SPORTS OPINION Football embodies American values
Football is America’s sport. Not only because it is the most watched sport in America. Not because it is the top grossing sport in America. Football is America’s sport because it represents the morals that we as Americans value. There is little doubt about it after this past year.
NBA lockout defined basketball in ’11
Editor’s Note: Due to editorial deadlines for this issue, score records here may not be the most current.
MIT falls to Harvard, 3-1
The MIT Men’s Volleyball team, ranked sixth nationally, fell to Harvard last week in a close game, 3-1.
MIT prepares for NEWMACs
The top-10 battle between No. 6 MIT and No. 7 Amherst lived up to its billing on Jan. 28 at the Z-Center on the MIT campus. With a dramatic victory in the final event, the 400 free relay, MIT came out on top by a score of 153-144. With the victory, MIT improved its dual meet record to 8-0 this season.
Men’s basketball beats Wheaton, Springfield
Last week was quite successful for MIT men’s basketball. Individually, the team’s leading scorers, Noel Hollingsworth ’12 and James D. Karraker ’12, both reached the 1,000-point career milestone. As a team, the Engineers pulled away with an easy victory against Wheaton on Wednesday and a tough victory against Springfield on Saturday to reach 20 victories total for the season. The team was also featured in Sports Illustrated, along with No. 1 Middlebury, in an article focusing on the success of the two teams athletically and academically.
New York hopes for repeat
The Super Bowl is once again upon us, when the collective attention of the nation will be directed towards their TV screens watching the Packers and the Steelers take one another on in Dallas. Who will win? The Tech’s Sports staff weigh in, with bragging rights on the line …
Basketball defeats Clark, Coast Guard
Last week, MIT rebounded from its first loss against WPI with two wins against Clark and Coast Guard.
SPORTS SHORT
After a nearly two-month break from competitions, the MIT Varsity Rifle team competed on Friday and Saturday in its annual Beanpot match. Though visiting team Penn State bested the Engineers by 41 points to win the Beanpot, MIT won the collegiate sectional competition. Jennifer C. de Bruijn ’12 shot a personal high score of 569 in the air rifle portion, taking home a silver medal for her performance. Nigel C. Kojimoto ’12, Elizabeth A. Phillips ’13, and Michael A. Batista ’12 followed closely behind for a team score of 2224, to beat Penn State ROTC, Coast Guard Academy, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. In the smallbore competition, Elizabeth A. Phillips ’13 led the team with a 549, third overall in the competition. Nigel C. Kojimoto ’12, Jennifer C. de Bruijn ’12, and Timothy R. Jenks ’13 also contributing towards the Engineer’s sectional win.
Volleyball starts season strong
The No. 9 ranked MIT Men’s Volleyball team has started the season with a bang, beating the reigning national champions and currently ranked No. 1 Nazareth College Golden Flyers on their own court.
Women’s swimming and diving defeat Tufts
In a matchup of Top-20 teams it was the No. 6 MIT women’s swimming and diving squad that came out on top as it defeated No. 18 Tufts by a final margin of 217.5 - 158.5. Three Engineers won three events each to lead MIT to the win as it improved to 7-0 in dual meets this season.
Sports Shorts
The MIT Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams competed at the Springfield Invitational on Saturday.
Men’s Basketball falls to WPI, 80-68
Last Saturday, the MIT men’s basketball team (16-1;4-1) tarnished its record with its first loss of the season to WPI.
MIT beats Babson, Coast Guard Men’s basketball maintains their undefeated record
Last week, MIT picked up two more wins against Babson and Coast Guard to increase its record to 16-0 (4-0 in conference). In the national rankings, MIT moved up to the third spot, as Augustana College fell from third to sixth; the Engineers also remain as only one of six teams in the top 25 with a perfect record.
Patriots, Ravens, 49ers, Giants vie for spots in Super Bowl
The second weekend of the NFL Playoffs mostly went as expected, resulting in three home victories and one road victory. The San Francisco 49ers put together a drive, capped by a sharp touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Smith to tight-end Vernon Davis, with under two minutes to go to escape with a victory over the New Orleans Saints (36-32). The New England Patriots made a statement as quarterback Tom Brady went 26/34 for 363 yards to put an end to Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos (45-10). The Baltimore Ravens, involved in a defensive showdown throughout the game, scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and maintained the lead to defeat the Houston Texans (20-13). The New York Giants and Eli Manning put on an offensive display to come up with an unexpected upset over the team with the best regular season record this year, the Green Bay Packers (37-20). This makes for two anticipated matchups this coming Sunday.
Engineers fall short to Springfield, 60-43
On Saturday, the MIT Engineers fought hard but fell to Springfield, changing MIT’s record to 7-7 (4-2 at home) and improving Springfield’s record to 9-6 (5-1 away).
Boston Celtics travel to Miami but can’t handle the Heat
American Airlines Arena in downtown Miami, Fla. was filled to capacity on Tuesday, Dec. 27, when the Heat dominated the Celtics. With only a few green jerseys sprinkled throughout the large crowd, the morale for the Celtics was low. I found myself struggling to root for my new Boston team, as I have lived in South Florida since I was born. Nevertheless, the game was exhilarating, and the Celtics showed a renewed effort throughout the last quarter.