Closeness

On November 13th, Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence. That request came from his wife. Deep down, he knew she was right. He also knew that someday he would return to her. With no place else to go, he appeared at the home of his childhood friend Oscar Madison. Several years earlier, Madison's wife had thrown him out, requesting that he never return. 

If the world was a fairer place, then TigerBlog would have woken up this morning to a text from his friend Digger, like he did every Nov. 13. It's "The Odd Couple Anniversary," and Digger never missed it. 

There'd even be an accompanying photo. Perhaps this one:

Of course, the world isn't always fair, and so Digger — Steve DiGregorio, the former Princeton assistant football coach and longtime New Jersey high school coach — passed away more than two years ago. 

Zack DiGregorio, the oldest of Steve and Nadia's three sons, was in the press box at Princeton Stadium Saturday during the Tigers' game against Yale. So was Marc Ross, Class of 1995, one of the many former Tigers who played for Digger.

When TB introduced them, they immediately posed for a selfie to send to another former Princeton player from the 1990s, the running back Bill Jordan, with whom Zack had recently had dinner. It's always great to see the Princeton Athletics relationships that endure through the decades, as well as the next-generation ones that build off of those relationships. 

Ross, by the way, is currently one of the leaders of the XFL and an NFL Network commentator, as well as the possessor of two Super Bowl rings as an executive with the Giants. Should the team regret letting him go? Well, did you watch the Giants and Cowboys yesterday? 

Here is the picture they took:

The game that they saw, that everyone at Princeton Stadium saw, was another that has defined the 2023 Princeton season: Close. 

Princeton played its final home game of the year with the 36-28 overtime loss to Yale, and here is how they went: 

* 16-13 overtime loss to Bryant
* 10-7 win over Columbia
* 12-9 loss to Lafayette
* 21-14 win over Harvard
* 36-28 OT loss to Yale

Princeton opened the season with what would be, by 2023 standards, a blow out, with a 23-12 win over San Diego. The other three away games? A 28-27 loss in overtime to Brown. A 14-3 win over Cornell. A 23-21 loss to Dartmouth.

That's five games that have been decided by three points or fewer. When was the last time Princeton had a season with five such games? 

That would be 2005. When was the last time Princeton played three OT games in a season? That would be never. 

Princeton isn't the only Ivy team who is playing close games in 2023. In fact, of the four games this past Saturday, there were three that went to overtime — a total of six OTs. Princeton lost in two overtimes. Brown beat Columbia in one OT. Harvard beat Penn in three OTs.

That last one, by the way, was the defining game in the league race. Harvard now is 5-1 and has clinched at least a share of the championship, and the Crimson would win the outright title with a win over Yale. Should Yale win that game, then there would be a shared championship between the Bulldogs and Crimson, and it would become a three-way championship if Dartmouth defeated Brown.

Also, should Yale beat Harvard, then it would be the third time in league history that there had been a two-loss champ. 

There was no doubt in TigerBlog's mind that the Princeton-Yale game was headed to the wire. It was inevitable. 

It was a 14-14 game after three quarters. Then there were 28 more points scored in the fourth quarter. After having four touchdowns and 14 punts on 18 drives between the teams, there were four straight TD drives. 

Neither team scored on its first possession of the overtime. Yale then got a touchdown and two-point conversion, and the game ended after Princeton turned it over on downs on its second possession. 

That's the razor-thin margin that has been by far the norm in 2023 Ivy football.