Tag: Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Dream Fantasy Football Line Up: Week 8
by The Cowl Editor on October 26, 2017
Professional Sports
by Ethan Ticehurst
Sports Staff
Quarterback
Deshaun Watson, Houston:
He is currently tied for second in touchdown passes for the year. He is the most reliable high-point scorer in the league. He also has a cannon of an arm.
Running Back 1
Kareem Hunt, Kansas City:
So far, Hunt has been the biggest surprise in the league this year. As a rookie, nobody expected him to be putting together a case to be MVP in his first year in the league, yet he is.
Running Back 2
Jerick McKinnon, Minnesota:
My number one rule for fantasy football: always have someone starting who is playing against the Browns.
Wide Receiver 1
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh:
He is the best wide receiver currently playing football. If you can get him on your team, you do it.
Wide Receiver 2
Julio Jones, Atlanta:
He is easily in the top 10 for wide receivers in the league right now. Add to that the fact that the Falcons are coming off a week where they were embarrassed in a Super Bowl rematch and will be looking for a big win to rebound. The cherry on top is that their game this week is against the weak New York Jets. The stage is set for Matt Ryan and Jones to go off.
Wide Receiver 3
Alshon Jeffrey, Philadelphia:
He is playing for the Eagles, who currently has the best record in the NFL. Carson Wentz is part of the next great generation of quarterbacks and he loves to throw to Jeffrey. Also, Jeffrey will have a good time this week against a weak San Francisco defense.
Tight End
Rob Gronkowski, New England:
When you are in the conversation for being the greatest tight end of all time, you get the start. Also, the Patriots are playing an underperforming Chargers team this week.
Defense/Special Teams
Vikings, Minnesota:
Like above, whoever plays the Browns.
Kicker
Ka’imi Fairbairn, Houston:
A kicker should really be picked based off whoever is expected to score the most touchdowns every week, since they only score fantasy points with extra points or field goals. Since Deshaun Watson is amazing at getting the Texans into the red zone so far, his teammate gets the nod.
Men’s Cross Country Sets the Bar High
by The Cowl Editor on September 28, 2017
Friar Sports
by Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Sports Staff
One of the less mentioned, but very successful sports on campus for the past few years has been the Men’s Cross-Country Team.
While they are not as high profile as hockey or basketball, the cross country running teams have seen quite a bit of success in recent history. The sport’s popularity suffers from the fact that there are no running events on the Providence College campus.
However, each time they go out there and run, men’s cross country proves why Friar fans should notice them more. So far this year, the team has run in three meets, with strong performances in all of them.
After taking first in a meet at the University of New Hampshire at the beginning of the month, the team brought that momentum into the Nassaney Invitational in Rhode Island about a week later, coming out with a win there too.
All of this culminated in a seventh place finish a few days ago at the Battle in Beantown meet in Boston.
Leading the way for the Friars so far this year are Aaron Hanlon ’18 and Tom O’Neill ’18, both of whom finished first among the team at least once this year.
Their fast finishes in Rhode Island and Boston last week have helped the team reach new heights in the season so far.
Looking ahead at the season, the team will have to travel far and wide to compete this year. They will be traveling twice to Wisconsin, once for the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational and again for the Big East Championships two weeks later.
Also likely is a trip to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Kentucky in November. Other than that, the team will be traveling all across the Northeast this fall.
Why Men’s Soccer will finish their season with the best record of all PC sports
by The Cowl Editor on September 21, 2017
Friar Sports
by Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Sports Staff
The most impressive team on campus so far this semester has been the Providence College Men’s Soccer Team. With strong core players returning from last year’s run to the NCAA tournament, the team is looking to build upon that momentum to be even better this year. Despite a current record of 2-4-1 for the season, the Friars should look even stronger when they get into the thick of Big East play in a month or so.
The biggest bright spot for this team is the stellar play of goakeeper Colin Miller ’18, who has kept the Friars competitive in many games throughout his career with some amazing saves. Of course, Miller is not the only factor spurring this team to greatness. There is a great sense of teamwork surrounding the squad as they move around the field. Everyone seems to be clicking and working together for a common goal. While there are players who stand out, it is clear that all players are important in the process of scoring each goal.
The last advantage that men’s soccer has this year is a dedicated fan base. Last year’s successful season and a newer stadium have led to huge attendance numbers for the first few home games of the year. The students are coming out in droves to attend their games, filling up almost all of the seats in Anderson Stadium. The team plays better when they know that there are people out there supporting them and the students have not been shy about their support at all.
All of these factors are reasons why at the end of the season, our men’s soccer team will own the best record in Friartown.
Mayweather Earns TKO in 10th Round
by The Cowl Editor on August 31, 2017
Professional Sports
By Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Sports Staff
Fight fans all across the nation were treated to a truly entertaining grudge match this Saturday night, when Floyd Mayweather returned from retirement to silence a challenger, Conor McGregor. At least, if they had $100 they were.
In the most hyped fight in the history of boxing, Mayweather put his perfect record on the line against McGregor, best known for holding a championship belt in two different weight classes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at the same time.
This fight has been years in the making. Throughout his monumental rise to UFC superstardom, McGregor has consistently insulted Mayweather’s legacy and has called him out repeatedly, despite never having boxed professionally.
After hearing these insults again and again, Mayweather finally announced last year that he was willing to come out of retirement to fight McGregor. After a year’s worth of negotiating, the UFC and Mayweather finally signed a deal to allow McGregor to box. With a date set, a massive media storm was set off, consuming the lives of both boxers for the next few months, which we now know culminated in a Mayweather victory by technical knockout on Saturday.
In the biggest fight since the 1975 Thrilla in Manila, both Mayweather and McGregor started out strong with McGregor landing just few more punches in the first three rounds. But, as the rounds went by, the Irishman started to fade quickly, and was eventually beaten by his own lack of endurance in the ring.
To committed UFC fans, it was not much of a surprise given the fact that most of his fights with UFC have lasted less than 20 minutes, while the match on Saturday lasted well past 30 minutes. Ironically, the likely reason for McGregor’s lack of endurance is his penchant for knocking out his opponents so quickly in the past.
In the later rounds, his exhaustion was showing, as Mayweather slowly backed him into a corner and landed punch after punch, eventually forcing the referee to step in and end what had become an entirely one-sided affair.
The biggest storyline from this fight may not have been the fight itself, however. For what many people were calling the Fight of the Century, there was also the Payout of the Century. Mayweather was guaranteed at least $100 million for being a part of the fight, while McGregor earned a smaller, but still quite large $30 million. With the money earned from the fight, Mayweather has joined an elite club of sports figures. He has now joined Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan as the only athletes to earn over a billion dollars in their careers. McGregor is nowhere near that point yet in his career, but $30 million is a good start toward joining that club if he ever wants to.
This fight was most likely the most watched fight in the history of combat sports, shattering pay-per-view records and causing sports networks to talk about nothing else for days on end. Those who watched live were watching history in the making, not only because Mayweather managed to break the record for most wins without a loss, getting his 50th win and breaking Rocky Marciano’s record of 49. This was one of those shared sports moments, a time when all of us were watching the same thing, a collective memory that connects all sports fans. This fight will be talked about for years to come.
The biggest winners of the fight, other than Mayweather, were combat sports as a whole. It is speculated that the sport of boxing and the UFC will get a huge bump in their ratings in the future after Saturday. This match was a huge win for the industry as a whole because it showed just how much of a moneymaker combat sports can be.
A significant contributer to the high payout and increased publicity of the fight, was the pre-fight tour that included four press conferences. The press conferences took place in Los Angeles, Toronto, Brooklyn, and London. The geographic diversity of the tour and the social media frenzy that followed each encounter played a substaintial hand in the massive payout of the fight.
Much of the success of the press conferences in generating excitement for the fight came from McGregor’s fearlessness in landing verbal jabs, while Mayweather’s success in the ring is derived from his ability to land literal jabs.
According to Bloody Elbow, a MMA and UFC news source, Mayweather landed 31 percent of his jabs compared to McGregor’s 28 percent. Yet, more significantly, Mayweather found success in 58 percent of his power punches, while McGregor only connected on 25 percent of his. This fight was an example of experience triumphing over youth as 40-year-old, undefeated Mayweather dominated 29 year old, first time boxer McGregor.mayweather-mcgregor-2iumoqo
Professional Sport Moments of the Year: Chicago Cubs No Longer Lovable Losers
by thecowl.sports on May 4, 2017
Professional Sports
By: Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Everyone should feel lucky that they were not my neighbors on the night of November 2, 2016. As the time approached midnight, my yells directed at the television screen grew louder and louder. Finally, just after midnight on the third of November, I let out a cheer that rattled the walls as I witnessed something that an entire generation of baseball fans missed out on: a Cub’s World Series championship.
Even for people who live far from the North Side of Chicago, the Cubs represent something amazing in the sport of baseball. There has always been a sense of eternal optimism and hope surrounding the team, even when they were still in the midst of the longest championship doubt in the history of professional sports. They were the “lovable losers,” the team that everyone beat up on but felt a little bad about it when they did. Other than the fans of their division rivals, it is hard to imagine someone who could outright hate the Cubs.
That is why I was cheering on that fateful night. It was not that I was happy to see the Cleveland Indians lose. They were a great team last year and they deserved to be there right to the end. It was the happiness of seeing these Cubs finally succeed after so many years of struggle. It was the greatest sports moment of the past year. In fact, it was the best moment in sports since the Red Sox ended their championship drought in 2004.
This past year has been a great year for sports, with many different teams shocking the world with amazing achievements. But in a year of great moments, the Cubs win stands out as the greatest of them all. New Englanders may try to claim that the Patriots’ 2017 Super Bowl victory was greater, but they are sadly mistaken. Comebacks happen all the time in sports and are not as special as everyone thinks they are. The only people who are impressed are those on the winning side. Ending a championship drought is way more exciting than winning a fifth championship in 17 years. In fact, the only time the Patriots were part of an exciting and inspiring championship game is when they happen to lose one—such as the two they lost to the Giants a few years back.
The Cubs winning was the greatest moment in sports in the last year because it was a constructive moment. Watching this team exorcise their demons and finally bring home the trophy brought everyone in baseball, and the country, together. In comparison, this year’s Super Bowl was won by a team that most of the country is adamantly against and was actively cheering against.
A truly great sports moment is one that inspires the next generation of athletes to follow their dreams of someday being on top. A widely disliked team winning yet another championship inspires no one. The Cubs stand alone as the most inspirational and uplifting team of the past year.
Softball Continues to Show Promise
by thecowl.sports on April 27, 2017
Friar Sports
by Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Under sunny skies this past Sunday the Providence College Softball team split a doubleheader with the Seton Hall Pirates. This doubleheader was the culmination of a three-game weekend series, which started on Saturday with an 8-7 Friars win. It was a good weekend for the team, as they managed to win two games in front of a rather large home crowd.
With the season coming to a close within the next month, the Friars stand at a record of 17-23, with a record of 5-10 in the Big East. This season is proof of a continued improvement in the softball program here. In 2014, Friars softball won six games. The next year, they improved to win 16 games while last year they managed to win over 20 games. This season, they seem on pace to have one of their best seasons in a while with nine games left.
When attending one of their home games, it is easy to see the teamwork that drives this team to success. Each person out on the field has a role and they perform it well. It seems that any one batter can change the outcome of the game when they step up to the plate. There is a sense of optimism that surrounds Glay Field these days.
This optimism has been shown to not be misguided throughout the year. The Friars have a few quality wins under their belt, the most impressive of them being against Butler a few weeks ago, with the Friars invoking the mercy rule in a 14-6, five inning game.
The focus of this team seems to be on their collective performance, but some individual performances have spurred this team to new heights. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these is the performance of Emma Lee ’19. She has been named to the Big East Honor Roll multiple times this year and has an impressive .360 batting average. She also spends her time on defense in right field, where she has a perfect fielding percentage. While Lee is the star of the outfield, the infield has a star in Vanessa Portillo ’19. Portillo has also been named to the Big East Honor Roll multiple times and has caught fire recently, hitting enough home runs to raise her slugging percentage to a staggering .532.
Overall, fans of Providence sports should start to look at the softball team as a team on the rise. It can be hard in Friartown for any sports team other than basketball or hockey to gain any notoriety, but some teams are starting to gain stronger reputations on campus. Softball is one of those sports that looks close to gaining a strong reputation. They have continued to improve throughout the years and look to be only a few years away from some sort of continued success. Fans would do well to take a trip down to Glay Field sometime in the next two weeks to catch a glimpse of the next great Friars sports team.
Men’s Hockey: Hopeful for Tournament Bid
by The Cowl Editor on March 16, 2017
Sports
by Ethan Ticehurst ’18
Fans of Providence hockey have been treated to some very successful seasons in recent years. Upperclassmen will always remember where they were the night the national championship was won two years ago. Last year, the team spent a large part of the year ranked as one of the best hockey programs in the country, which made their quick exits in both the Hockey East and NCAA tournaments all the more surprising. This year, the team got off to a slow start, befuddling fans everywhere. Luckily, they picked it up near the end of the season and earned a spot in the upper echelon of college hockey once more.
This is the position that they entered the Hockey East tournament in last week. A home ice series against UMass was the first on the docket. Thanks to stellar gameplay and a supportive home crowd, the Minutemen were quickly sent on their way back to where they came from. After such a successful series, the Friars seemed to be ready for whoever stood in their path next. Out of the shadows rose the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the newest members of the Hockey East. The Irish, who also happen to be leaving the Hockey East after this season, played a solid season and looked to be somewhat of a challenge for the Friars. Those looks were not deceiving, as the Friars were taken down in two games this weekend.
The Friars’ hope for the Hockey East championship may have ended in South Bend, Indiana, but fans should have nothing to fear. This team may not be at the exact level that they were two years ago, but they have enough raw talent to possibly make a run in the NCAA tournament.
Since they finished the season ranked in the top 20 in the country, they have a chance of making it into the tournament. However, with only 16 teams allowed in, there is a chance that they don’t make it at all. For fans that are worried about their team’s chances, make sure to watch the rest of the Hockey East tournament play out. If Notre Dame manages to pull off any more wins, they will most likely take up a spot in the tournament that would otherwise have gone to Providence.
Assuming that the Friars do make it to the tournament, however, let’s take a look at some of the teams that they should hope to avoid until the later rounds. The number one team that we would hope to avoid would be the top ranked team in the country, Denver. With only six losses on the season, it would take a monster of a game from the Friars to win against the team from Colorado. Also high on the avoidance list is our neighbors from the north, Harvard. Following shortly after them are any teams that come out of the Upper Midwest, such as Minnesota University and Minnesota University-Duluth. Overall, though it looks as if the Friars are on the bubble to even get into the tournament and if they do get in, they will need a large amount of luck to win in the tournament.
PCI: What’s More Fun to Watch
by The Cowl Editor on March 2, 2017
Sports
NBA by Ethan Ticehurst ’18
The only time I have ever fallen asleep in the middle of watching sports involved the New York Islanders and the Montreal Canadiens. I had originally sat down in front of the TV figuring that my love of Providence College hockey would translate to the NHL. This was the worst assumption I have ever made. I didn’t know any of the players, no one had scored by the third period, and the puck was incredibly difficult to follow.
While I was sitting there, fighting a losing battle against my drooping eyelids, I started to think about the NBA instead and the comparison started. Even those who don’t follow basketball can hear the names LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant and know that these people are important basketball players. After Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby, I was tapped out on hockey stars.
Thinking of Jordan and Bryant led me to think about the dynasties that those two have led and all the other ones that have happened in NBA history. The ’90 Bulls. The 2000s Lakers. The ’60s Celtics. The present Warriors and Cavaliers. Switching my focus to the NHL, I remembered that maybe the Islanders had been good once at some indeterminate point in the past?
The NBA will always have more of a cultural impact on the United States than the NHL. If you are a big hockey fan and you would rather live in a place that values hockey as much as you do, let me tell you about Canada.
NHL by Lauren Altmeyer ’17
The National Hockey League is, without a doubt, more fun to watch than the NBA. With 60 minutes of nonstop action, thrilling goals, and exhilarating fights, there is never a dull moment in a hockey game. Players like Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Jonathan Toews, and Connor McDavid are among some of the greatest athletes in the world and will someday be grouped with hockey legends.
Not to mention that NHL players are some of the toughest athletes out there. During the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, Boston Bruins forward Gregory Campbell finished his shift on a broken leg and then skated off the ice on his own, while Patrice Bergeron played with a broken rib, a separated shoulder, and a punctured lung. In the 2011 playoffs, Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning broke his nose and missed no more than six minutes of the game. Dallas Stars forward Rich Peverley’s heart stopped on the bench in 2014, and as soon as he was revived, he asked if he could finish the game. Meanwhile, during the 2014 NBA Finals, Lebron James had to be carried off the court due to a leg cramp. The NHL players push through these injuries for the glory of winning the Stanley Cup, sports’ hardest trophy to win. The outcome is always unpredictable and always fun to watch.
So if you’re looking to watch overpaid athletes with a low pain tolerance, the NBA is for you. But if you’re looking to watch the world’s toughest athletes play the fastest team sport, the NHL awaits.