The city of Binghamton’s Commission on Housing and Home Ownership recommended turning parts of Binghamton’s West Side into a “college town” and limiting unrelated tenants to just three per home in the R-1 zone last week. The Commission, which has been scrutinized closely by the student community since it began its work one year ago, envisions an area of period lighting and banners supporting school spirit in small businesses-like cafes and bistros in an approximate six-block area bound on the west by Chestnut Street, on the south by Leroy Street, on the east by Oak Street and on the north…

When we’re putting the paper together late at night, or, in truth, early in the morning, sometimes we’ll head to the gas station for some Dunkin’ Donuts and sanity. If it’s late enough when we walk in, with the barely-awake or the just recently-sober, the morning dailies will already be out: the Press & Sun-Bulletin, and the early editions of the New York City tabloids. Repeatedly over the last year there would be similar headlines all pointing to the same story: the decay of print journalism. The paper in this city, formerly indispensable, is closing its doors; or the paper…

Racial slurs made by elected student representatives over Sunday and Monday have prompted the resignation of one official, Binghamton University disciplinary action and a rally. Outside the doors of an Assembly meeting that police were called to Monday night, Student Association Vice President for Finance Alice Liou was told to “go eat a dog” by Assembly representative Mike Lombardi, whom Liou said she responded to by calling him a “white bastard” as she was physically restrained by friends. “All I know is I noticed a commotion,” Liou said of Monday night’s dispute. “I got in the middle, I spoke to…

Tension at the end of a tumultuous year for Binghamton University’s student government led to an argument that campus police were dispatched to investigate late last night. Nearly four hours into a weekly Assembly meeting, three members of the Assembly and two Student Association executive board members moved outside a meeting room in the University Union and entered into an argument that four of the five involved said also included physical contact and racial slurs. Binghamton’s New York State University Police responded after receiving a disorderly conduct call at 11:44 p.m. Monday from a 63-year-old female whom police believe is…

Binghamton University has received the largest donation from an individual in its history — $6 million — but like at least nine other schools who received similar donations, it has no one to thank. In the past few weeks, at least 10 universities, including BU, have received gifts that total over $50 million, all with the same caveat: the beneficiary make no attempt to uncover the giver’s identity. Usually in the case of anonymous donations, universities are at least permitted to know the gift’s source, as long as they don’t release that information to the public. Another common thread is…

After a community-wide string of ceremonies over the last 13 days, three memorials were held at Binghamton University this week honoring the people killed in the April 3 shootings at the American Civic Association. Two Binghamton University scholars were among the dead in the attacks. Student Association President Matt Landau led a candelight vigil outside the fountain by the Library Tower Tuesday night, the first day back after spring break, attended by about 200 students. BU visiting scholars Almir Alves, 43 of Brazil, and Li Guo, 47 of Tianjin, China, were killed. “I didn’t know [Alves], but when I found…

Second baseman Ricky Pacione hit a two-out, walkoff home run to give Marist a 5-4 win over the visiting Binghamton University baseball team Wednesday afternoon in the Bearcats’ final game before America East play begins. Pacione, Marist’s No. 3 hitter who carries a team-high .391 average, pulled a 1-1 pitch from Binghamton closer Greg Lane out to right-center at McCann Field in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. “It was one bad pitch, I was trying to stay away against the hitter and I missed in,” Lane said. Lane (0-1) struck out the first two batters in the bottom of the ninth inning after…

Closer Greg Lane and other members of the Binghamton University baseball team were huddled around a table at an airport on March 5. There was no TV nearby, so the Bearcats, waiting to board a flight for a weekend series, had to follow the play-by-play of an exhibition game between the New York Yankees and Team Canada on Lane’s cellphone. The reaction was not subdued when a strikeout of Mark Teixeira, the Yankees new first baseman and the highest paid free agent this offseason, flashed across the screen. Scott Diamond, a former Bearcats pitcher, caught him looking with a fastball,…

Today’s scheduled runoff vote for the Student Association president and vice president for finance positions was canceled early this morning because the SA judicial board found, after a grievance was filed, that votes in Dickinson College were recorded improperly during last week’s general election. Dickinson will tentatively re-vote on all candidates from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. next Wednesday and Thursday, March 31 and April 1, pending Assembly approval of the times. Any runoffs, which are held for the top two vote-getters in races where no candidate received the 40 percent of votes required to win a race outright, would be…

When D.J. Rivera steps on the floor in the Greensboro Coliseum on Thursday night, the only constant of his environment that will carry over from the regular season will be the presence of his family and his mother, Michelle Rivera. “My family goes everywhere I play. They never miss a game,” Rivera said. “Especially my mom, she’s never missed a game my whole life.” Michelle Rivera, a Philadelphia native, made the three-hour trip from her home in Philadelphia to the Events Center on Saturday to watch Rivera and the Bearcats clinch an America East men’s basketball championship, the first in…

Binghamton University’s America East Championship victory on Saturday created not only a convergence of fans on court in celebration, but a convergence of campus story lines — the peak of a crescendo in the greatest season in the school’s athletics history, and of a vision that began long ago. “I think that was the president’s dream, the athletic director and his counterparts’ dream,” said men’s basketball head coach Kevin Broadus in the post-game press conference of Binghamton’s 61-51 win over the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. “That was their dream, these guys carrying it out like they did today in…

When students take to the polls on Wednesday and Thursday next week to determine next year’s Student Association executive board positions, they can also vote on proposed changes to the SA constitution. The changes will not be voted on individually, but as a group — voters in disagreement with any changes should not support the referendum, according to Mary Leonardo, Elections Committee chair. The majority of the changes are clarifications and specifications of the powers and duties of executive board members. The referendum needs two-thirds of voters’ approval to pass. The vice president for multicultural affairs position, which has seen…

What better a time to talk to one of the nation’s most prestigious sports voices than before the biggest game in the history of Binghamton University athletics. Tony Kornheiser, class of 1970 and a sports editor emeritus of Pipe Dream (or as it was called for most of his time here, The Colonial News) spoke to Pipe Dream on Thursday about the emergence of the men’s basketball team, his thoughts on the team’s recent controversies and that mansion on Riverside Drive he always wanted to buy. We basically played Michael Wilbon for a day. We had to do a little…

Six more students are running for the Student Association Executive Board than last year, creating a more diverse field to pick from at the polls next week. The number of hopefuls for the SA Presidency alone has jumped to six from two, and includes students who have experience in Binghamton University’s student government, a prerequisite for these elections, as well as students who have made names for themselves in other corners of campus, which could reflect a desire in the community to expand inclusiveness in the SA. “Almost every candidate is talking about how to reach out more to students,…

Former Bearcats pitcher Scott Diamond earned a win with two shutout innings against the New York Yankees in an exhibition game Thursday afternoon in Tampa, Fla. Diamond, a southpaw who’s under contract in the Atlanta Braves organization and is currently playing for Team Canada, allowed no hits and two walks in the 6-0 victory. Diamond struck out new Yankees slugger Mark Teixeira and Angel Berroa. Diamond, from Guelph, Ontario, went 5-3 with a 3.45 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 12 starts for the Bearcats in 2007, his final season with the team. In 2008, Diamond’s first professional season, he went…

On Thursday as the operator of Continental Connection Flight 3407, which crashed a week earlier in a Buffalo suburb, defended both its training programs in the face of impending investigation, Binghamton University students and faculty that grew up in the Buffalo area said they were still unsettled by the tragedy that hit their community. “Growing up, every time a plane would go by, I would think, ‘What if that plane fell in our backyard?’” said Ryan Vaughan, a BU English professor and a native of Clarence Center, N.Y., the town of 1,747 where the Continental Connection turboprop plane crashed. The…

Since August, students Lisa Kaplan and Natalie Carmeli have been meeting nearly every day to work out the logistics of starting a chapter of a national organization called Challah for Hunger at Binghamton University. On Thursday, Feb. 26, the two are set to have their vision realized when they begin selling loaves of challah, the traditional Jewish bread, in the New University Union. Half of the proceeds will be donated to an international fund that sends aid to Darfur, the other half to Community Hunger Outreach Warehouse, better known as CHOW, a prominent local charity. “For me personally, it feels…

After years of attempts, here it is, Binghamton University: your moment of Zen. The Student Association Programming Board has booked Jon Stewart of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” to do 70 minutes of stand-up at the Events Center on March 27. “For the past four years, VPP [vice president of programming] and concert chairs have been trying to get one of Jon Stewart and John Mayer,” said Student Association Vice President for Programming Aaron Butler, who teamed with SAPB Concerts Committee Chair Meghan Wdowski to land Stewart. “Thankfully, we got one of them.” Stewart, 46, has hosted “The Daily Show,”…

Once its liquor license arrives, a Downtown mainstay will open its doors for the first time this academic year — but under a new name. Ty Fish, co-owner of The Scoreboard, is set to move the bar from its Washington Street location to 85 State St., the former home of The Sports Bar, a student favorite from its opening in 1993 until its closing last spring. “We’re going to cater to SUNY students and make them our focus point,” said Fish, 35, of Binghamton. He co-owns the bar with Mick Warren, 28, of Binghamton. Fish said he expects the liquor…

A contract ensuring Off Campus College Transport will receive a significant increase in funding from Binghamton University was agreed to in mid-December, tying up loose ends after a tax crisis nearly shut down the campus buses in the fall. The University has agreed to pay $400,000 to fund OCCT for the year running from Oct. 1, 2008, through Sept. 30, 2009. According to Student Association Vice President for Finance Alice Liou, OCCT’s operating budget nears $1 million per year. “The University helped us out a lot,” Liou, who was involved in the negotiations, said. “Now we’re trying to figure out…

Scott Diamond isn’t in the major leagues yet, but the former Bearcats pitcher may play alongside some of the globe’s best talent in this spring’s World Baseball Classic. Diamond, a 22-year-old left-handed starter, has been selected to Canada’s provisional roster — along with names like Jason Bay and Justin Morneau — for the second installment of the 16-team tournament, scheduled for March. The Ontario native isn’t sure he’ll beat out 22 others for one of 13 available spots for pitchers, but he considers his selection to the provisional roster an honor in itself. “To be honest, I think [my chances]…

Binghamton’s New York State University Police have moved Monday’s Student Assembly meeting to the Anderson Center and will keep officers on-hand as the Assembly deliberates over the vice president for multicultural affairs. When student government 12 years ago considered removing the position, intended to inspire diversity on campus, 800 students protested at the Couper Administration Building. Ten officers were on hand but were unable to control the crowd, resulting in the use of pepper spray on protesters. “The safety of all attendees for any campus event is always primary,” said University spokeswoman Gail Glover, who confirmed police would be present.…

State officials reached a stalemate on more than $5 billion in proposed budget cuts Tuesday, as the SUNY Board of Trustees agreed on its budget for the 2009-10 year during separate meetings in Albany. SUNY called for a tuition increase of $310 per semester for in-state undergraduate students and $1,130 for out-of-state undergraduate students, effective spring 2009. On Nov. 12, Gov. David Paterson proposed cuts that would have increased tuition by $300 per semester, of which only 10 percent would return to SUNY, with the rest returning to the state. However, SUNY’s proposal would keep more tuition money in the…

Reports of a Binghamton University men’s basketball player’s alleged October indiscretions have become Internet fodder for some sports commentary outlets. Sports Illustrated poked fun at the arrest of Malik Alvin, a 20-year-old junior transfer, in the “Campus Clicks” section of its Web site under the title “Dumb Arrest of the Day.” Alvin was arrested by Town of Vestal police on Nov. 6, for the alleged assault of an elderly woman and theft on Oct. 26. Police said Alvin was fleeing from Wal-Mart, where he was allegedly stealing a 36-pack of Trojan Magnum Condoms when he knocked over a 66-year-old woman,…

An hour into a public forum held by the Commission on Housing and Home Ownership on Thursday night, around 25 students entered City Council Chamber in single file before seating themselves in the entirety of one row. They were joined at Binghamton City Hall by local landlords and home owners before the commission, which has been working since January to better city neighborhoods. An incident on Binghamton’s West Side in February, where students were living in a home illegally according to zoning laws and, according to neighbors, were a disturbance, exacerbated the need to examine city housing, according to Mayor…

Binghamton University College Democrats members leapt into one another’s arms around 11 p.m. yesterday, when most television networks began to call the U.S. presidential election in favor of Barack Obama. “Brian, we got Virginia!” yelled a friend to Brian Young, president of the organization. Young was one of 27 members of the student group to spend much of the last five days in Pennsylvania, making last-second efforts in person there and by phone in other swing states, like Iowa and Ohio, up through yesterday evening. Obama won 55 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania, according to CNN.com early Wednesday morning.…

Student motives for voting yesterday ranged from a vested interest in the issues to obedience of a parent’s directive, but the results were staggeringly uniform. President-elect Barack Obama outdid John McCain 1,097-to-148 in the polls hosted in the Suquehanna Room of the Old University Union. Six booths were initially set up for Town of Vestal voting districts 24, 25, 26 and 27, which cover BU’s residence halls, but a seventh was brought in when one of the machines’ levers broke. The results are unofficial until certified by the Broome County Board of Elections, and do not include affidavit and emergency…

Members of the Binghamton University College Democrats and Republicans made get-out-the-vote trips to swing state Pennsylvania and attended local political rallies over the weekend in preparation for today’s election. U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) spoke at a 25-minute rally in front of the New University Union yesterday afternoon alongside several other Democrats up for re-election, including New York State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo and Broome County Executive Barbara Fiala. “It’s important to focus all our attention on how significant this day is,” Hinchey said. “And why is that? Because the outcome tomorrow is going to determine the quality of our lives…

In Barack Obama’s old Toyota, during the car rides between Chicago and Madison, Wis., the U.S. presidential-hopeful and a professor at Binghamton University talked about practically everything. “He told me about his views. Writing a novel was very important to him,” Douglas Glick, a linguistics professor and New York city native, said. “He told me a lot about his background. Like a good politician, he repeated himself. That’s a long ride.” Glick said he doesn’t remember exactly which summer it was that he and Obama frequented the two-and-a-half-hour trip down I-90, likely 1988 or 1989. He was a grad student…

Garnering an equal voice for graduate students at Binghamton University is one of the top priorities for BU’s Graduate Student Organization, according to Jessie Kapasula, its president. Undergraduate students outnumber graduate students at Binghamton University 11,515-to-2,920, according to BU’s Web site. That disparity serves to hide the community that Kapasula said teaches about 40 percent of classes at BU. “Our stand definitely is that we could use more visibility,” Kapasula said. “We do feel we’re not taken seriously.” Kapasula is the leader of a new executive board for the 2008-09 school year. A doctoral student in comparative literature, Kapasula was…

Binghamton University is set to receive $4 million in federal funds, intended for the research and development of thin, flexible solar cells that could allow windows and even clothing to act as energy sources. The announcement was made Wednesday by Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Maurice Hinchey, who said that the initiative would focus on finding inexpensive and efficient means of harnessing solar energy, as well as reducing dependence on fossil fuels. “A project like this provides hope for the future of the Southern Tier and America,” Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. Seshu Desu, dean of the Watson School of Engineering and…

A 3 percent annual tuition increase across the State University of New York system was approved by student representatives from the system’s 64 schools on Saturday at a conference in East Syracuse. The SUNY Student Assembly voted 50-10 in favor of the resolution, intended to help alleviate the 30 percent budget cuts all state agencies are facing. The state legislature and the governor need to approve the resolution before it can go into effect. Tuition for SUNY four-year colleges and universities has been frozen since 2003 at $4,350 per semester. If approved, the hike would give SUNY its first rational…

Student Association President Matt Landau spoke Monday night of unifying an SA that he feels has ineffectively represented the majority of Binghamton University students. Landau, who delivered a 19-minute State of the SA address to the Student Assembly in the Susquehanna Room, said that the organization is split in two, as one entity that operates productively for its own members and students that involve themselves in campus issues, and as another that leaves behind the rest. “There’s the people who are content not getting involved, who don’t care about campus issues,” he said. “All they care about is making sure…

The career of right-handed pitcher Bobby J. Jones was mediocre. He finished his 10 years in the National League with just six more wins, 89, than losses, and a 4.36 ERA. Jones had a hard enough time just keeping his name straight in the morning papers: a left-handed pitcher with the same name, differing only in middle initial, was a contemporary, and briefly a teammate. Though he spent the final two seasons of his career, 2001 to 2002, with the San Diego Padres, Jones’ mediocrity was mostly bestowed upon the Mets — a franchise that, like Jones, puts aside its…

Director of Off Campus College David Husch issued a letter Monday reminding students to take action if their water service is set to be interrupted. According to the mayor’s office, payment on delinquent bills must be received by 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26 to prevent service interruption. “If payment is not received by then, we will commence termination of service beginning Oct. 1 and proceed systematically through the list. Once water service is terminated, per State Code, our Building and Code Office must immediately deem the property not fit for habitation, and we will hold a hearing on the…

The Student Association Programming Board announced Friday that Lupe Fiasco is set to perform at Binghamton University on Oct. 12, marking the second straight year an innovative hip hop act has headlined BU’s first major show of the year. Fiasco, who has risen to prominence since his 2006 debut album “Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor” with the help of fellow Chicago native Kanye West, is set to play in the West Gym at 8 p.m. “We’re very excited,” Aaron Butler, SA vice president of programming, said. “He’s definitely going to bring something different to campus, and I believe he has…

More than 400 small flags will adorn the center of campus Thursday as part of the Binghamton University community’s day-long remembrance of the Sept. 11 attacks seven years ago. Morning ceremonies start at 8:40 a.m. in front of the Couper Administration Building, giving way to the Day of Caring and the Mitzvah Marathon events, which offer community service opportunities. After tabling by various charities and a blood drive set up by the Red Cross, the night is set to end near the New University Union food court at 9:11 p.m. with a reading of the names of all 2,977 people…

Late Nite Madness, a free event for students which showcases Binghamton University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams in their first official practices of the season, is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 19 at the Events Center, according to Student Association President Matt Landau. Madness, which is co-hosted by the BU athletics department, Student Association, Campus Life and Alumni Association, might be expanded this year from 90 minutes to two hours. “Last year it was a big thing, so we’re trying to keep it that way,” Landau said. It hasn’t been determined what time the event will kick off, but 8 p.m.…

As Barack Obama promised a clean break from the “broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush” in front of an estimated 84,000 people in Denver Thursday night, over 200 people gathered in Downtown Binghamton to support Obama’s bid to become the nation’s first black president. “We need somebody that leads the people, that understands that we have to invest in people, not just war,” said City of Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan before speaking at the Obama Convention Watch Party, held at the Holiday Inn Arena on Hawley Street. The event, co-sponsored by Citizen Action of…

In 2001, when I still collected autographs, and, in a way I didn’t fully understand, idolized ballplayers, I made my father wait for me outside a minor league baseball stadium on Coney Island for the team’s star player. Once Angel Pagan finally left the clubhouse, a pack of kids managed to corner the not-yet-20-year-old. Playing for the Brooklyn Cyclones, he was years away, but one day, if things went right, he would end up with the New York Mets. This is what concerned me as a teenager — the pitchers and the hitters and the numbers. Seven years later, I…

Binghamton University began to recede into the background of the story in early June, when former basketball recruit Miladin Kovacevic fled the country, simultaneously igniting an international incident. Now, at the start of the fall semester, the University community finds itself in mainly a spectator’s role: Kovacevic’s potential extradition from Serbia is in the hands of diplomats, and Bryan Steinhauer’s health in the hands of doctors downstate. The saga is no longer at the forefront of the community’s consciousness as it was over the summer. But for many, the pain has not faded. Steinhauer’s parents, Richard and Marlene, declined to…

Standing on the turf of the Bearcat Sports Complex in earshot of her husband’s post-game commentary after an exhibition win Friday night, Paul Marco’s wife Sheryl laughed at one of the questions posed to her husband — likely because of how absurd it sounded, but maybe because she too had wondered the same thing: Just what is it that has her husband convinced he can win an NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer National Championship at Binghamton University? There are the obvious answers: over the last five years, the Bearcats have made the America East finals every season, won two conference…

Pole vaulter Rory Quiller’s bid to become the third student-athlete in Binghamton University history to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team fell short in Eugene, Ore., on June 27. Quiller, a 24-year-old graduate student at BU and the reigning NCAA Division I Indoor champion, tied for 14th at the U.S. Olympic Trials, held at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. Quiller cleared his opening height of 17-8 1/2 but was unsuccessful in his three attempts to clear 18 1/2, the minimum mark necessary to advance to the finals. The top 13 pole vaulters advanced to the finals. “Obviously I’m super…

Though there is no grander stage in sports than the Olympics, Binghamton University pole vaulter Rory Quiller actually feels less pressure as he prepares for the Olympic Trials than he did at the NCAA Division I Indoor Championships just over two months ago. “Indoor nationals, it’s like, who knows when you’re going to get another national champ at Binghamton?” Quiller said. “I think other people kind of looked it as, ‘Oh, geez, this could be our shot. Everybody was really good with not heaping pressure, [but I could still feel it]. So now with the Olympics it’s kind of something…

The endings are eerily similar. For a second consecutive season, the Binghamton University baseball team captured an America East regular season championship before falling two wins short of the America East tournament title. But unlike last year, the 2008 Bearcats (29-27) weren’t supposed to win it all. With most regulars graduated as a part of one of the greatest senior classes in program history, to expect a year of rebuilding wouldn’t have been unreasonable. And the way this season started — with four straight losses to open conference play and a 7-19 record — didn’t help dispel that notion. Then…

At all levels of sport, there is a seemingly inexorable, perhaps even unreasonable love for firsts: a first home run, a first goal, a first championship. Binghamton University’s infatuation with pole vaulter Rory Quiller, Pipe Dream’s 2008 Male Athlete of the Year, however, is not born out of the love for trivia, but appreciation for the transcendence of one the greatest athletic achievements in the school’s 63-year existence. On April 14, Quiller, a 24-year-old graduate student in the School of Management, became the first athlete to win a national championship in BU’s six-year history as a competitor on the NCAA…

The Bearcats guaranteed themselves a second consecutive America East playoff berth with three wins in four games at Hartford this weekend, and could clinch a second consecutive AE regular season title with a little help next weekend. The Binghamton University baseball team (25-24, 13-7 AE) split a doubleheader with host Hartford (17-29, 9-11) on Sunday, losing 5-1 then winning 19-10, after sweeping Saturday’s double-dip, 8-2 and 3-0. Stony Brook (29-21, 13-7), which entered the weekend with a one-game lead in the AE, split a four-game series with Maryland-Baltimore County (21-27, 13-11), dropping the Seawolves into a tie for first place…

After a stellar outing to clinch the first America East regular season title in Bearcats history at the end of last season, Gio Yannuzzi worked last off-season to repeat those results every time in 2008, his final season with the team. Sunday, that work paid off in near-historic fashion. Yannuzzi, a senior left-hander and the Bearcats’ fourth conference starter, came within four outs of throwing the first no-hitter in the Bearcats’ Division I history against the host Vermont Catamounts (21-20-0, 7-9-0 AE). Yannuzzi’s performance and some early offense secured a 9-1 win and a series win for the Binghamton University…

The recognition came during Thursday night’s XCELsior awards ceremony, but the Rainbow Pride Union’s achievements have been years in the making. For RPU Co-Director Carlos Ali, the awards represent how far the organization has come in just the past couple of years. “Two or three years ago, if you said the acronym RPU, no one knew who we were,” Ali said. “Now people know who we are, and I think that our winning the awards tonight showed that.” RPU, which has doubled in both membership and budget over the past two years according to Ali, was honored as holding the…

Two left hooks helped Joe Calvello, a 2007 Binghamton University graduate, to the Syracuse Golden Gloves amateur light heavyweight title he came so close to a year ago. Calvello, 22, defeated Joe Fratelli, 20, in a unanimous 5-0 decision to win the 178-pound class on April 12 at the Pepsi International Building at the State Fairgrounds. He has a 4-3 record and is 4-1 in his last five fights. Calvello lost 3-2 in the finals of the same tournament last year. “Last year I was a little bit bitter, a little bit upset,” Calvello said. “I trained as hard as…

The Binghamton University baseball team fell one win short Wednesday of carrying a 10-game win streak into the second half of its America East Conference schedule. The Bearcats (19-22, 7-5 AE) fell to the Le Moyne Dolphins 18-2 at Varsity Field in BU’s final game against a non-conference opponent this season, a lopsided defeat the Bearcats have already put behind them. BU head coach Tim Sinicki did not speak to his players about the loss directly after the game, choosing instead to look forward to this weekend’s four-game series with the host Vermont Catamounts (20-17, 6-6). “We forget about it…

Perhaps more in hope than prescience, Binghamton University baseball head coach Tim Sinicki spoke to the need for the team’s freshman and newcomers to step up at the outset of this season, a year removed from the Bearcats’ most successful season in its Division I history. A lean 6-foot-3 left-handed hitter, Pete Bregartner has answered the calling, as just an 18-year-old freshman. He has led the Bearcats to second place in the America East with a .326 average — a team-high just ahead of fellow freshman and fellow 2008 Pipe Dream Male Rookie of the Year Award nominee Brian Ivan.…

A four-game non-conference sweep and some favorable outcomes around the America East helped the Binghamton University baseball team extend its win streak to nine games and move into second place in the AE this weekend. The Bearcats (19-21, 7-5 AE) took a pair of doubleheaders from the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders (3-38) in a home-and-home series. Binghamton won 7-1 and 15-5 at Varsity Field in Vestal on Saturday, and then 3-2 and 4-1 at NJIT’s home Riverfront Stadium in Newark, N.J., on Sunday. Though BU head coach Tim Sinicki is pleased with the win streak, it’s the fact…

The Binghamton University baseball team is on a well-timed break from the America East this weekend — not that any of the Bearcats would call it that. Binghamton (15-21-0, 7-5 AE) climbed to third place last weekend with a sweep of the visiting Albany Great Danes, building momentum with a five-game win streak and wins in seven of its last nine as it enters the second half of the conference schedule. Binghamton’s next five games, including three at home, however, are against non-conference opponents — the last time they’ll meet a non-AE opponent in the 2008 regular season. “At this…

Paul Marco, head coach of the Binghamton University men’s soccer team, and Erwin Seguia, president of the Bearcat Hooligans, the team’s student fan group, are working to design scarves for the next men’s soccer season, but they won’t be necessary in the spring weather Saturday when the Hooligans take to the Bearcats Sports Complex stands for some exhibition action. The Bearcats are scheduled to play the Herkimer Community College, a perennial National Junior College Athletic Association Division III championship contender, at 2 p.m. The HCC Generals went 15-3-2 last season and finished third in the NJCAA D3 tournament. “It’s always…

The past year in Binghamton University sports has been the year of the individual, spear-headed by pole vaulter Rory Quiller, who captured the school’s first-ever Division I national title in March and was featured in the April 17 issue of Sports Illustrated. Two others who not long ago were Bearcats have also brought notoriety to BU athletics with the start of their professional careers: Scott Diamond, a starting pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization, and Adam Chavez, who plays backfield for the Richmond Kickers of the United Soccer Leagues. What a Quill! Quiller, who already had a day named after…

Every Binghamton University baseball position player had at least one hit Sunday in the Bearcats’ 13-10 rally over Albany, a poignant cap to a vengeful four-game sweep of the visiting Great Danes that propelled the Bearcats to third place in the America East. “We got great contributions from everyone in the lineup,” said BU head coach Tim Sinicki. “Guys who came in off the bench and guys who don’t regularly have an opportunity contributed, it’s very satisfying.” The Bearcats (14-21, 7-5 AE) defeated Albany 5-4 in Friday’s opener, and 16-5 and 4-3 in a doubleheader Saturday. Sunday’s victory gives Binghamton…

Corey Taylor’s grounder to short slipped between the legs of Maryland-Baltimore County shortstop Rich Conlon in the rain Friday afternoon at Varsity Field, giving the Binghamton University baseball team its first America East victory of the season and the first of three wins in a four-game series over UMBC on the weekend, 9-8. Conlon’s error with one out in the 10th inning allowing BU catcher C.J. Lukaszewski to score from second without a play at the plate, completing a comeback that began with the host Bearcats trailing 8-5 entering the bottom of the ninth. “I’ll take it,” said Taylor, who…

Despite all its success last season, the Binghamton University baseball team will return to Varsity Field with little fanfare for last season and a lot on the line for the current one. BU’s home-opening, four-game series against Maryland-Baltimore County begins at 1 p.m. on Friday and will be the team’s first action in front of the BU community since clinching an America East regular season championship, before heading to Long Island for a second-place tournament finish last season. That’s the nature of the collegiate baseball season — once it gets good, most students are out of town for the summer.…

This week was not the time for the Binghamton University baseball team to be lackadaisical, and head coach Tim Sinicki quickly put an end to it. “I thought we were a little sluggish, needed to kind of clear the air a little bit and talked as a group,” he said. “We made some strides, it helps us get going.” The Bearcats (7-19, 0-4 America East) enter their home-opening series with Maryland-Baltimore County (9-16, 1-3) this weekend at Varsity Field in as much of a must-win atmosphere as could be found this early in conference play. Binghamton, last year’s regular season…

It may have worked for Albany a season ago, but losing all four games to open America East play was hardly what the Binghamton University baseball team wanted to do over the weekend. The Bearcats (7-19, 0-4 AE) were swept in doubleheaders by Stony Brook Seawolves on Saturday and Sunday, as different things went wrong in each game. The Albany Great Danes were swept on opening weekend a year ago, but rebounded to win the America East Tournament. “From results standpoint, you don’t want to lose four games … in a weekend, but we saw some good things,” said BU…

The Binghamton University baseball team finished its non-conference schedule with a disappointing 11-game road trip over spring break, but the results aren’t what have left uncertainty in the mind of head coach Tim Sinicki as the team enters its America East opener at Stony Brook on Friday. “I don’t know what to expect, we just have so few guys who have played a lot of innings in America East games,” he said. “I’m not sure how the new guys are going to react, or even how the returning guys are going to react because they’re playing in different circumstances and…

Pipe Dream’s resident baseball expert, Evan Drellich, lays down some predictions about the 2008 season, but in the interest of fair and balanced coverage, Sports Editor Mark Macyk offers his take where he differs with the boy wonder. NL East: Forget what Jimmy Rollins or Carlos Beltran say — the Mets are the team to beat. Injuries, always, can change everything, and already Pedro Martinez is out four to six weeks, joining Moises Alou in the gallery. But Santana’s acquisition makes the Mets one of the league’s only mid-90-win teams. Second opinion: With the addition of Santana all the Amazins…

As the roof of 15 Seminary Ave. burned away, firefighters had no immediate way of telling if any of five Binghamton University students were trapped inside the West Side home in the early morning of March 26. “There was a rented movie sitting there on the table — food, half-full beer bottles — it looked like somebody had just left,” said Binghamton Fire Marshal Dan Eggleston. Binghamton University students Steven Jimenez, Mark Macyk, Cliff Nguyen, John Sullivan and Doug Vanella, the only residents, had actually left town less than a week earlier, when BU recessed for spring break. Thanks to…

Quiller notebook There was no champagne waiting for Rory Quiller on Friday night after he secured his NCAA championship in the pole vault. Just a drug test and a salad. After making calls to local media and receiving his first-place trophy, Quiller had to take a drug test to validate his championship, as per NCAA rules. Around midnight, Quiller was finally able to sit down to dinner with Binghamton University track and field head coach Mike Thompson, his father Jerry, who is the head track and field coach at West Point, and some family friends at a local Chili’s near…

It didn’t go exactly as he expected, but in the end, Binghamton University pole vaulter Rory Quiller became an NCAA champion Friday night. In his final meet as a Bearcat, Quiller reached a height of 18 1/2 to take the top finish at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, held at the University of Arkansas. “It was kind of a double-edged sword actually,” Quiller said. “It was really neat and exciting to get the win, but … at 18 1/2, I sort of assumed that all the guys that were jumping were going to make that height and that…

If Binghamton University’s two returning aces from last season had any worry that they’d be alone in the rotation this season, it should be gone now. Sophomore right-hander Murphy Smith held La Salle to just one hit in five innings Saturday at the Villanova Baseball Classic to lock up Binghamton’s first winning weekend of the season and lower his ERA to 2.05, the best mark among Bearcats starters. “I think it was coach [head coach Tim Sinicki] who said it, we’re still just trying to figure out how to win,” Smith said. The Bearcats (5-8) fell to Temple, 4-3, Friday…

After taking second place a year ago, Binghamton University’s Rory Quiller could very well be the favorite in the pole vault tonight at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the University at Arkansas, but that’s not a guarantee. “He might be the favorite going in, I don’t think it would be incorrect to say that,” said BU track and field head coach Mike Thompson. “But the Giants won this year and they should have had no chance. All these other guys have a chance, they’re all pretty close … it’s not like Rory’s a foot better than…

On May 25, 2007, I watched the best local baseball team of the year play from the pressbox at NYSEG Stadium, home of the Binghamton Mets. But that team was nowhere near Broome County. A little over 200 miles away, in Farmingdale, N.Y., the Binghamton University Bearcats led the Albany Great Danes, 7-3, in the ninth inning of an America East winner’s bracket playoff game. A win for the Bearcats, the conference’s regular-season champion, would have put them just one victory away — in two tries, if they needed — from an AE Tournament title and a chance at Omaha.…

The 2008 Binghamton University baseball team has begun its season without a Hitch — but that might not be a good thing. The Bearcats, who finished with a school record 28 wins last season and their first-ever America East regular season championship, enter this season without several of its greatest players in program history — the foremost of whom is first baseman Brendon Hitchcock, the America East Player of the Year last season and Binghamton’s career leader in multiple offensive categories. Hitchcock was followed out by eight other players — seven other seniors — including a starting catcher, shortstop, second…

Propelled by Kyle Klee’s two-run home run, the Binghamton University baseball team finally won comfortably Sunday. The Bearcats (3-7) defeated host Longwood, 8-3, in Farmville, Va., after dropping two one-run games to the Lancers (6-4) on Saturday, 6-5 and 4-3. “We just played so many close games and we really needed to win big,” Klee said. Klee homered to left field on a 3-1 hanging slider from Longwood reliever Luke Townsend in the fifth inning to put the Bearcats ahead 6-0. Klee also had an RBI single in the first. Ryan James went 3-for-4 and drove in two runs. Lancers…

Binghamton University’s Rory Quiller fell short of the ECAC/IC4A Championship meet record Friday, but still managed to set a personal record and the high mark for the current NCAA indoor track and field season in the pole vault. Quiller reached a height of 18-6 1/2 at Boston University, taking first place in the pole vault. Pittsburgh’s Ronald Walter finished second at 16 3/4. Quiller attributed his recent success — he set a personal record his last time out, 18-4 1/2, at the U.S. Indoor National Track & Field Championships on Feb. 23, an event also held in Boston — to…

At the beginning of the year, each team sets a goal to win the America East Championship. And their road to the top begins this weekend. “You are playing for keeps now. You don’t save nothing no more. You win, you keep playing. You lose, you pack your uniforms up,” said Binghamton University head coach Kevin Broadus. “On any given day, you only get one chance to show who you are and what you are.” The Bearcats’ chance will come on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. as they take on the Vermont Catamounts in the first round of the America East…

The Binghamton University baseball team started its season with a 4-0 win over host James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va. on Saturday before dropping a doubleheader to JMU on Sunday. Zach Groh, BU’s winningest pitcher last season, allowed three hits in five innings Friday without his best stuff. “We come to have a certain level of expectations for Zach which are really unfair, he really didn’t have his best stuff and he’d be first to tell you that,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “And I guess what makes him so special is that he finds a way to keep you…

The Mets and Yankees aren’t the only local ballclubs with new venues in their future. The Binghamton University baseball and softball teams will receive new stadiums as soon as the necessary funding becomes available, according to BU Director of Athletics Joel Thirer. The new stadiums would have turf fields, stadium-style seating and lighting — a necessity to host America East Conference tournaments. The baseball field would be situated near its current position west of the Events Center while the softball field would be relocated to the north of the Bearcats Sports Complex. Thirer said he cannot offer an estimate of…

Binghamton University Director of Athletics Joel Thirer, who arrived at BU in 1989, has lofty goals he’d like to meet before retiring. (He’s not going anywhere, he said, for another six to eight years. “I’m not counting down the days.”) Though Thirer said he wants to get as many of BU’s teams to the NCAA tournament as possible and win an America East Commissioner’s Cup, he has a special plan for the men’s basketball team: “I’d like to establish basketball as a regularly, nationally-competitive mid-major program in the same way that some of the other mid-majors are. Binghamton could one…

Binghamton University’s Rory Quiller could become the fourth athlete in Binghamton history to attend the Olympics. Quiller, a 23-year-old MBA Student and 6-foot-4-inch BU pole vaulter, has reached the provisional mark necessary to attend the 2008 United States Track and Field Olympic Team Trials, scheduled to be held from June 27 through July 6 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. If Quiller were to make the trials and finish in the top three, he would represent the United States at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Quiller met the provisional height of 18-0 ½ at the season-opening…

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer indicated in his State of the State address last month that University at Buffalo and Stony Brook are the top candidates to become the flagship institutions of the SUNY system, a decision that Binghamton University Director of Athletics Joel Thirer said has no effect on and was not rooted in the strength of BU’s athletics program. “[Buffalo and Stony Brook] both have health and science centers and they’re both big institutions,” Thirer said. “Binghamton and Albany don’t have that with the medical schools and that really sets them apart form the other state universities.” Paul…

Unless you were living under a rock this winter, you at least know Olivia Thirlby’s face. The 21-year-old co-starred alongside Ellen Page in this year’s smash hit “Juno,” and has many more films in the pipeline including “Snow Angels” and “The Wackness.” Since “Juno,” Thirlby has been generating a lot of industry buzz. She was featured as “The Girl” in February’s GQ and will be in upcoming editions of Interview, Glamour, V Magazine and CosmoGirl. In January, the New York Daily News said Thirlby is “ready to be the Next Hot Thing.” But she said she doesn’t love every second…

With his shoulder injury finally behind him and a Colonial Athletic Association Wrestler of the Week award under his belt, 149-pounder Kyle Fried will lead the Binghamton University wrestling team into three meets this weekend. The Bearcats (9-10) are scheduled to travel to East Stroudsburg University (3-8) for a 7 p.m. meet Friday and then back home for meets with Franklin & Marshall College (5-7) and Columbia University (3-3) in the West Gym at 5 and 7 p.m. respectively on Saturday. Fried’s 3-0 performance helped BU win two of three meets in Binghamton’s last outing, at the Ithaca Duels last…

Well, really, the egg’s on my face. I went into Week 14 with a sizable lead and, got a little cocky. (See the humble prediction of Ben Masur — who, by the way, is a bandwagonning Duke and Yankees fan — for more.) I finished third in the regular season picks after essentially leading the whole way. For the record, I’m still Pipe Dream Picks’ winningest picker over its two years of existence. But that’s just one of two mistakes I won’t repeat here. Last year, after winning the Pipe Dream Picks regular season championship, I fell in the Super…

For the love of circle changeups and arriving full circle, Shea Stadium is the place to be in 2008. Assuming a new contract is reached, Johan Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, will join the New York Mets rotation alongside Pedro Martinez, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and Santana’s predecessor as the best pitcher on the planet. Santana and Martinez, with no fear of offending Trevor Hoffman, have the best changeups in baseball, and are the type of pitchers that come around, literally, once a decade. The last go-around, the Mets missed their chance. In 1997, after Martinez…

Put me in coach, I’m ready to … coach. Tim Schum, who edited a 1998 book entitled “Coaching Soccer” and coached men’s soccer at Binghamton University for 29 years, would like to be back on the sidelines. He left his post as the men’s soccer head coach in 1992. “Were I to do it all over again I would have kept coaching. I kind of miss it,” Schum said. “In fact I’m considering maybe getting back into coaching. I haven’t been offered anything with Binghamton University, and you know what, it’s [Paul Marco’s] program — having the old coach look…

Members of the Bearcat Hooligans and the BU Zoo can finally bring home the perfect literary companion. Tim Schum’s “From Colonials to Bearcats,” a 343-page hardcover book chronicling the first 60 years of Binghamton University athletics, gives exposure to the teams that played at BU when sports weren’t a priority but the story lines were as strong as they are today. And no one knows those teams better than the 69-year-old Schum, a 43-year employee of BU athletics who coached the men’s soccer team from 1963-1992. A former editor of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Soccer Journal and…

Though the script wasn’t perfect and the shoot took him 14 hours, Binghamton University pole vaulter Rory Quiller fared well in his screen debut earlier this month. “Some of the stuff probably isn’t stuff I’d be saying every day talking to my friends,” Quiller joked. “There’s a line in there where I’m like ‘Oh, I’m the best,’ and I don’t really go around saying that.” Quiller, the University’s most prominent individual athlete and the second-place finisher at last year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, is the focal point of a new 30-second commercial promoting BU. In the ad, entitled “Advantage,” the 6-foot-4…

Lock: EAGLES (-3) over Giants: Eli’s a bust. Miami (+7) over BUFFALO: Both teams have lost a lot of really close games, and Buffalo finally pulled out a close one last week. Miami can stay within one score. BALTIMORE (+10) over Indianapolis: What a fun two weeks for the Ravens. They’re probably really, really angry this week, and they should be. The Pats game was painful. Pittsburgh (+10) over NEW ENGLAND: This is very much a hope-pick. As great as the Jets are, this is the last chance to prevent that travesty of a perfect season for New England.

Binghamton University swimming and diving head coach Sean Clark finally had a reason to crack a joke. “The lesson of the day: don’t get the coaches wet unnecessarily,” he told his team in a post-meet talk on the bleachers of the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center. The mood was light because the BU men’s and women’s teams took home their first wins of the season Saturday afternoon with a dual-meet sweep of visiting Niagara. The women’s team won 174-118 and the men’s team won 160-131, ending the Bearcats’ fall semester on a high note. “Heading into the break we need…

Lock: WASHINGTON (-6) over Buffalo — I took Atlanta over New Orleans in the reopening of the Super Dome. With the loss of Sean Taylor, picking the Bills would be similarly stupid. BALTIMORE (+21) over New England — Ed Reed makes 36 interceptions in honor of Sean Taylor, Bill Belichick cries in the postgame interview … nah, but three touchdowns? The Ravens are bad, for sure, but two strong defenses could, at least, keep this low-scoring. Jets (+1) over MIAMI — It’s insult to injury, really, that while the Patriots march on to obliterate the memory of the 1972 Dolphins…

Injuries helped Binghamton University wrestling sputter to a 1-3 finish at the Journeyman/Brute Northeast Duals on Saturday at Hudson Valley Community College. The Bearcats (1-4), who were without two nationally-ranked starts in three of four matches and had to forfeit at heavyweight in all of them, defeated American International 42-6, but lost 47-3 to No. 3 Oklahoma State, 35-10 to Lehigh and 35-9 to Appalachian State. Binghamton senior Kyle Fried, ranked 14th in the nation in the 149-pound class, notched Binghamton’s lone win against OSU, 4-2 over Quinten Fuentes, but it was costly. Fried was injured in the process and…

With the words “Go f— yourselves,” Roger Scully picked up the ball and flung it into the bleachers at the Bearcats Sports Complex, where the Bearcat Hooligans stood. Time had expired in Saturday night’s America East men’s soccer title match, and Scully’s Vermont Catamounts had just dethroned the defending champion Bearcats, 1-0. Scully, Vermont’s redshirt junior goalkeeper and the championship’s Most Outstanding Player, finished his outburst and met his leaping teammates at midfield. Moments later, Catamounts backfielder Will Haywood had his own parting shot to offer the Hooligans, Binghamton’s student-fan section: the crotch chop, the signature move of the WWE’s…

Ultimately, Roger Scully and Will Haywood made a mistake in their taunts, beyond displaying a deplorable level of immaturity: they offered an acknowledgment. They acknowledged exactly what Binghamton coach Paul Marco said: how much beating Binghamton means to Vermont. They acknowledged how much they care about what Binghamton’s fans call them and how revered the Bearcats’ dynasty is. And that acknowledgment only served to inspire the Hooligans more. “We love you, Bearcats, we do!” the Hooligans sang as the awards ceremony kicked off. “We love you Bearcats, we do — Oh, Bearcats, WE LOVE YOU!” With both teams watching at…

Lock: HOUSTON (even) over New Orleans: These two have identical records and almost identical points differential. The Saints’ four-game win streak ended last week, and Andre Johnson and Matt Schaub return for Houston, which is home. New England (-16 1/2) over BUFFALO: The Bills have allowed just 19 more points than the Pats this season, which makes me start to think they could play with New England. But the Pats have outscored the Bills by 212 points, and the Bill’s defense, even though it’s been stingy points-wise, has allowed the seventh most passing yards in the league and fifth most…

Last season, the Binghamton University men’s soccer team prevailed in the America East semifinal over the one conference opponent that had managed to beat them in the regular season — Boston University. This season, the Bearcats take on UMBC — not one of the three teams that managed to beat the Bearcats in conference play, but the one that, if anybody, probably should have. “They came down in overtime and should have won the game,” said Binghamton coach Paul Marco of the 1-0 overtime win over the Retrievers on Oct. 10 at the Bearcats Sports Complex. “The guy smashes it…

LOCK: Indianapolis (-3.5) over San Diego: Bob Cook of MSNBC wrote a column Thursday that said without Marvin Harrison, the Colts aren’t even going to make the “inevitable rematch against New England on Jan. 20 in the AFC Championship game.” Maybe. But they’re still good enough to beat the Chargers by more than three. Just hope L.T. isn’t too inspired after watching Adrian Peterson last week. BALTIMORE (-4.5) over Cincinnati: The Ravens have two games to make up for this week: first, their 27-20 loss in their regular season opener to Cinci, and second, last Monday’s embarrassment. Ray Lewis is…

Buffalo didn’t want to hand over the trophy, so Binghamton University club field hockey juniors Melissa Cuan and Nicole Keane walked right over to the table and took it. Binghamton had just repeated as New York State Field Hockey League champions, with a 3-0 win over Buffalo in a rematch of last year’s championship match. But tensions escalated at the end of the match and an awards presentation ceremony never took place. Binghamton (7-0), the top seed in the seven-team tournament, held a 2-0 lead over third-seeded Buffalo (6-2) with about four minutes remaining in regulation when things got chippy.…

LOCK: Dallas (-3) over PHILADELPHIA: Give the Giants credit — they’re making it interesting; but the Cowboys are still the class of the division, if not the conference (don’t lie, you didn’t see Green Bay coming either). And Philly, though arguably better than Washington, will have a hard time making the playoffs. Just hope the money doesn’t go to Tony Romo’s head. INDIANAPOLIS (+6 1/2) over New England: I took the Bears in the Super Bowl last year because it was easier to root for them. They were the underdog, and who could resist that? I might be making the…

Lock: Indianapolis (-3 1/2) over JACKSONVILLE: I took a year hiatus from the Ravens and rolled with the Jags in Madden ‘07. Byron Leftwich’s 98-power arm allowed me to go deep to Ernest Wilford and Matt Jones at will. But the big guy’s gone now and Matt Jones isn’t the same. It’s back to Balto for me in Madden ‘08 and it’s a loss for the Jags on Monday night. Indy’s better; you know this. DALLAS (-10) over Minnesota: Adrian Peterson was incredible in week six, but consider that the Vikings also scored a third of their total points on…

Lock: Tennessee (+3) over TAMPA BAY: The Titans have a two-game winning streak, a better ranked offense and a better ranked defense. The Bucs have Cadillac Williams and Michael Pittman on the sidelines. Why are the Bucs favored? Why? Picks: New England (-6 1/2) over DALLAS: I don’t think Dallas’s near-loss last week has anything to do with it. New England is just on a different level. SEATTLE (-7) over New Orleans: Last week was rough for Seattle, but the Seahawks are allowing half as many points per game as the Saints are: 29.75 to 14.80. CLEVELAND (-5) over Miami:…

Hundreds of fans were mobbing in celebration the last time the Binghamton University and Boston University men’s soccer teams shared a field on Nov. 1, 2006, at old West Gym Field. The Bearcats were in the midst of the jubilation, having clinched their fourth straight America East finals appearance. Boston was watching in disbelief and preparing to go home, its season finished after a semifinals shootout. At 7 p.m. tomorrow under the lights of the Bearcat Sports Complex, Binghamton (7-2-0) and Boston (5-4-0) are scheduled to meet for the first time since last year’s playoffs. And it’ll be about as…

Lock: Cleveland (+17) over NEW ENGLAND: Time to make it interesting. While I definitely don’t think the Browns can win this game, they’ve been impressive enough to make you think they’ll be within 17 — even against the league’s best run defense. Play the spread, kids. WASHINGTON (-3 1/2) over Detroit: I like Washington coming off the bye at home, particularly considering the Lions are playing over their heads, allowing more points than they’ve scored — they have the fourth-best offense in the league and fourth-worst defense so far. But a word of caution: the Arizona Diamondbacks just won a…

Dane Cook, no longer the poster boy just for bad comedy, but for this year’s MLB playoffs and cruel irony as well, opened a commercial for the Mets’ October run with these words: “Last year’s [NLCS] loss is not forgotten. This year’s team is about redemption.” The only things being redeemed at Shea this month are the thousands of dollars worth of playoffs tickets. A seven-game lead dissipated in 17 days — it’s historical and it’s phenomenal. A remarkable story that, when retold, should be told how it was: a Phillies’ ascent via the Mets’ self-destruction, and not vice versa.…

The Bearcats received more scoring than they had in nearly a year on Sunday. The Binghamton University men’s soccer team (6-2-0) defeated host Hartwick, 2-1, in a non-conference match. The Bearcats scored multiple goals for the first time since Oct. 11, 2006 — a span of 13 matches with one goal or none. The win ended BU’s two-game losing streak on the heels of its home opener against Cornell, scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday. It’s the men’s team’s first match at the new Bearcat Sports Complex. “It was definitely important,” said BU sophomore goalkeeper Jason Stenta of the win. “If…

The kings can finally take their new throne. The Binghamton University men’s soccer team’s first match at the new Bearcat Sports Complex — which, if it was built for anyone, it was built for the reigning AE champs — is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday against Cornell. The Bearcats (6-2-0) are off to a strong start despite having played all of their matches thus far on the road. Now they come home, knowing they never lost in Vestal during the regular season last year. “I think this game is going to set the tempo for how our home games go,”…

LOCK: NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (-7 1/2) over Cincinnati Bengals: I hate to say it, I really do, but New England’s a runaway train. One that can very easily run over the Cinci Convicts’ defense. If only Chad Johnson could guard Randy Moss … you know, you could do that in Madden ‘04. NEW YORK JETS (-3 1/2) over Buffalo Bills: It’s not because I’m from New York City and thus a Jets fan who hates anything that exists upstate, never mind a divisional rival. It’s because the Bills are awful. GREEN BAY PACKERS (-3) over Minnesota Vikings: I could be…

The Binghamton University men’s soccer team, the defending America East champion, is by far BU’s most successful team. Their home opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. tomorrow against Cornell, under the lights at the new Bearcat Sports Complex. Here are some faces you need to recognize when you charge the field after another Bearcats win, as told by junior midfielder Cody Germain. Adam Chavez Senior, backfielder, No. 8 Cody says: “Abby is probably our best defender on the team. He’s incredibly strong, he’s got great positioning and he distributes the ball very well.” Barry Neville Junior, backfielder, No. 6 Cody…

Lock: Indianapolis (-6 1/2) over HOUSTON — Colts favored by less than a touchdown against the Texans? Free money, people. WASHINGTON (-4) over Giants — The Giants will be the last remaining winless team in New York, meaning … JETS (-3) over Miami — … the Jets will win. Even if Eric Mangini is holding back the future by starting Chad Pennington, the Jets hung in there the last two weeks against the cream of the league. (Well, at least last week. The Pats cheated.) This one won’t be close enough to be decided by a dropped pass. PITTSBURGH (-9)…

For the Binghamton University men’s soccer team, it’s not last weekend. And for the Hartwick men’s soccer team, these aren’t the Hawks of years past. The Bearcats (5-2) are coming off a 1-0 overtime loss to Richmond last Friday and a 3-1 loss to Duquesne on Saturday at the Richmond Nike Cup Challenge, their first two losses of the season. But as the Bearcats get ready for Saturday’s 7 p.m. match at Hartwick, the shortcomings of a week ago are in the past. “I didn’t see any [carryover] in either of the training sessions that we’ve had this week,” said…

The Binghamton University men’s soccer team is undefeated and the Bucknell men’s soccer team is winless, but in the Bearcats’ preparation for today’s 4 p.m. match between the two in Lewisburg, Pa., the records are meaningless. “They’re the Patriot League champions, so they’re going to be a very good team,” said BU coach Paul Marco of Bucknell. “They’re [consistently] in the NCAA tournament and they’re a team that is very competitive. And there’s not one bad player or a weakness you’re looking for when you’re watching them.” The Bearcats have won their first four games of the season, a feat…

There’s no way that you weren’t a little bit jealous on Sept. 1. No way that, for at least the first half-dozen times ESPN showed Corey Lynch’s blocked kick that finalized Appalachian State’s 34-32 victory over then-No.5 Michigan in a belittled Big House, you didn’t wish you went to school in the land of the Mountaineers, Boone, N.C. Rarely before had the tragedy of college life in Vestal been so evident: Binghamton University has never had a football team. In a three-piece feature for Pipe Dream last fall, Randy Benjenk laid out the reasons why, according to those in the…

The Binghamton University men’s soccer team is not just building a dynasty. It’s making history. The Bearcats won both of their games at the Pittsburgh Invitational this weekend, giving them the tournament title and, for the first time since 1987, a 4-0 start. BU defeated Robert Morris, 1-0, on Friday and host Pittsburgh, 1-0, on Sunday. “Each year you’re looking to do things better,” BU coach Paul Marco said. “Not necessarily different, but better than you did the previous year. On some of our guys’ shirts, there’s a big ‘BETTER,’ with ‘212 degrees’ on the front and ‘The Bearcat Way’…

Lock: DALLAS (-6) over Giants: Let’s start off with some schadenfreude: the Giants are in for a rough season, maybe even a last place finish. The Cowboys, on the other hand, are favored to win the division. Let the Big Blue losing begin. Baltimore (+3) over CINCINNATI: Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister, unlike Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall, is not an outspoken player. Hall had some big words — or perhaps big stylings — when he called out Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson this preseason with the words “I OWN U 85” in his hair. Johnson had five catches for 83 yards and…

VESTAL — Former Binghamton University left-handed pitcher Scott Diamond has signed with the Atlanta Braves and will not play his senior season with the Bearcats. “There’s a little bit of disappointment that I can’t finish up with my senior year and finish up strong,” Diamond said. “But there’s always that excitement to move on the next level and keep playing. I’m pretty pumped and I’ve been working out pretty hard.” Diamond, from Guelph, Ontario, went 5-3 with a 3.45 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 12 starts for the Bearcats last season. His four complete games were a team high. The…

2003 The Binghamton University’s men’s soccer team’s dynasty began in 2003. The Bearcats were 6-2-2 in non-conference play before they went undefeated in America East play — with four ties in eight games, two of which were scoreless games, included. The Bearcats never scored more than two goals in a conference game. In the playoffs, the second-seeded Bearcats defeated third-seeded Hartford in the semifinals, 1-0, on a goal by Graham Munro, a defensive star. The finals against Northeastern, no longer a member of the AE, came down to penalty kicks after the game was tied 1-1 through regulation and two…

Joe Torre, Phil Jackson and the ghost of Casey Stengel are planning a dinner for four. Binghamton University men’s soccer coach Paul Marco should check his mail for an invitation. Under Marco, the Bearcats have become an America East dynasty, with four consecutive finals appearances bookended with two championships, one last season and the first in 2003. With their 2007 season scheduled to open Saturday at the Radford Highlander Classic, the Bearcats have a new home turf field to look forward to and incredibly high expectations to meet. “To win the final again, to win a national tournament, to go…

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Senior pole vaulter Rory Quiller advanced to the NCAA championships for the second straight year with his win at the East Region Outdoor Track & Field Championships, setting a meet and personal record of 18-1 on May 25. He is the first Bearcat in Binghamton University’s six-year Division I history to win a NCAA regional title. The 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held at Cal State Sacramento June 6 through 9. Quiller came in 13th last year in Sacramento with a jump of 16-11. For the women, junior Keisha Short, sophomore Kim Williams, and freshmen Deahna…

Want to take the field yourself? Registration information for both club sports and intramurals can be found in the millions of letters Binghamton University sends you, or at: clubsports.binghamton.edu and intramurals.binghamton.edu. Club sports There are recreational and competitive clubs and club teams you can join at Binghamton. Some teams are very competitive. Recreational: Aikido, badminton, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, gymnastics, running, Shotokan karate, swimming, table tennis, tae kwon do, tennis, Washin-Ryu karate. Competitive: crew/rowing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, field hockey, ice hockey, Kickline, men’s and women’s lacrosse, racquetball, roller hockey, men’s and women’s rugby, skiing, women’s soccer, softball, ultimate Frisbee, men’s and…

The Bearcats took home some hardware before the America East tournament began: the conference named Binghamton University first baseman Brendon Hitchcock Player of the Year and coach Tim Sinicki Coach of the Year on May 23. Hitchcock, BU’s senior third-place hitter, led the league in average (.386) and on-base percentage (.492), and finished second in slugging percentage (.572), fourth in walks (31) and seventh in runs batted in (35). Coach of the Year is old-hat for Sinicki, who also received the award in 2005. His Bearcats went 16-5 to win the first conference title in BU baseball history, leading the…

Welcome to THE Binghamton University, home of the Bearcats. I’ll concede, they’re not exactly the Buckeyes — Binghamton doesn’t even have a football team. But we do have 19 varsity teams playing at the highest level of competition outside of the pros — Division I. If you have a love for sports and room in your heart for teams other than the Mets and Yankees, BU has plenty to offer. Here’s a breakdown of Binghamton’s athletics: Conference: America East (members: Albany, Boston University, Hartford, Maine, UMBC, New Hampshire, Stony Brook, Vermont) www.americaeast.com. 19 Division I teams: www.bubearcats.com. Men’s and women’s:…

FAIRFIELD — As though its volleyball, men’s and women’s track and field, softball, men’s basketball and men’s lacrosse America East championships were not enough this year, the SUNY Albany stole the baseball title from the Bearcats on May 26, clinching with a 1-0 win. In 2007, Binghamton baseball (28-19, 17-5 AE) won its first regular season title in the program’s 51-year existence, earning the No. 1 seed to the conference double-elimination tournament and the right to host it. But because their home ballpark, Varsity Field, has no lights and the other local options — including the home of the Binghamton…

Maybe if Jason Stenta had been juked and dove to his left, and the ball brushed his fingertips and landed in the goal, instead of being deflected up and away, then the 2006 Binghamton men’s soccer team would be an afterthought. After all, all Stenta did was secure a spot in the America East finals for the Bearcats, somewhere they have been the previous three years anyway. If they’d lost in the championship for the third straight year — having won only in 2003 — the story is of a losing streak of so-close-yet-so-far. Reaching the finals and winning regular…

After getting swept by Maine in a doubleheader Saturday by a combined score of 13-3, the Binghamton softball team bounced back Sunday to beat the Black Bears, 5-4, and close out its season with a win at East Gym Complex. With the Bearcats trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth, senior outfielder Stephanie Woodcock hit her second home run of the year, a three-run shot to put the Bearcats up by two. Woodcock, who had 4 RBIs on the day, had also given Binghamton the lead in the bottom of the second on a single. Maine took its 2-1…

In early March 2006, then-junior midfielder Matt McNamara scored with 2:40 remaining in overtime to beat the eighth-ranked Towson Tigers 7-6, securing not only the largest upset in Binghamton men’s lacrosse history, but in BU athletics history. In late April, on Senior Day 2007, senior McNamara only took one shot (it missed) and contributed little that was noticeable in the box score in the Bearcats’ 9-8 win over No. 6 Albany, which replaces the Towson game as the biggest win in school history. Logically, scoring the game-winning goal in an unprecedented upset — McNamara’s performance against the Tigers — would…

By McNamara’s request, and by due respect to the men themselves, here’s a look at the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team’s seven other seniors: Tom Wilmot, defender and co-captain: Best moment: “Being named captain and being looked at as the leader on the team; I really cherish that … I’m more of a vocal leader on the team … I try to get guys pumped up before games, during games.” Wilmot’s hits also got people’s adrenaline going, as he played lacrosse like a linebacker. Post-graduation: Wilmot wants to be a strong male role model for the future children he plans to…

It’s back to business on Thursday for the BU men’s lacrosse team. Coming off a 9-8 win over the then-No. 6 ranked Albany Great Danes, the highest-ranked opponent the Bearcats have ever defeated, Binghamton (4-8, 3-2 AE) now prepares to take on No. 13 UMBC in the America East tournament semifinals Thursday at 4 p.m. BU now sits two wins away from a conference championship, and a subsequent berth in the NCAA tournament. The second seed in the AE, UMBC (4-1, 9-4), beat Binghamton in double overtime on April 14, 11-10. The game, played in Maryland, featured a last-second shot…

Losing never felt this good. Despite dropping an 11-8 decision to Stony Brook on Saturday, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team locked up a berth in the America East playoffs. The Bearcats (3-8, 2-2 AE) netted the game’s opening score, but eight seconds later Stony Brook junior attack Bo Tripodi answered and started a streak of five straight Seawolf goals. Tripodi, the Seawolves’ leading scorer, had four goals on the day. BU senior attack Rob Williams also scored four times, including three in a row in the third period as part of a 4-0 Bearcat run, which brought them within two…

Move over Mike Van Gorder, Alex Rodriguez is All-Universe. If he decides to enter free agency after this season, which is likely considering how well he’s performing and because his agent is Scott Boras, Rodriguez will become the only player in baseball’s history to make over $300 million in his career. That’s more than the worth of exactly one third of MLB teams according to Forbes’ 2006 valuations. If he does leave, which team’s cap he’ll wear in Cooperstown will be up in the air — most likely Seattle’s, barring a World Championship this year. As far as Rodriguez’s team…

The Binghamton University men’s lacrosse team can lock up the No. 3 seed in the America East tournament with a road win against Stony Brook Saturday. The Bearcats (3-7, 2-1 AE) are currently in third place and the Seawolves (6-3, 2-1 AE) in fourth as both teams play in their second to last game of the season. Both could potentially miss the playoffs. “With two games left this is our most important game by far,” said senior captain Matt McNamara. “We want to go in, win, seal a spot in the playoffs and keep our chances of hosting the tournament…

Zach Groh’s working on a masterpiece: the Vermont Catamounts have just two hits and zero runs through five innings, and the Bearcats are up in the home half of the fifth. Two men down, two men on, the temperature’s about you-can’t-feel-your-hands degrees at Varsity Field (the other baseball team in town, the Binghamton Mets, had already canceled their game) and Vermont’s battery has gathered on the mound. Jeff Wertepny waits to get his hacks in with “Pop, Lock and Drop it” playing over the speakers and Warren Bumpus, the umpire behind the plate Friday and a man with a larger…

A-Rod’s not the only New York third baseman tearing it up — Binghamton junior Ryan James batted .533 over the weekend as the Bearcats swept Albany in a four-game set to open conference play. It was a good golfing week for the Zachs: Johnson won the Masters and Vinal led Binghamton at the Navy Spring Invitational with a 3-over-par 74. Vinal was named America East Golfer of the Week and leads the Bearcats with a 73.5 scoring average. Freshman Erika Travis did as much as she could for the lacrosse team in a losing effort Wednesday. She scored a collegiate-best…

With 10 minutes remaining and Binghamton down two goals, freshman attack Drew Wichmann’s defender came off to double team sophomore Jake Boyce. Boyce hit the unguarded Wichmann on the run, who finished the sequence to give the Bearcats their fourth straight goal and cut the Syracuse lead to one … until the goal was overturned. The referee at the Carrier Dome on Saturday ruled that Orange sophomore goaltender Peter Coluccini had picked up the ball before it entered the cage. The Bearcats did not agree. “It looked a lot to me like it went in, and from what I’ve seen…

The Bearcats will lose eight starting seniors to graduation in May, and they might lose their pair of junior aces to the MLB Amateur Player Draft in June. After missing the playoffs by half a game last season, 2007 is a chance for the Binghamton University men’s baseball team to do something special on the field, and for its core players, it will be their last. The memory of the bus ride back from Stony Brook after losing 12-3 in the season’s final game — also the team’s fifth in four days — is motivation. The Bearcats were not even…

The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team will face one of the nation’s great lacrosse programs tomorrow, taking on Syracuse for the first time in school history. The Orange (2-3), tied for No. 14 in the nation with Delaware, will be Binghamton’s third nationally ranked opponent so far this year. BU (1-3) faced current No. 1 Cornell to open the season and beat No. 8 Hobart last year, and with that experience, the team said it feels no intimidation going into the Carrier Dome and playing the nine-time national champions. “We’ve prepared the guys for playing games of this caliber over the…

When the Mets head north at the end of the month, they play the Cardinals, Braves and Phillies in 14 of their first 19 games. Things could go south very quickly. Last April was different; facing Washington, Florida and Milwaukee to open the season, the Mets went 11-2 on their warm-up jog before running roughshod over most of the National League. But before the 2006 Mets, the 1995 Indians were the last team to be a league’s only 90-plus winner — last season’s disparity was a rare occasion. The Mets will not be the NL’s only 90-win team in 2007.…

While the Albany men’s basketball team gets set for the national stage, so too does its men’s lacrosse team, currently ranked No. 2 in the country according to the most recent U.S. Intercollegiate Lacrosse coaches’ poll. The Great Danes are a perfect 4-0, after beating No. 6 Johns Hopkins on Feb. 24, 8-7, and downing No. 10 Delaware on March 10, 13-7, to reach such a high ranking. The Danes also downed defending national runner-up UMass 10-9 in overtime, Tuesday. Senior attack Frank Resetarits is shooting .500 and has 14 goals this season, making him the primary contributor to Albany’s…

After three losses in two weeks, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team won its first game of the season Saturday, beating Marist 11-4. The Bearcats (1-3) played their first three games on the road, losing twice to nationally ranked teams, but in front of a home crowd of 300, freshman attack Drew Wichmann took over, scoring three goals and assisting on two. “It felt great to get a win under our belt; hopefully we can get this rollin’,” Wichmann said. “Most of my goals were from the crease, I didn’t have to do much one-on-one … Jake Boyce and Rob Williams…

The Binghamton men’s lacrosse dropped its second straight decision Saturday, 12-5 at Hobart. The Bearcats, now 0-2 on the season, were down just two at halftime but allowed the Statesmen (1-2) to pull away in the second half. Hobart scored just 18 seconds in and four more times in both the third and fourth quarters. Junior attacks Jamie Kirk and Daryl Veltman, Hobart’s top two points leaders entering the game, both had a game-high four points; Kirk had four assists and Veltman four goals. Freshman attack Steve Carlson scored two goals for Binghamton, putting him in the team lead with…

The fourth-seeded Boston University women’s basketball team (7-9, 15-14) is vying to become the second Boston U. basketball team to knock out a Binghamton basketball team in as many weekends, with Katie Meinhardt leading the way. The senior guard led the team with 12.7 points per game and 33 steals and dropped 16 points on the Bearcats Feb. 28 in the Terriers’ final game of the season, a 72-70 Boston victory. Boston hovered around .500 all season, despite allowing the most points in the conference, 67.8 per game. Their third-highest scoring AE offense, at 65.9 ppg — which was helped…

Even with former first-team All-America East Alexis Castro transferring to play Division II ball, Vermont still made noise this season. Fighting through a rough final month of the season which saw the Catamounts drop five of seven, the Vermont women’s basketball team (18-11, 8-8 AE) enters the America East tournament in the third seed and a threat to powerhouses Stony Brook and Hartford. Vermont’s offense was second-best in the conference, averaging 66.3 ppg and led by guards Brittney Cross, a senior and third on the team with 9.7 ppg, and Courtnay Pilypaitis, a freshman who leads the team with 13.2…

Campus unity, avoiding past mistakes and a switch to digital forms were the focus of the Student Association election candidates Thursday night as they made their sweeps across campus. “The SA has failed the past few years in being able to unite the student body,” said presidential candidate David Belsky, who is serving his second year as executive vice president. Fellow presidential candidate David Bass, who is currently the vice president for Multicultural Affairs, agrees there is a gap to be bridged between the SA, the students and the student groups. In order to repair this, he wants to institute…

Trying to rebound from a 19-4 loss at Cornell, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team (0-1) travels to Hobart tomorrow to take on the winless Statesmen (0-2). Freshman Drew Wichmann is the Bearcats’ leading attack statistically, with one goal and one assist. Hobart lost to nationally ranked Syracuse in its first match, 13-11, and most recently fell to Bucknell on Saturday, 11-10. Two juniors highlight the Statesmen attack, Jamie Kirk, team leader with 11 points, and Daryl Veltman, who is second with 10 points and is coming off a six-goal performance against the Bisons. Binghamton hopes to allow less than the…

Binghamton basketball travels to Boston University on Wednesday, but not for the men’s tournament. The women’s basketball team takes on the Terriers at 7 p.m. in its second-to-last game of the regular season and the Terriers’ last. A half game separates the two BUs in the standings and both will take the court trying to stop two-game losing streaks. Binghamton (10-17, 6-8 America East) took the last meeting between the two on Jan. 27, 70-64. Junior center Laine Kurpniece scored a game-high 20 points that day. The preseason all-conference player reached double digits in her last nine games, including 18…

You think Binghamton has an inferiority complex? The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team traveled to Cornell this weekend, opening its season for the second consecutive year against the Big Red. Two Pipe Dream sports writers went along for the fun. An hour long drive and you’re there: Cornell, an Ivy — a real Ivy — not just a fake public one like they like to say Binghamton is. What a wondrous place! But then you realize, it’s really the runt of the Ivy’s according to the U.S. News America’s Best Colleges report. You realize that Cornell is actually partially a SUNY.…

ITHACA — It was lambs to the slaughter Saturday, by a score of 19-4. For the second straight season, the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team opened its season at Cornell’s Schoellkopf Field to a thorough dismantling courtesy of the Big Red. The baby Bearcats — with as many freshmen (12) as upperclassmen — were overmatched by No. 7 Cornell to begin with, but it was BU’s own poor play that allowed the Ivy to open the flood gates. “We got a pretty good team that didn’t look like it today,” said Binghamton head coach Ed Stephenson. “We lost our fundamentals ……

Ed Stephenson has stood here before, for seven years to be exact — four as a player, three as a coach. But he’s standing on the other sideline now; a visitor, no longer bearing a uniform or stick. And he’s standing here a double-overtime victor, beaming because of his team and his program, the one he was charged with creating. You can go home again. And you can win, too. “It was a great moment for coach,” said midfielder Matt McNamara, the junior whose goal broke the 7-7 deadlock. Stephenson, in his fifth year as head coach of the Binghamton…

Ah, man, I feel like the Mets losing to the Cardinals. You dominate all season long, you get to the postseason and bam! One poor pick, one bad day at the plate and the lesser guy moves on. There’s always next year, I suppose. Congratulations to L.J. for picking the Super Bowl correctly, although I’m quite proud of picking more games (and the Super Bowl, if you really boil it down, is just another football game) right than anyone else. My logic that a seven-point spread would be hard to cover was correct, things just didn’t happen to work out.…

The barely-above-.500 St. Louis Cardinals, the Florida Gators in both basketball and football — the last year has been very kind to underdogs. All this press about Peyton Manning, the Colts’ dynamic offense — sure, the Bears are swarmed by reporters too, but there’s a lot of doubt being thrown at them, not only because of the question marks surrounding their players, but because the NFC is so poorly regarded. So was the National League. Ask the Buckeyes and Tigers what happens when an underdog comes out to play with a chip on its shoulder. Going beyond the philosophical points…

Quality of life for sports fans is determined by how many games they can catch of their favorite teams, but when it comes to the 10 major professional sports teams in the New York area — the Bills, Giants, Islanders, Jets, Knicks, Mets, Nets, Rangers, Sabres and Yankees (no, the Red Sox do not count) — Binghamton University Telecommunications, which controls the on-campus television programming, is not an equal opportunity carrier. The Nets, broadcasted on the YES network, are the only one of the 10 teams that cannot be watched at any time (unless their opponent is the Knicks). Telecom…

Lock: Jets (–4) over Buffalo Praise the NFL gods for Chad Pennington’s health, Kerry Rhodes’ and Jericho Cotchery’s emergence and the Jets’ blessedly easy schedule. And I want to be on the record now: Rhodes is a superstar; I loved him last year after his interception in week one and he’s really emerged into a top flight safety this season. Upset: Baltimore (+3) over Kansas City I predicted that this matchup would be a preview of the AFC championship game, and I might end up being right with Trent Green’s return. Cincy took care of business last week as favorites…

The Knicks are five games under .500 and just one game out from the Atlantic Division lead, as of Wednesday night. What the heck is going on? The sports world would make more sense if the weakness of the Atlantic and the entire Eastern Conference was just an NBA phenomenon, but it’s not. In each of America’s three most prominent leagues (the MLB, the NBA and the NFL), a significant disparity exists between leagues and conferences. In baseball, it’s the American League holding a great advantage over the National League. Six of 16 NL teams finished under .500 in 2006,…

A third-place finish for the men and a fourth-place finish for the women at last season’s Cornell Indoor Relays were respectable. But as the 2006-07 track and field season opens tomorrow at the same Cornell event, the Bearcats are looking for more. For the men’s sprinters, sophomore Jimmy Massar returns after a strong freshman season. He may also participate in the long jump this year, as well as the decathlon when the conference championship rolls around. “Jimmy has been able to adapt to different types of training and feels much stronger than last season,” head coach Mike Thompson said in…

Lock: Giants (+4) over Dallas I hate the Giants, no lie. But my gut tells me, particularly coming off three straight losses, that the Giants are going to pull out a win in their most pivotal game this season. Tony Romo, as good as he has been, has to be playing over his head. The Giants are not a Super Bowl team, but I don’t see them letting their season fall into the gutter like this. The popular pick in this game is Dallas, but I don’t see this one playing out in the eventual NFC champion Cowboys’ favor. Upset:…

Lock: Atlanta (-3) over New Orleans The Saints manhandled Vick and co. last time these two met in the Superdome’s reopening. After losing to Baltimore on the road last week and now returning home with a chip on their shoulders, the Falcons won’t get swept in the season series against the team from the Big Easy. Upset: Chicago (+3) over New England Chicago is to the NFC this NFL season what the Mets were to the NL this past baseball season: the conference and league’s only good team. The Bears are a force, and they’ve won their last two road…

Lock: Pittsburgh (-3 1/2) over Cleveland The spread in this game is ridiculous. Pittsburgh has played poorly numerous times this season, but you have to believe they can beat the bloody Browns by four points. Upset: Jets (+7) over Chicago How great is it going to be for Jets fans when Gang Green (who was supposed to be terrible) does what Big Blue (who was supposed to be great) couldn’t? The Jets almost accomplished this feat against the Colts, looking better than Baby Manning and company did against Indy, and now they can fully outdo the other New York team…

Raising the America East trophy on Nov. 4 was a special moment for all involved in men’s soccer, but for the five for whom 2006 will mark the end of a collegiate career, it will always be that much sweeter. Senior captain Kyle Antos, a local boy from Endicott, spent five years as a Bearcat and was Paul Marco’s very first Binghamton recruit. Antos was around in 2002 when the team finished 6-11-1 in second-to-last place. He was on the team in 2003 when Binghamton took home the tournament title. But after five years, Marco realized that throughout his and…

Facing the most potent offense in the nation in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the Binghamton men’s soccer team entered Saturday with a simple objective: score first and take the Harvard fans out of the equation at Ohiri Field. Score first the Bearcats did, but unfortunately for BU, that lone goal was not enough as Binghamton fell to the Crimson 2-1, ending the Bearcats’ season in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Binghamton started off well, as America East Finals MVP Barry Neville fired the opening shot in the 20th minute and, so it seemed, Binghamton was…

With three minutes remaining and the championship game locked at 1-1, Dominic Young shot from about 8 feet out and to the right of the goal, and placed the ball perfectly between Buffalo’s goalie’s legs. With that, Binghamton University’s club field hockey team (co-ed) secured its first New York State Field Hockey League title. “It’s an amazing feeling … last year we didn’t make it past the quarterfinals, and everyone underestimated us because we’re such a new team who doesn’t have a Division I field hockey team above us,” said sophomore captain and offensive sweeper Nicole Keane. This past Sunday’s…

It may not be exactly Yankees-Red Sox at Ohiri Field on Saturday, but one of New York’s premier schools, Binghamton University, will be taking on the crown jewel of Massachusetts, and perhaps the entire nation in the Harvard Crimson, as the quest for a NCAA men’s soccer title begins. Though it is only the Bearcats’ sixth season at the Division I level, 2006 marks their second berth into the 48-team national tournament. Binghamton’s first appearance in 2003 saw the Bearcats defeat Fairleigh Dickinson University, ranked No. 15 in the nation at the time, in the first round before falling in…

Lock: Chicago (Pick ’em) over Giants The Giants are without Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer and Osi Umenyiora, with several others doubtful. While Brian Urlacher is hurting, the Bears are the class of the NFC and it’s time for Chicago — who was caught looking ahead last week against Miami — to erase all doubt in the mind of Not-So-Big Blue loudmouth Plaxico Burress (who had all of 23 yards last week) that the superior Manning in Sunday night’s matchup is Ricky. Upset: Jets (+10 1/2) over New England The Patriots — to everyone’s great surprise, I know — are once…

As the Binghamton men’s soccer team gathered in the Events Center media room, pizza was brought in, players joked with one another, photographers and reporters took their pictures and gathered their reports — all in anticipation of finding out who the Bearcats would face in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. But it was a pair of shoes that stole that show. Head coach Paul Marco — dressed professionally otherwise — sported a pair of purple, pink and baby blue basketball shoes. No, it was not Casual Thursday; there was a relevance to Marco’s choice of footwear. “In September,…

Leaping to his right, simultaneously turning away the ball and Boston’s championship dreams, Jason Stenta never blinked. The nearly 500 fans in attendance rushed West Gym Field, and for the fourth straight season the Binghamton soccer team will play for the America East title. In a shootout necessitated by the 1-1 deadlock through regulation and two overtime periods, both the Bearcats and the Terriers made their first five penalty kicks, but after freshman midfielder Kyle Kucharski made the sixth for Binghamton, Terrier sophomore back Paul Mignogna was rejected by Stenta, advancing the Bearcats to the finals. “I was just trying…

Lock: Seattle (-7 1/2) over Oakland It’s the Raiders. They have their two wins of the season and they’re playing the reigning NFC champs. That’s really all I have to say. Upset: Denver (+2 1/2) over Pittsburgh Pittsburgh simply shouldn’t be a favorite here. The Broncos are a top-flight team, and going into the season the Steelers were, too. But Pittsburgh’s loss to Oakland last week and the Broncos’ good fight against the Colts have to make Denver the favorite. Game 1: Baltimore (-3) over Cincinatti For the first time all season last week, I picked Baltimore, my predicted Super…

The Boston Massacre can be reenacted on Wednesday at 1 p.m. at West Gym Field when the men’s soccer team hosts Boston University in the semifinals of the America East conference tournament. The Bearcats won the regular season title, losing only one game in AE competition, but guess at whose hands the loss came? None other than the Terriers. Tickets on Wednesday will be $2 for BU students and kids 13 and under, $6 for adults 14 and up. Five Bearcats received All-Conference awards: Junior back Adam Chavez was named to the first team, while senior forwards Pietro Sgueglia and…

The new men’s soccer head coach walks into the first team meeting of the year and writes 198 on the board. The coach, fresh off a Big East coaching gig with West Virginia, the school from which he graduated, was taking over the 198th worst team in Division I soccer. That’s out of 200 teams. “You know, I’m not 198th, you guys are,” the coach told his new team. “I wasn’t here and everybody contributed to [the ranking], and I can tell you that we’re not going to be 198th next year.” It was the first year the Binghamton men’s…

Injuries, replacing graduated seniors, redshirt freshman goalies: All of the regular season’s stories are fine and dandy, but, starting tomorrow they become meaningless. It is the playoffs now and the regular season title — great feat that it was — is a thing of the past. The America East men’s soccer tournament has started, and tomorrow at 1 p.m. at West Gym Field, the only America East team to defeat the Bearcats this season comes to Binghamton for a battle that decides which team reaches the conference finals. The first-seeded and regular season conference champion Binghamton men’s soccer team (8-6-4,…

Arms extended in bird-like fashion and eyes fixed intently on the man about to strike the penalty kick — the goalkeeper is ready. No game is being played, no one else is on the field or even watching besides these two: Binghamton men’s soccer head coach Paul Marco, the teacher, and redshirt freshman goalie Jason Stenta, the apprentice. “Oh my God,” Stenta yells as he dives to his right, Marco’s left, with the ball out of the goalkeeper’s reach. Stenta thought he should have made the save, but brushes off the failed attempt as well as the dirt on his…

Lock: Jets (+1 1/2) over Cleveland I won three of my four picks last week — including the Jets’ win over Miami — all except for my lock. Though I’m not as desperate as Mark for a win in the lock, here’s renewed faith in Gang Green to reel one in for me, who at 4-3 are better than Kellen Wins — I mean, the Browns. Upset: Indianapolis (+2 1/2) over Denver Indianapolis, not the favorite? Bodog’s being a bad dog, because undefeated teams ain’t underdogs. There’s a lot of bad blood between these two, with Indianapolis having knocked out…

Carlos Beltran simply walked away, and sadly for Mets fans, that’s all that was left for them to do, too. Leaving my seat, stunned by the way game seven of the National League Championship Series transpired last Thursday, a boy, maybe 10 years old, sitting two rows back from me was crying in his father’s arms. “There’s no crying in baseball,” the father told his son. And traditionally he’d be right, but game seven was a different kind of game. It was the kind that gets under a Mets fans’ ribs and sticks, the kind that if you were to…

Lock: Arizona (-3) over Oakland How can Oakland possibly be only a three-point underdog to any NFL team? There are those evil sports books again, skewing their lines for profit. Coming off their Monday night disaster, the Cardinals should roll in Cali. Upset: Green Bay (+5) over Miami I haven’t gone out on a limb in a good amount of time, and this might not be too far fetched: the Packers were as close as can be to taking care of the Rams last week, and if they keep that level of play, they can beat the Dolphins. Game 1:…

With all the injuries, all the departed players from the class of 2006 and all the other talent in the league, the Bearcats were never supposed to be here. They were never supposed to be in first place with one game to go in conference play, or on the brink of clinching the America East regular season championship and the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. But that’s precisely the position the Binghamton men’s soccer team (8-6-3, 6-1 AE) finds itself in after a 1-0 victory over Albany (7-7-2, 5-3-0 AE) in the state capital Wednesday. The Bearcats won on the…

The Binghamton men’s soccer team sits in third place, and its two opponents this week are sitting pretty in first and second. America East soccer does not get any better than this. The Bearcats’ first test is the Albany Great Danes (7-6-2, 5-2-0 AE), who sit in second place and sport a similar record to BU’s (7-6-3, 5-1-0 AE). With a win tomorrow in Albany and another victory at home Saturday against first-place Vermont (8-5-3, 5-1-1 AE) in the regular season finale, Binghamton can capture its first America East regular season title since joining the conference in 2002. The Bearcats…

With its win over Stony Brook on Saturday, the Binghamton men’s soccer team clinched a top-four seed for the America East playoffs, which begin Oct. 28. With two games remaining in the regular season, there is time for the standings to be altered, but here is how the conference is currently shaping up: Vermont and Albany, in first and second place, will receive first-round byes, while the fourth through sixth seeds — currently Binghamton, New Hampshire, Boston University and Hartford — play each other in the opening round, hosted by the higher seed. The seventh- through ninth-place teams, Stony Brook,…

Lock: Cincinnati (-6) over Tampa Bay So what if they’re all criminals and, in their last game, the Bengals fell decisively to the Patriots? At 3-1, Cinci still shouldn’t have a problem beating the winless Bucs by a touchdown. Upset: New Orleans (+3 1⁄2) over Philadelphia The Eagles, for all intents and purposes, are probably a better team but, playing in New Orleans, the Saints — who did just barely beat Tampa Bay — can come out on top. Game 1: Jets (-3) over Miami The Jets were embarrassed last week, but beating Joey Harrington by three points has to…

The Binghamton fall sports teams are in full swing, but the baseball team is also taking some full swings of its own. Despite being out of season, BU baseball and the other spring sports are putting in hard work now so they can be at their best come spring. “The fall is absolutely paramount to team progress,” said baseball assistant coach Ryan Hurba. Over the five weeks since the fall semester kicked off, the baseball team has been taking the field almost daily, working on its fundamentals. During the fall season, new players come in, meet their teammates and show…

Before Wednesday’s match with University of Maryland, Baltimore County, men’s soccer head coach Paul Marco called upon his offense to step up in order to counter the conference’s second-highest-scoring team: “We need a lot more than what we’re getting right now from Peter [Sgueglia] and Joey [Neilson],” Marco said. “You know, I think that those two guys will have to have a great day for us up front.” Call it prophecy, as Sgueglia, a senior, went out and scored not once, but twice on the road in a span of three minutes and 54 seconds. After a scoreless first half,…

In a rematch of last year’s America East semifinals, the third-place Binghamton men’s soccer team travels to Maryland tomorrow, where it will take on sixth-place University of Maryland, Baltimore County at the site of last fall’s 4-1 Bearcat victory, a win that ended the Golden Retrievers’ 2005 season. Binghamton (5-6-3, 3-1-0 AE) won its last outing against an eighth-place Hartford team by a score of 1-0, but should face a tougher test against the Retrievers (4-7-3, 1-2-2 AE), who feature a dynamic attack that will test the BU backfield. “Our backs are going to have their hands full,” said head…

Despite being tied for the best record in baseball and owning a 1-0 series lead in the National League Division Series entering last Thursday night’s game two, 2006 is not a must-win season for the New York Mets. Just three years ago, the Mets finished in last place for the second season in a row, ending up with an abysmal a 66-95 record. One season later in 2004, the Mets made one of the worst trades in MLB history, infamously surrendering their top prospect, Scott Kazmir, for the oft-injured, rarely on target Victor Zambrano. Though 2004 saw the Mets climb…

Brent Roberts seriously took up Texas Hold ’Em in spring of 2004. That’s when he turned $50 into $1,000 in one day by playing cash games online. Through online play, a lot of reading up and a lot of practice, Brent has become an expert poker player. He has some advice and words of caution for the many aspiring poker players at Binghamton: * “Make sure to play within your limits and the amount of money you have.” * “Definitely discussing hands with people who are in the know about poker, people who you play with, and analyzing hands afterwards…

For Brent Roberts, winning $151,570 at a World Series of Poker final table — being the youngest player ever to even sit at such a table — was not enough. No, Brett had to knock out Phil “The Brat” Hellmuth in the process. It was better than your average Friday night game of Texas Hold ’Em in the dorm room, to say the least; Roberts is a Binghamton University student. Roberts, a senior English major from Staten Island and brother in the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, whose professional poker career has already begun, can be seen playing at the 2006…

The Binghamton men’s soccer team has rolled through its first two conference games this season, easily dispatching the Wildcats and Black Bears. But the road looks rougher ahead, as the Bearcats may soon find out that the Terriers’ bite is just as bad as their bark. The Binghamton men’s soccer team (4-5-3, 2-0-0 AE) is heading to Massachusetts on Saturday, where it will take on Boston University (5-1-4, 0-0-1 AE) and its top players: seniors Zach Kirby, a back, and Jarryd Goldberg, a midfielder. “They look fantastic, and they look great on tape,” said head coach Paul Marco. “They’re better…

Not even the assistant coach is safe. John Scott, the Binghamton men’s soccer team’s assistant coach, was injured in preparation for the Bearcats’ 2-1 victory over Maine Saturday, breaking two bones in his lower leg. “I’ve never had a team this banged up, ever,” head coach Paul Marco said. Scott is just one name on a very long list of injuries for Binghamton this season. Junior Ryan Bertoni, who started the year at goalie but was moved out in order to compensate for other injuries on the field, is done for the season with a facial fracture. Also finished for…

Despite a dominant first half effort that saw them outshoot Maine 12-3, the Binghamton men’s soccer team entered the second half of Saturday’s game scoreless. Then, at the 70:19 mark, senior midfielder Bryan Arnault struck a cross from junior forward Matt Narode into the goal from 18 yards out to put the Bearcats on the board. They never looked back. The Bearcats (3-5-3, 1-0-0 AE) started off America East competition on the right foot by besting Maine (0-9-0, 0-1-0 AE), a winless team that continues to struggle, by a final of 2-1. After one conference game Binghamton finds itself in…

A new season begins Saturday, when the Binghamton men’s soccer team heads to Maine to open America East competition. The Bearcats (2-5-3) will look to open conference play on the right foot against the winless Black Bears (0-8-0), who have shuffled lineups all season in search of their first win. Despite Maine and Binghamton’s losing records, conference play is a whole other ballgame where, at the start, every team has an opportunity to make the playoffs. “They’ve finished their non-conference play, they’re now looking to begin conference play, so it’s kind of like a fresh record right now,” said head…

The Bearcats kept Syracuse senior midfielder Richard Asante, a right footed player, on his left foot the whole game. Then, with about 15 minutes to play in regulation, Binghamton cleared an Orange throw in to where Asante was positioned, about 40 yards from goal. He dribbled, and, for the first time all game, was able to utilize his right foot, and he made BU pay for granting the opportunity, scoring a blast of a goal from over 30 yards away. Asante’s goal would be the only of the game, as the Binghamton men’s soccer team (2-5-3) fell to Syracuse on…

At 12:01 Wednesday morning, the Binghamton Athletics Department unveiled a newly redesigned athletics Web site that is aesthetically pleasing, allowing for more video and graphics to be displayed, in addition to other benefits. The site has also changed addresses, moving from athletics.binghamton.edu to bubearcats.com. The Web site is redesigned on a small, superficial scale annually by webmaster Elsan Dzudza, a Binghamton University alum and former BU soccer player, but this year’s revision presented a major overhaul. The site has been moved to a larger, five-gigabyte server, freeing up more space to provide flashier visuals and give advertising partners more ways…

Shortly after boarding the coach bus at 4 a.m., with only the highway lights and the five other passengers aboard in my company, I drifted off, with the Wallflowers’ rendition of “We Could be Heroes” lulling me to sleep. Thus began one Mets fan’s pilgrimage to Pittsburgh. The last time the New York Mets were division champions in 1988, I was not yet 1 year old. The only ball club I have known to be king of the National League East is the Atlanta Braves, veritable Mets tormentors since moving to the East in 1994, winning the division title every…

The Binghamton men’s soccer team will look to squeeze some oranges when they pay a visit to Syracuse on Wednesday. The Bearcats will be looking for their second straight win, in what will be the final match before America East competition begins. Syracuse (3-4-0) is undefeated in non-conference play, winning its first three games of the season against out-of-conference opponents, but remain winless in Big East play. They have lost their last four games, all to conference rivals, the most recent loss coming from Connecticut 2-0 on Sunday. The Bearcats (2-4-3) held on to win 1-0 on Saturday against Hartwick,…

For the second time in as many home games, the Binghamton men’s soccer team is going Hawk hunting. Coming off a 0-0 tie against the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Wednesday, the Bearcats (1-4-3) now prepare to host the Hartwick Hawks (3-3-1) on Saturday at West Gym Field. This weekend’s game against Hartwick is Binghamton’s second-to-last match before conference play, so Saturday’s affair comes with a tremendous sense of urgency. “Every game for us is a must-win right now,” said senior captain Kyle Antos. “But I think, more importantly, we just need to get a solid core plan and have some…

The Binghamton men’s soccer team is surely hoping that the phrase “home, sweet home,” rings true. The Bearcats’ (1-4-2) season high six-game road trip concluded this weekend in Florida, and it was one the Bearcats would just as soon forget. Binghamton has gone 1-4-1 away from home thus far in 2006. Now Lehigh (4-1-0) will pay the Bearcats a visit, Wednesday at 4 p.m. at West Gym Field. Binghamton will look to rebound from their road trip against the Mountain Hawks in preparation for America East play, which starts on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Maine. “Lehigh is going to be…

Junior pitcher Scott Diamond, Binghamton’s ace southpaw, was ranked by Baseball America as the seventh-best prospect in the Coastal Plain League, a summer league for top collegiate baseball players. Diamond, whose 0.50 ERA for the Martinsville Mustangs of Virginia, the team he played for over the summer, was tops in the league, and dominated the opposition with his cut-fastball that was affectionately referred to as the “Diamond Cutter.” “It’s definitely an honor to be listed with the guys that I was,” Diamond said. “Especially after playing with them for so long, to be one of those top ten is a…

There was no southern hospitality waiting for the Binghamton men’s soccer team in Florida this weekend, where the Bearcats tied Florida International on Friday, 2-2, and fell to Florida Atlantic on Sunday, 1-0 in overtime. Friday’s game was played in scorching weather that forced Binghamton to alter its game plan. Things already were not going as planned when the team’s regular goalie, junior Ryan Bertoni, was forced to play the field, a move necessitated by injury to senior midfielder Ibrahim Yusuf. In addition, sophomore midfielder Cody Germain, who scored two goals against Long Island last weekend, was also not available…

On any given day, any Major League Baseball team can beat another. Exactly one week ago, the Yankees were shut out 5-0 by the lowly Kansas City Royals, a team with less than one quarter of the Bombers’ payroll and the worst record in baseball. So how is it, then, that in the current playoff structure, where 11 wins in a maximum of 19 games, is all it takes to win a World Series, that the best team in baseball truly wins? Most of the time, it doesn’t. Baseball is a game of averages, of hot streaks and cold streaks.…

Remember Joe Buck’s call from game six of the 2003 World Series? “Posada, slow-roller right side, Beckett picks it up, tags Posada and the Florida Marlins are World Champions! The Marlins have stunned the Yankees, shocked New York, and this improbable team on an improbable ride, they end up on top, winning in six games against the Yankees.” Don’t get me wrong; the Florida Marlins were a good ball club that year, 91 wins good. But in the format in which Major League baseball’s playoffs are currently held, wild card champions are on equal ground with the division winners. There…

Sunny Florida is about to be taken over by Bearcats as the men’s soccer team rolls into town, looking to build off its first win last Sunday. Binghamton (1-3-1) will take on Florida International (0-2-1) on Friday and Florida Atlantic (0-3-0) on Sunday. The Bearcats did not play either team last season. Binghamton was finally able to get in the win column last weekend against Long Island, winning by a score of 4-3. BU had not played terrible soccer in their four previous matches, but simply found themselves unable to capitalize when opportunities were there. “One of the key things…

Protecting a 1-0 lead in the America East title game against Stony Brook, the Bearcats needed only three minutes and fifteen seconds to send its most prolific senior class ever off as champions. But the 2005 fairy tale ended early, as the team fell heartbreakingly short in penalty kicks. “I told the young guys that are returning not to ever forget this feeling they feel right now,” said head coach Paul Marco to his team after the loss. “It’s what drives you through the summer months.” Now in 2006, with the summer coming to a close, the Bearcats have another…

On the strength of Cody Germain’s career-high two goals the Binghamton men’s soccer team took home its first victory of the season Sunday, besting Long Island, 4-3. “It’ll be a long bus ride home if we don’t get a victory tomorrow,” said Coach Paul Marco before Sunday’s play. Fortunately that long ride was averted, when Germain netted the game-winner off of a corner kick from Peter Sgueglia with 2:32 remaining in regulation, breaking a 3-3 tie. Binghamton (1-3-1) started well out of the gate, scoring twice in the first fifteen minutes. Long Island (1-2-0), however, would storm back to tie…

One day, you finish in the top-15 in hits, home runs and stolen bases in the same league that Manny Ramirez once played in. Three months later, you’re a freshman at Binghamton University and realize while trying to walk on to a Division-I baseball team: it’s a whole new ballgame. It wasn’t that Sammy Martinez, an outfielder from the Bronx’s John F. Kennedy High School, didn’t show promise. Rather, to successfully make a D-I baseball team as an unrecruited freshman, you need to find the eye of the storm. “Sammy made it about as far as anyone has made it,”…

Kevin McKeown slammed his stick down on the bench in a fury. The Colgate Red Raiders had just scored twice in less than a minute, prompting BU men’s lacrosse head coach Ed Stephenson to remove his star senior goalie — much to McKeown’s chagrin. On the sidelines, senior midfielder Brian Chaapel comfortingly placed his arm around McKeown’s back. No one can block every shot, right? “If he goes, we go, so I gotta keep him calm,” Chaapel said after the Bearcats’ loss to the Red Raiders on April 11. “He might let in shots that he didn’t think he should…

America East men’s lacrosse has Saturday-night fever and the Bearcats are caught right in the middle: their final regular-season game carries serious playoff implications. Though all four playoff spots have already been clinched, the seedings have yet to be determined. Binghamton (7-6, 2-2 AE) visits Albany (6-6, 2-2 AE) in a battle for the third spot, while Stony Brook (8-5, 4-0 AE) hosts UMBC (7-4, 4-0 AE) 200 miles away to determine which team will garner the first seed and host the entire tournament. “We want to get the three seed so we can play the two seed away from…

As the clock hit zero, Sean Meluney knelt in the mud in disappointment, watching the rival Stony Brook Seawolves storm the East Gym field in celebration after completing their 9-8 come-from-behind victory. Just 24 seconds earlier, Meluney watched Jake Boyce’s pass sail just beyond the reach of teammate Rob Williams, ending any hopes of Binghamton scoring a desperation tying goal in the closing seconds. The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team (6-6, 2-2 AE) led Stony Brook (8-4, 4-0 AE) by three goals in the second quarter, but once again the Bearcats’ offense faltered in the second half, unable to score as…

Freshman midfielder Brandon Corp turned Colgate into Bearcat heartbreakers, scoring the game-winning goal for the Red Raiders with just 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation two weekends ago. The visiting No. 20 Red Raiders rallied from behind in the second half to overcome a four-goal deficit and defeat the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team 8-7. Corp’s heroic last-second shot gave Colgate its only lead of the day and, in the end, the only lead that mattered. “At the end we had a defensive breakdown there; we lost [Corp] in the backside pipe, and instead of going OT we ended up in a…

Ending a two-game losing streak against the top team in your conference is no easy task, but that is exactly what the Binghamton men’s lacrosse team looks to do tomorrow when the Stony Brook Seawolves roll into town. The Seawolves fell one vote shy of earning a national ranking this past week and are riding a five-game winning streak. “It’s gonna be a real good matchup,” said head coach Ed Stephenson. “We’re hoping to get on the board a little bit more offensively. We’re gonna try to do some things to keep them off guard a little bit.” The Bearcats…

Maybe Hartford should have tried using an extra man on the field. The Hawks fluctuated between man-to-man coverage and zone defense in Saturday’s America East contest, but nothing seemed to work, as Binghamton’s men’s lacrosse team scored a school-record 16 goals against them. Sophomore midfielder Stephen Smith led the Bearcats with six goals, as they easily won their conference opener 16-8. “This was obviously our best offensive performance in the school’s history,” said Smith, who fared particularly well against the zone. “I felt that we got some good looks throughout the game and for the most part finished when we…

With just 12 seconds left in regulation, midfielder Stephen Smith took the ball from the upper-left, broke his defender, and netted the game-tying goal right over the stick-side shoulder of Villanova goalie Joe Canuso, completely erasing the Bearcats’ 6-1 deficit. The Binghamton men’s lacrosse team emerged victorious three minutes into the overtime period, as attack Rob Williams set a pick on midfielder Jeff Santucci’s defender, allowing Santucci to score the game-winning goal. “We never quit, no matter what the score is towards the end of the game,” said junior attack Matt McNamara. “You gotta look out for us.” Binghamton’s 7-6…

Minnesota Twins Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett died Monday afternoon, just one day after suffering a stroke at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 45. Puckett, who had gained weight since being forced into retirement by glaucoma in 1996, won two World Championships in 12 seasons with the Twins. Just 5-foot-8, the stocky outfielder amassed a .318 career batting average, 207 home runs, 1,085 RBI, six Gold Gloves and 10 All-Star Game appearances. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2001 on his first ballot. A native of Chicago, Puckett is survived by his children, Catherine and…

Just five years ago, the men’s lacrosse program was an infant and an afterthought. Now in 2006, with seven seniors leading the charge, head coach Ed Stephenson is excited to see his first recruiting class come of age and provide experienced leadership that the club has never seen before. “The first year we started, we didn’t recruit,” Stephenson said. “We basically got a handful of guys from the club team and a lot of walk-ons that hadn’t played before — maybe they played in high school, but we just drew from the general student body our first year. During that…

The New York Mets, in conjunction with Time Warner Cable, will be launching SportsNet New York (SNY) on Thursday, March 16 in the Tri-State area. A regional sports network designed similarly to the New York Yankees’ YES Network, SNY will carry 125 Mets games per season, as well as provide New York Jets, Big-10, and Big East coverage, along with three daily sports news shows with an emphasis on local teams. Unfortunately for Mets, Jets and NCAA fans at Binghamton, “there are no plans to add SNY to the campus cable lineup at this time,” according to Jennifer Bishop of…