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burkymakar · 4 years ago

Note

Hi! I was wondering if you could post the Athletic's Olympic roster predictions please?!

ok here’s a lot under the cut, i’ve included men and womens for both Canada and USA.

Canada Mens

Remember how the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang unfolded? Canada won a hard-earned bronze medal playing a stingy brand of defence under coach Willie Desjardins and lost only a single game in regulation – to Germany in the semifinals – before defeating the Czech Republic to earn a place on the podium.

Just one thing was missing: NHL players. Hockey’s crème de la crème. Three years ago, the NHL decided not to participate in the Winter Olympics for a lot of reasons that made little sense to the hockey world which made the Games look a little like the Spengler Cup.

Thankfully, as part of the collective bargaining extension signed last summer, the NHL is returning to compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing — assuming the logistical details can be ironed out among the league, the IIHF and the IOC and that the pandemic is under some sort of control.

With apologies to all the players who competed so hard for Canada in 2018, the selection process this time around will be far more difficult because of the staggering depth of the talent pool.

One thing Canada never lacks at the highest level of hockey is oodles of options at both forward and defence. The players who don’t make the grade for Canada would fill out a ‘B’ team that would contend for gold.

How might Team Canada 2022 look? Thought you’d never ask. In our eternal quest to be helpful to the managerial powers-that-be, here are our projections for a 25-player roster, which is what the IOC permitted for Sochi in 2014.

As always, remember that in Canada, for an exercise such as this one, there really aren’t many bad options. Just too many good ones.

The last time men’s hockey had a best-on-best tournament was back in 2016 and if that World Cup taught us anything, it is that the younger generation of players dominating the game today had no stage fright whatsoever when they were got a chance to play together as North America’s 23-and-under team. They were fun to watch and unlucky not to advance to the medal round.

In previous Olympics, sometimes Canada’s management team would opt for veteran players over young up-and-comers because of a fear that they might be overwhelmed by the moment. Team Canada’s biggest Olympic bobble in the NHL era came in 2006 and you wonder what might have happened if they’d injected the youth and vigour of Sidney Crosby onto a team that seemed slow and plodding on the big ice of Turin.

By contrast, the decision to go with the 20-year-old Drew Doughty in Vancouver proved quite prescient – he was one of the key contributors that year and then again in 2014 in Sochi, as Canada won back-to-back golds.

Nowadays, Doughty is one of the more polarizing players in the game. He still plays a ton of minutes for the Los Angeles Kings and oozes confidence. On a blue line that features a whole lot of next-gen talent – from Cale Makar and Shea Theodore to Thomas Chabot and Morgan Rielly — chances are they’ll opt for one or two steadying veterans on the blue line. We’ve selected Alex Pietrangelo and Doughty to fill out what is otherwise a talented but relatively green defence corps that’ll get the puck up to the forwards, with great dispatch and accuracy.

Canada’s 2014 gold-medal team won with a stingy brand of hockey and timely saves from Carey Price, whenever he was called upon. That can be a challenge sometimes – playing goal on a team that surrenders few Grade-A opportunities and tests your level of focus and concentration because there will be the occasional breakdown that you will need to be in a position to respond to.

Long-term, Carter Hart will likely take over from Price as Canada’s go-to starter in goal, but there are still some inconsistencies in his game that drops him down to the No. 2 position. One wild card I considered here was the Devils’ Mackenzie Blackwood, who had an excellent rookie season last year and was off to a good start this year as well. Chances are if Blues’ GM Doug Armstrong has the final say, Jordan Binnington would likely be the third goalie on this roster.

All of which leads us to the hardest, most controversial decisions which involve the forward group. There’s the usual problem of having too many natural centres on the roster and so someone will have to switch to the right wing. Among the elite-level centres in Canada, both Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Scheifele are right-handed shots and could swing over to the wing. One likely will have to and in this scenario, it’s Scheifele, if only so that MacKinnon and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who developed some familiarity playing for Team North America in the World Cup, can play together.

That creates some flexibility if the coach – we’re picking Barry Trotz – ultimately wants to shift Nugent-Hopkins up to Connor McDavid’s line.

Splitting Crosby and Brad Marchand may also just be temporary. In 2016, those two along with Patrice Bergeron were the clear top line for Canada, and scored all the important goal. But Bergeron will be 36 by the time the Olympics roll around, and thus, didn’t make the final group here. You could theoretically put Marchand, Crosby and MacKinnon (playing right wing) together on an all-Nova Scotia line and the chemistry could be magical.

The beauty of Canada’s roster is the versatility of so many of the better forwards – Ryan O’Reilly, Sean Couturier, Brayden Point and Bo Horvat could all play the wing as well as down the middle. Chances are, every line that Canada rolls out will include two natural centres making face-off match-ups easier for the coaching staff, if they can fit both a right- and a left-hand centre onto each line.

The bottom line: With a player pool so deep, Canada has incredible talent and flexibility. Talent enough to get the go-ahead goal in a tight game.

Flexibility enough to juggle lines as needed and get the defensive match-ups as required. The greatest coaching challenge is usually selling a one-for-all and all-for-one vision. If a star player is forced to adopt a secondary role, he’ll need to handle it with maturity and grace and cannot start pouting because he isn’t the first option on the PP or the PK the way he might be on his club team.

Managing egos is as big a part of the job for the coaching staff as setting lines and spooling out ice time. — Eric Duhatschek

I’m going to keep this very simple.

Hockey Canada has a formula. It involves a few key rules that have helped Team Canada dominate best-on-best competition to an unprecedented degree over the past decade:

1) Everyone plays on their strong side.

2) Wherever possible, bring pairs of players that play together in the NHL so you have an immediate chemistry advantage in a short tournament.

3) Bring extra centres and just have them play on the wall.

4) Experience and tenure matter. If you were on the last team and are still elite, you have an edge in the event all other factors are equal.

Now, Hockey Canada has also opted to play grinding, low event hockey over the past decade. It’s cynical, it’s ruthless and it delivers gold.

However, this approach stinks. It shows a certain ruthless focus, which I appreciate, but it actually lacks any grander ambition.

Hockey Canada could aspire for more. They should aspire for greatness.

They should aspir for a national men’s team with the purpose of articulating a national vision of a beautiful, skillful and yet still assertive and physical two-way brand of hockey. Canada’s men’s team could play hockey beautifully if Canada decided to play hockey beautifully, and that’s what this team is going to do — within the framework of Hockey Canada’s otherwise winning formula.

Right off the top, I’ve built the fastest first line in the history of the sport. McDavid moves to the wing mostly for handedness reasons. A top line of McDavid, MacKinnon and Mathew Barzal are going to test the limits of what’s possible to accomplish in hockey playing at the highest possible speed.

Until one of Marchand, Crosby and Bergeron fall off and aren’t among the NHL’s best individually, they’re a set line for Hockey Canada. This is the easiest choice there is. They have chemistry, experience, swagger as a group, and they bring the DNA of Hockey Canada’s decade-of-dominance to this forward group.

The third line is where things get interesting, particularly because this is where the toughest omission from my team — Jonathan Huberdeau — kicks in. Ultimately I’m going to make a decision to prefer John Tavares’ experience, ability to cover in the event of a centre injury and his chemistry with Mitch Marner over Huberdeau’s electricity.

I’m not bringing Rob Zamuner or Kris Draper to fill a role or anything, but my fourth-line definitely has the identity of the highest-end possible version of an energy line. Honestly, in some matchups, this trio may well end up being Hockey Canada’s matchup line ahead of the Crosby line, since it’s just a collection of the countries most willful two-way players.

I’m bringing Steven Stamkos and Couturier as extra forwards, basically two centremen — a lefty and a righty — which means snubbing Bo Horvat and Claude Giroux, my toughest omissions besides Huberdeau.

We weren’t asked to name coaches, but I should add that I’ve named Pete DeBoer and Jared Bednar as assistant coaches, partly because they’re deserving and partly so that my top-four can get reps together throughout the NHL season leading up to the 2022 Games.

There’s a factor in the international game that I still don’t think Hockey Canada has fully incorporated into their player selection process, but they really should: Puck-moving defenders are everything.

Which is why Samuel Girard — probably my most surprising selection — is a slam dunk no brainer for this team and is likely to play a prominent role. Thanks to Bednar’s colluding with me to win a gold medal, he’ll spend more time with Makar in the season leading up to the Olympics (although they’ve spent 200 5-on-5 minutes together the past two seasons, so they’re not exactly strangers). Same goes for Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore, who have played together a bit at 5-on-5 in the early going for Vegas (about 35 minutes so far), but will become the Golden Knight’s fixture top pair in 2021-22 for the purposes of Olympic preparation.

Doughty makes the team because he’s still performing at a high enough level that his status as the most important Hockey Canada veteran defender matters. And Morgan Rielly will be his partner on a mobile third pair, narrowly edging out Giordano.

Ryan Ellis is custom made for the international game and my Hockey Canada will have zero reservation bumping him up the lineup if injuries call for it.

In net, Price and Hart are coming to represent the past and the future while Jordan Binnington gets the nod to round out my trio of netminders. I’m comfortable enough with all three goaltenders that whoever is performing the best ahead of the tournament will go into the round-robin as my defacto starter. — Thomas Drance

Canada Womens

Picking a Canadian roster a year ahead of an Olympics is never easy.

And this time around, looking ahead to Beijing 2022, might be harder than ever, as the years since the 2018 Games have been unlike any other post-Olympic period for Team Canada.

First of all, Canada is coming off a silver medal finish at the last games in Pyeongchang — the first time that’s happened in two decades. If that wasn’t difficult enough, on the eve of the 2019 world championships, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League announced it would fold after nearly 12 years in operation, taking away most Canadians’ daily training environments. Canada ultimately lost in the semifinal of the tournament and took home a bronze medal, the first time Team Canada hasn’t won’t at least silver at a world championship. Then, the 2019 4 Nations Cup was cancelled due to contract disputes between the Swedish Ice Hockey Association and the Swedish women’s team.

On top of all of that, there have been further complications brought by a global pandemic, which led to the cancellation of the 2020 4 Nations Cup and the 2020 women’s world championships.

Essentially, the women’s hockey calendar through the first three years of the Olympic quad cycle has been almost entirely wiped out.

“This quad had been a huge challenge, not only for our program but certainly for women’s hockey globally,” said Gina Kingsbury, the manager of the senior women’s national team. “We’re sitting at Year 3 of our quad with a very little amount of critical experience that we were able to share across our athlete pool to be able to evaluate them and be able to prepare them for an Olympic Games.”

The last time Team Canada played at an international event was 660 days ago at the 2019 worlds. Since then, they’ve relied on games against the U.S. national team and mini-camps throughout the season hosted by Hockey Canada, but even those have been largely put on hold due to the pandemic.

Still, with all that being said, as part of The Athletic’s one year out from the Olympics package, we are going to try our best to project the 2022 Team Canada women’s Olympic roster.

Guided by 2018

To start, let’s take a brief comparative look at who played for Canada in 2018 and who would make the team today. Players selected for the 2022 team are highlighted in red.

FORWARDDEFENCEGOAL

Meghan AgostaRenata FastShannon Szabados

Bailey BramLaura FortinoAnn-Renée Desbiens

Emily ClarkBrigette LacquetteGeneviève Lacasse

Mélodie DaoustJocelyne Larocque

Haley IrwinMeaghan Mikkelson

Brianne JennerLauriane Rougeau

Rebecca Johnston

Sarah Nurse

Marie-Philip Poulin

Jill Saulnier

Natalie Spooner

Laura Stacey

Blayre Turnbull

Jennifer Wakefield

From 2018 to 2022, we’re projecting 15 returnees among the 23 roster spots. Nine up front, four on the blue line, and two in goal. It’s not a ton of turnover between the four years, but there are still several spots for younger players to break onto the senior national team and for others to make their Olympic debuts.

Now, let’s look at the projection.

How did I arrive at these names with so few evaluation opportunities?

Well, despite the cancellation, Hockey Canada still named its 23-player roster for the 2020 world championships.

And, in early January, 47 players were invited to a training camp at Hockey Canada’s home base in Calgary. Thirty-five athletes attended the two-week camp — players such as Rebecca Johnston and Sarah Nurse were invited but unable to attend — and were split into two teams for scrimmages, with the line rushes and defence pairings posted daily.

It’s not a huge sample size, but using the previous Olympic and World Championship rosters, and taking stock of the two-week camp, which ended on Friday, you can get a pretty good idea of where things stand one year out from Beijing 2022.

As mentioned above, this roster consists of 15 returnees from the 2018 Games. And 22 of the 23 players projected here were named to Canada’s roster for the cancelled 2020 Women’s World Championship. Brigette Lacquette is the only player on my roster who didn’t make the World Championship roster, as she was unable to play.

These lines and pairings certainly aren’t set in stone, but they were consistently used at last week’s camp, except for Nurse on the line with Emily Clark and Blayre Turnbull, as Nurse did not attend camp.

To start, there are some names on this roster that should be no-brainers.

Marie-Philip Poulin, 29, is now over a decade into her international career and is arguably the greatest player of all-time in the women’s game. She’s Canada’s captain and scored the game-winning goal in the gold medal games of her first two Olympic appearances (2010 and 2014). A knee injury kept her mostly out of the 2019 world championships, but she’s healthy now. And it would take something completely unforeseen for Poulin to not be in Beijing.

Her frequent winger for club (the now-defunct CWHL Les Canadiennes) and country, Mélodie Daoust, is also a natural choice. With three goals and seven points in five games, she led Canada in scoring at the last Olympics. And scored one of the most impressive shootout goals in the gold medal game.

Natalie Spooner and Brianne Jenner have been consistent staples for Team Canada in the last two Olympic Games, with Spooner making her World Championship debut in 2011, and Jenner in 2012. The duo ranked No. 1 and 2 in scoring for Canada at the 2019 world championships. Spooner scored six goals and 10 points in seven games, only one goal behind Hilary Knight, who led the tournament with 11 points. Jenner wasn’t far behind with nine points.

Lauriane Rougeau and Jocelyne Larocque are also steady veterans, albeit on the blue line, who have the 2014 and 2018 Olympics under their belts. While, Nurse and Clark, who played together at the University of Wisconsin, both made their Olympic debuts in 2018 and should be natural choices to return in 2022. Similarly, Fast made her debut in 2018 and has established herself as one of the top defenders in the women’s game.

Youth vs. experience

I wanted to strike a balance on this roster with returning players, veterans and young players, or those making their Olympic debut. Because according to Kingsbury, as much as you want to win a gold medal, you have to keep an eye to the future.

“Often you tend to lean on what you know, and the unknowns of the young players obviously is a little scary, but I do think we’re at a point in our program that we do have to sometimes take calculated risks,” she explained. “We’re aiming at winning a gold medal in Beijing, but we’re also making sure that we’ve got a sustainable success here down the road as well and that we’re looking ahead in the future of our program.”

With that front of mind, there are some obvious omissions on this projected roster.

Both Johnston and Laura Fortino, who played in 2018, were among the final cuts for the 2020 world championships. I left them off this roster.

Shannon Szabados was a steady presence in Canada’s crease from her Olympic debut in 2010 until 2019. She recently had her first child and is currently not playing. She could certainly decide to come back but will be 35 by the next games and 39 by 2026.

So, this feels like a natural time for a passing of the torch in the crease to younger goalies like Ann-Renée Desbiens, 26, and Emerance Maschmeyer, 26, who have been given a lot of the net over the last two and a half years, along with Geneviève Lacasse, 31.

Similarly, Meaghan Mikkelson, a three-time Olympian, was one of the most experienced players at last week’s camp, with just under 50 games for Canada at the Olympics (14) and world championships (35) over the last decade. She last played in 2017-18, taking a leave after the birth of her second child. This will be her second comeback to the national team.

This was one of the more difficult decisions for my projected blue line, and I assume this will be the same for the real decision-makers at Hockey Canada. Mikkelson will be 37 when the Games begin. If she can re-elevate her game, she can be a force on the ice. But could, say, Claire Thompson, 23, have a similar impact?

If we assume Rougeau, 30, and Larocque, 31, make this team, with two other returning blueliners in Fast and Lacquette, the Canadian blue line isn’t going to be inexperienced. So bringing Thompson to Beijing over Mikkelson could be one of those “looking ahead in the future” decisions.

There could be a similar decision in looking at a player like Erin Ambrose, who was the most difficult omission for me. Ambrose was one of the last cuts for the 2018 Olympics, but played her way onto the 2019 and 2020 World Championship rosters. She could realistically do the same for Beijing. But again, how much does Hockey Canada want to look forward to the future?

Admittedly, Ambrose, Mikkelson and even Meghan Agosta — a four-time Olympian who is a full-time Vancouver police officer who hasn’t play for Canada since 2017-18 — could be the ultimate wild cards for 2022. However, for this exercise, I decided that if I was undecided between a player on the way up and an older player, I erred on the side of the former.

This brings us to the Olympic rookies, projected to be: Jamie Lee Rattray, Victoria Bach, Sarah Fillier, Loren Gabel, Jaime Bourbonnais, Micah Zandee-Hart, and the aforementioned Maschmeyer and Thompson.

All eight of these rookies were named to the 2020 World Championship roster, and they were all featured in the 2019 world championships except for Bach and Fillier, who were among the final cuts. Rattray, 28, has been in the Hockey Canada program for a while now and has seemed to solidify a place within the core group. Bach was set to make her international tournament debut at the world championships, and while that debut has been delayed, her standing on the team remains.

There are two young stars to watch for here, too, in Gabel and Fillier.

Gabel, 23, made her senior team debut at the 2018 4 Nations Cup and won the Patty Kazmaier Award — the biggest individual honour in women’s college hockey — in 2019 after scoring 40 goals and 69 points in 38 games, including 11 game-winning goals for Clarkson University. She graduated that year as the all-time leading scorer with 213 points on 116 goals and 97 assists through 160 games.

Fillier, 20, was nominated for the Patty Kazmaier as a rookie at Princeton in 2018-19 after she put up nearly two points per game (1.97) to lead NCAA women’s hockey. Fillier, a centre, also led her team in scoring (22 goals and 57 points in 29 games) and was named the National Rookie of the Year. Like Gabel, Fillier made her senior team debut at the 2018 4 Nations Cup.

These two have been on the rise and should certainly crack the 2021 World Championship and 2022 Olympics rosters.

Bourbonnais, Thompson and Zandee-Hart further make up the young up and coming core of Hockey Canada’s roster, specifically on the blue line.

As mentioned, all of the above players were named to the 2020 World Championship roster, which shows a lot of trust from the decision-makers to put them into best-on-best competition. The world championships is often a dress rehearsal for the Olympics, too. That they were all chosen over veterans like Johnston and Fortino means a lot.

Finally, there are some other young players in Hockey Canada’s talent pool to be highlighted here, such as Élizabeth Giguère, Emma Maltais and Daryl Watts.

Giguère won the Patty Kazmaier last season, while Watts currently leads the nation with 11 goals and 21 points through 10 games to start the NCAA season. There are some key complications impacting their Olympic chances.

None of the three were at the recent camp, a key evaluator for the 2021 world championships. Kingsbury said “it was impossible” to bring any U.S.-based athletes to camp due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Fillier decided to take the year off from Princeton with the questions around if Ivy League schools would have a season and the Olympic considerations in mind.)

“Having our college players not here is definitely another challenge,” she said. “You’re trying to scout online, and it’s hard to see what they do in college and try to figure out if that’s going to have an impact at the international level.”

So while they are talented, without camps and potentially cracking the 2021 World Championship roster, it will be hard to jump into the 2022 Olympics. Especially if they are trying to take spots from returning players such as Turnbull, Jill Saulnier and Laura Stacey, who have all shown they can be reliable forwards who can play up and down the lineup.

For everything laid out here, all it takes is a really good tournament or training camp by one or two players to change my entire roster. Every year before the Olympics, Hockey Canada invites its Olympic hopefuls to Calgary for a six-to-seven month “centralized” camp before the Games.

Typically, there are some surprises on the roster, as Kingsbury said some players come in “like sponges” and elevate their game.

Such is the difficulty in this exercise. Anything can happen once we officially get into the final year of the Olympic quad. But regardless, Canada is going to have a deep talent pool to chose from when it comes time for Beijing 2022.

USA Mens

I remember covering the 2010 United States Olympic men’s hockey team — that came within a Sidney Crosby overtime goal of winning a gold medal — and before the tournament wondering: How the hell are they going to fill out this roster?

Ten years later, there has been a seismic change in the hockey landscape at the highest levels in the United States. Depth is no longer an issue for the U.S.

We often joke Canada could enter two teams in these best-on-best tournaments and both would be gold-medal worthy. The U.S. is not so far behind that and it’s illustrated by the difficult decisions we’ve made with this lineup and the hard decisions that await whoever builds the 2022 version of Team USA. There will be no shortage of heated debate about those tabbed to wear the red, white and blue and, of course, those whose names do not end up on the 25-man roster.

In starting to narrow down our roster here, we hearkened back to that scrappy 2010 team built by Brian Burke and David Poile and coached by Ron Wilson and looked for clues as to how to build not just the most talented team but the team most likely to win gold. What was it that allowed that group to defy projections and push a superstar-laden Canadian team to overtime?

Conversely, what was it that led a talented American roster to fall short of a medal in Sochi four years later and to flame out spectacularly in the 2016 World Cup? You will hear over and over that this version of Team USA will be the most talented ever iced in a best-on-best tournament. Maybe. But we focused in this exercise on building not just the most talented American roster but a team that can overcome disappointment, obstacles and the unexpected en route to what would be the first American gold medal in men’s hockey since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

Let the shame-talking begin. Yes. No room on this roster for Johnny Gaudreau, Zach Parise or Paul Stastny. No room for 2019 first overall pick Jack Hughes. Sorry.

This is as good a team down the middle as any Team USA has iced, starting with Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. A little bit of everything from this group of centers including solid leadership, ability to play shutdown hockey and, of course, create offense. That meant excluding worthy pivots like Kevin Hayes and Hughes even though one former coach and executive we spoke to felt Hughes would continue to evolve and push his way onto the roster before the end of 2021.

As for the wingers, there is so much to like from this group including the size and speed of Blake Wheeler, Jake Guentzel and Anders Lee and the offensive creativity of J.T. Miller and Kyle Connor. And of course, who will every team in the tournament love to hate from the word go? Matthew Tkachuk.

We kept Stanley Cup champion and Olympic shootout hero T.J. Oshie (T.J. Sochi as he is known after his exploits in 2014) given his experience. If you wanted more speed on the right side, you could go with Bryan Rust and/or one of our favorite emerging players, Conor Garland. We love the natural connection between usual Winnipeg linemates Connor and Wheeler and we wanted Stanley Cup champion Blake Coleman on this roster for his versatility and his ability to play both ends of the ice.

At one point, we had Gaudreau as one of our extra forwards in place of Max Pacioretty but the experts we spoke to felt Pacioretty needed to be on the roster and the fact that Gaudreau has struggled to produce in the playoffs we went with Pacioretty. Both the coach and former player we spoke to suggested two Brocks, Nelson and Boeser, and Columbus captain Nick Foligno should be considered. Another dark horse forward in the former player’s view is Alex Iafallo.

There will be no more critical decisions for Team USA’s management team than the ones made on the blue line.

The Beijing Games will be played on North American-sized ice so it will be critical to include not only those defenders who can skate fluidly and make good, quick decisions with the puck but who can defend vigorously. Team USA’s entry in the World Cup in 2016 is a good illustration of why you should never build a team with the notion of facing one particular opponent. But given Canada is in the same round-robin pool as the U.S., the ability to defend a physical, skilled team like Canada will be paramount.

As in all things, the balance will be crucial. This group is split evenly right shot/left shot and does have a good mix of youthful zest and solid experience. Some may quibble with leaving a guy like Zach Werenski off the roster, especially given his familiarity with Seth Jones. Fair enough. But a number of NHL sources we spoke to felt Torey Krug needed to be on this team.

Jeff Petry has established himself as one of the most effective defensemen in the game excelling in all situations and playing more often than not against opposing teams’ top talent. Jaccob Slavin, who is the motor that drives the talented Carolina blue line, must be on this roster. Charlie McAvoy has emerged from the shadows of Zdeno Chara to become the Bruins’ undisputed number one defender and he will be a key part of this blue line.

So having to leave Werenski off the list of eight is difficult but a function of the breadth and depth of options that will be available. Others who were on the radar included young John Marino, who has been so impressive in Pittsburgh, and the venerable Ryan Suter, who is a perennial participant in these best-on-best tournaments.

Goaltending is probably the most clearly established position for Team USA. Connor Hellebuyck is the defending Vezina Trophy winner. He’s an elite netminder who has endured his own share of ups and downs en route to his current lofty status.

John Gibson, playing behind a rebuilding Ducks team, won’t have the gaudy numbers that other top NHL netminders boast but he is recognized around the hockey world as an elite netminder and he will push Hellebuyck for the starter’s role in Beijing.

Ben Bishop’s lingering health issues excuse him from our list but if the multiple time Vezina Trophy finalist went on a roll later this season or to start the 2021-22 season he could play his way into the picture. Two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick is Hall of Fame worthy but past his prime so we went younger with Thatcher Demko, who was stellar in the bubble playoffs for Vancouver.

We’ll admit one former NHL coach and executive with whom we shared our roster felt unequivocally Bishop should be on the team ahead of Demko. And one longtime netminder and analyst felt that the Kings’ Cal Petersen in Los Angeles might actually jump over Gibson by the time the Olympics roll around. — Scott Burnside

Let’s start with the fourth line. I was chatting with Blackhawks director of amateur scouting Mark Kelley for another story on the way about Team USA and he suggested this one. We were debating the merits of Jack Hughes on the Olympic team and he said, if he were to do it, he’d throw him out there with the two Tkachuks.

“No one will get near him,” Kelley said of Hughes. “It’ll be like he’s walking his two pit bulls.”

To pull it off, we’re probably costing a guy like Jake Guentzel a deserving spot, but it’s fun. I like the idea of T.J. Oshie as an option for shootouts but just couldn’t squeeze him in. I’d also like to find a spot for Joe Pavelski, who is averaging like three goals per game this season, but am skewing younger because we’re a year out. This team is loaded.

Quinn Hughes has gone from a guy knocking on the door to make the roster to the top pair over the last year. Just think of how good he’ll be a year from now. Zach Werenski could be penciled in to play in the place of Ryan Suter but it would be great to have Suter’s Olympic experience available in the top six. It’s also possible we’re suffering from some recency bias following Werenski’s slow start. Adam Fox, Neal Pionk and Matt Grzelcyk all have to be on a watch list this season.

The debate in goal will be about who starts between Gibson and Hellebuyck but the most interesting slot might be No. 3. Chances are, that goalie isn’t playing, so I’m bringing the future of American goaltending — world junior gold medalist Spencer Knight — to get experience on the big stage and soak in the experience much like a young Jonathan Quick did in 2010. — Craig Custance

Team USA is due in best-on-best hockey.

They lost the bronze medal game at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. They were embarrassed at the 2016 World Cup.

Now they’ve got a whole new generation of stars ready to bring USA Hockey back to gold-medal contention.

The difficulty in this exercise of selecting the roster for the Beijing Olympics is proof of how things got to another level for USA Hockey over the past decade.

It’s probably a crime to leave off T.J. Sochi but there’s plenty of time for me to change my mind before next year. Anders Lee, Jake Guentzel, Blake Coleman, Bryan Rust, Chris Kreider and James van Riemsdyk are among other names I passed over for now. It speaks to the elite U.S. depth. I’m probably one of the few who has young Brady Tkachuk on this roster this far out but, believe me, when we get closer to the final roster picks next December/January, he will have worked his way on to a lot of people’s lists.

I may also be one of the few to select Kevin Hayes but I wanted the extra center on the roster and given the fact the tournament will be played on North American-sized ice, I like his big body as a factor.

Four lefties and four righties, talk about balance in this defense group. I do worry I put too much offense on here but I’ve got my penalty-killing units in Slavin-Jones and McDonagh-Petry. Obviously, it’s tough to leave off a quality veteran like Suter and no doubt USA Hockey may not. Zach Werenski and Cam Fowler are other names to monitor over the year. But I really like the balance in those eight I put down.

Not much to debate in goal as Hellebuyck-Gibson is pretty much locked in at this point as the 1-2 punch. Now, I went with youth as the No. 3 with Demko but obviously, a healthy Ben Bishop or a resurgent Jonathan Quick would force USA Hockey’s hand. — Pierre LeBrun

USA Womens

It’s been nearly three years since USA Hockey forward Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson unleashed her gold-medal winning shootout goal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The “Oops I Did it Again“ move shook Canadian netminder Shannon Szabados right out of her pads and sent the United States back home with their first goal medal since 1998.

Much has changed in the women’s hockey landscape since the national team was paraded around the United States media circuit. From “Ellen” to “The Tonight Show” to some players visiting the White House, we seemed on track to see the best leadup to the next Olympics ever.

However, the U.S. women’s team hasn’t competed in an official tournament since the April 2019 women’s worlds in Finland and has had very few competitive games since. It’s been a rocky road that has been only further complicated by the pandemic. The last official roster we got from USA Hockey was ahead of the cancelled 2020 world championships.

The 2022 Winter Olympics are officially one year away and soon we can expect USA Hockey to name a roster for the 2021 worlds and enter residency in the fall ahead of selecting the roster for the Beijing Games. Here is a look at all that has happened since the Pyeongchang Games and what we predict the final U.S. Olympic roster will look like.

The rundown

The Canadian Women’s Hockey League folded as Team USA traveled to Finland for the 2019 world championship — their last official tournament. New head coach Bob Corkum made some noticeable roster adjustments for that tournament, including bringing back the final cuts from the 2018 Olympic roster: Alex Carpenter and Megan Bozek. Kelly Pannek, Annie Pankowski and the return of 2014 Olympian Michelle Picard were other notable additions.

As Team USA was competing on the ice, they were also paving a future for professional women’s sports off the ice. Players made a bold statement with the #ForTheGame movement, vowing not to play for an existing professional league in North America. That was a loud and clear message to then-NWHL commissioner Dani Rylan. The movement has since evolved into the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association and the #DreamGap tour.

Games were already sparse when the Swedish national team held its own boycott for better conditions. Unlike what unfolded after the U.S. held out of the 2017 worlds, Sweden and its players did not reach an agreement and the 4 Nations Cup was canceled.

In lieu of 4 Nations, USA Hockey and Hockey Canada held a joint training camp in Pennsylvania. Canada opted for a young roster for the training camp, while the U.S. went with the usual suspects.

The next scheduled official tournament was the 2020 worlds. However, the pandemic shut that down and we haven’t seen USA Hockey in competition since. COVID-19 also greatly affected the PWHPA’s second year. Some players hit the ice last month in Tampa, but the organization has not yet been able to activate all of its five hub cities.

The 2020 world championship roster was announced and likely gives us the best glimpse at what USA Hockey will roll with as we approach the one year mark from the 2022 Olympics.

2020 world championship rosterFORWARDSDEFENDERSGOALIES

Brianna DeckerLee SteckleinAlex Cavallini

Hannah BrandtCayla BarnesMaddie Rooney

Hayley ScamurraMegan KellerAerin Frankel

Hilary KnightEmily Matheson

Kelly PannekMegan Bozek

Dani CameranesiKacey Bellamy

Kendall Coyne-SchofieldSavannah Harmon

Amanda Kessel

Jesse Compher

Alex Carpenter

Britta Curl

Grace Zumwinkle

Abby Roque

Roster changes

Notably missing from this roster compared to the 2018 Olympic team are Meghan Duggan, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson, and Monique Lamoureaux-Morando. Duggan has since retired and it is unclear if USA Hockey is permanently moving on from the Lamoureux twins, who both returned to the team in November 2019 after each giving birth to their first child.

Defender Emily Matheson has announced she is expecting a baby boy in June 2021. Shelly Picard, who returned for the 2019 worlds, has also effectively retired and now serves as the deputy commissioner of the NWHL.

In goal, it would appear Nicole Hensley is on the outside looking in. Katie Burt and Aerin Frankel might be the two netminders Corkum brings in to join Maddie Rooney and Alex Cavallini. Overall, Corkum has shown he isn’t afraid to mix in some new faces with those synonymous with USA Hockey, such as Hilary Knight, Kacey Bellamy and new captain Kendall Coyne Schofield.

Annie Pankowski had a great world championship in 2019 but did not land on the 2020 roster. She was also missing from the 53-player roster tapped for an evaluation camp in October 2020, while younger players like Jincy Dunne, Natalie Snodgrass and Britta Curl were present.

Corkum emphasized in October the importance of bringing in new players and facilitating internal competition.

“We have a nice blend of youth and veteran talent here and the young players are certainly pushing the older players. And the older players aren’t ready to give it up,” Corkum said in a USA Hockey video recap.

Predictions

It is always difficult to make Olympic predictions, especially when USA Hockey hasn’t hit the ice in so long. I get the impression, though, that Corkum and USA Hockey are ready to shake things up. The roster for the 2021 worlds won’t be a complete youth movement, but it will feature some rising stars who have proven themselves in the 2019-20 Rivalry Series and in the NCAA. Here is my best guess at the 2022 Olympic Roster:

The 2020 world championship roster is the best indicator we have right now and I think we’ll see that team begin to take form as the go-to roster. I came up with line pairings based on the 2018 Olympics, 2019 worlds, and the 2019-20 Rivalry Series.

Alex Carpenter and Megan Bozek should make the next Olympics, though I’m more confident in Bozek than Carpenter.

Both are extremely skilled and are two of the few players currently getting in competitive games overseas. That said, there are a lot of good, young forwards coming up in the USA Hockey system. Abby Roque and Jesse Compher, for example, showed they are ready to play with Olympians in the 2019-20 Rivalry Series.

Roque, the 2020 Bob Allen USA Hockey Player of the Year, is an elite center and all signs point to her having a stellar international career. She scored two impressive goals in the Rivalry Series and injected some much-needed energy into USA Hockey coming off the lackluster performance at the 2019 November camp.

Last year would have marked the second consecutive world championship for Boston University product Jesse Compher. An injury kept her away from the Rivalry Series, but expect her to be back in the rotation. She has a great combination of size and skill for a USA Hockey team that is equal parts fast and furious on the ice.

Making the USA Hockey roster as a defender is tough, but ultimately, I think Matheson will need more time to return. I predict Savannah Harmon and Jincy Dunne will be the two vying for a spot this year, while Matheson will go for hers in 2022. I give the edge to the youth.

In net, Cavanelli and Rooney seem to be the mainstays for Corkum. Hensley attended the October evaluation camp, while Katie Burt did not. Frankel making the worlds roster indicates to me that she is being prepared for international competition.

As a journalist very fond of the eye test, this exercise was difficult, but here is to hoping we get to see players hit the ice for the red, white, and blue sooner rather than later.

#they haven't released other countries yet #but if u want them just let me know #yellowpinkrose #askos

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wrestlingisfake · 4 years ago

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Power Struggle preview

Tetsuya Naito vs. EVIL - Naito is defending both the IWGP heavyweight title and IWGP intercontinental title. He won both titles in January, then lost them to Evil in July, and regained them in August. During the G1 Climax, Evil defeated Naito in a tournament match where neither title was at stake, so Naito needs to even the score. The winner of this match will most likely go on to defend the titles at Wrestle Kingdom in January.

The key to this Evil-Naito series has been whether you really buy Evil as a headliner, a credible rival to Naito, and a top champion. To that end, New Japan was probably smart to have him win the first match. But switching the title back so quickly undermined that effort. I think western fans, who are used to half-hearted star-making in WWE, see Evil’s short title reign as evidence that New Japan is already giving up on him. For them, this match will likely feel like a pointless rehash unless there’s a big angle or Evil delivers a five-star performance. In contrast, the Japanese fans at the shows appear to be taking Evil at face value--they hate him when he gets cheap heat, but they don’t resent him as a failed experiment--so they’ll probably won’t be as demanding here.

I suppose a title change is possible, but I’m pretty sure the plan for Wrestle Kingdom is Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the double gold, and Evil vs. Jay White in the upper midcard. Evil and Jay were needling each other throughout the G1 Climax, and that’s got to be leading to something. Both of them are in Bullet Club, though, and it’s hard to imagine them turning on one another right now without more buildup. It feels like something should happen on this show to lead to a bigger angle in December, but I can’t imagine what that would be.

Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White - This is for the “right to challenge” contract that was awarded to Ibushi for winning the G1 Climax. The bearer of the contract is expected to defend it like a championship, typically against the wrestlers that beat them during the G1. Ibsuhi only lost two matches in this year’s tournament, to White and Shingo Takagi, and White beat Takagi, so I guess that means Jay’s got dibs. Whoever ends up with the contract will challenge for the IWGP heavyweight and IWGP intercontinental championships at Wrestle Kingdom.

This will be the fourth singles match between these two, and White currently leads the series 2-1. But that only hints at the real story here. Both guys were in the four-man “Double Gold Dash” mini-tournament at Wrestle Kingdom 14, and Jay beat Ibushi in the consolation match, leaving Kota with the worst record of the group. Ibushi has been trying to recover from that loss ever since, and winning the G1 was a key part of his road to redemption. Beating White on his way to another shot at the double title is a very fitting next step.

As for Jay, his confidence in his corner man, Gedo, appears to have been shaken following his failure to win the G1. That probably plays into whatever is going on with Jay and Evil, but it’s still too fuzzy to forecast what’s going to happen with that. Could Gedo betray White leading to Evil kicking Jay out of Bullet Club? Or is Jay letting paranoia push his allies away from him? I’m not certain we’ll get any answers at this show.

In all the time that G1 Climax winners have defended their title shot contracts, none of them have ever lost their briefcase. It’ll probably happen someday. But I definitely don’t think this is going to be the year. Ibushi retains.

KENTA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - This is for Kenta’s “right to challenge” contract, awarded to him for winning the New Japan Cup USA tournament. The bearer is entitled to challenge for the IWGP United States championship, although it’s not clear when (if) that will happen. Since winning the contract, Kenta has lost four singles matches--all during the G1. But Tanahashi is the one whose head cracked the red briefcase Kenta uses to store the contract, so I guess that puts Tana first in line.

The current US champion is Jon Moxley, but he hasn’t been able to schedule a title defense since February. Mox’s AEW contract doesn’t prevent him from flying to Japan to face Kenta, but current travel restrictions would make such a trip difficult to schedule, given the demands on his time as AEW world champion. (Ironically, Moxley cannot defend the US title on US soil, because his AEW contract only lets him work for New Japan in Japan.) In light of that situation, I think there’s a strong possibility the title could be vacated, which makes possession of Kenta’s contract even more crucial. The winner of this match could end up becoming the next US champion by forfeit.

The outcome of this match probably depends on what the plans are for the US title going forward. I’ve been assuming that New Japan will reposition the belt as the top championship for the weekly shows taped in Los Angeles; in that event, Kenta as the strong heel champion would make a lot of sense. But as we get closer to Wrestle Kingdom, and the possibility that the company will keep the title on Moxley until that show, I have to admit that Moxley vs. Tanahashi would be a bigger match at the Tokyo Dome. Of course, there’s no guarantee the winner of this match will wrestle Moxley at Wrestle Kingdom or at all. But until we know for certain, I’ve got a hunch that Tana ends up with the briefcase.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Great-O-Khan - Okada is looking for payback from October 16, when Will Ospreay turned on him to start a new faction alongside O-Khan. Sooner or later Okada and Ospreay will have to meet one-on-one, but first Okada has to get through Ospreay’s heavy. This is easily the biggest match of O-Khan’s career, coming so soon after his “graduation” from the developmental system. We’ve seen Master Wato in a similar position earlier this year, against Yoshinobu Kanemaru, and he came up short. Let’s just say Okada is a substantially bigger challenge than Kanemaru. I like O-Khan’s look and the style of his gimmick, so I sure hope he gets a win here. But as a general rule, I don’t bet against Okada.

Minoru Suzuki vs. Shingo Takagi - Suzuki won the NEVER championship from Takagi in August, but Takagi defeated Suzuki during the G1, so he’s earned a chance to regain the title. This should be a hard-hitting war, but I’m not sure it matters who wins because I don’t think it matters who has the title. Regardless of which guy has the belt in the end, the bigger question will be the next challenger. I’ll be rooting for Shingo because he’s cool, but then again I’m not wild about playing hot potato with the championship.

Toru Yano vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Yano is defending the KOPW 2020 trophy; whoever holds it at the end of the year will be declared the KOPW champion, or something like that. The original concept was that each participant in these matches would choose a stipulation and the fans would vote on it, but in this case Yano just demanded a match without turnbuckle pads and I guess Sabre didn’t object.

The turnbuckles are the metal hooks that secure the ring ropes to the posts; the turnbuckle pads are big cushions that are used to cover the metal so nobody gets a body part caught in the hooks or something. It’s pretty standard in wrestling to remove the pads and throw your opponent into the exposed buckle, but Yano has honed it into an artform. So for Sabre this is sort of like facing Kane in an inferno match, or Jeff Hardy in a ladder match.

Yano gets a bad rap, because people watch New Japan more for good wrestling than comedy shenanigans. But man cannot live by bread alone, and I like me some good Yano shenanigans in the middle of a stacked card. I really dug the match these guys had in the G1, because it was a perfect clash of styles. Yano has a strong amateur wrestling background and can go to the mat with Sabre, but it’s easier to just cheat. Sabre is an absolute bastard who can use every dirty trick in the book, but it’s easier for him to just grab a hold. So they drive each other nuts, and it’s awesome. I expect this to be a really fun opener.

I can’t begin to guess where they’re headed with the KOPW title, but on paper I’d assume Sabre has to beat this clown. But Yano’s really great at defying on-paper expectations....

#njpw #power struggle #tetsuya naito #evil #jay white #kota ibushi

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jeserai · 5 years ago

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burnt sugar (3/8)

Ado-ra: what are u wearing? Catra: Wow Catra: Very forward of you, princess Ado-ra: DFJHKSJFDNDKJ?S????MM Ado-ra: I MEAN TTO DINNER OH MY GO D

Sunday practices are easily Adora’s favorite. Coach Hope is strict about training, so the five hour practices are grueling, but Adora never really minds how sweaty and exhausted she inevitably gets. Patches of sweat on her t-shirt, limp hair stuck to her forehead, the flush on her cheeks from exertion, even the smell of sweat—it’s a palpable medal of all the work she’s putting in, a visible reminder that she’s getting better and stronger each day.

Adora minds today, though, because just halfway through practice, everyone stops what they’re doing, heads all turning in the same direction. Adora finishes her last set of burpees before taking out her earbuds and turning to see what they’re looking at. And—

Catra.

Catra has waltzed into the gym with her phone in one hand and a coffee in the other, and she either doesn’t notice or just doesn’t care about all the eyes on her, because she makes her way up to the top of the bleachers and sits there like she owns the place. She’s talking to someone on the phone while she carefully scans the room, expression vaguely uninterested—until she spots Adora, as sweaty and gross as she is. A coy grin spreads across her lips as she waves; Adora feels the back of her neck begin to burn and she spins back around to pick up her water bottle, ignoring the weight of her team’s gazes on her.

As if sensing the growing restlessness of the team, Coach Hope blows her whistle to call everyone over to her. Once the team is gathered around her in a tight circle, she asks, “Who is she here for?”

Hell. “She’s—I am so sorry, Coach Hope, I didn’t think she’d come so early.” Or at all.

Coach Hope fixes Adora with a stern look, but nods. “You all know the rules. You can do your laps now or after practice, Adora. Everyone else, get back to work.”

Adora nods, gaze drifting up to where Catra sits. Phone call finished, she waits, clearly bored but content to just sit and watch. Even if she weren’t the only person in the bleachers, Catra would still stand out; in a room full of sweaty college fencers wearing their bulky uniforms sits Catra, modelesque and so very out of place.

Adora feels her gaze being pulled to Catra far too many times during practice, distracting her so much so that Coach Hope tells her to get off the strip until she clears her head. And with a pointed glare sent Catra’s way, Adora heads for the gym doors, not waiting to see if Catra will follow and somehow knowing that she will. Her stomach feels weak in the way it does when a tournament is about to start as she paces in small circles right outside the gym; she freezes in place as the door opens and frowns when Catra comes out.

“What are you doing here? How’d you know where I am? What—”

“Woah, slow down, princess. One question at a time.”

“Okay, then how did you know I was here?”

Catra grins, leaning back against the wall as Adora stares her down. “That would be Entrapta. I had her find a few things out about you before we met—y’know, to make sure you weren’t a serial killer. Today’s one of my rare free days, so I asked her to find out where you were. Your phone placed you here.”

“So you’re friends with a hacker, and you came and found me at practice because...you had nothing better to do?”

“When you put it like that, it sounds kind of bad, but I swear had only good intentions this time.”

“This time?” Catra’s playful grin is contagious, and despite herself, Adora finds herself laughing. “I guess I don’t really mind you coming to see me, but please don’t interrupt practice next time, I have to run extra laps for bringing in a distraction.”

Catra pushes herself from the wall, stepping into Adora’s space far too quickly and far too easily. When Adora takes a step back, Catra follows, so Adora stands her ground as Catra comes to a stop what feels like just inches away. “So I’m a distraction, huh?”

Adora splutters for an answer, much to Catra’s amusement: she barks out a laugh, shaking her head. “I’m kidding, Adora! Here, I’ll buy your team lunch, maybe your coach won’t mind so much.”

Adora starts to say that yes, she will, but Catra speaks over her, “What do you want? I know a great sushi place; I always used to get sushi during fencing breaks.”

“You fence?”

Catra shrugs, but Adora can tell that she’s pleased. “Fencing is a rich kid’s sport. Though I never took it as seriously as you clearly do.”

And yeah; despite having met Catra just the other day, Adora can’t imagine her ever sweating or exerting herself. “I can see that.” To make her point, Adora looks Catra up and down; she looks effortlessly gorgeous in her sleeveless top and ripped jeans.

“Either way,” Catra waves a dismissive hand, “You haven’t told me you don’t want to do this, so I’m taking you out after practice ends.”

“You gave me the week,” Adora laughs, “it’s only been a day.”

Catra narrows her eyes, lips pulling into a sullen frown; Adora can’t help laughing again at how obvious it is that she’s used to getting her way. Rich kids. “Well, I’m here. I’ll take you out anyway and maybe you’ll change your mind. Anyway, I’ll let you go back to practicing before your coach blows a blood vessel.”

Adora snorts, but does as she’s told. Her heart stutters in her chest at the thought of Catra watching her fence; even if it’s just practice, this is the first time Catra will see her—and no doubt, she’s been trained by professional coaches. Hell.

Coach Hope doesn’t acknowledge Adora’s presence when she returns other than to nod in her direction, and as Adora suits up, three of her teammates surround her, wearing similar expressions of excitement and confusion.

“Adora, how do you know Catra Leos?”

“What?” Adora glances up, startled, gaze flicking first from Scorpia to Catra and back.

“Catra Leos? Hordak’s adopted daughter? The Horde’s princess? Really, Adora, how could you not know who she was?” Sea Hawk scoffs, but there is no malice in his words.

Oh. Oh. “We…” Adora bites at her lower lip, trying and failing to come up with a lie good and plausible enough to placate them. “I’ll tell you after practice, okay?”

That doesn’t seem good enough for them, but Scorpia backs away and the rest follow her, leaving Adora to put on her lamé and grab her sabre before checking the pool sheet. She’s only missed one of her bouts, but there are still two more bouts to go before she has to fence again. Knowing Coach Hope, she’ll just have to do both of her bouts in a row.

Adora sighs and reties her ponytail before standing with the rest of the sabres. Try as she might, her thoughts—and eyes—keep wandering back to Catra. Catra Leos, the Horde’s princess.

It’s both surprising and somehow...not to find out who Catra really is. Horde Industries is a huge tech company, carrying everything from phones to computers, tablets to gaming systems, and word is that they’re looking into VR. For a moment, Adora wonders how long it would’ve taken her to figure out who Catra was if Sea Hawk never ended up telling her: she doesn’t exactly look like the daughter of a tech mogul.

There are a dozen questions running through her mind the more she thinks about it: why doesn’t Catra have her parents’ surname? Why is she here, at unofficially observing a college fencing practicing when there are so many other undoubtedly important things she could be doing? Why didn’t she say who she was to begin with?

And of course, the biggest one: why does she really need Adora?

Just as Adora’s brain begins to come up with possible—and highly unlikely—reasons, Coach Hope calls her, gesturing for her to come over. As she walks over, Adora’s gaze unwittingly begins to drift to Catra again. Most of the time, Catra had been looking down at her phone, but every time Adora looked up and found Catra staring back at her, a little shock of nerves ran through her. This time is no different, and she still can’t figure out why it’s happening: they barely know each other, and it’s not like fencing was ever that big of a deal to Catra. And besides, it’s just like any other practice match, Adora reminds herself, Catra and her fancy coaches and her pretty smile don’t mean anything.

She guesses it’s because she doesn’t quite know what to make of Catra: she’d seemed disinterested throughout their entire first meeting, and her playful teasing through their texts and now is such a sharp contrast to that that Adora still doesn’t know how to respond.

Whatever it is, it—and no, not it, but Catra herself—is a distraction that Adora needs to quell.

“Yes, Coach?”

“Why is Catra Leos here?”

“Um.” Hell. “It’s kind of...a long story, Coach. But she said she’s sorry for interrupting, and she—she kind of bought the team lunch to make up for it. She’s very sorry.”

Coach Hope narrows her eyes, but she nods and gestures for Adora to walk with her. She doesn’t speak until they’re out in the hallway, and Adora is nervous for a long few minutes until she says, “Adora, you must not let yourself get distracted, especially not now. For as long as you’ve been on this team, you’ve been focused, and dedicated, and everything I could possibly want, but you can’t lose that focus now. Districts is coming up, and I believe we have a chance at going to States. You’re the cornerstone of this team, Adora, if there is anything distracting you, you must let go of it.”

Adora nods, mouth dry, and as if sensing her discomfort, Coach Hope sighs and shakes her head. “Get back in there, Adora. Tell everyone that we’ll take a lunch break when the food comes, I have to make some calls.”

And like always, Adora does as she’s told, calling everyone together and relaying the news. She gets a chorus of cheers at the mention of food, but when she goes to tell everyone to thank Catra for the meal, she has gone.

Ado-ra (13:43): where’d you go? :(

Catra (13:44): Something came up, sorry princess

Catra (13:44): We’re still on for tonight though. I’ll take you out to dinner instead

Ado-ra (13:45): okay..what time?

Catra (13:47): I’ll text you when I’m done. I can have Lonnie pick you up if you want too.

Ado-ra (13:50): if thats not a problem :(

Ado-ra (13:50): oh where is the place btw? are u choosing?

Catra (13:52): You picked Bright Moon, it’s my pick this time. And no it’s not a problem, princess

Catra (13:52): Heard of the Crimson Waste?

Ado-ra (13:53): :0 i’ve never been !! i gotta go tho foods here!!

Ado-ra (13:55): see u later !! and thanks for lunch again :)

Catra (14:02): Of course, princess. It’s a date.

Adora ends up getting grilled again during lunch: Sea Hawk has somehow told just about the whole team that Catra was the one that bought them food, and that she came because of Adora. And now, because it’s Sea Hawk, everyone thinks they’re dating.

“We’re not dating,” Adora insists again. “We just met one time, that’s it!”

“I don’t know, Adora, I don’t buy lunch for someone’s whole sports team after meeting them just once. Sushi, at that.”

“Yeah,” Sea Hawk chimes in, “sushi is expensive—”

“And Catra is rich. It was probably nothing to her, she probably does stuff like this all the time. We’re really not dating, guys.” Adora steals the tempura from Sea Hawk’s plate to get back at him, then waves a hand to get everyone’s attention. “If we’re talking about dating, why aren’t we talking about Sea Hawk’s crush?”

With the attention successfully shifted to Sea Hawk and his crush—”she’s the most beautiful girl in the world, we locked eyes from across the room and it was love at first sight! I’ve convinced her to join the team as well!” he’s saying—Adora takes the time to eat in peace, rereading her short conversation with Catra and biting her lip to keep from grinning. She doesn’t know why she’s so giddy and flustered, but as she screenshots the short conversation to send to Bow and Glimmer, Adora finds herself wishing that Catra would text her again, even just to say something inconsequential.

Ado-ra (14:10): [image sent]

Ado-ra (14:11): what do u guys think about this?

B♥w (14:12): OHHHHHHHH

B♥w (14:12): MYYYYY

B♥w (14:12): GODDDDD

B♥w (14:12): glimmer owes me $10

Glim! (14:13): UGH

Ado-ra (14:15): ????

Glim! (14:16): nothing!

B♥w (14:16): yeah! Nothing!

Ado-ra (14:17): ……

Ado-ra (14:15): u guys suck

Glim! (14:16): ♡♡♡

B♥w (14:16): ♡♡♡

Ado-ra (14:17): i gotta go in a bit but can u guys help me pick what to wear? idk what kind of place she chose :( what if its fancy?

Glim! (14:20): we are ON it

And somehow, despite Adora’s mind on Catra the whole time and her teammates’ teasing, practice goes on without another hitch.

The rest of the day, not so much.

Adora gets home close to 4:30, and debates texting Catra to let her know. She decides against it; Catra said she would let her know when she was done, and for some reason, she feels nervous to initiate conversation after Catra’s impromptu visit. And then she gets to her room, and to say that it looked like a hurricane blew through would be an understatement.

Bow is sitting cross-legged on the floor as Glimmer rummages through her closet, tossing out items and commenting on each one. Adora stands in the doorway for a moment, and when Bow spots her, he scrambles up and over to her, eyes wide. “Adora! We are definitely going to clean all of this up while you’re gone, don’t worry! We were just trying to figure out what you should wear, because the Crimson Waste is some kind of upscale bar and lounge thing, and we didn’t want you to be underdressed for your first date, and then—”

“Guys, guys. I’ll just ask her what she’s wearing, it’s not that big of a deal.” Except it is, because it’s Catra. Hell, she’s suddenly nervous.

Ado-ra (16:39): what are u wearing?

Catra (16:40): Wow

Catra (16:40): Very forward of you, princess

Ado-ra (16:41): DFJHKSJFDNDKJ?S????MM

Ado-ra (16:41): I MEAN TTO DINNER OH MY GO D

Catra (16:42): Lol I know. I’m not dressing up or anything, don’t worry

Catra (16:43): [image sent]

Adora decides then that she hates Catra. “This isn’t dressing up? Look at this!” She brandishes her phone at Bow and Glimmer, offended on a physical level at how good Catra looks wearing something so casual—and yet that isn’t dressing up for her.

Bow squints at the picture Catra’s sent of herself, then gasps. “She looks really good! But that means—”

“We have to start over,” Glimmer finishes for him.

“I’ll pick the outfit, you do her hair?”

“Guys! It’s not a date!” Adora says, and is ignored. Glimmer steers her towards her own room, sitting her down at her vanity, and Adora has never seen Glimmer look more serious or deadly as she does now with moisturizer in one hand and a beauty blender in the other. And for a moment, as Glimmer descends on her, Adora fears for her life.

Bow comes in just as Glimmer is getting the flat iron plugged in; he leans against the door frame and calls out, “I’m done! I finished cleaning everything up—so sorry, Adora. I promise, everything is back to the way it was! You look really good, by the way.”

Adora huffs and looks at herself in the mirror, and admittedly, he’s right. Whatever Glimmer’s done has made her eyes look bigger and bluer, and her skin looks smooth and more even. That’s about as far as she can tell, but she’s not going to say that with Glimmer around. “Thanks, Bow. Even though it’s still not a date.”

“Yeah, okay, anyway—your outfit is on your bed. Have fun on your date!” And before Adora can find something to throw at him, Bow darts out of the room, cackling.

“He does have a point,” Glimmer says once he’s gone. She runs her fingers through Adora’s hair, and Adora wrinkles her nose at the ticklish sensation against her neck. Thankfully, Glimmer takes pity on her, gathering all of Adora’s hair in her hand and holding it away.

“Why don’t you just cut your hair?” she asks, looking at Adora through the mirror.

Adora shrugs, sighing. “I don’t know, I just...I don’t want it short, I just don’t like how it feels when it touches me. I don’t know why, I just...don’t like it.”

“Do you want to just go with a bun then? I can cut you bangs—”

“No bangs! Did I not tell you about my bangs phase? It was awful.”

Glimmer scoffs and rolls her eyes, playfully tousling Adora’s hair before gathering it back up again. And then her eyes light up as she begins to carefully part her hair. “How about something like this?”

And—Adora likes it.

Her friends must know her better than she thought, because after Glimmer finishes styling her hair, Adora holds up the outfit Bow had picked, and—she likes that too. She’s not sure where the shirt came from, and she’s pretty sure the belt is Bow’s, but it looks good, and even more so when Bow comes in and carefully, artfully tucks her shirt in and undoes the top two buttons.

“You look so good,” he squeals when he steps back, “you look like a model, Adora! Seriously! Catra’s gonna love it.”

“It’s not a date, Bow. Seriously, it’s just dinner.” Adora grabs her phone from the bed and opens her conversation with Catra; she’d responded about twenty minutes ago that she was finally free.

Ado-ra (17:51): i am SO sorry im ready now

Catra (17:52): Good. I’m already at the bar, Lonnie’s outside

Ado-ra (17:53): WHAT

Ado-ra (17:54): WAS SHE WAITING LONG

Ado-ra (17:54): CATRA

Ado-ra (17:54): WHY DIDN U TELL ME

Catra (17:55): >:3

Ado-ra (17:55): oh my GOD

“Guys,” Adora yells, “I gotta go, my ride's here—Catra’s such an ass, I’ll text you when I get there, bye!” And before either of her friends can answer, Adora sprints outside.

There’s a sleek black car waiting, and Adora nearly trips in her haste to get inside, spilling out a hurried, “I am so sorry, Catra never said you were here—my friends were trying to get me dressed up, and—”

“Chill,” the driver—Lonnie—says. She looks a little older than Adora, and through the mirror, Adora sees her roll her eyes. “I’m not surprised that she had me waiting.”

Ado-ra (17:57): im omw!!

Catra (17:57): Finally

“What? Why?”

Ado-ra (17:57): id be theresooner if u told me lonnie wa here !!!!

Catra (17:58): :3 Oops

“Well…you know how Catra is.” And no, Adora does not know how Catra is. “I’m honestly surprised you agreed to meet her, you’re so...”

Lonnie falls silent, shaking her head, and Adora gives her a moment to speak before prompting, “So?”

“So...nice.”

“You don’t even know me,” Adora laughs, “you can’t—”

“It’s in your eyes,” Lonnie interrupts, “they’re warm and alive. People like Catra...their eyes aren’t like that. She’s a spoiled brat and nothing more, and if I were you, I’d have me turn this car right back around and forget you ever met her.”

At that, Adora falls silent, thinking back to the Catra she knows. The Catra she’d first met at the cafe, not quite cold but not very warm either, just—uninterested. And then, the Catra that had sent her $300 just because. The Catra that dropped by her practice because she was bored, the Catra that ordered lunch for her whole team because she could. The Catra with the teasing voice and playful grin and lively eyes, the Catra that invited her out to dinner for—whatever reason. She thinks about how exhilarating it was to be around Catra—how she feels simultaneously safe and on edge (in the best kind of way) whenever Catra is near her.

Catra (18:00): Hey, Adora

Catra (18:00): Look at the menu and tell me what you might want, so we don’t have to wait as long

A soft smile flirts with Adora’s lips as she reads and rereads Catra’s message. “I...don’t,” she finally answers Lonnie, “I think we know two completely different Catras. Because the Catra I know... “

“No, you don’t know her, not like I do. I’ve known Catra her whole life, and sure, it wasn’t easy growing up in that house, but she is not—she is not—a good person. I don’t really care that you’re meeting with her, but—Adora, right?—trust me when I say not to trust her.”

Catra (18:03): Adora?

Ado-ra (18:04): yeah sorry um

Ado-ra (18:04): order me anything im not picky !

Catra (18:05): Okay, princess

“I...I can’t just throw away my relationship with her because of that. I’m not dismissing you, but I have to at least give her a chance, and—” Adora thinks of the Catra that so subtly shows that she cares, “I have to believe that people are good, and that if they’re not, they can change.”

Lonnie scoffs, and shakes her head, and does not answer. It’s not an awkward silence, but it isn’t exactly comfortable either; it’s the kind of silence that strangers thrust together share, and Adora wishes that she could talk to Catra again, but Lonnie’s words are in her mind now, and that’s not fair to Catra, isn’t fair to herself, but—

“We’re here,” Lonnie says. Her voice is stiff, but she gives Adora a little half smile as Adora gets out of the car, and Adora promises herself to ask Catra to get something for Lonnie from the bar.

Ado-ra (18:14): im outside :)

Not moments later, Catra comes outside; Adora feels a little jolt of something when Catra spots her almost immediately. She vaguely registers Lonnie driving away, but she can’t bring herself to care, not when Catra is coming closer, looking her up and down ever so slowly.

“Hey, Adora,” she drawls, “you sure do clean up well.”

Adora feels a flush begin to settle over her cheeks and she ducks her head to keep Catra from seeing. “Thank you, Catra.”

Catra laughs, gentle and fond, and when Adora glances up at her again, she’s holding out a hand for Adora to take, and the look in her eye is so enamoured that Adora takes it without hesitating, and lets herself be pulled inside.

(last | next)

#she ra #catradora #my writing #shera #burnt sugar

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dlamp-dictator · 5 years ago

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I’ll keep an eye on this anime. If anything, it definitely looks pretty, the fight scenes have been [done] well so far, and seeing Melida be cute in full color is great. If I just get a decent action series out of this anime, I’ll be happy.

-Allen X, October 22 2019

Well folks, Assassins Pride wrapped up last week and I can safely say I got what I wanted. In the end, I think this was a pretty fun and passable anime to watch weekly. Decent action, decent plot, and a decently written story. Nothing was too offensive or annoying save for one or two moments in the middle, and as much as I felt the show stumbled compared to the manga and possibly the light novel I have hope that this might just get an official translate and... well, you know, do the pacing thing better.

But since I had a habit of covering this thing after every arc I figured I’d give the show some closing thoughts and an overall opinion of the thing at the end. I hope I don’t spend a 1000+ words on this, but... well... I can get pretty wordy when I get a groove, so we’ll see.

But anyway, let’s start with...

The Good

The Visuals

Let’s not mince words folks, this anime is pretty. It might be because I’m a sucker for night aesthetic, but the one disadvantage of the black-and-white manga is that were really never got to see just how dark the world of Flandor really was. To quote myself again:

(This is a) world trapped in perpetual night with warriors of light being the only thing keeping away further darkness, along with the last bastion of humanity being a literal chandelier city in case you missed the symbolism

And nothing makes you really feel that more than that first scene of Kufa walking through the quiet streets on his way to the Angel estate, seeing not only how dark the world is from the night sky above, but also how artificial the light within it really is. The dark aesthetic really helps a lot of the other characters pop out a lot more in terms of the actual color. Mana is literally a glowing, flaming aura that lights the darkness like a candle. The two main girls in this series are a bright blonde and white-haired girl that stand out against the black night sky like the sun and stars.

Again, symbolism.

The list goes on, but you get the idea.

The Action

Not to say this is Trigger or Madhouse or Perriot, but it is pretty nice that we get a decent action scene every arc. Something I definitely appreciate is that they show contrast between Melida’s kind nature and friendly attitude with her brutal and dirty fighting style.

See, Melida is a kind and gentle girl that would rather not use violence save for fighting demons, but if she has to fight she’ll use every dirty trick in the book. She’ll throw sand, she feint attacks, she go into brawling when close enough, she fake being injured to make her opponent let their guard down. It’s a nice little story detail that shows you this noblewoman was, in fact, trained by a ruthless assassin that taught her to actual fight for survival instead of like a nobleman. Her taking down stronger students by doing all but outright cheat is almost hilarious to watch sometimes.

The Overall Narrative

For as fast as the pacing was I feel like I got a good idea of Melida’s story and the trials she has to endure as the “Incompetent Talented Girl”. This story focused on Melida more than Kufa, which is something I’m very thankful for. It’s always tempting to switch over the OP male MC to overpower his way through things, but to my pleasant surprise this only happened in one arc, and it was an arc that had some justification for it, though I really didn’t care it myself. Save for the third arc everything was to show Melida’s growth from a shy and bullied girl to a competent swordswoman that can even hold her own against the other heirs of the three noble houses.

But that’s enough of the good, so now we have to talk about...

The Bad

The Pacing

There’s no getting around this. Even if I didn’t already read bits of the manga online ahead of time the pacing for this show is still insanely fast. Even taking out the fact that this is an adapted story we’re never given enough time to absorb certain scenes. And the worse is that a lot of the arcs have a focus on intrigue and mystery. Luna Lumiere Selection Tournament Arc had two major mysteries: who was the one that changed the plaque and who is Black Madia masquerading as? They especially took care to make Mule seem like a very suspicious party only to reveal it was a third party in the very same episode. The mystery of Black Madia was done better, though by necessity as she couldn’t reveal herself until the very last moment of the arc. This was fine in the anime, but it could had used an extra episode or two of build-up between scenes. The arc at Rosetti’s hometown was a huge mystery that had Kufa under believable suspicious, and was actually done pretty well by not revealing the true culprit until the last episode of it, it also helps that Kufa was under suspicion from the first episode of it. The Library Exam Arc was... done alright, but it could had used an extra episode or two to cook and add some more tension between the Angels and the other nobles, but it was done well.

And that’s the main issue. Every arc could had used one or two extra episodes to really set the scene. Nothing was done poorly in terms of structure and narrative, but everything could had been better had things slowed down. Despite the action this show isn’t a shounen or action genre, it’s a political drama with a combat school setting.

This might also be just the issue of this being a 12-episode anime adapting a novel. A novel has the advantage of progressing its plots slowly with the knowledge the reader has the entire book to finish either that arc or at least most of it. If that reader skips around because they’re bored that says more about them than the author. With an anime or television show you don’t have that luxury, you only have a few episodes at best to keep a viewers attention, especially for something like the seasonal anime lineup where you have to keep audience retention every week and your competition is the other 50+ anime out there that might possibly be more interesting. I pity whatever decent anime has to contend with the newest My Hero Academia season along with everything else.

I understand the need to want to just show off the cool bits to keep audience attention, but it came at the cost of the narrative. Even if this thing still holds together well it could hold together much better if they only focused on the first two arcs of this series instead of trying to shove in four, but alas...

In any case...

Other Smaller Issues that Bugged Allen

Really, the pacing was the biggest issue in this anime, but I do have my fair share of gripes and nitpicks too. I’ll keep this in list form for the sake of simplicity.

Kufa having access to potions/medicines that can not only kick-start a mana-less person into having it, but one that can also turn half-Lyncrophyes back to humans opens up quite a few plotholes and issues. I’m sure the light novel and manga explain their existence better, probably something to the effect of them being extremely experimental and a deadly risk, but the anime doesn’t explain that and it can take you out of the story if you care about the world-building.

I feel like side characters like Nerva, Mule, and Salacha were suppose to get more screentime, or at least more development, but just didn’t due to the pacing and runtime. You get the basic idea of everyone, but it feels like the show wanted to do more with them, or at least that the source material probably did more with them.

The occasional moments fanservice don’t work too well in this series. It’s nothing to the level of Senran Kagura or Ikkitousen, but when your cast consist of mostly middle school aged girls the most fanservice that should be seen is a beach episode or a sleepover episode. And while this anime did have a sleepover episode it still also took time to put some of this girls in... compromising positions. My general rule of fanservice is that high school age characters doesn’t really count due to the wonky-ness of hormones act and how most media east and west tends to treat high school characters anyway, but middle school kids... yeah no. That’s just my morals, but it’s still a detractor from the anime.

The third arc kind of felt pointless since it tried to focus on Kufa’s relationship with Rosetti. I didn’t really need to know about Kufa’s past, and connecting it to Rosetti just... doesn’t feel right given how he dismissive treated her in the first arc. Making Rose a half-vampire was also pretty pointless to me. It feels like they were trying to give Kufa a harem when this show is mostly focused on Melida, and the most interesting part about his past is a mix of his life in the dark zone of the world and his past as an assassin, not his relationships with his apparent adoptive sister. It just felt... really focused and a waste of time. They could had cut out this arc, gave each other arc an extra episode to build up some things and be none the weaker for it.

The Dub

The nice thing about VRV is that I can see the HiDive dubcast along with the show. I only watched a handful of episodes, but here are my general throughts for those curious. Overall, the dub is fine, but like most HiDive Dubcasts it feels... off. Not bad, but it feels like they needed to be 4 or 6 weeks off the original release instead of 2 or 3 to get the director in the right place. I feel like most of the issues with this dub come from the direction and scripting rather than the actual voice-acting. But just to keep this short.

Kufa sounds too flat. This was a pretty common dubbing issue back in the early 2000s when trying to translate/localize a stoic, serious character. The director is probably trying to make the actor emulate the original Japanese voice acting and Kufa just sounds too flat and bored at times because of it. Most character like this tend to be given a more deadpan and sarcastic edge to them in English to make the have a little more emotion. In Japanese that flat tone is meant imply stoicism, resolve, and masculinity. In English... that’s just sounding flat and bored. Again, most characters like this are usually given a different kind of tone to keep them from sounding bored. For Kufa I’d say a more strict and stern tone of voice would help given he’s an instructor, almost like a even-toned drill sergeant issuing orders. He does sound like that from time to time when actually instructing, but I wish he kept that persona. Though that’s just my take.

Nerva and Rosetti... just don’t hit it for me. I don’t mind the difference in tone, but the script doesn’t lend itself to it. Rosetti’s actor makes her sounds much more like an adult in English, but her actual lines are still childish, which makes her come off as a little... cringe. Same with Nerva, but I’m willing to overlook it since she’s more of a side character anyway. Mule actually sounds pretty good in this regard. Her tone sounds less like a middle schooler and more like a young college woman, but since a lot of her actual lines has an air of condescending smugness it works out, though her actor sounds like she’s reading the script and not acting from it.

The scripting in general seemed to really want to follow the subbed version and it falls flat because of it. When I read the subtitles that take the world, systems, and general wackiness of this subpar anime so seriously it’s fine. But to actually hear it in a language I understand... it kinda’ shows how lacking the series is. I’m not saying they should had added jokes or anything, but it feels like they could had made the dialogue a bit more casual than it was in the subs so that the lines flowed a little better. HiDive dubs, their dubcasts especially, tend to feel like a product of the early 2000s rather than something current.

Thoughts and Recommendations

Overall I do recommend this series as a decent action show with some nice colors to it and a killer OP and ED, but there's a lot better I could recommend too that does everything this anime does but better.

So... here are a recommendations I have if Assassins Pride didn’t really click with you as much as you hoped.

A bit of an odd recommendation, but I’ll stick up Goblin Slayer first. This anime is actually a lot like Assassins Pride, being a character-focused story with decent side characters and does a lot of its world-building in the background. However, it does its arcs far better than Assassins Pride since they aren’t intrigue-based and the cast is solving much simpler problems in the grand scheme of things. It’s also an anime based off a light novel just to add to the similarities, and said anime also has four arcs to it. I will say this is a series that’s not for the faint of heart, and I almost recommend skipping episode 1 if you’re of a weaker constitution if you plan on watching this one.

Next up would be Chivalry of a Failed Knight. It does the combat school aspect of Assassins Pride much better, taking some strides to show that each of its students are, in fact, warriors capable of harming and killing others and going to a school to hone those skills. And if you that Melida was a ruthless fighter Ikki probably takes it a step further. And this is also another light novel adaptation, though the manga did technically finish its updates online if you’re curious. A side recommendation to this one would be Armed Girl's Machiavellism.

My last recommendation will be Katana Maidens. This is another combat school anime that I feel is honestly average, but it’s an anime-original series that has 24 episodes behind it, and quite a few decent action scenes. I recommend this one more to action junkies as I feel the story really starts to drag in the second half, but an overall decent series that does do itself world-building a little better than Assassins Pride, or at least I’m not asking as many questions at the end of it.

And those are my thoughts on Assassins Pride. Now I have a Rambling on video games to work on, so I’ll see you all later.

#assassins pride #your dictator is speaking

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go-redgirl · 5 years ago

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Top 8 Reasons Trump Already Won Impeachment

Whether the senators put the trial out of its misery this week or drag it on for months, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Here are the eight big reasons Trump won impeachment.

1. Trump Didn’t Commit An Impeachable Offense

It’s an obvious point, but the most important point.

Impeaching President Trump has been the stated goal of the Resistance since his inauguration. The main effort toward impeachment was through the investigation of a false and dangerous theory of treasonous collusion with Russia to steal the 2016 election.

Even with a limitless special counsel appointed to achieve that end, the Russia collusion hoax ended with not a single American found to have colluded with Russia, not to mention anyone close to Trump, or Trump himself. A mini-effort to get impeachment going — on the special counsel’s murky near-findings that Trump had objected too strenuously to being falsely accused of treason — also fell apart.

Other impeachment efforts for, among other things, mean tweets, went nowhere. With time running out, the Resistance cobbled together what was always a weak theory regarding a phone call with the Ukrainian president.

At first the alleged crime was supposed to be a campaign finance violation, then bribery, then extortion. It ended with two articles of impeachment, neither ofor an actual crime, and one a more or less laughable claim that the president can’t use courts to defend his rights.

The other was a complicated argument regarding abuse of power that required not just hiding all exonerating evidence but the worst possible construction on what remained. It was such a weak argument that not a single Republican in the House fell for it and three Democrats declined to go along with their own party.

The range of opinion outside the Resistance about the phone call between world leaders ranges from it being, in Trump’s words, “perfect” to merely good or fine to not good. Resistance members tried to put forth the claim that the call was none of these things but impeachably bad. Even with the help of a compliant media, there is simply not enough consensus around this extreme viewpoint to justify even censure, much less bipartisan agreement toward impeachment, much less a removal from office.

Trump’s avoidance of a crime or any real break with public trust is the single biggest factor in his acquittal.

2. Terrible Decision-Making By House Democrats

With a histrionic media and political base spending the last few years demanding impeachment, House Democrats surely had hoped that President Trump would do something justifying an impeachment inquiry. They undoubtedly were not pleased when the best they had to work with was Trump asking for help investigating Ukraine’s known 2016 election meddling or investigation into Biden family corruptionin Ukraine.

So they started with a weak hand. But they failed to follow a good process. They didn’t have the House authorize an impeachment inquiry until late in the process. This decision made it unlikely that the many early subpoenas they sought would be deemed valid by a court of law if contested.

They refused to have courts validate their subpoenas, refused to let the GOP call their own witnesses, and suppressed information that was not helpful to their impeachment cause. Of the 78 days of the impeachment proceedings, they denied the president any right to counsel or due process for 71 days of them.

In general, the procedure was rushed and information that could have helped them seem more credible was never sought or acquired.

3. Democrats Failed to Get a Single Republican on Board Their Impeachment Scheme

It is nothing short of amazing that not a single Republican member of Congress joined with Democrats in their impeachment effort. There are plenty of Republican members who either dislike or even loathe the president. But even they didn’t find the impeachment to be credible.

The Resistance was also failed by its NeverTrump wing. That wing had pushed Justin Amash to dramatically leave the Republican Party earlier last year. He published his op-ed as to why and promptly lost any sway with anyone other than the tiny NeverTrump movement.

NeverTrump has long demonstrated trouble with strategic thinking and impulse control, so following their advice and leaving the party in a snit was an unforced error. Had Amash stayed with the party, the Resistance in the media and Democratic Party would have been able to make much more use of him.

4. Inexplicable 1-Month Delay In Sending Impeachment to the Senate

A main argument in favor of impeaching President Trump was that the situation, whatever it was supposed to be that day, was so dire that it required his immediate removal from office. The House Democrats couldn’t afford to wait a matter of months until a new election would be held and Americans could decide whether the “perfect” phone call was in fact so bad that it required the first removal from office of an American president in history.

Impeachment and removal had to happen immediately, they claimed. But then after voting to impeach the president, perhaps sensing the problems caused by a weak case and hoping for more information to come to light, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi inexplicably sat on the articles for a month. It killed whatever momentum the Resistance had and made a mockery of the whole process.

5. The Defense Team Was Amazing

Instead of turning things over to the effective Republicans who had handled the impeachment process so well on the House side, President Trump instead opted to put together a powerhouse collection of attorneys uniquely suited to address an audience of senators and the American people.

Even among their class of politicians, senators have an extremely high view of themselves and their office. Every senator’s ego must be stroked. They don’t want to feel upstaged, spoken down to, or lectured.

Patrick Philbin, Trump’s deputy general counsel, exemplified the defense team’s deliberate choice to put in front of senators someone who had encyclopedic knowledge of the law and this particular case, someone not there to make a name for himself. Philbin’s humble and bookish demeanor was neither bombastic nor flamboyant as he calmly explained the facts of the case and their significance. The other members of the team were also well chosen to argue their points.

6. Grating and Juvenile House Managers

By contrast, House Democrats picked impeachment managers who seemed perfectly calibrated to annoy and grate on those handful of senators whose votes were up for grabs. Reps. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler were the leaders of a group that repeated their highly partisan talking points and used hyperbolic and loaded language. The media loved it, but it went over like a lead balloon with the non-Resistance senators.

The House Democrats accused senators of being cowards who were complicit in a cover-up. They suggested that the senators were unable to vote properly because President Trump would put their heads on pikes if they didn’t vote to acquit. They refused to answer specific and direct questions about whether the whistleblower worked for Biden, was involved in any decisions regarding Burisma, or about his interaction with Schiff’s staff. Even the Washington Post — even the Washington Post — gave Schiff four Pinocchios for lying about his staff’s secret collusion with the whistleblower.

At some point, the difference between the competent and highly skilled attorneys on the White House team and the bumbling and somewhat mediocre team of House managers was so pronounced it was almost embarrassing. It was as if one side belonged in front of the Supreme Court and the other failed to make the finals at a middle school debate tournament.

7. Kavanaugh Smear Operations No Longer Work

Along with the delay of the articles of impeachment, the House managers deployed a slow drip of supposedly damaging information. First they put Lev Parnas out as a “bombshell” witness who would bring Trump down. Parnas is indicted for various crimes and is something of a hustler and influence peddler who worked his way through Washington and supposedly had some type of negative information about Trump.

While the argument that Rudy Guiliani shouldn’t have been working with him in any way has merit, it’s a difficult argument to make while walking hand-in-hand with the same individual. Senate Minority Leader went so far as to invite Parnas to be his guest at the trial, which made the scene look more like a circus than a deliberative effort.

Late this week, House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel issued a press release saying that he had been given information from a disgruntled former employee of Trump’s in mid-September to look into the firing of Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, suggesting additional witnesses needed to be called. A good time to release this information — if it needed to be released, that is — would have been four months ago or during the House’s impeachment proceedings.

These tactics of deploying information late to create “bombshell” news stories are losing their effectiveness post-Kavanaugh. Republican senators — perhaps with the exception of Mitt Romney, who didn’t even learn this lesson after he was called a racist, hair-raping woman murderer during his presidential bid — are finally wising up to the operation played by the media and Democrats.

8. Media Malfeasance

The media always owned this impeachment process. Pelosi did her best to avoid impeachment but the media all but forced her into it. They championed it every step of the way and provided help, including the blocking of arguments against it.

For instance, although it’s fairly standard to name whistleblowers and to do journalism figuring out who key players are, many in the media decided to help Democrats keep from having to answer questions about his role with the whistleblower. They steadfastly avoided looking into him and his motivations or how that might have affected the entire proceedings.

Each day provided evidence that the media didn’t just want Trump impeached and removed from office, but desperately wanted that. There are videos of scrums of reporters fighting with Republicans over their case, but none of them fighting with Democrats. Republican senators are hounded by reporters to pressure them to change their vote, but Democratic senators don’t receive the same treatment.

It didn’t help that in the midst of the circus, a CNN host and his panel were openly yukking it up about how Republicans are all stupid.

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toonstarterz · 6 years ago

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BECAUSE I’M NOT POPULAR, I’LL READ WATAMOTE: CHAPTER #154

The Sports Tournament Arc has come to a close (watch me eat my words), and while things may not have ended in the most spectacular or dramatic fashion, it does offer a healthy dose of retrospection after the flurry of emotions we’ve undergone during this whole thing. Tomoko’s world may be winding down for the moment, but as we all know, that just sets the pace for things to spring right back up.

Chapter 154: Because I’m Not Popular, The Sports Tournament Will End

Watamote has always been relatively good at picking apart what it means to be female, and acknowledging their habit for casual grooming is just one of those times. But where this series shines is that it neither advocates or condemns stereotypical female behavior. Its stance has always been, “it is what it is,” and the reader is open to make their own opinions on that.

Well, I never expected them to win, honestly speaking. This ain’t no shounen sports manga after all, where the underdogs make a dubious comeback thanks to Nakama Power™. The obligatory homosexual subtext was there, though.

Yeeeah, one of Yuri’s biggest flaws is that it takes her some time to admit, or even recognize her own responsibilities. Naturally, that includes pointing out other’s faults before her own. That being said...

Is Yuri being Bitchy or Awkward? An Analysis to Come in A Couple More Pages.

Tomoko, being the one to slightly raise up everyone else’s spirits? I’d be more shocked if her growth didn’t already make that actually kind of plausible.

This right here is the single coolest girl in the entire manga.

Side note: Komi’s rekt face is sublime.

That hit had so much force, it burst through the panel borders. For once, poor Minami.

I see friendships all over the place.

In spite of (or perhaps because of) Komiyama’s overzealous nature, she can also be hit pretty hard with a sense of shame when her efforts prove fruitless. Maybe Itou plays the role of the “Lift Their Spirits” Friend in times like this.

At least the other girls are also taking their defeat in stride. Although, Minami seems particularly down for once. Perhaps she surprisingly feels some disappointment over their loss.,,

....or maybe she just feels jaded watching Mike and her Boyfriend make kissy-face.

The thing about Kiyota is that he doesn’t seem like an especially capable guy. But from what we’ve seen, the dude’s got a pretty agreeable personality that sort of just makes it easier for people to follow him. It’s the same reason why he became the class representative. Kiyota may not be at the top of the class in any way (that we know of), but his likability makes him a natural leader.

Of course, his true friends will still give him hella shit for it.

Like many loners with self-esteem issues, no one cares about winning until they actually start winning.

Hey, hey, hey! It seems that the disastrous fallout between Tomoko and Ucchi didn’t the stop the latter from making good on her claim to cheer Tomoko on. We don’t know if the Emoji Gang ever intervened after those events, but if Ucchi still has the nerve(cluelessness) to cheer the girl she berated, that can only be a good sign.

It’s kind of weird seeing Hirasawa next to her though, considered how Ucchi cut her down that one time. Long-term grudges do not exist unless you’re Tomoko.

Fuuka, eh? The gap between a character’s first major appearance and their revealed name gets smaller each time.

So these two are close friends, I see. They certainly give off those “alpha girl’ airs, but not in an unapproachable way. Contrary to what Western media has fed me, bitchy queen bees aren’t actually that popular.

I’m sure many a shipper thinks that Katou chose table tennis to be with Tomoko, but I don’t that’s the only reason. It could just as well be that she’s into the sport. For the longest time, Katou’s personality has increasingly contrasted with her appearance. On the surface, she looks like the stereotypical beauty whose friendly, girly, and is super popular. But underneath, she’s also rather unaware, possibly perverted, not actually that good with makeup, and frankly, a bit of a weirdo. She’s all full of surprises, and it honestly makes her feel more human.

That was probably not her intent, but a mini party is definitely more up Tomoko’s alley. She just barely made it through the KBBQ party after all, and while Tomoko would’ve probably made it through another large-scale party even easier, small get-togethers are the introvert’s bee’s knees.

It’s still hard to get a read on Futaki’s sociability, but she seems like a middle-of-the-road case as far as we’ve seen.

Yuri using Tomoko as a support beam is way within my expectations of her. It hasn’t steered too far into the Unhealthy Zone (yet), but I do enjoy that Tomoko’s simple company is all Yuri really needs to enjoy herself.

Introvert Problems #092: Preoccupying yourself with your beverage to break the awkward silence without realizing the social cue of waiting to clink glasses before drinking.

Smooth move, me Tomoko.

Good taste, my girl. Very good taste.

I love how the artistic license in this series is played completely straight. Girls with cat smiles are a dime-a-dozen in manga, but it’s usually a visualization only apparent to the readers. But not here. Emoji eyes and a feline grin are just as ludicrous in-universe as it is to us.

Yeah...I have no idea what to make of this. Guess Yuri has her own weird quirks, after all. What makes it extra funny is when you remember that Tomoko is strangely good at cutting things. Ironic humor at its finest.

Harking back to what I said about Katou being full of surprises, it’s easy to judge Katou sorely on her appearance, given how much more refined she looks next to the other “plain" girls. But when you look beyond what’s skin deep, Katou actually has more similarities to Tomoko than she let on. Being decently athletic, but not sporty; having a high tolerance for perversion, and socially naive at times. Katou’s affection for Tomoko had always felt out-of-place when we didn’t know her personality too well. But now that we’ve gotten a good look at it, her budding friendship with Tomoko feels all the more authentic.

Being the Nucleus Friend is never easy, Tomoko.

Ah, Tomoko, regrets are natural. One of the more informed aspects about Tomoko is that she doesn’t dwell on the past too much. Her episodes of cringe hardly have everlasting negative effects on her personality, and the only times she does dwell are when she comes to terms with the mistakes she’s made. The twist now is that Tomoko puts a positive spin on it this time. Instead of bemoaning how she did something bad, she now reflects on how she could have done something good. It’s a layer of positive reinforcement that I think Tomoko has truly benefited from.

Futaki coming through with the Nakama Speech™. It’s a pretty good one, too. Not heavy-handed or overly sentimental, but it’s from a place of earnestness that many can appreciate.

And I just realized that Futaki has been going through a quiet development from being a single-player gamer to multi-player gamer. Damn, that was slick, Nico Tanigawa.

Hey now, those Spot the Difference games are totally legitimate critical thinking exercises.

It’s easy to think from first glance that Yuri is being purposely insensitive by the way she’s ignoring such a heartwarming speech, but I don’t think that’s really the case. It’s not that she doesn’t care about it, it just that those dining table games are too damn engaging for her introverted mind to resist. Yuri’s personality is a lot of things, but a lack of empathy is not one of them.

Even though that’s true, it sounds vaguely hypocritical coming from you, Tomoko.

As I thought, Mako the Mom is also Mako the Enabler.

Is Yuri Being Bitchy or Awkward?

Neither. She’s being a weirdo.

We all know by now that Yuri’s no sheep. She’s not going to pretend she’s something she’s not just to reciprocate the mood. But at the same time, she’s aware enough to adjust herself in situations where just doing anything she wants would be potentially hurtful. Of course, that’s only when she realizes she’s being hurtful. And there’ve been a number of times where she failed at that. Yuri’s behavior is very much circumstantial, and in cases where she’s expected to fit in with the crowd, she can be bitchy, awkward, or neither based on how well she can read the atmosphere.

And that, my friends, is why Yuri’s a weirdo.

I don’t know about that, Tomoko. As absurd as her face and gaming skills are, Futaki’s personality has always seemed fairly normal to me.

Don’t judge an emoji by its emoji.

You may laugh at their apparent difficulty at finding them all, but I read up that these specific Spot the Difference games are a reference to the ones they have in Saizeriya restaurants, which are known for being notoriously tough. (Seriously, a dude called up the manufacturer because he couldn’t find the last one). Thanks as always, /r/watamote!

Eat your words, Tomoko! Just because you have more friends now, that doesn’t mean you’re hot shit and too good for “childish” games. Not that I can blame her too much, though. It’s understandable that Tomoko feels there are certain social conventions that come with increased popularity. But if there’s one thing that Tomoko still has to realize, it’s that popularity doesn’t equal maturity. No matter how high you are on the food chain, doing dumb kiddie stuff is present all across the board.

Didn’t I tell you that, “Not that I care” was going to be this series’ tsundere line?

When you think about it, Yuri’s come a long way from how she was at the start. At the end of second year, she lamented that her new friends might drift away from her. Compare that to now, where she’s actually more optimistic about her relationships. Sure, the fact that they’re now in the same class is the key difference, but the sentiment is still there, and feels a lot more impactful given that Yuri has never really been this open about her feelings.

That’s what happens when you get the last word in.

As with most of these arcs, it’s the journey rather than the end that has the most impact on our characters. For some, like Ucchi and Yuri, it was a major game-changer in their relationships with Tomoko. For others, like Itou and Hirasawa, it was an exploration of what made them the way they are. And then there’s Tomoko, still fumbling around with a degree of popularity she was never fully prepared for.

But for everyone, it was all about trying. Trying something new, putting in the extra effort, and reaching out to others. While the results were kind of a mixed bag, nearly everyone came out of this tournament with some form of victory.

#watamote #watamote review #chapter 154 #no matter how i look at it it's you guys' fault i'm not popular!#tomoko kuroki #asuka katou #hina nemoto #yuri tamura #futaki shiki #fuuka #kotomi komiyama #review

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glapplebloom · 6 years ago

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(Image came from this video)

One is one third the reason I am back to enjoy Dragon Ball after... GT... The other is the true continuation that ensured GT can never exist.

For those who don’t know, Dragon Ball Multiverse is a Fan Comic based on continuing where Dragon Ball Z left off. It is thanks to this series (as well as Kai and Abridged) that got me to re-appreciate the Dragon Ball series after GT left a bad taste in my mouth.

Soon after, Dragon Ball Super arrived. This continued where Dragon Ball Z left off before the 20 year time skip seen at the end of the series. And like Multiverse, they had their own Tournament where multiverses crossed over. I figured the fans of Multiverse would be ecstatic, but I was wrong.

I broke my own rule and read the comments, and they were not kind. Some criticized the comic for some of the actions they have taken, some even comparing it to Super, and others have defended it while taking it out on Super. So I’m going to take a look at three things to note...

1 - Tournaments

I enjoy tournament storylines. Its why I even got interested in Multiverse in the first place. But both have been criticized for having filler by having universes that were mostly fodder in comparison. So I am going to compare and contrast the two series.

Multiverse take on, well, Multiverse is the full blown Multiverse Theory: where any change in a timeline leads to a completely different Universe. So a lot of these are all What Ifs: What if the Frosts stood around, what if Babidi won, what if Bardock defeated Frieza, things like that. With all that in mind, initially your thoughts of front runners are Goku, Vegeta and Vegetto.

As the tournament continues, more front runners appear as Vegetto is taken out. On one side of the bracket, you know Goku and Vegeta are likely going to be in the Semi-Finals, even with Uub being taught by Goku and Cell’s training. On the other side, the creator's OCs known as XXI, his version of Son Bra and Gast are likely going to be heavy focus on the tournament.

The Tournament ends, according to a comment I noticed, with most of the competition sent away as Babidi has his mind controlled people attack those who remained. Kind of sad that the reason I even read the series is not going to have a proper conclusion.

Super, on the other hand, has its own take on the Multiverse. There are 12 universes, with only two being sister Universes where they share many things but diverged greatly. So things like Trunks is considered a different timeline. Also, their Tournament of Power is less a tournament and more a big team battle royal. So its not specific people who are Front Runners but the entire team itself.

Of course, you came in expecting its going to end up being Goku Vs Jiren (the “big bad” of this story line) to determine who wins. Along the way, we’ve seen some fun fights from most of the cast (if you see the Anime). While you knew it was going to come down to Universe 7 Vs Universe 12, you didn’t know exactly which members were going to make it.

The Tournament ends with a three on one battle with Goku AND Frieza, surprisingly, working together to eliminate Jiren from the match. And the surprise to everyone, Android 17 was the winner for being the last one in the ring.

With the Super Anime likely to come back with the success of the Broly movie and the continuation of the Manga, combined with Multiverse continuing beyond its tournament story line, how does these tournament factor to the future of these two series.

With the Mulitverse, we’re seeing it already as participants and guests are fighting Babidi’s mind controlled people. With the future it is likely XXI is going to be this series big bad and Buu having something going on with an Elder Kai. But honestly, I don’t see much beyond that I want to see.

In comparison, Super continues on with Goku being excited after the tournament. So likely, we will be visiting these universes in the future. And because of how unique they are in comparison to the What-If universes there is a lot of potential. Off the bat, we still have Vegeta wanting to see the planet Cabba came from. And honestly, I do want to see the Z-Crew visit those other worlds again.

2 - Broly

Before Dragon Ball Super: Broly, I was not a fan. To me, he represented the worse of the Dragon Ball Fandom: all about power levels and screaming. While the original movie did have things going for it, the later ones definitely ruined it.

Multiverse has three different takes on Broly: First is basically the Movie stripped down to basically screaming Kakarot and having “power continually rising”. He gets beaten by Vegitto and sent back to his dimension, never to be seen again. Second is Raichi’s ghost form, which had his power but Raichi controlled. Their final one is a Broly who became the ruler and was crazy. He got killed by Bardock’s planning, thus why Raichi can control him now. That’s pretty much all there is to their Brolys.

Super, on the other hand, had two takes on Broly. First is Kale, who is closer to Broly than the other one. Like Broly, she was a powerhouse who went Berserk when fully powered. Unlike Broly, she had something that helped her grow as a character: Caulifla. Their relationship (regardless of how you see her) gave her more depth than the original Broly and the Ability to grow. Their other take is Broly by name. He’s a guy who didn’t want to fight but his father raised to get revenge on Vegeta. It ends with him living a seemingly peaceful life back on the planet he used to call home and Goku visiting him willing to teach him.

Pretty much both Kale and Super Broly bring in a lot more than any previous Broly does, including Multiverse’s. Super Broly has an interesting story that is likely to continue and even Kale could possibly bring in more story. With the Multiverse, it just felt like fanservice.

3 - The Broken Base Character

Two characters that stand out in the wrong was are Bra in Multiverse and Jiren in Super. Both are super strong characters and in theory the strongest of the active competitors. But they do not have the fans enjoyment like other members.

Son Bra is the daughter of Vegitto and Bulma. Her biggest criticism is that she doesn’t receive any consequences. Nearly kills Vegitto. She feels bad but nothing changes. Lesson: Don’t kill this person. She failed and didn’t even get scolded. Tricked by King Frost so she can’t use her Super Form. Uses Senzu Bean and hidden trick. Surprise, Ginyu! Back to normal a few pages later. It does seem pretty bad that she hasn’t really shown any sort of character growth.

Jiren, on the other hand, is just boring. Ridiculously Super Strong despite us having deities to fight now. The design is boring. And his origin is not really that interesting, in either version. The Manga version is a little better to me, but that’s just my opinion. Also my opinion is that Jiren does get better in the end. Of course, by that point he’s running on fumes as well as everyone else.

The thing is both series have better characters. Gast is similar to Jiren but with a better reason for being stronger and able to have more to him than “Power is everything”. Meanwhile Toppo showed so much personality, desire and a unique story of him throwing away his pride to become a God of Destruction while Vegeta keeps his pride to defeat him. While the above characters do have problem, both series showed they could create something unique.

Multiverse has one disadvantage Super does not have: it is a fan comic. As true as they try to be, they still have some of the same trappings as others: making changes to benefit their work, boosting their favorites, having their OCs or their own interpretations be a big focus. And while having every other chapter focus on a different universe sounds interesting, they are not really brought up in the main story.

Conversely, Super is focusing on making money, so they try to make a show as good as they can. They fail at times, but they do try their best to introduce new (to Dragon Ball) ideas. And with the original creator giving them ideas and concepts (Beerus I have to say is a lot more interesting than anything DBM made), its hard for a fan comic to be considered their favorite.

So while I do believe Super is superior to Multiverse, its like comparing someone’s school fair to Disney World: its just not a fair comparison. They have a story they want to tell and they made the moves they did to tell it. And you have to respect them for that.

#other

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