#Buck: *was left by all three of his most serious GFs

[panikkar]

thinking about how the three of the biggest relationships in bucks life are pretty significantly tied to helicopters/helicopter crashes,,, (partially inspired by this post by @maygrcnt)

taylor kelly: met her when her news helicopter crash. not the first person he seriously dated but definitely is the most serious romantic relationship he had yknow. can’t forget the whole couch metaphor arc.

eddie: i mean it’s pretty self explanatory but eddie’s helicopter crash when he was in the army caused him to be discharged and forced to be reliant on his family again, which is what made him move to la, where, of course, he met buck. they’re literally thee most important person in each others lives. they’re besties. coparents (when the only help eddie’s had as a coparent is shannon, who left (no hate to her it’s complicated shit and she did die but still she did), and his parents, who were controlling and not what either of them needed and also just generally really shitty to eddie at the time (ESPECIALLY re his parenting). and then buck comes along and like within a year he’s like i trust you with my life and my son and my sons life! after everything!! and puts buck as chris’ legal guardian in his will—) n e ways yeah that but also eddie’s ptsd related to the whole helicopter crash incident was super significant later in their relationship too bc eddie was at his lowest point (a place he’d been before but back then, his wife left him and his parents actively made everything worse instead of helping) and buck just like. steps in WITH eddie and gives him what he needs and like takes care of eddie and chris in they way they both need instead of forcing them into what he thinks they need like eddie’s parents did. yeah. and eddie actually did some healing then unlike the last time. so eddie is easily the most important and serious and intimate (like platonically but also Not) relationship buck has ever had, more so than any of bucks gfs.

and then tommy comes around!!! a fuckin helicopter pilot. he and buck first meet not necessarily in a helicopter crash but in a helicopter. in an emergency situation. and they draw SO MANY parallels between tommy and eddie and taylor (he and eddie have a lot in common like with the whole army and martial arts stuff and they get really close really fast and then BUCK HIMSELF drawing the taylor parallels. literally biting at my enclosure.) and wow! look at that! they kiss (and soon start a relationship) and tommy is literally not only the first man buck has ever kissed, but also the catalyst for buck realizing he’s bi. (or, at least, that those feelings bucks had for men in the past (cough cough eddie) are like mushy romantic/sexual/Very Not Platonic things.) literally even if they just kissed that once and had no relationship past that it’s still a massively impactful (non)relationship for buck!!!

and somehow. somehow the most important relationships in bucks life are all connected to helicopter crashes/emergencies. and they’re only characters who have such big connections to said helicopter crashes/emergencies. and they all have relationships that are incredibly important and impactful to buck. this is literally canon.

#literally going insane over here #IT WOULD BE ONE THING IF HELICOPTERS WERE JUST SOME REGULAR SHIT IN 911 LIKE IDK CONNECTIONS TO VICTIMS OR DISPATCHERS BUT NO #THESE ARE THE ONLY THREE CHARACTERS CONNECTED TO HELICOPTERS LIKE THIS AND BUCK HAS (OR WILL) MADE OUT WITH ALL THREE #wait jfc am i imagining this or did lucy get ‘transferred’ to the lafd helicopter unit or whatever too #i can’t emphasize enough how insane that is #911 could be cancelled by now or be doing circling the toilet like many many shows do so far into their run (which is what s6 felt like #a lil bit to me) but abc took this show that’s past it’s prime running down and they’ve breathed so much life into it!!! #bc they’re giving the characters and their interpersonal relationships the attention that made the show special in the first place (and #also what i think it kinda lost in s6 a lil bit) #god i love this show #911 #911 fox #buddie #911 abc #evan buckley #911 spoilers #911 abc spoilers

[outrunningthedark]

After 5x01 how sure are we that we are getting EddieAna break up no later than 5x03? I was wondering your thoughts. I feel like its definitely the only direction now going forward.

I have to say I'm feeling pretty good about our prediction! During the hiatus, we were “jokingly” predicting that Ana would stick around no more than three weeks simply because the third episode of the past two seasons has given us Buckley-Diaz content, right? Eddie breaking up with his girlfriend would be a perfect segue into following his heart back to Christopher and Buck. And then...the premiere arrived. Eddie has been with his girlfriend for several months, not several weeks, and he has yet to meet any of her family? IMO, asking Eddie to attend the christening is a test on Ana's part. If he agrees to go - and bring his son along! - that gives Ana hope that Eddie just needs more time. We can tell from her behavior with Eddie in the suit store (convincing him to buy a new suit when they were only supposed to be there for Christopher, suggesting he should use a tie to complete the look) that she has visions in her head of what she wants their future to look like - two polished, successful adults raising a boy that is impossible not to love. She, much like Eddie, seems to be trying to create her idea of the "perfect family", one her own would approve of. So, Eddie tells Ana that he and Christopher would be happy to attend (Eddie, my guy, I think if you actually asked your son how he felt you might be surprised by his answer...), but he never considered the fallout, how it would look from an outside POV. Being your gf's plus-one to a family gathering is ALWAYS going to raise eyebrows, especially if Eddie is the first one she's brought around in quite some time.  Eddie started dating Ana because he felt it was time to heal from the emotional scars Shannon left behind. After awhile, he convinced himself it was the right decision because their dynamic is much easier to deal with compared to how incompatible Eddie and his wife were on every level except physically. More importantly, Christopher appears to get along great with her, and we all know Eddie prioritizes what he thinks Christopher needs over what either of them want.  Eddie doesn’t want a future with Ana. Even if he was contemplating it before the season four finale, we know by the premiere that the shooting didn’t bring them any closer together. Four months removed from nearly losing his life and he becomes confused and slightly agitated when his coworkers question how serious things are getting with the woman who sat at his bedside in the hospital and would have (most likely) been part of the recovery process? What? Oh, but it’s not just Eddie second-guessing himself. Ana doesn’t know where she fits, if she fits. Logically speaking, there was no real reason for her to specify that she’s just a friend when the male employee mistakenly referred to her as Christopher’s mom (and therefore Eddie’s wife). But if you look at the situation from her perspective, whatever’s happened between them since the shooting has made her feel like she doesn’t have the right to claim a permanent place in Eddie and Christopher’s lives. Ana still doesn’t feel like she belongs with them. The post-panic attack scene, for me, was the biggest indicator that things are coming to a head very soon. It’s one thing for Eddie to pretend like there’s no stress in his life and everything’s just peachy, but Ana offered up no words of support.  “It’s been great, right?” *camera cuts to Ana*  *silence* Ana doesn’t want to answer that because if she says yes she knows she’s lying to herself, and if she suggests otherwise she can no longer hide from the truth.  Going back to my original point about the christening being a test of Eddie’s commitment, remember that we’ve gone back a week in the timeline, and Eddie specifically says it’s happening “next Sunday”. This is purely a guess, but I think whatever Eddie goes through during the helicopter rescue and blackout is going to drive a bigger wedge between them (I’m trying to figure out what she could be doing in next week’s episode and all I’ve come up with is attempting to have a conversation, but it’s not a good time) and then as the christening gets closer they realize it’s best not to give her family the wrong impression. Now, where it could get REALLY interesting (and tbh, I want this on my screen!), is if the breakup is mutual, rather than Eddie letting Ana down gently. I still want Eddie following his heart, admitting out loud that their relationship was never built to last, but...   IMAGINE Ana telling Eddie she figured that out a long time ago. IMAGINE Ana saying she hoped things would have worked out between them, but it’s obvious she isn’t what he’s looking for.  IMAGINE Eddie being surprised that she called him out, but also realizing he can’t play pretend for much longer.  We just saw that the directors actually do know how to use her as more than a prop when it benefits the plot. She didn’t need to say much to make us feel her hesitance and discomfort. If Ana’s gonna bow out on a good note (and lbr, that’s the only way this was ever gonna go given her personality), end it in a way that closes one door and opens another.  (okay, bye! i’m done)

#mikereads #buddie #anti ana flores #tv: 911 #tv: 9-1-1 #tina speaks

[yodawgiherd]

First kiss

Rating : T

>>>Read on AO3<<<

Mikasa's side of the story.

“I mean, it doesn’t concern me. Like, at all so…”, inspecting her black-painted nails, Mikasa shrugged, “I don’t’ really see that as a problem.”

The creaking of the bed behind her suggested that Sasha turned or twisted there, shifting her position. After that, the tell-tale sound of her taking a long drag from the joint followed, with the smoky exhale in tow.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I don’t give a shit about guys, I’m not looking for a boyfriend or anything.”, honestly, just the thought of it made Mikasa a bit sick, “Fuck that shit.”

“You do sound rather hostile towards that idea. Bad experience?”

More like no experience at all, but that was totally beside the point.

“The indirect ones.”

Sasha tried answering that, but inhaled some smoke and began coughing, only managing to motion for Mikasa to elaborate.

“Isn’t it obvious? What is a relationship anyway, all it gives you is someone to take stupid selfies with and slam the dog filter right on top.”, pitching her voice an octave higher in order to rightly imitate the type of girls she despised, Mikasa took it straight from the top, “Me and my muffin on our way to ‘bucks to get our caffeine fix. Aren’t we just the cutest? Lol.”

Her friend's coughing fit was replaced with a giggling one, but with a considerable effort, Sasha did reply this time.

“Aw, but you would be so popular with the guys! You are exactly the goth gf everyone is looking for.”

“Really? Isn’t she supposed to have like,”, Mikasa gestured towards her modest chest, “big tits?”

“Eh, those are secondary.”, Sasha waved her hand dismissively., “You got the goth part down, that’s the most important one.”

“Since when are you an expert on people’s tastes?”

“Well unlike you, I have actually been in a few relationships. Which automatically puts me over you in this department.”

That was a sound argument, so Mikasa settled with sticking her tongue out in response, getting another chuckle from her best friend.

“For real though,”, Sasha pressed on, rolling on her stomach in a weirdly seal-like move, “Relationship is more than just Starbucks trips, and shopping together, it’s also…”

“And making out in school, which makes the decent people there want to throw up.”, the goth chimed in.

“Right, that too. But as I was saying…”

“And having all those obnoxiously loud phone calls, calling each other honey, or babe, or kitten…”, pet names, those were really the worst. There was no way, not even the tiniest possibility that Mikasa would let anyone ever call her a kitten. The person who would try that would very quickly find that one of his bones just got magically broken.

“Yo Miks, are you going to let me finish or are you planning on keeping your “I hate couples and here’s why” charade going?”

Feeling like that her point has been made, Mikasa put an imaginary lock on her lips, pocketing the key.

“Finally. Now, back to my original point. A partner is great for other things than the annoying stuff you named, they are here when you need someone to talk to or lean on, they support you and…”

“Don’t I have you for that?”

“Well, yes, but there are some things that you’d probably share with a boyfriend that you won’t share with me.”

Mikasa shrugged.

“Like what?”

“You know, Intimate stuff, pillow talk…?”

“I tell you about everything Sash, you’re my best friend.”

The brown-haired girl sighed, taking another pull from the joint.

“Fine. What about physical stuff then? Don’t you want those?”

Even with the overall lack of reaction from her, Sasha didn’t miss the way Mikasa blushed, just a tiny bit. It was painfully obvious on her pale skin.

“Like kissing?”

“Yea. Kissing and … other things.”

If Mikasa was a bit embarrassed before, she was literally turning into a tomato right now, judging from the color on her face, and seemed really interested in picking at the carpet underneath her.

“Sasha, can I ask you something?”

The blunt kept getting short and shorter, much to the disappointment of the one smoking it, and if things kept going at the tempo they were progressing right now, Sasha would soon be burning her own fingers. Distracted by wondering how that feels, she didn’t respond to Mikasa’s question right away, only remembering herself when the other girl poked her to get her attention back.

“What? Oh, right. Shoot.”

“Is… you know… the thing better than when you do it yourself?”

Partially stoned at this point, Sasha didn’t understand the question until Mikasa sighed and mimicked the movement of putting her hand between her legs.

“Ah I get it!”, she snapped her fingers victoriously, “You want to know if sex is better than just fingering yourself!”

Honestly, if someone ever needed proof that weed can negatively impact lives, just point them to Sasha. Not only did she get like three times dumber, but her sense of decency also completely flew out of the window.

“Yes,”, Mikasa was basically speaking to the carpet right now, because facing Sasha’s full-on grin was not something that she was capable of right now. “That was exactly what I meant.”

“Well, it really depends on the guy you are with.”, after a bit of thought, Sasha leaned forward, giggling, and poked Mikasa’s shoulder, “Or girl.”

She just groaned.

“I’m serious though, guys at this age are mostly the kind that gets their fun and looks to make a quick exit. Nut and go. Shoot and scoot. Ejaculate and evacuate. Hit it then..”

“Okay! I get it!”

Out of things that Mikasa needed to hear right now, Sasha’s witty combinations were quite low at the list.

“I’m just saying, sex can be pretty disappointing if you don’t do it right. Like most of the things I did was usually worse or on-par with me taking care of myself.”

“Your experience? Damn Sasha, how many guys did you bang?”

It wouldn’t be fair to say that her friend was slutty, but Sasha did like having a social life. Then again, anyone compared to Mikasa had a social life, so her opinion might be a bit warped.

“Six? I think….”, once again retreating to her seal movements, Sasha rolled again, this time on her back, watching the ceiling, “Actually no, five, the last one fell asleep, so I left him there.”

“And how many of them were good?”

“One.”

That gave Mikasa a pause.

“One? Out of five?”

“I told you, guys usually suck at it. Two were terrible, two were decent and then the last one… Hmm.. the last one…”, lost both in her memories and the pattern on the ceiling, which looked so interesting with a little bit of cannabis in you, Sasha trailed off.

To her credit, Mikasa waited for about a minute before realizing what happened and poked her friend back to reality. Again.

“What was I saying? Oh right, the last one. It was an older guy, like mid-twenties, but he was really funny, and good looking too, so I decided to give it a shot.”, a large grin spread on her face, “And it was amazing, he really knew what he was doing.”

“Are you still seeing him?”

“Nah, it was a one-night thing, but I knew that going in, so I wasn’t disappointed. Got some great memories out of it.”

Not really knowing how to answer that, Mikasa just hummed, focusing back on the carpet. The threads were really complicated, now that she got a closer look.

“How about you?”, Sasha cut into her fun, “Any good memories?”

“Tsk, you know that I didn’t sleep with anyone.”

“I know that your v-card is still intact, but what about something else. Got anyone who’s a good kisser? Or gave you a hand?”, another giggle escaped the stoned girl, “If you know what I mean.”

“No, nothing like that. I mean.. I didn’t… I never.. Ugh.”

Sasha could really be obnoxious from time to time. And slow. But even in her current state, she managed to put one and one together, rolling on her front again and staring at her friend, down at the ground.

“Wait a minute, you never even kissed a guy? Seriously?”

“You know what Sash, I’m going to go and…”

“Wait nonono…”

As Mikasa tried standing up, in order to make a dramatic exit, Sasha all but lunged on her, pushing her back down with all her weight. If she really wanted to, the Asian could of course easily overpower her friend, but that was never really her intention in the first place, so with a groan, she surrendered, falling back down on the ground.

“Hey, you now I don’t mean it in a bad way, I’m just surprised that you never hooked anyone.”

“Why would you be surprised?”

“Well, you know, with all the guns at your disposal…”, Sasha gestured in the general direction of Mikasa’s body, indicating that the whole package was very much worth the purchase. “Just doesn’t make sense.”

What Sasha didn’t know was the fact that while Mikasa had multiple offers over the years, she turned them all down. Most of the time, a firm “No.” was more than enough, and on the few occasions when the interest persisted the unfortunate individuals were met with her famous ice glare and backed off soon after. Of course, there was also the one time when the guy tried touching her outright, after her refusal to go out with him, and she broke his hand in retaliation.

“Just doesn’t make sense…”, Sasha repeated, her gaze not moving from Mikasa’s face as a new idea seemed to sprout into life behind her eyes, which got somehow hungry. Honestly, the long look was starting to become a little uncomfortable.

“What?”

“Listen Miks…”, sliding down from the bed, Sasha sat down in front of her friend, “I have an offer for you.”

The intensity in her eyes took Mikasa by surprise if she was being honest, so she just nodded at Sasha, hoping that she will continue. So, her friend took a deep breath, licked her lips anxiously, and extended her hand, pushing a strand of midnight hair out of Mikasa’s pale face.

“Do you want to kiss me?”

All right, that was surprising.

“Kiss you? But aren’t we both like… straight?”

“So is spaghetti until it’s wet.”

“Ehm…”

“Hey, I’m not saying that you should hand your virginity over to me, but why don’t we do this, it’s just a kiss, right? Could be fun!”

“Why are you so eager to kiss me all of a sudden?”

“Because I never kissed a girl before, and you… well, never kissed anyone before. You can think of it as an exchange of firsts.”, Sasha’s eyes traveled up and down her body, returning back to Mikasa’s face, “Plus you are incredibly hot, not going to lie.”

And the more Mikasa looked at her, the dilated pupils, the slightly opened lips, the long brown hair hanging wildly around her face, the less crazy her plan sounded. This didn’t feel like all those offers she got before, it was different, better, and damn it all, but Mikasa found herself curious. So what that her first kiss would be with a girl, who cares? It was Sasha, her best friend, and the one person she trusted to keep this little thing a secret. With a feeling that resembled jumping off a cliff a little bit, she nodded, watching the grin spread on Sasha’s face.

“Let’s do this then.”

Getting a firmer hold on the goth’s head, Sasha leaned forward, slowly, most likely giving Mikasa the time to reconsider if she felt like it, but she was sure about this, despite the heart fluttering in her chest. Not sure if she should close her eyes or not, she let them open, watching as the last centimeters of distance ceased to exist between them, and suddenly, Sasha was kissing her. It was tender and soft, and nothing past a simple push of lips on lips, as her friend was aware of Mikasa’s lack of experience and felt no need of pushing her boundaries. And when she pulled back, Mikasa was herself surprised to acknowledge that the whole thing actually felt rather nice.  

“That’s it then?”, she asked, still feeling a bit high from the kiss.

“Well, no, not really, it’s usually much deeper than this. But I just wanted to give you the basic one, to see how you feel about it.”

Gathering her courage, Mikasa straightened her back, returning Sasha’s questioning gaze with her own, resolute one.

“Show me.”

This time, Mikasa did close her eyes and was soon greeted by the same feeling of warmth of Sasha’s lips against her own, pushing insistently. She moved her jaw a bit, trying to get Mikasa to follow her lead, but it wasn’t working.

“Relax your jaw Miks.”, Sasha whispered against her mouth, “I’m not fighting you, I’m kissing you, dummy. Follow my lead.”

Mikasa was half tempted to end the kiss just to say that if they fought, Sasha would go down in two seconds tops, but decided against it. Following her friend’s advice instead, she unclenched her muscles, letting Sasha pry her mouth open and angle her head the way she wanted, the kiss growing deeper like that, maybe even a little hungry, and definitely feeling better than just the chaste first one. After what felt like an hour, with Mikasa learning something new every second, Sasha pulled back with a satisfied smirk, wiping the traces of black lipstick the goth left behind on her face.

“So? How was that for a first one?”

“I..”, Mikasa licked her lips, the taste still lingering, “It was okay I guess. But definitely not something worth the trouble of getting a boyfriend. How about you?”

“It’s all right, but I still prefer a guy I think.”

“Mouth is the same on a man or woman, isn’t it?.”

Sasha just grinned, shaking her head.

“You’ll know what I’m talking about when you get one.”

Just the thought alone made Mikasa snort.

“Right, like that is ever going to happen.”

“Miks, you deserve a nice, very good-looking guy who’s going to treat you right, who you can get better at kissing with, because you kind of suck right now, and who’s going to help you discover all the sexy secrets of your amazing body, and then keep you up all night, giving you the most mind-blowing orgasms imaginable. And when, not if, when that happens, I hope that you will remember us having this conversation, and you will laugh at how close-minded you were.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence Sasha, but I doubt that it will ever happen.”

“You’ll see. Now, want to help me get through this second blunt or what?”

Having no idea where Sasha even got the second roll from, because it appeared as if by magic, Mikasa couldn’t help but smile as she helped her friend light it, taking a long pull herself after. If nothing, she’s not going to go to college as a kissless virgin. Just a virgin. Eh, better than nothing.

Eren was silent after she finished her part, just slowly taking the information in.

“Damn….”, he finally said, “Didn’t see that one coming.”

“Yup, you weren’t my first kiss, Sasha beat you to it.”

“I should have known that there’s something more between you two.”, he shook his head, grinning, “Homegirl has more tricks up her sleeve than I imagined.”

“I shared my story,”, Mikasa pointed out, “Now it’s time for yours.”

He nodded.

“That’s fair. My turn then.”

#eremika #fanfic #snk #aot #mikasa ackerman #mikasa x sasha #a little bit

[getseriouser]

20 THOUGHTS: Bugger

FAR too many assumed we’d be having the biggest grand final in over 30 years this time last week 

Half-time Friday night we all thought we’d got it wrong but alas regular programming prevailed and they then expected Saturday to be the breezier of the two prelims .

Yeah nah.

Now we have third playing sixth in a Grand Final no-one saw pre-season, mid-season, to start the finals or even last week when it was a one in four chance.

Expect the unexpected they say. And they are usually right on that.

 1.       Tigers just win, by five goals plus. As soon as that siren went Saturday, and thousands of male Collingwood supporters suddenly sprouted innies, thousands of Richmond fans grew really firmly in the trouser knowing it was only the expansion kids ahead of them next week now. Giants have won two games by under a kick in the dying minutes, once lucky, twice you’re kidding yourself, three times though, yeah nah.

2.       Actually, lets knock out some Brownlow before getting back to the on field. Interesting year, probably the greatest field of live chances going in for some time. So much analysis available these days that someone out there will get it right but about a dozen others, whilst looking super schmick with their spreadsheets and formulas, will be way off. This column has no idea although liked Fyfe for a while. Gets 2 or 3 votes in each Dockers win. Nice platform.

3.       Otherwise, three randoms to watch – Boak, Yeo and Treloar, could easily podium. And a real smokey from the clouds? James Worpel. One for the exotics.

4.       Back to on field, let’s go back to Friday. Cats missed a Scott Selwood type in the midfield. Getting ahead was one thing, and they did that well to their credit. But when it got tough in the second half, when the Tigs were coming, they lacked grunt and determination like the Giants showed in the final term Saturday, to get the job done. And to be honest its plagued them since the bye too. Can look flashy, can score, but when it needs to get ugly for 15-20 mins, think back to the first half of the first final too, no dice. Kinda like when its past 2am on a Bucks night, usually phantom, usually pass out, usually Ryan Babel.

5.       Alrighty, Saturday. Yikes. Wet weather clearly didn’t favour the Pies. No excuse but it mattered. Why? Well would you like to know who trained in a down pour midweek? The Giants, in their main session. Probably the best training session in that football history given the conditions that eventuated.

6.       So – and thanks to Rohan Connolly for this, who I’m shamelessly stealing from – between 2008 and 2015 only one Qualifying Final winner of 18 lost a prelim final. The last four years where we’ve had a pre-Finals bye, it’s a 4-4 record. Look at the Pies, didn’t turn up until three quarter time, the Tigers at least turned up after half time. Plus last year, the Pies had no right in their matchup with the Tiges and jumped them something shocking in that first half. Might be something to it. Might not be wrong, but there’s something to it.

7.       If you look at the Pies, Tigers and Giants, on balance this all looks about right. Richmond since 2017 probably deserve at least one flag and a go this weekend at a second. The Giants these last four years probably deserve a Grand Final appearance for their body of work. And Collingwood these last 18 months, a toss of the coin Grand Final result probably sits about right for them too.

8.       Difference between Richmond and Collingwood? One covered their injuries a lot better and was better set up for the pointy end as a result. Injuries aren’t the reason the Pies lost Saturday or that they would have been underdogs to Richmond had they won, but it’s the reason Richmond has a better list and is likely to win a second flag in three. Case in point – Richmond’s reserves win the Grand Final a week before their Seniors probably win as well, the Collingwood reserves didn’t even make the VFL Finals.

9.       Bucks getting questioned a bit in the media, ‘oh, that’s 22 years now without a flag, ho hum indeed’. Relax. On that basis we should give Bob Skilton a call, interrupt his midday movie to let him know despite his three Brownlows and everything else he means to South, his Hall of Fame Legend status is getting revoked coz he never won a flag. And that his spot will be taken by Tom Barrass instead, because he has actually won one. That Buckley hasn’t got a flag isn’t news, it might be factual but its not a story. The idea that obviously would clearly yearn for one is also factual, but not a story. Please be serious.

10.   Matt De Boer was excellent on Saturday but then again the Collingwood mids weren’t requiring a tag to be kept quiet. Does he got to Dusty and try and ruffle him again like he successfully achieved last time in Sydney? Won’t matter, Martin goes forward and kicks four on him in that case. Whether Martin gets shut down in the midfield by De Boer or not won’t prevent a Tigers’ flag anyway, lets not bother about that discussion all week.

11.   Norm Smith tip – no Tiger is in better nick than Shane Edwards, otherwise Bachar Houli for a little value with you preferred corporate bookmaker. But Titch onball will be as dangerous for Leon Cameron as nailing your Tinder date in Bali. You better put a clamp on that otherwise you’re in big trouble.

12.   Marlion Pickett was BOG in the VFL GF yesterday. We know that the Tigs have held over Jack Ross and Kamdyn McIntosh in lieu of the incredibly-stiff Jack Graham being doubtful to get up for Saturday. But back on May 28th we said this lad, who was playing for South Fremantle four months ago “would be best 22 by year’s end”. We’ve left it late but whilst McIntosh might be the safer play, Dimma will go very close to debuting the Western-Australian in the hope his mercurial style might just be perfect for an occasion like Saturday. If he’s picked, remember where you heard it first. Or read it first, even.

13.   Presume Kevin Sheedy is on standby to present the cup to Phil Davis and Leon Cameron should the Giants salute, the link to Richmond notwithstanding. The GWS best and fairest is the Kevin Sheedy medal, and unless you’re looking to Chad Cornes or Izzy Folau it has to be Sheeds. On the Tigers side, I think about Dale Weightman, otherwise Matty Knights or even Chris Newman if you want to go more recent.

14.   So yes, Richmond has been the pick for a while and it remains the pick. They are beatable though. Last four games their opponents all had strong chances they didn’t take. Eagles down here, in the wet, stuffed it and lost by a kick. Brisbane the week after got spooked but did a lot right but too late. First final, Brissy again, they kick straight they’re in it up to their eyeballs and then Geelong was leading by 21 points at half time, kick straighter its over five goals and the Tigs are staring down a repeat of last year. They’re not invincible, but it was only ever going to be a hot Essendon or hot Collingwood who stood a chance this finals series. Yet the Bombers lasted as long in September as Saturday Night Rove and then the Pies made a mess of it like The Veronicas on a Qantas flight.

15.   This column gets it right far more often than most and has banged on about the Clarkson-assistants theory for some time. This week’s Grand Final coaches, both ex-Hawthorn assistants. It will mean that after this weekend the last seven premierships will have been coached by Al Clarkson or one of his ex-assistants. Incredible. By this column, that is.

16.   More people in Sydney watched the Giants on free to air Saturday afternoon than people in Melbourne watched the Storm on free to air that night. What do we make of that?

 I love Victorian footy as much as the next Ted Whitten. This column still lapses occasionally and refers to Fitzroy instead of Brisbane, and it’s only been 20+ years. And whilst this column’s position on the Gold Coast experiment is well documented, the idea of a team in Western Sydney has always made sense to me. The population out there alone is more than Perth, Adelaide and Geelong combined.

 So to see GWS successful, largely on their own merit now (Gold Coast with the same concessions stuffed it, and you didn’t see Toby Greene playing on Saturday did we), is a good thing for the comp. Leave Gold Coast and Tassie aside, mind you.

17.   Speaking of Victorian footy, can we just kick the AFL reserves team out of the VFL into a legit reserves comp, and let Williamstown and Port Melbourne and Werribee actualy duke it out for a proper VFL title? Williamstown are long-storied VFA club who were looking for their 15th flag in 155 years of history. They lost to a team who sat out two of their players because they might be needed this coming weekend in a different comp. Don’t like it. Split the AFL reserves from the VFL. And the SANFL…

18.   Great to see Glenelg, another historic club in this country, win its first flag in 33 years. And yes they were playing Port Adelaide, their biggest rival, but half the opposition Sunday were Port Adelaide’s reserves, not SANFL players, so it’s a similar story. Great for the Bays to get up, but let the SANFL Magpies be just that, and then Port and the Crows can have separate reserves teams playing reserves footy.

19.   Speaking of Williamstown, feel for Willie Wheeler. Just a knockabout VFL footballer who had the win on his boot twice in the last term, so to lose by under a kick is devastating.

20.   Still not bothered by trade chatter. It’s all glorified brainstorming and suggestion permeating from the Herald Sun lunch room. When something remotely close to an actual story emerges I’ll get interested. Until then I’ll pass on Ralphy and Sammy and Jay-Z getting far too eggplant about what boils down to guesswork or stuff they dreamt about the night before when their partner slept at her friend’s house once again.

[theseaeaglelives]

Round 24

THE SEA EAGLE

MAKING RUGBY LEAGUE GREAT AGAIN!!!

Round 24   Manly Sea Eagles      6                        Defeated by   Filthy Wrestling Rorting Cheating Melbourne Storm 36

 Having banned himself from attending games during the ill-feted Trent Barrett era, the Sea Eagle made his first trip to Brookvale Oval in a long time to take in this fixture. One of the last times that the Sea Eagle attended a game at Brookvale Oval, expectations were high, the weather was wet and the home team delivered a less than inspired performance going down to the despised Eels, despite being 6/1 favourites, effectively ending their hopes of playing finals in 2016 and resulting in the demise of Geoff Tooveys coaching career.   Three years later, it was a case of déjà vu, with expectations high, miserable weather and an insipid performance against the Filthy Wrestlers, (where the Storm were decidedly favourites) which has effectively ended any chance of a Top 4 finish and any meaningful involvement in the September action.   Despite the conditions, a large crowd braved the wet weather to cheer on their side at Brookvale Oval, however initial signs were ominous when Brad Parker was a late inclusion into the starting line-up at the expense of Brendon Elliott. Always quick to the uptake, the Craig Bellamy coached Filthy Cheaters were able to exploit this late inclusion and repeatedly targeted Parker for much of the game and basically ran roughshod down the left-side of the Brookvale Oval based teams’ defence where poor old Brad was positioned.

  Things did not improve for the Brookvale Oval based team, when Josh “the Fox” Addo-Carr crossed for the Filthy Rorters after 6 minutes. As bad as that was, it was nothing compared to what transpired in the 10th minute when Tommy Trbojevic was assisted from the field in a distressed state, not to return. It has since been reported that Turbo Tom has a ruptured peck muscle which rule him out for the remainder of the season and with it effectively end any hope that the Brookvale Oval based team had of a serious September finals challenge.

  With Tommy Turbo gone, the reshuffled Brookvale Oval based team’s backline struggled to contain their Filthy Wrestling counterparts and young Parker will be having nightmares about The Fox, Will Chambers and Justin Olam (3 tries) for years to come.   With a mountain of possession, field position and surprising ball control in the wet conditions the Filthy Cheaters quickly ran out to an 18-0 lead and things were not looking at all good for the Brookvale Oval based team. Somehow against the run of play the home side hit back just before half-time and at 18-6 at the break there was still a glimmer of hope for the drenched fans.   Unfortunately, the Brookvale Oval based team failed to get hot in the second half and were wrestled to a standstill by the Filthy Storm. The Brookvale Oval based team did themselves no favours with sloppy ball control further highlighting their poor credentials in the wet, a problem that has been identified by the Sea Eagle in previous editions of this report.

  Even when the Filthy Cheaters were reduced to 12 men following the sin-binning of Wrestling Will Chambers, the Brookvale Oval based team was unable to capitalise. Quite the opposite in fact, and despite being a man down the Filthy Rorters ran in two more tries running out 36-6 winners.   This will be the last scheduled home and away to be staged at Brookvale Oval in season 2019. As a consequence of the magnitude of this loss, there are now two possible outcomes in terms of who the Brookvale Oval based team will face in week 1 of the finals.   Outcome 1 – if they beat the despised Eels or lose by 11 pts or less, they will face the perennial whipping boys, and team based in the Shire, the Sharks (or the Wests Tigers) with a high possibility that the game will be held at Brookvale Oval.   Outcome 2 – if they lose to the despised Eels by more than 11 pts they will face the Bronco’s. Given the recent predisposition of management to take home games against the Bronco’s to Brisbane, the Sea Eagle fears that this game may be held at Lang Park.   The Sea Eagle is not offering any prizes for guessing which of the above outcomes is most desirable. Notwithstanding, without Tommy Turbo the Brookvale Oval based team will be up against it no matter who they end up playing. And, even if they somehow manage to win in week 1 of the finals, they cannot realistically hope to go much deeper into the contest.   That said, no criticism should be placed on super Coach Des Hasler around any of this. The fact he has got the Brookvale Oval based team into the 8 and with a guaranteed 5th or 6th placing, with the same squad that Trent Barret came 2nd last, in 2018, only proves what we already knew. That is, Des Hasler is the messiah for the Brookvale Oval based team and Trent Barret should never have been allowed through the front gates and/or should have been made to pay to enter.   The Brookvale Oval based team need to use this year’s finals series as a stepping stone to brighter things in 2020 and beyond, and allow this inexperienced squad to gain some much-needed semi-final experience. Sure, they should try to make the GF and win it, after all, that is the point of the competition. But in 2019, no criticism should be placed on the Brookvale Oval based squad as long as they do their best (even if they fail to deliver).  

  MANLY SEA EAGLES BAN BROOKVALE OVAL NAME FOR LOTTOLAND

Manly chairman Scott Penn has apparently banned all players and staff from referring to the club’s home ground as Brookvale Oval — demanding it be called Lottoland.

Mr Penn’s stipulation means Saturday afternoon’s Battle of Brookvale mark II against Melbourne will now, at least from Manly’s perspective, be known as the Battle of Lottoland.

It is understood that an official letter penned by Mr Penn to all staff which was then forwarded to every player. While not wanting to cast aside Brookvale Oval’s rich history, Mr Penn has called on all staff and players to call the club’s home ground Lottoland.

Mr Penn apparently wrote: “On the back of this great news for the club, it is an opportune time to provide this friendly reminder to all staff and players regarding the importance of each and every one of us always referring to our home ground as LOTTOLAND and not ‘Brookvale Oval’, ‘Brookie’ and anything else other than LOTTOLAND, which is the official name of the venue. I perfectly understand our historical ties to the name ‘Brookie’ and have been prone to the occasional slip up myself, however LOTTOLAND pay a significant fee for the exclusive naming rights to the venue and deserve recognition as a loyal sponsor of the club.

“The fee they pay goes directly into the day-to-day running of the organisation including, but not limited to, everything from salaries through to equipment and running of home games, etc.

“As representatives of the club, it is our job to drive the rights and benefits of our partners from within, hence why it’s so important that we are driving the conversation, particularly with the media and our members and fans.

“If we’re calling our home ground anything other than LOTTOLAND in the media, then our members and our fans will too.

“We are still passionate about our heritage and history at the ground; however, we need to do the right thing by our partners at LOTTOLAND and keep them front and centre.”

Sea Eagle Comment: The timing of this announcement by Mr Penn could be no less opportune, that being in the lead-up to the anniversary of one of Manly’s finest moments, the demolition of the Filthy Wrestlers in the aptly named Battle of Brookvale (or Brookvale Brawl) in 2011. Fans will recall that this was the night that Manly drew a line in the sand, screamed “no mas”, standing up to the Storm and their filthy wrestling cheating tactics.

  The ensuing melee has gone down in folklore, and Glenn Stewart will be forever be remembered as the man who took a stand, was sent off, suspended for 4 weeks but returned to win the Clive Churchill medal in leading Manly to premiership glory.   Let’s face it, the Battle of Lottoland hardly fires up the imagination with the same degree of grandeur and majesty and the name will be long forgotten when the next Corporate sponsor comes along with a few more bucks for the naming rights.   Add to this Brookvale Oval, notwithstanding its traditional significance has also been known (apart from the Barrett era) as Fortress Brookvale or simply Fortress Brookie and has been in the main (apart from the Barrett era) a graveyard for visiting teams. There is no such thing as Fortress Lottoland, as evidenced by the Filthy Wrestlers demolition of Manly in this round.   It is understood that Lottoland pay around $500K for the naming rights, but surely a winning team at a fortress will deliver greater returns for Manly and its owners.   The only consolation in this entire debacle, is that the naming rights holder of the venue is not 1300 Smiles ….. or

  Without in any way denigrating the decision to garner the sponsorship of Lottoland in what must be a tight environment, after all Manly management were just doing their best,  and noting as one must, that what Mr Penn as club owner has said about supporting sponsors is 100% spot on, nevertheless, the words “lottoland” and a rugby league home ground do not sit well in terms of interpretation.

It requires one to imagine, perhaps only momentarily, but nonetheless still for a split second, that the outcome may be less than predictable or not even a realistically guessable possibility. The phrase “it’s a lottery” come to mind. That the NRL allowed this in the first place (given their so called integrity of the game line around betting and the like), is the real issue here. Someone at rugby league/NRL headquarters clearly could see no problem in allowing the implication that a rugby league ground might have lottery like outcomes. 

The NRL integrity unit needs to undertake a deep probe as to who made this decision and said probe should result in the culprit being the recipient of a fist sized prostate massage (perhaps delivered by Kens at Kensington) for their involvement in the decision.

MAD MONDAY

With Mad Monday fast approaching, and the natural reluctance of most venues to house a large number of NRL players on a club sanctioned bender for a whole afternoon and then some, the Sea Eagle thankfully notes this recent piece from the Fairfax press:

Beyond belief': Sydney restaurant under fire for serving 86 drinks to group of five By Ben Weir SMH

 A Korean restaurant in Sydney's CBD is facing disciplinary action after it allegedly served five diners 86 shots of alcohol during a six-hour birthday celebration.

Police allege the group of diners at the Haru Fusion Soju Lounge were served 86 standard drinks of soju, a clear Korean liquor that has an alcohol content of between 16 to 53 per cent, in October last year.

After leaving the venue one female member of the group was found outside the restaurant next to a pool of vomit, while another was found lying unconscious on the road.

The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority alleges CCTV footage shows a female staff member of the Castlereagh Street venue walking past a patron passed out at a table. Other footage shows a woman being carried out of the restaurant. The authority has imposed a strike on the licensee Chris Chang under the NSW Government's three strikes disciplinary scheme, the authority's chair Philip Crawford said.

"It is almost beyond belief that venue staff could serve such a large amount of alcohol to a group of five patrons and not take any steps to avoid extreme intoxication," Mr Crawford said in a statement.

"The authority will consider imposing a range of special conditions on the venue’s liquor licence, as well as winding back the venue’s trading hours."

Sea Eagle Comment: This behaviour by the regulator is the sort of nanny state hand holding that is making being a true blue Aussie a thing of the past. This Korean restaurant should be commended for its efforts. And frankly, the Sea Eagle thinks they should be on a special NRL Mad Monday list of fit for purpose venues. 

The only special condition this joint needs is that it is authorised to house NRL Mad Monday functions and a mandatory requirement that there be a maroon neon sign stating “enter at own risk, NRL player function inside”. 

THE SEA EAGLE