Kritik und Lob » ith this crew. Our job is to evaluate what w

This post contains spoilers.This weeks episode of Pitch was centered around Mikes (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) impending trade from the Padres to the Cubs. Spoiler alert: Hes not getting traded (duh).Mike, of course, never actually wanted to leave, but Charlie (Kevin Connolly), the president of baseball operations, is convinced that Mike and talented prospect Livan Duarte (Christian Ochoa) cannot coexist. The obvious choice (to him) is to go younger and make an all-in bet on Duarte, even if he isnt ready to do more than hit flashy inside-the-park home runs and ignore coaching instruction.I maintain that Pitch is best when Ginny (Kylie Bunbury) is front and center, but a Mike-centric episode comes in at a close second. I submit the following gif as evidence for the former.The proverbial elephant in the room, however, was, is and will continue to be #Bawson (Baker and Lawson). I have publicly stated that I am not on that train (Im still not). For the full diatribe, please see last episodes column. The short and sweet version is, I dont love the age difference, Ginny falling for a ballplayer or the fact that intra-team romances are apparently cool for straight folks but the end of the world (the inclusion or discussion of LGB athlete relationships always seems to be cause for alarm) for queer folks. Miss me with that.It seemed like Mike had come to terms with his feelings for Ginny in the last episode (see the off-key humming monologue). Theres a strong argument that this knowledge is at the root of his decision to waive the no-trade clause in his contract and be willing to go to the Cubs. In the moments after his internal realization, Mike called Oscar Arguella, the GM (Mark Consuelos), and told him that hed go to Chicago. There was no reckoning with his being dispensable to the very team with which he had spent his entire career. This is about Ginny.And she has no idea.Executive producer and co-creator Rick Singer noted during a set visit in August: [Ginny is] ill-equipped to deal with all of the things that come with being a young woman out on her own for the first time. Ive touched on this point before, but in the context of this episode, this sentiment underscores Ginnys laser focus on baseball for the majority of her life at the expense of romance and social development.Ginny is only 23, and to date we know of exactly one significant romance: Trevor (Shamier Anderson), the guy with the nude selfies (what happened to him?). This episode, shes flirting with (and maybe dating?) tech genius Noah Casey (Tyler Hilton), whom she met through pitching for her video game character. Side note: If Ginny Baker is not a playable character in MLB: The Show 2017, there is no justice in this world.Now, I am Team Noah for sure. I love them together. I love nerdy Ginny who giggles at an 8-bit program delivering Noahs number because super Noah looks like Mario and she told him that she likes Mario. Noah is smart, kind and most of all not Ginnys teammate who is 13 years her senior. I know the Bawson chemistry is great, but come on, she had a poster of him on her wall.Anyway.As much as I love Noah, Ginny seems to be into him mostly as an avoidance tactic for her feelings for Mike. She reaches out to him for dinner after feeling slighted by Mike and doesnt tell Mike shes going on a date with Noah. Then, she leaves in the middle of said date to get drinks with Mike because its thought to be his last night in San Diego.And this is how I know for sure that Ginny is oblivious. Mike sits next to her at the bar and does everything EXCEPT tell Ginny that hes in love with her, and she doesnt even bite. He asks her why she told him she was going out with her brother, and Ginny responds with some B.S. about not wanting Mike to feel guilty interrupting a date if the guys went out for drinks. Mike even calls her on it! He says OK, well go with that.The real moment came, however, when Ginny said Part of me wants you to leave for the same reason you want to leave. Mike looked at her expecting some confession of feelings, but Ginny never delivered. Instead, she spewed about the team not wanting her to be distracted, or whatever.And, of course, there was the almost kiss on the sidewalk. We should have known! The promo gods sit on a throne of lies. Obviously there would be no kiss. Of course the moment would be interrupted by a phone call telling Mike he wasnt going anywhere. He was still (drum roll, please) a Padre.In the moments after Mike hung up the phone, I expected to see relief from both Ginny and Mike. Instead, I saw such raw disappointment that I almost ditched Team Noah and hopped aboard the Bawson train. Almost.What I took away from this episode, though, is that while Bawson is probably inevitable (renewal not withstanding), Ginny isnt ready for that, even as Mike is about to dive headfirst into his pool of feelings.Air Max 90 Sale . Its the second straight game Bell has scored in extra time for Kelowna, which beat the Brandon Wheat Kings 6-5 on Friday, and he now has four game-winning goals on the season. White Air Max Online . SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. http://www.airmax2018womens.us/ . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. Cheap Air Max 2018 . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Nike Air Max Womens . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.DAVIE, Fla. -- The outlook is cloudy for the Miami Dolphins offense, so its no surprise rain began to fall during practice Monday, making it difficult to hold onto the ball, much less advance it up the field.How did the Dolphins do?We didnt look good enough, offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen said. I was disappointed. Were going to play in some rain games, and that was great work for us. But we fumbled a couple of snaps, and thats unacceptable.Alas, the offense hasnt looked good in dry weather, either. Christensens unit was manhandled in an early training camp scrimmage, and in a brief test in the exhibition opener Friday at the Giants, the first-team offense netted 8 yards in seven snaps.Theres been no sign of improvement from last year, when Miami ranked 28th in points and went 6-10. Progress needs to come soon, Christensen said.Weve got to protect our quarterback better, weve got to run it better, weve got to throw and catch it better, weve got to do everything better, he said. These next two weeks, if we dont see some big improvements, then we better get a little bit nervous.The Dolphins play Friday at Dallas and on Aug. 25 against Atlanta in Orlando. It would be fair to predict the starters will see more action in those games, except Christensen and head coach Adam Gase arent sure who some of the starters are.Both guard jobs remain open, and theres a competition between Jay Ajayi and Arian Foster at running back. Its difficult to evaluate personnel, Christensen said, because the offense is not yet operating at full speed while learning a new playbook from a new coaching staff.Theres too much thinking, he said. Weve given them a lot to think about it, annd it slows folks down.dddddddddddd We look like a team thats thinking and making sure were trying to do the right thing.As a result, familiar problems persist, with blocking the most worrisome issue. The line has struggled to protect Ryan Tannehill in practice, and the Giants pressured him plenty.Some observers wonder why first-round draft pick Laremy Tunsil keeps lining up with the second team at guard, while holdovers Dallas Thomas and Billy Turner work with the first unit despite their shaky play in the past. But first-year coach Gase said he wants his staff to thoroughly assess every player on the roster.I know everybody is really itching to fire everybody and bench everybody, Gase said. But everybody has a fresh start with this crew. Our job is to evaluate what we see. Anything that happened in the past is irrelevant. It doesnt matter to me. Every guy is going to get a true evaluation, and well make our final decision before the first game of the season. This is going to be the process that we go through.Christensen said the line will be fine by the time the season begins Sept. 11. The group includes four former first-round picks -- Tunsil, tackles Branden Albert and JaWuan James, and center Mike Pouncey.I think were going to end up with not only a good offensive line, but a deep one, Christensen said. Were going to end up pretty good.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve-Wine . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/steven-wine ' ' '