The Patriot’s trouncing of the Bill’s was one of many spankings dealt out in the NFL this weekend. Tom Brady threw for 311 yards with four touchdowns, two of which were mailed to Randy Moss who had 115 receiving yards. This was the third-straight week that the Patriot’s completely dominated their opponents.

In Tampa, the Buccaneers resembled their ’03 Super Bowl-champion defense and knocked off the St. Louis Rams 24-3. The Rams continue to struggle with their normally potent offense and remain winless on the season.

Speaking of winless, the Eagles were hoping for their first win Sunday against the Detroit Lions. Earlier in the week, quarterback Donovan McNabb was criticized for his comments regarding his belief that black quarterbacks face more scrutiny than their white counterparts. Evidently, McNabb didn’t let the criticism keep his mind off the game. He threw for an impressive 381 and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Kevin Curtis was at the other end of most of these passes, compiling 11 receptions for 221 yards and three touchdowns. I bet some fantasy owners picked up Curtis after that amazing performance. Lion’s quarterback Jon Kitna tried his best, throwing for more than 400 yards and two touchdowns, but his efforts fell short. Basically the Eagles offense lit up the Lions and defeated them by a score of 56-21.

Other bashings around the NFL included Dallas getting their third win over Chicago 34-10; Pittsburgh remains undefeated after a 37-16 win over a young San Francisco team; the Saints continued to struggle while Vince Young and the Tennessee Titans went down to New Orleans and grabbed the 31-14 victory.

If you aren’t a big fan of the blowouts, perhaps you enjoyed the tight, intense games played over the weekend. The New York football Giants and divisional rival Washington Redskins hooked up on Sunday afternoon for a tense battle that wouldn’t be decided until the final seconds of the game. With the Giants leading 24-17 into the final seconds of the game, the Giants’ defense pulled out some big stops and prevented the Redskins from scoring on a fourth-and-goal play. The win was the Giants’ first on the season, while the Redskins dropped to 2-1.

Kickers were the big stories in two games this weekend. Baltimore kicker Matt Stover punched in the game-winning field goal as time expired in their game against the Arizona Cardinals, which they would win by a final score of 26-23. In Oakland, the Raiders called a timeout before kicker Phil Dawson of the Brown’s was able to get off his field goal attempt, which he made. Who would have guessed that the second attempt by Dawson would be blocked by the Raiders? It was a good ending to a game between two bad teams.

Another notable game was Bret Favre’s history-making performance against the San Diego Chargers. Favre tied Marino on Sunday for the most touchdown passes in NFL history with 420. Not only did Favre throw for three touchdowns, but his Green Bay Packers went to 3-0 and defeated the Chargers 31-24.

In other games around the league, the Jets defeated divisional rival Miami 31-28; Kansas City topped Minnesota 13-10; Peyton Manning and the Colts handed the Texans their first loss of the season in a 30-24 win; Jacksonville defeated Denver 23-14; Carolina worked to their second win against the struggling Falcons 27-20; and Seattle came out on top over Cincinnati 24-21.

“I am very proud of our team’s performance thus far this season,” senior Amy Zdrojesky said. “We set a good tone for our season when we had our first game against fourth-ranked UConn and held them to a 2-0 game. We have played some tough games and I think even the ones we did not win were always a battle and could have gone our way. I believe our record of 4-5 is deceiving of our ability and potential.”

Black Bear Nicole Emery, who had a goal in the team’s last game versus Rhode Island, said the team recovered from a tough start to the season and hopes it will continue to pick up.

“As a team we didn’t start out as well as we had wanted or at least our record didn’t show it,” Emery said. “Our heads are held high even after that loss [against Providence]. Providence is a well-respected team, and we know we can play with them on any given day. As for the rest of our season, we are very hopeful and hungry for success and I think that is what will carry us to victory in the upcoming games.”

The tough losses at the beginning of the season and the most recent one against Providence, have helped the team grow, according to Zdrojesky.

“Losing is not something you want to experience a lot of, but it is a tool to use to get better and to recognize any adjustments or changes that need to be made,” she said.

The Black Bear field hockey squad is a hopeful bunch that expect big things from themselves and know that they have to work hard to get there. They play nationally ranked Albany at 2 p.m. in Orono on Friday.

This series of seemingly constant ups and downs makes it hard to believe that the Red Sox have actually held the AL lead, often-times by a very comfortable margin, through the majority of the season. Since the halfway point, however, that lead has gone from dominating to nail-bitingly close. But through it all, the Sox have finally secured a playoff spot.

Despite all the drama that surrounds the team in late-season matchups; several Sox rookies have come up and played huge parts in keeping the team ahead of the pesky, persistant New York Yankees.

I’m not even going to mention Daisuke Matsuzaka or Hideki Okajima because I don’t view them as rookies. They played for years in Japan before being signed by the Red Sox, and professional ball is professional ball, no matter which side of the Pacific Ocean it’s played on.

The guys I’m focused on are, in no particular order, second baseman Dustin Pedroia, outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury and pitchers Clay Buchholz and John Lester. Each of them have been hugely impressive and all are reasons for the Red Sox to be proud of their farm system, which over the past few years has started to put out some impressive talent.

Pedroia and Lester were around from time to time last year and showed promise. As a daily player this year, Pedroia has blown up and turned into one of the five best second basemen in the league both defensively and offensively. He’s hitting at an impressive clip of .315 with seven homeruns, 49 runs batted in, and he’s added six stolen bases to that. Not to mention he has made some of the most electrifying defensive plays of the season. His performance puts him at the top of most baseball analysts’ lists for the AL Rookie of the Year award. He’s also one of the finest role models in baseball. Pedroia is a little guy, standing at just 5’8″, which might be a slight overestimate by http://www.mlb.com, but to a kid who goes into high school standing at five-foot-nothing, Pedroia must seem like a giant. Kids see the Sox second baseman at the plate, putting everything he has in his unimposing frame behind every swing, and maybe they’ll start to think that there’s still hope for them to go farther than high school ball. He’s one of the rare players who hustles down the line on every ground ball, gets up to the fence of the dugout to watch and support his teammates and always plays with passion. Many players will lose that dedication to the game eventually, but I don’t see that happening to Pedroia – or any of the Sox rookies for that matter.

John Lester’s story is one of the best in all of sports this season. After a year-long battle with cancer, which took him away from the Red Sox organization last season, he was finally allowed to return to the team on July 24 against the Cleveland Indians, with his parents in attendance. Lester went six solid innings, striking out six and allowing just two runs in one of the most moving moments of the season. Since then, Lester has tallied up three more wins and no losses, running his record to 4-0, despite a less-than-stellar 4.45 earned run average. Mike Lowell, the Sox veteran third baseman, has been a leader on the team since they acquired him from the Florida Marlins, but he probably has a special link with John Lester in particular. Lowell missed a good amount of playing time while he was with the Marlins after doctors diagnosed him with testicular cancer. There’s no doubting that Lester has had the support and advice of Lowell and the rest of the Sox throughout his return as a rotation pitcher to the team.

Jacoby Ellsbury is one of the most electrifying young players to grace Fenway Park in a long time. He rocketed his way through the Sox farm system this year and started rocketing his way around the base paths from his first day in the majors. I remember seeing him step up to the plate one night and thinking to myself, “Who the heck is this and what’s he doing in the game?” I memorized his name after the next pitch because he hit an easy grounder to the shortstop, who should have thrown him out easily, but Ellsbury got to first base faster than I remember seeing any Red Sox runner get there in a long time, beating out the throw. Later that week, Ellsbury scored from second on a passed ball that bounced away from the catcher, which is something that hasn’t been done by anyone in a Sox uniform since the ’60s. No one is really surprised by Ellsbury’s speed on the bases anymore – he has six stolen bases and hasn’t been caught yet – what is surprising is how well he has been hitting. In just 27 games, Ellsbury had 15 RBIs, three homeruns and is batting .372. If the Sox management is smart enough to hold on to Ellsbury, he could become one of the finest base stealers, defensive outfielders and hitters in the game. Not to mention, the ladies love him.

Last, but certainly not least, is Clay Buchholz. This rookie sensation became the talk of the town when he pitched a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles in just his second major league start. He is just one of three major league pitchers to throw a no-no in their first or second Major League start. What made it even better was that it was at Fenway Park. After the last pitch of that game, a sweeping 12-6 curveball that broke over the outside corner to strike out the batter looking, the Fenway Faithful erupted into cheers as his teammates poured onto the field, surrounded Buchholz and jumped around chanting “Rook, Rook, Rook!”

Pedroia was actually a huge reason for the no-hitter’s success. In the sixth inning, Orioles shortstop Miguel Tejada hit a hard grounder up the middle behind second. Pedroia ranged to his left, laid out behind the bag, jumped to his feet more quickly than anyone should be able to and threw out the speedy Tejada at first. One “rook” saving another.

All of these guys are predictors of a very bright future for the Boston Red Sox. No matter how this season turns out, these rookies have given Red Sox Nation plenty of great memories already in 2007 and there should be plenty more to follow.

Eric has been involved in Rugby at UMaine since his first year of college.

“It was a funny story,” Eric recalled, “I was just wandering around the mall like the second day I was here, and I thought Rugby sounded cool, so I decided to show up.”

Anderson, who scored a beautiful try against the University of New Hampshire last weekend, gives all the credit for the team’s success to his coaches and teammates.

“Everyone that is new this year had a lot of experience coming in, which isn’t the way it used to be. Everyone has played in high school leagues and men’s leagues, and that goes a long way for getting these guys to really understand the game,” Anderson said. Getting players to understand used to be the job of Anderson as well as Club President Tony Purpura, that is, until this year. “Finally having real coaches this year has taken so much pressure off us,” Anderson said, “Coach Criner and Coach Gus and all these guys have a lot of experience which goes a long ways towards making us a better team.”

Being the vice president of the No. 9 club team in the nation is a big honor and responsibility that Anderson handles extremely well.

“We just take a week-by-week attitude when it comes to games, it’s great to be recognized the way we are, but we really just need to stay focused and keep working hard to win games,” Anderson said. “It’s awesome to be out here doing what I love everyday with a bunch of great friends.”

The Black Bears rugby team will face off against perennial favorite Bates College. It was easy to tell that, along with the rest of squad, Anderson is really looking forward to this match. “Bates has been a solid team in the past, and we won’t take them lightly. We approached this weekend the same as we would any other,” he said.

The Black Bears will come into the match against Bates, ranked No. 9 in the nation for Men’s Division II Rugby and first in the New England Rugby Football League. Coming off a huge win last weekend against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, the Black Bears will look to use the same game plan to bring about the same domination and improve to 3-0 on Saturday. Get out there and show your support for these hardworking individuals as Maine travels to Lewiston to face off against Bates College.

The scoring began early when junior forward Dimitri Anastasiou received the ball from senior Forward Pat Halligan and chipped a shot over the head of LIU’s keeper and into the net in the 15th minute. Long Island answered back almost immediately, however, as LIU Forward Peter Huijgen beat Maine Keeper Nemanja Kostic to knot the score at 1-1 in the 19th minute. The score would remain locked for the duration of the first half, as both teams traded fruitless trips up and down the field.

The intensity picked up quickly in the second half, as both teams began to up the tempo and play physically. Maine took the lead back almost immediately when first-year midfielder Thomas McCole beat multiple Blackbird defenders, then found the open net, as LIU keeper Alex Fatovic had been drawn out of position on the play. Just like that, the Black Bears found themselves back on top in the 48th minute.

After McCole’s first collegiate goal, a revitalized Black Bear defense stepped up their game. Sophomore midfielder Jordan Antonucci explained this stalwart performance by a defense that gave up eight goals to Boston College just days ago: “Our whole defense is finally healthy; we’ve got everyone back. This is one of the first times all season that we’ve had everyone, and having that stability makes it easier to play.”

The game got a little scrappy after McCole’s goal, as players from both teams were ready to push and shove. Tempers flared at points, drawing an incredible eight yellow cards in the match, four charged to each squad. Despite this, Maine kept their wits about them enough to add to their lead in the 79th minute. With an inexplicable mess of players in front of the Long Island goal, McCole sent a pass into the area, where no players seemed to be able to make solid contact with it. Anastasiou, though not connecting well, was able to get a foot on the ball enough to direct it through the crowd and into the net.

“Tom [McCole] gave a great ball. I saw it coming in and knew I had to get a foot on it. In front of the net it was kind of sloppy, but I figured if I got a foot on it, it’d probably go in,” Anastasiou said.

LIU got back in the game in the 84th minute, when Josh Merchant fired a line drive past Maine’s Kostic into the upper-right corner of the goal. However, with the Black Bears rising to the occasion defensively, it was too little, too late for the Blackbirds. Long Island would never pose a serious scoring threat for the duration of the match.

With the win, Maine snaps a six-game losing streak and improves to 2-6-0 on the season, staying undefeated in Orono. With the loss, LIU drops to 2-4-1.

“We’re undefeated at home, and we scored three goals today, which is more than we’ve scored all season,” Anastasiou said. The win should be a confidence booster for the squad heading into the second half of the season. As Antonucci put it, “We’re a solid team, but sometimes you need a win to remind you of that.”

The Black Bears are looking ahead to their America East conference schedule but are not overlooking their final non-conference game at Rhode Island this Saturday. Sunday’s win and remaining undefeated at home, shows that the team is peaking at the right time. The difficult schedule that the Black Bears have played recently may have been responsible for helping them prepare for LIU and for the rest of the season. “The Schedule we just had sucked, but we played three top-20 teams; no one else is going to come close to being that good,” Antonucci said.

Quite frankly, I’m sick of hearing this crap about “police brutality” in the case of the University of Florida student. The student stood up during the session to ask questions about Kerry’s alleged past relations with President George W. Bush . After ignoring requests to shut up, an officer was called over to lead him out of the room. He resisted. More officers came over to him and asked him to leave. He resisted.

He started moving down the aisle with police pulling him along, but when he got near the door he pushed an officer and tried to get away – big mistake. After that, police took him to the floor, as is the procedure they’ve been trained to follow if someone tries to break from their grasp. When he continued to ignore their orders and tried to push himself up, one of the officers used a Taser to force him to submit. He continued to whine and complain about unnecessary force all the way out to the police cruiser.

Of course, despite the fact that the student fought with the police for more than two minutes, the media was quick to jump on the situation and label it “a disturbing abuse of force.”

Bull. The officers at Florida University had to up the amount of force when the student continued to fight them and they did it successfully because the loudmouth kid went to jail for a few hours and was released without injury.

A much more difficult and serious situation has arisen in our own state. Two men were shot and killed by officers this weekend. On Saturday, a state trooper shot a man in Waldoboro after a seven-hour standoff at the man’s ex-wife’s home. The shooting victim had been out on bail after attempting to murder his wife.

The second man was killed early Sunday after the car he was in was pulled over by police. The 18-year-old passenger was involved in a scuffle with the officer and then ran into the woods, where another fight broke out and, eventually, the officer fired his gun. Only the officer emerged from the woods alive. Few details are available as the state is investigating the shootings.

As morbid as this is, I hope that the officers are cleared and were warranted in both shootings. Officers learn to use deadly force only when their lives are directly threatened; I hope that this was the case in both instances. I hope these events don’t lead to more distrust and contempt for police officers because I truly believe they have the one of the most ethically complex, risky and thankless jobs on the planet.

There are “bad apples” out there. There are cops who discriminate, abuse and generally damage the image of the group as a whole. By and large, these men and women do everything in their power to protect and serve and if you do as they say and stay out of trouble in general then you should never have to suffer the Taser. If you really haven’t done anything to deserve it and have caught the brunt of one of these “bad apples,” then I’ll be the first championing your side.

Nick McCrea is a third-year journalism major.

This Monday, Bush skipped out on a UN summit on climate change that 150 other countries attended. He did go to the dinner though, because hey, a free meal’s a free meal. I’ll admit: I’ve crashed a lot of functions just for the food. However, I at least stay for the meeting.

Skipping out on the summit sent the wrong message from a nation that produces an average of 864 kg of municipal waste, per person, per year – three times the amount of the average Italian. It gives the appearance that, though we contribute a large percentage of waste and emissions, the US is not willing to contribute to global efforts to reduce that contribution.

Bush is not just telling the world that the US doesn’t care about the obvious changes occurring in the global climate. He is also abandoning his domestic responsibilities.

Approximately 160 million people are living in US regions with smog and soot levels considered to be dangerous to one’s health, showing that the Bush administration doesn’t care about its real constituents – the American people. This is a real problem that effects real people that live right here in the US.

The kicker of Bush’s absence at the summit is that he is forming his own meeting regarding climate change, to be held later this week. It’s as if Bush is trying to start his own post-prom party when the quarterback has already planned a kegger.

According to the administration, a separate meeting is necessary because Bush’s approach to global warming is fundamentally different than the approach shared by the UN.

“It’s our philosophy that each nation has the sovereign capacity to decide for itself what its own portfolio of policies should be,” said James L. Connaughton, the president’s chief environmental adviser, in the New York Times on Monday.

When I read this quote, I had to take a deep breath and count to ten. Then I snapped my pencil in half. Well, Mr. Connaughton, if every nation has the “sovereign capacity” to make their own policies, why is the US involved in so many foreign disputes, most derived from different “portfolios of policies?”

The fact is that Bush is stalling, saying that global policies would create economic problems. The world seeks action. “Inaction now will prove the costliest action of all in the long term,’” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said. Why is it that our leader cannot speak in such civil terms of wisdom?

For some reason, I think that global warming is an issue that can’t be resolved by individual countries. It is a world issue and Bush knows it. This is just another attempt by the Bush administration to cater to its power-hungry and most influential constituents and not to the bettering of the world. So take off your bib, Bush, and tell your minions that maybe the US should talk with the UN sometime instead of just ignoring it.

Michael Dabrieo is a third-year journalism major.

Video games have come a long way since the pixilated days of Pac-Man, Q-Bert and the Atari entertainment system. Now we have the “Next Gen,” or Next Generation, of games – the most advanced video games and consoles ever created. Halo 3, released Sept. 25 of this year, is an example of a Next Gen game and has received an incredible amount of hype. With all the increased exposure that advertising brings, video games have created a massive amount of jobs and in this way help the economy. They have become a more sophisticated and – more importantly – healthy medium of entertainment.

Jack Thompson is an American attorney and activist most prominently known for his stance against video game violence. The problem with this stance is that it focuses only on the possible negative aspects of video gaming. Games are meant primarily for the entertainment of the consumer. They aren’t any more malicious than a Stephen King novel or a Wes Craven film. The most important thing to realize is that a sane, typical individual should be able to differentiate the real world and the simulated experience that is demonstrated in video games.

One of the most famous cases of video game violence allegedly having an effect on teenagers occurred in 1999. The Columbine High School massacre, in which two teenagers killed 12 students in Colorado, changed the way the media viewed video games. However, the world needs to wake up and realize that the media is far less inclusive than even a US census. For every tragic event, one should realize that there are many millions of people playing these games who are able to separate the simulation from the real world and do not commit such violent acts.

Computing technology is increasing at an incredible rate. With the improvement of such technology and the knowledge of it, the world has become a better and safer place. An example of this is the Playstation 3 system. The PS3 contains a powerful cell processor that is one of the most advanced processing units created.

Basically, it is a part of the computer that allows the Next Gen graphics games to be played, but Stanford University is using the PS3′s new technology for practical researching capabilities. The program, Folding@Home, is a free program that became available for the PS3 and, through a relatively complex computing process, is researching the possible cause of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s and even cancer.

Games are more integral to the current entertainment industry than movies or music ever have been. Wal-Mart even has checkout lanes specifically for Halo 3′s release, something that would not be merited in the movie or music industry.

People should stop criticizing games for their violence and start thinking critically about why the violence occurs. As the saying goes- guns don’t kill people – people kill people. Ironically, gaming might pave the way for computing capabilities sophisticated enough to study the brain and end this debate of violent games making children into violent people.

Joseph Mejia is a third-year journalism major.

Campus Crusade for Christ was founded in 1951 on the UCLA campus. In the context of this time, the term “crusade” did not immediately bring to mind images of priestly knights wading through blood in the Holy Land. Throughout American history, the term “crusade” has been used to describe movements ranging from women’s suffrage and organized labor to abolition and the fight for civil rights. At the time Campus Crusade was founded it was more likely that people would associate it with these types of movements.

Only recently have people in the US primarily associated the word “crusade” with the invasion of the Holy Land in 1099. If the organization were formed today – given our current political sensitivities – it would make little sense to use a word that connects the ministry to this unfortunate chapter of Christian history. However, given the context of American society at the time, that was not a primary consideration.

Christianity at its core seeks to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:18-20). Fundamental to its existence is a heart for the lost and a desire to reach people with the message of God’s love and forgiveness. Jesus said that he had come to “seek and save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10) and before ascending into heaven gave that command to each of his followers.

The rest of the New Testament – in addition to delving into theological matters – chronicles the struggle of the early church against the oppression of the Roman government and the endeavors of early missionaries who sought to reach other people and nations with the message of Christianity – you might say it was a “crusade.”

According to Princeton University’s WordNet, the word “crusade,” means “a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end.” Given the nature of Christianity, the final command that Christ gave his followers and the example of the early church, this is a fitting word to describe our organization.

I understand the objections to the use of the term “crusade” in light of the historical abuses of the “Christian” church of 11th to 16th century. Though the conversion of Rome to Christianity did help spread the religion, it perverted the Faith, causing many to lose the personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Crusades are a prime historical example of people understanding a basic concept but absolutely missing the point. They also illustrate the inherent danger of taking the focus off God and placing it on human institutions and wisdom. A forced conversion is a false one and is ultimately counterproductive to what Christ commanded His church to do, as a false conversion does not produce saving faith.

Rest assured that the heart of Campus Crusade for Christ is not inspired by the historic Crusades into the Holy Land or Pagan Europe. Rather, our ministry is dedicated to sharing the knowledge that Christ sacrificed Himself for us on the cross, so that people can receive forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Him. We focus on helping students know, love and serve God. If you’re looking for a sword fight, check out the fencing club.

Matt Hunter is a political science and history double major and a member of Campus Crusade for Christ.

It has been argued that Ahmadinejad is hostile to basic democratic ideals in his own country and, therefore, should not be extended the opportunity to exercise those freedoms in the US.

Nonetheless, a fundamental piece of the democratic process is the exchange of ideas, even those we find the most vulgar. On basic principal, it is more important that Americans heard Ahmedinejad than it was for him to speak. Now, we can debate the issue from both sides, rather than limiting the debate to our own perspective.

It has been argued that we have simply given the Iranian president a platform for Iranian propaganda. That certainly may be so. However, the public should be trusted to evaluate the truth behind any message it encounters. It is doubtful that many took his words at face value. It is important for individuals to hear these positions in order to draw their own conclusions. It is important, in any matter, to listen to what is being said rather than to be told what was said. In this period of intense ideological conflict, we should not allow fear or apathy to destroy our faith in fundamental democratic ideals.

The value of the democratic process is that it can handle opposition. Extending the invitation to Ahmadinejad is a test of this process. If it inspires public disagreements and debate, no matter how heated, than the process has passed that test.