Oxford vs. Cambridge

During his recent English travels, TigerBlog found time to go to the campuses of both Cambridge and Oxford Universities.

First of all, it's really hard to imagine colleges that dwarf Princeton University in terms of age. Both of those schools go back several centuries more than Princeton does, which is just astonishing. 

Teaching at Oxford goes back to 1049, which is before England was even England. Cambridge only goes back to the 13th century.

While at Oxford, TB toured the Bodleian Library, which is the school's main research library. It's actually way more than that, since it's also the home to more than 13 million printed items and, as one of six "Legal Deposit" libraries in the United Kingdom, it is entitled to request a copy of anything that is printed in Great Britain.

The amount and age of the books there are as extraordinary as the architecture. At one time, the books were actually chained to the shelves to prevent their unauthorized removal. These days, they're still under 24 hour control, only now each and every volume there has its own alarm.

Apparently, they have always taken this very, very seriously. There's a plaque that makes this point clearly:

"When the library opened, scholars began to come from all over Europe to read the books. These were so valuable they were not permitted to leave the reading rooms — even King Charles I, who asked to borrow a book in 1645, was refused permission."

If you know English history, you know that Charles I ended up having his head chopped off. It's possible Charles I didn't take no for an answer on the whole book thing. 

As he walked around Cambridge, TB thought of John McPhee and how he studied (and played basketball) there for a year after graduating from Princeton in 1953. 

Walk around Oxford, and you can't help but think of all of the Rhodes Scholars who have studied there, including 17 Princeton athletes. The most notable of them, of course, was Bill Bradley, who attended Oxford after leading the Tigers to the 1965 NCAA Final Four and before he won two NBA titles with the Knicks. 

Oxford is located in the Cottswolds, an area northwest of London that is famous for its, well, nothingness, as in miles and miles of protected lands. There are small English towns that dot the landscape, and, like the rest of the country, there are public walkways — footpaths, they're called — that allow anyone to walk along those areas, even if they cut across someone else's property. Walk along them in the Cottswolds and you're likely to see way more dogs and sheep than people.

Cambridge sits 100 miles away to the north and east. Like Oxford, the schools are actually made up of dozens of separate colleges under one name (the rowing powerhouse Oxford Brookes is a completely separate entity not part of Oxford University). Also, their campuses are spread out throughout the town, and in fact Oxford says that the entire city is its campus. 

Their rivalry, of course, is quite legendary. It's most famous for "The Boat Race," which matches Oxford and Cambridge on the Thames (though not where Henley is). The first race was in 1856; Cambridge has a lead of 86-81 in the series, with a dead heat in 1877.

During his tour of the library at Oxford, TB's guide refused to say the name of "that other school," in much the same way as people from Princeton and "that other school" (the one ironically in Cambridge) do the same. She did point out that Cambridge was formed by a group of Oxford students who broke away.

The experience at the two schools is very similar. TB actually finds it fairly interesting in that he has spent so much of his life on the campuses of the most prestigious universities in the United States (including his long-time employer, which is THE most prestigious) and yet he was a bit overwhelmed by being at Oxford and Cambridge.

Did he like one better than the other? Probably Oxford, if he had to choose, no offense to Mr. McPhee.

Anyway, that's today's conversation. It's not exactly in-depth Princeton Athletics for today, but there is something about seeing those two campuses that should appeal to any Princetonian.

And there are now six weeks until the 2023-24 athletic season at Princeton begins. 

In the meantime, have another great summer weekend.