Fish Tales

TigerBlog came so close yesterday to do something he'd never done before.

Inches away. Maybe less than a second away.

And then the fish wriggled free of the hook and, boom, was back in the water and gone forever.

TigerBlog's friend Rich and Rich's friend Mike took the novice fisherman out on Mike's boat, out into an inlet that was apparently loaded with trout, redfish, flounder and others. For TigerBlog, it was probably his fourth or fifth time in his life that he'd been fishing, and he had a perfect record prior to yesterday. He'd never caught one.

Fishing isn't quite TigerBlog's thing. He loves fish, specifically those on the menu at a nice restaurant. Actually catching them? Not easy.

Or maybe it is easy, except TB has never pulled it off.

He seems to be doing everything right. He can cast. He reels it in. There's just never anything on the end of the line.

When he went out yesterday, he threw his line in the water his first time and nothing happened. Then he threw it in again, only this time he felt the unmistakable tug of a fish.

He started to reel it in. Mike acted like it was no big deal. He catches fish all the time. Then Rich pointed out to Mike that TigerBlog had never caught one before, which left Mike more unimpressed with TB's fishing ability than he seemed to be before, if that was in any way possible.

The fish was putting up a reasonable fight, but TB thought he had it under control. Closer and closer he came to the boat, and TB was ready. First fish ever.

He even got him out of the water, nearly into the boat. And then? Splash. And he was gone. Or she.

The big question then became whether or not it counted as an actual caught fish. Rich was ready to give TB the benefit of the doubt. Mike just smirked a little more disgustedly.

As for TigerBlog, to his credit, he said the first one has to be clean. All the way into the boat. If he doesn't have a picture of himself with the first fish he ever catches, well, then he still hasn't caught one.

TigerBlog's new theory is that the fish - a trout, Rich said - told the other fish that he was going to mess around with the guy who never caught one before and was going to get almost into the boat before he bailed out. When he got back to the water, all the other fish probably gave him a high-five, or at least a high-fin.

Anyway, TB was bummed, but not terribly. He figured he had plenty of time to get another one. Except he didn't. He cast his line another 100 or so times, and came back empty every time.

Why is TB sharing this?

Well, it's the week of the Fourth of July, that's why.

Of every week of the year, this is the week that year after year seems to have the lowest readership. If you're reading this, that makes you a diehard, and TB is therefore grateful.

Still, it's not a day to go into some deep topic on Princeton Athletics. TB can save that for next week.

The Fourth of July is not a time for college athletics. When you think Fourth of July, you think hotdogs and hamburgers and cookouts and beaches and pool parties and of course fireworks.

FatherBlog lives on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, and fireworks are visible from his window every year. There are always fireworks at Princeton for the Fourth of July. TB has gone a few times, and they're pretty good ones.

TigerBlog once saw the Beach Boys on the mall in Washington, D.C., one Fourth of July. That was pretty high up on the Americana scale.

This year, the Fourth of July comes on a Friday. That makes for a long weekend for pretty much everyone, one made longer if you take off today or even all week.

It's the right time for it.

It's just that it cuts into readership. Almost nobody is reading this week.

Coming attractions for the blog include more World Cup stuff, even if the U.S. is already out of it. And hey, one more thing, why is everyone saying the U.S. did so well this time or established itself as a player on the world stage when four years ago - when Bob Bradley was the coach - the U.S. won its group and made it to the same round before being eliminated? Just wondering.

What else will there be? TB isn't quite sure yet actually. Some Princeton 2013-14 year in review stuff. Some looks ahead to the new year, with new Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux.

And the usual other stuff. Some knocking of the Little League World Series. Probably some questions about marketing and videostreaming and what the future is.

And definitely football, especially the excitement of Princeton football as it heads into 2014.

And hey, maybe even a caught fish for TigerBlog one day.

But that's all a little ways away.

Today? Not much. Just a trout that got away.

And a wish for a happy, safe, fun Fourth of July weekend for everyone reading.

TigerBlog appreciates the diehards.