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The day after the 2016 election, I started rewatching The West Wing on Netflix. I guess I wanted to keep a sane, if somewhat idealized, version of the presidency and the White House within my vision. Martin Sheen as the down-to-earth yet dignified and devout President Jed Bartlett has comforted me since the series first aired, and the cast of characters serving in his cabinet almost feel like familiar old friends.

So when a friend shared a fanfic-style 2020 West Wing scene, I was intrigued. By the time I finished it, I was highly impressed and thoroughly delighted.

Los Angeles-based TV writer Jelena Woehr posted the script in a Twitter thread last week, the day Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19. The scene opens with former President Bartlett obviously just reading the news of the diagnosis and telling his wife Abby about it. The phone conversations that ensue are remarkably true to the show’s writing and characters—like, you can actually hear their voices as you read it. Woehr nails the show so thoroughly it’s almost spooky.

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Here’s Woehr’s whole WW2020 thread, shared directly as written. Enjoy.

JED BARTLETT: *peering at news* Abby, did you see this?

ABBY: don’t get your blood pressure up. it’s not your concern anymore.

JED: well, of course it is. can’t a man be interested in current events?

ABBY: just tell me you won’t call–

JED: get Toby on the phone, will you?

TOBY: yes, sir, I’ve heard.

JED: do you think he’s faking it?

TOBY: no, sir, I don’t. I don’t think his ego would allow it.

JED: should I make a statement?

TOBY: what kind of statement, sir?

JED: I don’t know. “I told you so?”

TOBY: no, I don’t think you should say that.

JED: have you talked to C.J.?

TOBY: I called, but she was dancing barefoot on the lawn under the full moon. she hung up on me.

JED: *snort* WOMEN.

ABBY: *clears throat*

JED: what I meant to say was, have you spoken to Sam?

TOBY: on the other line, sir. I’ll merge the calls.

SAM: good evening, sir. how are you feeling?

JED: I’m married to a doctor. I’m feeling nostalgic for the outdoors.

TOBY: the president thinks he should make a statement.

SAM: don’t say “I told you so.”

JED: I wasn’t going to.

TOBY: *cough*

JED: I might have considered it.

TOBY: sir, CJ’s calling. should I merge her in?

JED: yes, for god’s sake.

CJ: (out of breath) good evening, sir.

JED: I heard you were dancing.

CJ: a little bit, sir.

JED: did you do the jackal?

CJ: It’s the WAP now, sir.

JED: I hope the P stands for “Pope.”

CJ: no, sir

JED: CJ, don’t you think it’s somewhat unseemly to dance when a man has contracted a dangerous virus?

CJ: can the First Lady hear me?

ABBY: I’m here.

CJ: Mrs. Bartlett, do you have some sort of music-playing device with you? I want you to look up an artist named Megan–

SAM: Abby, don’t do what she’s telling you to do.

ABBY: that’s Dr. Bartlett. I’m looking, CJ.

JED: I believe we were talking about me.

TOBY: yes, sir. a statement. I still think it’s a bad idea.

SAM: there’s nothing to say that won’t sound vindictive or false.

JED: what if I’m feeling vindictive?

TOBY: then that’s all the more reason not to say anything.

JED: god, you lily-livered intellectual elites pain me sometimes.

TOBY: sir, you’re a Nobel laureate.

JED: get Ainsley on the phone.

CJ: you know who she works for now, right?

AINSLEY: good evening, Mr. President. I imagine you’re calling to gloat?

JED: you have a vivid imagination.

TOBY: he’s calling for advice. he thinks he should make a statement.

AINSLEY: sir, I work for the Lincoln Project. I don’t think it’s right I advise you.

SAM: I do.

TOBY: you do?

SAM: sure. we’re on the same team on this one.

AINSLEY: your making a statement might benefit us, and not you.

JED: what benefit am I worried about? I’m retired.

ABBY: your legacy.

JED: is secure.

ABBY: your children.

JED: are rich, grown, and happy.

SAM: he’s thinking of saying “I told you so.”

JED: it was just a first draft. Toby will write the real thing.

AINSLEY: you shouldn’t appear vindictive.

SAM: that’s what I said.

AINSLEY: something statesmanlike.

JED: I’ve been statesmanlike this whole time. I wore a mask.

ABBY: I made you wear a mask.

JED: Dr. Bartlett made me wear a mask. and in statesmanlike fashion, I obeyed my wife.

CJ: where are you planning to place this statement?

JED: I don’t know. I hear Chuck Grassley found a messenger pigeon.

TOBY: the pigeon was dead, sir.

JED: oh. well I suppose it’s not very good at its job, then.

TOBY: about as good as the postal service these days, sir.

JED: where would you suggest placing the statement, CJ?

CJ: I could give it to Danny.

JED: isn’t he retired?

CJ: semi-retired. he freelances.

JED: Danny, then. all right. we can give it to Danny. Ainsley, what should I say?

AINSLEY: should I bring George in on this?

JED: Conway? no. he’s a nincompoop. blows this way and that with the wind.

TOBY: well said, sir.

JED: I want your opinion, Ainsley, not your bosses’.

AINSLEY: well, I think you should say that although you disagree on many things, you know what it’s like to experience an illness in office.

JED: that’s soft. you don’t want me to be soft on the guy.

SAM: it’s smart, sir. never interrupt your opponent when he’s losing votes.

TOBY: he’s not our opponent. we don’t have an opponent. if we had an opponent, Josh would be on this call!

JED: good point. Toby, get Josh on the call.

CJ: sir, Josh is–

JED: In Portland, yes. they have phones in anarchist jurisdictions, right?

TOBY: he’s in jail, sir.

JED: an actual jail?

TOBY: as opposed to what kind?

JED: I don’t know. some sort of mock U.N. thing, for kids.

AINSLEY: please don’t put anything about mock jails in the statement, Mr. President.

SAM: why didn’t Josh call me? I should be his phone call.

TOBY: he called me.

SAM: I’m his attorney!

TOBY: well, maybe he doesn’t want to get out of jail just yet.

JED: I can’t still pardon him, can I?

TOBY: no, sir.

JED: God, I miss it sometimes.

CJ: the presidency, sir?

JED: just the part where I could tell all of you to shut up and make it stick.

JOSH: good evening, sir.

JED: I thought you were in jail.

JOSH: I am in jail, sir. what can I do for you?

CJ: while Toby and Sam were busy arguing about who Josh should have called, I called the jail and asked for Josh.

JED: Josh, should I make a statement or not?

JOSH: you should make one rip-roaring hell of a statement.

JED: should I say “I told you so?”

JOSH: did you tell him so?

JED: I tried. he wouldn’t return my calls.

JOSH: then no, that’s lying.

JED: and you’re going to tell me I only get to do that while in office, I suppose.

CJ: what if you just send your well-wishes to the youngest one?

JED: the tall one?

CJ: is that a dig at me?

TOBY: he really is quite tall.

AINSLEY: he’s a child, sir. don’t bring him in.

JOSH: well-wishes are “bringing him in?”

AINSLEY: in a statement to the press? yes.

JED: I suppose you’re right. I won’t wish him well. in fact, I’ll wish him nothing at all.

TOBY: you could say you’re feeling fortunate to have been well-advised while in office by health experts, including the First Lady.

JOSH: that’ll just bring up M.S. comparisons.

SAM: how about you don’t say anything about him at all?

TOBY: make it about the American people.

SAM: in a time of crisis—

CJ: *snorts* it’s not a crisis, it’s the first good news this year.

SAM: in a time of great uncertainty…

TOBY: a time of yearning for stability…

SAM: …a time when America, stuck in a beleaguered present, longs for a mythical past and a promised future…

TOBY: …it is clearer now than ever that today’s challenges shape tomorrow’s opportunities.

SAM: …as a nation, we grieve deeply together, and we rise together.

TOBY: and—bear with me, sir—today’s unprecedented trials remind me that America has yet to keep her founding promises to her citizens.

SAM: liberty. equality. prosperity. for too many American families, these ideals remain out of reach.

TOBY: my time to lead has passed.

SAM: today, I am proud to follow a new generation—a rising force that fights for what it believes in.

JOSH: hey. still in jail for fighting for what I believe in over here.

ABBY: maybe you’re an honorary youth?

TOBY: we’re riffing. please don’t interrupt when we’re riffing.

ABBY: that’s “please don’t interrupt, DR. Bartlett.”

TOBY: yes, ma’am.

JED: say something about my children. Zoe’s doing such great work at that awful socialist rag.

SAM: I am inspired most of all by my daughters, fearless in their devotion to their values and their nation.

TOBY: my time in the oval office affords me a unique vantage point from which to observe today’s trials and tribulations.

SAM: and what I’ve observed most keenly is the unquenchable spirit of human kindness.

TOBY: presidents don’t save lives. nurses and teachers do.

SAM: so when you ask me if I think the country can survive this current crisis?

TOBY: I think a country is not so much defined by those with the most power, but by those with the least.

SAM: the real business of America takes place not in the Oval Office, but in classrooms.

TOBY: and on street corners, where too many Americans, too many veterans, sleep at night.

SAM: and in the streets, where our youth are proud to march together and call for change.

TOBY: I know my successor in the White House will receive the best medical care in the world.

SAM: I only hope that—with the leadership of more citizens, and fewer politicians—there will come a day when I can say the same of every single mother, every newborn child, and every senior citizen.

TOBY: add a God Bless America, and you’re done.

JED: CJ, did you get all that?

CJ: huh?

ABBY: you really should see this video CJ is showing me. it’s really something. you say *you* did that dance?

CJ: well, not quite like they do it.

JED: please tell me someone wrote all that down.

AINSLEY: I did, sir. on tape.

JED: of course. the republican.

JOSH: you can’t record this. you’re in a two-party state.

AINSLEY: relax, I’m joking. I just took notes. I’ll type them up for you.

JED: should I add something in about voting?

CJ: sir, if anyone hasn’t decided whether or not to vote by this time, you won’t sway them.

JED: so that’s it. that’s the statement. no well-wishes, but no I-told-you-so.

TOBY: that’s the statement.

JED: Zoe will ask why I didn’t give it to her.

CJ: you can’t give Jacobin an exclusive, sir.

JED: well why the hell not?

CJ: because I already texted Danny.

JED: fine. we’ll give it to Danny. but if there’s any followup, Zoe gets it.

JOSH: you just called her publication a “socialist rag.”

JED: and? she may be redder than a baboon’s behind, but she’s my daughter.

ABBY: Jed!

AINSLEY: it’s okay, Ma’am. Presidents are coarse now.

JED: see? even the republican is on my side.

AINSLEY: we have very few decent sides to be on these days, sir.

JED: give that nutter Conway my regards. and trip his wife down the stairs for me, will you?

TOBY: you’ll send CJ the final language?

AINSLEY: already did.

JED: excellent. now, if there’s nothing else to do, I’m going back to bed.

SAM: sir, Josh is still in jail.

JED: call a nurse or a teacher to get him out. politicians and intellectuals are passé.

ABBY: wait! CJ, don’t hang up. I need to know how to get one of these leotards.

CJ: planning to learn the WAP, ma’am?

JED: good-NIGHT everyone. *hangs up phone*

ABBY: I wasn’t done!

JED: you don’t secretly hate Christmas or anything, do you?

ABBY: You know I love Christmas.

JED: Let’s go upstairs, Dr. Bartlett.

ABBY: Lead the way, Mr. President.

I feel like we need a “The End” here.

Seriously, though, wasn’t that remarkable and delightful? Woehr has gotten a lot of well-deserved attention and praise for the imaginary reboot and says she’s planning more for people who loved the thread. (Also, here’s her LinkedIn profile because somebody in television seriously needs to hire her.)

Thanks for bringing a bit of The West Wing into the craziest part of 2020, Jelena! It’s the levity and inspiration we didn’t know we needed.

The NBA loves wine. Pre-playoffs, the bubble was a hotbed of impromptu tastings and bottle trading. LeBron is a legit connoisseur. CJ McCollum has his own Oregon Pinot Noir. J.J. Reddick is practically a dang sommelier. But no one seems quite so openly passionate, eager to learn, and willing to share knowledge as Pelicans swingman Josh Hart.

Hart cares deeply about wine. Enough so that he’s actively engaged in improving the industry — working closely with Wine Access to increase representation via the Diversity In Wine Scholarship Program. The initiative aims to send 100 Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) to the Napa Valley Wine Academy, paying for them to be certified as real-world experts so that they can pursue jobs in the industry. Along the way, they’ll enjoy three days in the tasting rooms of the Napa with Hart himself.

It’s no surprise that Hart has a killer cellar of his own at home, and this week he was kind enough to share some of his favorite bottles with us. We kept things very accessible — all of Hart’s recommendations are in the $20 to $50 range and readily available for delivery. Hart’s partner in the Diversity In Wine Scholarship Program, Master of Wine Vanessa Conlin, added her own expert tasting notes to Hart’s picks as well.

Check the ten entries below and if the Diversity of Wine Scholarship Program spoke to you, consider applying here. Applications are open until October 31st.

2016 Domaine Matrot Bourgogne Blanc

Region: Burgundy, France
Grape: 100% Chardonnay
Average Price: $24

The Wine:

This bottle is often heralded as one of the best wines overall at this price point. The farming practices are organic. The wine-making heritage goes back six generations. This bottle is considered peak Burgundy and endlessly drinkable.

Josh’s Notes:

I love chardonnay from Burgundy because it is really versatile to pair with food. I know a lot of people like to pair reds like cabernet sauvignon with steak, but Vanessa and I paired a white Burgundy with a steak and it blew my mind.

Vanessa’s Notes:

I love unexpected food pairings, and this was no exception! We had steak with a ton of fresh herbs and it was absolutely delicious!

2018 Maison Frederic Magnien Bourgogne Rouge

Region: Burgundy, France
Grape: 100% Pinot Noir
Average Price: $27

The Wine:

This Pinot pulls its fruit from Brochon, Fixin, and Corgoloin in the Côte de Nuits with additional fruit coming from Marsannay and, crucially, Chambolle-Musigny. That combination of rare grapes adds boldness and nuance to the body of the juice.

Josh’s Notes:

When I have people over I like to open lots of different wines to try. This bottle is a great way to move from white wines into reds before you get to heavier wines like Bordeaux and Napa Cabs.

Vanessa’s Notes:

I’ve spent a few dinners at Josh’s house with his friends and there are always a number of bottles open. Because he likes bolder and fuller reds, this red Burgundy is a great transition from the white wines, before the richer red he likes to open later in the evening, due to the freshness and the lower tannins of the Magnien.

2015 Chateau du Glana Saint-Julien

Region: Bordeaux, France
Grape: 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot
Average Price: $39

The Wine:

This wine is another killer that people love for both the price and what’s in the bottle. The grapes come from 25-year-old vines that grow in gravel in Saint-Julien. The juice then spends two years in French oak, imbuing wood and spice into the body of the wine.

Josh’s Notes:

Other than Napa Valley, Bordeaux is my favorite red wine region, but sometimes those wines can be expensive. The Chateau du Glana is an awesome bottle from the left bank that is always a crowd-pleaser.

Vanessa’s Notes:

I know Josh really likes wines from Pauillac like Pontet-Canet, but I know he also likes Napa. I thought Josh would like this because it balances the firm backbone of the left bank of Bordeaux but with polished tannins of California and a New World-y ripeness.

2015 Chateau Tronquoy-Lalande Saint-Estephe

Region: Bordeaux, France
Grape: 55% Merlot, 37% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc
Average Price: $54

The Wine:

This bottle from Château Montrose costs one-fourth of their signature bottle of Montrose without sacrificing the beauty of the juice in the bottle. The gravelly terroir of Saint-Estèphe in the northern reaches of Médoc helps give the Cab berries their heft, which comes through in the wine. The addition of Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Cab Franc balance out the wine and bring about a complex sip.

Josh’s Notes:

This wine is still really youthful but so delicious right now. I’m holding a few bottles in my new cellar to try over the next several years and I can’t wait to see how it evolves.

Vanessa’s Notes:

2015 is one of my favorite vintages in recent decades, along with 2005, 2009, and 2010. Josh and I share an appreciation for these vintages and we choose this wine so that he can utilize his home cellar. It’s a great candidate to keep going back to over time — so that you can see how it evolves.

2017 Synthesis by Martin Ray Cabernet Sauvignon

Region: Napa Valley, California
Grape: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Average Price: $39

The Wine:

This Napa wine was an experiment that worked out in the best possible way. The juice is a combination of berries from the hilltops of Napa combined with berries from Napa’s various valleys. The winemakers at Martin Ray were able to tinker, push, and pull out unique textures and flavors in their juice by pulling grapes from several high-elevation and low-elevation vineyards known for their excellence, while still being able to create a wine you can actually afford.

Josh’s Notes:

I’ve been lucky enough to try some of the top Cabernet Sauvignons from Napa Valley but they can be difficult to find other than on the mailing list. The Synthesis is a bottle I can open on a weeknight with just me and Shannon [Phillips] and enjoy an amazing bottle while just hanging out.

Vanessa’s Notes:

Great quality and price in Napa is always a great find, and this wine really over-delivers. If tasted without knowing the price, I think Josh would guess it is much more expensive than it is — and so would I!

2018 Zuccardi Concreto Malbec Paraje Altamira

Region: Mendoza, Argentina
Grape: 100% Malbec
Average Price: $30

The Wine:

Zuccardi was called the “best vineyard in the world” just last year. The weight of that title and the wizardry of the wine lays on the shoulders of winemaker Sebastián Zuccardi. Zuccardi’s mission is to find the perfect wine from his high-altitude Mendoza grapes growing in the shadow of a wall of Andes peaks.

This Malbec is the embodiment of that region in every sip.

Josh’s Notes:

I’m still learning about wines from South America, but I really like the opulence and velvety-soft tannins of this Malbec. I think that it’s a great alternative to Napa Cabernet, especially when I’m looking for something full-bodied but not overly weighty to enjoy at the end of a long day of practice.

Vanessa’s Notes:

This wine is loaded with fruit purity, but not light on structure. The Zuccardi has a really interesting textural plushness that can be versatile with foods, but also can be enjoyed just as a glass to enjoy by itself.

2018 Ornellaia Le Volte dell’Ornellaia

Region: Toscana, Italy
Grape: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese
Average Price: $22

The Wine:

This Tuscan wine is a collector’s bottle of wine with an entry-level price tag. The iconic Ornellaia is one of the most beloved wine-stops in Tuscany due to the history of the place and the exact nature of the craft behind every step of the wine-making.

Josh’s Notes:

Ornellaia is one of my all-time favorite Italian wines, but I prefer it with a little age. The same winery makes a great Super Tuscan blend that is delicious, young, and satisfies my cravings for an Italian red while I let my collection of Ornellaia mature.

Vanessa’s Notes:

Ornellaia is also one of my all-time favorite Italian wines. I had lunch with the winemaker at the property last year and I absolutely fell in love with this wine. I poured it for my parents and then they ordered a case!

NV Champagne M. Brugnon Selection Brut

Region: Champagne, France
Grape: 65% Chardonnay and 35% Pinot Noir
Average Price: $35

The Wine:

Four generations of the Brugnon family have been crafting this subtle Champagne in the small village of Ecueil in Champagne, France. The sparking juice in the bottle is a refined example of the region’s excellence when it comes to producing fine bottles of bubbly.

Josh’s Notes:

My chef makes fantastic crab cakes and fried oysters, and Champagne is the perfect match. I love this one in particular for its balance of fresh fruit and toasty complexity. It’s great on its own, but pairs with almost everything.

Vanessa’s Notes:

Well, anyone who spends time with me knows I absolutely love Champagne. I always have at least two bottles of this in the refrigerator not only for celebrations but also for opening on any occasion, since it is so affordable for true Champagne.

Tory Lanez has been charged with shooting Megan Thee Stallion, according to a tweet from New York Times‘ Joe Coscarelli. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office confirmed that Tory is being charged for the July 12 shooting which left Thee Stallion injured in both feet and may have helped tank Lanez’s own rap career.

This story is being updated.

The best new hip-hop albums coming out this week include projects from Blocboy JB, Capolow, Headie One, Lil Loaded, and Reason.

After last week’s torrent of “must-listen,” big-name releases — both planned and leaked — this week’s collection is decidedly more low-key. Two artists dropping this week are recipients of the Drake Stimulus, while another blew up in a roundabout way — thanks mainly to a mix-up between two artists with the same name from different countries. Reason has made the most of his spotlight, though, releasing a string of imaginative videos that have spun the mistaken hype into a legitimate buzz of his own. Meanwhile, Capolow doubles down on the hype from his collaborative tape with Kamaiyah and yet another Dallas artist sets himself on the verge of a big breakout.

Here are all the best new hip-hop albums coming out this week.

Blocboy JB — Fatboy

Although the fervor around BlocBoy from his 2018 Drake collaboration “Look Alive” has mostly fizzled, the 24-year-old Memphis native has continued trucking along, even without the press attention he garnered from the lucky break. While the city has a new favorite in the form of NLE Choppa, who features here on “ChopBloc Pt. 3,” BlocBoy maintains enough pull to grab high-profile local stars like Tay Keith and Yo Gotti for guest appearances, as well as well-known out-of-towners G Herbo and Trippie Redd.

Capolow — Kid Next Door

As the saying goes, “strike while the iron is hot,” and Oaklander Capolow is taking that adage to heart. Just two weeks removed from his Oakland Nights tape, on which hometown hero Kamaiyah shared her well-earned spotlight, Capolow runs with the ball to see if he can gain any more yardage from her perfect handoff. Rather than relying on more high-profile co-signs, Capolow goes mostly solo on his latest effort, with the exceptions of a handful of features from fellow up-and-comers Haiti Babii, JayDaYoungan, Luh Kel, Ola Runt.

Headie One — Edna

Like BlocBoy JB, Headie One was also recently bestowed some of Drake’s halo effect when the OVO headman joined him for the rollicking “Only You” freestyle video in July. Drake isn’t the only one to recognize the burgeoning drill star’s talent, though; local legend-in-the-making Stormzy also recruited him for last year’s “Audacity” from Heavy Is The Head. With an impressive catalog of self-released mixtapes showing off his promise over the last few years, Headie’s debut arrives on a solid foundation and with appearances from Future, Kaash Paige, Mahalia, Skepta alongside Drake and another Stormzy verse, he’s in prime position for a huge breakout as a result.

Lil Loaded — A Demon In Blue

After spending decades in the shadows of its fellow Lone Star State city Houston, Dallas hip-hop has seen an encouraging increase in attention for its growing wealth of artists not named D.O.C. or Vanilla Ice. Yella Beezy cracked the door and now, rappers like Asian Doll, Mo3, and Sadfacethuggin, as well as hybrid singers like Kaash Paige, have begun to strut their way through. Add Lil Loaded, who appeals to the raucous energy teenage rap fans have embraced from the likes of Jahmed, Pouya, and Snot, and brings a menacing stance that plays off the assertive energy the Big D has cultivated over the past few years.

Reason — New Beginnings

After announcing his presence with the re-release of There You Have It in 2018, New Beginnings is Reason’s “official” TDE debut. More celebratory than There You Have It, but no less thoughtful, New Beginnings sees Reason still snapping lyrically but beginning to enjoy the fruits of his success as he trades bars with labelmates Ab-Soul, Isaiah Rashad, and Schoolboy Q, as well as a murderer’s row of rap all-stars including JID, Rapsody, and Vince Staples. The album concludes with the introspective “Windows Cry,” a gem for anyone who truly loved the blunt honesty of Reason’s Dreamville collaboration “LamboTruck.”

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The role of sideline reporter in the NFL this season is different than any other, as they are no longer, well, on the sidelines. COVID-19 guidelines from the league have pushed them off the field, and on Thursday nights, this means Kristina Pink and Erin Andrews deliver their reports from a perch in the front row of the stands above the sidelines, remaining socially distanced while still trying to deliver insight and information on what’s taking place on the gridiron.

That requires a different kind of work to gather information, as access is limited on gamedays and there aren’t the same opportunities to talk with players and coaches at the stadium. For Pink, a self-described “people person,” not having those face-to-face interactions has been the most difficult part of adjusting to this new reality. Instead, it’s all about leaning on relationships she’s built over her eight previous seasons at Fox to facilitate phone calls and conversations with players and coaches on her own during the week prior to the game.

“The work now is done before you get to the stadium,” Pink tells Uproxx. “Which for me it was always, I’d get on the phone during the week and we’d do our calls with the different teams and the crew. But I always felt like the best stuff was from those face-to-face conversations. Like, if a guy is a last minute injury question mark or something like that, being able to walk over and talk to people in person. So it’s really tough not being able to do that.”

For the broadcast team, the conversations that Pink and Andrews have on their own becomes vital. Pam Oliver played a big role in helping Pink get comfortable in the sideline role when she arrived at Fox nine years ago. Among the advice Oliver gave was to go out and do the work on your own, making those calls to your teams during the week separate from production meetings, but to always share those notes with the rest of the broadcast crew, because you’re a team.

This year, as TNF producer Richie Zyontz notes, those production meetings have become more limited. As such, the broadcast team relies heavily on the information Pink and Andrews provide from the conversations they coordinate on their own.

“That becomes pretty crucial as our access is more and more limited,” Zyontz says. “They’re able to get a lot of background information from people that we don’t talk to on the phone. You know, when the crew has a meeting with the team now we get on the phone, we talk to a head coach, we talk to a quarterback, we talk to a coordinator. That’s pretty much it. Time is limited. So they’re able on their own to get people on the phone. And they have information they share with us, share on TV, that the rest of the crew isn’t able to get.”

It’s now Pink’s third season as part of this Thursday Night Football team, as she joined Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Andrews when Fox added the broadcast to their package in 2018. When she arrived, those three had been doing broadcasts for years together. As Buck recalls, there was some concern about adding someone else to that well-oiled machine. But from the jump, she’s fit in to their broadcast family like they’d been together forever.

“You know, I gotta be honest, I didn’t know how she’d mix in,” Buck tells Uproxx. “Because Troy and Erin and I have been together for some years before Thursday Night was added to the package, and she just stepped right in like she’s been with us the entire time. It was seamless three years ago, and it’s only grown from there.”

A big part of that is Pink’s energy and personality, which is an asset on-air and off. Talking with Pink, you can’t help but recognize the enthusiasm she has for the job and her general zest for life. Being a sports reporter is what she’s wanted to do since she was an undergrad at the University of Florida, and that shines through on the broadcast, whether on NFL games or in her role on the sidelines for the L.A. Clippers.

“Other people tell me, I’m kind of like the Energizer Bunny,” Pink says with a laugh. “For me, sports – covering the NFL, covering the NBA, even when I worked in local TV in small town local TV – for me, it’s fun. I look at every game and every broadcast like I enjoy what I do and I want people to enjoy watching me. So I just try to have my natural energy and presence when I am on the air, and so I don’t know if I ever learned to do that, I think it was organic. I think I just got more comfortable letting my personality shine as I got further in my career.”

Pink admits it took a little time for her to get more comfortable in her role. Early in her career, Oliver recognized a bit of herself in Pink, a former local TV reporter stepping onto a national stage for the first time, and made sure to reassure Pink that she belonged. As Oliver says, “I probably got a little motherly about it,” but she wanted to make sure Pink recognized that she deserved the role she was in and, while it was a big opportunity, she didn’t need to make it bigger than it was.

It took Pink a little to really take that to heart, but in her third or fourth year, she got her first big sit down interview for the Fox Pregame Show with Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons. Later that year, she was asked to do another with Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys, which further cemented that she was someone the network had immense faith and trust in to carry out big assignments.

“So I’m like, OK, they’re having me do an interview with the Cowboys, this means something,” Pink says.

Now, she’s a veteran of the sidelines and is on a standalone national broadcast each week, seeing every team in the league. Nine years in, she still gets excited about writing a great lede or being able to tell a new story on the air, and tries to approach the broadcast like she would a call with her parents, explaining breaking news to her mom or dad over the phone. The ease with which she makes you comfortable as a viewer is among her greatest assets, as she delivers reports not at you but to you, a subtle but important difference that helps her shine in the role. And it’s her combination of skill, natural energy, and a commitment to her craft — both in what she reports and how she helps steer the broadcast — that impresses her colleagues the most.

“She really, really works incredibly hard and she takes great pride in all the information that she gets, whether it’s during the week talking to players or gameday during the actual game,” TNF director Rich Russo says. “Her ability to see things on the sidelines, which really can help us, even if it’s things she’s not going to report she can kind of get information to us and we can get cameras to certain players and shots. She really takes great pride, she’s so incredibly talented at what she does and works very, very hard at it and it’s very obvious about that.”

“I can honestly tell you I have never seen Kristina in anything but the best mood,” Buck says. “She’s just happy. She brings a smile to the truck compound. On the air, I think it translates. I think viewers like that, and I think she’s really smart and does a really clever report every time we go down to her. Like last week, for example, we were talking about how there’s this offensive explosion around the NFL, and she said, ‘But the Jets, who are averaging just over 12 points per game, are still waiting for takeoff.’ It’s a cute turn of a phrase, but that stuck with me. Nothing I do sticks with me as we talk now, but that does. So I think she’s really great at her job, but apart from that I think she’s a really great person who just shows happiness on the air.”

That energy and enthusiasm wouldn’t be as effective if she weren’t also extremely good as a reporter. She started at Florida, working at the university’s TV and radio stations before working her way through stops in Jackson, MS, New Orleans, and Miami before landing with Fox and, later, with the Clippers. That path gave her the reporting chops that she carries with her still, and it’s part of why Oliver takes such pride in seeing her rise.

“She’s a trained reporter,” Oliver says. “She came up not the pretty way. She got her hands dirty. That’s what I have tremendous respect for her about. She did not come up as some YouTube star or Twitter queen or anything like that. It was down and dirty, hard work. Editing and shooting your own stuff. But she knew how to report, I had no doubt about that, but when she eased into it she really eased into it well.”

Pink’s path has also given her great confidence and understanding in who she is both as a reporter and also a person. The sports world as a whole isn’t as kind or welcoming to women, particularly Black women, as it should be, but Pink’s approach to navigating those challenges is to simply carry that same kindness and joy at all times, keeping those that are positive close and ignoring those that aren’t.

“I would say you have to be 100 percent comfortable in your own skin, and do your best not to pay attention to what people say,” Pink says. “And it’s hard, it’s hard for people in everyday life, and it’s hard for us when you’re on TV. I will say I’ve had an overwhelmingly positive experience throughout my career, but I do remember someone making a comment on social media and I’m not one who ever responds to things but someone said something I felt was challenging my intelligence, I was like, ‘OK, really?’ I’ve always been like, kill ‘em with kindness and you realize the more you engage it’s just not worth it. And I can respond in a nice and kind way and they said something back and I just realized this is never going to go anywhere. So you have to operate inside knowing who I am, knowing who my circle is, my colleagues who like, love, respect my work; that understand how hard I work, and not worry about that outside noise. I do think that’s hard, but I’ve kind of managed not to really listen to it.”

There’s not much that shakes or rattles Pink, but she does note towards the end of our conversation that she’s been more uncomfortable talking about herself for half an hour than she ever is delivering a report on the air to millions of viewers. She’ll likely have to grow a bit more accustomed to it, as she’s among the rising stars in the industry. For Oliver, she points to Pink as the present and future of the business, as well as a tremendous role model who pave the way for more young Black women.

“I’m tremendously proud of her and I look at it and, people talk about the next generation and, you’re looking at it,” Oliver says. “It’s sitting right there in front of you. I hope it’s just not the end, that we’ll seen more young African-American women, women of color, coming up right behind her on this scene or the local scene or whichever level it is. That Kristina is in that category where young girls are starting to look and say, ‘I want to do what Kristina Pink is doing.’ You know I’m the sideline grandma, they’ve known me, but I think she’s entering a stratosphere of stardom, reluctantly or not. You look at it like, I don’t want to be a star I want to be a journalist, and she would be one of those people who would say that. But that’s the reality of it. Her star is rising and her upside is tremendous and everything’s pointing up.

“Everything’s pointing up for Kristina.”

If nothing below suits your sensibilities, check out our guide to What You Should Watch On Streaming Right Now.

Charm City Kings (HBO Max film) — During an acclaimed Sundance Film Festival debut, our own Vince Mancini singled out Meek Mill for his star turn in the coming-of-age story. Vince also praised the stunt work in this movie produced by Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Jahi Di’Allo Winston (Queen & Slim) co-stars as the teenage Mouse, who wants to fit in with the Midnight Clique group of bike riders while wavering between influences. One of those influences happens to be Mill’s stunt-happy ex-con, Blax, whose interests appear to be at odds with a detective (William Catlett of Black Lightning) and the teen’s mother (Teyonah Parris of If Beale Street Could Talk), who both want Mouse to reach his full potential, rather than dig into gang life.

The Forty-Year-Old Version (Netflix documentary) — New York playwright Radha Blank reinvents herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime in order to engineer a breakthrough before age 40. She ends up finding her true voice in a deeply personal but refreshingly candid story while leaping in between worlds, and the final product won the Directing Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. This black-and-white 35mm feature takes a slice-of-life approach that ends up being an ode to those who seize fulfillment.

Star Trek: Discovery (CBS, 10:00pm EST) — Ahead of the show’s Season 3 arrival (at some undetermined point) the CBS All Access show finds that the situation upon the U.S.S. Discovery is not everything that it seems to be, and that includes the captain.

The Outpost (CW, 8:00pm EST) — Season 3 debuts with Zed forcing humans to labor in a mining camp, all while Talon aims to promote peace.

Late Show With Stephen Colbert — Mindy Kaling, former CIA Director John Brennan

Jimmy Kimmel Live — Liam Neeson

In case you missed this one last Thursday:

A World Of Calm (HBO Max series) — This might be the most invaluable series of 2020, given that the voices of Keanu Reeves, Oscar Isaac, Idris Elba, Mahershala Ali, Zoe Kravitz, and more will guide you on an immersive tour aimed at relaxation. The episodes are based upon Calm’s Sleep Stories, which aim to be “bedtime stories for grown-ups.” Sold.

Recent Netflix favorite Emily in Paris features its titular character — played by Lily Collins — talking all sorts of trash about her home city of Chicago and one of its most famous pizza joints. When Emily Cooper (Collins) moves to Paris for a new job opportunity at a luxury marketing firm in Paris, she discovers that her new bosses aren’t fans of Chicago deep-dish pizza, with one comparing it to a “quiche made of cement.” That’s a solid dig, to which Cooper quips, “Oh no, you must have gone to Lou Malnati’s.”

Damn, Emily! That’s a Jon Stewart level deep-dish burn. One that Chicago pizza staple, Lou Malnati’s, is getting pretty deep in their feelings about. The chain’s current owner, Marc Malnati, issued the following statement:

“We’ve been serving Chicago’s favorite Deep Dish since 1971. When Netflix’s Emily in Paris writers chose to take a shot at Chicagoans and our pizza to try to get a laugh, it felt heartless and not humorous in the midst of COVID-19.”

To be fair to Emily in Paris, according to the Chicago Tribune the show was filmed over a year ago and written well before the coronavirus would wreck America’s restaurant industry. On the flip side, we’re sure if this was any other year Malnati would’ve come back with a deep dish sized quip — pizza makers love a good quip! As it stands, Malnati’s comments are a reminder that even as states continue to reopen and hospitalizations start to decline, our local restaurants and eateries are still struggling to get by.

So maybe grab a pie tonight from your favorite local joint (or one of ours).

Ever since Donald J. Trump won the Republican primary in 2016, I’ve had so many questions. Four years later, most of them still remain unanswered.

For example how does a man who has had so many failed businesses convince people he’s a great businessman? How does a man who was fined $2 million for using misusing charitable donations for his own political gain convince people he’s charitable? How does a man who paid a $25 million settlement to students he defrauded with his fake “university” convince people he’ll be trustworthy with the highest office in the land? How does a man who the entire country heard say he “tried to f*ck” a married woman and grabs women “by the p*ssy” get any women to vote for him? How could a man who cheated on all three of his wives, paid hush money to a porn star, spends his Sunday mornings golfing instead of going to church, and dodges questions about the Bible gain the adoration of evangelical Christians?

It’s that last question that has perhaps been the most baffling one to me. Especially considering the super devout Christian beliefs of his vice president and running mate, Mike Pence. Like, how does that even work?

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Last night, former Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg, who has become a strong surrogate for the Biden-Harris campaign, actually went there on Fox News. When asked why Kamala Harris seems to have some different stances on certain issues now than she did in the primary, Buttigieg pointed out the “classic parlor game of trying to find a little bit of daylight between running mates.” He said if they wanted to do that, they could—then he flipped the script and laid down the big question of why Pence, as an evangelical Christian, would want to be on a ticket with a man who was caught with a porn star.

Yep, he did.

Even the Fox News anchors seemed a bit stunned for a second. Weren’t expecting that, were we?

Now, some may say—and rightly so—that it’s no one’s business what a man does in private, but that doesn’t exactly jive with famously anti-LBGTQ+ Mike Pence’s ultra-conservative views on what other people do in the privacy of their bedrooms. And we still don’t have an answer as to how Pence looks at himself in the mirror in the morning before going to work for a man who embodies everything Christ taught against.

I mean, it’s not like Pence has distanced himself from Trump at all. Every time he opens his mouth, the first words that pop out are some kind of gushing praise for the president. Seeing people’s positive qualities is one thing, but this is something else entirely. There are entire videos made about Pence’s historically sycophantic butt-kissing, and it’s the first thing that stands out the most to me when I see him walk up to a podium and start speaking. It’s genuinely weird and creepy under any circumstances, but considering the gaping canyon between what Mike Pence purports to be about and what Donald Trump actually is, it’s mind-boggling.

Seriously. It hurts the brain to try to make sense of it. Part of me wishes Kamala Harris had asked him that question last night, but she’d probably get called trashy for it.

Buttigieg is on a roll with his Fox News appearances, calmly and eloquently smashing through the network’s standard pro-Trump tropes and laying out the facts matter-of-factly.

The guy really is good at getting to the heart of the matter. Here he is sharing his thoughts on the president backing out of next week’s debate because he doesn’t want to do it virtually (despite the fact that tens of millions of us are working and learning and communicating with loved ones virtually—and the vast majority of us aren’t actively infected with COVID).

So many questions about this president and those who continue clinging to his sinking ship remain unanswered. All I can come up with is that partisanship combined with a cult of personality makes one hell of a cocktail.

Every goal that’s ever been achieved has started with a dream. Whether it’s a career, an artistic endeavor or relationship, it all starts with a glimmer of hope, then with some hard work, determination and a little bit luck, we may just find ourselves at the destination.

While it’s common for people to attribute mastery of a skill to a gift or natural genius, for most, it’s not natural. Their skills are developed through regular practice. In his book, “Outliers,” Malcom Gladwell shows that some of the greatest artists and entrepreneurs of our time, including BIll Gates and The Beatles, all honed their craft over 10,000 hours before reaching the top.

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Successful people are also known to use visualization techniques to help them reach their goals. By visualizing the end result, such as making a clutch shot or seeing yourself on the front page of a magazine, we can provide ourselves with the determination it takes to get through the struggles along the path to success.

People who’ve reached their goals on Twitter have been sharing what they looked like starting out versus their current selves to encourage other people to strive for their goals.

The great thing is that the people all have different goals and definitions of success. Success for some may be a happy, fulfilling relationship. For others it may be an athletic achievement or success in business.

Regardless, we all have goals we’d like to reach so it’s nice to see how most people who achieve something great started at the bottom.

Phil Martin, Jr. has learned to navigate life with autism spectrum disorder to land his dream job as an Amtrak Conductor. He’s also an accomplished photographer.

Mwema dreamed of becoming a pilot as a child. Now, he sits in the cockpit.

Naomi Osaka once dreamed of being a tennis professional. Now, she’s been ranked number one the Women’s Tennis Association, and is the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles.

They were once innocent teenagers, now they’ve reached ultimate 2020 relationship goals.

Every business starts with one customer.

Lil Nas X started with a dream to be a rapper then followed the Old Town Road to unimaginable success.

Getting the body you want starts with making the decision to change and never letting up.

Simone Biles started gymnastics when she was six. Sixteen years later, she’s won a combined total of 30 Olympic and World Championship medals.

In 2017, Gina Martin was assaulted by a man who put a camera up her skirt and took a picture. After learning there was no law against it, she started a campaign to make it illegal. Two years later, upskirting is now illegal in the UK.

In 2016, Katie Taylor dreamed about turning professional as a boxer. Four years later, she is a two-weight world champion and the current undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBA title since 2017; the IBF title since 2018; and the WBC, WBO, and “Ring” magazine titles since 2019.

Eminem has been involved in some feuds in his day, but one of the longest-lasting is his beef with Nick Cannon. Their mutual discontent has spanned years, but according to somebody close to Eminem, that’s all done with now.

Crooked I — aka Kxng Crooked, former Shady Records artist and Slaughterhouse member who Eminem recently called the most underrated rapper ever — took some time yesterday to answer fan questions on Twitter. One user mentioned Cannon’s recent meet-up with Royce Da 5’9″, an Eminem associate, and asked for Crooked’s thoughts on the situation. Crooked responded by declaring that Em and Cannon’s beef is officially no more, tweeting, “They’re not enemies. It’s over.”

This comes a bit under a month after Cannon expressed a desire to sit down and work things out with Eminem, saying that he hoped Royce would be able to help make it happen. During a conversation with Cannon, Fat Joe offered to mediate a talk between Cannon and Eminem, to which Cannon responded, “If you can do it, man. I’ve been trying to get… I done talked to Royce, we trying to really get it popping, ’cause I think at the end, two men need to really have that conversation. While you at it, tell him to come… we’ll set up an exclusive Wild’n Out Detroit.”

Neither artist has confirmed nor denied that this meet-up happened and/or they have indeed buried the hatchet, but this dispatch is the most promising news of peace that this situation has seen so far.