“Sure I have expectations. I expect you to keep my name out of your mouth, starting now.”

Boy, Chance Macy is presumptuous, isn’t he? Since when has the Milford student body outside of Chance’s teammates said anything about what he does after high school? They have wondered aloud about why he and Tevin have decided to use cafeteria tables as their personal soapbox, though. Shows you who rules the roost in the Milford High coop.

As if that wasn’t enough, he feels the need to share his conversations with Gil with the school at large. Yeah, I get it that he can fall back on the “Tevin made me do it” excuse which, if he’s as much a “take my own advice” and “keep my opinions to myself” guy as he’s been painted to be, makes him a huge hypocrite. Chance should have shut up as soon as he said “McGill” and sat right back down.

But wait, there’s more! Macy has the nerve to bring Kianna Bello into the picture. (Is it coincidence that she always happens to be sitting in front of the table the football player stands up on?) Guessing he doesn’t Kianna to talk to him, either. Wouldn’t the casual listener hear Chance and think he’s been talking to Gil about Kianna?

If tomorrow’s strip doesn’t have Kianna interrupting Chance’s mansplaining with a verbal – if not physical – beatdown, I will be sorely disappointed. Of course, disappointment is a way of life in the Thorpiverse. Pity she doesn’t still have those crutches; she could put them to good use in short order.

Idiots, Useful and Otherwise

Steve Luhm’s doing his job just a bit too well these days, amirite? Oh, wait. It wasn’t the hallways of Milford High that Kianna landed on; it was one of those pesky gym mats somewhere else in the Valley. Too bad she had some fly-by-night gym trainer checking her out. You know Rick Scott would’ve had her up and running with some horse liniment and a couple of greenies. Then again, she must’ve done something serious to her head for her to be able to push her finger into her skull that far.

She knew the Spiller show was all a ruse yet she tried to convince herself otherwise. No matter that Tevin has said so much on multiple occasions (as has Gordon); Kianna wanted to believe the kid getting a B on his algebra test was proof of Boyd’s magic. So what remains? Will she call Spiller out in the cafeteria, causing everyone who thought he was magic to lose faith and bring all the Milford sportsball seasons crashing to earth?

The only subplot left to tie up is the mystery of why Chance Macy has no professed interest in his life after high school. There have been so few hints to his backstory to piece it together that it’s anybody’s guess. Don’t bet against it being as contrived and anticlimactic as possible.

Injuries just happen

Well it looks like unfortunately Kianna hurt herself landing on the rubber mat. obviously bad enough that she stayed down until the trainer had a look at her. Better then trying to get up and making it worse I suppose; I dont know much about gymnastics, but it would seem that the cushioned mats go some to prevent severe knee injuries because of their softness. I’ve also seen a lot of off-balance landings that didnt result in injury and the competitor merely fell down and got up. I also remember one of them hopping on 1 leg when she realized she landed wrong ( experienced jumpers Know when they’re off-balance a tad, and immediately go into prevent-mode to prevent a twisted ankle or some other harder contact on the mat ).

The trainers statement is rather strange- usually they perform whats known as a field test where they feel the area thats been injured and determine whether all the interior parts are still functioning correctly, since they dont have access to an MRI or X-ray machine right then and there. After the preliminary diagnosis, the athlete is taken to a medical facility if the injury is severe enough, and further tests are run. Usually if the area swells up, they will wait a few days for it to calm down before performing an MRI to see the soft tissue and make a better diagnosis.

But I never heard a trainer say – This isnt good – to the athlete. The athlete wants to hear positive words and hope that the injury isnt bad so they can get back to playing as soon as possible. So the trainer will always be positive when dealing with a new injury since most of the time there are unknowns.

What I think is wrong is her shin got pushed a bit on her kneecap, aggravating her kneecap, which may later swell up. Its like if you jump and land more on one foot then the other, the one knee takes the brunt of your weight. I would put ice on it and have her rest overnight, then see how she is in the morning, then if it still hurts, to see him for further tests. But dont just say – This isnt good – out of the blue. Thats lazy training. Kianna was right to say what she said in P2.

So we’ll find out tomorrow (just like I said) how bad the injury is, and the main thing is, it had NOTHING to do with Spillers hypnosis, or her busy schedule. It just happened. Hope thats the slant the strip takes, but I’m afraid it wont be that cut and dried.