March Of The Tigers II

TigerBlog's gym has a bunch of televisions on the walls.

If you go early, as TB did yesterday, you can see either the morning shows or SportsCenter. TB hardly pays attention to either, and the TVs are all muted anyway. 

Every now and then, something will catch TB's eye. Such was the case yesterday, when he saw a graphic on ESPN that asked "what will Zach Martini's holdout mean for the Cowboys."

As it turns out, actually, it said "Zack Martin," not "Zach Martini." 

Zack Martin is a Cowboys' offensive lineman. Apparently his holdout is a big deal for the Dallas offense.

Zach Martini is a member of the Princeton men's basketball team. He's not, as far as TB knows, planning to hold out.

What Zach Martini can do is say that without him, there would have been no Sweet 16 trip for the men's basketball team this past season. The same is true of a bunch of the Tigers, up and down the roster. 

In fact, that was the name of the first episode in the series "March Of The Tigers" that you can see on goprincetontigers.com. It was called "1 to 16," meaning it took every single team member to make it happen.

The second episode is entitled "Going Dancing." 

The first two episodes in this series have been extraordinarily well done. 

The "Going Dancing" one takes you right back to that magical Sunday in March, when Princeton first knocked off Yale to win the Ivy League men's tournament and then had the NCAA tournament Selection Shows for the men and women in Jadwin Gym.

Does it get much better than that? 

Reliving it all in the middle of the summer is great. For TigerBlog, there were a few parts of the Yale game that he didn't really remember, such as the way the first half ended, and watching the video was a great reminder.

Plus, if you're a Princeton fan, it can't help but make you smile to revisit it all. 

The videos are really well made. The interviews really punctuate it all, and they also give you great insight into the personalities of those who made it happen.

For instance, there is Matt Allocco, the second-team All-Ivy League selection. Allocco, a rising senior who is known as "Mush," is spoken of as a coach on the floor. Tiger head coach Mitch Henderson mentions how Allocco can lead both the team and the coaching staff. 

It made TB think of Henderson himself back when he was a player on the great Princeton teams of the mid-1990s. That, of course, made TB wonder is maybe one day Allocco will be a Princeton coach, following in a long line of former Tiger players who have gone on to join the staff through all the years.

Anyway, once again, "March Of The Tigers" delivers.

Lastly, for this week at least, TigerBlog wants to congratulate Abby Meyers on making the most of her two-week emergency contract with the Washington Mystics of the WNBA. The Princeton alum scored her first WNBA points and made a name for herself with her hustle, team-first mentality and desire.

He's not 100 percent sure the way contracts work, but the Mystics had to release her after the two weeks. 

The WNBA website lists Meyers' team affiliation as "TBA." Meyers, TB figures, has not scored her final points in the league. 

Oh, and one thing TB doesn't like: that same WNBA website says that Meyers "played college basketball at Maryland." Uh, yes, she did. For one year. The majority of her career was clearly spent at Princeton, where she was the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year. Maybe a little mention of that would be great. 

Speaking of Meyers, THIS STORY by Jenn Hatfield from The Next Hoops website is tremendous. It definitely captures Meyers and her time with the Mystics.

And that's that for this week. 

There are now six weeks left until the first Princeton athletic event of 2023-24, which will be a women's soccer home game on Aug. 25.

Circle that on your calendar. Watch the "March Of The Tigers" video.

And have a great weekend.