Teon Kennedy

Jake Huard, from a shipbuilders family, promised his dying mother he'ld make it to Anapolis Naval Academy. Thanks to tenaciously bugging a Congressman, he's selected despite dubious grades. Once inside, Jake soon proves sub-standard academically. Constantly challenged to his limits, repeatedly made the 'over-cocky' reason for the entire class to suffer, Jake nearly quits, but after facing his utterly un-supportive father's gloating returns just in time. Stubborn Jake finds support withs mates as well as Senor Ali, his lover-to-be, and a discipline he may excel in: the 'brigade' boxing tournament, open to all ranks.

Manny Pacquiao is not perfect. He's not unbeatable. He's not impossible to root against. Imagine that. In the last seven months, nothing has quantitatively changed for Pacquiao, who is still on a winning streak and still one of the most insanely famous people in the world. And yet it feels like things are on the precipice of changing. There's no need to trot out the "oh, how the mighty have fallen" cliché for him just yet. But there's something vaguely in flux about the Filipino living legend's aura, and the idea of the mighty falling is suddenly conceivable.