Confetti. Newspapers. Tears, kisses and raised fists. The sight of a sports championship victory is one of the sweetest sights that sports have to offer (one sadly robbed from us by COVID-19 the past couple of months). Year after year, the crowning of a champion also marks the culmination of a season-long narrative. These teams … Continue reading The 10 Greatest, Most Hollywood-Worthy Sports Stories of the 21st Century
When the NBA suspended its 2019-20 season in March due to the coronavirus pandemic, the prospects of finishing a season looked slim. Fast-forward to present day, and we’re a couple days away from the return of the NBA and its playoff bracket thanks to the NBA turning the Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida into … Continue reading All Eyes on the Bubble: Talking NBA with Daniel Olinger
Roughly one year ago today, I was sitting in the outfield bleachers in Nationals Park with my brother Nate. The game was great — a interdivisional matchup between the Nats and the Braves with playoff implications, a beautiful night and, best of all for my anti-Washington sports inclinations, a Braves blowout win. Nate even caught … Continue reading MLB Preview: Dodgers, Yankees Enter Chaos of 2020 Season as Favorites
The following is an essay I wrote as my final paper for my Film History class at Northwestern. Enjoy! Over 25 years after its release, Jurassic Park stands today as a quintessential Hollywood blockbuster, a film with both unprecedented box office success and strong cultural and critical acclaim. Director Steven Spielberg amazed audiences with groundbreaking … Continue reading The Duality of Progress in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park
Earlier this week, the franchise long known as the Washington Redskins announced that, after the completion of an investigation into their name, they would be changing their name. The franchise did not make clear any future name or a timescale, but the pivot away from an insensitive name was nevertheless due and is a major … Continue reading Discussion: Washington drops ‘Skins moniker
2017. A no. 2 overall pick just a year before, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz lights up the NFL. Wentz, who finishes the campaign with 33 touchdown tosses, leads the MVP race until a season-ending injury in Week 15 and the Eagles to the number 1 seed in the NFC. Philadelphia goes on to win … Continue reading 2020 NFL Preview: State of the Quarterback
My YouTube recommendations list typically is populated by two of my major interests — sports and Star Wars. While there’s plenty to talk about with sports, Star Wars is more niche in comparison, a nine-film saga based on the dreams of one man, George Lucas. As a movie franchise, Star Wars isn’t based in … Continue reading Star Wars, Ranked
The concept of a "Golden Age" is fun to debate, and there are few applications more apt than the 2010s being a Golden Age of quarterback play. Some of the game's greats, like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, battled it out late into the winter, while transcendent talents like Cam Newton and Lamar Jackson took … Continue reading The 20 Best Quarterbacks of the 2010s
On January 3, just a couple days before heading back to Northwestern for our winter quarter, I took a trip to the movie theater with my dad to watch the Adam Sandler drama Uncut Gems. I enjoyed the flick trip, but little did I know that the first movie theater excursion I took in 2020 … Continue reading The Rich, Delectable Hollywood Year of 2019
The following essay is my final paper for my Media Contexts class at Northwestern. The prompt was to look at the importance of context in the meaning of any movie, and, naturally, I chose to explore Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Enjoy! Sitting alongside Anakin Skywalker during a pivotal scene in the … Continue reading The High Ground: Moral Ambiguity in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Riker's Block 