this is what giving in looks like

some updates:

Oscar needs to give mark something to do on race weekends cuz hes got too much time on his hands now. What is this

the games are real, the stakes are real, the players themselves are unknowable except for what they carefully want you to know. the narratives are real, but the league knows you care about them, so they amplify them. the graphics next to the player's heads to tell you this is how their season is going, the camera lingering on them as they lean down to tie their shoes or their skates, looking solemn, the commentators tell you this is important, the marketing tells you this is important, in case you didnt know. the stories are already there but theyre also well-crafted. you care about these players. you care about how they perform. not just because you want to see your team win but because you want to see the conclusion of the narrative being built around them.