Freezing Cold Takes: Lariat Edition
Aaron Burden | Unsplash
For some people, getting stuck in a bad prediction only becomes exponentially worse when posted online. Hundreds of users on Twitter have been caught by the account @oldtakesexposed after tweeting their takes. For example,
@OldTakesExposed Quick and anticlimactic, huh? pic.twitter.com/QvmAxeP9Dq
— Blake Holmes (@NuggetsNation21) October 24, 2021
The Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs after most ESPN reporters picked them to win the series and the Braves went on to win a World Series.
Instead of scouring the internet to find examples of “freezing cold takes,” the Lariat’s own backlog, dating back to 1968, provides plenty of material. Here are some examples of the predictions that didn’t end up working out.
“College at home through television classes,” Jan. 24, 1975
College classes through television? They could never work because there is no way of keeping students accountable for actually absorbing the class. This take wasn’t entirely sour, we did have zoom classes for the last year with the pandemic. “At home learning” was a tool used, however, using a broadcast for a college class is something that never became viable for students at Saddleback.
“Video games will never produce viable music,” Sept. 15, 1982
“However, the Los Angeles Times quoted Arista Records president, Clive Davis, labeling the video villain as “foolishness.” These games, he said, “make sounds, not melodies. To think these games will supplant music is absurd.” To put this quote into context, the music record industry was declining due to blank tapes and video game sales. Saying that video games make sounds and not melodies hasn’t exactly turned out well for Mr. Davis. Video game scores have become a major topic in the gaming community. We can also see them being sampled for top music hits. For example the song, “Soul Survivor,” by Young Jeezy, uses the music from the game “Goldeneye 007” and Drake’s hit song “6 God” used a sample from the 1995 game, “Diddy Kong’s Quest”.
“Say no to medical marijuana,” Oct. 17, 1996
As we know today, medical and recreational marijuana is now legal in many states and is one of the fastest-growing businesses in America. Lariat staff member, Parvin Chak, wrote an entire piece on how marijuana would hurt the U.S. even if only used for medical reasons. Here we have to realize the country’s mindset on illegal drug use at the time. However, her article today probably wouldn’t resonate as it did back in the mid-90s.
“Parking issues should be fixed within five years,” Sep. 7, 2000
“Though there has been talk of building a parking structure, people should not expect that relief anytime soon, DeLeva said, the estimated cost of $l6 million to build such a project would put it at least four or five years in the future, he said.”
21 years later, still no parking structure, still parking problems. Saddleback’s parking situation has been a constant problem throughout the years. When reading through the archives of the Lariat papers, almost 75% of them mention a problem with Saddleback’s parking situation. This year parking isn’t as bad as it has been in the past with online classes being available but if in-person comes back full-time the problem will follow.
WikiLeaks is a website that basically leaks information from the government to the public. The site was created by Julian Assange and was live for years. The site is now down and Assange faces charges for hacking government computers. Policies have changed and with Assange facing trial, it seems as if the site will never be back up.
Updated Dec. 8 at 12:49 p.m. to fix minor grammar issues.
You must be logged in to post a comment.