Consider the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs a gift for finals week. The second round will feature two long, gritty series: the Chicago Bulls take on the Atlanta Hawks, and the Boston Celtics play the Miami Heat.
After clinching a share of the Gehrig Division title last weekend with three victories over Columbia, the baseball team clinched the outright championship for the first time since 2006 on Friday by splitting a doubleheader against Cornell at Clarke Field. The Tigers swept the Big Red in Ithaca, N.Y., on Sunday, earning home field advantage in the Ivy League Championship Series against Dartmouth.
Playoff basketball never fails to excite me. A constant criticism of the NBA is that, in an 82-game season, players are prone to take games or quarters off and not play their hardest, which makes the games less interesting at times. Frankly, I’m fine with players or teams not playing at their peak capacity for 82 straight regular season games, and the San Antonio Spurs set a prime example of why it is important to peak at the end of the season instead of in the middle.
Few meets in track and field are more prestigious than the Penn Relays, the longest-running and best-attended annual track and field competition in America. On Saturday, the men’s 4xMile relay team accomplished something no Princeton athlete had done since 1931 — it took home a championship.
The softball team split four games against Cornell this weekend, winning the first of two games at home and its last game on Sunday to end its season on a high note.
Senior attacker Lizzy Drumm made her final appearance at Princeton Stadium a memorable one, scoring a game-high five goals in the women’s lacrosse team’s 19-10 victory over Penn State. Princeton came into the weekend unranked, while the Nittany Lions were No. 12 in the national rankings, but the hosts pulled off the upset in their final game of the regular season.
The men’s lacrosse team looked to continue a difficult season at No. 2 Cornell this weekend, and it battled the favored Big Red to a first-half lead. But despite a stellar performance from junior goalie Tyler Fiorito, the hosts came back to win 9-7, ending the Tigers’ disappointing 2011 campaign.
The women’s water polo team traveled 700 miles to Bloomington, Ind., for the Eastern Championships this weekend. The No. 20 Tigers fell to No. 19 Maryland in Friday’s quarterfinal match but recovered to defeat George Washington on Saturday and Harvard on Sunday, earning fifth place in the tournament.
The softball team will attempt to ride the momentum of its victory on Tuesday over Columbia into the weekend when it plays two doubleheaders against a surging Cornell team (24-18-1 overall, 9-5 Ivy League) to close the Ivy League season.
The baseball team is just one win from clinching its first spot in the Ivy League Championship Series since 2006. The Tigers will have four opportunities for a win this weekend when they play Cornell twice at home on Friday before traveling to Ithaca, N.Y., for two games on Sunday.
After finishing its regular season conference schedule on Wednesday, the women’s lacrosse team looks to end its season on a high note on Saturday. The Tigers (8–6 overall, 5-2 Ivy League) will play their final regular season game on Saturday against No. 12 Penn State. The last home game of the season will also honor the seniors, including attackers Maisie Devine, Lizzy Drumm and Kaitlyn Mauritz, defender Caroline Markowitz, and goalie Erin Tochihara. Additionally, the game will honor all women’s lacrosse alumni.
The NFL has provided many great news stories to write about in recent days. (Who doesn’t love contributing their own mock draft? And I am not sick of lockout talk by any stretch of the imagination.) The fact of the matter, though, is that the NFL’s 50-day lockout and labor insecurity have convinced Bud Selig that baseball, sagging in popularity relative to the NFL, must make dramatic changes in the game to attract fans. Specifically, Selig, who plans to retire at the end of the 2012 season, wishes to add another playoff team in each league, bringing the total to five.
With its postseason hopes on the line, the men’s lacrosse team heads to Ithaca, N.Y., this weekend to fight its way into the Ivy League Tournament. Princeton will face off against No. 2 Cornell in its last regular season game; with a victory over the Big Red and a little bit of luck, the Tigers can sneak into the playoffs.
Last week, I swore that I would discover the motives of gamers, or virtual athletes, both on this campus and beyond. Using the game “Left 4 Dead” as my experimental playing field, I trained and competed with the best of them.
Foul weather earlier in the season caused the first game between the women’s lacrosse team (8-6 overall, 5-2 Ivy League) and Columbia (4-10, 1-6) to be called off after 40 minutes of play with the Tigers holding a slim lead. Last night, however, the Tigers came out strong from the start and dominated the game to decisively defeat the Lions 18-10.
"It was orange and black. All day, every day.” Sophomore outfielder Lizzy Pierce of the softball team thus described her attire, showing her loyalty to her colors in the fierce manner of a true diehard. Already a lively person, she becomes even more animated when she talks about her team, and the obvious reverence she has is an inspiration to any Princetonian.
The baseball team suffered a tough, error-filled 6-3 loss to Rider in a non-league game on Wednesday afternoon. Despite striking first and receiving stellar starting pitching from freshman Michael Fagan, the defense fell apart in the latter four innings, committing several errors and other mental lapses that allowed six unanswered runs.
Senior midfielder Tyler Moni is a captain for the men’s lacrosse team. A Princeton native, Moni is a graduate of Princeton High School where, in addition to playing lacrosse, he was a standout wide receiver for the football team. Moni has been a contributor on both the offensive and defensive midfields during his time here, and has scored four goals this season despite missing time with a broken arm.
After Saturday’s doubleheader against Columbia was rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, the women’s softball team’s losing streak of seven games finally came to an end. Princeton (14-24 overall, 5-11 Ivy South) lost the first three games to division rival Columbia (16-25, 6-10) before a sixth-inning rally gave the Tigers their first win since April 9.
This Thursday, the NFL will gather in New York City to draft for the 2011 season that may or may not happen. The players may or may not show up. Every analyst worth his or her salt has come out with a mock draft, but since my salt is so ridiculously expensive I’m going to have to settle for mocking mock drafts. The following is my best estimate of how the draft will go later this week.
