Sports

Weak at the knees: Brady's season feared over after Pats' Week 1 win

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady suffered what has been called a season-ending knee injury during New England's Week 1 victory over Kansas City yesterday. Brady crumpled to the Gillette Stadium turf when Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard grabbed the reigning NFL MVP by the leg as he was completing a pass to Randy Moss in the first quarter. The 31-year-old veteran, coming off a season in which he threw a record 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions, has started the last 128 regular season games under center for the Pats.

Field Hockey Preview | Field hockey team geared to stick to winning ways in 2008

    Like many of the engineers that scale the Hill, the field hockey team has learned an important lesson: building a good foundation is often the best way to create a strong and reliable finished product.     While success has not entirely  eluded the Jumbos over the past decade, coach Tina McDavitt's arrival in June 2004 provided a warmly welcomed boost of coaching prowess.     The squad has posted a 42-23 record in her four  years  at  the  helm, and despite an average 8-7 mark in 2005, the team has played exceptionally well of late, tallying an impressive 24-10 record over the past two seasons.     Last year, McDavitt took her Jumbos all the way to a No. 15 national ranking by season's end and guided the team to its first NCAA tournament win in program history.     The key to the Jumbos' recent success is due in part to a shifted recruiting focus that pinpoints high school juniors and seniors who lead their team on the field as well as in the classroom.     "I am trying to find [Div. I] recruits who want to come to Tufts for more than just the field hockey," McDavitt said. "I want to find players who value their education as much as their athletics so that they will be able to perform well mentally on the field and contribute to our culture of success, as well as explore what Tufts has to offer academically."     "I think that [McDavitt] looks for girls who obviously have great field hockey talent but who also are very smart and perform well in the classroom," junior forward Michelle Kelly said.     And in a game as mental as field hockey, it's no wonder McDavitt looks for school-savvy players to give her team a competitive edge.     "Smart players integrate much faster into the team's chemistry, and thus they are much more able to contribute quickly to the team's successes on the field," Kelly said.     "[McDavitt] wants girls who are mentally ready to play field hockey in college," junior midfielder Margi Scholtes said. "Recruits who are capable of playing a sport well and functioning at that same level in the classroom will be naturally more apt to succeed on game day."     During the recruiting process, McDavitt also places an emphasis on players who have won state championships or competed with well-respected high school programs.     "I'm focused on players who come from winning programs because those players are built with a certain mentality that you need to win," she said. "The transition from high school to the college game is much easier for them and allows them to contribute faster for us."     McDavitt came through once again with last year's freshman class, led by forward/midfielder Tamara Brown, who finished fourth on the team in total points in 2007 even though a torn ACL cut short her season, midfielder Jess Perkins and defender Amanda Roberts. The squad will count on the three of them for increased contributions during their sophomore years.     "Those are three very smart players who were naturally ready and able to contribute to our team during their freshman year," Kelly said. "Jess and Amanda are solid defenders who use their smarts to have a great field vision. Tamara is more of an offensive player with an awesome sense for our offensive sets."        Part of the team's recent success is due to McDavitt's coaching style, which demands hard work and focus to succeed, while also encouraging her players to have fun.  "She wants us to always be serious on the field, yet she looks for girls who will contribute positively to the team's culture as a whole," Scholtes said. "If a girl will contribute more to the team's success through her teamwork skills and ability to be a part of the team's culture, then she might take that girl over a slightly more talented one."     McDavitt's newest recruiting class, consisting of eight Jumbo freshmen, will get its first look at competition on Saturday when Tufts hosts the Wesleyan Cardinals in its season opener.

Men's Soccer Preview | Jumbos have their eyes fixed on first opening-day win since 2005

    The 2007 men's soccer team, a veteran squad loaded with eight seniors, entered last season with the expectation of earning a spot in the NESCAC playoffs and taking its rightful place among the conference elite. But after a slow start, the team was never able to fully recover, and its hope of a playoff berth was dashed on the final day of the regular season when it suffered an overtime defeat at the hands of Conn. College.     With the new season opening against Gordon College on Saturday, the 2008 Jumbos are approaching this season with fresh optimism. Although this year's squad has less experience, its strengths have become evident during the preseason.     "One of our main strengths is speed," senior tri-captain Peter DeGregorio said. "Speed and commitment. Last year we didn't perform as well as we can, so our goal this year is to focus game by game and play as well as we can each time."     "I think we're going to surprise a lot of people with our speed, both individually and in terms of our ability to move the ball," sophomore forward Alex Lach added.     While last year's roster was heavy on freshmen and seniors, this year's squad presents a more cohesive unit.     "It's been a lot different," Lach said. "This year we have a lot of sophomores and juniors. Being closer in age, there's been less of a hierarchy and no real cliques on the team."     Indeed, that sense of togetherness and unity off the field is already paying dividends on the field, where the defensive line, a group that recorded five shutouts in 2007, has been particularly impressive.     "In our five scrimmages so far, the defense has been working well together," Lach said. "They've been covering for each other and communicating really well."     The relative youth and inexperience, coupled with the departure of the graduated seniors, has also intensified early season practices as the Jumbos nail down their starting lineup.     "We're not very, very young, but we're inexperienced playing at the college level," DeGregorio said. "So our practices have been very competitive so far because everyone is fighting for spots. That's been a positive because the practices have been very productive."     Another change from last season can be found in the team's schedule, which opens with games against Gordon and Southern Maine. While the team has a penchant for slow starts — the Jumbos were winless in their first five games in each of the past two seasons — these non-conference contests might help ease the Jumbos into the season before they take the field against NESCAC opponents.     "It really helps to have these two games before our first league game so we can work things out," DeGregorio said. "Our league is so competitive that every game is hard, so to have a couple wins under our belt would give us some momentum heading into our first league game."     Despite the graduation of senior tri-captain Greg O'Connell (LA '08), who led the team last year with five goals scored and 11 points, the Jumbos have retained a solid core of firepower upfront this year. DeGregorio, sophomore Naji Muakkassa, juniors Dan Schoening and Bear Duker, and Lach — who tallied nine points in just nine games during his rookie campaign — were all standout contributors offensively last year.     Still, Tufts will need to improve its goal-scoring output in order to make a playoff run. The team ranked eighth in assists and second-to-last in goals scored in the NESCAC last season. Coach Ralph Ferrigno is emphasizing the importance of possession.     "We're working on a more controlled style of play [and] trying not to turn the ball over," Lach said.     Key games awaiting the Jumbos later this season include matchups with league rivals Middlebury and Amherst. In addition, the Jumbos are looking forward to their rematch with Conn. College, who ended Tufts' playoff hopes in last year's memorable regular season finale.     Before getting ahead of itself though, Tufts must first square off against the Fighting Scots of Gordon, a team that has not been on the schedule since 2001 when the Jumbos recorded a late-season 1-0 shutout.     "The first game is always big," Lach said. "We're still finding our top shape."

Volleyball Preview | Tufts looks to build on impressive '07 finish

    Despite having only one senior on the floor and an interim head coach at the helm, the volleyball team still won 10 of its final 11 games before advancing to the 2007 NESCAC semifinals. Tufts finished at 19-13, netting the program its seventh consecutive winning season.     Now, as the squad kicks off 2008, it will be led by five seniors and returning coach Cora Thompson. With this experience comes the hope that the team can build on 2007, as eyes are on trips to the conference finals and NCAA Tournament.     "One of our goals every year is to win the NESCAC," Thompson said. "It's a realistic goal. We're going to need to be very disciplined in order to reach that goal. We have five seniors who are very driven and very focused. When they were freshmen, they made the NCAA Sweet 16, and they have that goal in mind."     After dealing with personal problems that forced her to hand the reigns to then-assistant Marritt Cafarchia, who is now the head coach at Holy Cross, Thompson is back for her sixth season. She is eager to return to a program that has witnessed her amass 120 career wins against 45 losses since her arrival at Tufts in 2002.     "I love it, and I missed it," she said of coaching. "I think that this isn't just a job for me —  it's a way of life. I don't get up in the morning and think I'm going to work. Last year was hard. It was challenging, but I think that's a lesson in life. There are some things that are more important than volleyball, and it's important to get everything in perspective."     Building on three years of prior experience on the squad, senior tri-captains Natalie Goldstein, Stacy Filocco and Kate Denniston will lead the Jumbos this season. Goldstein has proven to be one of the top liberos in the conference and has ranked in the top five in digs per game every year in her collegiate career.     Filocco, along with sophomores Dawson Joyce-Mendive and Caitlin Updike and junior Brogie Helgeson, recorded over 200 kills last season. Denniston, meanwhile, will help anchor the middle, where she racked up 161 kills in 2007.     "The great thing about our team this year is that we're incredibly deep," Filocco said. "There are more players than we've ever had, and everyone belongs. We go 15 deep, and we go three or four deep at every position. That's going to be what makes our team really special; no matter who's in there, we'll have a chance."     Still, the Jumbos will have to work to fill the gap left by last year's senior and captain, Katie Wysham (LA '08), who was a dominant force at middle blocker last year. Wysham tallied the most blocks in the conference by a wide margin on her way to earning First Team All-NESCAC and Honorable Mention All-American honors. Three freshmen, Lexi Nicholas, Audre Kuan and Cara Spieler, will be stepping in to fill out the roster.     "The freshmen are definitely in shape," Thompson said. "There's more of a learning curve at our level, with the high speed and high pace. They're learning a new offense and new defense, at the same time getting to know some names. Athletically, they're completely on par with where this team is and will only get better with experience."     One area where Tufts will look to improve is in its play against regional competition, particularly MIT. In three matches against the Engineers last season, the Jumbos went 0-3 and lost by a combined score of 9-1.     "They've been our Boston-area nemesis," Filocco said. "We've gone back and forth with them, but they've gotten the better of us. We're looking forward to showing them how much we've improved."     Another challenge lying ahead for the Jumbos is their tough schedule, which will take them on the road for nine out of the 10 NESCAC games in which they will compete.     "Home- and away-court advantage is important," Thompson said. "Everybody feels comfortable in their own gym, but one thing that's made us successful as a program is that we've been able to win on the road, as much, if not more as we win at home," Thompson said. "Our level of play is going to stay at a certain level, and we're going to keep up our intensity no matter where we are."     Tufts will kick off its season at Cousens Gym Tuesday night with a home contest against the Stonehill Skyhawks.

Inside the NFL | Brett the Jet lands in Miami for intriguing Week 1 matchup

    When the NFL's powers that be first released the 2008 schedule back in April, they probably saw the New York Jets' Week 1 visit to Dolphin Stadium as nothing more than a meaningless matchup between arguably the AFC's two worst teams. Instead, they'll get much more.     Oddly enough, the Miami Dolphins find themselves in the spotlight as their new quarterback, the ever-talented-but-never-quite-a-star Chad Pennington, makes his debut Sunday afternoon against his former team of eight years.     And by the way, the man opposite him is his replacement, three-time NFL MVP Brett Favre.     Both teams, as logic would have it, should be in rebuilding mode. Between the two, they totaled five wins last season, a horrendous figure especially considering they played each other twice. But both have made the decision to roll the dice on veteran quarterbacks this season, and Favre and Pennington will don their new uniforms this weekend, knowing that an army of second-guessers will be ready to pounce on their every mistake. Never has there been more pressure on a pair of AFC bottom-feeders.     So who has the edge on Sunday? And, more importantly, which team has a chance to turn things around with a new face under center this season? That's no easy question.     Now seems like a good time to mention that Favre's reputation, even his career numbers after 16 years in a Green Bay Packers uniform, are a bit misleading. This is a man who turns 39 four games into the Jets' season, and the question of which Favre will show up on any given Sunday must be on the minds of many in East Rutherford.     The problem is that even a best-case-scenario Favre may not be enough to bring the Jets back from irrelevance. Even in a stupefyingly anomalous 2007 when he suddenly returned to his prime to throw for 4,155 yards and even steal an MVP vote from Tom Brady, he was still only sixth in the NFL in passer rating at 95.7, sandwiched between Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneer QB Jeff Garcia.     The reason is Favre's accuracy, which has varied throughout his career between fairly good and plainly average. He has compiled monsterous counting stats over his years in Green Bay, becoming the NFL's all-time leader in passing attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns, but he's also top dog in interceptions, which should never be overlooked.     Favre's completion percentage for his career is 12th in the NFL among active quarterbacks, slotting him right behind such titans as Brian Griese and Brad Johnson. And who happens to be number one on said list? Hint: He'll be putting on a Dolphins helmet this weekend.     Pennington, now 32, has always had the potential to be a star in the NFL, ever since his first-round selection out of Marshall in 2000. His main problem, with all due respect to Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery (and, blast from the past, Wayne Chrebet), has been the lack of a formidable supporting cast around him. The last time Pennington threw a pass to a bona-fide superstar was his sophomore year back in Huntington, W.Va. — the kid's name was Randy Moss.     How will Pennington perform in Miami, where his two favorite targets will likely be Marty Booker, a former Pro Bowler who looks more than a step slower at 32 than he did at 26, and Ted Ginn, Jr., who has a mountain of work to do to avoid the label of Historic Draft Bust (Brady Quinn, anyone?). The logical answer is … not much better than he did in the Meadowlands with the Jets. The Dolphins should be thrilled to see Pennington in town, as he's a huge upgrade over the three-headed monstrosity of Cleo Lemon, Trent Green and John Beck. But this Dolphins team still has some work to do.     No AFC defense allowed more points last season than the Dolphins', the offensive line is still atrocious and unreliable would be an understatement to describe their presumable lead running back, Ricky Williams. But despite all that, Pennington is a good start for a team that desperately needs one. Look for him to triple the Dolphins' win total from last season. That's right: three wins.     Sunday's Favre-Pennington showdown will be a fun one, but fans have another treat awaiting them the following night when Green Bay plays host to a season opener between the team that lost Favre, the Packers, and the team that almost landed him, the Minnesota Vikings.     Fans at Lambeau will have the privilege of seeing two young quarterbacks who are desperate to prove themselves take the field. In one corner is Aaron Rodgers, a former All-Pac 10 signal-caller at the University of California, and in the other is Tarvaris Jackson, who led the Vikings to 8-8 and a playoff near-miss last season.     Without a doubt, the critics will be eying these two games closely this weekend, and the comparisons between the Packers under Rodgers and the Jets under Favre will be flying around from day one — and not without good reason. It's still early, but there will likely be no question in 2008 more compelling than what will be worse: life without Brett Favre, or life with him.

Field Hockey Preview | Field hockey team geared to stick to winning ways in 2008

Holiday, Jasinski, Kutcher  to fill void left by Class of '08 By Cary Helfand

Despite loss of two captains, Nationals remains top priority

    After enjoying a successful 2007 season — which featured a third-place finish at the NCAA New England Championship and an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships — the men's cross country team starts off with a clean slate on Saturday when it travels to Hartford, Conn. for the Trinity Invitational.     Although much of the training occurs during the summer, the team came back earlier to meet and train in preparation for its first race.     "We've had a chance to see the freshmen," junior co-captain Nick Welch said. "They seem like a good class. There's a whole range of abilities and experience levels, and it'll get clear how they're able to run when we get more races and workouts. At this point they look good and seem excited and ready to jump into it."     While it took clutch performances and a little luck to qualify for Nationals last year, the team is hopeful that it can equal last season's effort.     "There are many parts of the year that make up a successful season, like guys improving and making a jump after summer or freshmen having a good intro to college running and college life in general," Welch said. "Each workout, each week, each race has its own importance. Obviously, there's much more focus and importance placed on late season meets that impact Nationals."     "I don't think our team goals are much different this year than last year or previous years in general," Welch continued. "We want to get back to Nationals. Whether it comes from winning Regionals or grabbing that at-large bid, our goal is to get back to Nationals in the long term."     The team will be looking for some new faces to step up and fill the void left by the departure of former senior captains Chris Kantos (E '07) and Dave Sorensen (E '07), two of the team's top three runners in the 2007 campaign.     "There's no hiding the fact that we graduated two of our top three, two of our seniors, captains, leaders," Welch said. "In every respect, it's a big hole to fill. But there are guys that are going to step up, there's not a doubt in my mind ... There were a few guys last year who were at the back of our top seven and certainly can look to make the jump."     Additionally, the team will look for continued improvement from junior Jesse Faller, who last year as a second-year was already the team's best runner. His 18th-place finish last year at the NCAAs in Minnesota was more than 60 spots ahead of the next Tufts runner — Sorensen finished 79th — and was good enough to merit All-American honors.     "I can't fill the role myself because I'm only one person, and we're losing two seniors [from our top seven]," Faller said. "The best I can do is to do as well as I did last year or better, which would be important for the team. As far as filling the roles of the seniors, we have a couple sophomores looking really good right now, and I think they've been training hard all summer and they're going to be a huge part of our team."     Those sophomores will get a chance to show their improvement this weekend during the race at Trinity. While it poses no late-season significance and will be shortened to a 5k race, as opposed to the traditional 8k length, the team looks to this first meet as an important piece of the foundation to a successful 2008 campaign.     "It will be the first chance for those returning to come back after months of track and get back on the cross country course and see how all that summer training can be put to use," Welch said. "For the freshmen, it's their first chance to don a Tufts uniform and race as a Jumbo. The program has its continuity, but each team has its own identity, and this will be the first time that the '08 team steps on the line together."

Beck, O'Brien leave behind young but experienced squad

    To say that replacing graduated seniors Cat Beck (LA '07) and Katy O'Brien (E '07) would be nearly impossible is an understatement.     But despite the loss of the Jumbos' potent one-two punch, both of whom helped lead the team to a program-best fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championship in 2006 and earned multiple All-American honors over the course of their impressive collegiate campaigns, this season's Jumbos are still hopeful that they can earn the NCAA bid that eluded them last season.     "I'm really looking forward to the October-November time period," sophomore Stephanie McNamara said. "I know we're really, really trying to go after getting to Nationals as a team. We were so close last year, and hopefully now that we have a little more depth we can really achieve that goal. I'm looking at Div. III as a huge meet and also at NESCACs — we want to place high there."     And while the Jumbos' offseason losses were significant, graduation hardly spared their rivals, taking several of New England's elite runners. Among them were top competitors from many NESCAC schools, including Amherst's Heather Wilson and Kim Partee, Colby's Anna King and Bowdoin's Laura Onderko.     "Hopefully, if they take five teams again from New England [for NCAAs,] we have a shot at one of those spots," coach Kristen Morwick said. "The teams ahead of us, a couple of them graduated a lot of people, so we're not the only one who lost significant runners. It's not like we're unique in that. We lost Katy and Cat, and obviously they were two of the best, but our top kids will be really competitive with anyone in New England. It's really a matter of how the new people end up doing."     While last year's squad struggled to close the gap between the trio of Beck, O'Brien and McNamara and the rest of the pack, this year's top seven won't be as top-heavy. The combination of a year of experience for last year's new runners, the new group of freshmen and the graduations of Beck and O'Brien should make for a more balanced lineup in the coming season.     "Katy and Cat were some of the best runners in the nation, not to mention in the conference or on this team," Morwick said. "A few people have come in that really fit this year, and it's definitely a more cohesive group. We'll see how the freshmen kind of fill in the spots — it shouldn't be as big a difference between 1-2-3 as it was last year, but even still, it hurts losing those two. It's just going to be a really different-looking team this year."     Similarly to last season, however, Tufts will boast a young squad, with the incoming freshman class nearly doubling the size of the team.     "We have a pretty solid new pack of freshmen," senior Amy Hopkins said. "We're all excited about that — to see some new faces and just to get some early and new talent out on the courses. They're all very strong runners; we've been running with them the past couple days or so and getting to know them, and I think they'll be a great addition to our team."     Despite their youth, the Jumbos are far from lacking in leadership, with senior veterans Erica Hylton and Susan Allegretti coming in to join senior Betsy Aronson, one of last year's tri-captains, in the other two captains' roles.     "Our captains this year are awesome," McNamara said. "Even the other sophomores and juniors are looking up to them for leadership. I think they're going to do a great job leading the team this year."     Also key for the Jumbos this season will be McNamara, whose stellar freshman campaign set milestones for Tufts in 2007. After her 15th-place showing at NESCACs  cemented her as the Jumbos' No. 3 runner, McNamara went on to earn a championship berth with a ninth-place finish at Regionals before becoming the Jumbos' first-ever freshman to earn All-American honors in women's cross country. The Jumbos will look to McNamara to lead the pack in the absence of Beck and O'Brien.     "She's up to the challenge," Morwick said. "She put in a good summer and she's capable of doing anything she wants to in cross country. She's a really talented runner and a really hard worker who is very focused on training and performance."     Luckily for the Jumbos, the team will return from the summer relatively injury-free, a much-welcome change from the 2007 season. At this time last year, injuries plagued the Jumbos both on and off the-course, with Beck and then-junior Katie Rizzolo sitting out to start the season and O'Brien and McNamara heading into competition following extensive summer rehab stints.     "It's really exciting because there haven't been many injuries at all," Hopkins said. "Coming in, it's always a big plus. It's been an issue in the past with people being a little too ambitious during the summer or overtraining a bit, but from the runs we've had so far, it seems like everyone was able to get their miles in and train smart through the summer, so they're healthy and ready to go and really take off."     "We've had [a few] chances to see where people are fitness-wise and what they're ready for," Hopkins continued. "I'm really excited to see a group of returners as well as healthy freshmen coming in that will be ready to train hard at the beginning of the season and hopefully through the rest of the season too."     The Jumbos will officially start the season Saturday at the annual Trinity Invitational. While Tufts dominated the competition last year, placing five runners in the top 10, the Jumbos' focus is more on getting a sense of where they are training-wise than on winning the race.     "It's a very low-key meet," Morwick said. "It's nice to start with a race that's shorter. It's a very difficult course — it's very hilly, and it's still early in the year, so it's going to be warm. It allows us to see where we are in a scenario where we're not racing top competition in the league."     "Trinity has a good team," she continued. "They're not a pushover, but there are some smaller teams at the meet. It's nice to open up against a more relaxed field. I just like to see people get out and race for the first time. It's just a good way to test the waters."

Sanchez, USC quiet critics with decisive opening-week win

    Who's doubting them now?     The third-ranked USC Trojans couldn't have scripted a better start to their 2008 campaign, thrashing the Virginia Cavaliers 52-7 Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. The victory cemented USC as a legitimate national title contender and silenced any critics who wondered how its offense would survive an injury to its starting quarterback and inexperience on its offensive line. Southern Cal's prolific performance led to a whopping 558 yards of total offense and the squad's first 50-point game since its 2006 opener.     Leading the charge was junior quarterback Mark Sanchez, just three weeks removed from a left knee injury that once appeared to jeopardize his chances of making Saturday's start. Showing no ill effects, Sanchez completed 26 of 35 passes for a career-high 338 yards and three touchdowns in a performance that suggests he is now prepared to continue the lineage of great Trojan quarterbacks.     That didn't seem as certain last season, when Sanchez made three starts filling in for the injured John David Booty. In two of those games — the first, a near-upset at the hands of the hapless Arizona Wildcats, and the third, a loss to the Oregon Ducks that ultimately cost USC a chance to play for the national championship — Sanchez tossed a combined three touchdowns against four interceptions. These poor outings, coupled with the arrival of highly-touted transfer Mitch Mustain, left the incumbent starter in a battle for his job entering spring practice in 2008.     Head coach Pete Carroll eventually stuck with Sanchez, however, even after the California native put together a less-than-spectacular spring and suffered the knee injury that left him out of practice until the week of the season opener. Sanchez rewarded Carroll's faith on Saturday, displaying a great command of the offense by distributing the ball to nine different receivers. With two completions of over 40 yards, Sanchez also showcased a deep-threat capability that was missing from Southern Cal's offense in the two seasons that saw Booty at the helm.     Sanchez received tremendous help from the Trojans' offensive line, which was hit hard during the offseason after four of last year's starters left for the NFL Draft. Certainly the Cavaliers' pass rush, still trying to overcome the graduation of stud defensive end Chris Long, isn't exactly amongst the nation's best.But Southern Cal's revamped line — consisting of center Kris O'Dowd, tackles Butch Lewis and Charles Brown, and guards Zach Heberer and Jeff Byers — still had an impressive showing, yielding no sacks and giving an inexperienced quarterback all the time he needed.     For proof of the Trojan offensive line's effectiveness, look no further than the running game, where USC outpaced Virginia 218-32. Regardless of whether C.J. Gable, Joe McKnight, Allen Bradford or Stafon Johnson was rushing the football, every one of the Trojans' quartet of fullbacks had a hole to run through. The highlight came with 4:01 to play in the first quarter, when Gable ran untouched for a game-breaking 33-yard touchdown thanks to key blocks from Herberer, Lewis and O'Dowd.     But with its toughest opponent of the season next on the docket, USC won't have much time to dwell on its performance against UVA. On Sept. 13, the Trojans will return to the Coliseum for their home opener against the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, a matchup that will surely have major BCS implications later in the season.     Fresh off their 43-0 demolition of the Youngstown State Penguins Saturday afternoon, the Buckeyes will challenge Sanchez and the Southern Cal offensive line with a defense that held its opening week opponent to a paltry 74 yards of total offense, including -11 yards rushing. A veteran-laden defensive unit, starring senior All-Americans James Laurinaitis at linebacker and Malcolm Jenkins at cornerback, will be yet another test for the Trojan offense's largely inexperienced starters.

Top Ten | Summer Sports Breakups

It was the summer of the breakup in the wide world of sports. It seemed that no sport could escape the cold winds of Splitsville, no relationship could weather the slings and arrows of outrageous affairs, and no athlete could live up to his given name.  Here at the Daily, we compiled the 10 best breakups in honor of the summer that was: 10. Alex Rodriguez and Cynthia Rodriguez: After over five years together, A-Rod and C-Rod parted ways in early July amid rumors of a relationship between the Yankee slugger and aging pop star Madonna. While the truth remains murky, it's evident that just the thought of someone born during the Ford Administration cheating with someone who was born while Eisenhower was president proved simply too much for Cynthia to handle. 9. The City of Seattle and the Supersonics: It was a bitter divorce between these two as a group of Oklahoma City investors led by Clay Bennett successfully purchased the Supersonic franchise and whisked it away to the Sooner State. Now aptly named the Oklahoma City National Basketball Association team, all Seattle has to look back on are 41 happy seasons together, including an NBA championship in 1979. 8. Manny Ramirez and the Red Sox: Manny being Manny? After consecutive seasons of dancing around this breakup, the Sox finally cut ties with the slugger after a tumultuous seven-and-a-half seasons together. Our question is about the (World Series) rings: Namely, is Manny obligated to give one or both of them back? 7. Mike and the Mad Dog: One of the most famous sports radio duos Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo called it quits after 19 years on air together. With Mike as the more knowledgeable and Mad Dog as the more likable part of the team, these two were a match made in heaven, but their different styles eventually gave way to a sour spring in 2008 and an official split in August. 6. Boston and its underdog status: If you Boston fans thought you could hang onto this one after buying a World Series, a Super Bowl appearance and an NBA Championship all in the same year, think again. 5. Chad Javon Ocho Cinco and his original last name: After flirting with Ocho Cinco as a nickname during the 2006 NFL season, the Bengal WR legally ditched his given name of Johnson in favor of the Ocho Cinco surname just last week. 4. Roger Federer and the Wimbledon title: With five consecutive Wimbledon titles to his name leading up to this year's Championships, many felt that nothing would stop the Fed Express from winning his sixth in July. Alas, Rafael Nadal of Spain had other plans and successfully captured the Swiss' beloved hardware. 3. United States and winning the Olympics gold medals race: China may have smoked the Stars and Stripes in the gold medal count at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, but at least we don't lip sync our national anthem. 2. The Yankees/Red Sox and first place in the AL East: In what was once seemingly an annual guarantee, the Yankees and Red Sox always found their home atop the AL East standings. But after the exorcism of the Devil in central Florida, a "Ray" of sunshine is peering — check that — now pouring through the clouds in Tampa. With less than thirty games left on the slate, it looks like the Rays, not the Yanks or Sawx, will be dancing atop the standings come October. 1. Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers: After a long, illustrious career as the face of the green and gold, Favre made it clear he would not be going back to Lambeau Field this fall. However, after a long summer down on his hunting range in Mississippi, he felt the inkling to return once more to the gridiron. Packers' management, however, along with many of the cheesehead faithful, had already moved on and Favre was left out in the cold. If only the Jets were worth anything more than nine or ten wins.

Top seeds alive and well as Open moves into later rounds

    As the second week of play kicks off for men's singles at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y., the three favorites of this year's fourth and final major event show no signs of slowing down as they all look to add to their Grand Slam troves.     World and tournament No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal of Spain continued on his quest for his third Grand Slam title of the year and sixth of his career with a four-set victory yesterday over unseeded American Sam Querrey. With the win, Nadal moves on to the quarterfinals, matching his career-best showing at the Open in 2006 when he lost in the quarters to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia.     This time around, the young Spaniard will face unseeded American Mardy Fish, who is making an unprecedented run at this year's Open after posting three straight upset wins over seeded players, including No. 32 Gael Monfils of France yesterday in straight sets. Fish also emerged victorious in straight sets over fellow American and ninth seed James Blake in the third round and knocked off No. 24 Paul-Henri Mathieu the round before.     Nadal's stellar 2008 season ought to dictate a win tomorrow over the streaking Fish, who has advanced to a Grand Slam quarterfinal just once before in his career, but the world's best ought to be wary of the American, as the red-hot underdog could play David to Nadal's Goliath.     Meanwhile,defending champion and No. 2 seed Roger Federer has looked true to form through three rounds of play, not dropping a set en route to his match today against Igor Andreev of Russia, seeded 23rd. While the Swiss, who is on the hunt for his fifth consecutive US Open crown and 13th major title of his career, has played mediocre hard court tennis thus far in 2008, his play at this point in Flushing Meadows appears to reflect a revamped desire to end the Grand Slam season on a winning note.     To his credit, Andreev pulled off a dominating straight set upset of No. 13 Fernando Verdasco in the third round Sunday and has not dropped a set all tournament. That said, it would take a major mental collapse on the part of Federer as defending champion to slip up this early at the Open.     As for Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who is seeded third and remains a legitimate contender along with the aforementioned Federer and Nadal, his tennis has remained relatively honed throughout three rounds of play as well to qualify for the Round of 16. After making short work of Frenchman Arnaud Clement and American qualifier Rob Kendrick in his first two rounds, the Serb surrendered the first set of his Sunday contest against Marin Cilic of Croatia before rebounding to win 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (0).     Awaiting Djokovic today is No. 15 Tommy Robredo of Spain, whose tournament included wins over 2008 Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Sunday's third round and a four-set second round victory over 2000 US Open champion Marat Safin of Russia.     Robredo has once again proven himself a strong early-round performer at Flushing Meadows, as demonstrated by four appearances in the Round of 16 over the last five years. Djokovic, however, boasts a Grand Slam hard court résumé that includes the 2008 Australian Open title and a run to last year's finals at the US Open. If the young Serb can keep his play disciplined, he ought to have little problem advancing to the quarterfinals.     While the bulk of the attention from the media and tennis fans remains steadfastly on Nadal, Federer and Djokovic as the front-runners to capture this year's Open crown, there remain a few other highly seeded players in contention who could catch fire at just the right time and shake up the tournament's focus. Among them are No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, who has made runs to the semis at the Open the last two years, and No. 8 Andy Roddick, who was champion at Flushing Meadows back in 2003 and a runner-up to Federer there in 2006.     Davydenko faces off today against upstart Gilles Müller of Luxembourg, who while playing as a qualifier, has pulled off back-to-back five-set wins after dropping the first two sets in the second and third rounds of the tournament. Roddick's opponent is Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, who is seeded 11th but remains a clay court player at heart and will have trouble overcoming the American on his favorite surface.

After bronze in Athens, redemption is golden for Team USA

As school begins, MLB enters the stretch run

Tufts finishes 15th in final Directors' Cup rankings for 2007-08 year

After finishing the winter season 12th in the United States Sports Academy's Div. III Directors' Cup standings, Tufts slipped to 15th in the year-end rankings released on June 11.An annual competition between Div. III schools to measure the achievements of athletics teams, the Directors' Cup awards points to programs based on rankings and post-season performances.The Jumbos added 183.5 points during the spring season, down from the record 271.5 points notched up during the winter season, to bring the overall tally to 580. Still, the year-end ranking marked a slight improvement from the ‘06-'07 result, when the school finished 16th. Tufts' highest ranking ever came two years ago when the Jumbos attained the sixth overall spot.Tufts earned points for four different squads during the spring: softball, women's tennis, and both women's and men's outdoor track and field. Diver Kendall Swett (LA ‘08), the Daily's reigning female athlete of the year, earned points by winning national championships in both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.The NESCAC was well represented at the top of the Directors' Cup standings, as the conference laid claim to five of the top 25 spots. Williams won the Directors' Cup for the 10th consecutive season with 1120.25 points, 221.25 points ahead of second-place Washington University in St. Louis. The top five included two other NESCAC schools: Amherst (fourth, 815 points) and Middlebury (fifth, 813.5).This fall, Tufts' teams, including last fall's point-earners — the men's cross country, women's soccer and field hockey teams — will try to build upon the program's spring finish and vault the school off to a hot start in pursuit of Directors' Cup glory.

Heavy lies the crown: Nadal grabs top seed from Federer as US Open begins

Ross Marrinson | Welcome to the Jungle

Last week, I watched, for probably the 20th time, "Tommy Boy," starring the late, great Chris Farley. One of the best scenes is just after Richard and Tommy get into a fight outside the Prehistoric Forest diner. After apparently not finding the meat lover's pizza in the trunk, they venture inside to grab some chow. Sitting in awkward silence as 1960s pop star Brenda Lee's "I'm Sorry" plays, Tommy stares goofily at Richard, who obviously feels badly about smacking Tommy in the face with a 2x4. With Lee's chart-topping hit in mind, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to some of the people who I've criticized or bashed over the course of the past year. Here goes: Carlos Gomez, I doubted you. I'm sorry for saying you weren't the next Rickey Henderson. You hit for the cycle on May 7, becoming the first Twins player since Kirby Puckett in 1986 to accomplish the feat. In doing so, you became the third-youngest player in league history to hit for the cycle. The second youngest? Alex Rodriguez. That's right, A-Rod. Saying you weren't Rickey Henderson was an insult. You're on pace for roughly 80 steals, and you can cover the entire outfield. Here's a new defensive scheme: Have Cuddyer and Young cover the lines, and you cover the rest. No ball would reach the wall. No extra-base hits. Torii who? You think Jacoby Ellsbury or Melky Cabrera can do that? Not a chance. You know what that means: division championship. Hell, let's go further. Wait 'til you see 50,000 homer hankies in the stands of the Metrodome! World champions. Screw this 2010 talk. We're going for it in 2008. I suppose I should also apologize to GM Bill Smith. Mr. Smith, I applauded the acquisition of Delmon Young, but I had the audacity to compare you to Kevin McHale after the Johan Santana trade. I said it was the worst trade offer of them all. I said you were over your head, and that this trade was one of the dumbest in franchise history. I also questioned why you were so high on Deolis Guerra, a guy who is probably still in diapers down in single A. None of that matters, though, Mr. Smith. You picked up future Cy Young winner Livan Hernandez. Genius. Johan who? This guy's more than just an innings-eater. He's a shut-down, in-your-face mauler. In a recent game against the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera struck out on a 65-mph curve, and began screaming Spanish obscenities at Livan. Sorry you couldn't figure our guy out, Miguel. You simply got owned. Don't feel badly, though. Livan's been dominating everybody. All thanks to you, Mr. Smith. Keep up the good work. Maybe we can take the training wheels off Deolis' bike soon, too. Let me know. Lastly, for those who read this column even on a somewhat regular basis, you know that I regularly rip the Timberwolves organization for its consistent propensity to make astonishingly boneheaded decisions. That being said, I should apologize to GM Kevin McHale. There are very few people in this world who can singlehandedly bring ecstasy to an entire region - New England - while simultaneously bringing depression and anger to an entirely different region. That takes skill, and I didn't recognize it. For that, I'm sorry. Mr. McHale, if you love basketball and the Wolves as much as you say you do, please recognize your faults - à la Terry Ryan - and retire. You could move to Boston, too. That'd be nice. At least here they'd appreciate you. On a more personal note, since this is the last installment of "Welcome to the Jungle," I want to let you know how much I've loved writing each week. I truly hope you've enjoyed reading it even half as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks so much. Ross Marrinson graduates today with a degree in international relations. He can be reached at Ross.Marrinson@tufts.edu.

After NESCACs, Jumbos shift focus

Ever since the men's track and field team narrowly missed out on a league title at the NESCAC Championships on April 26, the focus has shifted away from team events and toward the individuals. Since the conference meet, the Jumbos have participated in the New England Div. III Championships and the Open New England Championships. "At NESCACs, we really lay out as a team," senior quad-captain Jeremy Arak said. "New Englands happen during the middle of finals, and because it's the week after NESCACs, we can't go full gear. We end up resting a lot of guys, especially from the distance group. New Englands is more of an individual meet, but NESCACs are team-oriented." At New Englands the weekend of May 2-3, several Jumbos witnessed individual success. Sophomore Trevor Donadt placed first in the 400-meter hurdles with his time of 54.36 seconds, more than a second ahead of the next-closest competitor, and also clinched second in the 110-meter. In the high jump, both Arak and junior James Bradley cleared 6 feet, 4.75 inches, but it was Bradley who took the New England title, with Arak coming in second. "I didn't care about coming second to a teammate," Arak said. "I was happy we were able to go first and second." Other highlights included sophomore Ikenna Acholonu's third-place finish in the 110-meter hurdles and senior Joe Brown's hammer hurl of 172 feet, his best of the season. The toss earned Brown just seventh place, but it was well ahead of the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 168 feet, 10 inches. While the team ultimately came up short of the top prize, Tufts fought hard to win NESCACs the week before. The squad did well in the 110-meter hurdles, as Acholonu won by exactly matching the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 14.95 seconds, while Donadt and classmate Jared Engelking took second and third place, respectively. Donadt once again repeated his success from New Englands by winning the 400-meter hurdles.

Baseball | Trinity, Amherst losses spell end to Tufts' season

An up-and-down season for the baseball team stayed true to form during the NESCAC Tournament. After defeating West champion Williams in the first round, the Jumbos could do no more damage, dropping their final two games of the double-elimination tournament to end their season at 19-15. On the heels of their victory over the Ephs, the Jumbos faced undefeated Trinity on May 10 looking to secure their third consecutive trip to the conference championship game. But the national No. 3 Bantams, who went on to win the NESCAC championship, were no ordinary opponents, boasting an unbeaten 35-0 mark heading into the contest. "I was just trying to go in and treat it like any regular game and regular team," said freshman Pat O'Donnell, who took the mound for Tufts. "You've got to focus on what you can do and you hope things will go favorably. I just wanted to try to give our team a chance to win the game. Against Trinity, they're going to score runs, so you just have to keep it as low as possible, and that's what I tried to do." O'Donnell did just that, limiting the Bantams to just one run through the first four frames, courtesy of a first-inning sacrifice fly from sophomore first baseman Kent Graham. But Trinity pounded out nine hits and four runs over the next three innings to build a commanding 5-0 lead. That was more than enough for Bantams sophomore starter Jeremiah Bayer, who held the Jumbos scoreless for seven innings and recorded nine strikeouts against just one walk. "Trinity is a great team," senior co-captain Adam Telian said. "We have the potential to beat them, but they've just played great all year." The setback forced Tufts into a do-or-die situation against Amherst on the morning of May 11, with the winner going on to face Trinity in the championship game and the loser headed home. Behind a 5-for-6, three-RBI performance from junior third baseman Brendan Powers, Amherst prevailed 10-7.

Women's Tennis | Valiant effort against No. 9 Wellesley in NCAA Tourney comes up just short

The NCAA Tournament marked the culmination of an already successful season for the women's tennis team, as Tufts qualified for the tourney for the eighth straight year. The Jumbos easily advanced past Roger Williams in the first round before finding themselves on the wrong side of a 5-4 heartbreaker against Wellesley. Tufts went into the second round of the tourney looking to avenge a 7-2 loss to Wellesley on April 18. This time, the Jumbos found themselves in a much tighter match. Tufts fell at first doubles but nabbed a victory at third doubles by a score of 8-3, as freshmen Julia Browne and Edwina Stewart finished off a perfect season as a pair, going 10-0 on the doubles court. "Edwina and Julia played flawless doubles at three," coach Kate Bayard said. With the score tied 1-1, only second doubles remained on the court, as sophomores Erica Miller and Meghan McCooey played in arguably the most exciting doubles match of Tufts' season. The duo was in a hole, down 7-5 in the eight-game pro set, but with the entire team looking on, the Jumbos won four straight games to take a 9-7 victory. "Erica and Meghan played gutsy tennis," Bayard said. "They won it because they trusted their shots at net and played aggressively. They continued to play smart but they went for their shots." "They had a huge win," sophomore co-captain Laura Hoguet said. "After the match everybody was so pumped up, and we had really big momentum to carry into singles." In the April match against Wellesley, Tufts was swept in the three doubles matches and went into singles just two points from a loss. This time around, the result at second doubles gave Tufts the coveted edge entering singles play. Only four singles matches were played at a time due to limited court availability, so Tufts sent out its top four singles players to try to seal the match. McCooey ended her No. 2 singles match first, easily handling her opponent 6-0, 6-1 and giving Tufts a 3-1 lead. Senior co-captain Andrea Cenko was next off, falling at fourth singles and bringing the match score to 3-2. At first singles, Browne defeated the No. 22-ranked woman in Div. III, Wellesley junior Jenna Mezin, putting Tufts just a point from victory with three matches to play.

Softball | Martinez, Eagles deny Jumbos World Series berth

Heading into the NCAA Tournament New England Regional, the softball team appeared to be in good position to contend for its first berth in the College World Series since 2000. On May 4, the Jumbos successfully defended their conference championship with a 10-3 victory over Wesleyan in the NESCAC title game, their sixth win by five runs or more in their last eight games. Four days later, the team carried that momentum into the Providence, R.I. regional bracket, where it had earned the No. 2 seed. That's when Tufts ran into Jennifer Martinez. St. Joseph's record-breaking ace pitcher brought her NCAA-leading 0.47 ERA into two double-elimination tourney contests against the Jumbos and shut them down, downing Tufts 3-0 in eight innings on May 10 and 3-1 later that weekend to end the Jumbos' season shy of a trip to Salem, Va. "She's probably the best pitcher that our team has ever seen," senior co-captain Danielle Lopez said. "We were really disappointed in the fact that we couldn't get past her. It's still kind of shocking to think that our season is over because we had such a great team, and we had such high hopes, but props to her for beating one of the best offensive teams in the nation." After beginning the tournament with a 6-3 win over seventh-seeded Rivier, the Jumbos moved on to their first meeting against Martinez, who entered the game having assembled arguably the most dominant season by any pitcher in the history of Div. III softball: a 30-2 record, 202.1 innings pitched, 17 shutouts and an NCAA-record 465 strikeouts. Against Tufts, the Golden Eagles' senior tri-captain stayed true to form, limiting the Jumbos to just one hit - a bunt single by junior third baseman Samantha Kuhles in the bottom of the first inning - while striking out 15. "She had a very, very effective rise ball, in the zone and out of the zone, and a really great late-breaking curveball," coach Cheryl Milligan said. "We needed to find some ways to eke some runs out against her, but she certainly stymied our ability to do what we're used to doing."