So wait - there are holier-than-thou, sanctimonious shitheads who feel justified in denigrating Jemele Hill for towing the company line during her BS suspension? Really?

Circular breathing.

This is so poetic and beautiful. I feel like a melancholy, shirtless, glittery Gronk may become the new “Pegasus running through a rainbow” or “wolf silhouetted against a full moon”. Black velvet paintings, t-shirts, airbrushed vignettes on the sides of vans...this makes me happy.

“...the team says his return is unlikely...”

Hey, he said “the sheriff is near!”

Anyone talking about #metoo backlash or people growing weary of these stories had better buckle up for a long ride and just get used to the fact that we’re only at the tippy tip of the iceberg with this stuff.

This is so depressing and awful. Parents, school authorities, coaches, the students themselves (because HS age is old enough to bloody well know right vs. wrong) - they should all be ashamed with themselves.

I agree. Most of these athletes have lived in a razor-focused bubble for a good chunk of their lives. I think it’s understandable that it would have an effect on them, and it’s irrelevant to say “this is what I would’ve done” because most of us have no idea what their lives are like.

I’m still not willing to take a bet on that.

NCAA sports are not an “extracurricular activity”. That would be the Sunday afternoon flag football league regular students participate in.

Sure - the players benefit by attending a university and getting a scholarship - but the NCAA’s byzantine rules are so anti-player they tend to punish athletes who choose to play it straight.

Exactly - and it’s sad how few people who foam at the mouth about being “patriots” wouldn’t understand that distinction.

Right! I feel like WB always has this attitude of “spectacle will make money” and that’s all they strive for. It’s all very shallow without showing much care or concern for the characters. How about you just try to make a great movie without self-consciously putting all your eggs in the “super hero” basket?

“...and his entire character is centered around the internal conflict of balancing power with restraint...”

I think there’s something to this, in that the Right has tons of major media to bloviate endlessly on the party line. They have their bullet points of bullshit neatly organized and people tend to toe the line.

Currently dealing with a similar thing with my daughter. Renting a sax (her choice of instrument) is expensive but she wants to quit because she doesn’t like the teacher. My son has played drums in school bands but we can’t get him to show any enthusiasm for playing music on his own- he loves listening, but doesn’t…

I started playing guitar in 7th grade - after bugging my unenthusiastic parents for a couple of years.

The Manziel connection is that Haslam (allegedly) made them draft Manziel “to generate excitement and sell some jerseys”. So there it is.

Now will someone please give this guy another shot in the NFL!

I’m not a Mets fan and I somehow forget about that Bonilla deal. Until 2035. Just unreal. Bobby probably couldn’t sign that contract fast enough.