The Pep Rally

What one thing could an adult see that would immediately turn that adult back into a child?

Before TigerBlog answers, let him say that perhaps he's not the right one to ask this question, given the fact that even into his 50's, he 1) thinks the perfect drink for any social occasion is Yoo-Hoo, 2) loves when he's flipping through the channels and stumbles on the start of a Bugs Bunny cartoon, especially one with Yosemite Sam and 3) can recite Dr. Seuss books from memory.

So let's go with the assumption that he's talking about normal adults here.

So what is it that can transform a normal adult back into a child? He asks this in a good way. Not a brat. And he doesn't mean immaturity. Into a young, optimistic, wide-eyed child?

And the answer is:

The ice cream truck.

C'mon, admit it. Go ahead. It's okay.

You get a bit nostalgic when you hear the bell ring on the truck, before you can ever see it in your neighborhood. It takes you back to when you were a kid and you'd hear those same bells, and you had to run to find your mother and get a dollar or two before the truck passed by your street.

Then, when the truck stopped, you looked at the menu on the side, with the pictures where everything looked so cool and inviting. And then? You got the same thing you always got. 

Yesterday afternoon around 4 in the apron outside of DeNunzio Pool and Jadwin Gym, the ice cream truck stayed parked and nobody needed to get any money from a parent. Nope, this time it was free.

The occasion was a bit of a pep rally, one to celebrate the success of Princeton's spring athletic teams and to give the women's lacrosse team a send-off as it left by bus for the short trip to Trenton-Mercer Airport, where its charter flight to Raleigh-Durham waited to take the Tigers to the NCAA quarterfinals against Duke.

The big winner from the ice cream truck appeared to be the vanilla ice cream between the two chocolate chip cookies. Or the snow-cones.

Luis Nicalao, the water polo coach whose own women's team competed in the NCAA tournament a week ago, stared longingly at the big picture of an ice cream sandwich on the side of the truck. TigerBlog knows for a fact that multiple people went back for seconds.

It was a nice pep rally, a celebration of a very good spring. It was a light moment for the women's lacrosse team, but when the bus pulled away, the trip became all business.

Princeton is 16-3 and playing at its very best when it needs to most. The Tigers defeated Fairfield and No. 6 Stony Brook last weekend on Long Island to reach the quarterfinals.

Princeton has won eight straight, finishing its 7-0 run through the league and winning the Ivy League tournament along the way. Of the five Ivy League teams to play in the NCAA tournament between the men and women, the Princeton women are the only ones to make it through the first weekend.

Erin McMunn enters the game tied with Lindsey Biles, a 2005 grad, for second all-time at Princeton with 221 career points. It'll take a pretty big effort to catch Crista Samaras for first, as she has 270, but still, with all of the great players who have ever played at Princeton - three NCAA championships and 23 NCAA tournaments worth - to be second is extraordinary, especially when you consider she is the career leader in assists.

Princeton and Duke are both led this season by players who have 70 points, both on 49 goals and 21 assists. For Princeton it's Erin Slifer. For Duke it's Kerrin Maurer.

Slifer, by the way, has 98 career goals. Olivia Hompe has 115 points, making her the fourth sophomore in program history to reach 100 points.

The teams have two common opponents, as both have beaten Georgetown and both have lost to Virginia. Duke has a loss to Johns Hopkins, just as Stony Brook did, for whatever that's worth.

Duke is 14-3 in NCAA games in Durham. On the other hand, Duke is 6-8 in NCAA quarterfinal games.

 The all-time series is close, with Duke up 9-8. They've played twice in the NCAA tournament, and each has won once, both in overtime. The Blue Devils defeated Princeton 10-9 in two overtimes two years ago.

Duke had a first-round bye and then defeated USC 17-9 in the second round to get here.

The game starts at 1 tomorrow. It should be in the 90s.

For the winner there is a trip to the Final Four next weekend in Philadelphia.

Should Princeton get there, it would deserve an even greater send-off than yesterday, something better than an ice cream truck.

Oh wait. There is nothing better than that.