inaccuracies

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Netfl ix’s hit show “Th e Crown” managed to capture the hearts of many viewers since it began airing in 2016.

Th e docudrama focuses on Queen Elizabeth II’s life from the 1940s to modern times by covering a specifi c event in every episode.

Episodes are often brimmed with scandal, touching on topics from love aff airs to political turmoil.

While they mostly stick to their historical facts, some scandals are inaccurate for creative purposes.

An example is found in the drama’s second season, where it conveys the basics of the Suez crisis but deviates from historical facts by showing the conversations between Prime Minister Anthony Eden and the Queen about the situation.

Although the two did meet, there was no record of what they discussed, according to the Mosaic.

Rather, the dramatized conversations provide the narrative of Eden’s plan to keep the collusion against Egypt a secret.

Additionally, season two covers another scandal troubled with inaccuracies – the Marburg Files, a collection of top-secret German records from the Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany.

In the collection is the Windsor File, which contains details of a possible alliance between the Nazi High Command and the Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, and his wife, Wallis Simpson, during World War II.

Although the Nazis considered the Duke and Duchess of Windsor allies, there is no evidence of the Duke colluding with the Germans against Britain, as the show hints.

Diving into season three, its third episode depicts the tragedy in Aberfan, Wales, where a mountain of mining debris descends into the town.

Accurately telling how the Queen took eight days to visit the people, “Th e Crown” also highlights her failure to respond to the tragedy as sovereign.

However, the show did a poor job showing her remorse according to Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s former press secretary Joe Hanes.

In the episode, the Queen shows a lack of emotion as she forces a tear for the press. Criticizing the show, Haynes explains the narrative the show reveals is “absolute nonsense.”

While there are more historical inaccuracies to note, it is understandable as “Th e Crown” is a drama and not a documentary.

Regardless of how it deviates from history, the show does an excellent job portraying the modern royal family with its stories.

From accurate set design to impeccable casting, it is easy to see why viewers can’t get enough.

In “Th e Crown’s” highly anticipated fi fth season in 2022, viewers should expect new cast members to refl ect the age of the favorite characters and stories likely covering royal life in the late 1990s.

After season fi ve, the show announced it would have a fi nal and sixth season, which has yet to have a release date.

arts@thedailycougar.com

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is in.

Set up like an interview, the book reads as a character’s name and then their dialogue, no action description or quotes or parenthesis. Th is shows the storytelling aspect from each diff erent character in the band or related to the band, giving the reader diff erent angles of the story and not letting them know which character is telling the truth.

Th is comes across diff erently in the physical copy of the book than the audio book, which if a reader prefers audio books this is certainly one to consider. Th e audio book version of “Daisy Jones and Th e Six” has diff erent voices reading for each character and samples of the instrumentals for songs mentioned in the book.

One thing to love about “Daisy Jones” is the music component. Even when the characters are frustrating or you don’t know where the plot may be going, the music is a strong part of the novel, all written by Reid herself who is not a songwriter by any means.

And one thing to think about as you read “Daisy Jones” is the characters themselves and their dynamics. From talks about the book that can be seen on social media platforms, fi rst time readers would assume the main characters, Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne, would be a couple.

Th en, you meet a character named Camila Dunne, described as Billy’s wife.

Th roughout the book you see Billy Dunne’s character development from washed up rock star going to rehab, to getting better for his wife and his kids, to meeting Daisy Jones who is not a good infl uence on his character whatsoever.

Th e thing about a character like Daisy is that she has the aesthetic that could be likeable; woman who never wears shoes, doesn’t care what other people think if she herself knows something is good… but then she has traits that are slightly less likeable.

Daisy herself is a nepotism rock star who had everything come easy, most of her problems being results of her own misguided actions as she does not listen to or respect the people close to her.

Th is leads to a dynamic of enemies to something more with Billy as the characters work on music together and have to be in close quarters with one another.

Part of Daisy’s entitlement is believing she had the right to be in love with Billy and to have him love her back even with his wife, family and their careers at stake. Billy, showed his development by realizing while he did feel an emotional connection to Daisy, they could not cloud what he had done with his life.

Other characters and relationships shown in the book create a whirlwind of a storyline that makes the reader feel as though they are witnessing dynamics of a rock band like this of that time period.

With a steady plot, interesting characters that you do not always love and do not always hate, “Daisy Jones and Th e Six” can be an interesting read or listen to whoever is willing

UH head coach Kelvin Sampson embraces Quentin Grimes (24) of the Cougars after a loss to the Baylor Bears in the Final Four semifinal game of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 03, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kelvin Sampson thanked his players for their commitment for the season after the game. | Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

SPORTS EDITOR @AYANEZ_5

INDIANAPOLIS — Saturday’s crushing loss to the Baylor Bears in the Final Four brought a lot of emotion out of Houston inside Lucas Oil Stadium.

In a game that got out of hand quickly, the Cougars were left in the dust and were unable to get back in the game. The finality of the season slowly hit them, and by the end of it all, the team had no choice but to let it all out. Once the sting of defeat eventually fades, however, the 2020-21 UH team will be one that is remembered for years to come.

“The people that care about our university and care about our teams, they’ll never forget this group,” UH head coach Kelvin Sampson said after the loss. “I know I won’t. I’ll remember this team for a lot of reasons. Great kids, the love they had for each other and how tight-knit the coaching staff was in supporting these kids. It was fun.”

For Sampson, the loss in the Final Four could not take away the rest of the journey the team was put through in the unusual year. In his words, the team sacrificed a lot to uphold their commitment to the team, and for that, he is extremely thankful.

As the seconds ticked away on the game clock in Saturday’s contest, the Cougars subbed out the bulk of their starters, and slowly, one by one, they all took turns hugging Sampson on their way to the bench.

Once the final buzzer sounded, and the team reached their locker room, the emotions flowed out even more.

“Those guys invested a lot in this,” Sampson said. “We ran into a really good team tonight. Didn’t play well and that team we played had a lot to do with it.”

Sophomore guard Marcus Sasser, who was the only UH player that had a strong performance in the first half against Baylor, held back tears during his postgame news conference.

Through short answers, the Red Oak native, at times, had to pause in order to stop from breaking down. But despite that, he was still able to reflect on the importance of this team.

“The three seniors we had, they led us and they taught us a lot for the upcoming years for the young guys,” Sasser said. “We had a great run and just fell short this year.”

This year’s team broke barriers, Sampson said. Not only was advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 1984 a remarkable accomplishment but one that he feels needed to be done to continue to advance as a program.

“We’re getting the next step,” Sampson said. “Once we got to

Houston senior guard DeJon Jarreau (3), who was named the Midwest Regional’s Most Outstanding Player, throws up a heart as senior forward Justin Gorham (4) wraps his arms around the New Orleans native as the Cougars celebrate a victory during the NCAA Tournament in Indianapolis, Indiana. | Courtesy of UH athletics

SPORTS EDITOR @AYANEZ_5

INDIANAPOLIS — When Houston’s season came to an end on the Lucas Oil Stadium court after its Final Four loss to Baylor, so did the collegiate careers of seniors DeJon Jarreau, Justin Gorham and Brison Gresham.

While the three will move on with their lives and step away from the Cougars’ program as players, their impact on the team will be felt for years to come and is what head coach Kelvin Sampson will remember about the 2020-21 UH team as time goes on.

“Those guys and the leadership they showed for the younger guys,” Sampson said is what stood out to him the most. “The teams before this team were trailblazers. Rob Gray’s team was a trailblazer … We’ve had teams that were trailblazers and now we had a team that was groundbreakers.”

From Jarreau’s maturity and leadership, to Gresham’s attitude and versatility when it came to the roles the team needed him to have, to Gorham becoming one of the best offensive rebounders in the country and best players at his position, that is how they left their impact, Sampson said.

This year’s batch of seniors’ influence, however, extended far beyond the hardwood. Jarreau grew into his leadership role, and once he fully embraced it, he passed down lessons to the younger guards like freshman Tramon Mark, who he roomed with during road games in the regular season.

Gorham and Gresham had a similar impact on the younger forwards on the team too.

“I’ve (learned) a lot (from the seniors),” freshman center Kiyron Powell said during UH’s NCAA Tournament run. “Coming in, I thought I was going to be able to do something automatically, but it was a whole different experience and they took me under their wing.

“They showed me like, ‘hey, this is something like you’ve never seen before. This is what you got to do to play at this level,’” Powell added. “(Gorham, Gresham and Fabian White) have been unbelievable for me and my game.”

In 2021-22, UH will likely be led by White, who will use the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA, and guard Marcus Sasser, who will have been the longest-tenured players with the team that have played significant minutes.

Of course, the biggest question mark is with junior guard Quentin Grimes and what he chooses to do.

After Saturday’s loss, an emotional UH locker room digested the end of the season. One of the reasons the team was so invested in each other had to do with the culture that was created by the seniors.

“They led us and they taught us a lot for the upcoming years for the young guys,” Sasser said.

The 2020-21 Cougars got back to the Final Four after 37 years. How long it takes them to return to that grand stage, no one knows, but one thing Sampson and the returning players will have to chase is the new benchmark that was put in place by this season’s team.

“The perception of our program has changed,” Sampson said.

“Our program has changed. I can’t wait to play in front of sellouts next year. This is going to be exciting, but this team will never be forgotten. They broke the ground. They showed it can be done. And now it’s up to these ensuing teams to stake their ground too. Looking forward to it.”

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR @JDM2186

When Kelvin Sampson took over the Houston basketball program in 2014, Renu Khator, president of UH, had a running joke every time she attended a Cougars basketball game.

“If you’re going to watch the basketball game, make sure you wear your sneakers because you don’t know if you’ll get called on to play on the court,” Khator joked.

The reason Khator made this joke was that not only did no one show up to games during Sampson’s early years as the UH head coach, but no one really wanted to play for the Cougars either.

Khator called Hofheinz Pavillion, the home of the Cougars from 1967-2017, a “ghost town” in the early 2010s.

Former UH guard Galen Robinson Jr., who Sampson called one of the “trailblazers” for the transformation of the UH program, recalled going to Cougars games with his good friend Steve after he committed to UH and just how depressing the gameday experience was.

“There would be nobody there, (UH) would be losing,” Robinson said. “It was a terrible environment.”

Armoni Brooks, another former UH guard, who alongside Robinson, helped pave the way for the program’s rise, remembers how no one cared about the Cougars when he first stepped foot on campus.

“For a while, there was a point where no one was hearing about UH,” Brooks said. “It was almost irrelevant if anything about UH was going on.”

Despite having all the cards stacked against him when he took the job, Sampson believed that UH could become a team that wins championships as long as the University gave him the tools necessary to succeed.

And the University delivered, providing the funds for a stateof-the-art development center and practice facility, as well as transforming Hofheinz Pavillion into Fertitta Center to provide UH fans with the best possible game-day experience.

Sampson returned the favor shortly after, delivering two American Athletic Conference titles, one conference tournament championship and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, including two Sweet Sixteen’s and most recently the program’s first Final Four since 1984.

Sampson hasn’t just built a couple of good teams, but an elite program that has jumped into the category of an NCAA basketball powerhouse.

“Every year there has been progression,” Khator said. “I would say if you look at the last four years,(Sampson) has successfully built sustained excellence. Not just excellence, sustained excellence.”

Long gone are the days of empty crowds and zero energy at UH basketball games.

In fact, people have to be lucky to get a seat in Fertitta Center as tickets to watch the Cougars play have become a hot commodity all across Houston.

Gone are the days of simply hoping to make the NCAA Tournament. Making a deep run in the Big Dance is now an expectation for UH every year.

“The expectations are now that the Cougars are going to show their colors,” Khator said. “And I call them my flying Cougars.”

All of UH’s recent successes and the development into one of the country’s premier basketball schools under Sampson stem back to guys like Robinson and Brooks, who went to play for a UH program that nobody wanted anything to do with because they believed in Sampson and his mission.

While these trailblazers that laid the foundation have been gone from the program for multiple years now, each one still feels an extreme sense of pride and joy in what the 2020-21 UH basketball team accomplished, and believes the Cougars will reach even higher heights in the years to come.

“My junior and senior year, every time we were brought into a huddle we’d say ‘Final Four on three. One, two, three Final Four,’” Robinson said.

“That was a goal of ours. Obviously, we came up short but to see (the 2020-21 UH basketball team) reach that goal is definitely surreal. It’s good to know that I played a part in them reaching that goal.”

UH basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson directs his team against the Baylor Bears in the first half of their Final Four semifinal game of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 3 in Indianapolis. | Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

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the Elite Eight, that’s where you want your program to be. You want it to improve, to get better. I know how difficult it is to get to a Final Four.”

From this point forward, making new progress will be a difficult challenge, but it is one that the head coach is confident can be done.

Just like when previous teams fell short, a last-second buzzerbeater against Michigan, and a Sweet Sixteen loss to Kentucky, Sampson believes this team has helped expand the standard.

“So we’ve had teams that were trailblazers and now we had a team that was groundbreakers,” Sampson said. “I’m disappointed the season is over because I don’t get to coach them anymore. But what a run, what a ride. Final Four, 28-4. Two nets. We got a lot of memories. A lot of memories.”

When UH steps on the court again for the 2021-22 season, it will be a different group that will look to make its own mark.

For those returning, the leadership from this team will stick around. Fabian White, Tramon Mark and Marcus Sasser will all likely return. Add to the mix Kiyron Powell, Jamal Shead, J’Wan Roberts, who Sampson listed off, and he believes that they will be in a position to continue making UH one of the premier college basketball programs in the country.

“We have good players coming in,” Sampson said. “And obviously, like everyone else, we’ll pick up some kids from the transfer portal as well.

“We’ll be back,” he added. “We’ll be good again next year.”