About BRSN
Big Red Sports Network (BRSN) is Cornell University’s only Entertainment and Media organization dedicated exclusively to Cornell Athletics. Entirely student run, BRSN covers Cornell’s athletic community through live broadcasts of sporting events, FM and online radio shows, written coverage of the teams and athletes, video and television projects, events on and off campus, social media, and digital media.
BRSN is dedicated to offering the best and most accurate coverage of Cornell’s athletes, coaches, and teams while providing opportunities for students interested in careers in sports and media/journalism to gain first hand industry experience. Members have acquired jobs or internships within MLB, NHL, ESPN, CBS Sports, and many other top quality sports and entertainment brands in the last year. In addition, BRSN is focused on bringing together athlete parents and families, Cornell alumni, current students, and the Ithaca community around Cornell’s sports environment.
Hey there! Have you heard about the Big Red Sports Network? It’s the official sports network of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. If you love sports, then you’ll definitely want to check it out!
The Big Red Sports Network, or BRSN, covers all kinds of Cornell athletic events. You can watch live streams of football games, ice hockey matches, basketball games, lacrosse matches, wrestling meets, and more! BRSN has got you covered no matter what sport you’re into.
What’s even better is that BRSN is run by students at Cornell. That means that they know exactly what sports fans want to see. Plus, it gives students the chance to get some real-world experience in sports broadcasting and production. How cool is that?
If you want to watch BRSN, it’s super easy. Just go to their website and look for the event you want to watch. You can also find BRSN on other platforms like YouTube and ESPN+. Wherever you choose to watch, you’ll have a great time cheering on the Big Red!
But wait, there’s more! BRSN isn’t just about watching sports. They also have lots of other content that sports fans will enjoy. For example, they have pre-game shows, halftime reports, and post-game analysis. You can learn all about the teams, players, and strategies that make college sports so exciting.
And if you miss a game, don’t worry! BRSN usually posts highlights and recaps after each event. That way, you can still catch up on all the action, even if you couldn’t watch it live. With BRSN, you’ll never miss a moment of the excitement.
Of course, BRSN is all about supporting Cornell athletes. But even if you’re not a Cornell fan, you can still enjoy the high-quality sports coverage that BRSN provides. Who knows, maybe you’ll discover a new favorite team or player!
In short, the Big Red Sports Network is an awesome resource for anyone who loves sports. Whether you’re a student, alum, or just a casual fan, you’ll find something to enjoy on BRSN. So why not give it a try? You might just become a Big Red fan yourself!
Baseball Sweeps Yale, Splits With Brown In The First Weekend Of Ivy Action
The Big Red displayed some offensive firepower this weekend, as the team jumped out to a great start to Ivy League play. Cornell swept Yale on Sunday by scoring a total of 17 runs with 10-1 and 7-5 wins. The Big Red split with Brown after a miraculous comeback in the second of Monday’s doubleheader, as Cornell fell 5-4 and then answered with a 10-6 victory.
In game one against the Bulldogs, Brian McAfee shined, as the senior pitcher threw a seven-inning complete game to finish with only one earned run on five hits, seven strikeouts, and no walks.
The Big Red finally provided some run support to give McAfee a strong offense behind him. Cornell put up three runs in the fourth inning and a whopping seven in the sixth. Seniors Kevin Tatum and Dan Morris led the squad’s offensive efforts with two RBIs each, and Tatum went 2-for-4, while Morris concluded the game going 2-for-3.
The lone Yale run came on a mistake from senior JD Whetsel, who made his season debut after undergoing wrist surgery in the winter. He hesitated and misjudged a fly ball to centerfield, which dropped behind a diving Whetsel, allowing an inside the park home run. Whetsel showed some rust, struggling in his return as he went 0-for-8 on the day.
The Bulldogs went ahead in game two with a 5-3 lead heading into the top of the seventh inning. Cornell responded with four runs, which began with a two-run single from Sophomore Tommy Wagner with the bases loaded to bring home Tatum and Spencer Scorza. Morris then scored Ryan Karl and Wagner with a double to right field, giving the Big Red the lead for good.
Junior Michael Byrne got the start on the mound for Cornell, but had some trouble and eventually was replaced by Eric Upton after five innings pitched, allowing four hits, three earned runs, three walks, and four strikeouts. Upton conceded one earned run on two hits in three innings before giving way to sophomore reliever Paul Balestrieri in the ninth inning, who closed out the game for his third save of the year.
In the first game on Monday against Brown, the Big Red fell into a whole early, finding themselves down 5-0 through four and one-half innings. The team fought back to cut the deficit to two with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Cornell struck again in the following inning to trail by just one run, but failed to complete the comeback in the remaining two innings.
The Big Red was led by sophomore shortstop Frankie Padulo, who hit a perfect 3-for-3 with one RBI, which came on a double in the fourth inning to score Morris and give Cornell its final run of the inning.
Big Red starting pitchers struggled in both games of the doubleheader, as Kellen Urbon lasted only 3.1 innings after giving up six hits and five runs, but only two of which were earned. However, sophomore walk-on Peter Lannoo provided a bright spot for Cornell with a terrific outing of three-inning relief for Urbon. Lannoo stuck out three batters and allowed just two hits and zero runs.
Game two started in similar fashion after the Brown Bears led the Big Red 6-3 following six innings of play. However, this time, Cornell exploded for a seven-run eighth inning response.
Brown pitcher Jake Spezial walked three consecutive batters to load the bases in the bottom of the eighth. Tatum was hit by a pitch, which drove in one run, and Scorza followed with a single to bring home Padulo and Whetsel, knotting the game at six. After another walk to Karl, Wagner hit a sacrifice fly to left-center and scored the speedy freshman Eason Recto from third base, who was inserted for Tatum as a pinch runner. Following an additional walk to Morris, freshman Ellis Bitar cleared the bases with a high, powerful fly ball that bounced off the glove of Brown right fielder Will Marcal, giving Cornell a 10-6 lead.
Nick Busto continued the trend of an off day for Big Red pitchers. The senior starter conceded three runs and six hits in just over two innings of action. Freshman Justin Lewis entered the game following Busto’s outing, but fared similarly by allowing just as many runs in 2.2 innings of work. Eventually, Ray Brewer provided some consistency, posting two strikeouts, four hits, and no runs before Balestrieri came in for the ninth inning to earn his second save in two days.
Coming Out Strong: Anastasia Bucsis and Charline Labonte Visit Cornell
There are few achievements in this world that can rival representing your country as an Olympic athlete. For many, it remains an elusive dream; for a precious few, this dream is fulfilled. Anastasia Bucsis and Charline Labonté are two who have seen this dream become a reality. They both know the rush of representing Canada and the thrill of skating in an Olympic rink—Anastasia as a speed skater, Charline as a goalie for the Canadian women’s hockey team. Both Charline and Anastasia earned a place on the long illustrious list of Olympic athletes. They also share another distinction; both have openly come out as lesbian athletes. As society in Canada and the world learns to accept homosexuality, the first line of acceptance comes from the individual. Both of these athletes had to struggle through a terrifying journey of self-discovery. They both came to Cornell to talk about this journey on Wednesday, March 25th at a panel organized by Athlete Ally, the Cornell University Programming Board and Haven.
Charline’s first love affair was with hockey, even though Greenfield Park, her hometown, had no women’s hockey team. She didn’t let her gender hold her back from her passion, and joined the men’s team. Never questioning her sexuality, she had several boyfriends growing up.
It was only after she joined a women’s team as an adult that she started to have feelings for other women. “It’s okay,” were the words she received when she called up her best friend for support. She found herself surrounded by accepting teammates and family members. Her biggest obstacle was facing herself and internalizing her new gay status. Although saying the words out loud were difficult, in the end her teammates responded, “We knew—all of us knew, we were just waiting for you to say it.”
In her sport, she realized, she was surrounded by successful people who had gone through similar struggles. After she accepted it in herself she realized, “no one cares.” Although key for understanding herself, her homosexuality didn’t alter how the world saw her. In the end, her brother simply said, “Who cares? It’s you.”
For Anastasia, the truth of her sexual orientation was one that she struggled with for some time. Growing up in Alberta—as she put it, “the Texas of Canada”, she was afraid of rejection. Even as she became increasingly aware of her homosexuality, she struggled with fully admitting it to herself.
She remembers having a breakdown as she changed into her suit for an event soon after qualifying for the Vancouver Olympics. Thinking about the larger-than-life Olympics heroes she had looked up to, she didn’t feel like she matched up to this ideal: “I’m not an Olympian, I’m 20 years old, I’m not going to win a medal…Oh my god, and I’m gay—and I bawled my eyes out.” She couldn’t love herself, when she didn’t know who she was.
As she prepared for the upcoming Olympics she threw herself into her sport, started dating a boy, and tried to distance herself from her sexuality. She wanted to prove to herself that she was straight, because she had no one to tell her that it was okay. With no role models in speed skating to look up to, she felt isolated and like she was in a tail spin. In January 2013, she was diagnosed with clinical depression.
However, she found solace online and eventually came to accept and love herself. This struggle led her to her long-time girlfriend Charline and also pushed her to become the role model she had lacked, in hopes of guiding other LGBTQ athletes to the calm after the storm.
Both women stressed the importance of reaching out and having someone there. Their clear message to all LGBTQ athletes, Olympians, and fans, as Anastasia put it: “First and foremost, it’s so cliché, but it really does get better.” She also added, “If you’re not comfortable enough to find a physical community or the support isn’t there, go on the internet.” Charline said, “It’s just a matter of being comfortable with who you are, and finding those resources around you that are going to help you get to that point. There are a lot of people online or on campus…don’t be scared to reach out, or think that you’re the only one, because there are a lot of people that are in the same situation.”
There will be a time when you feel alone, consumed by your own uncertainties. You are only as isolated as you make yourself. The monsters under your bed are always scarier when you face them alone. Do not be afraid to reach out to those around you. This was a lesson that was hard-learnt for both these athletes. One faced the fear of a conservative community, the other the difficulty of deciphering personal truths. However, they both were able to face this internal turmoil and emerge triumphant.
Charline is a gold medal-winning Olympian who participated in four Olympic games: Salt Lake City, Turin, Vancouver, and Sochi. Anastasia also had the honor of representing her country in the Vancouver and Sochi games. “You blink and you’re there,” says a humble Charline, as she comments on her path to the Olympic ice.
It’s clear that these women are dedicated to their sports and fellow athletes. Even in Sochi, surrounded by anti-gay propaganda, they came as athletes, ready to try their hardest for their country. While they were aware that the world was looking at the games through a social lens, to them it was still about pushing themselves to be their best. Charline knew it was time to come out in public, but she didn’t want to divert the focus of the media.
She didn’t want to become the “Face of women’s hockey,” because it was still about the team and the game. However, after competition was over, she felt like the time was right to make a public statement.
For these modest women the fact that they were some of the best athletes in the world was not a big deal; the fact that they were gay was even less. Once they accepted their identities, the rest was “a piece of cake.” Their only concern is that some sports have a façade of homophobic and sexist language. They hope this will soon fade away, as people understand that everyone should feel safe and accepted. They are athletes first and everyone has the right to play.