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argumentl · 3 years

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The Freedom of Expression Ep 18 - Baseball with Mercedes Benz logo used by Chiba Lotte Marines.

K: This is Dir en grey's Kaoru with The Freedom of Expression. This program started...how many years ago was it now? 3 or 4 years ago?...on InterFM, asking questions about freedom of expession...with this theme we talked about current news stories each time. From there, we have moved over to Youtube. There are maybe times when we talk about stuff that isn't really related to expression though..

J: There are.

T: Yeh.

K: I just wanna enjoy talking sometimes.

J: This program has a wide scope.

K: Yeah. Well, today, I mean, on the day of this broadcast, its the opening of the professional baseball season.

J: Oh, June 19th?

K: Yeh. At the point in time of recording this, we don't know exactly what will happen, but..at last baseball is gonna start.

T: And that means...? Kaoru?

K: And that means?

J: And that means?

K: What do you mean?

T: Your beloved Hanshin Tigers!

J: Oh, yeah, his Hanshin Tigers. How will your beloved Hanshin do this year?

K: Oh, they will win by a mile!

J, T: *laugh*

J: *laughing* We shouldn't laugh!

K: Hahaha

J: We really shouldn't laugh! We're so rude!

T: Its because he said straight away, 'by a mile!'.

J: Tell us your rationale for saying that, for saying they'll win by a mile.

K: Well...they're strong.

J: You could say that about anyone! *laughs*

K, T: *laugh*

J: Saying, 'They're that strong'...Yakult fans could say the same.

T: I'd just like to ask again, since when have you been a fan of the Tigers? Since when were you first aware of the Tigers?

K: How old was I?...I think I was probably in the lower grades of elementary school. As far back as I can remember really. My Dad played baseball in a non-professional team. So he had his uniform, and glove, and bat, and stuff in our house. I used to play with him, and he took me to watch games. My first time was at Nishinomiya stadium, I think...the Hankyu Braves. And after that, I wanted to see a game at Koshien.

J: Ehh, really? Oh, so you were going to stadiums from quite a young age?

K: Yeah.

T: How did it feel going Koshien and places back then?

K: It was kinda scary. There was a load of scary looking people there.

T: Scary looking people? *laughs*

K: Like really drunk people, and stuff.

J:Oh, all the hecklers.

K: The staduims didn't look as smart as they do now.

J: Ohh, of course.

K: They were kind of grubby.

J: So about Hanshin doing really well this year, they'll definitely win today's game? Where are they playing today?

T: Today is..

K: Against the Giants, right?

T: Yeah, the Giants.

K: At Tokyo Dome.

T: Their nemesis, the Giants.

J: The legendary fued between the Giants and the Tigers, right?

K: Well, yeah. For the opening match, Tokyo Dome is a bit hard going though.

J: I thought you just said they were gonna win by a mile?!

K: Hahaha.

J: Already thats not the case!

T: He's suprisingly calm about it, right?

K: No, its just that at the moment, Tokyo Dome carries some not so good memories. I've been to watch them there many times.

T: Oh, right.

K: I don't have very good memories of it.

J: Is it bad?'

T: They'll be starting about now, at 18:00, won't they?

K: They will be, yeh.

J: Don't we upload this at 19:00?

K: Yeh, yeh.

T: Ahh. Oh, they'll be just about finishing the third round or so?

K: Ahh.

J: I see.

K: But they'll probably be hitting ???(バコバコ)*1. They might still be on the second round.

J, T, K: Hahaha.

J: Well, its good to think about it in a positive way.

K: Yeh, yeh, yeh.

J: What are the thoughts of our so called sports journalist about Hanshin's chances this year? *gestures to Tasai*

T: Well, as for me, Hanshin are..I was talking to my wife about this before, and despite being a really popular team, in reality, they rarely win.

K: Yes.

J: Oh, is that right?

K: They never win.

T: Yeh, yeh, yeh

K: They're weak, to start with.

J, T: Haha

K: I even imagine them as a weak team.

T: Yeah.

J: I see. So its not like they are famous for being a strong team like the Giants?

K: The Giants are invincible.

J: Well, yeah.

K: Its like they have to be strong.

J: Yeh, yeh.

K: Hanshin are like...even though they're weak, you like them, haha.

J: Hahaha.

T: So people used to say, Dame Tora!/ No good Tigers!' at one point and stuff. But, what is it? The mentality of Osaka people?

K: Well, even if they loose, it doesn't hurt very deeply.

J: Ahh, right. Unlike Giants fans, who would be hurt at even a small loss. Hanshin fans don't have such a weak heart?

K: We don't.

J: Ahh, amazing.

T: Its incredible, thier popularity. They are more popular than the Giants.

K: Yeh

T: The Sports newspapers down there, if they have like 8 or so pages, 4 or 5 pages will be dedicated to Hanshin.

J: Oh, that much?!

T: They even cover the minor team at Naruouhama, with their results and a comment.

K: The minor team is really well recieved, and everyone gets really carried away with it.

J: Hahaha.

T: Yeh, yeh, yeh.

J: Isn't that the reason they never get that strong?

K: Well, in the end, yes.

T: Hahaha. No, but they are talked about, even as the minor team.

J:Ehh

K: And with all these fans, theres kind of a supporters' association, and everyone gets full of themself.

T: Hahaha.

J: Oh, really? Kami is listening silently though. I wonder what he thinks. Don't gods know much about baseball?

Kami: No, no, I've been listening the whole time. But Hanshin are quite strong, aren't they? I mean, they are not the best in Japan, but don't they often win? The league win?

K, T: No..

K: They don't.

T: Once in 1985, and once in 2000, that time with Lotte in the Japan series, and once at the time they changed over from Nomura san to Hoshino san.

K: Yeah, league wins.

T: Its only been about 3 or 4 times hasn't it?

Kami: When you say weak...well, they have gotten stronger recently, but I always think of the BayStars as the weakest.

T: Yeah, Yokohama never win either.

Kami: I didn't think Hanshin were that weak.

K: Well, overall, they are getting better. Like, thier average..the gap is closing.

T: Well, Hiroshima won three times in a row. The Central league is sort of bunched up like that. The Giants are just ahead.

J: Just a bit, right. Ahh, it exciting isnt it? How far will Hanshin get this year?! They'll win?

K: Of course.

J: They will win.

T: Should we make a promise to do something if they win?

K: If they win?

T: If they win...or if they don't win? But, they will definitely win, right?

K: Hmm.. *Everyone laughs*

J: Hang on a second, you started by saying they will win by a mile, and now 'Hmm..'. You're saying 'Hmm..' for 5 minutes.

K: Its because I don't know what will happen.

T: Well, yeah. You don't know whats gonna happen.

K: Well, its cause its an irregular season.

J: Well, of course.,

T: Yeah.

K: Cause its a tight schedule.

J: Oh, because its tight?

K: There are no inter-league games, and no All Star games. Im not sure how the climax will go.

Kami: Lets do something if they win.

J: Oh, yeh, if they win.

Kami: If they win.

K: If Hanshin win?

Kami: Yeh, if we did that, we'd be all looking forward, supporting Hashin.

K: Well, ok, if Hanshin win let's do an event on this program.

J, T: Oh!

J: What kind of event?

K: Well, im not sure, it would have to be next year, and I don't know if we could have guests, but lets do something like that.

J:Oh!

K: In that way everyone would be supporting right?

T: Yeah.

J: Shall we do a 'The Freedom of Expression' event?

T: "In celebration of the Hanshin Tigers' win!"

K: Im not sure we need such a crown.

J, T: Hahaha

J: Well, anyhow, we'll do an event.

K:Yeh.

J: I think we've created the motivation for people to support Hanshin with this.

T: Yes, its turned out well.

K: Like a live broadcast or something?

J: Oh, that would be good. Thats a good idea.

K: Well, ok, this isn't what we're supposed to be talking about today.

T: It wasn't supposed to be about Hanshin, was it?

J: Well, as today is the opening of the baseball season, let me share a piece of news concerning professional baseball.

This is the news that Lotte are using a baseball which features the Mercedes Benz logo. Manager Iguchi says, the Marines are at the top too! In the first game of this season at their main stadium, the Zozo Marines Stadium, the ball they use will have Mercedes Benz Japan's (thier sponsor's) logo printed onto it. This comes to fruition as a result of thier manager Iguchi being a big Merecdes Benz fan. Iguchi said to his team on the 8th, 'Since I started playing professional baseball at age 22, up until now over 20 years later, I've always driven a Mercedes Benz. Just as these cars are admired from around the world, I want the Marines to reach the top this season.'

K: Yeah.

T: Its great, isn't it.

J: Eh, Tasai san, have you seen it?

T: I saw it earlier. Its stamped on about the size of a seal.

J: Is it small?

T: Well, its like 'Benz!'

K: I kinda want one.

T: Yeh, its cool, right?

J: So, it doesn't cause any obstacle when grasping the ball?

T: No, it doesn't. Its just the Benz logo.

J: I see. So its not like it catches on your fingers and effects your throw?

T: Well, I wonder..

K: It doesn't! It would be a problem if it did.

J: It would be problematic, right? But conversely, if you pay money, you can have this type of thing engraved on the ball. What do you think, Kaoru? What if you had the Dir en grey logo put on the ball in one of the Hanshin Tigers' official games?

K: Oh, I'd like that.

T: But I get the feeling that people would want to do that a lot with Hanshin.

J: I wonder how much it costs?

T: Probably a million or so yen. I don't think Mercedes Benz will be the cheapest either.

J: Thats right.

K: But if its on the ball, it won't be seen on TV right?

J: No, it won't.

K: So, you wouldn't even know about it, unless it was pointed out. ???*2 Also, if the guy who gets a home run puts it on SNS or something.

T: Ahh, that would be ideal.

J: It would normally be plastered all over the fences of the stadium, wouldn't it?

K: Yeah, in the stadium.

J: But its kinda fresh, to put in on the balls.

T: Yeah, its cool.

K: On the balls?

J, T: *laugh*

K: ???

J: No, no, no. *laughing* ????

T: Joe san! Don't soil baseball like that! Its an untainted sport!

J:???*3

T: Yeah *laughs*, so you are tainting it!

J: No, but I really wanna put a Dir en grey logo, or a Tora no ana logo on one Hanshin's baseballs.

T: That would be good.

K: Noo, its impossible.

J: But didn't you do a collaboration with them before?

K: Oh, well that was just like an announcement, but this is totally a sponsor.

J: Well, yeah..right.

K: Right?..The amount of money..

J: Totally different right.

K: Yeah, its on a totally different scale.

J: Well, but I imagine professional baseball players seem tacky to Mercedes Benz.

K: Like a thugs or something.

J: Why do I think that, I wonder? Although they're all the same athletes, soccer players don't give off the same atmosphere to me.

K: But even soccer players seem like they are a bit artificial. They suddenly start dressing up, wearing brand clothes..

T: Yeah.

K: They get off planes, dressed up all smart and stuff.

J: They do, yeah.

T: But that might be the influence of Kazu (Kazoyoshi Miura) or Takeda san since they got into the J League.

J: For some reason, if you talk about fashion in the pro-baseball world, I always think of Kuwata san, for example. Also, Shinjo san (Tsuyoshi Shinjo). They have that kind of image. There's not that many..

T: Ahh, right.

J: Like I don't know many with a sense of fashion.

Kami: I think the same! Thats it. They have no fashion sense. They are not cool at all!

T: Thats right.

Kami: They are real sports people. Whatever they wear, thier muscles swell, it looks kinda wierd.

T: Yeh, yeh.

K: Well, yeh.

Kami: But when baseball players or even soccer players wear thier uniform, they look super cool!

J: Absolutely.

T: Ah, I see.

Kami: When they get off airplanes, I want them to wear thier uniforms.

J: Always in thier uniforms.

T: That would be good, yeah.

Kami: They would look so cool!

J: I see.

T: Well, they are professionals, baseball is technical job, they are the ultimate professionals. If you can play baseball, that is everything, I imagine. Thats my follow-up.

J,K: *laugh*

K: Well, today, at this time, the game will still be ongoing.

J: Yes, thats right.

K: I'll be praying for an exciting baseball season.

J: And if Hanshin win?!

K: We'll do an event.

T: Pretty good.

K: Well, we'll finish here for today. Please subscribe. Thank you very much.

J, T: Thank you.

*1 バコバコ - Don't know what this means.

*2 Couldn't catch this.

*3 I'm not fluent enough to translate dirty jokes about balls XD Plus Joe is speaking too fast, and there is too much background laughing...thats my other excuse.

#dir en grey #the freedom of expression #tfoe #kaoru #薫

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thinkingaboutyoungroyals · 5 years

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Hi!! Can you do a jealousy fic with Tyrus?? I love jealous Cyrus, especially when girls are flirting with his man. Thanks!!!

Not my best work, to be honest, but I tried!

(A/N: I’m not taking any prompt requests at the moment as I am putting all my energy and inspiration to finishing the remaining ones in my inbox. Thank you for your understanding!)

…..

Sneakers squeaked loudly against the wooden maple, accompanied by the loud bouncing of basketballs and yells of sweaty teenage boys.

On the bleachers, Cyrus sat with Buffy, watching the players. Well, he was watching one player while Buffy had her attention on another.

“Come on, Marty!” Buffy yelled. “That shot was open! Get your head in the game!”

The player flashed her a quick but amused glance and a saucy wink before turning his attention back to the practice.

Cyrus chuckled and shook his head. “You guys just can’t contain the flirting, huh?”

Turning into a light shade of pink, Buffy huffed. “You’re one to talk, Cyrus.”

“T.J. and I don’t flirt while he’s busy practicing.”

Buffy snorted before pointing at the court. “Oh yeah? What about that?”

Cyrus turned his head to see that T.J. had slowed down as he looked in their direction. Catching Cyrus’ eye, he grinned and waved.

It was Cyrus’ turn to blush and Buffy snorted, knowingly.

As he returned the gesture and waved back at T.J., his eye caught sight of another person down on the bleachers.

Like Cyrus and Buffy, she had been showing up at the boys’ basketball team practices for the last 2 weeks. Cyrus had never seen her before so he figured she must be new to the school and may have a friend or a boyfriend on the team like they did.

But… wait… why did she just wave at T.J.?!?!

Out on the court, T.J. noticed her too and gave her a polite wave back and smile before running to catch up with the other players.

With a raised brow, Cyrus watched as the girl let out a loud dreamy (dreamy?!) sigh, her head following T.J.’s course as the teen ran up and down the court.

His stomach clenched.

Now, Cyrus was never the jealous type. There were very rare instances when he was (like when he and Andi started liking Jonah at the same time back in the 7th grade and when T.J. started hanging out with Kira back in the 8th grade).

But, he easily got over those. (Okay, Kira took a little more time but seeing as T.J. no longer hung out with her, Cyrus was relieved.)

And, he certainly did not get jealous of girls he didn’t even know, even if they clearly found his boyfriend attractive, too. In fact, a lot of girls and guys at Grant High did.

No. He was definitely not jealous.

“Who is she?” his traitorous voice spoke out before he could stop it.

It took Buffy a few seconds to find out who he was talking about. She scrunched her brows. “I don’t know. Probably new. She’s been hanging around here.”

Cyrus already knew that. As he continued to stare at the back of the girl’s head, he couldn’t help but mentally scold himself.

He had nothing to worry about. He was just letting old insecurities take over his rational mind. Maybe this girl was just being nice.

Great, now, he just felt guilty.

“Oh, I think they’re taking a break, now,” stated Buffy.

Cyrus tore his gaze away from the unknown girl to see the players heading for their bags, including T.J.

Fulfilling his boyfriend duties, Cyrus opened his own school bag to take out the bag of granola bars he had brought for T.J. – they were the blonde’s favorites.

He and Buffy began to stand so they could greet T.J. and Marty but Cyrus’ gaze caught the girl again.

She had left her seat on the bleachers to run down the steps… heading towards where T.J. was taking a drink from his water bottle. Cyrus’ eye twitched and his hand flew to stop Buffy from moving. “Wait. Hold on.” Gently grasping her wrist, he sat them back down again.

“What’s wrong?” his best friend asked, confused.

Cyrus just continued to stare and following his gaze, Buffy realized what caught his attention.

“Oh. What’s going on over there?”

“That’s what I want to find out,” Cyrus answered, strangely calm despite the turmoil churning in his stomach.

………

When the team paused practice so they could take their break, T.J. expected Cyrus to come running down the bleachers with a treat for him, like he always did.

So, when he heard footsteps behind him, his smile widened as he spun around, ready to greet his boyfriend.

Instead, the person standing in front of him was the nervous-looking girl from the bleachers he had waved at earlier when she waved at him.

“Oh, hi,” he greeted, politely.

“Hi, T.J.,” she responded, immediately. “It’s T.J., right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, and you’re…” He wracked his brains for the right name. “Diana? You’re in my Math class.”

“Yep! That’s me! Diana! From Math class!” she giggled, nervously.

T.J. resisted the urge to roll his eyes as that was rude and she was just being friendly.

And where was Cyrus?! He said he was bringing him his favorite granola bar!

Before he could look up at the bleachers to look for him, the girl – Diana – was talking again.

“You looked great out there! I mean, all of you, guys! Grant really does have an awesome basketball team!”

T.J. grinned, always happy about any compliment about the team. “Thanks! We’ve been working our butts off so we can win the first game of the season. I hope you can come.”

Seeing the seats filled up had always given T.J. a thrill, especially if he could spot Cyrus among the crowd. Though, it was hard to miss the brunette because he always had a giant sign and yelled out the loudest when T.J. had the ball.

“I… I definitely will!” Diana replied, happily as she pushed some hair behind her ear.

“So, any reason why you’re here? Not that we don’t appreciate an audience!” He chuckled. “Some of the guys get pumped up when there’s someone watching. They like to show off.”

“Uh, no reason, really.” Diana began to fidget with a piece of curly hair hanging from her shoulder. “I just really like basketball.”

“Oh, cool. Do you play?”

Maybe he could recruit her to try out for the girls’ basketball team.

“A little.”

“Nice! You should try out for the girls’ team!”

He looked up at the bleachers, scanning until he found Cyrus and Buffy, still sitting and just… watching him. Weird. What were they waiting for? Marty was probably wondering why Buffy wasn’t paying attention to him.

Lifting a hand, he called out, “Hey, Buffy! Come down here! There’s someone you should meet! You too, Cyrus!”

He turned back to Diana, whose smile had fallen just a bit. Again, weird, but he didn’t pay it much attention.

“Buffy is in the girls’ basketball team,” he explained. “Tryouts ended a couple of weeks ago but I’m sure if you talk to her, she can put in a good word for you with the Captain and the Coach to give you a chance.” He grinned. “She and I played for the same team back in Jefferson until she made her own girls’ team and became Captain.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Diana bit her lip. “Is she your…girlfriend?” she asked, softly.

T.J. almost recoiled at the question but before he could deny it, a loud, “No way! I have standards!”

Smirking at the approaching Buffy, he retorted, “You’re no apple of my eye either, Driscoll.”

T.J. laughed before noticing Cyrus idling behind his best friend. The blonde flashed him a questioning look, wondering why the other boy wasn’t coming over to hug him or handing over the treats.

Cyrus just smiled in response before his gaze went over to Diana.

Oh, that reminded T.J. He gestured with a hand at the girl. “Guys, this is Diana. She just transferred and she’s interested in basketball. Think you can help her out, Driscoll?”

At the sudden attention, Diana took a step back, waving her hands in front of her. “Um, I’m not really sure if I should. I’m not that good.”

“I’m sure you’re fine!” Buffy said, kindly. “With a little practice and training, you’ll be in good shape! I’ll talk to the Captain so she can talk to the coach.”

“Oh… thanks.”

Meanwhile, T.J. was getting impatient. Cyrus was barely paying him any attention. And why was he so far away?!

T.J. put his water bottle back on the bench next to his backpack before extending an arm towards Cyrus. Wrapping a hand around the other boy’s wrist, he gently pulled him over.

“Why are you so far away?” he whined, pouting as he wound his arms around him.

He could practically feel Cyrus melting in his hold.

“I, uh, didn’t want to interrupt you and your new friend,” the brunette said in a soft tone.

There was an edge to his voice. T.J. wasn’t sure if he should be amused or concerned.

“You are always welcome to interrupt me,” he replied, cheekily.

Finally, Cyrus beamed. “I brought your granola bars,” he said, raising a clear bag filled with the treat. “Couldn’t decide between Dark Chocolate Cherry or the Blueberry and Yogurt so I brought both.”

T.J. was perfectly aware that he was swooning now and didn’t really care.

“You’re the best!”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Ahem,” Buffy’s voice broke through their little bubble. “I’m gonna go see Marty. Diana, I’ll talk to you later!”

Without another word, she left.

T.J. and Cyrus were left with Diana, who had somehow turned a strange shade of red while he was paying attention to Cyrus. Weirdly, she was staring at Cyrus like he had three heads.

Oh, he never introduced them.

“Oh, right, Diana, this is Cyrus, my boyfriend. Cy, Diana.”

T.J. turned his head to see Cyrus smiling politely.

“Hi,” the brunette greeted with a cute wave.

T.J. was once again reminded of how lucky he was.

“Boyfriend?” Diana blurted out, sounding dazed. “You’re the…boyfriend.”

Was it just him or did Cyrus’ hold on his waist tighten? He could practically feel the other boys’ fingers digging into his side through his shirt.

“That’s me. T.J. Kippen’s boyfriend.”

His tone was something T.J. had heard before. It was the same tone Cyrus would use when arguing with someone about a debunked dinosaur fact. It kind of had a hard edge and a bit… protective?

“Oh.” Diana’s mouth opened and closed before opening again. “That’s why Missy told me not to bother.” She sounded like she was talking to herself rather than to the two of them.

T.J. raised an eyebrow at that. “Is something wrong?”

“No! Not at all! I just… didn’t know you have a boyfriend.”

“And now, you do,” Cyrus stated. “I mean, uh, it’s understandable that you don’t know. ‘Cause you’re new and all. And T.J.’s really cute.”

“Y-Yeah, he is…” She blushed deeper and averted her eyes. “Um, right, uh, I think I’m gonna go now.”

“Oh, okay! Thanks for stopping by!” T.J. said.

Still looking dazed, Diana nodded and walked away.

Cyrus turned to T.J. “You know she likes you, right?”

“What? No way.”

“Yes, way! She was flirting!”

“Really?”

“Wow, honey, you really are oblivious.” Cyrus sighed. “I guess it’s not her fault that she didn’t know.”

“I don’t know why she would like me. I mean, I’m dating the cutest guy in the whole school.”

“That’s a lie because I’m dating the cutest guy in the whole school.”

“No, I totally am.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“Agree to disagree.” Cyrus lifted the bag of granola bars again. “Come on, you should eat before your break ends.”

They sat on the bench, pushing T.J.’s backpack to the side. Cyrus opened the bag and handed a bar of the blueberry and yogurt to T.J. and taking one of the dark chocolate and cherry for himself.

“I gotta ask, though,” T.J. said in between bites. “You’re usually pretty friendly to new people, already asking them about their life goals and dreams for the future. But, with Diana, you seemed a bit… guarded.”

Cyrus couldn’t meet his eyes. “Oh? I didn’t notice.”

T.J. stared, a smirk pulling at his lips. He scooted closer until their arms were touching. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”

Cyrus coughed. “J-Jealous? Me? No way! Why would I be jealous? Just cause she’s pretty and seemed sweet and apparently plays basketball and… I’m not helping my case, am I?”

He could hear the hint of insecurity in that answer and T.J. had to sigh.

“Hey, you know you have nothing to be jealous about, right? I like you, Cyrus. No one else.”

“I know that! It’s just…” The brunette took a bite of his granola bar.

T.J. nudged his arm with an elbow. “But… I get it. You know, I’m not the only gay guy in this school who likes you. And I’m pretty sure there’s a couple of girls who do, too.”

Cyrus blushed. As always, his boyfriend was oblivious to the fact that he was handsome and a total heartbreaker. T.J. was one lucky dude.

“I’m sorry. I must sound like such a possessive boyfriend.”

“It’s okay. I like it. Reminds me of how lucky I am that you chose me.”

Cyrus blushed. “You’re a sap.”

“And you’re cute.”

“Just eat your granola bar!”

T.J. obeyed, happily sinking his teeth into the treat his boyfriend brought just for him.

And if Cyrus stuck to his side much closer than usual and even gave him a sweet kiss before he had to go back to practice, T.J. had no complaints

#andi mack #tyrus #tyrus fanfic

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lokis-lady-death · 5 years

Text

Stark Tower Layout

Lady Death: This is a little snippet I did which originally began as a reference for some future snippets I’ve been working on for a Loki x Reader (Ice Mutant).

If you’re interested in a story this is based on: Click Here and read the first installment.

It’s been months since Thanos’s defeat and Tony Stark has built a second Stark Tower for the Avengers in Brazil, deep in the forest. It’s built similarly to the tower in New York, but has less of a skyscraper feel. The outside is coated in a reflective material manufactured similarly to the camouflage used to hide the kingdom of Wakanda and was specially developed with Shuri’s help. This feature, however, is only to keep it from being seen from above by satellites as the facility itself is not in a secret location.

1st Floor: The Entrance

As anyone could expect, the entrance to Stark Tower is incredible and, simply put, extraordinary. Entering the main floor, the first thing visitors see is an arc reactor the size of a car along with words illuminating across the top in bright fluorescent “Avengers Assemble”. Tony said it was cheesy but it puts a smile on Steve's face every time he sees it. Elegant glass staircases on either side of the arc reactor lead up to the second story. It is all completely open and bright with massive windows that let in the brilliant sun rays, even showing a beautiful sky when it was taking thanks to specially manufactured glass invented by Shuri.

2nd Floor: Tourist Center

Stark had specifically chosen to create a tourist center in the lowest levels of his complex for the simple reason that he knew the Avengers needed to maintain face (and Pepper insisted it was a good idea to keep up appearances without holding press conferences on the regular basis). They were icons, symbols, and most of all heros. All profits made go towards hundreds of different charities around the world, usually those pertaining to Avenger related missions. Once of the most popular destinations at Stark Tower for visitors is the world renowned gift shop that houses random images taken of the Avengers with unrelated daily quotes they have made. The most notable include: Black Widow “I can’t, I’m afraid of spiders”, Captain America “You can’t do the fondue unless you have protection”, Spiderman “Oh, geeze guys, I don’t know”, Ironman “ Excelsior “

3rd Floor: Accounting Department

Because a building this large, this full, and this advanced requires money. It is nearly entirely made up of Tony's own pocket change, but sometimes a grateful nation or wealthy family the Avengers saved will make a donation to housing (but that secretly gets donated back to the community around the Stark facility, such as orphanages and hospitals).

4th Floor: Loading Dock and Med Bay

This is the floor where most of the Avengers tech is kept (beside things that are personal such as Sam's wings). It also houses a well stocked armory that contains anything as weak as bean bag shotgun shells (used for low level crooks) to much more lethal high caliber assault rifles (for more complicated cases). Any weapon repair would happen here, as well as any medical treatment that the Avengers could need. It can be used in emergency cases for the rest of the workers at the tower but so far that has not been necessary.

5th Floor: Training Rooms

This floor contains a fully loaded gym, a jacuzzi tub, steam room, and stall showers that are accessible to everyone at the tower. There were however, rooms separated for special training that was only used by the Avengers that included a holographic simulator that, while not as physical as the microbots, could use a projection on an android dummy, perfect for one on one training when you don't have a partner. As a joke, Tony had programmed the only reflection the dummy was capable of to be Secretary of state Thaddeus Ross. As an extra joke, someone (no one knows who but suspects Bruce) reprogrammed the boys to instead show Tony, repeating sarcastic comments and rolling his eyes. Steve said he had never had such a great workout partner.

6th Floor: The Simulator

The simulator, which takes up the entire sixth floor, requires special access passes not every Avenger has. This floor is most notably used for team training and uses microbots to create simulations of different villains and scenarios. Only Bruce or Tony themselves are capable to turning on the simulator because of its complexities. This rule came after a near disastrous event with Sam nearly creating a lethal replica of Thanos in with the Simulated Microbots, an event Steve brings up regularly. “You’re just mad cause the giant eggplant kicked your ass. Again,” Sam would snapback.

7th Floor: Avenger Academy(because Tony couldn’t think of a better thing to call it)

The classrooms are more technical than academic, but make for a good show for when Aunt May allows Peter to come stay at the tower. It has several computers set up for any of the Avengers team or Stark Tower’s employee to use. There is also a small library tucked away, because while Tony insisted everything be electronic, Pepper thought some of the tower inhabitants could use the nostalgia of a good hardback book.

8th Floor: Individual apartments (Dubbed the Geriatric Floor) Bucky, Steve

Because, let's face it, they're lost without each other so of course they're on the same floor. They insisted on having the lowest level apartments in the complex so “If someone attacks” they would be the first defense. Their apartments are very similar in style, with simple amenities, painted in patriotic colors, and decorated with several old pictures and framed special news articles the old school men enjoyed. Even the electronics in their apartments are simplified, with Friday always there to help the boys with any questions they had for new age tech.

9th Floor: Individual apartments (Dubbed the Experiments-gone-wrong Floor) Wanda and Vision, Bruce

Wanda and Vision were apprehensive about moving into the tower at first, but once they officially had their apartment set up, they couldn't imagine calling anywhere else “Home”. Vision especially enjoys Bruce being across the hall whenever he is in the mood for discussions, usually ending with some bizarre, other world innovative ideas that they would run by Tony when he comes by the tower. Wanda has come up to join young and Nat in your late night lounging.

10th Floor: Individual apartments(Dubbed the Deadly Women Floor) Reader, Natasha

You weren't sure what living on the same floor with Black Widow would be like, but it turned out the two of you made fast friends. It was nothing for you to go over to her apartment in the late hours of the night to enjoy some wine and girl talk, or for her to come by so you could both binge watch murder mystery shows, almost always challenging each other to guess the murderer by the end of the shows. The two of you go on a girls’ nights out with Wanda and Pepper every other weekend, usually spending your time comparing the men you had to put up with on a regular basis. Everyone agrees Pepper is a saint for dealing with Tony. On rare occasions, Gamora and Shuri join you, but those stories never get shared with the rest of the team. There is a rumor, while out enjoying one of these legendary evenings, your small group overthrew an evil dictator and liberated a country in the throws of civil war, but that never made the news so no one could confirm it. Viva la revolution.

11th Floor: Guest rooms: It is strategically located in the middle of the avengers team so they are secured at all times.

Most often used for Clint and his family during family friendly events such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. Everyone, including Scott and his daughter,come every New Year to watch Stark light up the sky with his endless supply of iron suits. Dr. Strange has also stayed, but only after a party since he is usually plastered and goes around asking guests if they would like to watch him conjure a demon. So far the answer has been no but Clint's kids have asked him to pull a rabbit out of his hat. He normally goes to bed after the jokes are made. The Guardians have stayed once after a party, but no one is allowed to talk about that night. Ever. T'challa and Shuri come to every single party and even the tower has, but it always ends the same way: the brother and sister in a head to head match on one of the many competitive games in Sam's apartment. And every single time, Shuri wins at the last second. Peter Parker comes during family events with his Aunt May, but has been known to sneak into the tower during the more adult parties. He has even started a tradition of “Movie Night” where they set up a projector screen on the balcony and play movies (usually big name classics that Peter annoyingly quotes halfway through, but every once in a while they play The Notebook because Clint cries every. Single. Time).

12th Floor: Individual apartments (Dubbed the Bachelor Pad) Sam, Thor, Loki (newly moved in)

Sam and Thor always got along well and once they found something they enjoyed in common, they became quite the unexpected besties. Turned out they both enjoyed video games. Sam keeps an assortment of gaming consoles that he regularly plays through with the god of thunder between missions (and anyone else that dares challenge their gaming skills). Sam was, however, less than thrilled when Loki took the apartment across the hall from him. He has a hard time getting along with the god of mischief and they would constantly bicker, a fact that was not made better when Loki consecutively defeated him and Thor at Super Smash Brothers. Loki tends to either stay locked away in his room, but every once in a while he will sneak away to the library.

13th Floor: Tony Stark’s Closet (named by Pepper)

It’s really more of a workshop for Tony's suits but Pepper considers it Tony's closet (and was quite adamant that they were not to be kept on their living foor). It also houses the main lab. Tony only allows full access to Bruce, Vision and Shuri because he thinks any other Avenger may “mess up the intricacies of the numerous sensitive technological advances” he has made in that lab. Steve doesn't take the secrecy personally, just makes comments that they better not be working on an Ultron 2.0 (he is extremely proud of this 21st century tech joke).

14th Floor: Tony and Pepper’s Penthouse

This is where the Avenger’s have their major get together. It opens up to a wrap around balcony and is the only access to the rooftop Helipad, which is mostly for Tony and Pepper's personal use when getting to and from Stark Industries in New York. Though they don't live at the tower full time, Pepper come at least once a week to check on things. Tony comes so often it's easy to forget he doesn't live there. He has been known to come in the early morning hours to work on new suits, but Pepper doesn't know that.

Floors located under the compound:

Garage: where every type of vehicle you could imagine is stored, nearly all of them donning the Avengers logo. There are anything from motorcycles (including a special edition Harley-Davidson RL 45 Steve picked got for Bucky), ATVs, cars, trucks, and one massive speed jet used to transport the whole team. The garage is only accessibly to the Avengers team and has a massive ramp that opens up 100 meters away from the normal front entrance of the tower.

Basement: Located an extra 50 meters below the garage, no one ventures this low in the tower. It is used to mostly house old tech Tony has developed, unused suits/weapons the team has no use for that is too dangerous to dispose of, and even some left over alien artifacts collected over the last decade.

Like my garbage? Read more of it! Master List

Let me know if you wanna be tagged if I decide to do a sequel!

I tagged anyone who might like the story this will be used in. It won’t be some intricate, detailed story line sort of thing, more like random snippets of stories that happen in the tower, but they will all be based on Loki x Reader (and won’t all involve Jotun Loki)

LOKI TAGS: @socialheartbreak @kcd15 @maladaptive-ninja-returns@nephalem67 @jessiejunebug @woodyandbuzz20-01 @bambamwolf87 @kitsuneharo12 @yzssie@macbetheliza @lokilvrr @lokixme @li-ssu @j-u-s-t-4 @letskillthefuhrer

#loki #loki x oc #loki x reader #loki x you #loki odinson #loki laufeyson #marvel #loki (marvel)#marvel fanfiction #marvel smutt #avengers #stark tower

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themurphyzone · 6 years

Text

Oneshot: Mascot Murphy

“So what did you need me for again?” Milo asked, glancing over his shoulder at the water fountain Melissa had pulled him away from. A leak sprung from the side, covering the floor in a metallic-tasting liquid. “I hope we aren’t above the cooking class….”

Right on cue, screaming erupted from the cooking classroom.

“They’ll be fine. Mr. Ortega probably has a skill he got from ‘The War’,” Melissa said, trying to make a dramatic face, and Milo burst out laughing at her exaggerated pout. “Anyway, I just need you to establish a buffer zone so I can grab a few boxes from my candy stash. I wasn’t expecting sour gummy turtles to be so popular this week, but hey, profits are profits.”

“Okay, but why do you need a buffer zo-“ Milo wondered, almost stumbling into Mort’s back. He took note of the crowd that had gathered around the bulletin by Coach Mitchell’s office. “Sorry. Hey, what’s going on here?”

A dozen heads turned at the sound of Milo’s voice, and the crowd whispered nervously to each other and quickly stepped to the far side of the hall.

“Thanks,” Melissa grinned. “I’ll be right back.”

She slipped into the girl’s locker room from the pathway that had opened up.

“Coach Mitchell’s holding tryouts after school for someone to wear the gecko mascot outfit at the game tomorrow,” Mort explained. “You know, since Paulie’s really…not up for it at the moment.”

Everyone knew that Paulie was still recovering from the sewer rat incident. Since he still freaked out at anything that involved the rodent family, Coach Mitchell and Principal Milder had agreed to find a substitute Gecko for this week’s game. Mostly because the opposing team used a field mouse as their mascot and they didn’t want to terrify the poor guy into becoming a recluse for the rest of his life.

“Yeah, sounds reasonable,” Milo admitted. “Poor guy. Maybe I should try out for the position! I’ve always wanted to stick to walls like one of those cheap sticky hands you get out of the capsules from the grocery store!”

He eagerly scribbled his name on the bottom of the sign-up form. Many of his classmates’ eyes widened to comical proportions, and one of the 8th graders passed out.

Then Melissa emerged from the locker room, her backpack bulging slightly with the corners of several boxes sticking out. She followed their looks of fear back to the sign-up form. “Oh, that explains it. Well if it cheers you guys up, I’ve got more sour gummy turtles. That’ll be two dollars a pack please.”

As several people dug into their pockets and bags for money, Mort simply watched them from the side. “I’m getting mixed signals from their aura. Their excitement for sour gummy turtles is punctuated by dread.”

The PA rang loudly, shaking Mrs. Murawski out of another desk-induced stupor. “Now I’ll never know what Oakley was gonna say!” she yelled. “I am so having a word with you, Elizabeth!”

Principal Milder’s voice crackled through the old speakers, and some people in the class covered their ears. “There’s been a change of plans. Because Milo Murphy was the only student whose name was not scratched out or colored over with red pen…seriously people. You’re in middle school. It’s possible to erase properly without tearing up the sheet of paper or getting red pen all over the bulletin. Anyway, he gets the part.” She didn’t bother disguising her deep sigh. “Look, if you’re participating in the game, try not to do anything that requires an ambulance or gets the attention of the school board. Milo Murphy, report to the gym after school for practice and the rest of you bring your personal shields just in case. Thank you.”

Bradley scoffed, glaring at Milo across the room. “So how are you gonna pull this one off? Covering yourself with merch from the other team won’t work this time since you’re our mascot. I predict we’ll lose by at least a hundred points.”

Melissa clicked her tongue at him. “Oh ye of little faith. The game hasn’t started yet and you’re already so certain we’ll lose.”

“I’m just being realistic,” Bradley said. “One little fluke’s not going to suddenly give us a winning streak.”

“Wait and see, Bradley,” Melissa smirked. “Prepare to eat those words tomorrow night.”

“Geckos! Geckos! We got class, we’re gonna climb right up your glass!” Milo cheered as he took a flying leap for the glass pane. It shattered before he could make contact, and Milo fell onto a spare blue mat.

“Yeah, we aren’t going to win,” Coach Mitchell muttered.

Principal Milder coughed from the bleachers.

A smile quickly spread across Coach Mitchell’s face. “Uh, I mean we’re gonna win! And I can’t think of anything peppy to say right now so please stop giving me that death glare!”

“I’m only going to stop sitting in on your practices when you stop giving your players self-fulfilling prophecies,” Principal Milder said. “In addition to seeing the cost of the damages Milo Murphy causes so I can fudge it with the school board later.”

“Sorry about that,” Milo said. “But look on the bright side! A limo didn’t plow into the gym at least!”

The cheerleaders and football players screamed as cracks appeared in the floor around them, jumping out of the way as the tiles collapsed. Just as everyone managed to scramble for safety, a mass of squashed milk cartons and tin cans rose from the hole.

“Hey, how do you like my subterranean submarine?” Scott shouted to the group. “With this vessel I will RULE! ALL! OF! SUBTERRANOUS! Terranous, terranous….”

Everyone stared at him.

Scott scoffed. “Fine. Tough crowd. I’ll go find someone who appreciates this kinda stuff.”

Then he disappeared back into the hole, taking the massive amount of garbage with him.

“Right, let’s ignore that and get back to practice,” Coach Mitchell muttered.

“Okay!” Milo cheered. “Geckos! Geckos!”

As he tried to leap over a hurdle, his tail caught on the frame and sent him tumbling head over heels into a wall. “I’m okay!” Milo yelled. The gecko suit did a good job cushioning the impact, even though his tail hog-tied all his limbs together so he could barely move.

“Doom….” Coach Mitchell sobbed into Principal Milder’s shoulder.

“Milo, are you sure you don’t need any help?” Zack asked as he watched Milo hop around the empty bus as he tried to put on the gecko suit.

Milo tripped over a seat, his legs flailing in the air while he pulled up the fabric. “Don’t worry! If I can manage a huge, poofy ballroom dress, I can handle this just fine! Seriously, you’d be surprised how easy it is to get lost underneath several pounds of fabric.”

After several minutes, he managed to get his arms in the suit as well. Milo reached over his back for the gecko head, but found that he couldn’t get a grip on it. Zack pulled it on for him.

“Thanks!” Milo exclaimed. “To the field!”

“And you’ve got the detachable tail if you’re in a pinch,” Zack reminded him as they got off the bus.

Milo nodded. “I know, right! You guys are just full of surprises.” The tail popped off, thrashing wildly and tripping students who’d come to the game before taking out the tire of the school bus. The bus crashed to the ground, a fire springing from the engine.

“Moving on,” Zack said as they headed to the field. “Just try not to land yourself in the hospital this time.”

“I make no promises!” Milo exclaimed.

Zack joined the huddle of football players who were listening to Coach Mitchell run over the game plan. “Hey, Milo!” Melissa called from the stands. Everyone else had moved to the highest seats, nervously checking over their shoulders for any sign of Murphy’s Law.

“Melissa! What’s up?” Milo asked.

Melissa gave him the ‘I have a plan’ smile. “So, I did a little recon on the Field Mice of Fieldmouse Middle School. Which is a pretty uncreative name when I say it out loud like that, but that’s besides the point. Their mascot is Lola Sundergard, your female doppelganger we ran into at the recycling factory. At the end of the second quarter, you two will swap places. And the Geckos win yet another game! So what do you think?”

“Wouldn’t they notice the switch?” Milo asked.

“I’ve already met up with my counterpart, Melanie,” Melissa shrugged. “She’s agreed to facilitate the trade as well. Though if I know my counterparts, she’s probably got a plan of her own. I’m not really sure. She seemed a little too eager to make the trade. Oh, well. It’ll work. Just you wait and see.”

“Presenting the Jefferson County Middle School Geckos and the Fieldmouse Middle School Field Mice!

“Okay, meet up with you later! I’m on!” Milo yelled over his shoulder at Melissa as he did the traditional sprint around the football team. “Go Geck-ACK!” He tripped over a football that had been lying out in the field, sending him sprawling onto the turf.

“Geckos!” Milo cheered one more time before running off the field and joining the cheerleaders.

By the end of the second quarter, neither team had scored. Mostly because the goalposts being on fire, the bats occasionally diving into people’s faces to get an insect, and the giant robots which occasionally fired laser beams in random directions drove people away from the end zones.

While everyone else was distracted by the defunded marching band, Milo hopped over the gate to join Melissa. “Something’s up with the other team,” Melissa noted. “I don’t get it. They should’ve been mercilessly crushing us. Anyway, our rendezvous point is behind the concessions stand. We debated setting it by the restrooms, but I don’t think you’d appreciate nasty public restroom water all over the suit. Then again, I didn’t launch into the details of how exactly we beat the Tigers either.”

Melanie and Lola were already waiting for them behind the stands.

“So, you didn’t back out on our deal,” Melanie said. She leaned coolly on a railing, popping her gum at them. “Okay. Let’s trade mascots.”

“Now why would I back out?” Melissa asked innocently. “We both agreed this would be a hilarious prank on both schools once they realize the switch.”

Melanie shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

“It’s like Melanie has a secret twin who’s just as clever as her,” Lola marveled. “So, we’re switching now?”

It took five minutes to get Milo out of the gecko suit since the zipper was stuck, but with a little teamwork from the girls and a generous amount of popcorn butter, they finally managed.

“Shouldn’t geckos have tails?” Lola asked, holding up the empty gecko suit. “What happened to it?”

“It’s an old suit and our school’s underfunded,” Melissa said. “It’s only natural for some parts to be frayed.”

“Here’s some popcorn butter roller,” Milo said, tossing Lola what appeared to be a lint roller. “It’s like a lint roller, but it absorbs popcorn butter!”

Thankfully, the mouse suit was a lot easier to put on. Milo and Lola stood side-by-side as Melissa and Melanie adjusted the heads to mask the slight differences in their facial features. By the time they finished, the football players were gathering on the field for the start of the third quarter.

“We’ll meet back here after the game,” Melissa said, winking at Milo as she led Lola back to their side of the stadium. “Well, you look like a fully hatched Gecko now, so I just need to make sure you know the main cheer so you’ll blend in.”

“Looks like you’re a field mouse now,” Melanie said. “How’s it feel to trade one prey animal for another?”

Milo tugged on his tail curiously. “Is this detachable too?”

“Nope, but it squeaks if you press the button on your hand,” Melanie said. “Try it out.”

Milo pushed it, only to flinch and hold his hand as far from his body as he could when the button emitted a loud, high-pitched sound. Everyone in the vicinity screamed and covered their ears as all of the lights blew out in the stadium.

“Everyone stay calm and don’t panic!” the announcer shouted. “If you need me, I’ll be in my secret totally not-a-panic-room.”

“Maybe we should check the power supply first,” Milo suggested, quickly crushing the small box to stop the sound.

“Everyone, grab hold of me!” Milo shouted to the Fieldmouse cheerleaders behind him. They latched on to him quickly, and he swung a rope up to the bleachers. He hauled himself into the stands, helping the other cheerleaders escape the feral cats below. “You girls okay?”

“We had no idea you could do that, Lola!” a blonde girl exclaimed. “Can you teach me someday?”

Milo chuckled. “Well, you see-“

Thankfully, Melanie came to his rescue. “Okay, ladies!” she clapped her hands and pointed down to the field. “You have some important cheering to do! Get down to the field and squeak like you mean it!”

The other girls glanced nervously at the feral cats, who were still circling the track nearby.

“You might want to take these,” Milo suggested. He handed every cheerleader two balls of yarn. “Cause when the cats are away, the Field Mice will cheer during play!”

A blonde girl with braces giggled behind her pom-poms. “Ooh that’s a good one! Can we start using it?”

Milo nodded. “Yeah, go for it!”

As they watched the cheerleaders resume their positions on the field, Melanie gave Milo a thumbs-up. “Congratulations on besting the Kitty’s Curse,” she said. “We should be dealing with at least five more tonight. Six if the escargot vendor slips.”

“Five more?” Milo asked, ducking when a Gecko’s helmet flew over his head.

Melanie counted on her fingers as she lifted off a slew of various curses. “Lightbulb curse, country music curse, xylophone curse, pom-pom curse, and the one our team is banking on tonight, the Emu’s Curse.”

Milo whistled. “That’s a lot of curses.”

“Yup. Lola and I agreed on this switch so we could break the Emu’s Curse on our team,” Melanie said. “We’ve had it since the beginning of the season, when a herd of emus carried off our assistant coach. We’ll never be able to win a game unless we can break it.”

“So that’s why Melissa said she thought you guys were plotting something,” Milo mused. “And while we’re revealing secrets, this is the second time I’ve dressed as someone from the opposing school to win a game.”

There was only five minutes left in the game, and the teams were still tied with zero points each. It would probably be going into overtime.

Permanent overtime, Milo realized. The game would continue forever if nobody scored. And they would probably have to draft a new government, create the rules for a new society within the cheap stadium walls, try not to inevitably dissolve into anarchy….

“We heard about your victory over the Tigers. The news spread around the district like wildfire. We wondered how a team who holds the district record for a thousand straight losses and counting could even win against a group of sweaty adults,” Melanie paused, tapping her chin in thought. “Hold on. My school has never played the Geckos before tonight due to you being infamous around the city. They know all about the Emu’s Curse too. So why did they schedule us to play against each other?”

Milo shrugged. “Maybe someone forgot to look into it?”

Melanie raised an eyebrow. “That’s the best case scenario. But the staff of Fieldmouse Middle School are timid, much like their namesake. They wouldn’t take responsibility if someone was injured. There’s a third player somewhere. And we better find out who it is before this game goes on for an eternity. And believe me, that’s not a hyperbole.”

Tempers were running high and energy was nonexistent as the game dragged into the third overtime period. The cheerleaders from both sides were benched and refused to cheer anymore, and the tuba player on the Gecko side had keeled over from the sheer weight of his instrument.

“Just score and don’t die out there!” the Fieldmouse coach ordered.

Coach Mitchell picked Zack and Mort to provide enough water to Randy, who was too weak to drag himself over to the water tank.

Milo and Melanie used the opportunity to meet up with Melissa and Lola behind the concessions stand again. Melissa yawned loudly, not bothering to cover her mouth. Lola had lost the Gecko head somehow, but nobody was paying enough attention to notice.

“Sorry about the costume,” Milo said as he handed the tattered gray remains of the mouse suit to Lola. “A group of moths got hungry.”

“No worries!” Lola exclaimed. “Being a Gecko was fun while it lasted!”

“Same for being a Field Mouse,” Milo agreed. He decided against wearing the costume, since putting it on would take too much time. He stuffed it into his backpack for safekeeping, making a mental note to return it to the school later.

“We both know something’s up,” Melissa said, fistbumping Melanie for a job well done. “But who would benefit from the shameless exploitation of middle school football?”

“Shameless exploitation,” Milo repeated. “Melissa, we dealt with someone like that once. And if I’m right, you have to give me your cheese sticks at lunch for the next week!”

“I’m only agreeing to three days,” Melissa said.

The steps up to the announcer’s box were slick with oil, so they held onto the railings tightly so they didn’t trip. Milo took the lead, pressing on as his shoes were slathered in oil. Melanie and Lola were practically climbing on their hands and knees. Melissa was just a few steps below him.

“I knew the announcer was behind this!” Melissa exclaimed. “Don’t declare that you have a secret room on the mike if you don’t want teenagers checking it out.”

“And not just any announcer!” Milo added. He caught himself on the doorknob as he slipped on another patch of oil. “The real culprit is…”

He kicked the door open, only to land flat on his face when his foot slid too far from his body. The man at the microphone whirled around in surprise.

“The real culprit is Victor Verliezer!” Milo exclaimed, quickly getting back on his feet.

“You!” Verliezer shouted.

“Weird guy who cursed me at the grocery store for taking the last chocolate bar!” Lola yelled.

They stared at her.

Lola coughed. “Well, they had other brands. You didn’t have to curse my phones into failing every month.”

Verliezer hissed at them, clutching the microphone protectively. “That was the one of the few brands without peanuts and you know it!” He cleared his throat as he launched into his villain spiel. “We meet again, Murphy. After you and your little friends robbed me of my livelihood, I was forced to stoop to this! Just a common man in an idiotic school district. But lo and behold, I did some digging into the school files and discovered that you and Ponytail here happened to go to the schools that were never allowed to play against each other lest you be locked into a stalemate! Then I thought, why don’t I just let them play forever? You’ll be trapped, and I’ll make millions from the clueless masses who tune in mindlessly to a football game that goes on forever!”

“You do realize that nobody watches middle school football on TV,” Melanie scoffed.

“Or that you probably wouldn’t have a lot of ratings even if people did tune in,” Lola added.

“And everybody can hear you because you didn’t bother to turn the microphone off,” Melissa smirked.

Verliezer paled. “You all heard that, didn’t you?”

“Yes, yes we did,” everyone in the stadium chorused.

Verliezer stumbled past Milo, muttering about how another plot had been ruined. Milo waved at him as he slipped all the way down the stairs, straight into a group of police officers. “Feel free to take your sweet revenge on me once you come up with something that could actually work!” he shouted.

Melissa frowned, pointing out the window. The players were either lying on the turf or the benches, while the cheerleaders used their pom-poms as pillows. Even the coaches and referees were too tired to egg people on. The football laid in the middle of the field, completely forgotten.

“We should probably end this game,” Lola suggested. “I mean, all we have to do is just take the ball into the end zone.”

“Rock-paper-scissors for who gets to win,” Melanie suggested. “Best two out of three.”

“Bring it!” Melissa jumped at the challenge, and the girls engaged in a fierce game of rock-paper-scissors.

Milo yawned after ten minutes, realizing the game wouldn’t be going anywhere since they kept pulling the same hand gesture. “I’ll run the ball down myself,” he said to Lola. “And I don’t know which end is which because I wasn’t paying attention, so both schools have a 50-50 shot at winning. I’d say that’s fair.”

He used an inflatable pool ring to sled down the oil-coated stairs, crashing into the fence by the field. Then he hopped over the barrier and picked up the football. He glanced at both end zones, debating which one he should run to.

Then he decided to take his chances with the one that was swarming with alligators rather than the one surrounded by flocks of Canadian geese. As he passed the thirty-yard line, an exposed water pipe exploded, scattering metallic-looking water all over the field. The geese on the other end honked angrily, taking to the air. There was a scream from the stands, and Milo turned to see Elliot leaping over the students in his hurry to get out of the stadium.

Several birds smacked into Milo, almost making him lose his grip on the football. The alligators waddled after the geese, clearing a safe path in the end zone for him.

Milo cheered as he crossed the line, throwing the football to the ground for good measure. The crowd whispered and pointed to each other, and several people had to shake themselves out of a stupor.

Then the visitor’s side erupted into cheers.

The Field Mice won the game.

Milo was immediately tackled by Lola as she excitedly led him around the field in a victory lap. The football players cheered weakly from the bench.

“Here. You take the attendance sheet down to the office,” Bradley scoffed to Milo, tossing a few pages at him. “And remember that the office is at the front of the school so that you don’t go to the wrong side like you did on Friday.”

“Lay off,” Zack muttered. “You would’ve been an eternal spectator if Milo and Melissa hadn’t foiled Verliezer’s plot.”

Bradley rolled a pencil back and forth across his desk, now utterly disinterested in the conversation.

“Paulie will be back as the mascot this week,” Melissa said. “Though he’s making a makeshift head and tail out of tin cans for the rest of the season. The school this week has a goat for their mascot, so he should be fine.”

Zack coughed.

“Using a very loose definition of fine.”

#gecko spirit week #milo murphy's law #melissa chase #lola sundergard #zack underwood #fanfiction #oneshot

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omgkeeem · 6 years

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Inside Taekwondo

I was 9 years old when I got myself interested in martial arts. I’m a weird kid back then, showing off my fictional skills in our backyard alone at dark evening with dim lights all over. I was a fat kid that time (well, I still am. but not that much unlike before) And gladly my classmates didn’t have their guts on bullying me, instead they follow me and even respects me as if I’m their master. It’s really funny how it goes seeing myself a bossy one before. I’ve been sent to Principal’s office once, because of pulling on my classmate’s hair --the reason is he kept on blocking the blackboard on purpose where I am still taking down notes-- I didn’t intentionally pulled his hair with extreme force. Adrenaline I guess, who’ll don’t get mad right?.

Later on 5th grade, I was 10 years old. I joined taekwondo, I was with my Nanny when I got myself on registration because Mom can’t take it that time for being too busy at school and it isn’t a big deal for me because I respect Mom and her career. It was mixed emotion that time, I was watching those kids with different colored belts around their waist, following their Instructor/Master’s command. At night, thoughts kept on flying in my mind, being too excited to start my first training. I was too occupied that time, thinking how I will boast it to my friends that I finally joined taekwondo. I badly wanted to be physical fit those time and to learn different kicks.

Months inside taekwondo, everything turned out to be just great. At first, I was way way way too shy wearing my white belt with me. Oh I nearly forgot, I was a very silent person that time, well up ‘til now but it’s much worse before. “I’ll just go with the flow i guess”, I told myself. I remember how my Instructor encourages me to join the Unit meet when I stepped on my 6th grade, I was naive, obeying what all elders telling me, So I agreed. I was a Yellow belter, The fight came and it was very fortunate for me that I won the championship game. Motivations all over! shivers through my spines! All the proud from my families and friends came! it was absolutely brilliant. But, Unfortunately, I failed at Divisional meet. I guess I was being too proud of myself for winning my first award in taekwondo during the held Unit meet. I cried that time and been very down lately, but my instructor lifted my chin up and motivates me even more, to practice more because It was just an experience. “At least now, you knew what makes you lose. more training camille! you’ve got this.”.

Summer, before I turn into Junior High School. I’ve trained harder, atleast 3 times a week. The revenge side has been with me the whole summer. School came, while waiting a long months to play. I focus on my studies first, I got high grades, balancing my role as a student and athlete. Luckily, heaven heard my prayer. I’ve finally selected as one of Taekwondo Regional Players after I won the battle against the Giants!. For snake’s sake, what I hate ‘till now is I’m lack of height hahaha. But, God guided me as if I was David battling against Goliath.

The day came, when we, taekwondo team are obliged to attend a 7 weeks training outside school. There I realized, how hard taekwondo really is. That it’s not every time you’ll just lean unto someone’s shoulder when everything’s not fine. Taekwondo teaches me to be more independent, to step in life using my own feet. It was my first time, being separated with my mom, miiiiiiles away. I’m in Palawan just with my teammates, coaches and trainor.

I hid in bathroom at late night evening that time, crying while talking to my mom at phone. Pleasing her to come as soon as possible. But it isn’t that easy because booking an airplane is way too expensive plus she’s at school, she can’t leave her students out of knowledge. We, players have an exclusive ship that time where we stayed in for 3 days before we got there in Palawan. So, my sister had no choice but to book an airplane, ignoring how expensive it was. I, again failed to win and happily brought home the Bronze Medal. “Maybe it’s not yet your time, ok?” My sister calmed me. Telling me how young i am and still have a lots of years to take over. My opponent is a graduating student that time, meaning if she lose the match, she wasn’t able to play next year anymore. I returned at school, receiving all their sweet smile as they congratulate me. My grades got even higher! just a great thing to have as a motivation at school.

Summer before my 8th grade, I got very tired on attending training 3 times week. The reason is, my friends inside our gym slowly fading out. I mean, every other day, they just went up gone and not showing off their faces anymore. So we were like just 4 inside our gym unlike before that we’re in 20′s. Plus, my instructor trains me to teach the white belters and assist him every training. I had no choice but to follow to the fact that I’m not a fan of spending time with kids, unless they’re that easy to get their attention. I found the training that time, so boring, where I started to leave just for a moment, too. Weeks passed, my sister was so confused asking if we don’t have training schedule those time, there I realized and forgot that I was fully payed for 2 months training session. She scolded me, and I get her point. It was months when I returned at training. And it ripped me off seeing those kids level are already higher than me. I’ll never forget how my instructor welcomed me, “who are you?” he joked and laughed right after. I know it was a joke but hell it hurts me. The way I feel before when I enter the gym turned out to be different. I felt like I was a noob or new comer. I cried at night regretting all those mistakes I’ve done. But I payed my instructor with hardwork and dedication on training which results a good feedback. But, Still, i didn’t make it to Regional meet again.

I hated it being too conceited with myself. There I realized that God is challenging me. I realized my mistakes, I forgot to talk to God every before the fight, and everytime it happens, I always lose. Everytime I judge my opponent’s skill, I lose. I lose everytime I assumed that I will win. So I lost all my hopes, It ripped off my positive side. The reason why nearly quit Taekwondo. “Make yourself humble to god” my sister told me which woked me up again to reality.

I trained continuously. I, again selected as Regional Player when I was in my 9th grade. I worked hard on 1 month training. And been praying every night until the fight came. Again, I lose, receiving all the tormenting words from my trainor, “idiot, stupid!”. Yh, t’was the first time someone called me that and I admit it was all my mistakes. I was covered up all with fear during that match, which gave me unconscious mind inside the rubber mat. Of course I cried again, thinking how much I worked hard on 1 month training and just ended up a loser inside a 2 minutes match. I was so ashamed that I didn’t brought home some medals, not even bronze. I was too guilty at every expenses my family spent for me and for all the knowledge and time that my instructors have shared for me.��

I returned home, and I just found myself staring outside the window, crying. Thinking that If I knew that I’ll just ended up a loser, I’ll rather just use that 1 and a half month time on school instead of training. I talked to God everyday, It just feels so good talking to God in a friendly conversational way while crying. It was as if his talking to you, too, but without voices. He’ll just makes you realize something and poop! there you go.

I also talked to myself, weird but that’s how I lived my life. I told myself that when I got myself on 10th grade, I’ll just focus on my studies and prepare for my Senior High and aspired course on college. My decision is settled. play no more and go excel on academics!.

I am now a Grade 10 student. Whose living each day to the fullest as if there’ll be no tomorrow. I’ve gained awards and weight, LOL. Been elected as Class President, has joined Journalism and been very disgusted bringing myself on stages as muse, two times at least, both 1st and 2nd placer. No really, not being boastful but honestly I was very annoyed having them encourages me to participate on this kind of event which literally don’t suite my personality. But I’m somehow very thankful because it cured my Speech-anxiety and stage fright a 60 and a half percent.

Months of success at academics, Idk but I felt like something’s missing and just found myself having a guts on participating the upcoming District meet. I trusted God, and he did never leave my side. Now, he let me joined at Divisional Tournament which I got two gold medals, and right after that God brought me again into National Age Group Taekwondo Tournament and did grant my wish to brought home the Gold and Bronze medal both in two categories I’ve joined, the poomsae and kyurogi. And he still did shower me so much blessings for I just won again yesterday on Divisional meet and selected again as Regional Player which brought me into tears! God did heard my prayer that this will be the last year where I’ll represent my town and province as a player. For I am planning to switch from different school for my Senior High and Career in taekwondo. As my journey continuous... God knows what’s best for me and I will always stick to his plans for I know he has a better dream for me than mine.

I thought joining taekwondo will just help me to be physical fit and gain knowledge on different kicks. But taekwondo did a lot for me, I realized that taekwondo is much wider than i think it was before. It transformed me from a shy and fearful one into a sociable and brave one. Taekwondo builds up my characteristic as a humble woman from a boastful one. Taekwondo teaches me how to treat everyone as a family and to stay positive at all times. It teaches me to manage time between school and career.

Inside Taekwondo, You’ll never see it as a hobby, it’s more like a home where you and your family unites and fight together.

Taekwondo isn’t just a sport, It’s an art of rebuilding your character and conquering your fears at once.

I wanted to thank God that taekwondo was sent to me for it sheltered me against fears and negativity. Indeed a life changing!

i am now on my way to blackbelt degree hihi

12am | 11/11/17

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cgsolano · 4 years

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Ciao ciao 2019. Here we are, 2020.

I keep doing this on the last day of the year... I was thinking of starting yesterday, but I guess there are things that never change... So yes, here we are... at the doorstep of 2020. A new year, a new decade.

Twenty years ago I was still living in Texas, working for Motorola. Making preparations for the infamous Y2K --which was such a big disappointment. A big nothing burger. Ten years ago, I was living here in Illinois, working for Kraft. Going through the motions of their Leadership Program. And now, I am entering 2020 building software at Walgreens. More mature, growing a beard and with a lot more salt in my hair --the pepper is clearly getting overpowered.

2019 was not a bad year. Before we go into the chronicle of the year, here’s my takeaway from it...

I was able to remain healthy, the same as my family. More than ever, I realize that without health you have nothing. A friend of mine, Kim, passed away from cancer. It did hit me, because she was such a good person. Full of life, laughs, art, music, love for her daughters and her husband. I have a painting I bought from her hanging in my room. She started making these to support her cancer treatments. In the end, she passed away peacefully at her home and surrounded by her family and closest friends. Godspeed, Kimmy.

Make every effort to remain healthy. Eat well, try to squeeze in some exercise --even if it is not at a gym: park your car the furthest you can so you can walk, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk to the store and carry your bags. If you can’t change your circumstances, don’t let the circumstances change you. Don’t let stress take over your life. Beat anxiety. And if you see that the circumstances are changing you, change them instead. Someway somehow.

I also had the chance to make significant new connections and rekindle existing ones.

One of these new connections was so unexpected and a blessing to me. She lives her life with no regrets. She lives by her beliefs and is true to herself and what’s important to her. She’s all out there. ALL! And I love that! Because not everybody is or can be --or is willing to be. And it’s such a refreshing thing to see and learn and feel. Not everybody walks the talk, and she’s passionate about walking her talk, unfiltered. This year I became a better person because of her.

So, make the effort to make interesting and new connections. There’s a whole world out there. And connecting with people just enriches your own life. Go and rekindle your interesting old connections as well. You never know what new surprises you’ll get from people you thought you know.

I also reminisced about being young (a teen), and having my own problems and challenges. Sabina turned 14, and she’s in 8th grade. Making a decision on what High School to attend, and making it happen, is such a big deal --at least here in The Chi. Studying, prepping for the placement test, taking tutoring on weekends, HS open houses, homework, practice tests, gymnastics, friends,, family. Wherever she lands, I know she’ll do great.

Support the teens in your life. It is such an emotionally fragile stage. They look up to you, adults. They really do. And I am happy to say that we were able to support her every step of the way.

Finally, I am receiving this new year with open arms. Completely open to opportunities and challenges --even if they rock the boat hard. Even if they change the life I’ve known for the last 2 decades...

And talking about boats... If I can leave you with a thought:

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore. Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life, having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity, and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim. Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”

― Sir Francis Drake

This 2020, dare more boldly. Be happy, and be well. Happy New Year!

Now, below is my personal account of 2019... So, if you’re interested, keep reading!

So, here’s the customary account of 2019...

I ended up at 50% goal, again... I tried to read 12 books this year, but I ended up at 6. Not great, but here we are... Can I read more? Sure. Do I spend inglorious amounts of time on wasteful activities? Absolutely. But you know, some of these wasteful activities also give me joy. So, are they really wasteful? Something to think about. Anyways, this is what I read this year:

Bad Blood -- This book is INSANE !!! I absolutely loved it! A story of greed, ego, tech and deceit It has everything! I’ve been in the medical devices/pharma world for a little over 5 years now, and this account of events is completely crazy. Go pick it up, now!

Netflixed -- This was another great book about our beloved streaming company. The epic battle between Netflix and Blockbuster has no equal.

The Road to Chapultepec Park -- This dystopian book was marginally ok. I picked it up because 1) it’s the end of the world and 2) because it talks about the journey from the US to Mexico City by a group of people during the end of the world as we know it due to climate change. Chapultepec Park, which I know and have walked, becomes a sanctuary during this time and people are trying to get there by any means.

Small Fry -- So, everyone who knows me knows that I am a fan of Steve (Jobs), but not an Apple fanboy. I’ve read a lot about Steve but this book, written by Lisa, his daughter, gave me a completely different view of Steve and his life. There were new things I learned about him, and I realized this book humanizes him, a lot. He had his own problems, and insecurities (!!!), and demons to exorcize, and amends to make, he bit his nails. I absolutely loved it.

Midnight in Chernobyl -- Wow. This book was such an amazing read. This book, which can be considered an end-of-the-world type book, was crazy --and more because it was REAL! This is the very well researched account of what happened before, during and after the Chernobyl catastrophe more than 30 years ago. You can’t even imagine. Go get it!

The Handmaids Tale -- This is another dystopian book. And before I watched the series, I wanted to read it. What a harsh world... and with all that’s been happening in real life, not only here in the USA but in other countries, it is such a cautionary tale. I will not spoil it, but this is a very good read about a very bad world.

I’ll try to read at least 8 books this 2020. If I can’t do 12, maybe I can do 8 since I’ve been doing 5-6 books a year for a while now. And whatever goes above and beyond that, it’s all for the win.

I also traveled a little here and there. The highlights were, in some chronological order, as follows...

Las Vegas for the Dynatrace Perform conference, staying at the Cosmo, which was amazing! I want to go again. Vegas is such an amazing place! I don’t think I did any shows or concerts this time :-( But I did go to a couple of cool places: TAO and Marquee. These were amazing venues and great experiences.

We went to Holland, MI. We were there for a bat mitzvah for one of Sabina’s friends. This was such a great experience! The small town is amazing and has great breweries and things to do.

Ah, and Mexico in the summer. Never ever disappoints. Had the chance to see family and old friends in Mexico City, Queretaro and Tequisquiapan. Great food, great chats, great activities. This time we flew directly into Queretaro instead of Mexico City. What a difference! Way smaller airport, no traffic, no waits. And the drive from Queretaro to Tequisquiapan is just 20 mins --compared to the 3+ hours we would normally drive from Mexico City due to traffic and distance.

I also went to Monterrey, Mexico. There is some very interesting stuff happening there... I will not say more, but there’s stuff happening. I had the chance to reconnect with old friends during this very short trip and to eat amazing tacos. Those norteños really know their meats.

Sports and concerts? I went to see the Rockies vs Cubs, Giants vs Cubs, Packers vs Bears on opening day, Knicks vs Bulls, Nets vs Bulls, Cowboys vs Bears for Santiago’s birthday and Bulls vs Hawks. Definitely a lot of sports this year! And I’ve really enjoyed it. Santiago absolutely loved his first football game. There was this specific run that Trubisky did and scored... Santi and I hugged and jumped and screamed. What a moment. I don’t think we did as many concerts as we should. We did go see the Chicago Sinfonietta and it was outstanding.

Other things we did... A couple of times to Steppenwolf Theater --which I don’t think we do enough. Teatro ZinZanni which we did for Adriana’s birthday and was absolutely amazing, BATL Axe Throwing which is insanely fun, Hamilton for Sabina’s birthday which she loved, Champions of Magic for Christmas Eve for the whole family, Lincoln Park Zoo to see the lights, watched Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, and had a memorable Christmas Eve dinner at Tocco in Winnetka, IL. For New Year’s we’re going to Bodega Sur, which will be amazing for sure.

Health? Well, as I mentioned, I kept myself out of trouble. Continued with the excuses to not exercise more. However, I think I ate well all things considered. I was able to maintain my weight throughout the whole year --which is a huge accomplishment in my mind. If I’m not exercising, at least I am eating well and not gaining weight. I tried to do some personal training/gym, but I almost died... I guess I need to come back little by little. I’ll try other avenues and see how it works out.

I grew a beard. And I like it.

I’ve also been learning (or trying to) some Italian. And it has been going well, I think. I listen to Italian podcasts and follow Italian people on Instagram. I use Google Translate a lot and it has definitely helped me. I listen to Italian music in my car. La dolce vita, baby!

Finally, I’ve been cooking a new tech concept with a friend of mine... Let’s see how that develops in 2020. We think there’s potential. This has to do with Blockchain... and has a social conscience. So it’s geeky, and it helps people. What else could I ask for?! Stay tuned...

Well, I guess that’s that... 2019 was a very good to all of us. And we are grateful about all things experienced and received. Let 2020 be as good, or better! Thanks for reading!

#2020 newyear byebye2019

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biofunmy · 5 years

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How the Nationals Won Game 1 of the World Series

HOUSTON — It had been exactly five months since Gerrit Cole took a loss in a baseball game, a period in which he strung together 19 victories for one of the most remarkable winning streaks the game has seen.

It got to the point where fans of the Houston Astros almost felt a sense of entitlement, that every time Cole took the mound he would win. For much of the season that was the case, but the expiration date on his streak came at a most inopportune time.

The Washington Nationals, behind a wonderful performance from their own ace, Max Scherzer, stunned the Astros, 5-4, to win Game 1 of the World Series at Minute Maid Park.

It was the first World Series victory for a Washington team since the 1933 Senators, an American League team, won Game 4. They lost that Series to the New York Giants in five games and did not return to the postseason before moving to Minnesota to become the Twins in 1961.

But on Tuesday the Nationals, who moved to Washington from Montreal in 2005, extended their postseason winning streak to seven games, dating back to their division series upset of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

They scored five runs off Cole — two of them on home runs — as the Astros right-hander surrendered eight hits and lost for the first time since May 22 against the Chicago White Sox. During his winning streak, Cole went 19-0 with a 1.59 earned run average, and his team went 23-2 in that span, including three straight wins in the postseason.

“It’s been the best run I’ve seen in a starting pitcher in my career,” said Houston’s Game 2 starter, Justin Verlander, a 15-year veteran.

But perfection is rare in baseball, and the Nationals drove that point home by hammering Cole early. Ryan Zimmerman, the longest-tenured National, homered in the second inning, and Juan Soto, who turns 21 on Friday, homered in the fourth — the first of his three hits — to even the score, 2-2. It was the first time in 12 starts that Cole had given up two home runs in a game.

If that was not shocking enough, Washington jumped on Cole again in the fifth inning. His first mistake was to walk Kurt Suzuki, the No. 8 batter. Then Victor Robles singled to left field, and one out later Adam Eaton, who came into the Series batting .194 in the postseason, slapped a broken-bat single to right field that enabled Suzuki to score and gave the Nationals the lead.

It was the first time Cole had trailed since Sept. 2, and the first time he had allowed as many as five runs in a start since his last loss, in May.

On Monday, before the Nationals’ practice at Minute Maid Park, Eaton was asked about the baseball being used in the postseason and whether it traveled less than the ball used in the regular season, as some have speculated.

“I don’t ever hit the ball hard enough anyway for it to go anywhere,” Eaton said with a shrug, “so I don’t know the difference.”

But the broken-bat single was his second hit of the game — off one of the best pitchers in baseball, no less. One batter later, Soto added to the tally when he lined a ball off the wall in left field to push home two more runs and give the Nationals a 5-2 lead.

The Astros’ hitters are tough, too, but Scherzer settled down after giving up a two-run double in the first inning to Yuli Gurriel and did not allow another run over his next four innings.

After Scherzer departed, Washington used Patrick Corbin, the probable Game 3 starter, to pitch an inning of scoreless relief, but the Astros took advantage when Corbin was replaced by Tanner Rainey. George Springer whacked a leadoff home run to set a record — he has hit a home run in five consecutive World Series games dating to the Astros’ championship in 2017, breaking a tie with Reggie Jackson and Lou Gehrig.

It was the Astros who had taken the first lead of the game, striking quickly against Scherzer in the first inning when Gurriel lined an inside pitch off the wall in left field for a two-run double.

Scherzer had walked Springer to lead off the inning, and then Jose Altuve, in his first at-bat since his dramatic home run to beat the Yankees in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series, lined a single to left field. The fans, still saluting one of their favorite players for his previous heroics, exploded.

That did not seem to immediately affect Scherzer, who struck out Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman on sliders. But against Gurriel, he threw a 1-2 fastball that was up and over the inner third of the plate, and Gurriel sent it on a line to the wall. With two outs, the runners were moving and both scored easily.

The Nationals got within one run in the top of the second when Zimmerman rocketed a 96-mile-per-hour fastball over the wall in center field.

Zimmerman had played in 19 postseason games, but like his team, he had never made it past the division round of the playoffs until this year. Now he and the Nationals have taken not only Game 1 but also home-field advantage.

Benjamin Hoffman provided live updates and analysis from Game 1, as it happened:

Bottom 9th: Sean Doolittle Closes Things Out

Sean Doolittle started the ninth by striking out Alex Bregman with a 94-mile-per-hour fastball that Bregman simply waved at. Yuli Gurriel flied out to center, leaving things up to Carlos Correa, and Houston’s shortstop flied out to center to end the game.

Top 9th: Astros Keep It Close

Joe Smith was on the mound in the ninth for Houston and he needed just one pitch to retire Ryan Zimmerman on a grounder to short. Smith struck out Kurt Suzuki and got Victor Robles out on a pop to short.

The Astros have three more outs to get back into this game.

Bottom 8th: Nationals’ Lead Is Down to One

Houston keeps chipping away, but still trails, 5-4.

The rookie Kyle Tucker came in as a pinch-hitter for Martin Maldonado and he singled to center off Daniel Hudson. Aledmys Diaz seemingly flied out harmlessly to center, but when Victor Robles was not quick with a throw, Tucker showed some hustle by tagging up and advancing to second, with Robles’s throw inexplicably going behind Tucker, to first base.

That brought up the postseason hero George Springer, who took advantage of the runner in scoring position by doubling off the wall in right-center, sending Tucker home and making it a 5-4 game.

After Jose Altuve flied out to right for out No. 2, Sean Doolittle came in to relieve Hudson, and he got out of the inning when Michael Brantley lined out to left.

Top 8th: Another Hit for Soto, but No Runs

Both teams are now into their bullpens, with Washington still leading, 5-3.

Will Harris came on in relief of Gerrit Cole, and he quickly retired Anthony Rendon on a pop-out to second. After Juan Soto singled on a grounder to center, Howie Kendrick lined out to right. With Asdrubal Cabrera up, Soto stole second, becoming just the fifth player in the last 20 years to homer and a steal a base in a single World Series game. But Harris was unfazed, and he got out of the inning by striking out Cabrera.

Bottom 7th: Rainey Gives Up a Solo Shot

Houston’s deficit is down to two runs after George Springer hit his 14th career postseason home run.

The hard-throwing Tanner Rainey came on in relief of Patrick Corbin, and Springer turned Rainey’s 99-mile-per-hour fastball into a 428-foot home run to center that got the crowd in Houston right back into the game.

Rainey recovered to strike out Jose Altuve on a slider in the dirt, but Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman both walked. Daniel Hudson came in to face Yuli Gurriel and got the first baseman pop out to second. Carlos Correa hit a grounder to short that Trea Turner couldn’t handle well, loading the bases for the 22-year-old Yordan Alvarez. But the powerful Alvarez struck out to end the inning.

Top 7th: Cole Stays Strong

Gerrit Cole was back out to start the seventh and he still looked strong, striking out Victor Robles on four pitches. Trea Turner made him work for a second out, drawing eight pitches before striking out, and Adam Eaton flied out to right, giving Cole his first perfect inning of the night.

Cole has thrown 104 pitches and, with lots of activity in Houston’s bullpen his day is either done or nearly done.

Bottom 6th: Scherzer Gives Way to Corbin

Patrick Corbin, typically Washington’s No. 3 starter, came on in relief of Max Scherzer — his fourth relief appearance of this postseason — and he did his job well, bridging Washington to its regular relievers for the final three innings.

He started things off with a strikeout of Yuli Gurriel, who had no chance on a devastating 84-mile-per-hour slider. After Yordan Alvarez, who is quickly heating up after a terrible N.L.C.S., singled on a line drive to right, Corbin struck out Martin Maldonado with another terrific slider. Aledmys Diaz came in as a pinch-hitter for Josh Reddick, but Corbin got him to ground out to second to end the inning.

Top 6th: Astros Get a Double Play

Gerrit Cole only needed to face three batters in the sixth, even if he did not quite match Max Scherzer’s perfection of the previous half-inning.

Asdrubal Cabrera lined out with a soft single to left center, causing a stir of activity in Houston’s bullpen, but Cole induced a 4-6-3 double-play off the bat of Ryan Zimmerman. Cole then got a third out when Kurt Suzuki flied out to second base.

Bottom 5th: Peak Scherzer

The game finally has a perfect inning, thanks to Max Scherzer.

Michael Brantley lined out to center, Alex Bregman grounded out to short and Yuli Gurriel struck out.

Hopefully Washington fans enjoyed it, as Scherzer is now up to 112 pitches. His season-high was 120 and he was only allowed to throw more than 110 seven times.

Top 5th: Nationals Get to Cole

A few singles, some heads-up baserunning, and a booming double have the Nationals leading Gerrit Cole and the Astros.

The Nationals put pressure on Cole immediately. Kurt Suzuki drew the first walk of the day from Houston’s co-ace, and Victor Robles followed with a single on a sharp grounder to right. Trea Turner lined out to right, but showing some aggressiveness, Suzuki advanced to third after the catch.

That proved to be a key decision, as with runners on the corners and one out, Adam Eaton laced a single to right, sending Suzuki home.

Anthony Rendon broke his bat on a hard grounder to third that Alex Bregman tried to turn into a double-play, but even with a clean turn at second base, Houston only got the out at second thanks to Rendon running hard out of the box. That left runners at the corners with two outs for Juan Soto, who smacked a double off the wall, bringing both runners home.

Howie Kendrick then smoked a ball that looked like it would send at least one more run in, but Cole got bailed out by a thrilling diving catch from Carlos Correa to end the inning.

This is easily Cole’s worst start since May 22, when he took a loss to the White Sox that preceeded one of the most dominant stretches by a starting pitcher in recent memory.

Bottom 4th: Scherzer Gets Out of Another Jam

It’s not as if either starter has truly faltered, but considering how dominant both of them typically are, the fact that there has not been a 1-2-3 inning yet today is at least somewhat surprising. That streak continued for Max Scherzer in the fourth.

The slumping Yordan Alvarez led off with a single on a hard grounder up the middle, continuing that surprising run of imperfection.

After Martin Maldonado flied out to left for the first out, Josh Reddick tried to argue that his bat had made contact with Kurt Suzuki’s glove on the first pitch he saw. The umpiring crew disagreed and three pitches later, Reddick flied out to shallow left.

Scherzer walked George Springer, putting two runners on for Jose Altuve, but Washington escaped the jam when Houston’s second baseman grounded out to first to end the inning.

The bullpen should get ready though. Scherzer is up to 96 pitches and his day will end soon.

Top 4th: Soto’s Slam Ties It Up

On the second pitch of the inning from Gerrit Cole, Juan Soto tied the game, 2-2, with a 417-foot homer to left-center.

Cole proceeded to breeze through the rest of the lineup, as Howie Kendrick flied out to right and Asdrubal Cabrera and Ryan Zimmeran both struck out, but it is a whole new ball game.

Bottom 3rd: Scherzer Gets Shaky, but Escapes

The score is still 2-1 Astros, but Max Scherzer’s lack of efficiency is becoming an issue.

After Jose Altuve flied out harmlessly to right, Michael Brantley lined a cutter to right for a single and Alex Bregman struck out on a huge cut at a 95-mile-per-hour fastball.

Yuli Gurriel proceeded to hit a pop to center that Victor Robles was playing too deep to corral. Robles, a 22-year-old center fielder, was shaken up on his dive for the ball, but then the game was delayed to determine if Brantley had been physically stopped from attempting to run home by Houston’s third base coach, Gary Pettis. It did appear that there was some illegal contact between Pettis and Brantley, but no call was made.

After play resumed, with runners on second and third with two outs, Carlos Correa struck out to end the inning.

In what should be a troubling differential for Washington, Scherzer is up to 69 pitches through three innings, while Cole is at 42.

Top 3rd: Nothing Cole Can’t Handle

Gerrit Cole worked around a two-out single to record a scoreless inning.

He got Victor Robles to pop out to first and Trea Turner to ground out to third, but with two outs Adam Eaton singled on a liner to left that a diving Alex Bregman very nearly snared at third base. Washington’s M.V.P. candidate, Anthony Rendon, then flied out to center to end the mild threat.

Bottom 2nd: Scherzer Bounces Back

Max Scherzer had little trouble getting out of the second even if he is having a hard time keeping his pitches in the strike zone.

Yordan Alvarez drew a leadoff walk ahead of a fly out to right by Martin Maldonado. Houston’s No. 9 hitter, Josh Reddick, managed to get Scherzer to throw six pitches but popped out to Trea Turner in very shallow center field. Scherzer then froze George Springer on a terrific changeup to end the inning.

Top 2nd: Zimmerman Puts Nats on the Board

Ryan Zimmerman, the face of the Nationals essentially since the team arrived in Washington, homered to center on the second pitch he saw in a World Series game, narrowing the Nationals’ deficit to 2-1.

Gerrit Cole had started things off by retiring Howie Kendrick on a grounder to short and then kept Carlos Correa busy by inducing a pop-up from Asdrubal Cabrera that Houston’s shortstop also handled.

Up stepped Zimmerman, who joined the Nationals late in the 2005 season — the year they moved from Montreal. He launched a 96-mile-per-hour fastball 413 feet for just the second run against Cole this postseason.

Cole was able to recover, inducing a grounder from Kurt Suzuki to — who else? — Correa, to end the inning.

Bottom 1st: Astros Take the Lead

Houston, which came in as a heavy favorite, took a quick 2-0 lead off Washington’s Max Scherzer thanks to Yuli Gurriel’s two-out, two-run double off the wall.

Houston’s leadoff batter, George Springer, drew a seven-pitch walk and on Scherzer’s next pitch, Jose Altuve singled to left. Scherzer pulled off quite a feat in striking out Michael Brantley on three pitches, but he was wild on his third pitch to Alex Bregman and Springer was able to advance to third.

Scherzer finished a strikeout of Bregman on a vicious slider, but with runners on the corners and two outs, Gurriel lined a 1-2 fastball off the wall in left, bringing both runners home.

Carlos Correa struck out to end the inning, but not before Scherzer had spotted Gerrit Cole a 2-0 lead — which is more runs than Cole has allowed so far this postseason.

Top 1st: One Hit, and Little Else for Cole

Gerrit Cole quickly had to deal with a runner in scoring position, but nothing came of the Nationals’ brief threat.

Trea Turner led off the game with a sharp grounder to short that Carlos Correa couldn’t field cleanly, leading to an infield hit. On the next pitch, Turner stole second, just barely beating Martin Maldonado’s throw. Adam Eaton popped out to third on a bunt attempt and Anthony Rendon struck out, bringing up Washington’s powerful youngster, Juan Soto, who struck out swinging on a 99-mile-per-hour fastball.

Starting Lineups

Nationals

Playing in Houston, the Nationals will have a designated hitter for the game, and they went with Howie Kendrick, who won the M.V.P. Award in the N.L.C.S.

1. Trea Turner, SS

2. Adam Eaton, RF

3. Anthony Rendon, 3B

4. Juan Soto, LF

5. Howie Kendrick, DH

6. Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B

7. Ryan Zimmerman, 1B

8. Kurt Suzuki, C

9. Victor Robles, CF

Astros

The Astros went with a fairly typical lineup for them, with the only aberration being Martin Maldonado starting at catcher, thought that is typical in games started by Gerrit Cole.

1. George Springer, CF

2. Jose Altuve, 2B

3. Michael Brantley, LF

4. Alex Bregman, 3B

5. Yuli Gurriel, 1B

6. Carlos Correa, SS

7. Yordan Alvarez, DH

8. Martin Maldonado, C

9. Josh Reddick, RF

Keys to the Game

Every game of this series could potentially be a marquee pitching matchup, with both teams boasting three terrific starters. In Game 1, it will be Max Scherzer on the mound for Washington and Gerrit Cole starting for Houston. There is no doubt that Scherzer, with his three Cy Young Awards, is the more accomplished of the two, but if you limit things to this postseason, the Astros appear to have a razor-thin advantage.

In three starts, Cole has a 0.40 E.R.A. over 22⅔ innings, with 32 strikeouts and eight walks. Opponents have hit .132 against him and Houston won all three of his starts. Scherzer has started three games and appeared once in relief, putting together a 1.80 E.R.A. over 20 innings with 27 strikeouts and eight walks. Opponents have hit .134 against him and the Nationals also won each of his starts. The difference largely boils down to Scherzer having had a rocky first two innings in his wild-card round start against Milwaukee

The Nationals have a Most Valuable Player Award candidate in Anthony Rendon and the Astros have one in Alex Bregman, but the best postseason hitter between the two teams has been Houston’s Jose Altuve who has a .349 batting average, .767 slugging percentage and a postseason-leading five home runs, including a walk-off against the Yankees in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series to send the Astros to the World Series. Rendon has been rolling for Washington, slashing .375/.465/.594, but he has just one home run. Bregman has struggled some, with a batting average of .257, but has made up for that some by leading all postseason batters with 10 walks.

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kansascityhappenings · 5 years

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Will they be worth it? The strategy behind draft picks in a new season of FOX4 fantasy football

“Did you do it?”

“Yes.”

“What did it cost?”

“Everything.”

Much like Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War,” I too paid a great price. Mine came in fantasy football.

I’m the commissioner of the FOX4 fantasy football league, which held its draft last weekend. It’s always fun to compete against my coworkers, especially since we do an auction league.

For those unfamiliar, an auction league works with a set budget for players ($200 in our case.) You bid against the other owners for players to fill out your team.

The positive is literally everyone has a shot at the players they want. In most standard leagues, Saquon Barkley is going first overall. If you draft 8th, he’s long gone.

Here, you just have to be willing to pay the most. If you wanted, you could even outbid everyone for Barkley and Christian McCaffrey to have the top two projected players on your team.

The downside: That’s going to cost you. A lot. That means a lot of sitting and waiting as other quality players go off the board with other owners easily able to outbid you.

As you might’ve guessed by my lead-in, you can tell something about my strategy.

I’m sharing with you my draft results, along with the dollar amount I spent on each player. I’m hoping to provide some insight into my thinking.

It’s also my goal to track this team as the season goes along, including any free agent acquisitions and/or trades along the way.

So let’s do it.

Saquon Barkley #26 of the New York Giants reacts after scoring during the fourth quarter of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on December 30, 2018 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

RB Saquon Barkley ($73): What can I say? There’s just something nice about having the likely best player in fantasy football on your squad.

Barkley is not only a strong runner but a good pass-catching back as well. That’s the single-most valuable asset in fantasy football.

The downside is obviously the cost. I spent more than 35% of my budget on a single player, and not surprisingly, this was the most anyone in the league spent to get someone.

WR Deandre Hopkins ($64): Not only did I get RB1, I’ve got WR1 too! That’s something that would never happen in a snake draft.

While wide receiver is suddenly the deepest position in the league, Hopkins is still the elite of the elite. His numbers have only grown since the Texans have given him Deshaun Watson at quarterback. But just like with Barkley, I had to go significantly over the Yahoo! dollar projections to make it happen.

It’s been my experience in these leagues that it’s better to err on the side of overly aggressive than too passive, particularly for top-flight players.

My team is probably sunk if these players get hurt, but I feel that’s the same for any team losing a first-round pick.

RB Dalvin Cook ($47): I wanted to get another bell cow running back to go with my team.

I honestly didn’t want Cook. It was at this point in the draft that my app acted up, so I closed it, and by the time I had it reopened, I had a new running back on my team. It’s still more than I wanted to spend for him, but was right in line with the Yahoo! spending.

If there’s one silver lining, it’s that Cook is no longer working in the offense of John Defilippo, who heavily skewed toward the pass for the Vikings. He should see an uptick in carries.

The downside: I’ve now spent 92% of my budget to fill 20% of my roster. Welp.

Carson Wentz #11 of the Philadelphia Eagles warms up prior to the preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens at Lincoln Financial Field on August 22, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

QB Carson Wentz ($4): I feel fortunate to get such a high-upside QB here that didn’t kill me on cost.

By this point in the draft, I was mostly nominating players I had no interest in with the hopes my competitors would chew up some of their remaining budget. Quarterbacks are a good place to start.

Simply put, you can get very good production from the ones outside the elite tier at a small fraction of the cost. Wentz has top 5-upside when healthy, but that’s a big if. I still had to gamble on it here.

WR Corey Davis ($2): Woof. I know wide receiver is deep, but Davis as my second-best receiver is a long fall. The Titans haven’t exactly been lighting it up no matter whether it’s Marcus Mariota or Ryan Tannehill at the helm.

I have to hope Davis shows something here that explains why he was a top 5 draft pick long ago.

RB Austin Ekeler ($1): By far, this is the best value I have in this draft, and it probably came by chance.

Ekeler will slot in nicely into my flex position, especially since contract talks between the Chargers and Melvin Gordon seem to be going nowhere.

Ekeler will have to split duties with Justin Jackson, so it’s not like he has a firm grip on the job, but he’ll get enough carries that he’s more than worth the minimum. I’m lucky my competitors were either in a similar position as me and/or had already grabbed enough RBs.

TE Greg Olsen ($1): This is again gambling on health and upside. Olsen’s been extremely productive when he’s on the field, which hasn’t been much the last two seasons.

But once you get outside the tier of Travis Kelce, Zach Ertz and George Kittle, I don’t find it worth spending heavily on a position that really only provides a lot of value when they’re scoring touchdowns.

I’ll take a chance Olsen can stay healthy, and if he doesn’t, it’s not a lost cause.

Kicker Wil Lutz #3 of the New Orleans Saints kicks a field goal in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on October 21, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

K Wil Lutz ($1): He’s a steady kicker, which is really all I’m looking for.

One of my favorite strategies early in an auction league is to nominate a kicker you have rated somewhere around third to fifth. Early on, a lot of opponents will be reluctant to spend their budget on that position, and you get a reliable option for just a buck.

The alternative is probably even better—that someone uses more of their budget to take a kicker, which I can never justify. It worked for me when I nominated Harrison Butker, who ended up going for $5.

DEF Baltimore ($1): Similarly, I use this strategy with defenses as well, although the Ravens were probably closer to a mid-tier defense for me. I was hoping someone would bid me up here, but I can live with it.

They’ll take a step back in all likelihood, but I think are still worthy of weekly starts.

WR Michael Gallup ($1): All I can basically do at this point is to take a buckshot approach with wide receivers — draft plenty, hope one pans out.

Gallup will be the number two option in Dallas behind Amari Cooper. Dak Prescott isn’t a star quarterback, but he’s serviceable.

I’m hoping Gallup gets some chemistry here, though it’s also about at this point in the draft where I started questioning whether I should’ve nominated a second wide receiver earlier and hope someone with a bigger budget would be hesitant to spend.

WR Demaryius Thomas ($1): Every draft you find a guy or two that’s way down the Yahoo! rankings, hope no one else notices him, and you make a move. That was Thomas for me.

He’s coming off a lost season with Houston but played well in the preseason with New England. The Patriots initially cut him, but it appears to be a procedural move, and he’ll likely return to them.

I don’t think Thomas will see a lot of time at first, but I’m hoping he can build a rapport with Tom Brady and return to his status as a WR1. I’d even settle for anything resembling it.

TE Jimmy Graham ($1): Graham joins the ranks of my “what once was” tight end group with Olsen. He certainly wasn’t a superstar with Seattle like he was in New Orleans.

I’m hoping that there’s some magic he can find with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. Most likely, I’ll be playing the matchup game week-to-week with my tight ends.

QB Kirk Cousins ($1): There’s no reason to ever spend more than this on a backup QB. They’re all pretty similar to one another, but Cousins gives me a viable option should Wentz get hurt. Throwing to Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs doesn’t hurt.

RB Justice Hill ($1): I feel this is a decent mid-upside pick for me. Hill will start the season behind Mark Ingram in the backfield in Baltimore, but he seemed to get rave reviews from the Ravens in the preseason (beware of falling for this too often.)

He’s also probably the better pass-catching/third down option as well. This may be a draft and stash for me, provided I can afford it.

WR Courtland Sutton ($1): Just adding to my pile of receivers at this point. Emmanuel Sanders isn’t what he once was, the Broncos have a new QB with Joe Flacco, and Sutton has promise.

15 players, $200 spent. This is about as “studs and duds” as a roster gets.

The best-case scenario for me?

Barkley and Hopkins prove why they’re the best at their positions, Cook gets a chance to show off more in Minnesota, Olsen stays healthy and reasserts himself as a top-5 tight end, one of my receivers pulls away from the pack to be a viable WR2, and I’ve got a beast to deal with in the playoffs.

The worst case?

Either of my top picks misses significant time, Wentz’s injuries hamper his production, neither of my tight ends win the battle with health and Father Time, my wide receivers never step up and leave a gaping hole in my roster, and I’m consolation bracket fodder.

Unlike Thanos, I’m as perfectly imbalanced as can be.

You can build a team like that, but it also means more than ever, you have to be diligent in scouring the waiver wire, keeping an eye out for trade possibilities and making the right calls on who to start and sit every week.

I look forward to doing that for you all season.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/09/02/will-they-be-worth-it-the-strategy-behind-draft-picks-in-a-new-season-of-fox4-fantasy-football/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/09/03/will-they-be-worth-it-the-strategy-behind-draft-picks-in-a-new-season-of-fox4-fantasy-football/

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thefootballlife · 6 years

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The Angel of the Crno-Beli: A profile of Dragan Mance

If anything, it was a crap first touch. Playing at Highbury against QPR in the UEFA Cup, there was little sign that an initial miscontrol sending the ball about 3 yards away bouncing into the centre of the park would amount to anything. But it did.

Swiftly reacting to his own touch, the player got to the ball just at the right point in it’s bounce and caught it sweetly. Not just sweetly, perfectly. A vicious dipping volley straight at the heart of the goal - too hard and dipping too late for Peter Hucker to have any hope of doing anything about it. (Note 1)

Dragan Mance had just announced himself on the European stage. 12 months later, he would be dead.

Mance started off at Galenika Zemun (now just Zemun) at 15, making his senior debut in 1979, just after his 17th birthday. His promise was recognised by Partizan in 1980 after Mance played in a game against their youth team and one day after that game, with just two senior appearances, he would move to the JNA Stadium in exchange for Slobodan Santrac, then winding down his career.

To restate, a player with a grand total of two second tier appearances was swapped for the top goalscorer in the history of the Yugoslav First League.

His rise to fame was rapid and driven by a personality which saw football not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself. From Espreso “He was withdrawn by a teenager, sometimes imprisoned and unable to easily make new friends. He was only interested in how to get the maximum from football.” Unsurprisingly, his work ethic was impeccable - a genuine Mr No Days Off - and it showed in his play being what many would see as a modern striker like a Lewandowski: work-rate wasn’t his forte, but being that bit more intelligent and knowing where he needed to be to score was - a truly natural goalscorer who would work himself as hard as he could to prove he was that but little more. Watch any youtube compilation of his goals, particularly those against Crvena Zvezda and they are not of the kind Mance would score against QPR, they are of a player pulling off a marker, peeling into space and putting away an easy chance.

His senior record totalled may not seem like much, certainly not one worthy of a proper write up - 45 goals in 127 Partizan senior appearances is decent, but nothing to write home about - yet expand that record to include the youth appearances which took up most of his first two seasons at the club and that goes up to 174 goals in 279 appearances, which is a very good record indeed. Here was a player who started late at 15, worked his way into the team at his hometown club, worked his way to a move to a Belgrade giant, and worked his way into their first team to the point where many Partizan fans proclaim him as one of their best ever. The reality is that this less trodden path to stardom - the hardest path of all - gave us only three seasons in which Mance showed his potential before his death at 22.

Season one: 1982-83

Partizan were in the midst of what was, for them, a trophy drought. No title since 77/78 and, in that time, plunging as low as 15th in the 18 team First League the season after that title. This was no great vintage of Partizan that Mance had joined yet it was this side that he would drag to the championship - a title hinging on two games.

20th May 1983 - Mance is at his family home in bed late at night when there is a knock on the door. His brother goes to answer, rouses Dragan and says “You won’t believe who’s here”.

As the story goes, outside was a representative of Dinamo Zagreb, who Partizan were playing the next day and challenging for the title. The game was huge - Partizan even moved the game from their home ground to Zvezda’s Marakana to fit in the expected crowd (Note 2). He made a scandalous offer - don’t put in 100% tomorrow then come and join us and we’ll make it worth your while. Mance politely said no thank you, I’m at a club I love and the matter ended there (Note 3). The next day, Mance would score Partizan’s equalizer in a 2-2 draw.

A fortnight later, the other of those games happened - Partizan vs Crvena Zvezda in what was more or less the title decider. Mance scored twice, Partizan won and they were champions. Mance’s 15 goals that season were over a quarter of all Partizan’s goals and the key in their title win. The boy who worked his socks off to get a chance was suddenly propelled to icon with his easily recognisable knee slide celebration.

Season two: 1983-84

Mance’s second term leading the line would be less fruitful. Unable to acclimatise to European football, he played in all four European Cup games but failed to make an impact as Partizan went out in round two to Dynamo Berlin. Domestically, he was less productive also, albeit in a seriously dour side, scoring only 8 of Partizan’s 43 league goals that season (note 4). Partizan almost retained their title, only missing out due to two poor results against Sloboda Tuzla and Zejeznicar in their last two games - the dropped points there were enough to hand the title to Zvezda.

Season three: 1984-85

More fruitful personally but, more importantly, saw Mance’s explosion onto the European stage. A prelude of what was to come in the UEFA Cup came in round one as Mance slotted home against Rabat Ajax before they came up against Queens Park Rangers.

That goal at Highbury has been mentioned already, but that is hardly the story of the tie. QPR beat Partizan 6-2 in that first leg. As another story goes, after the game, a couple of Partizan players would end up drinking in the same pub as QPR striker Gary Bannister. Bannister would buy them a drink to console them after the heavy loss, they would accept and leave with a message - In Belgrade, we’re coming for you.

Did they ever.

QPR were having a season, as the saying goes (Note 5), and Partizan would take full advantage in one of European football’s most extraordinary matches ever.

QPR’s players went out in the JNA a little early to inspect the surroundings. At that point, the stands were already filling and the atmosphere growing. Mullery “I’ve never seen a crowd with such electricity… ...I saw the players’ faces change when we walked out to sample the atmosphere. It was incredible. It frightened the life out of me and I have been around a long time.”

QPR froze and, 5 minutes in, Mance got the beating of the defence and headed Partizan’s first. Just after the hour mark, they would be 4-0 up and on their way to going through on away goals. It was, at the time, the biggest first to second leg turnaround in European football history and was once named one of the 100 greatest games of all time. In the league, they would fall away to third but Mance would finish top scorer of the team once more.

That summer, Mance was linked with a move again - this time to the west. He turned it down, again, cementing his hero status with the grobari (note 6).

The End - 1985-86

Mance’s football career ended on September 1st 1985, against Buducnost Titograd (now Buducnost Podgorica). That day, there is the tale on the pitch, and the tale off it.

The tale off the pitch shows Mance the boy - still a young football fan happy to simply be playing in the same team as his heroes. Mance had gone on about how he wanted a pair of the boots Maradona played in, which weren’t available for sale in Yugoslavia, and word got to Crvena Zvezda’s Bosko Djurovski who got his brother Milko to grab a pair on an international trip. He had not been able to meet Mance until that game and presented them to him at the game (note 7).

The tale on the pitch shows Mance the man, Mance the leader. At home to Buducnost and presented with a penalty in the 8th minute, he stepped up, his hair wild, and drilled it low into the corner in a 2-1 win (Note 8).

Two days later, Mance would be driving to training. No-one knows exactly what happened, (nor do translations really help make sense of it) but Mance appears to have clipped another car which sent him through the central reservation across the road and into a bridge pillar on the other side. The front of his car was compacted like an accordion and Mance was, as far as anyone can tell, killed on impact.

Schools and offices in Belgrade stopped as the news filtered out. One first person perspective describes going into their schoolroom to see their teacher crying before he announced to the class that Mance had died and stunned silence soon broke into tears. 30,000 people would gather to attend Mance’s funeral procession and Dragana Mancea street runs close to Partizan’s stadium. He is, to this day, one of the most beloved players the club has ever had in their long and illustrious history.

Mance’s contribution to world football is limited to having been the man to popularise the knee slide celebration - his grave even has a statue of him in that immortal position. At 23 days before his 23rd birthday, he still had plenty of time left to offer more to world football than simply a pose copied a thousand times over on pitches from Belgrade to Buenos Aires. Probably, he would have been in the national side for some time and may have made a difference on that level. He would have likely stayed at Partizan a while longer and collected himself at least one more title.

But that’s not what happened. Mance’s is a tragic tale of potential that could never be fulfilled yet the games, the gold and the goals that he left will last longer than he ever could, even had he not been taken early.

And that’s what makes him a legend.

Note 1 - You can watch it on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sQVK8-u9_0 - it is an absolute wondergoal.

Note 2 - This wasn’t exactly a regular occurence albeit they would do it again the following season for a game vs Hajduk similarly late in the season - over 100,000 went to the Partizan-Dinamo game, double what could have fit in the JNA. While the Marakana’s official capacity was around 96,000, there were instances where attendance even broke 110,000.

Note 3 - How true this story is is hard to pin down. Certainly, it seems like a nice story fans would put together after he died to show just how much of a true Partizan hero he was but, on the other hand, the Yugoslav league wasn’t always the most honest in the world - three seasons later, almost the entire last round of games were suspected of having been fixed.

Note 4 - When I say seriously dour, I mean it. Seven 0-0 draws in that season including both derbies against Crvena Zvezda.

Note 5 - In Alan Mullery’s short time as QPR manager, he fit this two legged tie in and a 5-5 draw with Newcastle. They were nothing if not entertaining!

Note 6 - The club were actually going to sell him until ultras put pressure on and did all they could to prevent it from happening - they would not allow Mance to leave and, to his credit, Mance had little desire to do that. Had he gone, he would probably still be alive today.

Note 7 - The exact logistics of this are lost to time. I would love to think Djurovski got them to him before the match and that Mance scored using these boots he’d waited so long for but we simply don’t know. The boots would be recovered from Mance’s car upon his death.

Note 8 - This can be viewed at https://youtu.be/nbiTZ7NWJ5k?t=3m47s - if you watch beyond the penalty, the video does go into scenes of the crash site and shows how unsurvivable what happened was.

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iamsoneurotic · 6 years

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Hey Milo! You Five! And other stuff...

So we’re weeks out from baby #3 being born… I’ve hardly written a single update about this pregnancy because oddly enough it’s really, really hard to find time to write absurdly long posts when you’ve got two little boys and a pregnant wife.

Oh who am I kidding, I’m just really lazy. But having kids is such a good excuse to not do things that I can’t help but use it every chance I get. Now if only I had a decent excuse to get a minute alone from the boys I’d be in business! I kid… but let’s not pretend that it isn’t the worst thing in the world to wake up to a toddler screaming at you to play legos upstairs. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE playing with Legos and I love playing with my kids, but I love not moving in the morning more. We’ve got a rule in the house: Mommy and Daddy don’t play until after they’ve had their coffee in the morning. Needless to say I sip mine VERY slowly.

Rachael and I are not morning people. Milo and Noli inherited that trait from us, but unfortunately they also inherited my stubbornness - so they just refuse to sleep in. Yeah, I know all kids wake up early and are miserable, but Noli literally wakes up growling and Milo always wakes up yelling “HEY!” like he dreamt about some goblin flicking him in the nose and then woke up too soon to flick him back. That’s what I imagine happens anyway. If they’re so mad about being awake, why not just stop being awake?? It’s not that hard, I do it all the time!

But whatever. They come out of their rooms, they fight over a lego, I pathetically and ineffectively shout at them from my recliner downstairs and then I drink my coffee and secretly daydream about drowning to death in it. Mornings with the Marianelli’s are a good old time. Even the unborn one wakes up cranky, he just awakens when Rachael is going to bed and kicks her in the ribs like a savage. Crap, I just realized I never posted his gender - well if you haven’t figured it out yet, he’s a boy. If anything I’m consistent.

We had the sonogram a week after my last post and boy oh boy the boy wasn’t shy about being a boy. Have I said boy enough yet? I know a sonogram isn’t actually a camera with a lens, but I swear, the moment they turned that device on he practically slapped it against the screen. No subtlety whatsoever.

There’s this awkward moment during a gender reveal where both parents are secretly hoping for different results (by secretly I mean me, Rachael was quite vocal about her hopes) - it’s like when you’re playing a board game with people and it’s maybe 10 rounds in and that competitiveness is starting to rear its ugly head and the laughter is becoming more and more forced with every round - and then you win for like, the 5th time in a row and you’re not quite sure what emotion to express so you just sort of downplay your own victory as dumb luck, but now everybody feels insulted that you’re pitying them… Yeah, that’s what it’s like to find out you’re having a third boy.

But for real, it’s better this way and we all know it.

I can’t tell if the sound of my voice makes the little stinker agitated or happy. He usually starts moving a lot when I talk to him (yeah I know, they can be startled by sound and it’s not technically me specifically that he’s responding to - but let me have this!), I think my proudest moment was when I placed my hand on Rachael’s belly and said “HIGH FIVE!” and he totally kicked my hand. He also likes to kick me in the head when I try listening to his heartbeat… They say you’re supposed to be able to hear the heartbeat without a stethoscope but I’m three kids in and it’s NEVER happened! I do, however, hear a lot of digestive sounds that I wish I could un-hear.

This pregnancy gives me a lot of memories of when Milo was still in the womb and he would stop Rachael dead in her tracks by roundhouse kicking her in the side. This little guy might actually be worse. There were a couple of weeks in the Autumn where we were convinced he was actually kicking Rachael in the spine. It would send shockwaves up her back and every time it happened I thought she either saw a giant spider or suffered an aneurysm. I’m not saying I wished for the latter, but I really hate spiders… Don’t judge me.

We’ve been trying to prepare Noli for the baby’s arrival. He can get pretty jealous. My brother came home one day with puppies and Noli got really sad that we were giving the puppies so much attention. It broke my heart a little. He’s a really sensitive kid - it’s a good quality, but it can be difficult. I have to discipline him almost entirely differently from how I discipline Milo because of it. To be honest I still don’t really know what I’m doing when it comes to that with him. Some days I think I’ve cracked the code, but then the next day it’s an entirely different ball game. He’s been a little grumpy lately and we haven’t really figured out why outside of “Terrible 3’s” (terrible 2′s is a myth, 3′s suck).

I used to think I knew what a tantrum was… I was so wrong. On Christmas Eve Noli threw the most epic tantrum I have ever witnessed in the history parenting. It’s mostly a blur at this point, but it started when I tried making him put on a pair of pants after his bath and it ended with a full-on UFC-style showdown where I was literally grappling him on the floor so that he wouldn’t hurt himself. I ended up tapping out because nothing was working - Rachael finally managed to defuse the entire situation by simply pulling an ice-tray out of the freezer and showing it to him. Yup. Problem solved. All the shouting, bribing, begging, grappling and crying did absolutely nothing - a boring inanimate object from a mini-fridge tamed the beast. How Rachael thought to walk past a playroom full of toys and grab an unused ice-tray will forever be a mystery to me. Since being pregnant the girl can barely remember her own name, yet she knew exactly how to deal with a situation that neither of us had experienced - motherly instinct is truly the 8th wonder of the world.

All tantrums aside, Noli cracks me up. He’s making up his own superheroes now. His latest evil creation is “Play-Doh Butt”. His superpower? He shoots pink legos out of his butt. I’ve also learned a number of other characteristics that I wish I could forget. He’s apparently blue, wears no clothes, has no hair (anywhere) and is little. He’s straight out of a nightmare. There’s another superhero he’s working on that’s less fleshed out, and I truly hope it remains that way because I don’t need nor want any other details. His name is “Tater Tutt” and, in Noli’s own words, “he shoots poo-poo out of his hands at all the happy people”... I think that makes him a villain, but I’m not sure Noli sees the lack of virtue in flinging your poop at happy people. I’m sure there’s somebody out there who would derive joy from that experience, but it’s certainly not anybody I want hanging around my 3 year old.

I can’t bring myself to discourage his progressive line of superheroes, they’re more creative than anything I came up with at that age - my greatest childhood achievement was creating a superhero who controlled fire, and I named him “Flamer”. Just failure all around. One of these days I’ll get around to asking Noli to draw a picture of Play-Doh Butt for me just to see what monstrosity he puts to paper, but until then I’m totally satisfied just watching him draw Spider-Man… with chalk… on our walls. So glad we didn’t give him markers that day. For a 3 year old he’s a really good little artist - I’d say even for somebody older than him. His Spider-Man drawings are really cute and surprisingly stylized. Between the two of them, I think he’s the most handy with a drawing utensil, and it makes sense; Milo is very book smart, Noli is very creative. It makes a lot of sense to me, Milo is a spitting image of Rachael, so naturally he’s just gravitated towards books and math. Noli got my genes, hence, Play-Doh Butt and art.

He really is the sweetest little boy on the planet though. I slipped on the bottom step the other day like a bobo and fell down, Noli immediately ran over to me and kept trying to make sure I was okay… Milo, on the other hand, just yelled at me to get a toy for him that he got stuck under the television. I’ll be remembering that when it’s time to draft up wills. Anyway, the point is, the kid just has a kind, nurturing soul. He wants everyone to be happy...

“Daddy?”

“Yes?”

“Happy?”

“Yes.”

“Ohay!”

He still can’t say his K’s.

What else… Oh, yeah, Milo turned 5! My baby is growing up and I’m both happy and miserably depressed over it. I feel like I’ve said this for other birthday posts, but it’s how I feel every time. I don’t sing Happy Birthday to the boys, I sing “Cats in the Cradle” and my tears put their candles out. Nobody likes growing up in our house.

I think he had a good day. This was the first birthday that he actually seemed aware of leading up to it. He was so excited he woke up at 5:30 in the morning and for the first time ever WASN’T cranky! I wanted to stick my head in a stove, but at least he was happy to be up before the sun. We had a Mario-themed birthday for him - correction, a LUIGI themed birthday for him; He prefers Luigi to Mario. He’s been playing a lot of Mario Run on his iPad… Probably too much, but mommy and daddy are literally the worst parents in the world when we’re feeling defeated so we throw iPads at the boys for distraction while we recharge our broken will. He’s actually really good at that game, he beat it before I did - and I’m awesome. I’m terrified to introduce him to the original Mario games, he hates losing, and that’s basically all you do with the old ones. You lose until you throw a controller at the wall, then you play DOOM for an hour to vent. We’re not there yet with the boys.

One of the reasons I was so excited for him to turn 5 was STAR WARS. It’s a movie I’ve always looked forward to watching with my kids, but wanted to wait until they were old enough to actually get what they’re watching and hopefully not get too scared. We have a media room upstairs that is 100% off limits to the kids, but I told Milo for his 5th birthday we’d get milkshakes and watch a big boy movie in the media room… He was a little bored by it, but he was happy to just be in our home’s ‘Forbidden Kingdom’ with junk food and some one on one time with Dad. I really loved it. When you have more than one kid, it’ hard to just enjoy them for their own uniqueness. They morph together into this wild entity that lives to argue with itself and bring chaos and exhaustion to your once stable, quiet household.

Milo is a brilliant boy. Every day he makes it a point to remind me how much of a genius he is. Whether it’s his ability to perform division in his head or how he reads at a 1st grade level (even more so I think) or the fact that he can build a set of Lincoln Logs exactly as they are on the box when I can barely make any sense of the vague directions they come with. He’s a sponge for knowledge. He also had a piano recital on his birthday and he nailed it. It probably doesn’t sound like much to an adult musician, but for a 5-year-old to play piano and without looking at the sheet music, know when he’s made a mistake and correct it by ear is wildly impressive. Like I said - brilliant.

Milo - I know I’m a month late writing this, but I’m just so amazingly proud of what a big boy you are. I love your face, I love your voice, I love your personality and your sense of humor, I just love everything about you. I can never find the right words to express it, but I’m just so filled with joy watching you grow up. You were the very answer to a prayer I had prayed almost every night since I was little - to be a Dad, to have a family of my own. Now I get to pray every night and thank God for a family I know I’ll never truly be worthy of. So yeah, just in case you ever doubted what you mean to me.

Happy Birthday, baby boy. I love you.

Anyway, this is turning into one of those super long posts that Rachael yells at me for writing, so I guess I’ll wrap it up… My next post will inevitably be another 2-part ‘Birth of Baby’ story (and hopefully my last), so be on the look-out! Or don’t. I don’t even know who’s reading this besides my wife, and she doesn’t much care for the amount of detail I go into regarding the births so I imagine I’ll just be reading the next post to myself. Good lord it’s late.

Auf Weidersehen, goodnight (why yes, I did have to Google that), ~ M.

#fatherhood #dad #Daddy blog #children #parenting #humor #spiderman #daddyblog #daddy

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zxanthe · 6 years

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tagged by @alliope and @raythebrutallyhonestguy

got tagged twice so treating u guys to like a billion questions i guess

1. What kind of music do you listen to?

pretty much everything except modern country and gangster rap

2. Do you prefer to keep your living space neat and tidy or do you like a certain amount of mess?

neat and tidy, because that way i can fuckin find everything. also it looks nice and makes me feel like i have a modicum of control over my life ahaha

3. What was the first ship you remember really shipping?

oh god. oh man. oh god. fuckin leafpool and crowfeather from warrior cats. god. i was in Deep man. it was awful

4. Do you have a certain show or book series that holds a lot of nostalgic value for you? If so, what was it?

sssIIIIIGGGGHHHH...warrior cats definitely because it was probably my first Real Fandom...also teen titans, and soul eater weirdly, because it was baby’s first ever animu

5. What is your favorite type of food?

spicy

6. Was there ever a fad or activity from your childhood that you could never understand or get into?

literally everything. little zxanthe wanted to keep up with the trends and stuff because Everyone Else Was Doing/Wearing Them, but it was entirely too much effort and frankly rather silly and so after like fifth grade i pretty much just quit caring

7. What’s your favorite time of day?

mmmMMMM...i like dawn, when nobody’s awake yet and it’s like the world is holding its breath and it’s like u are all by yourself

8. What’s your favorite type flower and why?

fuck dude i dunno...they’re all beautiful and amazing. but imma say SUCCULENTS even though THEYRE NOT FLOWERS bc they don’t die if u don’t water them for a few days

9. (Stealing this one from Sora) What’s your favorite cliché/trope in fiction?

i’m weak for childhood friends to lovers ;_;

10. Did/do you do any extracurricular activities when you were in school and what were they?

oh god ok so in middle school i did All The Sports and i was solidly mediocre. i think in 8th grade i managed to graduate from c team to b team. noteworthy accomplishments include finally managing to whack the stupid volleyball over the net, thus winning the game, and also outrunning literally everyone on the basketball team. my skinny ass was fast. made it really easy 2 run away from my problems. i also got like 3rd place at the district track meet for...geez i think it was the 400 m dash. i did the 400 m my eighth grade year and the 800 m my seventh grade year. i was good at high jump in 7th grade but not so much in 8th ahaha

uhh...in elementary i did drama club. i took piano lessons and guitar lessons. when i got to middle school i learned the clarinet and in 8th grade joined the high school band, since my school was small as hell. and then i basically grew into a giant band geek. i kicked ass at solo and ensemble competitions. god i miss band. i had so much fun. i also did one act play in high school. that was also hells of fun, and something i will miss very much. and uil academics. i always did great in the spelling competition but good lord it was so much studying; lowkey glad that’s over with.

11. What’s your favorite piece of work that you’ve ever created and what about it do you love so much?

s i g h...that is a really hard question. my fic synthesis comes to mind, because it’s my first and so far only completed longfic; however theres a lot abt it i’d change. probably one of my favorite pieces that comes to mind is this shitty little untitled oneshot buried on my hard drive featuring soul and maka. it doesn’t make a lot of sense, but i like the dialogue and atmosphere of it.

---

1. What’s your fave music genre?

that is a really hard question so i guess i’ll just say rock?? lotta good subgenres in that one

2. What’s your fave song?

i’ve had bodysnatchers playing on loop in my brain for the past week

3. What’s your fave movie/tv show/anime?

samurai champloo’s pretty good

4. What’s your fave tv show/anime/movie genre?

science fiction ftw

5. What’s your fave videogame genre?

ROBOTS

6. What’s your fave videogame?

inside was pretty great

7. What’s your fave kind of food?

SPICY

8. What’s your fave dish?

anything wrapped in a tortilla and fried

9. What’s the thing you do best?

procrastinate

10. What’s the thing you do worst?

be human

11. What’s going on?

tumblr is the literal worst and won’t let me put a pic of he-man here :/

bluh blorp here’s some qs 4 yall

1. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

2. Are you reliable?

3. If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

4. Do you hold grudges?

5. What is the most unusual conversation you’ve ever had?

6. Are you a good liar?

7. How long could you go without talking?

8. What has been you worst haircut/style?

9. What do you like on your toast?

10. What is the last thing you drew a picture of?

tagging uhhh @toooceanblue, @a-ffection, @skadventuretime and whoever else wants to do this thing

#ask meme #.txt #wooooo

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riddlefromthemiddle · 7 years

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1. Every time I see a map I still think of the West Wing episode with cartographers telling C.J. that the globe is wrong. That relative size and even the location of certain countries is inaccurately represented on the world map we currently use.

2. My favorite part is when they demonstrate the need to flip northern and southern hemispheres. C.J.: “But you can’t do that.” Cartograher: “Why?” C.J.: “Because it’s freaking me out!” (Seriously. Watch the clip here and tell me your mind isn’t blown. You’ll never look at a globe the same way again. Plus you’ll giggle. Win/win.)

3. Apparently our kids have an eye for design. T-man’s rearranged his game room to make it a “home theater” so he can host friends for movie night or video marathons. Bear won’t quit changing stuff around even though we’ve begged her to stop moving heavy furniture. They’re driven by feng shui, I suppose.

4. I’ve got my mornings back now that BrightSide drops both kids off at school on his way to work.

5. I’ve decided my mornings should start with coffee, breakfast, and dog snuggles. Plenty of dog snuggles. And it is good.

6. Someone once told me there is no “try.” You can’t “try” to sit in a chair – you’ll either sit or you won’t. The message stuck.

7. The kids look at me like I’m speaking Portuguese when I use this on them.

8. Speaking of foreign languages, I’m teaching myself Spanish with a free app my niece (shout out, E!) told me about called Duolingo. It has an accompanying flash card app called Tinycards.

8a. This is by far the most productive use of my car rider line time.

8b. The app tells me I’m 9% proficient in Spanish already. I think it may be overestimating my powers of retention, but I appreciate the positive reinforcement.

8c. Buenos días. Bebo agua.

9. I find myself literally unable to process giant blocks of text. When faced with a huge section of words the letters all start to run together and my brain blanks out. For real, y’all, you’ve got to hit enter once in a while. Split that sh*t up into paragraphs. Please.

10. I’m fully aware my amount of white space probably makes some of you as batty as no white space makes me.

11. It started pouring during school pickup and the temperature dropped fifteen degrees in an hour. I think that’s pretty weird.

12. There’s probably some science-y explanation, but I prefer to imagine little penguins waddling around up there, blowing icy breath into the clouds.

13. This is why I usually keep my “fun science” theories to myself. They tend to make it sound like I’m dropping acid.

14. At the risk of seeming insensitive, it should be amusing watching middle school girls dismiss through shockingly cold rain.

15. Although, to be fair, I may have emitted a small squeal as I ran to my car.

16. Dude. No judgment. That rain is C.O.L.D.

17. There’s this boy at another middle school who’s using a walker right now. My friend said he fell in the hall last week which, let’s face it, marks a low for any middle schooler. Before he knew what was happening, though, two huge football players scooped him up and another was helping him back into his backpack. I get teary just thinking about it. Y’all. The kids are gonna be alright.

18. It’s been quite the dog week at our house.

19. On Monday we came home from school to find a stray outside. Naturally, the kids ran over to meet her and check for ID – no collar, no tags, no nothing. Plus she was looking pretty rough. Skinny, visible spine, several growths, a severe limp…definitely not a dog I could tell the kids would find its way home on its own.

20. So Bear and I took her to the vet. I was praying there’d be a chip and I wouldn’t have to figure out what to do but the universe was not on board with that plan. So we got her checked out, gave her a couple of vaccines, and brought her home for the night. Gracie and Phoebe were, well, surprised. Oh, and did I mention she was, like, really really old?

21. Our buddy spent most of the night struggling to breathe so at 5:00am she and I went into another room. At 7:30am I dropped Gracie and Phoebe off for a day at the vet’s (yay, dental cleanings!). This gave me Tuesday with the stray we’d named Pepper (for her salt and pepper muzzle), trying to find her a home while carrying her outside to pee every 90 minutes since she can’t do stairs. That afternoon I posted pics on our neighborhood’s Facebook page and got a quick response – Pepper’s owner had texted a Lost Dog notice on another network, and the photo was a spitting image of the dog on our couch.

22. The world turned inside out when I saw her name listed as Peanut. That’s because eight years ago a sweet black stray showed up on our street – no collar, no tag – and stayed with us for three days until her owners posted flyers around the neighborhood. This was our Peanut. Well, not our Peanut, but our Peanut from eight years ago. Except now she’s sixteen and clearly struggling.

23. Back then my kids stood sobbing in the driveway as Peanut’s owners came to take her home. T-man and Bear had already grown to love her in the few days she’d been with us.

24. This time I watched as a little boy ran to our porch, peeked through the window, and started shouting, “Peanut! Peanut! Peanut!” when he spotted his dog. The smile on his face was priceless as he barreled through the front door to hug her, and the family had a bounce in their step as they headed back to their car.

25. Wednesday’s sun rose on two dogs exhausted from dental work and a mama emotionally tapped out.

26. Wednesday morning also brought doughnut holes. ‘Cuz doughnut holes.

27. And three cups of coffee. ‘Cuz coffee.

27a. Starbucks makes vanilla coffee pods for the Keurig. Vanilla coffee plus french vanilla creamer is hea-ven-ly. Mmmm.

28. I’ve now hooked both my kids up with Duolingo and signed them in for Spanish. This family is all in, baby. The fact that T-man and Bear might have the chance to earn credit in an 8th grade class is icing on the cake.

29. I’m finding the flash cards to be somewhat addictive myself. That would be why there’s still two loads of clean laundry left unfolded on a family room chair. Buenas noches. Bebo el vino.

30. I desperately need three solid days off the grid. Short of checking into witness protection, any ideas on how to get that?

A week in the life...#oddsandends #random #life #RFTM 1. Every time I see a map I still think of the West Wing episode with cartographers telling C.J.

#dogs #kids #odds&ends #pets

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