Author Archives: Joel Sircus

Behind every true sports fanatic lies an ethusiastic supporter. It’s high time that I thanked the woman who introduced me to my love of sports. Indulge me for a moment. To those who brave the bitter cold to watch their team take the field, or spend hours upon hours each week pouring over box scores, »

I know why you’re happy, Yale. Sure, the weather is unusually nice, but it’s not global warming that’s got you smiling wide. And yeah, shopping period can be a hoot and a half, but that’s not why you’re whistlin’ “Dixie” down Prospect Street. Here’s what it really comes down to — Yalies are running rampant »

Well, much as it pains me to say, it looks like the 2011-’12 NBA season may never come to fruition. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? I honestly don’t know — I’m in a little bit of a sports funk right now, and the beginning of the NBA season was just what »

It takes a lot for me to get excited about baseball. Maybe this is because I still need to choke up on the bat to hit the ball out of the infield, or because the Cubs’ perennial failure has made me crotchety and bitter. Whatever the case, seldom in the 162-game season does a bottom-of-the-ninth, »

In what may become one of the most boneheaded managerial moves of the sports decade, NBA Commisioner David Stern announced last week that the NBA preseason would be indefinitely postponed. Though the immediate repercussions of this decision are minor — training camps will not meet and 43 exhibition games have been cancelled — the possible »

In 2008, Will Ferrell released the soon-to-be-forgotten “Semi-Pro” — a mega-flopper, screwball comedy about a singer (Ferrell) turned ABA basketball owner/power forward. With the exception of Andre 3000 providing a smooth, strong supporting performance, the movie, for lack of a better term, stunk. It lacked the infinite quotable moments from “Step Brothers” or the original »

Well, here we are — on our first date. I have to say, if I had my druthers, we would be meeting under better circumstances. I mean, let’s face it, I’m lounging in my common room donning my Indianapolis Colts boxer-briefs, watching “SportsCenter,” and working vigorously to scrub the Wenzel stain from last night off »

Though possible Presidential candidate Donald Trump reaffirmed his opposition to gay marriage yesterday, a long-lasting positive change for the LGBT community may be on the way. As a Yale student, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that I support gay marriage. I subscribe to the notion that all men (and women) are created »

This past week, the world lost two trailblazers; far too few of us will remember and celebrate the lives of these revolutionaries. Though they worked in separate spheres, Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro spent much of the late 20th century paving the way for future female leaders. In the world of theatre, Mrs. Taylor showcased »

Believe it or not, the U.S. Senate missed another huge opportunity recently. On Jan. 27, the body emphatically voted down Tom Harkin’s (D-Ind.) and Tom Udall’s (D-N.M.) separate proposals to gradually abolish the filibuster. With both parties so hesitant to abdicate any semblance of minority power (lest the tides turn and Democrats find themselves back »

This past Friday, Bernard Ntaganda was sentenced to four years in a Rwandan prison, marking the second time in the past year that a former presidential candidate has been sent to jail. The verdict underscores severe corruption problems within President Paul Kagame’s administration. Though revered by many, the former general who brought Rwanda out of »

This past weekend, I fell victim to what can only be called “Murphy’s Law of Train Transportation.” With a 5:50 Friday evening departure time, my friend and I left Old Campus with 50 minutes to spare, hoping to catch a red line shuttle to Union Station. After 35 minutes of anxious waiting, we found out »