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squirenonny · 7 years

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Clone Shiro Theory in Season 5

Okay, so this mess was inspired by talking with several people on Tumblr and discord about the Clone Shiro Theory in the wake of Season 5, as well as seeing posts in the fandom tags. And...I’ve noticed some common themes in arguments against this theory.

Please note that this is not meant to be a direct rebuttal to anyone, more... working out for myself why I’m so convinced that Shiro is a clone because I’ve got all these nebulous thoughts running around in my head and I need to organize them somehow. So feel free to read, respond, reblog, ect, but also feel free to ignore this completely if Clone Shiro isn’t your thing.

Season 5 spoilers and a very long post under the cut.

I’m going to break this down into three parts:

I. Why a clone and not something else (mind control, magical spyware, ect)

II. Why I won’t accept anything but clones at this point without crying foul

III. Clone Shiro vs Galra Keith

I. Why a clone?

I think at this point there’s no way to deny that something happened to Shiro in Operation Kuron. We’ve seen Haggar spying through him, the headaches are a recurring theme, and his behavior has changed to the point that he’s going behind his team’s back and lashing out at the team in ways he hasn’t before.

With most of the proof, you can make several arguments. Haggar’s mind-controlling him directly, but he still is Shiro. Haggar’s spyware is giving him headaches that’s making him more testy than usual, but he’s still acting under his own free will. Ect. But I think there is enough evidence to give the clone theory specifically an edge over other explanations.

Shiro’s hair grew roughly a foot during his captivity between seasons 2 and 3. There’s no clear answer on how long this was, but it seems like a fairly short time period. At the start of the season, Keith is still raw over Shiro’s disappearance, and though they’ve done a few missions without Shiro, they haven’t run up against anything that required Voltron. Which... considering how often they form Voltron both before and after this period, suggest to me that we’re talking a time frame of weeks at the longest. Then episodes 1-3 happen in pretty quick succession, with the lion switch and Keith immediately charging off, almost out of spite. We pick up with Shiro a day or two before episode 3 (which is where Shiro finds Voltron and then loses them.) He spends another week chasing them before Keith and Black find him. All told, this is probably in the realm of one month since his disappearance, maybe two. For reference, human hair grows on average half an inch per month. Shiro is shown to have significantly more hair growth in this time frame than anyone else gets in the entire series--even people who have been prisoners for extended amounts of time. Matt and Sam each get maybe a few inches, and Shiro’s hair was kept short during his stint in the Arena. This tells me that Shiro’s hair growth for The Journey is not an artist’s exaggeration to show that he’s had it rough. If it is, then it’s sloppy, and the animators on this show are typically pretty attentive to detail. If this is intentional, I can only conclude that Shiro has been in captivity for far longer than the timeline allows and/or the clone was grown in a short time and the accelerated growth also affected his hair.

Calling attention to the difference between Shiro(s1-2) and Shiro(s3+). These, I’ll admit, are more suspicious than damning, but they’re worth mentioning. The animators made a deliberate decision to give Shiro a new look after his return. We’ve seen people in different outfits, and Allura has a few different hairstyles (up, down, mice poofs), but no one has changed their “default” outfit like Shiro has, only their armor or other special outfits (pajamas, swimsuits, ect), and no one has gotten a new haircut, except Pidge (in backstory, as a plot point) and Sam and Matt (compare to Shiro on the Kerberos mission vs post-escape in s1.) They want you to be able to tell the difference between Shiro 1 and Shiro 2. At the same time, they call attention to this change by having Shiro comment about his “weird headache.” The writers also made a point of having the Galra refer to Shiro differently in the context of Operation Kuron (Subject Y0XT39 vs Prisoner 117-9875.) From a writing standpoint, this is a strange choice--not necessarily significant, but likely so because both designations are mentioned in passing and without context, so tossing both out there without reason is more confusing than world-building. And in-universe, it tells us that the people in charge of Operation Kuron couldn’t or didn’t want to refer to prisoners by their already-assigned number. Possibly this is for internal organization--i.e. if not all subjects were prisoners or if they had completely random prisoner numbers. But if it is clones, they would need new ways to identify them, since they’d all have the same prisoner ID. Again, not proof, but suspicious.

Shiro appeared in the Voltron bond. And it seems as though the Shiro with the team didn’t. Not just his head is fuzzy about it. He wasn’t there. Did you notice how Shiro-in-the-bond was translucent, only seen from a distance, and almost completely lacking in detail in the head area? Maybe to obscure the fact that he has his old haircut (both from us and from Lance)? Did you notice that he didn’t appear with everyone else, and how desperate he was to communicate with his team? There are two Shiros. The only question is whether the distinction is physical (clones) or mental (mind control with the real Shiro’s mind completely suppressed by Haggar’s persona)

Following up on this point, Shiro himself is questioning things. If this was a case of mind control, of Haggar taking over Shiro’s body, there is no way she would allow her puppet to question his own identity. If she has direct control, she certainly wouldn’t mention it to Lance, and if the real Shiro is still in there waiting to take his body back, she absolutely would put safeguards in to make sure her controlled personality stays in place.

And of course, the single biggest argument in favor of Clone Shiro: Operation Kuron = literally, “Operation Clone.” This can’t be a coincidence. It can’t. With everyone working on the show (how many of whom are anime fans and have at least a rudimentary familiarity with Japanese pronunciation?), and with Lauren Montgomery having talked about how Laith is a much better ship name for Keith and Lance, because Laith means Lion, I do not believe that they accidentally chose a name for this major plot point that means “clone” in Japanese (which is either Shiro’s native language or at least connected to his heritage.) I also don’t believe that it was chosen as a red herring to make us think this is all about clones when it really isn’t, because the target audience (which is, what 8-12 year olds?) will not pick up on that hint. It fails as a distraction for the core demographic, which makes me think it’s far more likely that it was meant as an easter egg and the writers didn’t necessarily intend for people to pick up on it. It’s like... This post about English name symbolism in FMA. It’s a clever nod to character traits for people who are in the know, but then you give that same name to an English speaker and it’s almost laughably on the nose. For people who don’t speak Japanese (most of Voltron’s audience) and don’t have social media to point it out (unfortunately, comparatively little of the fanbase), “Operation Kuron” is a subtle nod. In a novel, where people likely won’t engage with the fandom until they’re finished, it would work. Hell, for people not actively engaged in fandom, it works. The problem is that we’ve had months upon months and the power of the internet, so now everyone knows that JK Rowling named her werewolf Wolfy McWolfenstein the Galra named their secret clone project Project Clone. That isn’t bad writing. It’s perfectly fine writing tossed to the wolves of a global fandom that loves to theorize.

(Also, I was curious, so I checked, and “Operation Kuron” is called the same thing in the Japanese dub, so lol if it’s not clones, Dreamworks is going to have some explaining to do.)

II. Why having the answer be “Not Clones” at this point would be bad writing

Okay, see, this is way more subjective than part I, which was already pretty subjective. But here’s the thing. Dreamworks has set up Clone Shiro, almost blatantly so. I can forgive the fact that this twist is obvious to the Tumblr fandom, at least, because (a) the show is for kids, so the foreshadowing has to be a little bit more obvious, and (b) you cannot judge subtlety based on thousands of people working together to figure things out. Most of the fandom figured out Galra Keith before season 2 dropped. Some people hated it, but then, some people were incredibly resistant to the Clone Shiro Theory--still are. It feels like everyone and their grandmother figured these twists out way in advance, but if you took away the part where we all screamed about it and laid out our arguments? If you somehow reached out to the viewers who aren’t involved in fandom? I’ll bet you good money that a lot fewer of them have picked up on the hints. (And if they have, they aren’t nearly as certain about it.)

But if we get to season 6 and suddenly find out Shiro has been Shiro all along, just with magic in his head letting Haggar watch him? I’m going to be disappointed, because that resolution is almost guaranteed to leave plot holes. How did Shiro get recaptured/how did he disappear from the Black Lion in the first place? Why did his hair grow so fast? What’s with the change in behavior (I’m not talking about the snappishness and arguing with Keith and Lance, I’m talking about directly undermining the very teamwork he’s been the single biggest proponent of from the start by going behind the team’s back again and again)? Why didn’t Black accept him at first? Why did he have to prove himself to her again, after they’d been more closely bonded than anyone? Why was the project named Operation Kuron? Why did Shiro see another, hollow-looking, him on the exam table in that flashback? Why hasn’t he used the bayard yet?

The show might explicitly answer some of these, but I think we all know by now that it won’t slow the pace long enough to explain all of them. The clone theory explains or implies answers to almost all of these (especially if you couple it with “the original Shiro is stuck in the astral plane” or some such.)

So, no. Clone Shiro isn’t a twist at this point. Maybe it’s just me, because I’m usually pretty good at picking up on foreshadowing and figure out most twists ahead of time, especially if I’m given time to ruminate. But I’m fine with not having big, shocking reveals. Something doesn’t have to be a surprise to be interesting. I don’t have to feel like I was clever for figuring it out. I can’t wait for season 6 because I’m desperate to know that both my sons (Shiro and Ryou) are going to be okay--because I think, at least, that the Shiro with the team right now is not being set up as a villain. He may become a martyr, but he’s meant to be sympathetic, regardless of where he came from.

In the end, I don’t mind that the Clone Shiro Theory seems obvious, because the foreshadowing is aimed at kids and the adult fandom is bound to pick up on those hints faster. And clones explain everything so well that I honestly don’t think any other answer would make for a satisfying conclusion to the Kuron arc.

III. Clone Shiro vs Galra Keith

Okay, now this is interesting, because these are the two main theories that the fandom swarmed. One turned out to be true, and I honestly think the other will be proven right in June.

Also interesting is that, in terms of episode count, they both are paced about the same. It’s just that the Galra Keith plot happened over the course of 1.5 full seasons, while the Operation Kuron plot is going on 3.5 half seasons. Same number of episodes, but more spread out and with more breaks in between. Galra Keith was dropped into a single seven-month gap with a growing fandom and then confirmed immediately with the next batch of episodes. Operation Kuron was introduced in August, fans jumped on it, season 4 dropped, the fandom was split on it (because, admittedly, s4 didn’t add anything to the argument that couldn’t be explained by trauma and/or mounting pressure on Shiro), fans wrote a shitton of Ryou hcs/fic and drew a lot of Ryou art, season 5 dropped, with major new developments but no confirmation, and now we’ve got another break. At the earliest, it will be confirmed or debunked in June, a full ten months after it was first hinted, and with three season breaks for people to theorize, create fanworks, and otherwise dig into Camp Clone.

Can you imagine if the first two seasons had been done like that? (Note: I know I’m fudging the midpoint of season 1 a little bit, but bear with me here. I want to do a thought experiment.)

Season 1: We get hints of Keith’s knife and the major red flag of Keith opening doors that have been implied to be species-locked, so Hunk has to use a Galra arm to get past one door in the same episode Keith uses Galra tech with no problems. There’s also the word of god that says Keith is an orphan, so speculation runs wild. The fandom is split, with a small but vocal group on Team Galra, a vocal opposition, and a whole bunch of people on Team “Can’t we just wait and see what the writers have in mind, guys? We don’t have to fight!”

Season “2″: Little movement on Galra Keith Theory specifically, and both sides have arguments for what little we do get. Are those purple patches the effect of Galra heritage or is that supposed to tell us Quintessence does freaky things? Does Zarkon’s, “You fight like a Galra soldier,” mean anything (and is there a comma there/does that change the meaning? I can only imagine the comma drama if that had been one of the only new points for debate after three months.) The only major development is explicit confirmation of the species lock on Galra tech. All this is exacerbated by growing concerns in the autistic fanbase who worry that Team Galra Keith is starting to twist the legitimate autistic traits to support their own theory. (Believe me, I was there, and I was scared of Galra Keith for a good long while because of this.) The debate starts to turn bitter.

Season “3″: Ulaz shows up, we see Keith’s knife, we have Keith worrying that Zarkon “imprinted” on him, and though nothing comes of that, it still says something that the writers are even willing to acknowledge the theory. The season ends with no clear answer, but by now most of the fandom is on Team Galra. There’s been fic. There’s been art. There are headcanons and metas galore. The evidence is all laid out, and there’s really no denying it at this point. Some people are angry about it, and lots of people are hoping for Altean Keith or something, just because it would still be a surprise.

Season “4″: The Galra Keith reveal happens in episode one or two, and literally no one is shocked. Some people are angry, everyone is pissed that there wasn’t more fallout after four seasons of buildup. But we all knew it was coming.

Think, in contrast, how the Clone Shiro Theory might have gone if we hadn’t switched to half seasons. (In a hypothetical world where the theory is true, and it’s getting revealed next season.)

Season 3 now covers everything through Naxzela. Operation Kuron is huge in fandom discussion, but it’s partially overshadowed by everything else that happened--Keith joining the Blade, Lotor’s offer of talks, Keith’s near sacrifice, Matt’s return... Fewer people are as adamant about the clone theory because we’ve already seen Shiro back in the Black Lion and fighting alongside the team. There are lingering doubts, and people still lay out all their arguments, but it’s less splitting hairs and more the broad range we saw with Galra Keith, from adamant arguments on either side to a broad, casual fanbase in the middle who doesn’t know if it’s gonna happen and honestly couldn’t care less but sure as hell likes to play around with the idea. Like with Galra Keith, there is some evidence that’s either straight-up confirmation or lazy writing (Keith opening doors vs kuron meaning clone) but for the most part people are still uncertain.

Season “4″ drops and hits us all hard with new evidence. People are getting behind the Clone Shiro Theory in earnest now, but somewhere near the end of the season it’s confirmed, forestalling another round of theorizing. Lots of people are caught off-guard, lots of people are edge-of-their-seats “Holy crap, is that actually true??” The major, irrefutable pieces of evidence (Ulaz, Keith’s knife, his nightmares vs Shiro lying to the team, Haggar’s spying, Shiro calling out to Lance in the bond) are immediately followed up by confirmation.

Can you see how the spacing of the episodes drastically changes the perception of the theory? In all honesty, Galra Keith and Clone Shiro feel extraordinarily similar in terms of pacing, evidence, and alternate explanations--it’s just that Keith’s story happened much quicker, in fandom time. I can’t fault the writers for that. I just think half seasons were a bad idea, especially when the show was clearly written with full seasons in mind.

TL;DR Version:

There’s enough evidence that specifically points to clones that I’m 99% convinced that Shiro is a clone at this point. That last 1% is reserved for skepticism because, while I don’t believe the writers could provide me with a different explanation that fits as well as clones, they might try in the name of pulling one over on the viewers.

Galra Keith and Clone Shiro are set up in a very similar manner, and the latter suffers primarily from half season releases and a fandom who knows what tricks to look for.

The fact that the show is geared at a younger audience and so isn’t going to be super subtle is not a mark against it, but unfortunately if you’re active in the fandom, there’s a good chance you’re going to see a solid argument re: upcoming plot twists that spoils the surprise.

#voltron #voltron season 5 #operation kuron #shiro #kuron #voltron meta #voltron spoilers #season 5 spoilers

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thefamilythatneverages · 6 years

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The Simpsons Epsiodes that I would rewatch over and over (the list will keep growing after the start of the 30th season …. plus the order will change due to this fact).

.............

Bart the General

The Crepes of Warth

Left Behind

Bart the Genius

Cape Feare

Flandder's Ladder

Hormer vs. The Eighteenth Amendent

Looking For Mr. Goodbart

Marge vs. the Montrail

The Devil Wears Nada

Jazzy and the Pussy Cats

Hormer's Phobia

I Won't Be Home For Christmas

Special Edna

Lemon of Troy

The City of New York vs. Hormer Simpson

MoneyBart

Itchy & Scartchy Land

The Food Wife

Dogtown

Behind the Laughter

Bart vs. Australia

I, (Annoyed Grunt) – Bot

The D'oh-ical Network

22 for 30

Super Franchise Me

The Great Phatsby Parts 1 & 2

Smmer of 4ft. 2

The Wreck of an Relationship

Ned 'n Edna's Bend

Holidays of Future Past

Mr. Lisa Opus

Hormer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words

Mommy Beerest

The Kids Are All Fight

Them, Roborts

Moho House

Barthood

You Only Move Twice

Frink Gets Testy

The Kids Are All Right

A Father's Watch

Flaming Moe

Reality Bites

Haw-Haw Land

Caper Chase

In The Name Of The Grandfather

Helter Shelter

A Totally Fun Thing That Bart Would Never Do Again

Please Hormer Don't Hammer 'Em

The Days of Furture Furture

The Man In The Blue Flannel Pants

Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade

Two Bad Neighbores

The Book Job

Singin' in the Lane

Hardly Kirk-ing

The Cad and the Hat

I'm Spelling As Fast As I Can

Treehouse of Horror XX

Replaceable You

Gone Boy

Bart Gets An F

The Boy Who Knew Too Much

Treehouse of Horror V

Fears of a Clown

Chief of Hearts

Home Away From Hormer

Homr

The Wife Aquatic

Dark Knight Court

3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage

The Winter of His Content

Funeral for a Fiend

King Leer

Burns Cage

The War of Art

Fatzcarraldo

Mathele's Feat

Friends and Family

Hormer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass

The Bart of War

Tree House of Horror

Bart's Dog gets an F

Moe'N'a'Lisa

The Ned-Liest Catch

White Christmas Blues

American History X-cellent

Treehouse of Horror XXVIII

Fraudcast News

Springfield Splendor

Bart Stops To Smell the Roosevelts

Treehouse of Horror VII

The Last of the Red Hat Mama's

The Falcon and the D'ohman

The President Wore Pearls

Bart the Murderer

The Italian Bob

Wavery Hills 9-0-2-1 D'Oh

Midnight RX

Throw Grampa from the Dane

Hormer Is Where the Art Isn't

Treehouse of Horror VI

This Little Wiggy

Treehouse of Horror XXII

The Great Simpisna

Four Regrettings and a Funeral

Judge Me Tender

Lisa Gets the Blues

Bart Gets Famous

Treehouse of Horror XXIII

Hormer's Enemy

Treehouse of Horror XVIII

He Loves to Fly and He D'oh's

Future-Drama

Bart Has Two Mommies

Hormer Goes To Prep School

Treehouse of Horrow XIX

Coming To Homerica

The Town

Whistler's Father

Treehouse of Horror XXVI

Dangers on a Train

Love Is in the N2-O2-Ar-CO2-NE-HE-CH4

Waiting For Duffman

Three Gay's In A Condo

Wedding For Disaster

The Real Housewives of Fat Tony

Homerland

KampKurstier

Lisa with an 'S'

Monty Burns 'Fleeing Circus

Grampy Can You Hear Me

Treehouse of Horror XXV

The PTA Disbands

Dad Behavior

G.I. (Annoyed Grunt)

There Will Be Buds

Children of a Lesser Clod

Nightmare After Krustmas

Moms I'd Like To Forget

Treehouse of Horror XXIV

Much Apu About Something

Lost Verizon

The Serferns

E Pluribus Wiggum

The Simpsons Roasting Over A Fire

The Old Blue Mayor She Ain't What She Used To Be

Bart-Mangled Banner

Springfield Up

Treehouse of Horror XXI

Hormer Scissorhands

All About Lisa

Halloween of Horror

Covercraft

The Bob Next Door

Havana Wild Weekend

Treehouse of Horror IV

You Kent Always Say What You Want

Today I Am A Clown

Thursdays with Abie

Treehouse of Horrow XI

The Saga of Carl

Brick Like Me

Alone Again, Natura-Diddily

Simprovised

Regarding Margie

Treehouse of Horror XIII

Yellow Subterfuge

Forgive and Forget

The Last Traction Hero

Treehouse of Horror XXVII

Kill Gil Volumes I & II

Bart the Fink

Hormer's Paternity Coot

Marge's Son Posioning

The Mook, The Chef, and the Wife Her Hormer

Don't Fear the Roofer

Ice Cream of Margie (with the Light Blue Hair)

A Tale of Two Springfield

The Spy Whom Learned Me

Treehouse of Horror XV

The Secret War of Lisa Simpson

The Yellow Badge of Cowardge

Treehouse of Horror XVII

To Couirer With Love

Pranksta Rap

Treehouse of Horror II

Pulpit Fiction

Specs and the City

Hormer's Night Out

Trust and Clarity

That 90's Show

Treehouse of Horror IV

Life on the Fast Lane

Mr. Spritz Goes To Washington

Treehouse of Horror XVI

Angry Dad, The Movie

The Bart Wants What It Wants

Krusty Gets Busted

To Cur With Love

The Father, The Son, and the Holy Guest Star

Treehouse of Horror III

Pranks and Greens

Adventures In Baby Getting

The Color Yellow

The Mansion Family

Brother From Another Series

There's No Disgrace Like Home

The Computer Wore Menace Shoes

Midnight Towboys

What Animated Women Want

Co-Depenedent's Day

Gal of Constant Sorrow

Penny Wiseguys

My Fair Laddie

Dial 'N' For Nerder

Girly Edition

Orange is the New Yellow

Lisa the Veterinarian

Treehouse of Horror VIII

Father Knows Worst

Friend With Benefit

Homer's Odyessey

The Daughter Also Rises

Stealing First Base

Thank God It's Doomsday

Opposite A-Frack

Diatribe of a Mad Housewife

All Fair In Oven War

Lisa Simpson, This Isn't Your Life

Stop! Or My Dog Will Shoot

Das Bus

Fland Canyon

Sex, Pies and Idiot Scrapers

YOLO

The Ha-Hawed Couple

Mobile Hormer

Scuse Me While I Miss The Sky

Lisa on Ice

There's Something About Marrying

The Ziff Whom Came To Dinner

Little Girl In The Big Ten

One Hurndred and One Greyhounds

Smoke On The Daughter

On A Clear Day I Can See My Sister

The Curse of the Flying Hellfish

Marge vs. Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples, and Teens and Gays

The Man Whom Came To Be Dinner

Hurricane Neddy

Weekend ot Burnsie's

Girl's Just Want To Have Sums

Brake My Wife, Please

Sky Police

How Much Is That Birdie In The Window?

Politcally Inept, with Hormer Simpson

Call of the Simpsons

Bart's Comet

Simpsons Tide

The Marge-ian Chronicles

Hormer Simpson, This Is Your Wife

Faith Off

Grade School Confidental

Lisa's Wedding

Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(ANNOYED GRUNT)cious

Bart After Dark

Little Big Girl

Dead Putting Society

How The Test Was Won

Skinner's Sense of Snow

How Lisa Got Her Marge Back

Elemetary School Musical

Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Lost our Lisa

Girl Code

Who Shot Mr Burns (½)

The Musk Whom Feel From The Sky

To Surviel with Love

Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Three Times

Every Man's Dream

Tell Tale Head

Moaning Lisa

Half Decent Proposal

Hormer the Moe

Trash of Titans

The Great Wife Hope

The Man Who Grew To Much

24 Minutes

Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield

You Don't Have To Live Like A Refree

Boy Meets Curl

The Fight Before Christmas

Team Hormer

The Great Money Caper

Margical Histroy Tour

Some Enchanted Evening

Treehoue of Horror XII

Peeping Mom

Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder

Moe From Rags to Riches

Teenage Mutant Milk-Caused Hurdles

Puffless

Hormer Badman

At Long Last Leave

Treehouse of Horror X

Cue Detective

Simpsorama

Worst Episode Ever

Treehouse of Horror IX

#The Simpsons #My personal list of Simpsons epsiodes that I will rewatch #The list will grow and change as the 30th season starts

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thesportssoundoff · 8 years

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A lot of good fights with a wacky main event: a preview of the UFC’s return to Brazil

Joey

March 8th, 2017

So the UFC's PPV offerings haven't quite delivered the excitement you'd hope for---but their free shows have been pretty damn solid. They may have lacked name value but they've delivered on the action quotient with some big finishes and shocking moments relative to the card quality. So now we move on to the UFC's FIRST offering from Brazil, a really solid card both in terms of name value AND card quality. The headliner is oddly intriguing; a fight that shouldn't make a lot of sense but somehow it does and it figures to be fun until it ends however that may be. Beyond that, you have a REALLY REALLY good back to back co-main and tertiary fight in Shogun Rua vs Gian Villante and Beneil Dariush vs Edson Barboza. If you move beyond that, Bethe Correia vs Marion Reneau figures to be a testy back and forth brawl given how both women tend to do their best work coming forward. MAYBE even a potential #1 contender fight at flyweight? Oh and Tim Means is going to fuck some shit up vs Alex Oliveira who seems to enjoy fucking shit up/people in wacky fights. Let's get on to the getting on:

Fights: 12

Debuts: 2 (Paulo Henrique Costa, Davi Ramos)

Fight Changes/Injury Cancellations: 4 (Ion Cutelaba vs Luis Henrique cancelled/Kyle Bochniak vs Godofredo Pepey cancelled/Max Griffin out, Davi Ramos in/Alex Nicholson out, Garreth McClellan in)

Headliners (fighters who have either main evented or co-main evented shows in the UFC): 9 (Alex Oliveira, Shogun Rua, Vitor Belfort, Kelvin Gastelum, Jussier Formiga, Bethe Correia, Edson Barboza, Josh Burkman and Beniel Dariush)

Fighters On Losing Streaks in the UFC: 3 (Vitor Belfort, Garreth McClellan, Josh Burkman)

Fighters On Winning Streaks in the UFC: 11 ( Joe Soto, Rani Yahya, Mauricio Rua, Kelvin Gastelum, Edson Barboza, Beneil Dariush, Jussier Formiga, Ray Borg, Kevin Lee, Francisco Trinaldo, Michel Prezares)

Stat Monitor for 2017:

Debuting Fighters (Current number: 7-6)- Paulo Henrique Costa, Davi Ramos

Short Notice Fighters (Current number: 5-7)- Davi Ramos, Garreth McClellan

Second Fight (Current number: 4-9)- Jeremy Kennedy

Twelve Precarious Ponderings

1- So let's begin with this the obvious. If this fight sees round three or so, it's probably not going to go well for Vitor. Hell I'd draw the line at 3 minutes into the second for Vitor's chances to win. Gastelum is a workhorse when fights stretch and while he's not a concussive one punch knockout artist, he can absolutely positively overwhelm guys with his aggression and his output. The KEY is the first eight minutes of the fight. Gastelum can get caught cold; he lost the first round to Niko Musoke, lost the first to Woodley (IMO) andd while I don't think he lost the first to Tim Kennedy, he certainly wasn't very sharp. He started slow vs Means as well. This is a fight between a guy who has fought somewhat successfully at 205 lbs (Vitor) and a natural-ish 170er who loves good food (Gastelum). Gastelum thus far, ironically enough, has had his best performances at 185 lbs but this is a dangerous fight. At least early.

2- Is the UFC going to keep Vitor around until he retires? Or will they let him become a Bellator fighter and risk him becoming a ratings popper for their competitor?

3- As much as we ALL love to giggle and sniggle about it; facts remain that if Shogun wins this fight, he'll have the third longest winning streak at 205 lbs behind DC and Cirkunov. Think about that, kids.

4- As much as Cirkunov vs Shogun would've made sense from a "Create a star" perspective, Villante vs Shogun is a perfectly well put together action fight. Both guys are explosive early, hittable throughout, low on chin but high on recuperative ability. I greatly approve of this fight from a gawking perspective.

5- I'm calling Ray Borg vs Jussier Formiga a #1 contender fight for one reason; anybody who beats Jussier Formiga eventually fights for a title. So if Borg can a) fucking make the weight and b) beat a super tough Brazilian grappler in Brazil? He's got a chance to fight for a title. I just hope Borg's striking has made some sort of progress.

6- Sergio Moraes vs Davi Ramos should just be given GIs for this fight. Don't strike (even though when Moraes commits, he can crack folks).

7- Bethe Corriea vs Marion Reneau is a really interesting fight. Reneau is far, far better than her so-so 3-2 UFC record. She beat the uncrowned Bellator 145 lb champion in Alexis Dufresne and beat the future (don't @ me) 115 lb champ Jessica Andrade in Brazil. One of her losses was to Holly Holm (no shame in that) and then a decision loss to Ashlee Evans Smith don't @ me. She's a lot better than people will ever give her credit for and could definitely be a top 6 or 7 women's bantamweight. Bethe is one of those wacky ladies who seems to always be in exciting fights. Reneau doesn't always fight with clean fight IQ (although her punch technique is superb) and s we could be in for something crazy.

8- In many ways, Rony Jason is proof positive of the UFC's stumbles in Brazil. When they first started cultivating Brazil, Rony Jason was one of the guys who seemed destined for superstardom as the UFC marched its way into Brazil, the winner of their inaugural Brazilian TUF season at featherweight. Jason got off to a hot start with back to back finishes in front of a massive crowd----and then Jeremy Stephens happened. Since that Stephens fight, Jason has gone 2-3 with a no contest due to steroids thrown in. He's a really fun exciting fighter but like the UFC in Brazil, it feels like he never found a way to bridge the old generation of champions with the next generation. Jason is your FS1 headliner and he faces Canadian grappler Jeremy Kennedy in a fight he should win and do so impressively.

9- Speaking of that TUF Brazil season, Francisco Trinaldo was a key piece to that season. A monstrous hulking middleweight, Trinaldo was built up as a big beast on the season----but he quit on his stool in the opening fight. Despite being a super muscular dude, Trinaldo has since dropped to 155 lbs. He started off pretty slow in the UFC, racking up a so-so 4-3 record vs chaffe but since then? Seven straight wins against reputable names like Ross Pearson, Paul Felder, Yancy Medeiros and Norman Parke. He'll face the very great Kevin Lee who is riding a streak of his own.

10- Joe Soto, good luck. If you beat Rani Yahya you'll be the biggest hero of all the times.

11- How could Beneil Darisuh beat Edson Barboza? Edson's such a great wrestler (really underrated) so unless Dariush can outbox him, which is possible, what's his immediate path to victory?

12- Alex Oliveira's career in the last six fights:

Super duper short notice fight vs Joe Merritt; like a fight in ten days.

Shmelted Piotr Hallmann in the third round of a 50K winning performance.

Short notice step up vs Donald Cerrone in a "Cowboy vs Cowboy" fight where he tapped like two minutes in.

Fight with James Moontasri where he hit him in the dick like three times.

Potential career defining win for Will Brooks where he showed up 6 lbs overweight and then taunted Brooks afterwards.

Illegal knee no contest vs Tim Means where Oliveira was basically wheeled out.

Dude loves the strange.

Must Wins:

Ray Borg

The 125 lb division needs a guy who can stand out. Ray Borg was on a hot streak as a wacky squirrely grappler with Mexican ties and a little bit of swag to him prior to weight issues and a loss to Justin Scoggins. He's got a massive chance to tip the apple cart at flyweight if he can beat Jussier Formiga. Again, EVERY LOSS FORMIGA HAS HAD HAS LED TO TITLE FIGHTS FOR THE WINNER! The weird thing is that if Borg's striking has tightened up in any capacity, his ability to scramble and his athletic upside suggests he absolutely positively could win this fight.

Kelvin Gastelum

This is a weird fight for Gastelum. Sort of kind of. Gastelum should beat Vitor Belfort---but you simply can't overlook that Gastelum's a slow starter fighting probably outside of his weight class in Brazil. It's not a perfect fit and there's no obvious path to victory. Is he strong enough to take Vitor down? Maybe possibly. Can he avoid a Vitor Blitz? Rafa Cordeiro's done some amazing work but Gastelum's head movement is never going to set the world on fire. Does he has to win impressively? Vitor's been finished in his last three losses and all within two rounds. Gastelum's in a tough spot but I don't think it's a big ask to suggest that an impressive win is really important to him.

Gian Villante

In some respects the "Shogun" Rua decline has been overstated. The division in general is old and at 35, Shogun's not THAT much older than say DC, Glover, Bader, Rumble or Jimi Manuwa. Shogun's 3-4 in his last seven fights but outside of that "the fuck?" loss to Chael Sonnen, the other guys were awful stylistic matchups for him. Villante is a kill or be killed low cardio slugger aka the sort of dude that Shogun should have a theoretical path to success against. Again IF Shogun wins, that's THREE wins in a row and you could legitimately start talking title picture. Yes, title picture.

Five Underlying Themes:

1- So is going/fighting in Brazil still a big thing? Will the crowd see it as a big thing?

2- The Shogun/Villante potential FOTY slopfest of all the times.

3- Whether the UFC can find SOMEBODY under the age of 32 to become a star or a face in Brazil as they move forward.

4- Whether Edson Barboza, a serious prodigy for so long, can finally turn the corner and stamp his arrival as a top 5 lightweight.

5- A REALLY deep undercard featuring some Brazilian veterans and one new middleweight who they expect to open some eyes.

Predicting (Bonus) Winners!

Current record: 16-19 (Missed on: Houston card, UFC 208, the Canada card. Went 4-7 on the last show I did, UFC on Fox)

Kelvin Gastelum Shogun Rua Edson Barboza Jussier Formiga Marion Reneau Tim Means Kevin Lee Sergio Moraes Rani Yahya Michel Prezares Rony Jason Paulo Henrique Costa

FOTN: Shogun Rua vs Gian Villante POTN: Edson Barboza, Kelvin Gastelum

#MMA #UFC #FIght Night #Shogun #Vitor Belfort #Kelvin Gastelum

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adambstingus · 5 years

Text

How Harry Truman Ran a Bourbon-Soaked White House

Now that we are officially in the throes of the 2016 presidential election race, the media is obsessed with weighing the merits of one candidate’s platform versus another. But let’s be honest: We are interested in more than just their politics. Dissections of vacation destinations, price comparisons of haircuts and even psychological analyses of music playlists count in the minds of voters, almost as much as proposed foreign policy strategies and views on taxation. But the one detail I’d love to learn about the lives of these wannabe commanders in chief is never discussed: What they like to drink. (And I don’t mean iced tea or lemonade.) Like in a scene out of Veep, most would no doubt find some way to dodge the simple request if asked. (No surprise, given how well Obama’s so-called “beer summit” went over back in 2009.) However, the United States has a long and rich boozy presidential history that often reflected the state of the union. It started in the very beginning: George Washington owned the country’s largest rye whiskey distillery after leaving office. And it wasn’t that long ago when presidential candidates proudly publicized their drink of choice—case in point, Harry S. Truman. Truman, who held office from 1945 to 1953, has one of the most storied presidential relationships with alcohol to date.

“He did have a reputation for enjoying his bourbon,” says Clay Bauske, the curator of the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri. “[Though] he certainly didn’t go as far as Winston Churchill, who is a very famous drinker.”

The Missouri Democrat harbored a love for bourbon so well-known that in November of 1945 the Baptist General Convention of Texas, which objected to his frequent drinking and poker playing, tried to prevent Baylor University from giving him an honorary degree.

The following year, the New York Times Magazine ran a story by Luther Huston called “Bourbon on the Potomac,” which talked about how the spirit was the social lubricant of choice in D.C.

The article included a section on the then administration: “Now, President Truman does not settle momentous controversies on the basis of teetotaler vs. tippler, but anyone who knows him is aware that there is quite likely to be a stronger bond between him and a Southern gentleman who likes a hooker of red likker than between him and an arid Iowan.”

It should come as no surprise that both sides of Truman’s family came from America’s most famous whiskey-producing state, Kentucky. But despite his lineage, he seemed to keep his appreciation for the spirit and his foreign policies separate.

He shut down the nation’s distilleries for 60 days in 1947 to preserve grain, which was sent overseas to feed hungry Europeans.

The move was particularly tough for American distillers, since they were just getting started after World War II, when most of them had been producing high-proof alcohol for use in rubber, explosives, and antifreeze for the armed forces. It was also a rough period for drinkers, with stocks of straight whiskey running low.

Ultimately, Truman’s fondness for bourbon not only broadened his appeal, but also helped him defeat his much-heralded opponent, Republican Thomas Dewey.

Truman’s campaign, according to David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Truman, ran on a diet of bourbon and poker, while Dewey’s staff and accompanying press favored the more rarified combo of Martinis and bridge.

The president’s liquor preference was no cheap election-season publicity stunt.

The straight-talking Midwesterner was an unabashed whiskey fan, for years beginning most days with a dram of Old Grand-Dad or Wild Turkey bourbon and a power walk.

The regimen, according to McCullough’s book, was perhaps responsible for his good health that lasted well into his late 60s.

Bourbon could also melt the awkward formalities of official Washington.

After losing a tough fight at the Supreme Court, when even his own appointees declared his attempt to temporarily nationalize the steel industry unconstitutional, Truman found himself invited to an Old Alexandria home for a cocktail party with Supreme Court justices William O. Douglas and Hugo Black.

As McCullough recounted in Truman: “At the start of the evening, Truman, though polite, seemed ‘a bit testy,’ remembered William O. Douglas. “But after the bourbon and canapés were passed, he turned to Hugo [Black] and said, ‘Hugo, I don’t much care for your law, but, by golly, this bourbon is good.’”

Later in life, Truman’s physician actually instructed him to imbibe. “The doctor says he should drink, that it’s good for him, it’s relaxing for him, and that it’s particularly good for people who are getting older and have hardening of the arteries or restricted circulation, and so forth,” said his son-in-law, E. Clifton Daniel, in a 1972 interview. “So, he is not only permitted to drink, but encouraged to drink, but of course not too much.”

Besides his morning constitutional, Truman usually enjoyed his whiskey with water or with ginger ale—but to nowhere near the excess one might think.

According to numerous interviews, with friends, former colleagues and subordinates, collected as part of an oral history project at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum, he generally limited himself to just a few drinks per event, which he would nurse all night.

“He can make a highball last longer than anybody I ever saw,” said Edgar G. Hinde, a lifelong friend, comrade in World War I and former postmaster in Independence, Missouri. “I’ve seen him take one highball, and—all evening that would be all he’d take but he’d drink with everybody that’d come in…I never saw him when he was anywhere near under the influence of liquor.”

No matter how much he drank at one time, bourbon became one of the hallmarks of his presidency.

For Christmas 1946, his cabinet presented him with a handsome bar set featuring two crystal decanters (one for bourbon, one for Scotch) and 12 matching silver cups each engraved with a staff member’s name and, of course, one for the him.

Spirited gifts were frequently bestowed on Truman. The list of Christmas presents that the White House received in 1951 includes a case of Old Grand-Dad and an unnamed 18-year-old bourbon.

The 33rd president certainly had enough friends and colleagues to share his liquor with.

But he wasn’t the only Truman to enjoy a glass of whiskey before dinner. McCullough recounts how the first lady, Bess, schooled the White House bartender on how to make an Old-Fashioned.

Her version, it turned out, was actually a sizable glass of bourbon on the rocks void of the sugar, bitters and fruit that normally make up the cocktail.

All of this raises the question, what bourbon did Truman love best? Though there are lots of opinions on the matter, the truth is he drank a number of them, including the aforementioned Wild Turkey and Old Grand-Dad, as well as Old Crow and Old Forester, which are all still available.

So this Fourth of July weekend, pour yourself a dram, toast to Truman and his affinity for the good stuff—and hope that at least one of 2016’s candidates is a whiskey drinker.

Noah Rothbaum is the author of the recently published The Art of American Whiskey.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/how-harry-truman-ran-a-bourbon-soaked-white-house/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/184191530572

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samanthasroberts · 5 years