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.
Commentary
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.
Eileen Gu and the double standard toward China
Chinese-American Olympic skier Eileen Gu speaks fluent Mandarin. She was raised in a single-mother household by her Chinese mother, and she visited Beijing every summer as a child. Should she be criticized for choosing to represent the People’s Republic of China, the homeland of her mother, over the United States, the country of her birth? Jun Kwon PO ’28 argues that the conservative backlash against Gu is a symptom of a broader misunderstanding of citizenship in America and defends Gu’s decision to represent her motherland.
Gibson Hall’s fantasy football league is no punishment, all prize
Resident Assistant Josh Marx PO ’28 leaned on a fantasy football league to bring his hall together.
Longtime fantasy football participants and new members alike spoke to its allure as a social ritual. Fantasy football is both meticulous and meaningless, yet it remains an enduring way to sustain friendships.
Where is your Ballon d’Or? Don’t need it
Otto Fritton PZ ’27 likes to look at the “what-if.” Few careers saddened him more than that of Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, a man who influenced an entire generation without ever quite fulfilling his potential. Yet, despite his shortcomings, Fritton wonders if it even matters. Perhaps Neymar shouldn’t be judged on what he didn’t accomplish, but on the generation he inspired.
Biggest Game of the Year, 5C style
On Sunday, Feb. 8, millions of Americans, including many in Claremont, will tune in to the most widely watched American sporting event of the year: Super Bowl LX. This year’s contest is a rematch of eleven years ago, when the New England Patriots dramatically defeated the Seattle Seahawks in the last drive of the game. This year, the Patriots can mark the beginning of a new era, or the Seahawks can look to reclaim the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in 12 years.