Football season is upon us! Throughout the year, I’ll be making picks against the spread (the points a team is favored by or expected to lose by set by the oddsmakers) and keeping track of how well I do. Take my picks with the most minuscule grain of salt in these first few weeks as I get a feel for each team until you can eventually empty out the whole shaker around Week Five.
Astonishingly, the Baltimore Orioles have the best record in the American League this year. In baseball’s hardest division, competing with powerhouse organizations such as the Yankees and Red Sox, the low-budget, small-market Orioles have found tremendous success and appear poised for a deep playoff run. Here’s how the Orioles have found themselves in this position:
Last weekend commenced what should be a very exciting two months of NBA playoffs. From sunup to sundown on Saturday and Sunday, the league’s 16 best teams all started a grueling seven-game series against each other, with hopes of hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. Here are some of the biggest takeaways from week one of the NBA playoffs:
In general, regular season training is to prepare for the biggest competition of the year, and for Hopkins swimming, this is the 2023 Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C. Having been seeded to be 16th or 17th teams on the women’s side and 10th on the men’s side, there were slim chances of the teams finishing even in the top five.
This past week, Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ), superstar wide receiver and former rival of the Baltimore Ravens, has found his way to a one-year deal in Charm City.
After a two-hour delay caused by a thunderstorm, the men’s lacrosse Homecoming game versus the Ohio State University Buckeyes got off to a rocky start. With rain still drizzling in the field, the first face-off resulted in a moving pile of bodies, ending with an Ohio State player pulling a Blue Jay down to the turf. No foul was called.
Just four points separate Arsenal Football Club from the reigning champions of the Premier League, Manchester City. The Gunners surprised everyone last year with a late-season run that saw them jump from mid-table to fourth place. However, with two gut-wrenching losses at the very end of the season, Arsenal fell to fifth place, eliminating themselves from the highest level of European soccer.
Nobody can argue that Hopkins isn’t a prestigious school. Its students come from many walks of life, each with their own unique backgrounds, experiences and stories. Though they are all brilliant and accomplished, only one can say that they’re on the path to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
With just under a week remaining in the regular season, the time has come to make selections for the league’s most prestigious awards. Last year, I gave my opinion on those who were the most deserving candidates for each award, noting that it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever had to make.
The Hopkins men’s lacrosse team is on fire. After beating Rutgers, they improve to 9–3 and are now ranked fifth nationally overall. While the final score shows a narrow victory for Hopkins (11–12), the Blue Jays were bleeding for most of the game. The team only managed two scores for each of the first three quarters while Rutgers came out strong.
The Lamar Jackson contract discussion has recently stooped down to the level of gossip at the high school lunch table. It’s never a pretty sight when your franchise quarterback is put on an exclusive tag — which the Baltimore Ravens enacted on March 7 — but it’s an even worse look when your franchise quarterback has to get on Twitter to dispel falsely reported contract numbers.
As we get closer to NFL free agency, many teams made big moves before the March 15 deadline. The San Francisco 49ers are no exception. Having lost many valuable players like offensive lineman Daniel Brunskill (or the Aaron Donald equalizer) and linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair to the Tennessee Titans, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley to the Detroit Lions and offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey to the Denver Broncos, the front office has a lot of pressure to replace these lost pieces.
Most of the world was asleep at 1:30 a.m EST on Feb. 9. Little did they know that one of the biggest superstars in NBA history was about to be traded. In the early hours of the morning, the Brooklyn Nets traded forward Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns.
The nicest house on the block is on the market. It’s the perfect addition and there’s no denying its appeal, but it sits on the market for as the family waits for someone to hit its lofty price. This trade deadline, the family finally got an offer they accepted.
Both men’s and women’s lacrosse records a win and a loss. Men’s lacrosse wins over St. Joseph’s University 15-14 and loses to University of Virginia 13-18, women’s lacrosse wins over Monmouth 20-6 and loses to Drexel University 11-16.
On Feb. 24, the Los Angeles Rams released star linebacker Bobby Wagner, and many NFL insiders have reported that all-pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey will soon be traded. The cause of these moves is not public info — it is plausible both players were looking for another change after the Rams’ 5–12 season, a stark contrast with their Super Bowl run just one season before.
Men’s and women’s basketball both competed in the NCAA tournament over the past weekend. The men’s team secured two thrilling victories against Hamilton College and Mitchell College.
In late January, the Milwaukee Bucks were sitting at fourth place in the Eastern Conference and were only one game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the fifth seed in the conference. A team like Milwaukee is used to finishing first or second in the conference and being legitimate championship contenders every year, so many were questioning whether the writing was on the wall for the Bucks this season.
With men’s lacrosse at 2–2 going into their match against the University of Utah on Feb. 25, the team’s main worry was a continued losing streak. The team’s previous wins against Jacksonville University and the highly favored Georgetown University had set an optimistic tone for the season to come.
On Feb. 18, Hopkins men’s lacrosse traveled up North Charles Street to play their in-city rivals, the Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds. Hopkins was coming off a close 11–7 loss to nationally ranked University of North Carolina, while Loyola came in hot off a 12–7 win over the number one ranked the University of Maryland. Hopkins women’s lacrosse also made the trip to Loyola on Feb. 18. The Greyhounds were ranked ninth overall nationally. Hopkins lacrosse came into the matchup fresh off a dominant win over the University of Albany, while this was the first match for the Loyola Greyhounds.
