Sports - The Tufts Daily

Columns

The Intangibles: LaVar Ball and a parent’s ambition

By Jonah Cowan | October 23

LaVar Ball deserves credit for painstakingly molding his three sons, Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo, into elite basketball players and celebrities from their earliest years. The three brothers became a sensation in 2016 at Chino Hills High School, and now two of them are established NBA players. The middle child is a rapper. But what happens when the manufacturing of children into elite athletes fails?

Basketball

Celtics open season tonight against 76ers

By Ben Lable | October 22

The wait is nearly over for Boston Celtics fans. At 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the season will officially tip off as Atlantic Division rivals, the Philadelphia 76ers, visit TD Garden.

Columns

Road to the World Cup: Mexico modernizes, Infantino plays politics

By Antonia Toro | October 21

Mexico is not simply relying on its history as a two-time World Cup host (1970 and 1986); it is actively working to modernize its security infrastructure. Mexico City, which will host the tournament’s inaugural game at the Estadio Azteca, recently selected the firm Amper to lead a technological modernization of its centers of Command and Control (C5) specifically in preparation for the World Cup. This update, involving new infrastructure and the latest version of the GEMYC-D system, aims to enhance public safety and optimize operations across the metropolis.

Columns

Love to Hate: Kyrie Irving

By Brian Becker | October 20

He’s a box office superstar talent, bringing fans through the turnstiles. Pundits might even argue he’s the most watchable player in the NBA with his shifty step-backs and silky smooth layups, moves that he practiced growing up in his West Orange home without a backboard square. While fans are left in awe from his on-court craftsmanship, his off-court controversy has ruffled at least a few feathers and even prevented him from showing up to work.

Sports

Tufts falls to Bates on Homecoming night

By Max Druckman | October 16

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” It may be a cliché, but that designation doesn’t make it any less true. Bates’ football team certainly found themselves following Yogi Berra’s words of wisdom as they stormed back to score twice in the fourth quarter and steal a Homecoming victory from Tufts.

Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: What to make of the preseason Top 25

By Owen Short | October 16

With about three weeks to go until the opening tip of the college hoops season, we finally have the first official Associated Press Poll of the 2025–26 season. Most of the names and general rankings aren’t very surprising, given all the time spent analyzing these now mostly finalized rosters, but ...

Sports

Field hockey extends win streak to 7 on Senior Day

By Leanna DeSousa | October 15

Last Saturday, Tufts field hockey, the then No. 7 overall team, took on then No. 5 Bates in a homecoming competition. Both teams went into the game with only one conference loss, with Tufts at No. 1 and Bates at No. 2 in the NESCAC.

Trevor_Lawrence,_Roy_Robertson-Harris.jpg

Sports

A Trevor Lawrence audit: a large contract and large promises?

By Max Sharf | October 14

In 2024, the Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawerence was handed one of the most lucrative contracts in NFL history at the time: five years and $275 million. Yet, one year after inking the deal, both the Jaguars’ head coach and general manager were fired following the 2024–25 season. It turns out that giving your 25-year-old quarterback — who has only had one year of above-average play — a record-breaking contract while he’s coming off a season in which his passer rating dipped by seven points leaves your team with one of the worst records in the league and a quarterback still in decline. So naturally, the question arises: Does Lawerence deserve his contract? The answer is yes — but only if you can’t find a better or cheaper equivalent.

Baseball

Pittsburgh Pirates owner Bob Nutting epitomizes poor Major League Baseball policies

By Mathew Long | October 10

Exhale, yinz — the 2025 Major League Baseball season is finally over for us. The Pittsburgh Pirates finished 71–91, five games worse than their 2024 campaign, which fans a year ago were calling ‘rock-bottom.’

Tennis

A rule of three: Jumbos channel collective fire in fall finish

By Thomas Leung | October 9

After back-to-back weekends of marathon tennis, the Tufts men’s tennis team closed out its fall slate at the 2025 ITA New England Regionals, hosted at the Vouté Courts in Medford. The event capped a season marked by growth, experimentation and the steady emergence of a new generation of Jumbos who understand that victory means much more than standings or seedings.

Columns

Love to Hate: Rivalries in the community

By Brian Becker | October 9

Mark Knopfler’s song “Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero” provides Newcastle United fans with a sense of local pride. While not as mainstream as Premier League football, Tufts host communities of the Medford/Somerville area — and beyond — provide plenty of intense rivalries from the professional stage down to the local community. All of which, in the eyes of some fans, define the true meaning of a ‘local hero.’ In the same spirit, I’ve compiled a guide of the greatest local sports games happening within the local area fit for Tufts students, as well as Medford, Somerville and Arlington residents alike, to attend.

Columns

The Intangibles: Kyrie Irving, rightfully misunderstood

By Jonah Cowan | October 8

Who is Kyrie Irving? My intention here is not to absolve Irving of responsibility, but rather to understand what led him towards anti-vaxxing and conspiratorial ideologies, and how he has evolved since then. I would like understand him as a person first, then analyze him specifically as a person desiring influence.

Columns

Road to the World Cup: FIFA’s unity problem

By Antonia Toro | October 6

FIFA revealed the new World Cup soccer ball on Thursday. Named TRIONDA, it features three colored waves: green for Mexico, red for Canada and blue for the United States. For much of the World Cup’s history, World Cup balls have symbolized host nations.

Columns

The Full Court Press: Bowling alone, batting together

By Noah Goldstein | October 3

In his 2000 book “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,” political scientist Robert Putnam writes that, “American history carefully examined is a story of ups and downs in civic engagement, not just downs — a story of collapse and of renewal.”

Soccer

Tufts men’s soccer grinds out 1–1 draw with Wesleyan

By Max Druckman | October 2

Goal scoring can be artful, vivid and poetic. After glancing off the inner edge of a player’s cleat, the ball can be neatly curled, gently kissing the crossbar before settling into the top corner of the net. Other times, though, goal scoring can be ugly, scrappy and lucky. Still, no matter how a goal is scored, they all count the same. It was in the latter style that both Tufts men’s soccer junior forward Henry Brown and Wesleyan forward Sam Wheeler scored the only goals for their respective sides in a 1–1 draw on Bello Field on Saturday.

Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: The pecking order of the Power 5

By Owen Short | October 2

Just like everything else in college basketball, the pecking order of the top conferences seems to shuffle from year to year. With the constant churn of the transfer portal and a fresh round of coaching changes, this feels like the right moment to take stock of the Power 5. The goal: to predict which leagues are poised for the most success, whether by racking up tournament bids, producing true championship contenders or simply standing out in overall competitiveness.

Soccer

Women’s soccer drops first points of season in draw to Wesleyan

By Morgan Baudler | October 1

Both Tufts and Wesleyan came into the match nationally ranked by United Soccer Coaches at No. 6 and No. 21 respectively. “We knew it was going to be a tough battle, especially because they are undefeated and so are we,” sophomore forward Audrey Cromett said.

Columns

The Intangibles: Jonathan Kuminga is unaware, uncoachable and unwilling to look in the mirror

By Jonah Cowan | September 26

There are certainly times when a sapling tree with great potential is snuffed out by a vast canopy, where bigger trees prohibit growth. In these situations, the sapling can righteously throw up its little branches and blame the forest.

Football

Tufts, Wesleyan 22–20: A win by a slim margin

By Luke Fredericks | September 25

September after dark makes a football game feel bigger. The lights sharpen everything: edges of pads, breath in the air, the collective wince of a crowd when a return man gets the corner and the volume turns from murmur to ‘Oh my god, go.’ Ellis Oval had all of that Saturday, and then some. Tufts defeated Wesleyan 22–20, a win stapled together with all the duct tape a football team keeps in the equipment trunk: defense, field position, special teams, grit, more special teams and, when it absolutely had to happen, one burst through daylight to slam the door.

Columns

Road to the World Cup: Ticket prices, trade battles

By Antonia Toro | September 25

The World Cup is less than a year away. In this column, I will review the most pressing challenges the tournament faces across all its venues in Canada, Mexico and the United States.