Danielg342

One other note, also from The Futon Critic: the fall portion of the schedule resumes this Friday with the show skipping Black Friday and then returning to air for two more weeks before taking the break until January 6.

I grant that the NFL's reputation as a "white boys' club", especially in its coaching and management ranks is well-earned and the league has many, many problems hiring minority coaches in any capacity, let alone the head coach's job. ...and, yes, given the NFL's reputation, the optics surrounding Jeff Saturday's hiring means that the assumption that race was involved may not entirely be meritless. I would grant there's more than a punter's chance being white helped Saturday, given all we know about the NFL. However, to say for sure that race was the factor or the only factor is very much a stretch. Simply put, we just don't know. Saturday is the only newly hired NFL head coach who had no prior experience at the collegiate or professional level since Norman van Brocklin in 1961, and van Brocklin kind of doesn't count because he jumped in as coach immediately after retiring as a player, unlike Saturday who was retired for a decade. Given that, out of the hundreds of coaching changes that have occurred since van Brocklin in 1961, only one has been someone of Saturday's stature (or lack thereof), there's no way to make any kind of inference regarding the reason why Saturday was hired because there's no other example to compare Saturday to. The fact that Saturday doesn't comb his hair or has a goatee could also be reasons he got the job and there's no way to say otherwise because there is no "otherwise". I do believe it's fair to ask why Reggie Wayne wasn't considered for the interim role. It's also fair to wonder if Saturday would get the job if he were a person of colour. Given the NFL's reputation, they cannot escape that line of questioning. Nor should they. Asserting that race was, for sure the main or only factor in Saturday's hiring and saying that if Saturday were a POC that he wouldn't get hired is over the top. There's just no way to prove that. There's no way to disprove it either and given the NFL's reputation there's likely more truth to that assumption than not. Ultimately, though, I worry more about creating an environment that is not conducive to hiring minorities in coaching positions. The NFL has shown itself to be incredibly stubborn, thumbing their noses at anyone who dares to tell them "you can't do that". Flying off the handle and making assumptions that aren't there feeds into that. It's fair to ask Jim Irsay about why Reggie Wayne wasn't considered for the interim role. It's not fair to call him a racist because he didn't give Wayne the interim gig. The former keeps him honest. The latter gets him defensive, and defensive people get defiant. If things are going to change, we need less defiance and way more honesty.

I know I'm late in talking about Jeff Saturday but I keep reading takes about it so, even though no one asked for it, here is mine. I'm really starting to feel "Colin Kaepernick" vibes and that's not a good thing. I don't dispute that the NFL hasn't hired enough minority coaches, let alone minority head coaches. When a majority of players are visible minorities, the dearth of visible minority coaches is a big problem. ...but, like how the media tried to shame teams into signing Kaepernick, there seems to be the same push in the media to shame teams into hiring a coach who's a person of colour. Which does no one any favours. First, if a team hires a POC coach, there will be the obvious questions about whether or not the team is hiring the coach because they actually think the coach is qualified for the job or if the move is just a publicity stunt. Then, let's say this coach performs decently but doesn't meet expectations. Under normal circumstances, there would be questions about whether or not the coach is the right fit for the job. In this circumstance, there would be the inevitable takes that anyone questioning the coach's abilities are "only motivated by racism", even when they aren't. Which leaves two other scenarios. If the team keeps the coach on despite the coach not meeting expectations, there will be the inevitable takes suggesting that "wokeism" is the only reason behind the coach's job security, not because the team actually thinks the coach is right for the job. If the team fires the coach, you will have the obvious cries of "racism" being levied in response. Given this kind of a circus, I have to wonder how many POC coaches say to themselves "I don't want to be part of that". They have- sadly- already dealt with a lot of other BS throughout their lives and the last thing they would want is more of it. They would just want to be hired and evaluated on their merits. Like we all do. Frankly, I don't see why Saturday has to be- specifically- a lightning rod for "all that is wrong with hiring in the NFL". Sure, his hiring is strange given he was merely an ESPN talking head and his only real coaching experience was doing badly at a Georgia high school. However, the media painted his hiring as if the Indianapolis Colts bypassed all kinds of more qualified POC candidates. They did not. In hiring Saturday- whom Jim Irsay said was "the only one" he offered the job to- the Colts bypassed not just Reggie Wayne but people like Bubba Ventrone and former NFL head coaches Gus Bradley and John Fox. John freaking Fox. Sure, Fox may not have the most sterling of records (he's 133-123 in his career), but you want to tell me that Saturday is more qualified than him? If I'm giving Irsay the benefit of the doubt, it really sounds like he knows the rest of the season will be a dumpster fire and that whomever he hires as interim head coach will look bad because the team will keep on losing. Why not just now hire a figurehead who the fans like and then, when the season is over, do a real coaching search and find someone you can start from scratch with. Think about it. Richard Sherman may have said on TNF that "black head coaches need to be allowed to fail", which is true, but if the Colts went 0-9 or 1-8 in their final stretch of games, would anyone they have at the helm look like someone another NFL team would consider hiring? I doubt it. I mean, maybe Fox would be given the benefit of the doubt because of his previous stints as a NFL head coach (and maybe Bradley too for the same reason), but I doubt Vatrone and Wayne would. Their careers would be over before it had a chance to get started. So I'm not going to say that Irsay was motivated by racism. I think he did Wayne and the other, more qualified, members of the Colts' coaching staff a favour by not subjecting them to having to steer a very poor team and having that record as a stain on their coaching resumes. Now, if Saturday bottoms out and the Colts still hire him as their head coach, then I'll change my tune and ask some tough questions about their hiring philosophy. Until then, I think we need to pump the breaks on the rhetoric and realize this situation isn't as bad as it looks. Once the season is finished, then we'll see how things really stand.

Unless I am part of your hallucination, I also see that the Panthers are winning. Make that of what you will.

Thanks. This sounds like the usual "keep our opponents guessing" mind game than anything else. 99.99% Josh Allen plays on Sunday.

The rematch of the 2020 final should be fun too. If PSG can overcome this challenge maybe they can really can- finally- win it all.

This thread needs some attention...the UEFA Champions League draw came out on Monday for the Round of 16 and it's a doozy: Man City vs. Leipzig Benfica vs. Club Brugge Real Madrid vs. Liverpool Tottenham vs. Milan Napoli vs. Frankfurt Chelsea vs. Dortmund Porto vs. Inter Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain Aside from City-Leipzig, they all look pretty even and difficult to predict. It's also intriguing to see a repeat of last year's final in the Round of 16. I'm an Inter guy, so, while I'm not at all worried about facing anyone in the Champions League, I am glad we drew Porto and missed out on drawing someone like Real Madrid or Chelsea. This isn't to say that FC Porto will be a cakewalk, but it won't be as daunting a challenge as it could be with other teams.

If the Bills win the Super Bowl, then Sean McDermott's status is unquestioned. Considering how big a Super Bowl would be for Buffalo, he could coach for life if he won one. (They might even name him the Mayor too in that case) If the Bills don't win...well, here's the scenario: McDermott is signed through 2025. Josh Allen's cap hit goes from $16M this season to $39M next year to $51M in 2025, at which point the Bills could (theoretically) cut him and get $8M in dead cap space The Bills are $700,000 under the cap this year and are projected to be $11M over next season and (as it stands) $14M under the cap in 2024. This is without an extension to Jordan Poyer, should the Bills think of pursuing that. In addition to Poyer, other key free agents for 2023 include Tremaine Edmunds, Mitch Morse, Devin Singletary, Shaq Lawson and new acquisition Dean Marlowe. Now, I don't know how the Bills' situation compares to other teams, but it does seem like there's a window here of a few years. I'm not sure Buffalo has a pending free agent- not even Poyer- who they couldn't find a cheaper alternative. According to my own quick math regarding 2023, of that $11M the Bills will likely need to cut (assuming the salary cap doesn't go up), almost $8 million is tied up in players whom, if you release them, won't give you dead money against the cap (the most notable player in that group is new acquisition Hines). Which brings us back to McDermott. Is 2025 a reasonable enough year to say if he hasn't won the Big One by this point he should be gone? Or does Buffalo look at eating what is left of his contract in 2024 or even after 2023? I bring up Mike Tomlin because McDermott has the potential to be like Tony Dungy and the Bucs- he brings the team back from irrelevancy but can't take the team to the next level. So you need someone who can and Tomlin's a winner, as far as I'm concerned. He's also worked with Ben Roethlisberger whose style Allen is trying to emulate. It's really a matter of if- and I stress that "if"- at some point Buffalo makes the determination that McDermott is holding the team back. I do feel that Tomlin will become available after 2023 or 2024, and I'm not sure you can pass up the opportunity to hire a guy like him. I also don't know too many others who would be suitable replacements for McDermott- Buffalo, for sure, won't go with some newcomer to replace McDermott. Obviously, the question to replace McDermott is moot now or potentially in the offseason, but if the calendar gets to 2023 or 2024 and the Bills haven't gotten over the hump? I think you'd need to at least start wondering.

I'm not concerned about divisional losses to the Jets and Dolphins, as much as the so-called pundits are. I always consider divisional games to be a bit of a toss-up since teams are going to be more "up" for a team they've faced frequently than one they don't play all that often. The real concern is more than Josh Allen is hurt and because of that, Buffalo loses a few more games and thus has to travel- again- to Arrowhead for the AFC Championship when that could have been avoided. Last year was frustrating because it appeared that Buffalo did all they had to in order to avoid that outcome only to lose some strange ones down the stretch (including whatever that was in Jacksonville). So, the prospect of that happening again is even more frustrating. Then again, the Bengals beat Kansas City in Kansas City. Tom Brady won the Super Bowl a year before as a wild card. The last time a No. 1 seed won the Super Bowl was in 2017, when Philadelphia defeated New England (also a No. 1). In fact, aside from a four-year stretch from 2013 to 2017, no No. 1's have won a Super Bowl since 2010. Then there's always that issue of whether or not the Bills really are as great as the pundits said they were. Mentality is a huge issue with this team- if things aren't going well, then they don't seem to go well at all. Buffalo finally did win some close games this year, but they are only 2-2 in games decided by seven points or less. The lack of a run game or a short passing game also hurts. The Chiefs don't win without Travis Kelce. Brady doesn't win without Gronk. Who does Josh Allen have? Are Dawson Knox and new guy Nyheim Hines good enough? Makes me wonder if, should the Bills falter again this year, the Bills go after Mike Tomlin, who is sure to be gone in Pittsburgh. No disrespect to Sean McDermott, but how many more times can he fail to deliver when it matters most before you go to someone- like Tomlin- who's actually delivered in this situation? Buffalo's window to win a Super Bowl is not that large, so I wonder if the patience runs out sooner rather than later if things don't work out this year.

I feel like my heart's been ripped out of me because we can't catch a break. The Bills, arguably the NFL's version of the Chicago Cubs, seem to be at the brink of glory only for the worst possible news to (possibly) happen. I may be making a mountain of a molehill because there's still the probability that nothing major happened to Josh Allen's elbow and perhaps Case Keenum can actually beat the Vikings. Still, stressing about it still sucks because Buffalo's season really feels like it hangs in the balance and I'd hate to go through yet another year of "what could have been". This is probably where I remind myself that sports is cruel and nothing is a guarantee. Doesn't make it any easier to handle, though.

Could be. There are very few plots Hollywood feels they can get away with when dealing with babies, and "stress complicating a pregnancy" would be one of those plots they feel they can pursue. Too much Nischelle? Sounds like people are already complaining that they don't see a point for her character, which is something I worried about. Her character is decidedly not LAPD, so she has very little function in the actual milieu of the show besides being Hondo's girlfriend. The writers are going to have an uphill battle finding stuff for her to do without it going into "trapped by mountain lions" territory. Perhaps- and I'm just thinking out loud here- they're setting up Powell to fail perhaps to make some kind of point about how difficult it would be to replace a SWAT officer. The difficulties of integrating into a team is a theme that the show has largely not explored (I don't count Street's early miscues because he came back to the team), and it could be a nice bit of "meta" writing where the show contrasts it's difficulties finding a suitable replacement for Lina Esco by showing the team's difficulties in replacing Christina Alonso. Sigman never should have left, but there's not much I can do about that. I still hope for Norah Fowler because she actually fit in, has the look and has skills the team needs. If she ultimately is Alonso's replacement, they have unnecessarily dragged out this story. She's Tan's hot blonde wife who ditched her pothead friends when they threatened Tan's career. Other than that, I got nothing. Karissa Lee Staples has not posted about S.W.A.T. since April 20, 2020 (for what was essentially the third season finale) and hasn't appeared since "Keep The Faith" last season. Staples is a great actress, I don't know why they can't give Bonnie something to do except be Tan's hot wife. Looking back at "Keep The Faith" I'm reminded of someone else- someone who loomed very large last season and someone Hondo was obsessed with- that the show has seemingly forgotten: I mean, sure, Saint's storyline was getting a bit tedious...but it is still unresolved.

We're cool on the nitpick, I was just saying it was the writers' fault. Unless I missed the part where Freddy explained why he ended up in Edgewater while serving time in Lancaster. I guess the question still remains about kitchen duty- I don't know why Bode couldn't have taken an injured Freddy and negotiated with Manny to let him do kitchen duty instead of having to go back to prison. If Manny was willing to do that at the end of the episode, why didn't anyone think it was an option during the episode? I have a strange feeling this is going to happen in the coming weeks or in February when the show ultimately decides on the kidney donation story.

How much of that is on the Astros and their players and how much of that is on MLB? We can complain all we want that the Astro players and the organization didn't get punished enough, and it's a fair complaint- but why hold that against the members of the Houston team? It's MLB that is responsible for doling out the punishments, so if Houston got off easy, that's purely on MLB's shoulders. Should the Astros have returned their banner, awards and rings? Maybe, but, then again, MLB ruled they didn't have to do it so why should they relinquish something that MLB said they still earned? Again, I'm not trying to make apologies for the Astros. I'm just saying that if we're mad they didn't suffer enough, then getting mad at the Astros is misplaced. Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred are responsible for determining punishments, if the Astros got off easy, then that's solely on MLB. Speaking of the NFL, my analogue would be the New Orleans Saints and "Bountygate" because it's a similar idea. The Saints can't be the only team that ran a bounty scheme- many other teams have before and I'm sure in 2009 there were other bounty systems but it was only the one in New Orleans that got caught. Similarly, the Astros are far from the only team that stole signs. They just happened to get caught. Now, Houston's system is far more elaborate than what other teams did, but the truth is they're not the only sign-stealers known to baseball.

Freddy referred to going back to Lancaster, hence why I used it. Thanks for the input. Do these fire camps not have their own first aid centres and equipment? It seems strange to me that the camp wouldn't have a medic that could handle minor injuries and recommend alternate duties- either at the camp or on the field- for the injured inmate. If, at the end of the episode, Manny was willing to reassign Freddy to kitchen duty while he recovers, how was that not an option in the beginning? Fair point, and maybe this could have been a better character-building moment for Bode and the focus of the episode as opposed to that horse. Bode could have been the guy that gets Manny to let the injury slide and/or find some way to keep Freddy in the field (or at least not get a trip back to the penitentiary) after some treatment. We've already established that Manny was once one of them and Bode knows that. He should have used that to his advantage, because his relationship with Manny could actually be beneficial to the other inmates. Something like that would have been far better to establish and opens a lot of doors for plots down the road than what we did get.

Everyone cheats. The difference between the Astros and everyone else is that they got caught. Now, I'm not saying that they didn't deserve the punishments they did get (and maybe should have been punished harder), but I think we're kidding ourselves if we think the Astros were the only "dirty" team in all of baseball- and, really, in all of pro sports. The stakes are just too high from a prestige and a financial aspect for competitors to not think about ways they can get to the edges of the rules if not outright flaunt them. Some are more willing to go further than others, but I hardly doubt the Astros are alone in flouting the rules.

In real life, I suspect he couldn't be...but on this show, they wantonly disregard reality so I'm betting Bode with one kidney will still be allowed to be a firefighter. I think the issue for me is more how much idiocy is driving the plots and how useless the other characters seem to be without Bode doing things for them. I mean, if Freddy thought for maybe one second he might have realized that the worst that was going to happen to him because of his injured hand would be he had to sit this case out- Manny wasn't going send him back to Lancaster because he hurt his hand. Instead, Freddy had to be a petulant child and not only got himself into trouble, he got Bode into trouble- bigger trouble than Freddy did, arguably. Bode, too, isn't blameless here because he could have easily been the "voice of reason" and realized the same thing, ignoring his friend's unreasonable cries and gone to Manny himself. Instead, both of them have to create this unreasonable mountain out of a molehill and wind up with some unnecessary drama and hardship- all because neither Freddy or Bode could be bothered to think rationally for even just one second. I'm not, inherently, against the idea of the "Drama of the Week" kind of storytelling, especially in the early part of the series where you still need to set things up. Where this show is failing is that, apart from maybe Manny, there's no other character who is shown to be competent and- more importantly- complimentary to Bode. There's taking centre stage and then there's "he's doing everything himself", and Bode needs to be more of the former. Where the show is also failing is that it's crafting it's plots so that either only Bode knows how to find the solution (such as dealing with Mojave) or other characters' idiocy fuels the drama (like Freddy did here). We're not talking about plots like Sharon's kidney disease where a beat like the progression of the disease into something more serious is a completely natural development and a reasonable problem for the show to tackle. Instead, we're having characters behaving like kids (or, rather, acting how the plot needs them to act) just to "get things moving", which is just lazy writing. Sure, people in real life do stupid things and that makes drama- but it's not satisfying TV. Stupidity is annoying- as much as we expect people in real life to use their brains, we expect the people on TV to do the same. Since we hold TV characters to a higher standard than we do for real life people, when the people on TV don't use their brains, it's very unsatisfying.

Maybe you two can scale the wall like they did in Thailand. :) I noticed that too. I guess the show believes Street is the best character to have stories with women for some reason. As a corollary, Street's story with Powell continues the show's problem with Christina Alonso, only with a different character. The female characters on this show aren't at all independent of the male cast (Nischelle is, primarily, Hondo's girlfriend after all). I mean, to be fair, if they were going to do a storyline where a new recruit has rogue tendencies, there's no better character to pair them with than Street, who has arguably the most character growth in this entire show and with him being tasked to correct those tendencies allows the character to literally come full circle. This should have been a recurring character, because what else will Powell do after she corrects her tendencies? Become another crime-tackling (figuratively and literally) robot? I have to wonder if Lina Esco's exit caught the writers off guard because it's frankly inexcusable that the show was this unprepared to deal with her departure and eventual replacement.

Manny. I must have missed that bit of foreshadowing. I still don't think Luke did enough in this episode. I should have figured that. We'll get a big dramatic episode where Brode broods about donating his kidney before he decides to actually go through with it, and then the dramatic episode where Sharon has her operation and everyone worries about her. Then a lighter episode afterwards where she recovers. I guess I know what's happening come February.

I thought about the blindfold too, since I saw it work on Due South way back when. I think what's more implausible is that Bode, who barely knew the horse, knew how to handle it and take it to safety while their owners- who should know their own horse- had no idea. If Bode can find the sugar cubes, why can't the daughter or the mother find them? Perhaps- perhaps- I might give the daughter a pass because she's still a kid and kids when they're in terror don't think much (if it all) but I'd expect the mother to have a bit more sense and thought. It can't be the first time she's calmed her daughter down.

Yeah, exactly. Supposedly Bode, who knows the horse for all of about five minutes, knows about sugar cubes but the mother and daughter who presumably raised Kevin the horse and cried "what are we going to do?" have no clue about them. The fridge logic with this show is growing into something larger than at the beer store.

So, are we all in on Powell now? She actually seemed to get some character growth, following protocol after violating it (again) before and revealing why she violates it in the first place. Of course, Hondo's ominous words hang over the storyline, because I'm sure "tomorrow" will happen and it won't be pretty. I'm just relieved that, this time, Powell's rogue tendencies wasn't used for a major plot point. I was expecting it to explain why LaToya got shot, but the show had a nice swerve there. The rest of the episode was nicely structured and paced. Even Tan's "I know a guy" trick actually worked this time, perhaps because we actually saw what he looked like. Nischelle does look to be a bit of a pushover, though, which is something the writers need to work on.

There's a really good show in here somewhere...the show just has to find it. How many times do I get to write that before: I realize it'll never happen and this show will then be irredeemable, OR The show actually does become good What defines this episode the most are just the amount of pointless dramas that the episode engages in. Did Freddy's hand have to be a bigger deal than it was? What's the point of Sharon's kidney drama when we know she's a main character and we're not in Sweeps yet? Why promote Bode to First Saw only to demote him again, knowing full well that he'll be back in that position in no time? What was that silly business with Jake and Gabriella's phone (a violation of her trust, which she completely ignored)? How is Jake the voice of reason between Gabriella and Manny? Oh, and would there be any doubt that Bode would rescue that horse? Also, what was the point of Luke, Michael Trucco's character? The press release made his appearance to be a big deal, but he did absolutely nothing except hug Sharon and anger Manny. Maybe he'll be back in a later episode and actually get to do something substantive. Still, I see moments like Gabriella and Bode at the end and Vince and Sharon together trying to hold it together after the kidney news and I see a show that can have some magic. They just- still- need to figure out how to make the most of that.

I'll miss the nostalgia of it, at least, and I think pitchers batting made the NL look unique. Ultimately, though, the universal DH just made sense. For every Shohei Ohtani and a moment of magic from Jake Arrieta there were many more pitchers that just looked out of sorts in the batters' box. The game is just better not asking pitchers to hit.

I'm reminded of the post-game show on TNT after the Phoenix Suns outlasted the Seattle Supersonics. This was in Seattle's final season in the NBA, so the team was bad and Phoenix was in the midst of the Steve Nash years, so everyone expected a blowout. Instead, Phoenix only won by eight points. Kenny Smith said afterwards that "bad teams don't get blown out all the time. They just find ways to lose". I think that very much applies to how the Houston Texans fared against the Philadelphia Eagles last night. Davis Mills throws a bad pass (one that was tipped, mind you) and that turns the game around entirely for the Eagles. The penalty after the ensuing touchdown that allowed the Eagles to go for two and make the game firmly a two touchdown lead also didn't help the Texans. This is why when I look at the NFL, the NBA, MLB or the NHL that I don't believe there is any team so bad that they can't at least compete with everyone else. The talent level is too high. There are teams who are doing badly and teams that are doing well, and I still believe if you're a team worth your salt- like the Eagles- you'll find a way to beat the teams who are performing poorly, like Houston. Still, last night, the Texans showed in the majors there are truly no "easy outs". ETA- One other thing about the Eagles, because I'm starting to see the memes denigrating their success. Yeah, I too wonder if they're truly the best team in the NFL, and yes, it was only two years ago we saw Philly's in-state counterparts flounder after an 11-0 start. However, you can only play who's on your schedule, so I can't fault the Eagles for taking care of business as they should. We'll see what they're truly made of- they still have their last game against Dallas and both of their games against the Giants, games that, if the Eagles lose, could cost them the division- but I think after last night Philly showed they are full marks for their record as it stands.

So Kyrie Irving apparently will not be able to return from his suspension until he completes some kind of remediation program, whatever that means. There's a chance- a good one, I think- that Irving could be gone longer than five games. Since I don't think I'll add anything by repeating that Irving is a complete whack-a-doodle, I'm going to have some fun predicting the future, because this circus is far from finished. Here's what I think will happen: The five games will pass without Irving saying a word. The Brooklyn Nets, for their part, will release some kind of vague, PR statement that really just says "we're taking things day by day" but everyone will still try to interpret it one way or another about how effective the remediation program has been so far. The sixth game will come, and the Nets will be non-committal on Irving's return. Irving will again stay silent and he won't play even though the initial five game suspension is up. Someone- perhaps Kanye West, perhaps Donald Trump- will blast the Nets and the NBA for "oppressing" Irving and demand that he return to basketball. Someone in the NBA will fire back, but it won't be anyone in any official capacity for the Commissioner's Office or the Nets. Meanwhile, Brooklyn and Irving continue to stay silent on how the remediation is going, and Irving's suspension continues. What happens next will depend on whether or not the Nets will blink (because I doubt Irving will): Brooklyn, having now lost all 15-20 games that Irving has so far missed, will ask Irving to recite some PR-written statement that will serve as an apology allowing the Nets to lift their suspension. No one will believe Irving, but by this point the Nets will so desire moving on from the situation that they're better off keeping Irving than by getting rid of him. The Players Association may also force Brooklyn's hand. Brooklyn, despite now being 2-30, decide that Irving is more trouble than he's worth and decide to eat whatever is left of his contract. The next day, the New York Knicks sign Irving out of the belief they can turn him into the next Latrell Sprewell, but instead they get a disinterested Irving who decides to ride out all the years the Knicks gave him and New York continues to crash and burn in irrelevancy. Steven A. Smith quits ESPN on air and moves to the mountains to become a monk. Years later, when Irving's contract runs out and he's forced to continue his career in China because no one in Europe or the NBA will want any further part of him, Irving will decry the whole process and paint himself as a martyr. Maybe Trump will pledge to create a "rival NBA" where "free speech is allowed" and Irving will be on board with that, but talk does not go beyond there. Ultimately, at this point we'll just see how much of a waste of time this whole process was, because we know Irving will never change and that money trumps principle every time. So there...but try to act surprised when it happens.