Josh Abel

After 38 years, a familiar Phillies voice goes silent

When I turned on the Phillies telecast last Monday, I was stunned to learn that Harry Kalas, the team’s announcer since 1971 and a Hall of Fame member since 2002, had passed away.

The day before, Su…

For diehard fans, 2009 MLB season will be a treat

I had the pleasure of going to the Phillies’ season opener on Sunday night, the first game of the 2009 Major League season. It was a dual celebration: rejoicing in the 2008 World Series victory as wel…

Multimedia multiplies viewing options in sports

I usually use my column to complain about the sports media. This week, I’d like to integrate a little bit of my amazement with sports multimedia.

The ongoing march of Internet technology is yielding…

Baseball: Team Cuba running for (a new) home?

The 2009 World Baseball Classic is set to debut tonight. The competition is baseball’s answer to soccer’s World Cup, pitting teams from 16 different countries against each other.

International bas…

Wieters a great catch(er)

Which catcher would you want behind the plate for your favorite Major League team in 2009? Many smart baseball fans would probably pick Minnesota’s sweet-swinging Joe Mauer, the rare batting champion …

Even without media fanfare, Bowl still packs punch

Super Bowl XLIII was astounding. It featured a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown as time expired in the first half. It had a 13-point fourth quarter comeback. It also had two lead changes i…

What's another million?

The New York Yankees raised a lot of eyebrows this winter with a free agent shopping spree for the ages. They locked up two starting pitchers, A.J. Burnett (five years, $82.5 million) and CC Sabathia …

Baseball analysts’ old-fashioned ways bring bad press

This past week was awards week for Major League Baseball, when the Baseball Writers’ Association of America votes on who the best managers, pitchers, rookies and all-around players were for the past s…

Phillies fanaticism warranted after stunning victory

As a Phillies fan, I am having trouble understanding what just happened last month. I think I watched them breeze through the playoffs to capture their first World Series in my lifetime, but nothing i…

Drama for Phillies arrives with a wild pitch

The Phillies made the National League Championship Series less dramatic than it could have been, dispatching the Dodgers in five games. However, some foolishness made Game 3 exciting.

After Brett Myer…

Media: Yankee flattery overblown

Yankees fans may think that they’re disappointed with the 2008 season. After watching their team reach the postseason every year since 1995, they saw the Yanks fall behind early in 2008 and finish six…

With Bonds sidelined, teams seek new talent

As the 2008 baseball playoff races spiral to their conclusions, one of the best hitters on the planet sits at home.

He wanted to play. His agent said he wasn’t interested in money.

He’d accept the l…

Racist sports coverage

Many baseball players are saddled with unfair images by the sports media. These perceptions put forth are often based on little more than first impressions, hearsay and stereotypes.

Take Mets centerfi…

Men's tennis falls twice this past weekend, including its first loss in the Centennial Conference this season

Swarthmore’s men’s tennis (3-7, 3-1 CC) team went on the road over the weekend for a pair of difficult matches. On Saturday they lost 9-0 to the University of Mary Washington, ranked 11th in the natio…

Stat prof Wang shares unique perspective on managers

As the Major League Baseball season prepares to swing into action, one Swarthmore professor has certainly been getting in the spirit.

Last month, Assistant Professor of Statistics Steve C. Wang presen…

Swarthmore to host 11 teams in Collegiate National Badminton Tournament during upcoming weekend

This coming weekend, March 21 – 23, Swarthmore will be hosting the Collegiate National Badminton Tournament in Tarble Gym for the tenth consecutive year.

The competitive action will begin on Satur…

Women's tennis crushes McDaniel, 9-0

This past Saturday, March 1, Swarthmore’s women’s tennis team opened up its Centennial Conference schedule with a completely dominant victory over McDaniel College.

Playing indoors at the Mullan T…

Men fall to NYU, smash Muhlenberg

The men went 1-2 in doubles play, with Jonathan Lo ’08 and Kevin Shaughnessy ’09 winning the first doubles match 8-0, while the Garnet dropped second and third doubles by 9-7 and 8-6 scores, respectiv…

NYU women slip past Garnet

Both tennis teams opened up their 2008 spring seasons this Saturday in the Mullan Tennis Center against New York University. Both matches were played down to the wire, and both resulted in 5-4 NYU vic…