Yo, Yo, Yo, Yoshi

TigerBlog flew out to Dayton earlier this week.

Actually, he drove from here to Washington, D.C., met up with TigerBlog Jr. and flew from Reagan National to Dayton. That's where Miss TigerBlog ’22 lives these days. 

The occasion was her birthday. TB said he would come out and see her, but he didn't mention that he'd talked TBJ into coming as well. When she saw her brother outside her apartment, she sprinted over to him and gave him a huge hug.

It was a wonderful scene. TB would call it a top 10 all-time moment between the two of them. 

It was a really quick visit. Out one day, back the next. The flight itself is about an hour, but that doesn't take into account that TB then had to drive back from D.C. after they landed. 

Oh well. MTB appreciated it. And TB still gets chills thinking about the way his children hugged each other. 

Also, there was the matter of the flight out there and the pilot.

As is the case on all flights, the captain came on beforehand to say how long it would take, what the weather was, all the usual. In this case, he said that there was a chance the flight could be rerouted to Louisville because of thunderstorms in the Dayton area, but he didn't think that would be the case.

His exact words: "We'll get you to Dayton in time for a Reds' win tonight and then hopefully a Bengals' Super Bowl win this winter."

As it turned out, the plane landed in Dayton without much fuss. When it came time to get off, TB decided he wanted to stop by the cockpit and ask the captain a question. Is that allowed? Would he end up in TSA detention? 

As he approached the front of the plane, he asked the flight attendant if he could ask the pilot a question. The flight attendant then made sure it was okay, and TB stepped forward, pretty certain that the pilot was expecting a question about aviation. Instead, there was this actual conversation:

TB: Cincinnati fan, huh?
Pilot: A huge one.
TB: What do you think of Andrei Iosivas?
Pilot: Love him. He's the missing piece to the Super Bowl. 

Iosivas has certainly resonated with Bengals fans in a very short time. He also seems to be a popular teammate, even if there is some issue with the pronunciation of his last name in the Cincinnati lockerroom.

When Iosivas first arrived at Princeton, TB assumed his name would be pronounced "EYE-oh-see-vas," sort of like it's spelled. Instead, when TB asked him, Iosivas said it was "YO-see-vosh." 

Princeton fans quickly figured that out. It's taking his new Orange and Black team a little longer to get up to speed, as you can see in this outstanding video:

.@AndreiIosivas we will stick with Yoshi 😂 pic.twitter.com/aY6N5WgGvp

— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 15, 2023

Yoshi. That works. Yo-Yo-Yo-Yoshi. Pete Carril would have loved it.

Yoshi's next chance to make an impression comes tonight, when the Bengals take on the Falcons in Atlanta at 7:30. 

Elsewhere, Princeton's NFL contingent all play tomorrow: Denver's Henry Byrd (at San Francisco), Chicago's Stephen Carlson (at Indianapolis) and Las Vegas' Jesper Horsted (at the Los Angeles Rams).

This is the time of year when TB checks the transactions and team webpages, hoping to find them all still there. So far, those four are all hanging in.

He's also looking to see where John Lovett might land. Lovett, the only two-time Bushnell Cup winner in Princeton football history, was released by the Dolphins after he decided not to go on the season-ending injured reserve list. Of course, if you do a search for "John Lovett NFL," you'll learn there are two of them who are trying to make an NFL team, as the other John Lovett – who played at Baylor and Penn State — was just released by the Steelers.

There's also a coach named John Lovett, who coached under both Buddy Teevens and Tim Murphy at Miami and Cincinnati. 

And that's it for this week. 

Princeton Athletics 2023-24 begins one week from today, with women's soccer at home against Monmouth. Almost everyone gets going the following weekend. 

In the meantime? Enjoy the weekend.