It seems like it is impossible to escape the talk about Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito.
I can’t remember the last time I turned on the TV or surfed the web without reading about the saga involving the Miami Dolphins.
At the heart of the story is whether Martin faced unfair treatment at the hands of his teammates.
This article isn’t concerned with whether Martin was bullied or not.
Underlying the whole discussion about Jonathan Martin is the nature of football and whether a certain type of physical and mental toughness is required to play football.
The Firedogs entered the NESCAC tournament looking to win the NESCAC tournament championship, but fell in a heartbreaker to Bowdoin in the semifinals in five games.
In order to meet Bowdoin in the semifinals, Amherst first had to defeat a tough Middlebury squad in the quarterfinals that beat the Firedogs late in the season. After dropping the first game of the match, Amherst won straight games to win the match. The Firedogs lost the first game 25-21, and then won the next game in dramatic fashion 29-27.
The Amherst Men’s Rugby team took the pitch against archrival Williams last Saturday, where they demolished the Ephs 34-3.
After jumping out to a quick 10-0 lead in the first half, the Jeffs exploded in the second half to go on a 24-3 run. Junior Jordan Pinsky and Sam Seham ’16 were responsible for Amherst’s tries in the first half.
Heading into the last weekend of regular season play, the Firedogs looked to end the season strong. After a resounding 3-1 victory at Wesleyan, Amherst stumbled to a 3-0 loss to Trinity. Even with the split, Amherst remained in third place in NESCAC heading into the all-important NESCAC tournament this weekend.
Amherst jumped on host Wesleyan early by taking the first game 25-15 behind excellent defense that lead into efficient offense.
The Firedogs continued their outstanding play since their loss to Williams a month ago and have gone 10-1 during that span.
Amherst suffered a setback Saturday, however, as they dropped a NESCAC match to rival Middlebury 3-2 in a close match.
In fact, the Firedogs dropped more games over the weekend than they have all month.
Ever since losing to archrival Williams College in late September, the Firedogs have been playing exceptional volleyball, winning five matches in row. Amherst has been so dominant that they have only lost one game during that stretch of matches to go 15-1 in games.
The Firedogs fired on all cylinders last week led by first-year Maggie Danner. She was named NESCAC player of the week and led Amherst with a .407 hitting percentage during their sweep of last week’s opponents.
Coming off a successful weekend winning two of three, the Amherst looked to continue their strong NESCAC play against archrival Williams last Thursday night. The Ephs entered the match with an 11-1 overall record and the top offense in the NESCAC. Amherst entered with an 8-4 record overall and a 1-1 record in NESCAC play. The Firedogs looked to inch closer to the top of the standings with a win, but fell short.
The Amherst squad didn’t carry the same energy and enthusiasm from the previous weekend into the game and fell in straight sets to Williams 3-1.
