Good Luck Scott Jurgens

Forgive TigerBlog if he's throwing out too much information this morning. For the last few years, he's had a small skin tag on the side of his tongue, and his dentist has been saying for just as long that he should go to an oral surgeon and get it removed.

For some reason, TB woke up yesterday and decided that it was time to go ahead and do it, so he dug out the referral that his dentist had given him and called to make an appointment, which turned out to be at 3:15.

TigerBlog was right on time, and he was in the oral surgeon's seat by 3:20 or so. And back in his car by 3:45 at the latest.

In the interim, TB had a fairly interesting half-hour or so. At one point, an endodontist came in to share an x-ray with the oral surgeon and get his opinion, just after the oral surgeon - a complete stranger to TigerBlog - had just injected whatever numbing agent he'd use into TB's tongue.

The endodontist, whose specialty is root canals, looked at TB, who was gushing blood from his tongue into the gauze that filled his mouth and made him talk like Vito Corleone, and said that TB looked familiar.

Turns out that said endodonist is also a sports reporter for a local religious station as well as a current Princeton basketball season-ticket holder. He asked TB if he could get credentials for basketball and hockey this year, and TB, given the state of his cheeks, though about answering: "Yes, but someday, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me."

Instead, TB just nodded yes.

Anyway, TB's tongue hurt pretty badly last night, after the numbing agent wore off, and it made talking difficult. It's a little better today, but TB is still not sure what to eat for lunch.

The oral surgeon said no Thai food, which meant stay away from spicy stuff. Still, the whole eating thing hasn't quite been easy since yesterday afternoon.

Besides, this afternoon, there is a small reception for the department, and the email says that refreshments will be served. Maybe there's no need for lunch today.

The reception, by the way, is to say goodbye to Scott Jurgens, whose title, TB believes, is Director of Marketing.

Scott is leaving Princeton tomorrow after four years here to take over the marketing duties at East Carolina.

TB could say most of the same things about Scott that he said about Steve Kanaby when he left a few weeks ago to become the director of championships for the Colonial Athletic Association.

Like Steve, Scott has been a very hard worker. Scott is another Princeton Athletics person who took on tasks that weren't specifically his responsibility. He went to a ton of events, including games obviously but also local civic events, all to get the word out about Princeton Athletics.

In all honesty, TB wasn't sure what to make of Scott when he first started here. Now TB knows that he is a difficult person to replace, and he made himself that simply by his work ethic and his willingness to do whatever was necessary for the good of the department.

Also, for someone in the position of constantly dealing with people who are making endless requests, Scott has another ingredient that is essential - a sense of humor.

As TB said, he wasn't sure about Scott and his future here when he started. TB also isn't sure if there was an exact day when he realized that he had turned 180 degrees on him, but it definitely happened. And it's not something that occurs often.

It's hard for a person to change other people's initial thoughts, and it takes time and effort. Scott managed to do so, largely because in the end, he turned out to be genuine, hard-working, team-oriented, friendly, funny - and valuable to what the department was doing.

Princeton Athletics is losing another key member of its staff, as Scott Jurgens leaves. TB wishes him luck at ECU, and TB will be rooting for the Pirates.

In the end, TigerBlog relied on Scott for a lot, and Scott never let TB down.

When TB thinks back about Scott and his time here at Princeton in the future, he'll remember an Idaho native who did a lot of growing up here. He'll remember someone always willing to help, someone who was always smiling - either because he was smiling or because that's how he dealt with the people around here who drove him nuts.

He'll remember that he had a healthy dose of sarcasm. He'll remember that he didn't get too mad when TB told him that Tony kills Christopher near the end of "The Sopranos," even though Scott had only gotten to Season 2.

Mostly, though, he'll remember moments like the one that just occurred, when Scott walked in, said something funny about nothing and turned and walked back down the balcony.

Tomorrow, he walks away from TB's office for good and heads south to East Carolina.

TB will miss his friend Scott Jurgens.