After opening the 2011 season on its annual spring break trip in Clermont, Fla., last week, the softball team returned to Medford for its home-opener against Springfield College yesterday. In a back-and-forth affair that featured multiple comebacks, the Jumbos eventually lost to the Pride 5-4 in a game that took nine innings to finish.
In swimming, the difference between winning and losing is often a matter of hundredths, or even thousandths, of a second. Never was this more evident than at the Beijing Summer Olympics in August of 2008, when Michael Phelps won his record-tying seventh gold medal in the 100-yard butterfly by an official margin of 0.01 seconds. His victory was only confirmed after officials scrutinized a video of the race that was slowed down to the ten-thousandth of a second.
It's hard to imagine that a more nonsensical and pointless thing happened in the soccer world this week than Chad Ochocinco joining the Sporting Kansas City reserve team. But amazingly, the publicity- and stunt-loving ex-Bengal was outdone dozens of times, by teams all over the world: I'm talking, of course, about the evil of the "international friendly."
It took a few innings, but once the baseball team started scoring runs, they came in bunches.
The No. 1 men's lacrosse team will face arguably its toughest NESCAC game of the season at home on Saturday against Wesleyan.
The men's track and field team opened its season over spring break at the Westfield State Invitational on Saturday. Despite a skeleton crew and poor conditions, the squad returned to Tufts with some strong marks.
On ESPN.com, 5.9 million NCAA March Madness brackets were filled out. A grand total of two of them had the correct Final Four teams. I am responsible for one of them. No, I'm not, but it'd be really cool if I were. In fact, that's one of the only cool things I can think of that can possibly happen during March Madness.
The softball team opened its 2011 campaign on its annual spring break trip, this year traveling to Clermont, Fla., for a nine−day, 14−game marathon against opposition from as far as Minnesota and as close as Plymouth, Mass.
The Western New England College (WNEC) men's lacrosse team smiled and high−fived as it ate postgame snacks yesterday at Bello Field. It looked as if they had done the improbable — knocked off Div. III national No. 1 Tufts and become the first team since, well, themselves in the NCAA tournament in the spring of 2009 to beat the Jumbos on Bello.
March is almost over, which is a good sign because I don't think I can handle much more madness.
After a grueling start to its season that included matchups with a pair of top−ten teams, the women's lacrosse team headed into Saturday's matchup with No. 10 Williams looking to make a statement. The Jumbos dominated the Ephs 17−7 last season, but knew the challenge would be much tougher this year.
Though he won't take any credit, junior goalie Steven Foglietta has people nationwide talking about his performance against No. 2 Stevenson on Wednesday night. After the game, reporters for Lacrosse Magazine noted Foglietta's humility, as he repeatedly turned down opportunities to talk about himself and instead praised his defense.
Eight members of the men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in the Div. III National Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Tennessee last week. It was a magnificent showing from all eight, which included a record−setting performance from senior tri−captain Megan Kono, the lone representative of the women's team, as well as a 20th−place finish out of 40 schools and seven All−American honors for the seven members of the men's team.
After a disappointing 2009−10 tennis season during which the men's team finished below .500 for the first time since 2005−06, the Jumbos were looking to prove themselves as they headed south for three of their four spring break matches, which included tilts with a trio of Div. II opponents in Florida and a showdown with Div. III No. 29 Vassar back in Medford.
In the minutes after the San Francisco Giants won the 2010 World Series, Tony Siegle, one of the team's front-office advisers, told the media, "We've just shown ‘Moneyball' is a bunch of garbage."
Far from a tropical locale, the varsity and novice crew squads will spend spring break doing three-a-days and eating team dinners. This week's practices are crucial, because lineups for each boat are not set yet, and the chemistry necessary for a successful boat still needs to be formed.
Eight Tufts swimmers and divers will head to the University of Tennessee for the NCAA Division III Championships on March 23.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders kicked off the 16th season in Major League Soccer (MLS) history (LA won 1−0). And unlike real Sweet 16s, which are typically marked by teenage awkwardness and boring ceremonies, the game showed how far the league has come, both in terms of maturity and excitement.
Asking others whom they consider to be the best pitcher in the National League is like asking them their favorite fruit: It changes every few minutes, you can't really argue with them because they're all so good and as soon as they mention one you hadn't thought of, you find yourself nodding and convincing yourself that the newest name is the right answer. I like blueberries and Cole Hamels, you like strawberries and Chris Carpenter; potato−potahto. There are at least four or five good choices, some better in the first half (first bite of a good peach), some better towards the end (last bite of a good banana), and some good the whole season (Grapes. Are these ever out of season?).
John Casey isn't sure how one of the baseball team's longest−standing traditions began; it's happened for so many years now that the origins are hazy for the coach, who is now beginning his 28th season with the Jumbos. The event occurs annually — that much is certain — just outside the Best Western Ocean Front in late March, beyond the grainy sand and razor−sharp shells of Virginia Beach and beneath the backdrop of the setting sun.
