Elixandro’s Prelude

Prior to watching, I wasn't one of those people who claimed to not watch women's sports because it wasn't entertaining. I had no real reason as to why I hadn't tuned in but if I had to explain then it would just be because of how inconvenient it was to actually watch. Fortunately this has improved tenfold but at the time I had no idea when the games were or when the season even started because there seemed to be no promotion. This isn't to say that the fault lies completely on the W; I'm an adult who could easily Google this information.

Regardless, 2020 is when I began tuning in regularly and keeping up to date with players and learning about the different play styles that are unique to the individuals and the league as a whole. When I began watching the finals were underway and the Aces had Ls handed to them for 3 straight games by the Storm to close out the series. Plum didn't play due to a season-ending Achilles injury she suffered earlier in the year, so my attention was solely dedicated to this beast who was dominating like she was playing amongst amateurs. That's my introduction to A'ja Wilson; ever since then she has been my favorite player and my G'OAT. She continues to dominate and add to her legendary career and I'm happy to see her be recognized for her efforts by rewarding her with the accolades that she earns. Just off her college career she has set herself apart from everyone else - who do you know that has been honored with a statue as an active players while being <10 years removed.

"The argument set forth by Kelly’s attorneys centers on the the 2003 PROTECT Act, which extended the federal statute of limitations for such cases. The petition for writ of certiorari states that the conduct for which the singer is convicted — specifically creating child pornography and enticing minors into illegal sexual activity — occurred prior to the law being passed. Because the acts date back to the Nineties, lawyers argue, the statute of limitations would have expired."

R. Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison for his sexual crimes against children (In a victory for the defense, the judge ruled that all but one year of the prison sentence would be served at the same time as a previous 30-year sentence that Mr. Kelly received after a jury in Brooklyn convicted him of racketeering and sex trafficking charges) and if those charges are overturned it would not only negate every victim who has had their lives severely traumatized, but also potentially allow R. Kelly to see the light of day much sooner than expected assuming he is granted parole. The basis for Bonjean filing this petition is that Kelly's actions exceed the statute of limitations and whether or not that is true would normally be important because it's the due diligence of the justice system to abide by the regulations they swore to enforce, but in this specific case we're arguing semantics. The man paraded around for decades and was praised as a cultural icon for a majority of my lifetime before he was punished for acts that everybody knew he was committing.

This clip from the renowned satirical series, The Boondocks, does a great job of touching on the cultural phenomenon that is R. Kelly and how we as a society played a role in him avoiding justice. I was in elementary school when I learned about R. Kelly's marriage to Aliyah and the video recording of him urinating on a 14-year old girl and even at ~8 years old I was curious as to why everyone was just okay with it.

This New York Times article discusses his accusations in further detail and why so many ignored the signs.

This is the man Bonjean is aggressively advocating to be released into society. I would advise that you save your breath before you gasp out of shock because this is far from unusual behavior for someone like her. As mentioned earlier, she represented Bill Cosby in his infamous case involving sexual misconduct, and also worked to overturn his conviction of 3-10 years in prison stemming from more than 50 women accusing Cosby of a range of sexual assault and misconduct, including rape.

Bonjean is a despicable, vile excuse of a person who lacks shame and is equally evil as the perverts she elects to represent. Another New York Times article writes that she "Called one woman who accused R. Kelly of sexual abuse 'a pathological liar.' She accused another of extortion. She tried to pick their accounts apart, and attacked prosecutors for stripping her client, the former R&B star, of 'every single bit of humanity that he has.'"

Bonjean's biography on her firm's website details what motivated her to attend law school:

Bonjean’s life took an unexpected turn when she began volunteering for the women’s services division of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago. At the YWCA, Bonjean was a rape crisis counselor and victim’s rights advocate for under-served and marginalized women who were victims of sexual assault and domestic violence.

One would think that the exposure to the suffering and traumatizing impact left on these victims would influence her to pursue a path where she could provide a sense of support, but not Bonjean..

While in law school, Bonjean quickly began to identify with the underdog, which in the criminal justice system is the accused.

I'll end this with a case that was lesser known to me. In June 2019, Keith Raniere, the founder and leader of Nxivm (a human trafficking cult disguised as a self help group), was tried and convicted of all seven counts of a superseding indictment charging him with racketeering and racketeering conspiracy (including predicate acts of extortion, identity theft, and production and possession of child pornography); sex trafficking, attempted sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy; forced labor conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. On October 27, 2020 he was sentenced to 120 years in prison after 15 victims testified against Raniere in a Brooklyn federal courtroom. Less than 3 months after this sentencing, Bonjean joined Raniere's legal team to assist with the appeal. An appeal that was supported by the clam that by definition, the actions should not be considered a commercial sex act.

Raniere's arguments turn on the meaning of "commercial sex act," which the statute defines as "any sex act, on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person." 18 U.S.C. § 1591(e)(3). He principally argues that to qualify as a "commercial sex act," there must be a monetary or financial component to the "[ ]thing of value" that is given or received, and the sexual exploitation must be for profit.

Bonjean did what she does best. She did not argue that her client was innocent, but rather that the justice system failed him. I believe the justice system is not perfect and there are shades of corruption but to use it as a primary source of defense multiple times when there's clear proof against you is asinine. This woman is a diabolical spawn of Satan and a walking ironic figure. To cry corruption as a way of freeing your client is proof of failure in so many areas, including the justice system itself.

When he released his debut studio album, Good For You, I was pleasantly surprised to hear more of the same energy that appealed to me. Since then he’s continued to drop projects that are refreshing and expressive of him, to the point where it feels like a fan such as myself knows him on a personal level. He doesn’t recognize the status quo and his work reflects that, dropping albums which summarize emotions that he’s feeling without the constraints of making an album perfect. He doubles down on this by releasing two “LP/EP/Mixtape/Album” projects (OnePointFive and TwoPointFive) which serve as a B-side for their previously released album.

This is the fourth concussion (that we know of) since Tua has entered the league in 2020 and I want to emphasize that he is only 26 years old. This isn't a question about Tua's toughness, commitment to the sport, or anything else that people are speculating on. This is a young man who is putting his entire life on the line every single time he steps on the field. Watching him go down after making a routine (albeit unnecessary) attempt at pushing against a defender to secure a win for his team made my heart sink. He's a talented and intelligent quarterback who surely knows that he should have slid but the competitor in him refused to give less than 100 percent effort. He's blinded by his love for the game and it shows. This is not a gripe against Tua but rather a reason for the NFL and NFLPA to consider removing the decision from his hands. Professional athletes tend to share an obsessiveness in their respective sport that they often misinterpret as their sense of self. Winning or losing a game could be the determining factor for whether or not they consider themselves to be a good person. We as fans know that, that is far from the truth but unless you are that person it is nearly impossible to convince them of such.

Football is a brutal sport and the potential repercussions are well known. We all watched as Damar Hamlin, the same player who Tua rushed into, literally died on the field 619 days prior from commotio cordis caused by a hit in the chest. There's an unspoken understanding that these people are sacrificing their lives and health for our entertainment but when someone demonstrates repeated behaviors despite multiple preventive measures, there needs to be a conversation had regarding their future.

There's not much else I can say that has not been reworded by many but I want to share this video that distinguished sportswriter, Jeff Pearlman, posted where he talks about Walter Payton's experience playing in the league - specifically dealing with injuries by any means necessary. I wish Tua the best no matter what decision he makes and I hope that he lives a full life with minimal lasting effects from his injuries.

In case you're unaware, the person singing in the intro is Jared McCain. He was recently drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers but at the time of this recording he was a student-athlete at Duke University two days into his semester yet somehow already 3 lectures behind. The video went viral assumedly for two reasons: 1. The shock factor of a 6'3" basketball player having the charisma/vocal talent that he displays in this short video leaves you wondering with no choice but to find out more and 2. If you know anything about Duke's basketball program, you're even more confused because this is the same university where Coach K ran a strict program that left no room for any shenanigans, nevertheless antics like performing a cover of the same song (2 Days into College by Aimee Carty) for a crowd of students before playing against their biggest rival, University of North Carolina.

After scrolling past the video I went about my day and paid no more attention to it than any of the other hundreds of videos I had previously watched. But then a few days later I see the same video pop up on my feed posted by someone with the username "jordy."but it only played a small snippet before abruptly switching to the audio of the official song accompanied by ~12 clips of Jared McCain being himself. This wasn't just a hoop mixtape, it was an edit; the sort of edit that almost all fandoms are no stranger to. The mainstream NBA community does not have this familiarity. McCain was already viewed as a "taboo" because of the silly controversies centered around his polished fingernails and carefree joyous attitude. This new style of edits is partially being associated with him and it's growing into new styles every day.

Jordy has a chokehold on these edits and has built a cult following of fans who have high expectations that elevate further with every new post. He's even unofficially trademarked the format of foreshadowing an edit with a obscurely related video that's so niche that you feel like it was created by someone who knows you how a friend would. These aren't the same videos that conglomerate sports outlets (ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights, etc.) post like "LeBron's Taco Tuesday" but rather, for example, a snapchat story of Zach Edey going into a room with a girl at a party followed by a series of clips representative of that moment and "Some Cut" by Trillvile as the score.

I'm enjoying every one of these edits and I'm so happy that others are inspired to make similar content with this new inspiration. His work has spoken for itself to the point where the athletes that he was highlighting are now fans of his content and requesting edits of their own.