Recent Posts

• Powell's Playbook: Anyone's Game

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:45 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor So Mason’s loss may just come back to bite them. They had a shot at Northeastern on Saturday, but the late foul by Ryan Pearson may have cost the Patriots the game. It was one of the lowest-scoring contests I’ve ever witnessed. No doubt it was because of the referees’ tendency to allow contact everywhere — on offense and defense, on shooting and dribbling — without blowing the whistle. I don’t blame Ryan for the contact. First of all, on a fast play like that, it is, as Coach Larranaga said, “a mad scramble.” Second of all, the referees had not been calling many shooting fouls on the Patriots; Northeastern only shot eight free throws the entire game. Finally, Chaisson Allen made a good play. Instead of attempting to drive to the basket with under a second to go, he pulled up for the trey, probably hoping to make it or get fouled like he did. Ryan should have figured the referees game-calling out by that point. There were only two Patriots with more than one personal foul: Luke Hancock with two and Pearson with four. The referees may have just had an eye out […]

   

• Previewing the Field

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:43 pm Comments are Disabled

  Cody Norman, Staff Writer The Old Dominion Monarchs clinched their first regular season title since the 2004-05 season with a win over the VCU Rams on Saturday afternoon. After Northeastern Huskies’ close victory over the George Mason Patriots, the Huskies have secured the number two seed heading into this weekend’s Colonial Athletic Association Tournament. The Patriots and William & Mary Tribe claim the final two first round byes. The tournament will be held in Richmond from Mar. 5-8. The Top Four: The Monarchs concluded their 2009-10 regular season campaign with a tough win over the VCU Rams. Much of their success this season has come due to an impressive +7.8 rebounds margin per night as well as a league-best 15.6 assists per game. They are led by senior forward Gerald Lee, who is posting more than 14 points and five rebounds per night. Lee recorded 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting on Saturday evening to lead all scorers and give his team a momentum-shifting win heading into the conference tournament. Junior forward Frank Hassell averages 8.7 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds for the Monarchs. Old Dominion has won five of their last six matchups heading into the postseason. The Huskies […]

   

• Patriots Clip Blue Hens 61-59

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:42 pm Comments are Disabled

  Cody Norman, Staff Writer The night was plagued by extremely poor free throw shooting and a stagnant offense, but outstanding defense down the stretch allowed the George Mason University men’s basketball team (17-12, 12-5) to outlast the Delaware Blue Hens (7-22, 3-14) on Wednesday night. After trailing for much of the first half, the Patriots used a 9-0 second half run to upstage their Colonial Athletic Association opponent in a thrilling 61-59 victory. Sophomore guard Andre Cornelius made four of seven 3-point attempts for 16 points, and junior guard Cam Long followed up with 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Freshmen reserves Sherrod Wright and Luke Hancock continued their strong play and contributed a solid effort in the contest. Wright shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the field to chip in 10 points in the winning effort. Hancock added nine points, four rebounds and four assists. Despite shooting 55.6 percent in the first half, the Patriots trailed 38-32 at halftime after committing 10 turnovers. In the second half, Mason shot just 32 percent from the field and made 11-of-20 free throws, but ended up outscoring the Blue Hens 29-21 in the latter half. The defense stepped up in the second […]

   

• Team America Strikes Again: Americans Conclude Winter Olympics with 37 Medals

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:40 pm Comments are Disabled

  Jerry Holy, Broadside Correspondent Four years after Torino in 2006, the world turned its attention to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for the 21st Winter Olympic Games. Vancouver witnessed many triumphs, defeats, successes, disappointments and redemptions. The United States currently leads the medal count at 37 medals, seven medals in front of Germany. This year’s Olympics started with a tragedy. The death of 21-year old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili on the luge track was a sad moment for everyone. A moment of silence was held in honor of Kumaritashvili during the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 12th, where his fellow Georgian athletes wore black in remembrance. In spite of this tragedy, each Georgian athlete went on to compete in their events, and the Games began. Team USA got the early lead in the medal count when Apolo Anton Ohno and teammate J.R. Celski took the silver and bronze medals in the men’s 1500-meter short track event. Ohno went on to win the bronze medal in the men’s 1000-meter short track, making him the most decorated USA short-track skater. On the same day, Hannah Kearney and Shannon Bahrke won the gold and bronze medals in the women’s moguls event. Kearney, the favorite to […]

   

• Mason Edges Pride in Five Sets

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:39 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Staff Writer Prior to Thursday’s match at Springfield College, the George Mason University men’s volleyball team took on the Springfield Pride at the RAC and were unable to come up with a win in their three-game homestand. The Patriots (4-6, 2-2) started the match with a 2-0 lead and held on in five sets against the Pride (8-5, 2-3), winning with a score of 30-28, 31-29, 22-30, 27-30, 15-13. Mason had an extremely strong first set, recording 21 kills and a .436 hitting percentage. The Patriots rallied from being down 18-13 and 24-20 to force a deadlock tie at 24-all. Springfield regained the lead at 28-26, but Mason closed out the set with four consecutive points. The team continued its early success with another exceptional performance in the second set. As a team, the Patriots hit .500 with 18 kills and just two attack errors. However, the Pride roared back from the two-set deficit with 19 kills in the third set and 16 kills in the fourth for .516 and .325 hitting percentages, respectively. While the opposition struggled to score points off kills in the fifth set, Mason gave up seven unforced errors that kept the Pride […]

   

• Run, Kimmy, Run: The New Track & Field Metric: Moss Per Hour

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:38 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor On your mark, get set, go! For junior Kimmy Moss, a member of the women’s soccer team and track team, the world, in a continuous motion, features dynamic characteristics. While her athleticism is vastly beneficial to her success, Moss’ ability to adjust and turn the corner from start to finish has been equally vital in her role as a two-sport athlete. Moss, a tri-sport athlete when she attended Broad Run High School, was named to the first-team All-Met, All-State, All-District and All-Region in her junior and senior seasons and garnered District Player of the Year honors in her junior year while amassing 12 goals and 47 assists in her four years with the Spartans. Moss came to George Mason University looking for the opportunity in soccer to be part of a competitive team and to contribute individually. “I definitely wanted to play Division I soccer, but [since Mason is] not at the bottom and not necessarily at the top tier like the ACC teams, I knew coming in I could play and be an immediate impact,” said Moss. In her first year with Mason, Moss started three of her 14 appearances and managed only three […]

   

• Reluctant Refereeing: Game Light on Fouls until End as Huskies Top Patriots

  Sports March 1, 2010 at 2:36 pm Comments are Disabled

  Cody Norman, Staff Writer After 18 consecutive Colonial Athletic Association victories at the Patriot Center, the George Mason Patriots men’s basketball team dropped their third straight home game on Saturday afternoon in a nail-biting 50-48 finish to the Northeastern Huskies. The Patriots conclude the regular season with a 17-13 overall record and a 12-6 conference record, while the Huskies improved to 19-11 overall and 14-4 in the CAA. Mason held a slim 48-45 advantage with 25 seconds left to play when senior guard Matt Janning canned a deep range 3-pointer to knot the game at 48. The Patriots held the ball at the top of the key as the clock wound down before freshman forward Luke Hancock made a strong move toward the rim. Hancock’s shot rimmed out and a missed dunk attempt by sophomore Mike Morrison allowed Northeastern one last desperation heave with five seconds to go. Junior Chaisson Allen pulled up short of the 3-point line and drew a questionable foul call on Patriots’ sophomore forward Ryan Pearson. Allen knocked down two of three free throws with less than one second to go to seal the deal for the Huskies. “I thought we did everything we needed to […]

   

• No Seats for the Obese? In Some Cases, Passengers Should Purchase Two Seats

  Editorials March 1, 2010 at 2:34 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Lalputan, Staff Writer Obesity is a problem that many Americans face today. However, the other day, I heard a story about famed director Kevin Smith, who is widely known for his role as Silent Bob in the Clerks films, being removed from a Southwest Airlines flight because he was too fat to fit into a seat. At first this astounded me; I never knew someone could actually be kicked off a flight due to body size. So I did more research on the story and learned that he was not ejected due only to his weight, but also because the flight was at capacity, he didn’t have the option to purchase an additional seat. I researched the matter further and discovered that this is not only a common problem for airlines, but also for movie theaters. It seems that larger airline passengers and moviegoers alike are sometimes required to buy an extra seat to accomodate their size. My first reaction was that this was ridiculous. How can someone be discriminated against just because of their size? On top of that, I’ve also read that, in some cases, people cannot help being obese, but that is another story entirely. Then […]

   

• A Student’s Lessons Learned: Finding Wisdom From Past Mistakes

  Editorials March 1, 2010 at 2:32 pm Comments are Disabled

  Stephanie Tran, Staff Writer It all started with the required reading book Walden Two written by psychologist B. F. Skinner. The book described an idyllic, utopian commune that flourishes in post-World War II America, in a community where the subject of History is not taught. When the founder, Frazier, is confronted with this fact, he replies that history has no use, because it is full of mistakes and human recording error. His conclusion is that there is nothing to learn from the past when one can study and modify behavior in the present and future. Nothing to learn from the past? As a wise person once said, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” Just a quick glance at the current economy, the Great Depression and a trip to Google indicates that the U.S., like other capitalistic countries, seems to follow a cycle of economic growth and decay, otherwise known as the 50-60 year-long Kondratiev Wave. While the person who coined the term, Nikolai Kondratiev, is often mocked for his theory, it still successfully predicted the Great Depression of the 1930s and seemed to describe the U.S. economy in November 2008. You could also look […]

   

• Rebuttal to Climategate Response: Bring It On: ‘Debate on the Hypocrisy of Anthropogenic Global Warming’

  Editorials March 1, 2010 at 2:30 pm Comments are Disabled

  Alan Moore, Staff Writer Apparently, there are still a minor few out there who drink the climate change alarmist Kool-Aid. While people like George Mason University Sustainability Assistant Colin Bennett and seemingly the entire Office of Sustainability would prefer to mudsling, I am happy to level some truth. I’m thrilled to report that support for this eco-radical farce is dwindling and that the lies are being exposed. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, recently came under attack by one of its former lead supporters, John Christy, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. “The temperature records,” Christy insists, “cannot be relied on as indicators of global change.” IPCC then asked Professor Ross McKitrick of the University of Guelph in Canada to formally review its latest report. “We concluded,” said McKitrick in his review, “with overwhelming statistical significance, that the IPCC’s climate data are contaminated with surface effects from industrialization and data quality problems. These add up to a large warming bias.” In other words, the IPCC scientists lied, much like Mr. Bennett has done. I understand why Mr. Bennett is upset that I called for his office to be eliminated. I also understand […]