ID Morning

TigerBlog saw a headline yesterday on ESPN.com that proclaimed that college football season was a mere 100 days away.

TB thought about that and figured 100 days seems like a long time. After all, it's more than three months.

Then he thought back to 100 days ago, which would take you to Feb. 15, or only 10 days prior to the start of Princeton lacrosse season. And that feels like it was 10 minutes ago.

TB then looked at the Major League baseball standings and realized that more than a quarter of the season has flown by already.

TB had no idea that the Baltimore Orioles had the best record in the American League. He definitely had no idea that the Los Angeles Dodgers had the best record in the National League.

If the playoffs started today, the wild card games would be Toronto at Tampa Bay in the American League, with the Orioles, Indians and Rangers having won their divisions. In the National League, it would be the Mets at the Braves, with the Nationals, Cardinals and Dodgers all waiting.

How cool would that be?

It's a weird time here at Princeton Athletics.

Every regular season event for the academic year is over. There are still athletes competing in track and field this weekend at the NCAA regional in Jacksonville, with an eye ahead to the NCAA Championships in Des Moines in two weeks.

The NCAA women's rowing championships will be held this weekend at Mercer County Lake, and the men's national rowing championships are next weekend.

Princeton also has three tennis players competing this weekend in NCAA competition.

In many ways, the athletic year is over.

Still, until the last athletes compete, it's not really over.

And the feeling around here changes dramatically once three events happen in rapid succession: the Princeton Varsity Club banquet, Reunions and graduation.

Once all that happens, then it'll really feel like summer around here. For now, it's a bit of an in-between time, with some typical in-season responsibilities wrapped around the end of the regular run of game after game after game.

This morning, the members of the Department of Athletics needed to congregate in the lobby of Jadwin Gym to get new University ID cards.

TB lost his old one years ago, so he had to get a new picture taken for his. Unlike most people, TB likes his picture on his ID - and on his driver's license. 

As the process went on, he was struck by the fact that head football coach Bob Surace was waiting his turn patiently in line, behind other coaches and staff members.

TB couldn't help but laugh at the high percentage of BCS head football coaches who would view this as being completely beneath them and who would never lower themselves to standing in line. When TB brought this up to Surace, he laughed and told TB some stories he's heard about some of his head coaching colleagues from the BCS level.

Luis Nicolao, the ultra-successful water polo coach who took the men to the Final Four and the women to sixth place in the NCAA this academic year, just walked in as well, talking about how he had to get his ID picture taken.

In the meantime, Nicolao talked about some old Springsteen concert videos that could be seen on backstreets.com, before he went back to get in the ID line.

It's been that kind of morning around here.

TB can sense the end of the year and the coming of summer, even if it's not quite here yet. There are still all kinds of things to be done, though nothing at this moment seems all that pressing.

On the other hand, 100 days are going to go by relatively quickly. And it'll all be starting again soon.