JAN. 15, 2021
Week of Welcome
Emerald Media
2020 FOOTBALL
A MIXED SUCCESS NEWS: EPD NO LONGER IN HIGH SCHOOLS P. 3
A&C: BOARD GAMES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS P. 4
OPINION:
SPORTS: MARIO CRISTOBAL’S COACHING CAREER P. 8
PAC-12 DROPPED THE BALL P. 10 F R I D AY, J A N U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 2 1
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W I N T E R T E R M T E X T B O O K S O N L I N E O N LY
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ON THE COVER
Ducks defensive tackle Kayvon Thibodeaux (5) runs out onto the field at the start of the game. Oregon Ducks football takes on the UCLA Bruins at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., on Nov. 21, 2020. (DL Young/Emerald)
BY JOANNA MANN Eugene School District 4J high schools will no longer be staffed by school resource officers following the school board’s decision to only renew their contract with the Eugene Police Department until Dec. 31, 2020. (Summer Surgent-Gough/Emerald)
School resource officers will no longer be located in Eugene School District 4J high schools, following the school board’s decision in June to only renew the contract with the Eugene Police Department until Dec. 31, 2020. The decision came after the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Jacob Blake this summer, which reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and a push to defund the police. Mary Walston, 2021 chair of the Eugene School Board, said the fact that the board had the opportunity to renew the contract at such a critical time made for “the perfect storm.” “For me personally, we need to do something differently because I know what we’re doing isn’t working for everybody,” Walston said. “I don’t know what the answers are, but we’re trying to change 400 years of institutional racism in this country. I personally feel a moral obligation and responsibility to do what I can do.” Walston said she believes the problem is not with EPD, but the fact that they are painted with the same brush as the Minneapolis Police Department. She said the decision to remove SROs was difficult because some of them felt personally maligned by the conversation. A former SRO for the district did not respond to a request for comment. Had students been on campus this year, SROs would have been present from the start of school until Dec. 18, the last day before winter break. SROs are sworn officers assigned to a school to provide law enforcement and law-related counseling. Walston said SROs handle oncampus crimes, angry parent interactions and suicide calls. But to some students, the presence of a police officer only makes things worse. Jeffrey Squires, a senior and the student vice president at Churchill High School, said the consensus among his peers was that the SRO assigned to his school never needed to be there, and made many students uncomfortable. “We’d have a kid who’d just be skipping third period, and then all of a sudden here comes [the
SRO] walking in with the kid on his arm and it looks like the kid’s being arrested or something. He so didn’t need to be there for that,” Squires said. “You can tell that the students got on edge when he came in. There’s a cop in the room; nobody wants a cop in the room.” When it comes to dissipating hostile parent interactions or helping students with their mental health, Squires said he has seen campus and student counselors handle those situations just as well as a police officer, if not better. “On the topic of sexual assault and abuse, police officers have no idea how to navigate that. Every time it has happened at our school and it has been brought to a police officer, it has always been mishandled and it has ended up in a horribly traumatizing manner for a student,” Squires said. “Students just feel like there’s no one they can go to if a police officer is the only person they can go to.” The school district’s contract with EPD is over $400,000, and many protesters thought that money should go toward funding teachers and counselors. Walston said the board plans to use next year’s budget to “beef up” wraparound services such as emotional and mental health counseling for students. The district will release the new budget in April 2021. “But the caveat to that is with the pandemic and with the downturn in the economy, we have gotten less money than we thought we were going to get,” Walston said. “We initially thought we’d get $13 million with the Student Success Act and that has been scaled back 4.3.” The school board is still figuring out how to provide necessary safety services without the presence of SROs, and Walston said the planning is taking longer than she would have liked. It’s a huge task, she said, but she is hopeful that the board can incrementally make some changes at the district level. “This work is never done. It’s like a garden — you plant it, you weed it, you keep tending it,” Walston said. “I don’t think this work will ever be done in my lifetime. But that’s not a reason not to try and keep moving forward.”
OREGON LEGISLATORS PREPARE FOR PROTESTS: Oregon legislators will delay gathering in person for the 2021 legislative session, with the FBI warning lawmakers nationwide to prepare for large, armed protests. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown dispatched the Oregon National Guard on Jan. 13 to protect the capitol in the run-up to the presidential inauguration. Armed demonstrators have gathered repeatedly outside the Oregon capitol building in Salem, protesting the state’s 2020 election results. – DUNCAN BAUMGARTEN OREGON MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME MOVED TO LA: After a previous meeting set for Dec. 23 was rescheduled, the Oregon-UCLA game scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 19, at Matthew Knight Arena has now been rescheduled for Feb. 1 in Los Angeles. The game starts at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast by ESPN2. Dana Altman’s program now has a three-game road trip in the city, playing the Bruins on Jan. 28, USC on Jan. 30 and UCLA again two days later. – SHANE HOFFMANN
(Maddie Knight/Emerald)
VIRTUAL FILM FESTIVAL: The 31st Annual Cascade Festival of African Films will take place from Feb. 5 to March 10, hosted virtually by Portland Community College. The festival seeks to represent Africa through the eyes of African filmmakers and will feature 18 feature-length and four short films, several of which will be followed by Q&As. The festival is free and open to the public. More information can be found at africanfilmfestival.org. – JENNAH PENDLETON
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A&C
Put down that Monopoly board BY JANELLE DUTTON
Cozy on up this winter with some of the best board games you may not have heard of. If you’re anything like me, you probably grew up finding board games dull, boring and nothing more than an obligation during the holidays. But what if I told you that there’s so much more to them than just going around a board? Sit back, and let me give you a list of some of the best games to play with your quarantine pod this winter. If you like the sound of any of these, head over to Funagain Games in downtown Eugene, or Addictive Behaviors, where they’re sure to lead you down a very exciting path. Pandemic Legacy Season 0 Don’t let the name put you off. You may have heard of Pandemic before, a game where you try to stop diseases from spreading across the world, but I bet you’ve never heard of a “legacy” game before. Pandemic Legacy Season 0 is set in the 1960s at the height of the Cold War. You try to stop the Soviet Union from releasing a disease that will spread throughout the world, similarly to the original game. What’s different about a legacy game is that
throughout the course of the game’s 12 months you’ll find yourself ripping cards in half, throwing out pieces and leaving stickers on the board. There’s no turning back in a legacy game, and every group’s story is entirely their own. Go One of the oldest games in the world, Go was invented in China over 2,500 years ago, but don’t let its age fool you. With its very simple set of rules, the game has two players fight to control a board similar to that of chess. Unlike chess, though, this game grants a large amount of freedom when putting down your pieces. No round of this game is like another, and once you pass the initial difficulty curve you’ll find yourself becoming addicted to it. Azul Azul is a competitive game designed for two to four players.
Each round players take turns choosing pieces to design their board, or what the game calls their palace. You can seek out every piece you need to get the highest score or sabotage the players ahead of you by picking pieces that they need. Whatever you do, you’ll end up with a board full of colorful, beautifully designed pieces to look at when you’re finished. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective If you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, you’re sure to love this mystery game. Play cooperatively or against one another to try to solve mysteries laid out in actual game-provided newspapers, quest booklets and an address directory. What makes this an interesting twist on Sherlock Holmes is that you’re playing as neither him nor his trusty companion, John Watson. Instead, you’re a member of his famous Homeless Network, following a story that he himself asks you to look into. Be prepared to take lots of notes — this game is certainly trickier than you might expect.
Tables covered in board games at FunAgain’s Gamer Garage Sale, Saturday, October 5th. After the games are cleared away, the backroom will return to a public gaming space. Cary Madden, the store manager, says they have about 1,000 games that can be played for free. (Robin FitzClemen/Emerald) PA G E 4
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COVER
UNDER BIZARRE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE
BUSINESS OF FOOTBALL TOOK PRECEDENT IN 2020 BY MOJO HILL • TWITTER @MOJOHILL22
Autzen Stadium remained closed to fans throughout the 2020 Pac-12 season. (Maddie Knight/Emerald)
The return of college football during the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in plenty of skepticism. In October, the Daily Emerald published a story on Lane County being the most vulnerable community, according to a study. Now that the football season has concluded, it’s time to take a step back and reflect on how the season progressed under these bizarre, unforeseen circumstances. Oregon was able to play five of its six scheduled regular season games. While teams around them were hit more severely, Oregon didn’t have any games canceled until their scheduled meetup with Washington in week six. “The student-athletes from both schools have worked so hard, and I’m just really disheartened we are at this point...,” Washington athletic director
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Jennifer Cohen said in a statement, “but we will always put the health and well-being of our students, coaches and staff as our greatest priority when making decisions.” While people can certainly be frustrated and disappointed about any cancellations caused by COVID-19, Cohen’s statement raised a good reminder that at the end of the day, the main priority should be to keep everyone safe. Even after two ugly losses, the Ducks were still able to squeak into the Pac-12 championship game, due to the Huskies’ lack off eligible players on their roster. And despite the obvious flaws in their team, and the zig-zagged path they took to get there, the Ducks won the Pac-12 championship. They concluded the season in the Fiesta
Bowl, where they lost 34-17 to Iowa State. Despite their championship win, you can’t help but feel that their season was uneven. Oregon is lucky to even have played as many games as they did. Colorado, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State and Cal all only played four games each. All things considered, the Ducks made it out pretty well. Cancellations weren’t the only negative impact of COVID-19 on this season, as a decrease in revenue meant pay cuts for the programs. The league’s head coaches lost about $1.1 million in salary, a 10% pay cut, and it was up to them to stay motivated amidst a less-than-ideal situation. “It’s something that now more than ever people have to show unity as we tackle this together, so no, it wasn’t
difficult,” Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal said about accepting pay cuts. Asking Cristobal and all the other coaches to accept these standards might not have been fair, but it’s a credit to their selflessness that they were able to make it work. And when further considering the emotional and financial strain that the players and coaches had to deal with, it becomes more admirable that the Ducks were able to squeeze out a Pac12 championship. The season kept chugging along despite all the cancellations and concerns, and one could certainly argue that it would have been in the best interests of everyone to pull the plug on the season altogether. University of Oregon president Michael Schill was adamant that if it
COVER
Bruins and Ducks warm up before the game. Oregon Ducks football takes on the UCLA Bruins at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., on Nov. 21, 2020. (DL Young/Emerald)
wasn’t working, they would pull out. But as the season went on, it was clear that money remained a high priority. Through the first four weeks of the season, 38% of scheduled Pac-12 games were canceled, with Arizona State only getting in one game in that time span. Whether that number qualifies as the season “working” is hard to say, but it does raise questions of whether continuing on with the season was the best course of action. The Big Ten and Pac-12 both announced back in August that they would be postponing their seasons, only to change their minds a month later, citing daily testing and deeper analysis methods of players who tested positive. “This is something they dream of, this is something that they want for their future,” Schill said. “COVID-19 has taken so much away from these students. I didn’t want to take this away from them.” But as the football season carried on, students still could not attend in-person classes, marching band members could not march and theater students could not perform in any productions. Bill Isaacson, an antitrust litigator and plaintiffs’ attorney in the O’Bannon vs. NCAA trial of 2014, spoke about this flaw of the NCAA, a flaw that will be even tougher to defend after this year’s football season. “You don’t get a starker illustration of the hypocrisy than they are operating just like a big business who needs this revenue and so the students go home and get their education from home and the
football and basketball players stay and play their games for television...,” Isaacson said. “It’s absolutely remarkable you could say, ‘For the safety of our students we’re closing our classrooms but opening up our football fields.’” It’s almost eerie how relevant that quote is to today’s situation. While Oregon was fortunate this season, especially compared to other schools, the Pac-12 was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond just the canceled games, this season featured in-conference matchups only, meaning intersectional games like Oregon-Ohio State and USCAlabama never had a chance of happening. The unusual season also affected TV ratings, due in part to the 2020 presidential election. On November 7, USC pulled out an exciting 28-27 win in the final minutes over Arizona State, yet viewership was down 9%. “Before the election, college football was down somewhere close to 30% across the board,” Sports Business Daily digital managing editor Austin Karp said. “It’s pretty bad out there. People can’t even keep track of who’s playing.” Even Mike Nealy, executive director of the Fiesta Bowl, had his doubts. “If students are dispersed and then coming back, there’s just a higher probability of infection, and we’re just running the risk,” Nealy said. Despite it all, college football was played in 2020 and was met with mixed results. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the NCAA is willing to go to great lengths to protect their revenues.
It’s absolutely remarkable you could say, ‘For the safety of our students we’re closing our classrooms but opening up our football fields.’” BILL ISAACSON
Antitrust litigator
The Ducks walk into the locker room before the game. Oregon Ducks football takes on the UCLA Bruins at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., on Nov. 21, 2020. (DL Young/Emerald)
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SPORTS
SOUTHEAST TIES BY CHARLES GEARING • TWITTER @GEARINGCHARLIE
Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal on the sideline during a timeout. Oregon Ducks Football takes on the Colorado Buffaloes at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. on Oct. 11, 2019. (DL Young/Emerald)
Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal on the sideline during a timeout. Oregon Ducks Football takes on the Colorado Buffaloes at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. on Oct. 11, 2019. (DL Young/Emerald) PA G E 8
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In 2017, Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal inherited a program surrounded by uncertainty. The departure of Willie Taggert left Ducks fans scratching their heads. Through the madness, Cristobal, who’d been an offensive line coach under Taggert, was given a shot at something bigger: a head coaching job. Three winning seasons later, with two Pac-12 championships under his belt, a Rose Bowl victory in tow, a Pac-12 Coach of the Year award in pocket and a six-year extension etched in stone, one thing has become certain: the Cristobal experiment has passed with flying colors. For Cristobal, it’s been one heck of a ride and a long, winding road to this spotlight. After finishing out a four-year playing career at the University of Miami in 1992, Cristobal had brief stints with the Denver Broncos and the Amsterdam Admirals before returning to Miami, where he began his coaching journey as a graduate assistant under Butch Davis in 1998. Cristobal held brief assignments coaching the offensive linemen at Rutgers and Miami in the years to follow, and in 2006, earned his first head coaching position at Florida International University. At 36 years old, Cristobal was named just the second head coach in the very brief history of the Panthers’ program. The team, granted Division 1 status in 2002, had a record of 5-41 through its first five seasons and went completely winless in 2005. In came Cristobal, and with him, an entirely new coaching staff hungry to take the program to new heights. In his six-year span at the helm, Cristobal guided FIU to two bowl game appearances and a 2010 conference championship win over Arkansas State, the first and only title in school history. Following a 3-9 finish in 2012, Cristobal was relieved of his duties as the Panthers’ head coach. But with the end of the FIU chapter came a new, even more fruitful opportunity that would launch his resumé to the next level. Cristobal returned to the
University of Miami, acting as an associate head coach and tight ends coach with the Hurricanes. But just six weeks later, Alabama head coach Nick Saban came calling, and Cristobal was on his way to Tuscaloosa. Joining the staff at Alabama as an assistant coach, offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator, Cristobal was presented with a massive opportunity — and he delivered. A former lineman himself, he became a guru of the trenches during his time coaching alongside Saban, producing several NFL draftees along the way. “Mario is easily one of the most important men in my life since I met him,” Cam Robinson, an offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars, told GoDucks. After playing under Cristobal for three seasons at Alabama, Robinson, an Outland Trophy winner, was selected in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft and was the third offensive tackle of the class to go off the table. Alabama’s 2015 group won the Joe Moore award, an honor given to the nation’s best offensive line, and in his first two years, Cristobal’s offensive line ranked in the nation’s top 25 in fewest sacks allowed. “I had him for three years, and he was one of the toughest coaches I have played for as far as work ethic goes,” Ryan Kelly, a center for the Indianapolis Colts, told GoDucks. “I don’t think I have ever been around a coach who put more into a game plan or into that week.” Along with his on-the-field accolades, Cristobal made an equally impressive impact off the field in his recruiting prowess. After assuming the role, he quickly became an elite recruiter, sitting No. 1 nationally in 247Sports’ composite recruiting ranking in each of his four seasons with the Crimson Tide. “He is an outstanding recruiter who works tirelessly at his craft,” Saban told GoDucks. “His players love to play for him, and he does a great job of putting them in a situation to be successful.” After four seasons and one national title, it was time for
SPORTS Cristobal to move on. His tenure in Tuscaloosa granted him not only a significant resumé boost, but also an arsenal of transferable skills that he leveraged upon his arrival in Eugene. He was brought on as an offensive line coach, but would soon be looking at something bigger. Out went Taggert, and in came Cristobal. Since assuming head coaching duties, Cristobal hasn’t wasted any time. Through his first three seasons, the Ducks hold two Pac-12 titles, two New Years’ six appearances, a Rose Bowl victory and a 24-9 record, sending several athletes on to the next level along the way.
A major key to sustainable success at the college level is recruiting ability, and it’s been a particular point of emphasis for the Ducks throughout the new era. Oregon has become a recruiting powerhouse under Cristobal, pulling in top-15 classes in each of the last four seasons. For Ducks fans, this year may not have ended the way they’d wished. A Pac-12 title can never be bad, but this is a program with higher hopes and aspirations. Signing Cristobal to a sixyear, multi-million dollar deal could be the first step toward a playoff berth, or even a national title. He’s building something special in Eugene, and good things come to those who wait.
“Mario is easily one of the most important men in my life since I met him.” CAM ROBINSON
Jacksonville Jaguars Offensive Tackle
Ducks head coach Mario Cristobal raises his hat in celebration. Oregon Ducks football takes on Utah for the Pac 12 Championship game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Dec. 6, 2019. (DL Young/Emerald)
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OPINION
PAC-12 DROPPED THE BALL
Ducks cornerback Verone McKinley III (23) forces a fumble. Oregon Ducks Football takes on Stanford University at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore. on Nov. 7, 2020. (DL Young/Emerald)
BY BAZIL STERLING
STERLING: The reputation of the Pac-12 is at stake following a uniquely disappointing 2020-21 football campaign. In the not-so-distant past it appeared that the Pac-12 football season was dead in the water. Due to legitimate virus concerns and an initial unwillingness to put conference community members at risk, the season was in jeopardy until plans were announced to launch a shortened schedule. Pressured by participation from fellow Power-5 conferences, the Pac-12 set a season in motion that had little chance of success from day one. Shortened training camps, notable opt-outs, a general lack of preparedness and no assurance of safety for participants set the conference up for detrimental issues prior to the first kick-off. In recent years, the Pac-12’s national reputation, in relation to football, has struggled to mirror those of its fellow Power-5 conferences. A distinct lack of national championships and playoff appearances coupled with a tendency for self-implosion within the conference leaves the athletic coalition behind the likes of the SEC and BIG-10. On top of this, the officiating in the conference is under severe scrutiny and likely influenced the outcomes of key games throughout the season. From errant spots to blatant PA G E 1 0
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miscalls, officiating is damaging the relevance of the Pac-12. For the Oregon football program, COVID-19 related opt-outs created the youngest college football team in the nation. While the program has an incredibly bright future, the 2020 season was marred by uncharacteristic losses to both Oregon State and Cal. Despite a 3-2 regular season record, Oregon was placed in the Pac-12 Championship game due to COVID-19 case spikes within the Washington football program. At the time, USC owned the only undefeated record in the conference, yet was not considered to be a playoff candidate unlike fellow short-season team Ohio State. Oregon’s victory in the championship game further solidified the Ducks as conference kings, but once again highlighted the lack of dominance and tendency for Pac-12 implosion. The conference has not produced a playoff victory since Oregon’s win over Florida State in 2014, furthering the separation between the league and its counterparts. The 2020-21 college football season likely should have never taken place to begin with. If the Pac-12 truly valued the health and safety of unpaid players
and potentially vulnerable personnel, a contactsport would not have been played during a viral pandemic. The national championship game between the University of Alabama and Ohio State University is currently in jeopardy of being postponed due to COVID-19, which has impacted every program in the country throughout the season. But, too much money is at stake to forgo a college football season, creating the mess of varying schedules, mass outbreaks and the giant asterisk that will forever be associated with this season that only worsened the reputation of the Pac-12. Potential off-field revenue in the form of a new TV deal is quickly evaporating with sub-par on-field collective performances. Oregon has been the gem of the conference since the start of the 2010s, but the overall reputation of the Pac-12 currently hangs in the balance. Prior to the last TV contract, the season ended with multiple teams in the AP top-5 and featured Oregon in the national championship game. The Pac-12 is worse off in terms of national reputation than ever before and must take strides to save itself in 2021 and beyond.
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