I can’t believe I’m already writing my final edition of this column for the semester. It still feels like just yesterday I was brainstorming how I would weave a “Fiddler on the Roof” (1971) reference into my column — ahead of a  semester of hot takes, bold predictions and bashing the football team as much as I possibly can.

As is customary with “The Great Debate,” there are some opinions that, for whatever reason, never got their own edition. You may recall (of course, I’m mostly talking to my grandmother, as she is my No. 1 reader) last semester’s bare-miss opinions. So, here are a few more of those opinions in my semesterly tradition of this column.

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Maribel Flores will be a household name

This is a take I’ve had about freshman forward Maribel Flores for a long time. Go back to one of my very first articles of this semester; I knew from the beginning. Do I like to constantly bring this up? Yes. Does a certain Talkin’ Troy podcast editor get pissed every time I do? Yes, yes, he does. But come on, she’s been blowing the competition out of the water this season.

You can look at her resume and see the impressive things she’s already accomplished. And in Flores’ true freshman season, she has burst onto the scene. She’s tied for the team lead in goals with six and has the second-most assists on the team with five. Every time she has the ball at her feet, something magical happens.

Just about every single time I sat down to write this article, the soccer team would lose. The timing was never right, and this is probably Jack Hallinan’s territory, anyway. Nonetheless, she’s a certified baller.

Bradie Tennell’s injury will cost the U.S. at the World Figure Skating Championships

Ever since I met my girlfriend, she has been begging me to dedicate an edition of this column to figure skating. And while just about the only thing I know about the sport is that it’s played on ice, even I can see how dire Bradie Tennell’s injury will be for the United States national team. 

Tennell broke her ankle in training two weeks ago, which will cause her to miss the entire season — including the world championships in March. The Olympic bronze medalist for Team USA in 2018 has nothing but bad luck with injuries. She had back injuries leading up to the 2018 Olympics and missed all of the 2022 Olympic season with a right foot injury.

Tennell swept lower-level events in Hungary and China last month, seeming as though she was back for the big stage before she sustained the injury. The U.S. will now have to compete with countries like Japan and South Korea, each with four skaters in the top 15 in the International Skating Union World standings. Tennell’s injury will greatly hinder the U.S.’ chances of competing in the World Championship come March.

James Harden has always been the problem

The main reason for this take getting axed was that, at this point, it’s pretty agreed upon. James Harden is currently 0-5 with the Clippers with a plus/minus of -70 and looking like a shell of his former MVP self. My hate has been brewing for a while, I will say. As a depressed Knicks fan in 2019 looking to watch a team that was good at basketball, I stumbled on the Brooklyn Nets.

Basketball fans have all seen the iconic video of the Nets’ bench dancing to a Playboi Carti song. I fell in love with that team, and Harden subsequently broke my heart by breaking up that team. And the second things didn’t go exactly as planned with the Nets, what did he do? He requested a trade, of course, demanding that everyone around him was the problem.

Harden did the same thing in Houston as he did in Brooklyn, and he did it once again just a few weeks ago to get out of Philadelphia. After a while, you have to take a good long look in the mirror and see who the real problem is. Harden was one of the best shooters of all time, and he thinks he’s still at the level he once was. Then again, I’m mostly just salty he tore my beloved 2019 Nets apart.

While I’m sure there are a few more takes in the vault I could bring up, I might try and save them for next semester. Basketball season will be in full swing, and I can finally give all of my strong opinions on the upcoming beach volleyball season. So, until I sit down to write another edition, we’ll just have to see if my bold claims will stand the test of time — or something cheesy like that.

Stefano Fendrich is a junior writing about his opinions on some of sport’s biggest debates in his column, “The Great Debate,” which runs every other Friday. He is also a sports editor at the Daily Trojan.