Sports

Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: The season of the first-year

By Owen Short | January 28

Saturday marked a historic day for first-year in college basketball. At 2 p.m, Houston’s Kingston Flemings dropped an absurd 42 points. An hour later, Illinois’ Keaton Wagler broke the first-year single-game scoring record with 46 points on just 17 shots, followed by BYU’s AJ Dybantsa’s 43-piece at 5:30 p.m. This marked the first time in at least the past 30 years that three first-years scored 40 points or more on the same day. It then feels like the perfect time to rank the first-years performing best at this point in the season.

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: Boycotting FIFA

By Antonia Toro | January 26

After German politician Jürgen Hardt raised the possibility of Germany boycotting the World Cup, Oke Göttlich, a vice president of the German Football Association, publicly expressed his support for the idea. Against the backdrop of growing tensions between the United States and Europe — discernible during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos — both figures argue that a boycott could be justified by concerns over European autonomy and the threat posed by the United States.

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Sports

NFL Conference Championship Preview

By Ben Lable | January 22

Over the weekend, the NFL’s divisional playoff round wrapped up, leaving four teams remaining in the hunt for Super Bowl LX. This article will give a brief overview of the remaining teams as they head into the final week of conference play for a chance to travel to Santa Clara and compete for the Lombardi Trophy.

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Columns

The Intangibles: Luka Dončić and the murky world of foul-baiting

By Jonah Cowan | January 22

Luka Dončić is the master of the most abominable art form in the game of basketball. He worms his way into the mid-range, tricks his defender into jumping into his shot fake, jumps upwards into them, hears the ref’s whistle, hangs in the air and, on the descent, drains the shot for an ‘and-one.’

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Sports

Women’s basketball takes down Middlebury, record first NESCAC win

By Morgan Baudler | January 20

In their fourth NESCAC game of the season, the Jumbos fought hard against the Panthers, snapping a four-game losing streak and bringing their overall record to 8–8.

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: New year, new updates

By Antonia Toro | January 16

This weekend, FIFA announced it received approximately 500 million ticket requests through its World Cup pricing system. The most sought-after matches include Mexico vs. South Africa, the tournament’s opening match, as well as Colombia vs. Portugal, Mexico vs. South Korea and the final match on Sunday, Jul. 19 in East Rutherford, N.J. Participants in FIFA’s ticket lottery who requested specific matches will receive notification of their allocation no earlier than Feb. 5.

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Columns

The Full Court Press: The Luka Dončić Conundrum

By Noah Goldstein | January 15

If you need proof that time flies, consider that it’s already been 11 months since Nico Harrison dealt Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in what was, for my money, the biggest trade in NBA history.

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Sports

Tufts women’s basketball falls to Colby

By Sabrina Dorr | January 15

“Every NESCAC opponent is a battle,” Jumbos’ junior guard Stella Galanes wrote in a message to the Daily. That sentiment rang true Saturday as Tufts faced off against NESCAC opponent Colby.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: Midseason question marks

By Owen Short | January 15

We are now almost halfway through the college basketball season and there has been no shortage of storylines up to this point. With every team well into conference play, the top contenders are becoming clearer, while bubble teams are striving to build their resumes before Selection Sunday. So far, these are the most important questions regarding the state of college basketball as I see it.

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: FIFA’s latest spectacle, exciting groups and ticket economics

By Antonia Toro | December 8

The FIFA Final Draw is complete, and if you missed it, you missed quite the show. The 2026 World Cup draw ceremony managed to pack in more unexpected moments than most tournaments deliver in their entirety. Among the notable moments: President Donald Trump receiving a freshly-created peace prize, FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s subsequent effusive praising of Trump and the actual draw being conducted by a distinguished panel of North American sports icons including Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge and Shaquille O’Neal. Talented athletes all, though their combined professional football experience totals precisely zero. 

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Sports

Women’s soccer make NCAA semifinal exit with loss to Emory

By Morgan Baudler | December 8

No. 3 Tufts faced off against No. 2 Emory in their fourth NCAA semifinals appearance on Thursday. Despite a gritty performance and dominating possession, the Jumbos fell 3–0, and their season came to an end.

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Columns

Love To Hate: The gameday experience

By Brian Becker | December 5

Ask anyone who has been to a professional sports game in this country and they’re bound to give you a strongly worded opinion on the sights and sounds that occur within both the stadium and arena experience. Many diehards will be quick to scold the corny music played during play, asserting that it takes away from the gameday product and the “game’s gone” because of it. Other fans, however, will be quick to laud and praise the gameday experience, pointing to the Red Sox’s “Sweet Caroline” or the Bruins’ “Livin’ on a Prayer” as mainstays within fan culture.

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Basketball

Women’s basketball defeats Rhode Island College at home, 62–50

By Sabrina Dorr | December 3

Coming into Sunday’s game with the memory of their recent nail-biting 74–77 overtime loss to Endicott College, Tufts women’s basketball held a record of 3–3, while Rhode Island College entered with a 5–1 standing.

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Soccer

Men’s soccer advances to NCAA tournament Final Four

By Max Druckman | November 25

San Antonio Spurs Hall of Famer David Robinson once remarked, “It’s the playoffs. There’s no room for okay.”

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Columns

The Full Court Press: Kevin Durant is a trumpeter, Miles Davis is a small forward

By Noah Goldstein | November 25

Making an appearance on the “Hot Ones” YouTube series back in October 2024, Jaylen Brown elucidated one of the best insights on the game of basketball I’ve ever heard. “I look at basketball as like poetry in motion, which is music, and everybody is playing their own song,” Brown commented to host Sean Evans. “Everybody samples from different artists, and they’re playing their own song and if you wanna stop them you gotta study their rhythm.”

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Sports

Women’s volleyball wins NESCAC championship, moves on to NCAA tournament

By Jacob Skolnick | November 21

Last Friday and Saturday, the Tufts volleyball team went up against Wesleyan and Colby in the semifinal and final matches to win their fourth NESCAC championship and first since 2022. The triumph also marked the first time since 2008 where a No. 4 seed has taken home the title. 

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Hockey

Tufts hockey comes out on top in season opening weekend

By Sabrina Dorr | November 21

After an impressive season last year that ended with a defeat by Hamilton in the NESCAC championship, Tufts ice hockey looked ready to repeat the 2024 magic, starting off with a searing 4–1 win against Wesleyan on Friday.

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Columns

The Intangibles: Selling the Integrity of the Sport

By Jonah Cowan | November 21

In 2014, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver advocated for the legalization of sports betting in a New York Times op-ed. His main argument was one similar to one made for cannabis legalization: “Sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.” In that same op-ed, Silver stated, “one of my biggest responsibilities [as commissioner] is to protect the integrity of professional basketball.” It is clear Silver views his role as juggling the ideals of maximum profit and total sporting integrity.  

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Soccer

Women’s soccer takes down Lesley and Wesleyan, advances to Sweet 16

By Morgan Baudler | November 20

No. 3 Tufts advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Division III NCAA tournament after a dominant 7–0 win against Lesley on Saturday and a 2–0 victory over Wesleyan on Sunday.

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Columns

Road to the World Cup: FIFA, US politics distract from the game

By Antonia Toro | November 20

Welcome back to the “Road to the World Cup.” We’re now just 203 days away from the inaugural match at the Estadio Azteca. Recent developments have been coming fast, so let’s get straight to them.

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