#sean lew one shot

[darlinvandijk]

Let Me Down Slowly

Concept: I watched his solo to this and kinda just fell in love with the song and let a little story play out in my head, so I decided to write out what went down in my head. I also decided to test out first person pov, do y’all like that or? (Also dm me if you have an imagine or idea that you want me to write, or just to talk in general) I hope you enjoy it :)

I slowly start to roll and stretch my body out as I get ready for the long night ahead of me, since practice with Sean means stress, stress, and more stress.

I won’t say that we have a bad relationship, more like a mutual dislike towards one another. Now don’t get me wrong, he’s a great person. There’s just a bit of a history between us that makes it hard to fully get along with one another.

You’re probably wondering what exactly happened between us, because I am too. One day we were fine and then next thing I know we are both distancing ourselves and acting as if we don’t know each other.

“C’mon. We need to start and get this done and finished because tomorrow is BABE19 and we should have started this routine a good month or two ago.” He mumbles to me from across his garage, acting like I’m the reason we are barely starting the routine.

“Don’t fucking start with me Sean. Don’t act like I’m the reason we are barely starting this routine. I’ve been constantly texting you and trying to get you to work, but Mr. dance prodigy here is too busy to work with those he feels are less than him.” I spit out as I stand and walk across the garage to be in front of him.

We both stand in front of each other, feeling the tension in the room. Especially since this is the first time we’ve been alone together in a long time. The last time we were alone was right before whatever we had going on ended. When I actually thought there was a possibility of us working out.

“I don’t want to fight. Let’s just start.” He mumbles walking over to his phone to hit play on the song, looking defeated yet agitated with our ordeal.

As soon as the beat fills the room, I can already feel the tension rising. This song is emotional, which means Sean and I need to suck it up and put as much chemistry as we can into this choreo. Will and Janelle didn’t ask us to teach a lesson for no reason, the last thing I want to do is let them down because of some teenage boy drama.

“So I actually did start working on the choreo and ideas for it awhile ago, I guess I’ll just show you what I have and teach you, then we can go from there.” Sean says looking me straight in the eyes with a look telling me to not challenge him.

“I started working on this too Sean. You’re not the only one teaching this class, my input and work is just as important. Stop treating me as if I’m some child you’re forced to look after.” I spit out, trying to hide my real emotions. Sometimes the easiest way to hide sadness and pain is with anger. It’s not the best route, but it’s all I got.

“I don’t want to fight. I just want to get this over with so we can teach the class and then move on with our lives. Look I’ll go first, then you, and we can incorporate both and move on from there. Got it?” He says giving me a look to just agree with him to stop all of this drama.

I don’t say anything back and just nod my head as I sit down to get ready to watch and analyze what he’s come up with.

Sean hits play on his phone that’s hooked up into the speaker in the corner of his little studio at his house and then moves to the center of the room to show me what he’s come up with so far.

I sit back and watch him go through the jumps, leaps, and turns that he wants in the dance, piecing together what I think could work well with my ideas.

“How was that? Will it work with what you’ve got so far?” Sean asks walking up to me while wiping his face with the bottom of his shirt, drawing my eyes instantly to his toned stomach but then looking away once I notice him watching my every movement.

For supposedly not liking me, this kid has a hard time looking away from me.

I ignore is question and just walk to where his phone is and hit play, slowly making my way to the center of the room to start.

I twist and turn putting all my emotions into it, because even though he doesn’t have feelings for me, I still do. I just wish he could have held some sympthay for me and slowly let me down rather than just completely leaving me when I needed him most.

“If you wanna go then I'll be so lonely, If you're leaving baby, let me down slowly” softly plays out into the room as I do my last move, slowly sinking to the ground while staring straight ahead with the blank almost broken look I’ve learned to master.

I sit in the middle of the floor watching Sean to see what he has to say about my dance, only to find him getting up and walking to his phone to hit play again, before making his way over to me.

“Let’s try and just go with the flow and improvise to see what we can come up with on the spot. Our ideas are pretty similar and probably only need minor changes in order to make it a smooth duo dance for us to teach” he mumbles holding a hand out to help me up.

I ignore his hand and stand up moving into position. The music starts playing and we improvise, pushing off each other and pulling each other close to symbolize the push and pull of the song.

We finish our run through of the dance when I notice he’s still holding onto me, so I slowly push him off of me and back away to where my phone and water bottle are.

“Wait.. I think we need to talk” he mumbles softly holding onto my wrist before I can get too far from him. I pull arm away from his touch and slowly turn to face him.

“What now Sean, there’s nothing to talk about. You made it very clear that nothing is going on and I’m over it and fine. We can do BABE19 and go back to not knowing each other.” I snap, feeling all the pain and hurt I felt remembering all the calls and texts he never replied too.

“Please. I’m sorry. I hope you can show me a little bit of sympathy, you weren’t the only one struggling.” He tells me looking straight into my eyes to see if he can find even a hint of emotions.

“You let me down. You dropped me out of nowhere. You couldn’t have even told me you wanted to end what we had? I was so lonely.” I hiss out with tears pooling in my eyes. Only to notice his hand reach out to mine.

I watch his hand grab mine and slowly pull me into him. He wraps his arms around me waiting to see if I’ll resist, but I’m too hurt to even put up a fight with him.

“If you’re gonna leave again, can you let me down slowly.” I whimper as tears fall down my face wetting his shirt.

“I’m not leaving. I promise. I won’t make that same mistake again.” Sean mumbles before connecting his lips with mine.

[runenc03]

Minho (a seaycee oneshot)

Writing date: December 2018

Genre: fluff

Warnings: none, except for a lot of personal information lol. Basically this is a real life experience, although 'Minho' (who's actually a Newt irl) and I are now actual friends, but nothing else. I love him, but not in a romantical way. And that's okay, I'm happy this happened, because I can't imagine my life without him now :)

--------------------------------------------------

It was around mid september when she first saw him. He was walking through one of the corridors of her school, head down, dark, healthy hair brushing his forehead. He was wearing a long coat, his hands deeply burried in their pockets. His jeans were ripped, but not too much, and his sneakers were a daring shade of red for a boy.

She felt herself immediately drawn to the mysterious boy. She didn't know him, had never seen him before, but there was just something about him that made her want to know more about him. Who was he? He must at least be a year older than her, they would have their breaks at the same time if he wasn't.

As soon as she realised that she was shamelessly staring at the boy, she quickly looked down at her feet, scolding herself silently for zoning out like that, and accelerated her steps, hurrying to her next class.

Still, she couldn't get the unknown boy out of her head, wracking her brain for someone he reminded her of.

He looks like Minho from the Maze Runner.

And in that moment, it just clicked. For her, his name was Minho.

****

"You see that boy there?"

The girl tried to whisper to her best friend when she saw 'Minho' again, feeling the need to share her thoughts with someone else.

"You mean the one with the long coat and the healthy hair?"

"Shh! He'll hear us if you don't talk a bit softer!"

Her best friend had the decency to look guilty.

"Well, yes, that one. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks he looks just like Minho. You know, from the Maze Runner."

Her best friend rolled her eyes at first, but soon had to agree with the girl.

"I know who Minho is, you idiot. And you're right, he does resemble him. But, wasn't Ki Hong Lee your celebrity crush? You should smile to the boy! See what he does! You have- Oh gosh he's looking at you!"

The girl's head shot up from her smaller best friend, whom she had been looking at earlier, since they were in a conversation. The shorter girl was right, he was looking at her.

The girl's brain seemed to stop working and everything around her slowed down. Not because it was love at first sight, no, it was far from that. She was simply paralyzed, not knowing what to do in a situation like this, having never experienced it before.

She couldn't stop looking however, her eyes seemed to be glued to his, even though there was about 13 feet of distance between them. It was only when she turned a corner and he dissappeared out of her eye sight that her brain seemed to function again.

"He was so staring at you!"

The girl's eyes went back to her friend, and her eyebrows curled itself in a critical manner. Even though she knew that her best friend was right, her brain's malfuntions seemed to make an appearance again, because it simply refused to believe what her eyes had clearly registered.

She told herself that he probably just looked at her best friend, not at her. She wasn't nearly as beautiful as her friend was, not having the same curves as her, not to mention that the smaller girl's hair was always on point, while her own was a mess, if not completely tangled, then probably dirty, even though she washed it non stop.

Who would ever look at her?

She sighed, tuned out all of her friend's squeals and fangirl-talk, and focussed herself on her next class. He was probably just staring into space, hadn't even noticed her. No need to get so riled up.

Little did she know that things like this would happen a lot more in the near future...

***

It was late october, and the girl was, as usual, walking though her school with her best friend, when the latter elbowed her in the side.

"He's looking at you again."

Instantly, she turned around, forgetting to be careful or subtle. He wasn't either, if she could believe her best friend's judgement.

The boy was indeed staring at her again. Their eyes locked, and just like every other time this happened, the girl didn't know what to do. It was simple, really. As soon as their eyes locked, her brain refused to work.  Should she say something? Smile? Glare? She didn't know, wasn't used to these kind of situations.

Suddenly, a large group of rowdy teens blocked her view, and their eye contact was broken, as was the spell she seemed to be under whenever he looked her into the eyes.

He had deep brown ones

Did she just notice that?

A smile made its way on her face. She remembered something, which meant that she wasn't as shocked and frozen anymore when she looked at him like when she did for the first time.

She was making progress

***

"We should try to find out what Minho's real name is. Maybe Instagram or Facebook can help"

The girl was sitting in the canteen with her friend, and somehow, the conversation had turned to Minho again.

She liked to talk about him

Did she really just think that? She couldn't keep the blush from forming on her cheeks, completely embarrassed and horrified that she had thoughts like that.

Come to think of it, she really didn't know anything about him.

But did she want to?

She'd always thought that she wanted to know who he really was, but now that her friend proposed to actively search for him on social media, she wasn't so sure anymore. In all honestly, he had been more on her mind the last few weeks than was probably healthy, invading her rational thoughts and turning them into a fangirl-like mess. Always.

Did she really want to know the real Minho, who would undoubtedly not be as perfect as the one in her head? Was she really willing to give up that perfect image of him?

On the other hand, maybe his real self wasn't that far away from the perfect boy in her mind, and she could - then what, actually? What could she do? She knew she would never make a move, she was way too shy for that, not to mention that she still wasn't convinced that he really looked at her. It just seemed so surreal. What did he even see in her? Was he attracted to her? She couldn't imagine being attracted to someone like her, she was just so...plain. She didn't have the curves of a model, but wasn't a plus size either. Her hair was brown, but a plain, boring kind of brown, and too busy with a lot of other things, her clothes weren't the most fashionable either. She was rather comfortable in something less beautiful than having to worry about every little imperfection in her outfit. What did he see in her? Why did he keep staring at her, not one or two, but at least 15 times over the course of the last 8 weeks?

"Hello? Are you still there? Zoning out about Minho again? I just said that we should try to find out his name. How does that sound, miss Daydream?"

She felt the blush on her cheeks burn even harder, busying herself with her sandwich, instead of looking at her friend. Refusing to make eyecontact, she simply nodded.

"Alright, let's find out his name."

How could she not? Her curiosity would always win over her fear.

***

Sean.

That was Minho's real name.

The girl was at home this time, it was a Tuesday afternoon in early november, and she had seen Minho talk that morning to someone she vaguely knew the name of. She hadn't wasted any time when she came home, quickly throwing her bag on a chair and plumping down on the couch, looking on Facebook for the person's name and immediately clicking on the 'friends'-section. She had scrolled down on the seemingly endless list, looking at every profile picture, trying to catch a glimps of slightly longer dark hair or an athletic build.

Just when she hadn't been expecting it anymore, she'd come across a picture of a boy in sweatpants, hair disheveled, sweaty from sporting.

She felt a flutter inside her chest.

It was him.

And then her eyes shifted towards his name. Sean Lew.

She hadn't expected that name, but she didn't really know why. Had she subconciously expected something Asian? It shouldn't matter, she realised, but in reality, it did. She had been refering to the boy with the name Minho for so long, that it felt weird to think of him as anything else.

Why am I even thinking about that? His entire profile is one click away, for God's sake!

She couldn't contain her curiosity anymore, didn't even think about the doubts she had had a few weeks ago.

She clicked on his name.

She wished that she would've been able to call her best friend with the news that Sean was just like Minho, but that wasn't entirely true.

The second picture she came across, was one of him holding an empty bottle of liquor above his open mouth, showing his muscular arms, but also his immaturity.

It felt like her heart dropped a bit, suddenly feeling a lot heavier.

This is what she'd been so afraid of.

But she refused to let go of him completely, at least for now. Holding on to the last drop of hope that was still within her, praying that this picture was just an exception and he was actually a good guy with manners and maturity, she scrolled down his profile.

She honestly didn't know what to think of him. It almost seemed like he was 2 completely different people at once. There were the typical bad boy replies to girls who commented bold things under his pictures, but there were also posts where he talked about how much he loved his family, which honestly warmed her heart.

And she realised then and there, that she still had no clue who he really was.

***

It was still early in the morning. The young girl was waiting for her best friend, while also looking one last time through her notes for chemics, since it was her worst subject and she was in her exam -slightly-more-than-a-week.

She sighed. She would never get the hang of those oxidation state numbers.

Deciding that she'd seen enough of those, she looked up from her notes, only to see the back of a head that looked a lot like Minho's, but was only covered in very slight stubble.

Her breath hitched. It couldn't be him, could it?

But it was. He had turned a bit, walking in another direction than he had previously stood, and she could see his face now.

Definitely Sean.

But why? His hair was one of the most attractive things about him! Her friend had agreed with her, saying that it was the only attractive thing about him.

And that's where she had to disagree with her friend. It hadn't been a very long time since she had finally admitted to herself that she found him attractive. Like, really attractive. True, his hair had been his best facet - although his arms weren't far behind- but that didn't mean he wasn't attractive in general. In fact, she realised as she looked him walk away, unaware of her presence for once, she was still incredibly attracted to him.

But an almost bald Minho would still take a lot of getting used to.

***

She didn't get a lot of time for that, however. It was currently half past 2 in the afternoon, and she felt like she could breath again now her exam chemics was over. The girl was standing all alone outside of the toilets, waiting for a few of her friends to get out, deep in thoughts, until her attention was brought back to reality by the sudden feeling you get when someone else is watching you. She looked around, and at first, she only saw a shadow of someone walking upstairs to the first floor. When she squinted her eyes however, she saw that it was a boy with a long coat on and very, very short hair. 

Sean.

She didn't recognise him at first, still not used to his short hair, but when she focussed on his face, all thoughts about the state of his hair went out of the window.

He was literally not even looking at the steps he took, his eyes glued to her, craning his neck to be able to watch her as long as possible.

She couldn't do anything, only stare back at him, like all the previous times. She felt so drawn to him, so interested in him, that she asked herself if she really didn't have a crush on the boy.

But you can't have a crush on someone who only stares at you, but never says a word to you, right?

And with a shock, she realised that she really couldn't deny it anymore: he looked at her, and only her. No-one was near her, not her beautiful best friend or some model-like popular girl, she was the only one in the whole corridor.

She couldn't hold back the smile that crept on her face, or the sudden surge of confidence that swept through her for the first time in forever...

***

It was almost one week later, the last Monday of this semester. The girl was walking towards her bus, earplugs in her ears, humming slightly to the music and already imagining different types of choreography to it. She was in a good mood, her last exam being tomorrow, English at that. She was almost at the place where she always waited for the bus with the other kids who took the same one, when she felt his eyes again. Properly looking around this time, she found him, and their eyes met again. He was standing only a few feet away from her, and she could see that his hair had already grown a little bit, now in a decent buzzcut, instead of the fuzz of a week ago. She studied his face for the umpteenth time in the last few months, not ashamed anymore since he never looked away from her either. His eyes seemed bigger with his short hair, jawline sharper. And his lips-

She had never thought about his lips before. Sure, she was attracted to him, but not to the point where she fantasised about kissing him, hence why she'd never thought about his lips. Yet his lips seemed the only thing she could focus on right now, and she had a very logical explanation for that.

He smiled at her.

Not just a tight, quick smile. Not a smirk either. His smile was a genuine, heartwarming smile.

And it was directed towards her.

Not being able to help herself, she smiled back at him, only for her to bury her face in her scarf a second later, scared that he would see her blushing cheeks. This was something new, something she wasn't used to yet.

Not that she would mind having to get used to him smiling at her like that.

She didn't know whether the drinking bad boy, or this smiling, seemingly awe struck, gentle boy was the real Sean, but for some reason, it didn't bother her anymore. Maybe her 18 year old self was laughing at her younger self while cuddling Sean, or maybe she had completely forgotten about him by then. It didn't matter. Right now, he made her feel something unexplainable. It wasn't really love, not even a crush actually, but it was definitely attraction, and even though the situation probably seemed like an incredibly boring one for the rest of the world, the fact that he looked at her, stared at her, smiled at her, made her feel powerful, feminine, and for the first time, confident in herself.

And for that alone, she was him incredibly thankful.

[junker-town]

Teddy Bridgewater vs. Taysom Hill is the NFL’s only good backup QB battle

Photo by Stephen Lew/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Could either one of them be Drew Brees’ potential successor?

The Saints are set at starting quarterback for 2019. Drew Brees was his typical all-world self for most of his previous year. While the now 40-year-old’s level of play declined late in the season, he still managed to record a league- and career-high 115.7 passer rating and led his team within one blown pass interference call of the Super Bowl.

But if Brees goes down, New Orleans has the backup ballast it needs to stay afloat.

The quadragenarian quarterback sits atop a depth chart that features a former Pro Bowler in Teddy Bridgewater. This offseason, Bridgewater re-signed with the Saints on a one-year deal, allowing him to continue to rebuild his value following 2016’s catastrophic knee injury while keeping his name in the mix as Brees’ possible successor.

Those plans may not come to fruition if Taysom Hill can look as good as he did in preseason Week 2. The former BYU star has turned heads as an electric special teamer and gadget-play specialist in his first two seasons in the league, but his performance against a smattering of Chargers backups lends credibility to his passing game.

Taysom Hill's TOP plays from yesterday's win! #Saints @T_Hill4 pic.twitter.com/aVV9Sd1lYu

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 19, 2019

Hill completed 11 of his 15 passes for 136 yards and threw for each of the Saints’ two touchdowns. He added a game-high 53 rush yards. Despite not entering the game until the second quarter, the third-string passer was responsible for 58 percent of his team’s total offense.

That raises an important preseason question.

Is Taysom Hill the Saints’ best backup quarterback?

Hill, a player with zero career starts at quarterback and seven NFL pass attempts, is an intriguing unknown for New Orleans. His athleticism and ability to pick up new facets of the pro game have kept him on the Saints’ active roster in each of the past two seasons. He’s listed on the roster as a QB, but he’s made his impact felt everywhere from the backfield to special teams.

When Taysom Hill is in the game, you should know the zone read is coming and that he will likely keep it no matter what. And that he can run over defenders like Landon Collins. Like the arc block by the TE here. pic.twitter.com/f3kW4zxBHi

— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) October 12, 2018

This preseason has shown how this versatile approach informs his play behind center. Hill’s big performance against the Chargers was a combination of exploiting their many defensive deficiencies and finding a way to spin sugar into cotton candy. His first touchdown strike was a pass to an inexplicably wide open Austin Carr, but his on-target placement allowed it to be a walk-in touchdown instead of a first-and-goal situation.

Hill’s second touchdown saw him use the mobility and speed to avoid an oncoming rush and connect with tailback Devine Ozigbo.

OZIGBO!@T_Hill4 marches it down the field for the score ⚜️ pic.twitter.com/Jg5i3rb3Wm

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 18, 2019

The biggest takeaway from that performance was Hill’s ability to find and hit open windows downfield. It’s only one game, however, and consistency hasn’t exactly been a calling card for the young passer.

Accuracy was a problem for the BYU product dating back to his college days, where he completed just 58 percent of his passes. He threw only 12 more touchdowns than interceptions in that span. While he made up for it with his legs — Hill scored 32 rushing touchdowns as a Cougar — those lapses appeared to create a low ceiling as an NFL passer.

Hill vacillated between good and bad performances in stretches at BYU. Hoping for him to put these issues in his rearview in 2019 may be unrealistic thanks to his advanced age. After two years on an LDS mission out of high school, five seasons at BYU, and two in the NFL, Hill will be 29 years old this season. That’s two years older than the man he’s battling for backup reps in New Orleans.

2019 Teddy Bridgewater is still capable of being 2015 Teddy Bridgewater

One good preseason game isn’t enough to call Hill a bonafide QB2. Especially when the man ahead of him on the depth chart was similarly effective just a week earlier. Bridgewater was hot garbage against the Chargers (5-of-12 passing with an interception), but he was steady in his preseason opener. He finished a two-quarter outing versus his former Vikings teammates with 134 yards and a touchdown, bolstering his case as one of the league’s most valuable backups.

That argument earned a major boost last August. Bridgewater’s knee injury led to his egress from Minnesota in 2019. He landed in the AFC East with the opportunity to take the reins as the Jets’ starting quarterback. Those plans were waylaid when the Jets took Sam Darnold with the third overall pick. Despite that, Bridgewater showed out enough in the preseason to convince the Saints to trade a third-round pick for his services.

Though that move failed to create the launchpad Bridgewater had been hoping for in his run-up to free agency in 2019, he impressed enough that New Orleans kept him around. The young veteran earned his first start since 2015 in a meaningless Week 17 game against the Panthers. It wasn’t a revelation from Bridgewater, though. He underwhelmed in a 22-pass, 118-yard performance — one in which Hill scored a 9-yard rushing touchdown as a wildcat-esque quarterback in the fourth quarter.

Despite the disappointing outing, Bridgewater has a higher NFL baseline than Hill, though it’s unclear if he’ll ever be able to reach it again. He was a Pro Bowl selection for Minnesota in his second season in the league, but though Bridgewater only threw 14 touchdown passes in 16 outings that year. Even so, he was a stable leader who was responsible for four game-winning drives in his first two seasons as a pro. His composition in the pocket portended future success.

Pre-injury Bridgewater was accurate but could also be unexciting in stretches. He overcame a steep learning curve — he’d started 28 of the Vikings first 32 games after being drafted in 2014 — and an understocked receiving corps (his top wideouts were an aging Greg Jennings and a not-yet-prime Stefon Diggs). There’s still reason to believe Bridgewater can be a starting-caliber quarterback even with the diminished mobility that followed years of rehabilitation for a devastated knee.

While Bridgewater could use his agility to avoid pressure in the pocket and spring for big plays before his injury, he wasn’t exactly a dual-threat passer. He was sacked on nearly nine percent of his dropbacks in Minnesota. He ran for just 0.8 yards per rush (after sacks) in three seasons at Louisville. Though he scored four touchdowns on the ground in his first two seasons in the NFL, his best and most sustainable work came while stepping up as pass rushers orbited around him.

Last year’s Week 17 loss to the Panthers gives us a little more background on what 2019 Teddy Bridgewater would look like as a starter in a meaningful game, but it’s still not an open and shut case. We know Bridgewater had the chops to be a starter on a playoff team four years ago. We also know he was the league’s hottest quarterback in the preseason of 2018 — and that led to a one-year, $7.25 million deal to remain on a Saints roster, where he had no chance to compete for a starting role.

This leaves New Orleans with a good problem to have

The Saints have two potential avenues for replacing an aging Hall of Fame quarterback without burning a Day 1 draft pick. Both roads are winding, bumpy, and may ultimately lead to dead ends. Bridgewater may never reach the slightly-above-average heights of his sophomore NFL season.

Hill’s ceiling is likely closer to that of Joe Webb — another converted quarterback who has done a little bit of everything in a nine-year NFL career — than as a worthy successor to Drew Brees. That’s not a bad thing! It’s just not as exciting as a low-yield backup developing into a starter four years after he was cleared to legally rent a car.

Head coach Sean Payton says he’s still evaluating each of his backup passers, but only Hill has been compared to a Hall of Famer this preseason.

“If you look back at Steve [Young]’s career, people don’t remember the time before he came to the NFL, you have a very athletic player that, I think, advanced when he got to San Francisco,” said Payton. “He always had great ability with his legs, so you’re trying to create visions for players, and that’s no different than how you’d evaluate how we see Teddy Bridgewater progressing and what we think he can be.”

That’s a lofty expectation for a third-string quarterback. Hill showed us all what that looks like on a good day, but that was only one game. Payton won’t have to look too far for a reminder that a stellar preseason doesn’t portend regular season success. That’s a lesson Bridgewater understands all too well.

The good news is New Orleans has all of 2019 to sort this out. If the second- and third-string quarterbacks have already hit their peaks, they still hold significant value. In the meantime, Bridgewater can settle into a traditional backup role while Hill takes the field for whatever high-impact gadgetry the Saints can think up.

They’re a first-rate insurance policy capable of staying in the race as potential Brees successors — even if a long shot.

If anything happens to Drew Brees, Payton will have some options. No matter who he chooses, it’ll be exciting.

[ladyxxdaydream]

Last night I was hit with intense nostalgia about my dance years and caught up on videos from one of my favorite choreographers WIlldaBeast Adams (William) and this. is. so. good. You can see the master at work in the second sequence (black dude is the choreographer; he does a solo at the end) alongside one of my favorite dancers in recent years, Sean Lew (he’s a baby here and honestly to be THAT good THAT young is insane.)

Also -- this masterpiece Will choreographed to trap music. How. Do. Bodies. Work. IDK!?! And my second favorite sequence from him. (with more baby sean slaaaying it.)

&& some of my favorite solos from Sean Lew. (that last one to Portugal. The Man makes me weep)

needless to say I’m obsessed with a KakaIru dance AU now, and it’s ruining my life.

(ps. secret about me: I once traveled to LA to take a class at the Millennium Dance Complex ((where this video is shot, I believe)) with Wade Robson whose worked with Britney Spears among others lmaoooooo)

[lauraramargosian]

Scott Winn: BROKEN BALLERINA incredibly inspiring.

Scott Winn doesn’t let his struggles keep him from his projects. This one is quite emotionally driven!

Broken Ballerina is inspirational, fresh and gives a taste of Scott Winn’s ability to nail every video he creates with his cast and crew. Most importantly, it’s emotionally deep and meaningful.

Scott Winn continues to be an inspiration to the film and entertainment industry.

In case you missed it, Scott Winn is an American filmmaker and songwriter, born June 30, 1987, in the small town of Port Hope, Ontario, Canada.

He grew up with his Mother (Kirsteen Winn), Father (Keith Winn) and four sisters, Heather Winn, Jennifer Ririe, Melissa Winn, and Rachel Harston.

He has devoted most of his life to the art of creating film and music that resonates with its viewers.

Save Our Scott: 17 years of chronic late stage Lyme disease.

In fact, he dropped a video called “BROKEN BALLERINA,” and it’s truly relatable. The moment the play button was pressed, viewers could instantly relate to being bullied and ignored in high school.

As she opens her locker we see decor, one poster that says “I love dance,” sets the short music video.

It was Roy T. Bennett who said “believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know and capable of more than you imagine.”

The project is very character driven and quite different from his other hit videos that show incredible dance-offs between different characters, including kids. With that in mind, it’s true that Scott Winn truly makes everyone shine in his videos.

The messages he wants his audience to pick up while watching is always a wonderful fit. In fact, there were endless comments on his YouTube channel which has 1.6 million followers.

Scott left a message for everyone after the flood of love.

“WASSSSUUUPPPP FAM! I’ve missed you guys! I hope you enjoy the new video and song (PART 1), this has been such a massive passion project of mine!

Give it up for Kaycee and Sean (more of Sean in Pt II), they are so unbelievably talented! This is just the beginning of so much more.

So definitely subscribe and turn on those notifications! Thanks ahead of time for the love and support! Hope everyone is having an amazing year, can’t wait to share more soon! -SDW”

BROKEN BALLERINA might different from most of his videos but this definitely showed a different side to Scott Winn and his projects.

It truly delivers the message of being proud of who you are and stepping out of your shell.

If you haven’t seen the video yet, you can check it out below. Lastly, you can stay up-to-date on the latest by following Scott Winn on YouTube and his official website.

Sound off and let us know what you thought about his newest video! Blessed be!

BROKEN BALLERINA ( Kaycee Rice & Sean Lew ) // ScottDW

The post Scott Winn: BROKEN BALLERINA incredibly inspiring. appeared first on Positive Celebrity News and Gossip.

No related posts.

from WordPress https://positivecelebrity.news/2019/06/26/scott-winn-broken-ballerina-incredibly-inspiring/

[flauntpage]

Tactical Guide to Darren Till Vs. Stephen Thompson

Darren Till exploded into the consciousness of many MMA fans when he battered Donald Cerrone in late 2017. Cerrone was Till’s first "name" opponent but is entering the twilight of his career, is undersized at welterweight, and was tailor made for Darren Till to box up. This weekend Till meets Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, a man in exile having lost two close fights with Tyron Woodley, the second of which was so tedious that he will likely not get a third shot. Thompson is as slick as they come on the feet, pushing forward a style of striking straight out of the 1970s kickboxing scene and doing things that would have been laughed off as impractical or impossible just a few years ago.

Both men have interesting quirks and we have written about both before, so let’s not beat around the bush with the general game of each man. Let us delve into the specifics of the match-up and explore what each man can do to hinder the other.

Hypothetical Gameplans

Darren Till faces the same stumbling blocks that everyone does when matched against Stephen Thompson. How does a fighter make Thompson engage on their terms, without simply walking onto stopping side kicks and counter left straights? At his most simplistic, Thompson is just a counter-puncher who keeps a strict control of distance. His opponents keep trying to close it and he’s only going to let them if he thinks he can run them onto something good and get away without getting hurt. We discussed this extensively in The Distance Trap.

Running onto a straight left can happen, but Thompson is much more inclined to drop away on a slight angle and fire a straight through the open side as the opponent recovers from over-extending. Interestingly, this is something that Thompson can do with a degree of ambidexterity. He has performed it as a southpaw fighter against orthodox opponents and, when meeting a southpaw like Johny Hendricks, Thompson has taken up the orthodox stance to create the same opening. The over-commitment with the rear hand from an open stance scenario leaves a fighter completely exposed for the counter left straight through that slight angle and this has proven to be a killer counter punch from the days of Benny Leonard versus Lew Tendler to Conor McGregor versus whoever.

Thompson cracking current UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker.

Benny Leonard retreating to the open side and firing a right straight in through the same angle, over a century earlier.

And wouldn’t you know it, here’s that Scouse lad doing the same thing.

There are a few means of stifling a counter fighter’s distance trap but the first and most important is using the boundaries: the ropes or fence. Every Thompson fight is decided by distance: he controls the distance, keeps it how he wants it for a little while, assesses his opponents’ aggression and leads or counters based on that. There are fighters for whom distance is something to be overcome in order to throw more hands, but for Thompson the fight starts and ends with distance with some strikes landed in between. But that means constant adjustment, constant re-establishing of the buffer zone, and all the back-stepping punches, check hooks, and open-side counters in Thompson’s arsenal require space for him to retreat into. Put him near the fence and half of the subtleties that Thompson’s feet bring to striking exchanges are immediately muted.

Darren Till showed excellent ring awareness against Donald Cerrone, placing him on the fence and hammering him with hard strikes in this disadvantaged position, but similarities between Cerrone and Thompson are few and far between. Thompson is a top notch ring general and Cerrone is nothing close to that. Study the few moments that Johny Hendricks, Robert Whittaker, and others were close to cornering Thompson and you will realize that he knows exactly how much he relies on space and is always aware of where he shouldn’t be.

Direction changes to get off the fence and a constant awareness of just where the fence is are the keys to great defensive ringcraft.

Moving Thompson to the fence is going to be hard work, but pressuring in that direction will force engagements and action from the ordinarily measured Thompson. Till has shown an understanding of feints to go along with his pressure, constantly pumping his left shoulder and hip, and while he rarely uses his jab as much as he should, let alone shows a double, it will certainly come in handy—especially when Thompson is southpaw. Feints combine with pressure to make distance based counter strikers move without opening up or wasting energy. It is a tricky business trying to decide which movements are worth picking up on and which are worth ignoring in a split second window, and when fighters stop reacting to feints they make themselves easy marks for clean leads.

When we discussed The Distance Trap, we talked about Sean O’Malley being caught off guard by a bumping shuffle step. Bringing the rear foot up near to the lead and pushing off it is not basic boxing but it is a great way to cover much more distance that most fighters are used to. Not only does this cover more distance and increase the chances of cracking an opponent while he retreats, it also plays with the opponents sense of distance. While Till hasn’t shown a propensity to double jab in his UFC tenure, he has used shoulder fakes to shuffle up and make distance for his left straight, which shows an understanding of the principle.

This kind of double feinting and covering distance should work to force Thompson into giving up ground quicker than he would like and thereby bring the fight closer to the fence more often. Along the fence, Till should look to land his heavy round kicks and to sneak the left straight through as these are his money strikes. More importantly the left elbow has proven an excellent weapon for Till when his man starts parrying or slipping the left straight.

Another trick which it would be good to see Till use in closing the distance is foot trapping. Whether Thompson is southpaw or orthodox, he fights from a lengthy stance that allows him to push off of the mat in front or behind him and create or close distance rapidly. This stance does, however, mean that he is rarely on top of his feet and rather balanced between them. Long stances like this allow a fighter to create distance rapidly—often mitigating traditional low kicks unless they are well set up or applied along the boundaries of the cage or ring—but it is very susceptible to sneaky, short foot sweeps and traps. As a fighter scuttles backwards as fast as he can his lead foot can be knocked across him or outwards with a short kick at the ankle. This is usually done with a skip up and lead leg kick or hooking of the foot. The actual strike accomplishes nothing in terms of damage, but complicates the retreat and pulls the fighter out of his stance. The low foot hook or kick can immediately be placed down in front of the advancing fighter and followed with actual strikes against an out-of-position opponent.

Here Yoel Romero demonstrates the foot trap. Notice that as Tim Kennedy’s lead foot lightens to retreat, it becomes much more susceptible to being knocked out of position. This technique works best against mobile fighters who are happy to retreat from exchanges.

One of Rory MacDonald’s few moments of success against Thompson was in skipping up and tapping the lead foot of the elusive karateka. Ironically one of the main proponents of these tapping low kicks in MMA was Lyoto Machida but, while they work wonderfully against fleet footed distance fighters, most of Machida’s opponents were heavy footed and plodding so the kick rarely had its full effect.

Stephen Thompson is in the position where, if Darren Till cannot demonstrate some smart ringcraft, he might not have to bring too many new looks. Thompson’s style is to ask questions of his opponent rather than offer answer to theirs. Staying off the fence and out in the center of the cage is obviously to Thompson’s advantage. If Till simply plods after Thompson, as Jorge Masvidal did, expect Thompson to dart in and out with pairs of straight punches and pile up his points that way. In terms of kicking though, Till’s southpaw stance makes things interesting.

While Thompson can hit his open-side counters off both stances, his kicking game seems very different in southpaw and orthodox positions. Almost all of Thompson’s lead leg kicking is done from his more bladed southpaw stance, while he throws more bread-and-butter kickboxing stuff focused on the rear leg from his orthodox stance. Darren Till being a southpaw means that when Thompson fights with his strong leg forward he is in a closed guard engagement. Typically Thompson likes the side kick and the hook kick with the lead leg, and using the defensive side kick to essentially start him into motion to move back on that forty-five degree angle to make the open-side counter. Obviously if he fights southpaw against Till that lead leg hook kick becomes a lot higher risk and a lot lower reward—with Till being a turn of the shoulders or a duck below the shoulder line away from the kick being worthless. Nicolas Dalby caught Till with a pair of high kicks over his right shoulder—it’s not impossible—but that was in the third round as Dalby pushed up the pace and stayed in a tired Till’s face.

More likely, as against Johny Hendricks, it will be that lead leg side kick and the standard round kick off the lead leg which form a staple of Thompson’s kicking in this fight. This was the pairing that won "Superfoot" Bill Wallace most of his fights, with the odd hook kick thrown in. The side kick draws the elbows down and in; the high kick flicks up and around from a very similar chamber. It’s a simple idea but Wallace and Thompson are a rare breed that can put it into practice against world class opponents. The closed guard match-up does increase the chances of Thompson wheel-kicking if Till lingers on the end of its range, though—turning kicks coming in on the open side from such a stance match-up.

One interesting consideration with this sort of match-up is: does it help or hurt the more adaptable fighter to go to his other skills? Darren Till has done good work as both an ultra-aggressive striker and a laid back counter striker, and in some matches (such as the Dalby one) he effectively switched between the two for periods of the bout. Stephen Thompson, meanwhile, works mainly with what his opponents give him, reluctantly pot-shotting when his opponent waits for him. We all recall that the tag line of the second Woodley fight was “I promise I’ll let my hands go this time.” So does Till do better by going to Wonderboy and trying to play the aggressor against a great counter-striker, or does he sit back and try to make Wonderboy play the role that most of the time he looks uncomfortable in?

Certainly you would think that Till has the advantage as the exchanges lengthen. Thompson has been caught off good counters in the same way that Lyoto Machida and Kyoji Horiguchi has—he times a perfect connection and then admires his work, or hangs around throwing hands when his boxing just isn’t up to snuff. Jake Ellenberger dropped Thompson in this way.

It might benefit Till to simply play the bully here, accepting that the counters are going to come and try to stick to Thompson with a collar tie or catch him with a hook before he exits. Till’s work with elbows and knees has been very impressive and frequent so far in the Octagon, it would be well in his interest to manufacture chances to use these weapons which Wonderboy essentially eschews. Whether that be by making ugly exchanges after pushing forward, or by clinching and physically pushing Thompson to the fence.

What makes this a fantastic match-up is that both men are clever enough and talented enough that there are any number of ways it could unfold. Unlike, say, the Maia vs. Usman fight last weekend—wherein most expected a slog where Maia couldn’t get the takedown—this welterweight tilt is surrounded by questions and they don’t stop dead if one man can’t do one thing in one area of the fight. Whether it’s an outright banger or a tentative snoozer, Thompson vs. Till has big ramifications for the division, watch the fight and get back here Monday if it was any good.

Jack wrote the hit biography Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor and hosts the Fights Gone By Podcast.

Tactical Guide to Darren Till Vs. Stephen Thompson published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[stopkingobama]

Victimhood has become the ultimate status symbol

In recent years, campus activists have become an increasingly visible aspect of American life. In 2015, Yale professors Nicholas and Erika Christakis came under fire for encouraging students to critically consider a new policy on Halloween costumes. The controversy reached a boiling point when Nicholas Christakis met student demonstrators in a courtyard and attempted to engage them in discussion:

More recently, American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray and Middlebury College Professor Allison Stanger were assaulted shortly after they were driven out of a lecture hall where Murray was scheduled to speak. The protesters succeeded in shutting down the talk by simply speaking over him:

This behavior is condemnable for a host of reasons, the least of which is that much of what the protesters are shouting is just factually incorrect (for example, Murray has long supported gay marriage, but the chant “racist, sexist, anti-gay” is simply too good to pass up). That the protesters eventually resorted to violence speaks to their moral certitude (a phenomenon that can be observed in other, similar protests), which is all the more troubling.

And yet, there are seemingly respectable people willing to defend this kind of savagery. Writing for Slate, Osita Nwanevu argued that the protesters were correct (and presumably, the violence that they employed was acceptable) because Trump: “In the Trump era, should we side with those who insist that the bigoted must traipse unhindered through our halls of learning? Or should we dare to disagree?” At Inside Higher Education, John Patrick Leary quipped that the protesters had “every right to shout him down.”

Disagreement is one thing. But shouting down opponents or – worse – engaging in violence in an effort to silence them is something else.

Cultural Evolution: From Honor to Dignity

In a country that has traditionally touted its tolerance for the expression of a diverse range of views, how did we get here? Let’s take a moment to review American cultural evolution.

Anyone who thinks that the nasty tone of American politics today is a historical anomaly should take a brief stroll down Google Lane and read about the Hamilton-Burr duel. The short version goes like this: Alexander Hamilton (former Secretary of Treasury) and Aaron Burr (Vice President of the United States) are longstanding political rivals. Upon learning that Hamilton had made particularly bruising comments about him at an elite New York dinner party, Burr challenges Hamilton to a duel. On July 11th, 1804, Burr shot Hamilton, who died the following day.

This sordid moment in American history is a classic example of what social scientists call a “culture of honor” – that is, a culture in which one’s reputation is made and maintained by a protective attitude and aggression toward those who would attempt to exert their dominance. Reputation – what others think of you – is paramount.

Such cultures are blessedly rare in the Western world, having been largely supplanted by what sociologist Peter Berger called “dignity culture.” In dignity cultures, a person’s worth is internal, and isolated from public opinion. What matters most is how one handles the minor slings and arrows that accompany many human interactions; a person with dignity does so quietly, usually by addressing the offending party directly and in private, if at all.

Dignity cultures are necessarily individualistic. There is no widespread notion of common guilt. Human agency is, by implication, paramount. It should be no surprise that for most of the 20th Century, Western societies have evolved to prize dignity over honor.

Let me be clear: this is a good thing. Most of us would recoil in horror at the thought of Mike Pence killing Jack Lew in a duel. I do not consider this point to be controversial. Some cultures are better than others, and Western culture today is certainly morally superior to its earlier instantiations, where slavery, sexism, and segregation were the norm. A culture in which dignity rather than honor is the standard bearer should be regarded as an appreciable improvement.

Victimhood Culture

But for many young Americans (and yes, this does appear to be a uniquely American phenomenon), the notion of quietly bearing one’s trials has become passe. Getting back to the issue at hand: I believe that much of what we have witnessed on college campuses in recent years can be explained by the rise of what sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning call “victimhood culture.” They state:

A culture of victimhood is one characterized by concern with status and sensitivity to slight combined with a heavy reliance on third parties. People are intolerant of insults, even if unintentional, and react by bringing them to the attention of authorities or to the public at large. Domination is the main form of deviance, and victimization a way of attracting sympathy, so rather than emphasize either their strength or inner worth, the aggrieved emphasize their oppression and social marginalization.

Watch the videos again: these students are engaging in precisely the behavior Campbell and Manning describe. They are demanding recognition of various victimhood statuses, and are unwilling to engage in any form of dialogue with those with whom they disagree. The category of “victim” is a moral absolute: no one can argue in favor of its fallibility.

But our understanding of victimhood culture and its relationship with the campus culture wars is incomplete without a commensurate recognition of what Nick Haslam calls concept creep: our understanding of what constitutes harm has broadened to include unintentional verbal slights, rather than being limited to overt, deliberate physical aggression.

This can be seen throughout the footage in question, but is particularly visible at one point in the Yale/Christakis row, when complaints take a turn for the hyperbolic: in response to an attempt by Christakis to appeal to the common humanity of everyone present, one student replies that such appeals are inappropriate “because we’re dying!”

It is difficult to understand how a student at one of the world’s top universities – well positioned to enter the halls of power after graduation – could reasonably be considered a member of an oppressed group, much less one that is being exterminated. Students at Yale, regardless of race or ethnicity, are among the cognitive and social elite. The idea that a simple e-mail about Halloween costumes could constitute an existential threat is nothing short of delusional.

But this observation is unlikely to quell the kind of uprising seen at Yale and Middlebury. As Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt point out, the students in these instances are likely engaging in a kind of emotional reasoning: making inferences about the state of the world based on their feelings, rather than an attempt to evaluate matters from a disinterested position that prizes objectivity.

Whither the Culture Of Victimhood

Advancing victimhood as a meritorious state while simultaneously expanding the criteria by which it is established means that those seeking social status are in constant competition. This “oppression olympics” (as some have termed it) means that marginalized status will become defined in an increasingly divisive manner. In this way, victimhood culture sows the seeds of its own destruction.

In an ironic twist, a culture of victimhood resembles a culture of honor in a surprising number of ways: for example, both demand that grievances be addressed, often publicly. It could even be argued that victimhood has obtained a privileged position that is impossible to challenge without incurring significant social costs. A new set of norms have emerged on college campuses, where there is a perverse honor in claiming to be oppressed.

Indeed, it is no wonder that victimhood culture has risen to prominence on elite colleges in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Only under such relatively comfortable conditions could this kind of silliness prosper.

In fact, any worldview that prizes victimhood cannot survive outside the cloistered environment of a college campus. The real world – with its job markets, mortgage payments, and adult responsibilities – has a way of encouraging us to prize dignity over victimhood. Capitalism insists on results, and is relatively unconcerned with our subjective emotional evaluations of the world.

This is the primary reason why we ought not take the protesters at Yale and Middlebury too seriously. They will be forced to grapple with the real world and leave their activism behind.

Republished from Learn Liberty.

Sean Rife

Sean is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Murray State University.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

[americanlibertypac]

Victimhood has become the ultimate status symbol

In recent years, campus activists have become an increasingly visible aspect of American life. In 2015, Yale professors Nicholas and Erika Christakis came under fire for encouraging students to critically consider a new policy on Halloween costumes. The controversy reached a boiling point when Nicholas Christakis met student demonstrators in a courtyard and attempted to engage them in discussion:

More recently, American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray and Middlebury College Professor Allison Stanger were assaulted shortly after they were driven out of a lecture hall where Murray was scheduled to speak. The protesters succeeded in shutting down the talk by simply speaking over him:

This behavior is condemnable for a host of reasons, the least of which is that much of what the protesters are shouting is just factually incorrect (for example, Murray has long supported gay marriage, but the chant “racist, sexist, anti-gay” is simply too good to pass up). That the protesters eventually resorted to violence speaks to their moral certitude (a phenomenon that can be observed in other, similar protests), which is all the more troubling.

And yet, there are seemingly respectable people willing to defend this kind of savagery. Writing for Slate, Osita Nwanevu argued that the protesters were correct (and presumably, the violence that they employed was acceptable) because Trump: “In the Trump era, should we side with those who insist that the bigoted must traipse unhindered through our halls of learning? Or should we dare to disagree?” At Inside Higher Education, John Patrick Leary quipped that the protesters had “every right to shout him down.”

Disagreement is one thing. But shouting down opponents or – worse – engaging in violence in an effort to silence them is something else.

Cultural Evolution: From Honor to Dignity

In a country that has traditionally touted its tolerance for the expression of a diverse range of views, how did we get here? Let’s take a moment to review American cultural evolution.

Anyone who thinks that the nasty tone of American politics today is a historical anomaly should take a brief stroll down Google Lane and read about the Hamilton-Burr duel. The short version goes like this: Alexander Hamilton (former Secretary of Treasury) and Aaron Burr (Vice President of the United States) are longstanding political rivals. Upon learning that Hamilton had made particularly bruising comments about him at an elite New York dinner party, Burr challenges Hamilton to a duel. On July 11th, 1804, Burr shot Hamilton, who died the following day.

This sordid moment in American history is a classic example of what social scientists call a “culture of honor” – that is, a culture in which one’s reputation is made and maintained by a protective attitude and aggression toward those who would attempt to exert their dominance. Reputation – what others think of you – is paramount.

Such cultures are blessedly rare in the Western world, having been largely supplanted by what sociologist Peter Berger called “dignity culture.” In dignity cultures, a person’s worth is internal, and isolated from public opinion. What matters most is how one handles the minor slings and arrows that accompany many human interactions; a person with dignity does so quietly, usually by addressing the offending party directly and in private, if at all.

Dignity cultures are necessarily individualistic. There is no widespread notion of common guilt. Human agency is, by implication, paramount. It should be no surprise that for most of the 20th Century, Western societies have evolved to prize dignity over honor.

Let me be clear: this is a good thing. Most of us would recoil in horror at the thought of Mike Pence killing Jack Lew in a duel. I do not consider this point to be controversial. Some cultures are better than others, and Western culture today is certainly morally superior to its earlier instantiations, where slavery, sexism, and segregation were the norm. A culture in which dignity rather than honor is the standard bearer should be regarded as an appreciable improvement.

Victimhood Culture

But for many young Americans (and yes, this does appear to be a uniquely American phenomenon), the notion of quietly bearing one’s trials has become passe. Getting back to the issue at hand: I believe that much of what we have witnessed on college campuses in recent years can be explained by the rise of what sociologists Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning call “victimhood culture.” They state:

A culture of victimhood is one characterized by concern with status and sensitivity to slight combined with a heavy reliance on third parties. People are intolerant of insults, even if unintentional, and react by bringing them to the attention of authorities or to the public at large. Domination is the main form of deviance, and victimization a way of attracting sympathy, so rather than emphasize either their strength or inner worth, the aggrieved emphasize their oppression and social marginalization.

Watch the videos again: these students are engaging in precisely the behavior Campbell and Manning describe. They are demanding recognition of various victimhood statuses, and are unwilling to engage in any form of dialogue with those with whom they disagree. The category of “victim” is a moral absolute: no one can argue in favor of its fallibility.

But our understanding of victimhood culture and its relationship with the campus culture wars is incomplete without a commensurate recognition of what Nick Haslam calls concept creep: our understanding of what constitutes harm has broadened to include unintentional verbal slights, rather than being limited to overt, deliberate physical aggression.

This can be seen throughout the footage in question, but is particularly visible at one point in the Yale/Christakis row, when complaints take a turn for the hyperbolic: in response to an attempt by Christakis to appeal to the common humanity of everyone present, one student replies that such appeals are inappropriate “because we’re dying!”

It is difficult to understand how a student at one of the world’s top universities – well positioned to enter the halls of power after graduation – could reasonably be considered a member of an oppressed group, much less one that is being exterminated. Students at Yale, regardless of race or ethnicity, are among the cognitive and social elite. The idea that a simple e-mail about Halloween costumes could constitute an existential threat is nothing short of delusional.

But this observation is unlikely to quell the kind of uprising seen at Yale and Middlebury. As Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt point out, the students in these instances are likely engaging in a kind of emotional reasoning: making inferences about the state of the world based on their feelings, rather than an attempt to evaluate matters from a disinterested position that prizes objectivity.

Whither the Culture Of Victimhood

Advancing victimhood as a meritorious state while simultaneously expanding the criteria by which it is established means that those seeking social status are in constant competition. This “oppression olympics” (as some have termed it) means that marginalized status will become defined in an increasingly divisive manner. In this way, victimhood culture sows the seeds of its own destruction.

In an ironic twist, a culture of victimhood resembles a culture of honor in a surprising number of ways: for example, both demand that grievances be addressed, often publicly. It could even be argued that victimhood has obtained a privileged position that is impossible to challenge without incurring significant social costs. A new set of norms have emerged on college campuses, where there is a perverse honor in claiming to be oppressed.

Indeed, it is no wonder that victimhood culture has risen to prominence on elite colleges in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Only under such relatively comfortable conditions could this kind of silliness prosper.

In fact, any worldview that prizes victimhood cannot survive outside the cloistered environment of a college campus. The real world – with its job markets, mortgage payments, and adult responsibilities – has a way of encouraging us to prize dignity over victimhood. Capitalism insists on results, and is relatively unconcerned with our subjective emotional evaluations of the world.

This is the primary reason why we ought not take the protesters at Yale and Middlebury too seriously. They will be forced to grapple with the real world and leave their activism behind.

Republished from Learn Liberty.

Sean Rife

Sean is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Murray State University.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

[eastwoodfeels]

Ian Eastwood Choreography | Asaiah Ziv & Xavier Omar Very Proud of this video right here. I think it represents a moment in my life where I finally feel like a lot of time and effort i've put in to trying to learn more about what goes into making a good video is beginning to pay off. There are so many things that go in to planning, creating, and executing a video that I wish you all could know. But as stressful and overwhelming as it may be when you try and play a lot of roles in the production of a video I know it will make it that much easier for me when I get to work on bigger projects because I'm learning the base necessary skill sets and some vocabulary to help further me as just a director and choreographer in the future. In the mean time, coloring, editing, producing, and designing the lighting with my phenomenal DP Gerald will be a learning a process. This piece itself captures how I felt one day/lately. I found this song on a discover weekly a few weeks ago in a car ride, came home, laid down the verse choreo taught it the next day and finished and shot the piece 4 days later. What I've been going for lately with my pieces is trying to capture my specific skill set and feeling at that time and then let it be. I think it will keep my material more fresh and give me more room to grow. One thing is for sure, theres always room to grow! Thank you Dance On for making this vid possible! Directed, Choreographed, Edited, Colored by : Ian Eastwood Director of Photography : Gerald Nonato Produced By : Ian Eastwood & Dance On Dancers : Hugh Aparente, Anthony Westlake, Sean Lew, Julian Deguzman, Connor Gormley, Jordan Viscomi Subscribe to Ian Eastwood►►http://bit.ly/IanEastwoodYT Subscribe to DanceOn!►► http://bit.ly/DanceOnYT -CONNECT WITH DANCEON- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/danceon Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanceOn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanceOnNetwork Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/DanceOn For DanceOn music partnership inquiries: music@danceon.com For DanceOn talent partnership inquiries: recruiting@danceon.com For press inquiries, we’d love to chat!: press@izo.com

[flauntpage]

Tactical Guide to Darren Till Vs. Stephen Thompson

Darren Till exploded into the consciousness of many MMA fans when he battered Donald Cerrone in late 2017. Cerrone was Till’s first "name" opponent but is entering the twilight of his career, is undersized at welterweight, and was tailor made for Darren Till to box up. This weekend Till meets Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, a man in exile having lost two close fights with Tyron Woodley, the second of which was so tedious that he will likely not get a third shot. Thompson is as slick as they come on the feet, pushing forward a style of striking straight out of the 1970s kickboxing scene and doing things that would have been laughed off as impractical or impossible just a few years ago.

Both men have interesting quirks and we have written about both before, so let’s not beat around the bush with the general game of each man. Let us delve into the specifics of the match-up and explore what each man can do to hinder the other.

Hypothetical Gameplans

Darren Till faces the same stumbling blocks that everyone does when matched against Stephen Thompson. How does a fighter make Thompson engage on their terms, without simply walking onto stopping side kicks and counter left straights? At his most simplistic, Thompson is just a counter-puncher who keeps a strict control of distance. His opponents keep trying to close it and he’s only going to let them if he thinks he can run them onto something good and get away without getting hurt. We discussed this extensively in The Distance Trap.

Running onto a straight left can happen, but Thompson is much more inclined to drop away on a slight angle and fire a straight through the open side as the opponent recovers from over-extending. Interestingly, this is something that Thompson can do with a degree of ambidexterity. He has performed it as a southpaw fighter against orthodox opponents and, when meeting a southpaw like Johny Hendricks, Thompson has taken up the orthodox stance to create the same opening. The over-commitment with the rear hand from an open stance scenario leaves a fighter completely exposed for the counter left straight through that slight angle and this has proven to be a killer counter punch from the days of Benny Leonard versus Lew Tendler to Conor McGregor versus whoever.

Thompson cracking current UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whittaker.

Benny Leonard retreating to the open side and firing a right straight in through the same angle, over a century earlier.

And wouldn’t you know it, here’s that Scouse lad doing the same thing.

There are a few means of stifling a counter fighter’s distance trap but the first and most important is using the boundaries: the ropes or fence. Every Thompson fight is decided by distance: he controls the distance, keeps it how he wants it for a little while, assesses his opponents’ aggression and leads or counters based on that. There are fighters for whom distance is something to be overcome in order to throw more hands, but for Thompson the fight starts and ends with distance with some strikes landed in between. But that means constant adjustment, constant re-establishing of the buffer zone, and all the back-stepping punches, check hooks, and open-side counters in Thompson’s arsenal require space for him to retreat into. Put him near the fence and half of the subtleties that Thompson’s feet bring to striking exchanges are immediately muted.

Darren Till showed excellent ring awareness against Donald Cerrone, placing him on the fence and hammering him with hard strikes in this disadvantaged position, but similarities between Cerrone and Thompson are few and far between. Thompson is a top notch ring general and Cerrone is nothing close to that. Study the few moments that Johny Hendricks, Robert Whittaker, and others were close to cornering Thompson and you will realize that he knows exactly how much he relies on space and is always aware of where he shouldn’t be.

Direction changes to get off the fence and a constant awareness of just where the fence is are the keys to great defensive ringcraft.

Moving Thompson to the fence is going to be hard work, but pressuring in that direction will force engagements and action from the ordinarily measured Thompson. Till has shown an understanding of feints to go along with his pressure, constantly pumping his left shoulder and hip, and while he rarely uses his jab as much as he should, let alone shows a double, it will certainly come in handy—especially when Thompson is southpaw. Feints combine with pressure to make distance based counter strikers move without opening up or wasting energy. It is a tricky business trying to decide which movements are worth picking up on and which are worth ignoring in a split second window, and when fighters stop reacting to feints they make themselves easy marks for clean leads.

When we discussed The Distance Trap, we talked about Sean O’Malley being caught off guard by a bumping shuffle step. Bringing the rear foot up near to the lead and pushing off it is not basic boxing but it is a great way to cover much more distance that most fighters are used to. Not only does this cover more distance and increase the chances of cracking an opponent while he retreats, it also plays with the opponents sense of distance. While Till hasn’t shown a propensity to double jab in his UFC tenure, he has used shoulder fakes to shuffle up and make distance for his left straight, which shows an understanding of the principle.

This kind of double feinting and covering distance should work to force Thompson into giving up ground quicker than he would like and thereby bring the fight closer to the fence more often. Along the fence, Till should look to land his heavy round kicks and to sneak the left straight through as these are his money strikes. More importantly the left elbow has proven an excellent weapon for Till when his man starts parrying or slipping the left straight.

Another trick which it would be good to see Till use in closing the distance is foot trapping. Whether Thompson is southpaw or orthodox, he fights from a lengthy stance that allows him to push off of the mat in front or behind him and create or close distance rapidly. This stance does, however, mean that he is rarely on top of his feet and rather balanced between them. Long stances like this allow a fighter to create distance rapidly—often mitigating traditional low kicks unless they are well set up or applied along the boundaries of the cage or ring—but it is very susceptible to sneaky, short foot sweeps and traps. As a fighter scuttles backwards as fast as he can his lead foot can be knocked across him or outwards with a short kick at the ankle. This is usually done with a skip up and lead leg kick or hooking of the foot. The actual strike accomplishes nothing in terms of damage, but complicates the retreat and pulls the fighter out of his stance. The low foot hook or kick can immediately be placed down in front of the advancing fighter and followed with actual strikes against an out-of-position opponent.

Here Yoel Romero demonstrates the foot trap. Notice that as Tim Kennedy’s lead foot lightens to retreat, it becomes much more susceptible to being knocked out of position. This technique works best against mobile fighters who are happy to retreat from exchanges.

One of Rory MacDonald’s few moments of success against Thompson was in skipping up and tapping the lead foot of the elusive karateka. Ironically one of the main proponents of these tapping low kicks in MMA was Lyoto Machida but, while they work wonderfully against fleet footed distance fighters, most of Machida’s opponents were heavy footed and plodding so the kick rarely had its full effect.

Stephen Thompson is in the position where, if Darren Till cannot demonstrate some smart ringcraft, he might not have to bring too many new looks. Thompson’s style is to ask questions of his opponent rather than offer answer to theirs. Staying off the fence and out in the center of the cage is obviously to Thompson’s advantage. If Till simply plods after Thompson, as Jorge Masvidal did, expect Thompson to dart in and out with pairs of straight punches and pile up his points that way. In terms of kicking though, Till’s southpaw stance makes things interesting.

While Thompson can hit his open-side counters off both stances, his kicking game seems very different in southpaw and orthodox positions. Almost all of Thompson’s lead leg kicking is done from his more bladed southpaw stance, while he throws more bread-and-butter kickboxing stuff focused on the rear leg from his orthodox stance. Darren Till being a southpaw means that when Thompson fights with his strong leg forward he is in a closed guard engagement. Typically Thompson likes the side kick and the hook kick with the lead leg, and using the defensive side kick to essentially start him into motion to move back on that forty-five degree angle to make the open-side counter. Obviously if he fights southpaw against Till that lead leg hook kick becomes a lot higher risk and a lot lower reward—with Till being a turn of the shoulders or a duck below the shoulder line away from the kick being worthless. Nicolas Dalby caught Till with a pair of high kicks over his right shoulder—it’s not impossible—but that was in the third round as Dalby pushed up the pace and stayed in a tired Till’s face.

More likely, as against Johny Hendricks, it will be that lead leg side kick and the standard round kick off the lead leg which form a staple of Thompson’s kicking in this fight. This was the pairing that won "Superfoot" Bill Wallace most of his fights, with the odd hook kick thrown in. The side kick draws the elbows down and in; the high kick flicks up and around from a very similar chamber. It’s a simple idea but Wallace and Thompson are a rare breed that can put it into practice against world class opponents. The closed guard match-up does increase the chances of Thompson wheel-kicking if Till lingers on the end of its range, though—turning kicks coming in on the open side from such a stance match-up.

One interesting consideration with this sort of match-up is: does it help or hurt the more adaptable fighter to go to his other skills? Darren Till has done good work as both an ultra-aggressive striker and a laid back counter striker, and in some matches (such as the Dalby one) he effectively switched between the two for periods of the bout. Stephen Thompson, meanwhile, works mainly with what his opponents give him, reluctantly pot-shotting when his opponent waits for him. We all recall that the tag line of the second Woodley fight was “I promise I’ll let my hands go this time.” So does Till do better by going to Wonderboy and trying to play the aggressor against a great counter-striker, or does he sit back and try to make Wonderboy play the role that most of the time he looks uncomfortable in?

Certainly you would think that Till has the advantage as the exchanges lengthen. Thompson has been caught off good counters in the same way that Lyoto Machida and Kyoji Horiguchi has—he times a perfect connection and then admires his work, or hangs around throwing hands when his boxing just isn’t up to snuff. Jake Ellenberger dropped Thompson in this way.

It might benefit Till to simply play the bully here, accepting that the counters are going to come and try to stick to Thompson with a collar tie or catch him with a hook before he exits. Till’s work with elbows and knees has been very impressive and frequent so far in the Octagon, it would be well in his interest to manufacture chances to use these weapons which Wonderboy essentially eschews. Whether that be by making ugly exchanges after pushing forward, or by clinching and physically pushing Thompson to the fence.

What makes this a fantastic match-up is that both men are clever enough and talented enough that there are any number of ways it could unfold. Unlike, say, the Maia vs. Usman fight last weekend—wherein most expected a slog where Maia couldn’t get the takedown—this welterweight tilt is surrounded by questions and they don’t stop dead if one man can’t do one thing in one area of the fight. Whether it’s an outright banger or a tentative snoozer, Thompson vs. Till has big ramifications for the division, watch the fight and get back here Monday if it was any good.

Jack wrote the hit biography Notorious: The Life and Fights of Conor McGregor and hosts the Fights Gone By Podcast.

Tactical Guide to Darren Till Vs. Stephen Thompson published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/