THE ITHACAN

Opening weekend

By Alex Holt • March 31, 2011

As I write this post, the Atlanta Braves have just scored the first run of the 2011 MLB season, doing so at the expense of...you guessed it, the Washington Nationals (who else? The Royals don't play for almost another three hours and the Pirates don't open until tomorrow). There are actually a bunch of other…

Not with a bang but a whimper

By Alex Holt • March 30, 2011

I've written about this before but with the Anaheim, Calif. City Council having just approved a $75 million bond deal to lure the Sacramento Kings to their city, it's looking more and more likely that when the next NBA season begins, the Sacramento Kings will be no more and the Anaheim Royals will have taken…

Forever young

By Alex Holt • March 27, 2011

Like a lot of people, I went to IC After Dark's annual Forever Young event Friday night and I've got to say it really was pretty cool. There was Twister, ring toss, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and all the other food staples when I was really little, 90's music and slide shows of all…

Panic in New York

By Alex Holt • March 25, 2011

I love New York City. Really, I do. I was born on Long Island and lived there until I was two, most of my relatives still live in the NYC area, I've been there countless times and I'm still a devoted Giants fan. But even people who love New York City like me have to…

Rules of the game

By Alex Holt • March 22, 2011

The NFL lockout officially began this month and while it's seriously delayed, if not altogether canceled, the beginning of free agency this year, a few NFL events are still going ahead as planned this spring. The best known of these events is the NFL Draft in April but the NFL Owners' Meetings are also being…

It doesn’t have to be this way

By Alex Holt • March 21, 2011

If you follow the NHL at all these days, it's pretty hard to ignore all the horrifying hits, concussions and just plain gruesome injuries that have occurred increasingly often in the past few years or the controversy they've caused, even a year after NHL passed a rule last year banning hits to the head. The…

Morehead State

By Alex Holt • March 19, 2011

I don't have any ties to Morehead State, the relatively small Kentucky college whose men's basketball team upset heavily favored Louisville on Thursday and who are playing their third round game against Richmond as I speak. Morehead State is public, Ithaca College is private. Morehead State is located in Kentucky and belongs to the Ohio…

Iditarod

By Alex Holt • March 16, 2011

John Baker won the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Tuesday. If you're like me, you probably didn't even remember that the Iditarod was going on until you saw it mentioned in your local newspaper a couple days ago. If you're like a lot of other people, you probably didn't even know the Iditarod was…

PLAY-IN? PLAY-IN? DON’T TALK TO ME ABOUT THE PLAY-IN GAMES!

By Alex Holt • March 15, 2011

Before I begin this post, my apologies to former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Mora, who I so shamelessly just ripped off in this post's title. Bad sports puns aside, tonight is indeed the night when the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament will hold the first two of its four "play-in" games in Dayton,…

MLS

By Alex Holt • March 10, 2011

Despite the fact that it lasts all of eight days, there's actually a lot going on in sports over Spring Break. MLB will continue to play preseason games as it makes its way towards the start of the 2011 season, there've been so many developments in the ongoing NFL labor saga that who knows where…

Tournament Time

By Alex Holt • March 8, 2011

There are some sports where I can just watch them or at least follow them all season long. NFL Football, NHL hockey-these are sports where I have favorite teams and try to catch as many games as I can. Then there are those sports where I don't have a favorite team but still check the…

Homeward Bound

By Alex Holt • March 7, 2011

I'll freely admit that like everyone else at this point, I'm just counting down the days until Spring Break begins so I can go home. There are obvious reasons for this: not hearing every single conversation my neighbors have because of the paper-thin walls, better food, seeing my family. But I'm also looking forward to…