Ashleigh And Kat

TigerBlog had the song "Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong" in his head for most of yesterday.

You know the song. It's by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes.

It's probably because TB wrote about "An Officer And A Gentleman," which is featured prominently in the movie. An instrumental version plays at the end, when Richard Gere carries Debra Winger out of the factory in one of the most romantic moments in movie history.

Don't believe TB? You can see it HERE for yourself.

The one HERE is a bit less romantic.

Anyway, this got TigerBlog thinking about what the single most romantic moment in movie history is (note - musicals don't count, because they would have the top 50 or so).

He came up with THIS. 

Or maybe THIS.

Definitely not THIS.

On further consideration, TB will put the Richard Gere/Debra Winger scene is in the top three.

By the way, if you didn't recognize the movie clips from above, the romantic ones were from "Notting Hill," which TB saw for the thousandth time Sunday morning and "The Best Years Of Our Lives," which TB has also seen way more than once.

"The Best Years Of Our Lives" is from 1946. It won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Harold Russell, who was actually a World War II vet who lost both of his hands and had to use the hooks that are featured in that scene.

Anyway, all day yesterday, there was TigerBlog, with the song in his head. "Love lift us up where we belong, where the eagles cry, on a mountain high."

TigerBlog thought it was "where the eagles fly," not the "eagles cry." But it said "cry" when he double-checked the lyrics online. And when he listened to the song again, it's definitely "cry." Why would the eagles be crying? Wouldn't they be flying?

Anyway, that lasted until late afternoon, when it suddenly was replaced by "Badlands," a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band song. "Badlands" is off the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" album, though the best versions of it that TB has ever heard have been live versions.

So there was TB, switching to "I believe in the love that you gave me. I believe in the faith that can save me" in no time. And he didn't have to check those lyrics.

Luis Nicolao, the head women's and men's water polo coach at Princeton, is probably a bigger fan of the Boss than TigerBlog.

It was Luis who sent TigerBlog a picture yesterday of his goalie, Ashleigh Johnson, and fencer Kat Holmes. The two were on a shuttle in Houston, about to board a flight to Rio.

Johnson and Holmes are two of Princeton's 13 athletes who will be competing in the Summer Olympics, which begin later this week. They are unique among Princeton's contingent in that they are the only two who are current undergraduates, both of whom took the past year off from school to focus on getting to Rio.

Johnson is the goalie on the U.S. women's water polo team. She is among the best, if not the best, water polo players in the world, and she is one of the main reasons that the Americans are heavy favorites to win gold.

Holmes, whose weapon is the epee, will be competing in the individual and team competition.

And there they were in the picture Luis sent. Beaming.

Why wouldn't they be? They're off to the Olympic Games.

There are so many millions (billions even) of kids around the globe who play sports. So many of them dream of getting to the Olympics. And so few of them actually do.

TB's friends in the University Office of Communications put a story up yesterday about the Princeton athletes in the Olympic Games. You can read it HERE.

The story includes this quote from Ford Family Director of Athletics Mollie Marcoux Samaan:
"The success of our current and former athletes at, in many cases, the highest level of their sports speaks to both the breadth and the quality of our athletic program and the pride the University takes in its athletics programs. These athletes are shining examples of the ability of Princetonians to balance their pursuit of academic excellence with their desire to realize their athletic goals."

That's really it in a nutshell.

It's the ability of Princetonians to balance their pursuit of academic excellence with their desire to realize their athletic goals. And nowhere is that more true than when the Summer Olympics roll around.

The look on their faces shows that they are giddy kids, about to compete on the biggest stage.

It's what's inside that really makes them different. TigerBlog has said this a million times, but he often looks at the athletes with whom he works and wonders where people like this come from.

It makes them the easiest athletes in the world to root for, especially for the next two weeks.