Shazam

TigerBlog recently downloaded the "Shazam" app.

He doesn't really have a lot of apps on his phone. He's assuming he has way fewer than the average person.

He has Twitter. And one game that he likes to play, Scramble Words. He plays with a total stranger whom he's never met and knows nothing about, other than they're pretty evenly matched in Scramble Words.

What else? He has the Yahoo sports app, from which he can get scores. And Map My Walk. And Beat The Traffic. And WatchESPN.

That's really it.

To that list, he can know add "Shazam."

If you don't know what "Shazam" is, it's an app that listens to a few notes of a song and then tells you what the song is and who sang it. TigerBlog loves this.

He assumes the app connects to a few huge music databases, which is probably how it works. A brief search shows that the app claims to be able to identify 15 billion songs; TigerBlog didn't know there were 15 billion songs.

He's put it to the test, with some songs off his iTunes that might be a bit obscure, but the app has come through every time. Well, almost every time. TigerBlog was able to mess with "Shazam" on a few live versions of songs.

The app has proven to be especially valuable when TB and Miss TigerBlog are in the car together and MTB is insisting on playing her music, such as it is.

The other day was a good example. The two drove to Baltimore for a fall lacrosse tournament, and MTB of course dominated the radio. The frustrating thing for TB - other than how awful the music is that MTB listens to - is that MTB rarely knows who sang any given song.

So there was TB, armed with "Shazam."

Incredibly, he heard the same Selena Gomez song four times and never realized it was the same song, since he checked it each time. The same with Ariana Grande. And there was a Justin Beiber song. TigerBlog cringes.

Anyway, that's TB's new favorite app. "Shazam." Too bad it's not a sponsor of Princeton Athletics.

There's another new app that TB just got. It's the Tiger Universe app.

This one is run by Princeton's Assistant Director of Athletics for Marketing Carolyn Cooper. It's a pretty cool app, with points awarded for attendance at Princeton events, prizes awarded for accumulated points, the ability to post pictures and other things.

As such, there are points to be won for attendance for five different sports this weekend at home. There is men's and women's swimming and diving. There is men's squash.

There is men's hockey, with St. Lawrence and Clarkson in town tomorrow and Saturday.

And there is the Dillon Gym men's basketball game Saturday night.

Ah, Dillon Gym. Where Bill Bradley played. Where Butch van Breda Kolff coached. Where Gary Walters played. Where Cappy Cappon coached - and ultimately died, after suffering a heart attack in the showers there in 1961.

The list of early Princeton basketball legends who played at Dillon Gym is a long one. Princeton has had 30 players in its men's basketball history who have reached the 1,000-point mark. Of those 30, there were nine who played in Dillon Gym.

Jadwin Gym has been Princeton's home for men's basketball since Jan. 25, 1969, when the Tigers and Penn played the first game in the new multi-purpose building. Before that, Princeton played its games in Dillon Gym from 1947-69.

Now, after all that time, Princeton will go back, as the Tigers will host St. Peter's Saturday at 9 p.m.

Princeton will wear throwback style uniforms. And play in the small, throwback gym.

It should be a fun night. Hopefully the students will attend in large numbers, drawn in by the curiosity of it and the proximity to the middle of the campus.

As for the basketball game, Princeton won its opener against Rider last Friday night and looked very good doing so.

St. Peters, for its part, beat Princeton 60-46 last year and then beat Brown 77-65 before losing in OT to Lafayette 87-86. Next up for the Peacocks is a home game tonight against Hartford.

This is the home opener for the Tigers, who will play their remaining 11 home games this year back in Jadwin, including Wednesday night against Lafayette.

Devin Cannady scored 17 points in his first game as a Tiger. His 17 points were the second highest total ever by a Princeton freshman on opening night, behind the 25 that Douglas Davis scored against Central Michigan in 2008. Just as it was obvious that night that Davis would be something special, it's just as obvious that Cannady has that kind of potential as well.

Plus he was just plain fun to watch in the first game. The second game will be fun for the location alone. 

Well, hopefully not alone.