there is something so sad and fucked up imo about tennis in the way that any tournament win could be a player’s last and for most of them you’d have no idea

Mega man 6 beat locations

game, but right now, college football is the last thing on his mind. He’ll focus on recruiting again after Friday’s 7 p.m. Proctor says Southeast Polk is a different team since then, and they have the record to prove it, outscoring opponents 313-84 during an eight-game winning streak. The Rams' only loss this season was to Ankeny in Week 4, when they were without Nwankpa. That top 12: Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Iowa State, LSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.įor now, all his focus is on winning a state title with Southeast Polk. He said he shared his top 12 in September so that he wouldn’t leave 20-some schools hanging, and so he could focus on a dozen schools while leaving time to be a "normal" teenager. Proctor’s recruiting has slowed down, but that was by his own design. Kadyn Proctor, OL, Southeast Polk Focusing on winning the state championship, slowing recruiting down I’m just being my own self and go through my own recruiting, and I’ll go wherever I feel most at home." "He’s not going to, you know, peer pressure me into going where he’s going to go and I’m definitely not going to make my decision off where he’s going. "It’s just jokes at the end of the day," Proctor said. He chuckles and shakes his head when he’s asked about it. 43 senior recruit in the nation, and hears the whispers of people saying Proctor will end up wherever Nwankpa goes.

He shares a roster with Xavier Nwankpa, the No.

Proctor is used to the comparisons, and people guessing which program he’ll play for. More: State football: Southeast Polk rolls into Class 5A championship game with semifinal win over City High But when someone’s saying I am the next (Tristan Wirfs), that sort of means I have to follow the same path." "I’m just trying to be myself and make a name for myself. "I hear it a lot, that I’m going to be like this person or that person," Proctor said. He hasn't been afraid to tell that to Hawkeye fans on Twitter comparing him to Wirfs, too. He takes it as a compliment, but Proctor also wants to be known for his own accomplishments and make his own college decision. Tristan Wirfs comparisons and Xavier Nwankpa talkīased on his size and production, and the state he lives in, Proctor is often compared to former Hawkeye Tristan Wirfs, who was also considered an elite prospect coming out of Mount Vernon in the 2017 class, albeit not as highly touted as Proctor. Southeast Polk offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor (74) works to keep a rushing Ankeny defender away from his quarterback on Sept. With Proctor on the field, the Rams have put up 2,336 total rushing yards this season, averaging 194.7 rushing yards and 2.3 rushing touchdowns per game. I’m just living life, playing football."Īs mainly an offensive tackle, he doesn’t rack up the recorded statistics that Southeast Polk’s other star players do, but he’s a big contributor to their top-five rushing offense. "I don’t really pay attention to it," Proctor said. More: Breaking down Iowa high school football's Class 5A state championship between Ankeny and Southeast Polk He's been a must-have talent since before his sophomore season - before he ever played a snap of varsity football.Īnd yet, he doesn’t seem to feel any of the pressure that comes with the rankings and the stars and the national attention. He holds offers from Iowa and Iowa State, in addition to notable out-of-state programs including Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State and USC. While his classmates worry about ACT scores and safety schools, Proctor already has 33 scholarship options. "It’s just being with our team, kind of like team bonding stuff." "Having those competitions, they’re fun, they get our minds off the other things that we have going on," Proctor told the Des Moines Register. He’s just another Southeast Polk football player. In that huddle, he’s not a five-star recruit. He has learned to appreciate these moments. It’s a small moment of normalcy for Proctor. He admits he doesn’t have a go to dance move. It's hard not to notice a 6-foot-7, 330-pound high schooler jumping in the crowd. Still, during that dance battle, Proctor was his teammates’ biggest hype man.

It’s all fun and games, but junior offensive tackle Kadyn Proctor doesn’t like to lose. Cheers erupt from the group before the song switches to "Fergalicious" then Usher’s "Yeah," before the battle finishes on "Hollaback Girl." The defense won this time. "Teach Me How to Dougie," an anthem from 2010, blares over the loudspeakers. Southeast Polk offensive linemen Kadyn Proctor (74) and Austin Young (65) double-team Linn-Mar's Colton Waller (44) on Oct.

Love From Abroad

Tendou Satori x reader

one shot, fluff

this is one of my first times writing, so feedback is appreciated! dm for requests :)

hope you like it!

———————————————————————

You’re an exchange student in Japan and today is your first day at Shiratorizawa Academy. You’re a second year. You’re quite nervous but you’re confident that you’ll make friends.

When you get to class, the teacher asks you to introduce yourself to the class.

“Hi i’m y/k, i’m from [your country] and i’ll be joining for the rest of the year”, you say with a shy wave.

You sit on an empty seat beside a black haired girl with cute chubby cheeks.

“Hi i’m Elen”, she says with a timid smile.

You smile back at her and the lesson begins. This is harder than the classes you had at your previous school but you think you’ll get used to it. After all, you’ve always been pretty smart.

At lunch you sit with Elen and a few of her friends from your class and they’re all super nice to you and even offer to give you a tout after classes end. You of course accept this offer gladly since you kinda got lost this morning...

During the tour, they show you many things.

“Here we have the library, over there is a place where you can study and there’s 3rd years to help you and over here is the sports wing”, explains Lin, one of Elen’s friends, a short girl with brown, wavy hair.

“Thanks for the tour! I really appreciate it”, you thank them with a big smile.

They then leave to walk home but you decide to stick around a bit more. As you wander in the corridors you get to the sports wing Lin talked about. Curious about how big it might be, you walk down the main corridor. You can hear balls thudding and smashing on the walls inside one of the gym. You push the door shyly and go sit on a bench with other spectators.

“Their volleyball team is pretty good... Well i did hear it was what they call a powerhouse school so...”, you think, kinda zoning out.

One of the players, Ushijima, seems to be the star of the team. But he’s not the one you’re looking at. A red haired funky boy caught your eyes. He’s so charismatic and his bandaged fingers just look so hot...

You listen closely and finally catch his name: Tendou Satori.

After practice ends, you get up to leave but someone shouts behind you. You turn around to see a black haired boy with a choppy haircut and... TENDOU?!

“OI!!”, they say enthusiastically.

“h- hi?”, you ask, unsure if they’re really talking to you (even though there’s no one around anymore).

“I’m Goshiki and he’s Tendou”, says the black haired boy. “That over there is Shirabu and that, of course, is Ushijima. Are you new around here? I don’t think we’ve ever seen you around before.”, he says with a bright smile.

“Yeah i’m new I just transferred from [your country]. I’m y/k by the way!”, you reply, holding out your hand.

Goshiki shakes it while Tendou just looks at you with some weird smile that is somehow so attractive?

“Y/k huh... want me to walk you home?”, Tendou says while getting extremely close to you.

“Sureee”, you say. “But aren’t you tired from practice?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll replace my stretching!”, he says happily. He then grabs his bag, puts his arms around your shoulders and guides you to the exit.

“He sure is a people person huh”, you think. You’re kinda lost in your thought but you catch a few things he’s saying. He’s a 3rd year in class 2, and he’s a middle blocker. He then goes on about the other team members and fun facts about the school.

“Soooo tell me about yourself nowwww”, he says with that weird smile again.

You blush a bit and scratch the back of your neck and reply “Well i’m new to everything here, but i made a few friends in my class. I’m in second year, class one. The team was really amazing today by the way”, you try to be nice to him.

His smile widens at those last words and you walk in a comfortable silence back home. You thank him and walk inside.

“fuck...”, you mutter to yourself. It didn’t even take a full day for you to be completely in love with this strange volleyball player.

[time skip]

The next morning, you hurry up to school so you can look at the gyms before going to class. You catch a glimpse of Tendou, but of course he doesn’t see you.

At lunch, you tell Elen and the others all about last night. Lin is especially excited and Akira even lets out a little squeal. They convince you to go to practice again tonight.

When you get to practice, you quietly sits on the spectator’s bench but Tendou still notices you and smirks at you with a slight wink.

Luckily he quickly turns back to the game so he doesn’t see you blushing like a tomato. Watching him is fun but you can’t wait till practice is over and you can talk to him.

At about 5 pm, he finally gets out of the boy’s changing room and walks up to you.

“Heyyyy~ were you waiting for me?”, he says in a teasing tone while raising one eyebrow.

You blush a bit and lightly punch his arm.

“Why would i wait for such an idiot” , you say with a smirk. He pretends that your words are breaking his heart and then laughs. You had heard him laugh before but never that way... it was so carefree, so... adorable...

On the way home, he catches you staring at him, lost in the admiration of his perfect self.

“you ok y/k?”, he asks.

“ye- yeah sorry”, you reply quickly and start looking in front of you.

“soooo are you free tomorrow” he suddenly asks. You most certainly didn’t expect this. Does he mean as a date?? Maybe he juste want to hang out, i mean you barely know each other right?

He looks at you amused by the confused look on your face and his grin gets wider. He lets out a little chuckle before adding “yes, as a date y/k”

You blush heavily. It’s no use trying to hide it, you’re like a volcano about to erupt.

“yes! I mean um of course”, you reply nervously. You scratch the back of your neck, something you do each time you’re nervous.

“Great” he says happily, in a sing-song voice. “I’ll pick you up at 11 alright?” he adds.

You nod your head. God what will you wear?? Will you hold hands? Kiss even? What will you guys even do? All these questions keep you awake that night but you still fall asleep after a while, so happy about that date.

[at 10 the next morning]

You wake up, grab some quick breakfast and jump in the shower. You have to look perfect for this. After carefully planning an outfit and doing your hair and makeup, you hear the doorbell ring. Your heart starts beating faster.

You open the door to see a casually dressed Tendou grinning widly at you. He’s wearing black ripped jeans, adidas shoes and a hoodie that matches his hair colour. It’s so weird seeing him without his school or volleyball uniform.

“hey y/k~ you look...” he looks you up and down while blushing before continuing. “...great. You look great.”

You just blush as he takes your hand and drags you along with him.

“where are we going, Tendou-kun?”, you ask in a shy voice.

As a reply, he simply smiles at you and whispers “you’ll see”.

Impatient to know where you’re going, you try to get him to walk faster. But Tendou is not in a hurry at all, and since he’s stronger than you, you have to follow his pace. No matter how much you whine, insist and plead, the red-haired noodle boy refuses to reveal where you’re going.

After about 20 minutes you get to a 50’s themed restaurant. The inside is amazing with its vintage jukebox, checkered floor, coca cola adds and Marylin Monroe posters on the walls, retro booths and milkshakes on the menu.

You sit down on a booth by the window and order a milkshake. You share it with two straws, and when you both lean in to take a sip, your faces get so close they almost touch... Tendou’s breath feels warm close to your lips.

He then leans back and crosses his arms behind his head and just stares at you.

“Why did you agree to come today, y/k-chan?”, asks Tendou. He looks eager to receive an answer but he also looks like he’d rather not know in fear of being disappointed.

You give out a light chuckle before answering.

“because i wanted to, of course! You’re the nicest guy i’ve met and ever since I first saw you play i knew you were special.” you reply calmly before taking another sip.

He blushes like mad but then leans in to take a sip too. As you both let go of the straws, he lifts your chin with one finger and lightly kisses your lips. You’re chocked at first but you kiss back after a few instants.

He suddenly breaks the kiss and leans back. He looks out the window, nervously scratching his crimson hair. You start to wonder if maybe he regrets it...

“y/k i’m sorry that was so sudden i should’ve asked please forgive me i didn’t mean to-” Tendou starts talking saying quickly but you cut him off.

“tendou.” He finally dares to glance at you. “i’m glad you did. And i hope you’ll do it again” you whisper the last part but he still hears you. It’s enough to put a gigantic grin on his face. He leans in closer to you over the table and rests his chin on his hands.

“Then would you mind if we did something next weekend?” he asks while raising an eyebrow.

“i’d love that, Tendou-kun”, you reply.

For the following week, he walks you home each night but nothing really happens. You just talk and laugh, realizing how much you love him.

When the weekend comes, you get butterflies in your stomach as you get ready in the morning. Tendou should arrive soon, so you have to hurry.

When the doorbell rings, your heart does a loophole. Tendou is standing on your porch, in his cute casual clothes. He winks at you after saying a sexy “hey” and grabs your hand to bring you to another mystery place.

As you walk, you can only focus on his hand in yours... his fingers are so long, his palm so huge... but it’s their perfect temperature that makes them so wonderful. And god let’s not get started on his eyes and hair...

Time goes by so quickly when you’re with him, so before you know it you’ve reached your destination.

“we’re heeeereeee!” sings Tendou.

It’s a wonderful park with a small pond in which several koi fishes are swimming. A few ducks also swim around them and there’s lovely benches all around.

You sit on one of them and rest your head on Tendou’s shoulder. You can’t see it but his whole face lights up at this gesture.

“say, y/k-chan” starts Tendou. You turn your face to look up to his. He takes both your hands in his before continuing. “would you let me be your boyfriend?”

Your cheeks flush bright pink as you reply “of- of course Tendou-chan!!”

He smirks before kissing you softly. As seconds pass, he kisses you more and more roughly until you both run out of breath.

He looks at you like you’re the most beautiful thing in the world while you’re both trying to catch your breath.

He cups your face softly and puts his forehead on yours. You look tenderly in each other’s eyes, before Tendou finally speaks.

“thank you y/k-chan... i feel so comfortable around you, you make me feel so lucky, so... so... so happy. I hope i’ll feel like this forever and that it’ll be reciprocated” he says as his eyes fill with water.

You raise a hand to wipe his tears as you reply “I’ll stay as long as you need me, Satori. You’re so dear to me, i’ve never felt this way before” you sweetly replying.

He blushes at the fact you used his first name and closes his eyes to appreciate the moment. When he opens them again, he leans in close to hug you tightly and as he does so, he kisses your neck.

When you part, he kisses your lips tenderly and you can feel him grin slightly. You stay in the park until the sun starts going down. He then walks you home like a true gentleman, putting one last kiss on your soft lips.

~the end~

Pop artist Nadia Vaeh has dropped her new music video for her powerful track 'Anxiety'. The video reflects on her personal mental health struggles and how she copes with the highs and lows of anxiety. The video shows Nadia alone at home coping with what the real and raw effects of anxiety look and feel like. As an advocate, she hopes her music can inspire people to embrace the conversation of mental health and be a reminder that they are not alone.

Babeheaven, the project of West Londoners Nancy Andersen and Jamie Travis, share their latest single, 'Craziest Things', along with a video from the award-winning illustrator and animator, Sacha Beeley. The track is taken from the duo’s much anticipated debut album, Home For Now, which will be released on November 20 via AWAL, and follows the singles 'Cassette Beat' and 'Human Nature'. About the track, Nancy said: “On 'Craziest Things', I explore my anxiety and insomnia, not being able to make sense of my emotions and running around in a state of mania.”

Moscow-based multi-talented avant-pop artist Kate Shilonosova aka Kate NV has just unveiled a video for 'Lu Na', a track taken from her last album Room for the Moon. Drawing from “unlived memories of 70s and 80s Russian and Japanese pop music and film,” the project also comes with vintage and surreal conceptual videos inspired by the shows she was watching as a child. In these new Gina Onegina-directed visuals, she introduces four dancers voguing in pinky cats outfits. “‘Lu Na’ was originally planned as a dance clip consisting mostly of one repetitive loop—simple pattern where cats walk in a square one by one,” she stated. “This pattern was hugely inspired and based on [Samuel] Beckett’s piece Quad which I love. Originally I just wanted the sun to appear slowly behind those cats while they walk. All of the dancers were wonderful, they brought so much life to the characters of those cats!” [via High Clouds]

Kississippi, the increasingly pop-minded project of the Philadelphia musician Zoe Reynolds, have released a new single, 'Around Your Room'. Kississippi got their start making wispy and hypnotic folk reveries, which opened up into more muscular fare on their debut full-length, 2018’s Sunset Blush. 'Around Your Room' is their most unabashedly pop song yet, a strobing synth that pulls from Lorde’s Melodrama providing the main thrust for Reynolds’ gauzy lyrics about memory and its inexorable pull. Reynolds cowrote 'Around Your Room' with Sarah Tudzin of Illuminati Hotties, according to a tweet from Tudzin. “This song tells a story of yearning and infatuation. It’s about being hopelessly enamored in a way that took me back to my youthful perception of love,” Reynolds said in a statement. “It represents those moments where you’re fully infatuated with someone and they’re all you can think about. I’ve written about love in a cynical manner in the past and this song was written as a reminder of the magic and euphoria that comes with it.” 'Around Your Room' is the lead single from a new Kississippi album due out next year, Reynolds’ first for Triple Crown. Watch director Josh Coll’s video for the song above. [via Stereogum]

Tank and The Bangas have announced a new EP called Friend Goals. Due out November 20 via Verve Forecast, the six-track, guest-heavy release is being previewed with the track 'Self Care'. The New Orleans-based group are known for their collaborative habits, having this year teamed with the likes of Jacob Collier and Fantastic Negrito. Friend Goals, as the title might suggest, brings together a number of artists Tank and The Bangas have befriended over their career. The follow-up to last year’s Green Balloon LP features guests like CHIKA ('Mr. Insta'), Duckwrth ('Fluff'), PJ Morton ('TSA'), and Pell on the title track. Lead single 'Self Care' actually touts three collaborators: Jaime Woods, Orleans Big, and Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph. The track itself is exactly what we need in 2020, an ode to being with yourself and being damn okay with it. “Chillin’ all by myself/ Netflix, eatin’, cheatin’, by myself, all by myself,” Tarriona “Tank” Ball spits, clearly enjoying her alone time. “Nobody else/ New people to the left/ What is there left but myself?” “‘Self Care’ is THE quarantine song to get you moving,” Ball said in a statement. “It shows that some of the best things can come out from solitude, especially when the beat hits this hard.” Take a listen above via the song’s Fat Happy Media-directed video. [via CoS]

New Zealand’s platinum sensation BENEE unveils the official video for her latest single 'Snail'. For the visual, BENEE and director Anita Fontaine deliver a lush and larger-than-life fantasy befitting of the track. In the colorful clip, BENEE wakes up to feed her giant snail roommates and slides around their slime trails before heading to work in her secret elf lab. Soon, she’s cycling out of her home—a concrete replica of her own head—out into a storm. After being struck by lightning, our heroine turns into an elf and cruises through a mushroom wonderland under the glow of an aurora borealis-style blanket of colors across the sky. Reflective of her personality, it pops off as her biggest and boldest video to date. Of the inspiration behind the video, BENEE says, “I knew I wanted the vid to be a weird fantasy story involving snails! I said to Anita that I wanted to be an elf with long braids riding a bike and have giant mushrooms somewhere in the vid...She came back with the treatment, and I loved ittttttt! Her imagination is supa whacky in the best way, and I’m so happy with how ‘Snail’ turned out!”

Bebe Rexha has returned with her new anthem 'Baby, I'm Jealous', which features Doja Cat. 'Baby, I'm Jealous' is Bebe Rexha's first single of 2020, following on from last year's Maleficent: Mistress of Evil track 'You Can't Stop The Girl'. The new track marks the debut collaboration between Bebe Rexha and Doja Cat, and is accompanied by a Hannah Lux Davis-directed visual that stars Charli D’Amelio, Nikita Dragun, and Avani Gregg. Bebe Rexha says the new single is "about embracing my insecurities", and adds, "It’s about the way social media has heightened my jealousy which can affect how I feel about myself. We are constantly flooded with the highlights of other people’s lives, and at times I find myself comparing my worth and beauty to others. It’s part of the human process to experience jealousy - ultimately, this is an anthem to embrace those feelings as a form of empowerment." [via Line Of Best Fit]

Making her grand return to the scene with a striking new single is Brighton-hailed singer Fable, with her new tune 'Thirsty'. With otherworldly tones and harmonising vocals, the singer serves us with a sumptuous genre-bending tune that has us headbanging at every chorus. Known for her bold and atmospheric sonics, the singer accompanies the song with an attention-grabbing video with juxtaposing images of ethereal nature and mental destruction. Speaking on the single, the singer said, “'Thirsty' is about taking the beauty of life for granted. How overtime we write off profound stuff as mundane because it’s a constant; the sky’s always there, but it’s weird and beautiful that we even exist under it. It’s playful at heart but it’s about my realised depression and learning how to reset my perspective through mindfulness,” Having disappeared from the scene back in 2016 due to a personal tragedy, the singer has reconnected to her artistic side and is ready to step back into the spotlight. [via Wonderland]

With the enticing line-up of Joe Lonie (Supergroove), Milan Borich (Pluto), Jol Mulholland (The Reduction Agents) and Morgan Leary (Cindy), Tāmaki Makaurau supergroup Kathy Bates Motel share their latest ear worm 'Cool Your Heels'. The class act's second single, following up debut track 'Damaged Goods', is dangerously catchy, with killer harmonies from vocalists Lonie and Leary. 'Cool Your Heels' will have you moving your feet and hankering for a dance, a need so perfectly met by the Footloose inspired, Joe Lonie directed visuals. Everybody cut foot loose, the weekend and 'Cool Your Heels' have arrived. [via Under The Radar]

Up-and-comers Wargasm recently dropped their fifth single, ‘Backyard Bastards’, and now they’ve released a video to go with it. Shot and edited by Olli Appleyard, the video sees sees Sam Matlock (guitar, vocals) hunting down Ryan Cornall (session drummer) on a manic murder spree that finds its peak in an epic showdown between the two, all the while being cheered on by Milkie Way (bass, vocals) and her dancer squad. You can check out the video for ‘Backyard Bastards’ above. [via Dead Press]

Atlanta-based glam punk rockers Starbenders have released an energetic and evocative music video for their new single 'Can’t Cheat Time' off most recent album Love Potions. 'Can’t Cheat Time' is available now as part of a bundle featuring the original single and an acoustic version. 'Can’t Cheat Time' perfectly pairs frontwoman Kimi Shelter‘s incredible vocal shapeshifting abilities with electrocuted guitars and heart-pounding rhythm for this stand out rock ‘n’ roll anthem. Speaking to the inspiration for the single’s music video, Shelter adds: “‘Can’t Cheat Time’ is a personal favorite amongst the band. This single has a wicked string arrangement reminiscent of Jeff Lynne from ELO’s production style. It was so rewarding hearing all of it come together with the live string players. The accompanying music video is a love letter to the mom and pop businesses that have shaped and supported our very existence. These businesses along with the touring industry have been devastated by the pandemic. We filmed in locations around Atlanta which include the local greasy spoon diner, the record shop, the independent guitar store, the watering hole, and the divey small music venue. While mega-retailers did not close down for even one day, 60% of small to medium-sized businesses in the USA that closed will never reopen. These places are vital to the social and economic health of our cities. We encourage our friends to go to saveourstages.com. Sign up to push legislators to help independent venues though the updated Heroes Act. So many are hurting and on the verge of financial ruin from lighting to sound engineers, musicians, DJs, security, bar staff and venue operators. Our hearts are with you all.“ [via The Girls At The Rock Show]

Fic: Roll With It

Rated: T

Roll With It

Roller Derby Grudge Match this weekend: Storybrooke Princesses v Hyperion Hyenas

Gold shook his head as he stared at the sign in the window of Granny’s diner. It wasn’t that he had anything against the sport of roller derby in and of itself. He just didn’t see why it had to be so dangerous and he especially didn’t see why Lacey French had decided to choose it as her main hobby.

He didn’t care about Lacey for herself, of course. That would be preposterous, and anyone who put forward such a notion to him would receive short shrift in return. No, he was simply concerned that if Lacey received an injury whilst competing in roller derby, then she would be unable to perform her duties in the shop and he would have to go through all the tedious processes of hiring someone to replace her.

Oh, who was he kidding? He couldn’t bear it if Lacey were to get hurt, and he’d sooner get run over by ten angry young women in roller skates than actually admit that to her.

“Hey, Mr Gold. Are you coming on Saturday?”

Ruby came over with his take-out order and for a moment, Gold was completely disorientated, his mind having been caught up in a cycle of increasingly dire scenarios involving Lacey being carted off to hospital.

“Mr Gold?” Ruby rustled the paper bag containing his burger and fries and Gold finally came back to himself and grabbed it off her. She nodded towards the poster. “Coming to see the Princesses score another victory over our arch-rivals? We’ve been in training for months for this. We’re going to annihilate them.”

Gold was all too aware of their training regime, as Lacey had kept asking for time away from the shop to go to extra practice sessions. Gold had made various snide remarks about her priorities and her having a death wish, but ultimately he had always let her go.

He shook his head. “It’s not really my thing, dearie.”

“Ah, come on, it’ll be fun! We need all the support we can get! Don’t you want to cheer Lacey on?”

“I have no desire to encourage my assistant to do anything that might cause her to leave my employment with a broken neck,” Gold snapped. “Good day, Miss Lucas.”

He left the diner before Ruby could say anything else, and he did not turn back to see the wry smile on the waitress’s face.

Lacey looked up from the inventory books as Gold came back to the pawn shop with their lunch.

“Ruby’s been touting for ticket sales to the big match, I see.”

Gold looked down to find a flyer for the match sticking out of the top of the paper bag. With a muttered curse, he grabbed it and screwed it up into a ball, launching it at the bin with rather more force than necessary. Lacey, sitting several feet closer to the bin, just watched it as it fell short and rolled under the counter. She raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I guess that answers my question of whether you’re going to come and support your best and only assistant in her sporting endeavours.”

“You won’t be my best and only assistant if you end you end up in traction as a result of this,” Gold muttered. Lacey laughed.

“Are you worried about me, Mr Gold? Concerned for my safety?”

“Yes. I mean no. That would be ridiculous. Good help is hard to find these days, that’s all.”

Lacey sighed and went back to the books, taking a bite from her burger. “Yes. Ridiculous. Of course.”

They didn’t speak for the remainder of their lunch break, and their conversation afterward remained strained for the rest of the afternoon. Gold got the distinct impression that he had said something wrong, but he couldn’t quite work out what it might be.

It was only once they were closing up for the night, Lacey about to head off for the final practice before the big match, that the question crossed his mind and was out of his mouth before he had chance to rein it in.

“Why do you do it, Lacey?”

“Do what?”

“Roller derby. Why do you do something that’s so risky? Is it the adrenaline rush?”

Lacey smiled. “In a way, I supposed. But that’s not the full reason.”

“So, what is it?”

“Honestly, Mr G, if you can’t figure it out on your own, I’m not sure that you deserve to know.”

She left him stunned in the twilight, disappearing off towards the sports centre, and it took Gold several minutes to come back to himself. He was going to have to get to the bottom of this.

It was obvious that Lacey herself wasn’t going to give him any more information. To that end, Gold decided to make a return trip to the diner and speak to the one person who knew Lacey better than anyone, except Lacey herself, of course.

“Morning, Mr Gold,” Ruby called from behind the counter as he entered on Saturday morning. “You know we’re only open for breakfast as Granny and I’ll be at the match later. What can I get you?”

Gold perched awkwardly on one of the counter stools and ordered coffee.

“So, what brings you here bright and breezy on a Saturday morning then?” Ruby asked as she poured. “Rent isn’t due till next week and I know you’re not really here for the coffee. You’ve made enough disparaging remarks about it in the past.”

Gold looked down at his mug. He certainly wasn’t here for the coffee and he had no intention of drinking the one that Ruby had just poured for him, but he needed some kind of legitimate excuse to talk to her.

“My guess is that you’re here for conversation.” Ruby leaned on the counter, a wolfish smile creeping across her features. “Lacey told me all about your chat last night. I thought you might come looking for an inside source.”

“Well?”

“Well, what do I get in return?” Ruby grinned. “A deal is a deal, Mr Gold, and it needs two interested parties. What do I get out of this? Tell you what. If you drink that mug of inedible sludge, as you so memorably described it last week, I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

With a begrudging sigh, Gold took a gulp of coffee and grimaced. Ruby grinned.

“All right. Now we’re getting somewhere. So, you want to know why Lacey does roller derby, am I right?”

“Yes. She gave me to believe that there was a reason other than the adrenaline rush.”

“Well, I would say that there are several reasons. It’s great exercise, for a start. She’s always panting and dripping with sweat afterwards.”

Gold shifted uncomfortably on his stool. That was definitely not an image of Lacey that he needed right now. Ruby just smirked, and Gold was certain that she was doing it on purpose.

“Aside from that, it’s a great way of releasing pent-up aggression and distracting oneself from certain romantic and sexual frustrations.”

The aggression Gold could well believe. They bickered enough in the shop that Lacey probably needed violent contact sports so as not to break any of his stock. Or him. But…

“Romantic and sexual frustrations?” His voice should not have sounded so squeaky.

“Yes. You know. When you spend your working life in very close proximity to someone that you really like and want to jump their bones, but they’re so unresponsive to your messages that you think they’re either being very polite and wilfully ignoring you, or they’re actually an idiot. You need some way of distracting yourself from those… urges.”

For a long time, Gold didn’t say anything. It was all he could do to keep breathing normally as he processed what Ruby had just told him. Lacey fancied him. Lacey had… sexual frustrations regarding him. He’d often thought of her in the same way, but he’d never believed in the slightest possibility of those feelings being reciprocated.

“Drink up, Mr Gold.”

Gold drained the rest of his coffee without even tasting it, and he left the diner in a daze. He was definitely going to have to do something about this new information, and to do that, he was going to have to brave the roller derby.

Havin sat through the entire terrifying match, unable to cheer the princesses on to their victory due to his heart beating in his mouth the entire time, Gold vowed that he was never going to watch roller derby again for fear of it giving him a heart attack.

Still, he had to do what he had set out to do, and he remained in his seat near the back as the players came off the track to meet their family and friends and receive their well wishes. He saw Ruby catch Lacey’s arm and point up at him in the stands, and Lacey grinned as she undid her skates and came up towards him.

“I believe congratulations are in order,” he said as she reached him.

“Thank you. We absolutely smashed them, but then, we knew that we would. So, you came after all. I thought that you didn’t hold with all this.”

Gold thought about giving some witty remark, but they’d been reading each other wrong for so long that honesty was probably the best policy by that point.

“I was worried about you,” he admitted.

Lacey smiled and kissed his cheek. “That’s nice to know.”

“And, I, erm, I know why you do it, now.”

“You do?” Lacey raised an eyebrow, wanting him to say it.

“Ruby mentioned certain romantic and sexual frustrations. I was wondering… Maybe I could also be an outlet for these?”

Lacey didn’t answer, and Gold could not say anything else because then she was pulling him in by the lapels, kissing him full on the mouth with all the force and determination that she’d shown against the opposing team out on the track. Gold was all too happy to concede defeat.

The best Brownlow count in years… shame thousands couldn’t see it thanks to streaming debacle

Port Adelaide star Ollie Wines claimed the 2021 AFL Brownlow Medal in the most exciting count in quite some time… but an archaic TV rights situation meant many footy fans couldn’t watch a minute of it. Here are the big talking points out of the AFL’s night of nights. 7Plus… minus all the good stuff The integration of streaming services into everyday life has now given people an expectation that whatever they want to watch is now just a click away. With Kayo Sports a staple of every self-respecting sports fan’s monthly expenses, plus new faces such as Stan Sport and Paramount+ entering the market, we’ve grown accustomed to simply booting up our laptops or opening our phones and tuning in. But it seems Channel Seven – and the AFL – aren’t with the program, as it were. Because the first indication for thousands – if not more – Australians that something was amiss was when they logged onto Seven’s streaming service, 7Plus, for the Brownlow count – only to find no trace of it. Great news for Border Security fans, to be sure… but AFL lovers everywhere were left feeling rightly jilted. We only have smart TVs and there’s no #brownlow on @7plus WTF. Also no paid streaming option via @AFL either… how is this a thing in 2021?! @Channel7 — christie fekete (@ChristieFekete) September 19, 2021 I'm trying to stream the Brownlow on 7Plus (forgive me, I'm in lockdown!). But I'm getting Border Security instead. Either Peter Dutton is about to cause a big boil over by beating the Bont or something is going wrong here?#Brownlow — Richard Hinds (@rdhinds) September 19, 2021 Advertisement Can any ???? experts explain @7AFL’s logic in not making its #BrownlowMedal coverage available on @7plus? There must be a reason… — Marc McGowan ????✍️????????‍???????? (@ByMarcMcGowan) September 19, 2021 The reason why is simple: Seven don’t have streaming rights for any of their AFL-related content. After Telstra ended their AFL Live Pass access at the beginning of 2021, they now belong exclusively to Foxtel and Kayo Sports … who, as it happens, can show everything EXCEPT the two biggest events on the calendar. Namely: the Brownlow Medal and this Saturday’s grand final, which are the sole domain of Seven. It took Seven until the count started to notify expectant fans venting on Twitter that they wouldn’t be able to stream the count on 7Plus. PSA: due to rights restrictions, the #BrownlowMedal cannot be streamed on 7plus. You can watch live and free on Channel 7. — 7AFL (@7AFL) September 19, 2021 While the network took the lion’s share of the blame on social media last night, they’re not solely to blame for the shemozzle. It’s a farce in this day and age that supposedly the biggest sporting competition in Australia can prevent a network from live-streaming an event it has exclusive access to. Can you imagine Channel Nine doing the same with the State of Origin series? Fixing the contract up must be a priority for the AFL, and surely will be after Monday night’s debacle. It’s a shame it comes as too little, too late for many fans left in the lurch. Advertisement And fair warning – unless you’ve got access to a special set-top box in this list, you’re going to need to break out the ‘rabbit ears’ to catch the grand final on Saturday night. Ollie Wines – Brownlow Medallist, and straight-up savage Heading in as the favourite after an outstanding season, averaging over 32 disposals in Port Adelaide’s run to the preliminary final, Wines secured his place among the game’s elite with a maiden Brownlow, for himself and the club. Fascinatingly, he did it despite the very thing that arguably gave him that favouritism – a lack of teammates to take votes off him – being flipped on its head. Where Melbourne stars Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca were expected to drag each other down, and ditto Bulldogs pair Marcus Bontempelli and Jack Macrae; it was Wines’ partner in crime Travis Boak’s 25 votes which was the highest club runner-up tally of the night. Boak’s outstanding polling, particularly early in the night, makes Wines’ achievement of equalling Dustin Martin’s record of 36 votes all the more impressive. In 16 of 22 games, he was deemed to be among the three best players afield – a record he now holds on his own.

(Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images) Sealing the result with two votes on Bontempelli’s Bulldogs in Round 23, the unassuming country lad from Echuca, in Victoria’s north, then proceeded to win the footy world over with plenty of blunt honesty in his victory speech. When notified by host Basil Zempilas of his record-equalling haul, Wines responded simply: “I’m not sure about the numbers, but 36 sounds like a lot.” Always a keen footy fan, his favourite player growing up was another Echuca product in former Carlton swingman Andrew Walker; he’d reveal a hilarious anecdote about a call to radio station 3AW in “the early 2000s” to talk about his idol with legendary caller Rex Hunt. Advertisement Reckon you'll be able to get onto talkback tomorrow Ollie ????#Brownlow pic.twitter.com/O8cIBJRFD7 — AFL (@AFL) September 19, 2021 Wines then had them rolling in the aisles when he singled out a few Power teammates who had tagged along to Perth, despite little chance of polling many votes themselves. “We’ve got a really good crew come over tonight. A lot of the boys jumped on because I was a bit of chance, so I’m sure they’ll enjoy the night. “There were a lot of guys who weren’t a chance of polling votes – Tom Clurey… he asked for the after party invite, so he’s got that!” Finishing off the night with an impromptu phone call from Power president David Koch, the Brownlow will surely be some consolation for Wines after his team’s preliminary final defeat to the Bulldogs. It certainly was for his family. Scenes @ North Melbourne pic.twitter.com/fLHQDGCDVL — Maddie Wines (@maddiewines) September 19, 2021 Advertisement Forget ‘midfielder’s medal’, the Brownlow is a ‘favourite’s medal’ The last non-midfielder to win the Brownlow was Sydney legend Adam Goodes back in 2003 – and he was a ruckman who would win another ‘Charlie’ as a midfielder three years later. It’s no secret that the AFL’s most prestigious award is now exclusively the domain of the on-ballers. When Taylor Walker’s 9 votes is the most by any permanent forward, and Tom Stewart’s 8 the highest by a backman, you’ve got yourself a pretty clear discrepancy. However, in recent years the line has been pushed even further: it’s no longer enough to just be a midfielder to take home the Brownlow. Now, unless you’re one of the red-hot favourites being touted as a chance for months leading into the night, you might as well enjoy a cup of tea and turn in for an early night. Since Matt Priddis took home a surprise Brownlow in 2014, six of the seven medals have been won by the pre-count favourite. Wines, albeit a far closer-run choice among pundits than the overwhelming fancies of Patrick Dangerfield, Dustin Martin and Lachie Neale in recent years, polled accordingly. Don’t get me wrong: Wines, and those before him, are all indisputably worthy winners for outstanding seasons. But was his season really so astounding as to merit a Brownlow-record 36 votes (tied with Martin’s 2017 tally) and SIXTEEN appearances in the best three on the ground? You could say the same for Neale in 2020, who was adjudged by the umpires as best man afield ten times in seventeen home-and-away rounds, for a tally of 31. Perhaps the most glaring example of this is at the Western Bulldogs. Runner-up Marcus Bontempelli finished narrowly second behind Wines with 33 votes; while teammate and disposal machine Jack Macrae, the man who this year broke the record for the most disposals ever in an AFL season, finished with… 12. Not saying he should be leading but…. Umpires, let me introduce Jack Macrae. 12 votes!!?? pic.twitter.com/CTQ8P1TDTF — Alister Nicholson (@AlisterNicho) September 19, 2021 Advertisement Suggestions that the umpires have enough on their plate to be awarding Brownlow votes as well are fair, but it’s not going to rectify this situation. The obsession with the game’s biggest stars in the weekly cycle that is AFL media has made it just about impossible to head into a game without your eye being automatically drawn to the Bontempellis, the Wineses, the Dangerfields. If they’ve been the hot topics on every footy show all weekend long and then rack up 30 touches, regardless of their effectiveness, is anyone surprised when they continue to poll so spectacularly? All the while, the efforts of not just the gun forwards, backs and ruckmen of the game, but now the unassuming Macrae-style midfielders too, go largely ignored. For better or for worse, it seems we’re stuck with this trend. A bunch of hot candidates in 2021 at least made it interesting… but another Neale-esque count rout next year would be less than ideal. History made as records crumble by the bucketload Has a Brownlow ever produced so many new records? Well, the first one maybe, and those ones where two umpires gave the votes, but you get the idea. We’ll start with the obvious ones: Wines’ 36 votes equals Dusty’s highest-ever haul, while his 16 vote-winning games stands alone. It was a massive night for all the other top contenders, too; with Wines, Bontempelli (33), Oliver (31) and Carlton sensation Sam Walsh (30), it was the first Brownlow ever to feature four tallies in the 30s. The previous best? Two – between Martin and Patrick Dangerfield in 2017, Dane Swan and Sam Mitchell in 2011, and – one from the archives – Collingwood’s Des Fothergill and South Melbourne’s Herbie Matthews in 1940. Speaking of old-timers, the ageless David Mundy became the oldest man ever to poll more than 20 votes, getting to 20 on the dot at the age of 36. Not to be outdone, 33-year old Travis Boak (25 votes) is now the oldest man to poll 25 or higher. But it wasn’t a big night for others. Collingwood defender and premiership Bulldog Jordan Roughead set a new bar for the most games without a single vote, at 192. He beat out the previous holder, Geelong’s Tom Lonergan (191)… who was thrilled to pass on the baton. Note to all MC’s… delete from all future intro’s ???????? https://t.co/r9nChWw5HG — Tom Lonergan (@tomlonergan13) September 19, 2021 Disappointingly, though, one eight-year streak came to an end with Wines’ win. Lift your game, Echuca. Echuca has a McDonalds, so the streak is over. https://t.co/8j0jB3xxJ4 — Max Laughton (@maxlaughton) September 19, 2021 Read the full article

Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY 

Leafs Offseason Recap

After another disappointing end to the season and failing to make it out of the first round again after holding a 3-1 series lead, the Leafs have slowly started to arrive in Toronto ahead of training camp Monday. Typically after playoff disappointments the last few years, there has been optimism among Leafs Nation at the start of a new season, but there is a sense of skepticism this time around, and for good reason. We’ve all heard the players and management give the cliché answers throughout the summer about another disappointing exit, but Leaf fans have grown tired of hearing them and only care about one thing – GETTING OUT OF THE FIRST ROUND. Having said that, and before I dive into the offseason recap and season preview, the media needs to stop asking the same questions for months on end and fans over on social media need to settle the fuck down with attacking Matthews, Marner and Nylander. It’s been four months since game 7, let it go already and let these guys get ready for this season. Yes, they didn’t perform well in the playoffs, and yes, I know they’re professional athletes in one of the biggest markets in the world and should be able to block it out, but how would you keyboard warriors feel opening social media apps every day constantly reading the same crap for 4 months? Y’all need to go outside. 

Now that that’s out of the way, we saw the capped strapped Leafs do what they did last year this offseason and look for bargain deals and take chances on players that have underperformed in the hopes of finding a diamond in the rough, while saying goodbye to fan and player favourites alike. I won’t be providing many stats or analytics here, just using the good ole eye test. 

Out:

Frederik Andersen

Joe Thornton

Zach Hyman

Zach Bogosian

Alex Galchenyuk

Nick Foligno

Riley Nash

As much as Freddy provided stability between the pipes since he joined the team 5 years ago, the last couple years have seen him become unpredictable and he hasn’t been able to steal a game in the playoffs like so many great goalies do. Not only was he unable to do that, but in the big moments like, say, a game 7, there was always that backbreaking, “should’ve had it” goal. A fan favourite from the time he got here, but due to cap issues and the emergence of Jack Campbell, it was best for both sides to move on. 

Unfortunately, another cap casualty was everyone’s favourite Zach Hyman. Do I wish the Leafs could have kept him, absolutely, but with his growing list of injuries and the size of the contract he wanted (and deserved) I am kind of glad the cap prevented us from resigning him. It’s been weird seeing him in Oilers colours on social media, but we wish him nothing but the best out west. 

I’m glad Keefe is no longer handcuffed with Jumbo Joe taking up a 4th line spot instead of playing a young guy like Brooks that can keep up in today’s league, particularly in the playoffs. The Leafs were keen on resigning Bogo, and I would have loved to see him stay – he was great on the back end all season, but due to covid restrictions, he chose to go chase another cup with Tampa. I would’ve also liked to see what Gally could’ve done with a full training camp and a fulltime spot in the top 6, I thought he performed well. Given he’s still unsigned, never say never. As for Foligno and Nash, they didn’t do much for us, they were hurt most of their time here. 

In:

Petr Mrazek

Michael Bunting

Kurtis Gabriel

Nick Ritchie

David Kampf

Ondrej Kase

Josh Ho-Sang (PTO)

Nikita Gusev (PTO)

Getting to the new faces, I like the signings of Ritchie and Kase. Ritchie brings some much needed size to the top 6 and will also take on some of the work that Hyman did in getting Matthews and Marner or Tavares and Nylander the puck. Should that be where Keefe chooses to play him as he isn’t the fleetest of foot and has only averaged over 15 minutes/game once in his career. Expect the Leafs to spend a little more time on the penalty kill though as he tends to take some bad penalties. Kase on the other hand, was a 20 goal scorer just 3 years ago, but has been ravaged by injuries since and has been battling concussion issues most recently. Hopefully the most expensive and comprehensive medical team in the league can help in his recovery. 

Dubas and Co are taking a massive chance on Michael Bunting, thankfully it’s for less than a million each season, in the hopes that he can continue his late bloom. Last season he scored 10 goals in 21 games with Arizona and has 11 goals in 26 NHL games so far. I don’t know much about him, so I don’t think it’s fair for me to say this signing has bust written all over it, this is more of a wait and see situation. At the very least, he can be a serviceable third/fourth liner at cost. 

Speaking of third and fourth liners, David Kampf and Kurtis Gabriel were brought in as depth signings as well. Kampf gives the Leafs some added center depth and could allow them to move Kerfoot to the wing. The only two things I know about Gabriel are that he isn’t afraid to throw with anyone and that off the ice he is one of the best humanitarians in the game at making the game more inclusive and accessible for everyone. 

Josh Ho-Sang and Nikita Gusev will both be joining the Leafs at camp on Professional Try-Outs, which I don’t mind. Ho-Sang was a highly touted prospect but has never been able to find his footing in the NHL. Gusev came over from Russia a few years ago and hasn’t really been able to adjust to NHL either. Both are low risk and could provide some added depth on the wings for the Leafs. 

Onto the biggest fish the Leafs landed this summer in Petr Mrazek. The Leafs wanted to give Campbell a chance to be a number 1 and have a guy in Mrazek that is used to/comfortable in running a tandem setup. One of the similarities I’ve noticed between him and Campbell, is that when they are in a scramble, they do anything possible to get themselves in front of the puck to make a save. They have the instinct and athleticism to forget about technique and getting square in order to make saves. It’s something that appeared to be difficult for Freddy at times, like he would get himself caught between being unorthodox and trying to stay in technique. Both Campbell and Mrazek are streaky so let’s hope one of them is hot at all times and can both stay healthy. Given this is going to be more of a tandem than we have seen in years past, I would expect Keefe to ride the hot hand, even on back-to-backs. 

Two guys that could challenge for spots upfront are 2019 second rounder Nick Robertson and undrafted free agent Alex Steeves. Robertson has had very brief stints with the Leafs the last couple seasons, and had an injury riddled shortened season last year. It doesn’t look like it hurt his development though as he was a star at Leafs’ development camp last weekend. Steeves was also a standout at the development camp last weekend and got off to a good start in the Traverse City rookie tournament playing along side Robertson. Undrafted out of Notre Dame, he was just over a point per game player last season and has put up 60 points in his last 65 games with the University. Whether they crack the Leafs’ roster this season or next, a couple of entry level deals will certainly help the Leafs’ cap situation. 

It’ll be interesting to see how well all the new faces fit in Keefe’s system and how quickly they can make an impression/build chemistry as training camp officially gets underway Monday with first game action coming quickly on September 25th against the Habs. We’ll be back before the season opener with an opening night preview once rosters are set. 

--Smitty 

Sabrina Ionescu wants to inspire the next generation of women in sports

Photo by Dale Zanine/NBAE via Getty Images

A Q&A with Sabrina Ionescu on celebrity fans in Brooklyn, her health, and inspiring young girls to play sports.

Sabrina Ionescu came into the WNBA as one of the most highly-touted rookies in recent memory. But her first year didn’t exactly go according to plan, as the pandemic moved the New York Liberty from their new home at the Barclays Center to the WNBA bubble at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla.

Then, she suffered a grade 3 ankle sprain in the third of game of the season, ending her rookie campaign and requiring surgery. Her rehab has lasted into this season, and she’s still getting back to full strength in her sophomore year as she and the New York Liberty attempt to bounce back from the disappointment of 2020.

But off the court, Ionescu is thriving. She’s on State Farm commercials with Chris Paul, and she’s bringing NBA and pop culture stars to Liberty games in Brooklyn. Ionescu is also continuing her mission of inspiring the next generation to pursue athletic excellence, specifically young girls, which is why she is partnering with The DICK’s Foundation for its third tour of the Sports Matter Giving Truck.

The DICK’s Sporting Goods Foundation

The Sports Matter Giving Truck will be traveling the USA throughout July.

The truck is providing 15,000 pieces of sports equipment, including sports bras, at eight stops around the country. Ionescu and five other current and former athletes — Sam Mewis, Elena Delle Donne, Swin Cash, Amy Rodriguez and Arike Ogunbowale — have recorded video messages that are accessible by scanning QR codes on the truck.

Ionescu spoke with SB Nation over the phone about her new partnership as well as how she’s adapted to being a professional athlete and what to make of the Liberty’s season thus far.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

SB Nation: Why is the Sports Matter Giving Truck important to you? Why did you want to be a part of it?

Sabrina Ionescu: I think there’s a lot of reasons, but obviously being in sports and I started playing at a really young age and so being able to see the differences growing up, you know, having brothers that played sports and you know, seeing the difference in equipment and in teams and participation of girls compared to the boys. I think that was a huge reason as to why I wanted to help and be a part of this initiative, to ultimately help empower young girls that are playing sports and starting sports. And hopefully with this they can find some positivity and maybe even a reason to continue playing the sport and not quit at a certain age like a lot of girls do.

SBN: What does it mean to you to be in this position where you can Inspire younger girls and know that your voice, your message means so much to them?

SI: It means everything, you know, we play for this reason and I play for this reason, and that’s to give back and find what I can do in my community and across the world. And so, this is obviously very important to me and using my platform and what I’m doing on the court to inspire young girls and young boys across the country. And so, I’m very honored and humbled to be able to partner with this foundation and the Sports Matter Giving Truck and be able to do something like this for female athletes.

SBN: Do you feel like your platform has gotten bigger since you started playing in New York? Or did you feel similarly when you were at Oregon?

SI: I think it’s definitely gotten bigger, you know, now I’m playing professional and out of college and so kind of expanding endorsement deals, endorsement opportunities, you know brand plans and management and all those kind of avenues that you’re not able to do in college. I think that definitely expands your platform at the professional level, and so, with that obviously comes great responsibility, which for me is not only handling my business on the court but doing everything that I can off the court to make an impact as well, and that’s what I plan to do with this as well.

SBN: I saw the other day that you mentioned that you’ve been getting some pretty decent crowds at Barclays Center when you guys play, and you mentioned that Russell Wilson, KD, Steve Nash, those guys coming to games, doesn’t seem like that big of a deal to you because they’re just your friends. But even if it’s not personally a big deal, do you kind of see the way that you’ve been impacting getting a bigger audience for the league as a whole?

SI: Yeah, for sure. This is our first year in Barclays, and so I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect, and I know I didn’t from playing in a bubble last year. So it was definitely exciting to just see people show up from all kind of backgrounds, whether it’s NBA players, former NBA players, coaches, little girls and boys that are in the stands, you know, with our jerseys and signs. And obviously a lot of people haven’t been to sporting events you know as much as we’d like with everything going on, and so I think it was kind of a little glimpse of what it will be in the future and what we’re building in New York and that is really something special. I know as an athlete I’ve definitely missed just being able to interact with the fans.

SBN: It’s been really great to see you back on the court this year, and I was curious, was most of your off-season this past year just devoted to rehab or did you feel like you got a chance to talk really work on your skills during this time off?

SI: Most of it was rehab and with that, of course, is new skills and working on your body and things that you don’t really do when you’re healthy. And so although, you know, I wasn’t able to do everything that I normally would have done in the offseason — I haven’t really ever had an offseason — it was still beneficial to the point of where I was working on my body, lifting, my nutrition, sleeping right, all the other things that are just as important. And so I do think that long-term in my career it could be a blessing.

SBN: Do you feel like that ankle injury is still affecting you at all on the court, like in terms of maybe getting past your initial defender? Or do you feel pretty comfortably recovered from last year?

SI: A little bit of both. You know, I’m healthy enough to play, honestly, that’s all that I’m thankful for and that matters. But of course, I mean there’s still things that I’m not comfortable doing yet or if I am, I don’t have enough repetitions doing them at a high level . And so I’m not anywhere near a hundred per month, so just grinding through that, figuring out ways to get better even if I can’t do certain things or and not at the speed of playing that I want to, but it’s all a blessing.

SBN: Where do you see yourself wanting to improve as the rest of the season progresses?

SI: Aside from getting healthier and being able to maintain that, I think in all aspects of the game. This is my first professional season and so being able to learn from my teammates, being able to learn from my coaches and a lot of the other teams that I’m playing has been really exciting, and kind of brings me back to my freshman year in college, where just everything is new. You’re getting to learn new players that you’re going up against, offensive tendencies, defensive tendencies, and so, all of that I’m not taking for granted and just I’m trying to be a sponge and learn as much as I can.

SBN: What do you feel like has been the toughest adjustment for you so far transitioning from college to professional?

SI: I think it’s hard to say because I’ve been injured this entire time, but I would say just the speed of the game and also the IQ. Everyone’s really smart, everyone’s better. Then you’re going up against players that have been in the league for 18, 19 years, and this is your first year, and so that experience that they have and just that veteran knowledge of everything that they’ve seen doesn’t go unnoticed, and it’s really nice to learn from a lot of those vets.

SBN: Yeah, it seems like it would be harder to immediately be able to manipulate a defense the way you did in college with your passing, compared to being in basically your rookie year in the W.

SI: Yeah.

SBN: The Liberty has been one of the really great stories of the season so far. Is there anything that you think that’s going on there in New York that we haven’t been talking about enough?

SI: No, I mean we listen obviously, we’re aware of the kind of questions we get asked of being in a rough patch, of losing games, or you know, whatnot, because I think everyone was so high on us starting off 5-1 (note: the Liberty are currently 8-9). But I still think, you know, a lot of people forget how new of a team we are and how young of a team we are. And I don’t think we’re in a rough patch. We’re not. We’re right where we want to be. We’re learning, you know we’re losing to teams that are number one in this league right now and have eight, nine veteran players on their team, have been together for a couple of years. So I think we’re not losing sight of that. We’re not letting how we practice and how we play and how our season goes be dictated by wins and losses, and what people think is a successful or unsuccessful season. And I do think that is important and not really losing sight of the controllables and just the growth that we’ve shown from last year to this year.

Gov. Pritzker signs NIL bill at State Farm Center

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/ncaa-football/gov-pritzker-signs-nil-bill-at-state-farm-center/

Gov. Pritzker signs NIL bill at State Farm Center

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Vederian Lowe remembers sitting in the dorms as a younger player on the Illinois football roster and joking with his teammates that though money flowed into universities and towns based on revenue from the football team, they never saw a dime of it. Yes, they received full-ride academic scholarships, stipends and food — and that’s not to be overlooked — they couldn’t do anything to cash in on their own name, image, and likeness.

That changed on Tuesday at the State Farm Center where Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law SB 2338, the Student-Athlete Endorsement Rights Act, to allow college athletes in the state of Illinois to profit off of their name, image, and likeness beginning on Thursday. It’s a fast-moving change to the college athletics landscape and one that will put money into the pockets of student-athletes in the state as they build their brand.

“With this law, Illinois is at the forefront of taking some pressure off of some talented kids who are torn between finishing their degree and cashing in on the big leagues,” Pritzker said. “But to be clear, the benefits of this law don’t stop at kids bound for the NFL or NBA. Any student-athlete can partner with businesses in their college towns, as well as brands big and small to see financial benefit from the hours they pour into their craft. This isn’t just a win for student-athletes, it’s a win for the future of our entire state.”

Pritzker was flanked by Lowe, Illinois women’s basketball player Eva Rubin, men’s basketball player Trent Frazier, men’s gymnast Dylan Kolak, Illini athletic director Josh Whitman, university chancellor Robert Jones, former Illini football player — now a state representative who sponsored the bill — Kam Buckner, soon-to-be Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg, DePaul athletic director DeWayne Peevy, and others.

“This is something we’ve all been dreaming of and now it’s reality and we’re very grateful for that,” said Lowe as he spoke during an hour-long press conference. “This is all something that we think that we deserve and we need. We put countless hours in. It doesn’t matter what sport that we’re in, whether it’s football or basketball, track and field, volleyball, swimming, any sport, we all see each other and we all know the amount of work that we put in to try to become national champions. This is something we’re very excited about and we’re glad the moment is finally before us. …. This is a historic change and it will change the way collegiate sports will be viewed for years to come.”

According to Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger, Illinois is the 14th state that has NIL laws going into effect on Thursday. On Wednesday, the NCAA is expected to approve an interim policy that allows all student-athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness, regardless of state legislation.

But on Wednesday, Pritzker, Whitman, Illinois speaker of the house Chris Welch and Buckner each touted Illinois being at the forefront of the legislation. Student-athletes, according to state law, will be required to disclose all of their endorsement deals to the university and the university has partnered with the app Opendorse to help streamline and create a smooth process for endorsement deals.

Buckner was the co-sponsor of the bill and was back on the campus where he played college football and where his own beliefs about student-athlete compensation changed after a trip to the mall with former Illini running back Pierre Thomas. A jersey on the rack was clearly meant to be Thomas’ jersey but he didn’t have the money in his own pocket to buy it and would never see the money from that jersey sale. Buckner’s beliefs began to shift about athletes’ compensation.

Though Illinois athletes won’t be able to represent the school — they cannot wear any Illinois gear or identify themselves as an Illinois student-athlete in these endorsements — plenty of opportunities will exist to put money in their pockets.

“This bill is about equity, it’s about parity, it’s about autonomy, it’s about fair market, it’s about the legal tenet that we call the right to publicity,” Buckner said. “But more over this bill is essentially about fairness. Fairness. Fairness. Fairness. I really feel fortunate to be able to have led this fight just 14 years after I took off my Illini uniform for the last time.

“The Illinois Student-Athletes Endorsement Rights Act modernizes the college athletics landscape. This bill is long overdue. What we are signaling here is we cannot continue to economically suppress these young people while they infuse tremendous amounts of money into our economies. I want to be clear: This is not just a win for the star quarterback or the star point guard. This gives the women’s tennis player the opportunity to be compensated for teaching lessons back in her hometown during summer breaks. This creates an apparatus for the women’s softball player to lend her image to the local pizzeria for fair-market value.

“We’ve seen states around the country begin to address this issue and rightfully so, but I’ll be clear that this is the most comprehensive and forward-thinking legislation in the entire country that addresses this issue.”

According to the Chicago Tribune, the bill “would prohibit college athletes from promoting sports betting, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, vaping products, adult entertainment or any other product ‘considered to be inconsistent with the values of a postsecondary institution’ or which would bring ‘embarrassment, scandal or ridicule’ to a college or university.”

Some student-athletes have gotten a jumpstart on making it known their services are open for business come July 1. Frazier has been active on social media, urging companies to reach out to him for potential endorsement deals. Thanks to an NCAA rule that granted an additional year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic Frazier, a fan favorite, has one more year in Champaign and plans to cash in on the brand he’s built over his first four seasons. He said he’s been preparing for two weeks on the best way to approach July 1 to maximize his exposure.

“I’m a businessman now,” Frazier said. “Obviously with the bill passing, like I said, I’ve been working for two weeks now. I wanted to take full advantage of this opportunity and use it and not take it for granted. Obviously with this being my last year, I wanted to make the most out of it. Obviously taking care of my family. I want to be able to have some money in my pocket that I can give to my parents. I’m just trying to set myself up for after this until I see what my next step in life is.”

Rubin, a senior on the women’s basketball team, is a Type 1 diabetic. She’s spent time volunteering and in internships with the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Those are fulfilling in their own rights. She met a seven-year-old while she played at Arizona State who wasn’t sure if he could play baseball because he was diabetic. A year later, the child’s aunt found Rubin in a mall and informed her that he was playing baseball again following their conversation. Those talks matter and can happen without NIL, but the new law allows her to continue to build her platform with the potential to make money at the same time.

“Those were all volunteer things, and I love to do that stuff,” Ru bin said. “But now I’m at a point where, OK, maybe the company that makes my insulin pump or the company that makes my glucose monitor — I can’t really play my sport without those two things — maybe they want me to post on Instagram and show other diabetic athletes, ‘Hey, this is what I use so I can play collegiate sports and you can do it too.’

“… It was really exciting. I know myself and my fellow student-athletes, we thought right away of a couple brands or a couple companies that we love or we would love to work with, and it’s different for everyone. We all have our own little things outside of our sports world that are really important to us so now this is another bridge between us and those things we love so much and a way for us to benefit and for the company to benefit as well. It’s just a great opportunity for us. It’s great for us to learn about the process and have the university here supporting us and helping us learn how to take those risks and manage them.

“Being able to actually make a profit off of our name, image, and likeness, that’s another way for us to develop ourselves. That’s another way for us to figure out what we’re going to do when the ball stops bouncing and another thing for us to put on our resume. A lot of athletes struggle to build résumés because we’re so busy. Us being able to make a profit and work with these different companies, that’s huge for us.”

When Illinois head football coach Bret Bielema hired director of football branding and creative media Patrick Pierson, NIL was near the front of Bielema’s mind. He wanted to get ahead of the curve, to begin preparing his football team for the opportunities that would eventually be ahead of them.

First, Pierson said, football players began to understand what their own brand is and what they want it to be in the future along with the platform that will help elevate that brand. From there, they began to educate and prepare the team for what was going to come, particularly through the use of Opendorse. Illinois athletics can not set up endorsement opportunities nor advise them other than to make sure it falls within the legislation’s morality clause.

Now comes the time to put all of the educational pieces to practice in real time.

“They’re ecstatic,” Pierson said. “They’re all nervous because it’s an unknown just like all of us trying to figure it all out. There’s a lot of guys, I mean Vederian obviously has an immediate family and kids and there are other guys in that situation and there are other guys looking to provide money to send home. People don’t think about that too. They’re excited. They’re all nervous because they don’t know about the world of opportunities ahead of them, but they’ll learn fast and we’re here to help them, educate them and guide them.”

Years after sitting in his dorm, talking with teammates about not being able to capitalize on their name, image, and likeness, Lowe is in a position to take advantage of any opportunities in front of him. He’s still laying out the best approach for himself but plans to reap the benefits of the legislation.

The veteran tackle had a massive decision as last season ended about what to do with his future. He wanted more tape for NFL scouts but has two children, is the guardian for his younger brother and is recently married. A paycheck certainly would have helped. For him, this bill exists as a stopgap before what he hopes is his NFL payday.

“It means a lot to me and will help me a lot with things I have going on in my life and things I’m dealing with at home and everything,” Lowe said. “It will help me try to put my family in the best position possible because I want to take over that role of being a provider for my kids, my wife and my brother as well. It means everything. … It’s something everyone is excited about. I’m definitely going to get in touch with the right people so I can approach this the right way.”

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(In French) Journalist: Hello Blur! Blur (slowly and with a strong accent): Hello! Journalist (sounding like a French teacher on the first day of school): How are you doing? 

Blur (with an even worse pronunciation): Very well, thank you! Journalist: I was very happy because last night I saw you on stage on Canal + (French channel), in a small room, with very few people. 

 Alex James (Not much of an accent): It was... 

 Damon Albarn (says the English word with a French pronunciation, doesn't know this isn't how French works): Enjoyable. 

 Alex James: Thrilling (he says: "Jouissable". He probably came up with this word because he knew the French verb: "jouir", which mean 'to benefit from' or  'to have an orgasm', depending on the context. But "jouissable" is not a word that exists in French, we would probably say: "jouissif" instead.) 

 Journalist (pretending that "jouissable" is a word): Thrilling and exciting (What  I translated as exciting is "jouissant" which in my opinion doesn't make much sense here. It is the present participle of "jouir"'). Journalist(switching to English:): Playable (she may have understood "jouable" (=playable) instead of "jouissable") and very exciting.

 Alex James: It was a good night. 

 Damon Albarn (realising that French isn't just adding baguette and macaron to English): Is that a word, "enjoyable"? 

 Journalist:  Enjoyable! (she says the right word: "agréable", which looks like the English word 'agreeable') 

 Damon Albarn (in French, with quite an accent, sounding like a very confident expert in all things French): "Agréable", yes, yes, yes, certainly. 

 Alex James (very cute accent, overall good pronunciation): We played songs from our new record (he made a mistake for the adjective 'new', he said 'nouvel' instead of 'nouveau', 'nouvel' is used for words that start with a vowel. It would have worked if he had said 'nouvel album'. Or maybe he said 'nouvelle', which is for feminine words, 'record' (="disque") being, in French, a masculine noun. Yes, French is a pain in the ass.) The Magic Whip. And it was 'enjoyable' (back at it again with the fake word, this time jokingly). 

 Journalist (sounding more and more like a French teacher talking to her hard of hearing students): "Agréable" and enjoyable. 

 Damon Albarn: You know when I met this errant individual, he was doing medieval French. He was doing a degree in medieval French. Can you believe it? 

Journalist: Yes! When I hear him speak now, I can believe it. 

Damon Albarn: There you go, you got compliments. Alex James: Thank you very much. 

Journalist: Dave Rowntree, I want you to do the pitch for this new album. 

 Dave Rowntree: Great. 

 Alex James (I guess it's him, it's well pronounced): In French, please.  

Dave Rowntree: Okay. (unintelligible, vaguely French noises. The others react accordingly by snickering. Then, pretty understandable French, but with a strong accent). We are in a big trip around the world. The next concert (well if I had to translate the mistakes it would say 'the concert next'. Also he used the feminine adjective "prochaine" instead of "prochain") is finished ("terminé", instead of "annulé"= 'cancelled', I think that what he meant), I don't know why. A concert in "Japain" (This country doesn't exist, sorry Dave. In French it's "Japon")

Journalist: Japan! Dave Rowntree: Japan? I'm sorry. (The other react to this but I can't tell what they're saying. Dave doesn't let it get him down and goes on) We have one week at Honk Kong. In Honk Kong (of course "dans Honk Kong" sounds funny and make the others laugh. But now Dave has a pretty good pronunciation! Or maybe it's Alex who's talking now. I'm really bad at recognizing voices). 

 Damon Albarn (being a little shit, but practising his French so I forgive him): I love Honk Kong. 

 Dave Rowntree, or maybe 

Alex: So we decided to a recording room. (Okay, no verb. You do you, Dave, or Alex, I don't know who's talking. Anyway it's quite impressive to know, and to be able to pronounce the word "salle d'enregistrement") to make music together. Tracks. We have four days and a half. 

 Damon Albarn: No, five, five (I'm proud, Damon, you know your numbers) 

 Dave Rowntree or maybe Alex: Five days to do anything, I don't know. (He says "n'importe quoi", but drops the "n" at the beginning, which is not something a French speaker would do, but we can still understand the word so that's okay. "N'importe quoi" can mean 'anything' but also 'nonsense', 'rubbish') And after that, we continued (he says "nous avez", but he should have said "nous avons", to conjugate the verb in the right way) the big tour. Eighteen months later ago (it's okay we understand), Graham (said in a horrible French accent. Now that's accuracy. The others seem to appreciate the effort) was listening to the tracks and with our mate Stephen Street, they have done all the things (again, he used the wrong adjective, "tous", masculine, instead of "toutes", feminine, for the feminine word "choses" = things). And that's it (yes, "voilà" isn't only used by magicians when they make doves appear!). 

 Damon Albarn (probably thinking of magicians): And that's it! Others: Bravo! Journalist: I am impressed! Great. So we understood it was five days in a studio in Honk Kong. 

 Graham Coxon: No, it wasn't in five days. 

 Damon Albarn: If only it was just five days! Graham Coxon: Five days we were playing, jamming I suppose.   

 Someone, Alex? Damon? (in French): Jam sessions (it's funny because "boeuf" in French commonly means 'ox' or 'beef' but in that context it means 'jam sessions'. It's quite impressive to know this use of the word!) 

 Damon Albarn: I'm talking about "boeufs", but I met Frank Leboeuf (French football player, who played for Chelsea FC. Also played during the finals of the 1998 World Cup; in the French team who won the championship! Yes, his surname means 'The Ox'. Or 'the jam session' I guess) last night. I'm obviously a Chelsea fan and that was very exciting for me. (Great Damon, always finding excuses to talk about yourself.) I was also very surprised recently to see him play a doctor in a film! Was it... Impossibility of anything? I don't know. It can't be a film called 'Impossibility of anything', a title like that doesn't lead to anything. (must be the movie 'Theory of Everything' about Stephen Hawking). Hey guys, we've got a great pitch! The Impossibility of anything! (You're so funny Damon) Journalist: Okay, Frank Leboeuf. He's a football player right? 

 Damon Albarn: He was. Now he's an actor. But he also came on in the last quarter of the World Cup, when you won the World Cup, remember that? And we were there too, in the Stade de France, we were there. And I'll tell you what stayed in my mind, a very vivid memory: it's when the final whistle went, literally there was a silence of maybe thirty seconds, and everyone in the stadium just couldn't believe it (I can say that back then, the people I knew were quite pessimistic until the end. They couldn't feel anything other than irritation towards their own team! I find it quite funny. It wasn't the case of everyone though, and of course when we won everybody was back to chauvinism and pride).  It was an amazing night! It was a great night, realising what had happened. A great memory. And I ended up sitting on Bono's knee next to Zucchero. Someone, Alex maybe: In Les Bains Douches (a famous Parisian night club, it's closed now. The name can be translated to 'The Baths Showers', because there used to be thermal baths there, I think). 

 Damon Albarn: Yeah, Les Bains Douches. Shouldn't talk about that. Journalist (explains what Damon has just said, and then, not so subtly telling them to stop highjacking her interview to talk about celebrities' knees): Graham Coxon... When I see how this interview is going, with lots of tangents that stray away from what we were saying about your album, I wonder how the recording of your new album called The Magic Whip went. 

 Graham Coxon (I'm relying more on what he actually says than on the voiceover, which doesn't say exactly the same): That's what it's like! Forty hours of that to organise musically, in a musical way, THAT (calm down, your album isn't that monstruous). It's all of us making a cacophony, based around some form of chords progression supplied by Damon Albarn and his crazy unique demos. All of this caused all these hours of sonic delight, which needed at some point to be made possible for human consumption (she translates this into 'made understandable for human conception'). So I said to myself, yeah. Why don't I tell Stephen Street to come into the studio, dismantle this and put it back together. Like,...no. Journalist: Go ahead! Damon Albarn (I think?): Like a very smelly thing. 

 Graham Coxon: Like a smelly old motorbike you find in a barn, sitting there. You take its bits, you polish it up and put it back together (Then he says some funny thing I can't fucking hear because of the voiceover). And then this beautiful machine is presented to the world. But a musical machine (oh really, I thought you were talking about a motorbike all along. Your metaphors are so powerful Graham). Alex? I guess: You have to listen to it. (Who laughs like that, blimey. What an immersive experience. I feel surrounded by drunk lads in an old pub) 

E3 2021 Needs to Find a Way to Stay Relevant in Changing Times

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The ESA has revealed that E3 2021 will run from June 12 to June 15 as an “all-virtual video game showcase that will be 100 percent free for attendees.” So far, the ESA is touting “early commitments from Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Games, and Koch Media” with more possible presenters to come. 

Considering that the fate of E3 2021 was very much in doubt after last year’s event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and companies everywhere hosted their own digital events as the ESA failed to organize the same, this announcement may be more than E3 fans could have hoped for. E3 shouldn’t be an in-person event quite yet, but a digital version of E3 featuring heavy hitters like Nintendo, Capcom, and Microsoft certainly feels like something close to that return to normalcy that so many of us crave. 

Just as there are questions about what normalcy means after the events of the last year and the circumstances which propelled them, though, E3’s organizers, fans, and presenters will have to answer some tough questions about how the event will stay relevant at a time when its greatest attribute often feels like the memory of what was. 

Make no mistake that E3 was in trouble even before the 2020 event was canceled due to circumstances beyond its organizers’ control. In recent years, studios like EA, PlayStation, Activision Blizzard, and even Nintendo (to a degree) decided to abandon their traditional E3 presentations in favor of their own dedicated shows and broadcasts. The reasons for their departures vary, but as Sony’s controversial (and largely underwhelming) 2018 E3 presentation showed, the pressure and costs of constructing a yearly presentation with competition undertones sometimes aren’t worth the potential payoff from a business perspective. 

The absence of those companies was certainly felt at E3 2019 which had its fans but its best-remembered moment was a Keanu Reeves cameo that has lost some luster since we’ve all played the game that was clearly not ready for the spotlight it was afforded at that show. 

Many of the companies that have left E3 have used the word “change” to justify their decision. Former Sony Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden said in 2019 that “the world has changed, but E3 hasn’t necessarily changed with it.” In 2020, longtime E3 partner Geoff Keighley said that “the show does need to evolve.” Both Keighley and Layden noted their desire for E3 to look beyond the booths and show floor and find new ways to connect with fans, preferably digitally. 

While leaks suggest that the ESA’s own suggestions for change involve an emphasis on influencers, live gimmicks, and even potential paywalls for digital content, E3 2021 doesn’t currently seem to feature any of that. Based on what we know now, it might actually be that largely digital event that will move beyond the physical boundaries of E3s gone by that some have complained about and instead reach a global fanbase directly in their homes. E3 2021 has a chance to become the E3 that some former major presenters seemed to hope it would become years ago. 

However, the biggest potential problem with E3 2021 isn’t its changes but rather the expectations of the one group of people who seem most insistent that E3 doesn’t change: its vocal supporters. 

There’s no universal reason why fans love E3, but the most common reasons fans look forward to the show tend to involve key elements such as the surprise of big game reveals, the competitive nature of the show (and subsequent arguments over who “won”), and the feeling of celebrating all things gaming during a big-budget week that seems to bring everyone to the same place one way or another. 

There is no beloved element of E3s of the past that has become more outdated and dangerous than the expectations of the big reveal. A quick look at reactions to E3 2021 confirmation across social media reveals that fans are already hyping themselves up for the following games:

Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill sequels/remakes

Grand Theft Auto 6

Metroid Prime 4

Breath of the Wild 2

Starfield

The Elder Scrolls 6

Maybe some of those games will appear at the show in some capacity, but we’re once again in a situation where the absence of impossibility fuels unreasonable expectations which burrow their way into even cynical minds and become the standard. What’s worse is that the hype for these potential announcements is amplified in many cases by the belief that E3 2021 will be different from the various digital events that we saw throughout 2020 which were hyped to the moon in the days leading up to their premieres but rarely featured the kind of big announcements fans hoped they would. 

The fact that there’s a semi-popular belief that E3 2021 will be substantially different from recent events in that respect already suggests that not enough people have realized the situation the video game industry faces right now. As more and more games are delayed to 2022 and beyond, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on production schedules everywhere should be much clearer than it seems to be. Digital showcases weren’t underwhelming because they took place outside of E3; they were often underwhelming because studios were trying to figure out how to finish games from home while creating digital presentations from the same place. The elements that impacted the impact of those showcases are as prevalent as ever.

Even if they weren’t, pre-pandemic E3s have made it increasingly clear that those mind-blowing reveals that defined E3s of the past are becoming much rarer. Leaks, quarterly expectations, and a constant news cycle mean we rarely see a game at E3 that we didn’t already know or strongly suspect was coming. When we do (such as the reveal of The Elder Scrolls 6) it’s often for a game that is so far away that it might as well not even be confirmed. Yet, we still have fans expecting to see those games even as developers do everything in their power to tell us that they’re years away. Even those who know better find themselves weighing what we do see against the games they really want to know more about.  

Read more

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More importantly, the fact of the matter is that the video game industry is burdened by crunch culture and skyrocketing costs that often force employees to work unreasonable schedules to complete games that more often satisfy increasingly unreasonable ROI expectations than the vision of their creators or even the desire of fans. In that dangerous environment, we’ve built this monolith to gaming that seems bright to outsiders but is being propped up by the members of an overworked and sometimes unstable industry that must constantly find ways to satisfy a yearly expectation for the big new thing. 

Yet, there may be no weaker E3 tentpole than the idea of industry competition. It’s absolutely true that E3s of the past directly played into that competition element. The very first E3 was even highlighted by Sony’s surprise PlayStation release date and price announcements which essentially ended the Sega Saturn’s chances before they even got started. Subsequent years also saw companies take potshots at each other in an attempt to steal the biggest spotlight the gaming industry had. 

Now, though, we’ve got Microsoft and Nintendo working together, Sony putting PlayStation Studios games on Game Pass, and PC players laughing as they get more games than ever. It’s not that competition in the industry is gone so much as it is that companies really aren’t interested in continuing to take shots at competitors that they’re more willing to work with than ever before. What we’re often left with in the wake of E3 isn’t a debate over the best showing but a petulant justification for outdated fanboyism that rarely amounts to more than which console will get the special DLC hoodie in the next Assassin’s Creed.

That leaves us with the idea that E3 will live on as this event that gets people excited about the gaming industry and brings them together, which is honestly what E3 2021 is going to have to capitalize on if it’s going to battle against times that are slowly walking towards the door as E3 tries to keep the party going with stories of that time that went to the lake in college. 

You can assign E3 a fiscal value, but I can tell you what E3 is worth to you. I also can’t deny that even the worst E3 tends to be more exciting than the best digital showcase we saw in 2020. After a year of searching for hope and answers, I’m looking forward to a generally harmless event that makes millions of people feel good and feel a connection with each other. 

But in the same way that Blockbuster launched Blockbuster By Mail years after Netflix showed them what the future was going to be, I can’t help but feel that this year’s digital E3 showcase reeks more of necessity than the ability to read the room and truly innovate. What can E3 do with a host of presenters that already struggled to host their own digital showcases who must now scrape together enough new games to justify a spectacle? The show’s inability to innovate in years when it was positioned to do so raises serious doubt about its ability to innovate in areas that it’s intentionally avoided for years.

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Maybe E3 2021 will be an effective enough stopgap and get us to E3 2022 when the novelty of being able to join crowds of people at a video game event (or watch those proceedings) will suddenly feel new again. However, E3 2021’s real job may be convincing us that this event has figured out something about digital presentations that has eluded some of the industry’s heaviest hitters so far.

If E3 2021 can capture that magical something that even mediocre E3s of the past have benefited from, then maybe it can overcome all of these hurdles. At the very least, it can delay the need to justify its place in a video game industry that keeps finding new ways to tell us that it needs to move on from the burden of our sometimes nostalgic ideas of what gaming was and what we want it to be. If it can’t, then those winds of change that we’ve been feeling more and more recently may blow over the empty halls of the L.A. Convention Center come June 2022 as we all realize that the tough answers to the questions of the future are rarely found in the past. 

The post E3 2021 Needs to Find a Way to Stay Relevant in Changing Times appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Deepfake video app Reface is just getting started on shapeshifting selfie culture

A bearded Rihanna gyrates and sings about shining bright like a diamond. A female Jack Sparrow looks like she’d be a right laugh over a pint. The cartoon contours of The Incredible Hulk lend envious tint to Donald Trump’s awfully familiar cheek bumps.

Selfie culture has a fancy new digital looking glass: Reface (previously Doublicat) is an app that uses AI-powered deepfake technology to let users try on another face/form for size. Aka “face swap videos”, in its marketing parlance.

Deepfake technology — or synthesized media, to give it its less pejorative label — is just getting into its creative stride, according to Roman Mogylnyi, CEO and co-founder of RefaceAI, which makes the eponymous app whose creepily lifelike output you may have noticed bubbling up in your social streams in recent months.

The startup has Ukrainian founders — as well as Mogylnyi, there’s Oles Petriv, Yaroslav Boiko, Dima Shvets, Denis Dmitrenko, Ivan Altsybieiev and Kyle Sygyda — but the business is incorporated in the US. Doubtless it helps to be nearer to Hollywood studios whose video clips power many of the available face swaps. (Want to see Titanic‘s Rose Hall recast with Trump’s visage staring out of Kate Winslet’s body? No we didn’t either — but once you’ve hit the button it’s horribly hard to unsee…

)

TechCrunch noticed a bunch of male friends WhatsApp-group-sharing video clips of themselves as scantily clad female singers and figured the developers must be onto something — a la Face App, or the earlier selfie trend of style transfer (a craze that was sparked by Prisma and cloned mercilessly by tech giants).

Reface’s deepfake effects are powered by a class of machine learning frameworks known as GANs (generative adversarial network) which is how it’s able to get such relatively slick results, per Mogylnyi. In a nutshell it’s generating a new animated face using the twin inputs (the selfie and the target video), rather than trying to mask one on top of the other.

Deepface technology has of course been around for a number of years, at this point, but the Reface team’s focus is on making the tech accessible and easy to use — serving it up as a push-button smartphone app with no need for more powerful hardware and near instant transformation from a single selfie snap. (It says it turns selfies into face vectors representing distinguishing user’s facial features — and pledges that uploaded photos are removed from its Google Cloud platform “within an hour”.)

No need for tech expertise nor lots of effort to achieve a lifelike effect. The inexorable social shares flowing from such a user friendly tech application then work to chalk off product marketing.

It was a similar story with the AI tech underpinning Prisma — which left that app open to merciless cloning, though it was initially only transforming photos. But Mogylnyi believes the team behind the video face swaps has enough of a head (ha!) start to avoid a similar fate.

He says usage of Reface has been growing “really fast” since it added high res videos this June — having initially launched with only far grainier GIF face swaps on offer.  In terms of metrics the startup us not disclosing active monthly users but says it’s had around 20 million downloads at this point across 100 countries. (On Google Play the app has almost a full five star rating, off of approaching 150k reviews.)

“I understand that an interest from huge companies might come. And it’s obvious. They see that it’s a great thing — personalization is the next trend, and they are all moving in the same direction, with Bitmoji, Memoji, all that stuff — but we see personalized, hyperrealistic face swapping as the next big thing,” Mogylnyi tells TechCrunch.

“Even for [tech giants] it takes time to create such a technology. Even speaking about our team we have a brilliant team, brilliant minds, and it took us a long time to get here. Even if you spawn many teams to work on the same problems surely you will get somewhere… but currently we’re ahead and we’re doing our best to work on new technologies to keep in pace,” he adds.

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Iron-Man-Robert-Downey-Keanu-Reeves.mp4

Reface’s app is certainly having a moment right now, bagging top download slots on the iOS App Store and Google Play in 100 countries — helped, along the way, by its reflective effects catching the eye of the likes of Elon Musk and Britney Spears (who Mogylnyi says have retweeted examples of its content).

But he sees this bump as just the beginning — predicting much bigger things coming down the sythensized pipe as more powerful features are switched on. The influx of bitesized celebrity face swaps signals an incoming era of personalized media, which could have a profoundly transformative effect on culture.

Mogylnyi’s hope is that wide access to synthensized media tools will increase humanity’s empathy and creativity — providing those who engage with the tech limitless chances to (auto)vicariously experience things they maybe otherwise couldn’t ever (or haven’t yet) — and so imagine themselves into new possibilities and lifestyles.

He reckons the tech will also open up opportunities for richly personalized content communities to grow up around stars and influencers — extending how their fans can interact with them.

“Right now the way influencers exist is only one way; they’re just giving their audience the content. In my understanding in our case we’ll let influencers have the possibility to give their audience access to the content and to feel themselves in it. It’s one of the really cool things we’re working on — so it will be a part of the platform,” he says.

“What’s interesting about new-gen social networks [like TikTok] is that people can both be like consumers and providers at the same time… So in our case people will also be able to be providers and consumers but on the next level because they will have the technology to allow themselves to feel themselves in the content.”

“I used to play basketball in school years but I had an injury and I was dreaming about a pro career but I had to stop playing really hard. I’ll never know how my life would have gone if I was a pro basketball player so I have to be a startup entrepreneur right now instead… So in the case with our platform I actually will have a chance to see how my pro basketball career would look like. Feel myself in the content and life this life,” he adds.

This vision is really the mirror opposite of the concerns that are typically attached to deepfakes, around the risk of people being taken in, tricked, shamed or otherwise manipulated by intentionally false imagery.

So it’s noteworthy that Reface is not letting users loose on their technology in a way that could risk an outpouring of problem content. For example, you can’t yet upload your own video to make into a deepfake — although the ability to do so is coming. For now, you have to pick from a selection of preloaded celebrity clips and GIFs which no one would mistake for the real-deal.

That’s a very deliberate decision, with Mogylnyi emphasizing they want to be responsible in how they bring the tech to market.

User generated video and a lot more — full body swaps are touted, next year — are coming, though. But before they turn on more powerful content generation functionality they’re working on building a counter tech to reliably detect such generated content. Mogylnyi says it will only open up usage once they’re confident of being able to spot their own fakes.

“It will be this autumn, actually,” he says of launching UGC video (plus the deepfake detection capability). “We’ll launch it with our Face Studio… which will be a tool for content creators, for small studios, for small post production studios, maybe some music video makers.”

“We also have five different technologies in our pipeline which we’ll show in the upcoming half a year,” he adds. “There are also other technologies and features based on current tech [stack] that we’ll be launching… We’ll allow users to swap faces in pictures with the new stack and also a couple of mechanics based on face swapping as well, and also separate technologies as well we’re aiming to put into the app.”

He says higher quality video swapping is another focus, alongside building out more technologies for post production studios. “Face Studio will be like an overall tool for people who want full access to our technologies,” he notes, saying the pro tool will launch later this year.

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/BLACKPINK-Kylie-Jenner.mp4

The Ukrainian team behind the app has been honing their deep tech chops for years — starting working together back in 2011 straight out of university and going on to set up a machine learning dev shop in 2013.

Work with post production studios followed, as they were asked to build face swapping technology to help budget-strapped film production studios do more while having to move their actors move around less.

By 2018, with plenty of expertise under their belt, they saw the potential for making deepface technology more accessible and user friendly — launching the GIF version of the app late last year, and going on to add video this summer when they also rebranded the app to Reface. The rest looks like it could be viral face swapping tech history…

So where does all this digital shapeshifting end up? “In our dreams and in our vision we see the app as a personalization platform where people will be able to live different lives during their one lifetime. So everyone can be anyone,” says Mogylnyi. “What’s the overall problem right now? People are scrolling content, not looking deep into it. And when I see people just using our app they always try to look inside — to look deeply into the picture. And that’s what really inspires us. So we understand that we can take the way people are browsing and the way they are consuming content to the next level.”

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/325k3mV via IFTTT

Deepfake video app Reface is just getting started on shapeshifting selfie culture

A bearded Rihanna gyrates and sings about shining bright like a diamond. A female Jack Sparrow looks like she’d be a right laugh over a pint. The cartoon contours of The Incredible Hulk lend envious tint to Donald Trump’s awfully familiar cheek bumps.

Selfie culture has a fancy new digital looking glass: Reface (previously Doublicat) is an app that uses AI-powered deepfake technology to let users try on another face/form for size. Aka “face swap videos”, in its marketing parlance.

Deepfake technology — or synthesized media, to give it its less pejorative label — is just getting into its creative stride, according to Roman Mogylnyi, CEO and co-founder of RefaceAI, which makes the eponymous app whose creepily lifelike output you may have noticed bubbling up in your social streams in recent months.

The startup has Ukrainian founders — as well as Mogylnyi, there’s Oles Petriv, Yaroslav Boiko, Dima Shvets, Denis Dmitrenko, Ivan Altsybieiev and Kyle Sygyda — but the business is incorporated in the US. Doubtless it helps to be nearer to Hollywood studios whose video clips power many of the available face swaps. (Want to see Titanic‘s Rose Hall recast with Trump’s visage staring out of Kate Winslet’s body? No we didn’t either — but once you’ve hit the button it’s horribly hard to unsee…

)

TechCrunch noticed a bunch of male friends WhatsApp-group-sharing video clips of themselves as scantily clad female singers and figured the developers must be onto something — a la Face App, or the earlier selfie trend of style transfer (a craze that was sparked by Prisma and cloned mercilessly by tech giants).

Reface’s deepfake effects are powered by a class of machine learning frameworks known as GANs (generative adversarial network) which is how it’s able to get such relatively slick results, per Mogylnyi. In a nutshell it’s generating a new animated face using the twin inputs (the selfie and the target video), rather than trying to mask one on top of the other.

Deepface technology has of course been around for a number of years, at this point, but the Reface team’s focus is on making the tech accessible and easy to use — serving it up as a push-button smartphone app with no need for more powerful hardware and near instant transformation from a single selfie snap. (It says it turns selfies into face vectors representing distinguishing user’s facial features — and pledges that uploaded photos are removed from its Google Cloud platform “within an hour”.)

No need for tech expertise nor lots of effort to achieve a lifelike effect. The inexorable social shares flowing from such a user friendly tech application then work to chalk off product marketing.

It was a similar story with the AI tech underpinning Prisma — which left that app open to merciless cloning, though it was initially only transforming photos. But Mogylnyi believes the team behind the video face swaps has enough of a head (ha!) start to avoid a similar fate.

He says usage of Reface has been growing “really fast” since it added high res videos this June — having initially launched with only far grainier GIF face swaps on offer.  In terms of metrics the startup us not disclosing active monthly users but says it’s had around 20 million downloads at this point across 100 countries. (On Google Play the app has almost a full five star rating, off of approaching 150k reviews.)

“I understand that an interest from huge companies might come. And it’s obvious. They see that it’s a great thing — personalization is the next trend, and they are all moving in the same direction, with Bitmoji, Memoji, all that stuff — but we see personalized, hyperrealistic face swapping as the next big thing,” Mogylnyi tells TechCrunch.

“Even for [tech giants] it takes time to create such a technology. Even speaking about our team we have a brilliant team, brilliant minds, and it took us a long time to get here. Even if you spawn many teams to work on the same problems surely you will get somewhere… but currently we’re ahead and we’re doing our best to work on new technologies to keep in pace,” he adds.

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Iron-Man-Robert-Downey-Keanu-Reeves.mp4

Reface’s app is certainly having a moment right now, bagging top download slots on the iOS App Store and Google Play in 100 countries — helped, along the way, by its reflective effects catching the eye of the likes of Elon Musk and Britney Spears (who Mogylnyi says have retweeted examples of its content).

But he sees this bump as just the beginning — predicting much bigger things coming down the sythensized pipe as more powerful features are switched on. The influx of bitesized celebrity face swaps signals an incoming era of personalized media, which could have a profoundly transformative effect on culture.

Mogylnyi’s hope is that wide access to synthensized media tools will increase humanity’s empathy and creativity — providing those who engage with the tech limitless chances to (auto)vicariously experience things they maybe otherwise couldn’t ever (or haven’t yet) — and so imagine themselves into new possibilities and lifestyles.

He reckons the tech will also open up opportunities for richly personalized content communities to grow up around stars and influencers — extending how their fans can interact with them.

“Right now the way influencers exist is only one way; they’re just giving their audience the content. In my understanding in our case we’ll let influencers have the possibility to give their audience access to the content and to feel themselves in it. It’s one of the really cool things we’re working on — so it will be a part of the platform,” he says.

“What’s interesting about new-gen social networks [like TikTok] is that people can both be like consumers and providers at the same time… So in our case people will also be able to be providers and consumers but on the next level because they will have the technology to allow themselves to feel themselves in the content.”

“I used to play basketball in school years but I had an injury and I was dreaming about a pro career but I had to stop playing really hard. I’ll never know how my life would have gone if I was a pro basketball player so I have to be a startup entrepreneur right now instead… So in the case with our platform I actually will have a chance to see how my pro basketball career would look like. Feel myself in the content and life this life,” he adds.

This vision is really the mirror opposite of the concerns that are typically attached to deepfakes, around the risk of people being taken in, tricked, shamed or otherwise manipulated by intentionally false imagery.

So it’s noteworthy that Reface is not letting users loose on their technology in a way that could risk an outpouring of problem content. For example, you can’t yet upload your own video to make into a deepfake — although the ability to do so is coming. For now, you have to pick from a selection of preloaded celebrity clips and GIFs which no one would mistake for the real-deal.

That’s a very deliberate decision, with Mogylnyi emphasizing they want to be responsible in how they bring the tech to market.

User generated video and a lot more — full body swaps are touted, next year — are coming, though. But before they turn on more powerful content generation functionality they’re working on building a counter tech to reliably detect such generated content. Mogylnyi says it will only open up usage once they’re confident of being able to spot their own fakes.

“It will be this autumn, actually,” he says of launching UGC video (plus the deepfake detection capability). “We’ll launch it with our Face Studio… which will be a tool for content creators, for small studios, for small post production studios, maybe some music video makers.”

“We also have five different technologies in our pipeline which we’ll show in the upcoming half a year,” he adds. “There are also other technologies and features based on current tech [stack] that we’ll be launching… We’ll allow users to swap faces in pictures with the new stack and also a couple of mechanics based on face swapping as well, and also separate technologies as well we’re aiming to put into the app.”

He says higher quality video swapping is another focus, alongside building out more technologies for post production studios. “Face Studio will be like an overall tool for people who want full access to our technologies,” he notes, saying the pro tool will launch later this year.

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/BLACKPINK-Kylie-Jenner.mp4

The Ukrainian team behind the app has been honing their deep tech chops for years — starting working together back in 2011 straight out of university and going on to set up a machine learning dev shop in 2013.

Work with post production studios followed, as they were asked to build face swapping technology to help budget-strapped film production studios do more while having to move their actors move around less.

By 2018, with plenty of expertise under their belt, they saw the potential for making deepface technology more accessible and user friendly — launching the GIF version of the app late last year, and going on to add video this summer when they also rebranded the app to Reface. The rest looks like it could be viral face swapping tech history…

So where does all this digital shapeshifting end up? “In our dreams and in our vision we see the app as a personalization platform where people will be able to live different lives during their one lifetime. So everyone can be anyone,” says Mogylnyi. “What’s the overall problem right now? People are scrolling content, not looking deep into it. And when I see people just using our app they always try to look inside — to look deeply into the picture. And that’s what really inspires us. So we understand that we can take the way people are browsing and the way they are consuming content to the next level.”

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I’m still feeling really heated

about the how there isn’t a single female player in the Overwatch league. 

So I’m going to keep talking about it, because that’s what I always do when something is bothering me. 

The league has 12 teams that need a minimum of 6 players and max of 12 to a team, that means there are at least 72 players spots with the potential to have up to 144. And yet it appears* that none of the teams have any women, like I’m not sure if they even tried to sign a female player.

Like tell me that’s not ridiculous. Try it. 

I commented on a post earlier with a link to a Kotoku article, basically saying that teams didn’t want to deal with the “drama” of signing a female player. The article quoted specifically

“The Houston Outlaws, for example, spent a solid chunk of their 20-minute conference engaging with the question, noting that Geguri wasn’t a good fit for them because of the language barrier and concerns over co-ed player housing, and that other women hoping to join the scene face a serious uphill battle. “You have to go through all these hurdles, like if you pick up a player, is the press gonna call it a PR stunt, or is it because she was the best?” said Outlaws general manager Matt Rodriguez.”

So the Outlaws were one of the few teams that did not sign on any Korean players, but they do have a players from Finland, Sweden, Canada, and Belgium. They are owned by a professional eSports organization that has competitive teams for CoD, Halo, and CS:GO (there’s more but idc, also are Halo tournaments still a thing?). Again most of these players are from the US with a few exceptions. But I want you to guess how many women I found listed on their rosters? Their website? 

None.

The article goes on to say that the London team, which is composed of all Korean players, didn’t even think to sign a female player. New York, also all have an all Korean team, said that they thought “she just doesn’t fit their current goals.”

A PR STUNT, THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE CONCERNED WITH, NOT WINNING P-FUCKING-R. 

YOU KNOW HOW YOU PROVE IT’S NOT A PR STUNT? LET HER PLAY AND WATCH HER WIN. 

Being the first to sign a female player, could be seen as a PR stunt, but why is that bad? You overlook a whole group of potential candidates because you can’t handle a few “hurdles”. The hurdle being a language barrier, co-ed housing, team synergy. Language can’t be something you use to excuse not signing a female player when most teams sign a player from any where if he’s good enough. There are players from Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Ethiopia (well one player from each of those places at any rate). This also sort of implies that 1) Koreans don’t know English?? and 2) players are too stupid to figure out how to communicate with each other. Team synergy is also not something they can blame solely on gender. I can’t tell if they’re talking about the staff and/or players figuring out how to get along with women, but either way it’s a HUGE giveaway about their actual stance on women. 

If theses are actual problems then what the ever loving fuck DO THEY PAY YOU FOR? 

The article continues to have quotes from GM’s and owners about how it be nice to one day not have an all-male team, and they readily acknowledge that it’s harder for women to be here, in this field, this environment. They acknowledge the need for change, and yet….

“…Dan Fiden, president of Cloud9, the esports organization that London Spitfire is a part of, acknowledged that organizations need to play a role in making esports more welcoming and less toxic for players who aren’t men. He believes that involves starting from “the beginning.” 

Are they going to do anything about it? Are any of them going to use the millions of dollars of influence to change anything? 

Probably not.

This is stupid, and to me, this says that they don’t want us here. They are trying to push us off into a separate space. Sound familiar? How about every women’s sports league ever? They don’t want to make space for us. They want us to just fuck off, except now they excuse is even weaker. They can’t point to our physical stature (because what else about us matters anyway) and say “that would be unfair, this is too rough for you, you’ll get hurt” 

They aren’t wrong, but they made it that way.  It’s only rough because they don’t want us here. It’s not really anything new. They were already hurting us. They push and shove and hope that we leave because it’s not worth the trouble. 

Sometimes I think that, I’m tried and everything hurts and I just want to rest. But then I remember I have chronic depression and that’s the time I take for a rest and recovery. I think if you don’t want to deal with this, I get it. I’m not really even angry about my own chances about getting in the big leagues so to speak, because quite honestly I’m a terrible shot. 

Quite honestly I just want to see one of us make it. I want to validate my anger and I want to kick these guys in the balls but I think having women on a winning team would do just as well. (no it won’t and I know violence isn’t the answer but still...) 

We’re not asking for special privileges; we’re asking to be treated like people, as equals. Letting us in the door shouldn’t be some special fucking favor.   

The article sums it up quite nicely, 

“For now, though, Overwatch League is still in an awkward spot. Since the very beginning, Blizzard has touted Overwatch as a game of inclusivity and diversity, with a selection of characters that includes everything from multiple women of color to a moon ape. And yet, as Overwatch makes its debut on its biggest stage ever, the pro scene’s most accomplished woman player is nowhere to be found. Instead, there’s only chatter that uncritically echoes the allegedly meritocratic points of view we’ve heard from other esports scenes for years. Yes, women have it harder, players, coaches, and owners admit, but they’ll win out in the end. Just, you know, later.”

I know this was mostly me repeating/reiterating parts of the article, but it was infuriating how true it all was, to hear these men spout useless platitudes. 

Just to spice things up 

So this Mashable article cites Kotaku as well (tbh I just think this guy was looking to put something out there bc he doesn’t really add any insight or any new information, but hey, it agrees with me) 

Here’s another lady that has some thoughts - she seems hopeful, and also more in touch with the professional side of Overwatch. 

I know change takes time, but there was an opportunity to make those changes, instead they were cowards. 

(NEXT UP ON MY ANGER TOPICS: Find more on the media day interview, do more research on the teams, the owners, and staff, and if there are women at all)

*I say “appears” because I don’t know if any of the current players personally, so if they happen to be like a closeted transgendered person, then obviously that counts but like I wouldn’t know it. And of course that doesn’t make them any less of a woman, I’m just not omnipotent. Listen gaming spaces aren’t friendly, I just want people to live their best life. 

New Post has been published on http://techcrunchapp.com/why-tom-izzo-and-michigan-state-basketball-might-get-emoni-bates-for-two-years-detroit-free-press/

Why Tom Izzo and Michigan State basketball might get Emoni Bates for two years - Detroit Free Press

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Emoni Bates scores 63 points and grabs 21 rebounds in Ypsilanti Lincoln’s double-overtime 108-102 win over Chelsea on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020.

Detroit Free Press

Ten years ago, Tom Izzo waited to hear from LeBron James.

The call never came.

Izzo turned down a chance to jump to the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and instead remained at Michigan State. Less than a month later, James announced on ESPN he would be taking his talents to Miami.

It turned out to be the right move for Izzo.

[ 25 years of ‘Mr. March’: Preorder our updated Tom Izzo book today! ]

And on Monday, he finally landed his generational talent in Emoni Bates.

Emoni Bates committed to Michigan State on ESPN’s SportsCenter show Monday. (Photo: ESPN)

Now, he must wait to see when – and if – that union can happen. And if it does, there is a chance Izzo could have the budding superstar for two years, and not one.

Bates’ stunning midday announcement to commit to MSU could eventually be “The Decision” for the Spartans. In two years at Ypsilanti Lincoln, the athletic 6-foot-9 forward has become one of the most heralded high school prospects in the country, perhaps since James skipped college for the NBA nearly two decades ago.

“I’m not sure what the future may hold,” Bates said as he and family members hoisted Spartan hats to their heads, “but as I do know right now, I will be committing to Michigan State University.”

[ Want more MSU news? Download our free mobile app on iPhone and Android! ]

Road ahead

Bates is Izzo’s first commitment for the 2022 class. But a lot can transpire between now and then that will weigh on his decision to head to MSU or go elsewhere.

He could even stick around East Lansing for two years.

Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Emoni Bates drives against Ann Arbor Huron during the first half at EMU’s Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Tuesday, March 3, 2020. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

• The most interesting possibility is Bates could reclassify and forego his senior season in high school to enter college a year early, and join guard Pierre Brooks II as part of the Spartans’ 2021 class. Both Bates and his father, Elgin, told ESPN’s Jeff Borzello they have not made any decision; however, Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg reported Monday that Bates will indeed reclassify. “After this year it will tell me everything I need to know,” Bates told ESPN. “I can’t decide on that right now. After this year, if it’s too easy, I might – but if not, I’m probably going to play another year.”

His father, who is creating his own prep school, Ypsilanti Prep Aim High, told ESPN: “By the end of his junior year, he will be in position to graduate. We don’t know yet. It’s up to him, it’s a day-by-day thing for him. It might be a decision he decides to make later on.”

[ Windsor: Emoni Bates is a monumental win for MSU, even if he never plays ]

• Bates’ birthday makes any decision to reclassify more about going to college early, not about turning pro.

Experts believed as recently as last year the league would lower its age limit for the draft from 19 to 18 (currently a player must turn 19 during the draft’s calendar year and be one year removed from high school). It has been a hot topic in college and the NBA for the latter part of the 2010s, and many felt Bates would become the first beneficiary of a potential rules change after he turns 18 in 2022.

However, talks about eliminating the “one-and-done” rule went from seemingly a done deal in early 2019 to an impasse during ongoing labor negotiations this winter. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski in April reported the rules change may not be on the table until 2025 at the earliest now as part of the next collective bargaining agreement.

Bates was born Jan. 28, 2004, meaning he cannot enter the NBA draft until 2023 after he turns 19. Even if he reclassifies, he would not be eligible for the 2022 draft, which could allow him to stay at MSU for two seasons.

Ypsilanti Lincoln’s Emoni Bates (21) walks off the court after the Railsplitters won 72-56 over Howell at MHSAA Division 1 semifinal at the Breslin Center in East Lansing, Friday, March 15, 2019. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

• Bates also would not meet the G League’s minimum age requirement of 18 for the 2021-22 season, and would not be eligible for the NBA’s development system draft until the 2022-23 season.

He could opt to not reclassify, play his final two years of high school at his father’s newly created Ypsilanti Prep Academy and then enter the G League. Or Bates could reclassify, play one year at MSU and then test the G League. The G League recently began pulling some high-end players away from colleges – including No. 1 2020 prospect Jalen Greens and former Michigan commit Isaiah Todd – with a boost of $500,000 salaries.

However, Bates told ESPN he would prefer to play college basketball.

“It’s good for certain players. That’s a lot of money,” he said. “I don’t really plan on, I don’t think I’ll do it. It’s good for some people, but I don’t think I’ll head that route.”

• Discussions are urgent and ongoing across the country within the NCAA, state and federal legislatures about athletes being able to financially capitalize on their names, images and likenesses. And a megahyped star on the rise like Bates would be a major test case of a college athlete’s peak value for endorsements.

In May, the Michigan House of Representatives with a 94-13 vote approved a bipartisan plan to allow college athletes to earn compensation on their likeness. Many of those guidelines would take effect before the end of 2022 if the state Senate approves the bill, which would give Bates a chance to financially capitalize on his status as one of the game’s best prospects.

Those laws and rules also could be expedited as a growing number of states are enacting legislation that allow athletes to begin to exert their name, image and likeness rights as soon as next summer.

• Bates could follow the overseas route LaMelo Ball and a handful of other top prospects have taken until becoming eligible for the draft, and earn a sizeable paycheck. It would not expedite Bates’ path to the NBA because of his birthday.

And that also seems like the least likely option given Bates’ strong feelings for Izzo and MSU’s coaching staff.

“I want to say thanks to coach Iz and (assistant coach Mike Garland) for staying with me since I was younger and being there through the process,” Bates said on ESPN. “They’ve been showing love to me since I was in seventh grade, they’ve been recruiting me hard since then. I just know they’re showing that their love is genuine, and they’ve just been there for a long time.

“I’m big on loyalty, and they showed me all the loyalty.”

Coup for two?

Tom Izzo and wife Lupe, right, celebrate Michigan State’s 68-67 win over Duke in the NCAA East Region Final, Sunday, March 31, 2019 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press)

Izzo could be rewarded for that persistence – potentially for two years — if Bates doesn’t turn pro.

MSU’s coaches cannot talk about recruits until they sign a letter of intent. But there is no need to when that player is the consensus No. 1 in his class and considered among the best prospects this century.

Bates’ announcement is as big as when Magic Johnson said after winning the 1977 state championship as a senior at Lansing Everett that, “Next year, I will be attending Michigan State University.” That announcement gave Izzo’s mentor, Jud Heathcote, the key piece for the Spartans’ first national championship in 1979, and Johnson left for the NBA after his second season at MSU.

Izzo has had his share of big-time recruits, with Mateen Cleaves’ decision in 1996 the building block for the Spartans’ 2000 national championship. In recent years, Miles Bridges in 2016 and Jaren Jackson Jr. a year later became the Hall of Fame coach’s highest-rated recruits, along with Kelvin Torbert in 2001.

But none compare to Bates, who has been touted as the nation’s best in his age group – and then some – since he was throwing down dunks as a lanky seventh grader.

High school basketball star Emoni Bates looks on during the second half of the Michigan State vs. Maryland game on Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, at the Breslin Center in East Lansing. (Photo: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)

One of his earliest suitors was Izzo, who spent any chance he could driving to see Lincoln play the past two years. Bates was a frequent visitor to MSU and befriended a number of the Spartans, and Izzo reportedly was the only college coach to contact him at midnight on June 15 – the first moment he could talk to players who finished their sophomore season.

And those years and that late-night phone call paid off at 1:48 p.m. Monday, when Bates beamed as he put on the white hat with the green Spartan logo.

This was not Chris Webber or Jabari Parker, the two players who got away from Izzo that still he regrets. Forget about LeBron, who he admittedly would have loved to coach.

Bates could be Izzo’s Magic and help win him a second national title in the twilight of his coaching career. And maybe, like Magic, he’ll even have two years to do it.

That’s if Izzo’s biggest dream becomes a reality.

Contact Chris Solari: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @chrissolari. Read more on the Michigan State Spartans and sign up for our Spartans newsletter.

It’s Okay to Cry

Another Jun x Oc... or Joshua x Oc... we’ll see how this goes

college turned zombie au

its past 3 a.m. someone plz send halp

Chapter 1

Word Count: 3778

Chapters: 1, 2, 3

Masterlist

     There are certain things you remember for the rest of your life. Your mother’s smile; your father’s hugs; the feeling of sunshine on your skin. You remember living in your happy home going day in and day out in blissed mediocrity. Studying after school Monday through Friday; meeting up with friends on the weekend. Worrying about things like your next in class presentation or whether or not your crush saw you trip on your way to class. All the stupid things you can’t wait to get over after you “grow up” and figure it all out. That’s what happens when you get out of high school, right? You figure it all out and your life magically falls into place.

    In your case, it fell apart, though you were not alone.

    Shortly after graduation, you enrolled into a college. It was nothing special, but it was your next step to becoming your own person and striking out on your own, even if only a bit. You had decided to live on campus to gain some independence, even if you were only a half hour away from your parents, you were still on your own kinda… right? Getting yourself sorted and learning how to use the laundromat was your first obstacle but by the end of the first semester you knew exactly which washers worked and which made your clothes smell like celery. And you almost never got lost… anymore… usually… it was a big campus.

    It was an unassuming Tuesday after class that you were studying at a cafe in the student union. Typically you would return to your dorm room after class but you were in need of some caffeine and your sweet tooth couldn’t resist. Being that it was only around 1:30, the hall that was usually crowded with ping-pong players and sports game watchers was empty, the wide flat screen t.v. hooked on the wall was playing news at a barely audible volume. You settled on the small couch in front of it opening your laptop to start procrastinating your homework. It was about 10 minutes into watching pointless youtube videos that you heard something that caught your attention.

Breaking News: And here we are at Charity’s Hospital, where a family of four were admitted earlier this morning showing signs of fever and delirium. We were recently informed that one of the children attacked and bit a staff member unprovoked. So far he has shown no signs of being infected by the bite. But the family only seems to be becoming more rabid as staff try to transport them to a safer more fortified facility to monitor their health condition. We were lucky enough to catch the doctor who was attacked only a half hour ago and ask a few questions…

    Thinking back to it now, that would be the way the media unknowingly revealed the first case of the disease. A glamorized version of a fatal condition. From then on, more and more people with symptoms of fever and disorientation appeared and most of them fell into the same aggressive, unreasonable savageness-- they always bit.  A mother at the zoo: launched herself at her best friend effectively ripping the skin from the other woman’s jaw before being tackled by security and tazed-- a coincidence-- the media said. A father at home waiting on dinner bit the pizza delivery man hard enough to puncture muscle on the teenager’s forearm before the kid ran away-- an odd occurrence possibly related to some disease-- the media touted. A young boy at school: bit off the ear of a classmate during storytime. Trust the endangerment of small children to really get the media going. A national crisis they claimed. Well, they were almost right.

    No one ever was able to figure out what happened to the biters after the incident. They were always somehow detained with no public record or eye witness accounting. The victims were usually gone within the next few days of whatever interviews a few news stations could get a hold of. With the nation’s public asking for answers and the common people doing their own research, it was soon brought to everyone’s attention that this was not a national crisis but a worldwide pandemic. People all over the world reported having seen others acting disoriented, some even said hungry one moment and rabid the next. Different nations were handling the “disease” differently. Some countries tried to treat them as patients in designated wards of hospitals, some countries kept all the infected at a camp for supposed treatment where those who were to look after them wore hazmat suits and the patients remained chained up similarly the animals they acted like; some countries, executed on sight. You can only imagine the outrage the government and hospitals faced from advocates of the sick.

    “Where do they think they get off treating actual human beings like that?” ranted your roommate and friend, Leena. “They couldn’t get away with that if they treated animals the same! It’s wrong, they’re people and they have feelings. This is an infringement on their right to no cruel and unusual punishment! And they didn’t even do anything wrong! They’re sick!”

    You knew Leena had strong feelings on the subject, and you could see where she was coming from. Some of the tried treatments and accommodations for the diseased weren’t exactly human health and happiness friendly. But at the same time, as far as you knew, the patients were savage and couldn’t be reasoned with. Letting them roam free would at best get other people injured-- at worst? Spread the disease. It was well intentioned people like your roommate that was causing trouble with protests about letting those with the disease out or trying to get more personalized treatment to each patient. So far none of the protests had gotten violent but you could only suppose when that would happen, and it would.

    You had convinced your parents that you were sure you were just fine staying on campus amidst all the protesting chaos, and that you wouldn’t get in the middle of it. Besides a few protests a week and the new wariness around those with symptoms of something as simple as the common cold, and going without breakfast life on campus remained relatively normal. You were walking away from your last class of the day with your close classmate Joshua. A sweet, soft spoken boy with a mischievous side and a knack for somehow always taking better lecture notes than you.

    He was rather good looking, but not your type, you couldn’t say he wasn’t nice to look at though. You didn’t blame his fangirls for falling for him. Your favorite part about him had been his smile. You couldn’t see it now. He always wore a face mask. The paranoia from the rabid sickness had struck deeply with your classmate. Along with the small mouth and nose cover, he always had a bottle of hand sanitizer on him and rarely touched anyone or anything he wasn’t sure was clean. It made you sad to see the changes the disease had caused to your friend without him even being directly affected. The only sign you got of his smile nowadays were tilting of his crescent shaped eyes creating a half moon eye smile.

    You and Joshua managed to have a few classes together and coincidentally lived in the same living hall, so walking together wasn’t uncommon. After getting off the elevator for your floor, you and Joshua were nearly knocked down.

    “Oh! Y/N! I’m so glad you’re here. I’m on my way to the protest in front of the hospital on Main and Calico, do you wanna go?” your roommate was practically vibrating with excitement, unfortunately you didn’t share the enthusiasm.

    “Isn’t that the one with the biggest biters ward in the state?” Joshua uncharacteristically cut into the conversation, “ You really probably shouldn’t go, it could be dangerous if the protest gets out of hand.” he softly disputed looking at her sincerely.

    Leena rolled her eyes at his use of slang. “Biters” being a derogatory term to the patients.

   “That’s why I have to go” she brushed him off not unkindly “It’s the biggest violation of human rights in the state. We have to help these people.” she argued before checking the time on her cellphone. “Y/N, we have to go now if we wanna get there in time for the protest, are you coming?” she asked hopefully.

    She didn’t want to go alone, but she would go with or without you. You hesitated. You didn’t want to go; you didn’t want her to go. But you knew she would and what if she needed someone to help her stay out of trouble when the police came to break it up? Joshua grabbed your hand in slight anxiety trying to anchor you there, safe at school. Your roommate didn’t seem to notice as she shifted her weight from one foot to another waiting for your answer.

    “Not today” you told her apologetically.

    She didn’t take offense, “No worries, I’ll catch you later then!” She waved before dashing to the stairwell, her small blue backpack bouncing against her back.

    “I’m sorry. I just don’t like those protests. They worry me.” Joshua confided in you once you reached the door to your room.

    “You and my parents both” you laughed to put your friend at ease, “Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning on going anyways, I have special plans that couldn’t be rescheduled.”

    “And those are?” He asked sensing your joking tone.

    “Eating, binge watching netflix and sleeping.” you listed off in fake seriousness.

    “Oh very important stuff then.” Joshua concluded “Mind if I join you for the first two activities?”

    “Of course you’re welcome!” you exclaimed “but you gotta bring your own snacks.” you tacked the condition onto your invite.

    “Alright. Will do. I’ll see you in, 20 minutes then?”

    “Yep, come on over in your comfy clothes and bearing gifts of food.” you confirmed with him before unlocking your door. You gave him a quick wave that he returned before slipping through your door.

    You took your time putting on some comfy pjs, a simple t shirt and sweatpants. Then you checked around your room to make sure no bras or panties were hanging out in the open. You and Joshua were close, but not that close. Having the room cleaned enough and having set up your laptop for the ultimate netflix experience, you went to wash off the day’s make up-- chances were, you would rub it off by the end of the night anyways. Walking back from the washroom you got out your secret stash of candy and chips. After some digging around you found a couple bags of popcorn and tossed one into the microwave. You settled on the bed letting the smell of buttery heaven surround you as you waited for your netflix buddy.

    By the time you were shaking the second bag of popcorn into the bowl you had for you and Joshua to share, you heard a knock at your door.

    “Come in!” you said loud enough to be heard.

    “You should really lock the door even when you’re here” Joshua reprimanded you with a small smirk. He didn’t want to be bossy, but you knew he meant what he said.

    “Okay, okay worrywart. I’ll lock the door more often. Now get over here so we can start our netflix marathon.” you demanded.

    Joshua laughed and complied coming over to sit on you bed bouncing slightly.

    “So what are we watching?” he asked as you plopped into place next to him a wide spread of snacks scattered around the two of you.

    “Oh you know I was thinking ‘Zombeavers’, what do you think?” you hovered the mouse over the cover of the bikini clad girl who had a beaver between her legs.

    “Ooh, perfect.” came the too happy, sarcastic reply.

    After about 10 minutes of going back and forth on what to watch, you two decided to settle for ‘The Office’. Something that was entertaining but neither of you had a problem giving commentary throughout either. It was maybe 8 episodes into season one and quite possibly 8 boxes of candy that you passed out next to your friend. You slept so well you didn’t remember a single dream.

    That was probably why you jumped out of your skin when heard a knock at your door. Joshua also stirred from his sleeping position next to you. You glanced at your computer to see the time was; 8:46 pm. Another knock. Joshua moved his legs so you could slide off the bed. You opened the door to see your hall resident assistant, Justin.

   “Hi Y/N, is Leena in there with you too?” he asked peeking over your shoulder.

   “No she went out earlier, She’ll probably be out a while longer.” you said.

    Noticing the apparent apprehension in the RA’s shoulders, you felt the need to ask, “Why, is everything okay?”

    He ignored your question, “After I leave, don’t answer the door for anybody, not even Leena. Do you understand?”

    His command had you breaking out in a nervous sweat. What was going on? Why couldn’t you let anyone in? Especially your roommate.

    “Both of you stay in your room here until me or the other RA, Samantha, get you. This door must stay closed and locked.”

    “But Leena-”

    “Don’t worry about Leena right now, we’ll get everything sorted tomorrow. Just stay inside with the doors locked.”

    “Alright.” Joshua’s voice came from right behind your shoulder, making you jump slightly.

    Looking back at your friend you saw him nod slightly to your RA before he closed the door for you, turning the lock into place. Turning to face him completely you saw a very stone faced Joshua. In fact he almost looked sick. He didn’t have his face mask on, but he wasn’t smiling. How you missed that smile.

    “What’s going on Joshua?” you asked, trying to keep your voice from trembling. Something was very not right.

    “I think you need to see this.” was all he said as he lead you by the wrist back to your laptop.

    He had pulled up some web news site but you honestly couldn’t remember which. What you did remember was the headline.

PROTEST AT CHARITY’S HOSPITAL GONE WRONG: BITERS ESCAPE, ARE YOU SAFE?

    Accompanying the article was a plethora of pictures from the protest. All of them depicting a handful at least of patients attacking police and protesters alike. The diseased looked worse than you remember seeing them the first time.

    “They look almost…”

    “Dead.” Joshua filled in for you. Looking just as grim as you felt.

    “Wait, Leena, I need to call her maybe she got out and can still make it here before the lock all the doors-”

    “Y/N” Joshua tried to softly interrupt you.

    “Or she can find another place to sleep tonight, there’s plenty of hotels around, maybe she can stay there-” “Y/N” he tried again, slightly louder.

    “O-o-or maybe she’s found some other friend’s house to stay at for the night already-”

    “Y/N” at full volume, Joshua stopped your panicked monologue, “I don’t think” he took a deep breath, “I don’t think she got out.” he finished while pointing at one of the smaller pictures on the screen.

    It was blurry, but there was no doubt: the small blue backpack only further confirmed it. That was Leena on the screen being attacked by a biter.

    “No. no, no, no, no.” was all you could say hands coming up to cover your mouth. You thought you were going to be sick.

   Joshua just wrapped his arms around you and held you. Trying to steady your emotions while swallowing his  own mounting fear. At some point you started crying into Joshua’s shirt. He had smelled like soap and light aftershave. Clean. Alive. You don’t know when you stopped ugly sobbing and had resorted to silent constant tears. But it must have been quiet enough for you two to hear another knock on the door.

    Both of you were startled. It couldn’t have been more than a few hours since Justin had come around telling everyone to stay locked in their rooms. You and Joshua looked at each other begging the question of what to do. Should you ask who was outside?

    “Y/NNN” Leena’s voice slurred from outside. You raised half way off the bed before Joshua grabbed your forearm, shaking his head.

    “Y/NN come on” Leena whined on the other side of the door. I’m tired and just want to go to bed. The protest was awful. I’m hungry.” she continued to beg from the other side of the door. Both you and Joshua were frozen.

    “Really, Y/N, I know you can hear me I just wanna go to bed. I just need to grab a bite before die of starvation.”

    You felt Joshua’s hand tighten slightly at her words.

    “Y/N come on, open the door!” Leena emphasized her point with a solid kick to the door. “I really will starve if you don’t let me in! I’m so hungry and tired.” She complained angrily.

    You waited with bated breath to see what she would do next. Something was definitely wrong with Leena. You were terrified. After a few seconds spent in anxiety filled silenced you heard another knock on the door, and then another, and another. The knocking turned to pounding and then an even louder thumping. Was she actually throwing herself at the door? Joshua guided you towards the back corner of the room, slightly standing in front of you. The noises stopped. Silence ensued. You grabbed the back of Joshua’s t shirt tightly.

    Then came the jiggle of the door knob. She had a key. How could you be so stupid? Of course she had a key, she lived here too. And if she had a key, she could get in. Both you and Joshua had forgotten to latch the top safety chain. The doorknob turned. Why did everything seem like it was moving in slow motion, yet you had no power to move?

    The door inched open slowly, “Y/N, Why wouldn’t you let me in?” Leena’s voiced slithered saccharinely from the crack of the open doorway. “Did you really want me to die?” the question hung suspended in air. In the silence all you could hear was your own heartbeat. “I’m sooo hungry.” Time started again as Leena burst through the door teetering faster than you expected towards you and Joshua.

    Leena was sweating and pale. Her arms reached in front of you to get either of you. It was when she was nearly in front of you that Joshua moved. He dodged to the side narrowly missing your roommate. She didn’t seem to notice as she lunged for you. As much as you wanted to gape at your best friend’s back as he deserted you for your diseased roommate, your attention was snapped to her when she tackled you to the ground, hands pinning your shoulders down; teeth snapping in your face.

    Now you and Leena were of similar size, making you think it was possible under normal circumstances for you two to be evenly matched. This was not normal circumstance. Where you had adrenaline, Leena had desperation. You could barely manage to keep her head far enough away from your body to not be bitten. And when she in turn started trying to bite any part of you in reach you started to panic, kicking vigorously from beneath her. You could feel your arms straining against her unyielding force. No words came from her mouth anymore, just guttural growls.

    ‘How could he leave me?’ You thought in hopelessness as you began to feel your arms fold. You stared into the deranged face of your once good friend and roommate, accepting that it would probably be the last thing you saw. You closed your eyes allowing the last couple tears of your to slip past your eyelashes.

    A resounding wet crack made you pop them wide open.

   You looked up the see Leena slack jawed, blood dripping from her mouth. Her head misshapen. She collapsed luckily just to the side of your body, face down. Your eyes following the dead weight.

    “Y/N!” your gaze snapped to the owner of the voice. “We need to go somewhere else, now.” He said tightly, trying to keep his tone under control. Trying not to scare you, you realize in retrospect. “Now.”

    There stood your Joshua holding a broken, bloodied closet bar in both hands. He was breathing as if he had just run a marathon and looked just as scared as you felt. But he was there. You scrambled up to follow him, whatever his plan may be. You wanted to get out of that damned dorm room now. Joshua quickly started to usher you out of the room, hand on your back. But something made your hair stand on end. You looked back. Leena was up and coming for whoever she could get her hands on. Joshua with his back turned was too slow to put up any defense. You were not.

    You grabbed the closet bar from his hands and stuck is straight at her. Eyes closed waiting for impact. You felt a heavy jolt, but did not open your eyes until the choking sounds hit your ears. Opening your eyes slowly you saw what you had done. In front of you was an almost dead Leena. Surely on her way out. The bar through the base of her jaw and out the back of her skull. You stared at her eyes as the manic light dithered away and she went completely slack.

    You jolted upright in your tent. Another memory turned night terror. You looked around the inside of your small survival tent, trying to even out your breathing. After over a year of traveling and killing off more biters than you could count. That day, that face still haunted you. Would you never forget? No. You knew.

    There are certain things you never forget.