Sports

Princeton in the Pros: Garrett '89 loses interim tag, hired as full-time Cowboys head coach

Jason Garrett ’89 will be the full-time head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, the team announced Thursday afternoon. He was appointed to the position on an interim basis in November after fourth-year head coach Wade Phillips was fired mid-season.

Column: NFL lessons learned

Six weeks ago, I constructed an arbitrary formula to predict the NFL’s playoff teams and confidently declared things like “the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers will be the top seeds,” “the Atlanta Falcons aren’t that good” and “the New York Giants will make the playoffs instead of shamefully blowing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead over their hated rivals in the most depressing regular-season football game of my lifetime.” That worked out well. In response to these glaring mistakes, it’s time for me to take stock of the season and figure out what I’ve learned about the playoff teams.

Women's Hockey: Princeton runs streak to 5 with 2 shutout victories at home over break

The women’s hockey team returned from its winter break a week early for two contests at home Friday and Monday, pulling out twin 3-0 victories. The Tigers (8-10-1 overall, 5-6-1 ECAC Hockey) topped both No. 5 Boston College (11-3-4) and Quinnipiac (13-7-1, 6-6), pushing themselves to No. 3 in the conference standings, just one point behind Quinnipiac. With the second victory, the Tigers stretched their win streak to five, which includes four shutouts.

Wrestling: Grapplers topple Bucknell, salvage split

Until Dec. 17, the wrestling team had yet to live up to its potential and earn a big win. The Tigers (2-5) quieted the critics and quelled fears that their unusually young but talented squad would not be able to compete at a high level.

Men's Hockey: Squad wins 1st in-season tourney in over decade

Heading into last week’s University of Connecticut Hockey Classic tournament, the men’s hockey team had not won an in-season tournament in more than 10 years, the last coming in the 1998-99 season’s Mariucci Classic in Minnesota. The Tigers (10-5-1 overall, 6-3-1 ECAC Hockey) brought that drought to an end over winter break, picking up wins in both games in Connecticut, including a final triumph over the host Huskies.

Women's Basketball: Tigers destroy lowly La Salle in Jadwin

After a pair of victories in North Carolina, the women’s basketball team returned to Jadwin Gymnasium on Tuesday, beating La Salle 94-51 on a milestone day to finish nonconference play with an 11-3 record.

Men's Basketball: No. 19 UCF tops cagers

There were many reasons to write off an upset against University of Central Florida as highly unlikely. The Knights were 12-0 under a new head coach, ranked No. 19 in the nation in the Associated Press poll and No. 21 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll, enjoyed home court advantage, and had Michael Jordan’s kid on their roster. But the men’s basketball team opened up scoring a minute and a half into the game and did not relinquish the lead until five minutes into the second stanza.

Team of the Decade: Men’s Lacrosse, 2001

The 2001 season was the perfect moment in time for the men’s lacrosse team. It was the single year that goalie Trevor Tierney ’01 and defenseman Ryan Mollett ’01 shared the Tigers’ field with lacrosse legend and attackman Ryan Boyle ’04. Boyle, then a freshman, scored 16 goals and contributed 37 assists in his first year. With the help of Tierney and Mollett’s defensive prowess, Princeton clinched a 14-1 overall (6-0 Ivy League) season and the NCAA national championship.

Women's Athlete of the Decade: Alicia Aemisegger ’10

It is true that in NCAA athletics, each competitor is talented and successful when it comes to his or her respective sport.

Women's Basketball: Without star, Tigers topple Dragons

It had been more than a calendar year since the women’s basketball team lost a game at Jadwin Gymnasium, but it appeared that streak might come to an end Friday night. At the twelve-minute mark, sophomore forward Niveen Rasheed was whistled for her fifth foul, disqualifying the Tigers’ leading scorer as the hosts trailed Drexel.

Men's Athlete of the Decade: Yasser El Halaby ’06

Everything they could do, he could do better.

Live Blog: Women's Basketball vs. Drexel

Women's Basketball: Clash with Drexel will test 13-game Jadwin run

December has been busy but extremely successful for the women’s basketball team. The Tigers (7-2) opened the month with a win against Delaware on Dec. 1, followed by a home win against Rider four days later. The team followed that with a dominating performance against Navy, and on Monday, Princeton topped Lafayette 90-58. Next up for the Tigers is Drexel (6-1), against whom the team will look to defend its undefeated home record on Friday at 7 p.m. at Jadwin Gymnasium.

Wrestling: Callahan’s return will boost grapplers’ chances

The wrestling team looks to overcome a number of obstacles this weekend in its final team dual meet of the calendar year. The Tigers (1-4) travel to Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa., to take on Bucknell and Drexel on Friday.

Men's Hockey: Princeton travels to Connecticut for holiday contests

Coming off two dominating victories over University of Massachusetts Lowell last weekend, the men’s hockey team will travel to the University of Connecticut to finish the 2010 portion of its season at the annual Toyota UConn Classic. The Tigers (8-5 overall, 6-3 ECAC Hockey) will compete against three non-conference opponents: Bowling Green (6-12-2), Connecticut (5-7-3) and Holy Cross (6-7-2). Princeton will face Bowling Green on Dec. 29 and either Connecticut or Holy Cross on Dec. 30.

Column: Old man Joe outlasts another young gun

Who would have ever thought that Joe Paterno would outlast Urban Meyer as a head coach?

Men's Basketball: Road trip continues against Wagner

The men’s basketball team will defend its five-game win streak on Dec. 17 in Staten Island, N.Y., when it takes on Wagner College (4-5). This game will be the Tigers’ (7-3) third consecutive road game in a series of six.

Women's Hockey: No. 6 Boston College poses tough test

The women’s hockey team is on a three-game win streak going into winter break. Before the start of reading period, the Tigers (6-10-1 overall, 4-6-1 ECAC Hockey) will face non-league opponent Boston College (11-2-4) — currently ranked No. 6 in the country — on Dec. 31 and Quinnipiac (13-6-1, 6-5) on Jan. 3. The Tigers’ slow start to the season has picked up considerably, with two wins over Syracuse on Friday and Saturday and a win over Brown on Dec. 4.

On Tap with ... Laura Martindale

Senior defender Laura Martindale has been a force on the women’s hockey team’s blue line this season. She has appeared in all 17 games, racking up five assists and a minus 2 rating, both good for second among defenders. While off the ice, Martindale, an ecology and evolutionary biology major, enjoys rocking out to Christmas music regardless of the season. If you ever hear anyone call for “Grams,” look around; Martindale is likely to be near you, wearing her Princeton Athletics sweatshirts and sweatpants.

Column: Rich keep getting richer

Let’s start with the good news. None of the top baseball free agents this winter will be wearing a New York Yankees uniform next season (unless you count Derek Jeter, which I don’t). The Washington Nationals humorously overpaid Jayson Werth, teaming bearded slugger with a dude named Bryce, Stephen Strasburg’s to-be-surgically-repaired arm, and approximately nobody else. According to baseball-reference.com, the San Diego Padres’ roster of players with guaranteed contracts currently consists of Aaron Harang, Dustin Moseley and Chris Denorfia, a formidable roster for MLB’s new spinoff, three-on-three Xtreme Fighting Baseball. The New York Mets will pay a combined $80 million this year to three outfielders over 30 years old who keep getting injured, an ace starter who is out for at least half the year and an ace reliever whose future is in question after assault charges. Wait, that’s not good news. That’s just awful.