It’s finals week, and that means something different for everyone at Harvard. For most, finals week leads to hours of time lost in Lamont Library Penitentiary. If you’re reading this, chances are high that this is part of that study break that was supposed to be five minutes. Don’t be ashamed, we’ve all been there.
But when you have something better to do than read a blog about Harvard sports, we strongly suggest taking a look at Twitter. The frustration, stress, and joy of the end of the academic year have brought some of the finest Tweets of the year.
After sorting through a thousand “Can’t believe it’s my last (insert sentimental thing about Harvard)”-Tweets, we picked out some of our favorites from a couple of freshman athletes.
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On the open road, all of us find different ways to kill time. Some of us sleep, others read, still others incessantly nag the driver with a regular chorus of “are we there yet?”
But Harvard baseball has taken road-trip entertainment to the next level.
Few things are as American as baseball and road trips. Throw Kevin Costner in there, and you’re basically two-thirds of the way to a blockbuster feature film.
Add “Call Me Maybe?” Not exactly what Steinbeck or a grizzled baseball veteran might have in mind for the great American highway.
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The Harvard Men’s Basketball team is traveling to Italy in mid-August for some summer competition. The Crimson will be playing in Rome, Pisa and Venice. There is a fan package being offered that also includes opportunities to sightsee between games in Florence and Lake Como.
As the saying goes, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” So, Harvard players and fans alike should come prepared to wholeheartedly embrace the Italian culture. The Crimson players should not have any trouble carbo-loading before game days. And, instead of filling the typical Gatorade sport bottles on the Harvard bench with water, why not drink Chianti, the traditional red wine of Tuscany?
While basketball sneakers are practical, they are not fashionable across the Atlantic. Perhaps players and spectators should exchange them in their suitcases for Superga sneakers, the multi-colored Italian brand of shoes that is ubiquitous across Europe.
With a little bit of luck from a coin tossed into the Trevi Fountain, we should expect great success for Harvard this summer. And, hopefully, the team will return with ample photographs of various players “holding up” the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That is the only reason people go there, right?
Tri-captain Kevin Vaughan was named first-team All-Ivy this week for the second straight season.
The Harvard men’s lacrosse team’s season didn’t end the way the Crimson would have liked, but three of the squad’s standouts nonetheless earned accolades for their individual performances this year.
Seniors Jeff Cohen and Kevin Vaughan were unanimously named to the All-Ivy League first team this week, while sophomore Daniel Eipp was tabbed for the second team.
2012 marked the second straight season in which the Crimson was represented by two players on the conference first team—the first time since 1979-80 it achieved that feat in back-to-back years.
Vaughan, a midfielder, is making his second consecutive appearance on that squad after being joined by Dean Gibbons ’11 last season. The tri-captain, a preseason All-Ivy first team selection, lived up to those high expectations by leading the Crimson with 19 assists. The senior also ranked third on the team with 17 goals and 36 points. Vaughan now moves on to a professional career with the Denver Outlaws, who selected him with the 14th overall pick in January’s Major League Lacrosse draft.
Cohen, an attackman, had one of the Crimson’s best individual seasons ever in 2012. The senior ranked second in the country with 3.43 goals per game and 48 scores overall, a total that included 10 hat tricks and marked the seventh-highest single-season output in Harvard history. He scored at least three goals in six straight games from Feb. 28 to March 24, recorded a season-high seven tallies in the Crimson’s March 31 win over Michigan, and registered five tallies against Holy Cross, Duke, Brown, and Dartmouth. Cohen—who finished his career as Harvard’s all-time leading scorer with 142 career goals—also paced the Ancient Eight with 56 points, while his 4.0 points per game average was good for 12th best in the nation.
Eipp’s 24 goals, 18 assists, and 42 points all ranked second on the squad. The sophomore, who was an All-Ivy honorable mention last year, finished fourth in the Ancient Eight with a 3.0 points per game average.
But despite that trio of standouts, Harvard lost its final four Ivy League contests and finished the year 6-8 overall, missing out on the conference tournament and with it the chance to play in the postseason.
Three of those late-season losses came at the hands of Princeton, Cornell, and Yale, whose players dominated the first team along with Harvard’s. Tigers goalie Tyler Fiorito won Ancient Eight Player of the Year, while Big Red attackman Matt Donovan won the league’s Rookie of the Year award. Princeton—the regular season Ivy champion—led the conference with four first team selections, while the Bulldogs had three and Cornell had two.
For the second straight season, the injury-riddled New York Knicks find themselves in a 3-0 hole going into what might possibly be their final game of the season.
Starting point guard and energizer Jeremy Lin ’10, who has been out since March 24 with a slight meniscus tear in his knee continues to make progress in his recovery.
But it appears as though the eager Madison Square Garden crowd will have to wait at least a little while longer for his return. While the Harvard alum initially eyed Sunday’s Game 4 to make his anticipated return, his knee injury proved too much to overcome.
"I haven't been able to load it or jump or explode or drive by somebody the way I want to, so it's going to be longer than that," Lin said.
New York is also currently missing starting power forward Amare Stoudemire who is out indefinitely due to lacerations in his left hand.
Reports about his return have been mixed. Interim coach Mike Woodson told ESPN reporter Stephen A. Smith, "I think he's going to play [game four].”
Stoudemire is less certain. "It's still doubtful,” he told Smith. “We'll see how I feel tomorrow, and even after tomorrow.”
If the Knicks, which have lost 13 straight playoff games, can somehow reverse their fortunes and find a way to pull out a win in game four without two of their prime performers, there is a chance Lin will return against the Heat.
"I don't really want to say I am or am not, I just want to take it day by day," he said. "Game 4 doesn't look great. I mean, Game 5, I have no idea," he said