#pre-draft night you will always be famous in every sport

[allpromarlo]

this trade season has been bizarre as a mf what do you mean jordan poole is a wizard

[tonyhightowerv1]

The NHL, Boxing, & Ignoring The Right Thing To Do

Some days I wake up & pay attention to the news a bit, just to see what's happening.

The NHL Draft was last night, and I shouldn't have bothered with it, because I'm still angry at my Leafs for shitting the bed, again, in the playoffs (it's been 17 years since we last won a playoff round, and they've not won the Cup in my lifetime), but apparently the Montreal Canadiens, the most storied team in the sport, a team currently managed by Marc Bergevin, a guy who 10 years ago, when he ran player personnel for the Chicago Blackhawks, was somehow (it isn't clear) involved in hiring and/or protecting a video coach who sexually assaulted a bunch of teenaged players, the facts about which are only coming out now, and which look pretty damning for everyone involved, Marc Bergevin is now the General Manager of the Canadiens, and in the first round, they picked a guy who's been found guilty of sexual assault.

He apparently circulated pictures of a girl without her consent or knowledge while playing minor hockey in Sweden, and was found guilty under Sweden's assault laws. Now, he's expressed remorse, sure; he specifically asked the NHL to not draft him this year, so he could spend time and focus on improving himself and atoning for this in some way. And he's not some ultra hotshot phenom kid that people couldn't keep their hands off.

He's a guy, and even if you just think he made some kind of youthful mistake -- that would be a very bad take, which says a lot about you, not much of it good -- there's no need to reward him with getting picked, especially when he specifically asked not to.

But Bergevin, with the Blackhawks scandal hanging over him, chose this guy anyway. In the first round.

Not only that, the Canadiens had a statement about him pre-loaded & ready to go. Shareable graphic and everything.

https://twitter.com/CanadiensMTL/status/1418780212469411841

But no, instead, it's about this guy. Not even the girl he victimized. Him.

He tried to warn everyone off drafting him, which is to his credit, I guess. But Bergevin saw this kid, and decided, we need him in our organization. As is.

How good is he? Not that it matters in the slightest, but... he's a late 1st round defenseman. If he continues to develop, he'd basically make the show in 5 years or so. No one's projecting him to be an all-star or anything. There was no urgency; he was never going to make the cover of a Wheaties box or carry the flag at the Olympics. Even without the sexual assault conviction.

Marc Bergevin is a Hockey Guy, to the bitter end. But he's got a history -- and, apparently, a present -- of ignoring sexual abuse. There's no place in the sport, or in polite society, for that mindset. Certainly not now.

* * *

So, all this made me think about boxing.

For most of the 20th century, boxing was the biggest sport in the world. Fights filled arenas and stadiums around the world. The Heavyweight Champion was treated like a Head Of State; they'd dine with royalty, speak at major world events, their fights would be recorded and shown in theaters (and run for months), and then when television appeared, fights would be shown in prime time, and draw ratings better than any other sport.

In the early 1970s, Muhammad Ali was known, famously, as the most famous human being alive. (And Neil Armstrong and Chairman Mao were, like, right there.)

But boxing was deeply corrupt, and many of its stars were more than merely flawed, and every once in a while, someone would die in the ring, and so they stopped showing the fights in prime time, and the champions didn't really add much to the global conversation, and the promoters were ignoring a lot of bad things their star fighters were doing, because they were more focused on getting their cut of the gate receipts than they were in maintaining a product that kept new fans coming through the turnstiles.

And sometime in the mid-1980s, boxing's popularity started to wane. After Ali & George Foreman retired, there was a bit of a charisma vacuum at the top of the sport (I mean, Holmes & Holyfield seem like relatively decent guys, but the Crown Prince of Monaco isn't inviting them to a state dinner anytime soon); the welterweights & middleweights (Hagler, Hearns, Leonard, Duran) were compelling in the ring, but aside from Sugar Ray Leonard, none of them were particularly interested in being terribly showy.

And then Mike Tyson showed up at the end of the decade, and everyone was excited again, until he raped someone & went to prison for it, and got a face tattoo, and the slow decline of the sport became clear to everyone, and that was pretty much it for boxing as a major global sporting concern.

Sure, it still exists, but it's nowhere near what it was. If you want to watch boxing somewhere, you need to find a stream from somewhere on the other side of the world. Fans of hand-to-hand combat sports have gravitated to UFC & MMA, sports that 40 years ago literally no one outside of Brazil or Thailand had ever heard of; fans of the spectacle of fighting, the weigh-ins & pre-fight braggadocio, the As The Buckle Turns, well, they'll always have WWE & the other Steroid Soaps.

Boxing is irrelevant now. They took the biggest sport in the world, and through neglect and ignoring the serious problems at its core, they just... pissed it away.

I'm not usually the kind of person to bemoan moral depravity. (I actually like GG Allin's music. I think it's kinda funny.) But sports are entertainment that uses actual people instead of actors. Like entertainment, you want a compelling story, or at least some kind of ethos, or a thought-shape, that keeps people interested and wanting to come back. You can be heroic, or villainous, but you don't want people to see your product and think, eww, yeah, no.

With actors or songwriters (or pro wrestlers), you can build a storyline out, write a script, point the lights in a certain direction. Each game lasts this long, it builds to a crescendo in this way, when our team scores, we shoot off this cannon, when Mariano Rivera enters from the bullpen we play Metallica; the crowd expects those beats, and they're all part of the drama build. But the players are actual people, and there is no script, so you want to start with a cast that people will want to cheer for (or against) without feeling awful.

If you deny people that basic pleasure for long enough, they'll start looking elsewhere.

I've been a serious hockey fan my whole life. It's been my favorite sport since I was old enough to have an opinion. I've gone in & out on baseball, and over the years, the NFL has lost me to their CTE issues & their tone-deaf billionaire owners treating their players like chattel. But hockey, despite having some of those issues, and my Toronto Maple Leafs, as historically disappointing as they have been, have stuck with me. And I with them.

But the way the Blackhawks have dealt with these abuse allegations, and Montreal choosing this convicted assaulter with their first choice (and there've been a couple of other events; last year, Arizona chose a guy who repeatedly & publicly harassed a disabled person of color, and who has never apologized; they later rescinded their pick), I'm starting to wonder if hockey, a sport that doesn't have the mass momentum of boxing or football in their heydays, has already seen its zenith.

And that thought just makes me so very sad.

[watusichris]

My Brilliant Career in Chicago Pro Wrestling: A True Story

Damn, I could have sworn I’d posted this 2015 Night Flight story, which remains the funniest thing I’ve ever written. Every word is true. ********** In the early 1970s, before Vince McMahon’s World Wrestling Federation (today World Wrestling Entertainment) turned professional wrestling into a pay-per-view cash cow, pro grappling was a wide-open game run by maverick regional promoters and catering to lunatic fans. I got to experience this incredible world intimately: For two years, I served as “publicist” for the promoter in one of the biggest wrasslin’ towns in the country, Chicago.

I was fresh out of college back in 1972, and returned to my old room in my mother’s apartment in Evanston bearing a seemingly worthless bachelor’s degree in English and no immediate prospects for gainful employment. Fortunately, my father believed in nepotism.

After a long career as a TV executive that had garnered him two Peabody Awards, my dad was then the general manager of WSNS, a Chicago UHF station that broadcast on Channel 44. It was a low-rent operation that my old man helped legitimize by securing telecasts of White Sox games. (He loathed Sox announcer Harry Caray, who would get hammered out of his skull while working in the booth, and rightly thought major league screwball-turned-color man Jimmy Piersall was out of his mind.)

Though such questionable WSNS programming as a daily late-night weathercast delivered by a buxom negligee-clad blonde stretched out on a heart-shaped bed was a thing of the past, colorful holdovers from the old schedule remained. And thus my dad called me one day to say he could get me some part-time work doing PR for Bob Luce, the local pro wrestling promoter, who mounted the weekly show All Star Championship Wrestling on the station.

Naturally, I was hired on the spot at my first meeting with Luce, who was something of a legend in Chicago sports circles at the time. Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bob Greene captured had him perfectly in a famous column in which every sentence ended with an exclamation point.

Stocky, florid of complexion, and as loud as his off-the-rack sport coats, the outsized Luce was the dictionary definition of the word “character.” You’d sit down with him in a restaurant, and the other diners would duck and cover. Constantly agitated and gesticulating wildly, his stentorian conversation was a manic torrent of hype and madness, punctuated by explosive laughter than sounded like a machine gun going off next to your ear.

Fittingly, before joining the wrestling biz, Luce had edited a tabloid, the National Tattler. Like the National Enquirer of that frontier era, the rag made its bones with totally fictitious “news” stories featuring lots of cleavage and outré bloodletting.��At one lunch, to the very evident embarrassment of the neighboring clientele, Luce regaled me with the tale of one inspired Tattler cover story, which I will recount Greene-style. Imagine it at full volume: “I got this idea, see, for a story about a sex orgy! [He pronounced “orgy” with a hard “g,” as in “Porgy” of Porgy and Bess.] But it had to be a different kind of orgy! So I got my wife Sharon to take her clothes off and covered her with peanut butter! And we took some pictures, and the lights were HOT, and the peanut butter melted all over her! They were great pictures! We called it – ha ha HA! – ‘PEANUT BUTTER ORGY!’”

Luce had graduated to promoting pro wrestling events in Chicago and other Midwestern markets, in partnership with the American Wrestling Association’s star attractions, Verne Gagne and Dick the Bruiser, of whom more in a moment. (His sweet, funny, but definitely tough wife knew the business: She had wrestled under the name Sharon Lass.)

As the noisy host of All Star Championship Wrestling, Luce would interview the stars of his upcoming promotions, show footage of recent contests, and pump the next matches. Thrusting a finger at the camera in one of his windups, he would shriek, “BE THERE!!!” Ever the sales impresario, he also served as the show’s principal pitchman, appearing in tandem with some of his hulking charges -- and occasionally with special guest hucksters like former heavyweight champ Leon Spinks -- to spiel for a long line of sketchy local advertisers. They are among the greatest and most hilarious commercials ever made.

As Luce’s publicity rep, commanding a monthly paycheck of $200, I was charged with lightweight duty: writing and mailing press releases promoting the bi-weekly Friday night matches at the Chicago International Amphitheatre, assisting the WSNS camera crew at the gigs (sometimes by protecting their extra film magazines from flying bodies at ringside), and calling in the results of the matches to the local papers. (The last task proved to be the most onerous. I’d ring up the local sports desks late on the nights of the matches and harangue some half-drunk, bored assistant editor whose interest in the “sport” could not have been more infinitesimal. When I finally managed to get the Sun-Times to print the results of one match, I felt as if I’d qualified for a Publicists Guild award.) I also performed certain functions for Luce when he was out of town or too busy to handle them. One weekday afternoon I accompanied Superstar Billy Graham, later a big WWF name and a sort of proto-Hulk Hogan, to Wrigley Field, where he was interviewed by nonplussed announcer Jack Brickhouse between innings of a Chicago Cubs radio broadcast.

Every other week for nearly two years, I’d take the El down to the Amphitheatre, located on Halsted Street on the far South Side, adjacent to the old Chicago Stock Yards. (I held onto the job even after I secured a similarly nepotistic but full-time position – writing about cheap component stereo systems for Zenith Radio Corporation.) The antique, immense Amphitheatre had hosted big political conventions, auto shows, circuses, rodeos, and concerts by Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin, but Luce’s dates at the venue, as you will see, attracted a distinctly different class of customer.

The pre-match staging area, where I’d meet Luce and the crew, was the Sirloin Room of the adjacent Stock Yard Inn, not far from the site of the old South Side cattle slaughterhouses. This is where Luce’s employees and pals would also convene before the night’s entertainment began to swill a couple of cocktails and shoot the breeze. It was a cast worthy of a Damon Runyon story.

Luce employed a bodyguard, a towering ex-Chicago cop named Duke, who had reputedly shot six men before being relieved of duty by the PD. He stood about six-four and dressed exactly like John Shaft. He emanated an aura of extreme menace. Once, when I asked him what he would do if someone actually started any serious trouble, Duke wordlessly pulled back the lapel of his full-length leather coat to reveal a shoulder holster bulging with a .44 Magnum.

The promotion’s bagman, charged with collecting the night’s cash receipts, was a diminutive cat everyone called Bill the Barber. I never knew his last name, but he did in fact run a South Side barbershop. He’d invariably show up dressed in a sport coat that looked like a TV test pattern and a skinny-brim fedora, with watery eyes that sometimes flicked nervously above his pencil-thin mustache. He kept a .38 strapped to his belt.

Many nights, a mysterious character referred to only as “Carmie La Papa” would put in an appearance. This elderly Italian gentleman was always treated with great deference and ate on Luce’s tab. I never found out exactly what he did. But he looked a lot like the mobster played by Pasquale Cajano in Martin Scorsese’s Casino, and I thought it wise not to inquire about his line of work.

There were also bona fide wrestling groupies, well-stacked, slightly haggard old-school broads who draped themselves on the bar, sipping pink ladies. One night, Luce leaned over to me in the Sirloin Room and said, in a whisper that could be heard 20 feet away, “After the matches, these girls and the guys go to a motel up in Prospect Heights, and they have orgies.” (Again, pronounced with a hard “g.”) The most popular of these was reportedly Gloria, a tall, pneumatic redhead of uncertain but rapidly advancing age; Luce confided, “She will do anything.”

The matches themselves were something to behold. I’d usually watch them in the company of WSNS’s young, jaded camera crew, from the dilapidated press box high above the ring in the center of the Amphitheatre. The crowd – thousands of poorly dressed, myopic, malodorous, and steeply inebriated men – was a product of what may be called the pre-ironic era of pro wrestling. There was no such thing as a suspension of disbelief among these spectators. Disbelief did not exist. Though the matches were as closely stage-managed as a production of Richard III, these rubes accepted every feigned punch and bogus drop kick as the McCoy.

Pro wrestling is the eternal contest between virtue and evil, and the wrestlers were identified in equal number as good guys and heels. Most of the good guys on the undercard – there were usually half a dozen matches, with one main event – were young “scientific” wrestlers whose Greco-Roman moves were no match for the brazenly illegal play of the dirty heels, who almost invariably won their bouts with tactics that would not pass muster with an elementary school playground monitor, let alone a legitimate referee. About the only one of these “babyfaces” (or, alternatively, “chumps”) who was vouchsafed an occasional victory was Greg Gagne, son of the promotion’s star attraction and part owner.

By the early ‘70s, Verne Gagne had been wrestling professionally for more than two decades; drafted by the Chicago Bears and then rebelling against team owner George Halas’ prohibition of a sideline on the mat, he had chosen the ring over the gridiron. He was 46 years old when I started working for Luce; he was still in decent shape, and, unlike almost all of his opponents, he still had all of his teeth.

I only managed to spend time with him once. For some reason now lost in the dense fog of time, Luce dispatched me to meet Gagne at the elegant Pump Room of the Drake Hotel near Lake Michigan. There, as cabaret star Dorothy Donegan serenaded us on the piano, the 16-time world heavyweight wrestling champion of the world got me brain-dead drunk, and then poured me into a cab home. He was an excellent guy.

Many of the other good guys on Luce’s undercards were reliable patsies for the baddies. Pepper Gomez, one of the domestic game’s few Mexican stars, was a venerable attraction who was allowed the rare triumph; billed as “the Man with the Cast-Iron Stomach,” he once allowed a Volkswagen Bug to be driven over his gut on Luce’s TV show, where he was a frequent guest.

One of my favorites was Yukon Moose Cholak. Then a veteran of 20 years on the mat, Moose owned a bar not far from the Amphitheatre, but he still worked regularly for his close pal Luce in the AWA. Huge, pot-bellied, and benign, he boasted a ripe Sout’ Side accent rivaled only by Dennis Farina’s. He was hardly an exceptional combatant: He moved around the ring with the fleetness of a dazed sloth. He was a regular on Luce’s show, and often appeared with the host in his TV spots.

The only time I appeared as a guest on All Star Championship Wrestling, Moose was the victim of the on-camera carnage that was a requisite feature of the show. At the time, conflict of interest be damned, I was writing a column about wrestling for a short-lived local sports paper called Fans, and was brought in to lend something like legitimacy to the proceedings. Luce offered me a chair on his threadbare set to push a forthcoming match between Cholak, who appeared on camera next to me, and Handsome Jimmy Valiant, a new heel on the rise in the market.

I figured something ugly was going to happen, but I went about extolling the virtues of Moose’s nearly non-existent mat skills in the front of the camera. Suddenly, Valiant crept up from behind the black scrim behind us and whacked Cholak over the head with a metal folding chair. To this day, I believe my expression of outraged surprise was worthy of a local Emmy, but a nomination eluded me.

I was actually very fond of Valiant, whom I interviewed with his “brother” and tag team partner Luscious John Valiant for Fans. Jimmy was a peroxided, strutting egomaniac in the grand Gorgeous George manner, and he had some classic patter: “I’m da wimmen’s pet and da men’s regret! I got da body wimmen love and men fear! And you, you’re as useful as a screen door in a submarine, daddy!” A rock ‘n’ roll fan, he went on to a very successful solo career, appropriately enough in Memphis, the capital of all things Elvis.

After Gagne the elder, the AWA’s biggest attraction was the tag team of Dick the Bruiser and the Crusher. Bruiser had gotten his competitive start as a linebacker for the Green Bay Packers, but had been a top wrestling draw since 1955. Somewhere along the way, he had been converted from heel to hero, and the Chicago fans adored him. Among the merch sold at the Amphitheatre were Dick the Bruiser Fan Club buttons; measuring six inches in diameter, they could either be pinned on one’s chest or, with the aid of a built-in cardboard stand, be displayed as a plaque. I kept mine on my desk at my straight job to freak out my co-workers.

Early in my gig with Luce, I was taken to meet Bruiser in the locker room. He sat on a table smoking a huge cigar. When I was introduced to him, he exclaimed, “Hey, you’re Ed Morris’ kid? You got more hair than your old man!” My father, who was in fact almost completely bald, had been known to associate with winners of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes. I was a little surprised that he ran in Bruiser’s circle.

The Crusher’s career in the squared circle dated back to the late ‘40s. I was even more impressed by him than I was by the Bruiser, for he had been the inspiration of the Novas’ wrasslin’-themed single “The Crusher,” a huge 1965 radio hit in Chicago for the Minnesota garage band the Novas (and later eloquently covered by the Cramps). Bruiser and Crusher were a unique combo: They were “good guys,” but they earned their keep by being badder than the “bad guys” they gutter-stomped.

The villains in that era of pro wrestling were often the object of atavistic xenophobia and hatred. Long before the U.S.’s conflicts in the Middle East, the Sheik (né Ed Farhat in Lansing, Michigan), who took the ring wearing a burnoose, was among the most reviled of heels. Some of the older fans were World War II vets, and they lustily booed Baron von Raschke, who climbed through the ropes with a monocle in one eye, draped in a Nazi flag. He was actually a U.S. Army vet born Jim Raschke in Omaha, Nebraska. His fake German accent was utterly feeble.

The AWA’s all-purpose villain, who would go on to bigger things as one of McMahon’s first WWF stars, was “Pretty Boy” Bobby Heenan, dubbed “the Weasel” by the Bruiser. Heenan was featured in his own matches, but he was most reliably entertaining as a manager, of the most duplicitous and cowardly variety, in another villain’s corner. You didn’t need a script to know what was going to happen: Just as it looked like the good guy was going to triumph, Heenan would leap into the ring and smash the apparent victor’s head into a turnbuckle or hit him over the skull with a water bucket.

Heenan featured in the most outrageous story I heard during my brilliant career in wrestling. One night I was sitting with the film crew when Al Lerner, the mustachioed, shaggy-haired, bespectacled WSNS sports reporter, entered the press box with a portable tape machine on his shoulder and a stunned look on his face. “I’ve interviewed people in front of burning buildings,” Al said. “I’ve interviewed people as they were jumping out of airplanes. But I’ve never interviewed anyone while they were getting a blowjob.”

It seems that while Al was in the locker room recording some audio bites from Heenan, a voluptuous girl standing nearby walked over to the wrestler, kneeled down in front of him, pulled down his trunks, and began giving him the kind of pre-match service Mickey Rourke probably dreamed of but never received. As she went about her business, Heenan continued to spout invective to Al as if nothing extraordinary was transpiring. With that moment alone, Bobby Heenan earned his place in the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.

I visited Heenan in the locker room on a somewhat less eventful evening, but that night I learned the secret of many pros’ mat success. As I was talking to him, I noticed that his forehead was crosshatched with tiny scars, some of them new and still livid. I later mentioned this to one of the crew, and was told that these wounds – referred to as “juicing”  -- were actually self-inflicted, so that the wrestlers could easily draw blood during critical moments of violence in their matches.

As Heenan said in a later interview, “If you want the green, you gotta bring the red.” Gore was a staple of pro wrestling, and there was nothing like sitting in an arena filled with 10,000 or 15,000 crazed spectators and hearing a drunken chant go up as a good guy pummeled a heel to the mat: “WE WANT BLOOD! WE WANT BLOOD! WE WANT BLOOD!”

My last hurrah in pro wrestling was one of Luce’s rare alfresco promotions, a multi-bout 1974 card at old Comiskey Park, the White Sox’s stadium, which climaxed with a 16-man battle royal. I don’t remember who triumphed in the main event, but I do remember that someone on the crew brought a bat and some softballs along, and we ended the evening shagging fly balls under the lights where Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio once played.

The outlaw era of regional pro wrestling is a dim memory for most. The racket would get wilder after I left it: In an interview with Nashville wrestling figure Jimmy Cornette, Heenan said that a fan at a 1975 Amphitheatre match pulled out a pistol and began firing at him, but the shooter only managed to wound four people in the rows in front of him.

McMahon’s WWF brought the regional promoters’ day to a close, pillaging most of the big names in the game in the process. Today, the WWE has been displaced in popularity by the even gaudier UFC contests. Most of the stars I met – including Bruiser, Crusher, and Cholak – are dead now. Heenan, a throat cancer survivor, has been in poor health for more than a decade. Verne Gagne died this April; in 2009, suffering from dementia, he accidentally killed a 97-year-old fellow resident in a Minnesota assisted living facility. Even the old stomping grounds are gone: The Chicago Amphitheatre was razed in 1999.

Bob Luce passed away in 2007, but his wild-ass legacy may live on via an unlikely champion. There are many analogs between pro wrestling and rock ‘n’ roll, and this April, mat mega-fan Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins announced on Twitter that he had bought Luce’s memorabilia and an archive of 9,000 vintage wrestling photos. Maybe he and former Hüsker Dü front man Bob Mould, a fellow wrasslin’ aficionado who once worked for McMahon as a writer, can make something of it. That would rock. 

[coppicefics]

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ‘MASKED OMENS’, PLEASE DON’T REBLOG!

[Image Description: Image 1 - A simple rendition of the Masked Singer UK logo, a golden mask with colourful fragments flying off of it. The mask has a golden halo and a golden devil tail protruding from either side. Below, gold text reads ‘Masked Omens’. Overlaid on top of all this are the words ‘MAJOR SPOILERS’ in large white capitals.

Image 2 & 3 - A double-page spread from the ‘Feature’ section of the Capital Herald, dated Saturday, 15th May 2021. The information is arranged in boxes with pale peach coloured backgrounds. Each box also contains a picture of the character or characters described therein - two of these characters are symbolised by random background characters from Good Omens. Full transcript below the cut. End ID.]

The Capital Herald, Saturday 15th May, 2021 Feature, page 8-9

Where are they now? The Celebrities behind the masks of The Masked Singer UK’s first live series, three months later They sang, danced, and were unmasked live in front of the nation. But what do their lives look like beyond the mask? We caught up with 2021′s Masked Singers to find out what’s changed MARY HODGES with additional contributions by EDWARD BIGGS & SCUZZ FISHER

Page 8

Top left: Dr. Raven Sable - APPLE Dr. Sable is awaiting the dates of an inquiry into the hospitalisations of Adam Mann and Lilith Root, former ambassadors for his CHOW brand, who allege that their conditions were the direct result of their employment with him. If the allegations are upheld, it's likely that Sable will be struck off and will no longer be permitted to practice medicine. Already, sales of his CHOW lifestyle products and books are down and stocks in his company are plummeting. Sable maintains his innocence on all counts.

Top right: Newton Pulsifer - AXOLOTL Anathema Device - BLACK CAT The unexpected it-couple of the year were spotted having a cosy picnic just last week. It seems love's young dream still has its hold on this adorable pair, who obliged passing reporters with a few posed photographs before asking for privacy for the rest of their date.The two made their relationship public at the beginning of April, and so far they show no signs of tiring of one another. Pulsifer is preparing to provide commentary on the Premier League starting in August, and Device is scheduled to set off on a UK tour in October.

Centre left: Carmine Zugiber - WAR Zugiber recently returned to Celestan, just in time to report on its division into Lestern and Fernor. While the fighting has now largely died down, Carmine intends to stay on in the country to report on the political situation as it develops. While some of her reports will be published through News World Weekly, she's also established a new website of her own where she can, as she says in the introductory post, “dig deeper into the underlying factors beneath the headlines”.

Centre right: Esther James - NINJA After leading the Red Roses to Six Nations victory in March, James began work – alongside her girlfriend, Jane Adams – on setting up a charitable foundation to encourage LGBT+ youngsters to pursue their sporting dreams. Officially set to launch in June this year, Off The Pridelines will offer scholarships, help connect youngsters with teams, and run various support services, as well as a training and accreditation scheme for teams and venues to become more supportive. “A lot of gay and trans kids have a lot of fear tied up with school PE lessons, changing rooms, and sports. Many don't know where they can safely train or play,” James states in the foundation's pre-launch press pack. “Off The Pridelines aims to fix that and help them become more confident and active without having to hide who they are.”

Bottom left: Sergeant Shadwell - BELL As well as forming an unlikely duo with Marjorie Potts – the two have been spotted together in tea shops, at antiques fairs, and even admiring the properties in the window of an estate agent's – Shadwell has been making frequent trips to the town of Little Dyvyn, where work on the restoration of Godleigh Manor has recently been allowed to begin. “Lucy [Godleigh, the owner] is really keen to keep the Wytchfynder Army informed and involved in the process, and I think it's really interesting to get to see inside the walls of the place,” Shadwell told viewers in a recent YouTube video, “so I reckon I'll pop in every so often, have a look around and report anything interesting I find out. For example, that rattling noise from the first video? Turns out there are wooden window shutters inside a hollow wall, and a draft was blowing through them. Something to keep in mind in future 'haunting' cases.”

Bottom Right:

Agnes Nutter - BONFIRE “Some stories wait for no-one,” as Nutter tweeted a couple of weeks ago, and that certainly seems to have been true of her latest book. Just a month after she first mentioned that she'd begun writing a new novel, Nutter has already reported that the first draft is almost finished, and she appears to be planning for a September release date. “I'm going to dedicate this one to my new friend Marjorie,” she told Twitter, “she's been a font of fascinating anecdotes and very generous in allowing me to draw inspiration from them.”

Page 9

Top left: Pat Maputi - SQUID P-White's Chalkdust tour is in full swing, with packed crowds selling out arenas across the UK and Europe. Tickets are currently on sale for the American stretch of the tour, which should keep Pat busy until next spring. After that, Maputi plans to “sleep for about a month and then start writing a new album”, they told the Capital Herald – although they will be making time to attend the Blue Peter garden party. For now, though, it's life on the road for Maputi as they wrap up this leg of the tour.

Top centre: Aziraphale Fell - GOOSE Anthony Crowley - SNAKE The Amazing Mr. Fell's magic show has been sold out for three solid months, ever since his appearance on The Masked Singer, and even adding extra shows on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons doesn't seem to have entirely sated the public's demand. Fell himself seems to be spending most of his time off in the company of Anthony Crowley, predominantly in various London restaurant establishments. Most recently, the two were spotted enjoying a late lunch at the Ritz to celebrate the announcement that Crowley has been cast as Rafferty in the new TV adaptation of Sir Thomas Parsett's The Grasswater Affair. “Yeah, thrilled to get another go at Grasswater,” Crowley told the Capital Herald, “and with the support of Noel [Garmin, showrunner] and all the people who've helped me reach the point where this is possible.” Asked about the nature of his friendship with Fell, Crowley seemed lost for words, but Fell stepped in with a brief statement. “I'm afraid it's quite ineffable. And, if you don't mind, I believe those are our desserts.” So it seems The Masked Singer's contestants still have some mysteries for us!

Bottom left: Marjorie Potts - TEAPOT Madame Tracy has been a very busy woman – as well as returning to TV with her show Drawing Back the Veil on Saturday nights, she's also still writing for the New Aquarian and overseeing her increasingly popular Psychic Hotline. But despite all this, she's also found time to be seen at the forefront of a couple of protests, notably against proposed changes to the Freedom Pass system, alongside fellow Masked Singer contestants Agnes Nutter and Sergeant Shadwell. The latter has also been seen making frequent calls to Potts' Camden address – but she's tight-lipped on the subject. “I don't kiss and tell, dear,” she told our reporter – and perhaps you can draw your own conclusions from that.

Bottom centre: Lawrence Richmond - PONY Last week's General Election - the third in four years - saw Richmond lose the Toffley South seat he'd occupied since 2005. In a speech to his supporters immediately after the result was declared, he announced his intention to take a brief break from politics in order to spend more time with his family, and is currently holidaying with wife Victoria and son Horace in the South of France.

Right-hand column: AND THE REST... Jeremy Wensleydale While Wensleydale is currently in rehearsals for a production of Turandot at Glyndebourne this summer, he has also found time to announce that he will be spending the autumn recording an album of some of his favourite operatic and choral numbers, along with a number of famous voices. This will be Wensleydale's first full album since 2018, and is already eagerly anticipated by his many fans. Brian Thames Thames is now coming to the end of his latest tour, The British Inquisition, and has recently found time to appear on several comedy panel shows and chat shows. He's then scheduled to run an online comedy masterclass, which he'll be recording immediately after his tour ends. “I had a teacher at school who told me I had a real talent for helping people remember things. I think usually it was just because they remembered the jokes. So I could hardly pass up this opportunity - this one's for you, Miss Tyler.” Pepper Moonchild Moonchild is currently filling in as a presenter on The One Show, and recently announced that she hopes to publish a detective novel next year. “I've been getting loads of advice from my literary hero, Agnes Nutter – it's something I've always wanted to do, but my agent at the time advised against diversifying too much. My new agent has been nothing but supportive - they even put me in touch with a good literary agent, so now all I have to do is write the best book I can and see how it goes!” Adam Young and Warlock Dowling After years of rumours and speculation about their relationship, presenters Adam Young and Warlock Dowling eloped to tie the knot in New York last weekend.“We didn't tell anyone we were getting married,” Dowling said, after breaking the news on Pam and Sam AM earlier this week. “Our families were a bit surprised! But we just wanted it to be really low key, a day just for us.” “Yeah, some glares were exchanged when people realised they'd missed out on a wedding,” Young confirmed. “But we're going to plan a big party soon! Besides, we didn't do anything in the Big Apple that wasn't worth the trouble we got in for doing it.”

[End Transcript]

[cleardeerdreamland]

Guide to American Bars and Nightclubs

Whether studying or working in the United States, I always want to make my life more colorful every weekend. During the day, I can go hiking, picnic, and outdoor health sports. In the evening, I can of course meet my friends for a drink at a bar or go to a nightclub. , Relieve the pressure of life.

When it comes to going to bars and nightclubs, some friends who are new to the US may feel a little timid in their hearts. What's worth noting about attending these entertainment venues? Let me share with you today, Meidi Bar and Nightclub Survival Guide! Let you be a handsome, happy and sophisticated cub!

What are the American nightlife

Bar, Pub, Lounge

The picture comes from @upstairsnyc, the copyright belongs to the original author More casual and relaxed bar venues, Bar and Pub do not have band DJ performances, and mostly use light music and jazz as the background. Different types of bars have different main alcohols and different ways of playing, such as red wine suitable for dates, beer suitable for friends to chat, cocktails and whiskey suitable for business negotiations. Many dining bars and coffee bars also provide drinking services at night.

Consumption: Depending on the bar environment, service, wine, etc., it ranges from a dozen to a few hundred dollars.

Nightclub

It can also be called Club directly, which is a very hilarious nightclub. In fact, the show is mainly based on the smoky dances of demons. Alcohol is just a tool for fun. Most clubs need to pay an entrance fee ranging from $40-$60. Some clubs can enter for free before 12 o'clock.

Consumption: Club uses spirits and beverages as the main drinks, not the kind of place where you can enjoy good wine quietly. But drinks are not cheap, at least tens of dollars, maybe because everyone is very happy, you can take the opportunity to kill customers... If you want to book a card seat, the number of people will be required, usually 8-10 people or more, one Table prices will probably be around $1000.

Rave

It is usually in the form of outdoor or underground parties, mainly with electronic music, and most of them are better than nightclubs, swinging from beginning to end.

Consumption: All kinds of inexplicable hi, not mainly selling alcohol, except for the entrance fee, there is a mess of drinking, and the consumption will not be very high.

Nightlife preparation

Certificate

The most important thing is the credentials. Friends who are over 21 years old (18 years old can enter some occasions but cannot drink alcohol) must bring ID, otherwise they will definitely be rejected. If you have a US driver’s license, it’s good to bring your driver’s license directly. Try not to bring your passport. Losing it will be very troublesome.

cash

Although you can pay the bill through a bank card, sometimes you will need cash for tipping (remember to pay the bartender tip at the cocktail bar), entrance fee, and clothing storage fee. Nightclubs are messy and it is easy to confuse and lose your bank card. If the expense is not large, cash is also good.

Tickets

For some nightclubs or theme events with well-known DJs, you need to buy tickets on the official website in advance, or even rush to buy them. You must ensure that your purchase is successful in order to enter the venue smoothly.

Remembering AVICII, whose wave is never on the rhythm

Transportation

Driving under the influence of alcohol is very dangerous. It is not recommended to drive there, no matter if it is a drink or a big hiatus. Uber or taxi with friends is the best choice.

Tabard

If you just go to the bar to chat with your friends and have a drink, you can naturally dress casually and comfortably.

But if you go to a nightclub or participate in a theme party, then you will be coquettish. Girls are naturally sexy and beautiful dresses or hot pants. It is recommended to carry a small satchel and only carry important IDs, mobile phones, change and make-up items. Never carry a shoulder bag or a large bag. If the storage cabinet is insufficient or there is no bag storage service, it will not be fun to hold the bag all night!

Boys can choose a casual shirt.

note:

1. Some high-end venues do not allow casual wearers such as sports shoes, slippers, jeans, T-shirts, etc. to enter the venue. You must understand whether the venue you visit has a dress code.

2. Many young people will wear short-sleeved skirts directly to nightclubs in the cold winter, because it is really troublesome to store coats, and there is not even enough space to store clothes! Therefore, to go to nightclubs in winter, two factors, warmth and convenience must be considered.

3. Try not to bring inexplicable small items such as cups, bottles, bags, etc. It is easy to be suspected of carrying prohibited items.

If you know that it will be a hangover night, don't wear too expensive clothes, let alone dirty, and discard the clothes directly after playing.

Pre-game

This is also a common preparation for entering a nightclub abroad, that is, pre-hi! Generally, drink with friends at home or other bars. After everyone is already excited to enter the state, head to the nightclub. It's a bit like our domestic transition haha. But remember not to overdo the pre-game. People who are already drunk can easily be blocked by clubs and other places.

Admission

The casual bar is very simple, just ask the waiter to arrange a seat for you. When entering a nightclub, you need to line up when there are many people and show your ID one by one. Are there any reservations for decks and boxes? Are there different entrance channels for VIPs? Please pay attention to whether they enter in the correct channel.

Note: If the team is too long, a tip may be useful.

English tips for bars

To order a drink in a bar, it is nothing more than to understand their usual drinking habits and procedures, as well as some iconic alcoholic English, to summarize a small wave for everyone.

Open a tab

Before ordering wine, the bartender will generally ask if you need to "Open a tab" or "Put it on a tap", which means whether to keep the bill for unified checkout. If you only order a glass of wine, you can pay it directly to a credit card or make a single payment in cash. If you will order wine consecutively, you will go to "Close the tab" before you leave to check out.

On the House

The store is free to entertain. If you hear the waiter say this, then congratulations you don’t need to pay for this glass of wine.

Alcohol + configuration beverage

If you have a clear bartending preference, specify the order in which the name of the wine is first and the beverage is configured, such as "Hakushu and soda", "Gin Tonic", "Vodka Redbull"

A mixer

Drinks used for bartending

Premium drink

The more famous and expensive liquors in the store

Well drink

Cheaper bartenders in the store

House wine

Cheap wine or special champagne in the shop

A Chaser

It is usually used to buffer the burning sensation after drinking a relatively high alcohol concentration.

Highball

Ordinary tall glasses and big glasses are served in a cocktail with simple ingredients and easy preparation.

Lowball

Classical flat-bottomed cups, similar to Highball, are also base wines and beverages, often with a little more connotation.

A mist

Cocktail with crushed ice

Neat

Pure wine without adding any ice cubes and without any modulation is most conducive to the taste of the wine itself.

On the rocks

Pure wine + ice cubes, the taste will be better. Ice slicing is a technical job. You can sit at the bar and watch the bartender cut the ice, which is pleasing to the eye!

Straight up

It is still pure wine, a bit like our de-icing taste.

Draft beer / Tap beer / Beer on tap

Draft beer

Shots

When you order wine in a nightclub, no one has the heart to mix it carefully for you, and you usually choose shots (usually small glasses of spirits). One sip is full of energy, usually tequila, Sambuca, Vodka, Pussy, etc.

[marcusssanderson]

45 Muhammad Ali Quotes On Life, Love and Being a Champion

Our latest collection of Muhammad Ali quotes that will help you think and live like a champion.

Muhammed Ali is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time.

He was the heavyweight champion of the world 3 times and has defeated some of the best boxers in the history of the sport.

He is known for his incredible speed, strength, and controversial statements.

Muhammad Ali quotes and poems are famous around the world.

Ali was a passionate and intelligent man that always spoke his mind and was full of wisdom.

Unlike most boxers who used their managers to talk for them, Ali wanted to be known in the media. Ali used the media to grow his audience and his message.

Ali loved to throw off his opponents before even stepping into the ring.

Muhammed Ali first took up boxing at age 12, after another kid stole his bike.

His amateur career went extremely well and he dominated any tournaments he entered.

He was trained by Chuck Bodak and was known for his exceptional discipline and dedication to the sport.

Many of his fights, such as the fights against George Foreman and Joe Frazier, are the most famous in boxing history. Ali became the heavyweight champion of the world at the young age of 21.

While Muhammad Ali’s boxing skills were incredible, he’s also known for being a free spirit.

While many other people fled to other countries to avoid the draft, Ali decided to publicly denounce it.

He refused to be drafted, and as a result, was jailed for 3 years in the prime of his boxing career.

His resistance and protest of the war, despite the repercussions, showed the world how strong Ali’s spirit was and inspired many.

Muhammed Ali will always be known for his rebellious nature, witty mouth, and incredible boxing ability.

He created a legacy that will live on forever. Everyone can learn something from Muhammad Ali quotes.

Below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and funny Muhammad Ali quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Muhammad Ali Quotes on Life

1.) “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.” – Muhammad Ali

2.) “I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.”  – Muhammad Ali

3.) “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali

4.) “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – Muhammad Ali

5.) “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali

6.) “It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.” – Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali Quotes on Being a Champion

7.) “Friendship … is not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” – Muhammad Ali

8.) “I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.” – Muhammad Ali

9.) “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” – Muhammad Ali

10.) “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” – Muhammad Ali

11.) “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali

12.) “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Muhammad Ali

13.) “I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was. I figured that if I said it enough, I would convince the world that I really was the greatest.” – Muhammad Ali

14.) “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.” – Muhammad Ali

15.) “Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.” – Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali quotes on Islam and Love

16.) “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them—a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” – Muhammad Ali

17.) “There are no pleasures in a fight, but some of my fights have been a pleasure to win.” – Muhammad Ali

18.) “I’ve wrestled with alligators / I’ve tussled with a whale / I done handcuffed lightning / And throw thunder in jail.” – Muhammad Ali

19.) “If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it—then I can achieve it.” – Muhammad Ali

20.) “Don’t count the days; make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

21.) “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.” – Muhammad Ali

22.) “At home I am a nice guy: but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.” – Muhammad Ali

23.) “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” – Muhammad Ali

More Quotes by Muhammad Ali

24.) “To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If not pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali

25.) “What you are thinking is what you are becoming. – Muhammad Ali

26.) “What keeps me going is goals.” – Muhammad Ali

27.) “Live everyday as if it were your last because someday you’re going to be right.” – Muhammad Ali

28.) “Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.” – Muhammad Ali

29.) “If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, then they can sure make something out of you.” – Muhammad Ali

30.) “Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer.” – Muhammad Ali

31.) It’s hard to be humble, when you’re as great as I am. – Muhammad Ali

32.) It’s just a job. Grass grows, birds fly, waves pound the sand. I beat people up. – Muhammad Ali

33.) It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. – Muhammad Ali

34.) Life is a gamble. You can get hurt, but people die in plane crashes, lose their arms and legs in car accidents; people die every day. Same with fighters: some die, some get hurt, some go on. You just don’t let yourself believe it will happen to you. – Muhammad Ali

35.) My toughest fight was with my first wife. – Muhammad Ali

36.) My way of joking is to tell the truth. That’s the funniest joke in the world.  – Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali Quotes on Training

37.) No one knows what to say in the loser’s locker room. – Muhammad Ali

38.) Old age is just a record of one’s whole life. – Muhammad Ali

39.) Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even. – Muhammad Ali

40.) Rivers, ponds, lakes and streams – they all have different names, but they all contain water. Just as religions do – they all contain truths. – Muhammad Ali

41.) Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. – Muhammad Ali

42.) I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want. – Muhammad Ali

43.) “I never thought of losing, but now that it’ s happened, the only thing is to do it right. That’s my obligation to all the people who believe in me. We all have to take defeats in life.” – Muhammad Ali

44.) “I wish people would love everybody else the way they love me. It would be a better world.” – Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali Pre Fight Rhymes and Quotes

“This is the legend of Cassius Clay, The most beautiful fighter in the world today. He talks a great deal, and brags indeed-y, of a muscular punch that’s incredibly speed-y. The fistic world was dull and weary, But with a champ like Liston, things had to be dreary. Then someone with color and someone with dash, Brought fight fans are runnin’ with Cash. This brash young boxer is something to see And the heavyweight championship is his des-tin-y. This kid fights great; he’s got speed and endurance, But if you sign to fight him, increase your insurance. This kid’s got a left; this kid’s got a right, If he hit you once, you’re asleep for the night. And as you lie on the floor while the ref counts ten, You’ll pray that you won’t have to fight me again. For I am the man this poem’s about, The next champ of the world, there isn’t a doubt. This I predict and I know the score, I’ll be champ of the world in ’64. When I say three, they’ll go in the third, 10 months ago

So don’t bet against me, I’m a man of my word. He is the greatest! Yes! I am the man this poem’s about, I’ll be champ of the world, there isn’t a doubt. Here I predict Mr. Liston’s dismemberment, I’ll hit him so hard; he’ll wonder where October and November went. When I say two, there’s never a third, Standin against me is completely absurd. When Cassius says a mouse can outrun a horse, Don’t ask how; put your money where your mouse is! I AM THE GREATEST!” – Muhammad Ali

Last night I had a dream, When I got to Africa, I had one hell of a rumble. I had to beat Tarzan’s behind first, For claiming to be King of the Jungle. For this fight, I’ve wrestled with alligators, I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning And throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. just last week, I murdered a rock, Injured a stone, Hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make medicine sick. I’m so fast, man, I can run through a hurricane and don’t get wet. When George Foreman meets me, He’ll pay his debt. I can drown the drink of water, and kill a dead tree. Wait till you see Muhammad Ali. – Muhammad Ali

I’d like for them to say he took a few cups of love,

he took one tablespoon of patience, teaspoon of generosity,

one pint of kindness. He took one quart of laughter,

one pinch of concern,

and then,

he mix willingness with happiness,

he added lots of faith,

and he stirred it up well,

then he spreads it over his span of a lifetime,

and he served it to each and every deserving person he met.

– Muhammad Ali

To make America the greatest is my goal, So I beat the Russians, and I beat the Pole, and for the USA won the medal of gold. Italians said: “You’re Greater than the Cassius of old´´. We like your name, we like your game, So make Rome your home if you will. I said I appreciate your kind hospitality, But the USA is my country still, ‘Cause they’re waiting to welcome me in Louisville.

Poem written after winning the gold medal in the 1960 Olympic Summer Games in Rome, Italy

Top 10 Muhammad Ali Best Knockouts

Which Muhammad Ali quotes were your favorite?

Whether or not you’re a boxing fan, there are lots of lessons you can learn from Muhammad Ali quotes. He was a heavyweight both inside and outside the ring, and left an indelible mark on history and culture.

Hopefully, these words from the people’s champion have inspired you to be self-confident and to hold true to yourself and your own beliefs, regardless of circumstance.

Did you enjoy these Muhammad Ali quotes? What other quotes by Muhammad Ali would you add to the list? Tell us in the comment section below! #ripchamp #ali

The post 45 Muhammad Ali Quotes On Life, Love and Being a Champion appeared first on Everyday Power.

[junker-town]

An NFL fan’s rooting guide to college football’s rivalry week

Here’s which college football team you should cheer, based solely on your NFL fandom.

The NFL has its share of heated rivalries. Saints vs. Falcons. Vikings vs. Packers. Browns vs. themselves. But they can’t compare to another kind of hate, one that many were born into: the visceral, tribal, and sometimes a little (OK, a lot) unhealthy world of college football rivalries.

Not every NFL fan has pledged their undying loyalty to a college football team, which includes but is not limited to the following actions: getting a tasteful tattoo of the school’s logo on your hip, naming a pet after the mascot, naming a child after one of the school’s colors, requesting the alma mater be sung at your funeral, and treating your rival’s name like it’s Voldemort.

You can still join in the fun/anxiety, even if you’re not a diehard whose entire year is made or destroyed in the span of three hours in November. Let’s help you decide which college football team to cheer for in its upcoming rivalry game based on your NFL fandom.

First, a few notes on the methodology:

This is a rooting guide for rivalry games yet to be played. Many happened earlier in the season — like Texas-Oklahoma, Michigan-Michigan State, Harvard-Yale, Montana-Montana State — so they were excluded.

There are more upcoming rivalry games than just these 16 listed here, but I wanted to limit it to 32 schools, one for each NFL team.

It’s not a perfect science, but for the most part, the more alumni from one college on an NFL team, the more likely they’ll be matched up.

Because the college football schedule changes every year, and NFL rosters much more often than that, this is for 2018 only.

Thursday, Nov. 22

It’s true: Thanksgiving football is not just for the NFL!

Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State

This one isn’t a friendly intrastate rivalry, that’s for sure. They’ve been playing for the Golden Egg for almost a century. Their first meeting ended in fisticuffs, and the rage-filled battle for the soul of Mississippi hasn’t stopped since. Their last meeting was a beautiful four-hour exchange of gesticulation and trolling.

Cheer for the Rebels if you’re a fan of the: New York Giants

Say what you will about the Eli Manning’s play the last few seasons. Debate about his level of washedness, if you must. Laugh at Eli Face, always. But he’s still a two-time Super Bowl champion and one of the greatest players in Ole Miss history. So between Manning and tight end Evan Engram — a target Manning sometimes remembers exists — there’s a good bit of Rebels blood in the Giants’ starting offense.

Cheer for the Bulldogs if you’re a fan of the: Green Bay Packers

The most Mississippi State-heavy roster belongs to the Texans, but there are even more Clemson players, as well as one Ole Miss alum (A.J. Moore), in Houston. The Packers are home to two Bulldogs and no Rebels: cornerback Will Redmond and Hunter Bradley, who was the only long snapper drafted in 2018. And we should all celebrate long snappers. MSU also has the support of one Brett Favre — unless they’re playing his alma mater, Southern Miss.

Friday, Nov. 23

There’s no better cure for a turkey hangover than spending the day parked on the couch watching football.

Iowa vs. Nebraska

They might seem like two of the nicest (read: most Midwestern) states in the U.S., but they’ve long been enemies, even before Nebraska joined the Big Ten. Like, 100 years before that. For decades, the football rivalry went mostly dormant. Now, the two neighbors, and division mates, battle every year.

Cheer for the Hawkeyes if you’re fan of the: Buffalo Bills

The Packers and 49ers have more Hawkeye players than the Bills do, but this pairing seemed like more of a fit (tbh, the Bills were kinda like the kid who is always picked last at dodgeball — someone had to take them). One of the team’s Hawkeyes is Micah Hyde, who was a solid defensive back for the Packers before signing with the Bills in 2017. He then became a Pro Bowler — and one of Buffalo’s top defenders. Offensive tackle Ike Boettger is the other Iowa alum on the roster. Plus, the Bills have looked stereotypically Iowa-like this year, featuring an impressive defense, lots of punting, and sometimes, and seemingly randomly, an offensive explosion.

Cheer for the Cornhuskers if you’re fan of the: New York Jets

Both Nebraska and the Jets came into the season with a renewed sense of hope — and a roster that didn’t have quite the talent to match. They’re both still pretty young, so the future isn’t bleak, even if the rest of their seasons are mostly about building toward that future. The Jets also have three Cornhuskers on the ol’ 53: receiver Quincy Enunwa, and offensive linemen Spencer Long and Brent Qvale.

Oregon State vs. Oregon

No Pac-12 rivalry has been played more times than the Civil War, which is set for its 122nd meeting Friday in Corvallis. Fun fact: the 1983 edition of the game, which predated the implementation of overtime, ended in a 0-0 tie (shoutout, Frank Beamer). The teams combined for 11 turnovers and four field goal misses, and it was fittingly dubbed “the Toilet Bowl.”

Cheer for the Beavers if you’re fan of the: Los Angeles Rams

Cheering for a two-win team might give Rams fans bad flashbacks to pre-Sean McVay times, but there are only 13 Oregon State alums in the NFL right now and three of them play for the Rams. That includes two of their best players: wide receiver Brandin Cooks and punter Johnny Hekker. The third is backup quarterback Sean Mannion, who owns most of Oregon State’s passing records and should get his moment to shine in Week 17 when the Rams sit all their starters.

Cheer for the Ducks if you’re fan of the: Seattle Seahawks

Remember the Seahawks’ “Action Green” Color Rush jerseys? Nike can say otherwise, but don’t tell me they weren’t just recycled bits of some of the many, maaaany Oregon uniforms pieced together. So the two teams already have a little, sartorially speaking, in common. They’re also not far off geographically. Seattle fans could just head on I-5 S for a few hours and cheer for the program that produced Ed Dickson and Dion Jordan.

Washington State vs. Washington

It’s not that hard figuring out the origins of the Apple Cup’s name. I mean, apples = Washington, right? [Googles just to make sure] Right. It’s more than that, though. It’s a post-Thanksgiving tradition that divides friends and family and represents not just a culture clash of a state pocketed away in the Northwest corner of the country, but of America herself. The “Crapple Cup” no more, there’s been a lot riding on the game in recent years. Washington has owned the rivalry for the past decade, but Washington State is as hot as any team right now.

Cheer for the Cougars if you’re fan of the: Arizona Cardinals

The Cougs are, undeniably, a damn delight this year. Gardner Minshew II (real name, I promise) and his surprising Heisman campaign has all of Pullman wearing fake mustaches, and his legend grows with every new jockstrap story we hear. And what NFL team could use a heaping of fun more than the Cardinals, who average 14.5 points per game and just lost to the Raiders? So take a few hours Friday night to enjoy Deone Bucannon’s alma mater, a team that can put up points and have a blast doing it.

Cheer for the Huskies if you’re fan of the: Atlanta Falcons

Two years ago, both the Huskies and Falcons were dealt bitter disappointments in the postseason, in vastly different ways, to their sport’s most recent dynasty. Alabama swatted Washington away like a pesky gnat in the College Football Playoff semifinals, a 24-7 yawner that wasn’t even as close as that score indicates. The Falcons, as no one will ever let them forget, blew a 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl and lost in overtime to the Patriots. That kinship, plus UW alumni Desmond Trufant and Marvin Hall on the roster, makes this a match.

Saturday, Nov. 24

To put it simply, this is the best day in college football every year.

Ohio State vs. Michigan

Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s only one of the greatest rivalry is sports. Michigan holds an all-time lead in the series, but Ohio State has dominated The Game since the start of the new millennium. This year, the stakes are high like usual. The winner goes to the Big Ten Championship and preserves its College Football Playoff hopes. The loser, as all losers nowadays, becomes a meme. The difference this year is that Michigan is favored — in Columbus.

Cheer for the Buckeyes if you’re a fan of the: New Orleans Saints

There is no NFL/college football bromance quite like the Saints and Buckeyes. Currently there are six Ohio State grads on the Saints roster, including almost the entire secondary. Eli Apple, Vonn Bell, Kurt Coleman, Ted Ginn Jr., Marshon Lattimore, and Michael Thomas all went from scarlet and gray to black and gold. Then throw in J.T. “the spot was good” Barrett on the practice squad — and zero Wolverines on the roster — and Ohio State really is the Saints’ Triple-AAA team. Oscar winner J.K. Simmons would agree.

Cheer for the Wolverines if you’re a fan of the: Baltimore Ravens

There aren’t many NFL rosters that are completely devoid of an Ohio State presence, but the Ravens are one of them. They also have two Wolverines (Willie Henry, Chris Wormley), and a Harbaugh for a coach. Both teams boast the No. 1 defense in their respective sport and have an above-average running game. And if anyone would appreciate a mascot named after one of the most famous writers in American history, it’s probably a Michigan Man or Woman.

Georgia vs. Georgia Tech

Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate — no really, that’s what the rivalry, one of college football’s most underrated, is called. No nickname can top that. Georgia Tech was once a member of the SEC, but it must have gotten tired of everything just meaning more, because the school bolted more than 50 years ago. But the rivalry, which goes back to 1893, has lived on.

Cheer for the Bulldogs if you’re fan of the: Cincinnati Bengals

Cats and dogs living together! Despite the mass hysteria that might yield, there’s something appropriate about bringing together two teams that gave their fans hope only to cruelly yank it away in their most recent playoff appearance. For Georgia, that was last year against Alabama in the national title game. For the Bengals, it was three seasons ago against who else but the Steelers. So that’s one reason. The other is that Cincy’s roster is littered with Dawgs: Geno Atkins, Clint Boling, Cordy Glenn, A.J. Green, and Shawn Williams.

Cheer for the Yellow Jackets if you’re fan of the: Indianapolis Colts

Some people are slow to wake up. They’re groggy, they’re grumpy, and dammit, don’t talk to them until they’ve had their coffee. That was Georgia Tech and Indianapolis at the start of the season. The Yellow Jackets fell to 1-3 after their third straight loss, while the Colts stumbled to an even worse 1-5 record. Since then, they’ve both shaken off their slumps and won four straight and could be a dangerous opponent for any team to face. The Colts have one GA Tech alum on their roster: cornerback/special teamer Chris Milton.

North Carolina vs. NC State

Most would think of this as a basketball rivalry first and foremost, but the football teams have been playing even longer. It’s been competitive lately, too. In their last 20 meetings, NC State holds a slight 11-9 lead.

Cheer for the Tarheels if you’re fan of the: Chicago Bears

Not much is going right for UNC football this season. Bears fans probably understand that feeling after four straight losing seasons — and seven straight seasons of missing the playoffs. Things are looking up for the Bears this year, thanks in part to one-time UNC quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, even if we’re still trying to figure out how good he is.

Cheer for the Wildpack if you’re fan of the: Los Angeles Chargers

If any NFL team knows what it’s like to be good but completely overshadowed, it’s the Chargers. If any quarterback knows what it’s like to be good but completely overshadowed, it’s Chargers QB — and former NC State QB — Philip Rivers. That chip-on-the-shoulder bond gives Chargers fans a good reason to support Rivers’ and defensive tackle Justin Jones’ alma mater.

Georgia State vs. Georgia Southern

It’s not the most prominent rivalry in the South, or even Georgia itself. But it’s fierce in its own right, even if it’s still in its infancy. The fight over who is the real GSU has powered what they call “Modern Day Hate” — a battle that was first won by Georgia Southern in 2014, but has since been all Georgia State.

Cheer for the Panthers if you’re fan of the: Philadelphia Eagles

It might seem incongruent for Philly fans to cheer for the Panthers and against the Eagles — but let’s face it, no one likes to boo Eagles fans more than Eagles fans. There aren’t many Georgia State players in the NFL, either, but one of them, Chandon Sullivan, might be Philadelphia’s last remaining healthy cornerback.

Cheer for the Eagles if you’re fan of the: San Francisco 49ers

Georgia Southern won two games all of last season. This year, the Eagles are 8-3. That’s the kind of turnaround a two-win team like the 49ers can get behind. Oh, there are only three Georgia Southern alumni in the NFL — and two of them, Matt Breida and Jerick McKinnon, play running back for the 49ers.

Florida State vs. Florida

This rivalry is the Beanie Babies of college football — it captivated the nation in the 90s and though it still exists, we’ve more or less forgotten about it. One or both teams are usually ranked for this game; this year, it’s Florida, but it’s Florida State that has won five in a row and seven of the last eight in this matchup.

Cheer for the Seminoles if you’re fan of the: Jacksonville Jaguars

If Florida Man were a singular entity rather than a concept, he would probably cheer for both of these teams. But it works on other levels, too. Both teams can wallow in the disappointment of the current season. Both are football’s biggest supplier of reaction memes. Both can claim the NFL’s best present-day trash talker, Jalen Ramsey — and Rashad Greene and Telvin Smith, too.

Cheer for the Gators if you’re fan of the: Oakland Raiders

There is something so utterly joyless about watching both teams that I don’t want to inflict them on any other fans. At least this way, Raiders fans can get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a good miserable team. Gators Reggie Nelson, David Sharpe, and Johnny Townsend are all on the Raiders’ active roster, while Eddy Piñeiro is one of two kickers on their injured reserve.

Wisconsin vs. Minnesota

At stake every year in the Big Ten’s oldest rivalry is Paul Bunyan’s Axe, which is different from the Paul Bunyan Trophy that goes to the winner of Michigan vs. Michigan State. If Paul Bunyan wasn’t B1G enough for you, they used to play for a slab of bacon?!?

Cheer for the Badgers if you’re fan of the: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On the surface, Wisconsin and Tampa don’t seem to have that much in common — until you think of all the snowbirds who probably migrate down to the Tampa area in the winter. Then consider Wisconsin’s mascot’s name, Bucky Badger, and the fact that the Bucs’ roster has more Wisconsin alumni than any other NFL team, and it’s kismet. Funnily enough, even though Wisconsin spits out offensive linemen, that doesn’t include any of the three Badgers — DT Beau Allen, LB Jack Cichy, and RB Dare Ogunbowale — in Tampa.

Cheer for the Gophers if you’re fan of the: Minnesota Vikings

This one is fairly easy: They’re both located in Minneapolis. They even shared a stadium for a couple seasons while the Vikings’ new digs were being built. They both last claimed a title in the 60s, well before their sport’s current championship format was introduced. There are only seven former Gophers on active NFL rosters right now and none of them play for the same team. But one of them, cornerback Marcus Sherels, suits up for the purple and gold.

Arizona vs. Arizona State

This rivalry usually falls under the radar — mostly because the two teams aren’t exactly elite football programs. It’s more passionate than you probably realize and spilts the state pretty 50-50. No trophy has been around longer than the Territorial Cup, either. Well, sorta.

Cheer for the Wildcats if you’re fan of the: Tennessee Titans

Sometimes it must feel a little lonely having an unusual name. It’s hard to find a keychain with “Sherwood” or “Bryannca” or whatever people are naming their children these days on it. Those kids probably have moments when they wish their name were something simpler, like Paul or Emily. That’s what it must be like to be the Titans. Unless you count the Remember the, there aren’t any many others with their name. Every other mascot, in any sport at any level, is the Wildcats, though. The one Arizona alum on Tennessee’s roster is the only person in the world with the name Dane Cruikshank. Rooting for the Wildcats gives him, and the Titans, a chance to live as a James or Elizabeth for a change.

Cheer for the Sun Devils if you’re fan of the: Miami Dolphins

You might think Da U is the school that most closely resembles the partying-that-borders-on-dangerous vibe of Miami, but nope, it’s Arizona State. And well, 25 percent of the Arizona State players in the NFL are with the Dolphins: Kalen Ballage, Matt Haack, and — the man, the myth, the legend — Brock Osweiler.

Alabama vs. Auburn

The Iron Bowl has a rich history dating back to 1893, but it’s the most recent matchups that have been without peer — and that’d be the case if we were ONLY talking about the Kick Six. Arguably no rivalry has mattered more in the past decade, because one of these teams has been ranked No. 1 or 2 entering this game since 2008 — and usually at the end of the season, too.

Cheer for the Crimson Tide if you’re fan of the: Washington NFL team

The Tuscaloosa-to-Landover pipeline can’t be matched right now. Washington is home to a whopping seven Bama players, including about 90 percent of its defense: Jonathan Allen, Ryan Anderson, Shaun Dion Hamilton, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Daron Payne, and the lone offensive player, guard Arie Kouandjio. Washington has had a rough go of it with injuries this season, but at least this way, its fans can enjoy a team that is the closest to being unbeatable as we’ve seen in years.

Cheer for the Tigers if you’re fan of the: Cleveland Browns

Remember when people were asking last year if Bama could beat the Browns? The answer was no of course, even though the Browns went 0-16 and the Tide won another national championship. But Auburn fans probably got tired of hearing it — especially considering the Tigers were the only team to beat the Crimson Tide last year. Plus, with three players from Auburn — Ricardo Louis, Greg Robinson, and Jermaine Whitehead — and no Bama guys (a rarity for an NFL roster), the chances of hearing “Roll Tide” in Cleveland aren’t high.

Clemson vs. South Carolina

The Palmetto Bowl is the South’s longest continuous rivalry. It began in 1896 and the intrastate battle has been held every year since 1909. Clemson has won a nice 69 of their 115 meetings. They’ve only once played on Thanksgiving, in 1963. It was moved back a few days following the assassination of JFK.

Cheer for the Tigers if you’re fan of the: Houston Texans

Texans fans only need one reason to cheer for Clemson: Deshaun Watson. His run in the College Football Playoff, which culminated in a heroic performance against Alabama for the championship, is partly why the Texans traded up to draft Watson that following April. Now, Houston has the franchise quarterback it had been waiting for since, well, ever. It just so happens that Texans DeAndre Hopkins, D.J. Reader, and Carlos Watkins also went to Clemson.

Cheer for the Gamecocks if you’re fan of the: Carolina Panthers

The Panthers play in North Carolina, but the University of South Carolina is closer to Bank of America Stadium than Tobacco Road is. It’s a straight shot 90 miles down I-77 to get from Charlotte to Columbia. Besides, they’re the Carolina Panthers. South Carolina shouldn’t have to feel left out, especially with alumni Damiere Byrd and Captain Munnerlyn on the Panthers’ roster.

USC vs. Notre Dame

There isn’t any college rivalry quite like this one: two blue bloods, separated by 2,000 miles, who play annually despite not even being in the same conference — or, in Notre Dame’s case, not being in a conference at all. Combined, the two powerhouses can boast 22 national championships and 13 Heisman winners (14, if you count Reggie Bush’s vacated one). Speaking of, the Bush Push was one of the most indelible college football moments of the last 15 years, preserving USC’s chances of a threepeat — and thwarted later on by Vince Young and Texas.

Cheer for the Trojans if you’re fan of the: Dallas Cowboys

Gee, what could a five-win team whose fans want their coach gone have in common with ... a five-win team whose fans want their coach gone? Both the Cowboys and Trojans are still quite popular, even if their heyday of everyone becoming a bandwagon fan is over. There’s a healthy USC presence in Arlington too, thanks to Marcus Martin, Tyron Smith, and Antwaun Woods.

Cheer for the Irish if you’re fan of the: Detroit Lions

If you live in Michigan and don’t bleed maize and blue or green and white, then the easiest way to annoy both Wolverines and Spartans fans would be to cheer for ... well, probably Ohio State. But Notre Dame would be a close second. South Bend is only three hours away from Detroit, and the Lions’ roster includes TJ Jones, Romeo Okwara, Theo Riddick, and until recently, Golden Tate.

Utah vs. BYU

BYU really hates Utah, while Utah hates BYU just as much but sometimes likes to pretend it doesn’t. It’s a complicated rivalry, especially considering one is a religious school and the other is public. The so-called Holy War has been kind of naughty, complete with statue vandalism, back-to-back ejections, a failed two-point try for the win, a trip to Sin City, public name-calling, and a Utah cheerleader punching a BYU fan, repeatedly, in the face.

Cheer for the Utes if you’re fan of the: Denver Broncos

Salt Lake City is almost directly to Denver’s west (as is Provo, but it seemed obvious which one of those should be paired up with a place that has marijuana dispensaries). There are also a lot of Broncos fans in the Mountain states, including in Utah. The Broncos have the highest concentration of Utes on their roster, with Garett Bolles, Devontae Booker, and Tim Patrick all in Denver.

Cheer for the Cougars if you’re fan of the: Kansas City Chiefs

Not only does this match rival with rival, but Andy Reid is also BYU alum. It should be no surprise then that of the nine Cougars in the NFL, two of them — Tejan Koroma and Daniel Sorensen — play for the Chiefs.

Saturday, Dec. 8

Yes, this isn’t for another two weeks, but it felt wrong to leave it out.

Navy vs. Army

Every year, the college football regular season ends with the Army-Navy game. Philadelphia serves as its most frequent host, though sometimes the game has been played in other locations including Baltimore and East Rutherford, New Jersey. What truly sets it apart, though, is just how polite the rivalry is.

Cheer for the Knights if you’re fan of the: Pittsburgh Steelers

There is exactly one Army man in the NFL right now: Steelers starting left tackle Alejandro Villanueva, who served three tours of duty three tours in Afghanistan before he started his NFL career. The Steelers organization has continually shown its support for the Army over the years, as well.

Cheer for the Midshipmen if you’re fan of the: New England Patriots

Just like with Army, there’s only one Navy veteran in the NFL currently and that’s Patriots long snapper Joe Cardona. Bill Belichick also has strong ties to Navy, where his father was a longtime assistant coach. Belichick grew up in Annapolis and has never stopped calling it home, despite not living there for decades. And well, the Patriots of all teams pretty much had to be partnered with a service academy.

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Ainge Knows How To Draft

Since the Boston Celtics obtained the first overall pick - of course having just dealt it to Philadelphia for their No. 3 pick and a 2-5 protected 2018 Lakers pick, if not conveyed becomes a 2019 Kings first…*whew* - We as fans of the green and white routinely this time of year bring up Ainge’s…spotty draft record. Well, thought to be spotty. People tend to measure you as a drafter not where you are picking or your current roster situation. What matters is: how many All-Stars, All-NBA players you’ve drafted and just by judging Ainge’s draft record off that criteria he’s been downright horrendous. Not plucking a single one of those elite players in the draft.

But Masai Ujuiri never picked an All-Star either. Jerry West never drafted an All-NBA caliber player or even a fringe All-Star when building the Shaq-Kobe dynasty. Why? Cause the Lakers weren’t picking in the early tens or in the middle of the lottery. When you’re atop the NBA landscape, picking twenty-three at the highest, Devean George is all you can hope. The Vlade Divac and Nick Van Exel’s of the world fall in the draft off on luck alone. Even their upsides don’t drastically change your franchise.

Ainge’s draft record suggest the same issues: from ‘04-‘07 Boston floated in and out of the playoffs, picking in the mid-to-late teens, having to cross their fingers for a team to pass up on a prospect they liked. Nine teams passed on Paul Pierce before Rick Pitino made the lone smart decision of his time as Celtics coach/GM.

For anyone that believes the NBA Draft after its top-5 is anything but akin to taking a shot in the dark while blindfolded is flatout wrong in their criticism of NBA GMs. Heck, sometimes the draft isn’t even five players deep. Last year Boston earned the third pick in a two player draft. The drop-off in terms of ceiling when having to pick between Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray or Dragan Bender is obvious to the casual eye when you understand the hype surrounding No. 1 & 2 picks Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram going into the draft. This year they traded the number one overall choice, opting to pick between Kansas forward Josh Jackson and Duke forward Jayson Tatum, judging the drop-off from either of the two from the consensus number one to most scouts, Markelle Fultz, to be not all that steep.

While it is easy to lob snarky comments about Ainge’s draft record, it is worthy to note how often the Celtics find themselves picking below the middle-teens in his fourteen-years as general manager. The NBA Draft isn’t a plethora of talent hidden under the sexier, more desirably prospects like in the NFL. In the NBA, one or two “sure-fire” prospects go one and two, then the draft becomes a crapshoot where you’re more more likely to be hit by lightning than to find an All-Star. Fluky choices like Jimmy Butler (30th), Paul George (10th) are not common occurrences; and it is unwise to heap praise on otherwise unaware GMs for drafting someone who turned out to be special, but wasn’t taken because that team believed in that player *cough Phil Jackson *cough).

This year’s draft can be the same as last year’s, just the perception of certain players similar to the ones we were lukewarm on a year ago changed. People harshing the buzz about Josh Jackson and his inability to shoot, forgetting their utter indifference towards similar and superior 2016 draft choice Jaylen Brown. Guards who cannot shoot earn praise over a gym rat like Jamal Murray, who was selected amidst yawns from the talking head crowd.

Ainge usually had to pick from the rut of the litter, having to get creative in how to use useless assets from sheer wit…and mostly prying off dimwitted GMs. Hey, the greats in sports always made a living off ripping off the uneducated. The only reason the Lakers were able to get Magic Johnson is because the Utah Jazz wanted an almost forty-year-old Gail Goodrich. The reason Red Auerbach constructed the greatest front-court in league history is by flipping number 1 pick Joe Barry Carroll for pick number three and Robert Parish…uh….

In his first NBA Draft rodeo Ainge turned two useless copper pieces (Troy Bell & Dahntay Jones) for Kendrick Perkins. Brandon Hunter lasted only two seasons before being submerged in a black hole, never to be heard of again. The following year, Danny enjoyed his greatest draft class; is damning praise considering the names, but bare with me: Al Jefferson (15), Delonte West (24), Tony Allen (25), Justin Reed (40). Taking on Chunky Atkins and Linsey Hunter so the Detroit Pistons could trade for Rasheed Wallace, Boston obtained an extra first rounder in return. And while Big Al was never an All-Star, his highest honor was All-NBA Third Team in 2014, he averaged a double-double four times in his career, found himself on some decent low-seeded playoff teams as their second or third best player. Delonte was the starting SG for two sixty-win LeBron-led Cavalier teams, shot a respectful 44.9 fg% and probably slept with..ugh, almost said the wrong thing there. Hehehe.

Tony Allen played a key role on the 2008 championship Celtics, 2010 finalist Celtics, western conference finalist Memphis Grizzlies in 2013 and is still a plus on defense to this day.

Delonte and Al helped the famous KG deal happen; West, along with Jeff Green (5th overall pick of '07), Wally Szczerbiak, later traded to Seattle for Ray Allen and Glen Davis, irreplaceable parts to the '08 & '10 teams.

The Celtics draft class of 2004 did more good on the trade market than on the floor wearing green and white; Ainge is known more for his shrewd trading, this is when “Trader Danny” and “Draft Picker Danny” became one for one night only. In 2005, Ainge fell in love with the letter “G” and tapped Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes and Orien Greene. Trash. Trash. Uber trash. I will say this: Gerry G helped Boston not get swept by the Bulls, being inserted into the starting lineup in Game 3 helped swing the series. And a revenge minded Rajon Rondo getting sidelined. Orien Greene posted a magnificent negative 0.7 win shares. I’m going to give Danny an “L” for Draft Day 2005.

In '06, slotted with the seventh choice, Ainge picked Randy Foye for the Portland Trailblazers in return for them taking Raef LaFrentz’ albatross. The next pick was Rudy Gay. Gay is fifth in the draft in win shares, behind Rajon Rondo (Ainge traded the pick that would become Rudy Fernandez for RR on draft night), Kyle Lowry, LaMarcus Aldridge and Paul Millsap.

Am I crying tears the Celtics didn’t draft the guy who’s improved every team he’s been on by just not being on it anymore? No. No, not really.

Foye hung around the NBA, drifting and compiling stats on piss-poor teams. Will proudly let it fly in garbage time, Foye became a way to for OKC management, desperate to appease an approaching free agency Kevin Durant, but not willing to spend, to act as if they were adding to a Finals contender; the Thunder fell one game short of reaching that NBA Finals that year. Forget all I said on him taking the easy way out, they deserved to lose KD.

Rajon Rondo transformed himself to a redundant starter on a team that didn’t need him, to the engine that made the Ford Model-T run. In 2010 he outplayed LeBron James -in his prime- in a playoff series (20.7 pts, 6.3 trb, 11.8 ast) - almost did it again in 2012 - (20.9 pts, 6.9 trb, 11.3 ast), was the third best player on a finals runner-up (13.6 pts 6.3 trb, 7.6 ast) and was only twenty-three after the 2010 Finals. After 2012, I firmly believed Rondo was the bridge to Boston staying relevant post-Big 3. When the stoic C’s returned for the 2012-13 season, revamped with Courtney Lee, Jason Terry and Leonardo Barbosa set the stage for Rondo to graduate from overqualified complimentary player to a contending team’s number one.

Only that didn’t happen. Statistically Rondo enjoyed one of his greatest season yet, 44.8 fg%, 13.7 pts, 11.1 ast, 5.6 trb, 1.8 stl; started the season on fire, but his double-doubles didn’t lead to team success. Rondo complied four triple-doubles (3-1 in those games), sixteen double-doubles and Boston was 20-23 in the middle of what Rondo’s career defining season. Half the year and Boston failed to play above-.500 ball. Post-Rondo injury: 21-17. Players improved too:

Brandon Bass Pre-Rondo Injury: 6.8 FGA, 44.6%, 7.4 pts, 4.9 trb

Post-Rondo: 7.8 FGA, 52.5%, 10.1 pts, 5.7 trb

Jason Terry Pre-Rondo Injury: 8.3 FGA 42.6 fg%, 36.1%, 9.8 pts, 2.2 ast, 0.9 stl

Post-Rondo: 8 FGA, 44.3 fg%, 38.4 3P%, 10.1 pts, 2.8 ast, 0.8 stl

Kevin Garnett Pre-Rondo Injury: 12.2 FGA, 50.1 fg%, 14.7 pts, 7.4 trb, 0.9 blk

Post Rondo: 13.1 FGA, 48.9 fg%, 14.8 pts, 8.9 trb, 0.9 blk

Paul Pierce Pre-Rondo Injury: 15 FGA, 42 fg%, 35.2 3P%, 5.5 FTA, 18.8 pts, 5.7 trb, 3.8 ast, 1.4 stl

Post Rondo: 13.1 FGA, 45.9 fg%, 41.7 3P%, 5.5 FTA, 18.3 pts, 7.1 trb, 6.1 ast, 0.7 stl

Either players improved noticeably or the Rajon Rondo injury didn’t affect their stats one-bit. Originally, I scoffed at the notion that the Celtics were better without Rondo. Now it’s not even a debate. Rondo hunted for assists, padded his rebounding stats and passed up easier shots - either because he never trusted his jump shot or he wanted to increase his assists totals. Rookie Jared Sullinger, veteran bench swing man Leonardo Barbosa fell to season-ending injuries as well, did more to cripple a thought to be promising last ride for Pierce-KG than their starting point guard.

It was his take no shit demeanor that made a name for himself on a team with three Hall of Famers that lead to his destructive behavior in Dallas, Sacramento and Chicago. The league also moved away from his style: a point guard that could pass extremely well, is a ball-stopper, can’t shoot and used to be a fantastic defender. Put him in the 1980s, early 90s and Rondo gets COMPs to Celtics Dennis Johnson. He was just born in the wrong time.

In 2008, Ainge drafted Jeff Green for the defunct Seattle Supersonics in the aforementioned Ray Allen trade. Jeffery Green went from an intriguing prospect in 2010 to one of the most frustrating players in the NBA. I’ve watched Jeff Green play on my team for two-in-half-years, there was a gear collecting dust in that head of his. Green had the body, athleticism and talent to be a top scoring wing, but he only wanted to play at a high level once every few weeks. In 2012-13 the majority of he time he spent his time at the four, Pierce flanking him at the three and Kevin Garnett at the five. Naturally, Green enjoyed statistically his best season, shooting 46.7% from the field, 38.5% from three-point and a career high in PER with 15. When those two left, his numbers became…empty calories. His scoring average went up on the year, but it was then Green became an asset with questionable value, not a building block for the future.

A damn shame. The three brightest moments of the Jeff Green-Boston era were his 43 point duel with LeBron in the middle of their twenty-seven game winning streak. Tom Heinsohn is known around Boston to make almost idiotic comparisons to legendary players with those who would later fall off the face of the earth (Greg Stiemsma = Bill Russell, Leon Powe is Moses Malone), for Jeff Green, Tommy thought of James Worthy. For that one night, he was James Worthy.

Second greatest Jeff Green moment was during the failed rally against the Knicks in Game 6 of the 2013 playoffs. Also known as: “Pierce and Garnett’s Last Stand”, with 5:45 left in the fourth, Boston down 75-68, Jeff Green, coming off a heart surgery less than a year earlier drove to the basket and drew a crucial foul and sent to the line. By then the Celtics have all but completely closed the massive 26 point deficit the Knicks owned with 9:31 left. In less than four-minutes, Pierce, KG and Green lead us back. Stepping up to the charity stripe, the crowd was long ago unglued from their seats. I watched at home, my stomach in knots, knowing his was probably the end of this era of Celtics basketball if not victorious. The raucous crowd not willing to let the KG era end chanted at the top of their lungs “JEFF GREEN JEFF GREEN JEFF GREEN”…and he missed the free throw. If I had to pick a singular moment to describe my experience watching Jeff Green: I’d choose that one. No matter how hard you believed, the teasing he put all of Celtics Nation through would never stop. His scoring came and went as it pleased.

The last one: a very sentimental moment for him and me as a sucker for happy endings. On an obscure late March night in Cleveland, the post-LeBron days miserable as they were unbearable to just watch, the 22-47 Cavaliers lead Boston by one measly point with 9.2 seconds left. Off an assist from Avery Bradley, Jeff Green took the feed and laid in the game-winner and went directly to a court side seat and hugged the person responsible for him being alive: his heart doctor. After being traded from the Thunder in 2011, it came out Green was in need of serious heart surgery. Sam Presti didn’t disclose that piece of information to Ainge while the negotiations were going down. As penalty, David Stern took a second round draft choice from OKC. Sounds fair. Team lies about a player’s medical records to get ahead, a second round pick fits the crime. Lenient jackasses.

From a story standpoint Jeff Green is a 'Lifetime’ special that writes itself. But when it came to actual substance, Green failed to reach levels even those hacks at HBO wouldn’t touch. I had high hopes for Green once he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. A team with three established scoring options - that two years ago shocked the world by making it to the conference finals, I believed Green would thrive as a role-player tasked with only taking over games once in every while, the burden lightened on him and the spotlight almost completely off him. But the same trick-or-treat performances that made Boston fans pull their hair out, did the same to the Grizzlies faithful. Teams have learned the hard way that Jeff Green isn’t the answer to any of their questions; there isn’t a switch to be flipped or a fire yearning to ignite within him. He’s Jeff Green. Nothing more.

In 2008, the defending champion Celtics weren’t expected to add much in ways of the draft considering their low position, holding the final selections of the first and second rounds. For whatever reason, I still do not know, Ainge’s biggest blemish in the draft came from this draft by selecting 23-year-old gunner J.R Giddens over DeAndre Jordan, Goron Dragic and Luc Mbah a Moute. Giddens played only 38 games in his professional career and amounted to very little. When you find yourself in a situation that is likely to warrant little success playing it safe, a risk is what is in order to at least maximize the little opportunity you have. Ainge didn’t do that. He went for an experienced hand. This one falls into the “indefensible” category. Most likely the stigma of “Ainge is a bad drafter” stems from this choice and the infamous Fab Melo decision. The next year Boston found themselves without a first round pick (traded to Minnesota for Kevin Garnett; became pick 28: Wayne Ellington), picking fifty-eighth Ainge selected Lester Hudson, point guard, and hasn’t played a single second of professional ball since 2015. Another swing in a miss. And in such a great place in the draft too.

2010, off the heels of one of the toughest losses in my sports fandom, coming ever so close to squeezing one more title out of the Pierce-KG-Ray core, Ainge drafts a soon to be staple of the Celtics next generation: SG from the University of Texas Avery Bradley. First-Team All-Defense and has grown into a quality jump-shooter. Picked nineteenth. Interestingly enough, Eric Bledsoe was picked 18th, right before him at eighteen by the Thunder; traded for a first round pick that became…Fab Melo. See how this all ties together. Fifty-second pick was power forward Luke Harangody from Norte Dame, lasted two seasons before falling off the face of the earth. But if you land just Avery Bradley with your already low draft choice then you’ve exceeded all expectations. Albeit, low set expectations, but regardless, Avery Bradley would go in the lottery if the draft was redone.

The next year, Ainge again found himself picking his favorites in the undesirables bin: MarShon Brooks, guard out of Providence and E'Twaun Moore guard outta Purdue. Both gave the Celtics absolutely nothing. Brooks found himself packing for Brooklyn not too long after Stern called up his name, flipped for the equally forgettable JaJuan Johnson. Then sent back to Boston in 2013 in the Billy King very skilful deal that destroyed Brooklyn Nets basketball, later moved to Golden State with Jordan Crawford for picks that would later become Jordan Mickey, Ben Bentil and Deyonta Davis. Three “we’ll wait and see” fellas, I wish tremendous success for.

Moore did squat in Boston and Orlando. It was his third stop, Chicago, in the last year of his contract he became a quality energy shooter from deep. Nailing 45.2% of his threes, out of a measly 104 attempts. Earning himself a contract worth $34 million four-years. His three-point attempts doubled on the unstable Pelicans, making a respectful 37% of them and shooting a career-high 50.1% on 2s. While he did this for Chicago and New Orléans, E.T proves, yet again, that Ainge isn’t a dummy and can spot a penny in the rough - I was going to say “diamond in the rough, but I’m not that much of a homer.

On June 28th, 2012, after the AARP Celtics almost snuck into the Finals for a third time in five seasons, Ainge reloaded with Ohio State power forward Jared Sullinger at 16, Syracuse center and recently departed Fab Melo (who I’m ashamed to admit I liked when picked), and Kris Joseph, mostly known for being one of the throw-Ins for the Brooklyn deal a year into the future.

I was irrationally high on Sully after one game I saw him play at Ohio State in the tournament. I knew he was going to drop because of his back injury scaring off other teams, I kept my fingers crossed the Celtics would scoop him up. And they did.

Sully gets a lot of flack, is a frequent and an easy punching bag for Celtics & NBA fans for his weight issues, but for four seasons he was mostly productive, 16 points, 11.1 rebounds were his per 36 averages; basic averages 11.1 points, 7.7 rebounds. Before succumbing to a stress fracture caused mostly to his overweight stature, Sully averaged 14.4 pts, 8.1 trb, 2.1 ast, 0.7 stl, 0.7 blk, a respectable 21 DRB%, and an average 105 DRtg. Solid. Admittedly, his flaws became prevalent around this time too. Too short to guard opposing team’s centers, too slow to guard fours like Paul Millsap. He only worsened after the injury. Expected to miss the rest of the year, Sully went from an “untouchable” asset, to a laughingstock.

Yet, he returned after just twenty-four games missed, slowly worked his way back to the lineup, played adequately in the final three games of a four game sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, putting up a 15 & 8, including a hopeful 21 and 11 in Game 4, off of 9 of 17 shooting. For me, hopes were high he’d turned a corner and could produce at a starter-quality level.

Over the summer of 2015, Ainge made moves to ensure Boston wouldn’t have to rely on Sullinger. Signing Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, drafting Jordan Mickey and trading for Golden State Warriors center David Lee. Only Mickey didn’t progress, Lee was a net-negative on the floor and Steens had to save Amir’s knees for the homestretch of the season. So, Sully got the tap to start 73 games, 47 of those were victories, posted up 25 double-doubles and enjoyed his best season.

Considering where Sullinger found himself ripped for the plucking, four solid years was more than enough. Typically teams take either a draft & stash guy, or a player that never sees the floor and lives in the D (oh, I’m sorry. G)-League.

Fab Melo…I honestly thought he’d be a staple of our rotation. Give me a break, I was fourteen. How was I supposed to know he’d be a bad fit…for basketball in general. As Zach Lowe described the craziness of Melo being taken, it was a team that secured their guy with their late first round pick, had back-to-back picks and figured they’d take a gamble. Ainge did and somehow came out of the house with less than what little he had going in.

The next year, Ainge traded number thirteen pick Lucas Nogueria, an intriguing prospect in Toronto, moved to Dallas on draft night for Kelly Olynyk. Like Sullinger, Olynyk was a frequent punching bag for many Celtics fans, including myself. But all in all, he’s been a solid big man. No way was Ainge taking Giannis with that pick. All scouts had to go from him were grainy footage of this guy who was head above shoulders against competition that possibly wasn’t even in his age group.

Olynyk enjoyed an under the radar great year in 2016-17, averaging 60.8% on twos, 51.2% from the field, a career-high in True Shooting, 60.3%, DRB% (20.7 and AST% (15.2). And he got hot at precisely the right time in the postseason. After Game 2’s lost to the Bulls, Olynyk shot 59.2%, including his famous 10 for 14, 26 point performance in Game 7 to push the C’s over a very good Wizards team.

I don’t care anymore. The Kelly Olynyk pick is fine in my book, and he’ll most likely find a new team this summer. So let Game 7 be your last memory of the man-bun.

That’s pretty much it. After 2013 there’s a bunch of wait-and-see guys: Marcus Smart (still would take him over Payton), James Young (big bummer), Terry Rozier (shown brief flashes in the playoffs), R.J Hunter (bigger bummer), Jordan Mickey (monumental bummer), Jaylen Brown (promising), Guerschon Yabusele, Ante Zizic (hopefully we’ll see them next season), Deyonta Davis (traded), Rade Zagorac (not wasting a BBall.Ref search on him), Demetrius Jackson (maybe a third guard in the future??), Ben Bentil (let go because of the roster crunch. Bummer), and Abdul Nader (In Maine with Yabu).

Going into tonight’s extravaganza, Ainge holds the third pick. Most likely he’ll take either Kansas forward Josh Jackson, a feisty competitor that can’t shoot for shit, or Duke forward Jayson Tatum, a good-natured kid that can shoot for shit, but can’t defend. Ainge isn’t one to shy away from gambles; he’s been itching to make a move for a while. We’ll see who he picks. But his track record isn’t as bad as people say.

Number of Notable Hits: Perkins (via trade), Rondo (via trade), Olynyk (via trade), Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Tony Allen, Jared Sullinger, E'Twaun Moore

Notable Misses: Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Orien Greene, J.R Giddens, Fab Melo

Notable We’ll Wait and Sees: Smart, Brown, Rozier, Nader, Zizic, Yabu

That’s seven notable hits, five notable misses and six notable we’ll wait and sees. Not bad considering Ainge’s average pick place is somewhere just below twenty.

[getseriouser]

20 THOUGHTS: Too soon to go the Early Crow?

WILL anyone catch the Crows? Every chance, they don’t hand out flags in Autumn.

Adelaide looks immense and rightfully so, above the GWS and Bulldogs perhaps, they are entitled to premiership favouritism. But this is such a long season, and whilst the manner to which they have won has been nothing short of spectacular, the first four to six rounds of a season are ever more largely shaped by who you’ve played, not necessarily a true reflection of how good you are or how high you’ll finish come the end of August, as many clubs are now discovering.

 1.       We’ll start with Richmond. No surprise they got thumped, that’s the distance between the two sides evidently. All this talk of a blockbuster between two heavyweights of the 2017 season was so far off the mark. Adelaide, it’s only presumptive, but look assured of top four, if not top two you’d suggest. Richmond, you wouldn’t put your house on them making the eight yet; with their start, you’d say they probably can but their start to the season flatters them greatly.

 2.       The Crows are going great guns though, can they sustain it, or if need be retaining this form later in the year is their only real question mark. Mind you, their midfield looks super as is, but wouldn’t Bryce Gibbs have been just the cherry on top had their offer to Carlton last off-season been just a smidgen better.

 3.       Let’s clean up the Selwood/Pendlebury stuff – how much intrigue did that get? Especially the knee-jerk scribes hustling to meet their evening deadline on Sunday, who all assumed the ‘stoush’ took place at the siren. It would have taken one phone call to realise that there is clear vision showing the two sparring for at least twenty seconds prior to the final siren and it was just an unfortunate coincidence that it spilled over into the post-game, slightly. But it was nothing, especially if you contrast it to the infamous final siren  at Skilled Stadium between Geelong and Fremantle, now that was something perhaps. Ridiculous.

 4.       How are the Cats going, or how are they looking more pertinently? This column has remained unconvinced and nothing on the weekend shakes me from that position. The only win thus far that you could call, well, convincing, was that over the Saints where Joel Selwood run amuck in the second half. The key points from the weekend on Geelong are that if you stop one or both of Selwood or Patrick Dangerfield the Cats will be hard pressed to win, moreover their game style doesn’t do enough to hurt the opposition. If you play well you should beat the Cats, if you stuff it up (see Melbourne or North Melbourne) then they’ll nobble you. This team is a borderline top eight side to be honest.

 5.       The Pies were not too bad, it was clear in the pre-game interview with the broadcaster that Nathan Buckley had made a stand, he offered that his side will be daring with no ifs or buts this week, and it showed. Sure, they still kicked inaccurately, but this is a side that if it isn’t so conservative has good football in it. Good enough to make the finals if consistent, but that’s too large an ‘if’. Daniel Wells, when fit, does make a key difference though, a nice addition thus far.

 6.       Melbourne should be at least 4-2. This is a good football team. Very nice midfield, good key targets, the only downside is the loss of Max Gawn otherwise top four should be in their sights. How the Dees’ coaches can mitigate that over the next month or so will be crucial, when Gawn gets back they could threaten.

 7.       In fact, if a hypothetical round robin was to take place, between Melbourne, St Kilda, Richmond and Geelong, home and away so six matches each, I’d be confident the Dees and Saints would finish top two, especially if the former has a fit Gawn in the ruck.

 8.       Gee the Dogs were mighty on Friday night. Should have won really, but they’ve had some good fortune in the close ones, hardly lost a tight game for as long as one can remember, so one the other way is probably fair. But with some good names to come back in, they look to be just cruising. We have a lot of trust in the Dogs; they’ll be a force later in the year.

 9.       Ah the Hawks. Quintessential witch’s hats on Saturday afternoon. Stephen Hawking would have applied better pressure. A sloth after two glasses of warm milk could have provided a fiercer contest towards the ball and the man. I’ve heard of miracles happening from time to time, Clive Palmer fitting into a size 40 waist recently, is one, but hard to see Hawthorn amounting to anything this year. This is like Fremantle of last year, but with a worse smell. They’ve won four flags in ten years so who cares, I suppose.

 10.   Off-field, big appointment this week, former Olympian Tracey Gaudry is the new Hawthorn CEO, the first female chief executive at club land so that’s a landmark moment in itself. Interestingly, they really wanted an existing CEO, particularly Ahmet Baines from St Kilda, so something went amiss despite Tracey’s credentials (currently the General Manager – Commercial and Growth at Athletics Australia).

 11.   Speaking of amiss, I can hazard a guess the Hawks are just done, but are the Swans too? If you do the maths, cumulatively, they’ve probably missed a pre-season, or at least half one, over the last few years compared to the rest of the competition by always going deep in September. But is there something internal that’s off, we resort to the ‘tired’ excuse, or ‘gone to the well too many times’ suggestion, but it wouldn’t surprise if there’s something not quite right off the field inside the tent so to speak.

 12.   The two Western Australian teams – good luck. West Coast, look like Brisbane of the early 21st century at home, but look like University of the early 20th century in Melbourne. Maybe if they put out the same side for home and away games, then maybe… no wait, they do that already – who knows what happens above their shoulders when they fly? And Fremantle, was really expecting better. Mind you, they are playing a lot of youth, so some inconsistent excitement and promise might just be the Dockers’ ceiling this year, which isn’t a terrible plight.

 13.   Back on the Hawks quickly, word is already, with this start, and to no surprise, they will become very aggressive in list turnover. They are devoid of any talent under the age of 24, with no draft picks last year and their first pick this year going to fall in the late 30s. So, trading big names out, getting crafty with the swapping of draft picks, they will be doing a mountain of work come October/November.

 14.   Big cross to the umpires on Saturday afternoon at the MCG. Clearly Gary Rohan was knocked out, and this column doesn’t care what the specific, nitpicky rules say about letting play continue, where the ball is, etc., but as soon as there’s any indication, moreover confirmation, that a player is unconscious, play must halt immediately. The fact that the play went on for almost a minute it seems after Rohan hit the ground was deplorable. Maybe it’s the instruction to the umpires to be fair, but either way that was wrong.

 15.   Rory Sloane is the new Brownlow favourite, and about time too. This column is very pro-Rory and like that whilst he may not get the most disposals every week, its everything he brings to the contest in influencing the result. A long way to go, he has a number of high calibre teammates who might take votes off him, but the Crows look destined to win many games so Sloane will poll very well.

 16.   So a breakfast morning show in Perth, not even a sports station too, went with the Nat Fyfe to St Kilda being done. Since then, mass denial and character assassination of the particular broadcaster in question. However, what hasn’t been said is that yes, St Kilda are keen to spend this year if they can, and too right for doing so, a big fish would be timely. Yes, St Kilda have sounded out Fyfe’s management, just as Sydney sounded out Buddy Franklin’s ahead of time, Geelong with Dangerfield’s, etc. And yes, Fyfe would have made a decision by now, or is at least 90%, to which moving to a Melbourne-based club is a key option for him. So, it would not shock at all if come the season’s end, Fyfe ends up in red, white and black. It’s not laughable, it’s still very plausible, we just can’t discuss it you see…

 17.   Quick jab to Essendon. When the emergence of clash jumpers surfaced, many Victorian clubs were staunch on changing their strip, their famous old strip, some citing club constitution in refusing to adapt. Essendon was indeed that club who referenced constitutional regulation as to why they won’t be budged. Now the Anzac Day jumpers aside, the Bombers next weekend against Geelong will run out with a red, wheat silhouette in place of the sash. Now come on, where’s the staunch defense of the red sash on black now?

 18.   Three big games this week we like, firstly Port Adelaide vs. West Coast. What should happen, West Coast hates to travel so the Power will trounce them. What should really happen, the Eagles should have a real go and test how much of a rise Port have made this year. So what will happen? Port will be too good, and we’ll still scratch our heads that the team we watch at Subiaco is the same team we see elsewhere around the country.

 19.   Saturday night we see the Dogs hosting the Tigers. Adelaide’s a great team so those still bemused by Richmond’s start will think ‘hey, big game, could be a close one, if not a Tigers’ win, they are having a great year’. Not yet they are. The reality check will continue, the reigning premier is still the reigning premier, the Tigers are not the reigning anything, not since the early 1980s, let’s just relax a little.

 20.   Melbourne take on Hawthorn this week, firstly, let’s mention we don’t care that Jordan Lewis is playing against his old side, sure, it’s interesting but it won’t make a difference to the game itself. Not only should Melbourne win, but they need to win well. This season has been good on one hand, three-three, that’s encouraging, but they’ve let a lot of points, and ultimately wins, out on the park this year, time to readdress the balance by doing a number on the Hawks. That’s what they ‘should’ do, but we shall see.

(originally published May 4)