Shoveling Into Spring

Well, it was only 10 days ago TigerBlog that was out at the pool in Florida. 

Yesterday? There were six inches of snow to be shoveled. That's probably what he deserved for his week in Florida, but what did the rest of you do to deserve this? 

The forecast here was for mostly rain, with a foot of snow in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Instead, it appears that the bulk of the storm was centered somewhere around Central Jersey and New York, leading to a rarity — a day when the Princeton campus was closed to "non-essential workers," a group that includes TigerBlog. 

Not to worry, though. He is still here today. 

He might be a little sore, but he's here. This was the big, heavy wet snow, the kind that's hardest to shovel. On the other hand, he didn't have to go to the gym yesterday after that workout.

Ah, but with each shovel-full that had to be removed from the driveway, TigerBlog kept having the same thought go through his head: "It's nearly spring."

Well, that, and "what does the groundhog know anyway?" He also went back to his youth, when he would shovel his driveway just wide enough to get his mother's car out of the garage. Even then he hated to shovel.

There may be a few more weeks of winter, but it's also the opening weekend for the Princeton men's and women's lacrosse teams. Next week, those two will be joined by baseball and softball. 

Feel the warmth?

The college lacrosse season actually began two weeks ago, if you can believe it. The 15 Ivy League teams will join the fun this weekend.

The Princeton women will be at Virginia at noon. The Tigers were picked to finish second in the Ivy League preseason poll.

The Princeton men will be at Monmouth at noon. These Tigers were picked to finish third in the Ivy League preseason poll.

It'll be 38 for a high in West Long Branch Saturday. It'll be 46 for a high in Charlottesville. 

The women's game matches the 18th-ranked Cavaliers and the 19th-ranked Tigers, according to the USA Lacrosse poll. Virginia, 16th in the coaches' poll, has already played twice and won both of those, defeating Liberty and Stanford. 

The men's game might not be a home game, but with this year's schedule, it sort of is. Princeton plays 13 regular season games, and eight of those are on the road. A trip to Monmouth? That's nothing, an hour on the bus. Next weekend it's at Maryland. The weekend after that it's at North Carolina and Duke. After that, it's another short road trip, that one to Rutgers. 

The men do have their home opener Tuesday night against Manhattan at 6. The women are at Penn State next weekend and then play their home opener against Rutgers on Feb. 28, at 7.

Princeton's men are currently ranked 11th. They will be looking for a third-straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

This weekend will also feature the Princeton women's water polo invitational at DeNunzio Pool. Even if it's indoors, women's water polo is still a spring sport.

Princeton plays Harvard Saturday at 11 and Siena Saturday at 5 and then Mount St. Mary's Sunday at 11:30 and San Diego State Sunday at 4:30.

The San Diego State women's water polo team will play Siena and La Salle Saturday and Wagner at Princeton Sunday. There are 14 California players and no players from any other states on the team. There are also eight international players, with two from Canada (who presumably are not strangers to winter), one from Spain, one from England, two from Australia and two from New Zealand. 

TB remembers when the NCAA men's championships were held at DeNunzio (in 2009), and there was snow on the first day. The California teams? They were bewildered by the snow, but you know what even more of an adjustment to them? 

Playing indoors. 

Anyway, there figures to be plenty of snow still on the ground for San Diego State's arrival. 

Then again, it is time for spring — at least the spring sports season.

Hopefully that means no more shoveling for this winter.