Never Too Hot For Soup

TigerBlog has always operated under the basic premise that it's never too hot for soup or too cold for ice cream. Today will be testing the first part, though TB is not ruling out the baked potato soup at Panera for lunch today.

There aren't too many days where you walk outside at 7 am or so and are simply overwhelmed by how hot it is. Today was one of those.

As of 10 this morning, the temperature in Princeton was 96, with humidity of 53%. The heat index (sort of the reverse wind-chill) is 109.

Today's high is supposed to be 102, which is four degrees higher than yesterday's high of 98. Tomorrow is supposed to be 101.

TigerBlog wondered if he'd be able to tell the difference between 98 and 102. After awhile, isn't it just ridiculously hot?

The answer is, apparently, sort of. It's noticeably more uncomfortable today than yesterday, though that could be more attributable to the heat index than the four degree difference.

TigerBlog has taken advantage of the off-week for squash camp to play three times this week, with the possibility of another game coming up in a few minutes. On Tuesday, he played with Scott Champ, the former Princeton women's soccer assistant coach who is entering his first year at Arizona State.

Were there a reality show dealing with squash addiction, Champ would definitely be the main character. He came to the sport in 2008, back when TB could beat him playing lefthanded. Eventually, by playing about 25 hours a day, Champ became a, well, champ or something like that.

Now, as he heads to Arizona State, he was lamenting the fact that there is only one court on the campus.

Meanwhile, TB was sweating completely through his clothes in about the first four seconds of playing down on D level of Jadwin, where the air is scarce on a normal day.

The first Princeton athletic events of the 2011-12 season are exactly six weeks from today, when Princeton will play men's and women's soccer and field hockey.

If that seems like a long time away, it isn't. In fact, six weeks ago (June 10) hardly seems that long ago.

As TB said last week, July 23 (which happens to be tomorrow) is the exact halfway point between the last event of last year (the NCAA track and field championships) and the first event of the new year.

Champ was saying how the ASU players were already on campus, going through conditioning work in advance of preseason, which starts shortly. Champ's team has an exhibition game against Boise State in just three weeks, and the season-opening games are just four weeks away.

TigerBlog has always preferred the spring schedule to the fall one, because the weather goes from bad to good rather than good to bad. Lately, though, it seems like it takes longer for spring to arrive, only to see it turn to summer in about two days.

Regardless, there are two months left of summer and then another few weeks after that of hot weather. By three months from now, temperatures will routinely be no higher than the 50s or 60s, with lows in the 30s and 40s.

TigerBlog has a picture of Little Miss TigerBlog after a basketball game of hers in the winter. She's standing in front of her mailbox, with a snow drift way bigger than she is behind her.

That picture was taken exactly six months ago today.

TB is pretty sure he had ice cream on that day.

Today, he might have soup.

And he could heat it up on the sidewalk.