Jude Magnotti ’26
EE Sports Columnist

Dolphin’s Conga Line

Have you ever played Madden before? Well, if you have I guarantee you that there was one thing you did as soon as you got the game. You chose your favorite team, turned the difficulty to rookie, then proceeded to absolutely to destroy your least favorite team by 70 points. Of course, people would say to you: “That’s too easy!” or “That’s not real football!”. Well guess what ladies and gentlemen, the Miami Dolphins just made it real.

In their week 3 matchup against the Denver Broncos at home, the Dolphins absolutely trashed the Broncos 70-20 with over 700 yards of combined offense. The Broncos have struggled this year no doubt, but never would have anyone, even a Dolphins fan like myself, thought that they would decide to turn into a freshman high school football team.

The game did not start off well for the Broncos with the Dolphins first drive ending in a 54 yard touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill. The Dolphins then doubled down on their offense and scored a second touchdown on an 8 yard run by rookie Devon Achane. Luckily for the Broncos, they responded by driving down the field and punching in a touchdown of their own. Unfortunately for the Broncos, this is the closest the score would be all game. With a few turnovers and a no-look pass from Tua, the Dolphins found themselves up 35-13 at half time.

In no way was this a close game, but nobody could have expected what came next…Raheem Mostert decided to transform back into his 2020 NFC Championship form and ran through the Broncos defense over and over again. With every broken tackle, with every completed pass, the hearts of Broncos fans slowly became more and more decrepit and soulless inside as the Dolphins put up 56 points…in three quarters.

Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Sports Columnist

“Why can’t it just be fun?” These were the words of Lisa Mooney after her husband Dale Mooney was pronounced dead at Gillette Stadium. The cause of his death?  A violent confrontation with another fan during the Patriots-Dolphins Sunday Night matchup on September 17th.

Mooney, a lifelong Patriots fan and 30-year season ticket holder, had reportedly been bickering with another fan throughout the game. Security was forced to come over and give them warnings once in the fourth quarter and again in the third. However, during the 4th quarter Mooney went and confronted the opposing fan on the other side of the aisle.

Violent words were exchanged and a scuffle then ensued between Mooney and the fan. Mooney was reportedly punched once by the fan, but it was only when a different fan wearing a Miami Dolphins jersey came up from another seat punched Mooney unconscious. He fell into the aisle and despite receiving immediate medical attention never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead by officials shortly before midnight.

Incidents like these have not been a one time occurrence at sporting events and more specifically football games. Only 2 weeks into the season 3 different violent confrontations were reported in separate games. This begs the question, why have people suddenly become more aggressive to each other at football games? Watching football is supposed to be a fun lighthearted experience with family or friends. How come people have suddenly become more prone to fighting?

Well the thing is, this type of behavior has not been entirely uncharacteristic at football games. With the tension and weight each game yields, the atmosphere is bound to be far more stressed than other sporting events (especially in the fourth quarter). However, this is the first time someone has actually died which has the world calling on the NFL to do something.

Isaac Gramse ‘26
EE Sports Columnist

Pitcher Andrew Chafin after giving up the tying 2-run homerun to Giancarlo Stanton after losing no-hitter bid.

One of the most desired moments for a pitcher is the chance to throw either a no-hitter or a perfect game. For those who don’t know, a no-hitter is when one or more pitchers do not allow the opposing team to get a hit, however they can allow hit batters, walks, and errors. A perfect game is much harder: the pitcher must face 27 batters and all 27 batters must record an out. While I do enjoy getting the opportunity to see one of these moments in baseball history, they are flawed in my opinion.

My problem starts with the many things that can make these moments “not count” in the eyes of some fans. What if a game gets rained out in the 3rd inning before the team gets a hit. Is that considered a no-hitter? What if a pitcher is perfect through 9 innings, but since the offense doesn’t do anything, the game remains tied and he later gives up a hit in the 10th inning. Why is that not a perfect game?

This has come to my attention after Brewers-Yankees game on Sunday, September 10, where the Brewers no-hit the Yankees for 12th innings until eventually losing the bid and the game. I hate how this doesn’t count as a no-hitter. It’s not the pitchers’ fault that the offense couldn’t score in the standard 9 innings, so why should he have to be punished for that?

Another case of this happened back on July 3, 1995. Pedro Martinez threw a perfect 9 innings against the Padres, but the Expos weren’t able to score the one run they needed to get him the achievement. This would lead Bip Roberts to hit a lead-off double in the bottom of tenth,  losing Martinez the bid for history. Worst of all, Expos manager immediately took Pedro out after this for closer Mel Rojas, who almost lost the game.

While, this may seem insignificant to some, I feel that this is a problem that commissioner Rob Manfred should try to fix, he’s already made a bunch of bogus rules in baseball, why not make an actually important rule that can help the pitchers?

Jude Magnotti ‘26
EE Sports Columnist

It is official, it is physically impossible for the universe not to use the New York Jets as a comedic punching bag for our entertainment. Before I say anything else, let me take you back to April 24th to what was potentially the second greatest day for Jets fans in the history of their franchise. They had just made a trade for 4-time MVP Aaron Rodgers.

The Jets were forced to give up a king’s ransom for Rodgers but in the eyes of NFL fans around the world it was worth it. After finishing 7-10 last year with the Jets, New York fans were optimistic about the future with both the offensive and defensive rookies of the year in Garret Wilson and Sauce Gardner.

However, the major elephant in the room was third year quarterback Zach Wilson. Wilson was drafted 2nd overall in 2021 by the Jets with the hope that he could one day become the savior that the Jets needed. Unfortunately, like every other Jets quarterback before, Wilson struggled significantly in his first two seasons. This had New York Fans doubting whether or not Wilson truly had the ability to lead the rest of their championship caliber roster around him. As such, they called for a new starting QB, a battle-tested veteran who had proved his value to a team countless times over and over again. Luckily, they would find their answer and so much more in Aaron Rodgers.

After years and years of terrible QBs from the likes of Geno Smith to Mark Sanchez, “Gang Green” finally had a quarterback who could lead them to the promised land. Rodgers was shaping up to be everything the Jets wanted to be, serving as an incredible leader and bringing some much needed experience to a still very young Jets team. This would all culminate into Rodgers Jets debut at Metlife stadium against their division rival the Buffalo Bills.

The stars had aligned, the universe smiled upon New York, and the stage was set as Aaron Rodgers charged out onto Metlife waving the American flag in hand. Every Jets fan in the stadium thought: “This is it, we will finally get to see what a real quarterback looks like!!”.

Everything was perfect…until it was not. On only the fourth snap of the game, Rodgers was sacked by defensive end Leonard Floyd and landed very awkwardly on his left leg. Rodgers grabbed his ankle in pain as every Jets fan watched in complete horror and shock as their fancy new quarterback was carted off the field. Rodgers X-rays came back negative and he was ruled out for the remainder of the game. The injury had sucked the energy out of the entire building. Every single Jets fan laid their heads down in sorrow and remorse, but it was not over for them yet.

Jude Magnotti ’26
EE Sports Columnist

Hello? Hello hello! Ahh, great to see you, and welcome back to what is sure to be another amazing year of sports writing at Eagle Eye. For my first article of this new year, I will be delivering you my five bold predictions for the upcoming 2023-2024 NFL season. With every new NFL season comes a new batch of controversial opinions. Some of them are spot on, while others are radically off. Either way, they are the necessary evil of the sports world, and here’s what I believe are going to be the shockers of this season:

1: Calvin Ridley becomes a top 5 receiver in the NFL, and Trevor Lawrence becomes a top 5 QB. There’s no question about it, this is Trevor Lawrence’s season. He finished top ten in every major category last year with a beaten up offensive line and a sub-par receiving corps. Now with a solid O-line and a true number 1 receiver in Calvin Ridley, it is Lawrence’s turn to be the next big breakout star. Lawrence faced problems his rookie season, but he was the consensus number 1 pick for a reason and with Doug Pederson as his coach, there is no way he does not perform this year. The main benefactor of this situation will easily be Calvin Ridley. For those who don’t know, Ridley was suspended last year for betting on NFL games. While he was suspended, this incident has nothing to do with his play on the field nor his personality. Therefore, there is no doubt in my mind that he can get back to his previous form on the Atlanta Falcons. If both Ridley and Lawrence are able to shine together, there is no doubt in my mind that the Jaguars can claim their second straight division title and make a deep run in the playoffs.