He has performed outstandingly with a quarterback rating of over 100 for two consecutive weeks and led the team to victory for two consecutive weeks. Especially in this week's game, the last long pass was connected to Michael Crabtree. Achieving "that catch" and completing a great reversal, all of this really shocked the league and triggered a lot of discussion.
The curiosity brought about by the gimmick of "Chinese undrafted rookie" gradually disappeared; replaced by the excellent answers handed in under the title of "rookie quarterback", the gossip mentality still existed, but people finally started to Pay attention to Lu Ke's performance on the court.
Praise and doubts went hand in hand, and positive affirmations and negative negations coexisted, but more of them were calm and wait-and-see. There was no impatient support or simple and crude criticism, but they really began to face up to the player's ability and potential. It is undeniable that Lu Ke proved one point through two victories:
Chinese players can also achieve excellent results on the rugby field!
The question now is, how long can such excellent performance last? Only one-eighth of the long season has passed; and where is the upper limit of such an outstanding performance? The ups and downs of the regular season and the intensity of the playoffs are filled with countless unknowns.
Amidst the discussions, exclamations, and sighs, no one can deny Lu Ke's outstanding contribution in the two games. However, Charles Davis is the only exception.
Before Charles, who is 60 years old, became widely known as the commentator of ESPN's "Inside the League", he was also a professional football player, serving as a defensive end on the field.
His career was active in the 1970s. He spent his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, following the team to win their first Super Bowl trophy in history; and later came to the St. Louis Cardinals - now the Arizona Cardinals. He spent six years of his career there before announcing his retirement.
It is also worth mentioning that Charles' half-brother spent a distinguished career with the Dallas Cowboys.
After retiring, Charles found a position in the commentary box and was reborn, gradually becoming one of ESPN's most watched commentators.
Although it is said that as a commentator, it is a basic professional quality to remain neutral and objective; but like football games, a mortal enemy is a mortal enemy. Once a mortal enemy, a mortal enemy forever. Charles has never hidden his sense of belonging to the Arizona Cardinals. Naturally, the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks are his mortal enemies in the same district.
In the first week of the regular season, during the showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks, Charles' commentary remained basically objective. The disregard and doubts about Lu Ke just came from the distrust of Chinese players and undrafted rookies, and came from the inertial thinking of rugby; however, in the second week of the regular season, the emotional shift gradually became apparent.
On one side are the San Francisco 49ers, the rivals in the same district, and on the other side are the Dallas Cowboys who are half at home. Charles chose to support the latter without hesitation, but now, as the game comes to an end, shame and grievance are sweeping in. Inertial thinking is evolving into personal grudges bit by bit, and the crux of the relationship is emerging bit by bit. The earth has evolved into a knot that will never end.
"Charles! Charles! Charles!"
In the ESPN studio, everyone was banging on the table, cheering for Charles. On the faces, the gloating of the good show was not concealed at all: it was rare to be able to watch Charles stumble; Zhou watched Charles stumble, which was even more rare.
Charles, who was arrogant, hot-tempered, sharp-edged, and had a tough style, actually fell into the hands of an unknown person and became a stepping stone for the other party to create history! Such a slap was crisp and loud, decisive and fierce! This is definitely the most exciting, interesting and exciting moment in the commentary box in the past two weeks of the regular season.
Now, the commentators of "Inside the League" are collectively booing, looking forward to Charles fulfilling his bet: swallowing the microphone!
Facing the close-up of the camera, Charles did not hide his anger and depression at all, and he could not hide it.
Blood vessels could be clearly seen on the red cheeks, the round eyes seemed ready to fall off at any time, and the tense muscles were on the verge of explosion. His eyes fell on the special microphone on the table in front of him:
A microphone made from bananas.
If it weren't for that damn Chinese quarterback, who deliberately jokingly emphasized, "I hope it's a chocolate microphone" during an interview, he inadvertently completed ridicule, ridicule and ridicule, truly making Charles a laughing stock on the Internet. , triggered countless discussions - in an unpleasant way; therefore, today the program team launched a fantastic idea and came up with a solution that would allow Charles to complete the bet without making Lu Ke's teasing come true. The way.
Banana microphone.
Looking at the special-shaped microphone in front of him, Charles could hardly bear the overwhelming feeling of humiliation. That damn guy!
However, the program is being broadcast live at this time, and more than six million viewers are watching this program. According to the director, this is the highest ratings for a program "within the league" besides the live broadcast of the game. Compared with the special event analysis and comparison Compared with game summary or game preview programs, weekly news updates and other program sections, the ratings are much better!
In other words, more than eight million people are waiting for Charles to fulfill his promise and are also waiting for Charles to be embarrassed. Therefore, Charles cannot break his promise.
His hands were clenched into fists, his teeth were clenched, and his blood vessels were almost bursting... After taking a deep breath, Charles picked up the banana microphone in front of him and wolfed it down, without chewing it carefully at all. He just stuffed it into his mouth in one go, secretly hoping that this would This humiliation can end as soon as possible, and then sooner.
However, the movement was so fast that he felt the pressure in his throat and almost spit out all the bananas. He clenched his hands tightly again, and his bald nails dug deeply into his flesh. He barely suppressed the urge to vomit and swallowed hard, completing the punishment of the bet.
At this moment, not only were the commentators in the studio cheering and celebrating, cheering for Charles; there were also discussions and heated discussions on the Internet, with people rushing to express their views and opinions. , the crowd watched the excitement impassionedly, obviously, the gossip outside the stadium was enough for everyone to participate.
A solid slap in the face, Charles gritted his teeth and accepted it forcefully; but now, Charles no longer believed in evil, and a stubborn and paranoid evil aura emerged: Could it be that this Chinese-American undrafted rookie, Is it really that great?
Even Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers were still rookies in their rookie season; why is that little-known broiler different? Putting aside his subjective assumptions for the time being, looking at it from an objective standpoint, and re-examining it, Charles came to the same conclusion.
"I lost the bet. I admit it." Charles bowed his head and admitted defeat simply, showing a gesture of willingness to admit defeat, but the gesture was just a gesture after all, and the paranoia deep in his heart was revealed later, "But this I still doubt the outcome of the game. Luck, the reason why the San Francisco 49ers were able to reverse the Dallas Cowboys was obviously with the help of Lady Luck."
"Oh, what do you say?" Edward Bowen took up the responsibility of the host and asked the question.
Charles snapped his fingers, called up the game video, and began to explain, "With eighty-five seconds left before the end of the game, the Dallas Cowboys launched an offense. On third down and four yards, Tony Romo chose to pass the ball to Dez Boo "Liante, the 49ers' Reggie Smith made the key defensive play, broke up the pass, stopped the Cowboys' offense and gave the 49ers 69 seconds."
"But if we look back at the game, we can find that before breaking the pass, Smith's defense was suspected of a pulling foul. Second-year player Dez Bryant is a large wide receiver, and Reggie Smith is a small cornerback. In terms of size comparison, Bryant has an absolute advantage. In order to complete the defense, Smith had to pull Bryant's jersey. This is a foul, a pulling foul!"
On the screen, Charles pointed out the foul play.
Indeed, Smith made some small movements on his hands. Strictly speaking, this can be regarded as a foul; if you are more relaxed, it is also a legal defense. It mainly depends on the referee's standards. If it is judged, it is correct; if it is not judged, it is not controversial.
Therefore, from a technical perspective, Charles's analysis is correct.
"If the referee blows this pull and imposes a five-yard penalty, it means that the Cowboys can directly get the first offense. With 69 seconds left in the game, the Cowboys will kill the game. The 49ers' The offense had no chance to play," Charles concluded.
After a video analysis, Charles had recovered, regained his composure, and had a plan in mind. "It was precisely because of his luck in escaping that the subsequent story developed; more importantly, besides this, the 49ers Luck has always been a blessing. Quarterback No. 14 was almost sacked while running, and on the last pass, Crabtree's catch also had an element of luck."
"The final score of the game, '21:20', was a decisive reversal. It was very thrilling, but it was also full of luck." Charles said gushingly and confidently, "In the first half, fourteen At least three of his passes were deflected and were just a hair away from being intercepted."
Putting his hands down, Charles made his signature move and concluded, "They won. This is a fact. Luck is also a part of strength; however, they cannot expect this to be the case in every game. From this point on Judging from the weekly games, the real strength of No. 14 has gradually failed to keep up with the rhythm of the game. The dullness of the first half and the ups and downs of the fourth quarter are the best portrayal. Next week, let us wait and see!"
The first week, surprise; the second week, luck; then, what about the third week?
Charles Davis, once again stood firm against the doubters and naysayers. However, this cannot stop people from paying attention to and loving Lu Ke.
