Recent Posts

• The Clash of the Fans: Mason Competes with VCU in the Facebook Face-Off

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 6:24 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Already one of the largest universities in the state of Virginia and the school with the largest attendance in the Colonial Athletic Association at the men’s basketball games, George Mason University has renewed its competitive rivalry with Virginia Commonwealth University to a whole new level: to obtain the most new Facebook fans. In a span of 22 days, the two schools will partake in the first-ever Facebook Face-Off, a contest to bring in the most new fans. The contest, which began at noon last Tuesday, will conclude at the same time on Saturday, Feb. 9. The winning school will be revealed at halftime during the men’s basketball game between Mason and VCU. The idea for the Facebook Face-Off originated from a contest between Louisiana State University and Texas A&M University for football, which led to Tammy Berwanger, the project manager in the VCU Department of Marketing, introducing the competition in the CAA last November. Both schools got on board with the contest. “Late last year, someone from the marketing department at VCU contacted us about it,” said Tara Laskowski, manager in the Office of Media and Public Relations. “They’ve been doing work in social media […]

   

• Offense Comes Alive: Long Logs in Another Career High

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 6:23 pm 2 comments

  Yasin Jama, Staff Writer The men’s basketball team continued its hot streak in conference play this past Tuesday in Hempstead, N.Y., defeating the Hofstra Pride 90-72. Mason (12-7, 7-1) extended its win streak to four games and won its second straight road game. The team won its fifth straight against the Pride (9-11, 2-6). Junior guard Cam Long led the Patriots with a career-high 27 points and seven assists, shooting 9-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. In his last game, Long matched his career high of 24 points. Mason also received key contributions from the three sophomores on the team. Scoring in double figures were forwards Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison with 19 points and 10, respectively, and guard Andre Cornelius with 18. Pearson nearly recorded his second double-double of the season, falling one rebound shy. Mason started the contest red hot from the floor, similar to last weekend’s game against the James Madison Dukes. On Tuesday night, Mason shot 46.7 percent from the field, including 6-of-10 from 3-point range. Mason closed the first half with a 13-6 run to hold a 38-30 lead. Mason never trailed in the second half, building their lead as much as […]

   

• MLB Best and Worst Signings and Trades II

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 6:20 pm Comments are Disabled

  Chris DeMarco, Staff Writer Blue Jay Flies South Roy Halladay is considered to be one of the best pitchers in baseball over the last decade. Many top-tier teams were in hot pursuit of his services at the trading deadline last season, but no one could seem to match the ridiculous asking price that then-Toronto Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Riccardi was asking in return. One of those teams in pursuit of Halladay was the then-defending champs Philadelphia Phillies. The Blue Jays were asking the Phillies to give up their top prospects, and the Phillies initially balked at the idea and turned to the Cleveland Indians, landing Cliff Lee in what was considered to be the top move of last season. Since contract negotiations stalled with Lee, the Phillies finally made the deal for Halladay happen by sending top prospects Kyle Drabek and Michael Taylor to the Blue Jays. The Phillies immediately agreed on a three-year, $60 million extension with Halladay. This move marked the second big deal since July in which the Phillies landed a former Cy Young-winning pitcher. This was one of many moves the Phillies needed to make to remain the top team in the National League. With […]

   

• MLB Best and Worst Signings and Trades

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 6:18 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor It Takes Two to Close After exhibiting a reluctance to spend money last offseason, many teams have taken a different route this winter, signing relief pitchers – not even the premium guys – to multi-year contracts. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim signing Fernando Rodney for two years and $11 million to consolidate the back-end of the bullpen poses a challenge for Brian Fuentes. Despite picking up a career-high and major league-leading 48 saves, Fuentes blew seven save opportunities and had his lowest strikeout rate in his career. The Rodney acquisition may signify the Angels’ distrust in Fuentes holding the closer incumbency without a little competition. With the Detroit Tigers last season, Rodney converted 37 of 38 saves. Known for his mid-90s gas, Rodney saw his groundball rate swell to 57.9 percent with his effective changeup. Yet, in spite of the positive aspects from 2009, Rodney still struggled with his control. He walked 4.88 batters per nine innings (BB/9), an improvement from 6.69 BB/9 in 2008, but in addition to a plunge in his strikeout rate, his strikeout-to-walk ratio actually decreased as well. Rodney’s role for 2010 is undetermined since Fuentes will likely reprise his […]

   

• New Faces, New Impact

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 6:16 pm Comments are Disabled

  Fernanda Bartels, Staff Writer The men’s volleyball team started their season last Saturday against Lees-McRae College. The Patriots finished last season with a 14-16 overall record and a 5-7 conference record. With new faces and a changed lineup, the team looks to be as strong as ever. “We are going to be a more evenly balanced team than we were last year,” said Head Coach Fred Chao. “We won’t be necessarily as big, especially in our outside hitter’s slots, but I think the quality of the volleyball players that we are going to have in those positions is going to be very good.” Senior outside hitter Luke Maloney and junior outside hitter and libero Eric Lucas are key players on the court. “[Maloney and Lucas] are our best overall volleyball players,” said Chao. “We are going to need them on the court on whatever capacity” said Chao. Lucas switched his position from libero to outside hitter for this season. He was the starting libero last season, leading the team with 309 digs, the highest single-season total in school history and the second-best total of all time. After having a great season in 2009, Maloney enters his last season at Mason. […]

   

• Gateway to Fame: Steroid Users in Jeopardy

  Sports February 2, 2010 at 6:13 pm Comments are Disabled

  Chris DeMarco, Staff Writer The past decade of baseball has been deemed the “Steroids Era” of the game. Over the past four years, the game’s writers have had a very difficult decision to make in regards to one of the faces of that era. Four years ago, Mark McGwire became eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was unable to receive the required 75 percent, getting around 23 percent each year. This begs the question: should those who have taken steroids deserve to be elected into the Hall of Fame? I believe so, and numerous other respectable writers in the game believe so as well. For as long as I have followed baseball, steroids seemed to have been involved in the game. In the case of McGwire, he took steroids that were deemed “legal” and took them during a time in baseball in which drug testing was not mandatory. Steroids do not always make you hit the baseball better or help you play in the field. They do not enhance your hand-eye coordination, which many argue that the most important skill needed to be successful in the game. All they do is make you bigger and buffer. […]

   

• College: Worth the Risk? Debt with a College Degree

  Editorials January 22, 2010 at 12:47 pm Comments are Disabled

  Justin Lalputan, Staff Writer I sat down on Saturday night with my father the week before spring semester and we weighed our options for sending me back to college. My total bill came up to $8,012, not including books. We looked at our bank accounts and decided that the best option would be to take out a loan, and my father jokingly told me, “You better get a good job and pay this back.” I laughed, but his words echoed in my head, and they haven’t left yet, because, honestly, there is no guarantee that I will be able to pay off this loan anytime soon. Let’s say that each semester I borrow $8,000. I’m a freshman, so by the time I’m finished with my senior year, I will be $56,000 in debt, not including interest. Then I have to get a job and start paying off the mountain of debt in front of me, while handling bills and other everyday necessities. This is a pretty extreme example – obviously I can work off some of my debt while I’m in college, but unless I win the lottery, I’m going to be faced with a large amount of debt in […]

   

• 'Climategate' Shows Hypocrisy: Is Global Warming Evidence Mostly Fabricated?

  Editorials January 22, 2010 at 12:07 pm 6 comments

  Alan Moore, Broadside Correspondent In November 2009, the University of East Anglia’s Hadley Climate Research Unit (CRU) was caught red-handed fabricating data on climate change. Phil Jones, the head of the CRU, which purportedly consists of some of the pre-eminent climatologists in the world, has resigned in shame. Michael Mann, a Penn State University climatologist who is also at the heart of this collusion, is under investigation. This false data was used by climatologists all over the world to justify anthropogenic, or caused by man, global warming. The ramifications of this scandal, unimaginatively dubbed, “climategate” by the press, have sent shockwaves through the debate on climate change. On the same front, NASA is being sued for allegedly manufacturing data on anthropogenic global warming after officially changing their opinion of 1934 being the hottest year on record to 1998 without providing a shred of evidence. The effects of this travesty are reaching all corners of the globe. India is refusing to go forward with spending their time and treasure to combat this falsehood. Australia has stood against the eco-radical agenda by shooting down a climate change bill similar to the cap-and-trade monstrosity currently being considered in Congress. And absolutely nothing binding […]

   

• It's Never about the Weather- Anandraj Singh

  Editorials January 22, 2010 at 12:05 pm 1 comment

  It’s Never about the Weather WORD COUNT 1127 BY: ANANDRAJ SINGH Discussing anything even remotely related to climate change these days is a frustrating endeavor. If it’s not someone shouting “the weather’s getting colder, so what the scientists say must be wrong!” or “It’s all just a conspiracy!” or some other epitaph of hatred, it’s always a question about what one can do and how things are either being done out of proportion or not being done enough. The lack of consensus on the issue alone is a sore selling point – as is the frustrating branding and marketing of it by both those against and for it. Those against it rail that it’s a conspiracy, those that are for it either focus too much on condemning the former group or not enough time to properly explain it to the common man. What both groups fail to realize though, is that this entire affair with climate change is not about the weather. It’s not about how cold, hot, wet, dry and such it is where you are – which is kind of ironic given the name. It isn’t even about the economy or such. The entire affair boils down to […]

   

• Let’s Not Forget the Frontiers, Gentlemen: The Drive for Outer Space Exploration Has Diminished

  Editorials January 22, 2010 at 12:04 pm Comments are Disabled

  Anandraj Singh, Broadside Correspondent Of the activities I took part in during the first two weeks of 2010, none were quite as depressing as watching some of the old, classic science-fiction movies, ranging from 2001: A Space Odyssey to even the Back to the Future trilogy. It’s 2010 already – why have we had so few footprints on the moon? Why is there not a single one on Mars yet? What happened to the dreams that people like Arthur C. Clarke had – dreams of being in outer space in more than just an incomplete station that will function only another five years at best, unless it gets a shot in the arm? It seems that people – not just here, but all over Earth – appear to have grown a bit sedentary when it comes to exploring beyond our tiny little ball of dirt. Sure, we have many interesting missions coming up later this decade – from the James Webb Space Telescope, to the many unmanned Mars exploration missions that are in the planning stages. However, at the end of the day one has to realize that these missions, while incredibly vital and important, are really only lip service […]