So if you really want to point to the turning point of this year, it wasn't O'Brien's resignation per se as much as it was the C's macho retaliatory stance which said, "You wanna quit at the end of year? Well, you can quit right now if that's the case." Typical macho posturing, if you ask me. Surely they must have known the consequences that would result...yet they were so indignant that someone would quit on them that they purposefully put a match to the season.