Lindsey Lohan And Tiger Football

There are a lot of things in this world that TigerBlog doesn't understand, and the fixation with Lindsey Lohan is near the top of that list.

So Lohan is in jail? Who cares? Who could care about her, let alone want to read story after story on website after website about her conduct and, now, the consequences of it all?

Yes, TB understands the culture of modern-day American society, where the value is on "celebrity" at all costs, regardless of what it takes to achieve that celebrity status. And clearly, the value of "celebrity" far outweighs the value of "talent."

Oh, and as far as talent is concerned, what talent does Lindsey Lohan have? Or any movie star, for that matter? They're no more talented than you are; they just had the right look and got the right break.

And then there is the trainwreck factor. People love to watch the trainwreck, yes.

Still, for all of that, TB doesn't understand the endless Lindsey Lohan coverage. Why her and not someone else? What is it specifically about her that makes her more appealing to the general public? Or, for that matter, to the media?

Anyway, apparently, Lohan has a 90-day sentence, though there is a place you can go to bet on how much time she'll actually serve.

Let's assume for a minute that she goes the full 90 days. That takes her from yesterday through October 18, which means that she would miss half of Princeton's home football schedule.

The 2010 Tigers play six home football games, three before Oct. 18 and three after.

The 2010 season, Bob Surace's first as Tiger head coach, begins with any away game at Lehigh on Sept. 18. By the way, with temperatures still in the 90s for the next five days, the 2010 Princeton football season is just 59 days away.

Anyway, after the Lehigh game, there are four home games in five weeks, including three straight home games at one stretch. It goes like this:
Sept. 18 at Lehigh
Sept. 25 LAFAYETTE
Oct. 2 at Columbia
Oct. 9 COLGATE
Oct. 16 BROWN
Oct. 23 HARVARD
Oct. 30 at Cornell
Nov. 6 PENN
Nov. 13 at Yale
Nov. 20 DARTMOUTH

Because of the six home games and four road games and because of who the road opponents are, you could see all 10 Princeton football games this year and not exactly have to travel all that far. Lehigh and Columbia are both an hour from Princeton, while Yale is a little more than two and Cornell is just under four. That's not too bad.

Because of a variety of scheduling issues, Princeton will not have a Thursday or Friday night game. There is good and bad for this, of course.

The down side is that there will be no ESPN game for the football team this year. The plus side is that the Thursday and Friday night games significantly affected attendance.

For instance, the 2009 Princeton-Colgate game on a Thursday night drew 5,685; the home game against Lehigh the year before drew nearly 9,000. It'll be interesting to see what the Princeton-Colgate game on a Saturday afternoon this year brings.

Setting the start times is another matter.

The Dartmouth game, that late in the year, should be a 1 p.m. start. Harvard, with its many alumni activities, is also a 1 p.m. start.

Penn was set by Versus TV as a 3 p.m. start, which is actually TB's preferred start time, even for Nov. 6.

That leaves the three games that Lindsey Lohan might not be able to get to.

The Brown game is at 1, given that the Bears need to travel back to Providence. As for the other two?

Lafayette is a 6 start. It's also Community Day, so activities will begin in the late afternoon. TB loves the early-season start time of 6, since the stadium looks so good under the lights.

TB would have been okay with 3 or even 6 for Colgate as well, but that one will be at 1 instead.

How much does start time impact attendance? Would more people be able to come to the Colgate game at 6, or is the number the same? Are families with kids, a prime Princeton demographic, too busy with their own games (and birthday parties and everything else) to get to Princeton at 1 at that time of year?

If not, then what should be the primary reason for setting the start time? Continuity? Is it important that all the games are at the same times?

Anyway, TB will debate all of those questions for another year. Reviewing for this year:

Lafayette - 6
Colgate - 1
Brown - 1
Harvard - 1
Penn - 3
Dartmouth - 1

See you at Princeton Stadium on Sept. 25. Unless you're one of those no-talent media obsessions who doesn't get an early release.

Then we'll see you here in October.

Just don't expect TB to make a big fuss over you.