Three Memories

Today's subject is Memories.

* 

It dawned on TigerBlog yesterday that it had been exactly 25 years to the day that he and Tom McCarthy flew to Hawaii for the 1998 Rainbow Classic men's basketball tournament.

Now that was a great trip. 

Princeton defeated Florida State, Texas and UNC Charlotte on three consecutive nights to win the tournament title on the home court of the University of Hawaii. The championship trophy was presented to the Tigers by the Hawaii AD, who wore shorts, a flowered shirt and a lei. 

Because Princeton kept winning, it kept playing at night, which meant that there was time in the afternoon to enjoy Waikiki Beach. If you've never been, the last week in December is a reasonably good time to go.

There is no memory of that trip that is a bad one for TB. Even the long ride out there had its funny moments. 

The team had gone out the day before, but TB and McCarthy waited until Dec. 26. Their first flight got into San Francisco late, past the time that the connecting flight for Hawaii was leaving. The flight attendants assured TB and McCarthy that the second plane would wait for them, and as it turned out, it did.

Of course that plane was a 747, a full 747 at that. And TB and McCarthy were the only two people on the first flight who got on the second, which at least was at the next gate.

As the two walked down the aisle, to row 52 as TB remembers, the pilot made an announcement thanking everyone for their patience and saying that they were waiting for two people from a flight from Newark. This in turn was greeted with boos and calls to leave them, which is what you might expect from people who were hoping to get to Hawaii as quickly as possible.

TigerBlog tried to walk as quickly as he could to his seat, but Tom just took his time, stopping to wish people happy holidays, apologize for being late and, in the case of one completely bald man, ask him if he shaves his head every day.

Ah, the memories. Has it really been a quarter-century? 

*

It's been two years, not a quarter century, since TB wrote a feature story about Roko Pozaric of the men's water polo team. The occasion was the team's trip to the NCAA tournament that year, and TB's memory is speaking to Pozaric in DeNunzio Pool before the team went to the airport. 

HERE is the link to the story. Here is a quote from Pozaric:

“I was stressed a lot about coming here,” Pozaric says. “I’d never been to Princeton before. I’d never been to the United States before.”

TB's memory of talking to him when he was a freshman is that he was almost a bit shy. He guesses that Pozaric has become more acclimated to America. 

Now that he's a first-team All-American and all.

Pozaric came to Princeton from Croatia with no idea to expect. He recently became the first Princeton men's water polo player to become a first-team All-American when the team was announced last week. 

That honor followed Northeast Water Polo Conference Player of the Year Award honors as he led the Tigers to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament. And he has one year left to go.

*

Lastly, TB remembers traveling with the Princeton baseball team to the 2016 NCAA tournament at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. That was quite a trip as well.

TB actually was disappointed when he saw that Lafayette was the destination. He had wanted to go to either Mississippi or Mississippi State because he thought he'd get the fullest college baseball experience there. As it turned out, he got all of that and more in Lafayette.

The fans were amazing. The tailgating was incredible. The in-game atmosphere was some of the best he's experienced at any event. And the food? Amazing.

TB remembers one local who came up to Princeton head coach Scott Bradley before the first game and asked him if he liked tuna. When Bradley said yes, he handed him some tuna, saying "I caught it this morning. You have to try it."

This was 45 minutes before first pitch.

The baseball team released its 2024 schedule last week, and included is a three-game series at North Carolina March 1-3. That coincides nicely with the men's lacrosse team's trip to the area as well, as the Tigers will play UNC on March 1 and Duke on March 3. 

TB doesn't have game times yet for lacrosse, but he's guessing you'll be able to see a lot of both teams if you're in the area. 

The whole baseball schedule can be found HERE.

The games themselves were spectacles.