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#are you president of the sad about rangers club
sscarletvenus · 2 years
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LOOKISM CHAPTER 389
•Sinu's back ~~~ And he's cooler than ever ~~~
• BIG DEAL IS SOMETHING THAT CAN BE SO PERSONAL
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• My girl looks so good rn I'm gonna scream, cry and throw up
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• Anyways so Mitsuki's dad was a piece of shit, womanizer, idler, child neglecter (basically Gapryong Kim in a nutshell lol) and she was the one who stepped up and revived casino Lucky after becoming Ceo
• OH AND SHE DESPISES MEN
• Vivi and Mitsuki besties... So true garbage really does belong together
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• The timeline of the flashback is when the Club Vivi is being set up, and the underground Fighting Cage (where Sinu is being used) is already running.
• So Vivi is the one who brought Mitsuki to Korea and introduced her to Eugene, who then invited Mitsuki to watch the fighting as a VIP.
• Eugene calls Sinu pathetic for selling himself off for the street, his love and his men, not realising that MITSUKI HAS BECOME OBSESSED to the point she wants to buy Sinu... And Eugene, the devil's advocate that he is, agrees to sell his "object" only if Mitsuki is willing to run the Second Affiliate...
•honestly Eugene's nerd ass always reminds of a tarantula like so much evil in such a little container
• Whenever Sinu appears I start quivering either from the sadness or for the ahem horny
• MITSUKI IS NOT A GIRLBOSS LMAOOO like miss ma'am you're rich enough to afford therapy, and yet you're resolving your daddy issues by drugging and gaslighting an innocent man who just said he isn't interested to make sacrifices for you? (UNDERSTANBLY SO BECAUSE YOU'RE STRANGERS AND YOUR NASTY ASS IS MAKING HIM FIGHT TO DEATH JUST TO FEEL SOMETHING EVERY PASSING DAY)
• Like no matter how horrible a parent was to you, it doesn't give you the right to be horrible to someone else... JUST LOOK AT JAKE. Same daddy issues. Same disgust for men. Same experience of being touched by Sinu's "romance"... But did we see him go around asking Sinu to fight with random dudes one fine Tuesday morning to prove his "sacrifice"???
• I'M SHAKING??? SHE REALLY PRETENDED TO BE YEONHUI AND SAID JAKE IS DEAD, AND ONLY SINU WAS LEFT IN BIG DEAL... AND CREATED A FALSE STREET, GOT EUGENE TO ACCELERATE SINU'S DRUGGING SO THAT HE COULDN'T REMEMBER, AND PERSUADED HIM TO PROTECT HER
•Are we talking about Lee Jinho/244 cuz Eugene mentioned a Drug Genius...
•idk i feel like she could actually #MakeHimWorse... Like girl YOU'RE CALLED HIME BECAUSE OF YOUR BEAUTY AND BRAINS... and yet you're on your knees??? GET UP AND GO TO WORK PLEASE
• he's so fine omg my head hurts
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• so I told you all there' a HIGH POSSIBILITY that shiro oni and warai oni have come across each other right??? I think we just got a lookism and htf crossover (Nomen's uniform is similar to that of the gang Seongjoon took control of, and they're both notorious biker gangs from Kanto region)
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• UMMM so I thought Xiaolung and Jerry were SIMPS but looks like the SIMP OLYMPICS has a rising contender : NOMEN lmaooo
•So Ruyhei (aka Kagiroi president aka Ranger Dog aka Nomen) left his position of the president of a gang that took over Kanto region from the freaking Yakuza to move to Korea for a girl who... lol nvm everybody point and laugh
• "WHO MADE HER CRY" how tf are we supposed to know take a guess???
• Also Jake wants to bring Mitsuki to Daniel because he promised him to do whatever he wants if Daniel lets him meet Sinu... And Daniel wanted to take her to the some President (most probably Steve Hong?)
• JAKE SAID HE'S NOT GONNA LOSE HIS FAMILY ANYMORE
•"HOWEVER... DESPITE ALL OF THAT... THERE'S NO ROMANCE" mic drop sinu let's gooo
• felt some chills cuz cap guy, mandeok, samuel are on their way to the second affiliate with eugene who probably keeps around a few terrorist organisations as pets... J-HIGH, HOSTEL, BIG DEAL PLZ GET OUT NOW
•kinda curious about the outcome of the fight between Zack and Kenta damn
• in conclusion big storm coming next week : lovers reunited after the korean war Vs. SIMP super ultra pro max hd
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hallothere · 3 years
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@rohirric-hunter am i correct to understand that you have a grey company cosplay
can you like stop being the coolest person here for a minute save some for the rest of us
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globebusinesscenter · 3 years
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Country music legend Charlie Pride dies of COVID-19 complications in Dallas
Country music legend Charlie Braide has died at the age of 86 of complications from Covid-19 in Dallas, his representative announced on Saturday.
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legend Charlie Pride dies of COVID-19
Pride has been recognized as a pioneer of black country artists.
From the late 1960s to the early 1970s he rose to prominence with singles such as "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin", "Is Anybody Goin" To San Antone "and" Id Rather Love You ".
From 1967 to 1987, Braid received 52 Top 10 Country Songs, multiple Grammy Awards, and became RCA Records' best-selling country artist.
Her last performance was "Kiss An Angel Good Mornin" at the CMA Awards on November 11, 2020, at the Nashville City Music Center.
“There's nobody in country music who isn't crying right now,” said Mark “Hook” Lewis of New Country 96.3 KSCS. "He was a pioneer. He did something that no one else had done, first of all, it was possible to do something that no one else had imagined."
“He was a real gentleman,” said Judy Dean of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. “That's the word that comes to my mind when I think of Charlie. Respected person.
Pride grew up in Sledge, Mississippi, the son of a farmer. He had seven brothers and three sisters.
In 2008, while accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the Mississippi Governor's Awards for Excellence in the Arts, Braid said he never focused on race.
Braid said, “My older sister once said, 'Why does she sing her music? “But we all understand what the syndrome looked like to all of you. Look, I never accepted that as an individual, and I really think that's why I'm where I am today. ''
A young man before starting his singing career, he was an archer and defender in Major League Soccer Blacks with the Memphis Red Sox and in Major League Soccer in Montana.
After playing minor league baseball for two years, he found himself in Helena, MT, working in a zinc smelter by day and playing country music in nightclubs by night.
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After experimenting with the New York Mets, he traveled to Nashville and dabbled in country music when Chet Atkins, president of RCA Records, heard two of his demo tapes and signed.
To ensure that Braid is judged by his music rather than his race, his first singles were sent to radio stations without publicity photos. After his identity became known, some country radio stations refused to play his music.
Despite this, Pride said it was generally well-received. Early in his career, he comforted white audiences when he joked about his "lasting color."
He declared in 1992: "Music is the greatest medium of communication on the planet". "Once people heard my voice correctly and heard my show and saw my childbirth, any fears or bad feelings they could have allayed."
Throughout his career, he sang positive songs instead of sad songs often associated with country music.
He told The Associated Press in 1985: "Music is a great way to express yourself, and I really think music shouldn't be seen as a protest." "You can go far with anything - sing, perform, whatever - and become so politicized that you stop being an artist."
In 1994, he wrote his autobiography, “Pride: The Charley Pride Story”, in which he revealed that he was suffering from moderate depression.
He underwent surgery in 1997 to remove a tumor from his right vocal cord.
Received the Living Legend Award from Nashville / Music City News, in recognition of his 30 years of achievement in 1997.
“He was a man who could break the ice with his heat,” Dean said. "Looking at when he started, what he went through, what he never talked about, what he wore anyway, the levels he rose to ... Country music, all the music, owes him gratitude. "
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In lieu of flowers, the Pride Family is asking fans to donate to The Pride Scholarship at Jesuit College Prep, or St. Philips School and Community Center, Food Bank or other charities.
Pride was a minority on the Texas Rangers baseball team. The team released a statement regarding his death.
“It's with heavy hearts that we share that our friend Charley Pride has passed away at the age of 86. Charley played here at the World's Largest Honky Tonk many times over the years, cementing his mark on the club with his handprints in 1992. Our thoughts are with his loved ones, ”the venue said.
Country music legend Charlie Pride dies of COVID-19 complications in Dallas Charlie Pride, News via exercisesfatburnig.blogspot.com https://ift.tt/3qRw0YM
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the--blackdahlia · 5 years
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This Life Chapter 16
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Title: This Life Chapter 16
Summary:  Dean Winchester is the Vice President of the motorcycle club The Hunters. After almost 7 years in prison, he's free. But things have changed and Dean has to figure out how to put things back together.
Warnings: Language, mentions of drug use, this chapter is pretty sad
AN: Thank you to the lovely @sams-serialkiller-fetish .  The song for this chapter is Come Join the Murder by The White Buffalo & The Forest Rangers
Sam was curled up in the passenger seat of Baby as Dean drove them back to Wolfpine. He had his arm cradled against him and his eyes were closed. Dean kept casting glances over at him. The kid had worked himself up the minute Ellen stepped out of the truck and asked where Benny was. Jim had forced him to take a couple pills from the med kit that Bobby kept in the truck and before Dean knew it, his not so little, little brother was snoring softly beside him in the Impala.
Dean was exhausted. He couldn’t wait to get back to Wolfpine and collapse onto his bed. And he had the pull out couch for Sam to sleep on for the night. Unless he decided that they needed to spend the night in John’s old house. But Dean didn’t think it was a very good idea. Plus, they had the Wayward Sons following them to Wolfpine to think of a plan in case the remaining Horsemen decided to retaliate for Azazel’s death.
Bobby had called in some favors with a couple sheriff’s who owed him a thing or two. Benny’s body would be returned home, and the bodies of Azazel and the henchmen would be dealt with. Jody assured Bobby of that. Bobby could focus then on putting Benny to rest. His dad was currently drinking his way through Atlantic City, and his mom was on her honeymoon with her new husband in Europe. Bobby doubted that either would be there to say goodbye to their son.
And then there was Sam. That kid had been through more trauma in the past year than any of them had. He had watched as a fire destroyed everything, he watched his dad shot in the chest and was left for dead, and then he was chained up to watch as a man who was like a brother to him was shot in the head and killed. Bobby didn’t know about what Azazel had told Sam, and neither did Dean. Bobby didn’t know about Sam’s downward spiral into depression that John managed to pull him out of. Dean was afraid it was going to happen again.
“Sammy.” Dean said gently when he parked Baby in Winchester-Singer’s lot. Sam groaned and slowly opened his eyes. “Hey, we’re at the garage. I thought we could stay here tonight then head to my place tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Sam said softly, opening the door and slowly getting out, stretching his long legs as he did. He had been asleep when they stopped in New Mexico. He didn’t even remember Dean making him get out of the car to use the bathroom and forced him to eat a little something that the medicine in him wouldn’t screw him up too much.
“How’s your arm?” Dean asked, coming around to look at Sam.
“It’s fine.” He whispered, but he was holding it close to him. Dean was sure that it was probably hurting. He followed Sam to the building. He could hear the others pulling in. But Dean knew that Sam needed time away from all of them. Hell, he needed time away from all of them. So they made their way through everything to the room that Dean used to sleep in when he just couldn’t handle being around John, until he got the apartment that was. It wasn’t much. A large bed mainly. But that’s all they really needed. They needed sleep.
“Let me look at that.” Dean said when he closed the door behind him. Sam held out his arm for Dean to check it out. He knew basic first aid. And he knew how to change bandages. He was going to make sure that they were always clean and taken care of. “It looks fine. It should heal nicely.”
“Thanks.” Sam sighed and set down on the bed. “You want the bed?”
“I think there’s enough room we could share.” Dean laughed. “And I’ll even keep my boxers on.”
“God, you’re ridiculous.” Sam said, kicking off his boots and laying back on one side of the bed. Dean kicked off his own shoes and his vest was next. He tossed himself down on the bed.
“God, this thing stinks.” He shook his head, not wanting to know what had been done on this bed. “I’m replacing it once everything is done and over with.” Sam didn’t answer. Dean looked over to find Sam fast asleep. He couldn’t help but smile. “G’night bitch.” He said, turning over and falling to sleep himself.
****
The next morning, there were not alarm clocks. Everyone slept in as much as they could, just enjoying their moments of peace. They knew that war was on the horizon, especially once the other princes found Azazel. They also knew that they were going to have to bury Benny. Bobby had tried over and over again to get a hold of either of his parents, but nothing.
Sheriff Mills came by in the afternoon. Dean was out in the garage, trying to focus on a car to keep his mind off of everything. The Wayward Sons were staying at John’s old home for the night. Bobby had never sold it, figuring that Sam might want it during the summers or something. Or that Dean would get tired of that apartment and want a change. Lucifer, Andy, Gabriel, Ruby, and Meg were all there, waiting for the other shoe to drop and war to break out.
“Dean Winchester.” Jody said, walking up to him. Dean smiled some.
“Hey Jody.” Dean said, wiping his hands on a shop rag. She could tell that his smile wasn’t reaching his eyes though and she immediately hugged him. She might have been on the Hunters payroll, but she was also a friend. That’s what made it a little easier to look the other one every once in awhile.
“Benjamin Lafitte has been released to the North Star Hospital Center.” Jody explained to Dean. “So you guys can arrange…” Dean nodded.
“Thanks Jody. We really owe you.” Dean said. Jody looked up then and smiled some as Sam came out into the garage, favoring his arm.
“Sam.” She hugged him, careful to miss his arm. “Welcome home.”
“Thanks Jody.” Sam said softly. “Hey Dean, have you seen Jim?”
“No, not yet. Your arm hurting?” Dean asked. Sam nodded. Dean was about to say something when some new bikes pulled into the lot. Jody was a little on edge. “It’s ok Jody, they’re friends.” Dean said. Andy took his helmet off and looked over at Sam and Dean.
“You okay?” He asked, walking past Jody.
“I’m fine.” Sam sighed. Jody took this time to size up the Wayward Sons. Andy seemed okay. Meg and Ruby weren’t too bad. Gabriel looked a little rough around the edges. Lucifer was fucking scary.
“I could score you some Demon Blood man.” Lucifer said. “It’ll stop all the pain.”
“Yeah, and it’ll stop him from being a functioning human being.” Ruby hissed. “Don’t even bring that shit around here.”
“Demon Blood?” Dean asked. “What the fuck is that?”
“Street drug and nasty.” Jody told him. “I just had to interview a couple of girls who had been slipped it in their drinks.” Dean watched Ruby awkwardly rubbed her arm as Jody spoke. “Moderation shouldn’t cause any life altering effects. But too much and overdoses can really fuck you up.”
“Can we change the subject?” Sam asked. “I don’t need Demon Blood. Just some low grade, over the counter painkillers and I’ll be good.”
“What happened anyway?” Jody asked.
“I got shot.” Sam said dismissively before he headed to where Ellen and Jo were to see if they had anything.
“Well, I guess you guys have things to attend to.” Jody said. “Let me know when the funeral is. I’d love to pay my respects.” She patted Dean’s arm and offered a small smile. “And tell Bobby to give me a call.” She left then. Dean went to go make the arrangements to have Benny buried. He didn’t want him to lay there and rot because his parents couldn’t give a shit about him. He also needed to research whatever this Demon Blood shit was.
“She was addicted to it.” Andy said to Dean, startling him some. “Ruby was. She was kicked out of her home, lost her job, everything. All she wanted was more of it. But she pulled herself out and is very anti Demon Blood.”
“Why is it called that?” Dean asked.
“No matter what form it’s in, it’s a deep red. It looks like blood. And it causes the user to hallucinate. A very common side effect is they believe they have powers.” Andy looked over at Lucifer, who was talking with Meg and Gabriel. “Lucifer OD’ed on it. That’s why he’s insane.”
“That did that to him?” Dean asked.
“Gabriel said he had a slight mental illness anyway. And he got hooked on Demon Blood. And he just took more and more until his body couldn’t take it anymore.” Andy explained. “Sam got lucky. He took it once and it made him sick and he promised to never take it again.” Andy realized as soon as the words left his mouth, he shouldn’t have said them.
“Wait...what did you say?” Dean asked.
“Nothing.” Andy shook his head.
“Sam took this drug?” Dean asked. Andy sighed.
“Once, as a moment of weakness. Right after Jess died. But he got so sick that the benefits were overshadowed. And he promised all of us and God himself that he would never do it again.” Andy could see the anger bubbling away under Dean’s skin. What else had Sam neglected to tell him? Instead, Dean stormed off, leaving Andy there. He went to find Bobby so they could get ready to bury Benny.
****
The funeral home was quick to have things set up. So it was the next day and they were ready. Benny was prepped and placed in a closed casket. It was sunny and warm. Every trope in movies said it was supposed to rain. So it couldn’t really be a funeral.
It was a graveside service. The funeral home did bring Benny to the cemetery via hearse, and the Hunters and Wayward Sons were the pallbearers. While the Wayward Sons had only known Benny a couple of days, they felt obligated to stand there by the Hunters. Ellen and Jo sobbed. Especially Ellen. She had watched Benny grow up from a chubby toddler to a man.
Sam was one of the first to leave when the ceremony was over. He had to get away. He needed air. So he stormed off, running away to a club of trees where he could sit and be alone. But he wasn’t, because Dean was right behind him.
“Sammy…” Dean said. “We got revenge for Benny and for dad.”
“You think that Azazel planned this all on his own?” Sam asked. Dean was about to speak up. “There are three more princes out there, plus their fucking henchmen. Dean, we have to stop them all.”
“And we will in due time.” Dean said. “We just buried Benny.”
“They won’t care.” Sam told him. “And if what Azazel said is true…”
“What? What did he say to you?” Dean asked.
“He told me that he slept with mom when her and dad were separated and that I have a good chance of being his kid.” Sam told Dean. “I don’t believe but…”
“Dad told me about that.” Dean said. “You’re not Azazel’s son. Even if you were, it didn’t change anything. Dad loved you so much.”
“But…”
“No buts Sammy. You’re a Winchester, that’s all there is to it. You ain’t getting out of this family that easy.” He smirked at Sam, who rolled his eyes. “Come on. I think a trip up to Austin for a burger is in order. My treat.”
“Can we take Baby?” Sam asked.
“Of course. Probably hard to steer your bike with that arm anyway.” They headed back to the others. They had gotten a ride with Bobby. Dean didn’t mention anything about what Andy had told him about Demon Blood. He just wasn’t in the mood to fight with Sam. He got his brother back and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn’t want to push him away.
And a trip to Austin really could do them both a lot of good.
****
Aguila, Arizona
Azazel’s body laid on a table as Asmodeus, Alastair, Ramiel, Lilith, Abbadon, and Dagon stood around. It had been chaos when the princes had came back from a run to Mexico and found their fourth dead on the ground. This just stunk of Hunters. Alastair was sure of it.
“They’re all dead.” Asmodeus finally said. “The Hunters have to be exterminated.”
“What do we do?” Ramiel asked.
“We slaughter them like the pigs they are.” Lilith hissed. She held Azazel’s favorite pistol in her hands. “I want to kill at least one of them.”
“Lil, just breathe.” Abbadon said. She looked at the others.
“Actually, I think it would be a fantastic idea to include the girls.” Alastair said. “They have a moral code. They’re not going to willingly shoot women. And they don’t have women in their group. It would be the perfect distraction.”
“Then let’s get ready.” Asmodeus announced. “I want the Hunters dead by the end of the week.”
Forever Tags: @anathewierdo @i-would-die-for-woodland-demars @dekahg @marvel-af @feelmyroarrrr @nanie5 @imboredsueme @gemini0410 @aiaranradnay @babypink224221 @mogaruke @xxwarhawk
Dean Winchester/Jensen Ackles  Tags: @luciathewinchestergirl @sheris532 @bobasheebaby @flamencodiva @bella-ca
This Life Tags: @soulslaststand @jamielea81 @caplansteverogers @becs-bunker @colie87
Supernatural Tags: @bandobsession98 @mrsdeanfuckingwinchester @fangirlsencyclopaediaofweirdness @ilovetardis @missihart23 @cloudyskylines @supernaturalwincestsblog @sams-serialkiller-fetish
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sincerelyensouled · 6 years
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1-10 w mozzy!
So many questions! this is gonna be a long post, thank you
Oh yeah, Mozzy’s a D&D character, I don’t think I mentioned that before. She’s a elf/tiefling Ranger
1. What’s their full name? Why was that chosen? Does it mean anything?
!!! Yes I was hoping to be asked this because I’m really proud of this!
Mozaic “Mozzy” Denova Kamajd
Her first name is an alternative spelling of the word “mosaic,” a word her mother often uses to fondly refer to their family. Mozzy was the first (and only) child to be born into the family after her mother and her father married and brought all the kids together so in a way she’s kind of seen as the glue that brought them all together. Her middle name has no special meaning.
Her last name is interesting too. She’s the only child of both her mother and her father and neither of her parents have a last name (Her father had to abandon his for safety and her mother …. I haven’t decided why her mother doesn’t have one) and all her siblings used the last names of either or both of their other parents (some are half-siblings, some are fully adopted.) So Mozzy’s last name is a re-jumble of all her siblings’ names. 
2. Do they have any titles? How did they get them?
A nickname most, if not all, of her siblings call her is “Tiny” because she’s the baby of the family.
Tornado - because she’s a wurlwind, kinda messy, always moving forward and quickly
Sharp Shooter - she shoots good
3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory? 
Mozzy had a really good childhood! Hi-lights for her are probably the way the family celebrates birthdays. The entire family goes to the same local restaurant, and when I say entire I mean entire, those who have moved out will come back and visit for birthday celebrations (no one has missed one yet). A couple of tables have to be pushed together and the family has a nice meal together, it’s really sweet. And then the birthday-haver gets their head shoved into the cake.
But until the family found a good place to live, which was when Mozzy was 12, they moved around a lot. They got thrown out of a couple of towns. Mozzy was made fun of a lot and she hated it.
4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents? 
She’s really close to both of her parents. 
Her father is a tiefling and is out of the house quite a bit for work but Mozzy gets super excited when he comes home! She probably still does that thing where you wrap yourself around your dad’s leg?? Or if she doesn’t she does it emotionally. Her dad is the person who cheers her on the most at sporting events. A good dad and a good daughter
Her mother is a elf who always seems to be in the kitchen and Mozzy loves to annoy the hell out of her but it’s done with love. She’ll ask her the dumbest theoretical questions, lean over her back/shoulders and insist she can help cooking in some way even though she’s the absolute worst at cooking and will burn anything to a crisp. Mozzy just loves to hang around with her mom.
5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults?
Mozzy doesn’t have any full siblings but she has a ton of half and adopted siblings, 6 to be exact. She’s the 7th child and the youngest. So this bit is gonna be real long… (ordered from oldest to youngest)
Ashel is a tiefling who left the house when Mozzy was pretty young, she was probably 10. He’s the trademark adult and is runs his own small business. He’s lowkey intimidating and unfortunately visits home the least out of everyone but he loves to share hot drinks around the fire when he does make it back. 
Dayla is a dragonborn fighter with a desire to own and use at least once every weapon imaginable. She is the one who taught Mozzy how to fight and introduced her to bows and crossbows. Dayla is probably the one who moved out that comes home the most (mostly to add more weapons to her hoard that she discovered on adventures) and every time Mozzy excitedly waits to stay up all night hearing about the adventures she’s been on with her consistent adventuring party. Dayla acts as Mozzy’s inspiration to leave home one day and become an adventurer herself.
Kaffe is a half-orc who prefers spending most of his time alone or with his tiger, Lily and Mozzy respect him for that. When Kaffe is into hanging out with people and hangs out with Mozzy the two are a terrifying unstoppable whirlwind that can’t be stopped. 
Akili is an elf druid and is almost like a second mom to Mozzy. One time when they were little she accidentally magically wrapped a poisonous plant around Mozzy’s arm and Mozzy still has a scar. Akili runs a flower shop in town and speaks much more Elvish than Common so she has kind of a strange accent. Akili is the sibling Mozzy turns to when she’s feeling sad and they go out to a coffee shop to get something and talk it out. 
Melody is a tiefling bard who probably put all of his points into charisma. He changed his name when he was roughly 14 but still fully identifies as a cis male. You know that motherfucker, what a tool, plays Wonder Wall at every party? That’s Melody and Mozzy LOVES to rag on him for it. They’re the type of siblings that fight all the time but as soon as someone outside their family makes fun of the other even once they become [other person] fan club president founder number 1 and will stick up and fight to the death for their sibling. They also share the horse and is probably 5 years older than Mozzy.
Jacey is a half-orc and she’s the closest in age to Mozzy, the age difference being about 2 years. They’re pretty close, what I’d call a normal sibling relationship, but the two aren’t as close as Mozzy is with some of her other siblings. They have opposite interests in school but that’s ok.
6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate?
Mozzy loves school and just graduated high school. She’s a star student, kind of to an annoying degree because she asks too many questions and argues with teachers for marks and stuff. She’s also really into extracurriculars and sports stuff. Her favorite class is biology but dislikes English.
7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood? 
It’s kinda bullshit that she didn’t have a lot of friends as a child because she was the type of person who wanted to make a ton of friends, she was nice, outgoing and smart but honestly, kids were scared of her because she’s half elf half tiefling and her family situation was really weird (Is that too Mary Sue?? idk). She made a couple of friends and called their group “The Misfit Trio” and stuck with that group for a really long time. 
In high school people became much more accepting of her and I geuss she would be considered popular but she still loved and hung out with the rest of the misfit trio a lot. She just graduated high school and is slowly losing those connections which is sad but she’s doing her best to keep her friends. 
8. Did they have pets as a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals? 
Mozzy co-owns a grey horse with Melody. She calls him Bubbah as an affectionate nickname even though Melody calls him Adagio. She rides the horse in some ride and shoot sports she does. She can also borrow a tiger from her brother
9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals?
Neutral. Animals don’t hate her but animals don’t go out of their way to listen to her either. Animals actually kinda ignore her a lot, she just wants to pet that dog that’s across the room at a party, the dog isn’t coming for pets, dog please let Mozzy pet you.
10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect?
Children don’t particularly like Mozzy and she wouldn’t go out of her way to hang out with kids nor does she have any real desire to become a parent but she has a lot of respect for kids. Like “hey you tiny person, you have wants and desires. Cool, keep doing you.”
This is really long! Sorry about that, probably more information than you wanted. It took me all day (on and off) to answer. Thank you Callie! :D
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soccerdrawings · 4 years
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How To Leave Sport Award Ideas Without Being Noticed | Sport Award Ideas
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• Neil Warnock, January – asked about Brexit while sitting in advanced of a “Visit Malaysia” assurance put up by a Cyprus-born administrator to advice armamentarium his 11-nationality Cardiff squad: “I can’t delay to get out, if I’m honest. We’ll be far bigger off out of the blood-soaked thing. In every aspect. Football-wise as well, absolutely. To hell with the blow of the world.”
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10 Youth Sports Awards Ideas - sport award ideas | sport award ideas • Ian Holloway, August – calling for football to be played beneath WTO rules. “I don’t anticipate that’s our boys authoritative up that new law. I anticipate that’s bodies cogent us what to do with our game. Now they should stop accomplishing that. I achievement we get out, Brexit, because that’s what bodies are voting for. You cannot accept addition cogent us how to do our own game.”Leading on the year’s added hot-button issue: “Extinction of our chase is acceptable added and added acceptable … the apple is a messed up place. Apple leaders are either benighted or don’t affliction about the ambiance at all. Honestly, I feel like giving up… bodies don’t assume to care.” Lewis Hamilton – who denied afterwards that his jet, £13m car accumulating and £50m Petronas endorsement took the bend off. “I awash my alike a year ago.”Gianni Infantino in June – acclamation Fifa’s assembly two years afterwards he sacked the belief aggregation investigating him. “We angry it around! Fifa has gone from actuality toxic, about criminal, to what it should be: alike with credibility, trust, integrity, equality, and with beastly rights.”His added big bulletin in 2019: abnegation allocution that it was Fifa’s new assurance on Chinese sponsors that led it to bead all beastly rights checks and accolade China the 2021 Club Apple Cup. “There are problems in this world, everywhere, in abounding countries. It is not the mission of Fifa to break the problems of this world.”• Additionally not affairs complaints from beastly rights and belief groups about sportswashing in 2019 – Uefa arch Aleksander Ceferin:a) Explaining why captivation the Europa Alliance final in Azerbaijan was the appropriate affair to do: “Human rights is a botheration in added places too. Does it beggarly the admirers in Baku do not deserve alive football?” And b) reacting to the Apple Anti‑Doping Agency’s alarm for Russia to be bare of Euro 2020 by adjoin Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg. His bulletin to Putin – Uefa stands by Russia because: “I charge say, the Apple Cup was organised perfectly… I do not allege aloof to be nice: I absolutely beggarly it.”Pushing the Fifa belief boundaries too far in 2019: Central African Republic controlling Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona – banned for six years from all Fifa activities for arch a militia accused of “mass executions, torture, anamorphosis and rapes”. Ngaïssona, on balloon in The Hague in 2020, denies 111 war crimes charges.Was acquainted by Sepp Blatter - aggressive to sue Fifa in July for not giving aback the 60 affluence watches he larboard in his office. “These are my watches, accord me my watches. It’s important for me.” His bigger question: “Why are they angry me for these watches? There is no respect... I’ve accomplished the end of my temper.”José Mourinho – started 2019 out of work, activity viral with an ice-rink faceplant in Russia and a €3.3m tax artifice sentence; concluded it managing Spurs and commendation Nelson Mandela. “Like Mr Mandela said: ‘You never lose, you win or you learn.’ At United I won and I learned. My time afterwards I larboard United, that was a acceptable time for me.”@realDonaldTrump – responding to Megan Rapinoe’s “I’m not activity to the fucking White House” boycott in June by mis-tagging a alternation of rebukes – cogent @meganrapino, a afraid 21-year-old Starbucks agent from Virginia: “Never boldness our country, the White House, or our flag.”• Additionally accepting to him during the USA’s Women’s Apple Cup run: Rapinoe’s examination of the quarter-final, played in Pride month. “Go gays! You can’t win a championship afterwards gays on your aggregation – it’s never been done before, ever. That’s science, appropriate there!”Israel Folau – suing Rugby Australia for “discrimination”. Folau, sacked in May for angle including “hell awaits homosexuals” and gay alliance causes bushfires, claimed £7.4m for corruption of “religious freedom”. Statement: “Mr Folau wants all Australians to apperceive that he does not disregard bigotry of any kind.”Franck Ribéry – administration the acknowledgment aftermost January afterwards he acquaint a video of himself bistro a steak coated in gold. “Let’s alpha with the jealous, the haters, those alone built-in because a condom had a aperture in: f*** your mothers, your grandmothers and alike your ancestors tree. I owe you nothing.” Bayern Munich: “Franck accepts his words were unwise.”Still acceptable on racism: Serie A – cogent “sincere regret” for the “No To Racism” posters they put up this ages featuring monkeys with corrective faces. CEO Luigi De Siervo: “I realise now these were inappropriate. But what cannot be questioned is the strong, connected accusation of racism by Serie A.”• Additionally continuing close in 2019: a) Uefa, allowance Porto of racism in September afterwards a fan claimed he was apropos to himself as a antic aback he led chants of “monkey” while a atramentous amateur lined up a penalty. The fan said: “Everyone in Portugal knows me as Monkey, it’s my nickname. This is an awkward aberration from Uefa.” Uefa accustomed the defence. And b) Downing Street, 10 canicule afterwards Boris Johnson’s win, borderline why racists were activity emboldened: “Racism has no abode in football, and we charge accost this abandoned behaviour. There is added assignment to be done by the football authorities ... We don’t aphorism out demography added steps, if required.”Jack Leach, charwoman his glasses at one end as history abundant at the other. “They bare cleaning. I apperceive I attending brainless aback I am out there. But it got the job done.” See additionally the slow-mo video of the year:
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Fun End Of Year Sports Awards Editable - sport award ideas | sport award ideas Came in July: Liverpool FC aggravating to brand the chat “Liverpool”. The bid was agape aback by admiral due to the “geographical acceptation of the city”; the club said it would “continue aggressively to accompany those who illegally accomplishment our bookish property”.Bernard Tomic – fined for not aggravating at Wimbledon again. Tomic appealed to get his £45,000 award-winning money aback afterwards his 58-minute avenue in July; Wimbledon said no. Tomic: “They’re biting me with what they’re saying. I don’t charge the money. It’s aloof about what’s right.”Out of annual aftermost January, Fulham approved a aggregation yoga affair to about-face assignment anatomy and “find peace”. It concluded aboriginal aback Aboubakar Kamara and Aleksandar Mitrovic had to be “dragged apart” – sources cogent the columnist it was triggered aback “Abou started talking during bashful time – a amenity moment. Mitrovic told him to shut up.”Another big year for poppy annual and sad mascots – but viral retweets of Tranmere’s 2017 abounding anatomy poppy had new resonance in 2019.Sebastian Vettel, 32 – swapping the finishing position cards at the Canadian Grand Prix in June afterwards a five-second amends denied him victory. Vettel, who put “1” abutting to his car, and “2” abutting to Lewis Hamilton’s, said: “This is a amiss world. This is not fair.”Italian Serie C club Viterbese – reacting to a five-year ban for vice-president Luciano Camilli for punching action admiral Giorgio La Cava “and blame his legs away”. The club alleged the ban “squalid” and “slander”, alleging Arezzo’s La Cava affronted it by shouting: “You suck, bits fans.” The ban was cut to 20 months on appeal.Came from Zamalek admiral Murtada Mansour in Egypt: burglary Christian Gross in comedy during a 1-1 draw for actuality “a failure, a bones … I went to the bathrobe allowance at half‑time and told the players to avoid him.” Mansour said critics pointing to his man-management almanac – including his 2016 move to appoint “sorcerers” due to three players “being bewitched”, and the actuality that he’s now on his fourth administrator aback burglary Gross in May – should “know this: I’m not some crazy guy.”1) Ex-Notts County buyer Alan “Big Alan” Hardy – aggravating to betrayal “the arbitrary ancillary of fans” in January by announcement screenshots of two adverse tweets from the aforementioned fan, but accidentally announcement a photo of his penis instead.2) @Cristiano – tweeting a private-jet selfie in January on the aforementioned day he was fined £16.6m for tax artifice and Emiliano Sala went missing in a alike crash. Three emojis: smiley face, alike demography off, thumbs up.3) Adidas UK in July, active its #DareToCreate amusing media attack to advance Arsenal’s new kit: auto-generating images of the band featuring the Twitter handles of users who aggregate the hashtag. Adidas said the aftereffect – their official annual tweeting a alternation of racist slurs with the bulletin “welcome to the squad” – was an adventitious corruption “of a personalisation artisan created to acquiesce aflame admirers to get their name on the jersey. We accept angry the functionality off.”4) Fleetwood armchair Andy Pilley, @capboy70, cogent admirers to vote Tory or he’d shut the club down.5) And Welsh Fire candid drillmaster Gary Kirsten, assuming his best activity in October. “Can’t delay for The Hundred Draft and to aces the band on Sunday at 7pm. #TheHundredDraft.”Was lower alliance clubs live-tweeting the colour as able-bodied as the action:1) @lossiemouthfc, April: “8.20pm: Bold delayed briefly while the adjudicator spews in the centre amphitheater … 8.22pm: That’s him done yakking up his tea and we’re on the go again.”2) Berwick Rangers’ @OfficialBRFC, March: “Cowdenbeath decay a bend and Berwick get the adventitious to bright … Ugly scenes in the dugout as Cowdenbeath’s administrator has aloof told Johnny Harvey to ‘take his face for a sh*te’ #BRFC.”3) @sligorovers, February: “9 min. The brawl is kicked out of play, arresting the box of chips endemic by the fan at the Joma sign. Abounding chips abatement to the ground. (0-0).”
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10 Best Sport Certificates images | Certificate, Track, field .. | sport award ideas 4) @AFCFylde, October: “80’ There’s a abeyance in comedy as a rather ample man storms the field, topless, with a boutonniere of flowers. (4-0).”5) And @NuneatonBoroFC, activity for a face-palm emoji afterwards their babysitter Tony Breeden came up to booty a amends in November: “61‘ He’s absent and has bankrupt the lights in the terrace. What accept I aloof witnessed.”Sarah Thomas, September – pond the approach and back, afresh back, afresh aback again. The 37-year-old blight survivor from Colorado did it in 54 hours; the avenue was 80 miles, but flat pulls meant she concluded up pond 130. “I got stung in the face by a jellyfish. I’m ambrosial annoyed appropriate now.”Was Sky spotting Huddersfield’s admission administrator Jan Siewert in the directors’ box in January, and activity in for an absolute interview. “It was bizarre,” said Man City fan Martin Warhurst later. “I was sat in the army and aback I was acquainted of a guy advancing appear me from the right. He anticipation I was the manager; I said: ‘No, no, that’s not me. I’m Martin from Wakefield.’”Billy Sharp’s beat boob ambition anniversary in February – his accolade to WWE brilliant Mick Foley’s “Mr Socko”. @RealMickFoley alleged it “TREMENDOUS” and angry up a ages later. Sharp: “After the bold I had 200 texts afresh God knows how abounding on Twitter. Abutting affair I apperceive Mick Foley is accepting breakfast at my house.”National alliance @AFCFylde - ambrosial in February for three youths who “duped our amphitheater anchorperson into allurement for a white Nissan Micra NE14 ABJ to be confused aftermost night”. The boys came forward; Fylde gave them chargeless shirts.Calling it early: three Spurs fans, missing the Champions Alliance improvement at Ajax in May afterwards abrogation the arena aloof afore half-time, cerebration it was abounding time due to actuality “pretty drunk”. James Perkins: “We anticipation we were abrogation at the absolute time.” He said they were “pretty confused” at the base “when no one was stood about us cat-and-mouse for a train”.Came from New Zealand’s Jimmy Neesham, tweeting beeline afterwards their Apple Cup defeat to England in July. @JimmyNeesh: “Kids, don’t booty up sport. Booty up baking or something. Die at 60, absolutely fat and happy.”Was Coco Gauff during her Wimbledon breakthrough. On her self-image: “Weird. Weird, goofy, and, I don’t know. Yeah, awe-inspiring and goofy, I guess.” On her mum’s anniversary dance: “I didn’t acquaint her, but she’s activity to go viral, I know. She’s activity to be a meme.” And on why the best bit of the summer was rapper Jaden Smith tweeting her. “Obviously the tennis is abundant … but I’ve looked up to Jaden for so long. Bodies who chase me apperceive that’s all I column about. It was ambrosial agitative for me.”Among 2019’s regrets: Abundant Britain actuality butterfingers from the men’s 4x400m at the European Athletics Aggregation Championships in August afterwards allotment assets attempt doodle Youcef Zatat in the calendar by mistake; and Telstar striker Jordie van der Laan actuality sacked in May for calling in ailing so he could biking to London to watch Ajax comedy Spurs. Telstar admiral spotted him in the army on TV; Van der Laan said: “It was not my best decision.”Colorado Rapids – cancelling their post-game fireworks in August due to “plague”. Admiral said “the attendance of plague-infested fleas affecting prairie dog colonies” about Dick’s Sporting Goods Park meant the club “had no addition but to cancel”. A Rapids fan in a affliction doctor affectation told the Denver Post. “I assumption we’ll aloof embrace it.”Solid brawl from David Duval at the Open in Royal Portrush in July: birdieing his aboriginal two holes, extensive the 5th one off the lead, afresh hitting a quadruple bogey, a bogey and a nonuple bogey 14 at the par-five 7th afterwards accident two tee shots afresh arena the amiss ball. He accomplished with a 20-over 91, but said he never anticipation about walking away. “If you play, you column your score. Is there some adumbration of embarrassment? I don’t know. What I shot, I put on the board.”2018: David Beckham accepts the Uefa president’s award. “I’m actual honoured, honoured to be here.”2019: Eric Cantona accepts the Uefa president’s award: “As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods, they annihilate us for their sport. Anon science will not alone be able to apathetic the ageing of cells, anon science will fix the beef to the accompaniment and so we will become eternal. Alone accidents, crimes, wars will still annihilate us, but unfortunately, crimes, wars, will multiply. I adulation football. Thank you.”“Wayne Hennessey is ‘desperate’ to apprentice about the Nazis, says Roy Hodgson” – theguardian.com, April. Runner-up: The Times, aftermost week: “West Ham footballer Michail Antonio comatose Lamborghini while dressed as snowman.”Making it big on Twitter in 2019: @visualsatire’s Football Administrator Beard on Politicians. Including acclaimed works “Henry VIII with the beard and earpiece of Phil Brown”, and “Angela Merkel with the face of Steve Bruce”.
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Volleyball Certificate Templates | Softball coach .. | sport award ideas Fallon Sherrock, @Fsherrock: “Really active now.... ! I accept done it again.. ! OMG”. Sherrock said this month’s PDC Apple Darts Championship run was “incredible… the actuality that all these bodies are tweeting me, abnormally Billie Jean King. Oh my god... I mean, this is me. I’m aloof a accustomed person.”Defining VAR’s solid admission season: the official @Premierleague annual – agitation online derision in November afterwards Martin Atkinson begin Roberto Firmino’s appropriate nipple gluttonous to accretion an arbitrary advantage: “The red band was accumbent to Firmino’s armpit, which was hardly advanced of the aftermost Villa defender.”• The year’s absolute VAR decision: Bundesliga 2, October – VAR operators spotting a sub who was abating up abaft the ambition had affected a aberrant attempt with his foot, millimetres afore it had gone out of comedy for a goal-kick. The verdict: a amends and chicken card. Teammate Alexander Mühling: “The boy didn’t apperceive that rule. None of us knew that rule.”Was Luis Suárez – hailed for “reaching aiguille Luis Suárez” in Uruguay’s Copa América win over Chile in June after: a) Seeming to address for a handball in the box by the goalkeeper; and b) Reacting to an adversary benumbed a angle face by active appear the adjudicator brandishing an abstract card.Days afterwards Cardiff Met administrator Christian Edwards was taken ill in November, adolescent son Isaac stepped up to alter him with this teamtalk afterwards an bizarre win over Cefn Druids.Katarina Johnson-Thompson, nine canicule afterwards heptathlon gold in October. @JohnsonThompson: “If anyone wants to apperceive how my off division is activity … I’ve been to two karaoke confined in 48 hours. My called songs are Bonnie Tyler ‘Total concealment of the heart’ and Busta Rhymes ‘Look at me now’.”2.1m wholesome angle for this acknowledgment to England’s Candid Apple Cup win.A appropriate accomplishment from Harlequins’ Joe Marler in November – absolutely committing to his metaphor. “We’ve got addition anniversary to get aback on the horse, and booty that horse to the water. And you can ask that horse, you can say: ‘Hey, horsey, do you appetite to accept a alcohol or do you appetite to swim?’ It’s up to that horse to afresh realise what he wants to do in his life. That horse, at the moment, wants to go out on Saturday and he wants to say ‘hello’ to those fans. And he goes : ‘I’m apologetic about the aftereffect aftermost week, but I’m activity to accord a bigger achievement adjoin Bath.’ He’s a hardly Irish horse. So we are attractive forward, like I say, to accepting aback on that horse.” Interviewer: “And are you attractive advanced to accepting aback on the horse?” Marler: “I don’t like horses, I can’t ride.”Headlining 12 months of viral beastly cameos:• Multiple bodies causing time added on, including at Everton v Wolves in February and a Real Salt Lake bold in July at Rio Tinto Amphitheater in the US, area a avoid pitch-invaded aftermost year. • A ailing fox elimination itself on the Oval in July during Surrey v Glamorgan;• A accumulate abolition the Minnesota Twins alert in two nights, authoritative the Twins’ dugout “scatter in fear”. • A bee army sending players to the accommodation at Sri Lanka v South Africa at Chester-le-Street in June. Faf du Plessis: “It is actual funny actually. It’s like someone’s run a apparatus gun through the players.” • Two stags abolition Fort William’s training this month. @Mocko500: “Fort William approved to action them contracts, but they were two deer.” • A awkward first-half possum dabbling Puebla’s cruise to Veracruz in January. Veracruz said the possum was “treated by vets afore abiding to the wild”. • Half a dozen hippos bistro Letaba’s rugby angle in May. The club told South African media: “These boys aloof came up from the river and started grazing.” • And the purest ambition anniversary of 2019 – a deer hitting the net, afresh dancing away. 20.8m views.Was Freddie, accepting his life-changing aboriginal attending central Goodison Park.Also causing “something in my eye” tweets in 2019:• David Martin adhering dad Alvin afterwards his West Ham admission at 33; • Tearful tennis adept Nicolas Mahut actuality consoled by his adolescent son in June afterwards defeat at Roland Garros to Leonardo Mayer, who additionally larboard in tears; • And Jordan Henderson with his dad Brian in June afterwards the Champions Alliance final. Brian, a blight survivor, said later: “When he was 12 I took him to the Champions Alliance final, and aback they came out to the Champions Alliance music he said: ‘Dad, I’m activity to comedy it one day.’ Not alone already but twice, and now he’s won one. So the tears come, you alpha shaking, you grab the wife, you grab the daughter-in-law, you grab anybody that’s about you. I’m aloof so happy.”Going the added mile: Duncan Ferguson’s Everton ambition celebrators; José Mourinho advantageous Callum, 15, with a pasta cafeteria for his abetment adjoin Olympiakos; and this Wimbledon tennis ballboy who, admitting a sustained, shock assimilation from a rogue sprinkler, backward in place, cocked and straight-faced. Until the atomic beam got out.From Rebekah Vardy, asked if she’d confronted Coleen Rooney afterwards their amusing media advancing calm in October. “That would be like arguing with a pigeon. You can acquaint it that you are appropriate and it is wrong, but it’s still activity to bits in your hair.” How To Leave Sport Award Ideas Without Being Noticed | Sport Award Ideas - sport award ideas | Encouraged for you to my personal blog, in this particular time period I'm going to demonstrate with regards to keyword. 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By Roxanne Reid The stories of Africa’s trees are also tales of its people and animals, from Herman Charles Bosman’s withaak to Rudyard Kipling’s Limpopo fever tree. Think baobabs that are 6 000 years old or marula trees long believed to have elephants stumbling away drunk. In these 10 stories about trees in Africa let’s root out the fables, facts and fictions about some remarkable African trees.
​1. Baobab bar The Sunland baobab in Limpopo is one of the world’s widest; about 30 people could join hands around its trunk. Radio carbon dating suggests parts of it are more than 1700 years old. Old baobabs become hollow and in 1993 Doug and Heather van Heerden, who own the farm where it stands, cleared out the compost build-up in the hollow. They discovered Bushman artefacts and tools that Voortrekkers used to fix their ox wagons. They turned the hollow space into a pub complete with door, railway sleeper bar and draft beer. ‘We’ve had 60 people inside the pub at once,’ says Heather, ‘but a big branch broke so now it’s open plan.’ In April 2017 another part of the trunk collapsed, though the oldest wood is still standing. ‘We’re hoping the broken trunk will start to grow again.’ Where: Sunland Farm, Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo. Sadly, as of May 2019 it is no longer open to the public. Factfile: Baobabs flower on spring nights and bats pollinate them.
2. Circles in a forest If you visit the indigenous Knysna forests on South Africa’s Garden Route you’ll understand what inspired Dalene Matthee’s book Circles in a Forest. Ahead of his time, her character Saul Barnard worries about the forest’s survival and the exploitative greed of timber merchants. Matthee died in 2005 and her ashes were scattered at a monument near an 880-year-old Outeniqua yellowwood. The tree towers above the canopy and Saul would be pleased to know it is now protected as a Champion Tree, which may not be damaged in any way. Walk one of the ‘Circles in a Forest’ trails nearby to immerse yourself in the forest atmosphere. Where: Krisjan se Nek picnic site, Goudveld Forest, Knysna. Factfile: Outeniqua yellowwood is South Africa’s tallest species, reaching up to 60m. In the past, the trees were used for ship’s masts. 3. Wonder tree The Wonderboom is a 1000-year-old giant wild fig. Over time its branches drooped to the ground and took root to form a circle of 13 daughter trunks – something not typical of the species. Voortrekkers rested under it in the 1830s. In her 1882 book In the Land of Misfortune Lady Florence Dixie noted that more than 22 ox-wagons and hundreds of people could shelter under it. The mother tree suffered some damage in the early 1900s when people dug holes looking for the Kruger millions. Today its crown is the largest of any South African tree – about half the length of a rugby field. It has been declared a Champion Tree in a Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries project that protects notable trees. Where: Wonderboom Nature Reserve, Pretoria. Factfile: Local legend claims it’s so huge because a tribal chief is buried under it. The summer fruits turn yellowish-pink when ripe. 4. Safe house poplar A skinny Lombardy poplar outside the safe house belonging to Ruth Fischer Rice was a beacon of hope for people on the run during apartheid. Ruth’s father, activist Bram Fischer, led the legal team that defended Nelson Mandela and his co-defendants during the 1963/4 Rivonia Trial. Although the prosecution wanted the death penalty, the team secured a sentence of life in prison. This changed the course of history, allowing Mandela to become South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994. ‘The people who stayed with us were mainly young men and a few young women referred to us by people we knew,’ Ruth remembers. ‘Some stayed for several months. There was surveillance but we were never raided. A storm-water drain ran from our street to the neighbouring [Johannesburg] Country Club, through which our son could lead anyone who needed to escape.’  ​Where: Corner of Lothbury and Fawley avenues, Auckland Park, Johannesburg. Factfile: The poplar tree is a fast-growing alien that sends out suckers – even from the stump after it is cut down.
5. Spring glory Zimbabwe’s musasa trees (also known as igonde, msasa and mutsatsa) drop their leaves in winter. Then, for just three weeks each September, the new leaves create a blaze of colour before they turn green for summer. ‘They are a variety of tones from palest blush to burnt orange and burgundy, with gold and reds in between,’ says artist Lin Barrie, who completed a series of paintings inspired by this spring colour. ‘Musasas were part of my early bush experiences, with branches to climb on, colour to marvel at and carpets of flowers and mushrooms beneath. My father was a keen walker and birder and as a child I often went with him on excursions to the musasas. They were the backdrop for birds like spotted creepers, owls and pennant-winged nightjars.’ Lin’s oils and acrylics of natural scenes are in collections around the world. Where: Mukuvisi Woodlands in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September. You can see permanent displays of Lin Barrie’s art at her studio in Borrowdale Brooke Estate, Harare, or at the Cape Gallery in Church Street, Cape Town. Factfile: The orange caterpillars of the musasa moth appear in masses in March to feed on the trees. 6. The lion fig ‘Just north of Busanga Bush Camp in Zambia’s Kafue National Park lies an enormous sycamore fig tree on elevated ground,’ says safari guide Isaac Kalio. ‘The local tree-climbing Busanga lion pride likes to rest in the horizontal branches, so although it’s a beautiful picnic spot you first have to check who’s there! It produces four fruit crops a year that attract many animals. Tiny wasps breed inside the fruit and are in charge of pollination. The sycamore fig has been incorporated into Zambian teaching about HIV/AIDS because just as you can’t tell by looking at the outside of the fruit if it contains insects, you can’t tell by looking at someone’s face if they are HIV positive.’ Sad news is that this particular sycamore fig tree at Busanga fell in April 2019. Where: 500m north of Busanga Bush Camp, Kafue National Park, Zambia. Factfile: The genus is 60 million years old and the sycamore fig was mentioned in the bible.
7. Symbols and stamps The quiver tree is Namibia’s national tree and a symbol of the south, where it grows in rocky areas of desert and semi-desert. It got its name in the 17th century when Dutch Cape colony governor Simon van der Stel learnt that the San hollowed out its tube-like branches to make quivers to stash their poisoned arrows during the hunt. The trunks of dead quiver trees were also used as natural fridges to store water and meat because the fibrous tissue has a cooling effect as air passes through it. A member of the aloe family, it is protected in Namibia. It featured on Namibian postage stamps five times between 1961 and 2010 and appears on the Namibian 50c coin. Quiver trees were declared endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2010. Where: Quiver tree forest 14km northeast of Keetmanshoop, Namibia. Factfile: The quiver tree can live 100-200 years but only starts flowering at 20-30 years and has bright yellow flowers in winter. It is well adapted to hot, dry climates but coming under increasing threat from climate change.
‘Yes, there on the grass, in the shade of the withaak, the leopard and I lay down together. The leopard lay half curled up, like a dog, and whenever I tried to move away, he grunted. I am sure that in the whole history of the Groot Marico there have never been two stranger companions engaged in the thankless task of looking for strayed cattle.’ Herman Charles Bosman, In the Withaak’s Shade ​
8. Oom Schalk’s tree When Herman Charles Bosman’s character, Oom Schalk Lourens, lay down to rest in the shade of a withaak (white thorn) tree while supposedly looking for lost cattle, he imagined the tip of his boot was a hill called Abjaterskop. Before long a leopard appeared on the hill and started sniffing his feet. Its breath swept over his face in hot gasps as he lay paralysed with fear. Then the leopard turned and lay down next to him half curled up like a dog. Bosman’s deceptively simple satire brings alive the scenes and characters of the hardcore bushveld and mampoer country of the Groot Marico. Sadly, this story from Mafeking Road ends with a red splash on the leopard’s breast from a Mauser bullet. Where: North of Groot-Marico town, North West. Visit the Bosman literary festival each October at the Bosman Living Museum in Groot-Marico, a replica of the school where Bosman taught in the 1920s. Factfile: The long thorns are whitish or bluish in colour, giving rise to the dual names of withaak (Afrikaans for white thorn) and blue thorn/blouhaak. White spiky flowers appear from August to October.
9. The manhood tree The most noticeable thing about the sausage tree is its sausage-shaped fruit, which can grow as long as your arm and weigh up to 10kg. ‘In some parts of Africa, people use the fruits to enlarge their manhood,’ says safari guide Livingstone Sana. ‘With the instruction of a traditional healer, a boy climbs up the tree and chooses a young fruit. He cuts a round hole in it to mark his size then leaves the fruit to grow. When it gets to the right size he climbs the tree again and cuts the fruit down without touching it so that it doesn’t continue growing too big.’ Where: Just north of Little Makolololo Camp, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe. Factfile: The flowers, which open at night, have an unpleasant smell that attracts bats to pollinate them. 10. The tree of life The marula is called the tree of life for its many uses from food to medicine. ‘It’s a photographer’s best friend in summer when leopards climb it for shade,’ says Londolozi ranger Alistair Smith. ‘The growth structure provides comfortable platforms for them to rest. Other animals almost guaranteed to be near a summer-fruiting marula are elephants. Once they’ve eaten the fruit off the ground they often shake the tree so more crashes down.’ He adds, ‘Male and female parts are on different trees so Shangaan people believe a pregnant woman who wants a daughter should drink tea made from the bark of a female tree; for a son, she drinks tea made from the male tree.’ Where: Londolozi in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve, Mpumalanga. Factfile: The green African moon moth breeds on the tree. The fruit is made into beer and the ever-popular Amarula liqueur. That the fruit makes elephants drunk is a myth. Note: This article first appeared in British Airways’ High Life magazine with wonderful watercolour illustrations by Hazel Buchan. Like it? Pin this image!
You may also enjoy Magical treehouse in the Baviaanskloof Voices of Botswana: the tree man of Ngoma Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
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umbra-yoshi · 7 years
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Warframe but like in high school
Atlas: Senior. Workout buddies with Rhino. Has a rock collection. Surprisingly good at cooking.
Ash: Senior. Bros with Excalibur. Closet weeb. Thinks Banshee is attractive.
Banshee: Junior. Loves listening to dubstep. Headphones never come off…NEVER. Very quiet and shy.
Chroma: Senior. Has a large pet lizard that he feeds live chickens named “Draco”. Plays Dragonborn in Dungeons & Dragons. Has multiple dragon posters.
Excalibur: Senior. Plays Quarterback on the football team. Has high grades. Also closet weeb. Has a crush on Mag.
Ember: Junior. Has a thing for Valkyr. Throws lit firecrackers at people. Smokes weed.
Equinox: Freshmen. Creepy twins. Finish each other’s sentences. One wears black, the other wears white. ALWAYS together.
Frost: Junior. Has a thing for Ember. Is always wearing a hoodie because he’s cold…all the time.
Gara: Sophmore.Got to this school on an art scholarship. Really into making glass sculptures. Can be a real hipster sometimes. Alot of the time. Likes to hang out with Loki sometimes but doesn't partake in his blazing. She uses other methods.
Harrow: Sophomore. Really into occult stuff. Has Demonic pentagrams on his notebooks and lockers. “Do you have time to talk about our Lord and savior, Satan?” is the line he uses to break the ice. Taken a liking to Nekros. History teacher’s favorite. Scares the hell outta Mag. (Poor girl.)
Hydroid: Sophomore. Likes pirates of the Caribbean. Wears a pirate hat everywhere. Perverted. Tells terrible pirate related puns.
Inaros: Sophomore. Has a beetle collection. Timid. When threatened throws pocket sand. Nekros’ younger brother.
Ivara: Freshman. Loves Archery. Reads comics. Green Arrow and Hawkeye are favorite heroes. Pro Hanzo in Overwatch. Always falls asleep in class.
Khora: Junior. Really loves cats. Her cat follows her to and from school. Has joined circles of other *clears throat* "animal enthusiasts". *COUGH* Has this secret Dominatrix thing goin' on. Has this crush on Valkyr.
Limbo: Junior. Wears a Tux everywhere. Thinks he’s good with the ladies. Not very good with the ladies. Terrible at Math.
Loki: Sophomore. Ash’s younger brother. Plays pranks with Mirage. Has a criminal record for Vandalism and Public indecency. Also smokes weed.
Lotus: Principal. Knows everything about the students. Chooses to do nothing about it. Inexplicably always drinking coffee. Plays handheld games (like DS and PSP) during work hours.
Mag: Freshman. Trusted by Lotus to keep everyone in check. Never acts out. Straight A’s. Makes Nyx jealous because her boobs are bigger. Loves Astrology and Physics. Has science blog. Smallest in school
Mirage: Senior. Teases Loki with “Perverted acts”. Loves playing pranks. Blew up Principal’s bathroom and didn’t get caught. Rarely shows up for class. Likes to dress Mag up in outfits.
Mesa: Junior. Plays Overwatch with Ivara, mains McCree. Loves to tell you what time it is (you know damn well what I mean) Has a bunch of old Cowboy movies. Remembers every scene of Walker Texas Ranger.
Nyx: Senior. Small boobs, big brain. Everyone listens to her, Sorta the disciplinarian.
Nekros: Senior. Always wears all black. Never smiles. Childhood friends with Saryn. Unaware that almost every girl and Limbo (excluding Nyx, Saryn, Ember, Khora, and Mirage) is afraid of him.
Nezha: Sophomore. Only Transgender in school, loves to tell everyone about it. Burned down the gym one time and didn’t get caught. Wrote his name in fire in the school courtyard.
Nidus: Junior. Owns every zombie movie ever. Likes to wear zombie makeup to school. Jumpscares Mag all of the time.
Nova: Freshman. Best at astrophysics…beats Mag actually. Has a weird thing for blowing shit up. Respected by Ember. Tutors Rhino and Valkyr.
Oberon: Junior. President of Nature club. Loves butterflies. Extremely dense but has an A in biology.
Octavia: Junior. Banshee and her are the female equivalent of bros for life. Made Banshee’s Spotify playlist. Makes her own mixtapes. Plays said mixtapes on morning announcements. Lotus would do something about it if she didn’t really like the music.
Ordis: Sophomore. Fairly nice guy on the outside but has some pretty weird/demented thoughts on the inside. Unfortunate that he also has tourette's syndrome. Convinced the Equinox twins that he was the same as them just sharing a body.
Rhino: Senior. Jacked! Pretty dumb. Great football player.
Saryn: Senior. Owns a Katana for God knows why. Pretty chill. Student Council president. Smokes weed and drinks. Developed feelings for Nekros. Created the dogmatic teaching of “Biggest boobs makes the rules”. Also not very liked by Nyx.
Simaris: Junior. Is in charge of a bunch of clubs. Gets REALLY in people's personal space, rapping off the club benefits if anyone shows just a passing interest in joining.
Stalker: Sophomore. Emo. Probably planning school shooting. Hates everyone but Nekros. Has a really creepy crush on Mirage.
Suda: Science Teacher. It's almost creepy how much she knows about science. Hates the History Teacher and all of his "ludicrous theories".
Titania: Freshman. VP of nature club Huge crush on Oberon but will never say it. Even dressed up as a butterfly to get him to notice her only to be outshined by his butterfly costume.
Teshin: Gym teacher. Doesn’t give a fuck.
Trinity: Junior. Goody two shoes. Helps out the school nurse. Wants to be a doctor. Asked Volt to play Doctor. Volt thought she wanted to like practice medicine which they did…sorta.
Vauban: Senior. Engineer. In robotics. A’s in physics. Heard of sports at most. Always in charge of fixing everyone’s….everything. Lotus even bribed him to fix the computersin the lab rather than paying for an actual professional. Worked out in the end.
Volt: Junior. On track team. Listens to Sonic the hedgehog soundtrack while jogging. Crush on Saryn. Avoids Trinity actively.
Valkyr: Sophomore. Good at gym but not much else. Anger issues. Pummeled Hydroid to a pulp for looking at her butt too long. Rhino’s younger cousin. Kinda scared of Khora.
Zephyr: Junior. Owns a pet hawk that creeps out everyone considering it follows her every command. Does parkour and hanglides.
Wukong: Freshman. Practices gymnastics. Practices martial arts with the Bo staff just to say he can. Showed up to practice drunk one time. Has a pet monkey named Pyjak that he puts sunglasses on and takes selfies with.
Clem & Darvo: College kids that hang out near the school. The suppliers of all of the contraband that goes around the school.
Amaryn (New Loka Lady): Vice Principal. Lotus’ advisory and all-around babysitter. Struggling to find a way to hide Lotus' video games from her.
Cressa Tal (Steel Meridian Lady): English Teacher. Claims she hates men yet has a new boyfriend every few weeks. Every class is like a sad romance novel.
Arbiters of Hexis: Mean teachers I forgot to cover.
Ergo Glast (Perrin Sequence guy): Math Teacher. So boring he sometimes puts himself to sleep while he’s at the board teaching.
Red Veil dude: History Teacher. During class he makes random Conspiracy theories. Everyone thinks he’s crazy.
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celticnoise · 4 years
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CQN continues it’s dramatic and EXCLUSIVE extracts from Alex Gordon’s book, ‘That Season In Paradise’, which takes you through the months that were the most momentous in Celtic’s proud history.
Today, we look at another thrilling tipsy-turvy month that saw the end of the team’s marvellous unbeaten run.
IT was inevitable Celtic would fire blanks somewhere along the line as they embarked on their 1966/67 crusade. No-one saw it coming, though, at a chilly, windswept Rugby Park on the Saturday afternoon of December 3.
Jock Stein’s side went into the encounter against Kilmarnock following a twenty-six goal landslide in seven games the previous month. As the eager Celts lay waste the defences who provided wary and futile opposition, the champions rattled in a total of forty-five strikes in only twelve league outings. Impressive shooting. Unfortunately, Bobby Ferguson, the young Kilmarnock keeper who had just made the step up to international level, was determined not to join the growing list of Aunt Sallies. The twenty-one year old proved to be an impenetrable barrier and Celtic’s hopes of kicking off a new month of devastation were thwarted. For the time being, anyway.
In the opening minutes, Ferguson showed a glimpse of what was to follow when he raced from his line to bravely throw himself head-first at Bobby Lennox’s feet as the striker prepared to latch on to an expertly-driven through pass from Bertie Auld. Billy McNeill was next to test the red-jerseyed custodian with a typical soaring header from a corner-kick, but once again Ferguson was equal to the task. Joe McBride had a go from just inside the box, but the agile No.1 catapulted across his goal to fingertip the ball round the post. Tommy Gemmell joined the procession with a scorching twenty-five yarder and Ferguson matched that effort, too, as he touched the shot over the bar. And so it went on for virtually the entire match.
The keeper was forced to admit defeat late in the game when McNeill sent another header spinning high past his upflung arm, but resourceful defender Andy King raced back to knock the ball off the line. That clearance underlined it was not going to be Celtic’s afternoon. However, the players were delighted to hear Rangers had lost 3-2 to Dunfermline at East End Park and the champions’ lead at the top of the First Division had actually been increased to four points.
Jock Stein fretted, though, in the aftermath of the scoreless stalemate in Ayrshire. It didn’t matter that his players had come up against an inspired opponent in Bobby Ferguson, who was sold to West Ham at the end of the season for £65,000, which, at the time, was a British record transfer fee for a goalkeeper. After parting with £22,000 for Joe McBride some eighteen months earlier, the Celtic manager reckoned it was time the club’s cheque book came into operation again. He had been paying particular attention to a forward who had scored two goals in Hearts’ 3-2 win over Celtic at Tynecastle earlier that year, January 29, to be precise. Three days after the Rugby Park encounter, the Celtic manager paid £30,000 to the Edinburgh team for Willie Wallace. Ironically, he was twenty-six years old – the same age McBride had been when he had arrived from Motherwell in June 1965.
Wallace recollected, ‘I had been in dispute with Hearts and just wanted a transfer. Newcastle United and Stoke City were showing an interest, so it looked as though I would be packing my bags and crossing the border. Then Jock Stein came on the scene and he didn’t have to try too hard to sell Celtic to me. As soon as I realised there was a chance of going to Celtic Park and working alongside Big Jock, there was no choice to make. Newcastle United and Stoke City, without any disrespect, had no chance of getting my signature on transfer forms.
‘Let’s try to clear up a few mysteries that have followed me about for years. I was not, and never had been, a Rangers supporter. The story goes that I was poised to sign for the Ibrox side until Big Jock made his move. There was a tale that the Celtic manager waited until Rangers were away from home and playing in a European tie before he quickly sealed the deal with Hearts. Sounds like a good yarn, but it simply didn’t happen that way. I don’t know if Rangers were ever interested in me at all. Okay, my whole family were Rangers fans and they would have loved for me to sign for them, but I was overjoyed when I got the opportunity to move to Celtic.
‘Yes, some of my family didn’t share my enthusiasm for all things Celtic back then. Actually, I admit I did see a lot of Rangers in the Fifties because my Uncle Jim just happened to be President of the Kirkintilloch Rangers Supporters’ Club! However, I spent more time watching Falkirk at Brockville which was just up the road from where I lived in Larbert. But I am a Celtic fan now, you can be certain of that. Once you have mixed in that company, you couldn’t be anything else. I admit playing in Europe didn’t mean an awful lot to me when I joined up at Parkhead. Celtic winning the European Cup five months after I joined would have been a step too far in my imagination. I simply wanted to sign for them and who wouldn’t want to play for Big Jock?’
Of course, Celtic’s gifted master tactician possessed many talents, but it’s fairly certain clairvoyance was not among them. Over the years, the myth has grown that Willie Wallace was bought as a direct replacement for Joe McBride. Not so. McBride had yet to sustain the injury that savagely wrecked his campaign while it was in full flow. Jock Stein’s first two signings for the club, in fact, teamed up in attack during Wallace’s debut against Partick Thistle eleven days after his arrival. And it was McBride who very thoughtfully set up his new team-mate for his first goal for the club in the same match.
Willie Wallace, whose signing hadn’t been registered with UEFA in time to play, took his place in the stand as Celtic prepared to finish the job against Nantes in the second leg of their European Cup encounter in Glasgow on Wednesday December 7. Sitting beside Wallace that evening was Joe McBride, ruled out through injury. At that stage, though, no-one had any reason to be concerned.
Jock Stein promised the supporters his team would attack, despite holding a 3-1 advantage from the first game. Torrential rain cascaded violently before and throughout the match and there was an early scare for the Scottish champions when Nantes’ Yugoslavian striker Vladimir Kovacevic sneaked through to alarm Ronnie Simpson. The veteran recalled, ‘Their player went on a solo run and beat me with his shot, but the ball hit the post and rebounded clear. He should have scored.’
LORD OF THE WING…Jimmy Johnstone in full flight.
Jimmy Johnstone, aka ‘La Puce Valente’, provided the apt reply when he seized upon a Georges Grabowski slip before rifling the ball beyond keeper Andre Castel to put Celtic 4-1 ahead on aggregate in the thirteenth minute. Gerard Georgin equalised with a fine effort that left Simpson helpless. The keeper said, ‘It was a great goal from their player with a first-time shot on the drop. At that stage, Nantes were coming back at us and our fans weren’t too happy.’
Francis Magny, who had scored in France, had Simpson scrambling, but the veteran managed to grab the spinning ball just as it was about to cross the line. And moments later, the keeper defied the same player with another smart save. Thankfully, Jinky Johnstone sparkled in the drizzle after the turnaround and he skipped through the French rearguard on the right wing to pick out Steve Chalmers with a perfect pass and he nodded in from close range. It was all over a few minutes later when the winger treated the French to a deja vu moment with an identical run and a perfect low cross that was swept in by Bobby Lennox for a mirror image of the first leg score and a 6-2 aggregate triumph. Celtic could now afford to take a breather in the competition with the quarter-final tie against Vojvodina Novi Sad awaiting them in March 1967.
Stevie Chalmers reacted positively to the additional threat of Willie Wallace to his place in the forward line. The whippet-lean, speedy frontman cracked in a hat-trick as Motherwell were downed 4-2 at Parkhead in the following match. Chalmers, who would celebrate his thirty-first birthday sixteen days later on Boxing Day, may have been perceived as the most likely candidate to make way for Wallace. The player who had been at the club for almost eight years after joining from Junior club Ashfield in February 1959 was more than just a shade eager to prove he wasn’t quite ready for football’s version of the knacker’s yard.
Chalmers linked up with the new signing while Joe McBride, with the knee problem beginning to manifest itself, wasn’t risked even as a substitute with youngster David Cattenach on the bench. Bang on the half-hour mark, Motherwell’s elongated goalkeeper Peter McCloy went down in instalments to push away a low drive from Bertie Auld, a deceptive effort which was arrowing in at his near post. The ball broke loose and Chalmers, with the electric fusion of pace and anticipation, was first on the scene to lash the rebound into the net. Four minutes from the interval, he displayed the same qualities after a shot from Bobby Lennox had cannoned off an upright. McCloy hesitated, his defence was posted AWOL and in raced the Celtic Number 9 to gleefully prod the ball over the line.
Suddenly and unexpectedly, the game exploded into violence when Jimmy Johnstone and Motherwell striker Dixie Deans, a volatile double-act, decided to re-enact their own mini-version of Ali v Liston. It led to an ordering-off for Deans, who, of course, later signed for Celtic and, as you might expect given their history, became a lifelong friend of the club’s greatest-ever player. Johnstone escaped censure. Deans, in his autobiography, ‘There’s Only One Dixie Deans’, admitted, ‘When I first met Jimmy Johnstone, I wanted to punch his lights out and he wanted to do the same with me. It was the first time I had played at Celtic Park and I was desperate to make the right kind of impact. But we were losing and frustration was perhaps getting the better of me.
‘It was a fifty-fifty challenge, but neither of us was prepared to back down. Before you knew it, our fists were flailing at each other. It was the battle of the little big men – I’m five foot seven inches and Jinky was five foot four inches – but I picked the wrong guy to have a square go with. Not because I was feart of the Wee Man. No, because the fisticuffs happened right in front of the old Jungle and some fifteen thousand fans were baying for my blood.’
Five years later, after a £22,000 transfer from Fir Park had propelled Deans along the same career path as Joe McBride, the striker was welcomed to Parkhead by those same supporters. However, back on a December afternoon in 1966, he departed the action to an accompaniment of a cacophony of boos from the patrons of the Jungle who were far from pleased at the treatment of their team’s little winger. When the action restarted, Bobby Murdoch unleashed an unsaveable thirty-yarder for the third goal in the sixty-sixth minute. Lapses in defence allowed the Lanarkshire side to haul back two goals before Chalmers made certain with the fourth seven minutes from the end.
There was the welcome sight of Joe McBride leading the attack for the game against Partick Thistle on a frost-covered surface at Parkhead the following week. Willie Wallace and Stevie Chalmers also played in a fearsome three-pronged strike-force with Bobby Lennox backing them up from the left wing. Jock Stein, possibly not as understanding as the match official following last week’s fracas on the touchline, decided to leave out Jimmy Johnstone, who still got a place on the bench. Wallace went into the game after being put through the rigours by trainer Neilly Mochan following Stein’s orders for extra sessions for his new signing. Apparently, the Celtic gaffer was not enamoured with the player’s level of fitness that had apparently satisfied former club Hearts for five years.
The encounter against the Maryhill side was only two minutes old when Wallace scored the first of his 135 goals in his five seasons at the club before his transfer to Crystal Palace in October 1971, surprisingly joined at the London club by a reluctant John Hughes. However, that was far from the thoughts of Celtic’s latest recruit as Bertie Auld – ‘racing down the right touchline as though being chased by a swarm of bees’, according to one colourful newspaper report – slung over a cross to the far post. McBride’s timing was superb as he headed the ball across goal and Wallace followed up to nod in from six yards.
Chalmers claimed the second in the fourteenth minute following a corner-kick and the 25,000 fans were cheering again when Wallace blasted in a third ten minutes later. Willie O’Neill thumped over a deep cross from the left, Wallace hit the ball full on the volley and it was a mere white streak as it flew towards its journey’s end. One reporter wrote, ‘The shot went in like a mortar bomb into the top left-hand corner of the net.’ Celtic’s goalscoring exploits were certainly inspiring the populous of the Press Box to pen some purple prose. Bobby Murdoch made it 4-0 with an accurate thirty-yarder into the corner, but Arthur Duncan, a pacy outside-left, pulled one back eight minutes before the interval.
Wind and rain whipped up to add to the chill at the start of the second-half, but it didn’t prevent McBride adding a fifth eight minutes after the turnaround when he finished off a slick move instigated by Lennox and Wallace. The striker took the salute of the crowd for the thirty-sixth time that season little knowing it would be almost a full year before he would be embraced by those accolades again. Tommy Gibb punished slackness in the home defence to pull one back just after the hour mark, but Chalmers struck again fifteen minutes from time for his fifth goal in two games to make the final score 6-2 in favour of the champions.
THE MAVERICK DEFENDER…Tommy Gemmell, scorer of so many crucial goals for Celtic.
‘We had scored ten goals it two games and that would have kept most managers happy,’ observed Tommy Gemmell. ‘But we, as defenders, knew we would be required to put in some extra work in the next few days at Barrowfield. That was our punishment for conceding four goals at the same time and Big Jock was never likely to overlook that statistic. “Every goal comes from a mistake,” he would say, “Let’s cut out the mistakes and we’ll cut out the lost goals.” He would often add, “Ach, the training won’t do you any harm, anyway.” Then he would turn to Bobby Murdoch and Bertie Auld and lecture them about their midfield duties and, after that, he would have a few words for the forwards. Stickler for detail? You don’t know the half of it. We were top of the league, in the quarter-finals of the European Cup, had two trophies in the bag and he still wasn’t satisfied. Difficult to argue with his outlook, though, when you view the man’s record.’
Jock Stein was among the 38,172 crowd at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on Wednesday December 21 to discover which team Celtic would meet in the European Cup quarter-final. Atletico Madrid and the Yugoslavs of Vojvodina Nov Sad had stalemated 3-3 over their two legs and a third game was required to sort out the winners. The Spaniards won the toss for the tie to be played on home soil and they must have thought they were heading through as they raced into a two-goal lead in six minutes through goals from Adelardo and Enrique Collar. Sylvestre Takac reduced the deficit just before the half-hour mark and Dimi Radovic, later red-carded, levelled in the sixty-fifth minute. Extraordinarily, the Slavs hit the clincher in extra-time with another effort from Takac.
The Celtic team boss had been impressed. ‘A very strong, physical team,’ he summed up. ‘Good in possession with the ability to pick the right passes. Defenders who play the ball and like to bring it forward and dangerous players up front who can score goals. I saw plenty to think about. We can get through, but we will know it will be extremely tough. We will have to be at our best over the two legs, that is absolutely certain.’
Flurries of snow greeted Celtic’s visit to ice-bound Pittodrie to face Aberdeen on Christmas Eve. A snell wind whipped in from the north-west and the conditions were hardly conducive to attractive, free-flowing football as players on both sides slithered and skidded unsteadily on a white carpet of frost while twenty-nine thousand hardy souls shivered in the stands and on the terracings. The Dons, unbeaten at home all season, were on the back-foot when Bobby Lennox opened the scoring in the twenty-fifth minute. Bertie Auld skimmed a ball into the heart of enemy territory and centre-half Tommy McMillan slipped as he attempted to cut it out. That was all Lennox needed as he sped onto the pass and smacked the ball away from the advancing Bobby Clark.
Celtic hardly had time to celebrate when it was all-square again five minutes later. Left-back Ally Shewan lofted a high ball into the penalty area, Frank Munro, who had a twenty-two game stint at Parkhead before being released in April 1978, headed across the six-yard line and Harry Melrose was unguarded as he applied the finishing touch. Ronnie Simpson made a valiant attempt to claw the ball to safety, but the power eluded his despairing grasp.
Snowflakes began to decorate the playing surface as the second-half got underway and home keeper Clark, sporting an all-black tracksuit in an attempt to repel the cold, made several good saves. Simpson, at the other end, was earning his keep, too, with some smart stops. Ironically, the closest either side got to scoring the winner came from McBride. Chalmers picked out his frontline partner with a shrewd cross and, as ever, the centre-forward’s timing and execution were in sync. He powered a header beyond the searching fingers of the sprawling Clark, but his celebration was cut short when the ball struck the upright and bounced to safety.
How fitting would it have been for Joe McBride to bid his farewell to the campaign with a wonderful winning goal? Fate, alas, had other ideas as the game ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
Celtic were within eighteen minutes of completing the first half of the season with an unbeaten record when they carelessly tossed away a 2-1 advantage to lose 3-2 to Dundee United at Tannadice. Remarkably, the Tayside outfit were the only Scottish team to beat Jock Stein’s men during the campaign and, equally as incredible, they triumphed by the same scoreline in Glasgow five months later. And once again they came back from trailing 2-1 midway through the second period. Even the most imaginative purveyor of fiction would have thought twice before conjuring up that ridiculous premise.
Stein and his players would never have known they were on the brink of their first league defeat in nine months – implausibly their last reverse had come in a 1-0 shocker against Stirling Albion at Annfield on February 26 – when they took the lead in the twelfth minute. Tommy Gemmell fired over a low right-wing cross which escaped the grasp of keeper Sandy Davie. The ball ricocheted off the lurking Bobby Lennox and bounced over the line. Finn Dossing levelled ten minutes later and his goal immediately set in motion an on-the-spot inquest among the visiting defenders. Within a minute, though, Celtic were in the lead again. Willie Wallace flashed an angled waist-high drive at goal which took Davie by surprise. Desperately, he tried to push the effort round the post, but only succeeded in nudging it onto the woodwork and the ball rebounded into the net.
As the game edged beyond the seventieth minute, Celtic looked fairly comfortable. John Hughes had been given the go-ahead by Jock Stein to make a surprise comeback after his two-month lay-off following the knee injury sustained in the League Cup Final victory over Rangers. The left-winger, after only two reserve team outings, looked to be easing himself back towards full match fitness. He was up against a wily, experienced opponent in Tommy Millar, the brother of Rangers’ Jimmy. The United defender was from the old school who, unlike Tommy Gemmell, preferred to do all his work in his own half of the field and wasn’t adverse to clattering into wingers on a regular basis. Hughes was finding it extremely difficult to get into his stride as Millar threw himself into challenges with ferocious gusto.
MASTER MARKSMAN…Willie Wallace, a bargain buy from Hearts.
In the seventy-third minute, United equalised with a bit of a rarity. Ronnie Simpson’s cat-like reflexes and keen anticipation made it practically impossible for him to be beaten from a range of around thirty yards. So highly regarded was he among opponents, the Celtic keeper was seldom challenged from such a range. On this occasion, though, Dennis Gillespie, a workmanlike forward, tamed a pass from Billy Hainey, moved the ball a couple of feet in front of him and then let loose a cannonball of a shot that sizzled high over Simpson into the net. It was as spectacular as it was unexpected. Even the home fans in the 25,000 crowd seemed momentarily transfixed before they danced their jigs of joy. Simpson sat in the mud and shook his head in disbelief.
It was an emotion shared with his captain Billy McNeill. ‘We all thought Faither was unbeatable by shots from well outside the penalty box. Sometimes the defence might even have been a wee bit slow getting out to deal with the danger twenty-five or thirty yards from goal when we saw a player lining up a shot. We all thought it was a waste of time. But, to be fair, the United player gave that ball a helluva dunt. I only heard a whoosh as it flew over my head. I turned round just in time to see the ball flying past Faither who didn’t have a chance. Maybe he conceded two or three goals like that all season and, unfortunately for us, this was one of those times.’
Celtic were still pondering the loss of the goal when United streaked up the field and claimed another two minutes later. A simple long high ball punted forward by centre-half Doug Smith eliminated the entire backline. United forward Ian Mitchell was first to react as Simpson hesitated in coming off his line. Mitchell controlled the ball in an instant, moved in on the exposed keeper, swept to one side and trundled the ball into the empty net. And as the leather sphere leisurely rolled over the line, Celtic’s unbeaten sequence was coming to a halt. There would be no happy Hogmanay for strict teetotaller Jock Stein or his players.
At least, though, the Celtic manager could derive some sort of consolation from a glance at the top of the First Division table. After seventeen games, the champions had amassed twenty-nine points, four ahead of Rangers who had played one game fewer. Aberdeen, after seventeen outings, were also on twenty-five points. Stein would have been satisfied with the haul of fifty-eight goals, eight more than the Ibrox team and nineteen ahead of the Dons. However, a frown may have developed with a look at the goals against column. Ronnie Simpson had been asked to pick the ball from his net twenty-two times, seven more than either Billy Ritchie or Norrie Martin at Rangers and one more than Bobby Clark at Aberdeen.
After conceding eight league goals in December, Billy McNeill and Co could look forward to some extra training sessions early in the New Year as life was breathed into 1967, Celtic’s year of destiny.
TOMORROW: JANUARY 1967: NEW YEAR, SAME STORY
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torentialtribute · 5 years
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The sadness of Gazza… a lost boy who seems beyond help
Paul Gascoigne was not present when the beautiful new site of Tottenham was officially opened on Wednesday night.
It was Gascoigne, not Tottenham, who announced his participation in a test-event match against the legends of Inter Milan at the weekend. The club would have liked him to be part of the brass band, but nothing could be guaranteed around Gascoigne
Paul Gascoigne got a huge ovation when he was in the legendary game Tottenham played huge ovation when I played for Tottenham in the legendary game
Paul Gascoigne got a huge ovation when I played in the legendary game Tottenham
He had to be part of the closing ceremony in White Hart Lane, but did not show and Tottenham did not want such a positive opportunity to be overshadowed by a new round of Where & # 39; s Gazza? If I made it, it would be a great surprise. If he didn't, nobody could tell what had happened.
He was always random but 51 years of addiction have taken their toll. The question of whether he will turn up, how he turns up, is now just as unpredictable. Unfortunately, he arrived injured on this occasion and could only play a role as a cameo. His old teammates liked to find him again, just like the fans, but the club?
Addicts struggling with recovery can be extremely demanding company. It is like the life and soul of the party. Those types are nice, but sometimes they relax a bit more when they have moved to the next show.
He will always be there in spirit at Tottenham's new house because the rooster is on top of the mighty end of Park Lane and bears his highly individual signature. It's a replica of the one on White Hart Lane, up to the dent Gascoigne threw in with an air rifle one day. The kind of joke that is hysterical if you're his teammate, less if you're the stadium manager who has to explain why the club's logo is missing his head.
Gazza was nowhere to be seen at the grand opening of the magnificent new stadium van Tottenham at the grand opening of the beautiful new Tottenham stadium
Gazza was nowhere to be seen at the festive opening of the beautiful new Tottenham stadium
There are so & # 39; n hundred stories and many are wonderful. No doubt Robbie Keane spoke a lot when he revealed that Gascoigne had left his legendary teammates on their way to the race in the bus. & # 39; A story about a pheasant, & # 39; Keane said, but he didn't want to reveal anymore. Firearms may also be involved this time. They often were. And ostriches. And stolen – or acquired, say – vehicles.
There is a chapter devoted to him in Danny Baker's second autobiography, Going Off Alarming, which describes the journey from Shepherd & # 39; s Bush to Park Lane. Gascoigne is trapped in traffic and leaves the taxi and convinces the driver of a double decker, complete with cheering passengers, to let him take over the wheel.
He then leaves the bus to come into contact with construction workers who allow him to use his pneumatic drill to dig up the road and he leaves the drill the rest of the way to the Rolling driver -Royce from stranger.
& # 39; When I have told this story to friends, I wonder internally if it has, like most human stories, been polished and embellished over the years & # 39 ;, Baker writes. & # 39; But it is not. Paul Gascoigne really drove in broad daylight to the London bus full of people around Marble Arch. & # 39; It was more than 20 years ago and what has unfolded since it was more an accident than joy.
After being addicted for 51 years, the legendary player does not seem to help "
Legendary player does not seem to help"
When Gascoigne shows up the soccer player again in a conventional environment, he asked him why the game could no longer do for him. The duty of care rested with his former clubs – Tottenham, Newcastle, Rangers – and the Football Association.
Gascoigne's behavior has become more alienating. The clubs are in an impossible bond.
It was lovingly thought of his indulgence of children and brilliance with one. the ball can find expression in an academy or community program, but protecting problems leaves room for maneuver. This is a man who is segmented under the Mental Health Act and is currently being tried for assault.
Similarly, the hospitality lounges are suitable for a person who cannot be in the vicinity of drinks, in particular the strange relationship of society with the celebrity means that there are people who accompany him to the bar alone, despite what they know.
Dimitar Berbatov and David Ginola belonged to the Tottenham legends on Sunday, Javier Zanetti played for Inter Milan, Jurgen Klinsmann switched between the two sides, Jose Mourinho stood on the sidelines.
But Gascoigne & # 39; s short appearance was, by common agreement, the high point of the afternoon. It attracted the greatest cheers and overwhelming warmth.
The bitterest irony is that in fact tragic football conditions would know exactly what to do. They would have stood and renamed suites, rebuilt statues, the estate of Paul Gascoigne would make overtime. It's just the man who escapes them: the pathetic little dent in their golden, shiny cock.
Gascoigne is still loved.
Gascoigne is still very popular with fans, but his behavior has become alienating in recent years.
Gascoigne is still very popular with fans, but his behavior has been alienating in recent years
Mendy needs a wake-up call
Manchester City is a better team with Benjamin Mendy; but they are not bad without him.
So Mendy needs to reform now and returns to the first team at a crucial stage in the calendar.
Mendy missed seven months of last season and only came back after the competition had already been won, and this season he missed or was selected for 23 Premier League matches, except for a single Champions League group game, the full FA Cup run and all successful League Cup campaigns, with the exception of 27 minutes of the semi-final second leg, City won 10-0 against Burton Albion.
In other words, it is hardly irreplaceable. So, with the 3am nightclub sessions, the late arrivals for treatment and 24 penalty points on his driver's license, Mendy is a pretty maintenance-free item.
That would be just about acceptable if it was an essential part of the Pep Guardiola team and barely missed a game; But in a player who has spent most of two years injured, is it really worth it? If he doesn't knuckle, he can find out soon
Benjamin Mendy maintains much maintenance in Manchester City and is hardly irreplaceable (19459007)
Too much denial of racism
Benjamin Mendy maintains a lot of maintenance in Manchester City and is very irreplaceable
FA President Greg Clarke apologized to the British players for racist abuse that had nothing to do with him, that it was almost possible to miss the apology of the Montenegrin FA. Instead, Secretary-General Momir Djurdjevac took advantage of the opportunity to visit Wembley for the UEFA conference on discrimination to abolish mass racist singing in Podgorica as the work of & # 39; three or four
Djurdjevac pointed to the many attendees who had heard nothing wrong at all: the President of Montenegro, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, the Minister of Sport of Montenegro and the head of the Olympic Committee of Montenegro. We can certainly agree with a broad canvas of independent observers.
And perhaps the abuse was not clear in every part of the land. Clive Tyldesley, who commented, was not aware of it, for example. That can happen.
Sounds can also be confusing, but it can be confusing but it is not the case.
The racial abuse Raheem Sterling was fired by the general secretary of Montenegro
mainly abroad. However, the nature of the hymns in Podgorica was unmistakable, both for the black players in England, and the largely white gathering of press photographers around the field. They did not know what to do, but did not know what to do.
& # 39; I'm not saying it didn't happen … & # 39; Djurdjevac said, implying exactly that. At best, I would accept the handful of idiots theory. And that's the problem.
Even Paul Pogba, who condemned the treatment of Juventus player Moise Kean during a match against Cagliari, spoke of & # 39; a small racist group & # 39 ;. It wasn't that. That's not it. Football Against Racism in Europe described the problem in Italy as & # 39; an epidemic & # 39 ;.
For some reason, however, we are confronted with this, everyone would like to point out the many people who attend football matches without dehumanizing black players, as if this is a badge of honor. And although racism is belittled in this way by people with the power to tackle it, other such events will continue in Podgorica and Cagliari.
Sorry Gareth, you are wrong with Wembley sale
Gareth Southgate came out in favor of Wembley last week. Aside from the fact that Mr. FA wanted to sell it to have just been subordinate to Fulham's relegation in the first week of April, after being Europe's # 3 largest savers in the summer transfer period, the argument of the English manager to miss a crucial point about rent.
& # 39; We were tenants in 1996 and that was a great tournament & # 39 ;, Southgate said. Yes, but England did not feel like tenants in 1996. Wembley, rented or not, was associated with English football, the biggest matches, the biggest occasions.
That was not what it would be like to go through this most recent sale. Once Wembley was the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, eleven national teams in the country had to be shunted to accommodate the NFL, as soon as the new owner could rent the house, but he chose, England would drift.
There are other ways to finance football at the base, without sacrificing the national stadium. Leasehold Wembley in 1996 was very different from what was proposed.
England manager Gareth Southgate came out last week in support of Wembley "
England manager Gareth Southgate came out to support Wembley's sale last week" for sale Wembley last week "
England manager Gareth Southgate came out last week to support Wembley
A reality check is needed on QPR
Steve's record McClaren in 2019 was bleak, no doubt, but Queens Park Rangers was subject to a £ 42 million bill for breaking Financial Fair Play rules, resulting in uncertain and drastically reduced circumstances, where exactly do they think they would be?
McClaren leaves Rangers eight points free from relegation, in the 17th, which sounds good – if not better than many had expected.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hee ft may have announced that he will not be Manchester United's money on the transfer market, but will continue to circulate around a £ 100 million move for Jadon Sancho and other significant bids for Declan Rice or Callum Hudson-Odoi.
And that's the point. Sancho is a great player, but he is also 19; Rice is 20; Hudson-Odoi 18.
Sancho may therefore be the best £ 100 million that United has spent, or a disappointment – and Solskjaer cannot guarantee any way. No manager can. Just like Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal before him, Solskjaer will return to premonition; and in the current market a very expensive one.
Jadon Sancho would represent a huge investment for Manchester United and is a risky venture "
for Manchester United and risky matters"
Jadon Sancho would represent a huge expense for Manchester United and risky affairs
Hamers show last in town
Saracens have signed a five-year contract with Tottenham to host their annual Big Game competition at the new stadium play. Previously the London Stadium had been a location, so this can concentrate a few thoughts.
Leaving with rugby and a bust of cricket – the wicket could only run from east to west, making it treacherous in the sun – chances for landlords are diminishing rapidly. Baseball is coming, but the logistics are terribly expensive, and the single athletics competition costs millions.
The stadium has always suffered from competing with other outdoor locations in the capital, so that leaves … West Ham The tenants of the anchor the landlords spend most of their team in court.
Take them with you and the Olympic Stadium would be the disastrous white elephant that many predicted.
Not since Tony Adams fell down the stairs at Stringfellows celebrating his one-year-old son's birthday, a family evening has been marked in such a absurd way as Mother's Day in the Pickford household.
Everton's goalkeeper traveled north to mark this occasion and ended up in a weak midnight, in which an off-duty bouncer was beaten, and his fiancé, Megan Davison, was grossly insulted by an assertive gang of boozers.
If reports of the abuse directed against Pickford's partner are correct, there was considerable provocation.
But why would you visit the type of establishment that is populated with pumped up half sausage, especially with your mother? What happened to say flowers?
<img id = "i-a3d0631d8c68fcb2" src = "https://ift.tt/2HYN9N8 -78_1554407225574.jpg "height =" 379 "width =" 634 "alt =" Jordan Pickford was involved in a discussion outside the Sunderland bar on Mother's Day "Jordan Pickford was involved in a discussion outside Sunderland on Mother's Day"
outside a bar in Sunderland on Mother's Day
Secret & # 39; s out …
Roy Hodgson says Crystal Palace this summer Wilfried Zaha and Aaron Wan-Bissaka can sell, which will certainly be welcome news to a gentleman on a train in the north last month.
In the open view of everyone who rode through the carriage, he studied a spreadsheet on his laptop, with the highlight : SALE OF ZAHA AND WAN-BISSAKA.
The two players share the representation ie and the traveler did not wear a Crystal Palace training suit.
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flauntpage · 7 years
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Nashville Will Become the First Wildcard Stanley Cup Finals Team
Welcome to the third round of the NHL playoffs. Let's get you caught up on what's happened so far.
The worst team in the Central, according the standings, made it through. The worst team in the Atlantic, according to the experts, did, too. The Presidents' Trophy winner went home in the second round, and their fans are very sad. And in the Pacific, a top seed that never wins Game 7 captured the division by winning a Game 7.
In other words, nobody has any idea what's going on, or what's going to happen. It's chaos out there. Beautiful, beautiful chaos. Let's get to the conference final preview.
Western Conference
One team is back in the conference final for the second time in three years. The other has never been here before, ever. It's not exactly a matchup between long-established hockey markets, but it should be fun.
WC Nashville Predators vs. #1 Anaheim Ducks
In this corner: The Predators (41-29-12, 94 points, +18 goals differential not counting shootouts), who struggled through an underwhelming first half of the season before hitting their stride in time for the playoffs.
The road so far: They stunned the favored Blackhawks with a four-game sweep in the opening round, then disposed of the Blues in six to reach the conference final for the first time in franchise history.
Injury report: With the obvious yet important caveat that just about everyone is banged up at this time of year and NHL teams are under no real obligation to tell us anything, the Predators injury list is fairly empty, apart from Kevin Fiala, who is out for the year after suffering an ugly broken leg in the second round.
The big question: How do you slow down the Predators offense from the blueline? The team's big three of P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, and Ryan Ellis have combined for 24 points, with each of those players ranking among the team's top five scorers. For comparison, the team's other three blueliners have just three points total.
It's rare for a team to get that much scoring from the backend, and it's made up for the fact that the Predators forwards have been only OK. It will be interesting to see if the Ducks make any sort of adjustment to try to take away those blueline chances and force the guys up front to beat them.
One player to watch: Ryan Johansen. The fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft has long been viewed as an underrated two-way center—think along the lines of a poor man's Jonathan Toews or Anze Kopitar.
The Predators paid big to get him, surrendering Seth Jones in a blockbuster trade with the Blue Jackets last year, and for the most part he's given them what they were looking for. His 61 points tied him for the team lead, and he led the forwards in ice time. Still, he's the sort of player who always seems to leave you wanting just a little more. He has a team-leading nine points in this year's postseason, but with a matchup with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry looming, he'll be under the brightest spotlight of his career over the next two weeks.
Ryan Johansen's game winner against St. Louis in Game 6 sent the Predators to the conference finals. Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Key number: .951, Pekka Rinne's save percentage so far in the postseason. You can dig into all sorts of numbers and narratives, but when your goaltender is stopping 19 out of every 20 shots, you're going to win.
Rinne isn't as good as his numbers indicate; he was a more pedestrian .918 on the regular season, and has been under .910 in each of his last two playoff runs before this current one. But that doesn't matter. He's red hot right now, and if he stays that way, the Predators probably win the series.
And in this corner: The Ducks (46-23-13, 105 points, +23), the only first-place team to make it through two rounds.
The road so far: They've made Alberta really sad. The Ducks swept the Flames in round one, then needed the full seven to get past the Oilers.
Injury report: The Ducks were missing several guys by the end of the Edmonton series, including Kevin Bieksa and Patrick Eaves. With just 48 hours to rest up between series, they'll be at a disadvantage against a Predators team that's been off since Sunday.
The big question: Should we be worried about John Gibson at all? At 23, Gibson is getting his first taste of the playoffs as an undisputed starter, and he got his team in the conference final. But he's giving up nearly three goals a game, and his save percentage is just .908. That number is skewed a bit by that Game 6 meltdown against the Oilers, which was one of those nights where nothing went right for anyone on the team. But with Rinne playing as well as he has, the goaltending matchup could be a question mark for Anaheim.
One player to watch: Ryan Getzlaf. The Ducks center has been so good for so long that you can sometimes forget about him in favor of the latest young star. But that wasn't possible in round two, when he played some of his best hockey in years and tied a franchise record with ten points. When you're clearly the best player in a series that includes Connor McDavid, that's pretty good.
Ryan Getzlaf has been the star of the playoffs so far. Photo by Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Key number: 82.9. That's the Ducks' power play rate plus penalty kill rate for the playoffs, which is a way of assigning one number to a club's special teams. An average mark would be 100, so the Ducks have been nowhere near good enough. They rank dead last among the 16 playoff teams, and the Predators clock in at an impressive 107.5, so Anaheim better figure out their special teams soon if they're going to have a chance.
Head-to-head: The Ducks took two of three. Each team won a game over the other by five goals; the third was decided in a shootout.
Dominant narrative: The battle of the bluelines. We're always told that a winning NHL team is built from the backend out, with the goaltending and blueline being the most important positions. Yet that's not exactly true—Stanley Cup Final goalies have ranged from excellent to decidedly average, and we've seen plenty of teams make deep runs without an excellent defense. Look at the Eastern Final: the Penguins blueline is held together with duct tape, while the Senators are Erik Karlsson and pray for rain.
Not in this series, though. This matchup may feature the two deepest bluelines in hockey. The Predators are top-heavy with those three star performers, while the Ducks are young and deep across all three pairs. Most series feature at least a few defensemen on each side who need to be hidden away from tough matchups, but not this one.
Prediction: Predators in six. No wildcard team has made the final since the new format was introduced in 2013. That changes this year.
Bonus prediction that is oddly specific: The series is tied until the Predators go into Anaheim and steal Game 5 in overtime.
Sidney Crosby's health will be something to monitor in the conference finals. Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
Eastern Conference
We were this close to seeing a team win a division it wasn't even in. You ruin everything, New York Rangers. Well, except for the Senators. You barely even put a dent in them.
#2 Ottawa Senators vs. #2 Pittsburgh Penguins
In this corner: The Senators (44-28-10, -4), who didn't lock down a spot until the final week and were the only playoff team with a negative goals differential, but still had home ice in the first two rounds.
The road so far: Despite being labeled underdogs in both series, the Senators knocked out the Bruins and the Rangers in six games each, winning five overtime games along the way.
Injury report: Mark Borowiecki is the only player sidelined, but Erik Karlsson is playing through a hairline fracture in his foot and missed a period in Game 4 against the Rangers.
The big question: How do you stop Karlsson? The Sens star has already won two Norris Trophies, finished second in the voting last year, and will wind up first or second again when this year's results are announced, so hopefully nobody's surprised to find out that he's really good. Even given the high standards he's set, it's been stunning to watch him take over games at key moments.
The foot is a concern, and there were reports that he was limping after the Rangers series ended. If he misses any time, it's a series-changer. Assuming he can play through it, however, the Penguins had better have an answer for him, because they haven't faced a blueliner anywhere close to him so far this postseason.
One player to watch: Eugene Melnyk. OK, he's the owner, not a player, but he's only a few weeks removed from an epic rant on Sidney Crosby after the Marc Methot incident, and there's roughly an 80 percent chance he says or does something over the next few days that puts him in the spotlight.
If you'd prefer a player, let's go with Mark Stone. The Senators don't have a truly elite forward, unless you want to count Karlsson, who's technically a defenseman but could probably strap on the pads and be a top-five goalie at this point. Stone is often their best player up front, combining decent offensive numbers with a Selke-level defensive game. He hasn't exactly been front and center so far in the playoffs, posting just six points, but he could be a key part of the plan to shut down Crosby and friends. If he can rediscover his offensive side, then he could tip a game Ottawa's way.
Mark Stone will need to start scoring on some of his opportunities for the Senators to have a change against Pittsburgh. Photo by Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Key number: Three, the number of times this postseason that the Senators have won a game after trailing by multiple goals. Before this year, they'd only managed that sort of playoff comeback four times in their entire franchise history. Given what they're up against, they'll probably spend a significant amount of time trailing in this series, and maybe by a lot. Don't count them out when it happens.
And in this corner: The Penguins (50-21-11, 111 points, +49), who you may know as the defending champs.
The road so far: The Penguins have had just about the toughest path possible, beating the league's best and fourth-best regular-season teams. They had a relatively easy time dispatching the Blue Jackets in five, and just finished off the Capitals in a grueling seven games.
Injury report: They say that Matt Murray is healthy again, although we haven't seen him play yet and won't unless Marc-Andre Fleury struggles. On defense, Kris Letang is out for the playoffs, and Trevor Daley missed the end of the Capitals series.
The big question: Can the blueline hold together?
As always, the Penguins can throw plenty of offense at you, but the back end is a major question mark right now. They deserve all the credit in the world for finding a way to shut the Capitals down, but it won't get much easier against Ottawa. And if they suffered even one more injury, it could get ugly.
One player to watch: Sidney Crosby. He's the best player in the world, so you don't need me to tell you to keep an eye on him. But Crosby was an even bigger story than usual in the second round thanks to a scary-looking collision that resulted in another concussion. He sat out a game before coming back, raising plenty of eyebrows, and then went headfirst into the boards in Game 6. You have to assume that the Penguins have run him through all the tests and decided he's 100 percent recovered, but it's hard not to wonder if the next big hit could be the last one he takes for a while. And you can bet that the Senators will be eager to find out.
Key number: 200, the number of regular-season and playoff games the Penguins have played dating back to opening night of the 2015-16 season. That's a lot, especially when you factor in that several of their key payers also took part in last fall's World Cup. There hasn't been a repeat Stanley Cup winner in the cap era, and that's mostly due to parity, but it's also partly due to fatigue, and the Penguins must be feeling some by now.
Head-to-head: The Senators took two of three. The lone Pittsburgh win was a wild 8-5 game back in December.
Dominant narrative: Inevitability. The Penguins just won a war between the league's top two teams, capturing a series that felt like the de facto Stanley Cup final. Meanwhile, the Senators made it to the conference final without really playing anyone all that good thanks to the NHL's weird playoff format. So one team is on the way to a championship and the other should be happy just to be here. Why even play the games, right?
Note: This narrative will last right up until the Senators win Game 1 and everyone freaks out.
Prediction: Penguins in seven. Look, it's the most likely result; the Pens are the better team here. But don't let anyone try to tell you this is any kind of foregone conclusion. The Senators could absolutely pull this off.
Bonus prediction that is oddly specific: Melnyk is publicly accusing the league of a pro-Penguins conspiracy by Game 4 at the latest.
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Nashville Will Become the First Wildcard Stanley Cup Finals Team published first on http://ift.tt/2pLTmlv
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Insane Power Rangers Journey Pt. 2 - Day 9
Hey Internet!
So, I’ve finally finished ‘Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ (and the mini-series ‘Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers’)! It took me 9 days to get through 3 seasons (technically 4, I guess) of television. That makes me sad inside.
So, Season 2 brought us a new Villain, Lord Zedd, and I don’t know if it’s left over scars from watching this as a kid but who else is still kind of freaked out by him. I mean, he IS walking around without skin…yuck! We have also seen a large number of new monsters. One thing I’ve wondered is that if Zed was just making monsters out of random objects and not clay like Rita, how did Zordon know their names immediately? Also, I feel like they probably would have names. Is it jus a coincidence that they were calling them the same thing? Weird.
I know it’s a little thing but come on you have to admit it’s odd.
Anyways. We have reached the point where all but 1 of the Rangers have been replaced. The only original Ranger left is Billy (Blue). I’m not including Tommy in this statement since he did join up with the Rangers part way through Season 1 and wasn’t a regular until Season 2.
Now. Let’s talk about the way they handled the change of Power Rangers. Jason, Zack and Trini. It was quite obvious that the actors were no longer on the show. There must have been some kind of tension on set because they stopped appearing in the show just after the new characters were introduced. After that Jason Zack and Trini were only shown with stock footage and they were only seen as a group when in Ranger armor.
It’s really obvious in episode 24 of Season 2. They are once again scuba diving. Same as episode 43 of Season 1. Not even trying here people. Tell me, can you tell the difference?
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The pictures above were legitimately taken from different episodes. They weren’t even trying.
I know the whole choosing of the Rangers is sacred and Zordon probably has some kind of standard but it really seems that he picks based on what colours people like to wear. I mean the new Rangers were already dressing mono-chromatically long before they were chosen. That can’t be part of the criteria. It’s like Zordon was like “Oh…he really seems to like Blue. I know! He’s perfect to be the Blue Ranger!”
At least when Kimberly was written off the show they handled it better. It was a logical, if slightly unbelievable, storyline that allowed Kimberly to leave and be replaced by Katherine (Spawn of Satan). In case you didn’t notice I’m not a fan of the new Pink Ranger. I’m really not looking forward to watching her. I’m sure it’s just residual prejudice from childhood but come one, she tried to break up Tommy and Kimberly and those two are meant for each other. Nobody messes with Tommy and Kimberly!
The worst one however was the way Aisha left the show. She went back in time and stayed there! What is that?! She also sent someone from the past to take her place. Yeah, that will have no consequences what so ever. Just completely ridiculous.
After watching over 150 episodes of Power Rangers I have to say it’s becoming really annoying that even though they are in full Power Rangers armor they continue to say their real names over and over again. Even in front of civilians. It’s ALL the time! How has nobody put together that the Power Rangers named Tommy, Kim and Billy are the same as their classmates?! They could at least call each other by their colour and keep some anonymity. Geeze.
Alright moving on. Maybe I missed it but after getting Ninja powers why do they have 2 different outfits? Do they have different powers in different outfits? It seems like an unnecessary thing to have them ‘Morph’ twice while fighting. AND how many different Zords do they have now?! They have Thunderzords, Ninja Zords, Shogun Zords…I can’t keep track anymore and it seems to be random when they use them. There should be set protocol for which fights require which Zords. There are FAR too many Zords and I can’t keep track anymore.
AND when they call their new Zords its such a mouthful. How much time do they waster just calling for them. “Pterodactyl Firebird Thunderzord”. Every. Single. Time! It’s insane, just say “Firebird”. It’s not like 2 rangers are sharing a Zord so they have to specify which “Firebird” they were calling. They really need to stream line the process.
Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers Binge
Now I’m going to talk about Alien Rangers specifically. These were the hardest 10 episodes to get through. The Power Rangers were children, which was really annoying, and we had to deal with the Aquitar Rangers.
The effects that they used on the Alien Rangers voices were so annoying that I felt like I was slowly descending into madness. I was thrilled that there was only 10 episodes that I had to suffer through.
Until Next Time,
Kas
SANITY LEVEL: MILDLY EXASPERATED BUT STILL OPTIMISTIC ABOUT CHANCES OF MAKING IT TO THE END
Random Thoughts
1. Anyone else notice that the random super-zords (brontosaurus and Turtle) are very much like the eagles from Lord of the Rings? They both would make everything much easier but you can only use them in ‘dire’ circumstances…Anybody? 
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2. It appears that Lord Zedd was the original designer of the BB8 droid. 
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3. Look at this! Oh. My. God! Look at this Mullet! Tiny Rocky had a Mullet! 
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Coming Soon
1. I noticed while watching that these ‘Teenagers’ all have ridiculous amount of extracurricular activities and jobs (Kim was a gymnast, ran the gardening club, student body president and organized the Christmas Concert. Rocky was a Ninja Competitor, Volunteer Lifeguard and a Karate Instructor... I’m sure you get the point) from now on after every season I’m going to post a list of their jobs. It’s a wonder any of these kids have time to be a Ranger never mind sleep every night.
2. Binge of Power Rangers: Zeo
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globlenet-blog · 7 years
Text
The alternative 2016 sports awards: the years best quotes, gaffes and meltdowns
https://clearwatergolfclub.com/the-alternative-2016-sports-awards-the-years-best-quotes-gaffes-and-meltdowns/
The alternative 2016 sports awards: the years best quotes, gaffes and meltdowns
Your investment medal tables: it had been another big year for sporting soap opera. The quotes, the rows and also the capybaras that made yesteryear 12 several weeks special
Star of the season
Cristiano Ronaldo won a 4th Ballon dOr, launched a variety of CR7 blankets, tossed a microphone into a lake, inspired a tantrum meme, and located the eras defining football press conference, using the press banned from asking them questions. He denied it had been his idea to possess the questions resulting from a Uefa media officer rather: I decide nothing. Also, he made an appearance to goes a magic fully-created Euro 2016 TV graphic during Portugals quarter-final. Perfect.
Ian Finch (@FinchIan)
Not only a skilful player, Ronaldo may also gob out a replay wipe #POLPOR pic.twitter.com/UC44YRv5TA
June 30, 2016
Manager of the season
Claudio Ranieri, using the edge off 2016.Hey, man, dilly-ding, dilly-dong. Seriously! Former Ranieri player Gianfranco Zola revealed the saying was attempted and tested. Hes always stated dilly-ding, dilly-dong. Hes a vibrant guy. Initially when i first heard it’ understood what he meant. He explained it a lot of occasions.
Modern footballer of the season
Lots of contenders, but two Rental property men share the title: club captain Gabby Agbonlahor, relegated on the nitrous oxide legal high 2 yrs after extending his Rental property deal because: I get that very same buzz pulling around the Rental property shirt, and team-mate Joleon Lescott, who livened up last seasons harsh run-in by tweeting a photograph of a sports car following a 6- defeat and telling the press how going lower would be a real weight off the shoulders. He left on the free in August.
Also standing his ground: Poultry midfielder Ozan Tufan upset with media critique throughout the Euros after he was caught on camera doing his hair as Croatias Luka Modric formed as much as score before him. I do not get the way a single moment by which I actually do my locks are considered an error. It damages my confidence.
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Best Olympic moment
Recording the atmosphere: Nikki Hamblin and Abbey DAgostino helping one another finish Rios 5,000m after colliding mid-race. Hamblin: After I went lower it had been like: Whats happening? Why shall we be held on the floor? And all of a sudden theres this hands on my small shoulder. That girl may be the Olympic spirit, immediately.
Story from the summer time
Syrian teen Yusra Mardini winning her heat within the 100m butterfly for that Refugee Team in Rio, annually after surviving the capsize of the six-man dinghy transporting 20 refugees towards Lesbos. This is actually awesome there are plenty of tales about me now and lots of people who wish to take my picture: its assisting to spread our message. This doesn’t stop here This isn’t the finish.
Most off-message
1) US womens football star Hope Solo, reflecting on their own Rio quarter-final defeat to Norway: We performed a courageous game but we performed a lot of cowards. The very best team didn’t win, I strongly, firmly think that. They wont allow it to be far. They provided the ultimate. And 2) The uniform golfers delivering their pre-Games causes of not likely to Rio. Rory McIlroy: Though the chance of infection in the Zika virus is recognized as low, it’s a risk nevertheless. Dustin Manley: My concerns concerning the Zika virus can’t be overlooked. Jason Day: The only reason behind my decision may be the danger to future people in our family. And Vijay Singh: I must take part in the Olympic games, however the Zika virus, you realize everything crap.
Best change of direction
Originated from Sepp Blatters substitute at Fifa, Gianni Infantino calling his new pay deal evidence of its emerging anti-avarice culture. Infantino stated his modest contract 1.15m fundamental plus bonuses, vehicle, house, 1,542-a-month expenses and funding for just one-off costs for example 1,100 for any tuxedo and 660 on flowers reflects greater than any word can reflect my strong will to finish recent conduct.
Former Fifa man of the season
Most relaxed because the FBI required a grip: former Concacaf mind Jeffrey Webb, who located a Harlem Renaissance-themed blackjack party in Feb while under house arrest in the Georgia mansion he bought with fraud money. Webb, looking for sentencing next May, required the Concacaf presidency this year pledging to attract a line underneath the organisations shameful Jack Warner era: We must move the clouds, and let the sunshine in.
Interview of the season
Gary and Paul ODonovan, live on RT in August after winning Irelands first rowing gold discussing the craic, Nutella, peeing in cups, how you can row (close your vision and pull just like a dog), and just how sad they believed to stay in Rio simply because they were missing the Rio-themed parties in Skibbereen. Recently these were named RT Sport Team of the season, appeared inside a new documentary Pull Just like a Dog, were interviewed for Graham Nortons New Years Eve BBC1 show, and named as Britains most Googled Irish-related search phrase within the entire 2016. Gary: Its funny the way in which its labored out.
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Best commentary moments
Icelands Euro 2016 coverage, which from Irelands Cathal Dennehy and Ronan Duggan, live streaming Aprils Irish Universities Athletics Association womens 4 x 400m dramatic relay final being an outsider billed in the depths of hell to victory. Dennehy accepted later hed achieved a pitch approximately your dog whistle along with a squealing pig All of us lost the brain.
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Worst commentary moments
1) Canadas Olympic broadcaster CBC apologising in August after their swimming commentator known as the entire mens 200m individual medley mistaking Michael Phelps for Ryan Lochte and 2) John Virgo, confident he was off-air during BBC1s live coverage of Mark Selby and Marco Fus epic contest at snookers World Championship in April: I wanted to watch a bit of racing this afternoon. Ill be lucky to look at some fucking Match during the day. Spokesman: Hes embarrassed and apologetic.
Pundit of the season
The clip that never grows old. Skys Steve McClaren in June, together with his in-play analysis of Englands reaction to Icelands equaliser: It has been the right response from England. You simply think: Not a problem, begin anew, keep dominating, keep getting pressure around the Iceland back four the only real factor they have got may be the big boy in advance Sigurdsson, nobody Sigthorsson Oh, ohhh
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Best attitude
Mike Allardyce negotiating the 400,000 top-up that ended his 67-day England reign. He guaranteed undercover reporters hed deliver their pretend clients keynote speaking, thats what Id do, Im a keynote speaker plus good value not only the keynote speech but additionally within the bar after. I do not are available in like many of them, bang, youre off. What happens I am talking about? Im likely to stand in the bar. Possess a couple of social drinks.
Best protest
Charlton and Coventry fans, staging some pot protest in October against both clubs boards by hurling hundreds of plastic pigs in the pitch. @CAFCofficial, 3.02pm: Play is stopped. Pigs on pitch. 3.03pm: (A fantasy ones).
Social networking awards
Best live tweeting: 1) Danny Willetts brother Pete, watching the Masters in April with tweets including: Without words. I once punched that kid in the head for hurting my pet rat. Now look and: Ive shared a shower having a Masters champion. His Ryder Cup online preview in September which branded US fans pudgy, filthy cretins along with a baying mob of imbeciles didnt go down so well. 2) @hastingsufc, remaining professional from the odds in October: Apologies for insufficient updates / Ive been stung with a wasp. Even game, no significant chances. 3) And Icelands @rvkgrapevine, giving one minute-by-minute evaluation of keeper Hannes Halldorssons summer time performance against Portugal. dinns breath propelled our heroic goalkeeper to swat away that weak-ass header and: Goalkeeper Such As The High cliff FACE AT DYRHOLAEY The Only Real Factor Which Will DESTROY HIM IS CENTURIES OF Seaside EROSION.
Most sincere tweet: Sunderlands Victor Anichebe, copying and pasting an excessive amount of what his PR team sent him after Octobers defeat to West Pork @VictorAnichebe: Are you able to tweet something similar to: Unbelievable support yesterday and great effort through the lads! Hard lead to take! But we go again!
Most confused: Californian Facebook user Petra Fyde, asking her buddies and family in June: At the chance of sounding stupid How come a lot of strange men within my facebook inbox saying WILL GRIGGS Burning, YOUR DEFENSE IS PETRA FYDE?????? What the heck is happening?
And also the best-crafted pledge: @Joey7Barton, 24 May: To be a Ranger would be to sense the sacred trust of upholding everything this type of name means within this shrine of football. 15 Sep: I apologise unreservedly.
Frederick Barton (@Joey7Barton)
To become a Ranger would be to sense the sacred trust of upholding everything this type of name means within this shrine of football. pic.twitter.com/nb5yTKq420
May 24, 2016
Best put-lower
Andy Murray in August, requested by John Inverdale: Youre the very first person to ever win two Olympic tennis golds, thats an remarkable task, is it not? Murray: I believe Venus and Serena have won four each. @jk_rowling: Murray just advised John Inverdale that ladies are people too.
Best analysis
One of the footballers reacting to Brexit in June: @PetrCech:It appears as though the greatest decision within the good reputation for the united states is made with different fake campaign and lies. Italys Giorgio Chiellini:The primary problem is an eventual domino effect. I do not think the straightforward United kingdom exit can alter the equilibrium from the whole European economy, besides the acid reflux everyones feeling. I believe the discontent shouldnt result in disintegration. Jermaine Pennant @pennant83: Now we’re not in Europe whats going to take place using the next euros 2018??? And Nolito: What’s Brexit? I believe its dancing. I might be wrong.
Wisest words
25 November:England coach Eddie Johnson, hailing wing Elliot Daly within the buildup for their game against Argentina: He is doing stuff you dont coach. 26 November:Daly sent off after five minutes.
Sharpest PR
Rio 2016 spokesperson Mario Andrada explaining why organisers couldnt be anticipated to simply fix the eco-friendly water within the pool overnight: Chemistry isn’t an exact science.
Best customer support
In August Englands slow over-rate against Pakistan motivated spectator Alexis Larger to tweet: I would like 10% of my money-back. Wouldnt visit football and discover it ended after 80mins. Alex Hales tweeted back: ok DM me your bank details then transferred 4.10.
Miss of the season
Italys Simone Zaza tiptoeing his way to stardom in the place against Germany in the Euros the summers single greatest non-Ronaldo meme. Among the remixes: Zaza like a seagull rubber stamping for worms, Zaza doing Olympic dressage, and Zaza inside a queue for that toilet. Zaza: Regrettably the ball went excessive. It will likely be beside me throughout my existence.
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Single worst moment of 2016
Setting a dark tone for Trump, Brexit, Farage and exactly what adopted Germany coach Joachim Lws distressing televised in-trouser scratch and sniff routine in mid-June. Im sorry for this. When you’re filled with adrenaline, unexpected things happen that you simply dont see. I’ll attempt to behave differently later on.
President of the season
Palermos 74-year-old owner Maurizio Zamparini entered 2016 searching to place his coach-eater image to sleep. Heres the way it unfolded:
10 Jan: Zamparini denies hes already feeling twitchy about his new coach Davide Ballardini. I won’t sack him, despite the fact that I possibly could. 11 Jan: Sacks him and hires Guillermo Barros Schelotto. 11 February:Finds out Schelotto hasn’t got his badges and hires Giovanni Bosi rather. 15 February: Sacks Bosi and rehires Giuseppe Iachini, who he sacked in November. 8 Marly:Calls Iachini a fool that has gone mad and replaces him with Walter Novellino. 12 Apr:Sacks Novellino, rehires Ballardini. People say Ive gone mad, but Im the victim here. 6 Sep: Hires Roberto de Zerbi after Ballardini resigns two games in to the season. 28 November:Denies he already has his doubts about De Zerbi. I’ll keep him. That’s my decision. 30 November: Sacks De Zerbi to be pitiful and hires Eugenio Corini to determine out a hard year. Why Corini? There wasnt much on the market.
Most British moment
In April West Indies needed an unlikely 19 in the final to win the planet T20 and Englands Ben Stokes was the person using the ball in the hands to shut the result. Four balls and 4 Carlos Brathwaite sixes later, it had been over. I send Ben commiserations, stated Brathwaite. Hes a complete legend.
Most unpredicted hero
Marcus Willbomb Willis, world No775 as he stunned Wimbledon and, almost, Roger Federer sticking it to trolls who dubbed him Cartman because of his big bones. His Wimbledon run ended having a cheque for 30,000. It is the greatest pay day Ive ever endured. I’m able to repay a few charge cards now.
Chant of the season
Huh! by Iceland. Also worth a mention: tactics-minded Carlisle fans having a Peter Andre-themed message to manager Keith Curle: Woah-oh-oh-oh, Mysterious Curle, I wanna play 3-5-2.
Best falling lower
2016s best football tumbles: Brazilian players Marcelo Cordeiro and Rossi pretending to have been headbutted by each other in October (Cordeiro: Thats just existence. Thats the sport were in) Toulouse coach Pascal Dupraz feeling upset in November by critique of his response to a paper plane brushing his head: Each one of these critics, theyre so brave and Louis van Gaals Miranda Hart pratfall in Feb, because he designed a serious point.
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Best Strictly contenders
a) Everton manager Roberto Martnez, filmed dancing at a Jason Derulo concert in Feb b) Mike Allardyce, spotted in Marbella in May spinning on the spot to Rihannas We Found Love and c) Alan Pardew, marking Castles FA Cup final goal by throwing dad shapes on Wembleys touchline. The 3 of these were sacked within several weeks.
Politicians of the season
Were Icelands Ministry for Foreign Matters, @MFAIceland explaining how their 23-man Euro 2016 squad chose itself by whittling lower their people in this country of 332,529.
MFA Iceland (@MFAIceland)
@pin_upicierno pic.twitter.com/ot0Mq2lsjM
June 27, 2016
Best celebration
Michail Antonios horizontal-running grass-dance in Feb after scoring for West Pork. I saw The Simpsons Movie a few days ago. I believe I pulled them back.
Least foreseeable setback
British cyclist Adam Yates, out while watching primary peloton within the Tour de France in This summer, simply to be flattened whenever a fans belt punctured an inflatable Vittel advertising arch. He still continued to win the white-colored jersey, though.
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Best clarification
Skiing star Lindsey Vonn, ambassador for Mind skis and bindings, reacted to some ski detaching mid-race in Feb by posting a video of herself destroying her Mind bindings having a hammer. After talks together with her agent she clarified: It was by no means, shape or form an expression around the performance from the Mind skis and bindings. In my opinion in Mind.
Most distracted
French fencer Enzo Lefort entering the Rio Games declaring: Ive given something to arrive here. Its important to not be distracted then being booed through the crowd after his phone fell out of his pocket mid-bout.
Best pose
Roy Hodgson, recognizing themself around the giant screen as England trailed to Iceland.
Danny Bloodstream (@dannyswfc)
Whenever you place your self on the giant screen and wish individuals to think there is a plan… pic.twitter.com/YLX3Mf6kB0
June 27, 2016
Best comeback
Andy Townsend, back on ITV for that summer time: Thats as blatant a problem as youll ever see. Could it have been certainly within the box? I do not know.
Worst luck
Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne, cutting short his presentation to 200 school pupils around the risks of the web when his screen began flashing up porn. Organisers stated the pictures didn’t originate from Jarryds device Hayne: It had been awkward. Wow.
Greatest last laugh
Louise Watson obtaining the second biggest fine in Wimbledon history, 9,040, for racket smashing 1,500 greater than Viktor Troickis acceptable for ranting from the worst ever umpire on the planet. She arrived on the scene ahead, though: winning 50,000 on her mixed doubles victory.
Cheapest blow
Spare a concept for Serb rowers Milos Vasic and Nenad Bedik, who showed up in Rio feeling good after 4 years of beginning training and sank after 1,250m.
Greatest attention seekers
Headlining 12 several weeks of viral animal cameos: a) an unflustered cat supporting play at Januarys Everton v Dagenham game, then losing its poise when keeper Joel Robles shooed it b) a squirrel doing the same at Marchs third T20 between Nigeria and Australia (@samuelfez: Watson in to the attack. Zampa at square leg. Maxwell gully. Squirrel deep point #SAvAUS) c) 20 mongooses storming a green during Novembers European Tours Nedbank Golf Challenge in Nigeria
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and d) two pitch-invading dogs one sparking an earlier tea in Novembers second India v England Test, another chasing Gois left-back Juninho throughout a Brazilian Serie B game. Juninho stated he ran since you cant tell with dogs locals told RBS TV the stray, Zulu, is simply soppy If he sees a ball, he goes chasing. Not one of them outshone time top sporting animal, though: Brazils hefty and nonplussed golf course capybaras. Australia captain Ian Baker-Finch: That bloody factor is big. Have you ever seen it? Its half wombat, half dog. US player Matt Kuchar: Its just like a moosehead on the gigantic rat. US director Andy Levinson: It appears as though your dog. A just like a dog-pig.
Plus special mention for: Lorenzo the horse, dancing to Smooth by Santana in Rios individual dressage.
Most thorough
These warning notices stuck over the toilets in Rios Olympic Village, banning a variety of unlicensed toilet activities. US basketball star Elena Delle Donne: Guess I will not be toilet fishing today.
Most depressing fact
For fans of the certain age: in May Burys Callum Styles grew to become the very first footballer born in 2000 to look inside a League game in November fellow millennial Moise Kean switched out for Juventus within the Champions League.
Getting people together
Wales midfielder Joe Ledley: dancing for Europe last summer time. One of the headlines: La drole de danse du Gallois and Ledley enflamme le vestiaire.
Best message
Cricketer Liam Thomas wasnt frustrated in October when his prosthetic leg came off as he dived close to the boundary while fielding for that England Physical Disability team. He jumped following the ball rather and delivered a fierce return. Should there be kids available watching who thought they couldnt take part in the game before week, he stated later, I would like these to know they are able to do anything whatsoever installed their mind to.
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Most satisfactory reply
Originated from 15-year-old Wimbledon women singles champion Anastasia Potapova answering press questions regarding her existence after winning the ultimate. I do not have siblings or siblings but I’ve got a duck, Vita. Shes small.
Best swagger
Haitian hurdler Jeffrey Julmis the undisputed star from the 110m hurdles in Rio. Within the selection before his race he gave your camera some textbook Usain Bolt-style attitude, then went mind over heels in the first hurdle.
Most uplifting
Showing the planet isnt totally damaged: Barcelonas under-14s side, lightly consoling their tearful Japanese rivals after beating them within the final of Augusts Junior Soccer World Challenge a mixture of hugs and pep talks.
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Plus: most offended
Japanese pole vaulter Hiroki Ogita upset by reports in August that hed knocked the bar off with his penis. Irrrve never expected the foreign media to consider me lower such as this. Its false, and i’m devastated they mock and ridicule me a lot. He later tweeted: Watching again, this really is pretty funny, basically let them know myself. LOL.
Find out more: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jan/01/alternative-2016-sports-awards-quotes-gaffes-meltdowns
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celticnoise · 7 years
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Those who think I never give the Scottish media credit ought to be surprised that Alan Puttulo earns some much deserved praise this morning for a fascinating, and insightful, interview with our very first General Manager, Jock Brown.
His appointment was 20 years ago this week, and if that makes you feel old then you’re not alone.
Pattulo clearly spoke to him at some length, and it’s not surprising to find that Jock Brown comes across a whole lot better, with the benefit of hindsight, than he did in his time at Celtic Park. He knows he’ll never be the big hero.
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No-one will ever invite him to unfurl a flag and we wouldn’t name a toilet stall after him far less a stand …
And yet, I can’t help but wonder if history might not eventually grant him a full, and honourable, rehabilitation if not a rave review.
We’re in a different era now. Celtic is a more confident club than it was back then, and we’re more tolerant and open-minded as fans than we’ve previously been. We appreciate that there are considerations beyond whether someone is “Celtic minded”.
You get the best people for the job, you pay them well, and you let them get on with it.
When Gerry McCulloch was made our head of digital media recently I wrote an article saying that any talk of it being some sort of homecoming was ridiculous considering what he presided over at Radio Clyde but that as a straightforward appointment it was first-rate work from the club because he’s a consummate, insightful, professional who knows his stuff.
I like to think I’d have been just as understanding about Jock Brown.
See, I don’t remember this guy as a commentator. I have no idea whether he was fair to us or not, but I know that I wouldn’t care what his background was now if he had been brought to Celtic to fill a certain role and he had the skill-set required to do it. Fergus sure as Hell didn’t, and whilst Jock Brown was never a “Rangers man” as some have alleged, I know for a fact that Fergus hired a guy to work in a high profile role at the club who was a season ticket holder at Ibrox, and who did a pretty damned good job whilst at Parkhead.
Above all else, Fergus was a believer in getting stuff done.
Jock Brown was brought in to fill a role. Fergus was only interested in his ability to carry that out. What’s pretty clear is that this couldn’t have mattered less to the hacks. Brown had been one of them, and he moved over to us. Whether it was pique born of jealousy or some belief that he’d jumped the fence (in every sense of the word) they never gave him a chance. They were set on poisoning the well from the very first day.
Just the other day, I wrote an article on why most of the Celtic bloggers were glad to see the back of Mike Ashley, and in that piece I said we had helped to create a perception of him that was toxic in the eyes of their fans. I didn’t suggest we made them hate the guy or that we got rid of him … I said we coloured the picture a little.
We made a contribution.
A lot of people assumed I was bragging and trying to claim credit. I wasn’t. The idea is insane. A lot of others assumed I was having a laugh at the Sevco fans expense, and I kind of was … but it wasn’t a joke. I meant every word of that piece.
I never alleged a conspiracy though, I said we gave it a nudge.
I used a comedic line “I love it when a plan comes together” to highlight the piece, and of course that was a little tongue in cheek. But it wasn’t just for giggles. We happily helped paint the picture of Ashley as a guy with only evil intent and on some level we all knew we were stirring the soup … but no-one got together and co-ordinated it.
Nobody had to.
It just kind of happened.
I do believe the Celtic sites had something to do with that and I know how much it grates on their fans to admit that we manipulated them even a little bit. As a couple of the others guys have said this weekend, the Celtic fans, by and large, ain’t exactly sad to see Ashley go.
Even if the possibility of his putting money in was low, it was still too high for our liking.
Why is that important?
Well, I have a degree in media studies and more years in political activity than I care to remember and this is not a tactic that I am unfamiliar with. It’s a technique the media is very practiced in; they have it down to a fine art. It’s been used on every Labour leader I’ve ever seen in my life, for openers and they aren’t shy about the way they do it.
Neil Kinnock got attacked as the “ginger whinger.” Ed Miliband got it for the way he ate a bacon roll. It’s worked to a great extent in damning public perceptions about Alex Salmond. It is in the latter stages of utterly destroying the career of Theresa May.
I saw the sports press try to destroy two of our managers, Wim Jansen and Jo Venglos, before they’d taken charge of a single match. Martin O’Neill eventually sued them over suggestions that he was talking to clubs whilst contracted to Celtic. Expect similar tactics, and hopefully a similar response, about Brendan as he takes us closer to ten in a row.
And of course, they tried it with Fergus – you only have to remember the headlines comparing him to Saddam Hussein.
Before the internet, before the Bampots, when all we had to punch back were the fanzines, those things worked, to one degree or another. They coloured our perceptions, in Fergus’ case so much so that he was shamefully booed as he unfurled the flag.
Jock Brown got the same treatment, and it started at his first press conference where every inquisitor opened with a question about his “Rangers background”, which everyone now accepts was absolutely non-existent. That didn’t matter, far less that everyone who attended, many of whom had worked with the guy for years, must have known that; it was the start of it, of wrecking this guy in the eyes of the fans before he even had his pencil box unpacked.
The tabloids were the lead-off hitters, as per usual, christening him “Joke Brown” the following day.
They paid no heed to his credentials or knowledge of the game.
They saw a chance to score a cheap and easy hit and they took it.
He never recovered.
It’s fair to say too that he fulfilled the role Fergus had obviously hired him for, although whether he fully grasped it at the time isn’t clear, which was that of lightening rod and taker of flak. A lot of the fall-outs he had with players and coaches – most famously, aside from Jansen and McLeod the bonus row that led to a spectacular bust-up with Paul Lambert – were clearly a result of instructions he’d been given by the guy in the bunnet … he was never going to win a popularity contest inside Celtic Park. And to be fair to him, he knew that himself.
But as the bad moments are all fresh in the memory – his weasel words on DiCanio are particularly grating to me – “He wasn’t sold, he was traded …”, an evasion right out of the Big Book of Dave King – his successes and accomplishments have long since been forgotten by most, if not all, Celtic fans.
He took the blame for everything that went wrong … but never the credit for what went right.
And there were a great many things which did.
As Pattulo says in the piece, his time at Celtic was bookended by the signings of Henrik Larsson and Lubo Moravcik.
In the latter case, he knew exactly what the media would make of the deal but he wholeheartedly trusted Jo Venglos (who he calls “the finest person I ever met in football”) and his judgement on the matter above all else.
He also jokes (in a dark way) about the AGM after we’d won the title, where he had announced sterling results; a League Cup, a League Championship, nine signings … and a £7 million profit. And what credit did he get? A guy asked him, “Why are you making a profit?”
When Peter Lawwell announces last year’s numbers – provided we get investment in this squad and qualify for the Champions League groups of course haha – he’ll get a standing ovation. And he’ll have wholeheartedly earned it too, and I write that as a guy who’s a self-confessed wearer of a “Not His Biggest Fan” badge.
Jock Brown is best known, of course, as the guy who “drove Wim Jansen out of Celtic”, a story that’s only halfway true.
Fergus himself describes Wim as almost impossible to work with on any kind of long-term project; he famously refused to submit a Season Two plan to the board, although they asked him for one on repeated occasions.
I’ve always wondered if perhaps there weren’t two sides to that debate, although only one ever got to the papers. (Or at least, only one was ever reported by them.) It helped drive another nail into Jock Brown’s Celtic Park coffin.
The great irony is that it was probably the signing of Lubo which was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The media response to that was every bit as venomous as Brown, and Venglos, had feared it would be whilst discussing the deal.
And of course, Lubo famously took his first Celtic bow on the day Brown’s resignation was accepted, and announced by the club.
The game, against Dundee, ended 6-1 to Celtic, and we saw enough from our 33 year old signing to suggest we might have something there.
A fortnight later, he took Rangers apart single-handedly and the legend was born.
That was the same day as the press announced that we’d agreed a deal to sign Mark Viduka. Brown would have deservedly got credit for that had he still been around, although when Viduka went AWOL after just four days he’d almost certainly have got the blame.
It summed up his time at Celtic; the guy just could not win.
Twenty years after he first took his bow at a Parkhead press conference notorious for the level of spite that he had to endure, he and Fergus are still good friends and see each other from time to time. For all that happened to him at our club, Jock Brown has never uttered a negative word against us. We didn’t have to fire that guy. There was no animosity in his departure. When things got to a certain point he walked, of his own volition.
There’s a certain honour in that. A certain integrity.
For Celtic fans, he will never be a hero.
But I’m not convinced he was ever a villain.
He was a victim of his own role, that of Fergus’ hatchet-man, the guy who did the cutting when there was cutting to be done. On top of that he was one of the principal targets of a vicious campaign by a bloody minded media, who were trying everything they could to derail our club in the Year That Stopped The Ten. Wim got the same treatment and, in their spite at losing, Jo Venglos after him. Brown was collateral damage, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
For all that, he was, and remained, a consummate pro. History will judge him far less harshly than some of the assorted goons who’ve had similar seats at Ibrox and Hampden, and who destroyed the newspapers they worked on.
Jock Brown helped to build something.
They wrecked what was in their charge.
I know, now, who I would rather have at the helm.
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