Princetoniana

It's easy, TigerBlog knows all too well, to take for granted the uniqueness and special nature of Princeton University.

When you go there every day, like TB does, then it's easy to forget that you're on a campus with a history and beauty that a very, very few in the entire world can match.

Every now and then when he least expects it, TigerBlog gets a subtle reminder. One such reminder came yesterday, in the form of an email from Dan Day, his colleague in the University's communications office.

Dan's email included a link - this one, to be exact - that took TB to the Princetonian section of the princeton.edu website.

TigerBlog was actually asked two weeks ago or so to put together some pictures of Princeton's spring athletic teams for the Princetoniana site. In all honesty, he'd forgotten about it until Dan's email.

TB had never been on the Princetoniana site before that email. Now? He could spend hours and hours on that site and check out every corner of it.

If you're a history fan and a Princeton fan, then there aren't too many better intersections.

The word "Princetoniana" conjures up images of what TB was trying to express about the beauty and uniqueness of this place. The site itself is endless reinforcement of that.

The first place TB ended up was on Princeton's oldest newreel footage, dating back more than 100 years, to the inauguration of Princeton president John Hibben. Among those in the video are U.S. President William Howard Taft and the man who would take over for Taft, former Princeton president Woodrow Wilson.

Then there was the "Princeton postcards" section. These were actual postcards of Princeton campus scenes through the years.

Many of the places that are featured still stand in pretty much the same exact manner as they did back then. It's not always easy to place them, though, as so many other surrounding landmarks weren't there yet.

TigerBlog's favorite is No. 14 - the boathouse, with water that winds around in front of it.

Anyway, the site is incredible, especially for someone like TB, who appreciates stuff like this.

Then there's the newest section, the one with the pictures from Princeton athletics. The request TB got was for a mix of old and new pictures, and that's certainly what the final project reflects.

There are 35 pictures in the slideshow, and they aren't labeled. The first one is of an 1800s baseball team. The last one is of the 1992 men's lacrosse team as it celebrates the NCAA championship.

Picture No. 4 appears to be Emily Goodfellow, a 12-letter winner and an early women's sports pioneer here, as she cradles her stick in lacrosse in only one hand. Yeah. That's Emily. She looks the same now.

Picture No. 5 got TB wondering if the high jumper clears the bar. Picture No. 10, is that in Palmer Stadium?

Picture No. 24 is a modern-day men's rowing team. Picture No. 25 is the same team, decades and decades ago.

Picture No. 30 is Julia Ratcliffe, a wide-angle view from the ground up in the hammer circle.  No. 33 is Ashleigh Johnson, who is effortlessly deflecting a shot before it reaches the top corner of the goal. There aren't many water polo goalies in the world who could have made that save.

There are a handful of pictures that fit the profile of what is known as "jubo," or jubilation.

For sheer unbridled jubo, though, it's hard to beat a picture that wasn't part of the Princetoniana website.

No, this one was a picture of Charlie Weaver, the younger brother of Princeton shortstick defensive middie Bobby Weaver. It's a screen shot of the ESPN3 broadcast of the Tigers' 11-7 win over Cornell in the Ivy League tournament semifinals this past Friday.

TigerBlog saw Charlie during the game. He was hard to miss. He wore a Princeton lacrosse t-shirt - shortsleeve, on a chilly evening - and a Princeton lacrosse hat, with Princeton sweats.

He knew every Princeton fan, and they all knew him. He was by far the most excited person in the facility when Princeton scored. He even high-fived TigerBlog.

It was yesterday afternoon when Princeton men's lacrosse coach Chris Bates sent the picture to TigerBlog, and TB couldn't help but smile at the sheer joy and love that Charlie reflects as the final seconds tick away.

It might not be part of the website display, but that's Princetoniana.

At its finest, actually.