Injury is part of the risk of playing a sport, especially at higher levels.  According to Utah Medicine, ACL tears in particular can occur if there is a change in direction, sudden stop in movement, an incorrect landing or a collision (Utah Medicine). Though these are common movements in many sports, a 2016 study in the Journal of Orthopedics found that compared to men, women tear their ACLs 3.5x more in basketball and 2.8x more in soccer. Watkins now joins a star-studded list of female athletes who tore their ACL during their career, including fellow basketball players, Sue Bird, Paige Bueckers and Cameron Brink; as well as soccer stars, Megan Rapinoe, Sam Kerr and Kristen Press. 

One of the most disheartening aspects of ACL tears for athletes can be the treatment and recovery process that lies ahead. After the tear occurs, athletes most often need surgery —an ACL graft is the common procedure —  and then the rehabilitation lasts a year (or more) — or more — before they can return to play. Although the immediate impact of Watkins’ injury was the end of her 2025 season, many were quick to point out that she will likely miss a portion of her junior season. A promising aspect of ACL injuries when contrasted with others is that many great athletes have made full comebacks following the repairing surgery. Nonetheless, the duration of the rehab and the mental setbacks of such a serious injury are an athlete’s worst nightmare.. With the increasing popularity of both basketball and soccer for young girls, it is likely that ACL tears will continue to be a serious problem for female athletes specifically. To combat this issue, more resources need to be poured into injury prevention at all levels of play. 

Initial research has attempted to understand the reason female athletes experience ACL tears at such a disproportionate rate. Studies such as one conducted by Johns Hopkins Medicine point to anatomical differences as the reason. Factors such as women’s quad to hamstring ratio being higher or the duration in which their leg muscles fire have also been mentioned. Additionally, it is more difficult for female athletes to put on muscle that supports the knee, meaning the joint is usually looser than men’s. Assertions have also been made that the difference is due to female sex hormones like estrogen, or even lack of core strength,  but they are yet to be proven (Journal of Orthopedics 2016). This field of research remains limited as the first study on men’s ACL tears was published in the early 1900s, while research focusing specifically on women did not begin until the 1990s. 

In 2024, Harvard Professor Sarah Richardson published a study exposing the bias within existing ACL research. She pointed out that ACL studies often use metrics that are inconsistent across men’s and women’s athletics due to a difference in resources. For example, women spend more time in active competition because they typically have smaller rosters. This is opposed to men’s teams, which have the personnel to invest into more practice time, which can aid injury prevention. Richardson also noted differences in funding, saying that “Expenditures on collegiate Division I men’s sports in the USA are double that of women’s sports, including substantial differences in resources for recruiting, scholarships and coaches’ salaries.” More money is poured into ACL tear prevention training, pre and post-game recovery, and overall sports medicine in male programs. The difference in resource allocation may be a huge factor in gender-based ACL tears.

The tragic timing of JuJu Watkins’ ACL tear is yet another reminder that women’s sports need to be invested in just as much as men’s. If genetic differences truly do account for disproportionate ACL tears in female athletes, then there needs to be more research to understand and address them. Furthermore, resources for college and professional programs need to be distributed fairly in order to improve the quality of play for female athletes. Every player should be able to compete in their sport without the looming threat of a life-altering injury.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma, Finley Tipton, Katie McCabe

Concerning trends in this season’s viewership should not come as a surprise to the NBA. In fact, the last 5 NBA Finals averaged about 11 million viewers, just over half of the 20 million who tuned in during the 2016 Finals. But why? NBA fans and critics alike have their theories, including but not limited to: the season is too long, games are slowed by too many foul calls, teams take too many 3’s, and star-players are sitting out too often. Fans claim that the style of play in the NBA is not what it used to be, but it seems as though their attention spans suffer the same decay. Commissioner Adam Silver, aware of the concerning trends, has employed a plethora of new rules and gimmicks to recapture the attention of fans. 

NBA fans have grown especially critical of “star-players” regularly sitting out games under the justification of avoiding injury and preserving energy. These criticisms are a reminder that professional athletes are just as much entertainers as they are competitors, and therefore they are expected to perform. At the same time, these basketball players make exorbitant amounts of money under the pretext they compete in 82 games a season. As of 2024, NBA players made on average $11.9 million per year — 80 times more than the average WNBA player — so, participation in regular season games is expected for the check they receive. To combat disappointed fans, the NBA introduced new regulations for players that are considered “stars”. According to ESPN, they must be available for nationally televised games, they must have a league-approved reason to sit, there cannot be more than one of these players on the bench, and if on the bench, they must be visible to fans. There is not enough data to determine if these new rules have made a difference in the participation of “stars,” but for the money they make, fans hope that they want to play. 

Another tactic to boost regular season ratings was the introduction of the NBA Cup, an in-season tournament. Inaugurated during the 2023-2024 season, every NBA  team is now sorted into randomized groups and have “NBA Cup” games scattered throughout their regular season schedule. According to CBS Sports, the top teams from each group qualify for a knock-out tournament played in Las Vegas, with players on the winning team taking home $500,000. Despite the Introduction of this event, viewership was still down 1% during the 2023-2024 season. Another approach the league has taken is refiguring the All-Star game. Departing from the classic East vs West game composed of fan-voted players, the NBA has trialled different variations of the game in the past years. The 2025 All Star Game is set to be a four team mini-tournament, with teams drafted by analysts competing in first-to-40 games. One of the teams, Team Candace, is to be managed by WNBA legend Candace Parker, another instance of the NBA turning to support from the W. 

Though these new additions to the league could end up improving competition in the long-run, it is obvious that the NBA has been scrambling over the past few years to remain dominant. The NBA’s struggles have occurred simultaneously to a prosperous few years for the WNBA. According to the WNBA, last year The W averaged 1.19 million viewers per game, an increase of 170%. According to Togethxr, the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game saw a record 3.4 million viewers and the WNBA was recently named the top growing brand of 2024. Caitlin Clark declining to appear at NBA’s all-star weekend is a strong indication of the momentum the WNBA has amidst the lull the NBA is trying to escape. With the NBA looking to support the WNBA, there is space for a collective fanbase to be built, but are NBA fans ready to embrace  women? More importantly, does the WNBA still need the NBA as a crutch? With rapid expansion in the WNBA, there may be a new league rising to the top.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma, Finley Tipton, Katie McCabe

A main catalyst for the Athletics (and Raiders) relocation discussions can be pinned onto the Oakland Coliseum. According to the Oaklandside, the circular concrete structure has been home to the A’s since 1968, but it is one of the oldest major league stadiums. More concerningly, it has not been well preserved, with families of feral cats infiltrating in 2022. ESPN reports that in the last 10 years, the A’s have pushed for a new site on a number of occasions – all failed due to funding disagreements between the city and team owners. As time went on, the inability for the Athletics to land a new Oakland venue fueled suspicions that owner John Fisher was looking to relocate all along.

John Fisher, the heir to the GAP fortune, bought the Athletics in 2005 for $180 million. Fans have had their problems with him for a while, claiming that he was mismanaging the internal aspects of the organization. Any fan who closely follows baseball would agree that he has systematically traded away the team’s best players. According to NBC Bay Area, he has also ensured that Oakland had some of the lowest payrolls in all of the MLB, raising questions on his financial motives. Due to these decisions, the squad has found very little success over the last two decades, leaving the fanbase disappointed and wanting more. With the A’s Moving to Vegas, the investments have risen and in turn their value has skyrocketed to over $1 billion. Their new field will be right on the Las Vegas strip, and is estimated to cost $1.5 billion as the organization leans into the same tourist market that The Raiders have captured. Now fans wonder: Was this Fisher’s plan all along? Either way, Oakland residents will feel the impact. 

Oakland is home to the Bay’s largest share of low income, as the city has been prone to home, job, and economic insecurity for years. Compared to San Francisco’s median salary of $137,000, Oakland families bring in $94,000/year (datacommons.org). With the departure of The A’s, over 1000 workers on unionized wages were let go. Not only were current jobs terminated, but potential work that could have been distributed for the building of a new stadium never came to be. Live sports events also bring in important economic stimulation for restaurants, hotels and small businesses – all of which are impacted by this decision. Beyond the financial implications of losing the Athletics, they were the last remaining professional team in Oakland. Sports have the ability to unify communities and bring people together, despite whatever hardship a city faces. It gives fans a place to channel energy and express pride with their peers, friends and neighbors. Oakland was no exception. Residents rallied around their teams, despite the lack of funding put into the stadiums and rosters. Yet they had to watch as each team left for a shiny new home in an economically booming city that arguably does not need the team. The A’s leave only devastated Oakland sports fans behind.

Lastly, the A’s departure sends a signal to sports fans everywhere: it’s a commercial business. Baseball, known as “America’s Pastime,” was part of a larger advancement of sports entertainment in the 1950s. The idea was that the average-working American needed diversion from their nine-to-fives and sports boosted the working class ethos. However, as more money has been poured into sports leagues, being a fan has become increasingly more expensive. Practices like sports betting, increased ticket and streaming prices, and pricey team memorabilia have all made sports feel out of reach to the average fan. Sports no doubt play a significant role in many people’s lives, yet leagues like the MLB are moving towards commercialization and away from accessibility.  

So whether or not John Fisher is to blame for the decline and eventual departure of The Oakland Athletics, a few things are certain: Oakland as a community is grieving the loss of all professional sports representation, Vegas has scored a second franchise to build a billion-dollar home for and the landscape of professional sports is irreversibly changing.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma and Katie McCabe

The Head of the Charles Regatta is an especially important event for rowing. Every year during the penultimate weekend of October, 11,000 athletes from around the world participate in rowing head races on the Charles River. Over the course of the weekend, thousands of teams participated in 73 different races organized by different demographic, clubs and boat sizes. Wellesley crew took to the water on Sunday at 2:44 p.m. in the Women’s Collegiate Eights heat.

This year, the Blue’s first Varsity Eight took seventh at the Head of the Charles, with the time of 17:37.767. Second Varsity Eight and Third Varsity Eight placed 25th and 32nd respectively, with times of 18:39.670 and 19:14.584. Tufts University took the top spot at the regatta for the second year in a row, beating out the Blue by just 35 seconds, as reported on the Head of the Charles Regatta website.  

The Wellesley Crew program was founded in 1973 by Barbara Jordan and has since racked up an impressive collection of trophies and accolades. They found early success and took home their first NEWMAC championship in 2003, under coach Joan O’Hara. Since 2010, the rowing squad has maintained top five national ranking across NCAA Division III. Over the years they have earned 11 NEWMAC Championships and made 12 NCAA Championship Appearances. The Blue Crew have produced seven NEWMAC Rowers of the Year, five NEWMAC Coxswains of the Year and their current head coach Tessa Spilane is a nine-times NEWMAC Coach of the Year. 

Dating back to 1965, the regatta was started by Cambridge Boat Club members D’Arcy MacMahon, Howard McIntyre and Jack Vincent in 1965 to break up the rigor of offseason crew training and provide athletes with a fall race. The first Head of the Charles was just one day, with around 100 Men’s Four crews according to the Head of the Charles Regatta website. It has since grown to its current 3-day format, drawing over 2,200 teams. NCAA programs across the Northeast compete in the race as part of their off-season training as they prepare for the spring.

Over the weekend, around 400,000 spectators attended the Head of the Charles Regatta, making it the world’s largest multi-day rowing event. Viewers can watch the races from The DeWolfe boathouse at Boston University where the 3-mile race begins. Other venues along the course include the River Street Bridge, Western Avenue Bridge, Weeks Footbridge, Anderson Bridge or even the Elliot Bridge – which offers exclusive VIP tickets for spectating by the finish line. With these options and more, the race is easily accessible to the extensive amount of spectators.

This world-famous regatta is highly anticipated as an important piece of Boston’s rich sports scene. Whether you are an avid rowing fan, sporting school spirit, or are looking for an excuse to soak up Bostons’ early Autumn weather, each year the Head of the Charles offers a unique opportunity to attend a world-famous event just a bus ride away, and support Wellesley College crew. 

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma, Katie McCabe

Some context to frame the current state of the league: The WNBA was approved to begin by the National Basketball Association (NBA) board of governors in 1997, following a gold medal run by the USA Women’s National Team at the 1996 Olympics. The original league consisted of eight teams, each with a specific NBA counterpart team in the same city. From the beginning, there was a foundational reliance on the men’s league. However, it was arguably essential in order to secure a fanbase, TV coverage and infrastructure to kick off the progressive project. To this day, nine of the 15 announced franchises have NBA counterparts, with many of the same investors putting stakes into both leagues. The WNBA has a long journey ahead before they match the men’s reach in fanbase and viewership, but they have faced their fair share of obstacles. 

The age-old (and sexist) argument that the WNBA has struggled due to a lack of talent is both incorrect and easily debunked. There are 560 active players in the NBA, in the WNBA there are 144. Of the 12 active teams, each roster is capped at 12 players. So each year when 36 new players are drafted into the league, limited roster spots make it extremely difficult to make and maintain a roster position, even for the most talented players. NBC Sports reports that 34.3% of drafted players never make an appearance in a game. Some players opt to play overseas, but many are forced to step back from basketball early in their playing career in order to maintain financial security. The financial opportunities in the WNBA could warrant a whole thesis, but the problem is that female basketball players are not given the same amount of space to grow and refine their skills. Additionally, the newness of the league means there has not been enough time for legacies and “all-time-greats” to be established in the way that the NBA has. Players like Lisa Leslie, Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Candace Parker have all left immense impacts on the league; as time passes, their careers will be immortalized.

Despite all of the adversity the WNBA has faced, the league has entered a new promising era! According to the WNBA, the 2024 season saw a 47% increase in in-person attendance and a 170% increase in streaming viewership. The 2024 Draft broke records with 2.45 million viewers, while games averaged over 1 million for the first time ever. In addition, the league secured a $2.2 billion media deal with the NBA to increase the amount of games nationally televised. Las Vegas became the first team ever to sell out every home game in 2024 and have already sold out of season tickets for 2025. There is no doubt that big names like Caitlan Clark, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink brought well-deserved attention to the league, but now it’s up to fans to maintain it.

So, watch WNBA games! Go to WNBA games! Engage with female professional athletes across all sports. The WNBA can only expand as far as the space that is made for them by sports fans everywhere. Uplifting the WNBA enables other women’s professional leagues to grow too. So watch National Women’s Soccer League Games! National Women’s Hockey Games! Athletes Unlimited! College sports! All of it! The potential for women’s sports is so immense and the addition of new WNBA teams is just a small piece of the entire movement.

Contact the editors responsible for this story: Julee Sharma, Katie McCabe

The 2020 No.1 overall draft pick had a record setting career under Coach Nick Saban at the University of Alabama, including but not limited to, a national championship MVP and the most career touchdowns in all of CFB. Discussion around Tagovailoa’s health first sparked in 2022 after he endured head trauma in back-to-back games. The second concussion in 2022 resulted in an ultimately terrifying image of Tagovailoa in a fencing response — when arms and fingers flex due to brain stem trauma — that led the NFL to reform their concussion protocol. The quarterback missed the remainder of the 2022 season, but made the decision to return in 2023, where he led the Dolphins to a .500 record.

The Sept. 12 concussion again left Tagovailoa in a fencing response, and this time, the entire NFL community has something to say. Fans, players, coaches and other staff have called for an immediate retirement for Tagovailoa, while others argue a few weeks off will be enough for him to heal. This discourse comes at a pivotal point in discoveries around Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a brain disorder caused by repeated head trauma. One study revealed that 91.7% of the 376 former NFL players tested were diagnosed with CTE (Boston University, 2023). Another BU study revealed that 99% of the 111 deceased NFL players whose brains were examined were found to have CTE (2023). CTE can lead to cognition problems, mood instability and other long term brain issues (Boston University, 2023).

Following new CTE revelations, players in the 2024 season have the option of playing games with guardian caps for the first time. These provide an extra layer of padding to the outside of helmets, aimed to further protect players from head trauma and lessen the long term dangers of CTE. Caps worn by players in preseason practices were shown to have reduced concussions by up to 50% (USA TODAY). Six players have already taken the extra step to protect their brains (2024), and it would not be surprising to see that number grow, especially in light of Tagovailoa’s story. 

So, the question remains: what will Tagovailoa do? Immediately following the injury, the Dolphin’s head coach, Mike McDaniel, pleaded that “bringing up his future is not in the best interest of him” in a statement given to ESPN. Tagovailoa is said to be recovering well and has “no plans to retire” as he works with neurologists to strategize his future (nfl.com). While the decision is ultimately up to him, pressure from outside voices comes at the concern of what a fifth concussion could mean to his health, longevity and mental cognition. A decision that is so deeply personal while also very public no doubt puts Tagovailoa in a difficult spot. McDaniel’s newest comment sums up external — and likely internal — opinions: “He’s the starting quarterback of his family”  (ESPN). So, does he step back while he still can? Does he push through? Will the guardian cap make a significant appearance? And are professional athletes owed absolute autonomy over their careers? Only time will tell with Tagovailoa.