Sports

Columns

Full Court Press: On the beautiful game, commercialization

By Noah Goldstein | March 7

When Coldplay took the stage at the halftime show of Super Bowl 50 in 2016, more than 115 million televisions were tuned in. For those who may not remember, the group kicked off with some of their own chart-toppers like “Yellow” and “Viva La Vida” before inviting guest appearances from Beyoncé and Bruno Mars in a tantalizing display of neon lighting and black leather jackets.

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Sports

No. 2 Tufts women’s lacrosse goes 3–0 to open 2025 campaign

By Riley Daniel | March 6

When a team that finished the 2024 season 16–4 –– making the Elite Eight for the fifth consecutive season –– returns many of its starters from the quarterfinal, the No. 2 ranking in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association’s poll seems appropriate. This weekend, the Jumbos more than proved their mettle by taking care of two opponents with double-digit victories to start their 2025 season.

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Basketball

With early NESCAC tournament exit, men’s basketball looks to make noise in March

By Luke Fredericks | March 6

Basketball, at its best, is about momentum. Build it, ride it, hold onto it for as long as possible. Lose it, and things unravel quickly. The Tufts men’s basketball team saw both ends of that equation in the NESCAC tournament. A strong second-half surge carried them past Williams in the quarterfinals, but against Trinity in the semifinals, they lost their grip. A dismal 32.8% shooting performance doomed the Jumbos in a 74–51 loss, cutting short their bid for a conference title. But the season isn’t over — far from it. The Jumbos are still dancing with the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship up next.

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Columns

Extra Innings: The lasting legacy of ‘The Machine’

By Henry Blickenstaff | March 6

This column started as an attempt to compare New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge with St. Louis Cardinals legend Albert Pujols. But after a particularly long session of Baseball Reference scrolling, I decided I didn’t want to write about Judge at all. That’s because I discovered something that I’ve never heard discussed by any baseball journalists: There will never be another hitter like Albert Pujols.

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Sports

Tufts women’s softball experiences defeat in first showcase

By Eliza Warren | March 5

Tufts women’s softball began their season last weekend at the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia. Coming off a 39–10 record, a NESCAC semifinal appearance and an NCAA Division-III College World Series appearance last season, the Jumbos were looking to start this season off strong at the showcase.

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Columns

The Round-off Roundup: Power couple rankings

By Sarah Firth | March 5

Today, we rank gymnastics’ most iconic power couples, celebrating the love and athleticism that define their partnerships both in and out of the gym.

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Soccer

The 90-Minute Breakdown: Standout performances and controversy

By Antonia Toro | March 5

Barcelona is reaping the rewards of La Masia once again. In their win over Real Sociedad, two of the four goals were assisted and scored by academy graduates. Dani Olmo provided two assists, while Gerard Martín and Marc Casadó netted their first-ever Barcelona goals. Instead of flashy celebrations, the team opted for a full-squad embrace — pure joy.

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Sports

Freshman fantastic five: Tufts men’s tennis’ newest additions are all smiles, battle-ready

By Thomas Leung | March 4

The Tufts men’s tennis team has long been a powerhouse in Division III, consistently pushing for NESCAC and NCAA titles. Every season, the team welcomes a new wave of talent — players eager to prove themselves and leave their mark on the program. Whether it’s their energy, work ethic or undeniable confidence, these first-years are fitting right in with a squad filled with championship aspirations. Here’s what their teammates, and the players themselves, have to say about their transition to Tufts men’s tennis.

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Sports

Men’s swim and dive fall just short of victory in uphill battle at NESCAC championships

By Jack Chapleski | February 28

Over the past weekend, Tufts men’s swim and dive took on their 11 conference opponents at the NESCAC Championship at Middlebury College, placing No. 2 overall after four days.

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Columns

Full Court Press: The deadly sins of NBA Twitter

By Noah Goldstein | February 28

Have you ever been centel’d? If you don’t know what that means, good for you; it means you’re not a chronically online basketball fan, unlike many people I talk to on a daily basis. If you do and if you’ve been victimized by the infamous account, that’s okay too … it happens to the best of us.

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Sports

QB Q&A: The best of the rest

By Max Sharf | February 27

Every so often, there is a play in football where all conventional knowledge seems to go out the window. The quarterback snaps the ball and either throws a screen or hands it off. Instead of running with the ball, the ball carrier squares up and launches the football 30 yards down the field. The announcers are screaming into their headsets about how the man who just threw the ball played quarterback in high school.  

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Hockey

Tufts men’s ice hockey routs Bowdoin, loses in OT to Colby to end regular season

By Tara Wirtschoreck | February 27

For Tufts men's ice hockey, last weekend was make-or-break in terms of their playoff positioning. In a conference position, where one or two wins could make or break playoff chances and positions, the Jumbos had to put up a fight to keep the best NESCAC seed they could. With two home games to finish out their season, Tufts was able to finish their season strong.

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Basketball

Women's basketball's NESCAC tournament run cut short in double overtime

By Leanna DeSousa | February 26

On Saturday, the Tufts women’s basketball team — seeded sixth in the conference — kicked off their post season play by traveling to Hartford, CT to take on No. 3 seed Trinity College. Three weeks ago, the Jumbos played their last home game against the Bantams, earning a 68–59 victory on their senior day. The team was looking to achieve a similar result in the quarterfinal game. However, despite the team’s intense tenacity, Tufts fell short.

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Soccer

The 90-Minute Breakdown: The Champions League heats up

By Antonia Toro | February 26

Kylian Mbappé has officially arrived at Real Madrid. After a sluggish start, the Frenchman silenced any doubts with ahat-trick in Madrid’s emphatic 6–3 aggregate win over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League playoffs. Greatness calls. Elsewhere in Europe, Paulo Dybala delivered a stunning strike in Roma’s tense 3–2 Europa League win over Porto, proving class is permanent. Meanwhile, Luka Modrić reminded the world why he’s still a magician, curling in a beauty against Girona — his first goal in what feels like forever.

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Gymnastics

The Round-off Roundup: Male gymnasts deserve functionality in their attire too

By Sarah Firth | February 26

Leading up to the USA Gymnastics Winter Cup, Olympic bronze medalist Frederick Richard teased what he called an innovative new uniform for men’s gymnastics. In a video for The Players’ Tribune, he shared his frustrations with the traditional men’s uniform, which consists of a form-fitting top and either loose shorts or long pants, depending on the event. Richard revealed that he had designed a new kit. Despite the uniform not meeting the official requirements, he announced that he would wear it at the Winter Cup, accepting the necessary deduction.

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Soccer

The beautiful game of 1980

By Bharat Singh | February 25

If the modern football fan took a time machine to the year 1980, they’d notice a few similarities but a lot more differences. Arsenal, just as they did last weekend, lost to West Ham 1–0, only in a game with higher stakes, the FA CupFinal. Nottingham Forest won their second consecutive UEFA Champions League, then known as the European Cup, against Hamburger SV –– two finalists with contrasting current situations. Forest is third in the Premier League and dreaming of returning to Europe, whilst Hamburg is first in the 2. Bundesliga, Germany’s second division.

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Sports

1980: A year in sports

By Henry Blickenstaff | February 25

Though 1980 was an eventful year across all sports, one single moment stands head and shoulders above the rest — the Miracle on Ice. In the final round of the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, the United States upset the heavily favored Soviet Union in a 4–3 thriller, with Winthrop, Mass. native and former Boston University Terrier Mike Eruzione scoring the go-ahead goal. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, announcer Al Michaels famously exclaimed, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

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Basketball

Watt powers Jumbos to NESCAC semifinals

By Riley Daniel | February 25

With ten minutes left in their quarterfinal against Williams College, there was a question of which Jumbo would step up in crunch time. Would it be Scott Gyimesi, the junior who had already recorded 13 double-doubles during the season and 34 in less than three seasons? Perhaps it would be junior James Morakis, currently averaging over 17 points? Shockingly, it was an electric shooting performance sparked by the whiteout crowd from sophomore Zion Watt, who posted a career-high of 15 points, making four threes in the span of five minutes, sending the Jumbos on to an 80–70 win and earning them a trip to next weekend’s NESCAC semifinals at Wesleyan University.

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Columns

Lay of the Leagues: Premier League edition

By Brian Becker | February 24

The docks of Bramley-Moore are eager for the new construction project in town: Everton Stadium, the new home of the Everton Football Club. A state-of-the-art stadium occupies the new venue, standing ready to usher in a new era for the Toffees on the weekend of Aug. 16, when they will most likely play their first home fixture of the 2024–25 season. Many fans will certainly experience delight in singing along to the “Z-Cars” theme in the architectural masterpiece, but the modern-day bowl stadiums signify a bigger trend coming to the pinnacle of the English Football League.

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Columns

The Intangibles: On Victor Wembanyama’s health

By Jonah Cowan | February 24

We know that Victor Wembanyama will be one of the greatest basketball players of all time — if he stays healthy. This is the statement that defines his career. Now, Wembanyama is out for the rest of the season with a deep vein thrombosis and a blood clot in his shoulder which, according to Dr. Brian Sutterer, “could have traveled to his lungs and killed him.”

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