Sports and fitness

Rachel Crowell highlights the 2018 gala of the National Museum of Mathematics. The fundraiser featured a keynote speech from MIT graduate student and former NFL player John Urschel.

Boston Herald reporter John Connolly spotlights the MIT football team, which is undefeated thus far this season. “We have 75 MIT football players. They’re smart. They don’t need us to tell them what to do,” explains coach Brian Bubna. “I’ve been here since 2010 and we’re moving in the right direction.”

Patrick Rishe of Forbes writes about the 2017 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Rishe notes that the conference’s “combination of knowledge, presentations, and networking opportunities is off-the-charts, and a must for programs who wish to be taken seriously in the Sports Business space.”

In this FOX 25 segment, Prof. John Leonard explains why he created an online lesson that demonstrates the science behind the Deflategate controversy. He notes that the lesson is aimed at giving “students the tools so they can be the scientists,” adding that he also hopes to “get more young people excited about math and science.”

Broad Institute research affiliate Theresa Oei, who is also a cheerleader for the Patriots, speaks with Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear about her passion for science and for dance. Oei, who currently works in Prof. Feng Zhang’s lab developing genome editing techniques, explains that while she has enjoyed cheerleading, “in the end, I see science as my vocation.”

Mike LaCrosse of WBZ-TV News spotlights Broad Institute research affiliate Theresa Oei and her work both in the lab and on the field as a cheerleader for the Patriots. Oei says she enjoys sharing her love of science with children, adding that “leaving the path to science open is really important, and showing that it can be a lot of fun.” 

Prof. John Leonard prepared a free video lesson explaining the science behind the Deflategate controversy, writes Adam Vaccaro for The Boston Globe. Vaccaro writes that Leonard explained he hopes the lesson will help students “understand the physics of air pressure and temperature by connecting them to a major event in popular culture.”

Michael Rosenwald of The Washington Post writes about John Urschel, an MIT graduate student and Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman, and his love for math and football. “I’m living an amazing quality of life. I get to play football. I get to play math. I get to play chess,” Urschel says.

Writing for Sports Illustrated, Prof. John Leonard explains his analysis of the science behind Deflategate. Leonard writes that he is, “100% convinced that there was no illegal deflation. Understanding why is a tale of two inexpensive digital pressure gauges—the so-called Logo Gauge and the Non-Logo Gauge.”

Writing for USA Today about the benefits of exercise, Karen Weintraub spotlights MIT’s physical education requirement. Carrie Sampson Moore, director of physical education, explains that students are able to “establish a pattern of health that will help not only them,” but also prepare them to be “role models for their students and employees” in the future.

MIT grad student and NFL player John Urschel speaks with USA Today reporter Charlotte Wilder. Urschel, who occasionally practices with the MIT football team, says that what impresses him about the MIT team is that they play “because they love it. That is something so refreshing and amazing, it’s like no other football team I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”

Prof. John Leonard speaks with Bill Littlefield of NPR’s Only A Game about a local student’s “Deflategate" experiment. Leonard says that “ultimately I think if you can explain things in very simple terms and get at the essence of a concept, that’s the best situation."

On CBS This Morning, Prof. John Leonard weighed in on “Deflategate,” validating a local student's experiment that showed how cold weather causes a football to lose pressure. "It's just basic laws of physics, it doesn't matter if you root for the Patriots, or the Eagles, or the Redskins, this is what happens to footballs in cold weather," Leonard said.

MIT lecturer Ben Shields writes for USA Today about how Deflategate will impact business for the Patriots. “When all is said and done…the Patriots, the NFL and even Brady all stand to emerge as winners in business over the long-term,” writes Shields. 

Darren Sabedra of San Jose Mercury News writes about incoming freshman Riley Quinn, who plans to double major in math and business and play football at MIT. Quinn, who was born without a left hand and forearm, wrote in his college essay that he leveraged what “others may call a physical disability as my driving force and motivation to excel at everything I do."