For decades, professional sports teams in Cleveland were a laughingstock. From 2003–2019, the Cleveland Browns missed the playoffs, spotlighted by a winless 2017 season. The Cleveland Guardians were so bad in the 1980s that the 1989 comedy film Major League portrayed the Guardians as a joke. The Cleveland Cavaliers were stuck in mediocrity for over 30 years, not making any noise until 2003 when the franchise drafted LeBron James. Even smaller pro franchises were unable to thrive during this time. From 1997–2003, the Cleveland Rockers were a part of the WNBA until they had to fold due to...
2025 marks the 30th year of the professional establishment of the world’s game in the U.S. and Canada, and it is shaping up to be an anniversary filled with pride. Major League Soccer is experiencing unprecedented growth in the U.S., and it’s the perfect time to recognize the growing popularity of soccer — hereafter referred to as football — and MLS’s place on both the domestic and international stages. MLS began in 1995 with 10 clubs after the U.S. hosted the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The worldwide showcase helped MLS reign in supporters from all across the globe. Since 2015, MLS has added...
The legend of LeBron James does not stop. On Tuesday night, the Lakers star forward surpassed 50,000 combined points in the regular season and playoffs, nearly 6,000 more than any player in NBA history. Lakers icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired in 1989 after 20 seasons and is second all-time with 44,149 total points. James crossed the threshold on a three-pointer from the left wing early in the first quarter of the Lakers’ 136–115 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The four-time champ finished with 34 points, eight rebounds, six assists, a steal, and two blocks. On Tuesday morning,...
For over 150 years, baseball has relied on the human eye to call balls and strikes. Until now, umpires had been entrusted — across all levels of the game — to call games to the best of their abilities, with no technological help. An umpire’s strike zone judgment is famously known to cause both verbal, and in extreme cases, physical, altercations with players and managers. However this banter between teams and umpires has become a staple of the game. Fans have grown accustomed to seeing players throw their helmets in disgust over a call and managers getting within inches of an umpire’s...
Jan. 8, 2018 was supposed to be Jalen Hurts’ big day. Hurts had led the Alabama Crimson Tide to their second straight College Football National Championship after narrowly losing to Trevor Lawrence and the Clemson Tigers in 2017. Entering his second year, he was looking to lead the Crimson Tide to a national championship against their SEC foe, the Georgia Bulldogs. Hurts struggled in the first half, and was benched for the second half in favor of true freshman Tua Tagovailoa, who took over for Hurts and never looked back. Tagovailoa led the Crimson Tide to a historic comeback over the Bulldogs...
Shohei Ohtani’s free agency was the story of the 2023–24 offseason. After six years of mammoth home runs and ten strikeout games resulted in zero playoff appearances with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani was eager to hit free agency. Ohtani, 29 at the time, was primed to go play for a franchise with a history of winning. In come the Los Angeles Dodgers. Located just a short drive away on I-405, the Dodgers have cemented themselves as perennial contenders, making the playoffs every year since 2013. In 2020, they reached the pinnacle, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series. They also...
Bringing together students from different , majors, and athletic backgrounds, Oberlin’s club soccer meets multiple times a week to play the world’s sport. The club’s practice times and locations are dribbled around by scheduling conflicts; a scrimmage can occur on the sun-drenched North Fields, where midges and gnats are kicked up by the hundreds; head indoors to Williams Field House for 7-on-7 turf scrimmages; and even run late into the night on Bailey Field, where the stadium lights illuminate every pass and shot. Regardless of location, attendance, or insect population, Oberlin club...
At the end of every semester in Oberlin, the Cat in the Cream holds an event that radically departs from the usual concert, Conservatory recital, or trivia night. The metamorphosis is subtle yet striking; excited parents, siblings, and grandparents from the Oberlin community fill the seats to face a stage populated by young girls and boys, who, along with an Oberlin instructor, perform a choreographed routine they have been practicing all semester. This is Kids in Motion: an Oberlin ExCo that sends College students into the classrooms of Langston Middle School and Oberlin Elementary School to offer...
In a display of unyielding determination, the Oberlin men’s open Ultimate Frisbee team soared to victory at the Division III Ohio Valley Regional Championships, earning a spot in the National Championship. The journey to this moment was paved with countless hours of sweat, sacrifice, and unwavering dedication. The weekend prior, the Flying Horsecows faced many disappointing defeats at Sectionals: plagued by injuries and illness, they finished with a 0–4 record in the Miami, OH competition. However, looking forward to a redeeming performance in Butler, PA, the Flying Horsecows entered the...
Fourth-years Allison Lupatkin and Sumner Wallace both joined the Preying Manti, the women’s and trans ultimate frisbee team on campus, their first year and have been heavily involved since. As they get ready for their first spring tournament in two weeks, they reflect on their last four years with the Manti. Many Manti come from different backgrounds and levels of frisbee. Lupatkin got started with frisbee her first year at Oberlin. It was fall 2020, during the pandemic, and many first-years were doing outdoor social distancing activities. Her friend group tossed in North Quad, and although...
Natalie Winkelfoos is in her 12th year as the director of Oberlin Athletics. During her time at Oberlin, Winkelfoos has been named the Division III Administrator of the Year...
JJ Gray is a second-year Economics major on the men’s basketball team and the co-chair and founder of the Asian Student-Athlete Group. Last week, Gray was awarded North...
Kevin Farner is in his second year at Oberlin College as the Campus Recreation Coordinator and the only full-time employee of College Lanes, Oberlin’s on-campus bowling...
Nate Thompson is a third-year Financial Economics major. He is the co-captain of the Oberlin Men’s Soccer Team. He recently partook in the Ashby Business Scholar Program...
Second-year Meaghan Kramer is a forward/midfielder on the field hockey team. An international student from the Netherlands, she is planning on double majoring in Biology and...
Fourth-year Yuuki Okubo is a guard for the Oberlin men’s basketball team. Originally from Los Angeles, Okubo was an internet sensation who went viral multiple times before...