Morning Perk: Jedis, Tanking, Mannequin Challenge and More

Friday morning. It’s been a long week but you are almost there. Just a few more calls, one more meeting and then the weekend and freedom await. We know you need a little extra boost to get you through the final day of the work week and luckily, Poker Central and Death Wish Coffee have you covered. The world’s strongest coffee gives you a “Morning Perk,” bringing you the best of the internet from the past week.

“Life moves at you pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

The internet wasn’t around when Ferris Bueller gave everyone the perfect high school yearbook quote but his words are just as powerful today as they were in the late 80’s. The internet, more often than not, moves faster than life itself and while we’re sure we missed some of it, these were our favorites from the past week.

It’s official. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI is the next chapter of the Skywalker saga. This December. #TheLastJedi https://t.co/ySkVwQcMTP pic.twitter.com/eHrPgbsRJq

— Star Wars (@starwars) January 23, 2017

After a ten-year hiatus, the Star Wars franchise has regained their stranglehold on popular culture by releasing two movies in back-to-back years. This week, they announced a third is set to be released in 2017. Episode VIII – The Last Jedi was announced on Twitter and immediately sent fans into prediction rabbit holes. Spoiler alert: If you haven’t seen The Force Awakens yet, close your browser and close it now! Who is the last Jedi? The easy answer would be Luke Skywalker, who made an appearance at the end of Episode VII but there are a handful of other characters that could vie for that last honor. My money, is on Rey, the scavenger turned heroine, she is just too good to be true.

Are you ready to tank your very own NBA team? The Ringer’s first interactive game is here! https://t.co/RWX3ayYb8F pic.twitter.com/ci2V4sKonD

— The Ringer (@ringer) January 24, 2017

Tanking in the National Basketball Association is a necessary evil. Top draft picks, if used correctly, are the golden ticket for some franchises to contend for a title and while it may cost people their jobs along the way, RIP Sam Hinkie, and take a handful of years to achieve, some franchises are willing to take that risk to join the NBA’s elite. Thanks to The Ringer, we can now tank too! The Ringer introduced Tanking: The Game earlier this week and while I have yet to make it out of the first season as a General Manager, they always fire me and the game sends me to Silicon Valley, I’m going to keep trying until I tank my way to the top.

Some of the greatest innovations of our generation have come from college campuses across the country. Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, even Kinko’s all the way back in 1970s. The next great collegiate creation, Lunar Beer? Engineers from UC San Diego are hoping to be the first to produce and brew beer on the moon’s surface. Don’t get me wrong, this sounds cool but shouldn’t we be trying to improve beer on Earth before venturing into space? Wouldn’t a beer that doesn’t give you a hangover be a better use of everyone’s time? I don’t know, maybe that’s why I’m not an engineer at UC San Diego.

As a college soccer defender, who prided himself in hard tackles, aggression and, in turn, yellow card accumulation suspensions, I’d like to think I know yellow cards that are worth it. Most are not and should be avoided but taking your shirt off after an overhead kick to reveal a shirt that says “Marry Me?” and then getting down on one knee to propose, very worth it. The goal was excellent and the player, Ashton Surber, clearly had a plan after scoring the goal. That’s the most important part of any goal celebration, that there is no hesitation, but the most important part of the proposal is that she said yes. Surber now has a fan that can watch him score beautiful goals for the rest of his life.

The Korean Basketball League did the mannequin challenge … IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ALL-STAR GAME ! ! ! pic.twitter.com/Axr4TjPaOF

— Joon Lee (@iamjoonlee) January 24, 2017

The Mannequin Challenge craze didn’t make it out of 2016 but no one told the Korean Basketball League. During their All-Star Game earlier this week, players on the court, players on the bench, coaches, referees, basically everyone in the building except the fans, froze after a shot went up. The ball then bounced around while everyone on the court remained frozen and then, thankfully, a buzzer sounded and play resumed. I could probably write 10,000 words on how terrible and hilarious this is but I only have room for one take, so here it is. A few seconds after his shot bounces off the rim, everyone is standing still and the camera zooms in on the poor guy who missed the shot. He almost starts laughing but in a few days, when he realizes that this is most likely the only clip NBA scouts will ever see of him playing basketball, he might not find it as funny.

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