Columnists - The Daily Cardinal

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Column: Alvarez found his man

By Jack Baer and Amanda Salm | Dec. 18, 2014

It’s amazing what one week can do for a program.

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We have reached the end. The 80th annual Heisman Trophy will be awarded to one of three finalists Dec. 13—Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, Wisconsin running back Melvin Gordon or Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.

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Column: Searching for reasons behind Andersen's departure

By Jack Baer and Scott Allen | Dec. 11, 2014

Say this for Bret Bielema: When he bolted from Wisconsin, it at least made a lick of sense. “Bert” was apparently unhappy with how much he was allowed to pay his assistants (which is fair, considering NC State pays its assistants more than Wisconsin) and had seen coaching staff after coaching staff lose key football minds to more aggressive schools. The sparkle and money of the SEC shone bright, so Bielema made a career move that was at the very least lateral and was understandable when you consider what the SEC was at the time: the only way to win a national championship.

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Heisman Watch: Week 15

By Jim Dayton | Dec. 4, 2014

This is the 12th edition of the Heisman Watch, a weekly feature tracking the candidates for college football’s most prestigious award. For last week’s rankings, click here.

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Though similar, BBC show peaks HBO’s Prohibition crime drama

By Jake Smasal | Dec. 2, 2014

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the BBC’s post-World War I crime drama “Peaky Blinders.” Two weeks ago, the second season was released onto networks mere weeks after its original BBC run, and I’m going to write about it again.

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Column: College football's chaos theory

By Molly Reppen and Grey Satterfield | Dec. 2, 2014

As we embark on the final weekend of the college football season, many debates seem to have been put to rest. But maybe, just maybe, 2007 will come and knock down the house of cards on the College Football Playoff committee’s table and they’ll be left to put together the pieces Sunday.

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Column: Don’t overlook importance of Stave in Badgers’ revival

By Rushad Machhi | Dec. 2, 2014

I’ll admit it, I was wrong about Tanner McEvoy being the right starting quarterback for the Wisconsin Badgers. Yes, shockingly I am not infallible.

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Avoiding the pratfalls of finals studying playlists

By Brian Weidy and Steven Wishau - The Daily Cardinal | Dec. 2, 2014

Before I begin my column, I’d like to start by thanking you all for reading. For the past two years, I have been lucky enough to fill your mind with my thoughts and rants on any number of musical topics from jam bands to jam bands and then some more jam bands, with a little bit of everything else thrown in.

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Happy endings, even in dark tales, are more than just a finale

By Maham Hasan | Nov. 30, 2014

There’s a need inside all of us to witness happy endings. It is perhaps the most human and honest part of who we are that revels in the victory of the good guy. It is also why we’re always left feeling bereft after witnessing a grand happy ending at the end of a story, be it in film or literature, because however happy that ending may have been it is an ending nevertheless. We never see what follows and therein lies the true problem.

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Heisman Watch: Week 14

By Jim Dayton | Nov. 25, 2014

This is the 11th edition of the Heisman Watch, a weekly feature tracking the candidates for college football’s most prestigious award. For last week’s rankings, click here.

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Exploring the resurgence of disco in popular music

By Brian Weidy and Whitney Newman | Nov. 20, 2014

In the history of most hated genres, while some people hate hip-hop and others hate country music, there is one genre that stands above them all as a genre nearly universally hated: disco. I’m here to tell you why disco doesn’t suck and is actually in everything you listen to today.

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Column: No, Kentucky would not beat the Sixers

By Jack Baer | Nov. 20, 2014

Like many college basketball fans, I tuned into the Champions Classic, watched Kentucky destroy Kansas 74-40 and came away with one very strong conclusion: Kentucky is college basketball’s Death Star this year. They are literally and figuratively the biggest team in the country and it’s going to take perfect execution from something very specific to take them down (I’m thinking outside shooting from stretch forwards).

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Heisman Watch: Week 13

By Jim Dayton | Nov. 20, 2014

This is the 10th edition (hooray, double digits!) of the Heisman Watch, a weekly feature tracking the candidates for college football’s most prestigious award. For last week’s rankings, click here.

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Column: No good reason for Kentucky platoon system

By Jim Dayton | Nov. 20, 2014

Kentucky head coach John Calipari has (unofficially) been to five Final Fours and won a national title, so I understand that he clearly knows a few things about basketball.

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Column: Newfound appreciation for LeBron

By Bobby Ehrlich | Nov. 20, 2014

Arrogant. Immature. Selfish.

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‘Fantasy Zone’ galvanizes players with adorably difficult gameplay

By Alex Lovendahl | Nov. 19, 2014

“How on earth did we manage to play those games with the annoying beep-boop music on repeat?” That’s the question I was met with while discussing NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) games with a classmate of mine. It’s true classic games like “Bubble Bobble” and “Space Harrier” had tracks that looped for far too long; even games with multiple memorable themes, like “Metroid” or “The Legend of Zelda,” have 60-second loops that might extend upwards of 20 minutes, depending on your skill.

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Superhero TV shows leave much to be desired

By Jake Smasal | Nov. 18, 2014

This month, both Marvel and DC revealed their predicted movie schedules through 2020. The second “Avengers” movie comes out in May, and superheroes and their ilk continue to invade our television screens. We’ve seen everything from prequels (“Gotham”), to companion shows (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”) and everything in between (literally everything else). We know now that the superhero model is a popular, insanely high-grossing construct with universes and story lines expansive enough to continue going on forever. The real question is whether or not we’ll continue to watch week in, week out after the thrill is gone.

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Column: After years of malaise, Bucks ready to own the future

By Rushad Machhi and Clay Thomas | Nov. 18, 2014

Whatever’s in the water in Milwaukee these days has certainly been working for the Bucks. After another exciting victory this past Sunday over the defending Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat, they moved to 5-5, a record that might seem pedestrian to an average observer.

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Mini Indie Festival brings films to UW

By Austin Wellens | Nov. 16, 2014

Okay so straight up, the thing I want to talk about is the Mini Indie Film Festival which is happening this weekend, because golly gee is it cool. While I am super biased given that I helped put it together, I also think that the idea of a completely free, student organized and run independent film festival is incredibly cool. So take it as you will. Anyway, here’s the lineup.

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Column: Abdullah, Gordon offer premier matchup Saturday

By Jake Powers | Nov. 14, 2014

Nebraska week is finally here.