Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor
November 3, 2017
Just over two weeks into the NBA season, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are already sure to face off in a championship rematch — their fourth straight Finals duel — and once again take all of the suspense out of the league. The 82-game season may not be exciting, but the MVP race has historically added drama to the regular season. Last year was one of the tightest MVP races in history. Russell Westbrook, James Harden, LeBron James, and Kawhi Leonard all had MVP-worthy seasons, and Westbrook ultimately came away with the award after becoming the second player ever to average a triple-double over the course of a season. This year, the race is shaping up to be just as good, with the usual suspect...
Julie Schreiber, Sports Editor
October 27, 2017
Oberlin’s second installment of a workshop series sponsored by the StudiOC Sports, Culture, and Society course cluster took place Monday, in an attempt to advance the ongoing conversation about the social gap between athletes and non-athletes that divides the campus. Monday’s workshop, entitled “Hate Sports? We Want to Hear About It” and organized by English Professor Yago Colás, aimed to build off the foundation laid by the first workshop, which took place Sept. 25.
Between this week’s and September’s workshops, the panel format changed. While last month’s workshop featured a panel discussion of four Oberlin varsity coaches — facilitated by Colás himself — Monday’s workshop was instead designed t...
Julie Schreiber, Sports Editor
October 6, 2017
Lindsey Vonn, the most decorated professional female skier in history, faces the toughest challenge in her legendary 15-year career this fall. In addition to preparing for the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Vonn recently issued her third official proposal to the International Ski Federation, known as the FIS, to race against men.
While Vonn’s 2012 and 2017 bids were denied, the ski federation is meeting her last push with significantly less resistance.
She said in an interview with Refinery29 that she first seized on the idea to race against men during her 2011 training.
“All my training times were right there with the best male skier in the World Cup,” she said. “And I thought...
Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor
September 29, 2017
Just three weeks into the Fantasy Football regular season, nearly all expert pre-draft predictions are absolutely meaningless and most teams look like a dumpster fire. David Johnson, the consensus number-one overall pick this August, injured his wrist in week two, rendering him useless for half the season, and the supposed Chicago Bears stud starting running back Jordan Howard has all but lost his starting job to fourth round rookie Tarik Cohen. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg in all of the mayhem that is Fantasy Football.
Now may seem like a good time to just mail it in for the rest of the season — I’m considering doing it in one of my three leagues — but don’t give up yet. If there’s two certai...
Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor
September 29, 2017
Before the start of the San Francisco 49ers’ first preseason game of 2016 against the Houston Texans, second-string quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to stay on the bench. Most people did not notice, as he was far enough down in the depth-chart that he did not even suit up for the game. However, it was the start of his now-infamous national anthem protest that has the whole league kneeling, and somehow, the more people that partake, the further away the protest gets from its original goal.
It was not until his third preseason game last year, on Aug. 26, that people began to notice that he was sitting for the anthem. When asked about it after the game, he said he sat because of police brutality and the oppression of...
Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor
September 22, 2017
The College of Wooster’s Clayton Geib, a senior Chemistry major, All-Conference lineman, and two-time North Coast Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll member, passed away this past Monday. The 21-yearold native of London, Ohio, walked off the field during Saturday’s football game against Ohio Wesleyan University claiming he did not feel well. According to 10TV.com, he started cramping and hyperventilating in the locker room before being rushed to the hospital — by Sunday, he had no brain activity. An official cause of death has not been reported at this time.
In wake of the tragedy, The College of Wooster will put “72,” Geib’s number, in the end zone for him and has set up a support center for his te...
Julie Schreiber, Sports Editor
September 22, 2017
The 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea are just months away, and it remains to be seen whether athletes from team Russia will be allowed to compete.
As the February start date approaches, many Russian athletes are still caught in the crossfire of a major years-long doping scandal that involved both the usage of performance-enhancing drugs and the tampering with of urine samples for drug tests. Although final decisions from the International Olympic Committee remain to be delivered, it is in the best interests of the IOC to ban all of the Russian team from the 2018 Olympics in order to preserve the standards and integrity of the Olympic Games.
The issue of Russian doping first came to light after...
Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor
September 15, 2017
The Golden State Warriors inked yet another eight-figure contract this week that will completely reshape the NBA. Instead of adding another MVP to their roster, however, the reigning world champions signed a deal to let Rakuten, a major Japanese tech company, advertise on their jerseys. The three-year, $60-million agreement is the latest and largest in the NBA’s decision to let teams put ads on their jerseys. This move by the NBA shows how corporate sponsorships are taking yet another step in defining the way we experience sports.
Rakuten is not new to the sports world, as it signed a similar contract with soccer powerhouse FC Barcelona last November. Its soccer deal was much more lucrative, totaling at $262 million...
Julie Schreiber, Sports Editor
September 8, 2017
A concussion crisis is consuming the game of football at every level, from pop-warner to professional nationwide. Football has suffered a major loss of support over the past few years, as disturbing information about the sport’s long-term traumatic effects on the brain has come to light. This decline in support, however, is not due to a drop in fans of professional football. The true threat to the future of football is the loss in youth participation, with parents becoming increasingly eager to pull their children out of the game.
Participation in youth football is decreasing across the nation at exponential rates. In the past five years, Michigan has lost 57 high school football teams, California, 28, and Missouri, 2...
Alex McNicoll, Sports Editor
September 1, 2017
Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Conor McGregor’s celebrity showdown was the peak of a rapidly-changing boxing culture that is selling the sweet science for as much cash as it can. With a pay-per-view cost of $99.95, the fight, which could hardly be called a boxing match, pulled in over $400 million on TV revenue alone.
Boxing has always earned the most money from the most outspoken and polarizing athletes in the sports world. From Muhammad Ali’s biting poems to Mike Tyson’s vicious bite of Evander Holyfield’s ear in the ring, no fan ever really knows what to expect when they pay to watch a fight, and that might just be the reason they pay so much. However, in all of boxing, no one has embraced the money as m...
September 1, 2017
As Philips gym renovations continue, members of the Athletics Department are confident that the project’s disruptions will ultimately be a worthwhile investment for the campus. The $13 million project, according to Delta Lodge Director of Athletics Natalie Winkelfoos, will benefit both sports teams and non-athletes.
“[It’s going to be a space] where people can start to build more community,” Winkelfoos said. “There’s going to be a lounge where people can [convene] in really cool ways a...
James Cato, Contributing Writer
September 1, 2017
Editor’s Note: This article contains mentions of intimate partner violence.
The NFL took a step in the right direction with its six-game suspension of sensational second-year running back Ezekiel Elliott. As a league fraught with player discipline controversy, the NFL needed to make a statement when its brightest young star, and arguably the best running back in the league, broke the new personal conduct policy.
Elliott plays for the Dallas Cowboys, dubbed “America’s team,” with its rich history of five Super Bowls, countless Hall of Fame talents, and maverick owner Jerry Jones. Elliott is a money-making machine. The NFL headed into last season with several controversies, such as “Deflategate” and growing con...
