Sports Editorials & Features – The Oberlin Review

Student-Athletes Shine at Sharing Stages

November 16, 2018

Saturday night in the William and Helen Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space, I realized what I love most about Oberlin: its tendency to foster creativity and collaboration, and the way people can express their diverse backgrounds, interests, and talents. I am regularly in awe of and inspired by the bright and energetic students on campus. Last weekend, students of the College and the Conservatory, athletes and non-athletes, parents, and administrators came together to celebrate som...

‘Enough’: NBA Players Take a Stand Against Gun Violence

Nathan Carpenter and Alexis Dill

November 16, 2018

Filed under SPORTS, Sports Editorials & Features

As former Miami Heat teammates LeBron James and Dwyane Wade laced up their sneakers and jogged onto the Amway Center basketball court for warm-ups, a 17-year-old boy just 30 minutes northeast of Orlando, in Sanford, FL, put up his hood and stuck a bag of Skittles in his pocket upon leaving a 7-Eleven. At the same time as over seven million people tuned in for the tip-off of the 61st NBA All-Star Game — 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, 2012 — Trayvon Martin was pronounced dead. Martin, a Black teenager from Miami Gardens, FL, was visiting his future stepmother with his father the night he was fatally shot in the back by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman. Martin was unarmed and committing no crimes when he...

Women’s Cross Country Secures First Nationals Bid Since 2014

November 16, 2018

A stream of posts hit social media as the women’s cross country team members and supporters learned of the team’s invitation to the NCAA Championships. Shortly after placing third at regionals — the NCAA Great Lakes Championships — the Yeowomen received the unprecedented news that they had received an “at-large” bid for nationals. The team gathered this week for one of the season’s final practices before taking off to Winneconne, WI, to compete at nationals. While just seven a...

Men’s BBall Kicks off the Season, Cali Style

November 11, 2018

Jenkins Rises to Occasion, Leads Yeomen to Victory

November 9, 2018

In the third quarter of Saturday’s football matchup between the Oberlin College Yeomen and the Hiram College Terriers, the crowd gasped as College junior and star quarterback Zach Taylor fell to the ground clutching his leg. Taylor, who had just become Oberlin’s career total yards leader with 7,096 yards a week earlier, broke his fibula and was unable to re-enter the game. In a crunch and desperate to take home the win, the Yeomen put in first-year backup quarterback Tommy Jenkins, who has talent c...

Senior Student-Athletes Must Balance Athletics, Academics, Impending Graduation

Alexis Dill, Sports Editor

November 9, 2018

Filed under Baseball, Basketball, Softball, SPORTS, Sports Editorials & Features

At the conclusion of her junior year, College senior and softball player Emma Downing was unsure if she should apply to the Honors Program in History. She didn’t think she would get in — only seven students were accepted this year — and even if she did, she didn’t know if her schedule would allow for it. Nevertheless, she decided to take the plunge. “There weren’t any other classes I wanted to take, and I wanted to push myself academically and see what I could accomplish,” Downing said. “I knew that coming up with a question and researching it all year to write a 60-page paper would be the hardest thing I’ve ever done academically.” The History and Russian & East European Studies double-major ...

Power Panel Celebrates Women Success

October 12, 2018

In a powerful conclusion to homecoming weekend, nearly 100 athletes from women’s sports teams gathered in the Knowlton Social Space on Sunday morning for a panel featuring three former Yeowomen. Organized by the John W. Heisman Club, the panel was designed to showcase how athletics and their Oberlin educations have impacted their lives post-graduation. The necessity of a panel like this at the start of the school year, when so many women student-athletes at Oberlin are evaluating t...

Remembering an Oberlin Legend: Joe Johnson

October 12, 2018

Oberlin alumni crowded the Knowlton Athletics Complex Saturday for the homecoming tailgate and football matchup between the Yeomen and the DePauw University Tigers. At halftime, the Heisman Club celebrated its 40th anniversary by honoring select teams and athletes of the past, including all football alumni. I hadn’t been at the game for more than five minutes when one of the former football players — a man I didn’t recognize — approached me. Rich Johnson, OC ’88, saw the l...

Softball Celebrates Canadian Thanksgiving

October 12, 2018

The softball team hosted its first Canadian Thanksgiving Monday night in support of its two Canadian players, first-year outfielder Caley Dunlop and senior first baseman Kat Ladouceur. Coaches Sara Schoenhoft and Sally Snover bought turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, mac and cheese, and pies for the players and began the dinner with a toast. Ladouceur, who is from Nova Scotia, said she was touched by the gesture. “I don’t get to go home much throughout the school year, so it was...

LeBron’s ‘Student Athlete’ Exposes NCAA Hypocrisy

Alexis Dill, Sports Editor

October 5, 2018

Filed under SPORTS, Sports Editorials & Features

Shamar Graves sat in the home bleachers of the Woodbridge High School football stadium with a wistful expression on his face, overlooking the field he sprinted up and down over a decade ago as a star wide receiver. The sky was the limit back then. Graves was offered more athletic scholarships than he could keep track of, and making it to the NFL seemed like a feasible dream. After playing four seasons as tight end for the Scarlet Knights, Graves got his degree from Rutgers University. But his post-graduation options were limited. A shoulder injury derailed his chances of trying out for an NFL team, and he didn’t have a plan B. Graves woke every morning at 4 a.m. for his shift at Old Navy. Then he taught at a ...

Happy Homecoming for Former Baseball Standout

October 5, 2018

Phil Brua, head baseball coach of the Hiram College Terriers, interacts with the Oberlin dugout during the teams’ exhibition doubleheader Sunday, Sept. 30. Brua, who was a star pitcher for the Yeomen from 2008–11, holds the program record for pitching appearances (65) and ranks second in career wins (15). His No. 6 jersey was retired after he graduated. In 2013, Brua returned to Oberlin to serve as the pitching coach, recruiting coordinator, and associate head coach over three years...

In Defense of Sports Journalism

Alexis Dill, Sports Editor

September 28, 2018

Filed under SPORTS, Sports Editorials & Features

When Sports Illustrated published senior writer Chris Ballard’s remarkable feature on former New Orleans Pelicans Head Coach Monty Williams a year and a half ago, I was a first-year sitting in the very back of my Intro to Psychology class. The article was titled “‘You Can’t Give In’: Monty Williams On Life After Tragedy.” I read it from beginning to end without lifting my eyes from my laptop screen a single time. I couldn’t. Then I read it again. I’ve never really been one to pay attention during lectures. While other students charted the differences between classical and operant conditioning in their notebooks, I sank down in my chair, awestruck. Susannah Donaldson was under the in...