marcos Ambrose intentionally spun him out. When Robby Gordon came back onto the track, NASCAR instructed him to restart in thirteenth, despite him having the lead when the caution came out. What made the situation even worse was that despite intentionally spinning out another driver while the field was frozen, Marcos Ambrose was being scored as the race leader. Having put up with a lot of BS in NASCAR already, Robby Gordon refused to listen to NASCAR and drove back up to second place. He would pass Marcos Ambrose on the restart and cross the finish line first.

The driver who crossed the finish line right behind him, Kevin Harvick, was declared the winner. In his post-race interview, Robby Gordon would point out that he was the real race winner, and he is absolutely right. If you are leading at the time of caution, you are therefore the leader on the restart. He did not break any of NASCAR’s rules. This should be the precedent moving forward. If a driver is being penalized for something that isn’t their fault, they should ignore the penalty and keep racing.

#8: Kyle Petty

Kyle Petty is a driver that many people tend to overlook, due to the fact that his father is NASCAR legend, Richard Petty. While his father is considered to be one of the greatest in the history of the sport, Kyle Petty only won eight races throughout his career. But even though he didn’t win that often, Kyle Petty still had really good results, finishing in the top 10 on numerous occasions. There were even a few times where he was a legit championship threat.

The most notable instance was in 1992, when he was one of six drivers in contention for the Winston cup championship, going into the final race of the season, the Hooters 500. That race has been considered a classic since that day, and many fans consider it to be the greatest race in NASCAR history. Kyle Petty is proof that winning alone, is not what ultimately defines a good driver. There are several other factors. He also had a short singing career during the 80’s, and he has proven to be a really good singer. Also, am I the only one who thinks he looks a little bit like Snoop Dog? Specifically, the glasses and the ponytail.

#7: Morgan Shepherd

This is another case of a driver constantly that has had really good points finishes, but not a lot of wins. Morgan Shepherd had one of the longest careers in the history of professional sports, starting in 1970, and retiring in 2019. He is also probably the number one driver in the history of the sport, when it comes to loyalty to God. Before he started his racing career, he did some questionable things and went through several divorces. Now he has completely turned his life around and has a wife that he has been married to for decades.

He is probably the most polite driver in the history of the sport, rarely ever having anything bad to say about his fellow racers. Something else that he was known for was occasionally roller skating up and down pit road before the race. The reason for this is actually interesting. He said himself that he was a terrible dancer, so he skated instead. One time, as he was skating outside of a grocery store, he was successfully able to chase down a shoplifter and tackle him.

You have to admire that kind of bravery. He had no idea if that man was armed or not, but still went after him.

#6: Jeff Gordon

This guy is one of NASCAR’s greatest legends. His cup series career actually started, with the very famous 1992 Hooters 500. At the time, nobody could have known that he would become one of the sport’s biggest icons. Over his 23 seasons of competing, he was successfully able to get 93 race wins, and four cup championships. When he first started off in the 90’s, he had a massive rivalry with another NASCAR legend, Dale Earnhardt. Once Jeff Gordon started dominating, Earnhardt wasn’t winning as much as he used to.

Fans in the 90’s who had Earnhardt as a favorite driver, couldn’t stand Jeff Gordon. The same could also be said about fans of Earnhardt’s son, Dale Earnhardt Junior. In 2004, Jeff Gordon won at Talladega with Junior finishing second, and several fans in the stands began throwing beer cans at him during his victory burnouts. He also holds the record for most consecutive races competed in, 788.

Even in his later years, he was still running up front and winning races, finishing third in the final standings in his final year. Now he is the second in command of Hendrick motorsports and will take on full ownership of the team when team owner Rick Hendrick steps down or passes away.

#5: Kyle Busch

There was a point where Kyle Busch was probably the most hated driver in NASCAR. Early in his career, he was a massive hot head. While it wasn’t to the lengths that Robby Gordon went to, Kyle Busch was not afraid to be aggressive out on the track. If he wasn’t happy with someone, he wasn’t afraid to call them out on their bullcrap. It wasn’t just the other drivers he was critical of, he also constantly got annoyed with the officials. One time, he actually got in trouble for flipping one off. In recent years, Kyle has actually calmed down a bit and isn’t getting as booed as much as he used to. Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that he can drive.

He currently holds the record for most consecutive seasons with at least one win. Back in 2015, he pulled off what was arguably the greatest comeback in NASCAR history. Before the Sprint cup series season even started that year, Kyle Busch would break both legs after crashing in the season opening Xfinity race at Daytona. After several weeks of healing, he would return to the track after missing the first 11 races of the season.

In sports, most athletes tend to underperform after coming back from an injury. Kyle Busch did the exact opposite and went on to win the championship that year. He was also the first driver I ever started rooting for. The first NASCAR race I ever watched was the final race of the 2015 season. Kyle Busch won that race along with the championship, and he’s been one of my favorites ever since.

#4: Dale Earnhardt

We have yet another driver, who is known for being quite aggressive on the track. Without Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR probably wouldn’t be as popular as it is today. It all started during his rookie season in 1979, when Dale got his first win at Bristol. What’s interesting is that this happened on April Fool’s Day. Since then, he would go on to win 75 more races, and a record tying 7 cup series championships.

He got his success by not hesitating to make moves that nobody else would even take time to think about. Making the slightest contact with him out on the racetrack was a huge mistake, as Earnhardt would be ready to quickly pay that driver back. He also couldn’t stand restrictor plates, which is ironic because Earnhardt had probably more success than anyone else at the drafting tracks. He was a master of the draft, and people claim that he could see the air. Unfortunately, it would be a drafting track that would end his career. On the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt would crash into the outside concrete wall in turn four.

He was launched forward, and his face bashed into the steering wheel, which resulted in him dying instantly. This was arguably considered the saddest moment in the history of the sport. Since this incident, NASCAR has made several changes in an effort to make the cars safer. Since this accident, there has not been another fatality within the top three series of the sport. As of 2024, this is the longest amount of time NASCAR has gone without a driver dying. While Dale Earnhardt may be gone, his legacy will never be forgotten, and he will always be remembered as one of the greatest drivers in the history of racing.

#3: Cale Yarborough

Cale Yarborough recently just passed away late last year, but nobody will ever forget his legacy. Yarborough began racing at a time when NASCAR wasn’t as safe as it is now. He was considered to be one of the tougher drivers in the sport, overcoming several obstacles that were thrown at him throughout his career.

His 83 career wins put him sixth on NASCAR’s all time wins list. He’s also infamous for being the first driver in the history of the sport, to win 3 consecutive cup championships. And of course, nobody will ever forget the infamous finish of the 1979 Daytona 500. On the final lap of the race, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison were battling for the lead. Then the two slammed into each other and crashed head on into the wall. They slid down the track and came to a complete stop in the infield. Third place Richard Petty, who was far behind those guys when the accident happened, ended up passing them and winning the race.

Once Yarborough and Allison got out of their cars, all hell broke loose, as the two began throwing punches at each other. I would like to point out, that this was the first time a NASCAR race was broadcasted on tv, from the beginning of the race to the end. What a way to start a legacy.

#2: Darrell Waltrip

Darrell Waltrip was very similar to Cale Yarborough, also having three cup championships. He has Yarborough beaten in the wins category though, having won one more race than him. Waltrip is another one of those drivers who started off as one of the most hated due to having an attitude problem, but eventually calmed down and became one of the sports most loved.

After retiring from NASCAR after the 2000 season, he would then transition over to the booth, where he would be one of the most iconic broadcasters in the sports history. D.W always had the most energy in the booth, and had a tendency to say things that were absolutely hilarious. Before every single race, he would shout this at the top of his lungs. “BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY, LET’S GO RACING BOYS!!!” He didn’t have to become a broadcaster after he retired from driving, he could have been a really good comedian if he wanted to.

I doubt I’ll ever make a list of my top 10 favorite NASCAR broadcasters, but do I really need to say who would take the top spot?

#1: Richard Petty

What can I say about Richard Petty that hasn’t already been said? He is without a doubt the best driver in the history of NASCAR. 200 cup series race wins, 7 championships, 10 wins in a row, 27 wins in one season, this guy set records that will more than likely never be broken. Nearly every time he showed up to the track, there was a high probability of him leaving the track with the trophy. Because of his dominance, he was given the nickname, The King.

Long after his retirement at the end of 1992, he still continues to make frequent appearances at the track, always wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses. Sometimes during the opening pace laps, he can be seen driving around in one of his old cars. He is also very humble and denies the fact that he’s better than everyone else at driving a racecar. Hundreds of years into the future after he is long gone, nobody will forget the impact he had on the sport. “LONG LIVE THE KING!!!”

#nascar #race car #daytona #sports

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anthonybialy · 2 months ago

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Curing Brandon Beane’s Crankiness with Receivers for Buffalo Bills

Don’t ever help Josh Allen. That’ll show him. The Buffalo Bills passed up the first chance to provide direct assistance along with most of the rest. His employer is kindly dedicated to letting its de facto owner prove he’s the undisputed most valuable player by neglecting to add to his staff. The best case regarding obsessing with defense at the draft is that he won’t have to outscore foes virtually on his own.

General managers always assert that they draft the best available player. In Buffalo’s case, the best available is any player who can directly help Allen. Speaking of a reach, it’d be nice to have receivers who could high point a football.

Brandon Beane sure is, well, defensive. His commitment only starts with focusing on selecting teammates who won’t field Allen’s passes. The person who can’t hide from results is as cranky as he is unprofessional about fans who notice his output. Proclaiming that “Bitching about WR is one of the dumbest arguments I’ve ever heard” is a bitch comment. Noting he hasn’t done nearly enough to help his greatest asset is pretty smart, unlike hoping Mack Hollins offered sufficient assistance last season. Elijah Moore is apparently the big surprise.

You would be persnickety if your alleged assistance is currently not panning out. Choosing Keon Coleman with the almost-first-round pick last year hasn’t counted as much help. It’s too early to proclaim he’s a bust even though he didn’t do nearly enough to dissuade the notion during a largely unimpressive rookie season. But at least the coat memes are funny. I mean, they’re not as entertaining as helping win football games, but at least there’s something.

It’s tough to assess the position they didn’t draft. Beane is determined to make it so. Allen offers an unparalleled opportunity that’s going underutilized. The stubborn unwillingness to not do every single thing they can to overload the offense with an embarrassment of receiving riches show’s commitment’s potential downside.

The horrifying lack of quality receivers is obvious to everyone but the person who selects them. This is not a majority rules situation. Beane’s underwhelming assembled group closer to a bottom 10 receiving room than the top 10. Presuming the quarterback will figure out a way to score is like figuring a trust fund will never be depleted.

Everyone but the general manager seems to grasp how Allen himself and a hot James Cook season overcame the middling wideout talent. And the rusher who’s becoming a bit too confident in his ability to remain on the peak might be pouting his way out of town. Selling high might be the best investment.

Allen shouldn’t have to keep doing everything himself. Bragging that the franchise’s savior can succeed without much help is not the flex Beane thinks it is.

Beane should be making the receiver room into an Avengers superhero team. Instead, Ben Affleck tries vainly to be Batman. This would be a good time to seek out exceptional humans at the same time the league’s Hulk has maximized his superpowers.

Even a superhuman has an annual birthday. On that note, Allen turns 29 next month. This is not just a reminder to hurry up and shop for a super special present to present to your hero. We have to compensate for how the Bills didn’t get him the gift he really wanted. Waiting until the very last pick to get him a receiver is like a consolation prize on Wheel of Fortune. He wasn’t aspiring for the home version and Turtle Wax.

Avoiding a certain position is nothing new. The Bills haven’t drafted a first-round wide receiver since Sammy Watkins. And it has logically been even longer since they added one in the top round who wasn’t an underachieving malcontent.

Infuriatingly missing the most obvious need is part of corporate identity. It’s like the same person owns the city’s hockey team that once again extended the league record for playoff misses under a hockey school supervisor posing as an NHL general manager who’s apparently going to get a sixth season to ruin hockey for the game’s most loyal fanbase.

A respectable owner would have demanded answers on why the most glaring need is thoroughly neglected. But the Bills have Terry Pegula. The only reason Beane knows he wouldn’t be fired is that his boss has also let Kevyn Adams set then extend the NHL record for playoff absences.

This might be a good time to focus on adding quality players instead of kvetching about those who are aware the quantity is too low. I’ll go ahead and say that’s always the case. Beane is irritable about others noticing he added Allen then not enough else. Lashing out is easier than helping his MVP. The fans he’s shrieking at would benefit from him doing his work tasks, too.

#Brandon Beane #Josh Allen #football #Buffalo Bills #wide receiver #NFL #NFL draft #draft #general manager

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apiar-ist · 4 months ago

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3/16/25, 11:43pm

I had this boy in my life since the third grade. He was so incredibly sweet, talented, amazing, kind, he was everything. We were best friends and we started dating in 8th grade. Our relationship lasted three years, three months, and fifteen days, and by god was that the best time of my life.

I cared for this man more than anything. He was the light of my life. I called him “mi sol,” meaning “my sun.” I loved him to the ends on the universe. I got him an electric guitar for his birthday one year, I even painted the case and gave him my old amp to go with it. On our third year anniversary, we wanted to go on a date, but we had a playoff game for marching band. I couldn’t skip because I’m drum major. We made the best of it. He played his baritone and I conducted. All of halftime, I was looking at him. I was mesmerized by him. All I could think was, “wow, this is the man I’ll marry.”

I thought we were fixing all of our issues. We were by no means perfect. I was putting in the effort to fix them. I think he was trying his best.

He started really getting into weed around December of last year. He used to do it occasionally before, whenever his friends had it or he was offered, but he started to do it every day a little bit after my birthday. He would come to school, rehearsals, work, family gatherings, high off his ass. I never understood it. Did it really bring him that much joy? He started to value it more than he valued me, or at least that’s what it felt like. I never told him how it made me feel. When he was high, he wasn’t him. He was either really mean or incredibly kind. I don’t understand why.

We opened the relationship about one year in. I started to like this girl, not because of who she was, but because she reminded me of someone I thought I still needed. A few weeks in, I found out he had cheated on me both before and after we opened the relationship. You can cheat in open relationships — there’s set rules still, and if you don’t follow them then it’s still cheating. I have all of the screenshots still. I decided to forgive him. I broke up with the girl and we closed the relationship again. I convinced myself it was my fault, that he didn’t do anything wrong. I tried to ignore it with everything in my soul but I became controlling. I always had to know where he was and who he was with. I had access to almost all of his accounts. I didn’t trust him. I tried to trust him, but I couldn’t. I never told my dad or my stepmom. I knew they would hate him, so I lied through my teeth and said we were just having a rough patch.

I don’t know why I stayed. I think I was scared, I just loved him so much. I couldn’t imagine a life without him. I still can’t imagine a life without him. We take the love we think we deserve.

I was by no means a saint in that relationship, but I tried so hard. I didn’t do enough. We always fought, most of the time it was because I was feeling insecure about something he did or didn’t do. That was wrong of me. I should have trusted him more.

He’s moved on. It’s been a little under four weeks now. He quit weed, he’s actually trying at school now, he hangs out with his friends more, he’s actually taking the initiative to get better. Part of me wonders why he couldn’t do all of that for me, why he waited until we broke up to get better. Was I not worth getting better for? Did I hold him back?

I don’t know how to move on from this man. I thought I was gonna marry him, I thought we had it made. He’s seen me at both my highest and lowest points, and I’ve seen him at his. How do you just ignore something like that? How do you move on from a person who knows you inside and out? Someone who knows your preferred perfume and color palettes. Someone who knows your texting quirks and little things that make you happy. How do you go on with life after losing someone who made it worth living?

I thought I was gonna marry him. I don’t get it. I wanted it to be him.

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strawberryblondebutch · 4 months ago

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sometimes the badgers remind me of barcelona femeni in the 2022 champions league final where they had a fantastic season and then lost harshly in the final game. did they maybe go in a little arrogant? probably. and as much as i, a fan, hated them beating up on lower ranked teams 10-0, i think it kept the momentum up so they could win the cl finals in 2023 and 2024 (that’s just a personal thing i don’t like seeing crazy scorelines unless it’s against a big rival). so the badgers better just slam these teams if they can for momentum’s sake - but hopefully they don’t wear themselves down

I'm a Mamba mentality kind of person - I like to see egregious stat-padding against low-ranked teams. Make the reporters post the "stop! stop! he's already dead!" meme. None of this unwritten rules of baseball "after a certain point, you have to stop trying out of respect" nonsense.

Maybe it's because I grew up rooting for teams that were infamously bad, and I'm so excited to see someone win that I want them not to take the pressure off. Maybe it has to do with all the lectures I got from coaches about not taking your foot off the gas (or, depending on who was barking at me, not taking it off our opponents' throat). I don't like complacency.

I'm not concerned about exhaustion specifically because of how the playoffs are set up - best-of-3 series on the weekends should give them ample time to recover. It's not like MLB where you need to rest your starters to keep their bodies from breaking down after six months of nonstop play. It's closer to football, where the time to rest your starters is after you clinch your ideal playoff berth (which they did! Kuntz started in net for their last game, and if Casey weren't pushing for the school record, I suspect she/Simms/Laila would have gotten reduced minutes last weekend).

#answered #kiera watches hockey #wisconsin badgers

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sergeifyodorov · 2 years ago

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i know non Toronto Sports Fans don't know about this, don't think about the batflip as anything other than a pretty picture or whatever, but it was So important. the jays 2015 playoff run was before the raptors championship, before marner debuted or matthews was even drafted, and for nearly twenty years before then every single goddamn major team in this godforsaken city was terrible. they'd make the playoffs and lose in the first round, if they were lucky, but usually they'd miss the playoffs. finish in the basement.

and jose bautista changed that. did you know that he's one of only two players to be on five different mlb teams in a season? rule 5 drafted, claimed off waivers, bought, traded, traded again. he eventually landed as a bench guy, a spare third baseman, on the toronto blue jays, and only slipped his way into playing when injuries opened a spot.

and then he got better. in 2010, he hit 54 home runs, the blue jays' single season record. the jays' single season HR record and the maple leafs' single season goals record was the same number for eleven years. the blue jays finished fourth, out of five, in the al east division.

for a long time, you see, the blue jays were terrible.

and then in 2015 something changed. they started winning. all of a sudden, the players they'd gotten -- donaldson, martin, estrada -- started working, and the team shot up the standings. their opponent? the texas rangers. sure. whoever.

the first round of the mlb playoffs was a best of five. this one took all five games. the jays had lost the first two, at home, and won the second two on the road, and came back not sure what to expect.

at the top of the seventh inning, the game was tied, with a texas ranger on third. the catcher, russell martin, threw a ball back to his pitcher marcus stroman and did it wrong, striking the batter's bat on the way back. without realizing it, the ball had turned live. the runner scored and the jays were losing. fans were angry. players were angry. it took eighteen minutes to sort out what was going on before they could end the top of the inning.

enter adrian beltre. he was the rangers' 3B then, I don't know what he is up to now, and he was very good. but he made a fielding error, right there. and there was a hit that went over his head, and he made another fielding error, and another hit and the game was tied, with two men on base and jose bautista up to bat.

and jose bautista hits it practically out of the building.

he never made the world series, retiring a few years after 2015 and finding something else to do with his baseball knowledge. he probably isn't going to the hall of fame, but he will live on in toronto forever. so thank you joey bats. welcome to the level of excellence

#jose bautista #toronto blue jays

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matbaerzal · 3 years ago

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how about mat wants to shave the playoff beard but knows you’ll miss it so you ask him to eat you out one last time before he shaves it (i would kill to have that face in between my thighs)

Sorry for the waiiit, ik the playoffs were agesss ago 😅 let's post this as a manifestation that we get to see the beard again sooner rather than later ✨ I have yet again put my trust in Grammarly so pls excuse any typos

Warnings: pre-established relationship, smut, beard burn, eating out, multiple orgasms, a hint of biting, squirting (oopsie), and some sweet aftercare to wrap it all up... I just went for it with this one hehe Words: 1,6K

"Babe?" you hear Mat shout from the bathroom.

"Yeah" you reply as you make your way over.

"Have you seen my razor?" he's squatted down looking through the bathroom cabinets, running a hand through his hair.

You bite your lip, you'd been dreading this moment and as he looks up at you, you avert his eyes and shake your head.

"No?" he arches a brow at you, slightly amused at your behavior - he knows you too well.

"No" your voice is weak as you drag the word out a little, you don't trust yourself to form a bigger sentence. He stands up and walks closer to you. "So you have absolutely no idea where it could be?" his arm reaches out to brush over the skin on your shoulder, you feel almost shy under his gaze knowing you'll have to admit to him that you hid his razor last week.

You huff out a breath, "I'm not telling you"

He lets out a surprised laugh, "is that so?"

"I'm not ready yet" you shake your head, bringing a hand up to run through his beard to emphasize your statement.

"Well, I am" he gives you a soft smile.

You know you can't stop him from doing it, you know he needs to - for more than one reason. One of them being Lou's stupid rule, another being that he needed to let go of the playoffs.

"I know" you sigh, looking fingers still scratching at his beard, starting to miss it already.

His smile grows a little before he leans in to kiss you. "Now where did you hide it?" He says. "In my sock drawer," you admit, kissing him in an attempt to stall him. When he tries to break the kiss you chase his lips, grabbing onto his t-shirt to keep him close.

He breaks the kiss again, but as you let out a moan in protest his lips find your neck - his beard tickling your skin giving you goosebumps.

"How about I give you a little something to remember it by, hmm? make it last a couple days?" he murmurs into your ear.

You lean back to look into his eyes, checking if he's being serious.

"How does that sound?" he smirks, knowing exactly what you think about it.

You're nodding before you can gather yourself to speak - "yes, please". You've barely finished talking when he lifts you up by your waist, making you squeal as you wrap yourself around him. He carries you over to your shared bed. He gets on his knees on the bed with you in his arms still, attaching his lips to yours as he lowers you down on your back gently.

He sits up, grabbing the back of his t-shirt, taking it off smoothly. You set your weight on one of your elbows, reaching out to admire his toned chest with your other arm.

He grabs your hand, kissing your palm before placing it on his cheek making you feel his facial hair as he leans down - "focus, baby" he winks. His lips are on yours again as he works on undressing you, only breaking the kiss when he has to. He nuzzles into your neck once you're naked underneath him. And as you lay your back down on the bed you move your neck to feel more of him, feeling him smirk against your skin.

He's leaving kisses as he makes his way down your body, making himself comfortable between your legs. He gives you teasing kisses on your bare thighs, making sure to rub his cheeks against them, scratching your skin, which has you moving your hips in desperation - getting wetter by the second.

"Mat, please"

He smiles into the skin on your inner thigh, kissing his way closer to your center, "this what you want?" he ghosts his lips over your pussy, so close you can feel his breath.

"Yes"

You moan out as he licks through your folds, he wraps his arms around your thighs, making sure they're close enough so you can feel his beard on your skin as he sucks your clit into his mouth with a groan. You grab ahold of his hair, biting your lip into your mouth as his tongue works against you.

He makes sure to move his head, making the skin on your thigh feel rough from the scratching, your senses overloaded between the slight pain and immense pleasure.

You start to feel it in your stomach, tightening your hold on his hair as your mouth opens in a silent moan. You know that he knows when he starts sticking to one motion with his tongue with determination. Your eyes roll into the back of your head as you cum on his tongue, pressing your thighs even closer around his head. He doesn't let up when you start to feel too sensitive, making you moan his name in protest.

He breaks away only to say "you can take it, I've got you" before he's moving one of his hands to your entrance, the other stays locked around your thigh as he pushes two fingers in. He knows you'd let him know if it was too much to handle. His tongue is relentless against your clit as he hooks his finger into your sweet spot making you come undone again shortly after.

He stills his fingers, keeping them in you as he finally looks up at you. You moan at the sight of him, his lips are red and swollen and his beard- you clench down on his fingers when you see it. Your arousal is spread around his lips, making his facial hair glisten.

"That feel good, baby?" he smiles, you bite your lip and nod. He rests his cheek against your inner thigh starting to move his fingers again once your breathing's evened out. Your skin is already burning from the friction, but it's drowned out as his fingers move in and out of you. You sit up a little and reach a hand out to cup his cheek, feeling your wetness on him, he doesn't take his eyes off of yours as his thumb finds your clit.

"Mat-" you sigh out,

"Yeah, that's it" he encourages, his eyes growing impossibly darker as he takes in the glow your sweat has left on your skin. He can feel your pussy get wetter and wetter as he fucks his fingers into you. As your back falls back onto the bed you grab your chest, your skin tingling when he wipes off the wetness around his mouth on your thigh before nipping at your skin.

Your breath quickens again, and he feels you pulse around his fingers - he looks down to see them disappear into you. His eyes move between your pussy and your face, a smug expression growing on his face as he makes an observation.

"You're gonna squirt, aren't you?" he coos.

You furrow your brows in pleasure, unable to reply as you moan out. Your vision blurs as his fingers move just the way you need them to, back arching as you feel your orgasm approach.

"there you go, pretty"

You feel your pussy gush around him, hearing him groan as you can't keep your eyes open, pleasure taking over your whole body. You can hear how wet it is as he removes his fingers to rub your clit, making you gush again. As you try to close your legs he removes his fingers from your center, kissing your thighs, stomach, hips, anywhere his lips can reach as you start to come down. He moves up your body, taking you into his arms to have you cuddled up against his side. he leaves soft kisses on your face, smiling as he sees your blissful expression despite how tired you might feel now.

When you finally open your eyes he's looking at you with a soft smirk - "might have to consider growing it out again before the season starts if that's what I get".

"Yes, please" you let out a small laugh, your voice croaky as you nuzzle further into him.

He kisses your temple "m'gonna draw you a bath, ok? be right back"

You nod, closing your eyes again, hearing him turn the water on. another moment passes before he's back, helping you out of bed and into the bathtub. It's not quite full yet, but he stays by your side until it gets to a level where he can join you without it spilling over the sides. He turns the water off before leaning in to kiss your lips.

"I'm just going to change the sheets quickly - because someone made a mess all over them - and then I'll be back"

Your cheeks flush with warmth, biting your lip. "Sorry" you drag the word out.

"Don't be" he laughs, "I love it when you squirt for me, you know that" he gives you one more kiss before going back to your bedroom. He comes back in no time, already undressed, getting into the bathtub behind you. You lay your head back on his shoulder, and smile as his beard tickles your skin softly when he kisses your neck. His hands wrap around you to rub the sensitive skin between your thighs.

"Gotta get some lotion on that after" he murmurs.

You nod, humming in agreement. "There's some in the cabinet there" you point nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I know where the lotion is" and you know he rolls his eyes playfully even though you can't see it.

"Well, you didn't seem to know where your razor was" you tease.

"Who's fault was that, eh?" he tickles your side making you jolt with a laugh, splashing some water over the edge of the bathtub in the process.

#op:smut #op:blurb #op:w #mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal smut

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fruitcoops · 4 years ago

Note

I think it would be really interesting for leo and sirius to talk ab how they both didn’t go to college and how they both joined the nhl at 18 but had v different upbringings

Ooo, I like this one! I’m always down for some Cap and Knutty bonding. SW credit goes to @lumosinlove!

TW for mentioned bad parenting

“Kinda weird, isn’t it?” Leo said, breaking the nighttime silence after many long minutes of just their breathing. Sirius hummed in question. “Starting all this so young.”

Sirius made a noncommittal noise and Leo shifted, never taking his eyes off the sky. There was too much light pollution to see the stars properly in Gryffindor, but the roof of the rink didn’t have a bad view; the planes flying overhead brought pinpricks of brightness to the indigo blur.

“Was it hard for you?”

He heard Sirius’ coat move. “Was what hard?”

“Starting the NHL at eighteen.”

There was a long beat of silence. “Sometimes.”

“I didn’t know if I would make it,” Leo confessed, still barely above a murmur. Nobody else was around, but it didn’t feel right to talk in normal voices. The whole world was muted, save for the noise of the city below them. “There was just so much to do.”

Sirius laughed softly. “I hate to break it to you, rookie, but that doesn’t change.”

“How do you deal with it?”

“Before, or now?”

Leo thought for a moment. “Both.”

“Before, I would go home and shoot pucks until I was too tired to stand up. Sometimes I would read.” It wasn’t a secret, but it still made Leo’s heart hurt to remember. Nobody as kind and hardworking as Sirius deserved that. “Now, I make myself some food, take a shower, and steal Re’s softest hoodie.”

Leo could hear his smile in the dark—it echoed his own. “Nothing better, huh?”

“Nope.”

“Finn’s fit me best,” he mused. “But Lo’s smell better.”

“Ah, he finally discovered deodorant?”

“Shut up,” Leo teased, elbowing his ribs. Sirius laughed a little louder; in the light of the streetlamps and the absence of his granite-hard focus, it was easy to remember that he was only 26. Leo had worshipped him as a kid, but now he just saw Sirius for what he was. His captain, who guided him through the playoffs even when his personal life was crumbling apart. His older brother, though Sirius certainly wouldn’t think of him that way. His friend.

“Really, though, it’s important to have those connections,” Sirius said when they both calmed down. “Being alone is good, but only if you know you have people to talk to when you need them.”

“Was it easier when you weren’t living with someone?”

“No.” The answer was immediate.

“Sometimes I want the apartment to myself.” Leo lowered his voice unconsciously, then sighed. “It’s not because I don’t want them there. I just need to be alone. Wash the dishes. Clean my room. Call my mom.”

“You should tell them.”

He turned his head slightly; Sirius was still scanning the sky. “Is that what you did?”

“It took a couple hiccups, but yeah. If one of us needs some alone time, the other will go to the grocery store or take a walk, maybe hang out with friends. You just have to make sure your boys know that it’s not personal.”

“You’re freakishly good at sage advice.”

Sirius snorted. “Merci, rookie.”

“I’m not a rookie anymore.”

“Yeah, you are.” He raised his hands, as if outlining a marquee. “The Eternal Rookie, starring Leo Knut.”

Leo stuck his tongue out, feeling rather petulant about the whole thing. “Watch it, Cap, I’m gonna sic Dumo on you.”

“My own father?” Sirius gasped dramatically. “How could you?”

“Did you ever get homesick?”

The question was out of the blue—he didn’t blame Sirius for faltering. Honestly, Leo was kicking himself for asking in the first place, though he had been keeping it in for ages. Unspoken rule of the Lions #1: Don’t ask Cap about his childhood.

“I…” Sirius fell silent once more.

“I’m sorry,” Leo apologized, and he meant it. “That came out of nowhere.”

“I missed Regulus,” Sirius continued carefully without acknowledging him. “But no, I didn’t get homesick. I didn’t have time, or a real reason.”

Alone in a new city, finally out of a horrible living situation, but desperately missing the little brother he left behind… Leo couldn’t even begin to imagine going through it when the NHL by itself was already overwhelming to his teenage brain. He scooted an inch closer until their shoulders touched. “I get homesick every couple of months.”

“You have a kind family.”

“Have you even met them?”

“At the party.” Sirius’ smile was practically audible. “Your mother was very excited to see me.”

“Oh, god,” Leo groaned. “What happened?”

“She—“ He broke off with a laugh. “She was very nice, I promise, but I think I surprised her because she squeaked when I said ‘hello’.”

Leo shook his head. “Did you sneak up on her?”

“I’m six two, I can’t sneak up on anyone!”

“You walk like a fucking ghost, dude! It’s creepy!”

“Okay, rude.”

“I swear, you and Loops need to be belled like cats,” Leo huffed.

They lapsed back into comfortable quiet for a few more minutes as a train rattled past on one side and the metro busses rolled down Main Street on the other. It had taken Leo a long time to figure out Gryff’s layout, and even longer to get used to the sounds of the city.

“What does it feel like?”

Leo blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly. “What?”

“Being homesick.” Sirius shifted again and folded his hands over his stomach. “I didn’t notice much of a difference in practices when I started the NHL, and going back to my parents’ house wasn’t my exactly a highlight of my year.”

Curiosity overrode his tact and reasoning skills. “You never asked Logan?”

“Non. It was different, with him. He had already left to go to college before I knew him, and spent four years away from his family.”

“Right.” Leo forgot about that on occasion. That Finn and Logan might be five years older than him, but they had only been rookies a year or two prior. Not everyone went straight from their city select team to an official draft. “It’s hard to describe.”

Sirius made an understanding noise, but he couldn’t entirely mask his disappointment. Leo licked his lips and tried again.

“It’s like a piece of you isn’t where it’s supposed to be. And it keeps tugging on your chest, but you never know when it’s going to start and stop so you just… deal with it. You ignore it some days and you think about it other days.” He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “The hard days are when you remember you can’t go back to the way things were before. I don’t even call my mom sometimes, ‘cause I know it’ll make me sadder.”

“The way things were before?”

“Yeah, like—like all my classmates are in college, and I’m laying on a roof with one of the most famous hockey players in the history of forever.” That drew a light laugh from them both. “I’m gonna go back to my reunion in a couple years and have literally nothing in common with the people I used to be friends with.”

“Sometimes I wish I went to college,” Sirius said. “But I would have missed so much if I did. I don’t think I would have been happy there.”

“Finn and Logan get weird about college.” Maybe he shouldn’t be talking about it, but Leo had the feeling none of their conversation would leave the rooftop. “It was hard for them, with all their shit.”

“Re does, too.” He recognized the sad edge in Sirius’ voice; it was the same as his own. “For a different reason. It started good, and ended bad.”

“I’m glad I missed out on that,” Leo said, biting down the urge to scream at the universe for putting their significant others through so much hardship at an already-difficult time. None of them deserved the pain they went through. “Besides, it’s not like we need degrees to play hockey, and we’ll have plenty of money afterward.”

“I never thought about my life after hockey until my ankle.”

“My parents always pushed me to make sure I wanted to do the NHL instead of more school.”

“You’re lucky to have them.”

“I wish you did.”

The words hung suspended between them before Leo could swallow them back down, somehow dangerous and calming at the same time. It wasn’t like he had never thought about it before; he just hadn’t said it out loud. The first time he had seen Sirius’ parents across the rink had given him a case of the heebie-jeebies so strong he had to shower twice. All the times after that just made him angry.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Sirius’ voice was quiet, but not upset. “You’re not the first person to say it. I’m glad you feel like you can be honest with me.”

Leo frowned. “Well, yeah. Obviously.”

“I try really hard to not be an asshole captain, so it actually does mean a lot.”

“I don’t think you could be an asshole if you tried.”

The barking laugh that split the night startled Leo so bad he nearly jumped out of his skin; Sirius clapped a hand over his mouth, though he was still snickering. “Sorry, sorry, I just—holy shit, I forgot you didn’t know me before. Mon dieu.”

“You weren’t that bad,” Leo protested. “Pots said you used to be grumpier, but that’s it.”

Sirius shook his head, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “I was such a dick. There’s not a single picture of the whole team where I’m smiling for about two years and I was such a stickler for the rules.”

Leo gaped at him. “You followed rules?”

“To the fucking letter. It was awful.”

“What happened?”

Sirius shrugged. “I got friends. Idiot friends who did things like showing me the easiest way onto the roof. Pots used to drag me up here every Friday.”

“Really?”

“Ouais.” Mischief flitted over his face. “He skipped date night with Lily once on accident, and she tracked us up here like a bloodhound. It was terrifying.”

“What did you do?” Lily was one of the nicest people Leo knew, but he knew better than to get on her bad side.

“Lied to her face while James hid behind that strobe light.”

“Did it work?”

“Are you kidding?” he snorted. “She called me a liar and suggested getting a better best friend. That was after she told James he’s better have something nice planned for their next date if he ever wanted to get in her pants again.”

“And yet you didn’t listen to her.” Leo tsked. “Of all the people on the team, you chose the hot mess.”

“Trust me, rookie, James had his whole life figured out compared to me.”

“Did you…” Leo trailed off and but his lip. He had pushed his luck a lot already; who knew if one more question would be the tipping point? “Did you ever think about coming out? Even just to Pots.”

Sirius didn’t hesitate. “After every single game.”

“For seven years?”

“Up until the day those pictures were leaked. Even more after Re and I were together.”

“How old were you when you knew?”

“13. You?”

Leo exhaled slowly. “I’m not sure. I think I had an idea of it as a kid, but didn’t really get it until I was in high school. My parents were even more worried about the NHL after I told them.”

“They worry a lot about you.”

“Only child, and I was going for a wildly unstable career path with no guarantee that I would ever see the ice.”

“They’re proud of you. More than you know.” Sirius’ watch beeped. “It’s ten o’clock. Are you supposed to be home?”

“I should probably make sure my boys haven’t burned down the apartment.” Neither of them made an attempt to move. “Can we do this again sometime?”

“Of course.”

You’re like a brother to me, he wanted to say. I don’t know who else I can talk to like this. “Thank you.”

“Any time. We don’t have to do extra practice beforehand, either.”

Leo nudged him gently. “You’re the best captain ever.”

“You’re the best rookie, rookie.”

“I’m not a rookie.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Yeah, I am, he thought as they laid side-by-side in silence once more with the past behind them and the future ahead. And if I end up like you, it means I did something right.

#leo knut #sirius black #coops #oknutzy #finn ohara #logan tremblay #sweater weather #lumosinlove #my fic #fanfic #friendship #cap and rookie

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