Welcome Back

TigerBlog is looking forward to today's U.S. Open men's semifinals, especially the one between Ben Shelton and Novak Djokovic. 

Shelton is unseeded and Djokovic has won more Majors than any other men's player ever. Still, TB is thinking Shelton is going to win. He looks like he could possibly overpower Djokovic.

At the same time, TB does like Djokovic. He likes him even more after he grabbed the stadium mic and sang "You've gotta fight, for your right, to parrrrrr-ttttyyyyyyy" with the New York crowd after his quarterfinal win. 

Despite that, TB is saying it'll be Shelton who moves on to the final. Bold pick, no?

In Princeton Athletics news, is it a really new academic and athletic year without the annual "Welcome Back" staff meeting? 

That event was yesterday morning in the Frist Campus Center, and it brought together the entire department for some reacquainting, updating and general socializing. Hey, there was even lunch afterwards. 

The highlights? 

Well, there was a short video on the rules of fencing, as well as an invitation from Princeton fencing coach Zoltan Dudas to be part of staff lunchtime fencing, coming soon to Jadwin C level. TigerBlog is definitely in for that. 

There was a video of last year's athletic successes, of which there were many, along with some of the off-field successes. Among the latter group was a mention of TB's colleague Warren Croxton, who was last year's Division I Water Polo Sports Information Director of the Year.

There was an update on the facilities that are being built, and if you've been on the campus of late, you know there are many of those.

The meeting started with all the new employees, who lined up in the front and said their names and where they were from. It made TB think back to the first of these meetings that he attended, a long, long, long time ago, and what he might have been thinking. He doesn't know exactly what that was, but he does know that on his interview, when asked where he saw himself in 5-10 years, he said: "Princeton."

Though he's close to the top, TigerBlog is not in the top four in tenure in this department. Those four would be Nancy Donigan from compliance, Stacie Traube from football, Steff Sutton from ticketing and Steve Verbit from football. Their names were on a slide, and Verbit was honored as the one with the longest tenure, dating back to 1986.

Mostly, there was Ford Family Director of Athletics John Mack, who is a great public speaker. He speaks from the heart, without too many notes. He can be funny and serious, often in the same sentence. 

He mentioned the major upheavals this summer in the world of college athletics, and framed Princeton's unique place as a program that has the kind of success it does (26th in the Directors' Cup this past year) with its educational component, commitment to the student-athlete experience and stability of its league.

He also said that it's a privilege to work in this department and at this University. He's completely right about that.

Meanwhile, on this weekend's schedule, there are 15 different events, with only two teams at home. The first team is the men's water polo team, which hosts its Invitational at DeNunzio Pool today and tomorrow. 

The other is the field hockey team, who has its home opener Sunday at noon against Rutgers, after playing this evening at Delaware, where game time is 5 pm. That's two more ranked opponents — Rutgers is 12th; Delaware is 19th) — for a team that started its season with 2-1 losses to No. 5 Louisville and No. 2 North Carolina.

Next up after Rutgers? That would be No. 4 Maryland Thursday afternoon in College Park.

The complete athletic calendar is HERE.

Meanwhile, back at the meeting,

At the end of the meeting, Mack asked everyone to put themselves out there and meet people from other areas of the department whom they had never met before. Shake hands with five people you don't know. Don't sit with the people you see every day. Get out and see teams you've never before seen play.

He also talked about how much the people in the department work to make sure the student-athletes have the best experience possible but that it's also important the people who work here also have that kind of experience. TB never thought of it in that way, but it does resonate with him.

Maybe that's why he's been here for as long as he has.  

Where are you going to work and have a better experience than he's had here?