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BOARD COLLEGE STUDENTS
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.
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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 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
It’s absolutely remarkable you could say, ‘For the Bruins and Ducks warm up before the game. Oregon Ducks football takes on the UCLA Bruins at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, safety of our students Ore., on Nov. 21, 2020. (DL Young/Emerald) we’re closing our wasn’t working, they would pull out. But as the season went on, it was clear that money remained a high football and basketball players stay and play their games for television...,” Isaacson said. “It’s absolutely classrooms but opening up our football fields.’” priority. remarkable you could say, ‘For the Through the first four weeks of the season, 38% of scheduled Pac-12 games were canceled, with Arizona safety of our students we’re closing our classrooms but opening up our football fields.’” BILL ISAACSON Antitrust litigator State only getting in one game in It’s almost eerie how relevant that that time span. Whether that number quote is to today’s situation. qualifies as the season “working” While Oregon was fortunate this is hard to say, but it does raise season, especially compared to other questions of whether continuing on schools, the Pac-12 was ravaged by with the season was the best course the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond of action. just the canceled games, this season
The Big Ten and Pac-12 both featured in-conference matchups announced back in August that they only, meaning intersectional games would be postponing their seasons, like Oregon-Ohio State and USConly to change their minds a month Alabama never had a chance of later, citing daily testing and deeper happening. analysis methods of players who The unusual season also affected tested positive. TV ratings, due in part to the 2020
“This is something they dream of, presidential election. On November this is something that they want for 7, USC pulled out an exciting 28-27 their future,” Schill said. “COVID-19 win in the final minutes over Arizona has taken so much away from these State, yet viewership was down 9%. students. I didn’t want to take this “Before the election, college away from them.” football was down somewhere close
But as the football season carried to 30% across the board,” Sports on, students still could not attend Business Daily digital managing in-person classes, marching band editor Austin Karp said. “It’s pretty members could not march and bad out there. People can’t even keep theater students could not perform in track of who’s playing.” any productions. Even Mike Nealy, executive
Bill Isaacson, an antitrust litigator director of the Fiesta Bowl, had his and plaintiffs’ attorney in the doubts. O’Bannon vs. NCAA trial of 2014, “If students are dispersed and then spoke about this flaw of the NCAA, coming back, there’s just a higher a flaw that will be even tougher probability of infection, and we’re to defend after this year’s football just running the risk,” Nealy said. season. Despite it all, college football was
“You don’t get a starker illustration played in 2020 and was met with of the hypocrisy than they are mixed results. If there’s one thing we operating just like a big business learned, it’s that the NCAA is willing who needs this revenue and so the to go to great lengths to protect their students go home and get their revenues. education from home and the 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)
