Coming off of the first NCAA Tournament bid in program history, the men's lacrosse team entered the 2008 season brimming with confidence. The squad had posted a program-best 13-4 record in 2007 and battled its way to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national runner-up Gettysburg.
Looking Back (FEB 28) | Men's and Women's Track Distance Medley Relay
In the week before the trade deadline, it was rumored that the Boston Bruins were in trade talks with the Anaheim Ducks to acquire All-Star defenseman Chris Pronger. Those talks were ultimately fruitless, but the Bruins still executed some moves in an attempt to gear up for a deep playoff run. The Bruins acquired forward Mark Recchi and a second-round draft pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning in return for forward Martins Karsums and defenseman Matt Lashoff. The 41-year-old Recchi has played for six teams in his career and is enjoying a resurgent season with 45 points in 62 games. The Bruins acquired him for his veteran leadership and to provide some extra secondary offense, and because the cost for Boston was low. Karsums is an AHL superstar and Lashoff's development has gone sorely off track, so neither will be particularly missed. A high-second-round draft pick returning is the icing on the cake. Earlier in the day, the Bruins traded checking-line winger Petteri Nokelainen to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Steve Montador. Montador is another veteran with playoff experience. He has seen a bit of an offensive surge in the past two years, although nobody would ever mistake him for an offensive defenseman. A solid presence at the back end of a defense, he will supplant either Mark Stuart or Shane Hnidy on the third pairing.
The men's lacrosse team entered 2008 riding high, slotted at No. 9 in the preseason national rankings. But soon after starting out the season with three straight wins, including a convincing 7-4 victory over Williams -- the team that eventually eliminated Tufts from the first round of the NESCAC Tournament -- the wheels came off. Tufts dropped four of its next seven games, losing to lower-ranked teams like Conn. College and Roanoke and ultimately finishing with an overall record of 9-6, down from its mark of 13-4 a season prior.
Manny Ramirez finally signed with the Dodgers yesterday, ending the longest and perhaps most confusing drama of baseball's offseason. After declining a two-year, $45 million contract in November, Manny's agent, Scott Boras, and the Dodgers negotiated for nearly five months, eventually agreeing upon a... two-year, $45 million contract. If you're bewildered by this, you probably don't know much about Manny Ramirez.
With spring comes one of the most exciting times on the cycling calendar: the Spring Classics season. For those whose cycling vocabulary extends only to the Tour de France and Lance Armstrong, you are in for a treat.
The NESCAC awards for the men's and women's basketball seasons were released yesterday, honoring the performance of four Jumbos. Sophomore Colleen Hart, last year's NESCAC Rookie of the Year, jumped from the All-Conference second team to the first team, while junior leading scorer Julia Baily, replacing last year's NESCAC Player of the Year Khalilah Ummah (LA '08), garnered second-team honors in her first year as a starter. Rounding it out for the women's team, senior co-captain Kim Moynihan was selected as the Defensive Player of the Year, making her the second Jumbo given the award in as many years. On the men's side, junior Jon Pierce made the second team for the second consecutive year after leading the conference in points and rebounds.
This past August, I spent two weeks absolutely glued to the TV watching the United States Olympic men's basketball team.
Just over 10 months after bowing out of the NESCAC Tournament at the hands of the No. 5 seed Colby Mules in the first round, the women's lacrosse team is about to start all over again.
The fencing team is running on fumes.
The 2008-09 season for the Middlebury men's basketball team has been one of historic proportions.
Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the men's swimming and diving squad pulled out a second-place overall finish at this past weekend's NESCAC Championships, marking the third time in four years that the Jumbos brought home the silver from the championship meet. Leading the way with All-Conference honors were nine Jumbos: senior quad-captains James Longhurst and Andrew Shields; junior diver Rob Matera; sophomores Andrew Altman, Gordy Jenkins, David Meyer and Chris Vorlicek; and freshmen Owen Rood and E.J. Testa.
Every Major League Baseball regular season seems to produce at least one fast-rising "Cinderella" team. Last year, it was the worst-to-first Tampa Bay Rays, who used an influx of young talent to capture the AL pennant. The year before that, the Colorado Rockies extended a summertime streak all the way to the Fall Classic. So which team is most likely to break out in 2009? The Cincinnati Reds seem like a viable option.
The battle is about to begin in the always hotly contested NESCAC women's lacrosse arena.
0 - Home losses that the Moravian College women's basketball team, Tufts' first-round NCAA Tournament opponent, has on the season. The Jumbos will travel to Bethlehem, Penn. on Friday for the tournament, matchups for which were announced on Monday. Although Moravian is just 6-6 on the road, they boast a 14-0 record at home, while the Jumbos are 11-2 outside Cousens Gym. The victor will move on to face the winner of a contest betweenThe College of New Jersey and DeSales on Saturday.
For some people, all that matters in sports is whether you win or lose. Tell that to the men's swimming and diving team.
So you think you braved the storm like a true champ venturing to Dewick during yesterday's snow day? Think again. In honor of the first snow day of our Tufts careers, here are the best sports snow games of all time: 10. The Snow Bowl. On Nov. 25, 1950, OSU and Michigan played in front of 50,503 frigid fans for the conference crown — in the biggest blizzard in 37 years in Cleveland. Five inches of snow were already on the ground with a 29-mile-per-hour gale wind dumping more snow all over the players. Now that's football. 9. The other football. Feb. 3 marked the worst snowfall in 18 years. No, not in the gridiron capital of the world — but in the footy capital, the United Kingdom. The "blizzard" resulted in the cancellation of 25 professional soccer games. FYI: This "storm" mustered just below seven inches of snow. 8. Humanitarian Bowl. This college bowl game was played while snow was being dumped on the likes of Clemson and Louisiana as they battled in their 2001 season finale. And who won? The team that built a statue before the game of its good luck charm, Howard's Rock, out of snow. Tigers, 49-24. 7. 2007 Cleveland Indians' home opener. In the Cleveland Indians' home opener against Seattle, the ground crew worked feverishly to combat heavy snow that pounded Jacobs Field, but to no avail. Four and 2/3 innings later, bases loaded and one strike remaining to make it an official game, the Mariners' manager successfully argued to postpone the game due to weather. The Indians were leading 4-0 and Paul Byrd was pitching a no-hitter. 6. Arizona "No-Shows." In Week 16 of the 2008 season, the Cardinals rolled into Foxboro for a snowy afternoon affair only to be feasted on by the snow-tested Patriots in a 47-7 slaughter. Kurt Warner was coddled on the sideline in favor of backup Matt Leinart after a distasteful 6-for-18 showing that only produced 30 passing yards. Then-Patriot Matt Cassel guided the Patriots through the December snow with 345 yards through the air, good for three passing touchdowns. 5. NHL Winter Classic. The now-annual event first took place on New Year's Day in Buffalo between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the home standing Buffalo Sabres. Over 70,000 fans packed the seats at Ralph Wilson Stadium amid blizzard-like conditions to partake in the first outdoor NHL regular-season contest on U.S. soil in history. The visiting Penguins won, 2-1. 4. Raiders-Patriots "Snow Bowl." The infamous "Tuck Rule" game of 2002. With two minutes remaining in the Patriots' playoff game against the Raiders and just out of field goal range, quarterback Tom Brady was hit by an Oakland cornerback, causing a fumble and overturning possession. In a controversial review, officials overturned the original call, allowing the Patriots to battle back into field goal range. With 27 seconds left, kicker Adam Vinatieri hit a climactic 45-yard field goal through strong wind and snow. The Patriots would go on to win the game and the Super Bowl after Vinatieri hit the game-winning field goal from 23 yards. 3. The "Ice Bowl." It was 13 degrees below zero on Dec. 31, 1967 for the NFL Championship game ... and 50,000 fans showed up. Where else but Lambeau Field? The home team fans got their frostbite's worth with a 21-17 Packers victory over the Cowboys, who needed to be de-iced before getting on the plane to fly home. 2. The "No-Show" Bowl. The 1985 Green Bay fans have something to learn from their 1967 counterparts. This game, played in yet another Lambeau field blizzard, saw the most "no-shows" of any game in Packers history. Only 19,856 fans showed up, and the Packers showed the Buccaneers who knows how to run a snowday, putting a 21-0 beating on the warm-weather lovers. 1. The Snowplow Game. In the infamous Dec. 12, 1982 contest between the New England Patriots and the visiting Miami Dolphins, a snow-covered Schaefer Stadium saw the Patriots win 3-0 on a late fourth-quarter field goal by kicker John Smith. Head coach Ron Meyer paused the game before a fourth down and had a snowplow operator clear a spot for holder Matt Cavanaugh to aid in the field goal attempt. Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula vehemently protested the action, but the Patriots took the wintry win.
Dinesh Patel was a couple miles per hour away from winning a million dollars. How did he do it?
How the times have changed. Remember last season, when the Detroit Pistons were still the favorites in the East and had made it to at least the conference final round for six straight seasons? Now, Detroit is 17 games behind the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Pistons sit in seventh place, fighting to maintain a playoff spot.
Last March, the women's basketball team bounced back from a NESCAC championship game loss to Amherst by making it all the way to the Elite Eight in its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. Fast forward to this year and the Jumbos are hoping that history repeats itself. At least.
