Columnists - The Daily Cardinal

COLUMNS

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).

COLUMNS

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.

COLUMNS

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.

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LGBTQ rappers make their own marks in diverse genre

By Conor Murphy | Nov. 12, 2014

Remember in 2012 when every basement party south of Regent Street would play Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop” at least twice every night? It was hard to get away from that song, which kicked off a vintage clothing craze and helped Macklemore receive accolades from VMA performances to winning the Best Rap Album at the 2014 Grammy Awards.

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Heisman Watch: Week 12

By Jim Dayton | Nov. 12, 2014

This is the ninth 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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Column: New changes show College Football Playoff philosophy

By Grey Satterfield | Nov. 12, 2014

The selection committee has handed down another fresh set of rankings from on high. Let’s eat it up.

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‘It’s Always Sunny’ finds lasting comic success where others fail

By Jake Smasal and Brittany Jones | Nov. 11, 2014

Sustainability is one of the key elements of any television show. For comedies, it may be the most important element. Once a show stops being funny, it’s (normally) cancelled. Of course, the longer a show runs, the less likely it is to be cancelled regardless of quality (looking at you, “Family Guy”). And, obviously, the longer a comedy runs, the harder it is to come up with new, unique situations and the easier it is to fall back on what worked before. Rarely do you find a show that does not stagnate—even “Seinfeld” was not as good at the end. Yet, “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia”—which borrows a lot from “Seinfeld”—is atop the short list of shows you still have to watch.

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Column: No frontrunners in Super Bowl race

By Jim Dayton | Nov. 11, 2014

We’re just past the halfway point in the 2014 NFL season, and absolutely no team has separated themselves from the rest of the pack as the bona fide Super Bowl favorite.

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Moving through the course of a day in the literary life

By Maham Hasan | Nov. 11, 2014

Recently, I watched the movie “Lucy,” a science fiction thriller depicting what happens if human beings can actually reach and utilize 100 percent—we’re purportedly using only 10 percent—of their cerebral capacity.

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Parsing the role of nostalgia in famous rock ’n’ roll bands

By Brian Weidy | Nov. 11, 2014

Late last week, word came out that Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, along with John Bonham’s son Jason, signed a contract that would’ve given them 500 million pounds (about $800 million) for the three of them (plus Robert Plant) to play 35 shows in three cities as Led Zeppelin.

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Column: Ranking college football's best coaches in the midseason Shad Poll

By Rushad Machhi | Nov. 10, 2014

Guess who’s back, back again? The Shad Poll’s back, tell a friend!

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Heisman Watch: Week 11

By Jim Dayton | Nov. 6, 2014

This is the eighth 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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‘Interstellar’ inspires awe and tears

By Austin Wellens | Nov. 5, 2014

So here’s the thing. My original plan was to run out tonight, catch the first screening of Christopher Nolan’s newest work, “Interstellar,” collect my thoughts and calmly put down some words about the movie. However when I made these plans, I wasn’t expecting the film to be the full body spiritual gut punch experience that I just had (and am still kind of shaking from).

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Column: Night games rewarding for fans and the university

By Grey Satterfield | Nov. 5, 2014

As you’re reading this, the chance of the Wisconsin Nebraska football game being played at 7:00 p.m. is about 1 percent. For argument’s sake, I’d say a 2:30 start is 50% and 11:00 is 49%.