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guigz1-coldwar · 3 years

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'Western Brick in the Wall : Part 1' : New chapter for "Always for the greater cause..." is out !

Chapter Summary: The first real mission for Stitch's team can finally begin: infiltrating West-Berlin and track down two enemy agents who got their hands on important documents...

To read it on AO3, click here!

Taglist: @snowgoldwaylon , @clxudtea , @efingart

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23rd February 1981

Yirina 'Bell' Grigoriev, Ex-KGB, Perseus

In the U-Bahn under East-Berlin, Line 6, in the direction of West-Berlin

I thought that we were going to enter West-Berlin by normal means through one of the few checkpoints with fake identity papers for the mission but instead, we had to use the U-Bahn system of the city to actually make our move, something that Stitch has planned for us, knowing that it would be safer for us. After hours of preparation and when the evening came to set down on the city, it was time for us to get out of the safe house to join the U-Bahn.

When we arrived in one of the East-Berlinese U-Bahn stations, the whole team directly installed itself right in the last wagon of the metro that we took, getting ourselves prepared discreetly as they were still a few people in the wagon, descending from time to time to the stations on Line 6. I was installed near the door leading to the second-to-last wagon, Knight was near me, Bellamy was in the middle, standing up as he got to cede his seat to an old woman as Stitch & Wraith were hidden at the end of the wagon.

"For fuck sake, I really had to cede my seat," Bellamy sighed as the last person that wasn't part of the team left the wagon, leaving the full team inside of it. "And to an old woman, come on," He added, wanting to take his seat back but he didn't do it despite the urge on his face.

"At least, you were generous," Knight scoffed, going up from his seat to lock the doors that were leading to the other wagon.

"Oh, just fuck you, Knight," Bellamy cursed loudly, pointing his hand towards Knight that was having his back turned around to lock the door, making me rise from my seat in case.

"Are you two going to stop this or not?" Wraith said from across the wagon, freeing her seat to join the middle near Bellamy. "You two are still acting like fucking children, behave yourself, we've got a job to do!" She clarified as I was staying near Knight, my hand towards his chest, gesturing to not move before shaking my head.

"Yes, that's the thing now," I joined up Wraith on this point, focusing on Bellamy as he was the one starting it. "We're on a mission,"

"Bell is right, I don't want anything from you two over the comms, arguing, understood?" Stitch spoke up, walking towards us from his seat and the two nodded in approval, realizing the situation...for good, I hope. "Are earsets good?" He asked, making everyone check-up the little earset hidden in our ear, me tapping it gently in my right ear.

"I'm good," I replied to him.

"Same for me," Wraith told him as Knight & Bellamy only gestured with a thumb up.

"Okay, knight, light out," Stitch ordered, making a sign to Knight who directly moved towards the control panel of the wagon, shutting down the lights of the wagon, plunging it in darkness. "Wraith, do you have everything good?" He demanded and she nodded. "Everyone remembers their roles tonight?" Everyone nodded to him.

"And if something changes?" Bellamy questioned him, peaking his eyes outside the wagon. the lights of the tunnel and the passing of the other trains lighting up a bit in here.

"Then, we get along with it," I responded to him clearly, Stitch looking at me with a little smile before Wraith looked up.

"We should be in a few seconds in West-Berlin," She guessed as I have remembered to have view the U-Bahn map after our discussion for a long time to prepare exactly & precisely the mission...a true pro...

"Good," Stitch breathed before he starts to walk slowly towards the back door of the wagon, gesturing with his hands to me to follow him. "I & Bell are jumping first to observe the moves of Katinka, Wraith & Knight, you're taking shelter to the store in front of Katinka's hideout and Bellamy, you're assuring the extraction," He reminded everyone before he opens the door with his hands, the noise of the train been heard louder than before as he knelt on one knee. "You're ready, Bell?"

"Of course," I said, nodding at him.

"Let's go then," He told me, tapping the back of my shoulder gently before he jumped first from the train.

I took a deep breath before I jump off the train too, landing on the rails of the tunnel...and almost fall because my feet tapped against one of the wooden planks on the ground, feeling so ridiculous as Stitch was looking at me and it was unsure if he was laughing or not on his face even if he was without a mask. The only thing he did was shake his head, his eyes rolling up.

"Here's the ghost station, it's our entrance to the West," Stitch exclaimed, taking out a silenced pistol as we were walking on the rails discreetly.

"Sure that it's safe?" I asked, staying behind him as he was the one leading the way to me.

"The HVA was using this ghost station to slip some of their agents in West Berlin, abandoned by them a year ago and even the Americans didn't spot it," He replied, reassuring me as we entered a little maintenance room to join the bay of the station, finding actually no one that could disturb us in our moves, not even on the other bay as the train was covering us in case. "There should be a ladder inside," He pointed out towards another locked door that he opened easily.

"I'm climbing first," I volunteered myself as there was a black ladder at the end of the room and Stitch nodded, approving my choice.

I put down my gun for the moment as I put my hands on the ladder to climb up slowly to reach the surface and when I was going to arrive near the trap of the surface, I was able to hear what was the weather outside: all rainy, hearing the sounds of the drops falling on the manhole...the same time we're been having for days now and West-Berlin has to have it too...things are never changing here.

It's with a sigh that I opened the manhole from the inside, getting greeted by the heavy drop of rain on my face, causing me to put on the hood of my blue sweater before actually got up back on my feet, finally breathing some fresh air from the outside...feeling so good but also good enough to catch a cold. I took a breath before turning around to help Stitch that was going up from the ladder, offering my hand to help him.

"Thanks, Bell," He said, taking my hand in his, helping him to get on the surface before passing his hands on his pants, cleaning up some dust on it. "Welcome to West-Berlin," He scoffed, closing the manhole behind him once he was done.

"Not changing from the East for the moment," I stated as I was looking around, we were in a small alley that was surely near the Berlin Wall, finding it in the same state that was around the safe house.

"The Germans..." Stitch sighed before he took a look around with me, his eye getting on a locked door, "We should get to the roof before someone caught us here," He exclaimed, starting to move towards a red locked door as I was staying behind him, him trying to discreetly open the door without making too many noises.

"I thought that we were going to be stopped by guards," I said to him, my silenced M1911 in my hands, my eyes on the way to get to the street.

"Me too, Bellamy said that the West-German police was somehow going to be on alert because of a leak," He revealed to me, the talk seemingly making him less focused on unlocking that door and it was looking like I was going to force open it with my feet if he was going to be this long. "We stay aware and...finally, it's open," He told me, able to open the door without me and let me enter the building.

"We're near Checkpoint Charlie, right?" I demanded to him.

"Yes, Krypto & Katinka are meeting in the bar nearby, we're here to make sure Katinka has the briefcase and that the meeting is taking place," He responded, closing the door and locking it again to make sure that no one was going to come here. "Lead the way, I'm behind you," He ordered, making me get upstairs as the first thing I saw when entering the place was directly that.

I complied as I moved up on the wooden stairs before arriving at a locked door, opening in less time than Stitch did before and again, back into the outside air, finding myself on the roof and having a big view over the Berlin Wall, seeing its full layout, a No Man's Land between two big walls, patrols with dogs & watchtowers with spotlights, watching over the area to search any person trying to pass the Wall but it would be suicide.

"The Soviets did really make quite a job," I spoke to myself as Stitch was arriving behind me, closing the door again before he took up the lead, walking towards the ridge at a few meters while avoiding the spotlight that was trying to light up the roof but the red sign with letters on the roof allowed us to move without any problem, the ridge out of sight from the spotlight.

"In time," Stitch sighed, kneeling on his right knee near the ridge, overlooking the checkpoint that was at its full usefulness. "Bell, take your camera, see if you can spot Katinka," He ordered, prompting me to take out the camera I was given by Wraith for the mission. "Try to watch any person that could hold a briefcase," He clarified as my eyes were looking right through the camera.

I was looking at everything around the side of the checkpoint, seeing only the car that was getting frisked along with its occupants by the American guards, thinking at first that I was finding that Katinka before I moved a little to see the person that wasn't using a car, spotting a woman with blond hair, with a black briefcase & a brown umbrella in each hand, walking towards the checkpoint.

"I got her: the woman with a brown umbrella," I announced to Stitch, pointing my hand discreetly towards her position she was as she got stopped by a guard by the moment she arrived near the checkpoint.

"The guard is letting her pass," Stitch commented after Katinka pulled out something from her white coat with her right hand to the guard before he let her pass after moving away from her. "Must have been important, the Americans can't let her pass despite the alert they are," He added.

"That's also meaning that she got what we need," I raised my shoulders, still looking at Katinka that was walking towards the bar of the meeting before moving my eyes away from the camera, putting it back inside my jacket, "Do we move?"

"Yes, we had to," Stitch got up from his spot before quickly walking away and following him out of the roof, taking another direction to leave it, passing through some stairs inside the building before we landed on the ground, inside another alley, with a path towards the street. "Shit, it's looking like the police are on high alert," Stitch said, seeing the multiple policemen around the street.

"It might be too dangerous for you to get in that bar, I presume?" I presumed, meaning that it was the first change of plan of the whole mission, Stitch could be recognized by some around and we couldn't risk that.

"Yeap but I know that you can do it, I'll stay here to watch over the place," He assured me about my skills as I took a deep breath, walking with Stitch near the street. "My contact inside is from the Stasi, he's wearing a black leather jacket, brown hair and has a red umbrella," He explained, giving me better details about the person that we were supposed to meet together.

"I'm on my way," I breathed, leaving Stitch alone to engage myself inside the street sidewalk.

The police were looking very suspiciously and I couldn't let myself got stop by them, having no fake identity papers with me, just an earset and a silenced M1911 in my jacket but hopefully, my clothes weren't looking too much suspicious, much adapted to that side of the city. I walked through the pedestrian crossing of the street to join the bar where this Zasha and Katinka were supposed to meet, the name of the bar wasn't so important for me now.

I took a quick look inside through one of the main windows, perceiving Katinka with her back turned against the front door of the place, sit on a table and all alone, having put her briefcase and umbrella near it before I decided to enter the place, passing the front door and removing the hood of my jacket after having it on top of me since I stepped out of that manhole cover.

My eyes went directly towards the end of the bar, having found with them, the contact that Stitch mentioned to me: a man with brown hair and having a red umbrella leaned against the table he was staying on, making me walk to him.

"Hey, good to see you," I faked to know the man, having to act like normal friends with him.

"Oh, that's you, have a seat," The man greeted me with a smile, offering his hand for shaking and I complied before he pointed at me, the seat in front of me, sitting down on it. "So, you're 'Bell'? From Stitch's team?" He asked me clearly in a low voice.

"Yes, and you?" I asked him back,

"Franz Kraus, affiliated with Volkov, ex-Stasi," He replied to me, putting his hands on the table, palms against it. "Are your team listening?" He demanded, gesturing with his head to my ears.

"Of course," I reassured him, putting my hand above my right ear. "Is the sound clear for everything?" I questioned the others through the earset, receiving a big yes from Stitch, Bellamy & Knight, and an all nice for me from Wraith...very different from the others, I can say.

"Katinka Goodman is at the table near the entrance, you should have seen her when you come in," He said, keeping his eyes on me as I was making furtive looks to where Katinka was, still seeing her alone.

"Do you know why the police are looking agitated?" I demanded at him curiously, seeing through the window near us, the police cars outside.

"Rumors said that the police are after some HVA agents, our informant inside the BND still in East-Berlin managed to tell us about it," He responded to me, tapping with his left hand on the table as, near it, there was a little plate with cute snacks on it, giving me the idea to take them for me. "Apart of it, I shouldn't be here in the West," He added, probably talking to himself, profiting that he was looking away to take those snacks inside my jacket. "But anyway, it's part of the job, got a kid & a wife to take care," He sighed, pulling out of his jacket a pack of cigarettes, taking only one after I gestured that I didn't want one.

"Katinka is looking rather nervous," I suggested, seeing her from afar, tapping with her feet on the ground, her hands on the table.

"To what I heard from her, she needs to be taken seriously, she ain't someone to joke with," He explained, his voice actually meaning it and he was looking sure of his words at me. "She's..."

"Wait, there's someone coming to look at her," I interrupted him as I could see a man dressed in black, directly going to whisper something inside Katinka's right ear before he left, soon followed by her. "Shit, she's leaving," I cursed.

"Bell, get out, the police is coming in," Stitch warned me as the second after he speaks that four policemen entered the bar, "I'm going into hiding," He added before his earset went shut on all the team.

"Bell, join me at the store near Katinka's hideout, Bellamy told me that she's walking back to it," Wraith ordered to me, me trying to not panic as the policemen were starting to check up everybody.

"Don't worry, I've got something," Kraus reassured me before he looked in the direction of the bar counter, a group of three men dressed in blacks like the other man, and Kraus made a sign to them with his head before one of them starts to walk towards the policemen group.

"Hey, asshole, take that," The man shouted before he literally throws a punch on the first policeman he approached, causing a brawl to spark inside the bar, Kraus's men engaging the policemen.

"Go, now!" Kraus ordered to me and I nodded, having given me the perfect opportunity to leave the bar without any problem.

That brawl was going to put some attention to every cop around in the sector, passing next to it and not taking care about who was winning or losing before heading out the bar by the same door I came in as some cops were coming in to help their friends in needs, not paying attention to, and then, I needed to go into the store where Wraith & Knight should've been waiting for me.

I thought at first that I was going to get myself lost inside the streets of West-Berlin as Katinka's hideout was a few streets away from the bar but thanks to having studied the layout of the sector with some maps back at the safe house instead of staying on my ass on a chair as Bellamy did, I managed to remember the way to get to the store, avoiding, of course, the few cops that weren't running away to calm the brawl at the bar.

It took me 5 minutes to get myself to the store, passing in front of the place where Bellamy was waiting for us before arriving near a grilled door, Knight at the other side of it and by seeing me arrive, he opened it widely.

"Here you are, you did nose or what?" He asked me in a serious voice, letting me enter the alley he was waiting in. "They're talking about a brawl inside the bar," He clarified himself about what he was asking about.

"Yes, Kraus's men did one to let me away without any suspicions," I replied to him before he closes the grilled door, and then walking next to a door.

"Wraith is inside, she's waiting for you," Knight told me as he opened the door leading inside the store. "I'll be waiting here in the case for Stitch," I nodded to him before I stepped inside the store, looking like an electronics store but then, as I was walking to get to Wraith that was near the window, earsets around her head and holding a strange device, something weird happens.

There were one of the TV that was shut off completely in the middle shelf but when I approached it, it suddenly goes on, showing me pictures of...various things...Rebirth Island...a red door inside a big hallway...some archives from the Vietnam War...and then....

"Bell! Bell!" A voice spoke up, getting me out of my thoughts as I could see Wraith, standing near me, looking worried, her hands on my right arm. "Hey, you're okay?" She asked me.

"I...this TV turned on by itself," I said, gesturing towards the TV in question that was now shut off.

"Bell, are you sure you're fine?" She questioned me, keeping her hands on me to reassure me.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine," I told her, shaking my head, thinking that it was just my head messing up, knowing that it was some side effects of my one-month coma as reported by Stitch before. "Uhm...what's the situation?" I demanded to her, finding a better voice for me to talk with.

"Katinka just came back and got called by Smirnov, the meeting's place has changed," She answered, gently tapping my right arm before she walks back to her spot, kneeling with one knee on the ground. "Someone warned them," She added.

"Shit," I muttered, looking at my feet. "But we aren't aborting, right?"

"Nope, we need someone to enter her apartment and put a tracker inside that briefcase she's holding around," She confirmed her determination to do her job, taking out from a bag that was posed on the ground near her, a green hood along with a little tracking device. "You're the one doing it, you got the lockpicks," She exclaimed, handing me the two things in my hands.

"And the hood? What it is for?" I was curious about its usefulness here, taking it nonetheless.

"It's to use when you will enter her hideout, we can't risk having our faces recognized," She explained to me as I was looking hesitant to actually go inside her hideout. "Listen, Bell, I know that you can do this, you're the best," She affirmed, myself wanting to say that I couldn't be the best but it was nice from her anyway.

"Okay, I will do it," I grinned at her, getting the hood and the tracker inside my jacket before taking a look at the window Wraith was focusing her strange device, that was in fact a listening device to hear discussions from afar...very stupid from me..."I'll do my best," I admitted before taking a deep breath and joining the front door to get on the street...

"Bell," Wraith's voice stopped me in my moves, just having my hands on the front door handle, looking worried on her face but still with a little smile...

"Don't worry, I'll be your eyes, I've got hope on you,"

#cod bocw #cod black ops cold war #cod cold war #cod cw #call of duty cold war #cod #call of duty #cod bell #black ops cold war #fem!bell #freya wraith helvig

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an-ephemeral-blog · 5 years

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What’s standing in the way of women’s soccer?

When chants of ‘equal pay!’ ring through soccer stadiums, men jump on Twitter to explain why, despite performing better internationally than the men’s team, women soccer players don’t deserve equal pay because they don’t earn as much revenue.

Over the past two months I’ve become a big NWSL fan. It’s very different from being an MLB fan, my only previous experience of passionate sports fandom. There are a lot of things I take for granted that a professional sports team has, which NWSL teams do not have. These things absolutely affect revenue, either directly, or by lowering the quality of play or the experience of watching games. Here’s a list.

1. NWSL stadiums are less accessible than MLS and other stadiums.

My local team, the Washington Spirit, plays at the Maryland SoccerPlex. To get to the Plex, if you don’t have a car, requires an hour-plus train ride to the end of the metro and then either a 25+ minute car ride or a 45+ bus ride. I have multiple friends who’ve expressed interested in going to a game but balked when they found out how long it would take to get there. Another friend had to cancel because she was working late and couldn’t finish by 5:30pm, which was the time she’d have to leave to make it to a 7:30pm game.

As a trial run, the Spirit are playing a game tomorrow at Audi Field, home field of the MLS team DC United. Audi Field is about 30 minutes away from downtown and is easily accessible via Metro. Correspondingly, the Spirit is on track to more than triple their season record at the Plex. They may even sell out Audi Field. Surely if they can sell out Audi Field, they deserve to play in it?

Which brings me to the next item on the list...

2. NWSL stadiums are smaller than MLS stadiums.

The Spirit’s plex sells out at around 5,500 tickets. For tomorrow’s Audi Field game, they’ve currently sold over 16,000 tickets.

Sky Blue’s regular park also holds about 5,000 fans. When they played a game last weekend at Red Bull Arena, aka the stadium of their local MLS team, they nearly doubled attendance at 9,000+ tickets sold.

I don’t know the breakdown for every team in the league. I do know that Orlando Pride, despite having access to a great stadium, tends to draw fewer fans do to their lower quality of play. (They’re second to last in the league.) On the other hand, the Portland Thorns already share a stadium with their MLS neighbor team, the Timbers, and also boast the biggest and loudest fanbase in the NWSL. Portland recently set a league record with 25,000+ tickets sold to a game.

Items #1 and #2 combine to make clear that to grow as a league, NWSL teams need to play in larger stadiums that are easier to access. (This doesn’t even take into account how stadium facilities might impact quality of play. Some NWSL teams don’t even have showers in their locker rooms!) Owners and league managers need to invest in securing these spaces for teams, even if they might not be profitable at first. The experience of Sky Blue and Spirit suggests that managers won’t have to wait to reap the benefits.

3. NWSL games are often scheduled simultaneously, decreasing viewership.

With only nine teams in the NWSL, there are four to six NWSL games each week. Given this small number, you’d think they’d all be on at different times, right?

Nope. Every week, there’s at least one pair of games scheduled against each other. Often there’s two. If you don’t have the ability to tape games, you’re forced to miss at least one game every week. As I have taken to tweeting despairingly at the NWSL each time this happens: whyyyyyyyy.

Schedule creation is complicated, and there are more factors that go into it than I know of. But one key element is when teams even have their field available. Most teams don’t own their own fields, and have to work within a restricted subset of dates and times. To the extent that this contributed to overlapping games, it’s yet another way that issues securing good stadiums get in the way of fans supporting their teams.

4. NWSL teams have a lower quality of commentating.

Complaining about the announcers/commentators on NWSL matches is a sport of its own. Announcers regularly mispronounce players’ names and sometimes misidentify them. They repeat facts and stories, and use the same turns of phrase over and over until you can’t help but twitch every time you hear them say “she sprays the ball out wide” or “the ball found it’s way to...” The last Spirit game I attended, I sat in front of a woman who, after Elise Kellond-Knight left with a pulled hamstring, briefly explained to her friends why women were more likely than men to have hamstring injuries. (It has something to do with women having more developed quad muscles, which puts the opposing muscles, the hamstrings, at greater risk. This also leads to increased ACL injuries among women.) This random stranger had more interesting commentary than any of the people I’d heard on TV. But why are these announcers so bad? The answer’s easy: NWSL announcers are barely paid. They make $300-$400 a game, with no travel or lodging expenses paid, which means unless you live in Fort Lauderdale where the announcing is recorded, you have to pay to announce. I don’t know how much MLS announcers make, but I bet it’s better than that.

5. NWSL teams have a lower quality of refereeing.

Oh boy. Okay. There have been some issues with NWSL refereeing lately. As national team star Ali Krieger put it:

We’re putting a good product out on the field and every year we’re getting better and the referees seem like they are not. So, I beg the NWSL — just the standard needs to be higher. It’s just unfortunate that you feel like the referee is ruining the game. They are taking the fun out of the game because they are not good enough.

How could we raise the standards of referees? Well, they could stop treating the NWSL like a training ground for MLS:

There are five tiers in the U.S. Soccer refereeing program. The top-level, called “FIFA,” is the highest tier. These referees can officiate in FIFA-sanctioned matches.

”The second tier is “P.R.O.” These referees can officiate MLS matches and are selected by the Professional Referee Organization.

The next tier down is called “National,” and these officials are certified by U.S. Soccer. These referees can officiate USL Championship and NWSL matches. And therein lies the problem.

The NWSL will never have officiating as good as the MLS as long as this remains US Soccer’s official policy. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

6. NWSL games are not marketed as well as they could be.

I won’t pretend to understand marketing, but I know that it’s hard for people to go to games they don’t even know about:

[Portland Thorns defender Meghan Klingenberg ] couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed when she saw Fox discuss the U.S. Men’s National Team’s run at the CONCACAF Gold Cup during halftime of the Women’s World Cup final Sunday, rather than preview the upcoming games in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

“I love Fox. I think they did a great job. They gave the Women’s World Cup the attention that it deserves, but I wish we mentioned the NWSL more. [...] We need that to be put into the consciousness of the general public. We need ESPN to talk about the NWSL year-round. We need beat reporters in every single city that has an NWSL team. We need investment in advertising and marketing, in ground support, in make sure that people know that there’s a freaking team in their area.” [source]

It seems that marketing is another area in which US Soccer is underinvesting in women:

[Soccer United Marketing, the commercial arm of Major League Soccer] handles deals for MLS and the U.S. Soccer Federation but not the NWSL, even though U.S. Soccer runs the NWSL. This fact has long been lamented by the women’s soccer community.

The NWSL marketing team needs the resources to at least let people know that their teams exist and their games are happening. But beyond that... the NWSL is full of charismatic stars, both current and potential. Let’s give them the spotlight.

7. NWSL salaries are, for all but the biggest stars, below average income.

No one goes into women’s soccer for the money, even if a few of the game’s biggest stars have managed to get some lucrative sponsorships. The league guarantees a minimum salary of $16,538, barely above the poverty line, and caps max salary at $46,200, a bit belong the mean American income.

Talented young women who are making decisions about where to go to college and what to do after college need to take this into account. If they have dependents, family members with health issues, or significant debt, they simply may not be able to afford to play soccer professionally.

This impacts the number of women available to play professionally as well as their ability to nurture their own talent by investing in themselves via special camps and training. For every Megan Rapinoe or Alex Morgan or Crystal Dunn who has made it to the NWSL there’s someone equally talented who stopped playing in high school or college because law school or medical school or learning to code seemed like a more financially viable career path.

In other words, for all the strides women’s soccer has made over the last twenty to thirty years, the NWSL still selecting from only a fraction of the potential talent pool.

I’ve been an NWSL fan for less than two months, so I’m surely missing other ways that women’s soccer has been under-invested in. But the seven issues outlined above should be enough to convince you there’s a problem.

Saying that people just don’t want to watch women’s soccer isn’t merely an oversimplification - it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. The whole point of investment is you take a risk now to reap a payoff later. The NWSL needs US Soccer and the wider sports community to invest in them, and given time, everyone will benefit.

You know what keeps ringing in my ears? Research that shows that men are judged on their potential, while women are only judged on their performance. The NWSL has the potential to be a thriving league with the revenues and fan enthusiasm of the MLS. The question is whether women’s soccer will be given the support they need to deliver on that potential.

#soccer #nwsl

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crosbymalkin871 · 5 years

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Random question: people are saying that Game 6 of the last Pens-Caps series is the reason why the Pens have never been the same since then, is it true? Did we just got Ottawa Senator’d after the 2017 ECF or the 2013-15 Leafs after Game 7 against Boston in 2013? 😢

Bold of you to assume that the Pittsburgh Penguins, captained by Sidney Crosby and assisted by Evgeni Malkin, is considered to be as shitty as those teams are/have been. (The Leafs have been improving since the 2016-17 season and I’m proud of them.)

But we’re not like those teams nonny, we had a relatively good season (3rd place in Metro people) we just…didn’t have our mojo. That can be expected sometimes, even good teams can have crap years, it’s not uncommon. I saw some Pens “fans” comparing us to the Hawks after they won their 3 Cups and I’m like…”fucking really?!” Like, we had some crap moments, but holy fuck we’re not THAT bad! I mean, we’re not even comparable to the Kings, or even the Oilers!

All I’m saying is, the Pens need a break. They were playing with injuries that series (no surprise since 1. the ***** are the new C*ps; 2. they were coached by Trotz) and we need to figure out our foundation. Am I saying some players will go? Yeah, they might. And some will have to because of Seattle. Am I saying Rutherford or Sully will go? …most likely not, since they’ll probably want to finish out Sully’s contract and I don’t know how long they want Rutherford. Let’s just give them the full summer to recuperate and let them figure out a game plan from there, kay?

#anonymous hockey fans

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burning-up-ao3 · 5 years

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20 Penguins Thoughts: Improvement involves more than a potential trade January 29, 2019 8:00 AMBy Jason Mackey / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Look at what Jim Rutherford did on Monday, trading Jamie Oleksiak back to Dallas for a 2019 fourth-round draft pick, and it’s fairly easy to conclude that the Penguins general manager has his sights set on doing something.

Fine. Trade away, Jim. Shoot your shot.

But is a swap for a third-line center, or even an impact winger, going to fix this? Highly doubtful.

Not that the Penguins are a dysfunctional group, either. They aren’t. They’re still a very good team. But no matter what move Rutherford makes, if the Penguins play like they did Monday, they’re simply not a trade away from another Stanley Cup run.

“If we’re going to be successful,” Matt Cullen was saying after the Penguins’ 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night, “we’re going to have to be a lot harder to play against.”

The 42-year-old has never been more right.

Kevin Hayes, Radek Faksa, Charlie Coyle, Micheal Ferland — all dream acquisitions by Penguins fans, for perfectly understandable reasons — aren’t going to solve the problem by themselves. Neither is shipping out Jack Johnson or calling up Teddy Blueger or whatever other Band-Aid has been applied.

Heck, the Penguins got creamed by the Devils, and Derick Brassard was actually half-decent. What the Penguins will need to fix this — and snap out of a stretch that has included five losses in eight games — is much larger than one or two players.

So, what realistically must happen?

2. Work ethic, urgency and competitive spirit were the terms being thrown around the Penguins dressing room late Monday, and it’s hard to argue with any of them.

The power play also has to be better; those five players need to be a factor, and they can’t keep allowing short-handed goals at this rate. They need to get Evgeni Malkin right, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Penguins coach Mike Sullivan’s move is to pull him off the top unit, as crazy as that might sound. No more bad turnovers. Let him focus on other areas.

The Penguins also must defend better than they did against New Jersey, and there’s simply a lack of urgency that shouldn’t exist at this point in the season, especially not for a team that fancies itself as a Stanley Cup contender.

I do have five questions for the home stretch, but I’ll get to those shortly. First, a couple loose ends.

3. I thought Sidney Crosby had some really strong stuff to say after Monday’s loss. He’s usually fairly positive, never too down, but the captain seemed fairly mad after this one.

What lacked against the Devils: “Everything. Execution. Urgency. Those are probably the biggest two. Pretty important ones.”

The NHL-worst 11 short-handed goals the Penguins have allowed: “I mean, it’s 11. I think it could probably be a couple different things depending on the play. It’s not a stat we’re proud of, that’s for sure.”

On needing to correct things with Tampa coming in: “We can say everything we want to say. We can say all the right things. We have to go out there and do it.”

Good for him. No one has a stronger voice than Crosby. And every word is he said is true.

4. Here’s why I think Rutherford could do something, and soon: Why else let Jamie Oleksiak go for a fourth-round pick?

Perhaps because Rutherford knows he’s going to need the space soon, and this was what he figured was his best available opinion.

That’s what I think, anyway.

“It just puts us in a position when something comes along — which, it will — over the next few weeks here,” Rutherford said when I asked what this means moving forward in our phone conversation early Monday evening. “It’ll put us in a position for other options because of the cap space.”

Which it will. Rutherford knows his phone will be ringing, and you know he’ll answer.

Yes, it was about having too many defensemen and Justin Schultz coming back soon, but that’s not a reason to make the trade now, for that return.

Doing it now, and not when Schultz returns in early February — remember, he has yet to skate with the team — sends a signal that Rutherford is open for business and able to potentially absorb some salary.

5. Switching gears a little bit … why hasn’t Teddy Blueger been gotten a shot? You guys/girls ask this a lot.

With 21 goals and 39 points in 45 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL, it’s a totally reasonable question, especially considering Blueger plays in all situations and isn’t defensively deficient.

When I talked to Rutherford before Monday’s game, I asked him exactly that: Why hasn’t Blueger been given a chance?

“It’s a positional thing,” Rutherford said. “He’s played well enough to be here. When it’s been time to recall a player, the players that we’ve recalled can play the wing.

“We haven’t been in a position where we’ve had to call up a center. Teddy doesn’t play the wing. He only plays center. It’s a more-than-fair question. He has done what he’s needed to do to put himself in position to play at this level.”

6. I see Rutherford’s point. Blueger isn’t a wing, and the Penguins would theoretically be doing a disservice to him by playing him out of position, even if I know many of you are going to say, “Well, just shift someone else there.”

I don’t think the Penguins would want a fourth line with two guys playing out of position — probably Riley Sheahan and Matt Cullen — to accommodate a rookie playing his first NHL game.

7. Which led to this follow-up question that I posed to Rutherford: Is there a scenario you see unfolding where Blueger could get a chance this season.

His answer: “I don’t see it with the guys that we have here now.”

I found that answer interesting: “With the guys that we have here now.”

On one hand, that means no; Blueger’s staying in the minors. On the other, I suppose that could change if Rutherford trades Brassard or even Riley Sheahan, although I don’t think using Blueger as a regular is something the Penguins want to force.

8-12. To me, there’s five key questions for the Penguins coming out of the All-Star break. Addressing those will occupy this and the following four spots.

The first involves Malkin. Can he rediscover the form he found during the second half of last season, when he led the NHL in points (62) from Jan. 1 through the end of the regular season?

Taking him off the top power play might be one option. Maybe trying some other people on his left wing. Shoot, maybe even sit Malkin down for a game, just to change something up, although I admittedly don’t love that option.

But I think Malkin is pressing and his confidence is lacking, which is a bad combination.

“Obviously we’d like him to have more of a positive impact on the game,” Sullivan said after Monday’s game. “He’s such a talented player. He’s such an accomplished player. I know how much he cares about this team, this organization and trying to help us win. Part of my responsibility as his coach and our staff is we’re trying to help Geno through this process and try and help him capture his very best game. We’ll continue to work with him.”

9. What happens when Schultz returns?

You know he’s going to slot into the top-four. But more than that, with whom does Schultz play? Olli Maatta? Is he effective? Does he get top power-play reps? The latter part is interesting given that unit’s current situation.

I also look at Schultz like a trade-deadline acquisition. His presence alone could give this group a nice little jolt of life.

10. Where’s Matt Murray at?

It’s hard to criticize Murray after Monday’s game. No, he wasn’t great, but neither was the team in front of him. And this is a guy who was 10-1 since returning from a lower-body injury, with a 1.81 goals-against average and .944 save percentage before the Devils game.

Expecting those numbers might be a bit much, but the Penguins will want and need something close here to make a push over the final 40 percent of the season.

11. What’s the final verdict on Brassard?

Brassard was actually decent Monday, although hardly enough to quash any of the ongoing trade talk.

Given acquisition cost, don’t rule out the Penguins sticking with Brassard, although I would imagine that, if they do, Rutherford would probably like to add another piece to get more from that line.

12. How does this Metro mess sort itself out?

The Metropolitan Division is an interesting place right now.

The Islanders are in first place, have allowed a league-low 118 goals, and Barry Trotz is looking like the Jack Adams Award winner. The Capitals, meanwhile, have lost seven in a row and look lost.

The Blue Jackets are hanging around, and the Penguins are in fourth place, with the Hurricanes just four points behind.

That’s a long-winded way of saying that plenty can still happen, and the margin for error is rather small.

13. Moving on … I loved what Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker and others did at the NHL All-Star Game, but I still wish it would have been executed differently.

For one, they should have been paid, especially Decker after winning the premier passer event.

You can treat this like a statement-making sort of event all you want, which I think the NHL did. But when you pay the event winners, pay the winning team of the All-Star Game $1 million and award a car to the MVP … and you don’t see a need to earmark anything for these women — who make nothing close to NHL players — until there’s negative reaction over it, I question how much of a statement you were really trying to make.

14. Also, why not show all of them demonstrating the drills? And why not talk, while Coyne Schofield was flying, about her own career, Northeastern, Team USA women’s hockey, whatever. Anything aside from her husband who plays for the Chargers.

Or, here’s a final thought: Why not promote the upcoming series between Team USA and Hockey Canada in Detroit and London, Ontario?

If you have a platform, use it.

15. One more about Coyne Schofield and Decker …

Being in the building, the buzz created was amazing. It also made me think about something that I’d love to see: a National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL) team in Pittsburgh.

I think it would work, too. There are so many fervent and intelligent female hockey fans here, plus there’s great infrastructure in place for it with UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and how naturally intertwined it would be with the Penguins.

Have no clue on logistics or anything like that, or whether it’s even remotely possible, but if the team won, I think it could do really well.

16. I find NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s stance on current labor negotiations … interesting.

He keeps repeating the phrase, “We’re not looking for a fight.”

Great, but your fans don’t care. They just want the product.

And it positions the players, if they ask for anything that’s even remotely reasonable, as the bad guys.

17. Media day must be handled better next year.

You’ll notice that neither Crosby nor Kris Letang was there. They were among the seven of 44 players who did not make it. That’s too many.

But I don’t blame Crosby or Letang. Why should they give up a day of their bye week when the All-Stars who are on theirs from Jan. 27-31 will get five full days?

It’s also not fair to the fans who bought tickets to the event — held inside San Jose’s City National Civic theater — expecting to hear those two or others. I also understand why those who played Wednesday night weren’t there.

My solution: Put a dark day in the schedule, to ensure 100 percent participation. There’s no sense wasting fans’ or media members’ money and ticking off your players … for what?

18. While we’re at it, I also think the Skills Competition needs tweaked.

I think the fastest skater, hardest shot and accuracy shooting events are fine the way they are. Leave those alone. Let’s concentrate on the other ones.

The puck control event was OK, but I don’t see how casual fans might keep the event on their TVs to watch a dude stickhandle around cones. Too boring. Need to spice it up a little.

Secondly, the whole event slowed to a crawl during the save streak-intermission-premier passer part of the evening. Has to be tighter to keep viewers’ attention.

Have goalies stop as many breakaways as they can until they’re done. If it’s two, so be it. They’re done.

Then simplify the passing thing. I don’t need to see poor Mikko Rantanen suffering through 2:17.379, then having to watch seven more heats.

The Skills Competition has some interesting elements. I think it can be watchable, as opposed to the game itself, which is a little too gimmicky for my taste.

But it needs to be tighter, falling somewhere in the 90-minute range start to finish.

19. I was not at all surprised to hear deputy NHL commissioner Bill Daly’s answer when I asked whether the Penguins are being considered for international events.

“Yes,” was what Daly said, with a wide smile.

As they should be.

How does one of the NHL’s marquee U.S. teams, with the league’s most recognizable player and some seriously high-end talent, not get included in this stuff?

The Penguins haven’t played internationally since going to Stockholm, Sweden in 2008. Whether it’s China, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland or the Czech Republic — all destinations on the horizon — the Penguins should get asked to go.

And soon, if you ask me.

20. I liked seeing Toronto’s Auston Matthews rip off his own Maple Leafs sweater to show support for teammate Patrick Marleau, who’s nothing short of a legend out here.

I think it’s part of what should be a push by players, especially the younger ones, to showcase more personality whenever possible.

I know the NHL is a different animal, and it’s never going to rival the NBA or NFL in terms of pure entertainment for casual fans.

But if the league can do something, anything, to become even a little less bland — including players speaking their minds instead of offering milquetoast quotes they fear might upset someone — I think it would be a good thing.

Jason Mackey: [email protected] and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

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