For many sports fans around the world, the spectator experience is an added perk to enjoy the players and teams they love. It may even be why one turns on Tennis Channel and re-watches the highlights like Federer vs Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final, or the angry meltdown of Serena Williams in her 2018 U.S. Open Final against Naomi Osaka. However, Katie Fullerton SC ’28 argues that for many tennis fans, watching the sport is more stressful than playing it.
Commentary
Cram the stands for our DIII athletes!
As a prospective college golfer entering the college application process, Ansley Kang SC ’29 was initially excited to discover Division III schools as an ideal balance between academic focus and athletic performance. Much to her shock, however, DIII athletes are often held to the same standards as Division I athletes, despite much lower student attendance. Kang argues that the reason DIII athletics is often undermined is not a gaping lack of entertainment compared to DI, but because many students don’t care enough to attend a game and see for themselves.
The NCAA has never marched closer to madness
For years, the men’s NCAA Division I basketball tournament — affectionately dubbed March Madness — has lived up to a simple promise: fans can always expect the unexpected. For three weeks every spring, America keeps one eye on the bracket, anticipating the next Cinderella run, the next buzzer‑beater or the next big upset. Talbott Chesley PO ’28 writes that this year, the competition has kept fans on their toes in a truly spectacular and historical fashion.
Seminars and scoreboards: Economics of sports
Few economics electives are as popular as Economics of Sports at Pomona College. This spring, Professor Marisa Cameron, an avid football fan herself, is teaching two sections of the upper-division elective. From using data analytics to calculate player value to learning the history of free agency, students like Tara Kamshad PO ’28 use sports as an accessible gateway to the world of economics.
Tentative WNBA CBA offers newfound equity, but it is not enough
The Women’s National Basketball Association’s (WNBA) players live in a strange paradox. They are among the best athletes in the world, performing on national television and representing their sport globally. Yet, financially, they are treated as an afterthought compared to their male counterparts in the NBA.
Trust in baseball: Summer is almost here
For much of the United States, Punxsutawney Phil and his famous walk on Feb. 2 is the anointed decider of the spring to come. Phil is cute, traditional and annoyingly pessimistic. Baseball, on the other hand, serves its role in the sports calendar admirably.
Swim-flation hits the 5Cs
At the 2026 SCIAC Swim and Dive Championships on Feb. 18-22, four out of the 10 relay meet records were broken, and three individual event records were broken. In addition, seven freshmen won SCIAC titles.
Get Your Head in the Game: How 5C chess players love the game Kasparov hated
Grandmaster Garry Kasparov compares chess to “mental torture” — a statement that at first glance seems overdramatized for a leisure activity enjoyed by seniors at the local park — but to budding competitive chess players, could be an emerging reality.
Paulo Dybala and the art of being second
How does it feel to be good, but not quite good enough? Otto Fritton PZ ’27 explores the confusing career of footballer Paulo Dybala, feeling as though some chapters were left unwritten for the Juventus regular and Argentine international.
Seminars and scoreboards: Sports and politics
Every semester, the Claremont Colleges advertise nearly 2,700 courses across dozens of disciplines. This semester, course selections offer a whopping six sports courses taught by four different instructors across three colleges. In Jake Creelan’s PO ’29 new column, Seminars and Scoreboards, he dissects the contents of each course with the course’s instructors and students. First on the list is Sports and Politics taught by Tom Le of Pomona College.