The Seawanhaka Sports Run Down is a weekly roundup of five stories that examine developments in sports news at the local, state, and national, and international level.
By: OSCAR FOCK / NEWS CO-EDITOR
Big Week For LIU Basketball
On Thursday, the women’s basketball team scored a big road win against the Sacred Hearts University (SHU) Pioneers, in a 50-46 victory. Senior guard, Brandy Thomas, led the Sharks with 18 points, scoring 12 of her 14 shots from the free throw line. In addition, freshman guard Emaia O’Brien played perhaps the most pivotal role in the win, scoring a huge 3-pointer right after the Pioneers had pulled within one point in the fourth quarter. Despite being without their head Coach, who was out with a suspension, the men’s team also beat SHU, 75-79, in a close game at home in the Steinberg Wellness Center. The Sharks led for most of the bout, but after a strong third quarter the Pioneers took the lead with less than six minutes left on the clock. However,with strong shooting, the home squad rallied back in the final minutes to get their seventh win at home this season. Redshirt senior, Eral Penn, scored 22 of LIU’s points, this being the most on the team.
Women’s Water Polo Team Makes a Splash
The LIU women’s water polo team is ranked for the first time since last season, taking the 17th spot on the Collegiate Water Polo Association national rankings. After an impressive win against Indiana University, which holds the Number 10 spot, LIU got enough votes to move from unranked into the National Top 20. After finishing their opening weekend at the Michigan Invitational with a 2-2 record, junior Julia Zebak was also named Metro Atlantic Conference water polo Defensive Player of the Week. A big part of the upset win over Indiana, Zebak made 12 blocks and got one steal.
Tom Brady Retires, Next Stop: Canton
The greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, has officially retired from the NFL this past week. In a heartfelt Instagram post on Tuesday, the 44-year-old announced that, ”it is time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.” He walks away with seven Super Bowl trophies, thus joining Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan as one of the greatest American athletes of all time. Drafted with the 199th pick in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady spent his first 20 years in the league with the New England Patriots. During this period he won six Super Bowls, as the face of one of the most successful sports dynasties ever. In 2020, Brady decided not to re-sign with the Patriots and instead opted to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his first year in Florida, he won another Lombardi, his seventh, at age 43. In doing so, he became the oldest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl. (Brady was already the youngest, he won his first trophy in 2001, at the age of 24.) The best to ever do it now heads to Canton, Ohio, where in five years he will be enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Washington Football Team Becomes the Washington Commanders
Two years after dropping their previous name, Washington’s football team has a new name. The team, which was founded in 1932, announced on Wednesday that starting immediately, the name of the team will be the Washington Commanders. In a statement, co-owner and co-CEO Dan Snyder said that, ”as we kick-off our 90th season, it is important for our organization and fans to pay tribute to our past traditions, history, legacy and the greats that came before us.” In the summer of 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, the issue of racist and derogatory sports nicknames was brought to the forefront of the news, thus resulting in the team announcing that it would retire its previous nickname and logo. For two seasons they played as the Washington Football Team, as they searched for a new name until the team recently settled on Commanders, a nod to the other commanders residing in the nation’s capital. The Washington Commanders will continue to keep their traditional colors of burgundy and gold.
The Opening Ceremony Officially Kicks Off the 2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing officially began on Friday, as world leaders and some of the greatest winter athletes in the world gathered for the opening ceremony and the delivery of the flame to the Olympic cauldron. Among notable attendees were Russian President Vladimir Putinas well as the Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan. However, many western leaders were absent, including U.S. President Joe Biden, after declaring a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Games. The lighting of the cauldron was done by the two Chinese Olympians, Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Zhao Jiawen, a choice of athletes that sparked controversy following the ceremony. According to China, Yilamujiang is of Uyghur heritage, a religious minority in China that in the last decade has been the victim of mass detention and re-education by the Chinese Communist Party.
NBA Announces Reserves For All-Star Game
The NBA All-Star reserves were revealed on Thursday, after being voted on by the league’s head coaches. Some notable reserves picked for the All-Star game were Jimmy Butler, James Harden East, and Luca Doncic. After changing the format of the All-Star game in 2017, there is now a draft that determines the two teams. The player in each conference that gets the most votes becomes the team captain. Both will then select a squad of four starters from their respective conference, who are added to the draft pool. Then 14 reserves are voted into the game, seven from each conference, completing the pool. This year, the league named LeBron James and Kevin Durant team captains. Now that both starters and reserves have been revealed, James and Durant will begin to draft their squads for the game on Feb. 10.