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Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Dean of Tisch College Hodgdon closes after worker’s close Alan Solomont to retire contact with individual who tested positive for COVID-19, reopening today at end of 2020–21 academic year by Madeleine Aitken Deputy News Editor
NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY
The Jumbo statue is pictured on April 25. by Alexander Thompson Assistant News Editor
Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run closed early yesterday afternoon after a worker at the dining establishment learned that a member of their household tested positive for COVID-19, according to an email from Patti Klos, director of dining and business services, sent out to Hodgdon employees on Tuesday night. A university spokesperson declined to confirm whether the worker tested positive or negative for the virus, citing a policy against disclosing such information. However, Tufts Dining managers called employees later on Tuesday and stated that the worker tested negative. Christine Tringale, an assistant sous-chef at Hodgdon and union shop steward, detailed the situation in an electronic message to the Daily. She said that panic spread among the dining hall work-
ers, upon learning that the co-worker had been in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Managers at Hodgdon worked to develop a plan to respond to the incident and offered to send workers to other locations on campus. “They were also telling workers we can send you to other locations,” Tringale wrote. “Some [workers] were in fear of leaving and getting in trouble.” She added that UNITE HERE Local 26, the workers’ union, quickly became aware of the incident and responded. “The union acted fast and checked the comfort level of workers,” Tringale said. Klos indicated in the email that the facility was closed and disinfected in the afternoon. “We believe that it’s safe for you to return to work,” Klos wrote. She explained that the workers are now eligible to receive free COVID-19 testing three times per week, an
increase from the two tests typically conducted. “[By increasing testing] we believe that we are acting in a manner that will keep you – and the people we serve – disease-free,” she said. Klos also wrote that the closing of the dining hall exceeded Massachusetts’ and the Board of Health’s requirements, citing that the other workers were not in direct contact with the individual who tested positive. Tringale said that she will not return to work until she tests negative for COVID-19. “[I] called out for tomorrow to wait for my negative test to return to work Thursday,” she said. A source, who preferred to remain anonymous, echoed Tringale’s sentiments. “I took a decision to come home because I didn’t want to be in contact with any member of the Tufts community when I’m not sure about my status,” they said.
of Cummings family professor of the practice in entrepreneurship. Chen previously served as a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. Prior to joining the Tufts community, Chen founded
ConceptSpring, a consulting company that provides entrepreneurial training and advises different organizations to promote growth, according to its website. She was also the vice president of
Alan D. Solomont, the Pierre and Pamela Omidyar dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, will be retiring at the end of the academic year, according to an email sent out to the Tufts community on Sept. 14. After multiple successful civil service careers, including serving as the United States ambassador to Spain and Andorra under President Barack Obama, Solomont (A’70) assumed his role as dean of Tisch College in 2014, which allowed him to apply his learned skills and explore a new field. “I’ve been very lucky in my career and been able to do a lot of civic work, political work, but I didn’t want to pick up where I left off. I thought it was a good opportunity to do something different,” Solomont said. Peter Levine, associate dean of academic affairs for Tisch College and Lincoln Filene professor of citizenship and public affairs, explained that Solomont dedicated his life to public service, which gave him the tools necessary to lead a college about civic life. “He’s been a leader in the effort to renew civic life in America for some 20 years or so. He kind of cut his teeth originally in community organizing, but then in politics and in partisan politics. But he’s become a leader of really nonpartisan efforts to improve civic life,” he said. Levine also teaches Introduction to Civic Studies, which is a course offered by Tisch College, alongside Newhouse
Professor of Civic Studies Brian Schaffner. Levine, who has worked closely with Dean Solomont for years, said he is leaving an important legacy behind. “His impact’s been enormous,” he said. Diane Ryan, associate dean for programs and administration at Tisch College, echoed Levine’s statements about Solomont’s impact. She explained that Solomont’s lifetime success across multiple careers inspired her and made her want to work with him. “I came to Tisch College for Alan Solomont,” Ryan said. Solomont has been at the forefront of much of the development Tisch College has undergone in the last few years. “He rarely meets a good idea that he doesn’t want to explore to the fullest extent,” Ryan said. This spirit has led Solomont to establish Tisch College as an important part of Tufts University as well as the larger sphere of civic life and studies. “He has really helped to move Tisch to the center of the university, and built these really enduring connections with the other schools,” Ryan said. Levine, who has also played a major role in Tisch College’s development by bringing the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) to Tufts from the University of Maryland, shared Ryan’s thoughts. “Lots of people who are doing voter turnout or redistricting reform or these kinds of things know Tisch College as a playsee RETIRE, page 2
Elaine Chen named new director of Entrepreneurship Center
by Matthew McGovern News Editor
The Gordon Institute recently announced that Elaine Chen will be the new director of the Tufts Entrepreneurship Center (TEC) and will assume the role
FEATURES / page 3
The proof is in the Fluff
see DIRECTOR, page 2
ARTS / page 4
EDDIE SAMUELS / THE TUFTS DAILY
Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life Alan Solomont introduces former Vice President Al Gore at the Distriguished Speaker Series event on Feb. 7, 2018.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Wednesday, September 23, 2020
THE TUFTS DAILY Alex Viveros Editor in Chief
EDITORIAL
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Entrepreneurship Center to host weekly virtual programs, Jumbo Cafés
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COURTESY ELAINE CHEN
Elaine Chen is pictured.
DIRECTOR
continued from page 1 various different companies, and focused primarily on engineering and product management. Kevin Oye, executive director of the Gordon Institute, led the search committee for a new TEC director. He recognized Chen’s extensive experience and problem-solving skills. “Elaine is a classic entrepreneur: she starts by talking to people, identifies the problems to be solved, and takes a rapid iterative and experimental approach to creating and deploying new solutions,” Oye wrote in an email to the Daily. He emphasized Chen’s potential to expand entrepreneurship on campus and connect with different community stakeholders. “With her warm personality, she’ll be a visible, accessible, and inspiring leader across the Tufts community, building partnerships to bring the entrepreneurial mindset to all parts of the university,” Oye said.
Chen echoed Oye’s sentiments and indicated that she would like to work with many students, including those pursuing startups, graduate education in medicine or law or careers in the public sector. “I am energized by the potential to build on this foundation to bring the entrepreneurial mindset and skillset to students with diverse interests,” she wrote in an email to the Daily. Chen also said she will advance the entrepreneurship program’s impact across a wide range of sectors. Oye explained that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will serve as both an opportunity and a challenge for aspiring entrepreneurs. “Entrepreneurs see challenges as opportunities,” he said. “The pandemic may have put a damper on our traditional campus approach, but it creates an opportunity for all of us to explore new ways to engage with each other, new ways to build community and inspire entrepreneurism to solve our world’s problems.”
Chen shared Oye’s optimism and emphasized that the pandemic is putting the entrepreneurial spirit to the test. “Some people think being entrepreneurial means being persistent and never giving up. This is half of the puzzle,” Chen said. “The other half is the ability to be flexible and adaptable in the face of crises.” Jack Derby, who formerly served as the director of the TEC and is currently a professor of the practice at Tufts, underlined the importance of increasing the presence of the entrepreneurship program. “Equally important to that mission was moving it across all of the university’s schools: Let’s pay attention to [the School of ] Arts and Sciences, the veterinary school, the dental school,” Derby said. “[The Center’s] mission was to take entrepreneurship to a higher level and to move it through all of the university.” Derby indicated that entrepreneurship is the most popular minor in the School of Arts and Sciences and that the TEC has received more students than ever
before in the last two years. He also explained that the increased number of entrepreneurship minors follows a rebranding of the TEC in 2018. Besides serving as the new director of the TEC, Chen has received the title of Cummings family professor of the practice in entrepreneurship. This professorship was created in 1998 by William S. and Joyce Cummings to support entrepreneurship programming at Tufts, according to a previous announcement from the School of Engineering. In addition to her work in innovation, leadership and education, Chen has written for the HuffPost, Forbes and Fortune magazine, among others. Chen is also the author of “Bringing a Hardware Product to Market: Navigating the Wild Ride from Concept to Mass Production” (2015). The TEC is hosting a series of virtual events every Wednesday, as part of its Jumbo Cafés programming. These events are designed to connect students with faculty, alumni and others working businesses or startups.
Solomont commended by colleagues for elevating Tisch College's status DIRECTOR
continued from page 1 er, and it really wasn’t a player before Alan,” Levine said. Solomont said he is proud of his involvement in elevating Tisch College’s stature within the Tufts community and beyond. “Our research is known nationally, and it’s probably some of the most important research on the civic and political engagement of young people. And it’s applied research, it’s
being used every day by candidates and campaigns and grassroots organizations and nonprofits,” Solomont said. Solomont added that he wanted to continue to serve as dean through the end of this academic year to be in his role for the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Tisch College and the 2020 election. He made the announcement this month because he wanted to give the search team adequate time to
find a new dean to lead his colleagues before he leaves. “I’ve worked with an incredible group of people who are incredibly mission-driven, who do this work because they believe deeply in the importance of civic life, the importance of rebuilding our civic institutions and repairing our democracy,” Solomont said. However, even though he is stepping down, Solomont said he does not consider himself to be
retiring in the traditional sense. He said he feels that this is the right moment to pass the role onto someone who can breathe some fresh air into the deanship and the college. “He might not be the dean anymore, but I will find it very hard to believe that he will not continue to be an important part of Tisch College,” Ryan said. “I still think he’s going to be a tremendous presence.”
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Features
3 Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Talk about a Fluff piece: New England’s unique affection for Marshmallow Fluff by Ryan Shaffer
Executive Features Editor
A brief history of Fluff Dried egg whites, sugar syrup, corn syrup and vanilla flavoring are all that make up Fluff, a marshmallow creme. Boston in the late 1800s and early 1900s was a honeycomb for food innovation, with recipes for marshmallow creams circulating around the city in church cookbooks, newspapers and commercial kitchens. Many factors came together to make Boston the site of Fluff’s creation and industry. Full of recent immigrants from Europe who brought with them their knowledge of candy making, Boston’s sweet tooth flourished. It wasn’t uncommon for residents to be frequented by freelance confectioners going door to door. Boston was also a hub for food innovation. In 1853, an East Boston refinery revolutionized the sugar production process, producing a more refined sugar that didn’t require grinding and allowing for more precise measurements. Also, the invention of the hand-cranked eggbeater, soon followed by power mixers, made kitchen time more efficient. But Boston had more than just machinery to account for its accession to America’s candy-making capital. Culinary experts like Fannie Farmer trained the next generation of confectioners and cooks. Her cooking school produced hundreds of culinary professionals who were then employed by many of Boston’s restaurants and sweets shops. Published in 1896, Farmer’s mammoth 567-page cookbook became a classic American culinary text and featured many recipes with the use of marshmallow in sweets — and a few in salad dressing. It wasn’t until 1916, however, that today’s conception of Fluff entered the scene. Archibald Query was a Canadian emigree and freelance confectioner. Credited with the development of the first and only Fluff recipe, Query went door to
door in Somerville’s Union Square selling the sticky, sweet treat. In 1917, Query’s marshmallow creme caught the attention of two World War I veterans, Allen Durkee and Fred Mower, who bought the recipe for $500 — roughly $6,000 today. Having attended elementary school together and served in France together during World War I, Durkee and Mower were tightknit, with matching license plates to prove it. After purchasing the recipe, they set up shop in their home kitchens, selling the product at the price of $1 per gallon. In 1929, Durkee and Mower opened a factory in Lynn, Mass., and began producing Fluff as we know it today. For more than a century, the recipe has remained unchanged. The product has become a regional staple thanks to Durkee-Mower, according to Mimi Graney, author of “Fluff: The Sticky Sweet Story of an American Icon” (2017). In the mid-1900s as Durkee-Mower was making a push to go national, the food conglomerate Kraft was buying up small marshmallow creme factories across the nation. Durkee-Mower’s resistance to Kraft’s hegemony meant Fluff kept its market share in the New England area, but couldn’t expand to the same extent elsewhere. Later, Kraft sold off its marshmallow creme division, and Durkee-Mower remained. Durkee-Mower still makes Fluff in Lynn, Mass. The annual “What the Fluff?” festival and New England’s unique appreciation for Fluff From the early years of circulating the streets of Somerville, Fluff has made its way across the region and all the way to the International Space Station. Perhaps the only fact necessary to understand New England’s insatiable appetite for Fluff is that of the 8 million pounds produced by Durkee-Mower annually, half is consumed within New England. Many New Englanders, especially those in Massachusetts,
JULIA BARONI / THE TUFTS DAILY
have warm memories when it comes to Fluff. With its red, white and blue packaging unchanged since the 1960s, it is often associated with childhood memories. “You often get introduced to it as a treat when you’re a kid,” Graney said. “So people always associate it with their own childhood and that sense of home, whether it’s making fudge with your mom or with ice cream, hot chocolate or whatever, it’s got that real comfort food aspect.” In 2006, Mimi Graney got an idea: a festival dedicated to Fluff. First introduced as a onetime celebration, the festival has become an annual tradition in Union Square, growing from 800 attendees initially to more than 10,000 in recent years. Erica Jones, emcee for this year’s virtual Fluff festival, calls it “the best fluffin’ event.” “Typically, Fluff Festival is a jam packed end-of-summer festival in the heart of Union Square where you are experiencing an exciting day of activities, arts, music, culinary fun, games and much more all related to the idea
and celebration of Fluff,” Jones wrote in an email to the Daily. Jones, who worked at Somerville Media Center for eight years and covered the event annually, said the event has become a staple for the Somerville community. “It is an impressive story of success and how curiosity really draws people to Somerville which is known for its artsy, quirky events,” Jones wrote. “Many of the local restaurants, businesses and community groups join in on the fun by creating new recipes or activities using … in one way or another… Fluff!” The festival features many surprising applications of Fluff: as hair styling gel, robotics, an artistic muse and the centerpiece for imaginative recipes. Graney recalls long lines at the first Fluff festival as people waited to try her brother’s unusual hors d’oeuvres, which consisted of tuna fish, pickles, saltine crackers, mustard, hot sauce and Fluff. “One of the highlights was my brother played the role of the tuna fluffer,” Graney said. “He
piled it all up on a little cracker, and people stood in line, like a ridiculous line, to eat one of these. And I thought, ‘these people will eat anything with marshmallow fluff.’” The next year, Graney and other festival organizers visited Somerville restaurants encouraging them to “give us any kind of crazy food you’ve got.” Due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, this year’s event hosted a livestream music performance, encouraged people to post videos of themselves eating strange food combinations that included Fluff and trivia, among other events. Jones said the organizers of this year’s event were successful in recreating the atmosphere of past festivals online. “The Fluff team did a tremendous job at retaining the energy of supporting local businesses throughout its virtual event,” Jones said. “They truly kept alive the soul and spunk of ‘What the Fluff’ just in a safe way because of circumstances beyond their control.”
TRASHING ONE EGG WASTES 55 GALLONS OF WATER
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ARTS & POP CULTURE
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Wednesday, September 23, 2020
TV SERIES REVIEW
Season 2 of ‘PEN15’ (2019–) takes us back to middle school by Stephanie Hoechst Arts Editor
The success of recent titles like “Big Mouth” (2017–), “Eighth Grade” (2018) and “Sex Education” (2019–) makes it clear: raunchy, coming-of-age cringe comedies are having a well-deserved moment, taking an unfiltered look at the nasty realities of adolescence with unprecedented aplomb. “PEN15” (2019–), whose first seven episodes of Season 2 dropped on Hulu on Friday (with the second half slated for 2021), is no different; its first season
tackled masturbation, drugs and alcohol, first kisses, divorcing parents and internet boyfriends with searing comedy, yes, but, like “Eighth Grade,” differentiates itself from a show like “Big Mouth” by letting its comedy take the back seat once in a while to examine some of its harder truths. The first half of Season 2 builds on the strength of its first season to deliver even more of these emotional gut punches throughout while, of course, still remaining uproariously funny. The premise of “PEN15”, while hilarious, pales in com-
parison to what the show ends up delivering: Anna Konkle and Maya Erskine, two of the show’s co-creators (Sam Zvibleman being the third) and actresses in their early 30s, don braces and lip gloss to play 13-year-old versions of themselves in middle school in 2000, surrounded by actors who are all actually teens. While its setup seems destined to get tired quickly, “PEN15” creates a deeply personal depiction of the female experience by committing, and committing hard. Beyond its painstaking attention to the time period — the butterfly
VIA IMDB
A promotional poster for “PEN15” (2019 –) is pictured.
clips, gel pens, stickers and floorlength cargo skirts — Konkle and Erskine deliver such wholehearted performances that it’s easy to forget they’re adults. Konkle’s Anna is lanky, sweet and tries as hard as she can to shell out wisdom, while Erskine’s Maya is a pistol — hilarious, operating completely without a filter and constantly yanked left and right by her emotions. The first seven episodes of Season 2 dive deeper than Season 1 into some of the more harrowing ills of middle school — slut-shaming rumors (from both the girls and the boys), manipulative new friends, peer pressure and a brief foray into witchcraft all lie atop the ever-present conflict in Anna’s house as her parents’ marriage falls apart. Season 2 also gives some of the secondary characters their own storylines — Sam (Taj Cross), one of Maya’s love interests, must decide where he stands when it comes to hurtful locker room talk, while Gabe (Dylan Gage) begins to question his sexuality in a time where offhandedly calling something “gay” is still commonplace. While Season 2 is admittedly a bit darker than its predecessor, dealing with these more serious issues allows “PEN15″ to bring the truisms of adolescence more clearly into focus: our moms will always accept us, even when we start acting out. When we mess up really badly, a sincere apology to those we care about can almost always right things. First kisses will happen when they’re meant to happen. And, of course, our ride-or-die best friends will always be there for us when we really need them. Like the use of hormone monsters in “Big Mouth,” “PEN15” explores its subject matter through surrealist expressions of what it feels like to be a horny, emotional middle schooler. “PEN15” relies on artful camera manipulation and deeply subjective forays into Maya’s and Anna’s psyches to achieve a portrayal so outlandish (yet so correct) that it seems more accurate than reality. For example, one of last season’s most painfully relatable moments came when, from the perspective of the toilet bowl, we watched Maya stress over accidentally trying to flush a pad down the toilet. As she stares past the camera, we
see her flush, look like she’s about to cry, flush again, put her hands to her forehead, desperately jiggle the handle, wince at her work, then give up and leave the stall altogether — a moment made brutal by our proximity to it and hilarious by its honesty. Season 2 pushes this expression further than its predecessor, experimenting with montage, voice-overs and interpretive sequences in addition to the show’s already-impressive list of techniques. For example, when Maya, sitting at her desk in her room, begins practicing her lines after landing the lead in the school play, a spotlight flicks on as she, now dressed theatrically as her middle-aged character and taking drags of a cigarette, delivers the performance of a lifetime to the camera, only to struggle with her lines in school the next day while protesting, “I promise you, I did this last night, I was really good.” With such experimentation, however, there are bound to be a few depictions that don’t quite land — if you don’t get it, you don’t get it, whereas a show like “Big Mouth” can use its expertly timed witticisms to cue you when to laugh. As Season 2 pushes the bounds of its expression, it also risks some of these sequences not paying off, a tradeoff that, for me, is worth it to deliver the emotional truths that it does. Because when “PEN15” strikes that chord, unearthing a long-forgotten memory from middle school, it hits hard. “All I know is that she’s my best friend on God’s green freaking earth,” Anna says of Maya in the first episode of Season 2. No matter how much Maya and Anna may fight over the course of the show (as is only natural with close friends), the ultimate certainty of their bond remains a constant, reassuring presence at the heart of this season’s story. It’s a depiction of female friendship nestled among secret handshakes, soda-chugging matches and half-naked crying sessions in the locker room that feels unique to “PEN15” among its cringe-comedy contemporaries. As a show, then, this season of “PEN15” delivers an experience just as weird, heartbreaking and unexpectedly wonderful as that of being a middle school girl.
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Wednesday, September 23, 2020 | Arts & Pop Culture | THE TUFTS DAILY
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‘Detective Comics #1,027’ is a celebration of style, but of little substance by Drew Weisberg Assistant Arts Editor
Batman, DC Comics character and star of the page and screen, has just marked his 1,000th appearance in the monthly title “Detective Comics” (1937–) with “Detective Comics #1,027” (2020), and while this 1,027th issue is a landmark for the character, the issue itself reads more as a fun novelty than a sweeping thesis on 1,000 issues. The book’s credits page reads like a veritable “who’s who” of the top creators in comics. From writer/artist Dan Jurgens to critical darling Grant Morrison, the book collects 12 stories from various perspectives in an anthology format intended as an ultimate sendup to the Dark Knight. The book is bound, not as a softcover comic or magazine, but as a mini graphic novel almost free of advertisements. The issue is available for $9.99, a price that collectors will come to dread as DC has released an array of “variant covers” to entice ardent fans to shell out for dynamic covers by comic industry greats. For almost $10, though, the stories are sadly hit or miss, with some incredible highs and some disappointing lows. The standout story is “Detective #26” by the aforementioned Grant Morrison with art by Chris Burnham. The story takes full advantage of its eight pages, playing with the transition from pulp-era detectives to the rise of costumed crime fighters that ultimately gave birth to Batman. Another standout is “The Master Class” by Brian Michael Bendis with art by David Marquez, where Bendis, co-creator of super-detective Jessica Jones, plots a delightfully detailed murder mystery for the entire Bat family to solve together. The stories that miss seem at odds with themselves. One,
in particular, is “Fore” by Kelly Sue DeConnick, a segment which strikes a fantastic balance between Bruce Wayne and Batman. However, the art by John Romita Jr. is largely inconsistent, with characters seemingly changing body dimensions between panels. “Fore” is, unfortunately, the sore spot in an otherwise beautifully drawn book. “Fore” is well contrasted by the story, “A Gift,” where writer Mariko Tamaki pens a fairly average story, but the imagery on display from artist Dan Mora is something to behold. Mora’s kinetic yet traditional style coupled with the resplendent color work by Tamra Bonvillain evokes a style akin to a neon-lit independent book that feels refreshingly bold in a superhero book. The confines of an anthology are no doubt stringent, offering creative teams a limited number of pages to tell a story, yet some of the creators tell tales that offer no real conclusion and instead stretch into upcoming books. Dan Jurgens’ story teases “Generations: Future State #1” (2021) and the final panel of “A Gift” proclaims that “The Joker War Rages On In New Issues Of Batman — On Sale Now!” The sentiment of one-sixth of the stories in a celebratory collection acting as extended commercials smacks of cynical promotional tactics slyly slotted into a premium-priced book. “Detective Comics #1,027” is difficult to quantify, as in some areas it’s a roaring success and in others, it feels sorely lacking. The art is admittedly gorgeous, it seems to be a prettier book to look at than to read, and for a character blessed with a multitude of amazing stories told over decades and decades feels as though it captures one part the magic of the character, but not another.
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The cover of ‘Detective Comics #1,027’ (2020) is pictured.
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THE TUFTS DAILY | Fun & Games | Wednesday, September 23, 2020
F& uG n & Games Fun & Games
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tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Megan: “Could you write that? If only you could write...”
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Libra (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) Domestic matters have your attention. You can’t do everything... focus where you can. Decrease clutter to reduce stress. Relax with family. Enjoy each other.
CORRECTION A previous version of the article “No Suits discusses ‘SEX’ — their newest EP,” published on September 18, 2020, mistakenly omitted Tuna Margalit as a co-author. The article has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily regrets this error.
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Sports
Wednesday, September 23, 2020 | Sports | THE TUFTS DAILY
NFL finished Week 2 with a slew of injuries NFL
continued from page 8 Chargers led for almost the entirety of this game, but the Chiefs were able to kick a field goal as time expired to send it to overtime. Ultimately, the Chiefs pulled it out in the nick of time, hitting the game-winning field goal with less than two minutes to go in the overtime period. Final score: Kansas City 23, Los Angeles 20. The Philadelphia Eagles continued their rough start to the season, dropping their game against the Los Angeles Rams. Eagles QB Carson Wentz threw for 242 yards but threw two interceptions, with the team having three turnovers in total. Meanwhile, Rams QB Jared Goff threw
for 267 yards with just seven incompletions. It was a game that saw the Rams in full control from start to finish and will have the Eagles flocking back to the drawing board. Final score: Los Angeles 37, Philadelphia 19. QB Joe Burrow and his team faced off against an old rival on Thursday as Ohio’s two teams, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns, squared off. The game featured two No. 1 picks in the draft, with QB Baker Mayfield being a little older than Burrow. However, it was clear who had the better game as Burrow threw for 316 yards and tossed three touchdowns. Yet, the Browns were still squarely in control, representing the plight of any top draft
pick. The expectation to be the face of a franchise, to be the team’s sole offense, is both a tremendous opportunity and pure recipe for disaster. Burrow’s valiant efforts came just short, with Mayfield, WR Odell Beckham Jr. and the Browns holding on. Final score: Cleveland 35, Cincinnati 30. Tampa Bay was back at it again on Sunday, as the Buccaneers looked to get their first win in the new Tom Brady era against the Carolina Panthers. From the start, there was no question over who would prevail, with Brady and his loaded offense racing out to a 21-point lead. Brady finished with 217 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a win. Final score: Tampa Bay 31, Carolina 17.
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Matt Goguen Keeping up with the 617
Keeping up with the 617: Quick reactions to the Patriots
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new era has dawned upon Gillette Stadium. The seats and parking lot are empty, masks are a requirement and, worst of all, New England’s messiah, Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr., has moved on from the organization. Following his saddening departure, the Patriots’ faithful had low expectations about the upcoming season. After multiple opt outs from key players such as linebacker Dont’a Hightower and strong safety PatArick Chung, many analysts predicted losing seasons for the team. Some were bold enough to claim that the Patriots will be “tanking” for Clemson University quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2021 draft. However, Bill Belichick always seems to bring the best out of his players. Newcomer Cam Newton has partnered with Brady’s past weapons and has completely revamped the offense. After two weeks, this team might be better than expected: Cam Newton is legit When the Patriots signed quarterback Cam Newton to the veteran minimum prior to training camp, I will admit that I had my doubts. He simply hasn’t been at the same caliber since his 2015 campaign, and a mobile quarterback wouldn’t fit well in the Patriots’ system — and I have been proven wrong. The Patriots essentially rebuilt their offense to fit the style of Cam’s dual threat game. Instead of many empty backfield formations that Brady lived off of, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels places Newton in the shotgun formation and runs various read option plays to draw the defensive end off his post. When the read option isn’t successful, Newton just switches to tossing piss missiles across the field. Against the Seahawks in Week 2, Cam seemed extremely comfortable in the pocket and threw for 397 yards. He has restored faith in Pats Nation after his convincing debut. The defense looks sloppy The top ranked defense of 2019 has looked atrocious over the first two weeks of the season, especially following its 35–30 loss to Seattle on Sunday Night Football. Some of the poor play is in part due to the opt outs of many key defensive players over the offseason, and many rookies are expected to step into bigger roles. However, cornerback Stephon Gilmore and other returning veterans are being carved up by opposing QBs. Although the defensive line looks strong, the linebackers are losing RBs in pass coverage, which allows for big plays. If the Patriots see a playoff run in the near future, their defense must improve. Kicking game needs to improve I miss Stephen Gostkowski. Even though he caused me so much pain over the years, you never truly realize the reliability of an elite kicker. Throughout his career, he was essentially automatic from 25–40 yards and truly was a special team’s backbone. Now, I have no faith in our current kicker, Nick Folk. He had an average year last season, but he has been horrific over the first two weeks. Against the Seahawks, he seemed uncomfortable and shaky on all of his kicks; if he hit that 51-yard field goal, the Patriots would be 2–0. Folk either needs to become more confident in his kicks, or Belichick might need to find a new kicker. Overall, the start to this Patriots season has been nothing short of promising; their offense is firing on all cylinders and their quality of play is shocking every NFL analyst. A Super Bowl run is most likely out of the question for this team, but a playoff spot is reachable. Hopefully this team doesn’t break my heart this season. Matt Goguen is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. Matt can be reached at matthew.goguen@tufts.edu.
8 Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Sports
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NFL Week 2 recap: Injuries galore
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The Dallas Cowboys offensive line in a game against the Washington Football Team on Oct. 29, 2017 is pictured. by Arpan Barua
Assistant Arts Editor
Perhaps the one thing no viewer ever wants to see, Week 2 of the NFL season was defined by the slew of injuries that occurred from the start of the kickoff to the last play on Monday night. It was another one of the devastating side effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the sports world, as a canceled preseason made players particularly vulnerable to injury. The cruelty of the week was known coming in, as it was already a week that saw stars such as San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas and Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay out for their respective games, but it eventually took a turn for a brutal Sunday. While the 49ers won their game against the Jets, the defending NFC champions will have plenty to mull over as they saw their starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, star defensive end Nick Bosa, defensive tackle Solomon Thomas and RB Raheem Mostert all leave the game due to injury. A pair of generational RBs went down, with Saquon Barkley tearing his ACL, while Christian McCaffrey picked up an ankle injury. An over-dependence on both means that the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers, respectively, will have to find ways to restructure their offense if they want to keep any sort of relevance in the league this year. Though, Clemson University QB Trevor Lawrence is always an option! More notable injuries include Chicago Bears
RB David Montgomery, Giants WR Sterling Shepard, Broncos QB Drew Lock, Broncos WR Jerry Jeudy and Los Angeles Chargers QB Tyrod Taylor. Rather than a game of football, the NFL resembled the likes of an Antietam battlefield on Sunday. Here is a recap of some of Sunday’s games. A Cowboy miracle If it were possible to come up with the worst possible start to a game, the Dallas Cowboys may have had exactly that in their matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Coming into the game as favorites against an Atlanta team engrossed in mediocrity, America’s team produced a disastrous first quarter: three lost fumbles, blown coverages, a futile fake punt and a score line that read 20–0 after 15 minutes of play. Besides the fumbles, their offensive line continued to provide no protection for both QB Dak Prescott and RB Ezekiel Elliot. Their defense was shambolic, giving QB Matt Ryan the ability to turn back the clock and throw two touchdown passes in a matter of minutes. In front of a crowd of over 21,000 (yes, you read that right), the Cowboys would have preferred the silence of other NFL stadiums compared to the chorus of boos they were showered with by the end of the first quarter. Much of the same remained for the second quarter, but by the second half, the team began to show its abundance of talent and began to crawl its way back into the game. However, by the closing stages of the fourth quarter, it seemed that Atlanta would hold on for the upset; the
Falcons led the Cowboys 39–30 at the two-minute warning. But alas, the world seemed to have forgotten the perpetual ills of the Falcons, a team with a historic inability to hold a lead. After scoring a touchdown with about a minute and a half remaining, the Cowboys attempted an onside kick, a play in which the Falcons’ special teams seemed to be playing an incredibly realistic virtual reality version of Madden rather than a game of professional football. As the ball rolled, the Falcons stayed in their nest, watching the pigskin roll and roll until the Cowboys landed on it. Improbably, they proceeded to march down the field and with five seconds remaining nailed a field goal to give the Cowboys and new head coach Mike McCarthy their first win of the season. Final score: Dallas 40, Atlanta 39. A shootout in Seattle The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks, two of the NFL’s best and most successful teams over the last decade, faced off Sunday night in a rematch of their infamous matchup in the 2015 Super Bowl. Strangely and eerily different from that fateful night was the face of the Patriots, a position now held by quarterback Cam Newton (yeah, anyone else still getting used to that?). Even more so was the absence of fans in the loudest stadium in the world. The silence of the game was deafening and a painful reminder of where we currently are in the world. The game was as good as they come, as the teams went back and forth throughout the first half. Russell Wilson got off to
an uncharacteristic start, throwing a pick six just two minutes into the game, leading to the game’s first score. However, Wilson once again proved his underrated greatness, bouncing back with two touchdown passes, including one 54-yard bomb to WR D.K. Metcalf. The second half started seeing the Seahawks pull away — a stout Seattle defense led by former New York Jet Jamal Adams was able to neutralize Newton’s dynamism. Yet, just as the history shows between these two teams, the losing team simply refuses to go away. With the Patriots down 23–35, Newton relied on his tremendous arm strength to will his team back to within five. A strong defensive stand on the ensuing drive meant the Patriots had the ball with a minute and a half left only needing a touchdown. Down the field they went, all the way to the 1-yard line with three seconds left. An ending for the ages, similar to that of the 2015 Super Bowl — one play, one yard, one win. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick elected to let Newton run the ball but was stifled by the Seattle defense. Final score: 35–30, with Seattle taking the win. A Raven runaway In one of the more intriguing matchups from Week 2, the Baltimore Ravens traveled to play the Houston Texans which featured a duel between two of the most explosive and exciting quarterbacks in the NFL. Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson of the Ravens once again showed his consistent dominance, passing for over 200 yards and
rushing for another 54. Texans QB Deshaun Watson ironically had a better game than Jackson through the air — barring his one interception, the Texan talisman threw for 275 yards. Ultimately, none of that mattered as the game was won on the ground, with the Ravens steamrolling the Texans through their rushing yards. The chemistry between the Ravens’ two Heisman Trophy winners, Lamar Jackson and Mark Ingram II, picked up right where it left off last season as they combined for over 100 yards on the ground. Add to that a stellar 73-yard performance from RB Gus Edwards and a near 50-yard game from rookie running back J.K. Dobbins, the Texans were left in the dust as the Ravens ultimately ran away to victory. It was another impressive showing from a team with Super Bowl aspirations this year after last season’s bitter disappointment. On the flip side, head coach Bill O’Brien will be left to ponder the potential of his mistake-prone Texans team, especially after his widely criticized offseason moves. However, gifted with perhaps the toughest two opening games in the NFL, the Texans will be at peace knowing there will be easier games ahead. Final score: Baltimore 31, Houston 16. Other scores from around the NFL The defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs had a bit of a rough day on Sunday, nearly falling to a Chargers team with second-string QB Justin Herbert under center. The see NFL, page 7