12-29-2021, 12:32 AM
(This post was last modified: 01-07-2022, 03:45 AM by Asked Madden. Edited 1 time in total.)
After much anticipation, the first day of the Prospect Bowl has come and went with the second day of games fast approaching. Every game on day 1 was well fought with no team really seeming to be too far behind the others. However, one team came out on top on day 1, and that team would be the Montreal Mighty Moose, which happened to feature a certain QB prospect, Blake Baskin. To some, you could say the way Blake played on day 1 was a bit underwhelming compared to his college days. In the final game of the day alone, he only managed to put up a meager statline of 7 completions out of 16 attempts for 77 yards and 2 interceptions. A statline so bad in fact, that he recorded a QBR of just 19. Being a 4x Heisman Trophy runner-up, perhaps the expectations are just too high for Blake. Or perhaps it was just rookie jitters holding him back. After all, these games are his audition for the DSFL, more so than any other game he's played before in his life. The truth, however, is that the man known as Blake Baskin doesn't exist anymore.
The truth behind what happened to Blake Baskin may never truly be known, but even if finding that truth were to be possible, it's impossible to think anyone would know to even begin looking for such a truth. To everyone else besides this imposter acting in Blake's stead, Blake Baskin still exists. Everyone can see that this person looks completely different, talks different, and even has a completely different name. But it simply doesn't matter, for whatever force has stolen Blake from this world and replaced him with another has clearly decided on one thing for sure: that Blake Baskin must live on anyway.
So, if it's not Blake playing, then who IS playing? Well, obviously it's Ganyu from the hit Chinese video game Genshin Impactâ„¢, of course. Ganyu is a demihuman who looks entirely human besides the goat-like horns on the top of her head. She's also Blake's main character in Genshin Impact, which he played often in his free time. Having lived for 3000 years in an ancient fantasy world serving as a God's secretary, and then a royal secretary as her lore goes, Ganyu isn't exactly the kind of elite caliber athlete you'd find at the QB position. HOWEVER, as a user of the bow, concentration and accuracy are her forte. This entity, as we'll call it, that swapped Blake out for Ganyu was clearly taking note of the fact that Blake Baskin was a pocket passer archetype, and so if someone was to replace him, it had to be someone who was also a pocket passer archetype. Even with those fundamental similarities however, someone with no football skills is not going to immediately start balling out on future professional defensive players who have managed to spend their whole lives playing football. This is important to note for multiple reasons, but most especially in the context of why she could only put up a QBR of 19. There's also the fact that magic is seemingly banned in professional play, and as a user of the ice element, Ganyu was not allowed to summon her bow or launch out the football in storm of ice. To put it lightly: The cards were stacked against poor Ganyu.
Looking past mechanical reasons for the poor performance, we need to also look at the mental side of the ball game. Since Ganyu's arrived in this modern day world of ours, full of technology and people she's never seen in her entire existence, she was hit with a huge case of culture shock. Not to mention she was quite possibly suffering from some sort of existential crisis, as before she could even get her bearings in this new world, every single person she came across kept referring to her as "Blake Baskin." No matter how hard she tried to convince people that she's not whoever this "Blake Baskin" person is, but is instead named Ganyu, there's not a single soul in the world who believes her! In fact, they just laugh at her and talk about how "weird it is that you've become such a jokester, Blake!" Now, Ganyu's used to insanely big expectations considering the people she used to work for. Tight schedules and dealing with all sorts of big names and events are just a natural part of her life. But now, she's expected to play a sport she didn't even know existed until just this week at an incredibly high level, all while living up to all the other expectations that now come with baring the name of Blake Baskin.
So you see, dear reader, this is the plight that Blake "Ganyu" Baskin faces. The point in which Blake went wrong. Perhaps if he had spent less time saying "Damn, I wish she were real" while playing Genshin Impact, fate would not have been so ironic towards him, assuming that's even why this happened to begin with. And while it's great that we all can come to an understanding on this predicament, Ganyu now faces two more days of games, with no way of convincing the scouts and her fellow players that she is not who they say she is. She would really like for everyone to just ignore her rookie mistakes and growing pains, but it seems as though the world won't allow that no matter what she does. With no options left and a refusal to give up, it seems as though that the solution to her problem is going to need to be solved with some creativity. And thus begins her next move: Enrolling at Chika Fujiwara's QB Academy. It's not a real academy, but it makes for a pretty good name for a training camp for "Players who peaked in High School", as the slogan went. Will it be enough for Ganyu to make a statement in the remaining Prospect Bowl games? Only time will tell for the league's newest anime QB.
(1012 words)
The truth behind what happened to Blake Baskin may never truly be known, but even if finding that truth were to be possible, it's impossible to think anyone would know to even begin looking for such a truth. To everyone else besides this imposter acting in Blake's stead, Blake Baskin still exists. Everyone can see that this person looks completely different, talks different, and even has a completely different name. But it simply doesn't matter, for whatever force has stolen Blake from this world and replaced him with another has clearly decided on one thing for sure: that Blake Baskin must live on anyway.
So, if it's not Blake playing, then who IS playing? Well, obviously it's Ganyu from the hit Chinese video game Genshin Impactâ„¢, of course. Ganyu is a demihuman who looks entirely human besides the goat-like horns on the top of her head. She's also Blake's main character in Genshin Impact, which he played often in his free time. Having lived for 3000 years in an ancient fantasy world serving as a God's secretary, and then a royal secretary as her lore goes, Ganyu isn't exactly the kind of elite caliber athlete you'd find at the QB position. HOWEVER, as a user of the bow, concentration and accuracy are her forte. This entity, as we'll call it, that swapped Blake out for Ganyu was clearly taking note of the fact that Blake Baskin was a pocket passer archetype, and so if someone was to replace him, it had to be someone who was also a pocket passer archetype. Even with those fundamental similarities however, someone with no football skills is not going to immediately start balling out on future professional defensive players who have managed to spend their whole lives playing football. This is important to note for multiple reasons, but most especially in the context of why she could only put up a QBR of 19. There's also the fact that magic is seemingly banned in professional play, and as a user of the ice element, Ganyu was not allowed to summon her bow or launch out the football in storm of ice. To put it lightly: The cards were stacked against poor Ganyu.
Looking past mechanical reasons for the poor performance, we need to also look at the mental side of the ball game. Since Ganyu's arrived in this modern day world of ours, full of technology and people she's never seen in her entire existence, she was hit with a huge case of culture shock. Not to mention she was quite possibly suffering from some sort of existential crisis, as before she could even get her bearings in this new world, every single person she came across kept referring to her as "Blake Baskin." No matter how hard she tried to convince people that she's not whoever this "Blake Baskin" person is, but is instead named Ganyu, there's not a single soul in the world who believes her! In fact, they just laugh at her and talk about how "weird it is that you've become such a jokester, Blake!" Now, Ganyu's used to insanely big expectations considering the people she used to work for. Tight schedules and dealing with all sorts of big names and events are just a natural part of her life. But now, she's expected to play a sport she didn't even know existed until just this week at an incredibly high level, all while living up to all the other expectations that now come with baring the name of Blake Baskin.
So you see, dear reader, this is the plight that Blake "Ganyu" Baskin faces. The point in which Blake went wrong. Perhaps if he had spent less time saying "Damn, I wish she were real" while playing Genshin Impact, fate would not have been so ironic towards him, assuming that's even why this happened to begin with. And while it's great that we all can come to an understanding on this predicament, Ganyu now faces two more days of games, with no way of convincing the scouts and her fellow players that she is not who they say she is. She would really like for everyone to just ignore her rookie mistakes and growing pains, but it seems as though the world won't allow that no matter what she does. With no options left and a refusal to give up, it seems as though that the solution to her problem is going to need to be solved with some creativity. And thus begins her next move: Enrolling at Chika Fujiwara's QB Academy. It's not a real academy, but it makes for a pretty good name for a training camp for "Players who peaked in High School", as the slogan went. Will it be enough for Ganyu to make a statement in the remaining Prospect Bowl games? Only time will tell for the league's newest anime QB.
(1012 words)