ALUMNI TRACKER: Gridiron Players Struggle, Hoops Players Thrive

Harvard alums around the world saw action this week, impressing abroad but struggling here at home.

With another loss under their belts, the Bills aren’t ready to give up on Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 (yet). In their 20-13 win over Buffalo, the Colts held the Amish Rifle to 17-33 and 180 yards. A one-yard touchdown pass with 11:30 to play gave the Bills their only touchdown of the night. The team has failed to make the playoffs for 12 straight years, and Fitzpatrick’s critics say that its time for a change. However, the Bills maintain that they will continue to wait it out.

On the west coast, Raiders defensive tackle Desmond Bryant ’09 is coming down after two big weeks. After putting up 5 tackles against the Ravens and the Saints—with 5 unassisted against Baltimore—Bryant had only one in this week’s loss to the Bengals.

While Crimson alums struggled on the gridiron this week, they dominated the court. In Canada, guard Oliver McNally ’12 leads the NBL in total assists and assists per game, and he sits in second place for steals, with 21. In 11 games with the Montcon Miracles, McNally is averaging 9.8 points per game, and the team sits atop the Atlantic Division with a 7-4 record.

Overseas, forward Keith Wright ’12 continues to impress (and enjoy his time playing). After signing with Swedish basketball team Uppsala in October, Wright made his home debut two weeks ago, putting up 10 points in 23 minutes of play. This week, Uppsala upset 08 Stockholm behind a strong performance from Wright—16 points and 14 rebounds—, and the team moved into second place. In Uppsala’s previous game, Wright had a season-high 23 points.

The NHL is brining in federal mediators to aid in lockout negotiations after cancelling over a third of regular season games, ensuring that Harvard alums will not see the rink anytime soon. A similar tactic failed to resolve the 2004-05 NHL lockout, which resulted in the cancellation of the entire season.