When the University of Maryland needed a defensive spark in the last seconds of their March Madness opener against Valparaiso, they called up reserve player Varun Ram. According to the Washington post, Ram’s late game disruption of Valparaiso’s offense caused Indian Americans around the country to take notice. As I looked into more detail about him, it seemed to me that this 5-9 point guard is really a giant in many ways.
Varun Ram first placed NCAA Division III basketball at Trinity and then transferred to the University of Maryland. He made the Big Ten Athletic conference team as a walk-on on – truly amazing as only one of five Indian Americans playing Division I ball. While he only played 57 minutes this year and scored all of his points on free throws, he became a fan favorite because of his hustle. Continue reading
Microsynopsis: Jessica’s college ex-boyfriend visits the Huang family and stays in their home. Much to Jessica’s consternation, Louis isn’t the least bit jealous. Eddie gets panicky when the science fair sneaks up on him, and he plots to catch Evan’s chicken pox as a way out of it.
Bad: My complaints this week are pretty small. The soundtrack, one of my favorite elements, steered clear of hip hop entirely for the first time, and except for one song (which is very familiar but which I can’t place!) in the Denim Turtle, all the music is sung by the characters. And although I understand Oscar’s exaggerated characterization (employed for comic effect, it gives us more insight on Jessica’s and Louis’s characters), I couldn’t help wishing that a show which exists partially to repackage media-perpetuated stereotypes could have found a creative, intelligent, less stereotypical way to draw Oscar. The episode as it’s offered is funny and not unrealistic, but it probably doesn’t do much to add to people’s understanding of another, often unfairly portrayed demographic. Also, I was disappointed that we never saw the red bikini. Stop teasing us, Jessica.
Microsynopsis: Jessica, still trying to make it as a realtor, discovers that she needs a license to sell houses. The licensing exam proves more difficult than she expects, so she is forced to mislead her family, to whom she has preached the importance of being the best. Eddie, under the advice of his father, pretends to be interested in makeup and hair as a way to spend time with Nicole. Louis finally brings home something he’s always wanted: a salon-style, sit-down hair dryer.
Bad: Forgive my hypersensitivity, but in nine episodes so far, every grown-up in either of the boys’ schools is an extreme caricature, one creature after another who exists only in poorly conceived television and movies, an intellectual shorthand for all the problems young people face in school. I don’t mind it so much when it magnifies the intensity of our memories of school or when it’s just funny, but the detention teacher actually calls students “you little turds,” which this career educator finds unbearably annoying. I half expect to hear, in a future episode, a teacher’s dialogue presented as “wah-wah-wah, wah-wah,” like the grown-ups in the Peanuts specials.
