The Fifth Of July

TigerBlog would like to talk today about a pivotal issue in Princeton, Ivy League and national collegiate athletics.

It'll be pretty in depth, with some serious statistical analysis of some recent trends. It may get a little long and technical.

Oh, who is TB kidding.

It's the Friday after the Fourth of July. Hey, he's not even sure if today is a work day at Princeton.

Actually, it is.

Princeton takes off for six holidays during the year: the Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Memorial Day.

TB has worked, by the way, on all of those holidays except for the Fourth of July. As Hyman Roth said, this is the business we've chosen.

Anyway, today could be the slowest work day of the year for Princeton Athletics. TB doubts Jadwin will be packed at all.

TB won't be there. He has to go to Long Island.

Suppose you had to go from Princeton to Long Island today and had to be there at 4. What time would you leave?

It's possible that the traffic could be so bad that TB should have left by now. Or, if TB leaves at, say, 11, it's possible he'll be there three hours early.

There are eight weeks until the first athletic event of 2013-14. The women's cross country team will run at the Lehigh Invitational on Aug. 31.

Between now and then, there will be a lot of summer camps at Princeton. It's the season for summer camps, which dominate the summer landscape at the University.

There will also be vacations. There's a vacation calendar each summer in the OAC, and each summer, there's something like two days or so when everyone is in the office.

There will also be time to plan for 2013-14. There is a website redesign coming. There is the launch of the Ivy League digital network.

There will be some new faces in the athletic department, especially now that Erin McDermott is leaving to be the AD at the University of Chicago. There's always turnover in the summer, has been every year.
Still, there's nothing really all that pressing today.

It's just a quiet, hot day in early July. And not just any day in early July. It's the day after the Fourth of July, and a Friday no less.

If the Fourth of July was on a Friday or Monday, then it clearly would be a three-day weekend. If it was on Wednesday, it splits the week up pretty nicely but doesn't turn it into a five-day weekend.

That leaves Tuesday and Thursday.

If it's a Tuesday, then most people would probably be in on Monday. If it's a Thursday?

Forget just Princeton Athletics.

TB wonders what percentage of people in the U.S. are working today. People who have regular work weeks, that is. Short of an actual holiday, there have to be fewer people working today than any other day, with perhaps the exception of the Friday after Thanksgiving and maybe between Christmas and New Year's.

So there's no in-depth look at issues in Princeton Athletics or any other kind today.

Nope, today is pretty slow.

So TB hopes everyone had a great Fourth and that you're among what he suspects is the majority of those who have the day off.

Have a great weekend.

Be back Monday. For now, it's off to Long Island.