As Hopkins athletes--one current (Ryan) one prior (Nicole), The News-Letter sports writers, and all-around sports enthusiasts, we have chosen to dedicate our last column to two Top 10 Sports Moments lists: one list for the past four years--our college years--and one for the next four years--your college years.
These lists are heavily biased and will never be found on Letterman, another newspaper, or pretty much anywhere else, but we hope they reflect how much we enjoyed our time as members of the Hopkins athletic community.
There is no particular order to these lists, because all of us at Hopkins are winners.
TOP 10 SPORTS MOMENTS FROM 2008-2012:
1. LeBron James’ “Decision” in 2010: When any decision becomes unanimously dubbed as "The Decision", you know it's a big deal. Even as a subjective Miami Heat fan, I don't agree with some of the aspects of his ESPN special, but I couldn't have been happier to watch him, "Take his talents to South Beach." He has finally given Miami sports fans a sense of pride and makes every game he plays enjoying to watch. Let's go Heat!
—Ryan Kahn
2. Student Nights at Camden Yards on Fridays: There's nothing better to end a week of school work than with a trip to the Baltimore Orioles’ ballpark. Friday nights are a great opportunity for students to see a game with tickets under $8 and cheap hot dog specials.
I have some great memories of these nights at the beautiful Camden Yards: I've gotten hit in the nose with a line drive by Kevin Millar, gotten the side of my head on the Jumbo-tron, and witnessed many fights between drunken Towson students in the upper deck.
—Ryan Kahn
3. Field Hockey defeats Salisbury on a penalty corner: In four years with Hopkins field hockey, no game was more memorable than their 1-0 victory over Salisbury in 2008. Senior Zoe Koven, who was then a freshman, scored a last-second goal on a penalty corner that sent the whole team running out to the field. The 2008 team went 11-0 to start the season and made it to the first round of NCAA Tournament. It was a great start to four years at Hopkins.
—Nicole Passmore
4. Volleyball wins the 2011 Centennial Conference Championship: When the Hopkins volleyball team won the 2011 Centennial Conference Championship this fall, Goldfarb Gymnasium exploded with cheers. The team, of twelve freshmen and only one senior won the regular season conference crown as well as the conference tournament just two years removed from a losing record and missing the conference tournament altogether. Senior captain and all-American Melissa Cole was an integral part of the turnaround and used her great work ethic, skill and poise to lead her team victory.
—Nicole Passmore
5. Anything that involved Women’s Soccer: Women’s soccer won the Centennial Conference Championship and made it all the way to the Sweet 16 each of the past four years and sported a 21-1 record this season. Those facts and figures speak for themselves--to put it simply, they kicked ass.
—Nicole Passmore
6. Ernie Larossa awarded the 2012 Irving T. Marsh Award: Even if you don’t know who Ernie Larossa is, you know his work. Ernie is the Athletics Communications Director at Hopkins and the force and creativity behind all sports teams’ media guides and the Hopkins Sports web site, to name just a few of his contributions.
He and assistant Athletic Director Jill Olsen are a fantastic team and have also kept me gainfully employed over the past three years. I wanted to take the chance to say thank you to both Ernie and Jill: they are awesome.
—Nicole Passmore
7. Men’s Lacrosse Defeats Virginia in Overtime in 2012: I was studying for an actuarial exam in a Starbucks during this game, but I always knew what the score was because Hopkins students were in a Twitter and Facebook frenzy over the game. Never have I seen as great a showing of Hopkins school spirit or heard about as exciting a game-– until the Loyola game last Saturday, that is.
—Nicole Passmore
8. Anything involving Tennis and Swimming: Although I haven't been to many swim meets and the closest I ever get to watching a tennis match is yelling, "Head's up!" from the bullpen during a baseball game, I have constantly written about these team's successes (both men’s and women’s) over the past four years. Keep up the great work!
—Ryan Kahn
9. Baseball Van Wars during Spring Break: One of my favorite things about playing for the baseball team is the baseball spring trip. Who needs a beach in Pensacola or a suite in Vegas when you have constant shenanigans, laughs, and genuine good times with 40 of some of your closest friends in Phoenix? Although it's usually hard to distinguish the winner from the loser in a van war, fighting in one can prepare you for any, literally any, obstacle later on in life.
—Ryan Kahn
10. USA vs. Canada Olympic Hockey Game in 2010: Born and raised in Florida, I think this was the first hockey game I have seen in its entirety--not counting ‘The Mighty Ducks 2’. With a last second goal to tie the game up, an incredible performance by Ryan Miller and a heartbreaking loss at the end from the stick of Sidney Crosby, the game was a roller coaster of emotions. I have actually enjoyed watching NHL games ever since.
—Ryan Kahn
TOP 10 SPORTS MOMENTS FOR 2012-2016 (We Hope...):
1. The Washington Redskins Have a Winning Season: I have always said the Redskins are in a win-win situation; if they lose, you expected it and if they win, it was a pleasant surprise. Every year the DC-metropolitan area hops on the Superbowl bandwagon for a few weeks at the start of the season (since obviously a 2-0 record is a true sign of success), and then the bandwagon derails and we all go back to complaining. However, with the drafting of Robert Griffin III, more commonly known as RGIII, the bandwagon is up and running super early this year--maybe it’s a sign (maybe).
--Nicole Passmore
2. Men’s Lacrosse Wins another National Championship: It may even happen this year after this publication is printed (fingers crossed), but some time over the next four years we hope men’s lacrosse wins the National Championship. It has been so fun to go to the games and watch them on television, and we hope that this awesome season is a sign of great things to come.
--Nicole and Ryan
3. Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Fight: It's been four years and the chances of a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather may be as distant as ever. Come on! Give the people what they want.
--Ryan Kahn
4. Tiger Woods Wins another Major: ‘Big Eldrick’ showed some promise a couple of weeks ago at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but lost his spark at the masters. Say what you will about Tiger but watching him win is an incredible thing to witness and is great for the game of golf.
--Ryan Kahn
5. Baltimore Ravens Win a Superbowl: Each year the Ravens get closer and closer. Hopefully this is the year they pull it out. How awesome would a victory parade be around the Inner Harbor? And how great would it be for the city of Baltimore? Imagine the madness at Hopkins.
--Ryan Kahn
6. Brett Farve Stays Retired: Really. Stay retired.
--Nicole and Ryan
7. Hopkins Gets a New Swimming Pool: Hopkins needs an Olympic-sized pool. Our school has fantastic men’s and women’s swim teams and a strong water polo team, and we hope they get the recognition (and the pool) they deserve.
--Nicole and Ryan
8. USA Men’s Soccer Wins a World Cup: This probably won’t happen, but as a life-long soccer fan I hope the U.S. men’s team finally has enough good luck and skill to win a World Cup. Every four years, soccer-mania strikes America, and coming home from a World Cup with actual gold hardware in hand may be what the sport needs to have the mania last and fade into an American acceptance of and respect for the world’s game.
—Nicole Passmore
9. Ryan Tannehill Pans Out: As a Dolphins fan, I am no stranger to rejection and disappointment. This past week at the NFL draft, the Dolphins selected a quarterback in the first round for the first time since Dan Marino was plucked out of the University of Pittsburgh in 1983. Hopefully this Tannehill, a wide receiver turned quarterback from Texas A&M can turn things around for the Fish...and quickly.
—Ryan Kahn
10. Baseball Wins the College World Series: I have had many incredible experiences as a Hopkins baseball player, from the friendships, memories, and Carlino's mid-game meals. We all hope to make it back to Appleton, WI this year and show other teams around the country what Blue Jay Nation is all about. But if this year isn’t the year, maybe one of the next four will be.
—Ryan Kahn
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