Four weeks of NFL football are in the books, and parity abounds. Tom Brady was outdueled by a Hahvahd quarterback, the Bills and Lions are a combined 7-1 and the Eagles and Steelers are a combined 3-5.
NBC showed its promos for Sunday night's Baltimore Ravens versus New York Jets football game throughout the previous week. The ads featured the two quarterbacks — the bushy−browed Joe Flacco of the Ravens and the smug−faced Mark Sanchez of the Jets throwing a variety of passes, followed by a few fist−pumps and chest−bumps with their respective offensive linemen. The buildup could not have been more deceiving.
On Saturday, the men's soccer, women's soccer and field hockey teams all traveled to Amherst, Mass., for NESCAC showdowns with the Lord Jeffs. All three teams lost.
For most of Sunday afternoon's match against NESCAC foe Trinity, it seemed the men's soccer team simply wouldn't be able to finish off the Bantams.
The women's soccer team dropped its first game of the season on the road at No.18 Amherst Saturday, but finished its pair of games against top−four NESCAC squads by dominating Trinity 2−0 24 hours later. In doing so, the Jumbos established themselves in the upper echelon of the conference at the halfway point of the season.
25 - Consecutive road losses for the Detroit Lions before they ran off five straight wins in their last five away games, culminating in a 34-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. The Lions have been adept at playing from behind, coming back in all three of their road contests this season. No deficit was larger than Sunday's: The Lions trailed 27-3 in the third quarter and looked to be done. But, led by Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, the team went on a 31-3 run, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes to go.
Before last season, Tufts hadn't lost a football game to Bates since 1986.
A year ago, then−Boston Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell was viewed as the eventual successor to manager Terry Francona. But that future seemed unfathomable, as Francona's job was among the safest in the league. So, when offered a chance to become the skipper of the Toronto Blue Jays, Farrell jumped at the opportunity, passing up the position he had coveted since coming to Boston in 2006.
Only three teams in the NFL have a perfect record intact through three weeks. The defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers and the breakout Buffalo Bills are two. The third, and probably the most unexpected of the three, is the Detroit Lions. Detroit has been abysmal in recent years, winning only eight games over the past three seasons, but the Lions are definitely the NFL's biggest surprise story of 2011.
Frankly, a lot of strange things happened in the soccer world this week, from Barcelona complaining about their sweaty jerseys to Carlos Tevez acting like a five-year-old to Arsenal being the only English team to win in the Champions League. But amid all the chaos and Twilight Zone moments, one thing happened this week that should be cause for celebration among soccer fans everywhere: the release of FIFA '12.
When the Tufts football team takes the field Saturday at Bates, they hope to pick up where they left off against Hamilton.
In October baseball, it is all about momentum. Its momentum that has driven Wild Card teams — such as the '02 Angels, '04 Red Sox and '07 Rockies — to glory, and it was momentum that catapulted the Giants from obscurity to a World Series title in 2010.
October is upon us, and that can only mean one thing — the MLB playoffs have arrived. With both wild card races decided on the last day of the regular season, this year's matchups should make the 2010 playoffs as exciting as any in recent memory, as four squads in the National League look to take over the pennant from the San Francisco Giants.
On Tuesday evening, the No. 9 field hockey team traveled to Wellesley, beating the host Blue 2−1. The result marked the Jumbos' second straight victory on the road and their fifth consecutive win this season.
The change won't occur overnight, but the football team is clearly heading in the right direction.
This weekend, the co−ed sailing team dominated the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association's Sloop Championship, capturing the regatta's White Trophy in a performance that earned the team a spot in November's Sloop Nationals, which will be held in San Francisco.
The men's cross country team captured a seventh place finish among 24 teams at the Codfish Bowl this Saturday, despite missing most of its varsity squad.
Senior midfielder Matt Blumenthal has experienced the immense pressure of taking a penalty kick during a match many times throughout his soccer career. A tri−captain and perennial starter in the center of the midfield, Blumenthal called on this experience on Saturday when he stepped up to the penalty spot in the 22nd minute of a scoreless match against NESCAC rival Colby.
The women's cross country team traveled to Franklin Park for the Codfish Bowl 5k this weekend, where they competed against teams of all divisions and ages. Tufts took fourth place overall with 101 points and were the top finishing Div. III team. NESCAC rival Bates was fifth with 155 points. Taking the team title was Boston University. The Terriers earned it with 47 points, besting the Greater Boston Track Club by three points.
Looking Back (Sept. 25) | Bills give patriots Fitz, Improve to 3-0
