WBRS Sports Blog

Jury Duty previews NBA season

NBA-writer Peter May called in to Jury Duty (WBRS, Mondays 5pm-6pm) this week to help preview the NBA season.

May covered the NBA and the Celtics for nearly 25 years for the Boston Globe and the Hartford Courant. His 2008 book, Top of the World, told the inside story of the Boston Celtics' 2007-2008 championship run.

Check out the interview right here!




Brandeis student reflects on marathon experience

Dan Litwok '10 called in to Jury Duty this week to talk about running the Cape Cod Marathon in Falmouth, MA this past Sunday (10/25). Litwok and seven others with Brandeis ties took part in the 26.2 mile race.

Check out the interview right here!

Both Brandeis teams in Top 25

By Jeffrey Pickette

Kevin Olson and Steve DeLuca are not walking through that door. And Cassidy Dadaos and Lauren Orlando are not walking through that door. Yet, this didn't stop the folks at d3hoops.com from including both the men's and women's teams in their Top 25 preseason poll, released earlier this evening.

Both teams have lost significant leadership and talent from last year's NCAA tournament squads, but evidently the 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the nation who vote in this poll felt that the men and women would both be able to overcome these losses, with players like Andre Roberson '10, Kenny Small '10, Jessica Chapin '10 and Morgan Kendrew '12, among others, stepping up for their respective teams.

The men are ranked 22nd. Washington University in St. Louis, the two-time defending D-III national champions, received all 25 first-place votes in the men's poll.

The women are ranked 9th. The top four women's teams (Wash U, Amherst, Hope and George Fox) all split the 25 first-place votes.

As always, take these preseason rankings with a grain of salt.

"I don't take rankings too seriously. Rankings don't win you games," men's head coach Brian Meehan told me before the start of the 2007-2008 season.

"It's a nice thing, but ultimately, as I always say, it doesn't really matter [where you are ranked] 'til the end of the year," Meehan added before the start of last season.

The men open up their season November 17 at home against Lasell College. Meanwhile, the women kick things off November 15 at WPI.

For the complete preseason rankings for both the men and the women, click here.

By Adam Rosen

The Brandeis baseball team forever enshrined Nelson Figueroa into school history, retiring his #2 jersey in a private ceremony last Saturday. The event took place after a Brandeis Baseball Alumni Game, which was put together last-minute by Coach Pete Varney as a way to gather as much of the Brandeis baseball family as possible for the Figueroa ceremony when it became definite that Nelson would not be playing postseason baseball in October.


After the ceremony, Figueroa, a former WBRS DJ, took a trip down memory lane by coming up to the WBRS studio in Shapiro Campus Center for an exclusive live interview. He discussed topics such as the significance of having his jersey number retired, memories from Brandeis, his thoughts on this past year with the Mets, and his outlook on the 2010 season. A recording of the interview can be found below, as well as his chat with reporters after the ceremony and a Station ID he recorded for WBRS.

Figueroa WBRS IN-STUDIO Interview (w/ Adam Rosen & Ian Cutler) (26:09)

Nelson Figueroa Station ID

Figueroa talking with reporters post-ceremony (9:45)

...Brandeis bias aside, Nelson Figueroa could be the classiest, most likable person in the world- it's almost hard to believe he is a professional athlete. Whether you're a Mets fan, Yankees fan, or a disinterested third party, it is impossible not to root for the guy. Thanks again to Nelson for being extremely gracious with his time for WBRS this past weekend, and we wish him nothing but the best of luck in his quest to make a Major League roster next season...



For more information on Figueroa's number retirement ceremony, read this article from The Justice.

First photo by Julian Agin-Liebes/the Justice

The 8 WBRS sports show hosts were polled before the start of the MLB playoffs to pick their World Series matchup and champion. Be sure to check back here throughout the postseason to see how they fare!

World Series winners:
2- Red Sox
2- Yankees
1- Angels, Cardinals, Phillies, Rockies

Michael Perloff: YANKEES over Rockies
Jeffrey Pickette: RED SOX over Cardinals
Adam Rosen: ANGELS over Cardinals
Ian Cutler: YANKEES over Cardinals
Matt Baron: PHILLIES over Yankees
Daniel Male: ROCKIES over Yankees
Mike Weil: CARDINALS over Angels
Ravi Kotecha: RED SOX over Cardinals

For playoff baseball analysis as the games unfold be sure to check out any of our 7 sports shows!

In what was an extremely disappointing season for Mets fans to say the least, Figueroa gave the Citi Field faithful, all 38,315 in attendance, something to cheer for on the last day of the season, striking out 7 in what was easily the best pitching performance by any Met this year.

Click here for more pictures from the game, including a feel-good photo of Nelson after taking a celebratory shaving cream pie to the face from teammate Tim Redding during a postgame interview.

Figueroa completed the 2009 season with a 4.09 ERA in 16 appearances (10 starts). He struck out 59 batters in 70.1 innings. Since he became a permanent member of the starting rotation on August 25th, Figueroa started 8 games, sporting a 3.22 ERA in 50.1 innings, while striking out 44 batters to go against just 16 walks. Minus his Sept. 17th start against the Braves (5IP, 6ER), Figueroa would have had a microscopic 2.38 ERA during that time span.

A victim of poor run support for most of his time in the big leagues this year, Figueroa finished with a final record of 3-8. The Mets scored just 19 runs in his last 8 starts, during which he went 2-6.

Figueroa finished tied for sixth on the team in innings pitched despite having only been on the Major League roster for essentially two months, and placed second on the team in ERA for pitchers who had started 10 or more games, trailing only 4-time All-Star and 2-time Cy Young award winner, Johan Santana.

In 17 starts for the Buffalo Bisons, the Mets Triple-A affiliate, Figueroa had a sparkling 2.25 ERA in 112 innings pitched, including a 1.51 ERA in his final 10 starts. Despite the two-plus months spent in the Major Leagues, Figueroa still managed to finish 1st on the Bisons in starts, wins, innings pitched and strikeouts. He was named the Warren Spahn Most Valuable Pitcher for Buffalo at the end of the Minor League season.

Though Mets manager Jerry Manuel was non-committal about Figueroa's role with the team next year, he did offer high praise for the 35-year-old right-hander.

"He's been in the organization, he's been up and down, through waivers -- he's been a journeyman so to speak," Manuel said to reporters after the game. "And he performed extremely well for us."

Figueroa, who grew up a Mets fan living in Brooklyn, defended his body of work and said he hopes to stick around with the team next season.

"I had one bad start against Arizona (Aug. 3), but once I got the feeling I wasn't going anywhere, I settled down and was able to work on my pitching," he said. "After that start against Arizona, I was back out there two days later giving them four innings. I'll do whatever I can do to help the team, they should know by now. Coming out of the pen and being a long man or hopefully someone who can stick in the rotation and give them a chance to win every five days. I can do it."

Howard Megdal of New York Baseball Digest uses a statistical analysis to explain why Figueroa deserves an opportunity to continue pitching with the Mets in 2010.

As Figueroa continues to make history as the most accomplished Brandeis professional athlete, he is also set to have his #2 jersey retired by the Brandeis baseball team this Saturday. Click here for more information on the event.

In case you haven't had the chance to do so already, be sure to check out our new sports show lineup, including the inception of two *NEW* shows, Jury Duty (Mon. 5-6pm) and Middle Relief (Wed. 5-6:30pm).

THE REALTIME SPORTS SHOW
Sun. 12mid-1am
Hosted by: Michael Perloff

JURY DUTY*
Mon. 5-6pm
Hosted by: Jeffrey Pickette

SPORTS CAFE
Tues. 5-6pm
Hosted by: Adam Rosen

MIDDLE RELIEF*
Wed. 5-6:30pm
Hosted by: Ian Cutler

OVERTIME
Wed. 12mid-2am
Co-Hosted by: Matt Baron & Daniel Male

INTERMISSION
Thurs. 5-6pm
Hosted by: Mike Weil

DOUBLE OT
Thurs. 10pm-12mid
Hosted by: Ravi Kotecha

As always, feel free to call into any of the shows at 781-736-5277 or interact with the hosts on AIM at WBRSFM. Listen live at WBRS.ORG!