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russellius · 1 month

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It Was a Dream Come True : George Recalls F1 Debut Five Years On

March 17, 2019 - for George, it feels like yesterday.

He may now be in his sixth season in Formula One, but we're taking him back to his very first race weekend in Melbourne.

"It was a really special moment," George says. "I had my whole family there on the grid with me, and I was about to race against so many people who I had looked up to."

With the pre-race ceremony over, there was a job to be done, and a new challenge to adapt to.

"I was enjoying the fact I had achieved a lifelong dream, of course, but there was a realisation that I was now at the back of the grid, not the front."

Consecutive titles in GP3 and Formula 2 may have seemed like distant memories as George lined up P19 for the Grand Prix, but that didn't prevent an important sense of perspective under the visor.

"I knew I could learn at my own pace. I could make mistakes without it being in the spotlight. I could just find the positives from every situation and maximise the year, he adds.

And when the lights did go out, nothing felt new. Something that surprised even him.

"I only realised afterwards, but it felt like any other race. When I was in that car and the helmet was on it felt exactly the same as it did when I was in Go-Karts, F4, F3, or Formula 2. The goal hadn't changed. To drive as fast as possible. That was the biggest takeaway for me."

Fast forward five years. George Russell is a Formula One podium scorer, a polesitter, and a race winner. A career to be proud of, no doubt. But with the advantage of hindsight, what would the George of 2024 have said to his 21-year-old self on that Albert Park grid?

"Cherish every moment," he says. "Enjoy the journey. Everyone in Formula One is a competitive animal and when things aren't going your way it can knock you down. You need to remind yourself that we are extremely fortunate to do what we do. We're doing what we love and what a life we are all living. If things are going wrong, it's not the time to just put your feet up, but you need to remind yourself that there are worse things in the world to be doing."

Things can go wrong in Formula One. And when they do, that's when a driver relies on those around them to see them through. A consistent and healthy support network can make all the difference in crucial moments, a fact George has really come to appreciate.

"Surrounding yourself with the right people is so important. People you trust and have your best interests at heart," says George.

He has done just that. Manager Harry has been in place since 2013, and this season will be the eighth with trainer Aleix in tow.

"Gwen [Lagrue] and Toto [Wolff] have played a huge part in that journey too, supporting me the whole way. My girlfriend and my family have been there as well. These people understand you. They understand the sport and can support at the right time in the right way. It's an emotional rollercoaster, through the highs and the lows, whether you are winning or losing.

George's career rollercoaster has seen a lot of peaks. He reached the highest of highs in Brazil in 2022, leading every lap to claim his first Grand Prix victory, bringing home an unforgettable Mercedes 1-2.

But it's not the moment that stands out the most for George. The real moment of confirmation had come a year earlier before George joined the team permanently at the beginning of 2022.

"I always look back at qualifying for Spa in 2021. I had signed the contract to join Mercedes the week before, so I knew I had the full support of everyone, including Toto and the board."

"Qualifying on the front row in a car that had finished last for the previous three seasons gave me more adrenaline than I had ever experienced in my life."

That was then, this is now. Five years have passed, but George Russell has barely scratched the surface. This interview wasn't one for a job, but it did make us think: where does George Russell want to be in five years' time?

"I just want to have maximised my potential and know that I haven't left any stone unturned. That I have given it everything and I have no regrets about the way I have trained, the way I have worked for my team and the commitment I have shown. All I can do is give it my absolute everything."

We know he will. But we also know that you can't always control your own destiny in Formula One.

"I don't know how many race victories we're going to achieve in that time. If it means we win five World Championships then great. If it means we've won 10 races and only should have won eight then I'll be happy with that too. It's all relative. I'm 26 and think I've got at least 15 years left in me. I'm going to give it everything to win with Mercedes. That's the goal."

#george russell #f1 #*m #q #:')#this was a good read - well done mercedes for once #(our george.... 💙)

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umgeorge · 1 month

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'It Was a Dream Come True' - George Recalls F1 Debut Five Years On

"It was a dream come true." March 17, 2019 - for George, it feels like yesterday. He may now be in his sixth season in Formula One, but we're taking him back to his very first race weekend in Melbourne. "It was a really special moment," George says. "I had my whole family there on the grid with me, and I was about to race against so many people who I had looked up to." With the pre-race ceremony over there was a job to be done, and a new challenge to adapt to. "I was enjoying the fact I had achieved a lifelong dream, of course, but there was a realisation that I was now at the back of the grid, not the front." Consecutive titles in GP3 and Formula 2 may have seemed like distant memories as George lined up P19 for the grand prix, but that didn't prevent an important sense of perspective under the visor. "I knew I could learn at my own pace. I could make mistakes without it being in the spotlight. I could just find the positives from every situation and maximise the year," he adds. And when the lights did go out, nothing felt new - something that surprised even him. "I only realised afterwards, but it felt like any other race. When I was in that car and the helmet was on it felt exactly the same as it did when I was in Go-Karts, F4, F3, or Formula 2. The goal hadn't changed: to drive as fast as possible. That was the biggest takeaway for me." Fast forward five years. George Russell is a Formula 1 podium scorer, a polesitter, and a race winner. A career to be proud of, no doubt, but with the advantage of hindsight, what would the George of 2024 have said to his 21-year-old self on that Albert Park grid? "Cherish every moment," he says. "Enjoy the journey. Everyone in Formula 1 is a competitive animal and when things aren't going your way it can knock you down. You need to remind yourself that we are extremely fortunate to do what we do. We're doing what we love and what a life we are all living. If things are going wrong, it's not the time to just put your feet up, but you need to remind yourself that there are worse things in the world to be doing."

Things can go wrong in Formula 1 and when they do, that's when a driver relies on those around them to see them through. A consistent and healthy support network can make all the difference in crucial moments, a fact George has really come to appreciate. "Surrounding yourself with the right people is so important. People you trust and have your best interests at heart," says George. He has done just that. Manager Harry has been in place since 2013, and this season will be the eighth with trainer Aleix in tow. "Gwen [Lagrue] and Toto [Wolff] have played a huge part in that journey, too, supporting me the whole way. My girlfriend and my family have been there as well. These people understand you. They understand the sport and can support at the right time in the right way. It's an emotional rollercoaster, through the highs and the lows, whether you are winning or losing." George's career rollercoaster has seen a lot of peaks. He reached the highest of highs in Brazil in 2022, leading every lap to claim his first grand prix victory, bringing home an unforgettable Mercedes 1-2. But it's not the moment that stands out the most for George. The real moment of confirmation had come a year earlier before George joined the team permanently at the beginning of 2022. "I always look back at qualifying for Spa in 2021. I had signed the contract to join Mercedes the week before, so I knew I had the full support of everyone, including Toto and the board. Qualifying on the front row in a car that had finished last for the previous three seasons gave me more adrenaline than I had ever experienced in my life." That was then, this is now. Five years have passed, but George Russell has barely scratched the surface. This interview wasn't one for a job, but it did make us think: where does George Russell want to be in five years' time? "I just want to have maximised my potential and know that I haven't left any stone unturned; that I have given it everything and I have no regrets about the way I have trained, the way I have worked for my team, and the commitment I have shown. All I can do is give it my absolute everything." We know he will. But we also know that you can't always control your own destiny in Formula One. "I don't know how many race victories we're going to achieve in that time. If it means we win five World Championships, then great. If it means we've won ten races and only should have won eight, then I'll be happy with that, too. "It's all relative. I'm 26 and think I've got at least fifteen years left in me. I'm going to give it everything to win with Mercedes. That's the goal."

#george russell #f1 #formula 1 #fic ref #fic ref 2024 #not a race #2024 not a race #between saudi arabia and australia 2024

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bunnieshoneys · 18 days

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Hii! Im the anon that asked about watching F1, thank you for the lengthy answer I really appreciate it!

Karting is so fun but I never realised before going how hard it was on your body. It’s difficult to imagine how these F1 drivers do it tbh, it’s crazy!!

I ended up watching the Suzuka race live after sending in the ask and you’re right I did learn a lot just from watching it (also crash almost gave me a heart attack, was not expecting anything like that to happen..). I really love learning about the strategy, I never realised how much really goes into racing before this. I read a few more chapters of the fic too and learned a lot from that. Actually I really love learning about racing in general just from the fic it makes it a bit more digestible when there’s so much to learn.

I have adhd too so I totally get not being able to like things normally haha.. I’ve spent all of today so far reading about F1 and I’m looking into tickets for the British GP since it’s somewhat close to where I live (which is funny bc less than 48hrs ago all F1 is to me is cars go zoom..). I blame your fic but in a good way! I’m really glad I started reading it, I already feel like this is gonna be my new obsession.

And as it turns out one of my friends used to watch a bunch of races at the Shanghai circuit so I’ll have someone to annoy with questions for the Chinese GP, I’m really excited to watch that! I still don’t know in what ways the track influences the race technically, but what an interesting looking track! It looks like it’d be fun to drive on that.

Also can I ask why you like and support Ferrari and Leclerc in particular? And do you think they could win this year? Since from what I see Verstappen/Red Bull Racing have been stuck in the top spot the past 3 years

Thanks again for your answer!

so many opportunities to yap about f1….

lap 1 incidents are pretty common, but suzuka in particular has a very high rate of safety car use (ie crashes occuring) because its so technical and driver heavy. its one of my fav tracks for this reason!

silverstone is a brilliant track and the atmosphere is amazing - its one of the classics! however what i will say is that the prices are EXTREMELY inflated. if ur european (even if you live IN england) its cheaper to go to races abroad if thats an option because silverstone is SOOO expensive. ive never been to a race bc of money but if you can spare it silverstone is definitely one of the best especially in terms of the racing.

tracks influence a couple of things : drivers and cars. mostly cars, since f1 (unlike f2 and f3) is equally a constructors series. there are a bunch of concepts that effect how a car will perform on a certain track, but the main ones are downforce and straight line speed. downforce mainly effects cornering. diff tracks will have corners that are taken at different speeds (high speed v low speed corners) and different cars will be weak or strong through corners depending on their characteristics (RBR last year was weak in low speed corners, hence singapore being SO bad for them, and mclaren was in incredibly strong in the high speed corners (qatar, japan) but lacked straight line speed, making them weaker in other places.

why ferrari? the legacy. micheal schumacher won 5 of his WDCs with them, the iconic red, the passion. it feels like a cult and i love it

leclerc… oh my god leclerc. first of all i just think hes a little bit funny in an insane way. but aside from that, he won f3 as a rookie, then won f2 as a rookie. that is RARE. only Rosberg (WDC 2016) Lewis Hamilton (7x WDC), Nico Hulkenberg (uuh), George Russell and Oscar Piastri have won the support series as a rookie, and of those only hamilton, russell, piastri and leclerc won f3 / f2 or their equivalents back to back. (f1 fans u can correct me if im wrong on this)

his f2 performance is the most dominant of all time. the sprint win in bahrain 2017 (f2) was genuinely one of the most jaw dropping pieces of racing ive ever seen. he went to sauber (midfield/backmarker team) in 2018 for his first year in f1 and scored the vast majority of the team’s points - 39. 39 points in that car was insane. he signed to ferrari in 2019 as a second driver to 4x WDC sebastian vettel. instead of backing down and playing nice, he then proceeded to outqualify him over two seasons, and outrace him too. his win in monza 2019 is POETRY in motion. verstappen rates him very highly and said in 2018 that he hopes theyll have a rivalry like hamilton and vettel. god he makes me INSANE

as to whether ferrari/leclerc can win this season… i wouldnt be a fan if i didnt say yes. RBR bought a major floor update to suzuka and they still didnt run away as much as last year (at least perez, verstappen is inhuman). despite having a couple of poor qualifying runs, leclerc is racing at an incredibly high level and is on pace with verstappen. with a strategy generally considered slower (and definitely much more difficult) he advanced from P8 to P4 today. vassuer (the ferrari team principal) has said hes optimistic about the upgrade trajectory, and that it can be developed aggressively. those first upgrades will come in Imola.

basically the season is long. max had a dnf in australia and leclerc is still within touching distance of perez. i think we need a little luck but it could be possible if the upgrades go well. leclerc couldve fought for P2 today with a decent quali. (charles also seems to do really well on sprint weeks. and china is a sprint week) :)

tbh though i think the real battles will come in 2025 and 2026. leclerc v hamilton in equal machinery, and then ferrari v RBR:3

thankyou anon<3

#bunny answers #bunny talks f1

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f1 · 11 months

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Hamilton: Verstappen can break my wins record but Im working on slowing him | 2023 Canadian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton says Max Verstappen could “absolutely” break his record of 103 Formula 1 race victories in the future. The Mercedes driver scored his most recent victory at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2021. Verstappen scored his 40th win in the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks ago. Verstappen is 25 and is contracted to remain at Red Bull until at least 2028. Asked whether Verstappen could become the next driver to hold the record for most wins, Hamilton said: “He’s got a very long career ahead of him so absolutely. “Ultimately records are there to be broken and he’s got an amazing team.” Mercedes have only scored a single win since the beginning of last year – George Russell’s triumph at Interlagos last November. Hamilton said Mercedes have “got to work harder to try and continue to extend” his wins record. “I hope we get to have some, at least within the last period of time in my career, I hope we get to have some more close racing.” If Verstappen wins Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix he will equal Ayrton Senna’s tally of 41 wins, which is the fifth-highest total of any driver. At this race in 2017 Hamilton was presented with a helmet used by Senna when he equalled his childhood idol’s former record of 65 pole positions. “It was very surreal,” Hamilton recalled. “Being five years old, watching with my dad, the dream was to be like Ayrton. And then the dream was to get to Formula 1 and do something like him. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free “To then find that you’re matching or equalling in terms of results – ultimately it’s unfair because there’s a lot more races in our time back than there were then. But still it’s a real honour. Verstappen took his 40th win in Spain “They gave me a replica helmet or something like that, so that was very cool. Max has been doing an amazing job, he’s had such an incredible career so far and he is for sure going to surpass that. I’m working on getting the car to where it needs to be so we can slow him down.” Verstappen the milestone shouldn’t be used to compare his achievements with other drivers. “People always have different kinds of careers,” he said. “Maybe some drivers, they get into a race winning car sooner than others. Nowadays, of course, we have more races than back in the day. So I never really look at the number. “But when I was a little kid I would have never imagined to be in that list. So for me it’s definitely an amazing achievement, for sure. But you can’t compare it, that’s one thing.” Verstappen said Hamilton’s record, which he is not yet halfway towards reaching, will be “very hard to beat.” “Obviously you need to be in the right car for a long time and we don’t know if we have that. But it’s also not something I ever looked at. I’m just going with the flow and enjoying the moment.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Red Bull has won every race this year. Verstappen said he isn’t considering that as a possibility at the moment. “If you look at how we are performing now, yes [we could], but it is very unrealistic, I think, because there will always be things that will go wrong in the season that are maybe sometimes out of your control. “So I’m not thinking that is possible. But when you look at it realistically at the moment with how quick the car is, yes, it is.” “Last year was already quite crazy with 15 wins,” he added. “But as long as I win the championship, that’s the most important.” Become a RaceFans Supporter RaceFans is run thanks in part to the generous support of its readers. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the same in whichever currency you use) you can help cover the costs of creating, hosting and developing RaceFans today and in the future. Become a RaceFans Supporter today and browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Canadian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

#F1 #Hamilton: Verstappen can break my wins record but ‘I’m working on slowing him’ | 2023 Canadian Grand Prix #Formula 1

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undefined5posts · 3 years

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Credit: Jordan J. Lloyd

I've been trying to dive deeper into politics, discover the genuine roots of our society, the origins of our beliefs, and the consequences of our economic system. It's a big, long, wide journey and through multiple sources such as articles, images, videos and multiple social media platforms, I've been trying to educate myself more on important subjects.

Communism, capitalism, libertarian, conservative, the left, the right, the history, the impact. It is scary to commit to everything because once you start, you simply cannot stop, once you start waking up your conscience about the horrible reality, the lies, the truths, you cannot put it back to sleep. You can't just ignore prejudice, especially when you're extremely conscious of it's omnipresence. I have continually tried to build my own opinions all while actively creating bullet point arguments in my mind because I just know that at some point I will have to defend my thinking, and I want to do it right.

Now, I am so far from being enlightened, I am a beginner and an amateur in all of those themes, but I am trying, which is the only way to start and grow.

So to tell you about my beliefs, I am a militant human rights activist, I believe in equal opportunities regardless of gender identity, sex, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, race and disability. This is a fact, not a belief, but the system was obviously not built to protect all people, its wasn't created to serve everyone equally but to grant a privilege to some and harm others. The current state of the world is not a slip, an accident or a misfunction of our brilliant system but a testament of it operating remarkably well. I believe that equity leads to equality, and I believe that we cannot "fix" methodologies that were immorally created with absolutely no honor whatsoever. I believe in reproductive rights, in legal, safe abortions for anybody who needs one. I believe in the decriminalization of marijuana. I believe that the death penalty is a despicable punition that should be banned as soon as possible. I believe in defunding the police and the military. I believe that it is a shame that I even have to talk about police brutality, I don't want to have to say that it is one of the most horrible things our world has originated, I feel extremely dense when I do because it seems like the most obvious certitude and I refuse to believe that this is a controversial statement. I believe that everything I have just stated, along with many more, isn't anything grand but the bare minimum, the bar is low, and yet, we still have the fight for basic human decency.

Humanity has become an option. We have normalized supporting people that represent everything wrong in this world under the name of tolerance. The left has never claimed to be tolerant towards hateful beings, We have never accepted homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism and sexism. We cannot, for exemple, accept nazis, as too much tolerance inevitably leads to intolerance. This picture explains it perfectly:

I consider myself a communist/ socialist. The two terms still confuse me a little, some say they are the same, some say they differ quite a bit. What I know is that socialism is the transitional period between capitalism and communism. At the end of the day, the final result and goal is a stateless, moneyless and clasless society that will provide to each his need.

Our capitalistic society has brainwashed us way more than you may think. It is the root of so many of our issues, the underground demon of our problems. Every idea, thought, belief, and misconception of ours were all affected by our current economic system. It has sold us the billionnaire dream which is one of the most toxic things capitalism has offered. We have looked up to billionaires for way too long, why are they so idolized? Most of them come from high upper class families that can easily afford to invest in their inventions and creations. After starting up their companies and occasionnaly stealing other's people ideas to ultimately get undeserved merit, they then can start to properly exploit their hardworking employees's labour. And for unlimited hours and a minimum wage which probably won't even suffice you to survive, you will have to either pick up more shifts or a second or even third job, especially if you have a family to support. All while the CEO barely does any of the work and gets all the praise and money. So no, they don't all come from really poor families and have built everything for nothing.

The worst thing is that we've been so gaslit and brainwashed that we're proud of our own exploitation, we are wired to think that to be successful we have to suffer, work 10 jobs we all hate, constantly pick up extra hours, have 2 hours of sleep, have no free time to do anything we love, waste our entire youth, be depressed our entire adulthood, to finally have a few pennies to spend when we're eighty. We so strongly believe that this is the only right way to be successful that I don't think many of us have dared to question it's authority, and even if we do, we quickly accept that this a truth, a fact we cannot change and this is just the way things are.

We have capitalized water, food, land, forests, oceans, space, and everything in betweeen. Money is social construct and we have deliberately let it take over our lives. To think about the wasted opportunities and the misery that we have to endure so others can enjoy life truly angers me.

Also, communism is not an ideology that has every actually taken place. Despite what they say, there was never actually a communist country. However, every nation that has attempted a socialist system, for exemple Burkina Faso, has thrived. But of course, once capitalist countries noticed that, they decided to murder it's leader. So in conclusion, the only reason socialism failed is because of capitalism and it's interventions.

"As President (1983-1987), Sankara initiated economic reforms that shifted his country away from dependence on foreign aid and reduced the privileges of government officials; he cut salaries, including his own, decreed that there would be no more flying in first class or driving Mercedes as standard issue vehicles for Ministers and other government workers. He led a modest lifestyle and did not personally amass material wealth. President Sankara encouraged self-sufficiency, including the use of local resources to build clinics, schools and other needed infrastructure. [...] President Sankara promoted land reform, childhood vaccination, tree planting, communal school building, and nation-wide literacy campaigns. He was committed to gender equity and women’s rights and was the first African leader to publicly recognize the AIDS pandemic as a threat to African countries. Although Sankara became somewhat more authoritarian during his Presidency, his ideas, and the possibility that they could spread, were viewed by many as posing the greatest threat. President Sankara was assassinated during a coup led by a French-backed politician, Blaise Compaoré, in October 1987. Compaoré served as the President of Burkina Faso from October 1987 through October 2014, when he himself was overthrown."

Via:https://africandevelopmentsuccesses.wordpress.com/2015/02/28/success-story-from-burkina-faso-thomas-sankaras-legacy/

I have been reading and watching some amazing human rights activists, notably Angela Davis, Malcolm X and James Baldwin. The people that were villainized, labeled as violent and radical, when every single word that came out of their mouhs were pure facts. They are probably some of the most eloquent people I have had the pleasure of hearing. Every sentence, every argument, every single detail made so much sense and opened my mind to so many new realizations. This is the perfect exemple of how the media tarnishes the reputation of wise black women and men. I would strongly advise you to research more about them.

"Socialism & communism are demonized in the west to the point of erasing influential individuals' socialist advocacy. Heres a short list of people you may not have known were socialists/ communists:

MLK

Albert Einstein

Nelson Mandela

Frida Kahlo

Tupac Shakur

Mark Twain

Malcom X

Oscar Wilde

Bertrand Russell

Hellen Keller

Pablo Picasso

George Orwell

Shia LaBeouf

John Lennon

Woody Guthrie

Socialism & communism are not dirty words. Some of the most brilliant minds of our history were socialists and communists. Embrace it." Via @sleepisocialist on twitter

So what else can I say, capitalism has ruined our society and the way we act and think. I know a lot of people refuse to support communism because they think it's too much of a perfect ideal utopian world for it to ever actually exist. And to that I say, first of all, so you agree, it is a wonderful theory, and second of all, a world without racism, sexism, homophobia or any kind or discrimination could also be perceived as "too ideal to actually exist", but does that mean I'm giving up on talking, educating myself and others, protesting and trying to build a better future? Absolutely not. This is the objective, it would be so dumb to think that we just couldn't achieve that so let's not even try.

I want to talk more in detail about communism, theory, human rights, etc... but I don't want to make this post any longer. I will however be posting more about it soon enough.

I know this is a little different than what I usually post, but I want to speak, tell you all my own opinions, I don't want to just repost activism related stuff. I'll continue to do that, but not exclusively. I know it won't get as many interactions as my other posts, but this is what I needed at some point in my life, and if I could make understanding some basic informations easier to some people, it'll already be a great accomplishment.

Thank you for reading.

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meaningofmotorsport · 3 years

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My opinion of the F1 teams and drivers so far this year!

As F1 is currently on its summer break, I thought it would be a good time to give my report on how each team is fairing so far in 2021!

With this year’s car being very similar to the previous year’s one, it was expected that it would be as easy this year for Mercedes as it was last year! However, with some new rules which were clearly aimed at slowing down Mercedes, it has become a much more difficult prospect for them! On the whole, they have handled it pretty well, I don’t think they have the fastest car, at least over the tracks we have seen so far, so to be leading both titles is a good job, even if it has happened through luck and certain circumstances! Mercedes cannot be totally happy though, as they have lost out on a bag of points through strategy errors, and the car just not working at some tracks. Hamilton has not been perfect this year, with some misjudgements creeping into his game, yet he has been pretty close to it, and will need to stay at that level to keep up with Max. His fitness is a real concern, due to long covid symptoms! As for Bottas, with no wins to his name, and some pretty diabolical weekends to add to that, it has been a sub-par year for him to say the least. Plus, now was when he least needed it, with a massive threat from Russell for his seat!

Despite it being their best start to a season for many years, Red Bull have been massively unlucky so far. If luck was on their side, they would have a big title lead in both standings, but that is not how it has worked out, and the team needs to pick themselves up and come back stronger! They have the fastest car, Perez is getting better by the weekend, and with Lewis showing signs of weakness, and Mercedes potentially signing Russell, it could cause drama at their team too! This season could well come down to the mental strength of Red Bull, which they showed none of after Silverstone, and their overreaction undoubtedly distracted them going into Hungary, where Mercedes beat them in qualifying! Much like Lewis, Max has been near perfect, only some slight errors earlier in the year, and perhaps he needs to tone down the aggression a bit! Otherwise, he has what it takes to bring down Mercedes! Perez would have hoped for more when the season began, whilst there have been highs, there have also been many performances, especially on a Saturday, which have been underwhelming! If he can just gain a few tenths, to put himself above McLaren and Ferrari, and start to upset Mercedes in the race, it would be perfect for Red Bull!

There were high expectations for McLaren going into this year, off the back of 2 growing years for the team, and with a new star driver coming in. In some ways they have matched that, if not bettered it, as Norris is currently sat in an incredible 3rd in the driver’s championship, after a superbly consistent year. Yet with Ricciardo, it has been rather lacklustre on the most part! Obviously coming to a new team won’t be easy, however, he has been the slowest to adapt by far, and even by now isn’t quite where he should be. I think he will get there eventually; it is just the little nuances of the car he is struggling to work around! This team may be the best as a unit so far in 2021, as we have rarely seen them miss a trick at all. Despite this, the fight with Ferrari will be a tough one, and will require both drivers to be up at the front!

The gains that Ferrari have been able to make in what has been a pretty static rule set from last year to this, is impressive to say the least! This has mostly been on the engine side, after the circumstances with their 2019 engine, that I am sure we are all aware of! Leclerc has once again been getting the most out of the Ferrari, including 2 pole positions, however, there have also been some big mistakes in there too, namely at Monaco, which could even have cost them a win! Sainz has adapted the best to his new surroundings of all the drivers who moved, as he was right with Charles from the first round of the year! A couple of podiums show that he has been pushing his teammate hard all year, much more than most people probably expected! That could be their biggest strength in the fight with McLaren, if they still aren’t able to get Ricciardo fully up to speed!

For the most part, it has been another year where Alpine (Renault) has not been able to fight where a manufacturer should be, and the positive trajectory from a couple of years ago has faded away really! That being said, another part of sport is making the most of the opportunities that are handed to you, which Alpine certainly did last time out at Hungary! It was clear that they were slower than the Aston Martin there, yet Ocon and the team got the job done, and I hope this will act as a bounce pad, not only for the rest of this year but also going forwards! Over the 11 races so far, Alonso has really been the better driver, especially given he has just returned from some time out of the sport. Ocon is a very talented driver, he just needs to show it more consistently, at least he has the security of a long term contract!

AlphaTauri looked ominous in pre-season testing, and the expectation was that they would at least be in the battle for 3rd in the constructors, if not winning it! The reality has been far from that though, partly due to strategy and driver errors, and also just a lack of race pace! In qualifying they have been probably 3rd or 4th best, with Gasly at least, but it isn’t often they finish there! Pierre has been one of the stars of the year so far, as whilst there have been some slip ups, he has been maximising the car he has mostly! Tsunoda arrived on the scene with so much hype around him, and in Bahrain he matched the hype, however it has been downhill for the majority of the time since then. Overdriving seems to be the main issue for him currently, as he just expects too much from himself at this stage in his career!

2020 was probably the best year ever for the Silverstone based team throughout all its previous guises. I didn’t see anything wrong with them copying the Mercedes, copying has always happened in our sport, so it was nothing new really. The problem with copying the best team on the grid, is that rule changes will be aimed at slowing you down, and as we have seen this year, it has really damaged Aston Martin in terms of car performance. Bearing that in mind, they have made the best of a bad situation, with some very promising results coming to them throughout the year! Vettel has been reinvigorated at the team, as he may not be a top level driver, but he has made a step forward from his final years at Ferrari. Stroll as you would expect has not been able to match him most of the time, but has not embarrassed himself either, as he gains experience during his time in F1.

When Williams said they had make a ‘peaky’ car for this campaign, it had the potential to work really well for them, as being consistently out of the points means nothing, as opposed to 1 point scoring race! The team was tremendously unlucky to not score points before Hungary, although they have now got what they deserved, with a huge 10 point haul for them! That may be enough to stay 8th, however, they may even be able to grow their lead further in the remaining 12 races! Russell for the most part has been outstanding in what is still a poor car. There have been a few blemishes, such as Imola, but everything else he does is the best advertisement possible to Mercedes, as to why he should be there next year! Latifi has mostly been hidden behind the limelight of George. On the odd occasion he will push him very hard, which is good to see, I am just not sure if it is enough to keep his seat!

Alfa Romeo came to join the Sauber team on such a high note back in 2018, as they grew the star of Leclerc, before he went to Ferrari! Since that point, points have been hard to come by for them, as they battled to stay above the bottom of the table. They should be able to do it again this year, however their position won’t be that satisfying! Their performance isn’t helped by 2 drivers who aren’t a match for the rest of the grid. Kimi in his prime was an excellent driver, but this year especially he hasn’t really shown much to write home about! Giovinazzi has had a few years now to grow in the sport, and although he is beating Kimi very often, he isn’t showing any signs of being a star of the future. I think a driver overhaul for next year would do them a world of good!

It has been a woeful year for Haas, as an underdeveloped car with 2 rookie drivers, is a painful combination. As they focus on 2022, the good thing is that their drivers seem to be improving as the year goes on, to prepare for what they hope will be an upturn in results! Schumacher has been a class above Mazepin, as we thought would happen. It was also nice to see him get his elbows out whilst battling with some of the top runners, even if it didn’t last long! Mick just needs to tune out the crashes we have seen from him this season, otherwise he could have a promising career ahead of him! Nikita has at least stopped his habit of crashing, which plagued him to start the season, now he just needs to get on terms with his teammate in both qualifying and the race.

If the second half of this year is as good as the first, we could have a monumental season on our hands! All I hope is that we have a title fight which goes right down to Abu Dhabi, for the first time since 2016, and maybe some drama along the way to keep it like that!

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

Also, if you want to support me, I have a Patreon Page at: https://www.patreon.com/meaningofmotorsport

#f1 #f12021 #f1 2021 #motorsport

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wiiired · 4 years

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Season 2 Awards

We’ve finished Season 2! Like last time, I thought it’d be fun to make a bracket of my favorite and least favorite moments, once again relying on Way Down in the Hole for the categories. So, without further ado, the best and worst of Season 2.

Best and Worst Boss: I’m going to give both of these to Frank Sobotka. There’s nobody more invested in the well-being of his union -- from bribing politicians to ratting on the Greeks to keep his men away from criminal charges, Sobotka was willing to do anything to protect IBS Local 1514. Over the course of the season, we see him be incredibly generous with union workers, gifting them cash when they’re in a hard spot, and drinking with them at the local bar. But Frank is also the reason that police attention falls on the union; while you can’t blame him for Stan Valchek’s personal grudge, he’s absolutely blameworthy for getting in deep with a criminal organization. Ultimately, Frank was too short-sighted to be a good boss, and his insistence in maintaining the status quo rather than looking for ways to adapt was ultimately his downfall. Of course, his downfall also cost the union its freedom -- in the final montage of S2E12, we see that IBS has been taken over by the feds.

Best Couple: My favorite couple is one that never happened -- Frank and Beadie (making my case: 1, 2). I’m a sucker for yearning looks, and there were definitely some looks traded between the union boss and local cop. They seemed to genuinely care about each other, beyond a friendly smile at the port or in the bar. One of the most memorable scenes of Season 2 is when Beadie confronts Frank and asks him to talk to the cops. Frank confesses to her that he thought he was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, and Beadie says, “There are different types of wrong.” I feel like they could’ve been a couple that mutually supported each other -- Frank the stable union presence for Beadie’s kids, giving Beadie more flexibility to find the career she’s looking for. Alas, the Greeks ruined that one for me.

Worst Couple: Nick Sobotka and Aimee. Nick just isn’t ready to settle down. He isn’t making enough money to support a family, and while he loves his child he isn’t enough of a presence to be there for her. Not to mention, he abandons Aimee in his parents’ home and spends the night with Prissy rather than seeking comfort from his significant other. Aimee deserves better than this man who brought trouble onto himself, and consequently made her life more difficult (the three of them got dragged into Witness Protection thanks to Nick’s Greek connections). I say time to move on.

Favorite Quote: Any of the nicknames for Jimmy while he was riding the boat. Sailor Boy, Little Man in the Canoe, Captain Chesapeake, McNulty the Sailor Man, and my favorite, Prince of Tides.

File This Away for Later Moment: Stringer’s encounter with Brother Mouzone. The way that Brother Mouzone sees straight through Stringer -- remember that. Mouzone will be making an appearance in Season 3.

Rookie of the Year: Ziggy. On Way Down in the Hole, Van Lathan pointed out that Ziggy is a character who always provokes an emotional reaction; love him or hate him, you feel some kind of way when he shows up. Personally, I found my growing tolerance for Ziggy growing over the course of the season, and on a rewatch I was more attentive to the way he’s treated by Nick and Frank. It’s hard not to feel sorry for the class clown who just wanted some respect, and couldn’t get it, stuck in a job where he couldn’t succeed and ignored by his own father. Over a single season, Ziggy evolves from union jester to booster extraordinaire to convicted murderer, all because he couldn’t find his spot. Hopefully he’ll have time to change in prison, and he’ll be able to start over once he gets out.

Six M(e)n of the Year: Jemele Hill and Van Lathan picked Herc and Carver, and I have to agree. No one was a more consistent B plot than Police Brutality 1 & 2 (Jemele’s nickname for them): Herc’s pestering of Kima to join the team, and then getting Daniels to bring Carver on board, too; the bug-tennis ball-Fuzzy Dunlop subplot; those brief seconds where the two of them struggled to bring that air conditioner up the stairs; constant car surveillance and that amazing scene with the french fries (”You think I’m fat?”). I’ve always liked Herc and Carver because I think they’re funny, but I felt guiltier about it last season because they were unquestionably the cops most likely to beat someone up. This season, they’re the perfect combination of scheming yet inept and well-positioned as comic relief.

Favorite Scene: It’s either D’Angelo’s death in S2E6 or the scene in S2E11 where Beadie asks Frank to talk to the cops. First, D’Angelo’s death is dramatic because it’s so sudden -- everything is going well, and then thirty seconds later D’Angelo’s on the floor with a belt around his neck. The first time I watched S2E6 I didn’t actually believe that D’Angelo had died -- it wasn’t until the next episode that I understood he’d actually been killed off. Not to mention, D’Angelo was season 1′s moral compass, so losing him was pretty upsetting. Second, the scene between Beadie and Frank -- well, I’m just a romantic for them. Whether they should’ve been together or just good friends, you can’t deny how well Amy Ryan and Chris Bauer act emotional. I felt Frank’s regret for everything he’d done, even more so because I knew what was going to happen to him. And, yes, I think this scene is proof why Beadie and Frank would’ve been a good couple. While Beadie was there for a reason, she was the only person who was able to comfort Frank and understand why he made the choices that he did, and Beadie was the only person Frank was able to open up to. Maybe in an alternate universe, Frank comes clean, helps the cops nab the Greeks before they sail off on fraudulent passports, and Beadie drives him home, where with Ziggy in jail he decides he’s going to start anew. The two of them load his truck with suitcases, pick up Beadie’s kids, and drive off into the sunset.

Best Performance: Nick Sobotka. It’s hard to make a thieving, racist dockworker sympathetic, but Pablo Schreiber did it. Jemele Hill points out that Nick is the most openly racist of the dockworkers; despite working with and seemingly befriending black fellow dockworkers, Nick consistently uses the n-word, and in S2E7 gives an infamous speech to Frog, reminding them that they’re both white. Yet we also see Nick struggling to survive: living in his parents’ basement, giving money to his girlfriend when he can, and being affectionate with his daughter. He turns to crime because he can’t make enough money at his straight job. Nick Sobotka’s character is a masterful ruse to get white audience members, who may have resisted empathizing with the Barksdales, to see drug sellers as human. I also have to shout out Pablo Schreiber for being (a) very cute, (b) 6′5″, and (c) apparently very talented at playing believably nasty characters -- he won an Emmy for Orange is the New Black as George “Pornstache” Mendez, an abusive corrections officer who exacts sex from inmates in return for drugs he smuggles in. I guess post-Emmy he’s in demand, most recently playing Mad Sweeney on American Gods.

Stringer Bell Fuckboy Award: There are two options, both of them defensible. It’s either the scene where Stringer seduces Donette, or when he’s over there later playing with D’Angelo’s kid while Donette makes him dinner. Personally, I’d pick the latter. Not only are Stringer and Donette holding hands in front of D’Angelo’s son, but Stringer actually picks up the (world’s cutest) baby and bad-mouths D’Angelo to him! Classic fuckboy.

Favorite Trivia: Apparently, Lance Reddick (Cedric Daniels) hated Dominic West (Jimmy McNulty). In real life, Reddick and West are somewhat like their TV personalities -- Reddick is quieter and more reserved while West is very chatty and extraverted. In All the Pieces Matter, Reddick admitted that he found West rather annoying and avoided him outside of work.

MVP: Beadie Russell. Instrumental to the plot, growing exponentially from day-jobber in S2E1 to certified good police in S2E12, and maybe the kindest character on the show. A single mother supporting herself and two kids, it’s hard not to root for Beadie, who became a cop after realizing she couldn’t feed her family on a toll-taker’s salary. She also gets a disproportionate number of the season’s most quotable lines, from “What they need is a union” to “World just keeps turning, right?,” probably because she represents the viewer’s perspective (taking over from gone-too-soon D’Angelo Barksdale). While her weakness for McNulty will get her in trouble, I’m glad we’ll see the return of Beadie in Seasons 4 and 5.

That was fun y’all. Here’s my bracket for Season 1.

#season 2 awards #s2 #mine #text #the wire

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il-predestinato · 2 years

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How about you focus on your faves and don't do slander edits of other drivers, like seriously, doesn't George get enough hate for you?

Honestly, I wish I were talented enough, but that edit (as credited in the post) was made by someone else!

Slander and hate? No, no, no - you have it completely backwards. As of COTA, the only thing I support more than George Russell's rights are George Russell's wrongs.

#i was being 100% unironic when i said george russell saved COTA #he totally did #100% facts #elle.ask #anon

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garethandjude · 4 years

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Sam’s Eulogy

Sam’s funeral was 1 year ago today. Writing Sam’s Eulogy was emotionally the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Reading it in the service was beyond me. Jude and I are ever indebted and thankful to Marc for doing this so well on the day. It read as follows:

I stand before you today, a representative of a family that feel truly blessed to have such amazing support not just through the numbers here but throughout Sam’s journey. Family, friends, the Russell school, social clubs, the medical teams, work colleagues, the whole Chorleywood community and beyond, we are all united in our love, and desire to pay our respects to our wonderful warrior Sam.

Samuel George Hanson, was born in St George’s hospital on St George’s day, the most precious present on his Dad’s birthday. He was instantly welcomed and loved by his brother Rhys and his family. Whether from his brother’s tickles, or the delight of smearing food all over his face, it wasn’t long before he was smiling and chuckling in his unique way, filling our lives with Sammy sized fun.

As a baby and toddler Sam was seldom without a muslin blanket for comfort – Mum and Dad wouldn’t dare leave the house without one. This set a theme for the rest of his short life. The muslin was eventually superseded, by George bear, Sven, Camo. He loved his teddies and each had a name. Over the past few years there was one teddy that Sam would never be without - Rabbity. Rabbity was so precious to Sam that the internet was scoured for an identical backup to be used when Rabbity was washed. Shipped in from the US, Rabitto was always on standby. Rabbity went everywhere with Sam. Every night he cuddled him, during all his stays in hospital, every operation Rabbity was in the theatre with Sam. Up until the very end, right now, and forever – Rabbity will be with Sam to comfort him.

As Sam grew up, some other Sammy traits soon appeared. With his white blond hair, and golden skin he was a beautiful toddler, with a propensity to wear nothing on his feet. Was he destined to be a surfer dude? He had the look. If he could, he would always be barefoot. At a push he would be in crocks, as a last resort trainers. If he went out, shoes and socks were always the last things on and the first things off. When home, he was easy to find as his shoes and socks would leave a Sammy trail from the door to wherever he was going.

As all children should be, Sam was full of life, a little mischievous and very inquisitive. He loved finding crystals in rocks and bringing pretty stones or fossils home. If it sparkled, it got his attention. Was he a budding geologist or was it a palaeontologist? He was encouraged to do it all. Only a few weeks ago he was busy foraging on the beach intently studying what the tide was washing in. Crab shells, dismembered crab claws, pretty shells, he was intrigued by them all and they all went into our bucket to bring home. Maybe he was destined to be an ecologist?

In hospital Sam would relax by watching his favourite movies. Whether they were Disney animations, classics like Oliver or epic compilations like the Lord of the rings, Star wars, DC and Marvel, he enjoyed them all. He also loved dressing up. Inspired by the heroes and villains in all the movies, when he dressed up, his imagination would whisk him away and he became that character. Woody or Buzz, the Gruffalo, a Dinosaur, a Rabbit, Captain Phasma or America, Kylo Ren or Thor. He would boisterously tear around the house in character, wielding his weapon of choice. Rhys was usually the victim and would laugh out loud as Sam battered him with a foam sword or hammer (most of the time!)

There was one costume, more than any other that Sam just loved – his reindeer onesie. He would wear it around the house, camping trips, on visits to the hospital, he even wore it to school. His size 3-4 years was worn until the legs looked like ¾ lengths and the body was skin tight. He didn’t care, he’d say it was snuggly, and it tickled us to see him in it. Sam loved being snuggly and snuggling up to his teddies or under blankets. But if there was some snuggling to be done, top of the list was always snuggling with his Mummy.

Even when Sam was poorly one of the activities he’d still find the strength to do was Nerf battles. If it rained, the battle would be indoors, if it was dry it would be outside with bullet guns or water pistols. When Sam was less mobile, whole house or garden battles were reworked so that Sam could take up a static sniper position, and take pot shots at his victims, family or friends. Rhys has a fond memory of when he and a friend were speaking and playing with some girls in a neighbouring garden. The talk soon became squeals and laughter as Samster the Gangster popped around the edge of the shed, naked, brandishing a water pistol and soaked them all.

When Sam was young he had always been a healthy child. When the family had colds he seemed to be unscathed, but in the autumn of 2015 Sam became pale, he was low on energy, and he had a rash. At first the GP thought it may be viral, but after a couple of weeks nothing had improved and his tummy was starting to swell. By this point the family were fearing this could be something bad but the odds said they should be wrong. A blood test was done on the 1st of December 2015, a day the family will never forget. Sam was diagnosed with Leukaemia and their Sky fell in.

Sam’s journey since then has been a tough one. His beads of courage are a lasting memory to the 100’s of procedures he endured over the 3 and a half years of treatment. He amassed 1,850 beads in all and the family give thanks to the medical staff here today, representing everyone that has worked at every hour of the day to care for Sam during his battle with Leukaemia. He was inspired so much by your commitment and professionalism that he’d said he wanted to grow up to be a nurse. Would that have been his future? Sadly we will never know.

If there is one thing that blossomed in hospital, and epitomises Sam it would be his love for Lego. Over the years we had various activities to fill the time. Card games, dart guns and dart boards, Qixels and crafts. He would enjoy them all but the favourite was definitely LEGO. What started with a small Lego set to help while away the time, grew into a ritual fuelled by both Sam’s and his Dad’s enjoyment of it. If Sam was spending any length of time in hospital he’d be doing Lego. The anticipation and the walk to collect a new set from the Amazon lockers in GOSH were all part of the excitement. The real magic was watching him build; so focussed and determined, his tongue out during the tricky bits. When he completed something, the sense of achievement was always evident on his face - in the big beaming smile. From timid beginnings, he fumbled through his first few sets but soon became a master builder completing multi bag sets intended to last days in just a few hours. If there is one thing that demonstrates how much time Sam spent in hospital, and particularly the months in isolation it would be the size of his Lego collection. On display in his room he was always proud to show it to people.

The last 9 months were particularly tough. The disease and treatment taking its toll. Sam was a third heavier, had lost his hair again, and then grew dark hair back almost everywhere. His hearing was impaired and his legs were weak. He would be unrecognisable to those that had not witnessed the change. But to those that had it was still Sam and he was a fighter, he would get through this. His attitude to all the pokes, prods and procedures was inspirational “let’s just get it over with” he would say. He hated general anaesthetics, but to overcome the fear he developed his own routine of yoga breaths and a snuggle with Mummy or Daddy while he had his sleeping milk and just got it over with. His animated moral – “Never give up” that we are so blessed that he made, will live with us forever. Sam you’re a trooper - thank you for being so brave.

Despite everything he’d been through he was still the cheeky, inquisitive boy we all loved. He always had a willingness to learn and would look forward to his lessons in hospital, at home or in school. Even on days post BMT when his mouth was too sore to speak he still had his lessons, writing or using the iPad to communicate. It would be the highlight of his days only missed if he was asleep.

Sam was doing so well in his treatment, he was winning his battle with leukaemia. He was in remission, his transplant was a success and his diseased white blood cells had been replaced 100% by his brother’s donor cells. His recovery was not without issues, that would, and did make him feel lousy, but the bigger picture was always good and in a few more months he was going to get through this. One day, he was going to ring the bell in Hospital that signified the end of his treatment.

On the 21st March Sam was taken by his parents to Watford because of his rapid breathing. This was thought to be a visit like many other. On the 22nd of March suddenly and unexpectedly Sam’s condition deteriorated and after many hours he was stabilised in Watford and transferred to intensive care in GOSH. Sadly, despite battling his biggest battle and supported by an overwhelming number of people and well-wishers, Sam was never to leave. He passed away peacefully in his parents’ arms on the 4th of April 2019. Sam never got to ring the bell.

Sam didn’t quite make the 8th Birthday that he was so excited about, but during his short time with us has achieved more than many may achieve in a lifetime. In his name, 10’s of thousands of pounds have been raised for charities that have benefited him or his family; CLIC Sargent, Be child cancer aware, Children with Cancer and Spread a Smile. The Radio 5 Live broadcast for the ‘No Isolation’ robot has over a million views and touched thousands of people. The hope is that these contributions may bring unforgettable memories, or lead to new treatments that help save the lives of other children in a similar situation and maybe one day ensure nobody has to endure the loss of a child from Leukaemia. Sam, you should be proud.

Everyone gathered here today has been touched in some way by Sam’s life. It may take a long time for friends and family to adjust, but after the grief and mourning, we will be left with the memories and sparkle that Sam brought to our lives. We will reflect on a life full of amazing adventure, love and bravery. Sam’s courageous battle and attitude should and will inspire us to never give up. We will all miss you Sam but may your star forever shine bright. ⭐

02.05.20

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counterspelling · 4 years

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time for another angry tros post

why in the everloving fuck was kerri russell’s character codenamed MARA if she wasn’t skymom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the disrespect!!!! it’s not enough to name a random jedi kid jacen, or to name a new character in tros jannah, or a girl in the mandalorian winta........... they really went and codenamed another nobody mara????? why??? what’s the point????

luke and leia really went all that fucking time NOT telling rey about her parentage??? when they knew how important it was to her?? how desperate she was for information about her parents?? after everything THEY went through about birth family drama?? they really thought that was a good idea?? rey is more than her family name, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve to know. and HOW did they know she was palpatine’s granddaughter. like kyle, he’s a snoke acolyte, okay, so maybe at some point he’s taken into their confidence. but how the fuck do luke and leia find out

everything with leia was just. so bad. all of her scenes were so stilted, they would have been better off just cgi’ing her. and this movie isn’t technically their fault, but the fact that they’d already spent two movies completely wasting her. having her send her non-force sensitive husband to confront their murderous son, standing back and sending rey to her twin, literally never once doing anything but standing around and reacting to people around her. if leia trained as a jedi, we should have SEEN THAT. i did not wait my entire life to see jedi leia on screen and then never get it. and her death, completely unexplained except that for some reason reaching her son kills her.......... it’s fucking padme all over again. god, they just completely fucked everyone in the ot, so badly, but holy fuck does star wars hate women

still just generally really pissed off that they brought palpatine back at all. not just in the sense that they tried to fucking woobify kyle ron and stopped him from being the ultimate villain that they should have, but that disney continually shits on star wars’ legacy. anakin DESTROYED THE SITH. there was a whole prophecy. it took him 20 years, but he fucking did it. he killed palpatine. and now, like everything else disney has set up over the last few years, it means nothing, because he DIDN’T actually kill palpatine, just like everything luke and han and leia fought for is meaningless, because 30 years later everyone was still in the exact same place. a low-rent resistance without a lot of support, the jedi order slaughtered through treachery, fighting an overly powerful empire bent on slavery and destruction (also why i could never get into rebels. luke is a new hope, the presence of a jedi for the first time in 20 years is supposed to be a big fucking deal. hard to have that same shock and awe when kannan and ezra are formally joining the rebellion, meeting mon and leia and lando, prominently waving around lightsabers. if disney wanted to make stories about jedi choose literally ANY OTHER TIME PERIOD IN STAR WARS HISTORY. I AM SO DESPERATE FOR STORIES ABOUT JEDI. just in the right time, and not in this singular 50 year period where there shouldn’t be jedi, jfc)

the OTHER major problem in bringing palpatine back is yet again, they’re trying to top the “no, i am your father” moment, which is just never going to happen. that was a once in a lifetime moment. everything disney does is trying to bigger and better. it’s not just death stars that can destroy planets, it’s a million star destroyers! kyle ron and rey have a force bond unseen in generations that lets them trade items across the galaxy! force healing has always been a thing but now they can instantly heal death! star wars doesn’t have to be X-TREME to be good. its best moments have always been about its character beats. luke saying he won’t destroy his father, leia and han’s i love yous, anakin’s despair over leaving his mother behind to become a jedi. it doesn’t always have to be BIGGER and BETTER. E V E R Y T H I N G about tfa said that rey was a skywalker, that luke was her dad. the music, her dreams of an island, calling his lightsaber to her, their lonely upbringings on desert planets, their instant embroilment into a conflict much bigger than they are but that they quickly become central to. but because rian johnson is so up his own ass and so insistent on proving how clever he is, he couldn’t follow through on that. even though star wars has always been a fairy tale, and it’s never been about tricking audiences or proving them wrong or throwing out foreshadowing as a red herring. lucas is maybe the most straightforward filmmaker of all time. that’s why bad guys have names like sidious and maul and plagueis. subtle, he is not. and it’s one of my favorite things about star wars. and disney just doesn’t care

the fact that they gave us so many luke/rey parallels and STILL STUCK WITH SHITTY REY PALPATINE. rey flying in his x-wing wearing his helmet, rey leaping away to safety on the millennium falcon from an evil skywalker offering his hand asking them to join the dark side, rey’s fear of the darkness within herself.................. all of it meaningless, apparently

i am so eternally angry at the way they treated rey. removing her teeth, linking her story so inextricably with the man who tortured her, irrevocably tying her narrative to that of a man’s because apparently star wars just can’t handle a trilogy without a white man in a central role. the rey in tfa is a completely different character than the rey from tlj and tros. she couldn’t stand on her own merits? they respected her so little they had to force her to share her trilogy with a murderer who abused her, and try to call that love? to make her journey about a forced bond with him, when he only ever tried to murder her and bring about her downfall? that they would VALIDATE his gross treatment of her by having her kiss him........................... how they made a trilogy more sexist than 70s george lucas, i will never understand

the main movies are the skywalker family saga. that’s what they told us. ending the last movie with two palpatines facing off............. if they already said fuck anakin and everything about his legacy finally ending the rule of the sith, they should have at least let his GRANDDAUGHTER be the one to ultimately fulfill the prophecy. i really cannot believe they fucked anakin and all the skywalkers in this way. the final living skywalker descendant killed all of his remaining family members and THAT’S what we’re going to have to live with from now on. everything anakin and luke and leia struggled and fought for, everything they overcame, all meaningless because one fucking sociopath is such an edgy piece of shit that he’d rather build a shrine to his grandpa’s burned helmet and get stuck in teen “I HATE MY FAMILY” bullshit because...... his life was unfair, somehow??? he just really loves murder??? tyranny is cool??? who knows! not us! jaina didn’t get erased from canon for this. the skywalkers deserved better and so did we.

#tros #tros spoilers #sw negativity #star wars

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tabloidtoc · 4 years

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National Examiner, May 18

Cover: Olivia Newton-John secrets she hid from the world

Page 2: The secrets behind Star Wars

Page 4: Shocking mug shots of the stars

Page 6: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are donating their blood to science in hopes of discovering a Hank-ccine so the star can help save the world from coranavirus

Page 7: How to keep your marriage going strong

Page 8: Potful of other uses for coffee

Page 9: How to avoid those quarantine pounds

Page 10: If you’re on your way to get groceries in Winter Park, Florida you may find yourself laughing -- a local mom has been drawing funny chalk cartoons about social distancing on the sidewalk

Page 11: Your Health

Page 12: They’re Famous and Best Pals Too -- Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams, The Rock and Kevin Hart, Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonce, Guy Fieri and Matthew McConaughey, Julia Roberts and George Clooney

Page 13: Mindy Kaling and Reese Witherspoon, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart, Barbra Streisand and Lady Gaga, Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence, 50 Cent and Bette Midler

Page 14: Dear Tony -- Church Should Be a Place for Spiritual Healing, Tony predicts families becoming much stronger supportive units as we come out of COVID-19 along with a greater respect for teachers and medical professionals and other service workers

Page 15: Being stuck indoors while a disease rages outside is stressful but it can also give rise to creative ideas like the enduring and beloved board game Candy Land which was dreamed up more than 70 years ago during the polio epidemic

Page 16: First hubby James Dougherty remembers the Marilyn Monroe only I knew -- why happy days with Norma Jean Baker had to end

Page 18: Men who shave their chest hair for the sake of fashion may want to reconsider -- a furry front is a sign on super intelligence

Page 19: Things Your Pets Should Never Eat -- chocolate, grapes, coffee, garlic, raisins, avocados, macadamia nuts, xylitol sweetener, lily plants, Tylenol

Page 20: Cover Story -- Olivia Newton-John’s secret wild life exposed -- squeaky-clean star recalls rock star days of drugs, destruction and exorcism

Page 22: It’s a landmark birthday for any teen so when Emily Banta turned 18 she was bummed she would have to spend it social distancing instead of partying with her pals but surprise -- the Missouri gal got her big blowout with a drive-by birthday celebration

Page 24: Prince Louis turns two

Page 25: Next time you loan your car to a friend or family member consider this: you may also be giving them a license to snoop

Page 26: The Good Doctor -- getting a second opinion should be a first priority, since March of last year UPS has been conducting a trial program called Flight Forward using autonomous drone deliveries of critical medical samples including blood or tissue between two branches of a hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, located 150 yards apart

Page 27: Simple plan shows you how to remember everything

Page 28: Loretta Lynn tells all -- the Patsy Cline only I knew -- how the Coal Miner’s daughter found a sister in the country legend

Page 30: Tough times led Tony Bennett to the top -- he left his heart in San Francisco but never forgot where he came from

Page 32: The hilarious wit and wisdom of The Golden Girls -- Betty White, Estelle Getty, Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan

Page 34: Tired All the Time? Simple lifesaving tests hold key to putting more pep in your step

Page 40: Tony’s Mystic World -- do you have psychic power?

Page 43: Joy Behar wants to set the record straight about all the yakety-yak that’s been going around about her saying goodbye to The View -- it’s not going to happen, the loneliness of the coronavirus quarantine is actually agreeing with Glenn Close for now

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Prince Charles and wife Camilla Duchess of Cornwall show their appreciation for hospital staffers at their Scottish home, Ringo Star, life imitated art for Halle Berry while shooting the movie Bruised -- for her role as an MMA fighter she trained with UFC champion Valentina Shevchenko and wound up getting injured during a filmed face-off, Kate Hudson lives only a hop skip and a jump away from mother Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell but she’s considering a move to be even closer to her mom, pregnant Katy Perry says her pregnancy has given her a hankering for different types of food and her no. 1 craving is avocado toast with Tabasco, Marianne Faithfull is on the road to recovery after being hospitalized in England for three weeks as she suffered from coronavirus

Page 45: Tony Bennett takes part in a New Jersey charity telethon, Joan Collins salutes U.K. medical workers, Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger are expecting their first child together, Tom Brady who left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got off on the wrong foot in his new hometown -- he was working out in a public park that was off-limits during the coronavirus shutdown and was asked to leave, The Price Is Right announcer George Gray suffered three massive heart attacks, Kristin Cavallari revealed she’s split from husband of seven years Jay Cutler

Page 46: On average women are getting mansplained more than once a day -- Mansplaining refers to the infuriating habit shared by many men who talk down to women and over-explain things the women already know and usually know better

Page 47: Motorcycles of the Stars -- Jay Leno, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Orlando Bloom, Pink, Tom Cruise, Justin Timberlake, Keanu Reeves, Bradley Cooper

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thecomicsnexus · 5 years

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Heroes for Hope

HEROES FOR HOPE DECEMBER 1985 BY CHRIS CLAREMONT, ANN NOCENTI, JIM STARLIN, JIM SHOOTER, STAN LEE, ED BRYANT, LOUISE SIMONSON, STEPHEN KING, BILL MANTLO, ALAN MOORE, HARLAN ELLISON, JO DUFFY, MIKE BARON, DENNY O’NEIL, GEORGE R. R. MARTIN, BRUCE JONES, STEVE ENGLEHART, MIKE GRELL, ARCHIE GOODWIN, BERNIE WRIGHTSON...

JOHN ROMITA JR, JOHN BUSCEMA, BRENT ANDERSON, JOHN BYRNE, CHARLES VESS, RICHARD CORBEN, MIKE KALUTA, FRANK MILLER, BRIAN BOLLAND, JOHN BOLTON, STEVE RUDE, BRET BLEVINS, HERB TRIMPE, GRAY MORROW, PAUL GULACY, ALAN WEISS, JACKSON GUICE, HOWARD CHAYKIN...

AL GORDON, KLAUS JANSON, JOE SINNOTT, TERRY AUSTIN, DAN GREEN, JEFF JONES, JON J MUTH, TOM PALMER, AL MILGROM, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, P. CRAIG RUSSELL, CARL POTTS, AL WILLIAMSON, SAL BUSCEMA, BOB LAYTON, JOE RUBINSTEIN, STEVE LEIALOHA, WALT SIMONSON...

DAINA GRAZIUNAS, MARIE SEVERIN, BOB SHAREN, PETRA SCOTESE, CHRISTIE SCHEELE, MICHELLE WRIGHTSON, GLYNIS OLIVER, GEORGE ROUSSOS, LESLIE ZAHLER AND JANET JACKSON (NOT THAT JANET JACKSON)

SYNOPSIS

The X-men are attacked by a strange entity that makes them feel despair and end up going to Ethiopia to help people against the famine (and fighting this entity after a while).

OFFICIAL CONTEXT

CONTEXT BY CHRISTOPHER PRIEST

The most heated racial episode in my career occurred during Marvel's production of their charity book for Ethiopian famine victims. Promoted as work from "the top writers and artists in the industry-- the very best of the very best," profits from this effort were going to be donated to help the poor starving Africans. It was a truly noble effort, one the entire industry rallied behind (at least until DC decided to do their own book, thus dividing the talent pool along company lines). Denys Cowan dropped by and mentioned, amused, that he'd seen the list of talent working on the famine relief project. There wasn't a single African American creator invited to participate. This actually amused me tremendously, and I went over the list myself to make sure, but, yup, no blacks had been thought of as, "the very best of the very best," and none were invited to work on this book.

Tickled, I picked up the phone and called Larry Hama, telling him no blacks were on the list. Larry was hugely amused, and suggested we do our own charity relief book for the poor white trash of Appalachia. He and I howled with laughter, and then shook off the dumbness of it all and got on with our lives.

Only, a white staffer had overheard part of the conversation (I assume the notion of my "recruiting" Hama to do my "own alternate charity book"), and some warped interpretation of my conversation with Hama got reported down the hall to the X-MEN office (where the book was being developed). The editors became incensed and loudly demanded my head on a plate for, essentially, inciting the black talent to stop working for Marvel. I mean, this thing got blown to huge proportions, so much so that, by the end of the day, it was largely accepted as fact that I was organizing a walkout of black talent, and the EIC kind of put me and the X-Men editor in a room to negotiate a deal.

I just couldn't stop laughing. I mean, it was all so stupid. These were stupid people. It was extremely stupid to do an African relief charity project and not invite any damned Africans to work on it. It was even sillier for these stupid people to invent some massive protest out of a silly joke in a 30-second phone call with Larry Hama.

The X-Men Ed was not amused, and refused to believe me when I said I had no intention of bad-mouthing the project. I was invited to participate, but I just chuckled and said, "No affirmative action, please." And this just set the Ed off into a screaming match that could be heard everywhere in the office, "What is WRONG with you? Why do you have to make a RACIAL ISSUE OUT OF EVERYTHING?!?!?!"

It just got out of control, and the episode (along with my paying my assistant to stay home on MLK's birthday once it was ratified as a national holiday but Marvel refused to recognize it, other than the numbingly patronizing "We got us our own holiday" speech by Luke Cage in the VISION & SCARLET WITCH Miniseries) fairly cemented my pariah status at Marvel. Without saying a word and without actually doing anything, I was routinely assumed to be some radical activist who saw everything as a race issue.

I felt trapped in a world of loons. It was totally no-win, and I tended to simply withdraw from the office more and more, from people who, in my view, had now invented a justification to do what they'd been doing all along: fencing themselves off from me.

CONTEXT BY JIM SHOOTER

Pam had arranged for Oxfam America to receive our donation. Their reaction to our offer, at first, was what one might expect from people who had never seen a comic book up close: “Comic book? There’s nothing funny about famine!” Sigh.

For some reason Pam was determined that we should donate the money to them, though, and we convinced them that comics weren’t always comic. They still demanded to review the finished book before they would commit to accept our donation.

When the book was ready to go to press, we sent a mock-up to Oxfam America to review.

Their response was that they wanted nothing to do with it. Flat rejection.

Furthermore, they said that the book was unbelievably offensive and that we, the people of Marvel Comics, were racist, sexist and reprehensible.

When this was told to me by Pam and Marvel President Jim Galton I felt as if I were being called on the carpet. I was flabbergasted. I showed them the mock-up.

They didn’t see anything wrong with it.

Galton called the exec at Oxfam America we’d been dealing with to ask what their specific objections were.

Their response was that, while under no circumstances would they have anything to do with our project or with us, they would send an executive to meet with us and explain the many horrific, repugnant, disgusting elements that made our “comic book” anathema.

So they did. Oxfam America’s representative came to meet with Galton and me. The meeting took place in Galton’s office.

I do not remember the man’s name.

He was a nice-looking, thirty-something man. He had on a suit that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe. Designer shoes. He had on more gold and diamond jewelry than I’d ever seen on a human being. Jeweled watch. Cufflinks. Stickpin. Bracelets. A neck chain that would make a rapper blush. Doubt me, go ahead. Discount by two-thirds what I’m telling you and you should still have an image of a guy wearing clothes and jewelry that at market price would feed a thousand starving people for a month.

After the greetings and handshaking, Galton, making conversation, said that he imagined that Oxfam America and other charitable organizations had, at least, gotten a lot of people to focus on the ongoing tragedy in Africa, and had inspired many efforts such as ours from musicians and performers and artists.

This Oxfam America fellow, let’s call him Midas, just plain gushed about how good for business the East African famine was, how donations were rolling in at record levels. He talked about the millions dying as if it were a great marketing opportunity.

Galton and I were stupefied. We couldn’t believe how thrilled Midas was that his business was booming.

Midas explained that the purpose of his visit wasn’t here to request changes or negotiate. He had come to save us from our own folly. He made it clear that Oxfam America had nothing but contempt for us and our work. He came as a favor, to urge us not to publish the abomination that we had created. He assured us that it would destroy Marvel Comics.

Right. Well, naturally, I wondered why.

Midas flipped through the mock-up. Again and again he pointed out black characters that he said “looked like Michael Jackson.” We were obviously trying to capitalize on Michael Jackson’s image and fame.

Michael Jackson in particular and the Jackson family in general were huge supporters of Oxfam America, by the way. Every drawing of a woman, he said, was sexist and exploitative. He was particularly offended by depictions of Storm, which he thought were more than sexist, a denigration of women of color.

I mentioned that the men were heroic and glamorous, too. Just like in the movies, stars tend to be good looking.

He pointed out a panel in which Chris had a carnival barker saying: “Yowza….” That, he said, was racist in the extreme. I don’t have the book handy, as explained above, but wasn’t that character Caucasian?

Moore and Corben’s pages? Yikes.

I cannot begin to tell you all the racism, sexism and hate that he (and Oxfam America) read into the words and pictures.

Wow.

The punch line is this: Midas accused Marvel of “stealing Janet Jackson’s logo.” He believed that the Heroes for Hope logo, credited to Janet Jackson, was ripped off.

I offered to introduce him to the designer on our staff who had created the logo, one Miss Janet Claire Jackson. He dismissed my obvious attempt at a cover-up.

No, really, we have a designer named…. Oh, never mind.

No wonder Janet Claire Jackson eventually started going by the name “Blog Elf.”

Finally, the lunatic left. Galton and I shared a moment of “what a jerk.”

Pam was instructed to find some other organization to which to donate the money. She came up with the American Friends Service Committee.

Heroes for Hope was a huge success. Thanks to our sales department, we got donations from downstream—distributors, retailers, even fans.

Can’t find the press release and the picture of me and Galton giving the AFSC honchos the PR “Big Check” created by our production department to symbolize the real check. I think the initial donation was $500,000. Much more came later.

It was a great thing. Jim Starlin, Bernie Wrightson, Ann Nocenti and Chris Claremont are great heroes in my book. Heroes for hope. There are people alive today who wouldn’t be without their efforts.

AND ABOUT THOSE STEPHEN KING PAGES

The non-comics writers who participated needed some help in most cases, which Ann and Chris provided. The biggest challenge was Stephen King’s contribution. I may be exaggerating here, but not by much—he gave us something like 5,000 words for three pages. Almost overnight, by the way. Chris, Ann and I somehow cut that down to what would fit on three comics pages. 500 words? I forget. Has anyone else ever had to cut out 90% of Stephen King’s brilliant words?

REVIEW

This was bound to not be a nice comic-book to review. The famine in Ethiopia at the moment had political origins that people decided to look over in favor of Live Aid and We Are The World.

Let’s just say that sending super-heroes there to help doesn’t guarantee a success (although they could have done something more against politicians, but let’s not go there).

The story is a bit abstract and the characters pretty much end up making sense of it without ever checking their facts (like the entity being a mutant and why it exists). The sequences about each X-man being tortured psychologically was too repetitive. By the time they end up in Africa (something that happens on a wild guess), the book is almost over.

The art doesn’t have a nice unifying feel. Something that could have been possible with breakdowns and less inkers and colorists.

But you know what? I understand why it had to be like that. This book was made ad honorem, and people did a great effort to just put the damn thing on the stands.

My other concern is that the X-men weren’t the right fit for a story like this. I understand they were popular back then, but these comics should attract non-readers as well (it’s for a good cause after all). And to be frank, things like Rachel Summers, Storm not having powers, Magneto being the leader... those are things of that time. Very hard to relate to. The Avengers would have been a better choice, or even Spider-man and the Fantastic Four (even if Spidey was looking a bit different at the time).

I like the message of not losing hope, and hope being the one thing keeping people alive in such tragedies... but then they kind of go back home. Leaving hope?

I don’t think the ideas in the book were brought down on something concrete or to keep thinking on. It is just confusing.

I give the book a score of 5

#heroes for hope #famine #marvel comics #x-men #1985 #comics #review #modern age #live aid #arthur adams

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nflweeklyuk · 3 years

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NFL Week 1 Predictions

Buccaneers 31 Cowboys 27

Spread: Buccaneers -7.5

Opening night! The spread has Bucs by 7.5 but I can see this one being closer than the spread suggests. The Cowboys were electric on offense before Dak went down last year, and the defense improved as the season went on. Expect offensive continuity with the Bucs bringing back all starters on offense, we know that they will put points on the board and I do see them winning this game but I would not be surprised if it is a close run thing.

Texans 13 Jaguars 20

Spread: Jaguars -2.5

This game has little intrigue outside of Trevor Lawrence making his NFL debut after being drafted No 1 Earlier this year. The strength of Jacksonville’s weak team was the running game behind James Robinson last year, with a rookie QB expect the Jags to lean heavily on the run game in this one. Given the Texans offense looks to be completely anemic without Watson at the controls, and the porous D not improving greatly this offseason, I expect a conservative Jags effort to be enough to edge this one in a relatively low scoring contest.

Washington 20 Chargers 23

Spread: Washington -1.5

Tough game to pick. Can Fitzmagic channel early 2020 form in a new system? Can the Chargers o-line handle Chase Young and Montez Sweat? My feeling is that the latter question is the key to the game here. If the perennially shaky Chargers o-line can, then I think the Chargers have more all round talent, and a more consistent quarterback. The FT has a lot to like on offense with Antonio Gibson looking like a great prospect towards the end of last year and Logan Thomas providing a great alternative outlet to the prolific Terry McLaurin. My gut tells me that the Chargers take this one, primarily because I believe it will take the FT offense some time to settle into a rhythm this season

Lions 13 49ers 28

Spread: 49ers -7.5

The 49ers are a very talented squad, and for the first time in a while, a healthy squad. I see them beating the Lions comfortably here but the 49ers should be primed for a playoff run this season. I don’t think the we will be seeing many last gasp Lions comebacks now that Matt Stafford has left, to compete this year the Lions need way more balance between offense and defense as the ceiling is lower for this offense with Goff under center. The 49ers are a step too far for a rebuilding (always?) Lions squad. Expect the 49ers to pound Detroit on the ground, asking little of the QB other than to sink a few George Kittle layups every now and then.

Panthers 23 Jets 17

Spread: Panthers -5.5

The Sam Darnold revenge game! I’m not sold on Darnold as a starter but he has the chance to prove doubters wrong this year, working with a much more rounded offense (McCaffrey, Moore, Anderson etc.) and a D that should be solid if not surprising. That is a stark contrast to his supporting cast in New Jersey. The Jets have their new hope in a talented, but raw, Zach Wilson. The supporting cast is improved but is yet to instil any sense of fear into opponents. Expect struggles for the rookie QB, and therefore the offense early this season, including in this contest. Panthers win and Darnold gets some measure of revenge. It is still the Jets though.

Colts 20 Seahawks 24

Spread: Seahawks -2.5

Early is going to be the best time to play the Colts. Wentz is trending towards starting Sunday which gives the Colts a chance, but without a full preseason it is going to be difficult to hit the ground running. Running is how the Colts can keep this close though. If Jonathan Taylor can pick up where he left off and get some support from Marlon Mack and Nyeim Hines then the Colts can look to control the ball and limit Russell Wilson’s possessions. Wilson however should be able to hit the ground running with his familiar core of pass catchers (Metcalf, Lockett and co) and so should be able to make enough plays against this talented, young, Colts defense to take advantage of any rust/lack of familiarity on display for the Colts.

Falcons 27 Eagles 21

Spread: Falcons -3.0

A matchup of my nemesis teams in recent years. Just when you think the Falcons have found it, they lose a slam dunk. The Eagles present a similar problem. We know that a Matt Ryan, Calvin Ridley led offense will put up points. Throw in a crazy talented Kyle Pitts and this offense should be a challenge for any squad. The worry is that the D shapes up to not be a challenge for any other squad. The Eagles will go however Jaelen Hurts goes, based on last years mixed bag I would expect the Eagles to pinch a few games they shouldn’t, and lose some they should win. I’m going to go with the Falcons here as they should have the continuity on offense to hit their stride early. The Eagles best bet is to let Miles Sanders take over this game.

Bills 24 Steelers 21

Spread: Bills -6.5

If Big Ben can come out the gates at 100% this has the makings of a great game. Can the Steelers get enough pressure on Josh Allen having lost some pass rush in the offseason? What Bills D will we get? Josh Allen in primed for big things this season and I fully expect him to deliver. This is a tough matchup against a pretty good Steelers defensive unit. If Allen has time I think the Bills will win with a measure of comfort. If not then it opens the door for the Steelers offense to find some rhythm and pull off an early upset. Some semblance of a ground game outside of Allen would sure help them in this contest. A large part of me wants to call the upset here…. But continuity often helps early in the season and I think the Bills are the team bringing the most here. Don’t right off Roethlisberger, who has proven his gunslinging nature does not necessarily require lots of practice reps to deliver, hmmmm. No, no, no I’m picking the Bills.

Bengals 24 Vikings 30

Spread: Vikings -3.5

There is a lot to be excited about for Bengals fans; Joe Burrow suiting up again after an excellent start to his rookie year was horribly cut short, Jamar Chase joining Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd to form a very talented trio of wideouts (Chase’s poor preseason aside), Joe Mixon looking to bounce back and benefit from all of the above. The two concerns being the o-line and defense. Poor units which didn’t get much help this offseason, the former potentially limiting all of the positives above.

For the Vikings we know that the offense is going to put up yards and points with all the weapons on that side of the ball. Again the question is whether the D can step up and make enough stops to let the offense carry this team. Right now I think I trust the Vikings offense the most in this matchup and so I will go with them. I expect a few points on the board in this one.

Titans 28 Cardinals 27

Spread: Titans -3.0

The Cardinals were excellent out of the gate last season, only to infuriatingly lose some easier matchups in the weeks after. On his day Kyler Murray can be unplayable, if the injuries of last year are behind him then we should see the best of Murray early again this year which makes this game a tough call. Tennessee are by far the more consistent performers here and, as the spread suggests, are the more sensible pick. The Titans are not known for generating a lot of pressure which might allow them to contain Murray’s devastating runs, meaning he has to beat them with his arm. Something he has not been consistent in doing. On the other side, the Titans will run the ball with Henry and open up play action for Tannehill, Brown and Julio Jones. It’s a tried and tested formula that will net points, can the Cardinals D put up enough stops to let Murray and Hopkins go to work. The score above suggests how much of a coin flip I think this is, but I will go with the more consistent all round team in Tennessee but an Arizona win would be no surprise here.

Patriots 20 Dolphins 17

Spread: Patriots -2.5

I suffer from a not picking against Bill Belichick problem that did not serve me well last year when the Patriots went 7-9. The Patriots look to have set up in full matriculation mode this year, with the additions of Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry expect a lot of long drives with quick, short passes for Mac Jones with a heavy dose of the run game. This is what Patriots teams have thrived on over the years, Mac Jones is not Tom Brady but I expect the team to be proficient in implementing this game plan. With a D that won’t give up many points I fear, as a Dolphins fan, that the Patriots will be back in the thick of the playoff hunt this year. This game plan will nullify some of the strengths of the Dolphins D, namely turnovers, and will likely not give Tua many short fields. I expect a jump in performance from Tua but I don’t thing a Belichick coached D is ideal out of the gate. Miami will be in the playoff hunt again this year but in this matchup I am going to take the Patriots at home.

Saints 20 Packers 31

Spread: Packers -4.5

I fully expect Aaron Rodgers to ball out this year, if anyone translates a chip on their shoulder to performance on the field it is him. This year he may just be carrying the biggest chip of all after the offseason dramas. I took Rodgers over Mahomes and Allen in my fantasy draft so I am fully invested in this narrative. I also got Davante Adams with the 10th pick so I am doubly invested. If the Pack stay healthy on offense then the ceiling is perhaps even higher than last year when they lead the league in scoring. The defense is perennially shaky but makes enough plays to generate possessions for the offense. The Saints sans Drew Brees look to shape up as a different team. Expect even more Alvin Kamara, not a bad thing at all, but also expect shakier QB play. Michael Thomas’ absence for at least 6 weeks leaves the receiving core thin, although Callaway and Smith have shown plenty of promise. I cannot see the Saints hanging with the Packers in this one.

Chiefs 27 Browns 20

Spread: Chiefs -5.5

A great week one matchup here. Mahomes got a lot of playing time in the offseason so expect him to come out sharp in this one. In theory the Browns have all the tools to implement the keep ball and limit possessions type of game that helps to halt prolific offenses. I’m just not sure I buy that with this Chiefs offense. Mahomes and Co have made a mockery of that too many times with quick scoring strikes that negate long drives chewing up the clock. The Browns will run the ball, and likely with success, but they will need more than that to make this game close. I’ll wait to see the Brown’s aerial offense consistently thrive before I will pick them over an AFC powerhouse. The Browns will challenge for the AFC North, and may even be favorites at this point, but I think this Chiefs team, early in the season at Arrowhead will see off the Browns. If this was December in Cleveland that might make things a little more interesting!

Rams 26 Bears 10

Spread: Rams -7.5

Matthew Stafford getting the opportunity to lead a team with plenty of talent on both sides of the ball is just one of those things that should please all people objectively. Someone who’s patience, professionalism and toughness have been shown season after season with a Detroit team who couldn’t give him the support he deserved. The talent is there and I for one am rooting for him. You cannot fault the QB on the other side of this matchup in many of the same ways, but Andy Dalton does not strike fear into the opposition and will be on a very tight leash. The supporting cast with he Bears is not as talented as the Cowboys and I for one am not sure Dalton is the one to make a team greater than the sum of it’s parts. The Rams should run the ball (I assume someone has explained what this looks like to Stafford!) to set up play action and consistently put up points with a balance offense. The Bears D will keep the score down but I don’t see the Bears offense putting up many points at all, let alone enough to make this a contest.

Raiders 17 Ravens 27

Spread: Ravens -4.0

I see a similar season ahead for the Ravens, rack up regular season wins but fail to make it deep in the playoffs. Those wins start racking up in Week 1. The Raiders were below average in stopping the run in 2020 and allowed the second most rushing TDs in the league. That bodes well for a Ravens team that lead the league in rushing while clocking up the third most rushing scores in the league. The Raiders were a top ten aerial offense last year off the back of breakouts from Darren Waller and Nelson Agholor. The former will do his thing again while the latter is over in Foxborough. For me though this game is Raiders strength vs Ravens Strength (top ten D vs the pass in both yards and scoring) while it is Ravens strength in the run game vs Raiders weakness in rush defense. There is plenty of chat about an upset here but I don’t think there is much to overthink here. Nothing I have seen in the offseason has suggested the strengths and weakness of these teams will change.

#nfl #nflweek1 #nflseason #tbvsdal #houvsjax #wasvslac #detvssf #carvsnyj #indvssea #atlvsphi #bufvspit #cinvsmin #tenvsaz #nevsmia #novsgb #kcvscle #larvschi #lvvsbal

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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A Comprehensive History of George R.R. Martin’s NFL Draft Takes

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Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin loves three things above all else: writing exhaustive descriptions of feasts, killing Starks, and watching NFL football.

When the “A Song of Ice and Fire” creator is not writing the most impactful bit of fantasy storytelling since The Lord of the Rings, he follows his two favorite football teams: the New York Giants and the New York Jets (yes, supporting two teams in the same city is highly unusual and yes, he’s apparently fine with it).

Martin is fond of expounding upon his fandom in interviews (including this one with ex-NFL defensive end Chris Long) and also documenting his sports pain on his LiveJournal blog, “Not a Blog”. The Westeros story shepherd has been blogging steadily since pretty much the dawn of blogging in 2006. And over the past 15 years, he has marked 235 posts with the “NFL” tag.

Perhaps it shouldn’t be a surprise that Martin is using a blog the way blogs were intended to be used – providing professional updates with some informal sports observations sprinkled in. But I’ve personally never been able to get over the novelty of one of pop culture’s most important, sagacious figures, jotting down his ill-conceived sports takes just like the rest of us weirdos. I mean, get a load of this (which is baseball-related, not football):

Grown men wishing to bear the child of their favorite professional athlete is the sort of thing usually left to fringe sports talk radio shows or drunk group text chats. And yet, here is the writer of A Feast For Crows’ genius “broken man” monologue just throwing it out there for public consumption.

It’s like finding out that J.R.R. Tolkien used to submit his sports takes to The Times in the 1940s. “Yes, Stanley Matthews is talented but I fear his training regimen too rigorous for him to maintain the proper energy for the Three Lions to overcome France this year.”

Sadly, we do not have Tolkien’s football takes (apparently rugby was more his speed anyway). Since we do have Martin’s though, it’s worth examining how his many NFL opinions and predictions have held up over the years, particularly his commentary surrounding the NFL Draft.

The NFL Draft, in which NFL teams select college players to augment their rosters, occurs every year near the end of April or beginning of May. Martin, bless him, frequently likes to record his thoughts on the Jets and Giants’ draft during or after the event. Of the 235 NFL posts on NotaBlog, at least 12 of them deal with the draft.

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This year’s NFL Draft begins on April 29. A GRRM post about it is sure to come soon after (unless The Winds of Winter is taking up too much of his time). Before George offers his thoughts on this year’s selections, let’s take a trip back through memory lane to grade some of his previous years’ takes.

Bear in mind, that this list of Martin’s draft takes isn’t truly exhaustive. His blog for the 2020 draft, for instance, doesn’t include too many spicy opinions so it’s left out. But should you want the entire list of George R.R. Martin’s sports musings, I know a guy who wasted countless hours compiling all 235 posts.

George R.R. Martin’s NFL Draft Takes

The Post: April 26, 2019 – Day One The Takes:

The Jets should have selected defensive end Josh Allen over defensive tackle Quinnen Williams

Daniel Jones at 6 was an overdraft from the Giants. They should have chosen Dwayne Haskins

Analysis: It’s probably too early to tell on George’s first prediction though Williams looks to be the slightly better player now. George’s second take, however, is way off. Not because Giants QB Daniel Jones has been particularly great but George’s preferred QB Dwayne Haskins had a disastrous tenure in Washington, getting released midway through his second season. Cumulative Take Score: 0 for 2 (0%)

The Post: April 7, 2018 – Feeling a Draft The Takes:

The Giants should take Saquon Barkley

The Jets should take Baker Mayfield

Analysis: One of George’s most charming sports quirks is an avowed love of running backs. The running back position isn’t as important in the modern NFL as offenses become more pass heavy. The Giants drafting running back Saquon Barkley was very defensible though and hopefully he will recover from the knee injury that wiped out his 2020 season. George was also dead-on in urging the Jets to take Baker Mayfield. Unfortunately for him (but fortunately for yours truly) the Browns took Mayfield with the first overall pick. The Jets took Sam Darnold as a consolation prize and he is already no longer on the team. Cumulative Take Score: 2 for 4 (50%)

The Post: April 29, 2016 – NFL Draft Round One The Takes:

The Jets did well in taking linebacker Darron Lee over Memphis QB Paxton Lynch

The Giants should have picked pass rusher Shaq Lawson

Running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Derrick Henry will be good.

Analysis: George sniffed out Paxton Lynch’s futility like a Lannister plot. Darron Lee was pretty much a bust but at least he wasn’t Paxton Lynch. The Giants should not have chosen Shaq Lawson – their Eli Apple pick worked out perfectly fine. Here, George once again reveals his great taste in running backs. Though the position may no longer be as important, GRRM is one hell of a RB talent evaluator. Zeke Elliott and Derrick Henry are among the best backs in the league. Cumulative Take Score: 4 for 7 (57%)

The Post: April 27, 2013 – NFL Draft, Day 3 The Takes:

Ryan Nassib is Eli Manning’s successor

Taking Geno Smith will set the Jets back years.

Analysis: Ryan Nassib was not Eli Manning’s successor. Who’s to say if Geno Smith set the Jets back years or if they are just a poorly run organization? Either way, we’ll give that one to George since the team has had only one winning season since picking him. Cumulative Take Score: 5 for 9 (56%)

The Post: April 27, 2012 – NFL Draft, Round One The Takes:

“I am not at all happy with (the Jets) choice of Quinton Couples (sic).”

Cleveland had a good first round.

Ryan Tannehill will be a bust.

Analysis: George was right to be upset with the Coples pick. Unfortunately, George erred severely in trusting the Cleveland Browns to draft well. He undoubtedly was excited about the Browns drafting one of his beloved running backs, but that running back, Trent Richardson, was out of the league within a few years. George’s Ryan Tannehil prediction looked prescient for the first half of his career. Now – not so much, with the QB turning his career around in Tennessee. Cumulative Take Score: 6 for 12 (50%)

The Post: April 25, 2009 – NFL Draft, Day 1 The Takes:

The Jets and Giants were right to not draft Percy Harvin.

Kenny Britt is the best receiver among himself, Hakeem Nicks, and Brian Robiskie

Analysis: The Harvin concerns were understandable but he had a pretty decent career, all things considered. Hakeem Nicks was better than Kenny Britt. George was surely happy to be wrong though as Nicks is who the Giants drafted. Cumulative Take Score: 6 for 14 (43%)

The Post: April 28, 2007 – NFL Draft, Day One The Takes:

The Jets had a better day than the Giants

Brady Quinn will have a better pro career than JaMarcus Russell

Analysis: George nailed prediction one. The Jets drafted Darrelle Revis, who ended up being one of the best players in franchise history. George also nailed prediction number two but that’s because just about every other player in football history had a better pro career than JaMarcus Russell. Cumulative Take Score: 8 for 16 (50%)

The Post: February 5, 2006 – Super Bowl XL The Takes:

The Jets should draft D’Brickashaw Ferguson

“So another NFL season is now done, which means that Sunday becomes a work day for me once again. That should please everyone waiting for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS.”

Analysis: George’s first take here was absolutely correct. Ferguson was a Jets stalwart for a decade. Of course, I couldn’t help but share that second, non-football prediction. It turns out the people were not pleased as A Dance With Dragons would not arrive for another five years. Cumulative Take Score: 9 for 17 (53%)

Bonus George R.R. Martin NFL Takes

And now, a few other George R.R. Martin NFL Takes that have nothing to do with the draft…

The Post: September 1, 2017 – The NFL Is Coming The Take: “I have the feeling that I am going to be starting a lot of blog posts with ‘Life is miserable and full of pain’ this fall, at least where the Jets are concerned.” Analysis: Yup.

The Post: January 15, 2015 Locker Room Shuffle The Take: “(Rex) Ryan’s opening press conference with the Bills was very impressive. He seemed to be the old Rex again, brimming with confidence and swagger, all leavened with a healthy sense of humor. He promised to make the Bills a “bully,” a team that no one will want to play. I believe him.” Analysis: Of all the Jets coaches in Not A Blog history, Rex Ryan might be Martin’s favorite. He believes (pretty accurately) that Ryan did not get a fair shake in New York. But things in Buffalo did not pan out well for Ryan either. He was fired after two seasons and a 15-16 record.

The Post: March 15, 2013 – Free Agency Follies The Take: “Oh, and the Patriots… what a vile thing is Evil Little Bill (Belichick). The way he treated Wes Welker is disgraceful. Man has absolutely no loyalty to anyone. Watch and see, when Tom Brady’s talents start to fade — and they will, it happens to all of them — Evil Little Bill will ship him out as well.” Analysis: I don’t doubt that George was right that Bill Belichick would send Tom Brady packing the moment his talents start to fade. Where George erred, however, is that Tom Brady’s talents are never going to fade. He will never retire or even die. Brady left Belichick and New England in 2020 of his own volition…and promptly won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay.

Jets or Giants: Which Team Makes GRRM More Miserable?

Indulge me on one last bit of George R.R. Martin NFL nonsense. Occasionally, Martin will begin or end one of his football-related blog posts with the phrase “Life is meaningless and full of pain” (sometimes, he swaps “miserable” for “meaningless”).

This is a notion that many sports fans should know quite well. Following a professional football team is mostly a never-ending series of woe and disappointment. And since Martin supports two NFL teams, he gets to experience twice the level of disappointment. But which New York football franchise causes George more pain? To find out, I tracked every “Not A Blog” post that contains the phrase “life is meaningless/miserable and full of pain” and figured out which team was making his life miserable. More often than not, it was both teams, but occasionally only one team was the culprit. The finally tally is:

New York Giants = 25 blog posts mentioning “life is meaningless and full of pain.”

New York Jets = 23 blog posts mentioning “life is meaningless and full of pain.”

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This is a fairly surprising result given that the Giants have actually won two Super Bowls in the time since Martin has been blogging. But it turns out that pain cuts deeper than victory.

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