Teams secure top spots to open season
Both Brandeis cross country teams took the top spots in the season-opening Wellesley College Invitational on Friday Sept. 1.
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Both Brandeis cross country teams took the top spots in the season-opening Wellesley College Invitational on Friday Sept. 1.
The women’s volleyball team went 2-1 over the weekend at the New England Invitational, sweeping the Rochester Institute of Technology and Anna Maria College.
The National Football League began Thursday night with the defending champion New England Patriots falling to the Kansas City Chiefs. In a well-played game between two strong teams, the Chiefs were able to prevail thanks mostly to an excellent debut from rookie running back Kareem Hunt. Hunt ran wild against the New England defense, accumulating more than 250 total yards from scrimmage. The first year player out of Kent State University showed no fear as he promptly embarrassed what is believed to be the best team in football.
The Brandeis women’s soccer team began the season with two games this past week. They lost the first match to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers, but won the second against the Lasell College Lasers. After a disappointing Final Four loss at the end of last season, the squad is looking to set themselves up for success this fall. However, with the first two games in the books, the Judges are beginning to get a sense of the work they must put in to meet such a goal.
After a thrilling 2016 season that culminated in the squad’s first Final Four appearance in 32 years, the new-look Brandeis men’s soccer team hit the turf on Saturday to begin their journey back to the postseason. In their opening week of play, the club's first match under new head coach Gabe Margolis did not go as planned, as the preseason No. 4 came up short in their comeback bid against the State University of New York Cortland Red Dragons. The Judges, however, were able to bounce back on Sunday, as rising phenom midfielder Joshua Handler ’19 led the squad to what would prove to be Margolis’ first victory as a head coach for the team.
The Los Angeles Clippers are the best team in the National Basketball Association. Okay, okay. Fine. You’ve convinced me, they’re not. But for a moment, one special moment on May 10, 2015, they were. After dominating the Houston Rockets to the tune of a 3-1 series lead in the 2015 conference semi-finals, the Clippers were statistically favored to win the NBA championship by ESPN’s Basketball Power Index metric. Yes, really. And then they did just that. The end.
The women’s volleyball team began the season strong, coming out victorious on two out of its three games, giving it a starting overall record of 2-1 for the season.
The Cavaliers’ chokehold on the Eastern conference title is slowly slipping out of their grasp. With the drama surrounding point guard Kyrie Irving’s alleged trade request, Cavs general manager Koby Altman quickly dished the player in a blockbuster trade. The Cavs relinquished their leash on one of the best point guards in the league for Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas, forward Jae Crowder, center Ante Zizic and two draft picks. In a season with tectonic changes in the National Basketball Association, this deal may go down as the most seismic of all.
The Judges had a very tough run this past week at the New England Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship meet hosted by Williams College. The men were able to muster six points to place 25th overall against some of the region’s top competition. The women’s team fell behind by a few points, scoring two total points to land themselves in 36th place.
The Brandeis softball team ended their season with a tough loss at home against Worcester State University on May 2.
Stationed in the nation’s capital and playing its beloved pastime, the Washington Nationals have certainly shown off their patriotism in dominating fashion this season.
As of Monday, May 15, the underdog Boston Celtics pushed their way to a stunning victory over the Washington Wizards in Game 7 of the series. Although the game was close with a score of 115-105, the Celtics made some very precise plays that gave them a seat in the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2012.
The Milwaukee Brewers request your attention. Very quietly, they’ve emerged this season as a team on the precipice of playoff contention. As of May 16 they have amassed a 21-18 record, good for second place in the National League Central division and only a game and a half behind the St. Louis Cardinals. It’s been a rough few years for the Brewers. And by years, I mean decades. Overall the team has had only two seasons with more than 90 wins in the last 25 years.
The softball team had a successful showing on the road this weekend, coming out on top in both double-header games at Colby College. The wins mark an upswing for the squad, which dropped four games against Washington University in St. Louis the week before.
Over the past week, the Brandeis baseball team started out strong with a win away against Western New England University. Then, playing on the road against Trinity College and Rhode Island College this past weekend, they failed to come out on top, losing both games.
Eric Thames knows how to hit a baseball. This fact is arguably the biggest revelation of the young 2017 MLB season. After departing from the majors in 2012 following two largely unsuccessful seasons in the big leagues, Thames headed to Korea. Back in the majors for the first time in five years, the Milwaukee Brewers first baseman has had an incredible first month of the season offensively, ranking among the league leaders across nearly all statistical measures. Thames is tied for the league-lead in home runs with 11, 10th in batting average at a strong .345 mark and tied for 17th with 19 runs batted in. He also owns baseball’s third-best on-base percentage and second-best slugging percentage, indicating that not only is he hitting for power at an elite level, but he’s also getting on base at a superstar level. This tracks with advanced metrics, as Thames ranks second in both wOBA (weighted on base average), which adjusts on-base percentage for the value of getting on base in each specific way, and wRC+ (weighted runs created plus), which shows that he has been worth the second most runs in the league, per Fangraphs.
The Brandeis track and field teams completed their final regular season meet at the Brown Springtime Invitational hosted by Brown University this past weekend.
The opening round of the National Basketball Association playoffs consisted of many exciting matchups that nearly became upsets at times, but ultimately finished with top teams as victors. Most dominant were the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors, who were able to sweep the first four games versus the Indiana Pacers and Portland Trailblazers, respectively. Additionally, the Houston Rockets coasted to a five-game series win versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, knocking out MVP candidate Russell Westbrook. However, other top teams struggled at times in games, like the San Antonio Spurs, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards and Boston Celtics, who all won the round 4-2.
Over the past week, the baseball team started out strong with two wins away against New York University and Bridgewater State University. Then, playing against Washington University in St. Louis this past weekend, it failed to come out on top after losing both games.
The women’s softball team struggled in intense competition on the road against University Athletic Association competitor Washington University in St. Louis. The Judges dropped all four games they played in the three-day weekend series to one of the top teams in the conference.