Unlike this year’s Oscar nominations, the new Duck on campus is not #SoWhite.
– On Saturday, Jan. 23, a 1,000-pound bronze monument of our school mascot was revealed to a crowd of eager spectators. The big Duck debut kicked off, or tipped off in this case, a day of exciting Oregon basketball where school spirit was abuzz. From Otis Day making an appearance during halftime to the Pit Crew, well, being the Pit Crew to playing the fight song for the reveal, Matt Knight was a spectacle. After the men’s basketball team got their selfies in with the new Duck, they then went on to play UCLA. All the baskets, rebounds and field goals the Ducks scored contributed to a victory over the Bruins with a final score of 86-72.
Warning: more sports ahead!
– Earlier in the week, on Thursday, Jan. 21, men’s basketball played a warm-up match against the USC. With a solid 89-81 win, the Trojans had to ride off in their wooden horse with the feeling of defeat. Their treacherous ways did not come in handy this time (see Greek mythology for reference).
– Other sports were positively active this week as well. On Friday, Jan. 22, women’s basketball said ‘no’ to losing anymore games and beat Colorado, 59-46. The Lady Ducks continued to win over the weekend on Sunday with 77 big ones to Utah’s mere 65. And to commemorate the start of the Australian Open, women’s tennis was the underdog in a battle against Virginia Tech and came out with a big fat W. This was a significant win for the team since it was ranked No. 60 and V-Tech was No. 30 – ouch. But they have snow to go back to in Virginia, so no hard feelings.
– Another team going home with a disheartening “L” is the New England Patriots, who lost 20-18 in the AFC Championship game on SNF (Sunday Night Football, duh). The Brady Bunch was sent home packing and Deflategate II is a no-go. The Denver Broncos will be one half of Super Bowl 50, while the Carolina Panthers will make up the rest of the Feb. 7 feast after their 49-15 slaying of the Arizona Cardinals. Broncos, Panthers, Bey and Coldplay will see you in two Sundays at 3:30 p.m. sharp.
– UCLA and USC weren’t the only two entities visiting the PNW this past week from So-Cal. My least favorite part about Pitch Perfect 2, Hailee Steinfeld, came to visit her bff, a freshman at UO, for the weekend. Not that this is important news to me personally, but this was a common topic running many people’s conversations the last few days. If I haven’t lost your attention, feel free to waste time looking through Steinfeld‘s Instagram page. You’ll see the “woes in the dirty eug,” as she captions one of her pictures, doing “Eug” things, aka Voodoo Doughnut and Taylor’s. Sew kewl.
– I’ll take “Things that are insignificant” again for 200, Alex. The recent allegiance formed between two of the most disappointing humans on Earth, Donald Trumpet and Sarah Fail-in, as my seven-year-old cousin calls them, is both comical and good for, let’s say it together, my girl, Hillary. Last Tuesday, Jan. 19, all I could think the moment Palin announced her endorsement of Trump was, I should’ve seen this coming. The dynamic-duo Trump and Palin make for an unfortunate political statement, but do so much good for the world of comedy. This video of Tina Fey doing what she does best, her spot-on Palin impression, makes my heart happy.

 
– This video comes in handy with all of the other things going on in the world that might make your heart cry. On Wednesday, Jan. 20, students of Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan experienced a mass-shooting that left at least 20 people dead and around 50 others injured. The university is located just 86 miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, and it has been confirmed that students were the gunmen’s specific targets. All four of the shooters were killed by army officials. The attack wasn’t carried out on accident; it was strategically planned out by one faction of the Pakistan Taliban, Dara Adma Khel, and was highly condemned by the man known as the chief (or something) of the national Taliban group, Fazlullah. All educational institutions in the city of Charsadda will remain closed until Jan. 31.