Life

OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM | The NCAA is Anything but Abnormal

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This week, many people criticized the NCAA for its treatment of college basketball players. LeBron James called the NCAA “corrupt.” Stan Van Gundy, the coach of the Charlotte Hornets, remarked that they there were the “worst organization” and labeled their actions as “racist.” This criticism emerged after a report revealed that dozens of players had been paid and given loans as compensation for their play. This violated NCAA policy, which does not permit players to receive any compensation outside of athletic scholarship and stipends. These NBA players and coaches who voiced their criticisms believe the system unfairly benefits administrators and universities, since the NCAA and the colleges obtain a gigantic revenue stream from college sports, especially basketball and football. These sports have a huge concentration of black players, often from poorer backgrounds, who are robbed of fair payment.

Olympics Week

SOUND OFF | The Olympics Gym Playlist

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With the 2018 Winter Olympics well underway, many have found inspiration to hit the gym and keep their New Year’s resolution well and alive. Here’s a playlist inspired by the music of the Olympics, whether it’s a song endorsed by athletes themselves or played during competition. Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Migos: Post-interview, Chloe Kim was asked what music she was listening to between her runs, and she responded with “Toxic” and “Paparazzi” by Britney Spears and Lady Gaga. Afterwards, she included “Motorsport” by Migos ft. Nicki Minaj and Cardi B as one of her pump-up songs.

Culture

BIWEEKLY JOKES FOR EVERYDAY FOLKS | Super Bowl Special: Biweekly Jokes for Everyday Blokes

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First of all, why the bloody hell is this game called football if the least talented player is the kicker? But before I get too miffed, I’d like to tell you all about how this year’s American Football Championship Match will “go down” as you Americans say it. In the first quarter the Eagles will throw some touchdowns. Many touchdowns. Around two to three, I reckon, would be an appropriate estimate for the number of touchdowns that will be scored by the Eagles in the first quarter.

Office Hours

OFFICE HOURS | Professor Walker White Discusses eSports and Gaming (Part 1)

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For our first installment of “Office Hours,” a series of interviews with prominent personalities on Cornell’s campus, Sunspots writer Bruno Avritzer sat down for a chat with Computer Science Professor Walker White, Director of the Cornell Game Design Initiative. In the interview below, which has been edited for clarity, White shares his thoughts on the global popularity of eSports, their potential as spectator sports and comparisons between certain video games and sports like football.  

So the first thing I wanted to ask you is about your opinions on eSports, the phenomenon. Why is it sort of limited in the USA, compared to Europe or Korea? I think some of it is just the cultural acceptability of it.

Entertainment

AKABAS | We Need to Do Something About Professional Sports Team Names

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As a society, we suck at naming things. I don’t really need to defend this claim other than stating that someone decided to name this place “Greenland,” but there are countless other examples. We park in driveways and drive on parkways, whoever named oranges “oranges” is possibly the least creative person to ever walk the face of this planet, there is a car repair shop in the United Kingdom called “Poorly Car Repair” (I swear this is real, click on the link), and the number of expert astronomers that probably signed off on a planet being named “Uranus” is truly quite astounding. Case in point: Last month, we had a baseball team in the World Series called the Cleveland Indians. Sigh.