Tag: Editor’s Corner
Editor’s Corner
by The Cowl Editor on February 1, 2018
Professional Sports
Why the Celtics Will Make it to the Finals
By Jack Belanger ’21
Sports Co-Editor
Despite having multiple players suffer injuries and a tough stretch where they lost five out of six games, the Boston Celtics are where many expected them to be: first place in the Eastern Conference.
Even without star forward Gordon Hayward, Boston has dominated throughout this season which included a 16-game winning streak earlier in the year. This could be the year the Celtics finally climb over the wall that is the Cleveland Cavaliers, and make their first NBA finals appearance since 2010.
The Celtics’ defense has vastly improved from last year, which puts less pressure on them to score at a higher rate. Last year, Boston gave up 105.4 points per game, which was 15th best in the league, while this year they are giving up 98.8 point per game, the second best.
Last year, the gap between the Celtics and the top teams was much wider than this year. Last year Boston went 3-7 against teams with the top four records in the league, while this year they are currently 4-2.
And while the Celtics finished ahead of Cleveland last year in the Eastern conference, the Cavaliers dominated Boston, winning three out of four games during the season and outscoring them by an average of 7.8 points. This year, Boston has gone 1-1 against Cleveland, scoring an average of 100.5 points, while Cleveland has averaged 95 points.
While the Celtics themselves have improved this season, a big part of why they have a good chance to make it to the finals is that Cleveland has gotten worse. The Cavs have been surrounded with turmoil this year and have regressed from last season as they sit in third place; five and a half games behind Boston.
In a discussion with Sam Coella ’19, he said that last year when Boston played Cleveland in the playoffs, the Cavaliers had the best player on the court in Lebron James and the second best in Kyrie Irving. This year, Boston has the second best in Irving and potentially the third best in all-star Al Horford, as former Celtic Isaiah Thomas has not been the same as last year.
While Cleveland may end up being the favorite to reach the finals at the end of the year, the gap between them and Boston is no longer as wide as it has been. With the way Boston has been playing, they are more than capable of winning a seven-game series against Cleveland and making their first NBA Finals appearance since the Big Three era.
Editor’s Corner
by The Cowl Editor on January 25, 2018
Professional Sports
The Last of the Enforcers
by Meaghan Cahill ’20
Sports Co-Editor
It has been 101 years since the National Hockey League has been established. However, while the game has fundamentally stayed the same, it has also undergone many changes, most of which have taken place over the past few years. And the changes are not subtle. Rather, the entire way that the game has been played has, in a sense, evolved into a new game.
I come from a very hockey-oriented family in Boston, so naturally, the Boston Bruins have always been, and will always be, my team. I grew up hearing stories of the “Big, Bad Bruins” and watching old films of some of the organization’s best games and fights. Compared to the pro games today, those films do not have many similarities but rather very obvious contrasts. One major difference is that the game no longer has that level of physicality that it used to. Hockey has transformed from a game of both toughness and skill to just a game of skill. Speed and talent have completely taken over the NHL, decreasing the need for the enforcer players.
“I don’t think [the game is] going to get back to where things used to be, when there were these hulking monsters whose role was just to fight,” former NHL player George Parros commented back in 2014 to ESPN after he was not offered a new contract. The reason being was that teams did not need the level of toughness he brought to the game anymore.
The enforcer players are on the brink of extinction, more so today than back in 2014. Of the 31 NHL teams today, there are only eight proclaimed enforcers left out of the hundreds of players within the league. Even the “Big, Bad Bruins,” who used to be known for their toughness and physical style of play, have done away with enforcers, as shown by their actions of trading Shawn Thornton after the 2013-14 season. Without the level of toughness that the enforcers are supposed to bring, there is more room for the young players on the teams to shine.
With the referees strictly monitoring every move on the ice, the game has become strictly about speed and skill. In the same interview as Parros, Columbus Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations John Davidson stated, “The game is officiated differently now…You can’t intimidate teams. Intimidation doesn’t work.”
A direct result in this change is that goal productivity is at an all-time high, with an extra 1.02 goals per game, according to Hockey-Reference back in the beginning of October when the 2017-18 had just started. High-scoring games are becoming a norm, with 3+ goals scored per game. For example, in the past nine games, the Bruins have scored 40 goals, averaging 4.4 goals a game.
And yes, I will admit that it is most definitely satisfying to watch your favorite team score countless flashy goals, but the game without enforcer players is just not what it used to be, mainly because it lacks the entertainment. Fights are practically non-existent and checks are more of a shove into the boards instead of a nice, hard, clean hit. Gone are the days of players being hit so hard they actually went through the glass. Hockey fans all around are having to adjust to this change and personally, I wish that the physicality of the game would remain at the level that it used to be.
Editor’s Corner
by The Cowl Editor on January 18, 2018
Friar Sports
PC, like College Basketball, is Unpredictable this Year
By Jack Belanger ’21
Sports Co-Editor
One thing that has become clear this year in college basketball is that there is no team that is the clear-cut favorite to win the NCAA tournament come March. No team was able to make it to January undefeated. While Villanova University is currently ranked first in the country, their loss to Butler University shows how tough the Big East is and how challenging it will be for them to finish the season without another loss. Preseason favorite Duke University lost two games to unranked Boston College and North Carolina State University and needed a miracle comeback to beat the University of Miami. The Universities of Virginia and Oklahoma were both unranked coming into the year and have slowly made their way into the top-10 ranking (they are ranked second and fourth respectively).
Now how does Providence College fit into all of this? The Friars were picked to finish fourth in the Big East, behind Villanova, Xavier College, and Seton Hall University. After starting 6-1, it looked at though PC was on the verge of cracking the Associated-Press Top 25 teams, but then the Friars suffered through a 2-3 stretch that included a bad loss to University of Massachusets-Amherst, an overtime win against an average Brown University team, and a 2-point win over a poor Stony Brook College squad. With a record of 9-4 heading into Big East play, many were left questioning how PC would handle a tough Big East schedule.
So far in Big East play, PC is 4-2 with wins over Xavier, who was ranked fifth, and Butler, who beat Villanova. That’s the good side of PC’s unpredictability. The bad side is the 19-point loss to Creighton University and an overtime loss to a Marquette team where the Friars let a 6-point lead with a minute to go slip away from them. For this team to have a chance to make the NCAA tournament, PC needs to get at least a combination of two wins over Villanova, Creighton, Seton Hall and Xavier and avoid any bad losses to St. John’s University, DePaul University or Georgetown University.
It is too early to tell how PC will finish their season. The Friars had an outside chance of making the tournament last year until they tallied off six straight wins to finish the regular season. With 12 games left in the season, PC still has plenty of work to do.
Tip-ins:
· After only scoring 10 or more points twice in his first 10 games, Isaiah Jackson ’19 has reached double-digit figures six times in his last nine games
· During PC’s 3-game streak, the Friars have held opponents to an average of 65.33 points after allowing 95 points in a loss to Marquette
· In the Friars’ six losses this season guard Jalen Lindsey ’18 shoots 44.4 percent from the 3-point line but in the 12 wins he has played in, he brings that number up to 49.3 percent.