The women's squash team (2-6), now back to full force after a rash of early-season injuries and player absences, defeated the Northeastern Huskies 7-2 on Tuesday night for its second-straight win. The victory provides the Jumbos with some much-needed momentum heading into this weekend's NESCAC Tournament.
With the aim of qualifying team members for championship events, the men's track and field team will host the Tufts Pentathlon at the Gantcher Center tomorrow. Of the roughly 16 to 20 men who will participate in the event, four will be representatives from Tufts' squad: senior quad-captain Skip Pagel and juniors Jared Engelking, Trevor Donadt and Bobby Bardin. "We returned two athletes that were injured last year," coach Ethan Barron said. "Skip Pagel is our school record-holder in the decathlon and he was an All-American [in the event]. Jared Engelking was a national qualifier in the decathlon as a freshman." "It will be a good, competitive field on both sides," he continued. Last season, Tufts' pentathletes were an instrumental part of the squad's postseason success. The trio of then-senior quad-captain Nate Scott (LA '08), Engelking's older brother Derek (LA '08) and Donadt took three of the first five spots in the pentathlon at the New England Div. III Championships, leading the way for the Jumbos to win the regional crown for the first time since 1991. During the event, Donadt recorded personal records in the hurdles and the shot put, while both he and Bardin cleared 6'0'' in the high jump. Tomorrow's meet will mark the first step for Tufts' new-look pentathlon lineup to replicate last season's success, with a bit of an added incentive: 2009 will mark the first time that the pentathlon will be featured in the NCAA Indoor Championships. To get to Terre Haute, Ind., a Jumbo would have to reach the qualifying mark of 3,400 points. At this stage of the season, however, that number may be a bit ambitious. As of this weekend, Tufts is focused more on reaching the New England qualifier of 2,900. "My goal is just to hit 2,900," Pagel said. "That's probably the goal for everyone else as well. I think Jared and Trevor could do really well this week." "I think we'll do pretty well," Engelking added. "We're all hoping to qualify for New Englands and then go from there. But obviously if we're in a position to do more, then we'll try to." While a national qualification may be a bit premature to hope for now, the squad definitely has aspirations to eventually reach the national mark and earn a trip to the NCAA Championships at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute. "I am hoping to qualify for [NCAAs], if not at this meet, then definitely at New Englands," Engelking said. The weekend will also mark the returns of Pagel and Engelking to the pentathlon. After great success in the event in 2007 — the duo finished fourth and fifth at the Div. III New England Championships that year — each sat out the indoor season last season, Pagel with a leg injury and Engelking with a broken ankle. The pair is also accomplished in the decathlon, with Pagel earning an All-American honor and Engelking scoring a national qualification two years ago. The pentathlon is a series of five events: the 55-meter hurdles, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump and the 1,000-meter run. To be successful in the pentathlon, an athlete must be well-rounded and able to perform well in all five events. "As pentathletes, their strength isn't necessarily in one specific event, but it's in not having a weak event," Barron said. "They're all good jumpers, they're all good hurdlers, they're all good throwers. They might not be national-caliber jumpers or national-caliber throwers, but they are national-caliber pentathletes when you put it all together." Both Engelking and Pagel said they preferred the decathlon, which incorporates all five of the pentathlon's events and is held during the outdoor season. "I'm not really great at any in particular event, so the decathlon is better for me," Pagel said. "Right now my weaknesses are probably the 55-meter hurdles, long jump and high jump because I haven't long-jumped or high-jumped since last year, and I haven't really had a good hurdles race this year." "I would say my strongest event is definitely the 55-meter hurdles," Engelking said. "My weakest is probably the shot put."
With the All-Star break approaching, it would be difficult for Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard to take the midseason MVP trophy out of LeBron James' hands, but it is safe to say that the 23-year-old Howard's stellar season has catapulted him toward becoming the Eastern Conference's best pure big man.
Just about the only sports team on campus actually enjoying this wave of cold weather is the alpine ski team. This past weekend, the ski team headed to the slalom courses at Bromley Mountain for its third of five weekends of racing. Once again, the Jumbos put up strong numbers: the men's team finished second out of 11 teams on Saturday and sixth on Sunday, while the women's team came in at fifth and seventh out of 12 teams on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The strong performances helped cement the Jumbos' position as one of the top teams in the Eastern Division of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA). "This weekend, we did awesome again," said sophomore Evan Chasan, the team's treasurer. "Several of our team members placed in the top 10 in both men's and women's. Overall, I think the races went very well." On the individual level, Sunday saw men's sophomore captain Brian Bresee have a day to remember. In his first of two races, Bresee missed a gate and was subsequently relegated to finish more than 10 seconds out of first place despite a miraculous effort to even finish anywhere near the top. Given that in the sport of skiing each second lost can have drastic consequences, a speedy recovery after the missed gate was paramount to not only Bresee's individual recovery but the team's overall finish as well. It was only after the race of a lifetime — a first-place finish out of 72 finishers in his second race — that Bresee was able to salvage a 19th-place overall individual standing on Sunday. The men's team's top finisher on Sunday was sophomore Thomas Valentin, who finished approximately three seconds ahead of Bresee overall, taking 15th place with a combined time of 1:42.15. Finishing third for the men on Sunday was sophomore Arlin Ladue with a combined time of 2:03.60. But the story on Sunday was the teamwork and support within the team after the slip-up. Valentin stepped up to the plate when his team needed him most. "Tom had an awesome run," Chasan said. "As always, the way that the scoring works, we count on the entire team in case the unexpected happens. We've got a very strong overall team." While the men put on a show during Sunday's competition, the women's team was no less impressive. The Jumbos finished seventh overall out of 12 teams, but saw senior captain Alissa Brandon put in another impressive performance on her own, finishing 14th out of 71 racers with a two-races-combined time of 1:52.22. Rounding out the top three were sophomore Lindsay Rutishauser with a combined time of 2:11.06 and senior Sarah Leenen with a combined time of 2:11.96. "I think this weekend we really persevered," Brandon said. "We hit some really unique courses and we all skied our best despite the challenges. And in addition, a lot of the Tufts racers came out with our best runs this season and blew away expectations ... Lindsay Rutishauser has shown great improvements from last year and is really showing leadership out on the hill and great skiing. In fact, a lot of the underclassmen are showing a lot of promise." Oddly enough, both the men's and women's teams finished better on Saturday than they did on Sunday. Saturday saw the men's team reel in an astounding second-place finish out of 11 teams, with Bresee taking home another first-place finish in his first race and a third-place overall individual finish. Valentin and Ladue finished second and third for the Jumbos, respectively, 15th and 21st overall. Senior Greg Hering came in at 23rd overall with a solid second race to put him less than four seconds overall out of the top 10. The women followed suit with a fifth-place overall finish of their own. Brandon once again led the team with an 11th-place overall individual finish, followed by freshman Jessica Levine in 25th individually and Rutishauser in 31st. "Honestly I've done the best that I've ever done this weekend," Brandon said. "I was very pleased." In fact, Brandon performed so well that after her first race on Saturday, a coach from an opposing team stated: "That Tufts girl just had the run of her life." Brandon finished seventh overall in that race. Up next, the Jumbos will be traveling to Dartmouth for their second-to-last weekend of racing before Eastern Regionals at Waterville Valley. "We have our next race at Dartmouth and we'll be skiing giant slalom," Chasan said. "We'd love to have Tufts support on the hill."
Somehow, I found myself in Philadelphia two weeks ago Monday.
For a young ice hockey team coming off a less-than-stellar 2007-08 season, the future is now.
At the outset of this baseball offseason, it looked like it was going to be a different year from most others. With the economy in shambles, many people were left wondering how it would affect baseball and the free agent market. When almost no free agents inked deals at the beginning of the signing period -- a stark contrast to previous years, in which midnight agreements were struck on the first day and the following weeks were characterized by flurries of moves from almost every team -- the answer seemed to have arrived.
The men's and women's squash teams tamed the No. 22-ranked Northeastern Huskies last night, with both squads securing 7-2 victories. Winning its second straight game to climb from 0-6 on the season back to 2-6, the women's squad lost only two matches on the night, with the losses falling in the No. 1 and No. 7 spots. Senior tri-captain Victoria Barba, competing at No. 1, fell in three sets, while senior tri-captain Simone Grant fell at No. 7. On the men's side, the Jumbos' 7-2 victory over Northeastern marked their third win in a row and fourth consecutive year coming out on top of the Huskies. With strong performances in the back end of lineup that emphasized the depth of the team, the men's squad restricted the Huskies to just two match wins, which came at No. 2 against sophomore Ben Rind and No. 3 against freshman Henry Miller. The No. 8-seeded squash squads head to Hartford this weekend for the NESCAC Championships, hosted by Trinity College and Wesleyan University.
After an injury-laden fall semester, the women's squash team came out looking for a fresh start in the new year. Last weekend, the Jumbos returned to action, taking down the Conn. College Camels 7-2 in New London, Conn. after falling to Yale 0-9 the day before.
Competing against Div. I schools always brings a bit of a disadvantage for the men's swimming and diving team, but the Jumbos view the task as an opportunity to be tested and to improve. This weekend, junior diver Rob Matera met that challenge head-on, capturing wins in both the 1- and 3-meter dives on Saturday at MIT and achieving NCAA-qualifying marks.
Another meet brought another win this weekend for the one-loss women's swimming and diving team. The Jumbos made a statement with a 170-130 win over MIT on Saturday, marking the second time the Jumbos have defeated the Engineers this season after beating them out by 41 points at the MIT Invitational in December. "It was a different setting [compared to the MIT Invitational] with this meet as the traditional dual meet style," senior tri-captain Katie Swett said. "The meet was close on talent, and we had some incredible swims. The invitational-style meet tests how much depth a team has, but the dual meet style this weekend tested how much concentrated talent, so it was kind of a different arena." Swett led the Jumbos, winning three individual events on the day along with a relay. She was backed by sophomore Megan Kono and junior diver Lindsay Gardel, each of whom took home two first-place finishes. Swett helped Tufts start the meet off on the right foot, teaming with fellow senior Michelle Caswell, sophomore Maureen O'Neill and freshman Valerie Eacret to win the 400-yard medley relay in 4:08.61. Swett won the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke as well. Her third individual victory of the day came in the last individual event, a win in the 400 IM in 4:47.54. Kono got the first individual win of the day in the 1,000 freestyle, besting fellow Jumbo junior Meredith Cronin. The sophomore, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in three events last year, showed why she is a force in the longer distance freestyle events with another win, this time in the 500 free. "Even if we don't have the best times right now, it will come," senior tri-captain Kayla Burke said. "And we still have some amazing times; we had some girls do personal bests, and that is awesome during the season because our bodies are broken down ... You just push through, and that makes you stronger for the rest of the season." Gardel, last week's NESCAC co-Performer of the Week, once again dominated on the diving board. The All-American junior had her best day of the season, dominating both the 1-meter and 3-meter events with scores of 281.50 and 264.55, respectively. Gardel's classmate Kelsey Bell also put forth a solid performance in the diving events, picking up a third-place finish in the 1-meter and a second in the 3-meter. Cronin also racked up the points for the Jumbos, finishing behind Kono for second in the 1000 free but truly shining in the backstroke events. She won the 100-yard event and was involved in the closest race of the day, falling behind early to Engineer freshman Allison Alwan in the 200 backstroke before coming up just short in a valiant comeback and losing by one hundredth of a second. Tufts got solid contributions from a number of first-year swimmers. Annie Doisneau led a sweep of the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.28, besting classmates Eacret and Katie Russell. Russell also added second place finishes in the 500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly, followed in the latter by Doisneau. "A lot of the freshmen, they did a lot," Burke said. "It was hard — two of the freshmen actually had to swim in the 200 free and then get back on the blocks in the 200 fly. There are no complaints; they just do it. And it's stuff like that that is inspirational to watch." Senior Jen Chao and sophomore Amy Jacobi, both of whom finished with two individual wins, led MIT. Chao won both the 100 and 200 butterfly, while Jacobi excelled in the sprints with wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle, both times beating out O'Neill. Still, Tufts' overall strength showed in this victory. "It definitely steps us up to be more excited going into other meets," Burke said. "We have a really good record going right now, and that motivates us. We have two more meets, and we want to do well in those and be 8-1 at the end of the year. Having that one extra win is a lot better than 7-2." Even with last week's loss to NESCAC powerhouse Williams in a tri-meet that also included Wesleyan, the Jumbos are enjoying one of their finest seasons in recent memory. The team's record stands at 6-1 heading into their last head-to-head setting of the season next weekend in a tri-meet with Bates and Wheaton. If Tufts beats both opponents, it would be the first time the team finished with only one loss since the 2002-2003 season. "Williams was a loss in the record book, but it was kind of anticipated," Swett said. "In swimming, a lot of times you will know going in whether they have better swimmers. This meet was pretty close; we are pretty compatible teams, and MIT is a pretty big rival of ours." Tufts has two meets left before a long layoff prior to the NESCAC championships. Next week will be the last of the dual meets for the season, and the Jumbos will be gunning to earn the 8-1 mark. But more importantly, the team hopes it will continue to improve as championship season looms on the horizon. "Right now is a time for some of us who have built up our endurance and our stamina for the rest of the season to look at our individual races and little things like turns and starts and the way we swim a race," Swett said. "The meet next weekend will be similar to this week, but soon a lot of us will be tapering and slowing down as we prepare for NESCACs."
Brett Favre was not the only superstar that made a comeback from "retirement" this year, though he may have received the bulk of the media coverage. No, there is another tights-clad sporting icon that is making his own return to the professional scene: Lance Armstrong.
The women's fencing team squared off against six schools on Friday in Providence, Rhode Island as part of the New England Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association's (NEWIFA) first conference meet. By the end of the day, it was a test of endurance as much as skill.
15 Times a team has scored 74 points or less in an NBA game this season. The Boston Celtics scored 74 points in the first half of Sunday afternoon's game alone en route to a 124-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The victory was the the Celtics' eigth straight, with the last six coming by double digits.
My favorite thing about the Super Bowl is everything besides the game itself. The Super Bowl is anticipated to be watched by 95 million Americans. NBC will be broadcasting the Super Bowl for the first time since 1998, and because the Super Bowl is by far the best advertising venue on TV, NBC will, of course, be turning a profit. Thirty-second commercials are going for a record rate of nearly $3 million. Even in the midst of a recession, these ads still appear to be sound investments, as the Super Bowl is expected to record a Nielsen rating about double that of the Academy Awards.
Entering the second half of its season with a starting lineup bolstered by the return of students from abroad, the men's squash team took two of three matches over the weekend, including a narrow 5-4 decision over Denison, improving its record to 4-6 and acquiring some momentum for the NESCAC this coming weekend.
In the world of men's track and field, the actual results are often secondary to the improvement that they represent, as all roads generally lead to the end-of-season NCAA Championships. Normally, this improvement is seen individually in daily workouts and weekly events, slowly building throughout the season, but the 22 Jumbos who traveled to Boston University this weekend got an opportunity to see the team improve throughout the meet. After starting out slowly at Saturday's Terrier Invitational, Tufts built momentum throughout the day of competition, culminating in junior co-captain Nick Welch's Nationals-qualifying performance in the 5,000-meter run. "I thought Nick ran an excellent race," junior Jesse Faller said. "We're all very surprised in a good way and excited to see what he's going to be able to run in the future. He ran notably well." It was an up-and-down morning for the Jumbos as sophomore Sam Read, returning from a bout with mono, did not place in his attempt at the pole vault, while junior Ikenna Acholonu continued to get back into the swing of the track season, finishing 10th and 15th in the triple jump and 55-meter hurdles, respectively. From there, however, the Jumbos would see a number of positive results in ensuing racing events. With junior Andrew Longley, who holds the school record in the indoor 200-meter sprint, out for the season with a broken hip, senior Phil Rotella has stepped up to fill the void. On the surface, Rotella's 25th-place finish in the event seems average, but his time of 22.55 seconds is the second-fastest in school history and currently the second-fastest among Div. III competition in New England. Following the sprints, the Jumbos went on to perform their best in the middle- and long-distance races. Faller, a two-time All-American in cross country, won his heat and finished 24th overall with a personal record time of 4:15.29 in the mile run. The feat was more impressive in light of the fact that it came just one day after Faller ran the mile in a distance medley relay. "To come back the day after running the mile of the DMR and run a tactically smart race to win his heat in the mile was really solid," Welch said. "Last week at our invite here, it wasn't the greatest result for him in the 3k, so I know to get a solid performance like yesterday is a big confidence boost and a really good result." "It was exciting to run a [personal record]," Faller said. "My coach said it was one of the best races I had ever run in a tactical sense. I got out well, made the moves that I had to make and then kicked hard. It was encouraging to run well and kind of rebound off of last weekend's race." Later on in the 800-meter run, the Jumbos showcased their depth, as juniors Billy Hale, Scott Brinkman and Jason Hanrahan and senior Marcelo Norsworthy finished 20th, 22nd, 26th and 28th, respectively. All four finished within one second of each other. "For me, personally, it was a decent race," Hale said. "I think I can do better, but in terms of how the race developed, I was happy with the end result. I have a lot more that I can improve upon, but it's a solid foundation going forward. "With all of us finishing so closely, that was awesome," Hale continued. "Last year we didn't have nearly the depth and experience at middle distance that we do now. That speaks worlds for how we've improved in just a year. With people coming back from injuries and a new middle-distance coach, our program has just grown immensely in the past year, so it was great to see everyone finish how they did." Following this impressive display, sophomores Corey Melnick and Jeff Ragazzini both registered personal records in their events. Melnick finished the 1,000-meter race in 2:36.88, taking 34th place and qualifying in the event for the New England Championships. Ragazzini then finished the 3k with a time of 8:49.66, good for 63rd in the field of over 100. The highlight of the day, however, came from Welch in the 5,000-meter run. His time of 14:39.64 earned him 15th among 62 competitors and met the provisional qualification threshold for Nationals. Sophomores Jerzy Eisenberg-Guyot and Chris Brunnquell also performed well in the event, finishing 39th and 53rd, respectively. "It was probably a good ten seconds [faster] than I even thought was possible going into the race," Welch said. "In some ways it couldn't have played out much better. I got into a good pace, settled into a rhythm and managed to hang onto that pace better than all those previous 5ks I've done. Overall I'm happy with the result; that was a good cap to the meet." Tufts will host a pentathlon on Friday before taking part in the Bowdoin Invitational on Saturday, a meet more akin to the type of competition the Jumbos can expect to face down the stretch. "We'll have more of our team competing — definitely the bulk of our team will be traveling up there — so it's a good chance to square off against Bowdoin, MIT, Bates, teams that we're going to end up seeing at New Englands in a couple weeks," Welch said. "It's mostly a good chance to get people qualified for New Englands that haven't done so already. That'll be what we're looking to accomplish."
After qualifying provisionally for Nationals in the triple jump in her first-ever collegiate meet, freshman Nakeisha Jones had a hard act to follow heading into Saturday's Terrier Invitational at BU. But Jones was more than up for the challenge, outdoing her Jan. 11 performance at Dartmouth Relays with one that hit the NCAA automatic qualifier in the event. "It was very exciting," Jones said. "I'm just happy that I did qualify so early, so that I don't have to worry about it and I can just focus on improving my mark. "We did extend my runway, so I had two extra steps," Jones continued. "The last feet, I was coming over too high, so I just focused on staying flat and running as fast as I could and getting the most out of each phase." Jones' mark of 39'3" not only earned her first place at the meet among Div. III participants and bettered her own personal mark, but it also set the bar as the top Div. III performance in the nation by over five and a half inches, passing regional rivals from Wheaton, Brandeis and Springfield on the way. "We are so lucky to have gotten her," sophomore Stephanie McNamara said. "She has incredible talent, and I think she's going to end up going a long way this season. She could potentially win Nationals with a jump like that. I'm psyched that we have her on our team — it looks great for Div. IIIs to have that kind of strength in the jumps. We're really happy for her." On the running side, sophomore Stephanie McNamara narrowly missed a provisional qualifier in the mile run, finishing in 5:05.47, less than three seconds ahead of classmate Amy Wilfert. Despite facing strong Div. I competitors, McNamara's heat — slotted as one of the faster groups — got off to somewhat of a slow start, which in turn took a toll on her time as she tried to compensate. "At that distance, she's not used to taking the lead," coach Kristen Morwick said. "I think she was expecting someone else to do it … She was trying to make it all up in one or two laps, and that strategy didn't work because then she was out running by herself and slowed down again. It was just a very erratic race, and it was not ideal for her." Nonetheless, McNamara's time still currently ranks as the second-fastest in Div. III and will serve as a good springboard for her remaining mile races this season. "I think it's hard for her — she goes out and runs a PR every week, so when she doesn't, it's disappointing," Morwick said. "But she's going to run it a bunch more — it's not like we don't have other chances." While McNamara may not have surpassed her own personal record, several of her teammates accomplished such a feat. Tufts saw at least one member of the squad record a personal record in almost every running event, and while that may not have been the team's intent, such favorable results were certainly welcomed. "We weren't chasing PRs in other events," Morwick said. "That wasn't the goal for this weekend. It was just to improve on times and get qualified for New Englands and other things, and if the PR comes, that's great. To be chasing your PR now doesn't make a lot of sense. You don't want to be running your fastest times in January — you want to do that in March. We've just had a really great start." One especially notable performance came from senior sprinter Halsey Stebbins, who posted a 26.59 in the 200-meter dash in what has been the best season of her career thus far. "Halsey, coming back from abroad [last season], really struggled trying to put it all together," Morwick said. "For her to come back with a vengeance and completely turn it around and have the best season of her career — you hope for those things, but it's not a given that your senior year is going to be your best year. I think that's what's happening for a lot of people on our team." Tufts also saw impressive finishes in the 800-meter run, including those of senior tri-captain Jackie Ferry, freshman Amanda Parker and sophomore Jen Yih, who finished 35th, 43rd and 51st, respectively. The Jumbos will now look to the Tufts Invitational II, the second meet this season to be held at the Gantcher Center, happening this Saturday.
Playing without its leading scorer this weekend, the women's basketball team's high-octane offense came to a screeching halt. So, too, did its nine-game winning streak. Nationally ranked No. 11 Tufts fell to Colby 58-55 in Waterville, Maine on Friday for the team's first NESCAC loss of the season and its first setback overall in nearly two months. The Jumbos rebounded the next afternoon, however, scoring an impressive 67-56 win at Bowdoin to improve to 3-1 in conference play and 13-2 overall. "Any loss is hard, but I was really proud of us and the way that we bounced back against a really good team," senior co-captain Kim Moynihan said. "I think we finally had some glimpses of what our team can accomplish and the type of basketball that we can play, which is refreshing." Junior forward Julia Baily, who has contributed a team-leading 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game this season, missed both games due to personal reasons, and Tufts' offense suffered accordingly. The Jumbos recorded season lows with just 55 points and 31.8 percent shooting in the loss to Colby, and against Bowdoin, the team was held to its fourth-worst shooting performance of the year. "It's definitely different," coach Carla Berube said. "You're missing 15 points and eight rebounds, so it's not something that we didn't feel or that we didn't notice. We probably felt it a little bit more on Friday than on Saturday, when we all got together and pulled out a big win; I think we did a good job of trying to stay focused." Leading Colby 40-29 five minutes into the second half, the Jumbos appeared to be well on their way to their 10th-straight victory. But over the final 15 minutes of the game, Tufts managed only 15 points on 6-of-28 shooting, leaving the door open for Colby to make a comeback. The young Mules, who start two freshmen and feature no seniors on their roster, chipped away methodically, finally drawing even on freshman forward Rachael Mack's conventional three-point play with 4:33 remaining. "We were definitely out of our offensive game on Friday," Moynihan said. "Shots weren't falling, and we just couldn't get into the flow. Missing Julia was probably a big piece of that. She's a huge component of our offense, and we definitely felt that. But as a whole, we just couldn't find that groove." Colby pulled ahead for good in the final minute thanks to flawless free-throw shooting. With 47 seconds left and the score knotted at 52, sophomore forward Julianne Kowalski sank a pair of go-ahead free throws, and after Tufts misfired on its next trip down the floor, Mack made two more to put the game out of reach. "Give Colby credit: They're inexperienced and young, but they play with a lot of confidence, and they took it to us," Berube said. "We just didn't make plays when we needed to, and it was hopefully a little kick in the butt for things to turn around." On their final possession, the Jumbos took two cracks at tying the game, but three-point attempts in the waning seconds by junior guards Casey Sullivan and Vanessa Miller both missed their marks. Tufts managed to end the weekend on a positive note, however, knocking off a red-hot Bowdoin team that entered Saturday's contest having outscored each of its last four opponents by an average of almost 30 points per game. The victory was the Jumbos' first in Brunswick since 1991. The see-saw affair was locked in its seventh tie with 6:22 to play in the second half when Tufts took over. The Polar Bears scored just seven points the rest of the way — five on free throws — while the Jumbos hit their offensive stride, getting a pair of game-busting three-pointers by Moynihan and sophomore point guard Colleen Hart during a decisive 16-2 run. Five players reached double figures for Tufts, including Miller, who took Baily's place in the starting lineup. Freshman forward Rachel Figaro came off the bench to record 10 points and five rebounds. "It was definitely a grind-it-out kind of win," Berube said. "It was just an overall great, great team effort. Some people played minutes that they're not accustomed to, and they stepped right in, and we never missed a beat. It was a tight ballgame all through the second half, and to make plays when we needed to, both on the offensive end and the defensive end, it was great to watch." Though the weekend split knocked the Jumbos from the ranks of the NESCAC's unbeaten, the squad still could return to the top — they would, however, have to win each of their five remaining NESCAC games, including one at undefeated national No. 4 Amherst. "I think we're really looking to come out and take each NESCAC opponent one team at a time," Moynihan said. "Clearly, we need to show up for every game."
Everybody spit out your beverages in unison. The Arizona Cardinals are playing in the Super Bowl. Wait, what? Say that again? The Cardinals, the eternal bottom-feeders of the NFL, will be playing for the championship this Sunday? The same Cardinals who would have lost to the St. Louis baseball franchise of the same name in a football game two years ago? The same Cardinals whose 61-year championship drought is the second-longest in professional sports, runner-up to only the hapless Chicago Cubs? Those Cardinals? No way. Believe it, even if I can hardly begin to do so myself. Six weeks ago, Arizona hit rock bottom with a 47-7 loss to the New England Patriots, bringing its East Coast record to 0-5 on the season. Stumbling into the playoffs after clinching the miserable NFC West title a few weeks back, the Cardinals' play was less enjoyable to watch than a "Gossip Girl" marathon. So how did they manage to turn it around, defeating the Rookie of the Year, a team undefeated at home and a team favored on the road in consecutive weeks in the playoffs? Three words: Larry Freakin' Fitzgerald. This man is absolutely ridiculous. He has pogo sticks for legs and glue-covered Velcro pads for hands. He's everything you want in a receiver but can't find anywhere else. In this age of celebratory, flamboyant and name-changing wideouts, Fitzgerald is one of a kind. Oh yeah — he will also be the most electric player on the field this Sunday in Tampa Bay. In a nine-reception, 152-yard effort against the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game, Fitzgerald surpassed Jerry Rice for the single postseason record with 419 yards receiving. Oh, and he still has one more game left. Fitzgerald also became the first man in NFL history to record three straight 100-yard receiving games in the same postseason as he single-handedly leapt, snagged, sprinted and darted his team into Super Bowl XLIII: The Larry Fitzgerald Show, featuring the Arizona Cardinals. Against the Eagles, Fitzgerald's three scores in the first half brought his season total to 12. After each touchdown, though, he chose to calmly flip the ball into the arms of the referees and trot off past herds of flabbergasted teammates with tongues down to the turf. He's an eternal human highlight reel, the aggregate power of Zeus and Hercules, and yet is silent as a cricket in daylight. Despite his successes, Fitzgerald is one of the most humble receivers in the NFL, harkening back to the soft-spoken Marvin Harrison of a few years prior. Rather than cranking out shirtless sit-ups in his driveway or making cell phone calls next to the goal post, Fitzgerald is out helping AIDS victims, a tribute to his mother who passed away as a result of the syndrome. He's a modern-day da Vinci, something all pro football players should strive to be. Fitzgerald travels around the world and cooks, all the while ignoring the spotlight that continues to shine on some of his more raucous brethren. He was once fined $10,000 by the NFL for leaving the clubhouse before a postgame news session simply because of how uncomfortable the public's eye makes him. It's not that no one has heard about him, it's just that the extent to which he lets his play do the talking is admirable. Whether he wins or loses next week, Fitzgerald has forever catapulted himself into the debate over the NFL's best receiver, but winning on Sunday in stellar fashion would cement him that status. Going up against renowned safety Troy Polamalu next Sunday will be no easy task for Fitzgerald and Arizona quarterback Kurt Warner, but that is exactly what they have been doing all season. Scoring touchdowns without a peep is Fitzgerald's game, and it's about time he wins a championship for playing football the right way. As Bruce Springsteen fires up his amps and Tampa Bay readies for the Terrible Towels, the Steelers are clearly the obvious choice for the title. As Pittsburgh boasts the best defense in the league, Arizona is seemingly just another tackling dummy for the hard-hitting Steelers. Yet the Cardinals made it this far on their own will, outplaying the NFC's best, so I leave you with this question: What's going to stop Fitzgerald this time?
