TigerBlog is not a great speller.
He likes to play the "Guess My Word" game every morning, which asks the player to guess a word and then keep guessing words before or after the previous one alphabetically until the word in question is guessed. TB often knows the answer but is spelling it wrong.
So for someone like TB, you'd think spell-check would be a good thing, which it usually is.
Except when it comes to the iPhone. Then it can be a nightmare.
Auto-correct, that is.
How many times has auto-correct changed something you've texted into a completely different word - and often - meaning, only you're moving too fast to realize it until after you've hit send, which means that you have to send another text message to correct the first, only auto-correct changes that one too.
It's one thing when auto-correct changes obscure or incorrect words to ones that are used all the time. But why change "food" to "good" automatically?
Or TB's biggest auto-correcting pet peeve, which is to change "were" to "we're" at the beginning of a sentence, which takes "were you at the meeting" and changes it to "we're you at the meeting."
On the other hand, TigerBlog always loves when he's typing - is it called typing when you're sending a text message on a phone? - and he has about eight letters out of place and yet auto-correct knows exactly what he meant to say.
Who came up with that? Who was able to program the phone to turn "Peubxwrib" and know that it's actually supposed to be "Princeton?"
TigerBlog wasn't at all bothered when he saw that the word "college" was spelled wrong on top of one of the dugouts at the College World Series.
Did you see this one?
It was spelled "Colllege," which three "Ls" instead of two. Actually, if you think about it, it's somewhat funny, spelling the word "college" wrong. TB saw one tweet about it that said "Most of us are going pro is something other than sports - like sign painting."
Okay, it's a bad mistake. And clearly someone - or multiple people - should have caught it.
And it clearly doesn't look good to have a gigantic misspelling on the top of a dugout at the premiere event for the sport.
Still, it happens. TB gets it.
He also wonders what the fall-out was. He can just imagine the CYA-fest of blame deflection that took place after that.
TB remembers the time when one of Princeton's football opponents sent its preseason prospectus in the mail. TB is sure almost nobody still does the first or uses the second.
Anyway, this particular time, right there on the cover, was the name of the school and sport. Only one of them was spelled right. The other was spelled "Foootball."
TB gets that too.
TB makes all kinds of spelling mistakes. He even catches some of them.
Still, TB lives in fear of a colllege foootball-type situation.
It's particularly unnerving to send a game program to the printer. Well, actually the unnerving part is when it comes back from the printer.
TB is pretty sure one of these days he's going to see that he spelled the name of the opposing team incorrectly or, even worse, spelled Princeton incorrectly.
A college athletics website is a place for high levels of production.
It's even more so at Princeton and in the rest of the Ivy League, where
there are twice as many sports as at most places.
There
are hundreds of articles on goprincetontigers.com each month, and it's
impossible not to have a spelling mistake or two get out there. It's
always going to happen.
Add to that writing a blog five days a week and the potential for error increases by some major factor of 10.
Aftr alll, ther arre tooo maney wrds too spll thm write ech tme.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Traveling Man
You know how you know you got up early?
When you've been to the Philadelphia airport and back, and it's not even 6 am, that's how.
TigerBlog Jr. had to go to Alabama yesterday morning, and he left Philly on a 6 am flight. So let's do the math: flight at 6 - getting there at least 90 minutes before the flight - 45 minute drive to airport = getting up very, very early.
TBJ is competing in NFL playoffs this week, and if you guessed "NFL" stands for "National Forensics League," then you would be correct.
Oh, and it's forensics as in speech and debate, not as in "CSI."
TBJ competes in the speech part, in various events. At the national championships this week, he's in a duo event. In other competitions, he's done a solo event, including one where he had to memorize a famous speech and recite it.
In that case, his speech was Jim Valvano's inspirational speech at the ESPY's, the "don't ever give up" speech. It's more than eight minutes long.
The NFL - TB isn't sure how it gets away with calling itself the NFL - has drawn students from all 50 states to the national championships.
Obviously, most had to get there by airplane.
Because of a scheduling conflict, TBJ had to travel separately from the other competitors from his school, who all left on Saturday. Instead, he had to go by himself, for his first solo flying experience, complete with having to change planes in Orlando.
So what do you tell a 15-year-old about flying by himself?
TB gave him all the usual rules - don't carry anything for anyone, be careful with your money, get on the right plane - in the days leading up to the trip.
Then it was off to Philly. At 3:42 a.m. On Fathers' Day, no less.
By the time the car was parked in the short term lot and his bag was checked, it was 4:50. And time for him to get on the security line.
When TB saw how many people were lined up, he thought he'd entered into another dimension, one where time didn't exist. It was a flood of people, all getting on extraordinarily early flights. TB wanted to get a bullhorn and yell "does anyone here realize it's not even 5 in the morning yet?"
TB of course couldn't go through security, so he had to say goodbye there. He asked TBJ if he was nervous, and TBJ replied "about what?"
TB told him to text him when he got through security (which turned out to be at 5:30) and then from Orlando (he received a text that said "have made land in Florida.") and ultimately Birmingham (this time it was "all I've seen of Birmingham so far is baggage claim, which is taking forever.").
TB tried to remember the first time he flew by himself, and he's pretty sure it was while he was doing college radio and Penn played at the Far West Classic in Portland.
Little did TB know that it would start a lifetime of flying to watch Ivy League basketball. And little did he know that it would be even more about flying to watch the Orange and Black team, not the Red and Blue one.
TB has been to 35 states in his life, and by his count he's been to 16 of them simply to see Ivy League basketball - 14 for Princeton and two for Penn. He's flown 21 times to other states for Ivy basketball.
For awhile he wasn't sure if he should count Kentucky, because he'd been in the airport there when Princeton played at Xavier, which is in Cincinnati. If you've ever been to that city, you know everyone says the airport is in Kentucky.
Fortunately, Princeton played at Louisville in the 2002 NIT, leaving that dilemma resolved.
He's been to Birmingham, where his son is currently competing. That was back on Dec. 15, 1998, when Princeton played at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, in a game the Tigers won 69-57.
TB's biggest memory of that game is the media food, which was more like a fine dining experience.
Oh, and Princeton played great, shooting nearly 50% as a team for the game (22 for 45, including 10 for 18 in the second half) with four players in double figures. TB will now give you a few paragraphs to guess which four players.
As an aside, when he does this, he often forgets to remember to go back and give the answer, so he'll try not to do that again.
Anyway, here are the 16 states that TB has been to simply to see Ivy basketball:
Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon (Penn), Tennessee (Penn), Texas, Wisconsin.
Here are the other states he's had to fly to to see Princeton basketball, in addition to something else in that state at some other point of his life:
California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina.
Oh, and the answer: Brian Earl (18), Gabe Lewullis (13), Mason Rocca (12) and Chris Krug (10).
TBJ gets back Friday.
His flight gets into Philly at 5:30.
Traffic figures to be worse than it was getting there yesterday.
When you've been to the Philadelphia airport and back, and it's not even 6 am, that's how.
TigerBlog Jr. had to go to Alabama yesterday morning, and he left Philly on a 6 am flight. So let's do the math: flight at 6 - getting there at least 90 minutes before the flight - 45 minute drive to airport = getting up very, very early.
TBJ is competing in NFL playoffs this week, and if you guessed "NFL" stands for "National Forensics League," then you would be correct.
Oh, and it's forensics as in speech and debate, not as in "CSI."
TBJ competes in the speech part, in various events. At the national championships this week, he's in a duo event. In other competitions, he's done a solo event, including one where he had to memorize a famous speech and recite it.
In that case, his speech was Jim Valvano's inspirational speech at the ESPY's, the "don't ever give up" speech. It's more than eight minutes long.
The NFL - TB isn't sure how it gets away with calling itself the NFL - has drawn students from all 50 states to the national championships.
Obviously, most had to get there by airplane.
Because of a scheduling conflict, TBJ had to travel separately from the other competitors from his school, who all left on Saturday. Instead, he had to go by himself, for his first solo flying experience, complete with having to change planes in Orlando.
So what do you tell a 15-year-old about flying by himself?
TB gave him all the usual rules - don't carry anything for anyone, be careful with your money, get on the right plane - in the days leading up to the trip.
Then it was off to Philly. At 3:42 a.m. On Fathers' Day, no less.
By the time the car was parked in the short term lot and his bag was checked, it was 4:50. And time for him to get on the security line.
When TB saw how many people were lined up, he thought he'd entered into another dimension, one where time didn't exist. It was a flood of people, all getting on extraordinarily early flights. TB wanted to get a bullhorn and yell "does anyone here realize it's not even 5 in the morning yet?"
TB of course couldn't go through security, so he had to say goodbye there. He asked TBJ if he was nervous, and TBJ replied "about what?"
TB told him to text him when he got through security (which turned out to be at 5:30) and then from Orlando (he received a text that said "have made land in Florida.") and ultimately Birmingham (this time it was "all I've seen of Birmingham so far is baggage claim, which is taking forever.").
TB tried to remember the first time he flew by himself, and he's pretty sure it was while he was doing college radio and Penn played at the Far West Classic in Portland.
Little did TB know that it would start a lifetime of flying to watch Ivy League basketball. And little did he know that it would be even more about flying to watch the Orange and Black team, not the Red and Blue one.
TB has been to 35 states in his life, and by his count he's been to 16 of them simply to see Ivy League basketball - 14 for Princeton and two for Penn. He's flown 21 times to other states for Ivy basketball.
For awhile he wasn't sure if he should count Kentucky, because he'd been in the airport there when Princeton played at Xavier, which is in Cincinnati. If you've ever been to that city, you know everyone says the airport is in Kentucky.
Fortunately, Princeton played at Louisville in the 2002 NIT, leaving that dilemma resolved.
He's been to Birmingham, where his son is currently competing. That was back on Dec. 15, 1998, when Princeton played at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, in a game the Tigers won 69-57.
TB's biggest memory of that game is the media food, which was more like a fine dining experience.
Oh, and Princeton played great, shooting nearly 50% as a team for the game (22 for 45, including 10 for 18 in the second half) with four players in double figures. TB will now give you a few paragraphs to guess which four players.
As an aside, when he does this, he often forgets to remember to go back and give the answer, so he'll try not to do that again.
Anyway, here are the 16 states that TB has been to simply to see Ivy basketball:
Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon (Penn), Tennessee (Penn), Texas, Wisconsin.
Here are the other states he's had to fly to to see Princeton basketball, in addition to something else in that state at some other point of his life:
California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina.
Oh, and the answer: Brian Earl (18), Gabe Lewullis (13), Mason Rocca (12) and Chris Krug (10).
TBJ gets back Friday.
His flight gets into Philly at 5:30.
Traffic figures to be worse than it was getting there yesterday.
Friday, June 14, 2013
You're A Grand Ol' Flag
So it's Friday, June 14.
In recent days, TigerBlog has touched on such varied subjects as getting a little too close to a crop-duster, his close encounter with a vicious killer (and possibly poisonous) turtle and making a right turn on a red light (and possibly a left turn on a red light).
So what else is there to write about?
How about Flag Day?
TigerBlog loves the flag. Great color scheme. Great idea for the stars and stripes. It's a beautiful flag.
And today's its birthday. The Continental Congress officially adopted the flag on June 14, 1777, which was 236 years ago today.
As everyone knows, Betsy Ross made the first flag, which had 13 stars - one for each colony - in a circle. If you believe everything you see on TV, then Bugs Bunny gave her the idea for the stars when he stepped on a rake.
Of course, there are those who believe that Betsy Ross didn't actually sew the first flag, that that is just a legend and that there is no proof it's true.
So what if it is or isn't?
In all seriousness, the flag of the United States of America has been a symbol of freedom ever since it first appeared. It has flown over battlefields and battleships during fights to liberate an uncountable number of people.
The national anthem is a salute to the flag: "Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
When TigerBlog was a kid, he spent his summers as a sleepaway camp. Every morning, the flag would be raised up the pole. Every night it would be taken down. The entire camp would gather to watch both.
Back when Pete Carril was still Princeton's men's basketball coach, TigerBlog put together the 21 best quotes that he could find. Some of them were funny. Some were serious.
Some were philosophical, like the time he said "I'll take that up with God when I get there" after being asked if Kit Mueller and/or Bob Scrabis had been fouled by Alonzo Mourning at the end of the 1989 NCAA tournament game against Georgetown, which Princeton lost 50-49.
Of all the quotes, this is the one that TB settled on as the best. It came in the winter of 1991, during Desert Storm, when the trend became to put American flags on basketball uniforms.
Princeton was one of the few holdout teams who didn't, at least until the Tigers reached the NCAA tournament that year.
When asked why, here's what Carril said:
"What good is it if you wear a flag and play like a dog? What good is it if you put a yellow ribbon on your porch or flag on your lawn and cheat on your taxes? That young guy who was killed today, he can never be replaced. All the dreams and aspirations his family had for him, they're gone. How can there be any way to balance that except for every person in this country to do the best he can to honor that hero? Maybe it's far-fetched to think that someone on the front line is concerned whether our guys go to class, but I think that's part of what they're fighting for. That if our students don't do everything in their power to keep their commitments to their parents, they're letting the whole country down. This kid who died over there today, what are you doing in your left to make sure you're worthy of him."
His point was that anyone could put a flag on a uniform.
To actually honor the flag - and the people who were making the biggest sacrifices to defend that flag and what it stands for - requires commitment.
It doesn't mean everyone has to, as Colonel Jessup said, "pick up a weapon and stand a post." It's about being the best possible person you can be, so that those who are standing a post know that what they're doing is being valued, that there's a reason for it.
And that's the power of the flag.
It's a grand ol' flag.
It's worth it every now and then to take a step back and think about what it means, and how much has been done in its honor through the centuries.
So wish it a happy birthday today. It's still looking pretty good at 236.
In recent days, TigerBlog has touched on such varied subjects as getting a little too close to a crop-duster, his close encounter with a vicious killer (and possibly poisonous) turtle and making a right turn on a red light (and possibly a left turn on a red light).
So what else is there to write about?
How about Flag Day?
TigerBlog loves the flag. Great color scheme. Great idea for the stars and stripes. It's a beautiful flag.
And today's its birthday. The Continental Congress officially adopted the flag on June 14, 1777, which was 236 years ago today.
As everyone knows, Betsy Ross made the first flag, which had 13 stars - one for each colony - in a circle. If you believe everything you see on TV, then Bugs Bunny gave her the idea for the stars when he stepped on a rake.
Of course, there are those who believe that Betsy Ross didn't actually sew the first flag, that that is just a legend and that there is no proof it's true.
So what if it is or isn't?
In all seriousness, the flag of the United States of America has been a symbol of freedom ever since it first appeared. It has flown over battlefields and battleships during fights to liberate an uncountable number of people.
The national anthem is a salute to the flag: "Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave. O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave."
When TigerBlog was a kid, he spent his summers as a sleepaway camp. Every morning, the flag would be raised up the pole. Every night it would be taken down. The entire camp would gather to watch both.
Back when Pete Carril was still Princeton's men's basketball coach, TigerBlog put together the 21 best quotes that he could find. Some of them were funny. Some were serious.
Some were philosophical, like the time he said "I'll take that up with God when I get there" after being asked if Kit Mueller and/or Bob Scrabis had been fouled by Alonzo Mourning at the end of the 1989 NCAA tournament game against Georgetown, which Princeton lost 50-49.
Of all the quotes, this is the one that TB settled on as the best. It came in the winter of 1991, during Desert Storm, when the trend became to put American flags on basketball uniforms.
Princeton was one of the few holdout teams who didn't, at least until the Tigers reached the NCAA tournament that year.
When asked why, here's what Carril said:
"What good is it if you wear a flag and play like a dog? What good is it if you put a yellow ribbon on your porch or flag on your lawn and cheat on your taxes? That young guy who was killed today, he can never be replaced. All the dreams and aspirations his family had for him, they're gone. How can there be any way to balance that except for every person in this country to do the best he can to honor that hero? Maybe it's far-fetched to think that someone on the front line is concerned whether our guys go to class, but I think that's part of what they're fighting for. That if our students don't do everything in their power to keep their commitments to their parents, they're letting the whole country down. This kid who died over there today, what are you doing in your left to make sure you're worthy of him."
His point was that anyone could put a flag on a uniform.
To actually honor the flag - and the people who were making the biggest sacrifices to defend that flag and what it stands for - requires commitment.
It doesn't mean everyone has to, as Colonel Jessup said, "pick up a weapon and stand a post." It's about being the best possible person you can be, so that those who are standing a post know that what they're doing is being valued, that there's a reason for it.
And that's the power of the flag.
It's a grand ol' flag.
It's worth it every now and then to take a step back and think about what it means, and how much has been done in its honor through the centuries.
So wish it a happy birthday today. It's still looking pretty good at 236.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Zzzzzzzzzzzz
Do you ever fall asleep on the couch when you sit down to watch TV as it gets later, only to wake up an hour later, completely groggy and unaware of what time it is?
After a few seconds, it becomes apparent that it's not morning. In fact, it's actually bedtime, except that getting off the couch and into bed seems like a completely daunting task.
What about insomnia? That's even worse.
TigerBlog hates when he has to get up for something really early and yet can't fall asleep. He looks at the clock and then calculates how much time he has before he has to get up. Then he looks back at the clock and some more time has gone off, so he recalculates.
And the worst part is that he can't remember if he's been asleep during that time or not. That's even more frustrating.
Then there's no way to know exactly how much sleep TB actually has gotten. Has he been asleep? Has he dreamed he was awake?
When TB first graduated college, he worked in the newspaper business, which meant never having to wake up early. It meant working past midnight, sleeping really late and having it start again the next day.
As a result, TB became used to getting a lot of sleep.
Then he started working here, with a more regimented schedule. Then he had kids.
If you've ever tried to navigate the world of your average baby, it didn't take you long to figure out that they aren't exactly concerned with how much rest their parents get. Not in the least.
On the bright side, once babies get old enough to sleep through the night and then grow into little kids who can get themselves to bed - and ultimately to teenagers who sleep til noon or beyond if you let them - their parents realize that they didn't need nearly the amount of sleep each night that they thought they did.
These days, TB almost never sleeps past 7 am, if that. The idea of sleeping to 10, 11 or beyond? Hilarious.
Last night was a good night for insomnia, what with Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals drifting late into the third overtime. It was right at 1 a.m. Eastern time when the Blackhawks finally scored.
The most impressive performance of the night might have been Mike Emrick's, who at the age of 66 was still going strong into the third OT.
Not that TB is a huge hockey fan but he's rooting for the Blackhawks, largely because he hates the Bruins, who seem to come across as a bit smug as an organization.
The big stories in sports right now are the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup finals, World Cup qualifying and the U.S. Open golf tournament, which is being held in Ardmore, Pa. According to Mapquest, that would be 47 miles from Princeton, which means that the same gigantic rain/thunder/hail/wind/possible tornado storm that is bearing down on this area has the golf in a rain delay.
Lost in all of this right now is Major League Baseball. TB hasn't looked at the standings much this year and hasn't watched any games on TV yet.
His lone interest in baseball so far has been Will Venable, who began the year as the only Princeton grad in the Majors. Venable is hitting .228 with eight home runs, 24 RBIs, nine stolen bases, some really good defense and a .720 OPS.
Venable's team, the Padres, were supposed to be awful, but they are actually hanging in there at 32-34.
Another Princetonian, Ross Ohlendorf, returned to the Majors last night when he started for the Nationals against the Rockies in Denver. It was a great night for Ohlendorf, who apparently has reworked his wind-up.
The result was a line of six innings, two hits, one run, two walks, two strikeouts and 89 pitches. He left with a 4-1 lead that ended up being a 5-1 victory, making Ohlendorf 1-0 on the year.
It wasn't until TB read the box score that he saw that Washington has the same number of wins as San Diego, 32, though the Nats are at .500 at 32-32.
TB would have guessed that Washington was way better than that.
When he looked further, he saw that the Yankees were three games back, though they're also closer to fourth than first, which is good.
Like the Bruins, TB doesn't root for the Yankees.
After a few seconds, it becomes apparent that it's not morning. In fact, it's actually bedtime, except that getting off the couch and into bed seems like a completely daunting task.
What about insomnia? That's even worse.
TigerBlog hates when he has to get up for something really early and yet can't fall asleep. He looks at the clock and then calculates how much time he has before he has to get up. Then he looks back at the clock and some more time has gone off, so he recalculates.
And the worst part is that he can't remember if he's been asleep during that time or not. That's even more frustrating.
Then there's no way to know exactly how much sleep TB actually has gotten. Has he been asleep? Has he dreamed he was awake?
When TB first graduated college, he worked in the newspaper business, which meant never having to wake up early. It meant working past midnight, sleeping really late and having it start again the next day.
As a result, TB became used to getting a lot of sleep.
Then he started working here, with a more regimented schedule. Then he had kids.
If you've ever tried to navigate the world of your average baby, it didn't take you long to figure out that they aren't exactly concerned with how much rest their parents get. Not in the least.
On the bright side, once babies get old enough to sleep through the night and then grow into little kids who can get themselves to bed - and ultimately to teenagers who sleep til noon or beyond if you let them - their parents realize that they didn't need nearly the amount of sleep each night that they thought they did.
These days, TB almost never sleeps past 7 am, if that. The idea of sleeping to 10, 11 or beyond? Hilarious.
Last night was a good night for insomnia, what with Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals drifting late into the third overtime. It was right at 1 a.m. Eastern time when the Blackhawks finally scored.
The most impressive performance of the night might have been Mike Emrick's, who at the age of 66 was still going strong into the third OT.
Not that TB is a huge hockey fan but he's rooting for the Blackhawks, largely because he hates the Bruins, who seem to come across as a bit smug as an organization.
The big stories in sports right now are the NBA finals, the Stanley Cup finals, World Cup qualifying and the U.S. Open golf tournament, which is being held in Ardmore, Pa. According to Mapquest, that would be 47 miles from Princeton, which means that the same gigantic rain/thunder/hail/wind/possible tornado storm that is bearing down on this area has the golf in a rain delay.
Lost in all of this right now is Major League Baseball. TB hasn't looked at the standings much this year and hasn't watched any games on TV yet.
His lone interest in baseball so far has been Will Venable, who began the year as the only Princeton grad in the Majors. Venable is hitting .228 with eight home runs, 24 RBIs, nine stolen bases, some really good defense and a .720 OPS.
Venable's team, the Padres, were supposed to be awful, but they are actually hanging in there at 32-34.
Another Princetonian, Ross Ohlendorf, returned to the Majors last night when he started for the Nationals against the Rockies in Denver. It was a great night for Ohlendorf, who apparently has reworked his wind-up.
The result was a line of six innings, two hits, one run, two walks, two strikeouts and 89 pitches. He left with a 4-1 lead that ended up being a 5-1 victory, making Ohlendorf 1-0 on the year.
It wasn't until TB read the box score that he saw that Washington has the same number of wins as San Diego, 32, though the Nats are at .500 at 32-32.
TB would have guessed that Washington was way better than that.
When he looked further, he saw that the Yankees were three games back, though they're also closer to fourth than first, which is good.
Like the Bruins, TB doesn't root for the Yankees.
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
American Pharaoh
TigerBlog was in Costa Rica exactly one year ago today.
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil begins exactly one year from today.
Those two facts intersected on ESPN last night, as Costa Rica played at Mexico in a World Cup qualifier. Los Ticos, as the Costa Ricans are known, tied Mexico 0-0 in a game that has them again positioned well to finish in the top three of the six teams in the group and earn a spot in the field that will be playing in Brazil.
The United States defeated Panama 2-0 last night in Seattle to stay in first place with 10 points, two ahead of the Costa Ricans and Mexicans and three up on Honduras. Panama is in fifth place with six points, and then Jamaica has two.
Mexico and Jamaica have played six of their 10 games; the other four have played five.
The top three automatically go to Brazil. The fourth place team plays New Zealand in November in a home-and-home, with the winner to advance to the World Cup.
When TB was in Costa Rica, he went to a game between the home team and El Salvador in the first round of qualifying. It was a sporting event unlike any other TB has ever seen.
The importance, the all-consuming national fervor, is unmatched by anything in this country. It's not that it's bigger than the Super Bowl; it's just different.
It is completely unifying, among everyone in the country. It is the singular focus of everyone. It is all anyone talks about.
To be in the stadium is ridiculous. There is nothing else that exists at that moment, for an entire nation.
The U.S. game was on against Game 3 of the NBA finals. In this country, the number of people who care about the NBA finals has to exceed the number of people who care about World Cup qualifying by several multiples. In the other country? No way.
TigerBlog still hasn't figured out his position on the U.S. team.
He's not really rooting against the Americans, though he is holding a grudge because of the firing of Princeton alum Bob Bradley as the U.S. head coach.
In a relatively short time, the World Cup has gone from something TB hardly paid attention to to arguably his favorite sporting event.
Bradley, who took Princeton to the 1993 NCAA men's soccer final four and whose brother Scott is Princeton's baseball coach, took the U.S. to the group championship at the World Cup three years ago but was let go shortly after that. At the time of Bradley's firing, the U.S. was ranked 18th in the world. Today, the U.S. is ranked 28th.
Ranked six spots behind the U.S. right now is Egypt, whose coach just happens to be Bob Bradley.
The Egyptians are also in a dominating position to advance to the final 10 teams in African qualifying, as Bradley's new team is running away with its group with two games to play. Should Egypt win its group - a tie in one of its last two games will probably be enough, two points will definitely clinch - it would advance to the last round of qualifying, which would be a two game, home-and-home, with the winner into the field of 32 for Brazil.
Bradley's work in Egypt isn't just about building a soccer team. Nope. Not by a long shot.
Bradley is trying to get his team to the World Cup, something that Egypt has only managed twice, in 1934 and 1990. If that wasn't hard enough to deal with, there are few places on Earth right now that have had the social and political upheaval that Egypt does.
Forgetting which end of the politics you're on, Bradley's task is an enormous one. And his story is an amazing one, with the way he and his wife Lindsay have been received by the Egyptians.
"American Pharaoh" is a documentary about Bradley and his work in Egypt. It's not the first one that TB has seen on the subject, but they all have something in common.
No, it's not just the way they show Bradley's work with the soccer team. It's the way they show Bradley the man himself.
He is so strong-willed, so commanding, so focused. He speaks with such determination, conviction and honor that TB always gets the sense that Bradley should be running a country, not a soccer team.
TB would have preferred that Bradley had never gotten fired by the U.S. team.
As its turned out, his legacy is really being made by what he's doing in Cairo - whether his team advances to the World Cup or not.
The 2014 World Cup in Brazil begins exactly one year from today.
Those two facts intersected on ESPN last night, as Costa Rica played at Mexico in a World Cup qualifier. Los Ticos, as the Costa Ricans are known, tied Mexico 0-0 in a game that has them again positioned well to finish in the top three of the six teams in the group and earn a spot in the field that will be playing in Brazil.
The United States defeated Panama 2-0 last night in Seattle to stay in first place with 10 points, two ahead of the Costa Ricans and Mexicans and three up on Honduras. Panama is in fifth place with six points, and then Jamaica has two.
Mexico and Jamaica have played six of their 10 games; the other four have played five.
The top three automatically go to Brazil. The fourth place team plays New Zealand in November in a home-and-home, with the winner to advance to the World Cup.
When TB was in Costa Rica, he went to a game between the home team and El Salvador in the first round of qualifying. It was a sporting event unlike any other TB has ever seen.
The importance, the all-consuming national fervor, is unmatched by anything in this country. It's not that it's bigger than the Super Bowl; it's just different.
It is completely unifying, among everyone in the country. It is the singular focus of everyone. It is all anyone talks about.
To be in the stadium is ridiculous. There is nothing else that exists at that moment, for an entire nation.
The U.S. game was on against Game 3 of the NBA finals. In this country, the number of people who care about the NBA finals has to exceed the number of people who care about World Cup qualifying by several multiples. In the other country? No way.
TigerBlog still hasn't figured out his position on the U.S. team.
He's not really rooting against the Americans, though he is holding a grudge because of the firing of Princeton alum Bob Bradley as the U.S. head coach.
In a relatively short time, the World Cup has gone from something TB hardly paid attention to to arguably his favorite sporting event.
Bradley, who took Princeton to the 1993 NCAA men's soccer final four and whose brother Scott is Princeton's baseball coach, took the U.S. to the group championship at the World Cup three years ago but was let go shortly after that. At the time of Bradley's firing, the U.S. was ranked 18th in the world. Today, the U.S. is ranked 28th.
Ranked six spots behind the U.S. right now is Egypt, whose coach just happens to be Bob Bradley.
The Egyptians are also in a dominating position to advance to the final 10 teams in African qualifying, as Bradley's new team is running away with its group with two games to play. Should Egypt win its group - a tie in one of its last two games will probably be enough, two points will definitely clinch - it would advance to the last round of qualifying, which would be a two game, home-and-home, with the winner into the field of 32 for Brazil.
Bradley's work in Egypt isn't just about building a soccer team. Nope. Not by a long shot.
Bradley is trying to get his team to the World Cup, something that Egypt has only managed twice, in 1934 and 1990. If that wasn't hard enough to deal with, there are few places on Earth right now that have had the social and political upheaval that Egypt does.
Forgetting which end of the politics you're on, Bradley's task is an enormous one. And his story is an amazing one, with the way he and his wife Lindsay have been received by the Egyptians.
"American Pharaoh" is a documentary about Bradley and his work in Egypt. It's not the first one that TB has seen on the subject, but they all have something in common.
No, it's not just the way they show Bradley's work with the soccer team. It's the way they show Bradley the man himself.
He is so strong-willed, so commanding, so focused. He speaks with such determination, conviction and honor that TB always gets the sense that Bradley should be running a country, not a soccer team.
TB would have preferred that Bradley had never gotten fired by the U.S. team.
As its turned out, his legacy is really being made by what he's doing in Cairo - whether his team advances to the World Cup or not.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
An Unwanted Day Off
Miss TigerBlog had a lacrosse tournament this past weekend down in Hammonton, near Atlantic City.
If you're not familiar with Hammonton, it's famous for its blueberries, and in fact refers to itself as the "Blueberry capital of the world."
Anyway, the tournament lasted two days, and on Day 2, TigerBlog was killing time between games when he noticed a low-flying airplane that came in over the sod farm where the event was being held.
Beyond the fields were a sandy area that was being used for parking - and being that the sod was over the same sand base, the fields were remarkably dry considering how rainy it had been. After the rows of cars were, not shockingly, blueberry fields.
The plane dove towards the field and, maybe a hundred yards from the parking area and then the playing fields, began to crop dust.
TigerBlog, being the fan of chemicals released into the air a few football fields away from where he was sitting that he is, wanted of course to get a space suit and a new car, though surprisingly he chose neither of those things.
TB was surprised at just how close to the ground the plane got before it released whatever it was it was releasing and then climbing back up to a few hundred feet, circling and repeating the process. It seemed like a fairly dangerous thing to do, and certainly one that would be unforgiving for a small error.
For TigerBlog, a spelling mistake or misidentified photo is a minor problem. For the crop-dusting pilot, it seems like the ramifications would be way more serious.
MTB's first game was Saturday morning, and TB thought he woman coaching the other team looked somewhat familiar. As it turned out, she was.
As it turned out, it was Tyler Cordell, the women's basketball Director of Operations here at Princeton.
As an aside, Director of Basketball Operations is often shortened to "DOBO," in the vernacular of the day as it were. Princeton also has a Director of Track Operations, which becomes "DOTO," and his name is Michael Henderson. Princeton also has an event manager named Mike Doto, so there is Mike Doto and Mike the Doto.
Anyway, Tyler was coaching a middle school girls lacrosse team for the summer season, which TigerBlog thinks is awesome.
Somewhere between when TB wrote the first part of that sentence and was able to finish it, his phone rang. It was the Princeton emergency line, saying that the campus has been evacuated due to multiple bomb threats in unspecified locations.
The reaction to the message at first was to question whether everyone really needed to leave or not, though the person who recorded the message was very, very serious about how this was not a drill or a test.
After that, there were a few minutes of milling around, wondering what to do next. Should everyone really leave? Stay? Was this for real?
Sadly, this is the reality of the world.
TB has often thought he can hide from so much in his office, that he was free there from so many of the problems of the world. Never once, in all the time he's been in Jadwin Gym, has he ever felt unsafe.
In fact, he didn't feel all that unsafe this morning. The reality is that he doubts that there really are bombs on Princeton's campus, and he'll be surprised if he's wrong.
Surprised, but safe.
Because like everyone else at Princeton, he left.
Because in 2013, nobody can mess around with stuff like this. Not the people whose job it is to protect everyone else, and certainly not the people who are to be protected.
And what about those people, whose job it is to do the protecting? They live with this every single day, so that the rest of us don't have to worry about it - until it smacks at home.
Right now, TB is still sitting in the parking lot, which is emptying, causing a massive traffic delay. He couldn't leave if he wanted to.
Instead, he's left to sit here and wait, and face the way life is now.
And what does that mean?
It means he's finishing his blog, because he can't simply not do it, not when that's what he does every other day. And he's finishing it in the parking lot, because he, like everyone else, has to be aware that there is a chance that somebody who could care less about humanity has done something to cause as much hurt and pain as possible.
If you don't believe TB, who would have ever thought it would happen at the Boston Marathon?
And so TB doesn't get to talk today about how nice it is that Tyler Cordell is giving her time to a bunch of young girls who are just learning to play lacrosse.
Nope. Reality has gotten involved.
And TB has himself a day off. An unwanted day off at that.
If you're not familiar with Hammonton, it's famous for its blueberries, and in fact refers to itself as the "Blueberry capital of the world."
Anyway, the tournament lasted two days, and on Day 2, TigerBlog was killing time between games when he noticed a low-flying airplane that came in over the sod farm where the event was being held.
Beyond the fields were a sandy area that was being used for parking - and being that the sod was over the same sand base, the fields were remarkably dry considering how rainy it had been. After the rows of cars were, not shockingly, blueberry fields.
The plane dove towards the field and, maybe a hundred yards from the parking area and then the playing fields, began to crop dust.
TigerBlog, being the fan of chemicals released into the air a few football fields away from where he was sitting that he is, wanted of course to get a space suit and a new car, though surprisingly he chose neither of those things.
TB was surprised at just how close to the ground the plane got before it released whatever it was it was releasing and then climbing back up to a few hundred feet, circling and repeating the process. It seemed like a fairly dangerous thing to do, and certainly one that would be unforgiving for a small error.
For TigerBlog, a spelling mistake or misidentified photo is a minor problem. For the crop-dusting pilot, it seems like the ramifications would be way more serious.
MTB's first game was Saturday morning, and TB thought he woman coaching the other team looked somewhat familiar. As it turned out, she was.
As it turned out, it was Tyler Cordell, the women's basketball Director of Operations here at Princeton.
As an aside, Director of Basketball Operations is often shortened to "DOBO," in the vernacular of the day as it were. Princeton also has a Director of Track Operations, which becomes "DOTO," and his name is Michael Henderson. Princeton also has an event manager named Mike Doto, so there is Mike Doto and Mike the Doto.
Anyway, Tyler was coaching a middle school girls lacrosse team for the summer season, which TigerBlog thinks is awesome.
Somewhere between when TB wrote the first part of that sentence and was able to finish it, his phone rang. It was the Princeton emergency line, saying that the campus has been evacuated due to multiple bomb threats in unspecified locations.
The reaction to the message at first was to question whether everyone really needed to leave or not, though the person who recorded the message was very, very serious about how this was not a drill or a test.
After that, there were a few minutes of milling around, wondering what to do next. Should everyone really leave? Stay? Was this for real?
Sadly, this is the reality of the world.
TB has often thought he can hide from so much in his office, that he was free there from so many of the problems of the world. Never once, in all the time he's been in Jadwin Gym, has he ever felt unsafe.
In fact, he didn't feel all that unsafe this morning. The reality is that he doubts that there really are bombs on Princeton's campus, and he'll be surprised if he's wrong.
Surprised, but safe.
Because like everyone else at Princeton, he left.
Because in 2013, nobody can mess around with stuff like this. Not the people whose job it is to protect everyone else, and certainly not the people who are to be protected.
And what about those people, whose job it is to do the protecting? They live with this every single day, so that the rest of us don't have to worry about it - until it smacks at home.
Right now, TB is still sitting in the parking lot, which is emptying, causing a massive traffic delay. He couldn't leave if he wanted to.
Instead, he's left to sit here and wait, and face the way life is now.
And what does that mean?
It means he's finishing his blog, because he can't simply not do it, not when that's what he does every other day. And he's finishing it in the parking lot, because he, like everyone else, has to be aware that there is a chance that somebody who could care less about humanity has done something to cause as much hurt and pain as possible.
If you don't believe TB, who would have ever thought it would happen at the Boston Marathon?
And so TB doesn't get to talk today about how nice it is that Tyler Cordell is giving her time to a bunch of young girls who are just learning to play lacrosse.
Nope. Reality has gotten involved.
And TB has himself a day off. An unwanted day off at that.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Making A New Friend On A Monday Morning
You know how TigerBlog knew it was raining really, really hard this morning?Well, first, he was getting soaked in the five seconds from front door to car. Then, after he backed his car up, he noticed there was something underneath it. At first he wasn't sure what it was, and he figured it was garbage or something that had blown underneath.
Then he saw it move. And then he realized it was a turtle.
Not just any little turtle. A big nasty looking one.
Unlike geese, TB is not afraid of turtles. Or spiders, who eat the other bugs.
This turtle, though, was a bit freaky. He was sort of bigger than the average turtle, and he had a long tail sticking out the back of the shell.
TB's favorite turtle is Cecil, the one who ran against Bugs Bunny. Now Cecil had a cool shell.
Anyway, the turtle on the driveway couldn't come close to beating Bugs Bunny, or even a less accomplished athletic rabbit. Nope. The un-Cecil moved really, really slowly, exactly as you'd expect a turtle to move.
It was that kind of morning, the kind that inspired Paul Williams to write a song once that TB knows 1) you love and 2) you'd never admit to loving. In fact, TB once devoted considerable space to that particular dynamic.
Of course, it was more than just a rainy day and a Monday.
It's the first business day after the conclusion of the 2012-13 athletic year here at Princeton.
It's somewhat dreary around here right now, with the rain pouring down and the many people who aren't here today.
It's June 10. This past weekend was nine months removed from wins by the field hockey team over Richmond and women's soccer team over Temple, six months removed from tough losses by the men's basketball team (Drexel) and women's basketball team (Delaware) and three months removed from the toughest loss TB saw this year, Princeton's 16-15 loss at North Carolina in men's lacrosse.
In other words, once again, time flew. An entire academic year, come and gone.
It's how it works around here. Maybe there are a lot of other professions that are as seasonal as this one. Maybe not.
Either way, TB knows that his calendar dictates what is going on, how busy it is, how radically different his job is at any given point of the year.
And now Princeton Athletics has entered into one of its slowest times of the year.
December isn't very busy, since there aren't many events or teams that play throughout that month. Maybe that time is the slowest, with the holidays and all.
If it's not then, then it's now.
There are still things to total up before the end of the fiscal year, people who need to be paid and such, like stat crew workers and PA announcers and people who do the clock and all.
And there are other parts of the previous year that need to be wrapped up, along with things for next year that are already ongoing. And there are summer camps, lots and lots of them, that will be starting shortly.
Camp season, in fact, will stretch from this month through early August, and that will end just in time for the fall athletes to start to come in, after which time it will all start over again.
For now, though, there is the big exhale after another year has ended. From the last day of August through the first weekend in June, the 2012-13 year as seen a steady crush of teams, athletes, events.
And now it's just quiet around here.
TB is often asked if he has to work in the summer, and the answer is yes. It's just not nearly as nutty as it is during the year.
Nope.
Now it's quiet. Just a rainy Monday morning, with nothing all that pressing right now.
Things slow down.
Maybe not to a crawl like they do for TB's new friend from the driveway, but slow nonetheless.
Friday, June 7, 2013
It Went Okay
Ryan Crouser had six throws in the shot put - or, correctly, six puts of the shot - at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., Wednesday and went foul, foul, 20.31 meters, foul, foul, foul.
The five fouls didn't end up mattering. The 20.31 meters did, as it made Crouser the NCAA champion.
Then, the Texas sophomore - all 6-7, 240 of him - went back to his hotel, where he ran into Princeton's OAC track and field contact, Kristy McNeil, who is more than a foot shorter.
As Kristy relayed the story, she saw him in the hallway with his Texas track warmups on and asked him what event he did. When he said he was in the shot put, she asked him how he did, to which he replied something along the lines of "it went okay."
Then, when she pressed him for where he finished, he said "I won."
While Princeton hasn't had a champion at these championships, not everyone goes with a chance to win - or defines success by coming home with a victory.
Princeton has had three All-Americas so far, the first two of whom were on the same day Crouser won the shot put, as Julia Ratcliffe in the hammer and Russell Dinkins in the 800 both earned second-team honors.
Princeton's best showing so far came last night in the 10,000, when senior Michael Franklin finished fifth, a finish that made him a first-team All-America. It was also Princeton's best finish ever in the 10K at the NCAA championships.
TigerBlog will steal the next two paragraphs from McNeil's story on the race, which also has a great picture of Franklin:
This year's Ivy League champion in the 5 and 10k, Franklin entered the meet seeded 18th out of 24. He finished in front of top-seeded Girma Mecheso (OSU) as well as Parker Stinson (Oregon) who had the third-best time in the nation entering today’s race.
Franklin was in second place for the first couple laps before he settled comfortably into a big pack. With about nine laps remaining the race starting to slow a bit and athletes started to break away from one another. Franklin found himself steady in the top 12 and with three laps to go he turned it on. He ran his fastest three laps in the final three laps clocking a 1:08.17, 1:06.73 and closed with a 1:01.62 - the second -fastest lap of any of the competitors throughout the entire race.
Princeton sent nine athletes to the championships, and eight of them have already competed.
The only one left to go is junior Imani Oliver in the women's triple jump.
Oliver, the school-record-holder in the triple jump, is not only the last Princeton athlete to compete at the NCAA championships but also the last Princeton athlete in any sport to compete in the 2012-13 academic year.
Princeton Athletics has been going strong since last Aug. 31, when the women's volleyball team, soccer teams and field hockey team opened their seasons.
One of the things that TB loves about his job is that no two years are exactly the same, and each year provides its own challenge. The 2012-13 academic year is one of the best that TB has seen around here.
Princeton won four NCAA championships this academic year, beginning with the field hockey team and continuing with fencing, an individual fencer and the indoor track and field distance medley relay team. There were some epic performances this year, and Princeton has had some of the best athletes who have ever played their sports at the school - and in some cases the best athlete ever to play his/her sport - compete this year.
As TB looks back at the 2012-13 year, another part of what he loves about Princeton couldn't be clearer.
There are some who would never want to work at a place that doesn't have BCS-level football and basketball and then a big drop-off in importance to everything else.
For TB, the diversity of sports at Princeton - and of the people who play them - is still a huge lure.
It was on display all year, with 38 sports and nearly 1,000 athletes, all leading up to today, when Oliver's last triple jump will bring the curtain down again - until it starts up again for another year, with another new set of challenges, with no guarantee for continued success.
The 2012-13 academic year?
Hey, like Ryan Crouser said, it went okay.
The five fouls didn't end up mattering. The 20.31 meters did, as it made Crouser the NCAA champion.
Then, the Texas sophomore - all 6-7, 240 of him - went back to his hotel, where he ran into Princeton's OAC track and field contact, Kristy McNeil, who is more than a foot shorter.
As Kristy relayed the story, she saw him in the hallway with his Texas track warmups on and asked him what event he did. When he said he was in the shot put, she asked him how he did, to which he replied something along the lines of "it went okay."
Then, when she pressed him for where he finished, he said "I won."
While Princeton hasn't had a champion at these championships, not everyone goes with a chance to win - or defines success by coming home with a victory.
Princeton has had three All-Americas so far, the first two of whom were on the same day Crouser won the shot put, as Julia Ratcliffe in the hammer and Russell Dinkins in the 800 both earned second-team honors.
Princeton's best showing so far came last night in the 10,000, when senior Michael Franklin finished fifth, a finish that made him a first-team All-America. It was also Princeton's best finish ever in the 10K at the NCAA championships.
TigerBlog will steal the next two paragraphs from McNeil's story on the race, which also has a great picture of Franklin:
This year's Ivy League champion in the 5 and 10k, Franklin entered the meet seeded 18th out of 24. He finished in front of top-seeded Girma Mecheso (OSU) as well as Parker Stinson (Oregon) who had the third-best time in the nation entering today’s race.
Franklin was in second place for the first couple laps before he settled comfortably into a big pack. With about nine laps remaining the race starting to slow a bit and athletes started to break away from one another. Franklin found himself steady in the top 12 and with three laps to go he turned it on. He ran his fastest three laps in the final three laps clocking a 1:08.17, 1:06.73 and closed with a 1:01.62 - the second -fastest lap of any of the competitors throughout the entire race.
Princeton sent nine athletes to the championships, and eight of them have already competed.
The only one left to go is junior Imani Oliver in the women's triple jump.
Oliver, the school-record-holder in the triple jump, is not only the last Princeton athlete to compete at the NCAA championships but also the last Princeton athlete in any sport to compete in the 2012-13 academic year.
Princeton Athletics has been going strong since last Aug. 31, when the women's volleyball team, soccer teams and field hockey team opened their seasons.
One of the things that TB loves about his job is that no two years are exactly the same, and each year provides its own challenge. The 2012-13 academic year is one of the best that TB has seen around here.
Princeton won four NCAA championships this academic year, beginning with the field hockey team and continuing with fencing, an individual fencer and the indoor track and field distance medley relay team. There were some epic performances this year, and Princeton has had some of the best athletes who have ever played their sports at the school - and in some cases the best athlete ever to play his/her sport - compete this year.
As TB looks back at the 2012-13 year, another part of what he loves about Princeton couldn't be clearer.
There are some who would never want to work at a place that doesn't have BCS-level football and basketball and then a big drop-off in importance to everything else.
For TB, the diversity of sports at Princeton - and of the people who play them - is still a huge lure.
It was on display all year, with 38 sports and nearly 1,000 athletes, all leading up to today, when Oliver's last triple jump will bring the curtain down again - until it starts up again for another year, with another new set of challenges, with no guarantee for continued success.
The 2012-13 academic year?
Hey, like Ryan Crouser said, it went okay.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
No Turn On Red
TigerBlog pulled up to a traffic light the other day, and he was turning right.
There was a sign that said "No Turn On Red Weekdays 2-5." TB then looked at his clock and saw that it was 4:59.
What would you have done? Turn, or wait?
TB was debating that. He wondered if there was a police officer anywhere who would give someone a ticket for turning right at a right light one minute before it was okay to do so.
Whose clock was official anyway? Is it like when a game is on TV and everything has to be synced through the clock in the truck before the pregame countdown on the clock in the stadium can start. The cop's clock is the only one that matters?
Maybe it would become 5:00 before the light turned green. Maybe it wouldn't.
Then the guy behind TB honked at him. Didn't he see the sign? Didn't he know it wasn't exactly time to make a right turn on red?
The light turned green before the clock struck five, and TB waited to turn. That was two days ago. He's going to go back to that intersection at some point in the near future at around 4:55 and see how many people turn right on red before 5:00. He can report back on that.
Of course, there is the whole notion of coming to a complete stop before turning right on red, something that is in practicality more of a slow roll and then turn. TB is guilty of that all the time, yet something kept him from making the actual turn before the clock said it was time.
The ability to turn right on red predates when TB got his driver's license, though not by much. According to Wikipedia, it grew out of an idea to save gas during the fuel shortages in the 1970s.
Through the years TB has sometimes wondered why there would be a "No Turn On Red" sign at a certain intersection, when clearly it looks safe to turn there.
Then there's the question of whether or not it's legal to make a right on red in big cities. It's against the law in New York City, for instance, and so TB has wondered if he could turn right on red in unfamiliar cities.
And then there is the much less frequent left on red, at an intersection with two one-way streets. Is that legal?
Speaking of left turns, Peter Farrell, the Princeton women's track and field coach, was working with Miss TigerBlog before she ran for her middle school team this spring.
Her events were the 100 hurdles, the long jump and the 400, though she filled in on the 4x100 relay team one time, and it just so happened that the relay team set the school record that day.
Anyway, Farrell's advice to MTB on how to run the 400? Make four left turns and get back here as soon as you can.
With coaching like that, is it any wonder that Princeton is doing so well in the sport?
The Tigers had two All-Americas on the first day of the NCAA outdoor track and field championship. Freshman Julia Ratcliffe didn't have her best day, but she still finished 11th in the hammer and won All-America honors. Senior Russell Dinkins finished 16th in the 800, also becoming an All-America.
Dinkins ran a 1:50.7. Feel free to contrast that time with the 1:51.5 that Ed Burrowes ran for Princeton in the 1940 NCAA finals, to finish second overall.
Dinkins is back today in the 4x400, along with Austin Hollimon, Tom Hopkins and Daniel McCord.
Greta Feldman will make 16 left turns in the women's 1,500, and Heps cross country champion Chris Bendsten and Michael Franklin will run in the 10,000.
TB isn't sure how many lefts that is, but it's a lot.
There is a Day 1 photo gallery of the NCAA championships on goprincetontigers.com, and it makes Oregon's Hayward Field look like the great place to watch track and field that it's made out to be.
TB's favorite picture is the one of Dinkins on the starting line, with the packed stands behind him.
Oh, and the 10,000 is 100 left turns.
TB is pretty sure at least.
There was a sign that said "No Turn On Red Weekdays 2-5." TB then looked at his clock and saw that it was 4:59.
What would you have done? Turn, or wait?
TB was debating that. He wondered if there was a police officer anywhere who would give someone a ticket for turning right at a right light one minute before it was okay to do so.
Whose clock was official anyway? Is it like when a game is on TV and everything has to be synced through the clock in the truck before the pregame countdown on the clock in the stadium can start. The cop's clock is the only one that matters?
Maybe it would become 5:00 before the light turned green. Maybe it wouldn't.
Then the guy behind TB honked at him. Didn't he see the sign? Didn't he know it wasn't exactly time to make a right turn on red?
The light turned green before the clock struck five, and TB waited to turn. That was two days ago. He's going to go back to that intersection at some point in the near future at around 4:55 and see how many people turn right on red before 5:00. He can report back on that.
Of course, there is the whole notion of coming to a complete stop before turning right on red, something that is in practicality more of a slow roll and then turn. TB is guilty of that all the time, yet something kept him from making the actual turn before the clock said it was time.
The ability to turn right on red predates when TB got his driver's license, though not by much. According to Wikipedia, it grew out of an idea to save gas during the fuel shortages in the 1970s.
Through the years TB has sometimes wondered why there would be a "No Turn On Red" sign at a certain intersection, when clearly it looks safe to turn there.
Then there's the question of whether or not it's legal to make a right on red in big cities. It's against the law in New York City, for instance, and so TB has wondered if he could turn right on red in unfamiliar cities.
And then there is the much less frequent left on red, at an intersection with two one-way streets. Is that legal?
Speaking of left turns, Peter Farrell, the Princeton women's track and field coach, was working with Miss TigerBlog before she ran for her middle school team this spring.
Her events were the 100 hurdles, the long jump and the 400, though she filled in on the 4x100 relay team one time, and it just so happened that the relay team set the school record that day.
Anyway, Farrell's advice to MTB on how to run the 400? Make four left turns and get back here as soon as you can.
With coaching like that, is it any wonder that Princeton is doing so well in the sport?
The Tigers had two All-Americas on the first day of the NCAA outdoor track and field championship. Freshman Julia Ratcliffe didn't have her best day, but she still finished 11th in the hammer and won All-America honors. Senior Russell Dinkins finished 16th in the 800, also becoming an All-America.
Dinkins ran a 1:50.7. Feel free to contrast that time with the 1:51.5 that Ed Burrowes ran for Princeton in the 1940 NCAA finals, to finish second overall.
Dinkins is back today in the 4x400, along with Austin Hollimon, Tom Hopkins and Daniel McCord.
Greta Feldman will make 16 left turns in the women's 1,500, and Heps cross country champion Chris Bendsten and Michael Franklin will run in the 10,000.
TB isn't sure how many lefts that is, but it's a lot.
There is a Day 1 photo gallery of the NCAA championships on goprincetontigers.com, and it makes Oregon's Hayward Field look like the great place to watch track and field that it's made out to be.
TB's favorite picture is the one of Dinkins on the starting line, with the packed stands behind him.
Oh, and the 10,000 is 100 left turns.
TB is pretty sure at least.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Pack It Up
TigerBlog hates to overpack.
It doesn't mean he can always stop himself from doing so.
Packing is always a pain. What should you take? How many times are you going to change your shirt? What if you go out for a nice dinner?
Most of the times that TB has had to pack, it's been Princeton related.
Back in 1996, when Princeton went to Indianapolis for the NCAA basketball tournament, TB assumed the Tigers were going to lose to UCLA, so he only packed enough for a first-round exit. Instead, Princeton won - perhaps you remember that - and TB had to go to the mall next to his hotel and buy a new shirt and new underwear for the rest of that trip.
Packing for an Ivy League road trip is relatively easy, since that's a fixed amount of time, especially when it's just overnight. On the other hand, you don't want to be caught short, so there is the tendency to take more that you actually need, which leads to that moment when someone says "what are you, going for a week?"
When TB sees college basketball games on television, he often wonders how the coaches keep their suits from getting wrinkled. They make it seem so easy. TB has khaki pants in his bag that look like he rolled them up in a ball when he takes them out.
TB often vows to underpack. Of course, when he does, there's the stress of wondering how long it will all last, only to be shocked when it seems to last as many days as necessary. As TB thinks about it, that's sort of how Hanukkah got started.
When Princeton's men's lacrosse team went to Costa Rica last year, TB took his Princeton lacrosse bag, which is a fairly oversized cloth bag into which TB can fit basically everything he owns. When traveling from Point A (the capital city of San Jose) to Point B (coastal town of Samara) to Point C (coastal town of Tamarindo), there was the issue of what to do with the dirty stuff, which is left to mingle with the clean stuff, which is a bigger issue for TB than it is for most, he assumes.
Anyway, as TB was packing, he did the classic overthinking, as in "what if there's a formal dinner" or "what if it gets cold." The result? Overpacking, and a large subsection of clothes that never left the bag.
For the most part, TB uses his old Trenton Thunder duffel bag when he travels, which is the perfect size for a night or two. TB got it when he helped Tom McCarthy out at the 1996 Eastern League all-star game at Waterfront Park. It's probably time for a newer, more Princeton-centric bag.
The Princeton track and field contingent left in various stages on various flights for the NCAA championships at Eugene, Oregon, which begins today and runs through the weekend.
TB was impressed to see just how light Princeton women's track and field coach Peter Farrell was able to pack. TB brings more to work each day, or so it looked anyway.
As an aside, it's quite the contrast to what TB saw from Texas men's basketball coach Rick Barnes when Texas and Princeton arrived at baggage claim at the Honolulu airport in 1998. Barnes had about 10 bags - and he snapped at the team managers for getting their own before they got his.
Anyway, back in Eugene, where the weather should be sunny and warm, Princeton has sent nine athletes, which is the most Princeton has ever had in the event.
The first to compete might be the one who has the best chance of winning it all, and that's freshman hammer thrower Julia Ratcliffe, who throws today and who has the second-best throw in the country this year. Russell Dinkins and Austin Hollimon, half of the NCAA indoor-champion distance medley relay team this past winter, both run today in their semifinals (Dinkins in the 800, Hollimon in the 400 hurdles).
Of Princeton's nine athletes in Oregon, seven will be competing tomorrow.
For some of them, their season began way back with the beginning of cross country. It's certainly a long grind.
The NCAA track and field championships will be the last Princeton events of the academic year.
After that, it'll be time to pack it up - until the 2013-14 season begins.
It doesn't mean he can always stop himself from doing so.
Packing is always a pain. What should you take? How many times are you going to change your shirt? What if you go out for a nice dinner?
Most of the times that TB has had to pack, it's been Princeton related.
Back in 1996, when Princeton went to Indianapolis for the NCAA basketball tournament, TB assumed the Tigers were going to lose to UCLA, so he only packed enough for a first-round exit. Instead, Princeton won - perhaps you remember that - and TB had to go to the mall next to his hotel and buy a new shirt and new underwear for the rest of that trip.
Packing for an Ivy League road trip is relatively easy, since that's a fixed amount of time, especially when it's just overnight. On the other hand, you don't want to be caught short, so there is the tendency to take more that you actually need, which leads to that moment when someone says "what are you, going for a week?"
When TB sees college basketball games on television, he often wonders how the coaches keep their suits from getting wrinkled. They make it seem so easy. TB has khaki pants in his bag that look like he rolled them up in a ball when he takes them out.
TB often vows to underpack. Of course, when he does, there's the stress of wondering how long it will all last, only to be shocked when it seems to last as many days as necessary. As TB thinks about it, that's sort of how Hanukkah got started.
When Princeton's men's lacrosse team went to Costa Rica last year, TB took his Princeton lacrosse bag, which is a fairly oversized cloth bag into which TB can fit basically everything he owns. When traveling from Point A (the capital city of San Jose) to Point B (coastal town of Samara) to Point C (coastal town of Tamarindo), there was the issue of what to do with the dirty stuff, which is left to mingle with the clean stuff, which is a bigger issue for TB than it is for most, he assumes.
Anyway, as TB was packing, he did the classic overthinking, as in "what if there's a formal dinner" or "what if it gets cold." The result? Overpacking, and a large subsection of clothes that never left the bag.
For the most part, TB uses his old Trenton Thunder duffel bag when he travels, which is the perfect size for a night or two. TB got it when he helped Tom McCarthy out at the 1996 Eastern League all-star game at Waterfront Park. It's probably time for a newer, more Princeton-centric bag.
The Princeton track and field contingent left in various stages on various flights for the NCAA championships at Eugene, Oregon, which begins today and runs through the weekend.
TB was impressed to see just how light Princeton women's track and field coach Peter Farrell was able to pack. TB brings more to work each day, or so it looked anyway.
As an aside, it's quite the contrast to what TB saw from Texas men's basketball coach Rick Barnes when Texas and Princeton arrived at baggage claim at the Honolulu airport in 1998. Barnes had about 10 bags - and he snapped at the team managers for getting their own before they got his.
Anyway, back in Eugene, where the weather should be sunny and warm, Princeton has sent nine athletes, which is the most Princeton has ever had in the event.
The first to compete might be the one who has the best chance of winning it all, and that's freshman hammer thrower Julia Ratcliffe, who throws today and who has the second-best throw in the country this year. Russell Dinkins and Austin Hollimon, half of the NCAA indoor-champion distance medley relay team this past winter, both run today in their semifinals (Dinkins in the 800, Hollimon in the 400 hurdles).
Of Princeton's nine athletes in Oregon, seven will be competing tomorrow.
For some of them, their season began way back with the beginning of cross country. It's certainly a long grind.
The NCAA track and field championships will be the last Princeton events of the academic year.
After that, it'll be time to pack it up - until the 2013-14 season begins.
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