It's been almost one year since I moved to Eugene to attend the University of Oregon and write at the Daily Emerald. Since then, I've written over 90 articles, recorded nearly 10 hours of audio and covered five new sports.
My work was featured on the cover of the Emerald's Monday edition, Gameday, Week of Welcome and Duck Season magazine. I even made it to most of my classes.
It wasn't easy, but I've been having a ton of fun with a bunch of new people. I'm proud of a lot of that work, so here's my "Best Of": a collection of what I've done this year, chosen by me.
Enjoy!
Writing on the wall
Photo by Jonathan Suni/Daily Emerald
When N’Faly Dante, the Oregon Ducks’ 6-foot-11 center, was asked in preseason whether he hoped to bring his team back to the NCAA tournament, he had a simple response:
“Hope?”
Back for more
It’s been almost a year since 23-year-old Karly Nowak graduated from UO.
It’s been almost a year since she said her goodbyes to moody, cloudy mornings in Eugene, and it’s been almost a year since she wrapped up a student-athlete career that rivals any other you’ve heard of.
Photo by Molly McPherson/Daily Emerald
That, of course, is why she came right back for more.
From Matthew Knight Arena
Faced with a three-point deficit and eight seconds, Jermaine Couisnard saw his 3-point shot hit the rim. Posed on the floor where his shot failed to fall as the Buffs scored the final points, the senior waited.
As the buzzer sounded without an effort from the home side, he exited quietly, as did his team,
stunned by a loss
it couldn’t afford to
take.
Reign of the Pac-12 quarterback
These are the moments in time that fans dream of – why they watch early-season blowouts and postulate about the possibilities of the weeks and months to come. It’s finally time to buckle up; the end of the season is near, and the quarterbacks are ready to rewrite the script.
Whether or not the Pac-12 claims its first college football championship in its final year, it will be remembered as
the Conference of Champions, the Conference of Chaos and the Conference of the Quarterback.
Photo by Spencer So/Daily Emerald
That's Year One (or at least a little slice of it).
I'm excited to see what next year brings, and if you want to see what that's going to look like, you can follow my work online — or if you really want to, come to Eugene.
It's published at dailyemerald.com, but I'll post about it online too.
Follow me on X @OwenMurraySEA, or reach out to omurray@dailyemerald.com.