Had it been an option, TigerBlog would have selected the opportunity to watch the remaining 11 episodes of Season 3 of "Homeland" one after the other, for the 11 hours immediately following last night's first episode of the new season.
He could have done it too. Last night's episode ended at 10, so he would have been tied up watching "Homeland" until 9 a.m. this morning. He would have been fine with it, and he certainly wouldn't have fallen asleep.
Oh, and if you haven't seen the first two seasons, you can't start watching in Season 3. You must go back to Season 1, Episode 1, and go from there.
Also, TB promises not to give away any plot details here, for those who are watching on demand.
TB has heard people talk about "Homeland" in terms of "jumping the shark," something that makes him cringe. He handle it, having a show that has been this amazing for its first two seasons ever doing that to him.
Not to worry. Episode 1 did a great job of setting the stage for the rest of Season 3, and TB cannot wait for Sunday nights at 9 from now until Dec. 15.
"Homeland" is in a tough position, because it couldn't stay with what it was in Season 1 (is Brody a terrorist) or Season 2 (okay, he's sort of a terrorist but nobody really knows that). Instead, it established last night that the entire country views him as a terrorist and traitor, and now Season 3 sets up as being about how much Carrie will be able to prove that or disprove that, all while being fought at every turn by the Congress (expected) and CIA, especially Saul (very unexpected).
And then there is the overriding question - did Brody do it or not?
Then there is the subplot of Brody's family, especially his daughter. In almost any other show, this would be something of window dressing, and the family drama would be forced and overdone with stereotypical characters. Here? It's a perfect blend of very human people being tossed into something they never wanted any part of or expected.
As Mrs. Brody said last night, "he was only supposed to be in the Marines for two years, but then 9/11 happened." Imagine what their life would be had that not happened?
They'd be just another happy, well-adjusted suburban couple (albeit with a son who was such a bad actor that they actually replaced him with another actor in Season 3). On the other hand, Morgan Saylor, the 20-year-old who plays the Brody's daughter, is so off-the-charts good that she in many ways carries the show through the non-CIA parts the way Claire Danes does the rest of it.
The episode last night did a great job of catching everyone up on last season and setting up what's coming next. It did this, in a stroke of genius, without ever having Brody on camera.
TigerBlog gives Episode 1 an A. He gives the coming attractions of the rest of the season an A+.
And while the subject is "things that were set in Washington, D.C. this weekend," there was the Princeton football game.
The Tigers played at Georgetown Saturday in a game that TigerBlog was not at, though he was following it on Twitter closely. These were the scores in the first quarter:
0-0
8-0
8-6
12-6
15-12
22-12
Those are not exactly normal scores, but okay. Since Princeton had the 22 at the end of the quarter, the Tigers were fine with them.
Since that 22 grew to 50 by the time the game was over, it was even more acceptable.
Princeton put up 50 points in a game for the first time since the year 2000, when David Splithoff went off in a 55-28 win over Brown.
Princeton had some amazing numbers in the game, including rushing for 326 yards and six touchdowns while not having any player rush more than 11 times. Of course, that didn't stop Princeton from having a 100-yard rusher of the second straight week, this time Brian Mills, after DiAndre Atwater did so last week.
And then there's Quinn Epperly. You don't think this guy is fun to watch?
How about 3 for 6 for 19 yards, not to mention five carries for 69 yards - and four touchdowns. In other words only one of his five carries did not result in a touchdown.
Actually, what TB said about Epperly applies to the whole team. It's just a fun team to watch.
So through two games, the Tigers are 1-1, just a few tough breaks against nationally ranked Lehigh from being 2-0. Up next is Columbia, in the Ivy opener.
Harvard and Yale are both 1-0 in the league, off their wins last weekend over Brown and Cornell. The race has a long, long way to go to see how it's going to shape up, and Princeton needs a good showing against Columbia to vault itself into the conversation.
TB was optimistic after last week's game against Lehigh, even with the loss.
Now? He's excited to see the Tigers this Saturday.
And "Homeland" the next 11 Sundays.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Mrs. Guacamole
TigerBlog was at Miss TigerBlog Back To School Night last night.
It was standard middle school stuff, going through her schedule, with abbreviated 12-minute periods to meet each teacher, hear what they'll be doing for the school year, that sort of thing.
The highlight of the night was clearly when MTB's science teacher, Mrs. Giacomelli, said that when her name is entered on an iPhone, it autocorrects to "guacamole." She pointed out that this was ironic, as she doesn't like guacamole.
TigerBlog does. He's a big fan of the avocado.
Anyway, TB had to scramble to get there on time, because he was doing freshman men's lacrosse head shots and bios. TB always likes meeting the freshmen for the first time, putting faces to the names he's heard so much about through the recruiting process.
The bio process always goes basically the same way, with the same basic questions. How many letters in lacrosse? Other sports? Team championships? Individual honors? Stats? Club team? Academic honors? Community service?
What's your date of birth? Parents names. Alma maters. Were they athletes? Siblings?
Then, at the end, TB always says the same thing: "Anything else you'd want to include? Jumped out of an airplane? Climbed a mountain? Caught a 400-pound fish? Sang with the church choir in China?"
And after all the years of doing this, finally, yesterday, someone answered yes to one of those. Freshman men's lacrosse player Jack O'Brien jumped out of a plane this summer while in Cape Cod.
And then there was another first, when freshman Sam Gravitte, asked about what his mother does, responded that she was a Tony Award-winner, for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for her performance in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway." Sam? He played Jean Valjean in a high school production of "Les Miserables."
Then there was the part when TB realized that these freshman were born for the most part after he'd already started working here. That means as they've gone from babies to Princeton lacrosse players, TB has been right here.
When TB first started covering college sports, he wasn't that much older than the people he was writing about. Eventually, the dates of birth were after he'd graduated high school, after he'd graduated college. And now? They're covering his entire tenure at Princeton.
This, by the way, ends the week of nostalgia, the one that included TigerBlog Jr.'s driving Monday and TB's realization yesterday that it's been 30 years of doing this.
Just as he has for every September since these freshmen were born, TB is looking forward to a pretty big athletic weekend involving Princeton teams.
Fall weekends are not quite like winter or spring ones, simply because there aren't as many teams. And those weekends are nothing compared to the crossovers between seasons.
Still, it's a busy one for Princeton Athletics, with 18 events on the schedule between today and Sunday.
The football team is at Georgetown, where it will be homecoming for the Hoyas. Georgetown football isn't quite like Georgetown basketball, but the Tigers and Hoyas had a pretty entertaining game last year. This time around, it'd be great for Princeton to be 1-1 heading into the Ivy League opener next Saturday against Columbia.
The field hockey team hosts Yale tonight at 7, and the official Bedford Field dedication will be held at halftime. Don't look for the namesake to be there though; Paul Bedford was in the Class of 1897.
The sprint football team is back after having to forfeit last weekend. The Tigers play at Post, and the team came within one scramble off of a fumble in overtime of winning that game.
There are three soccer games at Roberts Stadium this weekend, as the men host Florida International (7) and Florida Gulf Coast (4) tonight and Sunday and the women play Yale tomorrow (4). The Princeton-FGCU soccer game is on ESPNU Sunday.
Florida-Gulf Coast is, of course, the team that came from nowhere to the Sweet 16 in men's basketball last year. The soccer program was also an NCAA tournament team last year.
The women's volleyball team hosts Penn tonight in its Ivy opener.
There's nothing else on campus this weekend - unless you count the men's lacrosse alumni game tomorrow at 1:45.
TB loves the busy home weekends, when there are a ton of events, sandwiched around home football.
This weekend isn't quite on that level, but it's still a good one.
It was standard middle school stuff, going through her schedule, with abbreviated 12-minute periods to meet each teacher, hear what they'll be doing for the school year, that sort of thing.
The highlight of the night was clearly when MTB's science teacher, Mrs. Giacomelli, said that when her name is entered on an iPhone, it autocorrects to "guacamole." She pointed out that this was ironic, as she doesn't like guacamole.
TigerBlog does. He's a big fan of the avocado.
Anyway, TB had to scramble to get there on time, because he was doing freshman men's lacrosse head shots and bios. TB always likes meeting the freshmen for the first time, putting faces to the names he's heard so much about through the recruiting process.
The bio process always goes basically the same way, with the same basic questions. How many letters in lacrosse? Other sports? Team championships? Individual honors? Stats? Club team? Academic honors? Community service?
What's your date of birth? Parents names. Alma maters. Were they athletes? Siblings?
Then, at the end, TB always says the same thing: "Anything else you'd want to include? Jumped out of an airplane? Climbed a mountain? Caught a 400-pound fish? Sang with the church choir in China?"
And after all the years of doing this, finally, yesterday, someone answered yes to one of those. Freshman men's lacrosse player Jack O'Brien jumped out of a plane this summer while in Cape Cod.
And then there was another first, when freshman Sam Gravitte, asked about what his mother does, responded that she was a Tony Award-winner, for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for her performance in "Jerome Robbins' Broadway." Sam? He played Jean Valjean in a high school production of "Les Miserables."
Then there was the part when TB realized that these freshman were born for the most part after he'd already started working here. That means as they've gone from babies to Princeton lacrosse players, TB has been right here.
When TB first started covering college sports, he wasn't that much older than the people he was writing about. Eventually, the dates of birth were after he'd graduated high school, after he'd graduated college. And now? They're covering his entire tenure at Princeton.
This, by the way, ends the week of nostalgia, the one that included TigerBlog Jr.'s driving Monday and TB's realization yesterday that it's been 30 years of doing this.
Just as he has for every September since these freshmen were born, TB is looking forward to a pretty big athletic weekend involving Princeton teams.
Fall weekends are not quite like winter or spring ones, simply because there aren't as many teams. And those weekends are nothing compared to the crossovers between seasons.
Still, it's a busy one for Princeton Athletics, with 18 events on the schedule between today and Sunday.
The football team is at Georgetown, where it will be homecoming for the Hoyas. Georgetown football isn't quite like Georgetown basketball, but the Tigers and Hoyas had a pretty entertaining game last year. This time around, it'd be great for Princeton to be 1-1 heading into the Ivy League opener next Saturday against Columbia.
The field hockey team hosts Yale tonight at 7, and the official Bedford Field dedication will be held at halftime. Don't look for the namesake to be there though; Paul Bedford was in the Class of 1897.
The sprint football team is back after having to forfeit last weekend. The Tigers play at Post, and the team came within one scramble off of a fumble in overtime of winning that game.
There are three soccer games at Roberts Stadium this weekend, as the men host Florida International (7) and Florida Gulf Coast (4) tonight and Sunday and the women play Yale tomorrow (4). The Princeton-FGCU soccer game is on ESPNU Sunday.
Florida-Gulf Coast is, of course, the team that came from nowhere to the Sweet 16 in men's basketball last year. The soccer program was also an NCAA tournament team last year.
The women's volleyball team hosts Penn tonight in its Ivy opener.
There's nothing else on campus this weekend - unless you count the men's lacrosse alumni game tomorrow at 1:45.
TB loves the busy home weekends, when there are a ton of events, sandwiched around home football.
This weekend isn't quite on that level, but it's still a good one.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Happy Anniversary
TigerBlog's week at work has included things like doing PA at a football game, taking head shots of freshman lacrosse players, resolving issues related to shooting video at games, writing about Princeton sports, writing, writing, writing.
There was a meeting at the Center For Jewish Life, where the subject involved Princeton's Jewish athletes.
There were other meetings. Discussions about Academic Athletic Fellows. Videostreaming. Upcoming games. The atmosphere at football game days.
You know, the usual stuff that comes in athletic communications.
Ah, how different it all might have been had TigerBlog said "no" instead of "yes" to Jack McCaffery 30 years ago this week.
TigerBlog wrote this three years ago, when he saw that Pennington was playing at Academy of the New Church in football. It took him back to his first assignment in the newspaper business, which was that very same high school football game.
Jack is the older brother of Fran McCaffery, now the head basketball coach at the University of Iowa. Back then, Fran was a grad assistant at Penn, and TB was his co-worker in the psychology department basement, spending hours making copies of reading assignments on a copy machine that couldn't collate.
It was through Fran that TB met Jack, and it was Jack who offered TB a job at the Trenton Times covering high school football. His first game was Pennington at ANC.
It was 30 years ago this week. To be exact, it was Sept. 23, 1983.
Thirty years. Come and gone. It makes TB think like Red in "Shawshank," except TB has enjoyed almost every minute of it.
TB will never forget the first time he picked up the newspaper and saw his byline. It's hard to believe that was 30 years ago.
He had the newspaper in a political science class. He was a history major at Penn, and his career goal coming in had been to go to law school.
To say he got sidetracked is an understatement.
He forgot all about his 30th anniversary in this business, or at least in Part 1 of this business, which was his time in the newspaper business, until he saw that it was the anniversary of when Steve Carlton won his 300th game. That was the lead story in the sports section that day.
TigerBlog remembers the second football game he covered was the day after Pennington-ANC was Bordentown vs. Maple Shade. The following week was Hun vs. George and then Council Rock vs. Abington.
He can't remember the order after that.
Now, 30 years later, he wonders how many games he has gone to because it was his job to do so. The answer has to be thousands of them.
High school games. Summer league games. And then college games. Lots and lots of college games, almost all of them Princeton games.
He contrasts this with how his life might otherwise have gone, had he said "cover high school games for a newspaper? Thanks, Jack, but no thanks."
What in the world would he have ended up doing?
Law school? Maybe. Maybe not. TB was never a great student or, more specifically, a great studier. Maybe he would have figured out a way through law school, and then where would he be now?
And if he hadn't gone down that path, then what?
Would he have found his way into athletics in some capacity? Would he not ever have known that such careers existed?
He is willing to guess that he wouldn't have had nearly as enjoyable a career. What was he going to do, get up every morning, put on a suit and head into the business world?
He actually tried that for a few months, and it was a disaster. He ran as fast as he could to get back to the newspaper.
And so now it's been 30 years of memories, most of it on this campus. Thirty years going to all kinds of games - many forgettable and some among the greatest games ever played in their sports.
Still, it's been 30 years of having a game to look forward to, another one after that, another one down the road. He's been fortunate to be here at Princeton, where so many of those games ended up as wins, rather than losses.
And then there are the people. The best part of the last 30 years has been the people TB has had the chance to meet and get to know. Athletes. Coaches. Administrators. Writers. Editors.
Some of them have become the best friends he's ever had.
He's had so many great opportunities and experiences these past 30 years. He's traveled throughout this country and out of this country, all because there was a game to cover waiting for him to get there.
Maybe he could have been richer had he gone down another path. Maybe everything would have been different for him, but he'll never know.
These past 30 years?
He wouldn't change them for anything.
There was a meeting at the Center For Jewish Life, where the subject involved Princeton's Jewish athletes.
There were other meetings. Discussions about Academic Athletic Fellows. Videostreaming. Upcoming games. The atmosphere at football game days.
You know, the usual stuff that comes in athletic communications.
Ah, how different it all might have been had TigerBlog said "no" instead of "yes" to Jack McCaffery 30 years ago this week.
TigerBlog wrote this three years ago, when he saw that Pennington was playing at Academy of the New Church in football. It took him back to his first assignment in the newspaper business, which was that very same high school football game.
Jack is the older brother of Fran McCaffery, now the head basketball coach at the University of Iowa. Back then, Fran was a grad assistant at Penn, and TB was his co-worker in the psychology department basement, spending hours making copies of reading assignments on a copy machine that couldn't collate.
It was through Fran that TB met Jack, and it was Jack who offered TB a job at the Trenton Times covering high school football. His first game was Pennington at ANC.
It was 30 years ago this week. To be exact, it was Sept. 23, 1983.
Thirty years. Come and gone. It makes TB think like Red in "Shawshank," except TB has enjoyed almost every minute of it.
TB will never forget the first time he picked up the newspaper and saw his byline. It's hard to believe that was 30 years ago.
He had the newspaper in a political science class. He was a history major at Penn, and his career goal coming in had been to go to law school.
To say he got sidetracked is an understatement.
He forgot all about his 30th anniversary in this business, or at least in Part 1 of this business, which was his time in the newspaper business, until he saw that it was the anniversary of when Steve Carlton won his 300th game. That was the lead story in the sports section that day.
TigerBlog remembers the second football game he covered was the day after Pennington-ANC was Bordentown vs. Maple Shade. The following week was Hun vs. George and then Council Rock vs. Abington.
He can't remember the order after that.
Now, 30 years later, he wonders how many games he has gone to because it was his job to do so. The answer has to be thousands of them.
High school games. Summer league games. And then college games. Lots and lots of college games, almost all of them Princeton games.
He contrasts this with how his life might otherwise have gone, had he said "cover high school games for a newspaper? Thanks, Jack, but no thanks."
What in the world would he have ended up doing?
Law school? Maybe. Maybe not. TB was never a great student or, more specifically, a great studier. Maybe he would have figured out a way through law school, and then where would he be now?
And if he hadn't gone down that path, then what?
Would he have found his way into athletics in some capacity? Would he not ever have known that such careers existed?
He is willing to guess that he wouldn't have had nearly as enjoyable a career. What was he going to do, get up every morning, put on a suit and head into the business world?
He actually tried that for a few months, and it was a disaster. He ran as fast as he could to get back to the newspaper.
And so now it's been 30 years of memories, most of it on this campus. Thirty years going to all kinds of games - many forgettable and some among the greatest games ever played in their sports.
Still, it's been 30 years of having a game to look forward to, another one after that, another one down the road. He's been fortunate to be here at Princeton, where so many of those games ended up as wins, rather than losses.
And then there are the people. The best part of the last 30 years has been the people TB has had the chance to meet and get to know. Athletes. Coaches. Administrators. Writers. Editors.
Some of them have become the best friends he's ever had.
He's had so many great opportunities and experiences these past 30 years. He's traveled throughout this country and out of this country, all because there was a game to cover waiting for him to get there.
Maybe he could have been richer had he gone down another path. Maybe everything would have been different for him, but he'll never know.
These past 30 years?
He wouldn't change them for anything.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Comical
TigerBlog has now watched his first two episodes of "Modern Family." He thinks it has the potential to be pretty funny.
His impression of the first two episodes, at least, is that the characters are a bit stereotyped but the writing is pretty good.
Apparently it's hilarious. At least that's what people say.
And it won the Emmy for Best Comedy. Again. For the fourth straight year.
Can you name the last show to win the Emmy for Best Comedy five straight times? TB will give you a chance to think about that for a few paragraphs.
TB is willing to invest in "Modern Family" on one condition. He has to be able to watch the show out of sequence, since catching up means seeing the episodes in syndication, and they probably won't be shown in order.
This, by the way, is why "Law & Order" was so perfect. Miss a week? No problem. There were no carrying over storylines.
So back at the Best Comedy Emmy Awards, the last - and only - show ever to win the award more than the four times that "Modern Family" has done so is not one of TB's 10 favorite sitcoms ever. Might not even be in his top 20.
To prove it, here are 20 comedies that TB liked more than the one that won five Best Comedy Emmys (in no particular order):
"The Odd Couple," "Taxi," "All In The Family," "Get Smart," "Barney Miller," "Bob Newhart Show," "M*A*S*H," "Seinfeld," "Night Court," "Cheers," "Family Ties," "Friends," "Big Bang Theory," "Two And A Half Men," "The Wonder Years," "The Cosby Show," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Married With Children" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
That's 20 easily.
And none of them is "Frasier," the only five-time Emmy Award winner for Best Comedy and a show TB just never got into. He did like Frasier's character on "Cheers;" the spin-off never did it for him.
So TB is going to try the whole "Modern Family" thing and see if it works for him.
This weekend is also the start of Season 3 of "Homeland." If you've read TB for awhile, you know that he considers "Homeland" to be the greatest show in television history, even after only two runs of 12 episodes each. And he's not the only one to think this way.
And the next season starts Sunday night. And please, don't tell TB that "Breaking Bad" won Best Drama. It's not even close between those two shows.
By the time Princeton alum Carrie Mathison starts to sort out what happened with the car bomb that ended last season, her alma mater will have had two more teams begin their Ivy League seasons.
The women's volleyball team hosts Penn Friday night, one year after the teams split a pair of 3-2 matches.
Princeton finished tied with Columbia for second in the league last year, but it wasn't exactly close to first when the season ended. Yale was a perfect 14-0 in the league in 2012, while the Tigers and Lions were five games back.
In fact, Yale went 42-6 in games in Ivy matches a year ago and never lost more than one in any match. Princeton was one of the teams to take a game off of the Bulldogs last year.
Yale is again the favorite, though not as prohibitively as a year ago. Princeton is at Yale Oct. 12 and home with Yale Nov. 15, which means the race can take shape a little before those meetings.
The other Ivy opener is in women's soccer, as the Tigers host Yale Saturday at 4.
Princeton is 4-1-2 this year after going 14-4-1 last year, which included a 7-0-0 run through the league.
Tyler Lussi has been the answer to the question of "where would Jen Hoy's goals come from this year." Lussi has six of them in her first seven college games. In fact, Lussi has six of Princeton's 11 goals through seven games, including two in the Tigers' most recent game, a 3-1 win at Fordham Tuesday night.
The Ivy League women's soccer race figures to be really wide open. In fact, of the eight schools in the league, six are at above .500 and a seventh is at .500. And the one that's under .500 is Dartmouth, which figures to be right there at the end as well.
Penn is 4-0-2 to date and has two common opponents with Princeton, St Joe's (both beat the Hawks 1-0) and William & Mary (both tied).
The Ivy openers are just part of a very busy weekend schedule for Princeton Athletics.
And when it's over? Season 3 of "Homeland."
And a few "Modern Family" episodes before then.
TB will give it a chance.
His impression of the first two episodes, at least, is that the characters are a bit stereotyped but the writing is pretty good.
Apparently it's hilarious. At least that's what people say.
And it won the Emmy for Best Comedy. Again. For the fourth straight year.
Can you name the last show to win the Emmy for Best Comedy five straight times? TB will give you a chance to think about that for a few paragraphs.
TB is willing to invest in "Modern Family" on one condition. He has to be able to watch the show out of sequence, since catching up means seeing the episodes in syndication, and they probably won't be shown in order.
This, by the way, is why "Law & Order" was so perfect. Miss a week? No problem. There were no carrying over storylines.
So back at the Best Comedy Emmy Awards, the last - and only - show ever to win the award more than the four times that "Modern Family" has done so is not one of TB's 10 favorite sitcoms ever. Might not even be in his top 20.
To prove it, here are 20 comedies that TB liked more than the one that won five Best Comedy Emmys (in no particular order):
"The Odd Couple," "Taxi," "All In The Family," "Get Smart," "Barney Miller," "Bob Newhart Show," "M*A*S*H," "Seinfeld," "Night Court," "Cheers," "Family Ties," "Friends," "Big Bang Theory," "Two And A Half Men," "The Wonder Years," "The Cosby Show," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "Married With Children" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
That's 20 easily.
And none of them is "Frasier," the only five-time Emmy Award winner for Best Comedy and a show TB just never got into. He did like Frasier's character on "Cheers;" the spin-off never did it for him.
So TB is going to try the whole "Modern Family" thing and see if it works for him.
This weekend is also the start of Season 3 of "Homeland." If you've read TB for awhile, you know that he considers "Homeland" to be the greatest show in television history, even after only two runs of 12 episodes each. And he's not the only one to think this way.
And the next season starts Sunday night. And please, don't tell TB that "Breaking Bad" won Best Drama. It's not even close between those two shows.
By the time Princeton alum Carrie Mathison starts to sort out what happened with the car bomb that ended last season, her alma mater will have had two more teams begin their Ivy League seasons.
The women's volleyball team hosts Penn Friday night, one year after the teams split a pair of 3-2 matches.
Princeton finished tied with Columbia for second in the league last year, but it wasn't exactly close to first when the season ended. Yale was a perfect 14-0 in the league in 2012, while the Tigers and Lions were five games back.
In fact, Yale went 42-6 in games in Ivy matches a year ago and never lost more than one in any match. Princeton was one of the teams to take a game off of the Bulldogs last year.
Yale is again the favorite, though not as prohibitively as a year ago. Princeton is at Yale Oct. 12 and home with Yale Nov. 15, which means the race can take shape a little before those meetings.
The other Ivy opener is in women's soccer, as the Tigers host Yale Saturday at 4.
Princeton is 4-1-2 this year after going 14-4-1 last year, which included a 7-0-0 run through the league.
Tyler Lussi has been the answer to the question of "where would Jen Hoy's goals come from this year." Lussi has six of them in her first seven college games. In fact, Lussi has six of Princeton's 11 goals through seven games, including two in the Tigers' most recent game, a 3-1 win at Fordham Tuesday night.
The Ivy League women's soccer race figures to be really wide open. In fact, of the eight schools in the league, six are at above .500 and a seventh is at .500. And the one that's under .500 is Dartmouth, which figures to be right there at the end as well.
Penn is 4-0-2 to date and has two common opponents with Princeton, St Joe's (both beat the Hawks 1-0) and William & Mary (both tied).
The Ivy openers are just part of a very busy weekend schedule for Princeton Athletics.
And when it's over? Season 3 of "Homeland."
And a few "Modern Family" episodes before then.
TB will give it a chance.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Can I Drive?
For TigerBlog, there was a long time when a trip pretty much anywhere in the Ivy League other than Columbia, Penn and maybe Yale meant an overnight stay.
Gradually, TB ventured further and further into the up-and-back philosophy, which meant leaving day of event and coming back when it was over.
He started with a trip to Cornell, back when he was still in the newspaper business.
Tim Bennett, who has spent the bulk of the last 20 years or so with Yale athletic communications, was an intern at Princeton, where he was the baseball contact, among other sports.
Princeton was playing Cornell in a season-ending doubleheader with the league title on the line - this was before there were two divisions, TB recalls - and Timmer (as everyone calls him) was going up and back for the games. TB decided to tag along and write a story for the paper.
To help get out of there faster after he had written his story, TB helped Tim call some of the other newspapers, back when actually calling the newspaper's sports department and speaking to a human being was a daily part of athletic communications work.
Anyway, TB was calling the Star-Ledger, and kid in the newsroom on the other end of the phone
was asking TB to go through the entire box score, even though he was only going to use a sentence or two. So TB decided to try to cut to the chase, which was surprising to the kid, which led to this exchange:
TB: So and so was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple.
Kid in newsroom: What was his other hit?
TB: Huh?
It's possible TB said something sarcastic after that. Actually, it's probable.
Once he'd gone up and back to Cornell, he started to do so to other schools as well. Brown, especially one Yom Kippur way back when. Harvard, the day there was a field dedication up there for lacrosse and the game was at 7 at night.
He even did it for Dartmouth once, also for lacrosse. That was pushing the envelope of how far he'd be willing to drive in one day, he's pretty sure.
All of this brings TB to yesterday, when TB and TigerBlog Jr. had to make a five-hour trip for a school function. The point of this story isn't the function itself; it's the getting there and back.
Most of the time that TB has made these drives, it's been to Princeton athletic events. He's written this often in the past, that he has estimated that he's driven so many miles to games that he could have gone around the Earth at the equator multiple times.
He's taken TBJ with him many times in the past. In fact, it's been one of the absolute greatest parts of TB's life, to take TBJ with him to so many Princeton games through the years of his youth. When TBJ got a little too old for it, TB felt a void, and a sadness, knowing that his son had outgrown that wide-eyed joy that comes with being a kid.
But now? There's a completely different element to it.
For all those trips, all those miles, TigerBlog drive, TBJ rode along. At first, it was in a car seat, back when he first went to watch Princeton-Lafayette football one day long ago and sat there perfectly still for three hours, without fidgeting, whining or anything, which led TB to believe that he was on to something here.
Eventually, he outgrew his car seat. And eventually he was old enough to sit in the front.
And now?
TB and TBJ rolled out around 7 am yesterday, which mean that TBJ, like most teenagers, was asleep in about two minutes. After he woke up, about an hour and half into the ride, he said his most common sentence these days: "Can I drive?"
And so TB turned the keys over to his son.
On the way back, TBJ offered to let his father drive to start out and then he would take over once he'd finished eating his Wegman's pizza.
By the time their day was over, they'd driven more than 10 hours together. The split was about seven hours behind the wheel for TBJ and three for TB, who loves the passenger seat by the way.
It's not always easy for a parent to be in the car with their child behind the wheel. When TBJ first started driving, TB found himself reaching for an imaginary brake pedal a few times.
Yesterday? No. There was TBJ, out on the highways, passing trucks, getting passed himself by some others, putting the cruise control on and going from there. One white car zoomed past him, which led TBJ to what TB believes was his first career moment of minor road rage, which itself was followed by a state police car that pulled the white car over, leading TBJ to think that there is justice on the road.
TB even fell asleep for a few moments when the hour got later and later. He was awakened by his son, who was singing "Hungry Like the Wolf" as the Duran Duran song played on the radio.
At various times on the trip, they took turns playing their personal favorites on their iPhones. TB always struggles with his son's musical tastes when it comes to telling which one is the name of the band and which one is the name of the song.
As for TB's music, TBJ puts up with it, even likes a lot of it, and while he says he has to draw the line at "Les Miserables," he mysteriously knows all of the words to "Do You Hear The People Sing."
Maybe TBJ likes it because clearly TB's musical taste is far superior.
Or maybe he heard it so often at such a young age, back when he was in the back seat, driving with his father to game after game, mile after mile along the same roads that he was now driving on himself yesterday.
TB was fine in the passenger seat, even as he couldn't help remember back to those days when his son couldn't even reach the pedals, let alone use them - and how those days are now behind both of them.
Gradually, TB ventured further and further into the up-and-back philosophy, which meant leaving day of event and coming back when it was over.
He started with a trip to Cornell, back when he was still in the newspaper business.
Tim Bennett, who has spent the bulk of the last 20 years or so with Yale athletic communications, was an intern at Princeton, where he was the baseball contact, among other sports.
Princeton was playing Cornell in a season-ending doubleheader with the league title on the line - this was before there were two divisions, TB recalls - and Timmer (as everyone calls him) was going up and back for the games. TB decided to tag along and write a story for the paper.
To help get out of there faster after he had written his story, TB helped Tim call some of the other newspapers, back when actually calling the newspaper's sports department and speaking to a human being was a daily part of athletic communications work.
Anyway, TB was calling the Star-Ledger, and kid in the newsroom on the other end of the phone
was asking TB to go through the entire box score, even though he was only going to use a sentence or two. So TB decided to try to cut to the chase, which was surprising to the kid, which led to this exchange:
TB: So and so was 3 for 4 with a double and a triple.
Kid in newsroom: What was his other hit?
TB: Huh?
It's possible TB said something sarcastic after that. Actually, it's probable.
Once he'd gone up and back to Cornell, he started to do so to other schools as well. Brown, especially one Yom Kippur way back when. Harvard, the day there was a field dedication up there for lacrosse and the game was at 7 at night.
He even did it for Dartmouth once, also for lacrosse. That was pushing the envelope of how far he'd be willing to drive in one day, he's pretty sure.
All of this brings TB to yesterday, when TB and TigerBlog Jr. had to make a five-hour trip for a school function. The point of this story isn't the function itself; it's the getting there and back.
Most of the time that TB has made these drives, it's been to Princeton athletic events. He's written this often in the past, that he has estimated that he's driven so many miles to games that he could have gone around the Earth at the equator multiple times.
He's taken TBJ with him many times in the past. In fact, it's been one of the absolute greatest parts of TB's life, to take TBJ with him to so many Princeton games through the years of his youth. When TBJ got a little too old for it, TB felt a void, and a sadness, knowing that his son had outgrown that wide-eyed joy that comes with being a kid.
But now? There's a completely different element to it.
For all those trips, all those miles, TigerBlog drive, TBJ rode along. At first, it was in a car seat, back when he first went to watch Princeton-Lafayette football one day long ago and sat there perfectly still for three hours, without fidgeting, whining or anything, which led TB to believe that he was on to something here.
Eventually, he outgrew his car seat. And eventually he was old enough to sit in the front.
And now?
TB and TBJ rolled out around 7 am yesterday, which mean that TBJ, like most teenagers, was asleep in about two minutes. After he woke up, about an hour and half into the ride, he said his most common sentence these days: "Can I drive?"
And so TB turned the keys over to his son.
On the way back, TBJ offered to let his father drive to start out and then he would take over once he'd finished eating his Wegman's pizza.
By the time their day was over, they'd driven more than 10 hours together. The split was about seven hours behind the wheel for TBJ and three for TB, who loves the passenger seat by the way.
It's not always easy for a parent to be in the car with their child behind the wheel. When TBJ first started driving, TB found himself reaching for an imaginary brake pedal a few times.
Yesterday? No. There was TBJ, out on the highways, passing trucks, getting passed himself by some others, putting the cruise control on and going from there. One white car zoomed past him, which led TBJ to what TB believes was his first career moment of minor road rage, which itself was followed by a state police car that pulled the white car over, leading TBJ to think that there is justice on the road.
TB even fell asleep for a few moments when the hour got later and later. He was awakened by his son, who was singing "Hungry Like the Wolf" as the Duran Duran song played on the radio.
At various times on the trip, they took turns playing their personal favorites on their iPhones. TB always struggles with his son's musical tastes when it comes to telling which one is the name of the band and which one is the name of the song.
As for TB's music, TBJ puts up with it, even likes a lot of it, and while he says he has to draw the line at "Les Miserables," he mysteriously knows all of the words to "Do You Hear The People Sing."
Maybe TBJ likes it because clearly TB's musical taste is far superior.
Or maybe he heard it so often at such a young age, back when he was in the back seat, driving with his father to game after game, mile after mile along the same roads that he was now driving on himself yesterday.
TB was fine in the passenger seat, even as he couldn't help remember back to those days when his son couldn't even reach the pedals, let alone use them - and how those days are now behind both of them.
Monday, September 23, 2013
An Optimist's View Of The Opener
Lehigh had just taken a one-point lead with 2:45 to go in the game Saturday night when Gary Walters walked into the PA booth.
Walters asked TigerBlog what he thought, and TB said he was pretty sure that Princeton was going to rally and pull it out.
TB is an optimist.
This time, he was wrong.
Still, after watching the first 60 minutes of Princeton football for the 2013 season, TB could conclude that there was much to be optimistic about.
Princeton lost 29-28 to Lehigh.
The pessimists can say these things:
* Princeton was outscored 26-6 in the second half after leading 22-3 at the break
* Lehigh's Brandon Bialkowski completed 42 of 57 passes for 430 yards and two touchdowns
* Lehigh gained 513 yards of offense
The optimists, however, have much more on their side.
Princeton gained 501 yards of offense itself.
DiAndre Atwater carried 13 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns. That's an average of 8.5 yards per carry, by the way.
Roman Wilson caught nine passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. That's 18.7 yards per catch.
In all, nine different players caught at least one pass for Princeton.
And then there was the night that Quinn Epperly had.
Ostensibly a quarterback, Epperly was 6 for 8 passing for 100 yards and a touchdown. He carried the ball five times for 19 yards and another touchdown. And he caught two passes.
How many players will ever throw eight passes, run five times, catch two passes and have a passing and rushing touchdown, all in the same game?
Princeton was creative offensively, with big play capability running and throwing the ball. And the Tigers were creative. Super creative.
Princeton played much of the game will multiple quarterbacks on the field, something that few teams do and which poses all kinds of issues for the defense. For Princeton, having depth at the position and a player like Epperly - with so many different skills - is a great luxury.
It's also how you win in football. Get your best athletes on the field, your best playmakers, and put them in position to make plays. Even if it requires thinking outside the box a little.
The biggest problem Princeton had on opening night wasn't its schemes or personnel. It was the fact that this was Game 1 for the Tigers and Game 3 for the Mountain Hawks.
There's fitness. Then there's game fitness. That's what is in TB's mind the biggest issue with having such a late season opener.
And this was a very humid night, one that ended with rain as the fourth quarter wound down. It was not an easy night to being playing for the first time.
Now there are nine games left for Princeton. The Tigers are at Georgetown next weekend and then home against Columbia for the Ivy opener in two weeks.
TigerBlog thinks Princeton Stadium is a great place to see a football game, especially under the lights. The illumination of the field enhances the appearance, and that was the case Saturday night.
It helps to have an exciting game, and an exciting home team.
Princeton had both of those on opening night. It didn't have a win, something that would have ben great to pull out at the end.
But hey, there are nine more games to go, including seven in the league.
TigerBlog is very optimistic.
Walters asked TigerBlog what he thought, and TB said he was pretty sure that Princeton was going to rally and pull it out.
TB is an optimist.
This time, he was wrong.
Still, after watching the first 60 minutes of Princeton football for the 2013 season, TB could conclude that there was much to be optimistic about.
Princeton lost 29-28 to Lehigh.
The pessimists can say these things:
* Princeton was outscored 26-6 in the second half after leading 22-3 at the break
* Lehigh's Brandon Bialkowski completed 42 of 57 passes for 430 yards and two touchdowns
* Lehigh gained 513 yards of offense
The optimists, however, have much more on their side.
Princeton gained 501 yards of offense itself.
DiAndre Atwater carried 13 times for 111 yards and two touchdowns. That's an average of 8.5 yards per carry, by the way.
Roman Wilson caught nine passes for 168 yards and a touchdown. That's 18.7 yards per catch.
In all, nine different players caught at least one pass for Princeton.
And then there was the night that Quinn Epperly had.
Ostensibly a quarterback, Epperly was 6 for 8 passing for 100 yards and a touchdown. He carried the ball five times for 19 yards and another touchdown. And he caught two passes.
How many players will ever throw eight passes, run five times, catch two passes and have a passing and rushing touchdown, all in the same game?
Princeton was creative offensively, with big play capability running and throwing the ball. And the Tigers were creative. Super creative.
Princeton played much of the game will multiple quarterbacks on the field, something that few teams do and which poses all kinds of issues for the defense. For Princeton, having depth at the position and a player like Epperly - with so many different skills - is a great luxury.
It's also how you win in football. Get your best athletes on the field, your best playmakers, and put them in position to make plays. Even if it requires thinking outside the box a little.
The biggest problem Princeton had on opening night wasn't its schemes or personnel. It was the fact that this was Game 1 for the Tigers and Game 3 for the Mountain Hawks.
There's fitness. Then there's game fitness. That's what is in TB's mind the biggest issue with having such a late season opener.
And this was a very humid night, one that ended with rain as the fourth quarter wound down. It was not an easy night to being playing for the first time.
Now there are nine games left for Princeton. The Tigers are at Georgetown next weekend and then home against Columbia for the Ivy opener in two weeks.
TigerBlog thinks Princeton Stadium is a great place to see a football game, especially under the lights. The illumination of the field enhances the appearance, and that was the case Saturday night.
It helps to have an exciting game, and an exciting home team.
Princeton had both of those on opening night. It didn't have a win, something that would have ben great to pull out at the end.
But hey, there are nine more games to go, including seven in the league.
TigerBlog is very optimistic.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Tee It Up
TigerBlog is trying to remember the first Princeton football game he saw in person.
He thinks it might have been the 1981 game against Penn, held at Franklin Field. He's pretty sure that was it.
The first football game he saw on this campus? The 1984 Princeton-Penn game, which was also his first trip to Palmer Stadium, even though he'd grown up not all that far away.
He's pretty sure, as well, that he saw every Princeton game of the 1990, 1998 and 2000 seasons and all but one game of eight other years.
In all the time TB has been around Princeton football, he's only been to one game at Dartmouth, due to a variety of circumstances. That game was the 1993 game, which is one of the best games TB has ever seen, the final game for Jay Fielder and Keith Elias, a game that was played in sunshine, a blizzard and then sunshine again, a game where neither team could afford to tie and so took remarkable chances late in the fourth quarter before Dartmouth ultimately won 28-22.
TigerBlog will be at Princeton-Lehigh tomorrow night. It'll be the season-opener for the Tigers, and TB will again be the public address announcer.
In his time watching Princeton play football, he has been a fan, a sportswriter, a broadcaster, a media relations contact and a PA announcer.
He figures he's closing in on his 200th Princeton game attended, though he's not sure of the exact number.
He thought about that two weekends ago, when Princeton was still in preseason and he was turning on the Michigan-Notre Dame game, played in the Big House.
TigerBlog has never been to a big-time, big-time college football game. The closest he's come is at Rutgers, which is not what he's talking about.
No, TB means a game at a place where everything stops on a Saturday when the team is at home, where all of the town and gown unite behind the team on gameday.
He saw the sheer pageantry of a game at Michigan, or last Saturday, when he saw the start of UCLA at Nebraska. Stands packed; everyone wearing the same color.
He imagines that the other gameday activities at one of those schools or any number of others is pretty wild in its own right. He figures it's a routine, people who have been meeting in the same space for the last few decades and have the same pregame and postgame tailgates.
Ivy League football is a much different animal.
There are way smaller alumni groups and student populations at Ivy League schools, and the stadiums themselves are way smaller. Princeton Stadium seats 27,800; there will be more empty seats than full ones tomorrow night.
Still, Ivy football has its own personality, its own charms. Gamedays here may be on a smaller scale, but they're still fun. They're special days, and football still brings more people to this campus than any other events other than Reunions and commencement.
Princeton is entering Year 4 of the Bob Surace era.
The Tigers went 1-9 and 1-9 his first two years before improving to 5-5 a year ago. The improvement began in Game 1, after Princeton went down 17-0 to Lehigh before almost pulling it off, falling 17-14.
This year, Princeton has depth, experience - and somewhat higher expectations.
Which is how it should be.
Princeton is past the point where a win is considered an upset. It's past the point where merely being competitive in games would feel like a win.
The Tigers are still young for 2013, and the team figure to be better next year. Still, there is the chance to take another big step forward this season.
It starts against a Lehigh team that is 2-0 and ranked 22nd in the FCS. The Mountain Hawks will be minus four players who will be suspended, though which four remains a mystery.
And irrelevant.
Princeton is ready to get started in 2013. One thing that distinguishes this league from basically any other is the start date. Like TB, Princeton has been watching games on TV to this point.
Now it's almost time for opening night.
TB will be there. He's looking forward to it. He's watched Ivy League football for more 30 years now, and he still gets excited for the start of another year.
It's big-time enough for him.
He thinks it might have been the 1981 game against Penn, held at Franklin Field. He's pretty sure that was it.
The first football game he saw on this campus? The 1984 Princeton-Penn game, which was also his first trip to Palmer Stadium, even though he'd grown up not all that far away.
He's pretty sure, as well, that he saw every Princeton game of the 1990, 1998 and 2000 seasons and all but one game of eight other years.
In all the time TB has been around Princeton football, he's only been to one game at Dartmouth, due to a variety of circumstances. That game was the 1993 game, which is one of the best games TB has ever seen, the final game for Jay Fielder and Keith Elias, a game that was played in sunshine, a blizzard and then sunshine again, a game where neither team could afford to tie and so took remarkable chances late in the fourth quarter before Dartmouth ultimately won 28-22.
TigerBlog will be at Princeton-Lehigh tomorrow night. It'll be the season-opener for the Tigers, and TB will again be the public address announcer.
In his time watching Princeton play football, he has been a fan, a sportswriter, a broadcaster, a media relations contact and a PA announcer.
He figures he's closing in on his 200th Princeton game attended, though he's not sure of the exact number.
He thought about that two weekends ago, when Princeton was still in preseason and he was turning on the Michigan-Notre Dame game, played in the Big House.
TigerBlog has never been to a big-time, big-time college football game. The closest he's come is at Rutgers, which is not what he's talking about.
No, TB means a game at a place where everything stops on a Saturday when the team is at home, where all of the town and gown unite behind the team on gameday.
He saw the sheer pageantry of a game at Michigan, or last Saturday, when he saw the start of UCLA at Nebraska. Stands packed; everyone wearing the same color.
He imagines that the other gameday activities at one of those schools or any number of others is pretty wild in its own right. He figures it's a routine, people who have been meeting in the same space for the last few decades and have the same pregame and postgame tailgates.
Ivy League football is a much different animal.
There are way smaller alumni groups and student populations at Ivy League schools, and the stadiums themselves are way smaller. Princeton Stadium seats 27,800; there will be more empty seats than full ones tomorrow night.
Still, Ivy football has its own personality, its own charms. Gamedays here may be on a smaller scale, but they're still fun. They're special days, and football still brings more people to this campus than any other events other than Reunions and commencement.
Princeton is entering Year 4 of the Bob Surace era.
The Tigers went 1-9 and 1-9 his first two years before improving to 5-5 a year ago. The improvement began in Game 1, after Princeton went down 17-0 to Lehigh before almost pulling it off, falling 17-14.
This year, Princeton has depth, experience - and somewhat higher expectations.
Which is how it should be.
Princeton is past the point where a win is considered an upset. It's past the point where merely being competitive in games would feel like a win.
The Tigers are still young for 2013, and the team figure to be better next year. Still, there is the chance to take another big step forward this season.
It starts against a Lehigh team that is 2-0 and ranked 22nd in the FCS. The Mountain Hawks will be minus four players who will be suspended, though which four remains a mystery.
And irrelevant.
Princeton is ready to get started in 2013. One thing that distinguishes this league from basically any other is the start date. Like TB, Princeton has been watching games on TV to this point.
Now it's almost time for opening night.
TB will be there. He's looking forward to it. He's watched Ivy League football for more 30 years now, and he still gets excited for the start of another year.
It's big-time enough for him.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
March 10, 1977
Where were you on March 10, 1977?
TigerBlog knows where he was. He'd actually forgotten all about it until this morning, when he was listening to the "Boomer and Carton Show" on WFAN on the way to work.
The hosts were interviewing a writer named Brian Touhy, who is coming out with a book about how the FBI was investigating the Knicks back in the 1981-82 season about possible point shaving. This was all related to the team's wide usage of cocaine.
TB isn't sure about the first, though it wouldn't shock him were it true; he has no doubt about the second.
Anyway, Touhy was telling stories about other suspected point shaving allegations, and he brought up a story about Earl Monroe, the great Knicks (and previously Baltimore Bullets) guard.
Back on March 10, 1977, the Knicks were playing the Portland Trail Blazers at Madison Square Garden. New York was up 108-102 in the final seconds, as in the final one or two seconds, when Monroe shot the ball into his own basket, making the final 108-104.
Knicks win. So what's the big deal?
Well, the betting line was five points, so if you bet on the Knicks, you would have won had Monroe done anything other than shoot it into his own basket. Instead, you lost, since the two points counted and meant that the Blazers had covered.
TigerBlog was in the building that night.
FatherBlog had gotten tickets long before that game, because the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers were one of the greatest teams in NBA history. That is, when Bill Walton was healthy. With him, the Blazers won nearly 70% of their games and then won the NBA title.
Without him that year, they were 5-12 in 17 games, including the one that March night in the Garden.
TB took the bus into the city, and he's pretty sure it was the first time he'd ever done that alone. He met FatherBlog in the Port Authority building.
His instructions were to get off the bus, find a police officer and ask him where the designated meeting spot was, which happened to be a giant sign that said "Information" on it. As it turned out, the first member of the NYPD that TB saw was standing about 10 feet from FatherBlog, so TB bypassed that step.
Anyway, later that night, the Blazers hit a bucket with only a few ticks left, making it a six-point game. The Knicks inbounded to Monroe, who shot a baseline jumper (as TB remembers it) into his own basket as time expired.
TigerBlog doesn't remember the reaction of the crowd as the buzzer went off. He's pretty sure he didn't realize the gambling implications at the time either.
In fact, he remembers vividly all these years later the feeling that it was no big deal, since the game had already been won. Monroe, TB remembers, might as well have thrown the ball in the stands or dribbled it out. It was like an instinctive move - catch the ball, shoot it, run off the court.
As TB listened this morning, he realized that it could have been something more sinister, though Monroe was investigated and cleared by the league.
If he had been shaving points that night, he didn't do a very good job. Monroe, who averaged 19.9 per game that year, scored 24 and shot 6 for 8 from the line. If you're going to shave points, missing foul shots, TB supposes, is a good place to start.
Plus, Monroe left it to the very last second to cover the spread, if that was his intention. And a baseline jumper? Not a high percentage way to do it.
And TB always liked Earl the Pearl, so he gives him the benefit of the doubt.
He always liked Bill Walton too. So did Bill Carmody, who as TB has said before, came into TB's office one day and said that the greatest college basketball player of all time was in the Jadwin men's room.
Walton was there as part of his son Nate's recruiting process at Princeton. Nate Walton, as any Princeton fan knows, was a key member of some of the great moments in the last 25 years of Tiger basketball, including the 1997 and 1998 league championship teams as a reserve and then as the leader of the 2001 Ivy champ.
The 2000-01 season was going to be one of great uncertainty at Princeton. Carmody had left to become the head coach at Northwestern. Assistant coach Joe Scott left to take over at Air Force.
The reigns at Princeton fell to untested John Thompson, in his first season as a head coach. Princeton's roster had lost some thought-to-be irreplaceable players, such as Chris Young (pro baseball) and Spencer Gloger (transferred to UCLA before coming back).
Penn was the league's prohibitive favorite that season, with a roster that included Ugonna Onyekwe, Koko Archibong, Geoff Owens and Lamar Plummer.
Princeton defeated Penn at the Palestra in midseason after the teams had entered the game tied for first in the league at 5-1. The win improved the Tigers to 11-8 overall, and Thompson, when asked after the game where this win ranked for him, said somewhat famously "well, I have 11, and this one's definitely in the top 10."
The teams met again at Jadwin on the final night of the regular season, with Princeton at 10-3 and Penn at 9-4, meaning a Quaker win would force a playoff and a Tiger win would mean an outright title.
The game was close at the half, with Princeton up 31-26, but the Tigers went on a big run in the second half to take control. The final was 68-52 Princeton, in front of an announced crowd of 7,133.
As for Walton, he played a nearly perfect game, with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
Princeton was sent to New Orleans for the NCAA tournament, and Julius Peppers - the longtime NFL defensive lineman and All-Pro - and North Carolina took it to Princeton. But it didn't matter to TB.
The 2000-01 men's basketball season remains one of TB's all-time favorites. So does Nate Walton, who is one of the best natural leaders - and funniest people - TB has ever met.
A year after 2001 season, Walton called TB to tell him there was a mistake in Thompson's bio in the media guide. It said basically that Thompson had led a team without a star to the Ivy title, and Walton said "that's not true. I was a star."
Not too many people could get away with that.
Anyway, TB's ride to work started with a game from long ago that he was randomly at, and as he thought about more and more, he got all the way to Nate Walton and the 2001 men's basketball team.
Both are really good memories.
TigerBlog knows where he was. He'd actually forgotten all about it until this morning, when he was listening to the "Boomer and Carton Show" on WFAN on the way to work.
The hosts were interviewing a writer named Brian Touhy, who is coming out with a book about how the FBI was investigating the Knicks back in the 1981-82 season about possible point shaving. This was all related to the team's wide usage of cocaine.
TB isn't sure about the first, though it wouldn't shock him were it true; he has no doubt about the second.
Anyway, Touhy was telling stories about other suspected point shaving allegations, and he brought up a story about Earl Monroe, the great Knicks (and previously Baltimore Bullets) guard.
Back on March 10, 1977, the Knicks were playing the Portland Trail Blazers at Madison Square Garden. New York was up 108-102 in the final seconds, as in the final one or two seconds, when Monroe shot the ball into his own basket, making the final 108-104.
Knicks win. So what's the big deal?
Well, the betting line was five points, so if you bet on the Knicks, you would have won had Monroe done anything other than shoot it into his own basket. Instead, you lost, since the two points counted and meant that the Blazers had covered.
TigerBlog was in the building that night.
FatherBlog had gotten tickets long before that game, because the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers were one of the greatest teams in NBA history. That is, when Bill Walton was healthy. With him, the Blazers won nearly 70% of their games and then won the NBA title.
Without him that year, they were 5-12 in 17 games, including the one that March night in the Garden.
TB took the bus into the city, and he's pretty sure it was the first time he'd ever done that alone. He met FatherBlog in the Port Authority building.
His instructions were to get off the bus, find a police officer and ask him where the designated meeting spot was, which happened to be a giant sign that said "Information" on it. As it turned out, the first member of the NYPD that TB saw was standing about 10 feet from FatherBlog, so TB bypassed that step.
Anyway, later that night, the Blazers hit a bucket with only a few ticks left, making it a six-point game. The Knicks inbounded to Monroe, who shot a baseline jumper (as TB remembers it) into his own basket as time expired.
TigerBlog doesn't remember the reaction of the crowd as the buzzer went off. He's pretty sure he didn't realize the gambling implications at the time either.
In fact, he remembers vividly all these years later the feeling that it was no big deal, since the game had already been won. Monroe, TB remembers, might as well have thrown the ball in the stands or dribbled it out. It was like an instinctive move - catch the ball, shoot it, run off the court.
As TB listened this morning, he realized that it could have been something more sinister, though Monroe was investigated and cleared by the league.
If he had been shaving points that night, he didn't do a very good job. Monroe, who averaged 19.9 per game that year, scored 24 and shot 6 for 8 from the line. If you're going to shave points, missing foul shots, TB supposes, is a good place to start.
Plus, Monroe left it to the very last second to cover the spread, if that was his intention. And a baseline jumper? Not a high percentage way to do it.
And TB always liked Earl the Pearl, so he gives him the benefit of the doubt.
He always liked Bill Walton too. So did Bill Carmody, who as TB has said before, came into TB's office one day and said that the greatest college basketball player of all time was in the Jadwin men's room.
Walton was there as part of his son Nate's recruiting process at Princeton. Nate Walton, as any Princeton fan knows, was a key member of some of the great moments in the last 25 years of Tiger basketball, including the 1997 and 1998 league championship teams as a reserve and then as the leader of the 2001 Ivy champ.
The 2000-01 season was going to be one of great uncertainty at Princeton. Carmody had left to become the head coach at Northwestern. Assistant coach Joe Scott left to take over at Air Force.
The reigns at Princeton fell to untested John Thompson, in his first season as a head coach. Princeton's roster had lost some thought-to-be irreplaceable players, such as Chris Young (pro baseball) and Spencer Gloger (transferred to UCLA before coming back).
Penn was the league's prohibitive favorite that season, with a roster that included Ugonna Onyekwe, Koko Archibong, Geoff Owens and Lamar Plummer.
Princeton defeated Penn at the Palestra in midseason after the teams had entered the game tied for first in the league at 5-1. The win improved the Tigers to 11-8 overall, and Thompson, when asked after the game where this win ranked for him, said somewhat famously "well, I have 11, and this one's definitely in the top 10."
The teams met again at Jadwin on the final night of the regular season, with Princeton at 10-3 and Penn at 9-4, meaning a Quaker win would force a playoff and a Tiger win would mean an outright title.
The game was close at the half, with Princeton up 31-26, but the Tigers went on a big run in the second half to take control. The final was 68-52 Princeton, in front of an announced crowd of 7,133.
As for Walton, he played a nearly perfect game, with nine points, eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals.
Princeton was sent to New Orleans for the NCAA tournament, and Julius Peppers - the longtime NFL defensive lineman and All-Pro - and North Carolina took it to Princeton. But it didn't matter to TB.
The 2000-01 men's basketball season remains one of TB's all-time favorites. So does Nate Walton, who is one of the best natural leaders - and funniest people - TB has ever met.
A year after 2001 season, Walton called TB to tell him there was a mistake in Thompson's bio in the media guide. It said basically that Thompson had led a team without a star to the Ivy title, and Walton said "that's not true. I was a star."
Not too many people could get away with that.
Anyway, TB's ride to work started with a game from long ago that he was randomly at, and as he thought about more and more, he got all the way to Nate Walton and the 2001 men's basketball team.
Both are really good memories.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Traitors
Andy Reid was lying.
He knew it. The media knew it. Any casual fan paying the remotest attention knew it.
Reid is now the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent the last 14 years as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Chiefs play the Eagles, in Philadelphia no less, tomorrow night.
The obvious question for Reid is what it will be like to play against the Eagles. The obvious answer is something like: "I had a great experience there. We did a lot of great things. They fired me last year. I want to beat them badly. I've had this game circled since the schedule came out."
Something like that.
Instead, Reid said all the expected things, how the game is what matters, it's not about him, blah, blah, blah.
What would have been the sin of answering honestly?
Then again, TigerBlog doesn't understand why media people don't call out coaches when they are either lying or are acting as if the media people don't get it when the questioning turns to something other than what they want to say. Why didn't someone say to Reid: "are you honestly saying that you have no special emotions about this game?" or even "hey, Andy, nobody here is buying it."
How about last week, when reporters were asking Alabama's universally loathed football coach Nick Saban about reports of violations. Saban went into "I will talk about the game" mode rather than admitting that he at least understood why someone might have the temerity to ask.
Why didn't someone say: "Hey, Nick, do you get it at all?"
Of course, that would require the backing of the higher ups at whatever publication it was, something that was insanely lacking on the part of one South Carolina newspaper. Did you see this story?
How could any self-respecting reporter work for The State, knowing that the publisher would do that to one of their own? And what does it say about the influence that the football coach can have over a state, not that anything bad could ever come of that, well, er, um, you know what TB is talking about.
Anyway, TB digresses.
Despite Reid's unwillingness to be honest about his emotions in returning to Philadelphia, TigerBlog will still be rooting for the Chiefs in this one.
First, he never roots for the Eagles. Unless they're playing the Yankees, which they don't usually do.
Two, the Chiefs have Mike Catapano, the Princeton alum who is a rookie defensive lineman for the team.
Reid's return to Philadelphia comes a few days before the Princeton women's soccer team hosts William & Mary. That game will be Sunday at 1 and is the only home soccer game of the weekend.
Princeton coach Julie Shackford is a William & Mary alum, which makes it somewhat similar to the Reid vs. the Eagles storyline, except that she didn't play at William & Mary last year or anything like that.
In fact, this will be the fifth time Shackford coaches against her alma mater, though her own college coach, John Daly, is still the Tribe head coach today. That has to make it even more emotional.
As for the rest of the Princeton coaching staff, there are many examples of those who coach against their alma maters. Actually, it happens way more than TigerBlog thought it did before he actually looked into it.
Harvard alum Chris Sailer does it every year in women's lacrosse. United States Naval Academy grad Luis Nicolao does as well in men's water polo.
Courtney Banghart goes head-to-head with Dartmouth, her alma mater, twice each year. Up until this point, she has been coaching against Chris Wielgus, who had been her head coach in college.
Penn alum Fred Samara has coached against the Quakers in track and field and cross country for decades. The men's hockey coach, Bob Prier, is a St. Lawrence grad.
The women's golf team, headed by alum Nicki Cutler, is competing this weekend at Vanderbilt's tournament. Susan Teeter has coached the women's swimming and diving team against Tennessee. Scott Bradley has coached Princeton against North Carolina many times in baseball; Lisa Sweeney coached against Lehigh twice in softball last spring.
TigerBlog isn't sure if he's missed anyone. If he has, he apologizes.
And hey, he can relate to the whole concept of competing against the alma mater.
He's happy to know he's part of a long list of Princeton traitors.
He knew it. The media knew it. Any casual fan paying the remotest attention knew it.
Reid is now the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent the last 14 years as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. The Chiefs play the Eagles, in Philadelphia no less, tomorrow night.
The obvious question for Reid is what it will be like to play against the Eagles. The obvious answer is something like: "I had a great experience there. We did a lot of great things. They fired me last year. I want to beat them badly. I've had this game circled since the schedule came out."
Something like that.
Instead, Reid said all the expected things, how the game is what matters, it's not about him, blah, blah, blah.
What would have been the sin of answering honestly?
Then again, TigerBlog doesn't understand why media people don't call out coaches when they are either lying or are acting as if the media people don't get it when the questioning turns to something other than what they want to say. Why didn't someone say to Reid: "are you honestly saying that you have no special emotions about this game?" or even "hey, Andy, nobody here is buying it."
How about last week, when reporters were asking Alabama's universally loathed football coach Nick Saban about reports of violations. Saban went into "I will talk about the game" mode rather than admitting that he at least understood why someone might have the temerity to ask.
Why didn't someone say: "Hey, Nick, do you get it at all?"
Of course, that would require the backing of the higher ups at whatever publication it was, something that was insanely lacking on the part of one South Carolina newspaper. Did you see this story?
How could any self-respecting reporter work for The State, knowing that the publisher would do that to one of their own? And what does it say about the influence that the football coach can have over a state, not that anything bad could ever come of that, well, er, um, you know what TB is talking about.
Anyway, TB digresses.
Despite Reid's unwillingness to be honest about his emotions in returning to Philadelphia, TigerBlog will still be rooting for the Chiefs in this one.
First, he never roots for the Eagles. Unless they're playing the Yankees, which they don't usually do.
Two, the Chiefs have Mike Catapano, the Princeton alum who is a rookie defensive lineman for the team.
Reid's return to Philadelphia comes a few days before the Princeton women's soccer team hosts William & Mary. That game will be Sunday at 1 and is the only home soccer game of the weekend.
Princeton coach Julie Shackford is a William & Mary alum, which makes it somewhat similar to the Reid vs. the Eagles storyline, except that she didn't play at William & Mary last year or anything like that.
In fact, this will be the fifth time Shackford coaches against her alma mater, though her own college coach, John Daly, is still the Tribe head coach today. That has to make it even more emotional.
As for the rest of the Princeton coaching staff, there are many examples of those who coach against their alma maters. Actually, it happens way more than TigerBlog thought it did before he actually looked into it.
Harvard alum Chris Sailer does it every year in women's lacrosse. United States Naval Academy grad Luis Nicolao does as well in men's water polo.
Courtney Banghart goes head-to-head with Dartmouth, her alma mater, twice each year. Up until this point, she has been coaching against Chris Wielgus, who had been her head coach in college.
Penn alum Fred Samara has coached against the Quakers in track and field and cross country for decades. The men's hockey coach, Bob Prier, is a St. Lawrence grad.
The women's golf team, headed by alum Nicki Cutler, is competing this weekend at Vanderbilt's tournament. Susan Teeter has coached the women's swimming and diving team against Tennessee. Scott Bradley has coached Princeton against North Carolina many times in baseball; Lisa Sweeney coached against Lehigh twice in softball last spring.
TigerBlog isn't sure if he's missed anyone. If he has, he apologizes.
And hey, he can relate to the whole concept of competing against the alma mater.
He's happy to know he's part of a long list of Princeton traitors.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Going For A Walk
It was nearly 6, and TB was struck by the fact that there was barely anyone else in his view, even if he turned 360 degrees.
Then he hoped that wouldn't be the case exactly one week later, which would be this Saturday at 6, when Princeton opens its football season against Lehigh. Hopefully at that moment there will be at least a few people, or a few thousand people, at the stadium.
For last Saturday, though, there was nothing but calm. In every way, it was calm.
The weather was perfect. School had just started, so the students weren't flooded with work. It was still early, so nobody was all that concerned about how to spend Saturday night.
Nope. It was just calm.
TB took a huge loop around the campus, starting in Lot 21, heading up past the football stadium, onto Prospect Street, across Washington Road, past McCosh, over to the chapel, past Nassau Hall, up to Nassau Street, back down around Mathey, across towards Dillon, down past Prospect House, back to Elm Road, past the softball field, past Roberts Stadium and the Lenz Tennis Center, across to Class of 1952 Stadium, up past the new neurosciences building, across the bridge over Washington Road, past the chemistry building, past Jadwin and back to Lot 21.
Then he did an abbreviated version. In all, it took about 75 minutes. It's how old people exercise. When they're not playing squash, because people who shall remain nameless but who happen to be the head men's lacrosse coach keep saying things like "today's no good but definitely tomorrow."
When you're on the Princeton campus basically every day for a quarter-century or so, you start to take the place for granted. That was the best part of TigerBlog's walk. It reminded him of just how special this campus is.
For starters, he works in a basketball arena. People pay money to come into this building to watch games. The back part of his office slopes upward, because it's underneath the balcony seats.
As he walked up onto campus, he came to the chapel.
Every time he goes by it, he thinks of the weddings he's attended there - and the funerals. He also thinks about how Martin Luther King Jr. spoke there.
Mostly he thinks about its insane beauty, with its stained glass with the perfect amount of light, all housed in a building that makes TB think that whoever designed it back in 1928 knew exactly what he was doing.
Then there's Nassau Hall.
There was activity outside on the grass, mostly families and little kids running around, kicking balls and such, taking pictures on the little statues. Nassau Hall is another beautiful building from the outside, and when you walk by it so many times, it's easy to forget that this building was once the capitol building of this nation and that the Continental Congress had met there.
Maybe TB's favorite spot on campus - or at least non-athletic venue - is probably the Prospect Gardens.
TB can't imagine how much effort, and yes money, goes into keeping those gardens looking the way they do year-round. He assumes it's significant.
Along the way of his walk, he stumbled upon any number of people who were doing the same thing he was.
He saw a husband and wife on Prospect Street, with the husband's wearing a "Santa Clara Water Polo" hat. Santa Clara water polo was on campus last weekend for the Princeton Invitational, which included Princeton's first ESPNU event of the academic year.
TigerBlog has never been to Santa Clara's campus, though he has a sense it's pretty nice. He wondered what the visitors' take was on Princeton's campus, but on this day, they had to be impressed.
Diana Chamorro, Princeton's water polo contact, is a Santa Clara graduate, so she can now relate to what it's like for TB when Princeton plays Penn. Anyway, Diana said that Santa Clara's campus is much smaller than Princeton's but is nonetheless beautiful, that it's nicer than Stanford's campus and that it's the oldest institution of higher learning in California (something that TB never would have guessed).
Meanwhile back at Princeton, TB also came across different pockets of students.
He saw one group of five women debating what the first name of a sixth, who had just peeled away from their group, was. He heard someone yell through a dorm window "anyone have a car I can borrow?"
He saw a bunch of guys - he believes they were hockey players - playing sand volleyball in a courtyard.
It was typical college stuff.
He also saw a group of larger young men wearing Princeton football shirts or shorts.
Unlike every other football player in the country from Pop Warner through the NFL, their season was still a week away.
Exactly one week later, they'd be much busier. They would be at their most intense, their most focused, their most emotional.
For this idyllic Saturday, though, they were like everyone else TB found on his walk around the campus.
They were calm.
So was all of Princeton University.
It really is a beautiful place. TB's walk was a perfect reminder of that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
