2021

2020 and 2021 were great years for Star Wars

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2020 and 2021 were great years for Star Wars

2020 is said to be one of the worst years ever. Several incidents made people think 2020 was the worst year ever, and the worst one, a pandemic hit, and people were quarantined. However, with all that time to spend at home in that quarantine, came a lot of content for Star Wars fans. The years 2020 and 2021 have seen several releases for the Star Wars universe. There were many releases of novels, comics, movies, TV shows, and even some documentaries. Aside from content people could watch, the video game, Knights of the Old Republic, was recently released on Nintendo switch. In these past 2 years, a lot of Star Wars content has been released, but there is still a lot of scheduled content to come in what is left of this year, as well as 2022 and 2023.

 

Book Releases

Let’s start with the books that were published over these past 2 years. In 2020, There were a couple of novels were released. The first book to be released was Queen’s Peril, a young-adult novel. Queen’s Peril was released on June 2, 2020, and is a prequel to Queen’s Shadow, released in 2019. Queen’s Peril was written by E.K. Johnston and has a page count of 288. The events of this book take place when Padme at the age of 14 is elected to be the queen of her planet, Naboo. The story is mainly centered around her and her handmaidens.

The second book to be released in 2020 was Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising. Chaos Rising was released on September 1 of last year and is the first book of the Thrawn Ascendancy series. Chaos Rising was written by Timothy Zahn and has 336 pages. The book takes place during the Clone Wars and is about Thrawn’s mission as a commander in the Chiss Ascendancy to track down dangerous assailants.

This year, there were a few more canon Star Wars novels released. In 2021, Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Greater Good was released. Greater Good was published on April 27, 2021, and is the second book in the Thrawn Ascendancy trilogy. The author of Greater Good is Timothy Zahn, and the book contains 432 pages. Greater Good takes place after Chaos Rising and is about Thrawn and the rest of the Chiss Ascendancy dealing with the aftermath of the events that took place in Chaos Rising.

Star Wars Visions: Ronin was the second novel that was released in 2021. Ronin was released on October 12, 2021, shortly after the show it was based on Star Wars: Visions was released on September 22, 2021. First-time author Emma Mieko Candon wrote Ronin, with the book containing 352 total pages. The book takes place between the third and fourth Star Wars movies, specifically after the first Star Wars: Visions episode, The Duel. The story of Ronin is centered around the aftermath of The Duel, while the main characters struggle to find their place in the universe.

The third Star Wars novel of the year was published as Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy: Lesser Evil. Lesser Evil was just recently published on November 16, 2021. As with the rest of the Ascendancy trilogy, Lesser Evil was written by Timothy Zahn and has a total of 576 pages. Lesser Evil is the third and final book in the Thrawn Ascendancy series and is about Thrawn trying to prevent the 9 leading families of the Chiss Ascendancy from turning on each other and risking everything to do so.

 

Series Releases

There were also quite a few shows released over the last couple of years. The first Star Wars show that came out in 2020 was Star Wars: Resistance, an animated children’s show. Season 2 episodes 14-19 aired at the beginning of 2020 throughout January 5-26. Resistance has a rating of 5/10 on IMDb. This shows that Resistance is less popular among Star Wars fans as the show is mainly aimed at young children and doesn’t add much to the Star Wars universe.

The second show to air in 2020 was Star Wars: The Clone Wars, an animated PG show. The Clone Wars show originally started in 2008, however, in 2020, the show’s final season aired. The 7th season started airing on February 21, 2020, and the final episode of the season and show aired on May 4, 2020. Season 7 of The Clone Wars has a total of 12 episodes, making it the shortest season in the series. The Clone Wars is very popular among Star Wars fans having an 8.3/10 rating on IMDb. The Clone Wars takes place in between the second and third Star Wars movies during the clone war, and some of season 7 overlaps with the events of the third Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith.

The third and possibly most popular Star Wars show to air in 2020 was Star Wars: The Mandalorian, a live-action TV-14 series. The first season first aired in 2019, and the second season dropped on Disney+ in 2020. The first episode aired on October 30, 2020, and the season finale aired on December 18 of the same year. The Mandalorian is more popular than most Star Wars shows and is known more widely as it is live-action and therefore seen as more mature. The Mandalorian has an 8.8/10 rating on IMDb, just a little higher than The Clone Wars. The show takes place after the sixth Star Wars movie and after the fall of the empire.

In 2021, we saw fewer shows for Star Wars. The first Star Wars series that streamed in 2021 was Star Wars: The Bad Batch, an animated show for ages 8 and up. The first episode of The Bad Batch titled Aftermath aired on Disney+ on May 4, 2021, a day on which several Star Wars content has been released, seeing as May 4 is known as Star Wars day. The show went until August 14, 2021, when the season finale was released. The Bad Batch has an 8/10 rating on IMDb and is popular among the Star Wars fandom. The Bad Batch Takes place after Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and during order 66, an order that was issued to the entire clone army to execute all the Jedi.

The other Star Wars series that was released this year was Star Wars: Visions, the very first Star Wars anime. All of the Visions was released at once on September 22 earlier this year. Visions are slightly less popular than other Star Wars shows. This is likely because it is a collection of non-canon, stand-alone shorts. Vision’s rating on IMDb is 7.1/10, and the show has many different shorts that take place during different times in Star Wars history.

 

To Be Released

Although 2020 and 2021 were some of the worst years for the world in a very long time, the 2 years were some of the best years Star Wars has had in a while. There were several books, movies, and series released amid everything that gave people entertainment while they were at home. Even though these past couple of years have been great, the next to come will see some more amazing content. The Book of Boba Fett is set to release on December 29, 2021, on Disney+. The final book of the Queen trilogy that was previously mentioned, titled Queen’s Hope is releasing sometime next year. There are also several shows and following seasons of other shows that will be released in 2022 and 2023. These include The Mandalorian season 3, Andor, Acolyte, Rogue Squadron, Bad Batch season 2, Ahsoka, and the long-awaited Kenobi show. There is also some less well-known content that will come out, such as, the animated movie A Droid Story and the book Padawan that will drop on July 26, 2022. 2020 and 2021 were chaotic years, but at least while we were at home trying to stay safe, Star Wars provided escape and distraction through their amazing content.

How bad MLB umpiring was in 2021, and why robo umps are closer than you may think

Kade Daniels Uncategorized , , , , , , , , 0 Comment
How bad MLB umpiring was in 2021, and why robo umps are closer than you may think

 The 2021 season has had it’s ups and downs, from crazy records being broken and insane comebacks in the 9th inning, to ejections and suspensions, as well as firings and trades, this season has been nothing short of crazy. One con most pointed to not just in pro baseball, but in baseball in general, is umpiring. Umpires tend to get a bad rap for being bad at their job, and from time to time every umpire will make a stupid mistake. It’s basically a stereotype for umpires, they are all blind and stupid. There are some umpires in pro ball that really emphasize this stereotype, and it seems almost every week they do something stupid. Many have argued the case for robot umpires, umpires who will never make mistakes and umpire the game perfectly. The strike zone will be 100% correct, outs on the basepaths will be 100% correct, and confusing situations will be nailed to a T. But we would never imagine robo umps if the normal umps were good. Let’s find out just how bad umpires were this year.

 

A twitter account named Umpire Scorecards came out in 2020 that showed umpire report cards every night. It shows the correct call ratio and percentage, the consistency of the calls, stuff like that. Take a look at an example of one here.

 

Laz Diaz for example had a really bad game in this Astros win in game 4 of the ALCS. He had only an 88% accuracy. Look at all of the red dots around the strike zone on the bottom left. Those are 14-15 pitches out of the zone by roughly 3 inches that got called. I understand that umpiring is a very tough job, but we can’t have this happen, especially in the playoffs.

 

Some umpires have a worse rap than others. Some notoriously bad umpires are Angel Hernandez, Joe West, Mike Estabrook and Tom Hallion. They are all experienced, old and bad umpires. They have really bad judgement and are made fun of for it. Now, I do have respect for umpires. They have a lot on their plate and have to make a lot of calls during the game. They have tough angles to look from and only seconds to make a call, and for the most part they do it well. However there are some times where it seems umpires go rogue and get one sided almost and start making really bad calls. For example, probably the most notorious call of the 2021 season was this one here . This was game 5 of the NLDS in the bottom of the 9th with the tying run on first base and Wilmer Flores down 0-2 trying to walk it off. This ended the Giants season and sent the Dodgers to the NLCS. The internet and all of the baseball community has gone wild over it. But this wasn’t the only controversial call that was made this year. There were MANY bad calls, and I won’t get into all of them because you would just stop reading this article because it would be too long. 

 

One cause of these absolutely atrocious calls is the replay system. Look at the NBA for example, they have a good replay system. The referees head straight to a monitor and check it out for themselves. They have so many high quality cameras in so many spots to give the best possible angles to look at to make the right call for themselves. However the MLB is the opposite of this. Yes, they have many high quality cameras all in different spots, but the umpires aren’t actually the ones making the call. They put on headsets and call people in a different STATE to check and review it for them, as opposed to making the call for themselves. So the umpires have to go off of what they say. That’s why you see terribly missed calls like this one on Elvis Andrus. I mean it’s a bad call against the umpire, but this play can easily be corrected and fixed. But MLB relies upon people from New York to make the call for them. That way they don’t have close up in the moment view of the play. They need to change it so that the umpires make the call and not the replay officials somewhere else. 

 

Now, there is kind of a downside to replacing umpires with robots. It will completely change the game and history of it. It ruins the old school tradition of people making decisions for the game as opposed to robots. But I do think that this change is for the better and will make the games shorter as well. People have talked about pace of play in baseball, and I think robo umps will help. No reviews of plays that take up 5 minutes, no bickering and arguing that results in ejections and suspensions. It will speed most games up by 10, maybe 20 minutes. 

 

Umpires can suck sometimes, and with new technology arriving, umpires could be soon replaced with robots. They would never make a mistake, and the players and fans would be more engaged in the game. If someone is worried about what call the umps make, it can alter your mental plan and preformance. If you go up to the plate worried about something getting called a strike, you will take pitches that are strikes and get behind. Don’t let the umpires control the game, and switching to robo umps will relieve others of that stress.

Waaaaaaay too early 2021 MLB award predictions

Kade Daniels Uncategorized , , , , , , 0 Comment
Waaaaaaay too early 2021 MLB award predictions

l know that we are a full year away, and it is way too early to be taking shots on who will be the 2021 MLB Cy Young Award winner or the MVP award. But yet, I´m going for it. These are my 2021 Award predictions.

 

2021 American League Rookie Of The Year

Wander Franco

This decision was a pretty easy one to make. Wander is the #1 Prospect in the MLB right now. He is a 5 tool player who hits for contact. Ultra talented, the Rays have been so excited to call him up when he is ready. And just by watching him play, you can tell he is a special talent

Honourable Mentions: Jasson Dominguez, Adley Rutschman

 

2021 National League Rookie of the Year

Mackenzie Gore

If you haven´t heard about this kid, you need to get to know him. Mackenzie is an ultra-talented pitching prospect in the Padres organization. He is ranked #3 in Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list. Yes, as if the Padres didn´t already have an ultra-talented lineup of young talent, they will add Mackenzie here next year most likely. 

 

Gore throws a hard fastball, a 12-6 curveball, a wipeout slider, and an excellent changeup. A pretty typical repertoire, but the way he throws them makes those 4 nearly untouchable. 

 

This kid has a very bright future ahead of him, and in an organization built like the Padres, who feast of young talent, he very well may live out a great MLB career.

 

Honourable Mentions: Joey Bart, Dylan Carlson

 

2021 American League Cy Young Award

Gerrit Cole

This one was tough. One of the big names in that discussion would be Justin Verlander, but he most likely will not pitch until 2022, if he doesn’t retire by then. Verlander underwent Tommy John surgery on October 1st, 2020. But that has a silver lining. His ex-teammate and the guy who finished 2nd in the 2019 Cy Young behind Justin, is Gerrit Cole. He is my pick to win the Cy Young next year. 

 

“What are you thinking?! He has no chance to win it”, you might think. That’s where you are wrong. Over the past 3 seasons, he has dominated the league. In the past 3 seasons, he has an ERA of 2.74 and a WHIP of 0.962. That’s insanely good. 

 

The man throws an average fastball velocity of 97.1 MPH. And trust me, he can throw even harder than that. Not to mention, have you seen this guy’s slider? It moves like a wiffle ball. It’s filthy. It starts on the outside corner and runs into your elbow. And he throws it so hard, it looks like a fastball, the runs and nearly hits you. 

 

Also, Yankees park is sort of a factor. When MLB players make solid contact with Cole’s fastball, it usually goes into left center field. To left center in Yankees Stadium is 399 feet. That is a long way to travel to get out, and with a center fielder like Aaron Hicks or Aaron Judge, they can cover a lot of ground to get to deep fly balls, thus resulting in lest extra-base hits, which usually result in runs. I believe Cole will have an absolute monster season next year with the Yankees, that will make his last 3 seasons look average. Maybe the season will help them do excellent in the regular season and even the postseason. Usually, Cole hangs in Verlander’s shadow, but with Verlander injured this season, it is time to step out and win his first award. 

 

Honourable Mentions: Shane Bieber, Hyun Jin-Ryu, Luis Severino, Blake Snell

 

2021 National League Cy Young Award

Jack Flaherty

Jack Flaherty is my pick to take the National League Cy Young Award. Although he didn’t have the best 2020 season, neither did a lot of superstars, such as Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Yoan Moncada, Cody Bellinger, the list goes on forever. But we saw that he was the best pitcher in the 2nd half of the 2019 season. He can definitely do it, especially in 2021. He can definitely make the adjustment back to the 162 game season. He has so much potential and great stuff, that will make him a great ace for many pitching staffs. And he is my pick to win the 2021 NL Cy Young Award.

 

Honourable Mentions: Jacob Degrom, Walker Beuhler, Clayton Kershaw, Trevor Bauer

 

2021 National League MVP

Freddie Freeman

Freddie Freeman is so good. I love watching Freddie Freeman play. The way he can hit ine drives out of the stadium to left-center field, the picks and digs he makes at 1st base, makes him a legitimate threat. 

 

I’m calling a reapeat, he won the 2020 MVP, and he’s going to win the 2021 MVP. He’s gonna be around for a little while, and I imagine he will be with the Braves his whole career. He loves the Braves, the Braves love him. He’s going to contribute very highly for a while, and when he gets old, maybe they will use him as a DH. 

 

He is the next Albert Pujols, and if he keeps it up, there is a chance he ends up better than Albert Pujols, and the best 1st baseman of all time. Freddie Freeman has my pick.

 

Honourable Mentions: Ronald Acuna Jr, Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr, Juan Soto

 

2021 American League MVP

Mike Trout

Getting sick of this name? I sure am not. The Millville Meteor is seeking his 4th MVP, and I think he´s gonna get it. 

 

 Mike Trout is easily the greatest player of all time. Crazy power, amazing speed, incredible athleticism, and terrific defense. He is the closest thing to perfect we have ever seen. 

 

Better than Barry Bonds, better than Babe Ruth, better than everyone. He has produced every year he has been in the league at an extremely high level, and he wil continue to produce for the rest of his career. 

 

It is most likely that he stays in Los Angeles, as he signed an absolute monster deal, the biggest contract of all time, being 11 years for $426 million dollars. That is an absurd amount of money. But when you are Mike Trout, you can get that kind of money. 

 

You also have to remember, he is only 29. Fun fact: do you know that me and Mike Trout actually share a birthday? August 7th. Anyways, Mike has a chance for 20 more years in the show, and he will produce for all 10 of those years, if not more. It is the same answer as always for AL MVP, and it continues in ´21. The answer is Mike Trout.

 

Honourable Mentions: Jose Abreu, George Springer, Randy Arozerena

 

There you have it, my 2021 award winners. I know that there is a chance that none of them win the award. There is also a chance that I look like a genius because all of them win an award. We will not know until next year.

Top 20 NFL draft prospects so far 

blackcob001 Uncategorized , , , 0 Comment
Top 20 NFL draft prospects so far 

 

 

Number 1 NY Jets Trevor Lawrence quarterback Clemson

Number 2 Washington Penei Sewell offence line Oregon

Number 3 Atlanta Falcons Mica Parsons linebacker Penn Stat

Number 4 Jacksonville Jaguars Trey Lance quarterback North Dakota State

Number 5 Dallas Cowboys Patrick Surtain ii cornerback Alabama 

Number 6 Houston Texans Wyatt Davis offence line Ohio State 

Number 7 Minnesota Vikings justin fields quarterback Ohio State 

Number 8 New England Patriots Jamarr Chases wide receiver LSU

Number 9 Las Vegas Raiders Gregory Ruwusyue edge Miami Florida

Number 10 Denver Broncos Rondel Moore wide receiver  Purdue 

Number 11 Miami Dolphins  Devante Smith wide reserve Alabama

Number 12 Washington Football Team Samuel Cozmi offence line Texas 

Number 13 New York Giants Jalon Waddle wide reserver Alabama

Number 14 Cincanadi Bengals Rshod Bateman wideresever Minnesota 

Number 15 Carolina Panthers Kyelle Pitts TE Florida

Number 16 Las Angulas Chargers Dylan Moses Linebacker Alabama 

Number 17 Detroit Lions Marvin Williams defense line Florida State 

Number 18 Las Angeles Rams Patrick Jones ii edge Pittsburgh 

Number 19 Philly Eagles Justyn Ross wideresever Clemson 

Number 20 Buffalo Bills Pat Freymuth Tide end Penn State

 

Top FIve Picks & My Thoughts

 

Trevor Lorence NY jets 

Trevor lorence has covid-19 and some people say that will take him out of the number 1 spot I don’t thank so he is a once and a lifetime player and he has mobility. I think he is a star already if the jets can build around him they have a chance to make a playoff push.

 

Pinni Swell Washington football team

Peni Sewill won the outland trophy in college at Oregon as the best offensive linemen in the country and will protect the quarterback at the next level no matter who he plays for. And hes just going to get better 

Mica parsons ATL Falcons 

Atlanta needs defenders and mica parsons can get in the backfield in the time you blink and can hit harder than most linebackers and can run with some wideresevers in my opinion he is the second best player in this draft behind triore lawrence.

Justin fields jaguars 

The  jags need to move on from gardner minchu and they wil ether cut him or trade him for some draft pick and I thank its up for grabs justin fields or tray lance but tray lance will fit better for the jags symptom. 

Dallas Cowboys Patrick Suttain 

The Dallas cowboys need help in the second dairy and patrick surtain is the answer to some help with alabama rookie trevon diggs joining him again

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