Sports
Women's Cross Country | Wilfert two seconds from winning NESCAC Championship
November 2Sometimes in cross country, two seconds make all the difference in the world.
Sports
Sports
Inside the NHL | The men behind the mask: NHL goaltending
November 2In hockey, there's just something about the goalie mask that lends itself to a very different personality than that of any other position on the ice.
Sports
Brown garners first NESCAC award for field hockey
November 2Despite winning its first 10 games of the season and 14 of their first 15, the field hockey team did not snag a NESCAC Player of the Week award until junior forward Tamara Brown won the honor for her contributions last week. Brown's continued dominance on offense helped the Jumbos secure the No. 2 seed in the conference and earn a first-round victory over Wesleyan in the NESCAC Tournament.
Sports
Field Hockey | Tufts overcomes Wesleyan's goalkeeping in playoff opener
November 1On a day in which the upset bug spread around the NESCAC, the field hockey team survived its own challenge from an upstart conference rival.
Sports
Men's Soccer | Jumbos finish winless in NESCAC after loss
November 1Taking the field Friday afternoon at Bowdoin for the final game of a disappointing season, the men's soccer team hoped to upset a Polar Bears team which was looking to secure the No. 4 seed in the NESCAC Tournament. The Jumbos kept things close for 60 minutes, but a pair of rapid-fire Bears goals in the second half buried Tufts, which lost 2-1 and finished its season 2-10-2 (0-8-1 in NESCAC play).
Soccer
Women's Soccer | Tufts dominates Trinity, advances to NESCAC semis
November 1For the first 60 minutes of Sunday's first-round playoff matchup with the Trinity Bantams, the women's soccer team experienced a high level of frustration. For the last 30 seconds, they experienced a higher level of anxiety.
Sports
Football | Jumbo offense stifled by Amherst in 13-3 home loss
November 1Things are starting to become a bit repetitive for the football team.
Sports
Football | Jumbos try to keep title hopes alive
October 28After being dealt a 30-7 shellacking at the hands of 4-1 Williams last week, the Jumbos return to the familiar territory of Zimman Field on Saturday, hoping to get back on the winning track against undefeated Amherst after having dropped two straight. Unlike their previous losses — a 7-3 defeat at Wesleyan and a 10-3 loss versus Trinity — the Jumbos were outplayed in every phase of the game against the Ephs. The defense, which had been the team's strength through the first four games of the season, surrendered a season-high 30 points to the Ephs' offense and will have to improve if Tufts wants to have a shot at unseating the 5-0 Lord Jeffs. "We weren't really playing the defense that we know we can play," senior quad-captain and defensive end Dan Stebbins said. "We missed some opportunities, and we didn't capitalize at times when we could've stepped up and made plays. We didn't have any turnovers, and we need to generate turnovers to help our offense win games." While Tufts considers its defensive performance a mere aberration, there are some huge concerns surrounding the squad's offense. The Jumbos converted just one of their 13 third-down attempts and did not record a first down until late in the third quarter against the Ephs. Likewise, two weeks ago at home versus Trinity, the Jumbos' offense did not record a first down until the final drive of the first half. If Tufts has any hope this weekend against Amherst, the team needs to figure out how to sustain more drives. Unfortunately for the Jumbos, the offense is presented with the difficult task of getting back on track against an Amherst defense that is giving up just 9.4 points per game. Additionally, the Lord Jeffs have ceded only five touchdowns, half the number of the next-closest NESCAC squad in that category — Tufts. Meanwhile, the Jumbos' offense is averaging a mere 10.6 points per contest and has reached the end zone only six times, the fewest in the league. While the Lord Jeffs boast the No. 1 defense in the NESCAC, they have been extremely vulnerable through the air. Amherst is giving up 273 passing yards per game, last in the league, so the Jumbos figure to turn to senior quarterback Tom McManama to air the ball out early and often. But despite the yardage they have surrendered, Amherst boasts a ball-hawking secondary that has recorded a league-leading 14 interceptions. "Amherst's secondary is loaded with returning starters, all of whom have a ton of speed and a nose for the football," said McManama, who has thrown just two interceptions, the fewest among conference signal-callers. "I need to make sure that if my first options aren't open, I move on in my progression and either find an open guy or tuck it and run." But McManama can only take advantage of Amherst's secondary if the Jumbos' top two running backs — junior Pat Bailey and senior Darren Ferguson — get things going on the ground to open up throwing lanes. Last week against Williams, the Jumbos netted 57 yards on 33 carries for just 1.72 yards per attempt, and if that number does not improve, the 2-3 Jumbos could find themselves two games below .500. "Establishing a running game will be huge," McManama said. "If we can get some third-and-threes instead of third-and -10s, it will make everything a lot more manageable." In preparation for their tilt against the Lord Jeffs, the team has been trying to regain its focus and put past struggles behind them. "We have really been trying to focus on the task at hand," Stebbins said. "We are trying to emphasize that whenever we are down at the gym or at practice, it's time to work and get down to business." Although it looks bleak for the Jumbos, they are still mathematically alive in the chase for the NESCAC crown. Tufts would need to win out over the course of the last three weeks and get a lot of help from a number of other teams in unseating Amherst and Trinity, both of whom are undefeated. However, if the Jumbos lose this weekend against the Lord Jeffs, they are officially out of the running, rendering the season's final two contests worth little more than pride. But despite the importance of Saturday's game at the Ellis Oval, Tufts insists it is treating the contest just like any other. "No matter who we are playing, or what the situation is within the NESCAC standings, the goal every week is to do everything we possibly can to win," McManama said. "No game is more important than any other."
Baseball
Rory Parks | The Long-Suffering Sports Fan
October 28It seems that I am slowly trying to change Major League Baseball into the NFL. Several weeks ago, I made the case that baseball should become the fourth and final major sport to adopt a salary cap and, this week, I'm suggesting that it needs to implement instant replay in order to regain some of the credibility that it has frittered away over the course of this year's playoffs. We all know the scenarios by now. In the top of the 11th inning of Game 2 of the ALDS, the Minnesota Twins' Joe Mauer hit what most of the world clearly saw as a ground-rule double. The only problem was that Phil Cuzzi, the left-field umpire who was closer to the play than anyone else, inexplicably ruled it foul. The Twins lost the game, lost their spirit and lost the series to the New York Yankees. In Game 4 of the ALCS, third-base umpire Tim McClelland watched a bizarre play unfold directly in front of him in which both the Yankees' Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano avoided third base like the plague while Angels catcher Mike Napoli tagged both of them out in quick succession. For reasons unbeknownst to everyone but himself, McClelland ruled Posada out but decided that Cano should have the base. Of course, there were other calls that made even a neutral observer want to throw his shoe at the television. And the Yankees were not the sole beneficiary. The Angels themselves received some generous umpiring in the ALDS that raised the ire of the Red Sox bandwagon, and there were a number of head-scratchers in the NLDS between the Phillies and Rockies. This, however, is not an aberration. Although the calls made by Cuzzi and McClelland were egregiously lousy, the MLB regular season is always littered with similar rulings that either go unexplained by the league's front office or are brushed away with the standard line, "It's part of the human element of the game." In a rare departure from his otherwise fiercely stubborn approach to his job, Commissioner Bud Selig agreed last year to implement instant replay for disputed home run calls. As an Orioles fan, my first reaction was, "Twelve years too late, Bud;" but as a general baseball fan, I wondered why he singled out the resolution of those types of controversies as the most crucial to the outcome of the game. Over a year later, I'm still wondering the same thing. Disputed plays on the base-paths strike me as far more common and far more important to get right, and there are a whole host of other things — like whether or not an outfielder trapped a ball or got his glove underneath it — that merit a second look. The argument most often heard against instant replay for baseball, aside from the "human element" nonsense, is "it impedes the flow of the game." Now, I'm not sure about the rest of the world's baseball fans, but I would gladly exchange five minutes of my time for the knowledge that it was only my team's ineptitude, not anyone else's, that lost a game. If baseball really wanted to speed things up, it would extend the strike zone back to what it's supposed to be instead of insisting on the heart-shaped box that it's become. No, the calls made by Cuzzi and McClelland did not singlehandedly lose the game for the Twins and Angels. But they could have, and that's what matters. I'm not suggesting that everything be open to replay — balls and strikes, for example, should still be unreviewable — and I'm not suggesting that teams should be able to call for limitless reviews. A reasonable and fair replay system, like the one in the NFL, would go a long way toward ensuring that everyone goes home confident that skill and execution carried the day. In the end, isn't that what baseball's integrity is all about?
Soccer
Women's Soccer | Tufts hopes for home NESCAC match
October 28When the Tufts women's soccer team travels to Bowdoin to take on the Polar Bears on Friday in their final NESCAC game of the regular season, there will be plenty at stake. And while revenge may be on the Jumbos minds, earning home field in their NESCAC championship opener is at the top of the list of the team's priorities. With a win over Bowdoin, the Jumbos would be guaranteed the number four seed in the NESCAC tournament, which clinches them a home game at Kraft Field. But Tufts cannot get caught looking ahead, as the Polar Bears are a formidable foe. Led by sophomore forward Ellery Gould, who is tops in the NESCAC with 12 goals, the Polar Bears are currently sixth in the league and will be looking to go into their matchup Sunday, most likely with Middlebury, on the heels of a victory. "We are preparing for Bowdoin like we prepare for every game; it doesn't matter what team we are playing," senior co-captain forward Whitney Hardy said. The last time the Jumbos met Bowdoin was in the first round of the NESCAC tournament last year, when, despite dominating the game and having three times as many shots as the Polar Bears, Tufts bowed out on penalty kicks. "There is always a feeling of revenge, so it's definitely going to be on our minds," Hardy said. After starting their NESCAC season slowly, with close losses to NESCAC heavyweights Middlebury and Amherst, the Jumbos have responded well, winning four of their last six conference games. Tufts is also coming off of a hard-fought effort versus Williams, the No. 1 team in Div. III, a game which the Jumbos lost on a goal in the last five minutes. "We were really proud of how we played against Williams, and that only upped our confidence that we can play with the best," said junior midfielder Geneva DeGregorio. "Going into Bowdoin, we are not taking them lightly but we are defiantly confidant." Experienced senior co-captains Hardy and Cara Cadigan, who have seven and three goals respectively, have led the Jumbos in the attacking third while fellow senior Fanna Gamal has picked up her play as of late in the midfield. But it is the defense, anchored by the steady play of senior goalkeeper Kate Minnehan and junior defenders Sarah Nolet and Audrey Almy, that has shone brightest in the Jumbos' victories. Minnehan has delivered a shutout in all seven of the Jumbos wins, and Tufts is tied for second in the NESCAC with only eight goals allowed on the season. If Tufts earns a victory against Bowdoin, it will get the chance to host the Trinity Bantams in the first round of the NESCAC Tournament on Sunday. The Jumbos could only muster a tie against Trinity earlier this year in a game that finished 1-1 in double overtime. But Tufts had a number of chances in extra time that it could not capitalize on, and the Jumbos dominated much of the game despite their losing score. The victor of that game is likely to face Williams, which has won the NESCAC the past two seasons and is undefeated this year with a 13-0 record, including a perfect 8-0 record in NESCAC play. The Jumbos would relish a chance to get another crack at the Ephs after their near upset, but they are careful not to get ahead of themselves. "We are trying to take it one game at a time," said Hardy, "but down the road we are looking forward to playing Williams and beating them."
Sports
Field Hockey | The times they are a-changin'
October 28It has been said that elephants never forget. And the Jumbos are no exception. Last year, the Bowdoin Polar Bears iced the Tufts field hockey team in both the NESCAC and NCAA championship games. The last time the two NESCAC foes met, the Jumbos fell in a 3-2 double-overtime loss in the 2008 NCAA championship game. Understandably, the Jumbos have had a lot on their minds as they prepare to face Bowdoin again — including payback. In this Friday's bookend game to the regular season against the Polar Bears, the nationally ranked No. 5 Jumbos will have their chance at revenge. After solidifying their place in NESCAC field hockey history by winning two consecutive national championships, the Polar Bears have lost ground this season. Bowdoin was 39-2 in the last two seasons of play, sporting the highest winning percentage in the country, but has slipped to 4-4 in NESCAC play this season. Currently, Bowdoin sits sixth in the NESCAC standings, while ranked 12th nationally. This marks the first time since 2004 that the NESCAC powerhouse has dropped from the top ten list. "It's definitely a new Bowdoin team this year," junior midfielder Tamara Brown explained. "That said, they have great fundamentals, strong formations and excellent coaching, so we're not writing them off. It'll be interesting to see their new team, and it's an exciting feeling to play them again." The defending national champions graduated some of their most prominent players at the end of their championship season, including two-time NESCAC Player of the Year forward Lindsay McNamara. With McNamara, a major offensive force who holds the records for the most goals in a game, season and career in the history of the Bowdoin program, and other playmakers gone, the question in Tufts' locker room continues to be how the Bowdoin squad will have changed on the field since last season. "We're all very excited to play Bowdoin, but we understand that it's not going to exactly be a rematch," senior co-captain Margi Scholtes said. "We're both different teams, and although it's an emotional matchup, we want to make sure to keep things in perspective in light of this year ... McNamara and the other seniors who graduated were key to the Bowdoin team last season, but so were our captains that graduated last May ... It's hard to tell what we're getting, but it'll be different than last year's matchups." Though Bowdoin may not be up to par compared to its performances in past seasons, the Polar Bears still pose a serious threat to the Jumbos. While Bowdoin holds a 9-4 overall record, it is 6-1 at home, suffering its last Ryan Field loss in September to Middlebury. Additionally, the return of players like senior forward Shavonne Lord, who scored in the national championship game, should keep Tufts on guard. Moreover, in the event that the Jumbos are eliminated from the upcoming NESCAC tournament, they are going to need to sport a strong regular season record for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament in late November, meaning every game counts. "The NESCAC has been different this year," Brown said. "It seems to be more competitive, just based on some of the close games and upsets like Wesleyan's win over Bowdoin earlier this year. We're going to have to study our opponents, no matter what their reputation, because anyone can win any given day." With the regular season coming to a close this Friday, the Jumbos look ahead to the start of the NESCAC tournament beginning Sunday. Having clinched the second seed with its win over Bates, Tufts will enjoy home-field advantage for at least the quarterfinal round of play. With the seventh seed still undecided, the Tufts squad could face off against either Wesleyan or Connecticut College, depending on which one of the NESCAC teams emerges victorious in their deciding matchup Friday. With the postseason on the horizon, the Jumbos are looking forward to a fresh start. "Obviously we are excited about playing at Bello Field," Brown said. "There's a psychological advantage to playing on your own turf ... We've been there before and we know what to expect so hopefully we'll have a better outcome this season."
Sports
Inside NHL | Glory days: Avs look to return to dynasty form
October 28Rewind to the 1995-96 NHL season. The Colorado Avalanche, formerly the Quebec Nordiques, was beginning its first season since making the move to Denver, and Walt Disney himself could not have written a happier start for the young franchise. Led by captain Joe Sakic, forward Peter Forsberg and goalie Patrick Roy, the Avs brought the Stanley Cup back to Colorado in their first year of existence. The next year, the Avs seized the Presidents' Trophy for finishing with the best regular season record in the entire league. Quickly endearing themselves to their new hometown fans, the Avs in the late '90s were simply one of those legendary hockey dynasties that people will continue to talk about for a very long time. It seemed for a time that Colorado would continue to dominate the hockey scene, winning its division every year until 2003-04, including a second Stanley Cup victory in the 2000-2001 season. The Avalanche's nine consecutive division titles broke the former NHL record of eight, set by the Montreal Canadiens between 1974 and 1982. But despite their early franchise success, the Avalanche has failed to advance past the Western Conference Semifinals since 2001-02. Why? Roy retired in 2003; Forsberg was injured the entire 2001-2002 season, and only played in 39 of 82 games in 2003-2004 before finally being traded out of frustration to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2005; and by 2006-07 Sakic and Milan Hejduk were the only remnants of the 2001-02 Stanley Cup squad. This past summer, Sakic, the Avs' captain and 13-time all-star, retired, marking the end of an era for the Colorado Avalanche. But instead of fading into the background of the NHL, the Avalanche currently sits atop the Northwest division. Not only that, the Avalanche is above Canadian powerhouses Calgary and Vancouver, and has the league lead in points with 20, ahead of the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins by two points. Surprisingly, little has changed in the Colorado franchise over the last year. While teams like the Flyers and the Chicago Blackhawks were busy making blockbuster trades, the Avs quietly signed Florida Panthers' backup goalie Craig Anderson to a two-year deal. Last year with Florida, Anderson posted a lackluster 15 wins in 31 games. The Avs were ready to roll with goaltender Peter Budaj in the No. 1 spot come October, but Anderson stole the job in training camp with stellar play and game readiness. In addition, rough-and-tumble forward Darcy Tucker, who posted only 16 points in last year's campaign with the Avs, has started the 2009-10 season with impressive offensive vigor, putting up four goals, two assists and four power-play points in 10 games. Unfortunately for Colorado, Tucker is out indefinitely after Ottawa Senators pest Jarkko Ruutu crushed him face-first into the boards last Friday. On the bright side, the Avalanche has been getting much more than it ever imagined from its young core early in the season. Wojtek Wolski, Colorado's first round pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, looks like he could be heading for a breakout season, already having picked up seven goals and five assists in 12 games. Tied with Wolski for the team lead in points is Paul Stastny, son of former Nordiques legend Peter Stastny, who has four goals and eight assists this season. At only 23 years of age, Stastny is quickly helping to fill the void at center left by Sakic's retirement, along with prospect Matt Duchene. Selected third overall in last year's entry draft, Duchene wasn't expected to make the team's roster this year. But given the opportunity, he has played effectively, with six points so far this season. Perhaps the most pleasant surprise for the Avalanche thus far has been the exceptional play of Ryan O'Reilly, whom the Avalanche picked up in the second round of last year's draft in July. O'Reilly is a force to be reckoned with in the faceoff dot and has notched 10 points on two goals and eight assists, along with a team best +10 rating on the year. Colorado coach Joe Sacco has taken notice of the rookie's responsible defensive play, entrusting O'Reilly with a spot on the Avs' penalty kill. As often is the case with success, this year's Avalanche squad isn't one of those teams that really dazzles you with offensive skill or spectacular goaltending, but it's a team that works hard every night and gets the job done. No Alexander Ovechkins or Martin Brodeurs here — just an entire team of guys that wins those battles in the corner, gets the puck deep in the zone, pays the price in front of the net and scores greasy goals. Hard work and good defense wins games, and so far the Avalanche has shown that they are more than ready to put in that effort.
Sports
Ethan Landy | Call Me Junior
October 27This past weekend, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted my New England Patriots. But instead of the Patriots going to Tampa Bay, they jetted off to London to play in Wembley Stadium. I suppose that is an upgrade. Now, I am not a fan of the NFL's London-game gimmick, but that is not my biggest concern. I am much more interested in the comment that Patriots owner Robert Kraft made when he was asked about the possibility of the league eventually placing a franchise in the capital of the United Kingdom. "I really believe it'd be the right thing to do sometime in the next decade," Kraft told the Boston Herald. "There should be a franchise here." Fair enough, Mr. Kraft. London has brought us some great things — Led Zeppelin, fish and chips and David Beckham. Okay, scratch that last one. But why have an NFL team there? Forget about the crazy traveling logistics that this would entail or the fact that if there were more than a single game in London during the year, the novelty would probably wear off. Instead, think about the problem that has plagued so many other leagues: over-expansion. Let's start with the NBA. In the last two years, there was talk amongst the league that increasing global popularity should be capitalized upon by putting teams in Europe. There was even discussion in early 2008 outlining five teams being placed there. The NBA saw success in preseason games in which the league's stars were showcased in European cities like London, Barcelona and Berlin just last year, and David Stern was talking about the prospect of putting an NBA team in Europe within the next decade. That was first mentioned in 2003. Flash forward to the preseason this year. While the Denver Nuggets traveled to Asia and the Utah Jazz and Chicago Bulls met at the O2 Arena in London, the league scaled back its push to expand its overseas market. And, while Stern would like to put a regular season game in London, doing so seems less realistic now than it did years ago. In fact, instead of expanding, the NBA might have to contract. The Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies both averaged fewer than 13,000 fans a game last year and are struggling with economic issues. And for the record, that Memphis team originally was the Vancouver Grizzlies, founded in 1995. How'd that expansion attempt go? Then there is the NHL, where the Phoenix Coyotes already filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Though the most recent Stanley Cup Finals enjoyed its highest ratings in years (thanks to the star power of Sidney Crosby and the Detroit Red Wings), it is still not the most popular of sports. In my mind, that is because there are too many teams. Do we really need to see hockey played in Phoenix, Atlanta or Nashville? Too often the prospect of increased league revenue tantalizes commissioners and owners, making them forget about the failures that litter many expansion teams. The NFL is probably the most popular league in all of pro sports, but that is not a reason to oversaturate the market. It isn't like there are no bad teams out there — witness the Cleveland Browns or St. Louis Rams. And with all the stories of games being blacked out locally, shouldn't the league focus on those places that are not supporting their teams (that's you, Jacksonville) before it starts thinking about conjuring up new franchises? In addition, hockey and basketball actually have leagues overseas. The NFL might be popular in London on TV, but that is not an indication that a uniquely American sport will be sustainable in a foreign market. I know it is tempting to globalize football as a product, but the problems that would arise from such a decision would far outweigh any good that could come from it. Anyway, why mess with a good thing?
Sports
Five reasons why the Yankees will claim their 27th crown
October 27Winners of 26 World Series titles, the New York Yankees are the most storied franchise in the history of major North American sports. All that's in the way of the Yankees adding to that record total is the Philadelphia Phillies, who, with their explosive lineup and top-of-the-rotation strength, are certainly a formidable foe. However, not even the defending champions can stop the Yankees from claiming title No. 27, and here are the top five reasons why:
Sports
Club Sports | New status breeds success for club sports
October 27It's official: The newest rite of passage for the athletically minded Tufts student has come to fruition.
Sports
Phillies have what it takes to repeat as champions
October 27The last team to repeat as World Series champions was the New York Yankees, who won three World Series in a row from 1998-2000. No National League team has accomplished the back-to-back feat since the 1975-1976 Cincinnati Reds.
Sports
Men's and women's cross country display depth at Mayor's Cup
October 26With both the men's and women's cross country teams resting their top runners, other members of each team had a chance to shine last weekend at the 20th annual Mayor's Cup at Franklin Park, sponsored by the Boston Athletic Association.
Sports
Women's Crew | Jumbos finish season strong at Head of the Fish
October 26Last week, senior captain Kate Woodard said this past weekend's trip was a chance for the Tufts women's crew team to "have fun." But that did not mean the Jumbos put any less effort into the competition.
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