If TigerBlog could turn the clock back a year, he'd find himself in a world where the two most beloved professional team sport athletes in this country were Peyton Manning and LeBron James.
How could you not like these two?
Manning and James came across as incredibly hard working, team-oriented players who gave everything they had every game and almost never disappointed, even when their team lost. Away from the game, they both seemed so likeable, and together they churned out one funny commercial after another that played to those images.
About the only difference was that Manning won a Super Bowl, while James had yet to win an NBA title. Still, who thought James wouldn't get one, two, three with the Cavaliers, and what a feel-good story would that have been, a local kid from Akron who injected life into a great sports city that hasn't celebrated a championship since Jim Brown and the 1964 Browns.
Yes, the Cavs didn't have much of a supporting case. Still, they'd get James his "Scottie Pippen" one day, and the result would be ring after ring.
After all, who would stop a team with LeBron James, a freak of nature who could physically dominate a game like no other non-center ever. This includes Michael Jordan, whose dominance was half mental and half physical and who, by the way, is the greatest athlete TigerBlog has ever seen.
James, though wasn't that far behind. And when he won his championships in Cleveland, TB would be rooting hard for him, because who could possibly root against someone like James?
Fast forward a year, and this is what was written by Mike Vaccaro - who used to cover some Princeton basketball for the Star-Ledger - in the New York Post after the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals:
"America hadn’t rejoiced with this united a voice since Mike Eruzione beat Vladimir Myshkin with a wrist shot 31 1/2 years ago."
Or, as Adrian Wojnarowski wrote on Yahoo sports:
"The Mavericks bus was packed with players and coaches and family, and the door opened up wide for Nowitzki. The noise and laughter and love came tumbling out for him. He climbed on, the bus peeled out of the parking lot and toward the Venetian Causeway across the green waters of Biscayne Bay, toward a long night of partying, and a longer life as a champion. And here’s how the Year of LeBron James finally ended in a balmy night in June: Dirk Nowitzki was taking his team, his trophy, his talents to South Beach."
It's unlikely that LeBron James could have done more to destroy his image, reputation and legacy in less than a year if he had actually sat down and planned to do so, short of committing a massive felony or getting caught up in a Tiger Woods situation.
James did all of the following since the end of last NBA season:
* had a narcissistic free-agency celebration of himself
* announced his decision to take his talents to South Beach, as he said, on an even more narcissistic one-hour television special
* took part in a welcoming ceremony that raised the bar of narcissism, if that was possible
* reached the NBA Finals
* shockingly disappeared when it counted
* mocked Dirk Nowitski
* ripped the fans after his team lost
Today, there's not one casual fan who will ever root for LeBron again. TigerBlog has a friend in Ohio who sent a text message after the game Tuesday that had two letters for LBJ, the first being an F and the second being somewhat obvious.
About the only way James will be able to salvage his reputation is to have Dwyane Wade get hurt and miss the playoffs and have Miami win the NBA title as James averages 30+ points.
Hey, James had a triple-double in Game 5 and 21 points in Game 6 and still came out looking worse than any athlete ever has in a championship setting that TB can remember.
And with the meltdown of James and the Heat, basketball season ended for 2011. And with a lockout looming, who knows if there'll be a 2011-12 season.
The NBA Finals ended three months to the day when Douglas Davis hit his shot against Harvard at the buzzer of the Ivy League playoff game, moving Princeton into the NCAA tournament. Five days later, Princeton came within a basket of knocking off Kentucky in the first round.
As an aside, Harvard doesn't exactly appear to be over how the playoff game ended.
The NBA runs forever compared to college, which runs long enough, considering it starts earlier and earlier in November.
The 2011 basketball season was the first in Princeton history where the men and women both advanced to the NCAA tournament, as the women did so for the second time in program history (and second straight time, of course) and the men did so for the first time since 2004.
The women won their championship minus the great Niveen Rasheed, who missed most of the season with a torn ACL. Despite that loss, Princeton went 13-1 in the league, making the Tigers 27-1 in the last two years. Addie Micir, a senior, won the Ivy League's Player of the Year Award unanimously.
The men won their championship as the culmination of a great turnaround for the program, a turnaround led by seniors Dan Mavraides and Kareem Maddox.
Princeton went 7-23 Micir's freshman year; the men were 6-23 that same year.
And despite that, it was a happy, feel-good ending for Princeton basketball in 2011.
And not as much of one for LeBron James.
Please don't let Peyton Manning be next.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 13, 2011
TB's Friend Jeb
TigerBlog has a friend whose 70th birthday is today.
Sadly, TB will not be talking to that friend today, not after he passed away a little more than three years ago after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Three years later, TB still can remember the sound Jeb Stuart would make as he'd shuffle down the balcony with his cane, approaching the OAC. He can still see Jeb's face and hear Jeb's voice, and it hardly seems like three years have gone by since he didn't have to close his eyes to do so.
TB first met Jeb when TB was in the newspaper business and Jeb owned the local weekly paper, Town Topics. While TB doesn't exactly remember the exact time and place he met Jeb, he'd guess that it was in the press box at Palmer Stadium.
There are few people who spent more time in that press box through the years than Jeb Stuart. His father was the public address announcer for decades, and Jeb himself covered the Tigers for the newspaper and for the alumni weekly.
He was a Princeton kid who attended Princeton, and it wasn't until years later that TB learned that Jeb had actually graduated from Columbia, not Princeton.
Eventually, after his long career at the paper, Jeb retired, sort of.
In an effort to stay involved in Princeton Athletics, Jeb came to the OAC and volunteered to work here. No job, he said, would be too small.
And so Jeb spent the last 10 or so years of his life working in the back room of the OAC, in what is now a separate office on the other side of a wall that has since been put up.
Jeb would come in, sit back there and do things like string credentials or clip newspapers (back when clipping newspapers was something that the OAC did, or, for that matter, when having newspapers delivered was something that the OAC did). He researched requests, wrote historical stories for game programs, made copies of game notes, helped out at games.
Mostly, though, he talked to the people who worked here, people who were in some cases nearly 40 years his junior. He'd talk to them about his life, their lives, his experiences, their experiences. They'd talk about Princeton games, Princeton coaches, Princeton athletes - all current or past.
He'd laugh with the people who worked here. He was their friend.
And he only asked for two forms of compensation for his work. First, he wanted a parking pass for the athletics lot. Second, he wanted a princeton.edu email address.
He got both.
Jeb at one point walked with a lively gait, standing up straight and moving quickly. After radiation treatments for his cancer touched a nerve, though, he moved slowly, eventually walking with a severe limp and ultimately a cane.
Still, even as his physical ability slowed, he never did. He still came to work every day and loved every minute of it.
It would take Jeb about, oh 10 times longer than TB to walk from the parking lot to the building, but TB would wait for Jeb and walk at his pace.
Jeb stayed that way for years, until the cancer returned and spread. He tried experimental treatments, chemo, everything there was until it was too late.
TB visited him twice in the hospital before he left with the men's lacrosse team on a trip to Europe in June 2008. The first time, Jeb was talking about getting out, talking about the next football season, talking about the things Jeb talked about.
The second time, a few days, later, Jeb didn't even recognize TB, and it was then that TB knew the end was near. TB got word that Jeb had passed away while he was on the trip.
Jeb's memorial service brought a huge crowd to the Princeton chapel. One of his friends, while eulogizing "Jebbie," heard his cell phone ring and answered it, shocking the audience, who couldn't believe that someone would interrupt a eulogy to do so.
In a matter of seconds, it became obvious what had happened, as the eulogizer - whom TB didn't know - began to talk to Jeb, telling Jeb about the service and how it was going and all. It was a nice combination of humor and genuine affection.
In the three years since, TB has thought of Jeb often. Mostly, it's been at Princeton athletic events, and TB knows pretty much what Jeb would be thinking - and saying - about any given occasion.
TigerBlog knows that the shuffling sound of Jeb's foot, coupled with the cane, is gone from the balcony forever.
Still, he's hardly been forgotten. Today, on his 70th birthday, all of the memories of Jeb have come flooding back.
And, of course, there's TigerBlog itself, which began nearly three months after Jeb died. Jeb would have been an avid reader, and in all probability, would have been a regular contributor.
Jeb would have loved TigerBlog, just like TigerBlog loved Jeb.
Sadly, TB will not be talking to that friend today, not after he passed away a little more than three years ago after a long battle with prostate cancer.
Three years later, TB still can remember the sound Jeb Stuart would make as he'd shuffle down the balcony with his cane, approaching the OAC. He can still see Jeb's face and hear Jeb's voice, and it hardly seems like three years have gone by since he didn't have to close his eyes to do so.
TB first met Jeb when TB was in the newspaper business and Jeb owned the local weekly paper, Town Topics. While TB doesn't exactly remember the exact time and place he met Jeb, he'd guess that it was in the press box at Palmer Stadium.
There are few people who spent more time in that press box through the years than Jeb Stuart. His father was the public address announcer for decades, and Jeb himself covered the Tigers for the newspaper and for the alumni weekly.
He was a Princeton kid who attended Princeton, and it wasn't until years later that TB learned that Jeb had actually graduated from Columbia, not Princeton.
Eventually, after his long career at the paper, Jeb retired, sort of.
In an effort to stay involved in Princeton Athletics, Jeb came to the OAC and volunteered to work here. No job, he said, would be too small.
And so Jeb spent the last 10 or so years of his life working in the back room of the OAC, in what is now a separate office on the other side of a wall that has since been put up.
Jeb would come in, sit back there and do things like string credentials or clip newspapers (back when clipping newspapers was something that the OAC did, or, for that matter, when having newspapers delivered was something that the OAC did). He researched requests, wrote historical stories for game programs, made copies of game notes, helped out at games.
Mostly, though, he talked to the people who worked here, people who were in some cases nearly 40 years his junior. He'd talk to them about his life, their lives, his experiences, their experiences. They'd talk about Princeton games, Princeton coaches, Princeton athletes - all current or past.
He'd laugh with the people who worked here. He was their friend.
And he only asked for two forms of compensation for his work. First, he wanted a parking pass for the athletics lot. Second, he wanted a princeton.edu email address.
He got both.
Jeb at one point walked with a lively gait, standing up straight and moving quickly. After radiation treatments for his cancer touched a nerve, though, he moved slowly, eventually walking with a severe limp and ultimately a cane.
Still, even as his physical ability slowed, he never did. He still came to work every day and loved every minute of it.
It would take Jeb about, oh 10 times longer than TB to walk from the parking lot to the building, but TB would wait for Jeb and walk at his pace.
Jeb stayed that way for years, until the cancer returned and spread. He tried experimental treatments, chemo, everything there was until it was too late.
TB visited him twice in the hospital before he left with the men's lacrosse team on a trip to Europe in June 2008. The first time, Jeb was talking about getting out, talking about the next football season, talking about the things Jeb talked about.
The second time, a few days, later, Jeb didn't even recognize TB, and it was then that TB knew the end was near. TB got word that Jeb had passed away while he was on the trip.
Jeb's memorial service brought a huge crowd to the Princeton chapel. One of his friends, while eulogizing "Jebbie," heard his cell phone ring and answered it, shocking the audience, who couldn't believe that someone would interrupt a eulogy to do so.
In a matter of seconds, it became obvious what had happened, as the eulogizer - whom TB didn't know - began to talk to Jeb, telling Jeb about the service and how it was going and all. It was a nice combination of humor and genuine affection.
In the three years since, TB has thought of Jeb often. Mostly, it's been at Princeton athletic events, and TB knows pretty much what Jeb would be thinking - and saying - about any given occasion.
TigerBlog knows that the shuffling sound of Jeb's foot, coupled with the cane, is gone from the balcony forever.
Still, he's hardly been forgotten. Today, on his 70th birthday, all of the memories of Jeb have come flooding back.
And, of course, there's TigerBlog itself, which began nearly three months after Jeb died. Jeb would have been an avid reader, and in all probability, would have been a regular contributor.
Jeb would have loved TigerBlog, just like TigerBlog loved Jeb.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Last Lap
It's hard to imagine too many plans in sports history - military history is filled with them - that went as poorly as the one the Yankees had for Joba Chamberlain.
In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Chamberlain went from unhittable eighth-inning set-up man behind Mariano Rivera to an average starter to an okay set-up man to a candidate for Tommy John surgery. Those Joba Rules that were meant to protect his golden arm?
Yeah, they didn't work out so well.
The Yankees babied Chamberlain every step of the way, and what was the result? The power pitcher suffered a torn ligament in his elbow and now needs reconstructive surgery.
Who knows? Maybe if they'd just left him alone all these years, he'd be wiping out batters before Rivera closed things out, just like he did back when he was unhittable as a rookie, all the while grooming himself to take over for Rivera one day.
Surely the Yankees could have used him last night, when the Red Sox blasted C.C. Sabathia in the seventh inning en route to an 8-3 win and a second-straight sweep of a three-game series with New York.
TB read about Chamberlain in this morning's actual newspaper, though he'd first seen the story yesterday afternoon in a "breaking news" alert in the New York Post online edition. TB gets about 99 percent of his information online - and this from a longtime newspaper veteran.
The local paper is still good for high school sports, which TB started out covering nearly 30 years ago.
In today's paper, there was a story about a local runner at the New Jersey Meet of Champions who was ahead of state-record pace in the 3,200-meter run when lightning struck, cancelling the race with two laps to go.
It was a decision that caused some controversy, as the race was pushed back to Monday night.
TigerBlog's first thought was to ask Princeton's track and field coaches if they could remember races that were interrupted like that, especially long distance races that had already completed 80% of the laps.
Then TB realized they were all at the NCAA championships, so it would have to wait.
The men's 4x400 relay was pushed back from last night to this morning at the NCAA track and field championships for the same reason that the high school race was interrupted, lightning. Princeton's team of Mike Eddy, Russell Dinkins, Austin Hollimon and Tom Hopkins was to run last night in Des Moines, only to have it pushed back to 11 local time (noon Eastern).
Princeton still has the 4x400, as well as some distance runners left to compete at the championships, which will be the final athletic event for Princeton in the 2010-11 academic year.
Donn Cabral and Ashley Higginson, who finished second and third a year ago, will run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final tomorrow. Cabral and Mark Amirault will run in the 5,000 meters for the men, and Alex Banfich will run in the same event for the women.
If it seems like a long time since, oh, the Heps cross country championships, it has been. That's how the college track season is for distance runners.
Princeton's contingent in Iowa was a large one, going 10 deep.
Winning an NCAA title would be a great way to end the academic year, but none of Princeton's people is a favorite.
Still, it's been a ridiculous year for track and field here.
The men and women both won the cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field championships, a "double-triple" that only 10 schools have ever achieved in NCAA history - none of which was from the Ivy League.
Princeton won 15 Ivy League titles this academic year, breaking the old record of 14 by one (obviously).
Without the track and field programs, that record wouldn't have come close to being broken.
For all of the great things that Princeton athletics accomplished in 2010-11 - including a dramatic win in the Ivy men's basketball playoff game, the first perfect league season in men's soccer, a surprising title in baseball, dominance from sports like field hockey, women's basketball and swimming - it's hard to top what the track and field programs did.
The remaining races are a victory lap for those who are running them - regardless of where they finish.
In what seemed like a blink of an eye, Chamberlain went from unhittable eighth-inning set-up man behind Mariano Rivera to an average starter to an okay set-up man to a candidate for Tommy John surgery. Those Joba Rules that were meant to protect his golden arm?
Yeah, they didn't work out so well.
The Yankees babied Chamberlain every step of the way, and what was the result? The power pitcher suffered a torn ligament in his elbow and now needs reconstructive surgery.
Who knows? Maybe if they'd just left him alone all these years, he'd be wiping out batters before Rivera closed things out, just like he did back when he was unhittable as a rookie, all the while grooming himself to take over for Rivera one day.
Surely the Yankees could have used him last night, when the Red Sox blasted C.C. Sabathia in the seventh inning en route to an 8-3 win and a second-straight sweep of a three-game series with New York.
TB read about Chamberlain in this morning's actual newspaper, though he'd first seen the story yesterday afternoon in a "breaking news" alert in the New York Post online edition. TB gets about 99 percent of his information online - and this from a longtime newspaper veteran.
The local paper is still good for high school sports, which TB started out covering nearly 30 years ago.
In today's paper, there was a story about a local runner at the New Jersey Meet of Champions who was ahead of state-record pace in the 3,200-meter run when lightning struck, cancelling the race with two laps to go.
It was a decision that caused some controversy, as the race was pushed back to Monday night.
TigerBlog's first thought was to ask Princeton's track and field coaches if they could remember races that were interrupted like that, especially long distance races that had already completed 80% of the laps.
Then TB realized they were all at the NCAA championships, so it would have to wait.
The men's 4x400 relay was pushed back from last night to this morning at the NCAA track and field championships for the same reason that the high school race was interrupted, lightning. Princeton's team of Mike Eddy, Russell Dinkins, Austin Hollimon and Tom Hopkins was to run last night in Des Moines, only to have it pushed back to 11 local time (noon Eastern).
Princeton still has the 4x400, as well as some distance runners left to compete at the championships, which will be the final athletic event for Princeton in the 2010-11 academic year.
Donn Cabral and Ashley Higginson, who finished second and third a year ago, will run in the 3,000-meter steeplechase final tomorrow. Cabral and Mark Amirault will run in the 5,000 meters for the men, and Alex Banfich will run in the same event for the women.
If it seems like a long time since, oh, the Heps cross country championships, it has been. That's how the college track season is for distance runners.
Princeton's contingent in Iowa was a large one, going 10 deep.
Winning an NCAA title would be a great way to end the academic year, but none of Princeton's people is a favorite.
Still, it's been a ridiculous year for track and field here.
The men and women both won the cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field championships, a "double-triple" that only 10 schools have ever achieved in NCAA history - none of which was from the Ivy League.
Princeton won 15 Ivy League titles this academic year, breaking the old record of 14 by one (obviously).
Without the track and field programs, that record wouldn't have come close to being broken.
For all of the great things that Princeton athletics accomplished in 2010-11 - including a dramatic win in the Ivy men's basketball playoff game, the first perfect league season in men's soccer, a surprising title in baseball, dominance from sports like field hockey, women's basketball and swimming - it's hard to top what the track and field programs did.
The remaining races are a victory lap for those who are running them - regardless of where they finish.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
98 Degrees
It's 98 degrees here today, which makes the balcony of Jadwin Gym rather hot.
TigerBlog likes to leave the door to his office open. With the temperature so high, he can't do that, because it defeats the purpose of air conditioning.
Speaking of air conditioning, there was a long time here that the air conditioning in Jadwin didn't work so well. In fact, for some summers, it didn't work at all.
The offices that have an exterior window have always had window air conditioners, so they've always been nicely cooled. The offices on the balcony, though, have windows that look out across the lobby and through the huge glass windows into the football stadium and track complex, which affords a lovely view but no place to put a window unit.
As a result, there have been many summers where it's been rather hot in this office.
One year, when the air was turned off completely due to asbestos removal in the lower levels of the building, the OAC was given a portable unit that looked like what TigerBlog assumes an old fashioned iron-lung looked like.
The machine made a weird humming/gurgling noise, but it did cool things off a bit. The only problem was that nobody told anyone here that the machine created condensation that was collecting in a huge pail, and so when everyone left the first night and didn't turn the machine off, the pail overflowed and the office flooded, resulting in new carpet at least.
At one point during a particularly horrid summer, Vinnie DiCarlo called the local OSHA office, who referred him to his department supervisor, Gary Walters, and suggested he voice his concerns over the heat in the office to him. DiCarlo's response was: "I would, but I can't chisel the ice off his door."
Through the years, TigerBlog has had a small fan with the words "air duracraft" written cross the bottom on a table near his desk. TB always puts the fan on low, even in the winter, as much for the hum it gives off as for its cooling effect, though it does a surprisingly good job of that.
TigerBlog isn't 100 percent sure where got the fan. If his memory is correct, he had two of the same fans, except one was black and white and one was blue, and he can't remember what happened to the blue one. It's possible that the fans date back to when he lived in Trenton with Jim Chesko, back in the house on Chestnut Street that didn't have AC.
Eventually, the air conditioning here at Jadwin was replaced. Today, it works pretty well, to the point where the balcony offices are well-cooled throughout the summer, which technically is more than 10 days away.
As an aside, TB wishes he had a dollar for every person who made the requisite "how was the one day of spring we had" joke.
The down side of having the air conditioner work well is that it forces TB to keep the door closed. He's a big fan of having the door open, so he can interact with the people who walk by. With the door closed, he feels a bit isolated.
He can hear the people in the mail room, but he can't really make out what they're saying or who they are, unless they speak loudly. He can hear laughter, which happens a few times a day.
What's the point of any of this?
Well, except for eight track and field athletes who are competing through Saturday, the Princeton athletic year for 2010-11 is over.
Preparations for the 2011-12 school year began a long time ago, in every area that Princeton athletics deals with.
But in reality, when the events stop, everything else slows to a crawl. At least for a little while.
TigerBlog doesn't really have a good understanding of how much of the working world functions on a daily basis. If you're in sales, or you're in finance, or you're in something like that, how do you know when the day starts and when it ends? Do most professions have down time at this time of year? Probably not.
For TigerBlog, it's only ever been the newspaper business and this. The work schedule is dictated completely by the time of year.
And this time of year is easily the slowest around here. The second-slowest is the last two weeks of December or so, by the way.
There is a routine flow of people in and out of Jadwin through the school year. The number of people on campus skyrockets during Reunions and graduation, and the amount of work that builds to that point is significant.
And then, just like that, it's over. Almost everyone leaves campus for the summer, leaving behind only those who actually work here year-round.
It's a time to catch your breath and all, but it's also a bit weird.
Walk or drive across campus, and hardly anyone is here. Even the summer camp crowd hasn't arrived yet.
Eventually, the camps end, late August rolls around, the athletes start to return, practices start, games start, school starts, and all the noise comes back, starting the process all over again.
For now, though, the normal sounds of the school year are gone. In their place is just a strange silence.
And a lot of heat.
TigerBlog likes to leave the door to his office open. With the temperature so high, he can't do that, because it defeats the purpose of air conditioning.
Speaking of air conditioning, there was a long time here that the air conditioning in Jadwin didn't work so well. In fact, for some summers, it didn't work at all.
The offices that have an exterior window have always had window air conditioners, so they've always been nicely cooled. The offices on the balcony, though, have windows that look out across the lobby and through the huge glass windows into the football stadium and track complex, which affords a lovely view but no place to put a window unit.
As a result, there have been many summers where it's been rather hot in this office.
One year, when the air was turned off completely due to asbestos removal in the lower levels of the building, the OAC was given a portable unit that looked like what TigerBlog assumes an old fashioned iron-lung looked like.
The machine made a weird humming/gurgling noise, but it did cool things off a bit. The only problem was that nobody told anyone here that the machine created condensation that was collecting in a huge pail, and so when everyone left the first night and didn't turn the machine off, the pail overflowed and the office flooded, resulting in new carpet at least.
At one point during a particularly horrid summer, Vinnie DiCarlo called the local OSHA office, who referred him to his department supervisor, Gary Walters, and suggested he voice his concerns over the heat in the office to him. DiCarlo's response was: "I would, but I can't chisel the ice off his door."
Through the years, TigerBlog has had a small fan with the words "air duracraft" written cross the bottom on a table near his desk. TB always puts the fan on low, even in the winter, as much for the hum it gives off as for its cooling effect, though it does a surprisingly good job of that.
TigerBlog isn't 100 percent sure where got the fan. If his memory is correct, he had two of the same fans, except one was black and white and one was blue, and he can't remember what happened to the blue one. It's possible that the fans date back to when he lived in Trenton with Jim Chesko, back in the house on Chestnut Street that didn't have AC.
Eventually, the air conditioning here at Jadwin was replaced. Today, it works pretty well, to the point where the balcony offices are well-cooled throughout the summer, which technically is more than 10 days away.
As an aside, TB wishes he had a dollar for every person who made the requisite "how was the one day of spring we had" joke.
The down side of having the air conditioner work well is that it forces TB to keep the door closed. He's a big fan of having the door open, so he can interact with the people who walk by. With the door closed, he feels a bit isolated.
He can hear the people in the mail room, but he can't really make out what they're saying or who they are, unless they speak loudly. He can hear laughter, which happens a few times a day.
What's the point of any of this?
Well, except for eight track and field athletes who are competing through Saturday, the Princeton athletic year for 2010-11 is over.
Preparations for the 2011-12 school year began a long time ago, in every area that Princeton athletics deals with.
But in reality, when the events stop, everything else slows to a crawl. At least for a little while.
TigerBlog doesn't really have a good understanding of how much of the working world functions on a daily basis. If you're in sales, or you're in finance, or you're in something like that, how do you know when the day starts and when it ends? Do most professions have down time at this time of year? Probably not.
For TigerBlog, it's only ever been the newspaper business and this. The work schedule is dictated completely by the time of year.
And this time of year is easily the slowest around here. The second-slowest is the last two weeks of December or so, by the way.
There is a routine flow of people in and out of Jadwin through the school year. The number of people on campus skyrockets during Reunions and graduation, and the amount of work that builds to that point is significant.
And then, just like that, it's over. Almost everyone leaves campus for the summer, leaving behind only those who actually work here year-round.
It's a time to catch your breath and all, but it's also a bit weird.
Walk or drive across campus, and hardly anyone is here. Even the summer camp crowd hasn't arrived yet.
Eventually, the camps end, late August rolls around, the athletes start to return, practices start, games start, school starts, and all the noise comes back, starting the process all over again.
For now, though, the normal sounds of the school year are gone. In their place is just a strange silence.
And a lot of heat.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Welcome Home
TigerBlog has seen something in the neighborhood of a million Princeton athletic events in the last 30 years.
Actually that'd be an average of 91 per day, so it's clearly a hyperbole. In fact, TB wonders how many times he's seen Princeton play, and he could probably figure out a reasonably good estimate if he wanted to, which he doesn't. So he'll go the hyperbole root and say a million.
Of all of those games, most are just a blur, grouped together with all the other times TB saw that sport play that opponent. In many cases, TB can remember some particular details of a specific game from a specific year, and even the scores of a bunch of them.
And then there are a group that, for whatever reason, are just, as TB likes to say, seared into his memory.
One of those is Princeton-Harvard women's soccer back in 2004.
Today, TigerBlog is the sport contact for only one sport here at Princeton. In his time here, though, he's been the contact for 14 of Princeton's 38 sports: football, men's basketball, men's lacrosse, men's and women's squash, wrestling, men's and women's water polo, sprint football, all four crews and women's soccer.
Back when Princeton made its run to the 2004 NCAA Final Four in women's soccer, TB was the contact. And Esmeralda Negron was the team's star.
The biggest game of that season, the one that made the NCAA run possible, was the game against Harvard at Lourie-Love Field, which of course no longer exists.
Prior to that game, Princeton had gone a decade without scoring a goal at home against the Crimson, let alone winning one of the games. TigerBlog wrote about this in the pregame notes, and he was accosted by the father of one of the players before the game (in the Class of 1952 Stadium men's room, no less) about how he had psyched the players out.
For more than 89 minutes, TB thought it might be the case, as Princeton outplayed and outshot Harvard nearly three to one but trailed 1-0. Then Emily Behncke tied it in the final minute to force overtime, and Negron scored the game-winner in overtime.
TB can still see both plays as they developed, Behncke with her tying goal from up top and Negron with the finish in OT on a play set up by Diana Matheson.
It was one of 47 goals that Negron would score at Princeton, a total that is a record for both men and women.
The 47th of those goals was the one that snapped a tie game early in the second half of the NCAA quarterfinal game against Washington, a game that became a 3-1 Princeton win and vaulted the Tigers into the NCAA semifinals, the only time in league history that a women's soccer team has done so.
Negron is the greatest women's soccer player Princeton has known, not to mention one of the greatest women athletes the school has produced. She was a first-team All-America, which is a startling accomplishment, considering that there are 325 or so Division I women's soccer programs.
Her knack was scoring goals and doing so in big spots, and her Princeton resume includes more than one overtime goal. And, given their significance, her goal in OT against Harvard and her goal in the quarterfinals against Washington are probably the two biggest goals in program history.
At various times, TB has heard Negron talk about any number of career paths, but she has never been able to walk away from soccer.
Yesterday, Negron was named the new assistant women's coach here at Princeton, after a four-year run as an assistant at Seton Hall. Negron replaces Scott Champ, who left Princeton to become an assistant coach at Arizona State.
An athletic program can never have enough reminders of its great past accomplishments, unless they're a distraction or excuse for not giving full effort in the present. This is especially true at a place with the uniqueness of Princeton.
In Negron's case, having someone with her playing career return to the school as a coach is great for the women's soccer team. Her presence will show the current players what they are capable of accomplishing here, and her time as a player and student here give the current athletes a great sounding board for their own experiences.
Negron is the 17th member of the Princeton coaching staff to have graduated from Princeton, nine of whom are head coaches and eight of whom are assistants.
The rowing program is dominated with Princeton alums, as only three of the 10 coaches in the four crew programs are not Princetonians.
Of the 17 alums who coach here, 15 were All-Ivy League selections as undergrads. Of the 17, four were the Ivy League Player of the Year (TB will give a paragraph or two for those who want to guess).
Having alums who have had that kind of success come back to coach the programs in which they excelled is one of the things that makes Princeton special.
Esmeralda Negron's return to the women's soccer program looks like a perfect fit.
Oh, and the four Ivy Players of the Year: Negron, Jim Barlow (men's soccer), Sabrina King (women's volleyball), Brian Earl (men's basketball).
Actually that'd be an average of 91 per day, so it's clearly a hyperbole. In fact, TB wonders how many times he's seen Princeton play, and he could probably figure out a reasonably good estimate if he wanted to, which he doesn't. So he'll go the hyperbole root and say a million.
Of all of those games, most are just a blur, grouped together with all the other times TB saw that sport play that opponent. In many cases, TB can remember some particular details of a specific game from a specific year, and even the scores of a bunch of them.
And then there are a group that, for whatever reason, are just, as TB likes to say, seared into his memory.
One of those is Princeton-Harvard women's soccer back in 2004.
Today, TigerBlog is the sport contact for only one sport here at Princeton. In his time here, though, he's been the contact for 14 of Princeton's 38 sports: football, men's basketball, men's lacrosse, men's and women's squash, wrestling, men's and women's water polo, sprint football, all four crews and women's soccer.
Back when Princeton made its run to the 2004 NCAA Final Four in women's soccer, TB was the contact. And Esmeralda Negron was the team's star.
The biggest game of that season, the one that made the NCAA run possible, was the game against Harvard at Lourie-Love Field, which of course no longer exists.
Prior to that game, Princeton had gone a decade without scoring a goal at home against the Crimson, let alone winning one of the games. TigerBlog wrote about this in the pregame notes, and he was accosted by the father of one of the players before the game (in the Class of 1952 Stadium men's room, no less) about how he had psyched the players out.
For more than 89 minutes, TB thought it might be the case, as Princeton outplayed and outshot Harvard nearly three to one but trailed 1-0. Then Emily Behncke tied it in the final minute to force overtime, and Negron scored the game-winner in overtime.
TB can still see both plays as they developed, Behncke with her tying goal from up top and Negron with the finish in OT on a play set up by Diana Matheson.
It was one of 47 goals that Negron would score at Princeton, a total that is a record for both men and women.
The 47th of those goals was the one that snapped a tie game early in the second half of the NCAA quarterfinal game against Washington, a game that became a 3-1 Princeton win and vaulted the Tigers into the NCAA semifinals, the only time in league history that a women's soccer team has done so.
Negron is the greatest women's soccer player Princeton has known, not to mention one of the greatest women athletes the school has produced. She was a first-team All-America, which is a startling accomplishment, considering that there are 325 or so Division I women's soccer programs.
Her knack was scoring goals and doing so in big spots, and her Princeton resume includes more than one overtime goal. And, given their significance, her goal in OT against Harvard and her goal in the quarterfinals against Washington are probably the two biggest goals in program history.
At various times, TB has heard Negron talk about any number of career paths, but she has never been able to walk away from soccer.
Yesterday, Negron was named the new assistant women's coach here at Princeton, after a four-year run as an assistant at Seton Hall. Negron replaces Scott Champ, who left Princeton to become an assistant coach at Arizona State.
An athletic program can never have enough reminders of its great past accomplishments, unless they're a distraction or excuse for not giving full effort in the present. This is especially true at a place with the uniqueness of Princeton.
In Negron's case, having someone with her playing career return to the school as a coach is great for the women's soccer team. Her presence will show the current players what they are capable of accomplishing here, and her time as a player and student here give the current athletes a great sounding board for their own experiences.
Negron is the 17th member of the Princeton coaching staff to have graduated from Princeton, nine of whom are head coaches and eight of whom are assistants.
The rowing program is dominated with Princeton alums, as only three of the 10 coaches in the four crew programs are not Princetonians.
Of the 17 alums who coach here, 15 were All-Ivy League selections as undergrads. Of the 17, four were the Ivy League Player of the Year (TB will give a paragraph or two for those who want to guess).
Having alums who have had that kind of success come back to coach the programs in which they excelled is one of the things that makes Princeton special.
Esmeralda Negron's return to the women's soccer program looks like a perfect fit.
Oh, and the four Ivy Players of the Year: Negron, Jim Barlow (men's soccer), Sabrina King (women's volleyball), Brian Earl (men's basketball).
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Chris, Martina, Terry - And Jordan
Jeff Taylor has been creating video around here since the earliest days of Princeton Athletics' involvement in the medium, which means about three years.
TigerBlog can tell when a video is Taylor's, since it reeks of his signature style: the low-to-high angle shot, with a focus on the feet. It's a technique that never fails, especially when the feet belong to a swimmer or water polo player.
Taylor has outgrown Princeton, and he's embarking on a career as an actual filmmaker, specializing in documentaries. He's working with a company called Lonelyleap Film, and they have some interesting projects brewing.
TB told Taylor that he thinks that a great documentary would be one that focuses on an obscure college football player (say, an offensive lineman or someone like that) who figures to be a first-round draft choice in the next NFL draft. The filmmaker could follow him around for the year before the draft, when he's about to have the dream payday but hasn't yet.
A riveting documentary is more about the story than the film itself. The best ones seem to be the ones that take a story that is vaguely familiar and explore it in depths that the viewer never considered.
The "30 For 30" series that continues to play on ESPN follows that basic gameplan, and it does so to near perfection. Some of the documentaries that TB has seen are jaw-dropping, and even the subjects that don't quite appeal to TB as much are still tremendous.
This past weekend, TB saw two that he hadn't seen before, the one with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and the one where Terry Fox attempts to run across Canada after having his leg amputated due to cancer.
Like every other American boy, TigerBlog rooted hard for Chris Evert and against Martina, who described it this way: "Nobody ever rooted for me. You were the All-American girl next door, and I was a lesbian from Czechoslovakia."
Years later, when TB was new to the newspaper business, he covered the 1985 U.S. Open, where Hana Mandlikova defeated Evert in the semifinals and then Navratilova in the final. TB has been around a ton of big-time athletes and coaches in his career, and he has seen very, very few who were nicer people than Martina Navratilova.
The documentary was basically just a camera that followed them around for a weekend while they kicked around old times. Evert came across as very funny, while Navratilova came across the same way she impressed TB all those years ago - as a nice, friendly person. It's clear that their bond is a strong one, even though they were intense rivals for much of their careers.
As for Fox, TB sort of remembered his story from when it happened, as Fox tried to cross Canada to raise money for cancer research. He also remembered that Fox passed away shortly afterwards.
By the end of the one-hour piece, TB was getting a tad misty-eyed.
Fox began his run by dipping his leg in the Atlantic Ocean on April 12, 1980, in Newfoundland. He ran 3,339 miles in the next 143 days, reaching Thunder Bay, Ontario, before having to stop when the cancer returned and spread to his lungs.
That's more than 23 miles per day for 143 days, or essentially running a marathon a day - on one leg.
Fox began his run with no fanfare and ended it as arguably Canada's greatest hero of all-time. He died on June 28, 1981, and his run and legacy have helped generate more than $500 million in donations to cancer research.
The range of emotions of the run, the people whom Fox knew and how they were affected by him and the way one unknown person who was, for lack of a better word, pissed about how much more could be done to attack the disease could capture an entire country's attention came out dramatically in the documentary.
Earlier this spring, Andrew Pearson, who has worked with Taylor here at Princeton, released his documentary about Jordan Culbreath entitled "Running Through."
The official website of the documentary asks the question "what would you do if your world changed overnight" and includes the trailer for the movie.
The movie debuted here on campus, and TB couldn't make it to the showing that night. Since then, he's looked for other places to see it, and to date he's been unsuccessful. He's been asked a bunch of times by others when it's going to shown again, and the answer is "TB doesn't know."
TB saw Culbreath a bunch of times around graduation, with the PVC banquet and Reunions and all.
He's someone who's clearly humble about what he's been through, and in many ways, he has some Terry Fox in him.
They were both athletic young men in their early 20s who went from being seemingly indestructible physically to having to fight every day for their very survival. And both attacked it as strongly as they could.
TB wouldn't pretend to know exactly what went through each of their minds as they put all of their energies into getting better and being able to return to their sports, but TB's hunch is that it was basically something along the lines of "what do people expect us to do, give up?"
Maybe that's why TB always figured Culbreath was wondering what all the fuss was about when he returned to the football field, and it's likely that Fox felt the same way.
Unfortunately, Fox's determination alone wasn't enough to win his fight. He passed away having lived 22 years and 11 months.
Culbreath has already lived longer than Fox did, as he turned 23 a few months ago.
Between the two of them, that's a lot of inspiration in a short time.
It's why their lives have made such great documentary subjects.
TigerBlog can tell when a video is Taylor's, since it reeks of his signature style: the low-to-high angle shot, with a focus on the feet. It's a technique that never fails, especially when the feet belong to a swimmer or water polo player.
Taylor has outgrown Princeton, and he's embarking on a career as an actual filmmaker, specializing in documentaries. He's working with a company called Lonelyleap Film, and they have some interesting projects brewing.
TB told Taylor that he thinks that a great documentary would be one that focuses on an obscure college football player (say, an offensive lineman or someone like that) who figures to be a first-round draft choice in the next NFL draft. The filmmaker could follow him around for the year before the draft, when he's about to have the dream payday but hasn't yet.
A riveting documentary is more about the story than the film itself. The best ones seem to be the ones that take a story that is vaguely familiar and explore it in depths that the viewer never considered.
The "30 For 30" series that continues to play on ESPN follows that basic gameplan, and it does so to near perfection. Some of the documentaries that TB has seen are jaw-dropping, and even the subjects that don't quite appeal to TB as much are still tremendous.
This past weekend, TB saw two that he hadn't seen before, the one with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and the one where Terry Fox attempts to run across Canada after having his leg amputated due to cancer.
Like every other American boy, TigerBlog rooted hard for Chris Evert and against Martina, who described it this way: "Nobody ever rooted for me. You were the All-American girl next door, and I was a lesbian from Czechoslovakia."
Years later, when TB was new to the newspaper business, he covered the 1985 U.S. Open, where Hana Mandlikova defeated Evert in the semifinals and then Navratilova in the final. TB has been around a ton of big-time athletes and coaches in his career, and he has seen very, very few who were nicer people than Martina Navratilova.
The documentary was basically just a camera that followed them around for a weekend while they kicked around old times. Evert came across as very funny, while Navratilova came across the same way she impressed TB all those years ago - as a nice, friendly person. It's clear that their bond is a strong one, even though they were intense rivals for much of their careers.
As for Fox, TB sort of remembered his story from when it happened, as Fox tried to cross Canada to raise money for cancer research. He also remembered that Fox passed away shortly afterwards.
By the end of the one-hour piece, TB was getting a tad misty-eyed.
Fox began his run by dipping his leg in the Atlantic Ocean on April 12, 1980, in Newfoundland. He ran 3,339 miles in the next 143 days, reaching Thunder Bay, Ontario, before having to stop when the cancer returned and spread to his lungs.
That's more than 23 miles per day for 143 days, or essentially running a marathon a day - on one leg.
Fox began his run with no fanfare and ended it as arguably Canada's greatest hero of all-time. He died on June 28, 1981, and his run and legacy have helped generate more than $500 million in donations to cancer research.
The range of emotions of the run, the people whom Fox knew and how they were affected by him and the way one unknown person who was, for lack of a better word, pissed about how much more could be done to attack the disease could capture an entire country's attention came out dramatically in the documentary.
Earlier this spring, Andrew Pearson, who has worked with Taylor here at Princeton, released his documentary about Jordan Culbreath entitled "Running Through."
The official website of the documentary asks the question "what would you do if your world changed overnight" and includes the trailer for the movie.
The movie debuted here on campus, and TB couldn't make it to the showing that night. Since then, he's looked for other places to see it, and to date he's been unsuccessful. He's been asked a bunch of times by others when it's going to shown again, and the answer is "TB doesn't know."
TB saw Culbreath a bunch of times around graduation, with the PVC banquet and Reunions and all.
He's someone who's clearly humble about what he's been through, and in many ways, he has some Terry Fox in him.
They were both athletic young men in their early 20s who went from being seemingly indestructible physically to having to fight every day for their very survival. And both attacked it as strongly as they could.
TB wouldn't pretend to know exactly what went through each of their minds as they put all of their energies into getting better and being able to return to their sports, but TB's hunch is that it was basically something along the lines of "what do people expect us to do, give up?"
Maybe that's why TB always figured Culbreath was wondering what all the fuss was about when he returned to the football field, and it's likely that Fox felt the same way.
Unfortunately, Fox's determination alone wasn't enough to win his fight. He passed away having lived 22 years and 11 months.
Culbreath has already lived longer than Fox did, as he turned 23 a few months ago.
Between the two of them, that's a lot of inspiration in a short time.
It's why their lives have made such great documentary subjects.
Monday, June 6, 2011
"Don't Listen To Him; He's Just The Trainer"
Okay, TigerBlog will state it publicly. He likes Lady Gaga.
Her music, that is. Not the whole Lady Gaga show.
TigerBlog has long suspected that Lady Gaga is toying with everyone around her with the overplayed excess that is her persona. And then he watched "60 Minutes" last night, where Anderson Cooper fawned all over her during a profile piece that was quite interesting.
In short, Lady Gaga - "call me Gaga," she told the star-struck Cooper at one point - basically was up front with the fact that she'd studied fame, and specifically why some performers sustain it and others don't. And her No. 1 conclusion is that the most important aspect is to get everyone focused on what you want them focused on and away from what you don't want them focused on.
Ultimately, she came across as, well, nice. And funny. And down-to-Earth. Of course, she was wearing 10-inch heels and a skin-colored body suit with makeup that was a tad flashy, but hey, that's the act.
And so with that public announcement about the fact that someone raised on Springsteen and Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny - not to mention The Beatles, the Stones, the Who - actually likes Lady Gaga, TigerBlog has nothing else to say today.
Instead, he turns the floor over to Princeton athletic trainer Russ Steves, who was recently in London for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United:
Some people have all the luck. In this case, I was one of them. This is what ran through my head when I was sitting in Wembley Stadium last Saturday night watching the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
On top of that, my day started sitting in the lobby of one of London’s posh hotels sipping tea with members of the Manchester United team. They had just returned from a walk about to get out of the hotel for a bit and had espressos. I was the stuffy American who thought you’re supposed to be drinking tea when lounging around a hotel lobby in London. It was very nice to catch up with my buddies the equipment manager, the masseurs, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson and some of his assistant coaches. They were all very generous to explain the strategy behind winning the game later that day. Play fast, run like crazy, and when you win the ball from Barcelona, get it out from the middle of the field as quickly as you can. Barcelona closes you down very quickly after a turnover. If you lose it to them at that point, you are very vulnerable to a dangerous counterattack.
Well, now I was armed with the critical points of strategy for the game and wanted to leave them to get focused on the task ahead. I was just saying so long to them since they’ll be back in the USA this summer for their preseason tour. I’ll have plenty of time to revisit them again then.
So at this point you might be wondering, how does a guy who Bob Bradley ‘80 once instructed an opposing coach, “don’t listen to him; he’s just the trainer” get a seat at this great world event and hang out with one of the participants? Well, working as the athletic trainer for the Princeton men’s soccer team has provided some perks. For one, a former Princeton player and coach, Charlie Stillitano ’81, works as a promoter to bring professional soccer clubs from Europe over to tour the US. Since 2003 I’ve been able to help him with that. This means that I’ve been able to make some pretty cool connections in world soccer. Cool enough to get me a ticket to this big game and get past security at the Manchester United team hotel.
Now back to London. My game day then involves checking out the sites around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Generally, just wandering around London waiting for when it’s time to head out to the game. Man, was it jam-packed with fans, mostly Barcelona fans. There were thousands of them, all with their blue and red shirts and singing Barcelona team songs, and having a grand old time. I was thinking, how were all these Barcelona fans going to get into the game? Surely, there were many more of them than the allotment of tickets. It turns out that most of them didn’t have tickets to the game. They were just hopping the best flight they could find so that they could be as close as possible to the stadium and support their team. That’s being a fan!
Finally, it’s time to take the London Underground out to the stadium. My friends and I hopped aboard the Bakerloo Line at Piccadilly Circus and rode the 12 stops out to Wembley. The ride took about 45 minutes but we were completely entertained by the back and forth on the train between the Manchester fans and Barcelona fans. Fortunately, there was no violence, but lots of singing and team chants. Not very much of this was understandable to me or repeatable on this PG-rated blog. I think there may have been just a touch of alcohol involved. Even so, we made it to our stop ready for the spectacle.
Wembley Stadium is magnificent. They’ve been playing soccer on this site since 1923. The original stadium was torn down in 2000 with this new arena reopened in 2007. It is the home of “football” in England, hosting FA Cups, European Cups, World Cups and Champions League finals. I was never in the old stadium, but this new one is fantastic.
It is different from most European stadiums in that it has concourses that allow you to walk around once inside the building. Most soccer stadiums in Europe have it so that your entrance gate is just for your section. There’s little or no chance to walk to a concession area or restroom. I think they do this to prevent the interaction of opposing fans. Wembley has much more of the American-style stadium feel. Nonetheless, I noticed that it was very much not like our stadiums in that there’s almost no parking. I saw about one-quarter of the space allotted for parking at Wembley and that was for buses. They make the majority of spectators arrive at the stadium by mass transit, predominantly the “Tube” (subway). I didn’t mind. It gave me the chance to bond with my new singing and chanting friends.
My friends and I arrived in plenty of time to walk around, take some pictures, and buy some memorabilia. I have to admit this didn’t work out too well for me. The vendors had run out of all the decent looking shirts with both teams’ logos on them (nice planning UEFA) and the official game program I bought got lost by my travel companion. Here’s a tip: never give your program to someone who chronically mislays things. In my defense, I learned about my friend’s malady after the fact. Nonetheless, it’s was now time to get to our seats.
Not a bad view, especially since this is the end that saw three of the four goals in the game (Rooney for Man. Utd., Messi, and David Villa for Barcelona). A photo was taken by a renowned photographer (at least in my own mind) just before kickoff as the teams were lined up at midfield. We’re down in the Barcelona fans end and you can see them holding up cards in the team’s colors. The far end shows the Man Utd fans holding up cards invoking the “Spirit of ‘68” when Man United defeated Benfica of Portugal in Wembley. Unfortunately, that charm didn’t work as Barcelona won by a resounding 3-1.
The game itself was very entertaining even though my friends from Manchester came out on the losing end. They tried to take it to Barcelona in the beginning of the game. After about 15 minutes though, Barcelona began to take possession of the ball and the game. Their ability to control the ball, move with deception and speed, along with having such creative ideas of how to get dangerous in attach make them too much to handle for very long. The first goal seemed inevitable, but I was heartened to see Manchester United fight back and tie the score at the half. Unfortunately, the second half began with Man United looking very tired and slow. After Barcelona scored twice in front of me, I was pretty sure that my evening was going to end in tears.
I have to admit that Barcelona is extremely good. They exemplify what people talk about as the “Beautiful Game”. They are so skillful, creative, and fast that you must give them a lot of credit for the way they attack. With that said, I think what makes them special now and an unbeatable force is how they defend. They use that same quickness and determination to give the opposition very little time or space to get offensive. It’s remarkable to watch such talented offensive players apply the same ability to defending. I can only hope they get old or unmotivated in a hurry.
I spent almost two days in London after Saturday’s match. This was just to satisfy my sightseeing part of the journey. Much of the talk on TV and in newspapers discussed whether this Barcelona team was the greatest club team of all time. I have trouble conceding that because of my fondness for my friends at Manchester United. But I don’t have any hesitation admitting how lucky I was to witness them demonstrate how good they are in person and to watch some really great soccer.
Her music, that is. Not the whole Lady Gaga show.
TigerBlog has long suspected that Lady Gaga is toying with everyone around her with the overplayed excess that is her persona. And then he watched "60 Minutes" last night, where Anderson Cooper fawned all over her during a profile piece that was quite interesting.
In short, Lady Gaga - "call me Gaga," she told the star-struck Cooper at one point - basically was up front with the fact that she'd studied fame, and specifically why some performers sustain it and others don't. And her No. 1 conclusion is that the most important aspect is to get everyone focused on what you want them focused on and away from what you don't want them focused on.
Ultimately, she came across as, well, nice. And funny. And down-to-Earth. Of course, she was wearing 10-inch heels and a skin-colored body suit with makeup that was a tad flashy, but hey, that's the act.
And so with that public announcement about the fact that someone raised on Springsteen and Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny - not to mention The Beatles, the Stones, the Who - actually likes Lady Gaga, TigerBlog has nothing else to say today.
Instead, he turns the floor over to Princeton athletic trainer Russ Steves, who was recently in London for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United:
Some people have all the luck. In this case, I was one of them. This is what ran through my head when I was sitting in Wembley Stadium last Saturday night watching the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
On top of that, my day started sitting in the lobby of one of London’s posh hotels sipping tea with members of the Manchester United team. They had just returned from a walk about to get out of the hotel for a bit and had espressos. I was the stuffy American who thought you’re supposed to be drinking tea when lounging around a hotel lobby in London. It was very nice to catch up with my buddies the equipment manager, the masseurs, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson and some of his assistant coaches. They were all very generous to explain the strategy behind winning the game later that day. Play fast, run like crazy, and when you win the ball from Barcelona, get it out from the middle of the field as quickly as you can. Barcelona closes you down very quickly after a turnover. If you lose it to them at that point, you are very vulnerable to a dangerous counterattack.
Well, now I was armed with the critical points of strategy for the game and wanted to leave them to get focused on the task ahead. I was just saying so long to them since they’ll be back in the USA this summer for their preseason tour. I’ll have plenty of time to revisit them again then.
So at this point you might be wondering, how does a guy who Bob Bradley ‘80 once instructed an opposing coach, “don’t listen to him; he’s just the trainer” get a seat at this great world event and hang out with one of the participants? Well, working as the athletic trainer for the Princeton men’s soccer team has provided some perks. For one, a former Princeton player and coach, Charlie Stillitano ’81, works as a promoter to bring professional soccer clubs from Europe over to tour the US. Since 2003 I’ve been able to help him with that. This means that I’ve been able to make some pretty cool connections in world soccer. Cool enough to get me a ticket to this big game and get past security at the Manchester United team hotel.
Now back to London. My game day then involves checking out the sites around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Generally, just wandering around London waiting for when it’s time to head out to the game. Man, was it jam-packed with fans, mostly Barcelona fans. There were thousands of them, all with their blue and red shirts and singing Barcelona team songs, and having a grand old time. I was thinking, how were all these Barcelona fans going to get into the game? Surely, there were many more of them than the allotment of tickets. It turns out that most of them didn’t have tickets to the game. They were just hopping the best flight they could find so that they could be as close as possible to the stadium and support their team. That’s being a fan!
Finally, it’s time to take the London Underground out to the stadium. My friends and I hopped aboard the Bakerloo Line at Piccadilly Circus and rode the 12 stops out to Wembley. The ride took about 45 minutes but we were completely entertained by the back and forth on the train between the Manchester fans and Barcelona fans. Fortunately, there was no violence, but lots of singing and team chants. Not very much of this was understandable to me or repeatable on this PG-rated blog. I think there may have been just a touch of alcohol involved. Even so, we made it to our stop ready for the spectacle.
Wembley Stadium is magnificent. They’ve been playing soccer on this site since 1923. The original stadium was torn down in 2000 with this new arena reopened in 2007. It is the home of “football” in England, hosting FA Cups, European Cups, World Cups and Champions League finals. I was never in the old stadium, but this new one is fantastic.
It is different from most European stadiums in that it has concourses that allow you to walk around once inside the building. Most soccer stadiums in Europe have it so that your entrance gate is just for your section. There’s little or no chance to walk to a concession area or restroom. I think they do this to prevent the interaction of opposing fans. Wembley has much more of the American-style stadium feel. Nonetheless, I noticed that it was very much not like our stadiums in that there’s almost no parking. I saw about one-quarter of the space allotted for parking at Wembley and that was for buses. They make the majority of spectators arrive at the stadium by mass transit, predominantly the “Tube” (subway). I didn’t mind. It gave me the chance to bond with my new singing and chanting friends.
My friends and I arrived in plenty of time to walk around, take some pictures, and buy some memorabilia. I have to admit this didn’t work out too well for me. The vendors had run out of all the decent looking shirts with both teams’ logos on them (nice planning UEFA) and the official game program I bought got lost by my travel companion. Here’s a tip: never give your program to someone who chronically mislays things. In my defense, I learned about my friend’s malady after the fact. Nonetheless, it’s was now time to get to our seats.
Not a bad view, especially since this is the end that saw three of the four goals in the game (Rooney for Man. Utd., Messi, and David Villa for Barcelona). A photo was taken by a renowned photographer (at least in my own mind) just before kickoff as the teams were lined up at midfield. We’re down in the Barcelona fans end and you can see them holding up cards in the team’s colors. The far end shows the Man Utd fans holding up cards invoking the “Spirit of ‘68” when Man United defeated Benfica of Portugal in Wembley. Unfortunately, that charm didn’t work as Barcelona won by a resounding 3-1.
The game itself was very entertaining even though my friends from Manchester came out on the losing end. They tried to take it to Barcelona in the beginning of the game. After about 15 minutes though, Barcelona began to take possession of the ball and the game. Their ability to control the ball, move with deception and speed, along with having such creative ideas of how to get dangerous in attach make them too much to handle for very long. The first goal seemed inevitable, but I was heartened to see Manchester United fight back and tie the score at the half. Unfortunately, the second half began with Man United looking very tired and slow. After Barcelona scored twice in front of me, I was pretty sure that my evening was going to end in tears.
I have to admit that Barcelona is extremely good. They exemplify what people talk about as the “Beautiful Game”. They are so skillful, creative, and fast that you must give them a lot of credit for the way they attack. With that said, I think what makes them special now and an unbeatable force is how they defend. They use that same quickness and determination to give the opposition very little time or space to get offensive. It’s remarkable to watch such talented offensive players apply the same ability to defending. I can only hope they get old or unmotivated in a hurry.
I spent almost two days in London after Saturday’s match. This was just to satisfy my sightseeing part of the journey. Much of the talk on TV and in newspapers discussed whether this Barcelona team was the greatest club team of all time. I have trouble conceding that because of my fondness for my friends at Manchester United. But I don’t have any hesitation admitting how lucky I was to witness them demonstrate how good they are in person and to watch some really great soccer.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Tuggapees
Today is Field Day at Little Miss TigerBlog's school.
Perhaps you remember Field Day? A few relay races, some fun games - like the one where you carry the egg on the spoon - a few blue ribbons, maybe some tie-died shirts and a snack when it's over. Just a fun day to celebrate the coming end of the school year.
Does it get more wholesome than that?
Of course, then TigerBlog had to overhear this statement: "the first event is the tuggapees."
"Tuggapees?" TB asked.
"Tuggapees. The game where the two teams pull the rope and try to pull the other team across the line."
At that moment, TigerBlog was astonished. "Tuggapees" was actually "tug o' peace." You know, as opposed to "tug o' war."
TigerBlog could only imagine the meetings that took place over that little distinction.
"Can't have a game with the word 'war' in it. It sends the wrong message to the children."
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Where will it stop? Some educator actually came up with "tug o' peace" as a way of what? Pretending that there is no conflict in the world? Pretending that competition is a bad thing? Shielding kids from the horror of - egads - having someone win and someone lose?
It's enough already.
There should be a law that requires that score be kept in every game played and that one team be called the "winner" and the other team called the "loser." Yeah, TB said it.
Loser. Loser. Loser.
Hey, if you don't want to be the loser, then work harder, get better and be the winner. Then maybe we'll get somewhere.
It's the message that TigerBlog has tried to get across to youth players that he's coached, not all of whom have gotten that message during the season. Still, when TB asks the kids on the team to raise their hand if they want to play in high school, every hand goes up. And when he asks to see the hands of those who want to play in college, again, all hands go up.
TB hopes that the light bulb will go on for some of these kids in the near future and that they'll realize their full potential.
TigerBlog is around college athletes all the time, and for them, the light bulb clearly went on at some point, probably early on, that hard work and dedication were going to get them where they wanted to be.
Princeton already has two national champions in this academic year, Todd Harrity in individual men's squash and the women's open rowing first varsity 8.
The Princeton men's lightweight rowers are going for their third straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship. Unlike the NCAA women's event, the national champion here is crowned not by team points but the first varsity 8 winner.
The Princeton women's lightweights and men's lightweights row for the national championship tomorrow, while the heavyweights row today to try to get into the final.
Greg Hughes turned the lightweight program around and won the 2009 title before taking over the heavyweights, with whom he has continued his Midas touch, turning a team that finished 13th at the Eastern Sprints two years ago into one that has a legitimate shot at reaching the grand final at IRA's this year.
Marty Crotty, who took over for Hughes with the lightweights, won the national title last year and has a legitimate shot at winning again this year.
As for the women's lightweights, they already have had a stunning season. It began in California with a win over Wisconsin, the defending Eastern champion, and Stanford, the defending national champion, by huge margins, and it has continued all year as the undefeated record includes an Eastern Sprints win over Wisconsin.
The women's lightweight final figures to be between Princeton, Wisconsin and Stanford.
Starting in the middle of next week, Princeton will have 10 track and field athletes competing in the NCAA championships at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The best hope for a national championship there is probably Donn Cabral in the steeplechase, but Princeton should come away with a few All-Americas at least.
Ah, competition. Someone is going to win; someone is going to lose.
Isn't it great?
Perhaps you remember Field Day? A few relay races, some fun games - like the one where you carry the egg on the spoon - a few blue ribbons, maybe some tie-died shirts and a snack when it's over. Just a fun day to celebrate the coming end of the school year.
Does it get more wholesome than that?
Of course, then TigerBlog had to overhear this statement: "the first event is the tuggapees."
"Tuggapees?" TB asked.
"Tuggapees. The game where the two teams pull the rope and try to pull the other team across the line."
At that moment, TigerBlog was astonished. "Tuggapees" was actually "tug o' peace." You know, as opposed to "tug o' war."
TigerBlog could only imagine the meetings that took place over that little distinction.
"Can't have a game with the word 'war' in it. It sends the wrong message to the children."
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Where will it stop? Some educator actually came up with "tug o' peace" as a way of what? Pretending that there is no conflict in the world? Pretending that competition is a bad thing? Shielding kids from the horror of - egads - having someone win and someone lose?
It's enough already.
There should be a law that requires that score be kept in every game played and that one team be called the "winner" and the other team called the "loser." Yeah, TB said it.
Loser. Loser. Loser.
Hey, if you don't want to be the loser, then work harder, get better and be the winner. Then maybe we'll get somewhere.
It's the message that TigerBlog has tried to get across to youth players that he's coached, not all of whom have gotten that message during the season. Still, when TB asks the kids on the team to raise their hand if they want to play in high school, every hand goes up. And when he asks to see the hands of those who want to play in college, again, all hands go up.
TB hopes that the light bulb will go on for some of these kids in the near future and that they'll realize their full potential.
TigerBlog is around college athletes all the time, and for them, the light bulb clearly went on at some point, probably early on, that hard work and dedication were going to get them where they wanted to be.
Princeton already has two national champions in this academic year, Todd Harrity in individual men's squash and the women's open rowing first varsity 8.
The Princeton men's lightweight rowers are going for their third straight Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship. Unlike the NCAA women's event, the national champion here is crowned not by team points but the first varsity 8 winner.
The Princeton women's lightweights and men's lightweights row for the national championship tomorrow, while the heavyweights row today to try to get into the final.
Greg Hughes turned the lightweight program around and won the 2009 title before taking over the heavyweights, with whom he has continued his Midas touch, turning a team that finished 13th at the Eastern Sprints two years ago into one that has a legitimate shot at reaching the grand final at IRA's this year.
Marty Crotty, who took over for Hughes with the lightweights, won the national title last year and has a legitimate shot at winning again this year.
As for the women's lightweights, they already have had a stunning season. It began in California with a win over Wisconsin, the defending Eastern champion, and Stanford, the defending national champion, by huge margins, and it has continued all year as the undefeated record includes an Eastern Sprints win over Wisconsin.
The women's lightweight final figures to be between Princeton, Wisconsin and Stanford.
Starting in the middle of next week, Princeton will have 10 track and field athletes competing in the NCAA championships at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The best hope for a national championship there is probably Donn Cabral in the steeplechase, but Princeton should come away with a few All-Americas at least.
Ah, competition. Someone is going to win; someone is going to lose.
Isn't it great?
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Play Ball, Finally
TigerBlog isn't sure if everyone heard the news yet, so he'll repeat it here for those who missed it: Jim Tressel is out as Ohio State's football coach.
What's that? Oh, you heard it?
Obviously you heard it. Everyone heard it. How could you not, what with ESPN's never-ending coverage of the story as it broke Monday morning?
TigerBlog was flipping through the channels before heading over to M&T Bank Stadium Monday for the NCAA men's lacrosse final, and on ESPN it was all Tressel, all the time. It was so completely over the top that TB didn't really understand how someone in a position of authority at ESPN didn't say "enough already, just put on one of the '30 for 30' documentaries."
The list of upcoming stories on ESPNEWS said "Memorial Day Memories" was two away, and TB thought that it was referring either 1) to something military related or 2) something lacrosse related, so he figured he'd watch it. Instead, the Tressel story just dragged on and on and on, with one commentator after another talking about the situation, which seemed to be 1) obvious and 2) inevitable.
Eventually, TB realized that he was never going to see the Memorial Day peice, so he switched the station to the NCIS marathon. TB is positive he would love the show NCIS, though he's never gotten into it. Instead, he's seen every episode of Criminal Minds.
As an aside, TB thinks a better show would be to film the writers from Criminal Minds as they talk about their storylines. "Hey," one would say, "why not have him be a cannibal in addition to just a serial killer."
After completing his first-ever episode of NCIS, TB eventually made it back to ESPN for more Tressel.
Eventually, though, TB did see something from the Worldwide Leader that he was interested in, the draw for the NCAA baseball tournament.
Way, way, way back on May 8, Princeton defeated Dartmouth 8-5 in the third game of the Ivy League championship series to clinch the league title and earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The gap between those two accomplishments was four weeks.
The NCAA draw was finally held Monday, and Princeton drew Texas in the opening round of a four-team regional that also includes Texas State and Kent State. The double-elimination event will produce one team that advances to next weekend's Super Regionals.
Texas, of course, is the clear favorite. The Longhorns have won nearly as many games (43) as Princeton has played (45), and there are few teams in college baseball that have the history that the Longhorns do.
In fact, no team has played in the NCAA tournament more than Texas, who will be making its 54th appearance. Princeton, for the record, will be there for the 11th time. Their all time NCAA records are 3-19 (Princeton) and 219-107 (Texas), and Texas has six NCAA titles on its resume.
Now it's time for this question: Which team has hit more home runs this year?
TB assumed Texas mashed the ball all over the place, but that's not quite true. In fact, Princeton has out-homered the Longhorns, who have hit just 13 in their 58 games, to 17 in 45 games for Princeton.
Texas makes up for it by having the No. 1 pitching staff in college baseball, with a 2.25 team ERA. Texas is also the No. 1 ranked fielding percentage team in the country and the third-ranked team in terms of sacrifice bunts.
On the one hand, playing against a team like that is difficult, because it puts pressure on every scoring opportunity Princeton gets and puts pressure on Princeton's pitchers to not give up more than a run or two.
On the other hand, it's probably not going to be 6-0 after the third inning, which means that the game will have a chance to develop and probably will be close throughout.
And, with the baseball tournament, there's always the opportunity to come back the next day should the first game be a loss.
And who knows, there is always the chance to make a run deep into the weekend.
For Princeton, that chance comes four weeks after the team last played. TB can't think of a sport where a four-week layoff at the peak of competition would be helpful, but it's worst in baseball.
Any momentum Princeton had after playing nearly 20 games in the four weeks prior to clinching the Ivy title is long gone. And intra-squad games and simulated games for pitchers only take you so far in staying sharp.
Still, at first pitch tomorrow night, none of it will matter.
The big story is that, after a 12-30 season last year, the Tigers are still playing.
Even after a four-week layoff.
What's that? Oh, you heard it?
Obviously you heard it. Everyone heard it. How could you not, what with ESPN's never-ending coverage of the story as it broke Monday morning?
TigerBlog was flipping through the channels before heading over to M&T Bank Stadium Monday for the NCAA men's lacrosse final, and on ESPN it was all Tressel, all the time. It was so completely over the top that TB didn't really understand how someone in a position of authority at ESPN didn't say "enough already, just put on one of the '30 for 30' documentaries."
The list of upcoming stories on ESPNEWS said "Memorial Day Memories" was two away, and TB thought that it was referring either 1) to something military related or 2) something lacrosse related, so he figured he'd watch it. Instead, the Tressel story just dragged on and on and on, with one commentator after another talking about the situation, which seemed to be 1) obvious and 2) inevitable.
Eventually, TB realized that he was never going to see the Memorial Day peice, so he switched the station to the NCIS marathon. TB is positive he would love the show NCIS, though he's never gotten into it. Instead, he's seen every episode of Criminal Minds.
As an aside, TB thinks a better show would be to film the writers from Criminal Minds as they talk about their storylines. "Hey," one would say, "why not have him be a cannibal in addition to just a serial killer."
After completing his first-ever episode of NCIS, TB eventually made it back to ESPN for more Tressel.
Eventually, though, TB did see something from the Worldwide Leader that he was interested in, the draw for the NCAA baseball tournament.
Way, way, way back on May 8, Princeton defeated Dartmouth 8-5 in the third game of the Ivy League championship series to clinch the league title and earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The gap between those two accomplishments was four weeks.
The NCAA draw was finally held Monday, and Princeton drew Texas in the opening round of a four-team regional that also includes Texas State and Kent State. The double-elimination event will produce one team that advances to next weekend's Super Regionals.
Texas, of course, is the clear favorite. The Longhorns have won nearly as many games (43) as Princeton has played (45), and there are few teams in college baseball that have the history that the Longhorns do.
In fact, no team has played in the NCAA tournament more than Texas, who will be making its 54th appearance. Princeton, for the record, will be there for the 11th time. Their all time NCAA records are 3-19 (Princeton) and 219-107 (Texas), and Texas has six NCAA titles on its resume.
Now it's time for this question: Which team has hit more home runs this year?
TB assumed Texas mashed the ball all over the place, but that's not quite true. In fact, Princeton has out-homered the Longhorns, who have hit just 13 in their 58 games, to 17 in 45 games for Princeton.
Texas makes up for it by having the No. 1 pitching staff in college baseball, with a 2.25 team ERA. Texas is also the No. 1 ranked fielding percentage team in the country and the third-ranked team in terms of sacrifice bunts.
On the one hand, playing against a team like that is difficult, because it puts pressure on every scoring opportunity Princeton gets and puts pressure on Princeton's pitchers to not give up more than a run or two.
On the other hand, it's probably not going to be 6-0 after the third inning, which means that the game will have a chance to develop and probably will be close throughout.
And, with the baseball tournament, there's always the opportunity to come back the next day should the first game be a loss.
And who knows, there is always the chance to make a run deep into the weekend.
For Princeton, that chance comes four weeks after the team last played. TB can't think of a sport where a four-week layoff at the peak of competition would be helpful, but it's worst in baseball.
Any momentum Princeton had after playing nearly 20 games in the four weeks prior to clinching the Ivy title is long gone. And intra-squad games and simulated games for pitchers only take you so far in staying sharp.
Still, at first pitch tomorrow night, none of it will matter.
The big story is that, after a 12-30 season last year, the Tigers are still playing.
Even after a four-week layoff.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Graduation Day
TigerBlog always liked Hank Aaron back when he used to watch him on TV as a kid. Aaron, of course, was a tough guy not to like.
He hit 755 home runs in his 23 Major League seasons, though he never hit more than 47 in any one season. He did surpass 30 home runs 15 times and 40 home runs eight times, and he is one of only four players with at least 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
One of the other three in that group is Willie Mays (the other two are Eddie Murray and Rafael Palmiero), who was a much more dynamic player than Aaron during the same era. In fact, many consider Mays to be a better all-around player than Aaron, even though Aaron hit a little higher for his career (.305 compared to .302 for Mays) and drove in 400 more runs than Mays.
Part of the reason that Mays is considered to be a better player might be his flair, something that Aaron couldn't match. Or maybe it's because he made his name in New York and then later in San Francisco, whereas Aaron played in Milwaukee and Atlanta.
All Aaron did was consistently drive the ball and bring in runners year after year after year. He's not the greatest player of all-time, but he is in the top, oh, five, probably.
Aaron hit his 715th home run off of Al Dowling, a graduate, by the way, of Trenton High School. It was that home run that moved him past Babe Ruth into first on the all-time list, a chase that famously generated considerable racist ranting about the prospect of a black man's eclipsing the most famous record in American professional sports. Looking back, had it been known who would eventually break Aaron's record and how, there would have been universal desire to see Aaron hit another 50 home runs.
Yesterday, Hank Aaron was given an honorary degree at Princeton's graduation ceremony. From the University's release: As a player entering Major League Baseball soon after its integration in 1954, he confronted racism with quiet dignity, and as an executive he has fought discrimination in hiring practices.
The identity of the honorary degree recipients is a huge secret leading up to graduation. Aaron joins a list of people with athletic backgrounds to be so honored, including the likes of Arthur Ashe and Mia Hamm.
Graduation Day at Princeton always fascinates TigerBlog. Not to be a snob, but it's a unique honor to attend Princeton University - something TB never had a chance of pulling off.
Being a Princeton graduate is no guarantee of limitless post-graduate success, but it does open up all kinds of doors for those who hold such diplomas.
Here at Princeton, it's often said that the college experience should be the "best four years" for the students, and, from our perspective, the athletes.
TB hopes that that isn't the case, that life won't be all downhill from the age of 22 on for those wearing the caps and gowns outside Nassau Hall yesterday.
TB would rather word it that he hopes that the athletes of Princeton reach graduation having had a remarkable time during their four years here. He hopes that they look back at their time here as having provided them with a great foundation to build on in any area of their lives, good or bad. He hopes that they learned to deal with success - and failure - and that they are prepared to handle both in their "adult" lives.
If that sounds a bit too graduation-speechish, that's okay, because TB really believes it.
Maybe they came to Princeton because it afforded them the best opportunity to play Division I athletics, or maybe they came here instead of a scholarship school because of the more-rounded experience. It doesn't matter.
College athletes go through a different kind of four years than non-athletes, and it's not for everyone. The need to balance the workload of school with the workload of athletics is daunting, especially at a place like Princeton.
The 200 or so athletes who reach graduation each year would each tell their own story of how they handled it, how their time here was, how their team dynamic worked out, what their place in that dynamic was.
One of those graduates, Tim Palmer of the men's lacrosse team, stopped by the OAC earlier this morning on his way out, to return a flip cam that TB had given Palmer to do one of the TigerCam videos.
If you've never heard of Palmer, it's because he was a backup player for his entire career. He leaves Princeton having never scored a goal and having appeared in 10 total games.
But make no mistake, his time at Princeton was shaped directly by being part of the lacrosse program, just as much as it would have been had he been a first-team All-America. He practiced; he traveled; he worked out in the off-season. He made friends with his teammates; he came to deal with the fact that he wasn't going to be a starter.
Today, he talked about his future plans, moving on to Chicago to be a trader.
Before he left, he thanked TB for his work with the men's lacrosse team through the years. And then, as he was walking out the door, he said this:
"It was a great four years."
Hopefully it was for all the Princeton athletes, and all the Princeton grads, for that matter.
Congratulations to them all.
He hit 755 home runs in his 23 Major League seasons, though he never hit more than 47 in any one season. He did surpass 30 home runs 15 times and 40 home runs eight times, and he is one of only four players with at least 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
One of the other three in that group is Willie Mays (the other two are Eddie Murray and Rafael Palmiero), who was a much more dynamic player than Aaron during the same era. In fact, many consider Mays to be a better all-around player than Aaron, even though Aaron hit a little higher for his career (.305 compared to .302 for Mays) and drove in 400 more runs than Mays.
Part of the reason that Mays is considered to be a better player might be his flair, something that Aaron couldn't match. Or maybe it's because he made his name in New York and then later in San Francisco, whereas Aaron played in Milwaukee and Atlanta.
All Aaron did was consistently drive the ball and bring in runners year after year after year. He's not the greatest player of all-time, but he is in the top, oh, five, probably.
Aaron hit his 715th home run off of Al Dowling, a graduate, by the way, of Trenton High School. It was that home run that moved him past Babe Ruth into first on the all-time list, a chase that famously generated considerable racist ranting about the prospect of a black man's eclipsing the most famous record in American professional sports. Looking back, had it been known who would eventually break Aaron's record and how, there would have been universal desire to see Aaron hit another 50 home runs.
Yesterday, Hank Aaron was given an honorary degree at Princeton's graduation ceremony. From the University's release: As a player entering Major League Baseball soon after its integration in 1954, he confronted racism with quiet dignity, and as an executive he has fought discrimination in hiring practices.
The identity of the honorary degree recipients is a huge secret leading up to graduation. Aaron joins a list of people with athletic backgrounds to be so honored, including the likes of Arthur Ashe and Mia Hamm.
Graduation Day at Princeton always fascinates TigerBlog. Not to be a snob, but it's a unique honor to attend Princeton University - something TB never had a chance of pulling off.
Being a Princeton graduate is no guarantee of limitless post-graduate success, but it does open up all kinds of doors for those who hold such diplomas.
Here at Princeton, it's often said that the college experience should be the "best four years" for the students, and, from our perspective, the athletes.
TB hopes that that isn't the case, that life won't be all downhill from the age of 22 on for those wearing the caps and gowns outside Nassau Hall yesterday.
TB would rather word it that he hopes that the athletes of Princeton reach graduation having had a remarkable time during their four years here. He hopes that they look back at their time here as having provided them with a great foundation to build on in any area of their lives, good or bad. He hopes that they learned to deal with success - and failure - and that they are prepared to handle both in their "adult" lives.
If that sounds a bit too graduation-speechish, that's okay, because TB really believes it.
Maybe they came to Princeton because it afforded them the best opportunity to play Division I athletics, or maybe they came here instead of a scholarship school because of the more-rounded experience. It doesn't matter.
College athletes go through a different kind of four years than non-athletes, and it's not for everyone. The need to balance the workload of school with the workload of athletics is daunting, especially at a place like Princeton.
The 200 or so athletes who reach graduation each year would each tell their own story of how they handled it, how their time here was, how their team dynamic worked out, what their place in that dynamic was.
One of those graduates, Tim Palmer of the men's lacrosse team, stopped by the OAC earlier this morning on his way out, to return a flip cam that TB had given Palmer to do one of the TigerCam videos.
If you've never heard of Palmer, it's because he was a backup player for his entire career. He leaves Princeton having never scored a goal and having appeared in 10 total games.
But make no mistake, his time at Princeton was shaped directly by being part of the lacrosse program, just as much as it would have been had he been a first-team All-America. He practiced; he traveled; he worked out in the off-season. He made friends with his teammates; he came to deal with the fact that he wasn't going to be a starter.
Today, he talked about his future plans, moving on to Chicago to be a trader.
Before he left, he thanked TB for his work with the men's lacrosse team through the years. And then, as he was walking out the door, he said this:
"It was a great four years."
Hopefully it was for all the Princeton athletes, and all the Princeton grads, for that matter.
Congratulations to them all.
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