It's Banquet Night

Apparently, TigerBlog isn't the only one who doesn't like raccoons.

Remember the story about the raccoons in the Franklin Field press box during a men's lacrosse game that TB shared a week ago? Well, afterwards, he heard from a bunch of people who mentioned that their take on raccoons goes from "they're kind of freaky looking" to "they scare the heck out of me" to the best response: "I. Hate. Raccoons." 

That last one doesn't leave room for equivocation.

TigerBlog actually found a Wikipedia page entitled "List Of Fictional Raccoons." Seriously. Click HERE for it. 

While reading that page, TB learned that the mascot for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid was a raccoon named "Roni," which is "raccoon" in the Iroquois language.  

Is this a cute mascot? 

Ah, but one of the responses he got was different than the rest. It came from Sue Tucker, who has, in all likelihood, seen more Princeton sporting events than you have.

Sue is the team videographer for a few sports here and has been for many years. She's traveled to so many away games that there's no way she knows exactly what that number would be.

At the recent Ivy League men's lacrosse tournament, she filmed Princeton's semifinal win over Yale, drove all the way back to New Jersey to film a high school game and then drove all the way back to Ithaca for Princeton's win over Penn in the final.

That's dedication.

TigerBlog knew Sue's father Lou, who filmed Princeton men's basketball games when TB first started traveling with the team. In fact, TB was on the bus one late night when Lou, seated behind TB, fell asleep leaning against a cooler, leading Pete Carril to walk by, wake him up and say "Yo, you can sleep anywhere you want on this bus. You can sleep in the john if you like. But you can't sleep on my beer."

Yes. Things were way different back in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Anyway, Sue reached out to TB to correct one thing about the raccoon story. TB wrote that he was the only one in the press box that day, but no, Sue was there too.

In fact, this is what she said: 

By the way - I was a witness to the racoon event you mentioned in a recent blog. You were to my right on the radio. I was at midfield shooting game film. I do recall the size of the raccoons. Hadn't thought of that for quite awhile!

So that's the whole raccoon story for now. 

Seguing, while there are still athletic events to be contested for Princeton teams this academic year, tonight is the Gary Walters PVC Awards Banquet.

It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone. The banquet is always the start of a breathtaking sprint of banquet, Reunions, Class Day and the Commencement. 

The campus will just feel different for the next few days. It'll be packed with people for something so special, and, because Princeton engenders a lifelong loyalty that is astonishing, something that is not replicated anywhere else to TB's knowledge.

The banquet has grown from its origins with a handful of people to something that will draw nearly 1,000 people. It's a time to give out departmental awards, including some that have already been announced, like the Class of 1967 Citizen-Athlete Award, which will go to Stu Francis of the Class of 1974:

J. Stuart (“Stu”) Francis ’74, a captain and Ivy champion for Princeton golf, accomplished businessman, and dedicated volunteer and advocate for sport and the arts, is this year’s Class of 1967 PVC Citizen-Athlete Award recipient, presented by the Princeton Varsity Club for selfless and noble contributions to sport and society. Francis will be honored at the Gary Walters ’67 PVC Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 23, in Jadwin Gymnasium.

You can read more about Stu HERE.

The Marvin Bressler Award winner is Dr. Mike Gross: 

Dr. Mike Gross, who leads Princeton’s sports psychology services and has been an invaluable resource for Tiger teams and student-athletes, has been named the recipient of the 2024 Marvin Bressler Award which is presented to that member of the Princeton family who, through heartfelt support of the University's student-athletes and coaches, best embodies a belief in the lifelong lessons taught by competition and athletics as a complement to the overall educational mission.

And you can read more about Mike HERE.

There are also the awards for the student-athletes, all of which have had finalists announced. You can see all that on the webpage.

Mostly, it's about the seniors, the ones who are about to take their Princeton diplomas and head out down the long road of being alums. The audience tonight will be filled with their parents and families, to be sure, but also to an army of athletic alums throughout the decades, all of whom benefited from the same experience as Princeton Tigers in whatever form it took.