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evilbeanghost · 3 years

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Idk completely why, no matter how many times I read the books, I always feel that the notes in Snape's book were actually written by Lily, and not Severus. I have some minor supporting theories but other than that no real reason to think this way. For starters, a lot of the tips do look like they are written to someone and not just notes for the self. The larger reason is that the handwriting is mentioned several times to be effeminate. The handwriting is described in a way to make me think it's very distinctive and should be identifiable. It wouldn't be unreasonable at all to expect the golden trio to recognize Snape's handwriting, given they've now had 5 years of the man marking their essays, leaving notes on homework, and writing on the board. Even at approximately 15 years from the time of writing, Snape's handwriting wouldn't have changed so much that it's indistinguishable. Especially for Hermione who just kinda Does That. But as no one has any idea of Lily's handwriting at the time, that makes more sense to me that they wouldn't recognize it at all. It also makes more sense to me for why Snape would keep the book after all these years. If it was full of Lily's notes and advice, he'd be more likely to want to hold onto it, whereas I can't really see someone holding onto their old textbook for fifteen years, unless it's something lost in like an attic, but in this instance Snape would have had to have held onto it deliberately for it to end up out of his home and into his office six years later.(I believe he started working at hogwarts at 21, right?) He would have had to deliberately pack it into his belongings, and why would someone carry along an old textbook? Oh! And Slughorn calls Lily a potions prodigy, doesn't he? He commends snape for his skill but Lily was the natural at potions. If snape was the one correcting the book, it would stand to reason that he would be the prodigy!(I may be mixed up at this point, I haven't read HPB in years) Regardless, it just makes more sense to me for the notes to have been written to Severus from Lily, even if sectumsempra was created by Snape.

I believe this one is also from you Nonny:

Oh this is the HBP anon I just wanna make clear that I feel Snape's feelings towards Lily are 100% platonic, but didn't initially feel that was relevant to what I was saying.

Hey Nonny,

Sorry for being so late in answering you - not been around much these last few days. I hope you will forgive me :)

There are a lot of theories about Snape’s Potions book (the dumbest being that this was James’ book *facepalm*), I personally I’m 100% convinced that those are indeed Snape’s notes. To address your clues about them being from Lily, here are my thoughts:

- have you ever written a journal? We do tend to write to someone in them, it’s the same here since it seems that the notes are way more than just potions tips and corrections going by Harry’s attachment to the Prince;

- handwriting has no gender, it’s a silly notion (this is coming from someone who was a little girl with a horribly messy handwriting). Also, I don’t know about you but if you compare my highschool notes to anything I handwrite today you wouldn’t be able to recognize it either. In particular if you were to compare notes cramped in the margin of a book and intended only for myself to something where I would put up way more effort like writing on a board for other people;

- About him keeping the book for that long, it does make sense since it’s full of experimental notes. I still have some chemistry notes from my Uni days that I kept even after my PhD because it was useful. It’s the same for Snape here I think, especially since we never hear about any post highschool education in the wizarding world. There is also the possibility, since it was found among other old potions books, that Hogwarts keep old books to lend to students in need and Snapes’s happened to be among these old books;

- Now, about Slughorn, you need to take some things into account. First, when we see him talking about Lily’s potions skills, it’s always to Harry. It makes sense that for an orphan hearing about his mother is way more relevant in that context than his hated potion professor, even if the latter was equally good or even better. Add to this that Lily was pretty and popular while Snape was dirty poor and an oddball and it’s not difficult to imagine old Sluggy preferring Lily to Severus even if their skills were equals. Since I already did some dig up in the books about that specific topic, allow me to quote myself here:

I dug up my old copy of HBP in order to see exactly what Slughorn had to say about Snape’s abilities at Potions and it is cementing my first take that Severus was indeed the exceptional student while Lily was “just” very good.

This is from the chapter “The Unbreakable Vow” in HBP, the scene during the Slug Club where Slughorn is praising Harry’s skills to Trelawney just before Snape appears:

‘But I don’t think I’ve ever known such a natural at Potions!’ said Slughorn, regarding Harry with a fond, if bloodshot, eye. ‘Instinctive, you know — like his mother! I’ve only ever taught a few with this kind of ability, I can tell you that , Sybill — why, even Severus –’

That last bit clearly illustrate for me that for Slughorn, there were a handful of very good instinctive students – Like Lily –, and then Severus Snape above them.

And a little bit further, while raving about Harry’s Draught of the Living Death to Snape himself:

‘You should have seen what he gave me, first lesson, the Draught of the Living Death – never had a student produce finer on a first attempt, I don’t think even you, Severus –’

Again, it sounds as if Severus Snape was, until Harry, the unchallenged best student Slughorn ever had.

So you see, for me, it’s Snape’s book, it’s Snape’s nickname (I would pay to see his adult self cringe hard at his ridiculous teenage nickname tbh) and it’s definitely Snape’s notes.

It’s also very important that those are indeed from Severus Snape from a narrative point of view. The connection Harry felt, his deep empathy for the Prince coupled with how good he suddenly was in Potions under his tutelage is so important:

- it shows how similar Harry and Snape are despite their unfortunate hatred, a parallel (along with Voldemort), that is pointed out several times in the books (the lost boys who call Hogwarts “home”);

- it shows that Harry, while looking like James, is indeed more like Lily in nature and felt instantly deeply connected with young Severus, they could have been best friends;

- Harry’s relationship with the Prince indeed parallels Lily’s relationship with Severus: a deep connection of true kinship, a fascination deep fried in a thirst for knowledge, a visceral feeling of closeness, and then: betrayal.

- it shows that, despite the mean professor persona, Snape could have been an excellent teacher to Harry, if only he could have let go of his bitterness;

- it’s important because it’s a rare window into the true Severus Snape, not an act he’s putting up for the world to see. It was the first clue about his true nature and it’s very interesting that it was given to us just before Snape killed Dumbledore, apparently casting him as evil in the eyes of Harry and by extension the reader.

Here it is friend, I hope I could convince you and if not, it’s ok, it was a fun discussion. Thank you for the ask.

#severus snape #snape #snapedom #lily evans #the half-blood prince #Nat replies #nonny #I hope this makes sense #but I feel strongly about this one #don't hesitate to share your thoughts you all #long post

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uswntxfootball · 4 years

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Working Overtime (USWNT x Reader)

request: @ko5-greyson ; You could do a uswnt x reader where they are overworking themselves with soccer and staying up to late with school work. they don’t notice cause she doesn’t have a roommate and stuff. Everything else is up too you if you want. (This post is way to long sorry)

word count: 1368 ish

the team was prepping hard for the upcoming olympics, including extra practices and trainings every week. for the other players, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for you, the 20 year old forward who is also currently attending stanford university, that means staying up until 4 am for classes.

a/n: for anyone that’s confused, your classes are all online! (also i’m kinda a very big press stand if y’all haven’t noticed :D) also this is a pretty bad imagine so just bear with me here :/

----

“Shit.” You mutter under your breath as you check your watch. Your chemistry lecture had started twenty minutes ago, and you were just now getting out of training. You run out of the weight room as fast as you can, cursing under your breath when you forget your bag, coming back to pick it up, then sprinting out of the weight room and across the street to your hotel. Your teammates stared at you with heavy interest, no one daring to stop you. When you’ve made your way out of the room, it’s Pinoe who’s first to break the silence. “What’s with her?” Everyone shrugs and shakes their head in an “I don’t know” motion. ~~ Everything for the first two years had been smooth sailing, but with the additional practices and trainings for the upcoming Olympics, your life quickly began to spiral out of control. You take a glance over at your clock, sighing when you realize it’s already 3 am. You were thankful you didn’t have a roommate, as your late night study sessions would most likely be of annoyance. You had yet to figure out the last few chemistry problems assigned that day, but unfortunately for you, you had training the next morning at 8. Vlatko would kill you if you missed practice, and your professor would kill you if you didn’t finish the homework. You set an alarm for 4 am, promising yourself to work just one more hour, so then you can arrive to practice with...a healthy...3 hours of sleep..? When 4 am hits, you (thankfully) finish everything, and as soon as your back touches the mattress, you’re out. You arrive to practice the next morning with heavy bags under your eyes, religiously chugging coffee in an attempt to make up for the lack of sleep you’d gotten the night before. Practice was a mess, you were a clumsy mess around the ball, missing shots you’d normally never miss. The team could tell you were off your game, but they just assumed you were up partying and were hungover or something, and so no one commented anything on it. When you’re dismissed and practice ends, you feel like you’ve just run a marathon. You’re ready to pass out from exhaustion, and you want nothing more than to lay down and sleep. But as soon as you step into your room and lay on your bed, you suddenly remember that it’s finals week in two weeks, and you had a lot of catching up to do, after missing your bio labs and physics labs during the time of olympic qualifying matches. You let out a groan and shove your head under a pillow, cursing the gods for making your life so miserable. ~~ With finals week approaching, your life has just gone from busy, to I barely have time to breathe. You got 20 hours of sleep total in the next week, with you pulling all nighters here and there. And as a result, you started arriving to morning training later and later, with a cup of coffee in hand and heavy bags under your eyes. By this point, the team began to worry about you. You were always very adamant about being on time, as you always chided them (particularly Ash) for being late, saying, “Early is on time, and on time is late.” So Friday morning when it’s 8:35 and you still haven’t shown up to practice, the team began to panic. “Do you think she’s okay?” Kelley asked Mal, who gave a halfhearted shrug and whispered, “I hope so.” “She doesn’t have a roommate does she?” “No she doesn’t.” “Should we go check on her?” The duo brought up their request to the team, the team nodding and let them go as they were equally worried about you. And so here they were, Kelley and Mal making their way up to your room, keycard in hand. ~~ What greeted them was the sight of you passed out on your desk, textbooks open and pencil still in hand. The sound of the door closing is what wakes you from your sleep, your eyes widening when you see the two girls standing in your room. You glance at your watch and realize that practice is over. You weren’t just late, you had missed it. “Shit.” You muttered, trying to pack your bags to maybe talk to Vlatko and somehow make up your missed practice. “Y/N.” Kelley says, bringing you out of your desperate scrambling. You pause your efforts and look up. In your hurry you had completely forgotten about the two girls standing here before you. “I’m so sorry.” You stammer apologetically. “I stayed up late studying and I just lost track of time and I j-“ “Y/N.” Mal says sternly, cutting you off. “What’s keeping you up anyways?” Kelley inquires. “I’m studying chemical engineering at Stanford and finals week is coming soon and it’s kicking my ass.” You say with a sigh, missing the way Kelley’s jaw drops in amazement. “You’re studying chemical engineering.” “Yes.” “At Stanford.” “That would be correct.” “While training for the Olympics.” “Yup.” “You’re insane.” “Trust me I know. I just didn’t want Vlatko or my professor or you guys to treat me any different so I haven’t told you all anything...” You look off to the side awkwardly. “Oh Y/N...” Mal moves to give you a hug, with Kelley following suit. “We’ll figure something out okay? We don’t want you killing yourself over this.” You nodded into the hug, unable to keep a tear from falling out. You were so tired and so stressed, it was a miracle you hadn’t fallen apart (completely). You stayed there for a little bit longer, reveling in the warm embrace of your friends. ~~ “You’re studying WHAT?” Vlatko exclaims in surprise. “Chemical engineering” You say softly, worried about his reaction. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?? I mean you’re in your junior year already.” “I just didn’t want to be benched or taken off as a starter because I was in school...” You trailed off. “Especially not for the Olympic roster.” You add. “I see..” Vlatko states, fingers gently drumming on his chin. “Well, I’ll figure something out.” “I’m sure you will. Come to me if you need anything.” “Will do, coach.” ~~ “You’re WHAT??” Your professor exclaims in shock. “I’m a forward for the USWNT and I’m training for the Olympics currently.” You say softly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” “I didn’t want any extensions or extra credit just because I was on a national soccer team..” A similar conversation with Vlatko happens with your professor, and you’re thankful that both your teacher and your coach were so understanding. ~~ “I’m rooming with you now.” Christen declares, bursting into your room at 4 pm. “What? Chris?” You ask, taking your earbuds out. You were in a lecture currently, and you certainly didn’t expect someone to bust into your room. “Oh and me too” Tobin waves from behind Christen. “As your appointed team moms it is our job to make sure that you’re sleeping well and eating well and are healthy so that is exactly what we are going to do.” Christen states, dragging her suitcase through the door. And do that she did, for the next week up until finals, Christen made sure you slept at 11, so you would have enough energy for practice. She made sure you drank plenty of water, and managed your time efficiently to get everything done. With Christen by your side, the next week was a breeze, and you felt less stress than you ever had in your life. Tobin of course, sat around doing Tobin things, playing ping pong against a wall whilst juggling a soccer ball non stop (though Chris would push her out of your room whenever you were in need to study). So when finals week hit, you were more than prepared, all the while tearing up the field during practice. And a week later when you saw the Olympic start up with your name on it, you squealed and hugged Christen and Tobin tight, muttering a million thank yous. You were glad that you had people that cared about you.

#uswntsoccer #uswnt #uswnt x reader #uswnt imagines #uswnt imagine

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twobellsilence · 5 years

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Fanfic review #4 - “Close To You” by Hikaru

Next on the list is a multi-pairing piece (im starting to think platonic fics dont exist in this fandom why do i even bother anymore), which is apparently based on a drama called “Perfect Love”. This one has nine parts and each of them are quite long, so it took a while to finish. Now, the question is - was it worth it?

It honestly didn’t work that well for me, but I also think it depends on what you’re looking for.

For starters, this isn’t your usual GLAY (Jiro, Teru and Hisashi, Takuro is nowhere to be found) fic - it also features Die, Shinya and Toshiya from Dir en Grey, Ami and Yumi from PUFFY and even good old Sugizo. It’s quite an extensive cast of characters, but I’ll be covering that a bit later on. For now I want to focus on the single thing that really makes and breaks this story: the pacing.

Buckle up peeps, this is going to be a long one.

For the most part, the pacing of this goes so damn fast you’ll get whiplash. It’s especially bad on the first few chapters, where I found myself having to go back and re-read some parts again just to process what just happened. To give you an idea of how out of control it is, let me summarize the first couple of scenes - Jiro, a random IT guy, has a toothache, so his co-worker and friend Shinya recommends him a dentist, Teru. Jiro goes to Teru’s office, they meet, Teru does his thing, and at the end he tells Jiro a friend of his (Die) is going on vacation to Bali and invited him as well. Not only that, he also told him to bring over as many people as he wanted, so Teru invites Jiro to go with him and suggests inviting Shinya over as well. I guess Shinya makes sense, since it’s implied that Teru has known him for some time, but Teru literally just met Jiro. They’ve only been together for 30 minutes tops. Even then JIRO ACTUALLY ACCEPTS, and he also invites Shinya, who ends up accepting as well. For the record, Jiro does note that everything is extremely sudden, but he doesn’t give it that much thought afterwards. They pack THAT SAME NIGHT, and in the next scene they’re already in the airport along with Teru and Die. And all that isn’t even half of the chapter.

It is a trend in this entire thing - the plot moves so fast it’s difficult to keep up, and it doesn’t help that Jiro, the PROTAGONIST, is as flat as a piece of paper and does nothing significant to make the story go in a different direction. Really, he’s the least developed and most generic out of all the characters in this story. Another glaring issue is that characters make ridiculously bold moves basically as soon as they make eye contact, which gets very tiring very quickly. At the end of the story I was completely desensitized from any form of affection most of the characters showed because they’d kiss or fall in love or sleep with each other after literally anything - they just met? Deep kiss, maybe sneak into bed later. One helped the other? Now they’re in love. Really, there’s this entire subplot where Shinya tells Toshiya some things he wants to know about Jiro, and Toshiya KISSES HIM PASSIONATELY as a thank you. It is later on revealed that TOSHIYA REALLY LOVED SHINYA AT THAT MOMENT AND THAT’S WHY HE KISSED HIM, but he didn’t like him that way anymore and they weren’t together. In other words, TOSHIYA WAS UNIRONICALLY IN LOVE WITH SHINYA ONLY FOR AROUND 15 MINUTES. This is almost always played as a cheap way to build up tension between characters, but they’re all so volatile it doesn’t carry any weight and you end up just waiting for them to make up and kiss a couple of lines later. As an unrelated extra point, Sugizo (who is supposed to be Teru’s brother) is a complete a-hole for whatever reason, which is extremely strange when you consider Teru and Sugizo are pretty good friends irl and the story doesn’t seem to suggest they’d make up at some point. I’m really sorry you got treated like that, uncle Sug.

Thankfully, not all characters are like this, and some actually work pretty well with the erratic flow of the story, particularly Teru. He’s one of the most well-rounded people in the cast, with a decent enough backstory, a solid personality and actual motivations. He’s extremely impulsive, which is why I don’t have that much of a problem with his decision of inviting Jiro and Shinya to Bali after reading the entire fic - he did it without too much thought just because he found Jiro cute and attractive enough to help him forget about his failed relationship with Toshiya which, as ridiculous as it may seem, really makes sense for his character. He also grows as the story goes by, learning to leave Toshiya in the past and feeling guilty about using Jiro, with whom he ends up falling in love but tries to leave behind by using Ami in a similar fashion. It reaches a point where he finally begins to see that he can’t run away from his feelings or actions... Until the end, that is. Which is something I’m going to discuss later. Ami, although not as developed as Teru, is also a very good and consistent character, and it’s very easy to empathize with her.

Now, I must say the best character is Hisashi, hands down. He seems like an actual person with very real problems and very real struggles who just wants the best for his little brother (Jiro). His personality has depth and is quite likeable, and his actions are really in-character. You really feel for him, expecially with his backstory (which neatly ties into his actions and points of view) and the love story that comes in the final chapter and is probably the best part of this entire fanfic (barring how he kisses his lover the second after they meet for real, just like the other characters, but the rest is so well-crafted it’s actually forgivable). Sadly, his entire arc is thrown out of the window in the last part of the final chapter, just like Teru’s.

Really, the ending is what kills this fic for good. And it’s really sad, because it isn’t even the real ending. That’s right, this fic is actually unfinished; it has been like that for over a decade, and it will remain like that forever. Huh, that makes me incredibly nostalgic for some reason. Honestly, doing all these things, archiving old pages and reading old fanfiction and reading about the community back in the day makes me feel extremely sentimental, but that’s besides the point.

And it’s just so rushed. Yes, the fic has consistent pacing issues, but it was slowly improving, and I was actually starting to enjoy some of the dynamics like Die and Shinya’s relationship, Hisashi’s conflict with Jiro and Teru’s struggles with leaving Jiro behind. Heck, the last chapter started with Hisashi’s love story like I said before, and it was actually pretty damn solid. However, the last couple of scenes not only ruined Teru’s arc, it also completely butchered Hisashi’s character and caused the plot to go nyoom again. It’s, once more, a cheap way to create tension between characters and spawn a problem for Jiro, which not only is uneffective because Jiro is the character you’ll care the least about but also because it makes absolutely no sense in the context of what the story had shown us so far. Not going to spoil it in case you want to go read it (which nobody probably will, who even reads these posts anyway hfjdbhfgjdhbvjk), but it’s so ooc it’s actually frustrating. Maybe the author intended to fix it later on in the story, though. We’ll never know.

As you can see, this fic is very flawed and could annoy some readers, but it also has a fair share of good spots that could also endear others. It ultimately comes down to what you want out of it - if you're looking for a deep story with complex characters and strong, meaningful relationships, you may not be satisfied with the experience; on the other hand, if you just want lots of shipping and fanservice, you’ll appreciate it a lot more.

#Luke rants #Luke surfs the dead Geocities

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angstymarshmallow · 5 years

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The Things That go BUMP in the Night

Hi folks! I haven't done this sort of blogging in awhile but I really wanted to jot down some of what I thought about the new book released this week. For starters, although I know I'm a fan of the genre I was still pretty happy with the first two chapters - but like with everything, I still have my gripes about it. And without further ado, let’s get started!

1. Lore. One of the never-ending questions I’ve always found interesting to answer is - how do people that aren’t human fit into the same universe? How do they co-exist. Originally I’ve asked these kind of questions in another post but this specifically was one of the most important questions, going into this book.

I imagined from the beginning, there was some sort of glamour involved - and I was right! It's not to say it's a hard conclusion to come by lol, in some ways it is kind of textbook. But I think while it is a good way of explaining their world; it would have been more interesting if it was all out in the open (including bloodbound), rather than being quite so hush hush. How would that work? Wouldn’t there be mass panic? Well maybe at first, we are talking about things that go bump in the night, but I imagine there would have to be some kind of legislation in place to support their existence and to keep them in some kind of line. (I’ve read a series once that did something akin to this and there’s been other things where I don’t think this would be something impossible to accomplish).

That isn't to say nighthunters like Nik wouldn't still have a role within society. They could be a special task force assisted by the government to protect the...well ordinary from the unordinary and vice versa.It just would have been nice to see another explanation other than the more popular substance of - "oh my god, we had no idea these things exist!" But then I guess there would be no reason for glamour anymore, if everyone's accountable for their actions. However, this doesn’t take away from how awesome it is to explore this new detail regardless of whether everyone knows it. And I think it’s worth mentioning that I do like a lot of other things they’ve showed us. They paint this picture of New Orleans, uniqueness. Vera one of the first characters we meet, implores us that the city isn’t black and white but rather there are lots of gray areas when it comes down to the city.

From the little pieces of context from Vera, to meeting people such as the seemingly charming Garrus and Ivy as well as the shy Krom; as the reader it’s already been established to us that there is more to the supernatural world than just black and white - everyone is a monster. What I really enjoyed is seeing the different representation of supernatural beings in just the little details they’ve allowed to naturally come up within dialogue. And it makes sense! Just like people, supernaturals differ from one another. Plus that kind of detail - I eat that good shit like it's breakfast, and now I'm just waiting for a full course meal.

2. Introduction to Other Characters.

Another refreshing take from this story was the way in which they introduced some of the characters. Particularly, how Vera Reimonenq and Nik Ryder were introduced to us. I can’t even think of another time where we spent almost immediate one-one with a female LI first instead of a male LI. It was surprising and I jumped on the chance right away.

Vera herself is very interesting. I was particularly drawn to the fact that she swears satin gloves. I think touching is a sensitive thing for her; specifically touching with her bare hands which may allude to the kind of supernatural she is; or more specifically the kinds of abilities she has which sets her apart from “other humans” . I like that we had the chance to know a bit more about her; the fact that this is her first time home in a few years and although she didn’t confide in us why she left- it is clear that something has drawn her back here. It sets up for a very unique love interest :D.

Nik feels a little more cookie-cutter. A hunter with a dark sense of humour and a tragic backstory (i feel that to my soul when he brought up quite briefly; his father in his first diamond scene and the cuts that MC notices when they see a flash of their body). This is my personal biases coming out to get me because I love that kind of detail, and I live for that kind of angst. I also appreciate witty banter and it’s clear to me that whatever MC’s relationship with Nik becomes - they will have some kind of rapport between them.

Garrus, Krom and Ivy.

There’s very little we know about them, considering we spent a small time with each - but Ivy more so when MC and Nik agree to ‘help’ her in a way to find answers as to that creepy monster which appeared in the first chapter. Garrus is what I expect from the fae; charming and probably very easy to be seduced by, Krom was adorable in his own way and Ivy - she interested me the most. She felt a lot more personable and transparent. I think this is partly because of the time we spent in knowing her a little more than the others, and also because she may be more of a reoccurring character because of her little shop that Nik obviously knows his way around.

3. The Set Up?

There isn’t much to say plot wise about the first two chapters. Naturally it asks of us as the reader several questions. Why can our MC see past glamours? Who wants to protect MC so badly that they’ve paid an extensive amount of money to hire a hunter? And what does this have to do with the necromancy? These questions (and many more), are undoubtedly going to be answered over the course of this book. Although, I’ve already began wondering about this in length - as I have no doubt many others have as well. I like that it sets some objectives in a clear way from the beginning and honestly, so far it has the kind of action packed I never realized I needed for this kind of genre. It’s refreshing to be pleasantly surprised for a change and so far, I expect to keep up with series (diamonds and all).

The pacing so far is great and I’m looking forward to learning more about the Nightbound universe!

TLDR: I really enjoy the set-up of how they’ve painted supernaturals. Although, I was disappointed like Bloodbound, humans don’t coexist with supernatural beings - rather they live among them completely unaware because of glamour. The lore is really interesting so far and I’m enjoying the characters we’ve met along the way - particuarly Vera and Nik (I think they’ll be big movers in terms of plot) and overall, I think it’s setting up for a great adventure!

What are your thoughts?

#playchoices #nightbound #choices stories you play #k's thoughts #candid essay #Nik Ryder #Vera Reimonenq #Garrus #Krom #Ivy #thoughts #long post #shenanigans #just some rambles #and thoughts #i can't wait for more man!

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junker-town · 3 years

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Ranking the 2016 NFL Draft quarterbacks 5 years later

Five years later, who is the best QB in the 2016 NFL Draft?

The 2016 NFL Draft was seen as a bit of a wasteland when it came to quarterbacks. Everyone had Jared Goff at the top with a bullet, then Carson Wentz was seen as the next-best quarterback but the drop off from there was precipitous. The Philadelphia Eagles were so convinced of the top-heavy nature of the QBs in 2016 that they traded up to No. 2 in order to take Wentz.

The entire feeling around the draft’s quarterbacks was unsettling. Goff was the lock because there really wasn’t anyone else, Wentz was unproven against top competition and considerably risky for a top five pick, and at the time the only other player considered worthy of a 1st rounder was Paxton Lynch, who was taken by the Broncos.

Fast forward three years and this is what made the draft so stunning. Here was this collection of passers, none of whom were considered locks, or even first round picks — and yet three NFL teams appeared to get their franchise quarterbacks from the draft. Jared Goff and Carson Wentz led their teams to the Super Bowl, Dak Prescott turned the Dallas Cowboys into a contender. Goff and Wentz got huge new contracts, Prescott was on the precipice of one. Everything was rolling.

A year later it all fell apart.

The Los Angeles Rams traded Goff, deciding he wasn’t their guy after another inconsistent season. Wentz was dealt from the Eagles because his relationship with the team deteriorated. Prescott never got his big money deal, and was lost to the season with injury. The underdog pack of quarterbacks who became stars all fell back to earth at the same time. Now, we look ahead to the next chapter for the 2016 class and see who’s the best quarterback of a pack.

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

No. 1: Dak Prescott

There’s one reason why Prescott has turned out to be clearly the best quarterback of the class: Consistency. Across his four years as a starter he’s never posted a QB rating below 85.0, and averaged 97.3 across this time.

Before his 2020 injury Prescott was on a tear once again, throwing for 1,856 yards and nine touchdowns in five games. It was on pace to be the best year of his career, until his season was dashed. We still don’t know how he’ll recover from the fractured and dislocated ankle that ended his season, but all signs point to him being back with littler concern for lingering problems.

If I were going to start a team right now with a 2016 quarterback it would be Prescott by a mile.

No. 2: Carson Wentz

I’ve written extensively about the problems that led to Wentz’s downfall in Philadelphia, and that’s what makes him second on this list. When Wentz is on he’s the best quarterback in this class. When he’s plugged in, and things are going his way, Wentz could legitimately be one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

He showed this during the team’s 2017 Super Bowl run before being injured. There was no shortage of talk whether Wentz was the MVP of the NFL.

Now, things are very different. There’s no question he needs to be completely broken down and built back up by the Colts, where he’ll need to learn a healthy dose of humility, and also how to trust his offensive line again. That’s a big task, but Frank Reich knows him well. Looking at future upside I just feel better about Wentz’s prospects than Goff’s, which is why I have him second.

Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

No. 3: Jared Goff

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Jared Goff. That’s what makes the scenario so bizarre. He went from leading his team to the Super Bowl, to there being doubts, to becoming chopped liver in two years.

A big reason for that was the massively misplaced faith the Rams had in him, making Goff one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. If you’re paying a player that much they need to make a make a huge impact on the league, and Goff was woefully inconsistent.

Goff stuffed his stats with mammoth games against good teams, then fell apart against good defenses. It makes his overall numbers look a lot better than they really are. There’s a chance he can find that consistency with Detroit, but I’m not betting anything on it.

No. 4: Jacoby Brissett

It’s bizarre the Indianapolis Colts now have two of the top quarterbacks from 2016, but here we are. It’s been a wild ride for the former 3rd round pick who went from backing up Tom Brady, to taking over for Andrew Luck, and actually showing some flashes along the way.

Still, Brissett to me looks like a lifetime backup any team would love to have. He’s going to step in where needed, win you some games, and look great in the process — but things go bad under the weight of a 16 game schedule. Especially when defensive coordinators are aiming to stop him.

No. 5 (tied) Brandon Allen, Jeff Driskel, Jake Rudock, Nate Sudfield

I’m not going to even pretend there’s a need to rank these guys. All will be fighting for backup and third string jobs in the NFL

No longer in the league: Connor Cook, Brandon Doughty, Christian Hackenberg, Cardale Jones, Paxton Lynch.

I don’t have anything to say really. Lynch is the biggest disappointment here, because it’s one thing to not live up to expectations as a former 1st round pick, and another entirely to be out of the league in four years.

Lynch just never had it, and the Denver Broncos realized it almost immediately.

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whalethefatdolphin · 7 years

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【 50% OFF STARTER MEME 】

This starter meme is completely based off of THIS starter meme right here, it’s just in a different format to accommodate players with multiple accounts as opposed to just one!! I take no credit for it and if you want to appreciate the content, give the blog a follow, please!!

“You can't have sex with your neighbor's backyard above-ground pool.”

“Let me help you out of that swimsuit-- POOL.”

“I sure hope we become best friends! But I don't hope we have a falling out, leading us to have a tense, emotion-heavy, dramatic, competitive, love/hate relationship later on.”

“So, anyways, I regain consciousness, there's cops everywhere, (name) is covered in blood, got an ice-pick-- haha, it was kind of a weird Tuesday.”

“We're gonna be late for anime school!”

“I'm just saying, is it illegal if I'm in my OWN pool?”

“WHAT'S UP SLUTS?! GUESS WHO JUST GOT OUT OF PRISON?!”

“(name) WAS A BITCH-ASS POSER.”

“Oh no, he's hot when he's sad!”

“This reminds me of prison. This reminds me of prison. This DEFINITELY reminds me of prison.”

“Look at that little pimp. He's gonna grow up to be a prison ass mothafucka.”

“Let's skip all the fluff and get to the part where we're shirtless.”

“Homeboy looks like shark week, I ain't messin' with that.”

“It wasn't a dream! We got arrested for trespassing! We went to JAIL!”

“Nah, man, we went to holding. There's a big difference.”

“Yeah now we owe Easter Dave a favor-- that is NOT a position you wanna be in.”

“Wouldn't we have seen him around by now? I mean he is a bipedal shark-person.”

“I'VE GOT MACE!”

“Was macing us really necessary AFTER you remembered who we were?!”

“You took the fall for me and I said thank you.”

“I went to jail!”

“I spent 6 months at a correctional facility!”

“I stabbed a girl in the yard!”

“I think that guard you killed had a family!”

“Look at that majestic ass mothafucka. Like a dolphin or some shit. A dolphin with legs... and arms... and a jet pack.”

“BITCH GET IN THE POOL!”

“That's how they do it in Australia.”

“20 bucks on jabber jaws.”

“Hey, man did you TiVo Glee last night?”

“I'm not allowed to watch Glee, my dad says it might turn me into something bad. A musical theater major.”

“Neither one of them even died!”

“They won't let me back into sewing club because apparently when I threaten someone with sewing needles it's deemed 'inappropriate' and I 'have to leave'.”

“I have to tumblr this!”

“A guy with emotional issues who swims away his problems? Lady, that's the whole team, you're gonna have to be more specific.”

“I ship them! And them!”

“They hate each other, but they also fuck each other!"

“Hey, we try not to get this part of the gym wet so whatever you're doing is gonna have to stop.”

“So do you wanna come back to my place, listen to some Dave Matthews, and talk about my work out routine?”

“I wonder if that stuff I hid is still here? ... Nah, cops probably took it.”

“Do you know? Do you know for sure? Because I don't need another incident.”

“If I get out of this chair, I guarantee you'll end up in one with wheels.”

“Okay. I'll admit, I'm a little threatened.”

“‘Sup bitches!~"

“Aren't you that guy who drowned a kid? And burned down that building?”

“Get back to it before you learn a lesson in post-war, urban torture practices.”

“Remember, snitches get stitches!”

“Shut up, you're high as balls!”

“You're just mad because mom and dad thought you were a girl for the first year of your life.”

“Right, son. And speaking of crushing disappointments—”

“Coach tried to get me to vandalize a police station again.”

“Good thing I wore my Heelies.”

“He's so hot but so crazy! Which makes him even MORE hot!”

“Come on, let me get those digits baby!”

“It should be illegal to be that fine!”

“Oh, just basic addition and subtraction. He was subtracting from my profits so I'm going to add a few extra holes in him.”

“This doesn't seem like the time for polka-renditions of Ke$ha songs.”

“I hate it when you leave but I love watching you go.”

“Yeah, I've seen him. He's in my scrapbook class. He cuts the eyes out of magazine photos.”

“Your arrest record is extensive... and amateur.”

“The fact that you continue to avoid indefinite incarceration is insanity AND THE FACT THAT OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT CAN'T PUT AWAY SOMEONE WITH SUCH BLATANT DISREGARD FOR CONVENTIONAL CRIMINAL FUNCTION BAFFLES THE MIND.”

“I want that boy to be my bride!”

“Pilates will do that, man, works your core.”

“What are we waiting for? Let's go bro! Let's g’bro!”

“Wow, you sure said that."

“WOOP! WOOP! Hold it, I'm gonna have to pull you over for exceeding recommended hotness.”

“One time, we went camping in the woods, I just left 'em there. Nobody found them for like 5 days. I don't even think their families cared, kinda sad, really."

“So, what you're saying is, if they disappeared, no one would notice?”

“Well I've gotta go not talk to you anymore.”

“I learned how to swim the old fashioned way. When I was five my dad took me out to a lake and tossed me right in the water.”

“I'm so happy right now! — And it's not just ‘cause I get to see you in a bunch of different swimsuits. Okay, I lied, I'm sorry, that's mostly the reason.”

“SHE'S A WITCH! PUSH HER IN THE POOL!”

“Hey, I know you! You helped me smuggle some stuff out of the country! How've you been, kid?”

#rp meme #roleplay meme #ask meme #starter meme #prompt meme #not mine #beesmemethings #tagging the sidebLOG SO PPL KNOW IT'S NOT MINE #and yes okay i'm a roleplayer and i'm a sham but it'S FINE I JUST NEEDED A SPOT TO PUT THIS #SO PLS HAVE IT #RIP ME

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cowgirlontheloose · 7 years

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Lobsters, The Shadow and Why I Refuse to Melt Belly Flab

Oh lobster! Someone besides National Geographic needs to acknowledge your greatness -- and I don’t mean as a meal. The fact that your mating habits are every bit as bizarre as ours fills me with glee.

For days the female squirts urine into the den of her beloved. He lets her move in, intrigued by the Chanel No. 5 scent of her pee. I’m guessing that not all lobster or human pee smells alike. (Duh.) Then comes several days of foreplay. Lots of stroking with antennae and feet. Wow, how delicious.

The female takes her time because she wants to be absolutely convinced that her lobster Prince will protect her in the next courtship phase. Sound familiar? Egad -- she disrobes by shedding her hard shell. Now she’s in a soft new shell and exposed to all sorts of scary possibilities. But never fear! Prince stands guard for the half hour it takes her new shell to harden, and then tenderly, from what I read, he deposits a packet of sperm into her brand new pouch. Wow! (The old pouch from a previous mating was ditched in her disrobing.

Off she goes, leaving her Prince to await another female with babies on her mind. Meanwhile, new shell and all, Ms. Lobster fertilizes thousands of eggs with her spiffy sperm bank, then carries the whole she-bang around under her tail for a year until the larvae hatch.

Once upon a time, the thought of lobsters doing their fabulous thing to keep the world turning would have jogged me out of my The-World-Is-Going-To-Hell-In-A-Handbasket frame of mind that I woke up with this morning. Folks, we are in a flipping mess and sometimes even the secret life of lobsters can’t console me. Note to Self: Stop trolling through Facbook for starters. Maria Carey Lounging in the Dead Sea and a horde of others pretending to lead perfect lives. Sunset Vistas! Cute Grandkids! Fluffy Kittens! Fresh Muffins!

But if I ban FB from my life (again) I would miss all the fabulous stuff. Like the British man who hauled a piano into the highlands of Thailand to play Beethoven and boogie boogie to old, injured and blind elephants. My faith in humanity is restored just in the nick of time. That’s the thing about FB. My faith in fellow humans is dashed and restored constantly. It’s too much! I feel like a giant yo-yo on speed. Plus after more than a few minutes of trolling, I feel horribly queasy as though I had just inhaled a family sized pack of jalapeño flavoured Cheetos.

So constantly I teeter on the edge of banning FB from my life -- this time forever. Our online culture clearly is out of control. Way, waaaaay Too Much Information. I don’t need to know about any of it. My brain is already stuffed to the rafters with 75 years of experiences. Still, I wonder if axing FB might be like disowning the icky parts of me -- those mean deeds and craven thoughts that sprout like fungi on a rotten log. (Good luck with that, Honey.)

It has taken me many action-packed decades and more than one Existential Crisis to learn we can’t just welcome the good and deep-six* the parts we hate in ourselves or the Universe. That only fosters more fear, hate and depression.

The icky side of us is known in Buddhism as the Shadow Side: the parts that we deny at our peril. During the 1940s there was a radio program called The Shadow, about a crime-fighting vigilante. Imagine me after lights out, shaking in my little bed with the covers pulled up to my eyeballs. A chilling voice floats over me in the dark intoning, Who knows what eee-villl lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows... followed by a sinister laugh.

I doubt that lobsters have a shadow side. But the dark side of humans, individually and collectively, could, alas, mean bye-bye lobsters. Plus a whole lot of other species and ultimately us. As we continue to ignore climate change, the oceans continue to warm. Lobsters need a specific temperature of cold water to make eggs and sperm. Well, you can figure out the rest. Nor will lobsters be the only beings to suffer because of what eee-vill lurks in the hearts of humans.

The radio Shadow that scared me so (played for a couple of years by 22-year old Orson Welles) possessed the “hypnotic power to cloud men’s minds so they cannot see him.” Come to think of it, just like FB clouds my mind with its unrelenting demands. Sign this guilt-inducing petition! Take this dumb survey! Melt belly flab! Help impeach Trump! Unlock the secret to an oxytocin-based sexual connection! Grow your own teeth in 9 weeks!

I can’t go on like this! No more FB for me -- except to announce blog posts of course. Instead I’ll stick to reading paper pages with words printed on them. There is more than enough information there to inspire, horrify and overwhelm me about humanity. And let’s not forget the radio (I deep-sixed TV years ago). But without FB, at least I can slow the tsunami of data input to a manageable stream once again.

Farewell FB! This time I mean it! Thanks for nothing. You’re on your own with all those 80-year old vegan bodybuilders, and sherpas squaring off against rich racist western climbers. If you want to befriend me, you’ll find me on my Ikea couch rereading Thomas Hardy novels. That, and following the innocent lobster’s lead by playing out my biological imperatives, blissfully unaware of what havoc humankind is wreaking upon itself and fluffy kittens alike.

*deep-six: this verb sprang from burials at sea. It refers to the depth of water necessary to do the job. It is also slang for a grave and, by extension, a verb meaning to kill. Example: humans are deep-sixing this planet.

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terribleco · 4 years

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RBL Spot Interview

DIY skateparks have exploded in popularity over the last 10 years. I'm unsure whether it's a response to the growing number of people using skateparks, as people look for a more secluded spot to skate, or whether it's a natural extension of the creativity and freedom of skateboarding - but DIY parks have become a staple part of modern skateboarding. One spot which is thriving in this area is the RBL Spot, at an undisclosed location in Essex. The spot has been growing organically with an impressive level of professional finish and a great selection of obstacles to skate. I spoke to Will, who heads up the effort for the DIY spot, about how it came about, and how building there got him into the middle of a manhunt straight out of Police Interceptors.

Can you introduce yourself and tell me how long you've been skating for? My name is Will. I started skateboarding in summer of ‘01, aged about 10-11.

What inspired you to start building the RBL Spot? I've wanted to make a street style spot for a while. I tried 6 months before in an underpass which is lit up all night, but had some trouble with the graffiti writers who captured the space first. When I found this spot, I knew it was perfect. It was a BMX spot before, but as they built it out of wood, it all got burnt down by local chav kids - a constant plague to the spot.

What does RBL stand for? RBL means “rubble”. If you follow the hashtag #rubblespot back, you can see the earlier wooden BMX park and the concrete bits they had on the building before it was burnt and then knocked down. It used to be a good spot for graffiti and urban exploration, so the name was pretty set, I just gave it a slight rework.

What was on the site of the RBL Spot before you moved in to build the DIY park and before the BMX spot? It was a sport and social club, with tennis courts, football and bowls pitches. The red tile areas of the spot are where the shower rooms used to be. It had a large function room you could rent out for parties and events. Some of the skaters remember playing football there when they were really young. The club was subject to arson in 2013, and then I believe the building was demolished in 2015.

Did you set out to build the spot because of a lack of decent skateparks nearby, or because you were after something a skatepark can't offer? We have some OK parks locally, but there's something special about DIY spots: a sort of no rules freedom. There are not many DIY's that are all street. We're 20 miles away from Urbside, who have the transition covered! Scooters are a real issue in my local park: It's very small, and I've grown quite tired of waiting for the council and their 2 million pound lottery grant funded upgrade. I've been trying to work with them and local police on this for the last 18 months.

Which famous spots did you take inspiration from when building obstacles at the spot? As far as the inspiration for the obstacles, layout etc - it's all from my love of plaza skating. Early 00s street was the best! Spots like Love Park, Carlsbad and Pier 7 are all hugely influential which is pretty obvious! Also 4 months before we started building, I visited Barcelona. Seeing the locals at Sants inspired me: their style, consistency and love for their spot.

Are there any other DIY parks out there that you use as an ideal benchmark for what you would like RBL to become? I really like the Bodila Project in Barcelona, the guys are super helpful and friendly too. Clemente DIY in Grand Rapids, Michigan is awesome too: kinda raw East Coast vibes. I love all the spots with a real sense of community, which is a big part of what I'm trying to create here.

You mentioned the chavs being a plague on the spot - Has anything super sketchy happened to you down at the spot whilst building or skating? Funny you should mention the chavs – I caught two of them just after the shed at the spot was kicked in for the 2nd time, and one of them ran away without his bike. I kept it hostage for a few hours until he went and got his Mum and Dad to scout it out for him.

By far the most memorable sketchy incident happened on a Sunday night in January. I'd been down there building on my own all day, and except for this crew of mosher kids who hang about near the spot, I'd seen no-one all day. I'm finishing a zoot, waiting to do the final pass on this triangle patch of concrete, when I hear a screech of a car from the top of the hill, and the loudest, clearest voice shouts out “freeze, put your hands up!”. I grab my phone, thinking 'Oh shit, this could be some good content!'. Next thing I know, there's loads of blue lights, sirens, and loud chatter from the road. More old bill turned up, and the whole thing was looking pretty heavy, so I started packing my shit up.

One of the cars started driving down real slow past me, lights on. They stopped at the bottom of the hill, and they got out with a fucking huge dog, with lights shining over towards me and across the spot. They slowly walked towards where the moshers throw bricks and shit.

At this point, I thought "Fuck this, I'm out - I'm not getting caught up in this and bringing attention to the spot". Touch wood: we have had no trouble from the police, local residents or businesses yet. So I grabbed my stuff and started waddling down the road between a load of police at the top and the parked, flashing police car at the bottom. When I say stuff, I mean a huge backpack, 2 tote bags, a tripod with a video light still on it, a shovel and a sledgehammer.

FUCKING HELL. I thought you were gonna say the worst thing you encountered was some kids vandalising the spot but that's much crazier than I expected. How I didn't get stopped I don't know, and I never got to the bottom of what happened!

The spot seems like a real community effort. How many other people have helped with the build? 4 of us started it, but I’ve had probably 20 other people help mix cement, or donate some money on the GoFund. Myself, Wes, Sam, Mark, Daryl (our buddy who came up from London for the build days, bless him), then also big shout outs to Rob and Matt who also helped on the big builds. It's awesome, as Mark and I skated Rob & Matt's DIY warehouse spot in Brentwood about 10 years ago, and now it's gone full circle.

How has the lockdown from COVID-19 affected the build? Dramatically. For starters, Wickes are not selling sand and cement as they're not essential items, so getting materials has been a mission. Fortunately a small family-run builders merchant got me sorted. With the local skateparks officially taped off and police monitoring them, we've had more skaters visit, in small groups luckily. Downside of this is the ground is getting more worn day by day! We've also had more non-skater visitors than ever, with the residents of the local houses nearby all coming over to take a look, and they've all been very supportive when I've spoken to them. I've got to know one guy who heads down there every morning to work out; it's great to see the space being used by everyone.

What have you got planned for the spot in the future? Currently in build is a new 7 stair with a low, long round handrail, and importantly, a BBQ. I've got plans to finish tidying the last bit of the edge and bank down to the lower panel. I'd like to add a long flatbar in the side section. And finally I'd like to extend and join the far end with a bank, making the whole layout a complete L shape, which is a lot of work! We really need to work on a lot of the holes in the floor too, and also dig away at the sides. The more you dig, the more room you have to skate but 95% of the digging has ended being by me! We really need to borrow a digger from the site opposite.

What's the sickest trick to go down at the spot so far? For me, seeing Neil Smith shred it up the other week. He did a nollie heelflip down the gap in a line and nollie heelflip fs crook on the little ledge. Not enough from our lot: we spent more time building than skating last summer, so hopefully this year we’ll enjoy skating it more. This has gotta be the worst one:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @hallofmeat on Oct 5, 2019 at 11:33am PDT

Other than Neil Smith and Thrasher's Hall Of Meat, have you had many high profile skaters visit the spot, or show interest in it? Nah. Smithy is pretty local. The future of the spot is pretty uncertain so we keep it pretty low key. If you know, you know. But obviously I’d love to see people come shred it up.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to start a DIY spot? Pick the right spot. Never stop researching, stuff like mix designs, tools, techniques – all knowledge is good. Preparation is everything, it's better to take two days doing it really well than rushing it in 1 and having to fix it half a year later. Invite trustworthy people, and be prepared for everyone to slate what you've built. Everyone has ideas but not many will put the time, money, effort, blood, sweat and tears in!

Anyone you want to thank? @mr_radman for teaching me everything, all the support and encouragement to build the rubble spot, and the many hours he spends behind the camera capturing us all. @wjstringer for all the help and support from day 1, likewise @meerington_ for the many hours of help and all the sick sessions we've had skating recently. Shouts to @kit1 and @redbulluk for showing support for me last year and sending over a pallet of materials.

Big up everyone who's donated and helped out, and come along for a session. Let's hope we can have a few more soon!

#interview #skatepark situation

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spiderbird7-blog · 5 years

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The “Why I Hate The Green Bay Packers” Bear’s Den Edition, February 22, 2019

Ken’s Note: We all hate the Green Bay Packers. That’s the “default setting” for all Bears fans. What I want to know today though is WHY you hate them as much as I know you do. Later on in the day I will post why I hate them with a passion that borders on scary sometimes.

BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, BEAR DOWN!!!!

BEARRRSSSS

ESPN’s Field Yates on the Chicago Bears’ Future (And More) - The Chicago Audible Podcast - In this episode, the guys are joined by ESPN’s Field Yates who shares his thoughts on a variety of Chicago Bears topics including the team’s bright future.

Cox: Ravens cornerback sets the free agent market for Bryce Callahan - Bears Wire - The Baltimore Ravens signed Tavon Young to a contract extension, setting the market for Chicago Bears slot cornerback Bryce Callahan.

Neveau: Chicago Bears Release TE Dion Sims - NBC Chicago - The Chicago Bears have made a move to shed money from their salary cap, cutting tight end Dion Sims on Thursday.

Mayer: Bears release veteran tight end Dion Sims - ChicagoBears.com - The Bears on Thursday released tight end Dion Sims.

2019 Offseason Outlook: The Bears’ Secondary Is a Primary Concern - Bleacher Nation - The Bears are loaded with studs returning to their secondary in 2019, but could possibly lose two starters to free agency.

Medina: The Ravens Made It That Much More Difficult for the Bears to Bring Back Bryce Callahan - Bleacher Nation - Bryce Callahan’s asking price could be on the rise after the Ravens signed off on Tavon Young being the NFL’s highest-paid nickel back.

Getting the NFL’s five biggest spenders out of salary-cap hell (including Bears) - ESPN - The Eagles are currently more than $22 million over the salary cap. How can they, and four other teams, save money? Ken’s Note: The Bears ARE NOT IN CAP HELL. I’m REALLY getting sick of hearing this, it is simply not true. Cap hell is cutting great players left and right to eat a ton of dead money. According to OTC, the Bears have $12,804,741 in cap room and only $670,086 of dead money. And yes, the article came out after the Sims cut was announced, ESPN are just too damned lazy to take the trouble to update it.

Broncos' Case Keenum 'shocked' by Joe Flacco trade - NFL.com - The Denver Broncos agreed to trade for veteran QB Joe Flacco last week. Broncos signal-caller Case Keenum said in a recent interview he was stunned by the acquisition.

NFC free agency fun: Trey Flowers to Eagles? Earl Thomas to ... - NFL.com - With free agency on the horizon, Marc Sessler provides one fun player fit for each NFC team. Could Teddy Bridgewater be the quarterback of the Redskins? How about Trey Flowers joining Philly's ferocious front?

Tom Coughlin: Bortles is QB for Jaguars 'right now' - NFL.com - When asked about the future of Blake Bortles in Jacksonville, executive vice president Tom Coughlin said the veteran is the Jaguars' quarterback "right now." Is the QB on his way out?

Campbell: The Bears lack high-round picks and quarterback drama. So how do we squeeze fun out of the pre-draft process? - Chicago Tribune - The Bears' pre-draft landscape is bleak because they don't have first- or second-round picks or any quarterback drama affecting them. Is mid-round running back intrigue enough to quench our draft hunger?

Hub Arkush: Will salary cap concerns become a problem for the Bears? - Daily Herald - The Bears window to contend for a title appears to be open for the foreseeable future. However the Bears do have a significant "issue" to deal with right now. I don't think you can call it a problem because of all the young talent that is likely to get better, but for the first time in a long time the Bears are very short on salary cap space, and without picks in the first two rounds of this year's draft and the first round next year.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Half of NFL teams changed offensive coordinators during the 2019 offseason - Acme Packing Company - Is there any other position in the league with a lower retention rate?

KNOW THY ENEMY

Calvin Johnson gets preliminary approval for medical pot dispensary - WJBK - Former Detroit Lions star receiver Calvin Johnson has received preliminary approval of his license application for a medical marijuana dispensary in suburban Detroit.

Chris Jericho not a Kirk Cousins fan, still remains awesome - Daily Norseman - The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah has adopted the Vikings

What does “going all in” look like for the Packers this offseason? - Acme Packing Company - With a closing window with Aaron Rodgers, Brian Gutekunst aggressively spent last offseason. What’s the best way to maximize Rodgers and this team’s talent in 2019?

Kevin Stefanski: Gary Kubiak’s history with Shanahans can help Kirk Cousins – ProFootballTalk - The Vikings had their new coaches meet the media on Thursday and Kevin Stefanski’s shift from interim to permanent offensive coordinator meant he was part of the fun. Stefanski spent a lot of time talking about a newer addition to the organization.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Wiltfong: Bears have 5th toughest strength of schedule in 2019, but does that matter? - Windy City Gridiron Repeat after me; Strength of schedule is meaningless.

Zeglinski: A comprehensive guide to the Chicago Bears’ 2019 off-season - Windy City Gridiron When can the Bears start pushing their chips in on free agency? What are key scouting dates? Don’t worry, the Bears are winning the Super Bowl ... eventually.

Schmitz' Bear With Me: Free Agency, Antonio Brown Trade, and The Bears - Windy City Gridiron On the latest episode of Bear With Me, Robert S. discusses the Bears’ current needs and how (or "if") they will go about addressing them. He also chimes in on the chatter linking Antonio Brown to the Bears

WCG CONTRIBUTORS BEARS PODCASTS & STREAMS

2 Minute Drill - Website - iTunes - Andrew Link; Steven’s Streaming – Twitch – Steven Schweickert; T-Formation Conversation - Website - iTunes - Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; WCG Radio - Website - iTunes - Robert Zeglinski

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

The Bear’s Den Specific Guidelines – The Bear’s Den is a place for Chicago Bears fans to discuss Chicago Bears football, related NFL stories, and general football talk. It is NOT a place to discuss religion or politics or post political pictures or memes. Unless otherwise stated, the Den is not an open thread, and profanity (including profanity only stated in pictures) is prohibited.

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter:

WCG Contributors: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Like us on Facebook.

Source: https://www.windycitygridiron.com/2019/2/22/18235536/chicago-why-i-hate-the-green-bay-packers-bears-den-edition-offseason-links-news-free-agency-draft

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thrashermaxey · 5 years

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21 Fantasy Hockey Rambles

Every Sunday, we'll share 21 Fantasy Rambles – formerly 20 Fantasy Thoughts – from our writers at DobberHockey. These thoughts are curated from the past week's ‘Daily Ramblings’.

Writers: Michael Clifford, Ian Gooding, Cam Robinson, and Dobber

1. If you own Mathew Barzal, you were waiting for his next goal for a while. As in over a month. Fortunately, the Isles’ center broke his goal-scoring slump (and added an assist) on Thursday. Barzal had gone without a goal in his previous 19 games.

Barzal isn’t one to pile up the goals, as his 18 goals this season is just four fewer than his total last season. With 62 points at the moment, however, he is well short of his 85-point rookie season from last season. This could be the result of having to play the tougher matchups this season versus last season, when John Tavares was still in the fold.

Playing on the top line alongside Barzal, Jordan Eberle might have decent value at this very moment based on where he’s being used, but he’s also staring at his first sub-40-point season (lockout-shortened 2012-13 not included) in his career. (mar29)

2. The Panthers might be out of the playoff race but that isn’t stopping Jonathan Huberdeau. Huby now has nine multipoint games during March to go with nine goals and 23 points over his last 13 games. Too bad I’ve been eliminated in the league that I own him in. Don’t you just hate it when your players cash in after you’ve been eliminated?

Evgenii Dadonov is another Panthers’ forward who has picked up the pace. Over his last 13 games, Dadonov has 19 points (6g-13a). Playing on a line with Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov might have something to do with it. Dadonov has now surpassed last season’s point total and is just two points shy of his first 70-point season. (mar29)

3. It’s been a down year for Rickard Rakell but he might still make it to 20 goals. It’s not the 34 goals like last season, or the 33 he scored the season before, but Rakell has piled up seven goals over his last five games.

Rakell was a recent buy-low candidate through his goalless droughts of 14, 9, 8, and 6 games, up to the point in which he had just nine goals on the season earlier this month. To justify that buy-low, his shooting percentage was at a highly unlucky 6.3 percent, but it is now up to a more respectable 9.6 percent and could still climb further.

In terms of what you can do going forward, look to Rakell as a rebound candidate as he will probably slip in next season’s fantasy hockey drafts based on his overall numbers. He was drafted at around the 70th pick in this season’s Yahoo drafts, but next season he could provide great value if he is drafted outside of the top 100. (mar31)

4. The Cam Talbot era in Philly might be short-lived, but at least he made another start on Saturday (just his second since being acquired). Talbot allowed three goals on 30 shots in the Flyers’ 5-2 loss to Carolina.

Now that the Flyers have been eliminated, the Flyers might start Talbot one or two more times as they play out the string. With this being the second consecutive season that Talbot has posted a goals-against average over 3.00, he probably won’t be considered a starter anywhere. Instead, expect him to land as a backup or at best a timeshare somewhere. (mar31)

5. Nick Schmaltz’ new seven-year extension with an unconfirmed cap hit of $5.85 million might seem like a lengthy extension for a player that has cracked 50 points just once in three seasons, but remember that the Coyotes coveted him enough to pay a significant price (Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini) just to acquire him.

Regardless, he was fitting in well with his new team (14 points in 17 games) before suffering a season-ending knee injury late last December. Even though the trade may appear heavily weighted in Chicago’s favor, it’s one of those that could still work out well for both teams. Salary cap owners would likely prefer to see more sustained production before investing, though. (mar31)

6. Kevin Fiala’s ice time is up 2:40 per game with the Wild versus what he was getting with Nashville. And yet he has just seven points in 15 contests. We expected the jump in ice time but had assumed it would come with a corresponding bump in production.

That hasn’t happened, but as fantasy owners that's the mindset we need to stick to – opportunity increases the odds of success. Just because it’s a ‘fail’ (so far) doesn’t mean we figured wrong. Next year is his fourth and I expect some magic. (mar30)

7. So, does Ryan Strome have upside after all? I mean, obviously not the elite upside we hoped for six years ago, but fantasy-worthy upside?

Now that the Rangers have shed some top players, Strome is usually seeing about 18 minutes of ice time. This is ice time he was given during the first few years of his career and he didn’t do anything with it. Now he’s doing something.

Entering Sunday action, Strome had 18 points in his last 23 games, and nine in his last 10. Food for thought: Friday he was on a line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Lias Andersson. His next goal would be his 18th, which would set a career high. (mar30)

8. Mackenzie Blackwood is 3-8-0, 2.90 and 0.901 over his last 11 games. He’s 22, a high draft pick and has bounced back in this his third pro season after having it rough during his first two. I’m not yet ready to write him off as a potential starter for the long term but this year is the most he has played as a pro (40 combined games). (mar30)

9. Andreas Athanasiou scored his 30th goal this past Friday. Unfortunately, the assists haven’t really been there for this year because he’s often placed on a line with the likes of ‘Tommy Stonehands’ and ‘Jimmy Lunchpail’ – for example, his linemates on Friday were Luke Glendening and Taro Hirose.

When he hits his prime in a couple of years, though, the Red Wings should have the talent around him upgraded by that point. Next year, I see another small step forward, perhaps hitting 60 (if anyone does on this team besides Dylan Larkin, it should be him) before his big jump in his sixth campaign. (mar30)

Elsewhere, the early results for Detroit’s undrafted NCAA foray this year are in. Entering Sunday action, 22-year-old Ryan Kuffner was pointless and minus-2 in six games. He had 96 points in his last 67 games with Princeton, as Max Veronneau’s (now with Ottawa) sidekick. Taro Hirose, also after six outings, saw a five-game assist streak come to an end on Friday. Hirose didn’t have a Veronneau to play with at Michigan State and to me has the higher upside. He’s been averaging about 15 minutes per game to Kuffner’s 10, so you know coach Jeff Blashill sees it the same way. (mar30)

10. Hawks’ Alex DeBrincat now has 41 goals – that places him in the league’s top-10 in goal scoring. Not bad for a 21-year-old in just his second NHL season and who many teams thought was too small. DeBrincat is not averse to slumps, though, as he was pointless during a six-game streak before hitting the scoresheet again late this past week. (mar29)

* Don’t forget to download your Playoff Draft List. released this Friday, April 5.

If you bought the Ultimate Fantasy Pack in the summer, this will be included in that purchase. It is not included in the Keeper Fantasy Pack.

11. Leon Draisaitl also scored goal number 47 this week, which has him four behind Alex Ovechkin in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. Both Connor McDavid and Draisaitl have now hit 100 points and are in the top-5 in scoring. You’d think that would set the Oilers up nicely for a playoff spot, right? Of course not. You need an entire team, not just a couple of top-end players. The same theory applies in fantasy. (mar29)

12. Dustin Byfuglien finally returned to the Jets’ lineup on Saturday, logging 24 minutes of ice time. Big Buff had missed the past month and a half with an ankle injury. In fact, he has been held to just 38 games this season, so it appears that playing a physical style for a decade has finally caught up to him.

Byfuglien could be in for a bounceback next season if he can stay healthy most of the time, but I’d be weary of drafting him as high as he has been in recent seasons. He averaged as the 40th pick in Yahoo drafts last fall, but I’d suggest waiting at least another round or two for the multicategory beast next season. (mar31)

13. It was Happy Quinn Hughes day last Thursday in Vancouver, as the seventh overall pick in last summer’s NHL Entry Draft made his NHL debut. He was paired with the recently-resurgent Luke Schenn in just over 15 minutes of ice time. For fantasy owners who were lightning-fast in adding Hughes to their lineups, he recorded his first NHL point by assisting on Brock Boeser’s second-period goal. Hughes did much of the work on the goal, hopefully giving us a preview of things to come.

No first-unit power-play duty for Hughes (in that game), as the Canucks went with a four-forward first unit with Alex Edler on the point as per usual. However, 3-on-3 overtime with Hughes, Boeser, and Elias Pettersson was a sight to behold. Amazing stuff. (You can also check out Hughes' profile on Dobber Prospects.)

Elsewhere, with Thatcher Demko in net, the Canucks’ roster on Thursday provided a real glimpse into the future. Demko stopped 37 of 39 shots in earning his second win in three games. It looks like the Canucks will alternate between Demko and Jacob Markstrom the rest of the way, so plan accordingly. (mar29)

14. Following three straight 30-point seasons and back-to-back 35-point seasons, things were looking bright for Colton Parayko heading into 2018-19. The team added names like Ryan O’Reilly, Patrick Maroon, David Perron, and Tyler Bozak, giving them loads of scoring depth. With Parayko’s stout peripheral production, a 40-point season would have made him a top-10 multicategory defenceman.

That didn’t come to pass, obviously, as Parayko sits with 26 points in 78 games. His peripherals and plus/minus have meant a solid fantasy season, but he’s still yet to attain anywhere close to his ceiling. The problem is his assists, as he has managed just 16 total thus far, and just two primary assists at five-on-five. Among 114 defenseman with at least 1000 minutes played at five-on-five, he has the fourth-lowest primary assist rate.

Parayko will be in tough to reach his ceiling now that he’s apparently third in line for power play minutes. It doesn’t mean he can’t be very valuable in fantasy leagues. With the Blues loaded with both rising and established stars, and Parayko due for a rebound in his assists next year, it seems very possible he’s a top-10 blue liner in multicategory leagues in a year’s time. (mar28)

15. Sergei Bobrovsky is showing up when it matters most – for his squad and for his fantasy owners. Much has been said about the pending unrestricted free-agent and the likely anchor of a contract he may sign on July 1. Well, the two-time Vezina winner has been near the top of the heap for the last three months.

Stretching back to the beginning of February, Bobrovsky is 16-7-0 with six shutouts and his season save percentage is now up to .912. He’s had a few clunkers mixed in there but the overall theme is positive.

He remains a tier one guy heading into 2019-20 – especially if he finds himself on a contender next fall. (mar27)

16. If I’m sitting down to draft a one-year league next fall, I’m pencilling Jordan Binnington into a tier-2 position. I feel that’s as aggressive as anyone should be. We’re constantly burned by the masked men, that drinking the kool-aid too quickly will send you on a not so welcoming trip. (mar27)

17. Darcy Kuemper continues to be a rock for the desert dogs. This season could've easily been a write-off for Arizona when Antti Raanta went down in November, but thanks to Kuemper, the Yotes still have a slim shot at some playoff revenue. He's posted a quality start in 35 of 52 outings, while his 0.922 save percentage on the year is top-5 amongst ‘regular starters’.

Kuemper’s value lies at this moment, as we won't be seeing him earn this amount of starts next year. That is unless we see a team make a play for the 28-year-old via trade. He makes 1.8 million next season before hitting unrestricted free agency. (mar27)

18. Reports came out last Tuesday that Hurricanes prospect and Hobey Baker finalist, Adam Fox, will return to Harvard for this senior year. This could a big blow for the Hurricanes, who targeted Fox in last summer's blockbuster trade with Calgary. In fact, Fox could become a free agent in 2020 if he decides to and that would be great news for all the teams in search of a young, super offensive right-shot defender. Fox would have plenty of suitors. (mar27)

19. To give some positivity to the realm, I’m quite enjoying the trio of Jordan Greenway, Luke Kunin and Ryan Donato. Those three have been lining up together at even-strength and on the team’s second power-play unit. All three possess decent multi-category upsides. (mar26)

20. Former first-round selection Jared McCann is with his third organization but appears to have found a fit in Pittsburgh. McCann has great wheels, a heavy release and loads of tenacity. He’s finally cracked the second power-play unit, but 31 of his 34 points have come at even-strength or while shorthanded. There remains some intriguing upside with the 22-year-old, especially if he maintains his space in the top-six moving forward. (mar26)

21. Petr Mrazek is yet another unrestricted free agent in the summer ahead and he’s completely revived his career. The Hurricanes were likely going to move on from him come July and now I think they’re interested in hearing what he’s looking for.

If I was GM Don Waddell, I would see if I can’t lock him in for two years at a low cap rate of perhaps under $3 million. Carolina was a destination for one of the many UFA goaltenders this summer but Mrazek is doing what he can to shut the door on that opportunity for those people such as Cam Talbot, Brian Elliott and Robin Lehner.

Have a good week, folks!!

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-home/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles/21-fantasy-hockey-rambles-11/

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elegantbee · 6 years

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Pampered Chef

Pampered Chef started out in 1980 and it was set up in Doris Christopher’s basement! In 10 short years, the company had already expanded to Canada, the UK and also Germany. And they’re still continuing to grow around the world.

In 2002, Pampered Chef was absorbed by Berkshire Hathaway which is a massive conglomerate owned by Warren Buffet. It’s based in Omaha and still owns the smaller Pampered Chef to this day. They’re also the fourth largest public company in the world and own a bunch of famous organizations. Some of these include GEICO, Dairy Queen and others. They also own portions of huge companies like Coca Cola.

So back to Pampered Chef. This interesting MLM offers kitchen and home products and normally uses the direct selling method. They have a number of tactics up their sleeve such as Facebook friend requests, virtual hangouts, actual parties and a lot of conference calls.

Their income model hasn’t been the best out there, though, but they still seem to be making some money. Right now, their income model seems to be better suited to investors and not affiliates.

Their employees don’t seem too happy. Obviously, this varies from person to person. I’m going to talk a bit more about how Pampered Chef’s compensation and consultant model actually works.

Learn more about our #1 recommendation here.

To join Pampered Chef as a consultant, you’ll need to purchase a kit. These come in three variations, starting from the basic and going all the way up to the Ultimate. Of course, the amount you have to pay greatly varies across all three as well.

So let’s see what these levels are. The first one is the Starter Kit, which costs about $109 and gives you around $450 worth of Pampered Chef products that you will sell. The second one costs about $160 and includes with it $650 worth of products.

The third is called the Ultimate Kit and it’ll set you back by $249 and also give you $1000 worth of exclusive products. There is another way or ‘hack’ to becoming a consultant. You can actually host a party to promote Pampered Chef and this way you get a $50 kit credit. You can end up joining for as little as $59.

Now onto what you’d sell, if you were a consultant at Pampered Chef. While they mainly sell kitchenware products, they also have anything you’d need in your kitchen such as appliances and more. Here is an extensive list of the kinds of things you can find at Pampered Chef:

Bakeware

Cutlery of all designs

Cookbooks

Appliances

Grilling accessories and barbeque essentials

Various dishes

Holiday sets and party packs

Kitchen storage boxes and stowaway spaces

Some assorted food products

They even sell some food stuff. Their popular brands retail under the names of Sunrider, Take Shapre for Life and Nuriche. Pampered Chef has been around for a long time which is why customers have already picked their favorites. These are some of the most-loved products:

Kids pizza making set – retails for $45

Emoji cookie cutter set – retails for $10

Herb infuser – retails for $10

Manual food processor – retails for $52.50

Small bamboo knife block set – retails for $165 and includes 4 pieces

Beer bread mix – retails for $11

You can really tell that they cover it all in terms of kitchenware and even food. Pampered Chef aim to take over the kitchen space in the way that you can get products from start to finish.

Learn more about our #1 recommendation here.

You can get a cookbook, the actual ingredients, ready made food and then appliances and further on, decorative dishes and much more. This really encompasses the idea of the whole company, which is essentially to ‘create powerful products’ to help you achieve a fast and efficient cooking process. However, they had a unique selling point back in the day.

Now, their kitchenware can’t be differentiated from their competitors’ and the fact that Pampered Chef also charges extravagantly for their stuff makes them less effective.

Now onto the compensation plan, i.e. what you’re going to get when you sign up with Pampered Chef. This will perhaps help you make your decision. Keep in mind that your compensation rates will depend on how your monthly sales performance is.

A good ballpark idea is that if you sell $1-750 in sales, you’ll get around a 20% commission rate. On the higher end, $4000+ in monthly sales will help you get to a 25% commission rate. This is the scale through which you can base your decision of joining Pampered Chef.

Now most consultants stay below the 20% commission rate because it’s not that easy to jack up your sales with this program. If you want to make some serious money with them you’re going to need to create a good reliable team full of dedicated consultants. In any case, you will get 50% off on new items from Pampered Chef once you sign up.

There are other ways to get rid of your 9-5 and make money online without MLM’s, bother your family/friends, ponzi schemes and recruiting people!

Without sounding mean, you would probably like this system because it gives you a “blueprint” that grows without 3 way calls or spamming your facebook friends!

The post Pampered Chef appeared first on Whack A Host.

from Whack A Host https://whackahost.com/pampered-chef/ Posted By This Guy>> Mr.Whack-A-Host from Blogger http://annepanadventures.blogspot.com/2018/08/pampered-chef.html via Stesha Guglielmo

#http://annepanadventures.blogspot.com/2018/08/pampered-chef.html

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hsews · 6 years

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LAS VEGAS — As a loudspeaker blares the rhythmic sounds and chants of Shiva & Krishna Lounge meditation music, a close-by vent is pumping out 98 levels of warmth right into a scorching yoga studio in scorching Las Vegas, the place the temperature outdoors reaches a furnacelike 110 levels on this July afternoon.

Dripping in sweat after practically 30 minutes of vinyasa stream yoga poses, Myles Turner is about to aim one thing he hasn’t been in a position to maintain for longer than a number of seconds.

Turner, on his knees, begins together with his arms and forearms on the ground earlier than turning the highest of his head onto the ground. Taking his knees off the ground and stretching his legs absolutely out, together with his rear find yourself within the air and his lengthy legs prolonged out with toes nonetheless touching the ground, Turner begins to shift his 250 kilos from his knees towards his again after which to his head and arms.

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He inches his toes nearer towards his physique as if he’s on tippy toes to switch all his weight towards his core till his higher torso is above his head. He then curls his knees within the air towards his chest earlier than pushing each legs straight up.

It takes the younger Indiana Pacers heart 4 tries to do one thing he has spent the previous three months engaged on — his 6-foot-11 body is the other way up and in a headstand for practically 30 seconds earlier than he grunts and eventually breaks out of the pose.

“Did you get that on video?” an excited Turner asks.

Since he frustratingly fouled out with four minutes, 33 seconds left and a disappointing eight factors and 4 rebounds within the Pacers’ Sport 7 first-round playoff loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Turner determined to show issues round by fully getting out of his consolation zone and difficult himself this summer season with renewed objective.

“A purpose of mine is to be an All-Star,” Turner says. “I believe that’s one factor that each NBA participant desires of.”

“I do know I really feel totally different,” he provides. “Simply my actions on the ground … I really feel extra, I do not suppose ‘majestic’ is the phrase for it, however I really feel higher, not as wobbly. I really feel loads stronger total.”

Turner improved dramatically between his first and second seasons, main some to imagine he might take the following step to changing into an All-Star. However whereas the Pacers stunned many final season and took the Cavaliers to seven video games within the first spherical, Turner took a step again personally final season, together with his numbers dipping practically throughout the board.

Myles Turner’s Final Two Seasons

2016-17 2017-18 PPG 14.5 12.7 RPG 7.three 6.four FG Pct 51.1 47.9 BPG 2.1 1.eight SPG zero.9 zero.6

Slicing Popeyes fried rooster, Waffle Home and Whataburger out of his food regimen and now not devouring eight slices of pizza in a single meal, Turner employed a private chef; he has sculpted his physique from 14 % physique fats down to almost half that. In mid-June, Turner posted before-and-after photos of his physique, and new six-pack, on Twitter that went viral.

“I took a take a look at myself within the mirror final season, and I used to be pudgy,” Turner instructed ESPN after sweating his approach by means of an hour-plus vinyasa stream scorching yoga session in Las Vegas final month. “I used to be getting drained loads sooner, and lots of that needed to do with consuming quick meals, consuming pizza the nights earlier than video games.

“Everyone instructed me about my food regimen, however final season it began to have an effect on me. I suppose getting older, my metabolism just isn’t as excessive because it was. … I used to be getting gassed.”

5 weeks down, nonetheless gotta lot of labor to do! #Summer time18 pic.twitter.com/CWFM5gPue0

— Myles Turner (@Original_Turner) June 18, 2018

Turner remains to be solely 22, however he was consuming like a 16-year-old the night time earlier than a recreation. Now he has made a probably life-altering change in his exercise and dietary habits. Beneath the steering of Kevin Garnett’s longtime coach Joe Abunassar, Turner has spent nearly all of his summer season on a secluded ranch in Fort Price, waking up when the solar rises and working earlier than the Texas temperatures soar to triple digits, lifting weights and going by means of monitor and area and boxing exercises alongside together with his particular person basketball routine.

But it surely may be the difficult ashtanga and vinyasa stream yoga classes two to a few instances every week which have helped Turner enhance his flexibility, energy and confidence heading into what could possibly be a pivotal season in his profession. Turner’s foremost yoga teacher, Fort Price-based Bridget Gibbs, has the massive man typically doing yoga trapeze.

“It isn’t regular yoga,” mentioned Abunassar, president of Affect Basketball and coach who has labored with massive males like Turner, Garnett and DeMarcus Cousins. “Folks have seen Instagram photos of Myles hanging from a ceiling. He has to stability himself, maintain and pose suspended off the bottom like a Cirque du Soleil-type actor.”

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Myles Turner does an arm-balancing scorching yoga pose. Video by Ohm Youngmisuk.

Turner hopes that stretching his bodily and psychological limits will lead him to achieve new heights in his fourth season. Eligible for a rookie contract extension earlier than the season begins, Turner desires to assist Indiana get to the following stage after shedding within the first spherical of the playoffs throughout his first three seasons.

“Getting that monster [LeBron James] out of there, the East is a bit more wide-open,” Turner mentioned. “It’s nonetheless going to be aggressive, however I’m bored with shedding within the first spherical. It has been three years.”

Along with extending his vary — he shot 35.7 % from past the arc final yr on 2.four makes an attempt per recreation — Turner desires to steer the league in blocked photographs.

“Simply be one of the best defensive participant I will be,” Turner mentioned. “I do know I can rating the ball, and I do know my offense goes to come back, however be higher on pick-and-rolls, be capable of change, wreak havoc on the rim, be that back-line anchor man.”

Myles Turner confirmed off his new body at USA Basketball minicamp in July. Ethan Miller/Getty Photographs

Turner has been a part of the USA Basketball program since 2013, and he was on the 2016 USA Choose Workforce that practiced in opposition to the workforce that received gold in Rio. Final month, he practiced and skilled as a part of the participant pool for the senior nationwide workforce that may symbolize the U.S. at subsequent yr’s FIBA World Cup, and his potential Workforce USA teammates seen a extra assured Pacers heart.

“I imply, he is a expertise,” mentioned Boston Celtics level guard Kyrie Irving, who watched USA follow from the sideline and fed passes to teammates like Turner throughout particular person drills as he makes his approach again from left patella surgical procedure. “Actually, he’s an underrated massive in our league proper now by way of what he’s able to doing. He had lots of expertise on a perimeter-oriented workforce, so he’s not getting as many touches as I want to see, personally.”

After a USA Basketball follow, Kevin Durant, Paul George, Devin Booker, Victor Oladipo and Turner went by means of one-on-one particular person drills. On one flip, Oladipo confronted Turner and drove previous his teammate to the rim solely to see Turner get well and reject his shot from behind.

“He’s shifting loads faster and appears much more assured on the ground,” mentioned Pistons All-Star heart Andre Drummond, who is also within the 35-man USA Basketball workforce pool and has twice achieved that All-Star stage that Turner is hoping to achieve. “He already has been a talented participant. Simply him reducing weight and being extra conditioned goes to convey out his recreation an increasing number of.”

New Pacers teammate Kyle O’Quinn joined Turner in some 5-on-5 pickup video games in Las Vegas and got here away considering this could possibly be a breakout season for Turner.

“Myles appears to be like extra fluid and explosive,” mentioned O’Quinn, who signed with the Pacers in free company. “He’s primed for a giant yr. If he lets the offense come to him, he can get 20 an evening and be an All-Star.”

Abunassar appears to be like at this season as one when a younger heart can probably take a giant leap ahead.

“When a participant has a comparatively profitable first couple of years, you both make that bounce to the All-Star stage or you do not,” he mentioned. “They are saying third or fourth yr is after they make that bounce. I believe Myles sees that chance, and all of us do, to take himself from a starter and excellent NBA participant to a perennial All-Star.

After an early-morning exercise adopted by six video games of 5-on-5 with the likes of O’Quinn, Philadelphia’s Amir Johnson and former Knick Amar’e Stoudemire, Turner drives over from the Affect basketball fitness center to Vegas Scorching Yoga and Pilates studio to satisfy Yuko Haneda.

Haneda has labored with a number of skilled athletes, however she’s instantly impressed to listen to that Turner desires to do vinyasa stream and “throw some inversions in there.” She says most professional athletes concentrate on stretching, however Turner desires to do one thing she has by no means heard any athlete ask her to do — arm balancing.

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zero:43

Myles Turner makes an attempt to stability his 6-11 body in vinyasa stream scorching yoga. Video by Ohm Youngmisuk.

The 5-2, 90-pound Haneda spends the session constantly stretching and contorting her physique into more and more tough poses. She tells Turner what to do after which exhibits him. As she demonstrates the poses, she makes every one look way more easy, than it truly is, barely breaking a sweat all through the hourlong session within the scorching yoga room.

“I’m impressed by him,” mentioned Haneda, who has been a yoga teacher for 11 years. “Some folks do not get it [right away]. They do not join the physique to the thoughts.”

“This isn’t straightforward, for positive. He has energy and stability already. And he’s nonetheless younger. It’s so laborious to get to the purpose the place you wish to do yoga at 22 years previous. It requires much more psychological persistence.”

Turner says he first tried yoga earlier than school at Texas however did not actually begin training till two years in the past, when he walked right into a yoga studio in Indianapolis on a whim.

“It takes lots of focus, lots of respiration and lots of physique management,” Turner mentioned of yoga. “Blocking out all the things that hurts and all the things that is happening outdoors of the category and simply actually specializing in each distinct muscle as a result of if one muscle is [off], you fall over.”

At instances, Turner appears to be like like a sleek determine skater, balancing his physique on one leg with one other leg within the air and his arms stretched far and huge. On different poses, Turner appears to be like like he’s making an attempt to bend and stretch his muscle tissue in pretzel-like poses merely not meant for an individual his measurement.

“I simply really feel like when you introduced one other 7-footer in right here, they’d not be capable of do among the stuff that I do,” Turner mentioned. “My hips and muscle tissue are much more elongated and stronger than what it was after I first began,” he mentioned.

Turner’s core is stronger, his physique is leaner, his food regimen is cleaner, and he feels extra versatile than ever. He hopes that may translate to the court docket.

Not lengthy after he balances himself on his head within the scorching yoga studio, Turner is requested concerning the new stability of energy within the East with James, the person who received the previous eight Jap Convention titles, now in Los Angeles.

Turner is considering mastering his subsequent problem.

“It’s a massive yr,” Turner says when requested about his potential contract extension and the potential of changing into a restricted free agent subsequent summer season. “However I believe it’s only a massive yr for the Pacers typically. We’re not going to catch anyone without warning anymore. Folks know what we’re able to now.

“The way in which I take a look at it, I’ve to be that presence for us to take that subsequent step and be that workforce out of the East. … I’m going to do all the things in my energy to work laborious and provides the Pacers what they drafted.”

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The post Indiana Pacers heart Myles Turner is utilizing yoga to reshape his physique and his NBA profession appeared first on HS NEWS.

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epchapman89 · 7 years

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Why Erika Lee Vonie’s Coffee Masters Win Matters

We have a new Coffee Masters champion, and her name is Erika Vonie. Since first stepping on to the coffee competition stage in 2014, this is Vonie’s first championship win, and it was hard-fought, requiring five-plus hours of total stage time throughout the weekend and a nail-biting head to head finale against Agnieska Rojewska of Poland, another seasoned (and quite decorated) competitor.

Vonie and Rojewska had never met before the New York Coffee Masters competition, which Rojewska describes as being “a fight but [a] friendly one.” That competitive camaraderie was embodied in a moment I observed from the audience, leading into the final round. Rojewska had already advanced; Vonie was waiting to hear the result of her performance against Christos Andrews (of Seattle’s Ghost Note Coffee) in the semifinal round. The future finalists stood together as announcements neared, chatting about their mutual love for Darth Vader (whom Rojewska likes to create in lattes and Vonie sometimes embodies), seeming genuinely excited at the prospect of competing against one another.

“[I became] immediately infatuated with Aga,” Vonie tells me. “Even if I got knocked out in the first round, that connection would still have become a highlight of the weekend. She kicks so much ass, and made it to easy to connect through her amazing sense of humor and her beyond-obvious level of talent.” This feeling of connection and support between competitors at the Coffee Masters was palpable, and remarkable to me. I’m typically a spectator at barista competitions, where the finalists tend to be mostly male, and the feeling in the room is a bit more self-serious.

The two NYCM finalists have also competed at the national level of barista competitions in their respective home countries, with Rojewska having twice achieved the national title in Poland. In both Europe and the United States, the balance of assumed male and female national competitors (there is no other official option for those who identify outside of the perceived gender binary) is skewed toward the men, a trend which extends to the World Barista Championship (WBC) as well. A leading voice on this topic is Cerianne Bury, who has written extensively on the trend of women not competing, and those who do compete not advancing, in officially sanctioned barista competition tournaments. One potential aspect Bury identifies as an element of competition that could change a competitor’s performance is gender; specifically whether you are competing against someone of your same gender or someone who identifies differently.

I asked Erika Vonie: did competing in the finals against someone who also identifies as female make a difference? She responded by talking to me about an earlier competition experience running cross country in high school, which she described as being akin to running through the woods with a pack of girls. “[W]e were all pushing ourselves harder, feeding off each other’s energies when we felt low. We were all racing against AND with each other simultaneously. So my sense of competition with women is a camaraderie. Surround yourself with a powerful women who keep pushing you as hard and as fast as you can go, because ultimately, we all benefit the better we are.”

In discussing her feelings on competing against men, the words “must destroy” and “dominate” came up. “I often have felt like the lone woman when it comes to these competitions, because I have been,” says Vonie. “From the jump my team has always been men, as they are my employers, coaches, and fellow competitors.” Being the “lone woman” in a sea of male-identified competitors seems like a less-than-ideal scenario. But the Coffee Masters final felt different; perhaps it had to do with the gender of her opponent in the final, but it could also be a result of the competition format itself.

Rojewska and Vonie backstage at Coffee Masters.

The experience of competing in the Coffee Masters is vastly different than competing in a barista competition, something both NYC finalists expressed to me at length. “I almost never talk to my fellow competitors at USBC this much,” Vonie told me, adding, “it’s so serious and there’s so much heartbreak. It’s very hard being a normal person during [barista] competitions.” Rojewska echoed those same sentiments. “In Polish championship we know each other for years,” she said. “We compete together many times so we are friends, but there is always a lot of stress in the back room.”

Which is not to say it’s a stress-free environment at the Masters. There’s a $5,000 cash prize at stake, for starters—Vonie is using her winnings to start up her own coffee roasting project. But the format of Coffee Masters seems to work as a catalyst for making connections with your fellow competitors. This in turn allows those competitors to feel a bit more at ease on stage as a result.

Elsewhere in her critical work on the subject, Cerianne Bury identifies one of the biggest issues facing the barista competition circuit: there is little-to-no correction for cognitive bias in judging. She discusses that the things we like or expect to see from competitors differ between male and female competitors, and that these expectations may ultimately color the scoresheets, especially in the points allotted for vague concepts like “professionalism” and “appropriate apparel.” Vonie has been marked down in the past for issues relating to her clothing on stage—a pretty obvious choke point for latent bias and in-group favoritism to creep in. “If the length of my skirt makes you think I’m less professional than my panted competitors,” Vonie tells me, “then maybe you shouldn’t judge, because you’re obviously judging the wrong things.”

There are no such point scores allotted at the Coffee Masters, where instead the available bonus points for categories like “overall impression” and “charisma” are judged on the competitor’s ability to talk at length with their judges about the intricacies of their routine, or serve coffee to the watching audience during down time. It might be a coincidence that competitors like Erika Vonie and Aga Rojewska—technically gifted baristas at the top of their field—would reach finals in an event like Coffee Masters, instead of bogging down on sexist nonsense like skirt length in the US Barista Championship.

Vonie with Ezra Baker of Share Coffee, Vonie’s coffee partner for the signature drink round.

But whatever the reason behind Vonie and Rojewska’s individual successes, and Vonie’s eventual win, the fact that female-identifying (and queer, and non-binary) competitors are excelling at the Coffee Masters is a win-win for everyone. It’s both important and fun, as anyone who witnessed the thrilling two hour final battle between Vonie and Rojewska in New York can attest.

Either competitor would have made a great champion, and yet, there’s still miles to go. It is 2017 and there’s never been a female-identified World Barista Champion. Meanwhile on the Coffee Masters stage, your new champion is a woman set to start up her own roasting company with the prize money, and the event can still do better by empowering, mentoring, and coaching more competitors from backgrounds underrepresented on the stage. I think the 2017 Coffee Masters finals at the New York Coffee festival was an important moment for the wider coffee culture, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

Bailey Arnold is a coffee professional based in New York City. This is Bailey Arnold’s first feature for Sprudge Media Network.

The post Why Erika Lee Vonie’s Coffee Masters Win Matters appeared first on Sprudge.

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How Ohio Condition built 1 of the country's best defensive strains - Large 10 Weblog

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How Ohio Condition built 1 of the country's best defensive strains - Large 10 Weblog

Ohio State’s Larry Johnson has a complete library of previous gamers at his disposal to use in convincing leading recruits that he can turn them from raw talent into college football’s upcoming great defensive lineman.

Heading into his 22nd straight season coaching defensive linemen in the Large 10, Johnson has produced six to start with-spherical draft picks (like No. 1 total assortment Courtney Brown), 7 to start with-team All-Us residents and a lot more Large 10 defensive gamers of the calendar year than any other mentor in the very last quarter century. His existing roster in Columbus is complete of gamers who could be a part of at least 1 of people lists.

He can wander into a residing place or a significant school, sit down throughout from some freakishly significant and athletic 18 calendar year outdated and say, ‘Hey, kid, how would you like to be the upcoming Tamba Hali? Or Joey Bosa? Or Tyquan Lewis?’ It seems like a slam-dunk sales pitch, and Johnson states there’s no chance he would at any time use it.

“I’m in no way likely to do that,” Johnson stated. “I do not want two of the similar guy.”

Johnson has built 1 of the country’s scariest defensive fronts in the four years due to the fact he still left Penn Condition to be a part of City Meyer in Columbus. The Buckeyes’ line is huge, athletic and overflowing with likely star power. It might be the most crucial piece to what Ohio Condition is hoping will be a different run at a nationwide championship in 2017. And though much of the converse heading into the fall will be about the exceptional depth stockpiled in that part of the depth chart, Johnson states what sets this team aside is its diversity.

Stockpiling is a scoffed-at term in the recruiting workplaces in Columbus. Why, Johnson asks, fill the roster with three carbon copies of a great athlete ready for their turn to fill in for the starter when you can obtain three diverse athletes who all have exceptional capabilities that he can use now?

“Depth will help,” he stated. “You want to have the depth to play a ton of men, but the most crucial detail is obtaining a ton of diverse pieces and obtaining them all to suit with each other to take advantage of their skill set.”

The will need for diversity on the defensive line started to become a lot more urgent a minimal a lot more than a ten years back, all-around the time that Johnson was serving to Hali terrorize quarterbacks in Condition Higher education. At that time the target for most defensive line coaches was to obtain 1 dominant pass rusher and set him up to do as much injury as doable. Johnson found offenses have been evolving to obtain a lot more subtle approaches to eradicate that 1 proficient player. He needed a lot more weapons in the arsenal to respond to double-teams, chip blocks and more rapidly three-action drops.

Ohio State’s existing line was set with each other with that in brain. Everyone brings one thing a minimal bit diverse to the equation. Returning Large 10 defensive player of the calendar year Tyquan Lewis is “a horse” and as excellent on a run-stopper as Johnson has found, he states. Fellow defensive stop Sam Hubbard can preserve quarterbacks guessing by dropping into protection or dashing the passer with equal efficiency. Jalyn Holmes is a “wildcard” at 270 kilos who can power his way past offensive linemen at quite a few diverse positions. The list goes on.

Alternatively of accumulating talent by promoting them the idea of taking above for 1 of his existing All-Us residents, Johnson stated he recruited his gamers by figuring out a specific toughness and exhibiting them how he would acquire it even more. That approached has landed the Buckeyes at least 1 five-star defensive line recruit in each and every of the very last two years. Two a lot more — Taron Vincent and Brenton Cox — are anticipated to signal with the 2018 recruiting course.

As soon as they arrive on campus, development proceeds by obtaining the best athletes as shut to the ball as their sizing will allow for. Johnson desires as much normal speed as he can get with no sacrificing the player’s ability to hold his possess bodily. So a 270-pound highly-touted defensive stop prospect like Dre’Mont Jones swiftly turns into a 295-pound defensive deal with so he can slide down a few toes closer to the snap. Jones, a redshirt sophomore, is now the Buckeye’s possible starter at the three-procedure spot that Johnson thinks is the most crucial piece in a dominant, fashionable-day pass hurry.

“That’s the guy that’s likely to get most of the 1-on-1 match-ups,” he stated. “That guy has to be a dynamite pass rusher.”

Jones’ level of competition for reps at that spot will come from Jashon Cornell and Malik Barrow, who each have additional twenty kilos due to the fact arriving in Columbus. Cornell also started his vocation as a defensive stop prospect and Barrow was an explosive defensive deal with out of the IMG Academy.

Of study course, there is a fine harmony concerning bulking up your athletes to go them closer to the ball and packing on so much fat that it negates their athleticism. Johnson stated his gamers all have physique fat targets and leap on a scale for weigh-ins with toughness mentor Mickey Marotti every single day to make certain they’re toeing that line with no stepping past it.

Moving gamers into diverse places keeps a crowded defensive line place happy by giving them all a role, Johnson stated. It also keeps them fresh. Lewis managed to receive his Large 10 lineman of the calendar year accolades by racking up eight sacks and 10.five tackles for reduction even with (or probably because of) enjoying only forty two-forty five snaps per activity.

Ohio State’s coaching team has uncovered resourceful approaches to preserve their stars fresh and to get their increasingly deep and various team of talents onto the area. Last season they assembled a pass hurry offer that featured four defensive ends throughout the line of scrimmage. This calendar year they’re searching for approaches to add a fifth.

Fantastic luck to the coaching staffs scheming to prevent them. Johnson stated in his two-plus many years of coaching he’s in no way had a defensive line with these a extensive variety of athletic capabilities. All five of them will be proficient. And, a lot more importantly, all five of them will be diverse.

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