Recent Posts

• Double Feature: Conference Home Openers: Mason Hosts Conference Games This Weekend

  Sports October 1, 2009 at 1:59 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor George Mason University: The volleyball team has made a strong showing this year so far, coming back from a dismal season. Finishing their non-conference schedule, the Patriots went 11-4 before opening up their conference schedule. Mason took two of three matches at the West Virginia Invitational, before dropping the finale to the West Virginia Mountaineers. Mason won eight consecutive sets before dropping the last three to the Mountaineers. The win surge has come on the back of a staff writer and defensive specialist. Junior setter Fernanda Bartels earned the Co-Defensive Player of the Week award. This is the first weekly award of her career and the second Patriots’ award of the season. She was second on the team in digs and blocks in the West Virginia Invitational. The Brazilian recorded 36 digs, 11 blocks and 101 assists in the tournament. Bartels leads the CAA and is second in assists per set. Another defensive star is Kelsey Bohman who earned the Co-Defensive Player of the Week award two weeks before her teammate. The Patriots have tallied the most non-conference wins since their 1996 season and hoped to ride on the back of this recent success as […]

   

• Mason Lances Longwood: Kelley Holds Lancers Scoreless

  Sports October 1, 2009 at 1:56 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Asst. Sports Editor The George Mason Universitymen’s soccer team took on the Longwood Lancers Wednesday night. The Patriots recorded only one goal in the first half but a second-half offensive surge led to a 4-0 win. Going into the game, Longwood had only scored only one goal, for a record of 1-3-2, with two no-score tie games. On the opposite end, Mason entered the game with a 3-2 record, backed by senior goalkeeper Sean Kelley. In the first six minutes of the game, the Lancer sophomore goalkeeper Joel Helmick was injured and taken off the field after colliding with a Mason player. This set the tone for the game as many more players were taken off the field due to injuries from both teams throughout the game. Neither team showed any urgency to score during the first half, as each team took only four shots. Lancer freshman backup goalkeeper Ben Eanes managed one save, while letting one other ball through. Kelley, on the other hand, made two saves, not letting any pass him by. Coming back from last year’s season-ending injury, sophomore defender Eric Zuehsow took the ball from redshirt junior forward Irvin Martinez and knocked it in […]

   

• Phillies Look for Repetition: Phillies to Defend Last Season’s Title

  Sports October 1, 2009 at 1:55 pm Comments are Disabled

  Chris DeMarco, Staff Writer The New York Yankees accomplished a back-to-back World Series title in grand fashion: winning it three consecutive times from 1998 through 2000. Since then, no team has accomplished such a feat. The Philadelphia Phillies will have their shot this year. Last year, not even the die-hard Phillies’ fans expected to win the World Series. When they did, it was extremely bittersweet for all fans of Philadelphia sports teams. I would know, since I have been living and dying with Philly sports for 22 years, and I was ecstatic when they won. What really epitomizes the Phillies’ remarkable run is the support they receive from their fans. For example, my father jumped through the roof when Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske to win the World Series. My father has been a Phillies’ fan forever. After all the years of heartbreak, his reaction said it all. It had been too long, and now we expect it again. In order to keep Phillies’ fans happy, the Phillies have to do a couple things and hope that some things fall in their favor again. The biggest key to winning another title will ultimately hinge on the pitching of the […]

   

• The Goode Side of Hollyball: Junior Lives the Goode Life at Mason

  Sports October 1, 2009 at 1:53 pm 1 comment

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Junior middle blocker and opposite hitter Holly Goode claims that she was really bad when she first encountered volleyball in high school. Goode, who needed just two years of experience prior to joining the George Mason University women’s volleyball team, is finally at the breakout point of her career as a full-time starter. Entering the season’s conference opener, Goode led the team with 129 kills and a .312 attack percentage. Goode has been on a tear lately, recording double-digit kills in the past five matches. During that span, she averaged 3.15 kills per set and posted a .361 attack percentage. “Sometimes if I play well the first game with my hair a certain way, I will [have the routine to] do my hair that way [for upcoming games],” said Goode. Goode had a career-high 11 kills against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks last season. She already surpassed that total five times this season. Goode registered 17 kills in just the second match this season, a five-set thriller against the Georgetown Hoyas in the D.C. Volleyball Challenge. Goode, an exercise science major, arrived at the Fairfax campus two years ago and immediately fell in love with the campus. […]

   

• Leaving Out Lester: Southpaw Makes His Pitch for the Cy Young

  Sports October 1, 2009 at 1:52 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor Take the following blindfolded taste test: Pitcher A, valued at $23 million according to FanGraphs, posted a 16-6 record with a 3.21 ERA last season, and Pitcher B posted an 18-3 record with a 2.90 ERA, but was valued at $14.9 million. Which pitcher was considered for the AL Cy Young award last season? Unlike last year, Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester faces a stiffer competition this season. Dominating the AL, Kansas City Royals pitcher Zack Greinke is the frontrunner to win the award, the first for a Royals’ pitcher since David Cone won the Cy Young 15 years ago. Like Cone, who won in the shortened season due to the infamous strike, Greinke faces a situation in which the skeptical voters may reluctantly select a representative from the team that currently sits in the cellar of the league. I will avoid the Greinke discussion, which emerges in the media everyday, and rather provide an argument for Lester to be considered in this year’s ballot. This season it has been a complete turnaround in the wrong direction for Lester’s teammate Daisuke Matsuzaka, although he recently had one of his best outings since returning from […]

   

• In My Own Words: Visiting Some Old Friends

  Sports October 1, 2009 at 1:49 pm Comments are Disabled

  Fernanda Bartels, Staff Writer With conference games starting this weekend, the real competition begins now. I have been waiting for this time of the season since the beginning of August. We are at the point where we played enough games to become a cohesive unit, but we still have some adjustments to make. We have improved in fundamental aspects, but we are not playing our best yet. We overcame some tough opponents, but the most amazing victories have yet to come. There is no better time during the season than now. It has been exciting especially due to the fresh start this season. Even though we have been playing for over a month, I still have that cold feeling in my stomach when I step on the court for our first conference match. It’s amazing how that feeling doesn’t go away even after many years of volleyball. Besides the excitement of a first game, it is also good to play our rivals. There is a big difference between playing the James Madison University Dukes and the Wright State Raiders. In my collegiate career, I have played against Wright State once. My expectations for Wright State were based on the information […]

   

• To All You Freshmen Out There: Words of Advice From a Student Who Has Walked the Walk

  Editorials September 22, 2009 at 3:03 pm Comments are Disabled

  Ethan Vaughan, Staff Writer College is a strange place in many ways and in many more ways a strange time. In college, you’re independent of your parents for the first time—but still completely dependent on them, because they’re the ones paying your tuition even if they’re not rooming with you in the dorm to keep tabs on what you’re eating, who you’re hanging out with and whether you’re doing your schoolwork. In college, the freedom you yearned for in high school is finally reached, only to result in some things that you never would have wanted. Many college students feel the sting of the Freshmen 15, or, for the truly exceptional, the Freshmen 50. Late nights, bad food and gallons of caffeine leave you either jittery or sleep deprived, or a weird combination of both. Yet for the cramped quarters, the substandard dining and the sometimes-startling conditions of the shared bathrooms, you’re somehow having the best time of your life. Except when you’re not. College is also supposed to be when people blossom into themselves and meet the friends who they’ll be close with the rest of their lives. When that doesn’t pan out the way you thought it would, […]

   

• There's Room on My Enemies List: Understanding a Not-So-Understanding World

  Editorials September 22, 2009 at 3:02 pm Comments are Disabled

  Brandon Minster, Staff Writer I’ve made a few enemies in my life. I don’t keep a Nixonian list of them, but I could probably fill a half-sheet of paper. Most are former schoolmates or coworkers that I rubbed the wrong way. For instance, at one job I had an assignment that required me to work closely with a man I’ll call “James” (because that’s his name). We traveled together once a month. Every trip we’d reach a moment when I thought, “I wish he’d stop talking,” and with every trip that moment came earlier. Eventually I told him as much, and shortly afterwards our relationship became irreparably damaged when I said his favorite college basketball team received too-favorable a seeding in the NCAA tournament. Our last interaction was when he brought in root beer and ice cream, sent an e-mail to everyone else inviting them to his desk for floats, and sent an e-mail to me telling me why I wasn’t invited. James would definitely be on the half-sheet. Church enemies are a little trickier, because most churches advise against being a jerk to people, but that doesn’t mean church enemies don’t exist; they just turn to subterfuge. I used […]

   

• Kanye West’s Big Ego: An Artist’s Ultimate Party Foul at this Year’s VMA’s

  Editorials September 22, 2009 at 3:01 pm Comments are Disabled

  Sebastian Flores, Broadside Correspondent Kanye West is definitely looking back and saying . . . oops, my bad. The Video Music Awards are an awards show on MTV dedicated to recognizing the best music videos of the year.  The awards span from specifics like Best Rock, Pop and R&B video, to the more general, Best Video of the Year.  The VMAs are known to spark controversy and unforgettable moments like when Britney Spears and Madonna locked lips on stage in 2003. This year’s VMAs were no exception.  The adorable country star, Taylor Swift received the first of the evening for Best Female Video of the Year, a great honor for the young star beating out favorite nominees like Kelly Clarkson, Lady Ga Ga and Beyonce—but someone wasn’t very happy about that. During Swift’s acceptance speech for her first “Moon Man,” a bitter West rushed to the stage, stole the microphone from Swift’s little hands and arrogantly said, “Congratulations, Taylor, I’ll let you finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!”  Heartbroken, Swift was escorted off stage leaving everyone stunned, trying to replay in their minds what had just happened. West, the perfectionist at award show controversy, […]

   

• The Rise of Stadiums: Teams Look for Change in Scenery

  Sports September 22, 2009 at 2:58 pm Comments are Disabled

  John Powell, Assistant Sports Editor The last year has seen a gargantuan difference in stadium trends. Two $1 billion stadiums have been constructed. The world’s largest replay board was constructed not once, but twice for the same stadium. Two comparisons can be made: the billion-dollar budget baseball stadiums in New York and the differences in the two largest stadiums in the National Football League. The new Yankee Stadium has become the monument of the New York Yankees. The Steinbrenner philosophy, “This is the Yankees, everything has to be done first-rate,” is embodied in the $1.5 billion stadium. While many other ballparks have a relatively low seating capacity, the Yankees play in front of a stadium which accommodates 52,000 fans. The average ticket price has risen to $72.97, a 76 percent increase from 2008. There are seats for everyone’s price range. Tickets are only $5 for the obstructed view seats while the premium seats can go for up to $2,625 per game. 1,400 video monitors give fans the ultimate game experience, used for instant replays and delayed video for fans that get out of their seats for the concessions. The new Yankee Stadium is the most expensive ballpark in the game, […]