TB1GOAT

TigerBlog was minding his own business the other day when he stumbled on what has to be his biggest fan.

And no, he's not talking about his cousin Janet, who did check in yesterday to confirm that she had read Monday's entry, in which TB suggested that it would be a good test to see who would contact him first, his cousin or his brother. For the record, BrotherBlog still has not gotten back to him.

No, this time it was someone he didn't recognize, though it had to be someone who really, really, really likes reading TigerBlog.

How else would you explain his license plate? It read "TB1GOAT."

TigerBlog1, which is actually TB's Twitter handle. And GOAT. As in "Greatest Of All Time."

That's become a huge 

TB was flattered.

The only thing he couldn't figure out is why there was a New England Patriots license plate frame, given that TB doesn't usually root for the Pats. Surely someone who was that big a fan of TB's would know that, right?

Wait. What?

Is it possible that the TB1 wasn't about TigerBlog? That it was about the Patriots' quarterback?

Nah. No way.

Whoever the driver was, TB thanks you. Would you like an autograph?

TB wasn't really sure what he was going to write about today, and then he saw the license plate. Yes, he knows. It was really about Tom Brady.

But what else is there to talk about today?

Well, he can wish his friend and colleague Jon Kurian a happy birthday. Kurian, the Assistant Director of Athletics for Business Operations, personifies a lot about what Princeton Athletics wants to be - he's hard-working but he likes to have fun as well.

Plus, he texted TB the other night to let him know the "Les Miserables" 25th anniversary concert special was on PBS. TB much prefers the 10th anniversary one, but the 25th is good too.

So happy birthday Jon. 

What else?

The track and field trip to Italy continues on with a meet today in Rome before the team leaves tomorrow for Florence and then later Milan. Yesterday's biggest stop was at the Vatican.

There was also this on social media, comparing the Roman ruins to longtime Princeton men's track and field coach Fred Samara.

https://t.co/nJbz9SbwWH

— Princeton Track/XC (@PrincetonTrack) June 18, 2019

When TB runs into days like today, when he can't really figure out what to write, he likes to go back a year or 10 or somewhere in between to see what he wrote then.

Going back exactly 52 weeks ago, TigerBlog's subjects were: 1) how he had nothing to write about, 2) how it was going to be the longest day of the year (with a reference to Daisy in "The Great Gatsby"), 3) how hot it was and 4) the change to the football schedule.

Taking them in order ...

First, he has nothing to write about today either. Second, yup it'll be the longest day of the year and the start of summer in a few hours.

Third, the temperature in Princeton a year ago was right around 100, with high humidity. TB does not remember that.

He can tell you that it's been a really wet spring around here, and yesterday was no exception, with massive storms in the late afternoon which dropped a lot of water in not a lot of time, causing flooding, downed trees and closed roads.

But hey, at least it wasn't 100.

As for the third, TB wrote about how the Princeton football season was going to end with a game against Penn, with the Dartmouth game shifted from Week 10 to Week 8.

TigerBlog wrote about the season prior to last year when Princeton ended its season against Penn, with this:
It was back in 1885, when the season ended against Penn. Now, 133 years later, Princeton will, for the second time ever, end the season against Penn. Would the Tigers sign up now for a repeat of the way that year went? Well, Princeton went 9-0 that year, finishing the year with a 57-0 victory over the Quakers.
Princeton actually played Penn three times that year, winning all three by a combined 213-20. TigerBlog will go out on a limb and say Princeton will not beat Penn 57-0 this year.

At the time, he had no idea about how the coming season was about to go. He had no way to know that Princeton in 2018 would match what Princeton had done in 1885, with another perfect season.

Also, the game against Penn wasn't 57-0. There were 56 points scored in the 2018 Princeton-Penn finale, with 42 of them from the Tigers.

And lastly, when TB wrote about Dartmouth in Week 8 as summer approached last year, he mentioned that it was going to be played a few hours before the clocks would be turned back in November. It all seemed so far in the future.

If TB was better at predicting the future, he would have added that the 2018 Princeton-Dartmouth game was going to be the best Ivy League football he's ever seen.