That Was Fun

John Mack, the Ford Family Director of Athletics at Princeton, sent an email out to the staff yesterday thanking everyone for everything that was done this past weekend to make so many events go so smoothly.

To paraphrase one part of the email, Mack mentioned how happy everyone seemed to be, despite how much had to get done. 

Yesterday afternoon, TigerBlog was talking to the very amiable Melissa Stephens of the Princeton Varsity Club, and she said it must have been a long weekend at the Ivy field hockey tournament. TB's response was three words: It was fun.

In fact, TB also mentioned that to someone else with whom he spoke this weekend. To paraphrase TB, he said something like he "definitely found the right career, since the games still get him fired up after all these years."

That's the way it has to be, and that's always been TigerBlog's way of thinking. If you don't love the games, you can't work in college athletics. Why would you want to work all those nights and weekends otherwise? 

This weekend was as busy as any TB has seen here. There were the two Ivy League tournaments — field hockey and women's soccer — that were added to an already typically loaded crossover season schedule, and that made it something different than has ever happened here.

And yet, everything went smoothly. 

If you don't consider all of the moving pieces that go into a weekend like this, that's good, because it means it's all under control. That doesn't happen accidentally though. 

TB reached out  to Princeton's Associate AD for Event Operations Karen Malec and asked her if she could remember any weekends like this one. If there has ever been anyone who has worked here and done so much while ducking any chance to be in the spotlight, it's Karen Malec, a former Princeton University Presidential Award winner. 

This is what she said:

"Everything was a blur."

When TB first texted Karen yesterday, she responded by asking him to call her. Then she did what she always does: gave all the credit to her staff.

"They did it all," she says, "and I supported them."

There were a lot of "them" out in force this weekend. TB doesn't want to overlook anyone, but here's just some of the rundown:

* the field hockey tournament was run by Ieisha Jackson and Shane Williams
* the women's soccer tournament was run by Samantha Gudger and CJ Ford
* Karen and CJ covered the men's soccer game against Penn Saturday (which had a huge crowd)
* Karen covered men's hockey Friday night
* Ieisha and Michael Huggins covered football Friday night
* Jon Kurian covered men's hockey Saturday night
* Kaitlin Dobiesz and Jack Jephson covered the swimming and diving meets Saturday
* Ryan Statham and Matt Duker covered tennis at the new Meadows Facility
* Mike Mix covered women's volleyball in Dillon Gym

They were there before sunrise over the weekend. 

"We all bounced around from one thing to another," Malec says. "We enjoy what we do. This is what you look forward to, and it's a challenge when your teams are doing so well. Everyone contributed, and everyone had a positive attitude."

The two tournaments also required Princeton Athletics staff to serve as team hosts. Those who helped out were Melissa from the PVC, Jess Muroff, Tiffani Stefanchik, Mike Medley, Katie Lytle, Nancy Donigan and Gabby Callaway.

Now you can multiply that out across every division of the department, and you get a sense of what went on this weekend. And that doesn't even take into account all of the PA announcers, student-workers, stat-keepers, camera operators and everyone else who was there. Oh, and Shelley Szwast. How many pictures must she have taken?

Like Karen Malec, these are not people who seek out the spotlight. To do almost every job in Princeton Athletics, you have to be okay knowing that there are a handful who get all the glory and a big portion who get none.

It's definitely a "check your ego at the door" situation.

It's also something that can't be a chore. It has to be a labor of love. 

Just ask Karen Malec, who said this: "We're all exhausted now, but we all had a fun time."

It was that kind of weekend at Princeton.