The Upper Lake At Glendalough

While TigerBlog is definitely a beach and ocean guy, the most beautiful body of water he's ever seen in his life is the Upper Lake at Glendalough.

It's about 90 minutes outside of Dublin, and it is everything you might imagine Irish beauty to be.

Even now, eight years and a few days after he was there, TigerBlog can still see it when he closes his eyes. And feel it, hear it and smell it, for that matter.

TigerBlog was in Ireland near the tail end of his trip to Spain and Ireland with the men's lacrosse team in 2008. It was June 11, 2008, to be exact, which makes it eight years and three days.

The trip was split between a seaside resort in Spain and Dublin, the Irish capital. They were vastly different places, of course, but TigerBlog liked both a lot.

There were two lacrosse games in Spain, against the English national team, and then another in Ireland, against the English U-19 team. The two games against the full English team were very competitive, even though Princeton won both; the one against the U-19 team was not close at all.

The game in Ireland was played on a field lined for rugby, not lacrosse, by the way.

So here's what TB remembers about heading from Dublin to Glendalough:

* the day started early, on the tour bus, winding through rush hour traffic in Dublin and then up the side of a mountain. TigerBlog was mega-car sick by the time the bus got to the drop-off point

* the lake was actually a reasonable walk from where the bus parked. It went through the ruins of a seventh-century monastery and then along this long path, where there were about a kajillion little  bugs called "midges," who seem to be the annoying little cousin of the mosquito

* it was really hot, and there was no breeze. In a word? It was miserable

* at one point, TB could start to hear the water and the wind and sensed something was up

Eventually, the group came across a clearing, and it was like walking instantly into a different part of the world. TigerBlog wrote this about it at the time:
The Upper Lake of Glendalough sits in a valley between two mountains, the Lugduff Spink to the south and the Camaderry to the north. The water stretched about a mile into the distance, and the slopes of both mountains were covered in a hundred different shades of green. It was a cloudy morning, and a strong breeze was blowing off the lake. It was a rejuvenating place, as the first glimpse of it washed away all of the fatigue and dizziness.
Aside from that, there is no way to adequately describe the sheer beauty that was in every direction.

That's about the best say he can describe it. The Upper Lake at Glendalough is rejuvenating.

TigerBlog remembers standing on the shoreline, looking out as the strong breeze blew the water over his face. He looked up at the mountains, and they seemed to be right on top of him and off in the distance at the same time.

It was one of those moments in life where you just stop and take in the beauty of it, because you're just awed by it. There's nothing really needed to say.

TigerBlog went four years later - four years ago - to Costa Rica with the men's lacrosse team. As part of that trip, there were stops at two coastal resorts, and the views there were spectacular. So were some of the views in Hawaii, the Caribbean, Florida - even TigerBlog's beloved Jersey Shore.

No place, though, that TB has ever gone to ever had that kind of magical moment to it.

He's looked at the wide-angle picture of the Upper Lake at Glendalough that he took when he was there hundreds of times in the last eight years (and three days). Each time it takes him right back to the overwhelming feeling of the water in his face.

TB has been lucky. Princeton Athletics has taken him all over the country and throughout the world.

He's seen Princeton play games in eight different time zones, including regular-season games in six - the four on the continental U.S., whatever the one in Hawaii is called, and whatever the one in Halifax is called.

He was in Halifax for men's basketball against Ohio University the day after Thanksgiving one year. He was in Hawaii for the Rainbow Classic one year between Christmas and New Year's.

Princeton Athletics is about winning, yes. It's a competitive world, college athletics. If you're not in it to be successful in your results, then you're in the wrong business.

There is more to it than that, though. There's also the experience.

Yes, TigerBlog has had more than the four years that the athletes get to have a great experience, but still, his travels have been because of the travels of coaches and athletes. He'd like to think everyone who was there with him at the Upper Lake that day remembers it like he does.

Most of the places that TB has been to with Princeton were places that he'd never have had a reason to go to otherwise. Most recently, there was Lafayette, La. You know how he feels about that place now. 

He'd like to see other parts of the world that he hasn't yet. Maybe Princeton will take him to some.

Still, he'd also like to go back to the Upper Lake at Glendalough one day. He'd like to stand there on the shore again and experience that all over again.

Rejuvenating. Surrounded by intense natural beauty. There are worse things, right?

The End Of The Race

TigerBlog took a long look at the picture, the one with Cecilia Barowski on the left and Peter Farrell on the right, taken after the Barowski ended her Princeton career with a fifth-place finish in the women's 800 meters.

Cecilia, whom TB has never met, is smiling. She is holding her trophy, and it's clear what she's thinking.

Peter is harder to read.

Actually, TB's first thought about Peter when he saw the picture was that TB has the same shirt. After that, it gets much more complex.

Farrell is sort of smiling, sort of looking out into the distance. Maybe it's just the second the picture was snapped. Maybe a split second earlier, Peter had the same smile that Cecilia did. Maybe a split second later too.

TigerBlog doesn't think so, though.

In all his time at Princeton, in all his life actually, TB has met very few people he likes more than Peter Farrell. In the nearly 25 years he's known him, he thinks he's gotten to understand him as well.

This time? No idea.

The end of the 800-meter final Saturday night ended Peter Farrell's 39-year run as the only head coach of women's track and field and cross country that Princeton has had. So what could he have been thinking in the moment?

Pretty much everything, TB would assume.

Let's start with Barowski, though.

Barowski won the 2016 von Kienbusch Award as the top senior female athlete at Princeton. She also won every race she ran outdoors this spring prior to the NCAA final.

Along the way she won Heps, she won both races at the NCAA regional and then Thursday night won her semifinal heat, defeating the defending NCAA champ (Oregon's Raevyn Rogers) and the runner with the fastest time in the even this season (Stanford's Olivia Baker).

When the final began, Barowski found herself at the back of the eight-runner field for much of the way. As Rogers began to zoom away from the field, Barowski also made a big run towards the front.

In fact, Barowski ran a 31.015, which was second only to the 29.640 that Rogers ran. If the race had been the 830 instead of the 800, Barowski might have come in second.

It's not the last time that Barowski will have run on the track in Eugene, Ore. She'll be back in three weeks or so for the Olympic Trials, which will be July 1-10.

A few minutes after her final collegiate race, after the awards ceremony, Cecilia and Peter had their picture taken.

And so that brings us back to Peter. And to Pete Carril.

TigerBlog wrote this when Peter said he was retiring at the end of the year, that he thinks there are a lot of similarities between Peter Farrell and Pete Carril. You can read about it HERE.

TigerBlog was there when Carril's Princeton career ended. When he made his announcement. And when he coached his final game, a loss to Mississippi State in the second round of the 1996 NCAA tournament.

As TB thinks back, there wasn't anything in Carril's demeanor that suggested that he was pulling in the enormity of his final moments of 29 years as Princeton's basketball coach.

Maybe that's impossible as it is actually unfolding.

But when TB looked at Carril in the RCA Dome after the loss to Mississippi State, he sensed that there was something a little different about him, that as much as he tried to pretend it was business as usual, he knew it wasn't.

And again, maybe that was just the way TB read the situation. But he doesn't think so.

For Peter Farrell, it had to be somewhat similar.

Peter's normal reactions to any situations are to either be incredibly funny or deadly serious. Comedian or philosphopher.

TB wasn't in Oregon with him in the moment, so he doesn't know for sure. But there's something in that picture that suggests that he wasn't quite sure what emotion he was feeling.

He does know what TB was thinking, though.

First, this was the end of one of the greatest coaching careers in Princeton Athletics history. How many coaches can say that they have coached as many athletes as Peter Farrell has? How many coaches have had nearly 40 years of sustained success?

One coach who can say that he has is Fred Samara, the head men's track and field coach. Fred and Peter started on the same day, Sept. 1, 1977. The second thing TB thought was that it was the end of that incredible partnership.

Mostly, though, TB thought about how much Princeton women's track and field, and Princeton Athletics and the University as a whole, have always meant to Peter and how much he has given to everyone here. He has been a staple of this University, well-liked and well-respected at every point on this campus.

Princeton moves on from everyone at some point, even Carril. The women's track and field program will in place next year. It just won't be run by Peter Farrell.

He'll be off somewhere, talking to someone, making them laugh and making them think, getting their attention and getting his point across, as only he can.

The picture after the 800 meters?

A first-team All-America on the left.

One of Princeton's best employees ever on the right, in his final moments of that career.

Much like Peter Farrell himself, TB wanted to smile, but could only manage to do so halfway.

First Place

TigerBlog read something recently that said that there are magical medical powers in avocados.

Anyone who eats them regularly will live forever. He's pretty sure that's what it said.

TigerBlog is definitely all-in on the avocado. He was even before he read the story. He just likes avocados.

Then he saw the headline on the story, which said something ambiguous, like "What Is The Effect Of Eating Lots Of Avocados On Your Health" or something like that. So it could have gone either way.

Fortunately it's good for you. Now he just needs the headline of "M&M's Proven To Cure Everything" and he'll be all set.

TB puts avocados in salads, eats it with chicken and, in his new go-to lunch, mixes it with tuna and sometimes tomato.

TigerBlog understands that not everyone is as excited about avocados. He himself cannot stand strawberries, which he thinks most people actually like a lot. To him, it's a texture thing. Or maybe it's flavor.

He's heard people say the same thing about zucchini, though for some reason TB is okay with that. So maybe it isn't the texture.

TigerBlog doesn't like nuts. Or chopped liver, even though it's a big favorite among his people.

The more he thinks about it, the more he wonders if there is a food out there that has 100% approval. There has to be something, right?

TigerBlog has said before that there is one song that everyone in the world likes, and it's "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. Why not a food?

So what is it? 

Apples? Nah. Spaghetti? No. 

Maybe cake? Everybody likes cake, right? Or is there someone out there who just doesn't like cake?

TigerBlog considers himself to be somewhat adventurous when it comes to trying new things. Take Brussels sprouts. TB hated them as a child and then tried them again in 2011, after which he wrote this:
TB ate a few of the Brussells sprouts and thought they were pretty good. Not great. But good enough that he'd eat them again. And Miss TigerBlog? She said she'd eat one for $5 and two for $8.

TigerBlog ate alligator and frogs legs in Louisiana last week. And a lot of other stuff that he doesn't normally eat. It's big-time Cajun country, and they love to eat there.

As you know, TigerBlog had a great time in Louisiana for the NCAA baseball regional. He was on the UL-Lafayette bandwagon and was rooting hard for Ragin' Cajuns after Princeton was eliminated. Unfortunately, Arizona came back and won twice on the final day to advance to the Super Regional.

TigerBlog wrote Monday about the people of Lafayette, and just how welcoming they are. When he tweeted the link to @cajunsbaseball and to the stadium Twitter itself, he figured he might get a few extra eyeballs than normal.

Until Monday, the most read single-day blog that TB has written was the one about Peter Farrell after he announced his retirement. That one had nearly 6,000 page views in one day.

The one from Monday about Lafayette?

It had more than 20,000. That's a lot of people to read one entry. In fact, TigerBlog received an email from the sports editor of the Daily Advertiser, the newspaper in Lafayette, asking for permission to put the link on their website and to reprint the piece in the newspaper itself.

TigerBlog was honored.

So anyway, that bumped Peter down to second place.

Somebody who wasn't in second place was Peter's runner, Cecilia Barowski, in the 800 meter semifinal race at the NCAA championships in Eugene, Ore., yesterday.

The pre-race fates didn't seem to be in Barowski's favor. TigerBlog doesn't completely understand how it all works, but his understanding is that because of the way the NCAA regionals went, Barowski had the bad luck of being in the same heat as the runners with the two top times in the country this year, including defending NCAA champion Raevyn Rogers of Oregon.

It had something to do with times at the regionals, which even TigerBlog is smart enough to know isn't an apples-to-apples comparison. The East regional had two heats. The West had one. The temperatures were different. Everything was different.

But it was done by the times. And as a result, Barowski had a tough heat.

To reach the final, she needed to finish in the top two of her race. Or have one of the other two best times.

So what happened? She went out and won the race outright. Beat both of them at the tape.

The Oregon fans were a bit surprised.

Of course, now Barowski will have to do it again tomorrow night in the final. Stanford's Olivia Baker, who came in third in the heat behind Barowski and Rogers, advanced to the final as well on time.

So the path to the championship won't be easy. But it would have been easy to think she wouldn't be there at all, looking at the pairings before the race.

If you want to read about it and see videos, you can click HERE.

The final is tomorrow at 4:47 Pacific time, which is 7:47 here. It's the last event of the 2015-16 academic year, and it should be a good one.

You can watch it on ESPN.

So turn on the TV. Cut up an avocado. Watch the track and live forever. 

A Bunch Of Stuff

TigerBlog couldn't think of anything to write about for today.

There was the first day of the NCAA track and field championships, during which Princeton produced two All-Americas.

The first was freshman Adam Kelly, who finished 14th in the hammer throw to become a second-team selection. The last Princeton freshman All-America in men's track and field was Tom Hopkins in 2011.

The other was pole vaulter Adam Bragg, who finished tied for seventh to earn first-team All-America honors.

That leaves Cecilia Barowski as the last Princeton athlete who will be competing for this academic year. She will run the 800 semifinal later today and then hope to reach the final Saturday.

TigerBlog will predict that she makes it three All-Americas in three events for Princeton in Eugene.

There are some other things that TB has wanted to talk about but hasn't gotten around to.

One is the NCAA men's lacrosse final from 10 days ago. Actually, he wants to talk about the Final Four. Not for long.

Jim Barlow, the men's soccer coach at Princeton, told TB that he was writing too much about lacrosse lately. Maybe a little.

Here's an idea for Coach Barlow - how about a Guest TB on the big soccer tournament that's going on in this country now? What does it mean? What does the winner get? That sort of thing.

You can let TB know when it's done.

Anyway, just two quick points about lacrosse.

First, TigerBlog is positive that Brown would have won it all had Dylan Molloy been 100% for the Final Four. In fact, TB doesn't think it would have been all that competitive.

Second, Lincoln Financial Field is a great spot for the Final Four. It was there the last two years, and now it goes back to Foxboro, Mass., for the next two years. TigerBlog has actually liked when it's been there in the past, even if it is somewhat out of the way. Maybe Lincoln Financial Field would make a good permanent home?

Oh, and Muhammad Ali? You've probably read and heard all kinds of things about him since his passing.

If you're younger than 40 or so, then you probably don't realize how big boxing was in this country when Ali was in his prime. And he was, without question, the most charismatic - and polarizing - athlete TigerBlog has ever seen.

He also changed the landscape of sports all by himself. He was the first real trash-talker, sometimes in ways that divided an entire country. Yes, that's how big he was. He could divide a country.

Keep in mind, there was none of that kind of stuff back then. There was, in a word that has long since been forgotten, "sportsmanship." Ali changed that to "showmanship."

Yeah, sometimes it was funny. Like when he said that Sonny Liston was too ugly to be the champ and that he was a "pretty man." Or any of his interviews with Howard Cosell, especially the one where Cosell called him "truculent."

And sometimes it was just vicious. And it could break his opponents' dignity as much as any punch he could throw, especially Joe Frazier's. It made Ali loved by some and hated by more.

Today there is no boxer who could ever be what Ali was. It's just not what it was back then. There was no athlete in the world bigger than Ali, and when he fought, it was bigger than the Super Bowl.

What else?

Tyler Lussi scored a goal for the U.S. women's national U-23 team in a four-nation event in England. Lussi will be a senior this year, and assuming she stays healthy, she figures to destroy the record book.

Lussi will enter her senior year with 43 goals. The only player in Princeton soccer history - male or female - with more goals is Esmeralda Negron, who scored 47 before graduating in 2005 - and leading the Tigers to the 2004 NCAA semifinals.

Lussi has scored 10, 18 and 15 goals in her first three seasons. She has the potential to put some serious distance between her and anyone else who has ever played at Princeton - and then she can see if her record holds up once Mimi Asom, who scored 12 last year as a freshman, gets through with her career.

The combination of Lussi and Asom is daunting. Princeton went undefeated in the Ivy League last year with the two of them, and they're both back.

They make women's soccer games must-see events. TigerBlog hasn't looked at the schedule yet, since it's still early June, meaning there's a long time until the Tigers play.

He can tell you there are 99 days until the football season opens. That's because he saw a tweet yesterday saying there were 100 days until kickoff.

Those days will zoom by. They always do. Summer hasn't even started yet, but it'll be over before you know it.

As he does every year at this time, TB wonders what he'll come up with for an entire summer. As with every other year, he'll think of something every day.

Or, if he can't, there can be another day or two like this one. You know, with a bunch of stuff.

In the meantime, he can wait for Jim Barlow to write about the soccer tourament. What's it called? 

Goodbye Leigh

Leigh Kaback died Sunday.

You don't know her. She had no connection to Princeton or Princeton Athletics.

She was the oldest of Dorothy and Arnold Zucker's five kids. She was followed by four brothers, in order - Larry, Corey, Brad and Ed.

For his final two years of high school, TigerBlog probably spent as much time in the Zucker house as he did in his own. Mr. Zucker would go out every morning and get bagels, and they were always on the kitchen counter. His bark was way worse than his bite, and he cared deeply about everyone who stepped in to his kitchen to get one of his bagels - and a lot of people routinely stepped into his kitchen.

For her part, Mrs. Zucker, who could have played "Maude" on the 1970s sitcom, would walk around the house and basically make fun of everyone in a way that said "you'll never be more welcome anywhere." She was, well, she was the best.

And now Leigh, like her parents, is gone.

TigerBlog never had a sister. The closest he came was Leigh, who always seemed older than she was, always seemed like an authority figure, always had a way of letting you know that she was on to you, whatever it was, but that she was okay with it at the same time.

She had a giant heart, Leigh did. She cared about TigerBlog like very few people ever have. You know. Like a big sister.

TigerBlog found out about Leigh's death when he turned his phone on after landing in Philadelphia Sunday. She had been in hospice care, so TB knew the end was near. Still, when he read the words that she was gone, it hit him hard.

Leigh was just 55 when she died. She got married to Mark Kaback when she was just 19, and they were married for 36 years.

Leigh battled health issues for a long time, like since she was a teenager. TigerBlog often visited her in various hospitals, and it was her spirit that kept her alive as long as it could.

And the end came Sunday.

TigerBlog isn't quite sure why he wanted to tell you about Leigh. It has something to do with the fact that she was such an important part of his life for a long time.

Plus, there's not that much going on at Princeton right now.

The last athletic event of the 2015-16 athletic year is this week, as Princeton has three athletes who will be competing at the NCAA track and field championships in Eugene, Ore.

There are two men and one woman, and the two men compete today.

Freshman Adam Kelly goes first, in the hammer throw. Princeton is used to having someone in Eugene this time of year in the hammer throw, and that's Julia Ratcliffe of the women's team. She won the championship two years ago and was runner-up last year. This year, she's taking off to train for the Olympics, but she'll be back next year.

As for Kelly, he finished second at Heps, where he had a season-best 67.50 meters. There are 24 throwers in the event, in two 12-man flights of three throws each. The top nine will advance to the final and get three more throws.

The other male athlete is pole vaulter Adam Bragg, a senior who finished 12th two years ago. Bragg this year ranks sixth in Division I headed into the NCAA finals.

The final Princeton athlete who will compete this year will be Cecilia Barowski, the von Kiensbusch Award winner as the top female athlete. Barowski will compete in the 800 semifinal Thursday and hope to compete Saturday in the final.

Barowski won both of her heats at the NCAA regionals in Florida two weeks ago. She is a legitimate All-America threat, and she seems to be getting better with each race. After this she will compete in the Olympic Trials as she continues to make a mark for herself nationally.

When Barowski is done, the 2015-16 athletic year will be as well.

There will be plenty of time in the next few days and weeks to review that athletic year, which was by any definition a great one for Princeton.

For today, though, TB wanted to tell you about Leigh.

TigerBlog went to her house last night to pay his respects. Like any house after a funeral, there is something of a party atmosphere, with food, drinks, people you haven't seen in years. TigerBlog saw a few people from high school, including Kevin McCarty, who was the best running back and best trumpet player in his school, which is probably a rarity.

It wasn't all a party though. There were pictures of Leigh throughout, pictures of her smiling for whatever occasion it happened to be. TB could hear her voice, and again, he thought of her as being older than she really was.

In reality, she was not old at all. She was simply too young.

Let The Wind Blow Back Your Hair

TigerBlog took four flights in the last week (Philly to Atlanta, Atlanta to New Orleans, Lafayette to Atlanta, Atlanta to Philly), and he did what he does every time he flies.

He listened to music on his phone.

Actually, before he gets to that, he still hasn't been able to answer this question to himself: Would he have rather had a two-plus hour bus ride to New Orleans and a non-stop flight to Philadelphia or a one-minute ride to the Lafayette airport and then a flight to Atlanta and then Philadelphia?

Oh, and Atlanta?

MotherBlog lived in Atlanta until she died more than 20 years ago. TB spent a lot of time there while his mother lived there, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. To put a time stamp on it, TB went to see the Atlanta Braves at Fulton County Stadium, saw Die Hard and Jurassic Park in the big mall across from where his mother lived and went with his mother to the Carter Center near Emory University when it was still relatively new.

TB will get back to Atlanta shortly.

As for the music, he has about 1,500 songs on his iTunes and about 100 on his phone. Sometimes he plays them in alphabetical order or random order, and sometimes he picks songs he feels like hearing. That's what he was doing on the flights on the way to Louisiana.

He listened to a few songs more than once, and he listened to one a whole bunch of times, at one point playing it to the end and then repeating it several times in a row.

The song was "Thunder Road," by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. If you asked TigerBlog what the best single song he's ever heard in his life is, he'll tell you "Thunder Road."

Maybe it's because unlike basically every other song, it isn't a series of verses with a chorus but instead one continuous story. Maybe it's the harmonica in the beginning, which freezes everything and announces the coming of the song. Maybe it's the melody, which builds slowly and rises throughout, all the way past the end of the song, to the final saxophone solo, which is almost like the final credits.

Or maybe it's just that as someone who grew up less than 10 miles from where Springsteen did, it's just so easy to picture it all.

It's a song about restlessness and coming of age.

TigerBlog, like most any other kid who grew up within shouting distance of the Jersey Shore in the 1970s, can remember a day when he was driving along with his own version of the song's fictional Mary, imploring her to "roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair."

TigerBlog first heard the Boss do the song in concert in was in 1981, at the Meadowlands.

The second time was 22 years later, at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. That's the one that really stands out for TB. He can remember now, even 13 more years down the road, thinking about how in awe he was that someone - or a group of people - could do something as well as Springsteen and his band could play that song.

As for the other day, TB felt like he was getting reacquainted with his favorite song after not having listened to it as much. It seemed like the perfect time, and so he listened to it, remembering what he loved about the song in first place. And so he listened to it again. And again. And again. Until he was in Atlanta.

And speaking of Atlanta, the last time before his two stops there this week that he was in the city was for a memorial service for his mother in late December of 1994. TigerBlog had been in New Orleans with the men's basketball team for a tournament. The events of that entire month, actually, were framed by Princeton basketball, as TB had been in Atlanta before heading to the University of Illinois and back to Atlanta the day after the tournament, the day his mother passed away. And his first day back to work was when Princeton played at Syracuse in men's basketball.

As he thinks back to that month, he's grateful that he had the Tigers to help him through that time, to give him an outlet.

Princeton played at the University of New Orleans Christmas Tournament between Christmas and New Year's in 1994. The Tigers beat Texas A&M in three overtime, as James Mastaglio and Chris Doyal both went all 55 minutes. Current head coach Mitch Henderson "only" went 40 minutes.

TigerBlog's favorite memory of that trip was after the championship game, when Princeton lost to UNO. Pete Carril was asked about the game and mentioned the home team's big guys. When a reporter followed up that Princeton had big guys too, Carril, without flinching, said "yeah, but I didn't go down to the docks to get them."

TigerBlog has seen many of the members of the Princeton men's basketball teams of those years since they've left Princeton.

Two of the ones he hasn't seen often are Doyal and Ben Hart, two Texans who made up the entire Princeton basketball Class of 1996.

TigerBlog saw them both at the Gary Walters '67 Princeton Varsity Club Awards Banquet. They were there for their 20th reunion.

Doyal might be the only math major TigerBlog knows about from Princeton. These days he works in London, and he brought with him an English/Texas accent that was, well, unusual.

TigerBlog saw basically every game Doyal played at Princeton. He's a very underrated player, in TB's opinion. He worked hard every game. He could bring a little of everything to every game, even if he didn't have great size or speed.

The win over UCLA in the 1996 NCAA tournament was typical of Doyal. He played all 40 minutes, and his line was three points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Make no mistake, without him, there would have been no win in that game.

It was good to see him at the banquet. And Hart, who didn't play as much but who did have some nice moments in his Princeton career and who like Doyal, has always been a TB favorite.

As for Atlanta, when the plane took off for New Orleans, it made a huge left turn over the city. TigerBlog could see all of the places that his mother used to love, and off to the right, he could see Buckhead, the area in which she lived. She loved the Buckhead Diner, which wasn't really a diner but instead a popular, slightly upscale restaurant.

That, and the sounds of "Thunder Road" coming through his ear buds, made TB smile as the plane climbed.

Leaving Lafayette

The last out of the top of the seventh was made, and now it was party time.

TigerBlog had heard that the seventh inning stretch at Tigue Moore Field was something special and now, Friday night, he was ready to see it first hand.

He was sitting in the press box, watching the riveting game between Princeton and the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, in the opening of the NCAA regional hosted by the Ragin' Cajuns. As the inning started to wind down, TigerBlog made his way out of the booth and stood on the landing directly behind home plate.

Then it started.

Everyone in the crowd - all 3,569 of them - stood and started to clap. And dance. And sing.

"Beat the drum, and hold the phone. The sun came out today." Those are the opening lyrics of "Centerfield," by John Fogerty.

And that's what everyone there was singing. It was a giant party.

TigerBlog has been to a lot of college sporting events. He's been to a ton of big-time college basketball venues and to quaint, historic and tradition-laden stops all throughout the country.

He has never seen anything like the seventh-inning stretch at UL-Lafayette. It was one of those rarest kind of moments, one that isn't staged or people going through the motions or any of that forced and phony fun. It was a huge crowd having its nightly party, and it was probably just as genuine as the first night someone there decided to play "Centerfield" instead of "Take Me Out To The Ballgame."

And TB has heard some places get loud. Not too many can match how loud it got when the Ragin' Cajuns took the lead on a triple into the gap in the eighth. That was up there with anything.

TigerBlog had never been to an NCAA baseball regional before, and he was looking forward to going with Princeton. As he said last week, when the draw was announced, he was really hoping for Mississippi State or Ole Miss, because he thought those would be the best regionals for the overall experience.

He was wrong.

Or if he wasn't wrong, then he can't imagine what goes on at those two places, because how can anything top Lafayette?

From the time TigerBlog got there Wednesday until he left early yesterday morning, he was amazed by the city - and its people.

This has to be where Southern hospitality earned its reputation.

TigerBlog cannot tell you how many people he met there who wanted to say hello, talk, ask about Princeton and mostly talk about how much they loved their hometown and their Ragin' Cajuns. He can't tell you how many people offered him food and something to drink, and on the times when he accepted told him he wasn't eating enough.

When seven members of the travel party - and Lafayette native and Princeton alum Ian Auzenne - were at lunch Saturday during the massive rain delay, a local fan walked up to the table and thanked everyone for how the team had played the night before. He said it was an honor to have Princeton there. That's basically how it was the whole time. 

And then there were all of the people who made fun of him or made fun of Princeton and then one second later laughed and put their arm around him.

During his time there, TigerBlog ate crawfish, frogs legs, alligator, catfish, gumbo, jambalaya, pastalaya, beans of all kinds and four po boys, three of which were shrimp.

As for the baseball, the weather definitely messed with things. Friday's game didn't end until after midnight, and the game Saturday at 1 didn't start until seven hours later.

TigerBlog was worried that the weather would ruin the experience, but that never came close to happening.

UL-Lafayette, a leading contender to reach the College World Series, defeated Princeton 5-3 Friday night in the first game. It was one of the single best events TigerBlog has been to in his nearly 30 years of following Princeton sports.

Scott Bradley, the Tiger coach, wanted his team to have the chance to play in that kind of game. When it was over, he knew that they had played a game they'd remember for a long time.

The tournament ended Saturday, with a 7-2 loss to Sam Houston State. Princeton had 10 hits in the game, and Andrew Christie came within inches of homering over the left field wall that would have made it 2-0 Princeton early. Instead, Sam Houston's four-run third was a little too much to overcome.

Because of the loss, Princeton came home yesterday, which meant a 6 am flight out of Lafayette's airport, to Atlanta and then Philadelphia. The flight from Lafayette was delayed for more than an hour, and the Tigers barely made their connection in Atlanta.

The team bus was packed up around 3:45 am, meaning everyone in the travel party had between little and no sleep.

The delay enabled Princeton to take off shortly after sunrise. TigerBlog, sitting on the right side of the plane, looked out the window to see the Cajun Dome, the home of UL-Lafayette basketball, off in the misty distance.

As the plane made a turn and started to Atlanta, Chad Powers, the junior righthander who had pitched so brilliantly against the Ragin' Cajuns, pointed out the baseball stadium. In an instant it was gone, the plane having started to climb above the clouds.

It was a fitting end to the trip.

Clouds above.

One of the truly special places in college athletics below.

First Pitch

The fans of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, like, say, your average Northeast fans, are pretty up front with the fact that they're going to be merciless towards you team when they play you.

The difference appears to be in two other parts.

First, the fans of the Ragin' Cajuns say "but don't worry. It's nothing personal." And then they invite you to come eat at their tailgate.

The scene at Tigue Moore Stadium should be pretty wild today when the NCAA baseball regional begins. Or at least hopefully begins.

The opener, at 1 CST, has Sam Houston State and Arizona. Princeton and UL-Lafayette play at 7 Central, or 8 Eastern.

The first story of this regional, though, could be the weather.

Lafayette has had massive downpours each of the two days Princeton has been here, and there's a chance of it in the forecast for the next three. The good news is that the stadium features nearly perfect FieldTurf with great drainage, and the staff here is confident that the games will get played.

TigerBlog doesn't want the weather to distract at all from the experience, because the experience here is supposed to be incredible.

Don't believe TB? As he left the pre-tournament meeting yesterday, he saw rows of RVs already parked in the field next to the baseball stadium. They came early to be ready for the party that is UL-Lafayette baseball.

Apparently, the seventh inning stretch is not to be missed. "Take Me Out To The Ballgame?" Not here. It's John Fogerty's "Centerfield," and apparently the crowd of around 4,000 dances throughout.

The day before the tournament was filled with team practices on the field. And the meeting.

TigerBlog has been to a bunch of these meetings. The NCAA rep goes through the checklist, making sure all matters are covered pertaining to the games, facilities, credentials, TV, parking, etc.

They take about 45 minutes or so, and then everyone leaves.

Not so fast. This being Lafayette, there was no leaving until everyone sampled the snack - the Cajun snack, including crawfish and rice and beans.

Princeton's practice was fairly fast-paced. Everyone took some swings. A few drove the ball over the fence.

The Tigers appeared to be a loose, confident group - and a close one. They are here after a 7-32 season a year ago, which makes Princeton one of the best turnaround stories in college baseball probably in recent years.

The difference between Princeton and the other three is dramatic. The other three teams in the regional combined for nearly 50 games in the month of May.

Princeton? The Tigers played three. Between May 1 and today, which is June 3, Princeton played only on May 14 and May 15, defeating Yale in three games to win the Ivy League championship series.

The pitching matchup for tonight will be Princeton junior Chad Powers, who is 6-3 with a 2.07 ERA, and UL-Lafayette freshman righty Nick Lee, who is 7-1 with a 3.18 ERA.

The home team has reached the last two Super Regionals, something no Ivy League school has ever done, TB believes. The winner of this regional will take on the winner of the Mississippi State regional, and it's pretty obvious that UL-Lafayette is thinking about going on a nice run here in June, maybe all the way to Omaha.

If Princeton is looking for precedent, there's the regional here two years ago, when the fourth-seed, Jackson State, knocked off UL-Lafayette 1-0. Still, the home team came all the way back to advance.

TigerBlog went out to dinner last night with representatives on the other three schools, as well as the producer and director and on-air voices for ESPN3, who will be broadcasting the games. TB went with gumbo and more crawfish.

This is crayfish season, TB learned. And he had frog legs for the first time. Everyone says they taste just like chicken, and they do, but that's not the problem. The problem is that they still look like frog legs. 

Oh, and the ESPN3 guys? They said what TV people always say after they talk to Princeton athletes. They said how incredibly impressed they were with them. 

In his conversations with the people from other schools, TigerBlog also had it crystallized for him that college baseball in huge in this area of the country. It's not college football, but it's huge.

TB was asked if Princeton had radio for baseball, and he said no, but Princeton does have radio for men's lacrosse. Really? That's crazy, one of the UL-Lafayette guys said.

A person with the right attitude is Scott Bradley, the Princeton head coach. He, like TigerBlog, wants the weather to be good so the players can get the full experience of baseball here.

And Bradley wants to win.

He is very polished when being interviewed, and he gives all the right answers about his team, his opponent and his sport. He's been here before, most recently in 2011, but TigerBlog can tell that his one is extra special to him after last year.

With the games about to start, it's time to focus on the outcomes and seeing if Princeton can extend its stay here.

Earlier in the day, TigerBlog went over to the campus store along with Seth Dorsey from the business office and Clif Perry, the equipment manager. Jess Guerriero, who works with Seth, had asked him to get her a shirt, and in very 2016 fashion, he FaceTimed with her to show her the choices in the store.

TigerBlog got a shirt too, a nice red dri-fit that says "Ragin' Cajuns" on it. He'll wear it with pride this summer.

Why wouldn't he? The Ragin' Cajuns seem pretty easy to root for.

Just not tonight, of course.

Weather permitting.

Welcome To Lafayette

By 8 a.m. yesterday, TigerBlog had already seen Princeton assistant baseball coach Greg Van Horn eat two salads.

Not that there's anything wrong with such a healthy choice. But two of them? By 8?

Hey, airports bring out some interesting dynamics early in the morning. It's like an entire world where nobody realizes that most people are barely out of bed.

TigerBlog's Wednesday started early, like before 6 at Jadwin Gym. It was the travel day for Princeton baseball on its way Lafayette, Louisiana, and the NCAA tournament.

The entire Princeton travel party could not be accommodated on one flight, so four people had to go on a different itinerary. Those four were TigerBlog, Seth Dorsey from the business office and assistant coaches Van Horn and Mike Russo.

Everyone else flew from Philadelphia to New Orleans non-stop, leaving after 10. TB and his group left an hour earlier and had to connect to New Orleans through Atlanta.

Still, it wasn't too bad.

For starters, there was the matter of the 38th row.

Both legs of the flight were on MD-90 airplanes, from Delta. TigerBlog sat in seat 38A for both. The two baseball assistants were across the aisle, also in row 38, for both. Seth was in row 37 for the first flight and then row 38 for the second.

The MD-90 has 39 rows. There are two engines, which sit all the way to the back of the airplane. Actually, they're right next to row 38, like right outside the window. In fact, row 39 has no window at all. If you're in row 39, there's no window shade to slide up or down.

TigerBlog had two of them. If he pushed one up, he got to look directly into the engine, so he kept that one down. If he pushed the other one up, he saw about a quarter of the engine, some open space and then about half of the wing.

The other thing about row 38 is that the engines are incredibly loud during the flight. Like deafening, from takeoff to landing.

Other than that, the two flights were smooth as silk. TigerBlog's group got in shortly ahead of the rest of the team, and everyone congregated at the baggage claim.

Lafayette, the site of the regional, is not all that close to New Orleans. In fact, it's more than two hours by bus. It's basically Interstate 10 the whole way, the first half to Baton Rouge, where 10 meets up with 110 and 12, and then straight from Baton Rouge to Lafayette.

When you make the sweeping left turn just before you reach the downtown of the state capital, you can see the Baton Rouge skyline to the right. At that time, though, every head on the bus was pointed to the left though.

Why? Because off to the left was Tiger Stadium, the home of LSU football. It's a gigantic structure that grabs your attention as you see it and how it dominates its surroundings.

And then? It's another hour to Lafayette.

Much of the ride from New Orleans takes place on highway that is surrounded by water, even with waterways in between the east and west lanes. The stretch from Baton Rouge to Lafayette includes the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge, which is about 20 miles long and is the only way to keep I-10 above the water line. The Atchafalaya Basin Bridge is nearly 20 miles long, which makes it the third-longest bridge in the United States and 14th longest in the world. At least according to Wikipedia.

Princeton was greeted by a massive burst of rain upon arriving in Lafayette. By any accounts, it was a long trip to get here.

Of course, it is well worth it.

Princeton takes on Louisiana-Lafayette tomorrow night at 8 Eastern time (on ESPN3) in the second game of the regional, after Sam Houston State plays Arizona. It's a double-elimination event.

For a team that was 7-32 a year ago, the trip to the NCAA tournament is the reward for a remarkable turnaround and then a gritty Ivy League Championship Series win over Yale (not Harvard, as TB said erroneously Tuesday).

And the reward is the opportunity to play in what has to be one of the best and most colorful places in all of college baseball. Everything that TB has read about the Ragin' Cajuns is that they do everything they can to make Tigue Moore Stadium rough on the visiting team - all while making it as much fun as they can.

And, best of all, everyone is welcome to tailgate with them. TB hasn't experienced it yet, but his sense is that it's the kind of crowd that you can't help but like, even as they are being brutal to your team.

It's sort of like a carnival, TigerBlog supposes, though not like a literal carnival, like the one across the street from the stadium.

TB and Dorsey went over to the athletic facilities at Louisiana-Lafayette. They were able to get onto the baseball field (and see the football stadium). The baseball field, even empty, seems to be screaming at a team from out of town.

Yes, this looks like it's going to be worlds of fun.

There's still the matter of today, which is a day for practice and meetings. And dinner.

Last night's dinner consisted of the TB's group of four, plus assistant coach Lloyd Brewer. And Ian Auzenne, a Class of 2010 grad who is a Lafayette native.

Ian was a regular in the Office of Athletic Communications while a Princeton undergrad. Now he works for a local TV station. Ian picked up the check for dinner, too, which was extraordinarily nice.

Work will prevent Ian from being at the game tomorrow, but he'll be there Saturday for the second game. TigerBlog imagines that not too many other Lafayette natives will be cheering on the Tigers this weekend.

Nope. The rest of the local fan base is wildly passionate about the Ragin' Cajuns. It's a big show and a big stage, and Princeton is the decided underdog.

Yesterday was about getting here.

Today is time to start getting serious.

A Very Special Grad

There is no other day of the year at Princeton University that is remotely like Graduation Day.

The day starts out with incredible energy on campus. There are swarms of people, pretty much all divided into two camps.

There are those who are in caps and gowns, and there are those who are watching them, bursting with pride that their son/daughter/grandchild/whatever is really graduating from the No. 1 university in the country, if not the world.

Degrees were given to 1,291 undergraduates and 906 graduate students yesterday, the culmination of something that probably seemed fairly daunting at one point. How will I write my thesis? How will I ever get everything done?

Yesterday? It was a celebration of great accomplishment.

And then, by mid-afternoon or so, the campus is deserted. Empty.

Everyone has packed up and gone to wherever it is they're going. The "I go to Princeton" is replaced in one day with "I went to Princeton."

It's a bit overwhelming.

TigerBlog remembers when he graduated from college. It was the only time in his life he had absolutely nothing schedule, absolutely nothing he had to do.

His life could have gone in any number of directions at that point. He had several career paths in mind. He chose the one that has enabled him to basically turn his back on his alma mater in favor of its biggest rival, but hey, not everybody goes down that road.

The graduation of the Class of 2016 also brought with it the end of the undergraduate days of approximately 200 or so varsity athletes. They have left quite a mark on Princeton, as has been detailed here a bunch of times, so why do it again?

Ah, why not. It was Graduation Day, right?

How about 46 league championships, 151 All-Ivy League selections and 14 All-America selections. This year alone Princeton won 14 Ivy titles and 15 league titles (counting men's water polo).

In fact, there are still Princeton athletes who will be competing. It dawned on TigerBlog that some fall athletes compete before their first class, while other spring athletes compete even after graduation.

The baseball team will be heading out to Louisiana for NCAA tournament today. There will be the IRA rowing championships this weekend in West Windsor. There will be NCAA track and field next week in Oregon.

Yesterday, though, was about graduation.

TigerBlog can talk to you about any number of athletes who were handed diplomas yesterday. He watched a lot of them play these last four years, which to them must have been gone in the blink of their eyes.

Really, though, when he thought of all those who graduated yesterday, he thought mostly of one of them. He was an athlete who hasn't competed here since most of those who graduated yesterday were in high school.

There were times when it seemed impossible that he would ever reach Nassau Hall in a cap and gown. The obstacles he had to overcome were extraordinary, not like those of anyone else who was there yesterday - or ever before, TigerBlog supposes.

Had things gone according to plan, he would have been in the Class of 2015. When his name appeared in the Gary Walters ’67 Princeton Varsity Club Senior Awards program, it would have been followed by as many lines of accomplishments as any other athlete.

As it turned out, his career ended four years. Playing career, that is.

TigerBlog speaks of course about Chuck Dibilio. His story was familiar to Princeton fans before John Bullis put together his fantastic documentary "When The Game Ends" last fall.

The movie chronicled Dibilio's rise at Princeton as a record-setting running back his freshman year, when he vaulted over 1,000 yards, becoming the only true freshman in league history to do so. And then, before first-semester finals, he suffered a stroke.

At 19 years old.

The road back wasn't easy. Dibilio had to learn simple speech and reading over again, let alone return to any college, let alone Princeton. He would do it in a year.

At the same time, he wanted to play football again, something that he wouldn't be able to do, as it turned out.

In the end, he found peace. And found an outlet - CrossFit, which helped him satisfy his competitive, physical side.

TigerBlog had never met him prior to the start of work on the documentary. He found him to be friendly, happy, strong - not at all bitter. He was a young man who had been through a lot, but you couldn't tell any of that from speaking to him. 

And yesterday, after all of this time, he graduated from Princeton.

His mother, a medical doctor, said in "When The Game Ends" that she would be "one proud mama" when her son graduated. TigerBlog thought about that comment yesterday, when Dibilio became a Princeton alum.

As TigerBlog said, the campus gets eerily deserted on Graduation Day. The University that welcomes them in and nurtures them for four years spits them out, sending them on their ways. It's almost like one of those nature shows, though in this case, the University is the living being.

This happens each year.

This time it was a little different. Chuck Dibilio graduated with the Class of 2016.

It's possible no Princeton grad ever had to go through more to make it happen.