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Articles by Jack Golub
Golub: Daryl Morey, a Chinese Revolutionary
by Jack Golub — October 14, 2019October 13, 2019 Up until last week, Tilman Fertitta had made a mildly bad impression as owner of the Rockets. He gets the “mildly” modifier because plenty of other owners have done the same. He loves to talk to the media, whether it be to publicly doubt Daryl Morey, perhaps the most innovative and successful general manager (GM) in the league, or complain about his players.
Golub: I've got to see a Warriors game
by Jack Golub — May 6, 2019May 5, 2019 I’ve been thinking lately that I have to go see a Warriors playoff game. Oracle Arena may be old by NBA standards, but it’s a booming, beautiful house of basketball. Plus, after this year when KD finds a new team, the Warriors dynasty will hopefully reach a merciful conclusion. Merciful to the rest of the league, that is; I hope they crash and burn hating each other, and Draymond has to be held back from strangling someone.
Golub: Why Olympic swimming matters
by Jack Golub — April 29, 2019April 28, 2019 I got to listen to Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel talk with Julie Foudy last week for the recording of Foudy’s Laughter Permitted podcast. All three of them (if you don’t know who Foudy is shame on you, but also shame on me because I didn’t know either — she’s a Stanford alumna and former U.S. national team soccer standout) shared funny and endearing stories from their athletic careers. The one who stood out to me most, though, was Simone Manuel.
Tiger's Redemption - The Stanford Daily
by Jack Golub — April 16, 2019April 15, 2019 Congratulations to Tiger Woods on winning the Masters. While I’ve barely followed golf, I have to admit I was excited he won. I felt happy for him. After years of pain, debilitating injuries and hurtful and immoral personal decisions, Tiger finally clawed his way back to the summit of his sport. I didn’t understand why I was happy.
Golub: Why do colleges have sports?
by Jack Golub — April 8, 2019April 7, 2019 The existence of college sports is confusing. Despite holding the student-athlete moniker, college athletes are often treated like professionals. This past weekend, you maybe watched the Final Four for men’s basketball. It was a professional-level spectacle complete with NBA commentators and played at US Bank Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. The NFL, by the way, happens to be the highest grossing sports league in the United States.
[final BS] Golub: Why you should care about Bryce Harper’s $330 million
A team finally took the plunge: the Phillies signed Bryce Harper to a 13-year, $330 million contract, the richest in the history of American sports. With any contract of that gigantic a value, a player will struggle to live up to the deal. The Phillies, then, are prioritizing dramatic change over spending efficiency.
Tan’s Take: Sports for the Sportless
If you intentionally flipped or clicked to the sports section of this paper, your patronage is much appreciated; however, this article is not directed at you. For readers who arrived at this piece by dropping a newspaper or by a friend commandeering your electronic device and rerouting you here, I encourage you to read on. Not everyone likes sports. You may believe athletic fandom to be a time sink, or maybe you don’t understand or care to understand the general appeal of sporting events.
Golub: Musings on hush money
The NFL made two big splashes in the news in the past week. The first: settling with Colin Kaepernick over his collusion case. Kaepernick, after a career-derailing struggle, triumphed victoriously over the corporate monolith. Or, alternatively, Kap capitulated and let the rich owners buy him out. One such owner made the second splash: Pats owner Robert Kraft got implicated in an FBI prostitution and human trafficking sting. Kraft, one of the most influential owners in the league, paid for sex.
Talking with the enemy
Democrats and Republicans increasingly view the other party as a “threat to the nation’s well-being.” In her home state — where she also teaches — University of Wisconsin political science professor Katherine Cramer notes that “people, in casual conversation, are treating each other as enemies.” Scholars continue to debate whether today’s polarization is rooted in a deepening ideological divide or simply in more effective party mobilization that accentuates long-standing disagreements.
My summer of Dave Hickey
I first discovered Dave Hickey’s writing during a summer alone in New York. Working at an art association downtown, I spent warm evenings and humid weekends wandering in and out of Lower East Side galleries quietly by myself.
Golub: The price of imparity
The Anthony Davis saga has me confused. On the one hand, I’m mad that he requested a trade. I don’t want him to go to the Lakers, I don’t want LeBron to manipulate the whole league, I don’t want the Pelicans to have to give up their best player in franchise history and I don’t want AD to give up on the Pelicans. On the other, it’s about damn time.
‘The Breakfast Club’ is an antique analysis of adolescent anguish
Midway through John Hughes’ 1985 film “The Breakfast Club,” high school principal Richard Vernon has had enough. Vernon is tasked with supervising five students in Saturday detention, but one of them, John Bender, is particularly difficult to handle. After John insults Vernon for the umpteenth time, Vernon locks him in a storage closet. Vernon’s spiteful action, however, gives him no respite from John’s antics. John soon escapes by crawling through the air ducts.
Men’s basketball ices Berkeley in final minutes, keeps them winless in Pac-12
In the first Battle of the Bay, Stanford (11-10, 4-5 Pac-12) outlasted California (5-16, 0-9 Pac-12) to leave Haas Pavilion with an 84-81 victory. The Bears have lost 10 straight, matching the longest streak in school history. Sophomore forward KZ Okpala shouldered a significant burden for the Cardinal, scoring a career-high 30 points and adding team highs of eight rebounds and four assists while playing all 40 minutes.
Golub: I don’t get it, Knicks
I honestly don’t get it. My life as a Knicks fan has been a tumult of shattered-hope sadness. There is a special kind of despair that results from getting the same misguided dream ripped to shreds every year. The Dolan Era of Knicks basketball is an arsenic-poisoned abyss. Stay away, for your own safety. This trade makes me irate — I hate it with a fury I don’t like to give to sports teams I’m not a part of. It just doesn’t make sense.
Tan: The NBA’s pre-agency problem
The 2018-19 NBA season, as has been the case since the beginning of the Golden State Warriors’ tyrannical reign over basketball, has been overall lackluster and uninteresting as the Warriors begin to round into form after supercharging their roster with a Demarcus-Cousins-sized battery to add a little Boogie to their splash.
Naidu: Fear the beard
James Harden wants you to know — he’s damn good. Often times, once an NBA player has reached his 6th or 7th season, his reputation is fully-formed. Rotation player, starter, all-star, elite (top 10-12) or super elite (top 5). The super elite class is the hardest to break into. In recent years, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant have firmly held places in the super elite class, with Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard and Harden hovering around the final two spots.
Golub: Trump’s antics bring power to athletes
A hallmark of the Trump presidency is its fear-based approach to governing. Dangerous Muslim terrorists; corrupt, colluding fake news media; caravans of violent migrants coming to eat our children and curse our livestock, or something — evidently, Trump has no qualms with fomenting fear to advance his agenda. (To debate another time: Does he have an agenda?) As harmful as this Trump presidency may be, his strategy leans upon tried and true methods of political manipulation.
Naidu: Time for changes, NFL
There is a major rule change the NFL should implement this offseason. However, the overtime possession rules should not be one of them. On the season, the New England Patriots averaged 2.32 points per drive with a touchdown percentage of 26.7 percent. Meanwhile, the Chiefs, the number one scoring offense in the NFL, averaged 3.25 points per drive with a touchdown percentage of 40.5 percent.
Hoover hosts roundtable discussion on US-Taiwan-China relations
On Tuesday, Hoover Institution scholars addressed China’s recent tightening of policy surrounding Taiwan and considered what the United States’ role should be in maintaining the three-way political balance.
Cardinal notch first Pac-12 win over Arizona State
Coming off a close, disappointing loss to the Arizona Wildcats at home last Wednesday, the Stanford men’s basketball team (8-8, 1-3 Pac-12) had its back against the wall, staring down the barrel of losing four straight in the Pac-12. In a must-win contest, the Cardinal took on the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-5, 2-2) on Saturday afternoon, and powered through to claim an 85-71 upset victory.
Golub: Enes Kanter, the American harbinger
Enes Kanter couldn’t go to London because he feared for his life. Dictator Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, via his evil henchman and former NBA player Hedo Turkoglu, has consistently threatened, mocked and insulted Kanter for Kanter’s opposition to ruthless totalitarian xenophobia and political suppression. Ironically, Hedo was a heady player known for his ability to handle and facilitate. Turkoglu claimed Kanter lied about fearing for his life.
Ziperski: Team owners matter
When fans try to pinpoint the reasons behind a team’s success or failure, they most often look to players or coaches. The New England Patriots have been dominant for nearly two decades because of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs have soared to the top of the league because of Sean McVay’s play-calling brilliance and Patrick Mahomes’ phenomenal play.
Naidu: Parity in the NBA
Well, Adam Silver, you have your wish: Tanking is dead. Six weeks into the regular season, the Western Conference standings are bunched up in a seemingly unprecedented fashion. Six weeks into the 2015 season, seven teams had a record of three or more games below a .500 win percentage — three of which were six or more games below the mark. The following year, that number dipped to four teams.
Golub: The difference between quiet leadership and no leadership
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made waves recently when he dropped the “bombshell” news that former player Kawhi Leonard, the star who sat out a whole season with a suspect injury and refused to communicate with his team, was not a leader. In response, Kawhi got angry and claimed he was a leader. That makes sense. He’s a star player looking to get a supermax salary; he’s not going to say he isn’t a leader. I don’t know what Kawhi thinks or how he conducts himself in his team’s locker room.
Naidu: No stars in Boston
Bold prediction: The Boston Celtics won’t make the NBA finals. Bolder prediction: They won’t even make it past the second round in their conference. Coming into the season, the Celtics were all but anointed Eastern Conference Champions and hailed as the biggest threat to the Golden State Warriors’ quest for a third straight title. The hype was in some ways justified.
Golub: The fall of Carmelo Anthony
Melo was destined to be one of the greats. Armed with a knife of a jab step, a buttery jumpshot and two first names (think: Michael and Jordan, Kobe and Bryant, LeBron and James) Melo could score like few other players in the history of the game. In what was probably his most successful year individually, 2012-2013, he hung a cool 50 on LeBron James’ Heat, nearly exclusively scoring on jumpshots. That game was his crowning achievement.
Golub: The wasp and the cockroach
Despite a LeBron-less path to the top of the Eastern Conference, the Charlotte Hornets continue to buzz unnoticed. They sit firmly in the playoff race at 5-5, having lost a few close games and having stomped some unworthy opponents. Cardi B’s favorite baller, Kemba Walker, has picked up where he left off last season. He currently averages a cool 28.0 points per game on 46 percent shooting to go with nearly six assists per game. However, for all his accomplishments, Kemba has never gotten his due.
Pragada: The Jacksonville Jaguars make me sad
Up until recently, I had always maintained that the outcome of a sporting event could not have a directly negative impact on my mood. Sure, bad news about a beloved team could certainly keep a bad day bad, but seeing my team lose would never turn my smile into a frown. I touted this belief publicly, lecturing people about “trusting the process,” seeing the positive light in every loss, the light at every tunnel.
Golub: “Let’s make a Black baseball team.”
“Let’s make a black baseball team.” William C. Rhoden, author of Forty Million Dollar Slaves, shared this idea, speaking on behalf of former MLB manager Jerry Manuel. It would reinvigorate interest in the game from black players, he said. It would make baseball more exciting. Most importantly, it would connect the game to black culture and bring along more all-time greats like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays. It’s a fun idea. It made me think of W. E. B. Du Bois’ Talented Tenth plan.
Drake combines success with social media spectacle
Drake has had a weird year. By any objective metric, the Canadian rapper/singer/pop giant, who needs no other introduction, has had one of the best years a pop star has had since the dawn of recorded music. He held the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for 16 of the 21 weeks from the start of May to the end of September and has only missed nine weeks at the top spot since February, when “God’s Plan” dropped, and his album cycle began.
Naidu: My Mavericks
As a sports columnist for The Stanford Daily, I always try my best to cover material that piques the average Stanford sports reader’s interest. Thus, the diversity of Stanford’s student body means I must strive to cover timely topics that appeal to a variety of fan bases and sports. With the NBA regular season tipping off last night, professional basketball is on the queue.
Golub: Controlling the NBA media
Jimmy Butler, the workhouse, the self-made star, doesn’t want to be in Minnesota. It’s hard to blame him. Appearing to have all the ingredients for sustained success, this iteration of the Timberwolves has failed to come close to reaching its potential.
Dauber talks gender-based violence in politics
Stanford Law School professor and activist Michele Dauber spoke on Monday at Tresidder about the importance of making gender-based violence a voting issue in the 2018 midterms and beyond. Dauber — a key figure in the successful campaign to recall former Judge Aaron Persky ’84 M.A. ’85 — recently launched Enough is Enough, a political action committee (PAC) meant to target politicians accused of sexual assault or viewed as having voting records contrary to women’s rights.
Golub: An expectation of consent
Today is Christopher Columbus Day, a symbolic celebration of our country’s lifelong commitment to the erasure of Native Americans without their consent. Two days ago was Stanford football’s Set The Expectation game, a symbolic celebration of football’s commitment to present itself as an upstanding, positive institution while it exploits players’ bodies and in many cases severely derails or takes their lives, without their consent.
Golub: What it takes to survive
“You must really like the Suns,” my friend suggested, pointing to my purple T-shirt emblazoned with “PHOENIX BASKETBALL” across the chest. It was an innocent mistake — one that people make all the time when I wear my Diana Taurasi Phoenix Mercury shirt. The orange spherical logo is placed aside so that the big letters are all you see unless you look closely. I cherish that shirt. Later in the day, I hooped on the Wilbur courts, doing my best to warmly welcome frosh with an L.
Golub: On the anthem
Trump’s groundbreaking meeting with North Korea was canceled because of “hostile” behavior on their part. Trump explained that this missed opportunity “is a tremendous setback for North Korea.” In related news, the NFL announced their new national anthem policy which, believe it or not, they claim to have thought about carefully. They have decided that players are not allowed to express themselves or their views in any way that does not include standing for the entire national anthem.
Golub: Can a black coach survive the NBA
Who are the best coaches in the league? The typical fan might rattle off a list like: Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr, Rick Carlisle, Brad Stevens, maybe Erik Spoelstra. It’s not often that you hear of a black coach celebrated for his success. Raptors coach Dwane Casey had a great season this past year and likely will win coach of the year. But his team got bounced from the playoffs early on. Already critics are calling for him to be fired while uplifting white coaches like Brad Stevens.
Golub: Russ and Kanye
Not like this. Not like this. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Sure, I thought they might not win the Finals. I knew, deep down, that this team was fatally flawed in a way Golden State would be able to exploit. But I was so sure it would take the Warriors. I was so determined that they’d at least make the conference finals. Instead, they lost to the Jazz. Not like this. When the Thunder’s season ended, I was sad.
Golub: Exploring LGBTQ acceptance in the NBA
Reggie Bullock made some small ripples recently when he asked for the NBA and its apparel provider, Nike, to make rainbow jerseys for teams in support of LGBTQ people. Before I go any further, big ups to Bullock for speaking out on LGBTQ equality. Bullock, whose transgender sister was killed, is coming off a career-best season but still is only a role player.
Golub: Russell’s reading rooms
I have more to say about Russell Westbrook. If you missed my column last week, do me a favor and check it out. Today, I want to talk about Russ’ far-reaching impact beyond his explosive on-court performances. In the wake of West Virginia’s teacher strike, which concluded about a month and a half ago, protests for greater investment in education (in terms of funding for schools and teachers’ salaries) have spread rampantly among deeply conservative states. One such state is Oklahoma.
Golub: Where is the love?
I prefer to save this space for discussing issues vital to society. I seek to illuminate intersections of sports and race and politics to demonstrate larger themes present in our country and our world. For these reasons, I am going to use all of my remaining words to highlight one of the greatest scandals perpetrated by the media, ever. Yes, I am talking about the utter lack of coverage of Russell Westbrook’s 2017-2018 season.
“The Answer” to the NBA’s stance on hip-hop
I recently rewatched Allen Iverson’s infamous “we talkin’ bout practice” rant. It reminded me of how the NBA today still feels the repercussions of one of its most original players of all time. One way his impact is felt in particular is through the NBA’s relationship (when I say NBA I’m referring to its administration, especially then-commissioner David Stern) with hip-hop. At first, the NBA embraced hip-hop.
Golub: NCAA works exactly way it wants to
The NCAA should be nearing a breaking point. But in reality, things are going exactly as planned. Recently the NCAA has been confronted by its hypocritical, unethical behavior ranging from lax observance of rules to maliciousness all the way at the top. The upshot is that Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, is ignorant, insidious or both. Either way, he needs to go. Two big scandals have been uncovered recently.
Golub: Rise of the ‘jumb docks’
“Must they run their mouths like that?” she spat, the condescension dripping from her mouth. It sounded like a parent bemoaning a misbehaving child or perhaps a president complaining about fake news media. Surely, whoever had run their mouth must have said something awful. Right? Fox News host Laura Ingraham began a segment a few days ago by announcing, “This is a jumb dock alert, ding ding ding ding ding!” The error in speech was hers.
Golub: Media maneuvering at the Olympics
I was skeptical when North Korea joined the Olympics. I still am. What I’m really struggling to wrap my head around, though, is the disciplined, dainty 229-women strong squad of cheerleaders. By now I’m sure you’ve seen their chants and songs, sometimes singing and swaying to them even while other music blares over the loudspeakers. You might have heard about how they walk in neat lines, go to the bathroom in small, orderly groups and don’t engage with anyone outside of their government handlers.
Golub: A dehumanizing trade deadline
Yesterday morning I excitedly talked with a friend about the flurry of trades the Cavs pulled off to pretty much swap their entire backcourt for a new one.
Women’s basketball roundtable: Oregon roundtrip
After several weeks of absence, Stanford women’s basketball is finally back in the AP Poll, checking in at No. 24. What does this tell you about the way this team has improved since the start of the season? Jack Golub (JG): Absolutely, the team has improved; it is a young group that keeps getting better as the season progresses. I think the ranking can be misleading, though. The Cardinal fell out of the top 25 after a series of losses to premier programs like UConn, Ohio State (twice) and Baylor.
Golub: NFL players, don’t stop now!
Please: Don’t stop now! The news that the NFL is pledging $89 million over seven years to sponsor social justice work is heartening. When I last wrote about the NFL protests, I was dismayed by what I saw as a lack of direction. I wanted you, the players, to make specific demands of the NFL and society at large.
Golub: An irrational fear of European big men
As you all know, the Unicorn has been balling out. His progression from skinny European project caterpillar to Messiah butterfly has shaken New York City (and probably the rest of the world) to its core. KP has got me thinking though: Why are we so scared of drafting European big men? Sure, they get drafted, but there are always major concerns about their physicality and durability. They seem to be viewed as having a much higher “bust” potential.
Golub: Frank Ntilikina is Rwandan
I promise my piece is about something serious. Please, though, indulge me for a brief couple of sentences to share some joyous news. Here it is: The Knicks are good! 6-2 in their past eight games good! Led by their majestic unicorn savior, Kristaps Porzingis, New York’s favorite basketball team is in a tie for fifth-place in the Eastern Conference. Is it early? Yes. Could so much more still go wrong? Absolutely. Am I loving it all regardless? Damn straight.
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