There were very few days between, oh, seventh grade and high school graduation that TigerBlog was not in contact with his friend Gavin Quill.
They were in pretty much every class together. They played basketball in TigerBlog's backyard for hours. They hung out in Gavin's neighborhood, along with Gavin's twin brother Sean.
Even though TB hadn't seen Gavin — who attended Harvard — since sometime in the late 1980s, he still thought of him as one of the best friends he'd ever had. His name would come up now and then, always followed by a "definitely should reach out to him," only to have that fall by the wayside once again.
There was a time maybe 25 or so years ago when Gavin was living in Vermont that TB did in fact talk to him. The men's lacrosse team was playing at Dartmouth, and TB said he could swing by on the way. Though they did make plans to do so, they were cancelled at the last minute. Gavin had a fever of 104, or maybe it was his wife, or one of his daughters.
Next time, TB probably said.
There would be no next time. There won't be, actually.
Another friend from high school whom TB hadn't heard from in forever reached out a few days ago with the news that Gavin had passed away. It smacked TB in the face in a forceful, sad, horrible way.
He didn't even know until he read his obituary that he learned that Gavin had become a grandfather. There was a picture of Gavin with it, and wow, he looked exactly the same all these years later.
Suddenly, the last 40 or so years were gone. TB was back in high school, back with his friend. It was like no time had passed at all, like all of those hours spent together were yesterday.
They aren't, of course. Reality set back in. Gavin had died of lymphoma. TB is left to wish that he'd stayed in touch.
There's no segue for that. There's no catchy transition or pun or anything. There's just another friend, gone way, way too soon.
*
The Princeton women's lacrosse team will be home tonight against Stony Brook. The Tigers are ranked sixth in this week's IWLCA poll; Stony Brook is 19th.
The teams are a combined 18-4 and a combined 7-0 in their leagues.
Oh wait. It's not tonight. It's at 4 this afternoon.
It's a good thing that TB looked that up, since he'll be covering the game. He just assumed it was at 7. Again, it's at 4.
Princeton is sizzling as it heads into this game. The Tigers lost their opener to Virginia but have ripped off nine straight, most recently a 12-11 win at Cornell this past Saturday.
Was it a nailbiter? It certainly was at the end. It didn't start out that way, not after Princeton built a 10-1 lead. Credit Cornell for not giving up. Credit Princeton for not panicking.
Stony Brook comes into the game with a record of 9-3, with all three losses by a single goal — to Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and Colorado. The Seawolves have won their last four, crushing Delaware, Vermont, William & Mary and Monmouth.
Crushing? Yes. All four wins are by at least eight goals, and the average margin of victory is 12.5 goals. Stony Brook has reached 20 goals twice in that stretch and have reached at least 16 goals in eight of 12 games.
Will offense be the theme of the night late afternoon?
Princeton ranks first in the Ivy League and seventh in Division I in scoring offense at 16.0 goals per game. Stony Brook ranks 13th, at 15.0 goals per game.
Ah, but both teams are also excellent defensive teams. Stony Brook, in fact, is fifth in Division I, allowing 8.0 goals per game. Princeton is 29th, allowing 10.1.
The subplot of all things Princeton women's lacrosse is the record-chasing. McKenzie Blake had six goals against Cornell, bringing her career total to 192. That leaves her 17 away from tying Kyla Sears' career record of 209.
Haven Dora is 15 assists away from tying Sears' record of 98. Sophie Whiteway has 192 draw controls, second-best all-time at Princeton, 22 behind Marge Donovan's career record.
It figures to be a good one this afternoon. After this, it's four Ivy League games to end the regular season, the next of which is Saturday against Columbia, also at 4.
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