Soccer Trumps Meth For A Night

TigerBlog can't imagine which storylines were passed over before the AMC executive stopped and shouted "this is the winner" when he got to "underachieving high school chemistry teacher finds out he has terminal cancer, turns to cooking crystal meth to make money for his family for after he dies."

Anyway, that's the basic plot of "Breaking Bad," a show to whose party TigerBlog has been very late getting to, though now that he's here, he figures he'll stay til the end.

"Breaking Bad" ran for five seasons and 65 episodes on AMC before coming to a close almost exactly one year ago. TigerBlog never got into it, for whatever reason.

Maybe it's the premise. It's not that Walter White couldn't or wouldn't become a great meth cooker. It's not that he wouldn't be too concerned about getting caught.

It's that you have to assume that he doesn't care about the people who ultimately take the stuff he makes and what it does to them and to society. That's sort of a hard thing to overlook.

As an aside, in a great moment of irony, TigerBlog just got an email announcing the University's new chemistry website: http://chemistry.princeton.edu. TigerBlog hopes that all who learn there use that knowledge for good, and not how Walter White used it.

Or at least uses it through the middle of Season 2, which is as far as TB has gotten to date. It's the new way to watch a show. All 65 episodes are out there, just waiting to be watched, whenever TB has the time.

With Season 4 of "Homeland" coming up, TB is debating not watching it until it's all aired and then going with all 12 episodes in a week or so.

Meanwhile, back at "Breaking Bad," the show has some great characters, beginning with Walter and Jesse and continuing especially with Hank, the brother-in-law in the DEA. He's not just a cop. He's in the DEA. That was a great touch by someone. Anyway, Hank is a great, great character.

Hank's wife Marie is another great character. Skyler, Walter's wife, is very, very good; the son, Walter Jr., brings little to the table so far. There have also been some great fringe characters as well.

There are also some hysterically funny moments, as well as some that make you close your eyes and look away. So far, TigerBlog gets why so many people loved the show.

TB won't be watching much of it tonight, not with Princeton men's soccer on ESPNU against 13th-ranked Georgetown at 7. The game will be played on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium, and admission is free.

Georgetown has become a soccer power. The Hoyas were the NCAA runner-up two years ago, and last year they were the sixth-seed in the NCAA tournament before losing in the Round of 16 to No. 11 Michigan State.

Princeton is 1-1-1 on the season; Georgetown is 2-1-3, though their three ties are against the No. 5, No. 6 and No. 14 teams in the country. Princeton has gone from loss to tie to win in its first three games.

If you're quick, you noticed that Georgetown has played twice as many games as Princeton, and yet the Tigers have scored almost as many goals as the Hoyas, trailing just 9-7.

And Princeton's total of seven goals in three games includes one 0-0 tie. Of course, the goal total was helped considerably by a five-goal outburst against Seton Hall in a 5-4 win Sunday.

Princeton is playing its third straight Big East opponent, or at least TB thinks that it's the third-straight Big East opponent, if Seton Hall, St. John's and Georgetown are all still in the Big East.

After tonight, there are still three more non-league games (against Boston University, Drexel and Binghamton - TB is guessing Patriot League, CAA and America East) before the Tigers play Dartmouth (definitely in the Ivy League; TB is sure of it).

For tonight, it's a chance to take on a national contender at home - and on national TV to boot. The TV truck has been parked on the gravel road by the tennis courts and 1952 Stadium all week, as the Princeton women's 2-1 win over Villanova was also on ESPNU.

That begs the question - when was the last time ESPNU did consecutive games by one school's women's soccer team and then men's soccer team. It can't happen too often.

Anyway, it's going to be another perfect weather night in Princeton. There is no excuse not to either be there or to watch it on TV.

For TigerBlog, he can hold off on the crystal meth for a night.