Standing on the street and looking up at the two-story villa in front of him, Adam Snyder's heart started to pound nervously. His anxious expression made Isaac Sopoaga, who was standing next to him, laugh heartily. He bumped Snyder's right shoulder with his own. "Jesus Christ, you look like a high schooler going to ask the girl he likes to the prom."
Snyder wasn't in the mood for jokes at the moment. He gave Sopoaga an annoyed elbow and sternly scolded him, "Shut up!"
Sopoaga spread his hands, showing his innocence. "Relax, Adam, relax. It's not like you haven't seen Bambi before. He's not a monster; he won't eat you. Wait, or are you worried that there will be mysterious things inside, like a voodoo cave?"
For Westerners, Eastern culture has more or less a sense of mystery. In the age of the internet, even if you sit at home, you can still experience the styles of the whole world. Despite this, in 2018, an authoritative research institution conducted a sample survey of 6,000 people and asked them about their biggest impression of China. The result was that "Chinese kung fu" stood out, surpassing Chinese medicine, the Four Great Inventions, the Great Wall, economic take-off, and porcelain, successfully winning the top spot. Things like herbal medicine, acupuncture, and cupping often have a special mysterious Eastern flavor.
Many times, prejudice comes from this. It's like how people always think that African tribes are still primitive and backward, and that they live in an environment where it's always hot summer, or that people always think that Native American tribes still live in caves and use animal skins and straw to keep warm. Similarly, people have a fixed idea of Eastern countries. It is precisely because of this that people need to break out of their own preconceived notions and appreciate the colorfulness of different cultures and ethnic groups.
Facing Sopoaga's teasing, Snyder shrugged anxiously. "Who knows? Maybe he has a bunch of talismans hanging in his house, or he's growing mysterious herbs, or maybe he has a bunch of ancient vessels and porcelain piled up, and then large swaths of red are all over the place..."
As he said this, Sopoaga couldn't help but shiver. Then Snyder nodded in affirmation again. "I'm just saying, we don't know him. Besides the training field, do you know anything about him?"
"...Sopoaga was speechless and couldn't answer. Then he remembered something else. "But, aren't the rookies always going to Bambi's house to study the playbook? They all seem fine."
"Who knows if they've gotten used to it?" Snyder raised his eyebrows and complained mercilessly.
Adam Snyder is a member of the San Francisco 49ers' offensive line. He took over the starting position when Chilo Rachal was lightly injured and resting. His performance was not satisfactory, but he was the best among the rest. What's more, Rachal's original level was not amazing enough. To prepare for the playoffs, Snyder, Rachal, and a few other offensive linemen began to compete for the starting position.
In this young and reorganized San Francisco 49ers team, Snyder is also a veteran. He was selected by the 49ers in the third round, 94th overall, in the 2005 draft, and has stayed with the team ever since. However, Snyder is not a player with outstanding talent, and his strength has never reached the league's average level. After joining the team, he has been changing his position on the field, from offensive tackle to offensive guard, and he has even tried the center position. He has also challenged all positions from left to right. It can be said that he is not a player with outstanding personal ability, but he is a suitable player to fill in the gaps.
In the 2009 season, Snyder performed well and won a starting position as a right guard, and he earned a two-year contract to stay with the San Francisco 49ers. However, after the new season began, Snyder failed to win the favor of the head coach, and the starting position was given to Anthony Davis. Now, Rachal's injury has created an opportunity for Snyder, but whether he can seize the opportunity and secure his starting position is an unknown.
Last Sunday, after the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Arizona Cardinals on the road, they got a relatively long rest because next week, the San Francisco 49ers will be on the Monday Night Football stage to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home, instead of a Sunday game. So, they had a full seven days to prepare and adjust, and the pace of their preparation was also a little different. Because of this, Tuesday was still a rest day, or a day for a light practice.
For this, Lu Ke sent out an invitation and sent an email to all the players on the team, saying that he would be hosting all the members of the offensive line at his house. Not the rookies, but the offensive linemen. There are nine players on the offensive line on the 49ers team, two of whom are not on the 53-man roster, but all nine of them were invited. At the same time, Lu Ke solemnly stated that players from other positions would not be entertained. The email was sent to everyone, but it boldly and arrogantly rejected other people's visits, which also drew a lot of complaints from other teammates. Logan Newman even made a bold statement that he would definitely come to mess things up that day.
Team gatherings and parties like this are often optional. Players can choose to attend or not. This can show a player's connections and influence. As the captain of the offense, Lu Ke's approachability was still recognized. Snyder also decided to attend, but he was still not confident. So he called his teammate and friend, Isaac Sopoaga.
Sopoaga is also a veteran. He plays defensive tackle and entered the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round, 104th overall, in the 2004 draft, and has been with the team ever since. In the defensive line, if it's a "4-3" formation, it's two defensive tackles and two defensive ends. If it's a "3-4" formation, it's one defensive tackle and two defensive ends. It can be simply understood that the defensive ends are on both sides, and the defensive tackles stand in the middle, corresponding to the offensive tackles and offensive guards. So, what about the center in the offensive line?
In the special tactics of the defensive formation, sometimes a player needs to correspond to the center. At this time, a nose tackle appears. A nose tackle is usually the strongest player among the defensive tackles and forms a head-to-head confrontation with the center. Generally speaking, a nose tackle is the strongest player on the team, with the biggest weight, the strongest power, and the heaviest tonnage. He is unbeatable because in defensive tactics, a nose tackle may need to face the combined interception of a center and two guards at the same time. In other words, one person needs to go against two to three players. However, a nose tackle is a very special tactical position and is very rare in today's mainstream defensive formations. It's like a fullback in the running back position, who gradually lost the specialized player position and is now played by other players in special tactics to achieve a tactical purpose, but the actual effect may have deviated from the original classical intention.
Sopoaga is a traditional nose tackle. At 6'2" (188 cm) and 330 lbs (150 kg), he did 42 bench press reps in the rookie training camp. Since 1998, among more than 4,000 rookies, only 16 people have lifted a 225-pound barbell more than 40 times in a row, and Sopoaga is one of them. As a nose tackle, Sopoaga's playing time is very limited. Most of the time, he plays as a defensive tackle, but because of his immense size, his flexibility is limited, so he mainly gets playing time based on tactical coordination.
After being drafted by the team in 2004, Sopoaga was injured in the preseason before he could play a game and missed the entire season. Then in 2005, he had to start from scratch. Then, he met Snyder. The two of them had similar experiences and situations and gradually became good friends during training. Although Lu Ke emphasized that only the offensive line could attend today, Snyder didn't take it seriously and still called Sopoaga. They followed the address and came to Lu Ke's door.
Now, the two of them were standing at the door, but they didn't dare to open it. The nervousness was still involuntarily creeping in, not just for Snyder, but for Sopoaga as well. On one hand, both of them are on the fringes of the team and haven't been able to play much. They can't get into the circle of the starters, and the circle of the backups seems too desolate. On the other hand, Lu Ke is a Chinese-American player, and their usual contact is only training, training, and more training. Suddenly visiting his home, besides feeling unfamiliar, also made people think wildly.
Snyder couldn't help but remember the last game when he almost lost control of his emotions, and Lu Ke's scolding and fierceness pulled him back into the game. For some reason, he always felt a little awkward. He refused to admit that it was fear and fright. So, Snyder turned to look at Sopoaga and signaled for him to ring the doorbell, but Sopoaga didn't fall for it. He waved his hands and complained, "I'm not the one who received the invitation. I can completely turn around and leave now."
Snyder was also at a loss. He did have the urge to leave, but he thought of the starting position in the playoffs. This might be the only chance in his career to be on the playoff stage. In the end, he gritted his teeth and rang the doorbell. After a while, the door opened, and Mike Iupati's dull expression appeared in front of them. He said awkwardly and stiffly, "Oh, Adam, you're here. And Isaac. Welcome!" Iupati is an honest person. Outside of the field, he is always a bit blank and not very good at socializing. His expressionless appearance at this time made it even more ridiculous.
"By the way, Isaac, this is an offensive line party. You're not allowed to come in," Iupati said word for word.
Snyder and Sopoaga were both stunned. They didn't expect it at all and didn't know how to react for a moment. Then they saw Iupati pointing to the small wooden house on the left side of the house. "Isaac can go there. There's a party for the excluded there."
What? A party for the excluded? What's going on now?
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