They Couldn't Have Been Nicer

It's a Friday in the summer. 

Read this, and then go and enjoy your weekend, whatever that involves. 

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It's somewhat fitting that TigerBlog spent much of this week discussing the 1975 NIT championship won by Princeton. Why is that? It's because today would have been Pete Carril's 96th birthday.  

Carril, who passed away nearly four years ago, was the head coach of that team that won the NIT, as well as 28 other Tiger teams during his Hall of Fame career. In all, he went 514-261 at Princeton, with 13 Ivy League championships and 11 NCAA appearances. Some of those NCAA games you might remember. 

TigerBlog received this email earlier this week, after his piece on the 1975 NIT. It came from Jordan Becker, Class of 1982:

Further to your piece today--back in October, on "Orange & Black Day" I co-organized a gathering for Westchester, NY alums in Sleepy Hollow at JP Doyle's Restaurant. We were gathered in a back room, when a tall man came in and asked if this was a Princeton gathering. I said, yes, and he mentioned that he had played basketball at Princeton. He introduced himself as Armond Hill, and said that he, Pete Molloy, Mickey Steuerer, and Barnes Hauptfuhrer were coincidentally in the restaurant having dinner together. Attached is a picture of some of us with the champs. They couldn't have been nicer.

TigerBlog has met all four of those players and can vouch for the fact that they couldn't have been nicer. To this day, Armond Hill remains one of TB's favorite people that he's worked with at Princeton. 

TB asked Jordan if could use the picture and if Jordan could ID the others in the photo, and here was his response: 

Other than the basketball players--

Front row Bill Bandon '83, Patricia McKeogh s'83, Florence DiStefano Hudson '80, Rick Lipkin '83

Middle row:  Jacqueline Carr '00, George Hudson s'80

Back Row--Jordan Becker '82

Go ahead and use it!  Give Bandon the credit for organizing it. Although I was a co-organizer, he really did the work.

 

Good work, Bandon. And thanks for the heads up, Jordan. 

 

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Speaking of basketball, Princeton alum Kaitlyn Chen is now in her second year as WNBA player, with the Golden State Valkyries. Here are her year-over-year numbers: 

 

Last year: 2.0 points per game, 38 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from three
This year: 7.2 points per game, 56.3 percent from the field, 43.3 percent from three

 

You read that correctly. She's shooting 56.3 percent from the field. That's ninth in the WNBA. 

Chen is averaging 11.0 points per game in her last five, shooting an insane 24 for 37 from the field during that time. That's 64.9 percent. She's also 2 for 7 from three in those five games, which puts her at 22 for 30 on two-point attempts. That's 73.3 percent. 

If you're not doing anything tonight, you can head up to Uncasville, to see the Valkyries and the Connecticut Sun. 

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Pet Peeve Department: 

TigerBlog has a few pet peeves. Among those are people who say "whom" when they should say "who," people who block the aisle in the supermarket with their carts and people who root for Harvard or Yale. 

Hey, here's a good idea. If you get a dog or a cat, name it "Peeve." Then you can say "this is my pet Peeve."

Another traditional pet peeve for TigerBlog is when a Princeton alum pro athlete is referred to on television by the school he or she attended as a grad student. This happens with the aforementioned Kaitlyn Chen, who won an NCAA title as a grad student at UConn, and with a few Princeton player in the Premier Lacrosse League. Stop putting "Duke" next to Michael Sowers for instance. 

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TigerBlog sends his condolences to the family and friends of Dick Brown, Class of 1965, who passed away last week. Princeton has not had many alums as dedicated and passionate about the school than Dick Brown, and his passing touched so many, especially his classmates (even the honorary ones).

Here is his obituary:  

Richard L. Brown II, born November 4, 1943, passed away peacefully at his home on July 1, 2026, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Our long time Reunion Chair and Class President joined us from the George School in Newtown PA.  At George School, Dick played varsity soccer and tennis and was active in the Religious Life Committee.  At Princeton, Dick played freshman squash and tennis and continued at the very bottom of the tennis ladder. He roomed with Kime all 4 years and with Luddy, Lindenfeld, Bobo, Cochran, Zeller and Metzger for one year.  Dick took his meals at Dial Lodge where he was elected Club Gentleman based on a promise not to throw rolls on party weekends. He elected Special Program in European Civilization with a focus on Spanish and American History as his major and wrote his thesis on the Central American Economic Union.  Dick became active in class affairs at our 15th Reunion.  Dick served the Class of 1965 for 20 years as President (1985-90 and again 2015-2020) and Reunion Chair (2005-2015).  He was always proud of the idea to book two bands for Reunions ensuring that the music never stopped, that the Class of 1965 always held a rockin' reunion, drawing in the younger classes, and being the place to go if you wanted to dance the night away!  Dick was wise, considerate, and a true gentleman.