Early on in Wednesday night's game against regional foe Clark University, the men's basketball team appeared destined for its sixth-straight defeat. The Jumbos had managed just three shot attempts, committed four turnovers, and trailed 10-0 over the first four minutes to the host Cougars.
While many are predicting a lopsided Super Bowl victory for the Pittsburgh Steelers and their lockdown defense, the upset-minded Arizona Cardinals enter Tampa Bay on Sunday looking to put away its first championship in franchise history. Boasting the league's top-rated defense, the Steelers will take the field against the third-best scoring offense in the NFL, seeking a record-setting sixth Super Bowl title.
"At the rate the Yankees are going, I'm not sure anyone can compete with them. Frankly, the sport might need a salary cap." -- Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio
The men's basketball team picked up its first win since a Jan. 8 victory over UMass Boston last night, taking down Clark University on the road, 76-59. The game started out poorly for Tufts, as the Cougars jumped out to a 10-0 lead, but the Jumbos quickly came back and brought the score to 10-9. The teams then battled to a 17-17 tie with 9:17 left in the half before Tufts went on a 14-0 run that included three three-pointers (and an old-fashioned three-point play) to take command of the game. The Jumbos went into halftime with a comfortable 37-21 advantage, and while the teams played fairly evenly in the second half, it was clear that Clark had already dug itself into too deep a hole. Four Jumbos scored in double digits, led by junior co-captain Jon Pierce with 17, whose career point total of 1,295 is now 10th in Tufts history. Junior Dave Beyel scored 14, while senior co-captain Aaron Gallant and junior Dan Cook each contributed 12. Tufts shot 45 percent from the field while holding the Cougars to just 35.2 percent, including an execrable 1-18 from three-point range. The Jumbos will now look to take the momentum from this game into conference road games against Wesleyan and Conn. College this weekend. So far this year, the team is 0-4 in NESCAC competition.
The men's squash team took a bite out of the No. 22-ranked Northeastern Huskies on Tuesday, marking its third straight win and proving that the depth of its lineup may be the key to turning the tide on a tumultuous season.
The women's squash team (2-6), now back to full force after a rash of early-season injuries and player absences, defeated the Northeastern Huskies 7-2 on Tuesday night for its second-straight win. The victory provides the Jumbos with some much-needed momentum heading into this weekend's NESCAC Tournament.
With the aim of qualifying team members for championship events, the men's track and field team will host the Tufts Pentathlon at the Gantcher Center tomorrow. Of the roughly 16 to 20 men who will participate in the event, four will be representatives from Tufts' squad: senior quad-captain Skip Pagel and juniors Jared Engelking, Trevor Donadt and Bobby Bardin. "We returned two athletes that were injured last year," coach Ethan Barron said. "Skip Pagel is our school record-holder in the decathlon and he was an All-American [in the event]. Jared Engelking was a national qualifier in the decathlon as a freshman." "It will be a good, competitive field on both sides," he continued. Last season, Tufts' pentathletes were an instrumental part of the squad's postseason success. The trio of then-senior quad-captain Nate Scott (LA '08), Engelking's older brother Derek (LA '08) and Donadt took three of the first five spots in the pentathlon at the New England Div. III Championships, leading the way for the Jumbos to win the regional crown for the first time since 1991. During the event, Donadt recorded personal records in the hurdles and the shot put, while both he and Bardin cleared 6'0'' in the high jump. Tomorrow's meet will mark the first step for Tufts' new-look pentathlon lineup to replicate last season's success, with a bit of an added incentive: 2009 will mark the first time that the pentathlon will be featured in the NCAA Indoor Championships. To get to Terre Haute, Ind., a Jumbo would have to reach the qualifying mark of 3,400 points. At this stage of the season, however, that number may be a bit ambitious. As of this weekend, Tufts is focused more on reaching the New England qualifier of 2,900. "My goal is just to hit 2,900," Pagel said. "That's probably the goal for everyone else as well. I think Jared and Trevor could do really well this week." "I think we'll do pretty well," Engelking added. "We're all hoping to qualify for New Englands and then go from there. But obviously if we're in a position to do more, then we'll try to." While a national qualification may be a bit premature to hope for now, the squad definitely has aspirations to eventually reach the national mark and earn a trip to the NCAA Championships at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute. "I am hoping to qualify for [NCAAs], if not at this meet, then definitely at New Englands," Engelking said. The weekend will also mark the returns of Pagel and Engelking to the pentathlon. After great success in the event in 2007 — the duo finished fourth and fifth at the Div. III New England Championships that year — each sat out the indoor season last season, Pagel with a leg injury and Engelking with a broken ankle. The pair is also accomplished in the decathlon, with Pagel earning an All-American honor and Engelking scoring a national qualification two years ago. The pentathlon is a series of five events: the 55-meter hurdles, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump and the 1,000-meter run. To be successful in the pentathlon, an athlete must be well-rounded and able to perform well in all five events. "As pentathletes, their strength isn't necessarily in one specific event, but it's in not having a weak event," Barron said. "They're all good jumpers, they're all good hurdlers, they're all good throwers. They might not be national-caliber jumpers or national-caliber throwers, but they are national-caliber pentathletes when you put it all together." Both Engelking and Pagel said they preferred the decathlon, which incorporates all five of the pentathlon's events and is held during the outdoor season. "I'm not really great at any in particular event, so the decathlon is better for me," Pagel said. "Right now my weaknesses are probably the 55-meter hurdles, long jump and high jump because I haven't long-jumped or high-jumped since last year, and I haven't really had a good hurdles race this year." "I would say my strongest event is definitely the 55-meter hurdles," Engelking said. "My weakest is probably the shot put."
With the All-Star break approaching, it would be difficult for Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard to take the midseason MVP trophy out of LeBron James' hands, but it is safe to say that the 23-year-old Howard's stellar season has catapulted him toward becoming the Eastern Conference's best pure big man.
Just about the only sports team on campus actually enjoying this wave of cold weather is the alpine ski team. This past weekend, the ski team headed to the slalom courses at Bromley Mountain for its third of five weekends of racing. Once again, the Jumbos put up strong numbers: the men's team finished second out of 11 teams on Saturday and sixth on Sunday, while the women's team came in at fifth and seventh out of 12 teams on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The strong performances helped cement the Jumbos' position as one of the top teams in the Eastern Division of the United States Collegiate Ski and Snowboard Association (USCSA). "This weekend, we did awesome again," said sophomore Evan Chasan, the team's treasurer. "Several of our team members placed in the top 10 in both men's and women's. Overall, I think the races went very well." On the individual level, Sunday saw men's sophomore captain Brian Bresee have a day to remember. In his first of two races, Bresee missed a gate and was subsequently relegated to finish more than 10 seconds out of first place despite a miraculous effort to even finish anywhere near the top. Given that in the sport of skiing each second lost can have drastic consequences, a speedy recovery after the missed gate was paramount to not only Bresee's individual recovery but the team's overall finish as well. It was only after the race of a lifetime — a first-place finish out of 72 finishers in his second race — that Bresee was able to salvage a 19th-place overall individual standing on Sunday. The men's team's top finisher on Sunday was sophomore Thomas Valentin, who finished approximately three seconds ahead of Bresee overall, taking 15th place with a combined time of 1:42.15. Finishing third for the men on Sunday was sophomore Arlin Ladue with a combined time of 2:03.60. But the story on Sunday was the teamwork and support within the team after the slip-up. Valentin stepped up to the plate when his team needed him most. "Tom had an awesome run," Chasan said. "As always, the way that the scoring works, we count on the entire team in case the unexpected happens. We've got a very strong overall team." While the men put on a show during Sunday's competition, the women's team was no less impressive. The Jumbos finished seventh overall out of 12 teams, but saw senior captain Alissa Brandon put in another impressive performance on her own, finishing 14th out of 71 racers with a two-races-combined time of 1:52.22. Rounding out the top three were sophomore Lindsay Rutishauser with a combined time of 2:11.06 and senior Sarah Leenen with a combined time of 2:11.96. "I think this weekend we really persevered," Brandon said. "We hit some really unique courses and we all skied our best despite the challenges. And in addition, a lot of the Tufts racers came out with our best runs this season and blew away expectations ... Lindsay Rutishauser has shown great improvements from last year and is really showing leadership out on the hill and great skiing. In fact, a lot of the underclassmen are showing a lot of promise." Oddly enough, both the men's and women's teams finished better on Saturday than they did on Sunday. Saturday saw the men's team reel in an astounding second-place finish out of 11 teams, with Bresee taking home another first-place finish in his first race and a third-place overall individual finish. Valentin and Ladue finished second and third for the Jumbos, respectively, 15th and 21st overall. Senior Greg Hering came in at 23rd overall with a solid second race to put him less than four seconds overall out of the top 10. The women followed suit with a fifth-place overall finish of their own. Brandon once again led the team with an 11th-place overall individual finish, followed by freshman Jessica Levine in 25th individually and Rutishauser in 31st. "Honestly I've done the best that I've ever done this weekend," Brandon said. "I was very pleased." In fact, Brandon performed so well that after her first race on Saturday, a coach from an opposing team stated: "That Tufts girl just had the run of her life." Brandon finished seventh overall in that race. Up next, the Jumbos will be traveling to Dartmouth for their second-to-last weekend of racing before Eastern Regionals at Waterville Valley. "We have our next race at Dartmouth and we'll be skiing giant slalom," Chasan said. "We'd love to have Tufts support on the hill."
Somehow, I found myself in Philadelphia two weeks ago Monday.
For a young ice hockey team coming off a less-than-stellar 2007-08 season, the future is now.
At the outset of this baseball offseason, it looked like it was going to be a different year from most others. With the economy in shambles, many people were left wondering how it would affect baseball and the free agent market. When almost no free agents inked deals at the beginning of the signing period -- a stark contrast to previous years, in which midnight agreements were struck on the first day and the following weeks were characterized by flurries of moves from almost every team -- the answer seemed to have arrived.
The men's and women's squash teams tamed the No. 22-ranked Northeastern Huskies last night, with both squads securing 7-2 victories. Winning its second straight game to climb from 0-6 on the season back to 2-6, the women's squad lost only two matches on the night, with the losses falling in the No. 1 and No. 7 spots. Senior tri-captain Victoria Barba, competing at No. 1, fell in three sets, while senior tri-captain Simone Grant fell at No. 7. On the men's side, the Jumbos' 7-2 victory over Northeastern marked their third win in a row and fourth consecutive year coming out on top of the Huskies. With strong performances in the back end of lineup that emphasized the depth of the team, the men's squad restricted the Huskies to just two match wins, which came at No. 2 against sophomore Ben Rind and No. 3 against freshman Henry Miller. The No. 8-seeded squash squads head to Hartford this weekend for the NESCAC Championships, hosted by Trinity College and Wesleyan University.
After an injury-laden fall semester, the women's squash team came out looking for a fresh start in the new year. Last weekend, the Jumbos returned to action, taking down the Conn. College Camels 7-2 in New London, Conn. after falling to Yale 0-9 the day before.
Competing against Div. I schools always brings a bit of a disadvantage for the men's swimming and diving team, but the Jumbos view the task as an opportunity to be tested and to improve. This weekend, junior diver Rob Matera met that challenge head-on, capturing wins in both the 1- and 3-meter dives on Saturday at MIT and achieving NCAA-qualifying marks.
Another meet brought another win this weekend for the one-loss women's swimming and diving team. The Jumbos made a statement with a 170-130 win over MIT on Saturday, marking the second time the Jumbos have defeated the Engineers this season after beating them out by 41 points at the MIT Invitational in December. "It was a different setting [compared to the MIT Invitational] with this meet as the traditional dual meet style," senior tri-captain Katie Swett said. "The meet was close on talent, and we had some incredible swims. The invitational-style meet tests how much depth a team has, but the dual meet style this weekend tested how much concentrated talent, so it was kind of a different arena." Swett led the Jumbos, winning three individual events on the day along with a relay. She was backed by sophomore Megan Kono and junior diver Lindsay Gardel, each of whom took home two first-place finishes. Swett helped Tufts start the meet off on the right foot, teaming with fellow senior Michelle Caswell, sophomore Maureen O'Neill and freshman Valerie Eacret to win the 400-yard medley relay in 4:08.61. Swett won the 100 breaststroke and the 200 breaststroke as well. Her third individual victory of the day came in the last individual event, a win in the 400 IM in 4:47.54. Kono got the first individual win of the day in the 1,000 freestyle, besting fellow Jumbo junior Meredith Cronin. The sophomore, who qualified for the NCAA Championships in three events last year, showed why she is a force in the longer distance freestyle events with another win, this time in the 500 free. "Even if we don't have the best times right now, it will come," senior tri-captain Kayla Burke said. "And we still have some amazing times; we had some girls do personal bests, and that is awesome during the season because our bodies are broken down ... You just push through, and that makes you stronger for the rest of the season." Gardel, last week's NESCAC co-Performer of the Week, once again dominated on the diving board. The All-American junior had her best day of the season, dominating both the 1-meter and 3-meter events with scores of 281.50 and 264.55, respectively. Gardel's classmate Kelsey Bell also put forth a solid performance in the diving events, picking up a third-place finish in the 1-meter and a second in the 3-meter. Cronin also racked up the points for the Jumbos, finishing behind Kono for second in the 1000 free but truly shining in the backstroke events. She won the 100-yard event and was involved in the closest race of the day, falling behind early to Engineer freshman Allison Alwan in the 200 backstroke before coming up just short in a valiant comeback and losing by one hundredth of a second. Tufts got solid contributions from a number of first-year swimmers. Annie Doisneau led a sweep of the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.28, besting classmates Eacret and Katie Russell. Russell also added second place finishes in the 500 freestyle and the 200 butterfly, followed in the latter by Doisneau. "A lot of the freshmen, they did a lot," Burke said. "It was hard — two of the freshmen actually had to swim in the 200 free and then get back on the blocks in the 200 fly. There are no complaints; they just do it. And it's stuff like that that is inspirational to watch." Senior Jen Chao and sophomore Amy Jacobi, both of whom finished with two individual wins, led MIT. Chao won both the 100 and 200 butterfly, while Jacobi excelled in the sprints with wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle, both times beating out O'Neill. Still, Tufts' overall strength showed in this victory. "It definitely steps us up to be more excited going into other meets," Burke said. "We have a really good record going right now, and that motivates us. We have two more meets, and we want to do well in those and be 8-1 at the end of the year. Having that one extra win is a lot better than 7-2." Even with last week's loss to NESCAC powerhouse Williams in a tri-meet that also included Wesleyan, the Jumbos are enjoying one of their finest seasons in recent memory. The team's record stands at 6-1 heading into their last head-to-head setting of the season next weekend in a tri-meet with Bates and Wheaton. If Tufts beats both opponents, it would be the first time the team finished with only one loss since the 2002-2003 season. "Williams was a loss in the record book, but it was kind of anticipated," Swett said. "In swimming, a lot of times you will know going in whether they have better swimmers. This meet was pretty close; we are pretty compatible teams, and MIT is a pretty big rival of ours." Tufts has two meets left before a long layoff prior to the NESCAC championships. Next week will be the last of the dual meets for the season, and the Jumbos will be gunning to earn the 8-1 mark. But more importantly, the team hopes it will continue to improve as championship season looms on the horizon. "Right now is a time for some of us who have built up our endurance and our stamina for the rest of the season to look at our individual races and little things like turns and starts and the way we swim a race," Swett said. "The meet next weekend will be similar to this week, but soon a lot of us will be tapering and slowing down as we prepare for NESCACs."
Brett Favre was not the only superstar that made a comeback from "retirement" this year, though he may have received the bulk of the media coverage. No, there is another tights-clad sporting icon that is making his own return to the professional scene: Lance Armstrong.
The women's fencing team squared off against six schools on Friday in Providence, Rhode Island as part of the New England Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association's (NEWIFA) first conference meet. By the end of the day, it was a test of endurance as much as skill.
15 Times a team has scored 74 points or less in an NBA game this season. The Boston Celtics scored 74 points in the first half of Sunday afternoon's game alone en route to a 124-100 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The victory was the the Celtics' eigth straight, with the last six coming by double digits.
My favorite thing about the Super Bowl is everything besides the game itself. The Super Bowl is anticipated to be watched by 95 million Americans. NBC will be broadcasting the Super Bowl for the first time since 1998, and because the Super Bowl is by far the best advertising venue on TV, NBC will, of course, be turning a profit. Thirty-second commercials are going for a record rate of nearly $3 million. Even in the midst of a recession, these ads still appear to be sound investments, as the Super Bowl is expected to record a Nielsen rating about double that of the Academy Awards.
