Wouldn't It Be Nice

TigerBlog is pretty sure that he's spent more hours listening to music by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band than any other band. 

Who is in second? He'd guess the Beach Boys. With that, the news of the death this week of Brian Wilson was saddening.

Wilson was certainly a musical genius, that's for sure. His life was troubled with demons and a fight against mental illnesses, and even with that he led the band to make some of the greatest music ever made, with two of the greatest albums ever — "Pet Sounds" and "Endless Summer."

It didn't matter how cold or snowy it was outside. Just put on "Endless Summer," and you were immediately transferred to the Southern California surf. 

Consider the songs on the album "20 Golden Greats":

Side 1 — "Surfin' USA"; "Fun, Fun, Fun"; "I Get Around"; "Don't Worry Baby"; "Little Deuce Coupe"; "When I Grow Up To Be A Man"; "Help Me Rhonda"; "California Girls"; "Sloop John B."

Side 2 — "You're So Good To Me"; "God Only Knows"; "Wouldn't It Be Nice"; "Good Vibrations"; "Then I Kissed Her"; "Heroes And Villainas"; "Darlin"; "Do It Again"; "I Can Hear Music"; "Break Away."

Pretty incredible, no? And that doesn't even include other hits, like "Surfer Girl," "The Warmth Of The Sun," "In My Room" and "Surfin' Safari," among so many others. Oh, and "Little Saint Nick," a Beach Boys Christmas tune.

Sigh. Rest in peace, Brian. 

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Speaking of "Wouldn't It Be Nice," that certainly applies to the Princeton track and field team as it competes at the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore. As in "Wouldn't It Be Nice" if Princeton had a winner, or at least some of its athletes on the podium.

Actually, that should be "some more" on the podium.

Greg Foster became the first Tiger to earn first-team All-American honors at this year's championships after he took seventh in the long jump. Foster, a junior who leapt 25-7¼, earned All-American honors for the first time while making his third NCAA appearance. Malcolm Clemons of Florida was the winner, going 26-4 1/2.

Princeton had another All-American as well, as Joe Licata earned second-team honors by finishing 13th.

Harrison Witt had the third fastest time in the 1500 semifinals Wednesday at 3.41.98, which left him .31 seconds away from Adam Spencer of Wisconsin's top time of 3:41.67. 

The final, which could be riveting, goes off at 8:12 this evening. One hour later, Sam Rodman will run in the 800 final, after posting the fifth fastest time in Wednesday's semis. Casey Helm will be the first Tiger in action today when he competes in the discus at 5:15 Eastern. 

The Princeton women had three athletes compete last night: Mena Scatchard eased into the finals with the fifth fastest time; she will run her final race as a Tiger tomorrow night at 9:11 Eastern. Scott earned second-team All-American honors with an 11th place finish in the long jump, and she will now compete tomorrow in the triple jump. 

Shea Greene also earned second-team All-American honors with a 10th place finish in the javelin.  

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Two quick updates from yesterday's piece on the U.S. Open at Oakmont. 

First, Dave Giancola, the Princeton color commentator for football and men's lacrosse, spends his full-time days working for the USGA, which runs the Open. He texted this to TB this morning: 

Another fun Princeton connection to the USGA/U.S. Open - Stuart Francis was President of the USGA from 2020-2023. Will Green is the J. Stuart Francis ‘74 Head Coach of Men’s Golf. I saw Stu last night, one of the great great people

Also, it turns out that the blind date that Matt Ciciarelli set Craig Sachson up on didn't quite work out. Someone else set Craig up with his wife Jess. 

TB, for the record, has fixed up two different couples who ended up married. 

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Congratulations to TB's longtime friend and colleague Mike Mahoney of Penn Athletic Communications for being recognized with the College Sports Communicators President's Award. 

The wording: Introduced in the 2014-15 academic year, this award recipient is selected by the reigning College Sports Communicators President. This award serves to honor exemplary service and leadership within the organization's committee structure in support of programs that benefit CSC members.

You won't too many better people than Mahoney, even if he is a Quaker. TB tries not to look down on people from Penn (though for the record, Mahoney is a Dartmouth grad). 

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Have a great weekend everyone and a Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads. 

And a happy birthday to Zack DiGregorio tomorrow. No more eulogies for a long time, Zack, no matter how good you are at them.