Sports

• Better Watch Out, Your Redskins Might Sue You: Economy Hits Redskins Season Ticketholders

  Sports September 14, 2009 at 12:13 pm Comments are Disabled

  Chris DeMarco, Staff Writer For someone who already despises the Washington Redskins, like myself, they will have another reason to dislike the Redskins and owner Daniel Snyder. Everyone in the sports world knows that Snyder was a horrible owner, but now we find out he has no heart. Over the last two years, the economy has gone from bad to worse, and we all have felt the repercussions in big ways. Apparently, there are some Redskins season tickets holders, who pay a ridiculous sum of money in the first place, and now they find out because of the bad economy, they can no longer pay for the season tickets. They try to back out of their lengthy contracts with the team and end up getting sued. In most cases, these fans are being court ordered to pay more than two times the amount they were paying in the first place. In The Washington Post’s two-part story, we see certain circumstances in which the financial burden cripples them. A grandmother, who backed out of the agreement due to financial reasons, was ordered by the court to pay close to $66,000 and is close to bankruptcy. It is completely despicable. Why are […]

   

• In My Own Words: The Pilot, The Life of a Mason Student Athlete

  Sports September 14, 2009 at 12:12 pm Comments are Disabled

  Fernanda Bartels, Broadside Correspondent Being a student-athlete is not easy. We have to work our classes and homework around practice, weight lifting, team duties, rehabilitation, icing, stretching and a to-do list that never seems to end. When I finally take a breath, I used to start questioning myself: Why do I spend all my time and energy playing volleyball? The answer came to me a few years ago during a match. One of my teammates hit an incredible ball crosscourt on an angle that I thought was impossible to be reached. We got the point. I looked at her and she had a delightful smile on her face. All my teammates were celebrating like there was nothing better in the world than that point. The feeling that I had that day was worth all the hard work, the sweat left on the court and the hours dedicated to volleyball. On that play, I realized that I practice for those moments. Another situation during this season reminded me of the reason why I play volleyball. In our first match of the season against American University in the D.C. Volleyball Challenge, our head coach Pat Kendrick spoke to us before the game, […]

   

• Bringing the High Heat and Heavy Metal

  Sports September 14, 2009 at 12:10 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Two years ago, baseball writer for ESPN Insider Jerry Crasnick argued that the best closer debacle was between J.J. Putz, formerly of the Seattle Mariners, and current Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. Closers are known for two things: saves and heavy metal music. They have a reputation of instilling fear in opposing batters. The ideology behind winning ball games seems to be that teams must find reliable closers, ones that have the mentality of pitching in the ninth inning and ending games with a handshake with their catchers. Trevor Hoffman, who pitched with the San Diego Padres, Florida Marlins, and Milwaukee Brewers, and New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera are currently the only two players to have reached the 500-save club. Yet, most of today’s current closers did not originally start their careers picking up saves. Many pitchers became closers after converting from a starter. Rivera was one of them. Joe Nathan of the Minnesota Twins earned his first save as a member of the San Francisco Giants in 1999. Nathan did not get his second save until 2004, a year after he was traded to the Twins. By then, he was already a […]

   

• Friday's Forecast: Women’s Soccer vs. Long Island Blackbirds

  Sports September 14, 2009 at 12:09 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Overview: The women’s soccer team returns to the pitch on Friday to take on the Long Island Blackbirds. George Mason University opened the 2009 season with three wins, their first 3-0 start since 1993, but dropped their first game against the Pennsylvania Quakers. Mason is 2-0 at home so far this season. Mason: The team is led by senior forward Kelly Keelan, who has two goals and two assists entering this past weekend’s two games in Williamsburg. Although she spent part of the season as the goalkeeper, Keelan led Mason with seven goals and 14 points last season. This season, she has fully committed herself as an offensive player. Redshirt junior midfielder Omolyn Davis is off to a good start with a team-leading three goals. Davis transferred from Lindsey Wilson College, located in Kentucky, and sat out last season due to NCAA regulations. Freshman forward Tiana Kallenberger will be one of the key pieces to Mason’s future. Long Island: The Blackbirds started the season 4-0 and have yet to allow a goal from the opponents. The Blackbirds defeated the San Francisco Dons and San Jose State Spartans to capture the University of San Francisco Odwalla […]

   

• Mason Downs Retrievers in Straight Sets

  Sports September 14, 2009 at 12:09 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Assistant Sports Editor Coming off a three-match sweep in the Patriot Invitational, the women’s volleyball team showed that their early season success was no fluke. On Wednesday night, George Mason University traveled to Catonsville, Md. and dismantled the UMBC Retrievers 25-18, 25-21, 25-15. Mason’s success came down to two players: sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bohman and junior middle blocker and opposite hitter Holly Goode. Bohman was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. She has already tied the school single-match block total, accomplishing the feat by making 11 total blocks against Cornell in the Patriot Invitational. In addition to the CAA weekly recognition, she was named the Best Hitter of the Patriot Invitational. Bohman continued her defensive hot streak Friday night by recording a team high four blocks for the game. In addition, she bolstered the team’s attack column by registering an attack percent of .571. This was accomplished by smashing four kills without making an error. Goode compiled 12 kills over the game, making the best of the 23 chances she had during the night. Most notably, she was responsible for garnering 15 of Mason’s total 53 points during the match. Former CAA All-Rookie […]

   

• Minor League Report

  Sports September 14, 2009 at 12:08 pm Comments are Disabled

  Tim Blank, Broadside Correspondent Former George Mason University pitcher Mike Modica had a rough outing this past Monday. Pitching for the Class-A Tri-City Valley Cats, Modica, an 11-game winner for Mason last year, pitched two innings and recorded two strikeouts, but gave up two hits and an error in the 4-2 loss to the Aberdeen Ironbirds. Pitcher Shawn Griffith is putting up some good outings for the Class-A Auburn Doubledays after being called up last week. In his 23 appearances, Griffith, an electric relief pitcher, is 2-2, with a 0.60 ERA. In his recent outing against the Jamestown Jammers on Monday, Griffith pitched two innings and recorded a strikeout while giving up a hit and a walk. Jordan Flasher of the Class-A Lowell Spinners could not ask for a better start to his minor league career. He is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and has 13 strikeouts to go with eight walks. First baseman Justin Bour is currently batting .267 with four home runs and 23 RBIs for the Class-A Boise Hawks. Finally, Mason’s single-season and all-time home run leader Scott Krieger continues his stellar performance for the Helena Brewers in rookie league. Krieger has a .251 batting average with […]

   

• Strive for Five

  Sports September 11, 2009 at 11:59 am Comments are Disabled

  Mason’s women’s volleyball team extended their winning streak to five games after defeating the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this morning in four sets. Mason dropped the first set 25-23, but rebounded with a 27-25 second-set victory. Mason manhandled the Scarlet Knights in third set, 25-12. Senior outside hitter Rebecca Walter led all players with 17 kills and committed just one error to post an outstanding .457 attack percentage. Mason is scheduled to play against the Xavier Musketeers at 5 p.m.

   

• Bohman's Block Party

  Sports September 9, 2009 at 12:20 am Comments are Disabled

  Sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bohman was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week after registering 22 blocks in four matches last week. Bohman recorded three solo blocks against the Kent State Golden Flashes and added 11 blocks, most from an individual Mason player this season, in the win against the Cornell Big Red. She leads the CAA with 1.41 blocks per set. Bohman has also been a key offensive contributor, currently ranked third on the team with 50 kills. Last season, Mason was 2-5 through seven matches. Bohman, the defensive specialist, and Mason look to prolong their surprising 5-2 start as they take on the UMBC Retrievers tomorrow.

   

• Quick Hits

  Sports September 7, 2009 at 9:11 am Comments are Disabled

  The men’s soccer team finished in second place in the D.C. College Cup. Mason opened the season with a thrilling 2-1 win over the Howard Bison. Junior forward Parker Walton broke the 1-1 tie with an 86th minute goal. In the final, Mason fell 2-1 to the American Eagles. Sophomore forward Draymond Washington tallied Mason’s lone goal. The women’s soccer team dropped their first game in their 2009 campaign, losing 3-1 to the Pennsylvania Quakers. Mason opened the season 3-0 for the first time since the 1993 season. Senior forward Theresa DeLucca cut Penn’s lead in half in the 54th minute, but Marin McDermott scored Penn’s insurance goal five minutes later. The women’s volleyball team hosted the Patriot Invitational this past weekend and took the title home with a clean sweep in the tournament. The ladies had an incredible rally after being down by two sets and match point against the Kent State Golden Flashes on Friday. Mason won each of their final two matches in four sets. Junior setter Fernanda Bartels and freshman outside hitter/right side Ran Yin were named to the All-Tournament Team while sophomore middle blocker Kelsey Bohman was honored Best Hitter in the two-day event. The […]

   

• The American Dream

  Sports September 5, 2009 at 11:17 pm Comments are Disabled

  Midfielder Daniel Shannon found the back of the net twice as the American Eagles held off the Mason men’s soccer team 2-1 in the D.C. College Cup final. Sophomore forward Draymond Washington scored Mason’s lone goal in the 87th minute, but it was a little too late for Mason (1-1) to extend the game into overtime. Senior goalkeeper Sean Kelley recorded five saves. Washington, along with junior forward Parker Walton, who scored the game-winning goal on Wednesday night’s thriller against the Howard Bison, and freshman defender Ryan Reichmann was named to the All-Tournament Team. Mason will head down to Columbia, S.C. to participate in the adidas Gamecock Classic next week.