Black Widow (Story Discussion)

[Headstall]

Poor Zach! Getting kicked out of football for allegedly doping would be far worse than getting kicked out for being gay.

 

Not sure if even the Crampton-Schluter millions and influence can fix this.

He could suffer a double whammy with the pictures released, and the doping test. That would ensure there would be no wriggling out of it with the 'Family' influence... If someone had the audacity to do this, they must be holding some pretty powerful cards, because the wrath of the clan would be monumental

[mmike1969]

Yes but who benefits if that happens? Zach was being blackmailed (I totally called it!) so he would both dump Will and play football.

 

And now (before Will went to see Zach) he is going to be kicked off the football team (possible) with a hot piss test? He was going to lose both will and be off football.

Who benefits with this?

 

ME and Alex? Who benefits of Alex decides to divorce ME for being a bitch? He already has his son. He doesn't need ME. ( he does need the $150 Mil. This also benefits no one.

 

Something is missing.

[Headstall]

Yes but who benefits if that happens? Zach was being blackmailed (I totally called it!) so he would both dump Will and play football.

 

And now (before Will went to see Zach) he is going to be kicked off the football team (possible) with a hot piss test? He was going to lose both will and be off football.

Who benefits with this?

 

ME and Alex? Who benefits of Alex decides to divorce ME for being a bitch? He already has his son. He doesn't need ME. ( he does need the $150 Mil. This also benefits no one.

 

Something is missing.

That drug test wasn't arranged until after Will called Wade and divulged that Trevor(Elizabeth) was behind Zach breaking up with Will. Will was cut off because the line went dead, and after that Zach gets the call from his coach. It looks to me like once ED had proof Zach broke the deal she called the coach... or one of her lackeys did. And it would appear Alex, the spineless bastard, has no intentions of divorcing ME... he has his heir and a beard, and a lot of money he does need... so why would he... he's already lost JJ and he knows it and (stiff upper lip) he's fine with it. But yeah, something is missing... that's for sure...

[mmike1969]

Okay so Zach goes against the grain and meets with Will and now Evil Queen ED gets him discredited and kicked off the football team. But who benefits if Zach can't play football? He was being blackmailed to stop seeing Will so he can play football. Makes no sense.

 

Slut ME runs to Mommie Dearest:

Slut ME: MOM! JJ is being mean to me!

ED: I'll take care of this.

Alex: Bye JJ.

JJ: Fuck all you bitches.

 

Of course Alex won't divorce Slut ME. He would have to return the $150M. But now both names are mud and so is the The Heir to the Granger Fortune. Who benefits from this? No one. Alex is outed and stuck in a poor marriage, Slut ME is tainted (even with a title) and stuck in a poor marriage and finally JJ is outed and possibly discredited from skating.

 

Everyone loses. Except Will can now openly be with Zach if he gets kicked off the team and loses eligibility (and he will if that piss test comes up hot)

 

It's like Mutual Assured Destruction. Someone launched nukes and everyone lost. This does not sound like a finely tuned revenge. This is a scattershot strategy to destroy the lives of everyone involved. Unless that was the whole point.

 

I say this again: something is missing here.

[impunity]

I think the only way it makes sense is if it is purely about revenge. Someone is out to hurt the whole family, one member at a time.

 

So Zach wasn't blackmailed to keep playing football; football was the leverage to force him to make Will unhappy. After he told Will, they took football away. So, now he can have Will but loses football (with his whole prior record discredited) and, once they figure out it was all about Will, it'll probably destroy their relationship anyway.

 

JJ loses a relationship and a career. The rest is collateral damage.

 

Now I'm wondering again about Marc. Whoever is behind this is playing a long game and Marc always did seem a bit too good to be true. Is Marc another pawn in the game, the one who alienates Brad from the family and distracts him from his business long enough for someone to destroy it?

Edited August 16, 2015 by impunity

[Headstall]

I think the only way it makes sense is if it is purely about revenge. Someone is out to hurt the whole family, one member at a time.

 

So Zach wasn't blackmailed to keep playing football; football was the leverage to force him to make Will unhappy. After he told Will, they took football away. So, now he can have Will but loses football (with his whole prior record discredited) and, once they figure out it was all about Will, it'll probably destroy their relationship anyway.

 

JJ loses a relationship and a career. The rest is collateral damage.

 

Now I'm wondering again about Marc. Whoever is behind this is playing a long game and Marc always did seem a bit too good to be true. Is Marc another pawn in the game, the one who alienates Brad from the family and distracts him from his business long enough for someone to destroy it?

Oh. That is an interesting point about Marc. We think we know all about him, but do we? Brad however is being typical Brad in a relationship, and everyone knows this, so find him a relationship and he clocks out... Was this one planned by someone else? If Marc is a pawn, the way he's been written, I would suspect he is an unwitting one, but... maybe not. I definitely think ED is behind Wade and Matt's trip to Africa... that got them out of the picture and away from knowing what was going down with JJ and Will. So it makes sense she would be behind Brad and Marc's trip... maybe she set Marc up so he would go to China, anf typical Brad drops everything and goes. Did she set up JP and Stef as well? Lots of questions... not to be greedy but we need a new chapter...

[davewri]

I am greedy and I want a new chapter now!   

 

I will sit here and hold my breath until a new chapter appears!   

 

There are too many unanswered questions and I won't sleep until I know what's going on here.

 

I will start one of those online petitions if I don't get a new chapter tonight.

 

Or maybe I'll just chill out and wait like the rest of us because I am also waiting for my Granger fix.   

[Headstall]

I am greedy and I want a new chapter now!   

 

I will sit here and hold my breath until a new chapter appears!   

 

There are too many unanswered questions and I won't sleep until I know what's going on here.

 

I will start one of those online petitions if I don't get a new chapter tonight.

 

Or maybe I'll just chill out and wait like the rest of us because I am also waiting for my Granger fix.   

Feel better now?

[svyrya]

Hello everyone, another lurker stepping out of the shadows to speculate

 

So. Elizabeth Danfield is behind all this mess, the woman who cares about power. Well, she also cares about Beau. But she really craves power and she usually gets it by blackmailing people with useful connections and people  with lots of money.

 

Zach can't offer her those things, he is just freshman football player, talented but he can't offer ED money or influence, neither can Wii and JJ. Yeah, they have some money, but Elizabeth is used to much bigger sums of money. 

 

I think she is after Brad and/or Stef - billionaires with a lot of people they can influence. But they both have their own security, so Will, JJ and Darius are easier targets. Maybe ED hopes to hurt them enough to strongarm Brad (and/or Stef) into... something.

 

If Zach is banned it can be used to turn him against Will, ED can fake evidence that it was Will who gave Zach doping to destroy his career so they can date openly.

Will would be crushed if Zach not just dumps him but ends up hating him.

So Zach is nothing more than collateral damage.

 

Nothing much can be done with JJ, his career is on hold without ED input, so she went after his relationship. Bonus points - with Alex's father and Mary-Ellen's help Elizabeth can extend her influence over Alex himself and Duke of Suffolk. 

 

ED must have dirt on Pentagon generals, so Darius may end in some Iraqi hellhole.

[Timothy M.]

Does anyone else hear an satified snicker from our estimated author ?      

[Headstall]

Does anyone else hear an satified snicker from our estimated author ?      

Um... Is my esteemed editor satisfied with his post? Just kidding... love you, buddy

[Timothy M.]

Um... Is my esteemed editor satisfied with his post? Just kidding... love you, buddy

 

  that's what I get for writing posts after waking up half-blind from a headache-induced slumber. It's so well deserved I'm not even going to edit my original post.

[impunity]

that's what I get for writing posts after waking up half-blind from a headache-induced slumber. It's so well deserved I'm not even going to edit my original post.

Hope you're feeling better now.

[Headstall]

Hope you're feeling better now.

What she said. I hope you are okay... I won't send you anything today Just relax, and take it easy... those were the only mistakes you're allowed

[Northerner]

I'm hoping this will lead to s schism within the Danfields: Poor Beau is not involved, the good people being Nana and assertive Wade who finally uses his inside knowledge about how the wicked gals Elisabeth and Mary-Ellen operate. Evil/assertive Wade then takes his place in the driver's seat with Matt along for the ride.

 

Maybe it's just me, I want more Matt/Wade drama again    Not that I dislike the other characters, rather I wish that those two, plus teh incorrigible Stef and Grand need some airtime too.

Edited August 16, 2015 by Northerner

[PrivateTim]

Poor Zach! Getting kicked out of football for allegedly doping would be far worse than getting kicked out for being gay.

 

Not sure if even the Crampton-Schluter millions and influence can fix this.

 

You don't get kicked off a football team for flunking a drug test and people with money and influence can fix anything. How do people not get this still?

 

A flunked drug test is appealable and it would be a field day for a top lawyer to take on this one.

 

That drug test wasn't arranged until after Will called Wade and divulged that Trevor(Elizabeth) was behind Zach breaking up with Will. Will was cut off because the line went dead, and after that Zach gets the call from his coach. It looks to me like once ED had proof Zach broke the deal she called the coach.

 

The drug test wasn't announced until after Will called Wade. Football teams don't arrange their own random drug tests, especially not at UCLA, and it could not be set up quickly on a Sunday. The lab that does the testing would have had to have it set up several days in advance. Karl Dorrell wouldn't even take a phone call from Elizabeth Danfield. She might be able to have Zach's roommate bribed (an easy enough thing for a lawyer who is appealing a drug test result to sniff out), but she would have zero influence into UCLA directly. If Zach had chosen UVA, maybe, not UCLA.

[impunity]

You don't get kicked off a football team for flunking a drug test and people with money and influence can fix anything. How do people not get this still?

Ah, sweetie, the amount I know about football would fit in a thimble and still have some room left over for the amount I know about every other sport.

[Headstall]

You don't get kicked off a football team for flunking a drug test and people with money and influence can fix anything. How do people not get this still?

 

A flunked drug test is appealable and it would be a field day for a top lawyer to take on this one.

 

 

The drug test wasn't announced until after Will called Wade. Football teams don't arrange their own random drug tests, especially not at UCLA, and it could not be set up quickly on a Sunday. The lab that does the testing would have had to have it set up several days in advance. Karl Dorrell wouldn't even take a phone call from Elizabeth Danfield. She might be able to have Zach's roommate bribed (an easy enough thing for a lawyer who is appealing a drug test result to sniff out), but she would have zero influence into UCLA directly. If Zach had chosen UVA, maybe, not UCLA.

I'm no expert and don't pretend to be. I do know that in amateur sport, failing a drug test can be serious business, and ruin careers. Our national example(that still hurts) is Ben Johnson, who lost his Olympic Gold Medal for failing a drug test. He also had to serve a two year suspension, and was even stripped of all his records. He came back, and in 1993, failed another test and was banned for life. As I said, I am no expert, but I thought college football fell under the heading of amateur sport. I guess I was wrong, and suspensions are not given to college athletes caught taking PED's. My mistake, and yes I am one of those people who don't get how this works.

As far as the scheduling of drug tests, I didn't know UCLA  was unassailable for wrongdoings as compared to other universities. With the amount of people ED has in her back pocket through years of political manipulations, I guess I wrongly assumed that she could wield some power, and get Zach tested at her command. I also assumed drug testing would be independent of universities and colleges at times. Sure, colleges can do their own drug tests, but isn't there an unbiased structure that can demand them as well? Learn something new every day.

[davewri]

What I know about sports at this level would not fill the smallest thimble. But a hint of a drug problem and exposing Zach as gay would really kill any draft prospects. I think the bond between Will and Zach could stand the damage. There are bigger fish to fry in this drama so hold on to your hats, it's going to get crazy soon.

[mmike1969]

Not a prediction but stating fact: Mark is laughing his ass off reading our comments because all us simple people are off base.

 

Kind of like the R+L=J people and George RR Martin.

[Headstall]

Not a prediction but stating fact: Mark is laughing his ass off reading our comments because all us simple people are off base.

 

Kind of like the R+L=J people and George RR Martin.

LOL.... I think you're right... wait, are you calling me simple?

 

And R+L=J makes perfect sense to me Jon Snow is a King

[PrivateTim]

I'm no expert and don't pretend to be. I do know that in amateur sport, failing a drug test can be serious business, and ruin careers. Our national example(that still hurts) is Ben Johnson, who lost his Olympic Gold Medal for failing a drug test. He also had to serve a two year suspension, and was even stripped of all his records. He came back, and in 1993, failed another test and was banned for life. As I said, I am no expert, but I thought college football fell under the heading of amateur sport. I guess I was wrong, and suspensions are not given to college athletes caught taking PED's. My mistake, and yes I am one of those people who don't get how this works.

As far as the scheduling of drug tests, I didn't know UCLA  was unassailable for wrongdoings as compared to other universities. With the amount of people ED has in her back pocket through years of political manipulations, I guess I wrongly assumed that she could wield some power, and get Zach tested at her command. I also assumed drug testing would be independent of universities and colleges at times. Sure, colleges can do their own drug tests, but isn't there an unbiased structure that can demand them as well? Learn something new every day.

 

In the NCAA your first confirmed, positive drug test for a PED results in a one year loss of eligibility. It has nothing to do with the IOC and its rules or any of the NGBs in the U.S. since there is no jurisdiction.

 

Before you get snarky you could check the facts.

 

No athletic program schedules the random drug testing it is done by entities not beholden to the athletic department.

 

Zach wasn't just tested, it was either a group of players or all the players as they were they when Zach arrived.

 

At UCLA drug testing is done by the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory which is the world’s largest World Anti-Doping Agency accredited sports drug-testing facility and the number one research institution in athletic doping. It was founded by Dr. Don Catlin, an IOC member and the leading expert in the world on athletic doping. His lab (he was still the head in 2003) would tell a program when they wanted to do random testing. The athletic programs don't arrange their own random tests. It would undermine the entire concept of random.

[impunity]

I am perfectly happy to be included among the simpletons. Haha. And also happy to keep Mark entertained.

 

It took me a minute because I've not seen it as R+L=J, but I am definitely onboard with this.

[imgoingslightlymad]

Hi Guys!

 

Looking at Tim's last post with regard to the one year ban, it seems to me far more likely that the failed drug test is an attempt by ED to drag Zach back under her thumb; an opening salvo to demonstrate her ruthlessness/capabilities, whilst still holding the prospect of the photos (which, in my naive, UK-based understanding) would actually end his career permanently, over his head. She (as, if not a people-person, at least a ruthless psychologist), is likely to hope that this flexing of muscles is sufficient to centre the importance to Zach of his football career once again, when he's consulted a lawyer and worked out that the situation as she's let it stand isn't necessarily fatal.

[mmike1969]

Off base as in maybe it's not Evil Queen ED in the first place. This is just too sloppy. Too many innocents in the line of fire.

 

Hammer got targeted big time by multiple parties and was sent away. No innocents involved (except the tribe in Africa).

 

THIS operation just pissed off everyone in every direction and enables people like JJ to do something on his own, potentially messing up the Master Plan (even if there was one).

 

Coincidence that Matt/Wade just happen to be in Kenya while JP/Stef was only a couple thousand miles offshore on an island?

 

Coincidence that Zach was being blackmailed? That JJ is sort of out of the picture because of the paparazzi ?

 

Coincidence that Brad was in China with his boytoy? (Okay iOS, why did you try to autocorrect boytoy to bottom? What are you trying to say?)

 

Maybe it was all a coincidence and this family was just entitled to a string of bad luck for once.