Another Hall Of Fame For T

TigerBlog enjoyed the picture on Princeton men's hockey social media and on Sacred Heart's webpage of the Robbins brothers as they faced off to start the weekend's home-and-home series.

For the Tigers, it was Adam Robbins. For the Pioneers, it was Dylan Robbins. 

Setting the tone, Princeton's Robbins won the face-off. The Tigers took the game Friday night at SHU 4-0, and then the teams played to a 2-2 tie Saturday night in Princeton. 

As TB saw that picture, it got him wondering if there has ever been another family where one sibling played for Princeton and another sibling played for Sacred Heart. It didn't have to be limited to playing against each other in the same game. He was trying to figure out if there has been a family with one Pio and one Tiger.

Tough question. TB will think about it for awhile.

In the meantime, the update on the waitress who spotted TigerBlog an omelette in Orlando the other day is that TB went back, paid off the first one, ordered another and left a large gratuity. It was a nice act of kindness, something that is all too lacking these days.

TB's meetings in Florida were very productive and very fascinating. There's certainly a lot of discussion to be had moving forward, especially this coming June in Indianapolis when the men's lacrosse rules committee meets again to formalize any changes for the next two-year cycle. 

The highlight of the weekend, though, came Saturday night, when Bill Tierney was inducted into the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches' Association Hall of Fame.

If you're wondering why he wasn't already in, he long ago was inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The IMLCA version is relatively new, and Tierney only became eligible this year, after he retired from Denver.

It was at Princeton where he built much of his Hall-of-Fame resume. Actually, it was where he built all of it, since he was still Princeton's coach when he got into the National Hall, back in 2002. 

While at Princeton, Tierney took a program that had never been in an NCAA tournament and prompltly won six championships, in 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2001. Princeton remains the most recent team to win three straight. The 2001 title might have been the most emotional, as it was accomplished with his sons Trevor and Brendan on the team. 

The 1992 one might have been the most improbable, coming as it did after he told his first recruiting class that it would win an NCAA title its senior year, which is what happened. That it came at a time the team was 2-13 hardly mattered on that classic Memorial Day at Franklin Field in 1992.

Tierney left Princeton in 2009 to take over at Denver, who had never won an NCAA game until his arrival. He won it all there in 2015, making him the only coach ever to win with more than one team.

Tierney is a seminal figure in the sport's history. He has touched so many people, those who played for him and those who didn't, in ways they can't even begin to repay. There is no more loyal a group than Tierney's former Princeton players, who to a man know that they wouldn't have become who they are today without T's influence.

The same is true for TigerBlog. He knew nothing about lacrosse back in 1990, when he first met Tierney. The idea then that he would be on the NCAA rules committee one day for the sport? TB didn't know any of the rules before he met Tierney. It was Tierney who sat him down and taught him the basics and then slowly expanded to the strategic. 

He helped foster in TB a love for the sport that has lasted for decades. More than that, he has been someone TB knows he can always count on, for whatever the need. You're luck if you find someone like that in your life. 

Tierney also was TigerBlog Jr.'s childhood idol — "my friend Bill," he used to call him. Without that, TBJ would never have become a lacrosse player in his own right, and neither would Miss TigerBlog. Everything positive that has come out of the sport for TB and his children can be traced back to Bill Tierney. 

So would TB be there Saturday night to celebrate? Of course. It could have been in Orlando, Alaska, as opposed to Orlando, Florida. TB would still have made sure he was there. 

TigerBlog has been asked many times for a photo of Tierney with an NCAA trophy. The reality is he doesn't have any. Why? Because there aren't any. 

Bill Tierney was never about that. He was never about getting in front of the room to give an acceptance speech for an honor, even for a Hall of Fame.

Nope. He has always been about that day, what needed to be done, how to make his team better, how to make his guys better. Keep working. Keep moving forward. 

That's how he ended up in the front of the room Saturday night. He was introduced by his daughter Brianne, herself the head coach of the women's team at Kent State. Brianne's speech was everything you'd want from a moment like that — funny, serious, emotional and most importantly from the heart.

Then it was her father's turn to speak. It was classic Tierney. He was understated. He thanked everyone. He said, again, "remember what others gave up so you could achieve your success." He made it seem almost like he was a bystander during all of those years, that he was just fortunate to have been surrounded by everyone who did all the heavy work.

It's not true, of course. Yes, he didn't do it alone. Yes, he had a way of making everyone in his program regardless of role— including the communications person — feel like the team's success hinged on what that person did each day.

Ultimately, though, he was the force who drove it all. He was the innovator, the motivator, the aviator who flew his teams to heights they had never dreamed possible but that he made them reach.

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Finally for today, TigerBlog found an old picture the other day of him, BrotherBlog and first cousins Paul and Janet that was taken in 1987 at Paul and Janet's old house in Fair Lawn, N.J. 

When all four of them were together the other night, TB surprised them with the photo, and the four recreated it — 36-plus years later. Here are the two photos.

Pretty sweet, right? 

It was. Very.

Of course, TB couldn't help but think that back in 1987, all four of their parents were still alive. Shortly after the photo was taken, TB's Aunt Regina passed away, at the age of 53. His Uncle Larry lived until his late 70s. 

FatherBlog, now 88, is the only one of the four still alive. 

MotherBlog? She would pass away at the age of 55, in 1994. Actually, it was 29 years ago today. Candles burn for her today in TB's house and in BB's house, even if they're 3,000 miles apart.