Missing The Fireworks

TigerBlog was at a wedding Saturday night.

A bride named Linda. A groom named Rich. A second wedding for both. TigerBlog is pretty sure there won't be a third for either, and he wishes the newlyweds nothing but happiness.

TigerBlog isn't a dancer, so weddings aren't exactly his favorite things. His cousin Brian recently got married and did not invite TigerBlog, something for which TB will be eternally grateful to Brian for, even if FatherBlog and BrotherBlog were both there.

Linda and Rich had a nice wedding, even if it had a lot of dancing. And it had something a little different to it than any other wedding that TigerBlog has ever attended.

The ceremony was performed by a close friend of the bride and groom who had gone online and gotten, what, ordained? Certified? Something that made it legal for her to perform the ceremony.

She wasn't a member of the clergy or a judge or anything, just someone the bride and groom were both close to for a long time. It certainly made the ceremony more personal.

TB has heard about this before. Bryce Chase, a longtime member of the men's lacrosse program, has performed two weddings. Erin McDermott, formerly the Deputy Athletic Director here and now the AD at the University of Chicago, officiated at her brother's wedding - marrying her brother, as it were. TigerBlog's brother-in-law Joe flew from Seattle to Milwaukee to officiate a wedding this past summer.

The wedding Saturday started at 5, and as such, TigerBlog had to miss the Princeton-Davidson football game, which kicked off at 6. And the fireworks after it as well.

For the record, TigerBlog likes fireworks more than he likes dancing, though fireworks aren't his favorite thing either. They're great in the beginning, but then it all starts to look the same. 

Anyway, by all accounts, the night managed to go well even without TB there.

Dre' Nelson ran the opening kickoff back for a touchdown, and Princeton never looked back, winning 56-17. A crowd of 15,205 saw the game and stayed for the fireworks.

Hopefully those in attendance will be back.

Why wouldn't they be?

Princeton certainly put on a show offensively. Quinn Epperly ran for four touchdowns and 118 yards while completing 15 of 18 for 176 yards. Those numbers are pretty much what Dick Kazmaier used to put up routinely.

The supporting cast was there as well. Princeton had six players catch at least two passes - including one quarterback, Kedric Bostic. Connor Michelsen was 5 for 8 for 69 yards of his own.

Princeton has now reached at least 50 points six times in its last 10 games. The Tigers are also seven points ahead of where they were a year ago after two games, when they set the Ivy record for points in a season - though they do trail Yale by 18 points after the way the Bulldogs have exploded for 103 in two games, including a monster win over Army this past Saturday.

TigerBlog would say more about the game the other night, except he wasn't there for it. He was wondering if that was first one in the new stadium that he's missed.

When he went back to see, he came up with one game prior to this one that he missed. He had to cover soccer a few times and that caused him to not see the entire football game on the same day, but he saw at least half of those football games.

No, the only other game at Princeton Stadium TB did not attend was the 1999 game against Yale, which the Bulldogs won 23-21. TB was with the men's basketball team in Syracuse at the time.

He'll be back for the last four games this year. Princeton is off to a 1-1 start, one that really hasn't proven much of anything in terms of what the Ivy race holds.

It'll be awhile before the Tigers get back to Powers Field at Princeton Stadium. First up is the Ivy opener at Columbia, to be followed by the final non-league game at Colgate.

Then it's home for Brown and Harvard back-to-back. Come the end of October, the league race - and Princeton's place in it - will be pretty clearly defined.

The fireworks of opening night will be a distant memory by then. Still, it looked like a great night at the stadium - even if TigerBlog missed it.