Decades, centuries, and millenniums have passed by over the history of planet earth, and as this has happened, humanity has evolved over time with the ever-constant state of change in our world, and culture is the main reason for that. We’ve had brilliant and crowing achievements that have taken place in our culture over the years, ex. Shakespeare, Beethoven, etc. There’s also been some moments in our culture which we view poorly upon and would much rather forget, such as Scary Movie, The Kim Kardashian Show, and the entire discography of Limp Bizkit. The model many people use to compare these two types of culture is know as the Skyscraper Model. It’s used to measure the quality of each ends of our culture over the years, and most of the time, it can be fairly affective, however, there’s always guaranteed to be a blurry part of the model purely based on one’s own perception of what high and low culture is. For example, one could consider The Rolling Stones as high culture for being one of the most famous and well-recognized rock bands of all time, but someone else could argue that they don’t hold a candle in comparison the the likes of The Beatles or The Smiths. A lot of the thought put into the model is largely objective, which can often make arguments and discussions over which peice of culture goes where very subjective to one’s own personal opinion. There’s also the factor of taking into account how society’s standards change over the years regarding culture, which is related to the example I made earlier. Ever heard of the phrase, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”? The same applies to how people of 60’s would interpret their own culture compared to how today’s people would view it. At the end of the day, the Skyscraper model may clarify the more universally agreed-upon parts of our culture, but when it comes to the middle area, it’s really all up to our own perceptions.
Evan’s Insight: Sooner Ball, Twisters and More (12/11/2021)
Today in the world of Sooner Sports, the Sooners faced off against the favored Arkansas, who came into this game undefeated with a record of 9-0. This clearly did not intimidate or worry the Sooners, as they came out and dominated the Razorbacks with an 88-66 final score. Key performances by stars Elijah Hawkless (21-11-4) and Tanner Gorves (16-3-2) combined for 38 points with a 60% 3-point rate which helped the Sooners overtake the well-rounded Arkansas team, with some help from another great showing by our defense.
Outside of sports, a massive storm system that spawned several F-4 Tornadoes carried on through parts of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, and Illonois. It’s been reported by CNN that a close estimate to 100 or more people were killed by this event, as there are still searches being conducted through wreckage as we speak. What makes this weather event highly unusual is for it to be in Decemeber, as while tornadoes are not impossible to have during this time of year, for them to be of this magnitude may suggest bigger issues such as climate change being the cause of this.
In other news, The Army/Navy game was played today, with Navy pulling off an upset and defeating the Army 17-13 in what was one of the most exciting and well-played football games in not just college football this year, but the entire sport of football in general. This is the first time Navy had beaten Army since 2019, after being shutout during last year’s game.
Until next time, have a great time, and a great Sooner Sunday!
Evan’s Insight 12/10/21: Yeezy and Drizzy
Last night, we had one of the most spectacular events in recent music history occur. Kanye and Drake, two legends in the music industry, completely wiped the floor in LA with their show benefiting Larry Hoover and advocating for his freedom. As the show started, there was a long 20-minute choir into the main concert, in which Drake and Kanye, side by side, walked out of the collesium-shaped pillars and onto the stairway down to the main stage in the center of the stadium, where Kanye would take the stage for the first part of the concert. Starting off things with his old material, Kanye performed nearly all of his biggest hits, such as Stronger, All of The Lights, Jesus Walks, Runaway, Black Skinhead, etc. The crowd ate all of it up, singing all of the lyrics and going crazy whenever a new song came on. In the later-half of the concert, Drake came up and performed some of the tracks from CLB, and it was definetly the low point of the show. The energy didn’t really match what Kanye brought in the first half of the concert, and most of the songs he did were the worst cuts off the album. Kanye would come back out and do a few more songs before the finale, which was without a doubt the greatest bit. Kanye and Drake both performed “Forever” and the place went WILD. They both killed their parts with their energy, and the guitar solo to finish was just the cherry on top. After this, the two left the stage together, and the show came to a close, but it was undoubtedly one of the most epic and large-scale muscial performances in the past few years, and it will surely be talked about for the rest of not only this year, but the rest of the decade.
Evan’s Insight: MLB Lockout and more (12/4/2021)
A lot of things have happened since 1994, the first black president was elected, 9/11, Infinity War, etc., but not until now has there been another MLB lockout. Renewed back in 2016 for a 5-year deal, the Players’ Association and the CBA could coexist and the game of baseball could continue to grow and change. Unfortunately, that deal has been short-lived. The player’s union and owners are currently at feud with each other and no clear solution is in sight, at least for now, so free-agency and baseball news will be put to a halt until further notice. In other news, with the NCAAF playoffs commencing, we had a few blowouts today. Michigan absolutely EMBARRASED the Iowa Hawkeyes with a final score of 42-3. Yikes. Luckily, the other blowout wasn’t always so one-sided, as Georgia and Alabama squared off in what was a close game through the first half, but Georgia’s defense would eventually falter, as the powerhouse Crimson Tide roll on with a final score of 41-24. Hopefully, the players in the MLB and the owners can figure something out while college football gets some exciting playoff action over the next few weeks. Until next time, have a great week and a great Sooner Sunday!
Evan’s Insight: First Amendment Blog
This last week, I partook an an experiment in which I asked several family members and friends if they would approve of a law if Congress considered it, but not revealing that the so-called “law” is actually the 1st amendment. To start off, I asked my mom and my dad, who both instantly responded with a yes, knowing that it was the 1st amendment. I then decided to ask a friend from high school, who also said yes, and after a bit he texted back asking if it was the 1st amendment. The last two people I asked were two of my younger cousins, Lydia and Aiden. Lydia said yes and knew it was the first amendment, while Aiden said yes but didn’t know it was the first amendment until I told him. All of the people I asked were more right-leaning, so it was favored from the get go that most of them would agree with it nonetheless. All four of the people who knew the amendment and answered yes had been educated about it in school before, and were well familiar with the 1st amendment, which means that the more educated the person, the more likely they are to know the amendment. None of them thought that the amendment granted too much freedom; they thought it was well balanced and fair. Because most of the people already knew the first amendment and what it granted, they judged the freedoms based off of the constitution’s purpose to give freedom to US citizens and justified it through this. The increase in support of the 1st amendment over the years, according to Knight Foundation, was shown through all of the younger participants agreeing with the amendment, and if people across the country continue to be educated, these number are likely to rise aswell.
Evan’s Insight: MLB Offseason, Sooners, Christmas Season (11/27/21)
The Hot Stove in the MLB has recently been set ablaze by recent acquisitions by the New York Mets, anticipating a final few days of hectic activity as the MLB Lockdown deadline gets closer by the day. Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and prized centerfielder Starling Marte all signed their way to Queens in a big Black Friday by the Mets. They added much-needed depth to not only their offense but also their outfield, with desperate need of fixing up with the departures of Jonathon Villar and Michael Conforto. The Astros also picked up a piece: Hector Neris, the former closer of the Phillies, for a 2-year, $17 million deal, adding more depth to their bullpen. On the more disappointing side of the sports world, the Sooners dropped their game against OSU, falling out of contention for a spot in the National Championship playoffs. Sloppy defense and an indecisive Caleb Williams led to the boys in Crimson blowing a 33-25 lead and ultimately falling by a final score of 37-33. However, while Thanksgiving break is basically over, Christmastime reals its head closer into the spotlight as December will arrive in a few days, surely bringing lots of good cheer, more family gatherings, presents, and icy roads all across Norman (be careful freshman!). Alas, it’s been a great semester, and as it begins to wrap itself up with finals, students will soon enter the most grueling weeks of the year. Until then, have a great week, and Boomer Sooner.
Evan’s Insight: OU vs Baylor weekend (11/14/21)
Over this weekend, I got to travel with my dad and one of his close friends up to Waco, Texas to watch the highly anticipated matchup between two big 12 heavyweights, Oklahoma and Baylor. In this post, I’ll show some of the photos I took throughout the weekend, and recap the events that took place during one of the most exiting weekends of my year so far.
I hoped you all liked my story for this weekend. Until next time, take care and have a wonderful week at campus!
Evan’s Insight: Sports (10/13/21)
Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen some amazing games within all of the areas of the sports world. Starting in the MLB, the 2021 World Series concluded with the Braves winning over the Astros in 6. In what was for the most part a one-sided romp, the Braves completely floored the Astros in all but 2 games with their dominant pitching, led by their ace Max Fried and the electric arms out of their bullpen. The Astros’ powerhouse offense that had dominated throughout the most of the playoffs was held silent for 4 games, which ultimately was their greatest downfall, even if their starting pitching was fairly lackluster. Over in the NCAAF, the Baylor Bears defeated the Sooners by a final score of 27-14. The Bear’s defense was able to shut out Caleb Williams and Spencer Rattler through 4 quarters. Coming into this game undefeated, Oklahoma now faces the pressure to beat OSU next week in order to maintain any hopes of clinching the 4th seed in the playoffs.
That’s all for next week, but until then, have a great Sooner Sunday!
Evan’s Insight: Squid Game
Squid Game: The show everyone and their mother has been talking about for the past 2 months nonstop. At first, I heard rumblings about it over social media, but had no clue what it actually was. Just from pure curiosity out of the endless twitter memes that had spawned from it, I took it to myself to find out about Squid Game and give it a watch myself. After going through it all and finishing the show, I can say with certainty that it was a pretty damn enjoyable experience. With its whole Hunger Games/Battle Royale inspired plot, it was easy for me to get interested in the show quickly, as those are both some of my favorite pieces of all time. Player 456, also known as Seong Gi-hung, is the main character, is chosen to participate in a series of games with other people that have had considerably poor lives like him, being a divorced father and suffering from a gambling addiction. They go through a series of games such as Red Light Green Light, successfully cutting out the mold of a cookie, stepping across glass panels that lead you to a plummeting death if they break, etc. The catch is, only one player can win the cash prize at the end. This prompt alone made me curious about the show, but thanks to its memorable and engaging characters, funny moments, and bizarre creepiness, the show has instantly become one of my personal favorites for this decade.
Evan’s Sports Recap 10/30/21
As Halloween time approaches, the action in the sports world gets juicier and juicier. With the MLB Playoffs all NCAAF all taking place, we’ve got plenty of new sports to discuss about. Starting off with the NCAAF, our Sooners have continued to cruise along as this weekend they toppled the Texas Tech Red Raiders with a final score of 52-21. Caleb Williams had yet another great performances, completing 6 touchdown passes in the route, along with solid work by the defense to keep the Texas Tech offense in check, as they now improve to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in their division, keeping them atop of the Big 12 standings. In the MLB, the Astros and Braves are facing off in the World Series, and Atlanta has been able to shut out the Astros’ mighty bats in Atlanta, and their offense has been able to get key hits while Houston has stayed nearly silent since game two. With the help of some strong bullpen performances, Atlanta has taken a 3-1 series lead and has a chance to clinch their first World Series title since 1995 tomorrow night on Halloween. While it may be a joyful night for the Braves, it will be a house of horrors for the Astros if they can’t ignite some offense.
Evan’s Baseball Recap 10/18-10/23
This past week, we’ve seen some intense playoff baseball as the final 4 teams battled it out to decide who would advance to the big dance, AKA the World Series. Both the ALCS and the NLCS were chalk-full of amazing player performances and key moments. There were close nail-bitters that included fantastic defensive and pitching performances, while there was also multiple one-sided blowouts where teams would exchange turns in kicking each other in the nuts. Here’s some recaps of the two series that we saw the last week:
In the ALCS, we saw the Astros reign victoriously in 6 games against the Boston Red Sox. At the end of the day, this series came down to whose offense had the the most spark, and in the end that was the Astros. They scored 23 runs in their last 3 games, largely in thanks to the ALCS MVP Yordan Alvarez, after falling behind in the series 1 games to 2 in Boston. The Astros pitching was also able to effectively stifle Boston’s red-hot offense the last few games, as after Eduardo Rodriguez’s mocking of Carlos Correa in Game 3, the Sox only scored 3 runs combined for the next 3 games. With strong performances by pitchers such as Kendall Graveman, Ryan Pressly, Christian Javier and Ryne Stanek out of the bullpen, and the gems twirled by Framber Valdez and Luis Garcia and games 5 and 6, the Astros look to capture their 2nd world series title in the past 5 years in this upcoming World Series.
In the National League, the NLCS also concluded in 6 games with the Braves coming out on top over the Dodgers. Due to insane hitting performances by the NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario and the strong performances out of the bullpen for Atlanta, especially by Tyler Maztek, A.J. Minter, Jesse Chavez, and Will Smith, they were able to hold off the injury-riddled Dodgers, whose offense lacked consistency throughout the postseason and came back to bite them in the ass.
With the World Series coming up this week with Game 1 on Tuesday night, there’s plenty to be excited about if you’re not just an Astros or Braves fan, but a baseball fan in general. I’m expecting this to be a well-fought series, and I don’t want to make any predictions, because, well, jinxes exist. However, I’m still hoping my ‘Stros can find a way to pull it off in the end and deliver happiness to Houston sports fans again.