One And Two

So what do you want to talk about during exam break? 

TigerBlog starts with his question of yesterday. Which quarterback do you want, Bryce Young or Tommy DeVito?

TB heard from a few people, and the common response was this: not ready to give up on Bryce Young, but toss-up at this stage. Also, pretty much everyone threw in a reference to Italian food.

The point isn't that TB thinks that DeVito will be a better NFL quarterback than Young. It's that Young, the No. 1 overall pick, a player for whom the Panthers traded away a lot to get, is no more of a sure thing than the undrafted free agent. 

And whose fan base is happier? Remember this next time you read all that draft coverage and hear from all those experts.

What else is there to talk about today? 

Men's lacrosse? Okay. 

The Premiere Lacrosse League published the results of its player survey to come up with the 50 best players in the league. When it's your peers who are voting, it's a pretty special honor.

After the PLL had announced its first 47 on the list prior to yesterday, it was clear that two of the final three were going to be Princeton alums. How could it be otherwise, when the names "Tom Schreiber" and "Michael Sowers" had yet to appear. 

To that point, the most interesting part was that Zach Currier was only 12th on the list. TigerBlog supposes that he gets it, since Currier is not a huge scorer, goalie or powerhouse defenseman. 

Perhaps if the question had been worded differently — say, something along the lines of "which player would you most love as your teammate and hate as your opponent" — then Currier would have been No. 1. Probably by a large margin. 

TB paid attention to the rollout on the PLL's X page Wednesday to see where Sowers and Schreiber would come in. He thought there was a chance Sowers would be around five or so, and when the list stopped for the day at No. 4 without him or Schreiber, he took that as a reminder of just how much respect they both have.

This is the other players, remember. This isn't a fan popularity contest (in which Schreiber and Sowers would also finish near the top).

TigerBlog's introduction to Michael Sowers came when Sowers played a few tournaments with TigerBlog Jr. back in, oh, the fourth and fifth grade years. Sowers then became a local high school legend, someone TB never got a chance to see in person.

When Sowers committed to Princeton, TB met him for the first time at another tournament, by which time Sowers had already begun his assault on the national high school record book. TB had the same reaction everyone does when they first see him: This is the guy? 

Then, when he first saw him play in the fall of his freshman year at Princeton, the answer was "yes, this is the guy." 

As for Schreiber, his reputation also was that of a great player before he ever got to Princeton. In fact, TB saw his assist on the St. Anthony's HS overtime goal to beat Chaminade for the Long Island championship. It was a ridiculous pass, and it was so much more impressive than if he had simply ripped a shot from the top of the box.

Between them, Schreiber and Sowers combined for 502 points as Tigers. No Princeton midfielder has ever scored more than Sowers (200 points). Nobody period has ever scored more than Sowers, who put up 302 in just 47 games.

The two were teammates this past summer on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the World Championships. They faced off in the PLL championship game as well, as Schreibers' Archers team dethroned Sowers' Waterdogs team.

Oh, and they are without question the two nicest people you could ever hope to meet. 

So all that was left was to see where they'd fall. TB assumed it would be Sowers third, goalie Blaze Riordan second and Schreiber first.

As it turned out, it was 1. Schreiber, 2. Sowers, 3. Riordan. 

That's a ton of respect for the two Princetonians from the rest of the league.

Anyway, have a great weekend. If you're a Princeton student, good luck on exams. If you're out of school, be glad you don't have to take them anymore.