The Waltonian

I’m Darryl Mackey, the Web Editor for The Waltonian, and I was the Interim Sports Editor for a short time before we found a replacement. I’m a senior Communication Studies major in Digital and Emerging Media with a minor in Marketing. During my time here at Eastern, I didn’t do much outside, having fun with my friends and focusing on classwork. Although, I will say my favorite year here has to be my senior year, due to my time with The Waltonian and my internship for the Athletics Department.

During my senior year, I accomplished a lot and tried new things. While being asked to join The Waltonian multiple times years prior, I decided to join the team. My experience with The Waltonian has been enjoyable, and I have met many brilliant people that I wish nothing but the best for them. While being the Web Editor throughout the year, I wanted to make everyone’s job easier while handling online submissions, social media updates, and even changing the old boring website design to be more modern. When editors struggled, I tried to help them the best way I could to make things easier for all. While I’ve only been with The Waltonian for a year, I wish I had been with them years before.

While lacking time or motivation to write what I cared about, I steered away from sports blogging. However, with The Waltonian, I wrote stories for Marin Dremock and Cole Patti, which made me gain back what I believed I lost. I thank The Waltonian, its members, and Dr. Jung for believing in me to be the web and sports editor and write stories for the other sections.

I plan to continue writing sports articles after graduation for the Eastern University Athletics Communication Department. I am the intern for Dan Mouw and worked alongside him and Sean Douglas. In addition, I am the sports photographer and volleyball stat keeper for Eastern, and I’m truly blessed by making their jobs easier. I’ve learned so much from them, and I plan to continue working with them after graduation. I’m grateful to both The Waltonian and the Athletic Department for making my senior year and college experience something to remember.

The NBA Playoffs are finally here after the great showing teams in the play-in tournament gave viewers. In the play-in tournament, the Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, Brooklyn Nets and Atlanta Hawks cemented their spot for the playoffs. Here are matchups that viewers should watch.

One matchup to view is the second seed Memphis Grizzlies against the seventh seed Timberwolves. This series has two of the most popular teams in the NBA, with both having talented young players that have taken the league by storm. With the Timberwolves, who have Karl Anthony-Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell alongside a formidable roster led by trash talker Patrick Beverley. On the other side of the court, the Grizzlies have a young and gritty team led by All-Star point guard Ja Morant who has made a jump to become one of the best players in the NBA.

Another must-watch matchup is the second seed Boston Celtics against the seventh seed Brooklyn Nets. This series has a lot of traction; the Nets’ star point guard Kyrie Irving makes his return to face his former team. Boston fans and Irving have a heated relationship with Irving leaving the Celtics and even stepping on their logo in front of fans. Expect nothing but boos from the Celtics crowd once Irving touches the floor and the ball. This Celtics team flipped the switch going on an unstoppable run from being the tenth seed to having homecourt as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. With their star players in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the team relies on the production of these two and defense. While the Nets’s Irving and superstar forward, Kevin Durant, can produce numbers, Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Bruce Brown Jr. and Andre Drummond will need to help their stars to win this series.

Other than matchups, both players and teams have an enormous amount of pressure on them. The Philadelphia 76ers’ recently acquired star shooting guard James Harden has the biggest target on his back. With his constant struggles throughout this season, drama from being traded from his previous team (the Nets), his antics off the court with partying before crucial games and disappearing, Harden’s role in the playoffs is unpredictable. If his performance is not spectacular and the 76ers don’t make it far in the playoffs, expect Harden’s reputation to take even more of a hit.

One team to look at are the Utah Jazz, as they are close to losing their star guard Donovan Mitchell if the team doesn’t help him make it far in the playoffs. Since his early years, Mitchell has found success with the team; while having success, the team has failed in their last two playoff appearances. The Jazz has a deep roster known for their defense and three-point shooting; however, the team lacks another scorer who can create their shot to help Mitchell. Losing a 3–1 lead against the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 Playoffs during the NBA Bubble and losing in six games against an injured Los Angeles Clippers team in 2021, Mitchell might find himself walking away from the franchise, as analysts have speculated.

With the 2022 NBA Playoffs underway, be sure to check out the schedule on ESPN and keep up with the latest news around other series.

Sources: ESPN

While there are multiple places on campus that students choose from, the best, in my opinion, is the Dining Commons. Of course, you might select morning coffee with an easy riser or get a late-night meal, but the Dining Commons provides more, and here’s why.

The Dining Commons gives more variety. Every day of the week you can choose what you want to eat. Might have pizza one day, a wrap another, something from the grill, or determine what is in the mainline. The dining commons have that and even a vegan section. Other spots on campus stick to the same menu, and it is always good to try new things. What makes the Dining Commons shine are three days of something special for students to enjoy.

The Dining Commons have ice cream sundaes Thursdays. Every Thursday, students can choose whether or not they want to have dessert after their meal. This is a nice touch to the end of a week. These sweets are better because the sundaes will have warm brownies, water ice, and multiple flavor options at times. But what completes the sundaes are the endless options for toppings. Choose from chocolate sprinkles, oreo, cherries, whipped cream, caramel, or chocolate syrup. No other place on campus can provide that unless you want to spend flex dollars on ice cream.

Another day that gets a lot of traction is chicken nugget Fridays. Every lunch at the Dining Commons is crowded on Fridays because who doesn’t love chicken nuggets? Students will wait in long lines to choose from vegan, regular, or buffalo nuggets with broccoli and potato wedges as a side. Friday is the best day the Dining Commons has regarding food quality. While all the options on the mainline are all fried items, that says a lot for some of the food made throughout the week. However, it’s a nice change of taste away from other eating locations’ popular items.

Finally, a nice meal to end the week at the Dining Commons is brunch Sundays. This might not be special to anyone, but when it comes down to hanging out with friends, brunch is a great way to spend time with them. Talking to anyone over food is very memorable for college students. Brunch is an excellent way to end a week, whether to get to know someone once you meet them, experience new friend groups, or tell stories and jokes. The Dining Commons is the best place to eat on campus, in my opinion.

The junior track runner DaNeal Williams has accomplished a lot in his track career, so I’ve asked him about how he managed to prepare himself for meets, balance sports and schoolwork, and what expectations he has for this season.

Off the track, Williams is a health science major who wants to become a physical trainer in the near future. One of his biggest inspirations is his dad, as he has taught him so much about health and the sport he loves in track and field.

Williams is very focused on his goals and schoolwork, spending multiple hours studying, taking notes, and joining study sections. But when wanting to take a break from track and school, he enjoys playing video games with friends, watching the Brooklyn Nets, and spending time with his girlfriend. When asked how he balances being a student-athlete with having free time, he says, “It’s always good to take a break once in a while, having people around me who help me relax is great for balancing out work, sports, and personal time.”

This year is an exciting time for Williams, as he can finally run in the outdoor season this season. With COVID-19 appearing his first year, he missed the chance to run outdoor once students moved home early for the second semester.

This issue overshadowed his sophomore year as well; when asked about running outdoor, he said, “I’m excited for running outdoor for the first time in my college career; my first two years were disappointing because we had half a season.” With the season still going, he’s been focused on keeping his condition right to perform to the best of his ability.

Williams expects his team to have a great season and win the championship. He wants to win a MAC championship in either his 200 or 400 races for his personal goal. “I want to make the best of my time here at Eastern, and doing that with my teammates will be amazing,” Williams said.

It’s that time of the year when basketball fans join together to make their brackets towards their predictions on who is winning the March Madness tournament. Fans around the country get to view NCAA Men’s Division 1 top basketball teams of the year take their competitiveness to the next level for the chance of making history.

While the selection process of teams won’t be completed until March 13, there are ranked teams who are a lock to make the tournament. Known teams like Gonzaga, Arizona, Baylor, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Villanova, North Carolina, etc. Those who watch March Madness would choose any of these teams to win, as these teams are in the top 25 in the basketball rankings.

March Madness is a big event to look at for the rest of March to early April. The selection process is at 6 p.m. EST on March 13; the First Four games are from March 15-16, the first round 17-18, the second round 19-20, Sweet 16 on the 24th-25th, Elite Eight on 26-27, the Final Four on April 2nd, and the NCAA championship game on April 4th.

One team to look at for the tournament is third-ranked Baylor. Although last year’s Baylor was ranked first on their side of the bracket, the team managed to win the tournament in a great display against first-seeded Gonzaga 86 to 70. The team is well-balanced, with four players averaging double-digits in points with Adam Flagler’s 13.8, LJ Cryer 13.5, James Akinjo 13.3, and Kendall Brown 10.1. Baylor is also great at getting steals and frustrating opponents, ranking 19th in the country with 270 steals, and they don’t give up on offense in 16th on offensive rebounds. This team is very pesky, and I expect them to make a run for winning this tournament as well.

While March Madness is very unpredictable, it is hard for us to pick a defined winner. The reason why we all love this tournament is because of the “madness” factor of it. Top-seeded teams lose in unexpected ways, sleeper teams who had no expectations make it past rounds they were expected to lose, and by that point, everyone’s bracket is destroyed; however, if I choose a team that I can fully trust, Gonzaga.

Gonzaga has dominated opponents all year, winning relatively easily in a “one-sided” contest. With their 26 wins on the season might look good; they’ve lost three challenging games, with one of them being terrible. Losing to 5th ranked Duke in an 81-84 competition on the road resulted from 17 turnovers and a lack of chances to reach the free-throw line. Another loss was against 16th ranked Alabama 91-82. This was due to Gonzaga struggling to score in the first half 51-35. Their constant pushes to come back were held off by Alabama’s hot shooting, leading to a loss at home. Finally, the loss against 23rd ranked Saint Mary’s on the road was tough to watch. Gonzaga scored their lowest points in this 57-67 loss; this was due to poor shooting from Andrew Nembhard, who was 6-18 from the field and 1-5 from three.

While these losses against ranked teams resulted from turnovers or poor shooting contests, Gonzaga is consistent when winning games. However, it is rare to see any of their best players struggle, so be on the lookout for Gonzaga’s deep roster to make a trip to the March Madness championship.

Sources: Gonzaga Athletics, Baylor Athletics, ESPN, NCAA, Sports-reference

On Feb. 10, the trade between the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers shook the NBA. The Sixers traded their former 2016 1st overall pick, Ben Simmons, alongside Andre Drummond, Seth Curry with two first-round picks for superstar James Harden and Paul Millsap. While many analysts have said the Nets won the trade, I think differently.

A reason why people believe the Nets won the trade is for its long-term factor. Simmons is viewed as a really good player in the league. With him winning the 2018 Rookie of the Year award, and his comparisons to legendary point guard Magic Johnson, the potential is there. However, one of the biggest question marks outside of his injury concerns is his inability to shoot the ball from both the midrange and three-point line. This was a big reason why the Sixers struggled in the playoffs last year because when he was on the court, defenses would leave him if he was around the perimeter. With the league now at the age of the three-ball, having someone who can’t shoot is troublesome. While getting picks, a player with good upside in Simmons, an elite shooter in Curry (not his brother) and a good rebounding center in Drummond is beneficial to have, it doesn’t match up great to what the Sixers got in return.

While the Nets got a nice package to put alongside their stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Sixers have made a “win now” move while keeping their important young players. Getting a player who can create his own shot, shoot the three well, and go to the free-throw line consistently in Harden is much needed in this league. Pairing Harden with Philadelphia’s star center who can do it all in Joel Embiid makes the Sixers a threat in the league. But getting Harden while still retaining Tyrese Maxey and Matisse Thybulle is a steal in my opinion. This team is now a championship contender, and with the young trio of Maxey, Thybulle and Embiid the future looks bright for Philadelphia basketball.

Recently Harden has played two games with the Sixers, winning these games by nice margins. In his debut game, Harden had 27 points, 12 assists, and 8 rebounds getting the win against the Minnesota Timberwolves with excellent performances from Embiid with 34 points and 10 rebounds and Maxey’s 28 points. The three performed great again against the New York Knicks, with Harden putting up 29 points, 16 assists, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals, while Embiid got 37 points and 9 rebounds, with the help of Maxey’s 21 points and 7 rebounds. The team so far are in great spirits, heading to the end of the season.

As for the Nets, Curry and Drummond both had great performances for the games they’ve played. Simmons, however, hasn’t played yet so be on the lookout for his debut game with Brooklyn.

Sources: ESPN

I think we’ve all experienced a sense of favoritism to specific athletes and teams at some point when watching big sports stations like ESPN and FOX. I, for one, see this a lot as I am a Los Angeles Lakers fan, and I see them constantly on shows, whether they are good or bad. I’ve seen them all the time, especially since they have LeBron James and are struggling this season. This issue can be seen with any team with multiple star players like the Brooklyn Nets, Los Angeles Rams, New York Yankees, etc. The media will flock to whatever team or player has the most spotlight compared to the rest, and here’s why.

If I was working at these big sports stations, would anybody care if I talk about the struggling New Orleans Pelicans if they don’t have their best player? The simple answer is no; success and status are all that matters to these stations. If a player has accomplished a lot like Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Tom Brady, their success and errors will be published because they draw the most attention. It’s much more entertaining than a team with no fan value on their franchise.

While it sounds harsh, it is true, but it can also change. Teams like the Memphis Grizzlies and the Cleveland Cavaliers have gained a lot more attention due to their excellent performances and young players. Like I said before, the media is attracted to success, and with success comes opportunity. What makes these two teams different then other big-name franchises is that these are small-market teams. Small market teams get their spotlight when placed high in the draft; we’ve seen the Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Charlotte Hornets gain more media coverage because of the players they’ve drafted and the excitement they have brought to their leagues. Another is major trades for big-name players will be viewed, brought and everything else will be shadowed. The amount of noise in the league will be broadcasted for weeks, months, and almost the season, depending on how good that team or player has been. With recent trades happening around the NBA, the news coverage on teams that have struggled so far has grown. Sometimes the storyline will be good on how a team won the trade and how others are bad to show a disgruntled star potential new destinations.

While all teams in their respective leagues aren’t always successful, I believe that struggling teams should be covered more. Understanding their problems makes it easier to find out the issues from the front office, coaching staff, and players. In addition, seeing the same teams become headliners every time they play is exhausting, and with these new teams performing well, there can be a more balanced shift in sports media coverage.

Rounding out 2021, Marvel Studios and Sony granted their fans another great superhero movie. On Friday, December 17, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was released, with the Marvel community delighted to witness multiple trailers and cast reveals, the anticipation this movie had was electric as fans got to see the continuation of 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and culmination of Tom Holland’s first MCU Spider-Man trilogy. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has been breaking records and is still going strong over a month into its theatrical run..

“No Way Home” picks up right where the previous film in the series, “Far From Home,” ends where Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is framed by Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio for attacks in London using Stark technology for murder. Spider-Man’s identity is revealed, leaving Peter Parker’s life and everyone around him a mess. He then goes to Dr. Strange to clear his identity. However, Parker doesn’t want those closest to him to forget his identity, disrupting the spell and opening the multiverse to villains who know Spider-Man. The story is very interesting and brings nostalgia to fans of the series, but revealing any more will spoil some of the best surprises.

“No Way Home” has everything from great performances to big action set pieces. The movie became the first pandemic-era movie to cross $1 billion dollars and is catching up to the domestic haul of “Avengers: Infinity War” (cinemablend.com). At the box office, “No Way Home” made an impressive $670 million domestically, only $8 million behind “Infinity War.” If the legs of “No Way Home” continue, the movie will be in the top five all-time of highest-grossing movies domestically (cinemablend.com). Right now, “No Way Home” is in the top fourth highest-grossing film domestically in the entire MCU (Box Office Mojo).

To me, “No Way Home” improved much of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. In previous films, he was missing one important quality that both of the previous live-action Spider-Men, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, had. This film really captured that and if you’ve watched the movie and the other Spider-Man movies you can see what I’m talking about.

Personally, this was one of the best movies I’ve watched in a while. Everyone who is a fan of Marvel movies could tell you this was the movie we needed right now. The experience is what made it special. I watched “No Way Home” the night it came out and everyone was going wild. After the movie, I spent hours talking to friends, seeing Twitter reactions, Instagram stories, etc. The fan reactions were amazing. I haven’t seen this type of reaction since “Avengers: Endgame” or Joaquin Phoenix’s “Joker” in 2019.

When asking friends about their opinions on “No Way Home,” they say it is their favorite movie beating out other Marvel movies. Even on Twitter, fans were saying it was better than both previous Spider-Man and other popular Marvel movies. That shouldn’t be a surprise as it provides characters from older Spider-Man movies, constant action, and great character development for Holland.

If you haven’t watched “No Way Home,” I highly recommend that you find time in your busy schedules and experience this masterpiece.

Sources: Box Office Mojo, CinemaBlend

Photo: Sony Pictures

Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

So far, the season has been great for the Eastern men’s basketball team, holding an 11-2 record and being first in the conference undefeated. However, after losing a challenging game on the road against Roanoke College, Eastern never looked back, winning their next ten games.

This season good for the team is the excellent play on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball. Eastern averages 76.1 points per game while holding their opponents to 70.5 points. In addition, the team is turning the ball over less than their opponents and is averaging 9.9 steals a game.

Eastern also has the addition of having four players averaging over 10 points per game. Leading all scorers is graduate student William Blet 14.6, Kaeshawn Ward 11.6, Draig Cooley 10.5 and Sam Gallardo 10.4 points. In addition, players have been stepping up big in games like Davin Hernandez’s 26 point performance against Hood College, hitting 7 out of 12 three-point shots.

The team is constantly dominating games. They’ve scored over 80 points six times this season out of all the games. Their highest-scoring performance against Stevenson University 95 to 87 is the team’s best game because seven players scored over 10 points. They shot 56.4% from the field, 45.5% at the three, and 75.7% at the line. While Stevenson did score the most points Eastern gave up this season, the game showed us how Eastern could score easily, especially on the road.

My favorite game I watched this season was against our rival Cabrini University 81 to 61. Eastern dominated the game from tip-off, never losing the lead and winning by 20 points. This game was impressive as the team stole the ball 17 times, silencing the home crowd. Seeing our group wearing white and making the most noise in the building was a sight to see. Once the game ended, Blet held the Eagle Rd. sign in front of the fans; it was a special moment.

The season isn’t over yet as we can enjoy and support the Eagles. Remaining on the schedule are Commonwealth opponents and five home games. Information on the schedule is on the Eastern Athletics website. Remember to come to The Nest with a mask and social distance as we are dealing with Covid-19. Let us support our Eagles the best way we can.

Sources: goeasterneagles.com, gomacsports.com

Photo: EU Athletic Photography

Kaeshawn Ward dribbles the basketball during an Eastern basketball game.

Now, as an Eastern University student, the food selection is limited. Throughout my four years here, I’ve witnessed this change as many around. From Jamin Java’s rebranding to Zime and Breezeway’s lunchtime hours changed; I’m sure you’ve noticed it too. While one constant food item has found its way off the menu from both places, one, in particular, was chosen the most, the meltdown.

The meltdown was a buffalo chicken sandwich, often found in Breezeway but also in Jammin Java. Cooks put chicken fingers with cheddar cheese, buffalo sauce, and blue cheese on sourdough bread naming it the meltdown. It was so popular to the point where every table at Breezeway was packed with one of these sandwiches—becoming a rival food item to the cheesesteak, chicken cheesesteak, and macaroni bites.

It was a unique item at the time, and it was a big reason for me to leave Sparrowk, walk to Breezeway, and spend long hours there. I could eat one of these sandwiches and be full for the rest of the night. I had multiple memories of enjoying this lunchtime or nighttime meal around friends while playing pool.

However, the popularity caused the portions to get small. Due to the low supply of sourdough bread and buffalo sauce, we would get half the sandwich. It got to the point where people would buy two or three just to get the same quantity they’ve received before.

This got worse over time, leading to the meltdown to be removed from the menu with its high demand. It was sudden, and no one expected this to happen. This led to the same situation happening to the chicken cheesesteak and macaroni bites. While all these items were popular, it caused more labor for the student workers, and supplies were too much to buy. The sandwich would take forever to make, where students would just buy the chicken fingers and fries when the place was packed.

While the meltdown disappeared, food selection had fewer items, making it hard for students to decide what to eat late at night. However, the meltdown did find itself back on the menu as a special for some nights, but it still never fully managed to get recognition from newer students.

The meltdown isn’t the only item to find itself off the menu. Before me, students have experienced Breezeway selling chicken wings and quesadillas. So whatever food item you love from either Zime or Breezeway, make sure you enjoy it while it lasts because it will come as a surprise when one day it is taken off the menu.