TigerBlog has made two trips to Iowa in his life, both of which were to see Princeton play basketball, both in December.
The first time, it was so cold that he though his face as going to freeze off in the three-second walk from the arena at Iowa State to the parking lot.
The second time it was so warm - record-settingly warm - that all of the frozen lakes thawed, creating the most intense fog TB has ever experienced.
Actually, on that second trip, TB and then-radio play-by-play man Tom McCarthy flew to Minneapolis to see TB's friend Larry Zucker, who moved from New Jersey to Minnesota, possibly going on the assumption that he'd found the one woman who would ever agree to marry him and therefore had no choice.
Anyway, after having dinner with the Zuckers, TB and McCarthy drove down Interstate 35 for what should have been a routine three-hour ride. Instead, because of the fog, it became a marathon.
As an aside, here is a list of states that TB has been for the sole reason that Princeton was playing basketball there:
Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Colorado, Kentucky and Ohio. Oh, an Hawaii. That's 12 states.
TB also drove from El Paso, Texas, to New Mexico when he was there for one tournament and flew into Missouri when Princeton played at Kansas. He was also with Princeton when it played Ohio University in Nova Scotia.
TB remembers Iowa as being relatively flat, and it seemed on the first trip, the one where it was freezing, that there were no hills or even trees to block the wind. He also remembers friendly people and endless options of food chains, including his first experience ever with an Outback Steakhouse.
The NCAA track and field championships are currently being held in Iowa, and the weather there is apparently even hotter than it was in TB's second December trip there.
The high temperature the next three days are supposed to be 85, 88 and 90 in Des Moines, and that's not quite perfect running weather.
TB has no idea what impact the heat will have on Donn Cabral's attempt to win the NCAA steeplechase championship.
Cabral has been the runner-up each of the last two years, and he runs in the semifinal tonight in the final event of Day 2 at Drake University. The steeplechase final is Saturday midday, when the heat should be fairly oppressive.
The top six in each semifinal and the next two fastest times will advance to the final.
Cabral has already run the fastest time in the steeplechase, not just from this year but ever. He also became something of an unknowing topic of conversation among those who work on the Jadwin Gym balcony, as his workouts on the track at Princeton are somewhat legendary by now.
Cabral is one of six Princeton athletes who are competing in Iowa.
Brian Leung finished 16th in the 10,000 yesterday, earning second-team All-America honors. In addition to Cabral, Princeton will also have Trevor Van Ackeren and Greta Feldman in the 1,500 semifinals today.
Triple-jumper Damon McLean and 5,000-meter man Joe Stilin compete tomorrow.
The NCAA championships are the last events of the year for Princeton Athletics.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Dr. Pete Carril
"What do I think?," Carril said. "I think he'd be better off with a 3.6 and more time spent working on his jump shot."
He was kidding, of course. Pete Carril has always held education - and educators - in the highest esteem.
TigerBlog hardly remembers the number of times he's heard Carril talk about how high school teachers and coaches - of which he was one for 12 years - can have the most positive or most negative impact on the overall development of their students, that there is no substitute for having the good fortune to have great teachers.
Carril himself is a graduate of Lafayette College, Class of 1952. TigerBlog knows that off the top of his head.
He knows all kinds of things about Carril. He went to Liberty High School in Bethlehem, where his own coach was a man named Joseph Preletz, nicknamed "Pickles."
TB doesn't need to look up that Carril went 514-261 at Princeton, winning 13 Ivy titles, playing in 11 NCAA tournaments and winning the 1975 NIT. He knows all about Carril's big games, his favorite players, his philosophies, the funniest things he's ever heard him say.
When TB saw that Carril was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities at Commencement yesterday, it dawned on him that of all the conversations that he's had with the Hall-of-Fame coach, he never really talked to him about his record as a student.
For that matter, TB doesn't even know what his major was at Lafayette.
Still, TB does know how important education has always been to Carril - and that it's not a coincidence that he stayed at Princeton for 29 years.
Carril's father worked in the steel mill in Bethlehem, and basketball and education were Carril's road to a different career path.
He spent 29 years at a University surrounded by people almost all of whom grew up with much more than he knew as a child, and yet none of that mattered on his teams. To Carril, what mattered most was who would work the hardest, who would buy into the team concept the most, who would perform at the highest level.
TB once wrote that Carril was the University's conscience, and it's a pretty accurate statement. A player's worth, he would constantly remind them, is determined by their character.
There were six honorary degrees conferred yesterday, and another Hall-of-Fame, singer Aretha Franklin, was one of the other five recipients.
Carril was the boys' basketball coach and a teacher at Reading High when Franklin released her first record, and he was just getting to Princeton when "Respect" became her first No. 1 hit.
TB has heard Carril tell the story a million times about how he moved from the ranks of a high school teacher to a college coach, back when Lehigh was hiring before the 1965-66 season. Only three people applied, and Carril earned the job - at least he says - sort of because nobody else really wanted it.
Whether that's true or not isn't the issue. What is reality is that it wouldn't be easy to go from being a high school coach to a college head coach, and it's possible that Carril's entire career might have been spent as a high school teacher and coach.
As it turned out, he got the right breaks at the right times and made the most of them.
And there he was yesterday, dressed in cap and gown, grinning from ear-to-ear, tearing up when he received his honor.
There aren't too many people who have ever deserved it more.
TB hasn't heard too many better public speakers in his life than Pete Carril, and it's not only because he can be funny without overdoing it.
It's because he speaks from the heart, and because what he says has such resonance. He's always been as much a philosopher as anything else, at least in TB's eyes.
And now he's a Princeton Ph.D. He certainly looked the part in his cap and gown, looking professorial, relaxed, happy.
Clearly he was touched by the moment.
TB has never met anyone else quite like Carril. He's as fascinating as anyone TB has ever met.
Coach. Teacher. Philosopher.
Doctor.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Derek DiGregorio h12
The pre-graduation party was in full swing, and the most recent addition to the Princeton University Class of 2012 sat right in the middle of it.
He certainly looked the part, what with his orange and black Tiger bow tie perfectly tied and his white class jacket over his khaki pants.
He smiled, beaming as everyone came up to him to say congratulations.
At various times on his lap he held a dog, a tiny dog, a miniature beagle puppy, and he listened as the hostess for the party talked about his lifelong goal of becoming a veterinarian.
It was, as you would expect from a party celebrating being part of any Princeton commencement, a very happy occasion. And an inspiring one.
All because of the graduate himself.
Derek DiGregorio sat in his wheelchair throughout the party. When TigerBlog shook his hand, he had to reach down and grab it for him, though Derek's return grip was firm.
Movements that everyone else in the room could take for granted are difficult or impossible for Derek, who is less than two months from his 15th birthday.
Diagnosed at an early age with cerebral palsey, Derek and his family instead found out that he had ataxia telangiectasia, a disease that attacks the entire body and ultimately causes the immune system to fail. The mortality rate is 100%, and life expectancy past 20 is rare.
There are approximately 600 cases total in the United States.
Derek's father Steve - known to most simply as Digger - is a former assistant football coach at Princeton. One of his former players, Brian Danielewicz, read about Derek's situation and wanted to do something to help him, and so he began the process of making Derek an honorary member of this class.
Manny Sardinha of the men's soccer team (and men's volleyball team for a little while) was at the party. He wrote his junior paper on A-T and also held a fundraiser this past year.
TigerBlog has known Digger and his wife Nadia since before they were married, let alone since their three children were born. He has watched them through this difficult process and wondered how they do it, how they stay so strong and so positive and so defiant.
Certainly they have a great support system, including former men's basketball player and assistant coach Howard Levy and his family and women's basketball academic-athletic fellow Jess Deutsch and her family, including her husband Ted, a baseball player here from the Class of 1991.
And yes, TB assumes, there have to be moments where it just overwhelms the DiGregorios, though maybe there aren't.
Certainly yesterday wasn't one of those, if they exist.
Nope, yesterday was another triumph for the DiGregorios and for Derek.
That's the word. Triumph.
This wasn't a time to think about the long odds that Derek faces or the unfairness of a 14-year-old who has been put into this situation.
This was a time to admire them, but not because of anything extraordinary that they've done - even though they've done plenty of extraordinary things while fighting this disease.
They've put together "Derek's Dreams," an organization that has raised money and attempted to raise the public consciousness for a disease few had ever heard of before. They have galvanized multiple communities in their fight, through Princeton athletics, Nutley High School (where Digger teaches and has coached football), alums, friends, anyone.
Yesterday wasn't about that, though.
Yesterday was about another family with a member of the Princeton Class of 2012 and how proud they were of him. It was about the class jacket and the good wishes and the hopes for the future.
In this way, they were no different than the hundreds of other families who were gathered for Class Day.
And it was hardly an ordinary day. Derek had a chance to meet actor Steve Carell, both during the ceremony at which Carell was the featured speaker and then later on, when he got his picture taken with him and assorted other DiGregorios, Levys and Deutschs.
And of course there was the party. As with everything these people do, their sense of devotion to each other and everyone in the room was obvious.
TigerBlog congratulates Derek on being part of the Class of 2012, and he's happy for the rest of the DiGregorio family.
Most days, TB is just in awe of all of them.
Yesterday, he was again, but for a different reason, because they were all about having fun.
One day at a time, right? Yesterday was fun for them. Today, TB suspects, is as well.
Tomorrow?
The forecast is ominous, but the DiGregorios and their army of supporters won't be stopped easily.
He certainly looked the part, what with his orange and black Tiger bow tie perfectly tied and his white class jacket over his khaki pants.
He smiled, beaming as everyone came up to him to say congratulations.
At various times on his lap he held a dog, a tiny dog, a miniature beagle puppy, and he listened as the hostess for the party talked about his lifelong goal of becoming a veterinarian.
It was, as you would expect from a party celebrating being part of any Princeton commencement, a very happy occasion. And an inspiring one.
All because of the graduate himself.
Derek DiGregorio sat in his wheelchair throughout the party. When TigerBlog shook his hand, he had to reach down and grab it for him, though Derek's return grip was firm.
Movements that everyone else in the room could take for granted are difficult or impossible for Derek, who is less than two months from his 15th birthday.
Diagnosed at an early age with cerebral palsey, Derek and his family instead found out that he had ataxia telangiectasia, a disease that attacks the entire body and ultimately causes the immune system to fail. The mortality rate is 100%, and life expectancy past 20 is rare.
There are approximately 600 cases total in the United States.
Derek's father Steve - known to most simply as Digger - is a former assistant football coach at Princeton. One of his former players, Brian Danielewicz, read about Derek's situation and wanted to do something to help him, and so he began the process of making Derek an honorary member of this class.
Manny Sardinha of the men's soccer team (and men's volleyball team for a little while) was at the party. He wrote his junior paper on A-T and also held a fundraiser this past year.
TigerBlog has known Digger and his wife Nadia since before they were married, let alone since their three children were born. He has watched them through this difficult process and wondered how they do it, how they stay so strong and so positive and so defiant.
Certainly they have a great support system, including former men's basketball player and assistant coach Howard Levy and his family and women's basketball academic-athletic fellow Jess Deutsch and her family, including her husband Ted, a baseball player here from the Class of 1991.
And yes, TB assumes, there have to be moments where it just overwhelms the DiGregorios, though maybe there aren't.
Certainly yesterday wasn't one of those, if they exist.
Nope, yesterday was another triumph for the DiGregorios and for Derek.
That's the word. Triumph.
This wasn't a time to think about the long odds that Derek faces or the unfairness of a 14-year-old who has been put into this situation.
This was a time to admire them, but not because of anything extraordinary that they've done - even though they've done plenty of extraordinary things while fighting this disease.
They've put together "Derek's Dreams," an organization that has raised money and attempted to raise the public consciousness for a disease few had ever heard of before. They have galvanized multiple communities in their fight, through Princeton athletics, Nutley High School (where Digger teaches and has coached football), alums, friends, anyone.
Yesterday wasn't about that, though.
Yesterday was about another family with a member of the Princeton Class of 2012 and how proud they were of him. It was about the class jacket and the good wishes and the hopes for the future.
In this way, they were no different than the hundreds of other families who were gathered for Class Day.
And it was hardly an ordinary day. Derek had a chance to meet actor Steve Carell, both during the ceremony at which Carell was the featured speaker and then later on, when he got his picture taken with him and assorted other DiGregorios, Levys and Deutschs.
And of course there was the party. As with everything these people do, their sense of devotion to each other and everyone in the room was obvious.
TigerBlog congratulates Derek on being part of the Class of 2012, and he's happy for the rest of the DiGregorio family.
Most days, TB is just in awe of all of them.
Yesterday, he was again, but for a different reason, because they were all about having fun.
One day at a time, right? Yesterday was fun for them. Today, TB suspects, is as well.
Tomorrow?
The forecast is ominous, but the DiGregorios and their army of supporters won't be stopped easily.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Reunions
The rain was somewhat torrential this morning, leaving TigerBlog to think that Class Day would be moved into Jadwin Gym.
Apparently he's not the only one who thought that was, as the lobby became a gathering point for men in suits and ties and women in dresses. Sadly for them and their nice shoes, the event was kept outside.
The featured speaker was Steve Carell, the usually funny actor who has many more hits than whiffs in his career, most notably on "The Office" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
TB was a big fan of "The Office" during its glory days, and Carell was as funny on that show as anyone has ever been on any show. TB has completely lost track of the plot and everything else, going back to maybe Carell's last season on the show.
Every now and then he'll watch some reruns, especially when the great early episodes are on.
This weekend, he had a choice between the one where Carell falls into the Koi pond, which he passed on when he saw that PBS was showing the 25th anniversary edition of "The Phantom of the Opera."
If you're a Phantom fan, the 25th anniversary show, filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, is not to be missed.
Basically, it's the stage version of the show that ends with a reunion on almost everyone who played the Phantom and Sarah Brightman, the original Christine.
TigerBlog remembers when he first saw the show, how he wondered how one person's mind could have come up with something so complex, sort of like when he first read "A Prayer For Owen Meany."
For the 25th anniversary show, he watched as the Phantom and Christine sing "Phantom of the Opera," followed up immediately by the Phantom's powerful "Music of the Night," and was mesmerized by how great the two performers were.
He had seen the 25th anniversary show once before, with the reunion scene at the end. He didn't see that this time, though he did catch "All I Ask Of You" and "Point of No Return," two of the show's more famous songs.
A few days earlier, TB saw for the first time a movie he'd always wanted to see - "It Happened One Night."
The 1934 classic, staring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, is littered with Hall-of-Fame scenes, especially when Gable shows Colbert how to hitchhike and Colbert turns the tables on him.
It wasn't too hard to figure out what direction the movie was going in or how it would end, but that didn't make it any less great. With all the movies TB has seen through the years, he's not sure how "It Happened One Night" slipped the cracks as long as it did.
Anyway, this weekend at Princeton, words and phrases like "25th anniversary" and "1934" and especially "reunions" didn't apply to anything other than the annual gathering that occurs on this campus the Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to Class Day on Monday and then ultimately graduation on Tuesday.
TB isn't sure how old the oldest person to participate in the P-Rade was, though he figures it was someone who saw "It Happened One Night" in the movies when it first came out.
He's not sure what percentage of alums show up for Reunions each year, but he knows that it's north of 50% for the 25th, in this case those who graduated when Phantom was opening.
As for the Reunions themselves, TB likes to say hi to some familiar faces, likes to check out the alumni basketball games for a few minutes. He loves the P-Rade, and he likes to see all of the kids who are here with their parents.
Mostly, he comes away with an appreciation of how unique Princeton is in this regard, in the world of alumni loyalty.
He's not talking about money.
He's talking about love for the institution itself.
TB went to Penn, and he has very fond memories of his time there. He made good friends, some of whom he talks to somewhat weekly to this day.
It's just that there isn't the affection for Penn that exists here for Princeton. Maybe it's more unique to varsity athletes, who represent their school against other schools, but TB senses it's way more than that here.
From the time that freshman step onto this campus, they are welcomed into the Princeton family, and it builds from that moment.
From that first day, freshman are "branded," as it were, as members of their class. This never happened to TB at Penn.
TB was in a meeting Friday morning with several alums, and in the course of three hours, he heard people referred to by their class years and heard the word "classmate" dozens of times.
These are not terms that are used at Penn, or, TB suspects, many other schools.
In the end, this school loyalty never leaves those who are fortunate enough to be part of it.
If you're a Princetonian who doesn't know any different, maybe you don't have a sense of how unique that is, how special that is.
If you grew up a Quaker and then converted to Tigerism, you have a better sense.
Apparently he's not the only one who thought that was, as the lobby became a gathering point for men in suits and ties and women in dresses. Sadly for them and their nice shoes, the event was kept outside.
The featured speaker was Steve Carell, the usually funny actor who has many more hits than whiffs in his career, most notably on "The Office" and "The 40-Year-Old Virgin."
TB was a big fan of "The Office" during its glory days, and Carell was as funny on that show as anyone has ever been on any show. TB has completely lost track of the plot and everything else, going back to maybe Carell's last season on the show.
Every now and then he'll watch some reruns, especially when the great early episodes are on.
This weekend, he had a choice between the one where Carell falls into the Koi pond, which he passed on when he saw that PBS was showing the 25th anniversary edition of "The Phantom of the Opera."
If you're a Phantom fan, the 25th anniversary show, filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, is not to be missed.
Basically, it's the stage version of the show that ends with a reunion on almost everyone who played the Phantom and Sarah Brightman, the original Christine.
TigerBlog remembers when he first saw the show, how he wondered how one person's mind could have come up with something so complex, sort of like when he first read "A Prayer For Owen Meany."
For the 25th anniversary show, he watched as the Phantom and Christine sing "Phantom of the Opera," followed up immediately by the Phantom's powerful "Music of the Night," and was mesmerized by how great the two performers were.
He had seen the 25th anniversary show once before, with the reunion scene at the end. He didn't see that this time, though he did catch "All I Ask Of You" and "Point of No Return," two of the show's more famous songs.
A few days earlier, TB saw for the first time a movie he'd always wanted to see - "It Happened One Night."
The 1934 classic, staring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, is littered with Hall-of-Fame scenes, especially when Gable shows Colbert how to hitchhike and Colbert turns the tables on him.
It wasn't too hard to figure out what direction the movie was going in or how it would end, but that didn't make it any less great. With all the movies TB has seen through the years, he's not sure how "It Happened One Night" slipped the cracks as long as it did.
Anyway, this weekend at Princeton, words and phrases like "25th anniversary" and "1934" and especially "reunions" didn't apply to anything other than the annual gathering that occurs on this campus the Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to Class Day on Monday and then ultimately graduation on Tuesday.
TB isn't sure how old the oldest person to participate in the P-Rade was, though he figures it was someone who saw "It Happened One Night" in the movies when it first came out.
He's not sure what percentage of alums show up for Reunions each year, but he knows that it's north of 50% for the 25th, in this case those who graduated when Phantom was opening.
As for the Reunions themselves, TB likes to say hi to some familiar faces, likes to check out the alumni basketball games for a few minutes. He loves the P-Rade, and he likes to see all of the kids who are here with their parents.
Mostly, he comes away with an appreciation of how unique Princeton is in this regard, in the world of alumni loyalty.
He's not talking about money.
He's talking about love for the institution itself.
TB went to Penn, and he has very fond memories of his time there. He made good friends, some of whom he talks to somewhat weekly to this day.
It's just that there isn't the affection for Penn that exists here for Princeton. Maybe it's more unique to varsity athletes, who represent their school against other schools, but TB senses it's way more than that here.
From the time that freshman step onto this campus, they are welcomed into the Princeton family, and it builds from that moment.
From that first day, freshman are "branded," as it were, as members of their class. This never happened to TB at Penn.
TB was in a meeting Friday morning with several alums, and in the course of three hours, he heard people referred to by their class years and heard the word "classmate" dozens of times.
These are not terms that are used at Penn, or, TB suspects, many other schools.
In the end, this school loyalty never leaves those who are fortunate enough to be part of it.
If you're a Princetonian who doesn't know any different, maybe you don't have a sense of how unique that is, how special that is.
If you grew up a Quaker and then converted to Tigerism, you have a better sense.
Friday, June 1, 2012
And The Winners Are
Rick Fiorito stood under the big tent by the Grad College a little after 9 last night, right at the conclusion of the Princeton Varsity Club Senior Athlete banquet.
Moments earlier, his son Tyler had been one of five winners of the Roper Trophy, given each year to Princeton's top senior male athletes.
And now Rick was reflecting on the night, which TigerBlog assumed included some nostalgia lasting back long before Tyler ever made his first save at McDonogh School, let alone at Princeton.
And that's when Rick summed everything up perfectly and succinctly.
"This is a great honor for him," the father said. "I was looking through the program and the people who won the award in the past. It's quite a list."
It is.
The Roper Trophy goes back to the 1930s, and the list of great Princeton athletes who have won it is wildly impressive.
In addition to Fiorito, the names added to the list this year are Donn Cabral from track and field and cross country, Jon Christensen from swimming and diving Alexander Mills from fencing and Fiorito's lacrosse teammate Chad Wiedmaier.
The von Kienbusch Award only dates to the early 1970s, when women's athletics first began at Princeton. The award is named for Carl Otto von Kienbusch, who legend has it was a big opponent of women at Princeton, until some early women's rowers visited his house in upstate New York. By the time they left, he was so impressed that he endowed the award that honors the top senior female athletes.
This year's winners are track and field/cross country's Alex Banfich, basketball's Lauren Edwards and track and field's Eileen Moran.
The eight athletes who joined those who came before them are now part of an elite company, and that's what Rick Fiorito picked up on in the instant it unfolded.
The banquet itself benefited greatly from something missing during 2010's massive thunderstorms and 2011's sweltering heat and humidity - the fact that it was a perfect weather night.
After a 90-minute reception, the awards program began - in a "big" way.
Devona Allgood, the 6-3 center of the women's basketball team, wore heels that made her about 6-6 or 6-7, and she gave the first of two keynote addresses, with the other given later by men's squash player Clay Blackiston. The first three words of his speech? "I'm not athletic."
Stu Orefice, the head of Dining Services, was honored for his support of the athletic department with the Marvin Bressler Award. Reddy Finney, the longtime headmaster at the Gilman School in Baltimore, received the Class of 1967 Citizen Athlete Award for his contribution to sport and society.
Finney praised the senior athletes for their own community service and said he'd love for them to come to the prestigious Baltimore prep school and get the boys there to follow in their footsteps.
Princeton also gave the Art Lane Award for service to six seniors: Edwards, Wiedmaier, soccer's Manny Sardinha, field hockey player Allison Behringer, swimmer Hannah Cody and tennis player Hilary Bartlett. Edwards and Wiedmaier became the first two Princeton athletes to win the Lane Award for service and then either the Roper or von Kienbusch.
Phyllis Chase and Inge Radice, with 60 years of service to the department, were both honored as they head into retirement. Douglas Davis was also honored, his for the shot that defeated Harvard in the 2011 Ivy playoff.
Mostly, the night was about giving the more than 200 athletes who are heading off to graduation and then their separate ways next week, one more chance to be together as a group. And to understand that Princeton Athletics was here long before they were and that they will stay connected to each other through the University and the athletic department but especially through their teams.
There is a certain provincial nature of each team, as they cheered for teammates who received awards or when they came up on the screen for the video, but there is also a collective unity among all of them.
As he does every year, TB thinks back to the first time the athletic class is together, at freshman athlete orientation in early September of the first year's on campus. To that point, they know little about Princeton and almost nobody outside their teammates, and the athletes are clearly segmented team-by-team.
At the banquet, they've been through so much in four years, and their bond extends beyond just their teams.
Just as TB senses how closely they cling to their teammates at orientation, he can also feel how much cross-team respect there is at the banquet.
It's part of what makes the night so special. And it's unique to a school like Princeton, with so many different teams and athletes.
As Rick Fiorito figured out, a big part of the night is how the current class takes its place in the long history of Princeton Athletics.
For the athletes themselves, though, it's mostly about saying goodbye, the start of a few days of parties and then Class Day and graduation.
They get dressed up, the mingle, they laugh, they cheer for their teammates, they honor those who have achieved the most.
TB wishes them all the best. And he thanks them for competing as hard as they did, enduring how they did, and helping Princeton continue its tradition of athletic success - all while making it such a great place for people like TB to work.
They're special people, every last one of them.
Moments earlier, his son Tyler had been one of five winners of the Roper Trophy, given each year to Princeton's top senior male athletes.
And now Rick was reflecting on the night, which TigerBlog assumed included some nostalgia lasting back long before Tyler ever made his first save at McDonogh School, let alone at Princeton.
And that's when Rick summed everything up perfectly and succinctly.
"This is a great honor for him," the father said. "I was looking through the program and the people who won the award in the past. It's quite a list."
It is.
The Roper Trophy goes back to the 1930s, and the list of great Princeton athletes who have won it is wildly impressive.
In addition to Fiorito, the names added to the list this year are Donn Cabral from track and field and cross country, Jon Christensen from swimming and diving Alexander Mills from fencing and Fiorito's lacrosse teammate Chad Wiedmaier.
The von Kienbusch Award only dates to the early 1970s, when women's athletics first began at Princeton. The award is named for Carl Otto von Kienbusch, who legend has it was a big opponent of women at Princeton, until some early women's rowers visited his house in upstate New York. By the time they left, he was so impressed that he endowed the award that honors the top senior female athletes.
This year's winners are track and field/cross country's Alex Banfich, basketball's Lauren Edwards and track and field's Eileen Moran.
The eight athletes who joined those who came before them are now part of an elite company, and that's what Rick Fiorito picked up on in the instant it unfolded.
The banquet itself benefited greatly from something missing during 2010's massive thunderstorms and 2011's sweltering heat and humidity - the fact that it was a perfect weather night.
After a 90-minute reception, the awards program began - in a "big" way.
Devona Allgood, the 6-3 center of the women's basketball team, wore heels that made her about 6-6 or 6-7, and she gave the first of two keynote addresses, with the other given later by men's squash player Clay Blackiston. The first three words of his speech? "I'm not athletic."
Stu Orefice, the head of Dining Services, was honored for his support of the athletic department with the Marvin Bressler Award. Reddy Finney, the longtime headmaster at the Gilman School in Baltimore, received the Class of 1967 Citizen Athlete Award for his contribution to sport and society.
Finney praised the senior athletes for their own community service and said he'd love for them to come to the prestigious Baltimore prep school and get the boys there to follow in their footsteps.
Princeton also gave the Art Lane Award for service to six seniors: Edwards, Wiedmaier, soccer's Manny Sardinha, field hockey player Allison Behringer, swimmer Hannah Cody and tennis player Hilary Bartlett. Edwards and Wiedmaier became the first two Princeton athletes to win the Lane Award for service and then either the Roper or von Kienbusch.
Phyllis Chase and Inge Radice, with 60 years of service to the department, were both honored as they head into retirement. Douglas Davis was also honored, his for the shot that defeated Harvard in the 2011 Ivy playoff.
Mostly, the night was about giving the more than 200 athletes who are heading off to graduation and then their separate ways next week, one more chance to be together as a group. And to understand that Princeton Athletics was here long before they were and that they will stay connected to each other through the University and the athletic department but especially through their teams.
There is a certain provincial nature of each team, as they cheered for teammates who received awards or when they came up on the screen for the video, but there is also a collective unity among all of them.
As he does every year, TB thinks back to the first time the athletic class is together, at freshman athlete orientation in early September of the first year's on campus. To that point, they know little about Princeton and almost nobody outside their teammates, and the athletes are clearly segmented team-by-team.
At the banquet, they've been through so much in four years, and their bond extends beyond just their teams.
Just as TB senses how closely they cling to their teammates at orientation, he can also feel how much cross-team respect there is at the banquet.
It's part of what makes the night so special. And it's unique to a school like Princeton, with so many different teams and athletes.
As Rick Fiorito figured out, a big part of the night is how the current class takes its place in the long history of Princeton Athletics.
For the athletes themselves, though, it's mostly about saying goodbye, the start of a few days of parties and then Class Day and graduation.
They get dressed up, the mingle, they laugh, they cheer for their teammates, they honor those who have achieved the most.
TB wishes them all the best. And he thanks them for competing as hard as they did, enduring how they did, and helping Princeton continue its tradition of athletic success - all while making it such a great place for people like TB to work.
They're special people, every last one of them.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Banquet Time
The etiquette of Lot 21 is by now an established part of every morning for TigerBlog.
Lot 21 is the parking lot outside Jadwin, and technically TB is talking about Lot 21A, which is the small part of it in the front that is reserved for athletic department staff.
Upon arrival, it is good manners to wait a moment or two for anyone else who has similarly arrived, rather than sprinting on ahead. It's possible to judge people based on how long they'll wait for someone in the parking lot, and the greatest sign of respect is to wait for someone who is just pulling in even on a rainy day.
Of course, the group mentality can get you a bit stacked up in the parking lot. If A waits for B and then C arrives almost immediately thereafter, it becomes proper to wait for C as well. Eventually, when D and E get there, it gets way out of hand and someone has to make a decision.
As for the inverse, the walk from the building to Lot 21 is about a three-minute venture, yet it is customary to identify someone who is leaving at the same time and then walk out in pairs or groups.
TigerBlog arrived this morning to find the parking lot almost completely empty, which is a rarity, and he walked in alone.
As is standard, he went in the side door and then was faced with the same two options that he's had for two decades: walk up the stairs on the immediate left or go straight and then to the stairwell on the right past the business office. This is always a tough choice.
Today TB went past the business office, and, as the door was open, he poked his head in to say hello to Phyllis Chase and Ryan Yurko, who along with Jon Kurian make up an ultra-friendly, ulra-welcoming group.
The business office today was cluttered with gigantic trophies, a sign that tonight must be the Princeton Varsity Club Senior Athlete Banquet. The trophies will make their way over to the grad college for the event, which unlike the last few years, figures to be held on a picture-perfect weather evening.
The trophies represent this year's championship teams, and while Princeton's Ivy League titles dropped from a record-setting 15 a year ago to 10 this year, judging by the looks of the trophies, the gross weight might be greater this year.
Either way, TB is glad he's not the one dragging them over there, especially the men's cross country one, which looks to be the size of a small car.
It's wild to TB that it's time for another PVC banquet, since the last one seems like it was 20 minutes ago, not 52 weeks ago. Of course, that's how it is in college athletics.
TB has two main jobs for the banquet, writing the script and putting together the slideshow/video of the senior athletes.
Last year's script ran 7,000 words, and TB resolved this year to substantially cut that count back, which he successfully did, coming in at just under 5,000.
The night always ends with the video, which has the live-action part to start and then one action picture of every senior athlete, set to music. TigerBlog chooses the music, and here's a hint for tonight - one of the songs if by a group that is somewhat famously associated with the Jersey Shore.
Anyway, putting together one picture of each senior athlete is always an amazing process.
There are usually right around 200 senior athletes each year, and each one of them is represented, across 38 sports.
As TB goes through the task, he's always struck by the overwhelming diversity of athletic experiences, backgrounds, sports, athletes and all of it.
When you field 38 varsity teams, you're going to have athletes who have come here from wildly different backgrounds and who have competed here in wildly different ways.
How can the track and field athlete and the basketball player and the golfer and the hockey player have the same experience? They can't.
Team sizes differ. Attendance at events differs. Practices, team dynamics, squad sizes, skill sets - all of it varies from sport to sport.
And yet, as he puts the video together, TB can't help but be struck how all of these people come together under the banner of "Princeton Tigers."
The athletes always cheer for their teammates and friends when their names and pictures come up during the video. The pictures, by the way, are put in a completely random order, so there's no rhyme or reason to who will be next, until the end, when the award-winners appear.
TB also hopes that as they watch it, they see the big picture, that they've been part of something bigger than their next practice or next competition of next time they traveled together.
They were 1/38th of Princeton's program, one that's been in the intercollegiate athletic business since 1864.
Hopefully they realize that as the pictures go by, one after another. TB assumes they will.
Well, he hopes they will. He thinks they will.
But they definitely won't unless TB finishes the thing.
Lot 21 is the parking lot outside Jadwin, and technically TB is talking about Lot 21A, which is the small part of it in the front that is reserved for athletic department staff.
Upon arrival, it is good manners to wait a moment or two for anyone else who has similarly arrived, rather than sprinting on ahead. It's possible to judge people based on how long they'll wait for someone in the parking lot, and the greatest sign of respect is to wait for someone who is just pulling in even on a rainy day.
Of course, the group mentality can get you a bit stacked up in the parking lot. If A waits for B and then C arrives almost immediately thereafter, it becomes proper to wait for C as well. Eventually, when D and E get there, it gets way out of hand and someone has to make a decision.
As for the inverse, the walk from the building to Lot 21 is about a three-minute venture, yet it is customary to identify someone who is leaving at the same time and then walk out in pairs or groups.
TigerBlog arrived this morning to find the parking lot almost completely empty, which is a rarity, and he walked in alone.
As is standard, he went in the side door and then was faced with the same two options that he's had for two decades: walk up the stairs on the immediate left or go straight and then to the stairwell on the right past the business office. This is always a tough choice.
Today TB went past the business office, and, as the door was open, he poked his head in to say hello to Phyllis Chase and Ryan Yurko, who along with Jon Kurian make up an ultra-friendly, ulra-welcoming group.
The business office today was cluttered with gigantic trophies, a sign that tonight must be the Princeton Varsity Club Senior Athlete Banquet. The trophies will make their way over to the grad college for the event, which unlike the last few years, figures to be held on a picture-perfect weather evening.
The trophies represent this year's championship teams, and while Princeton's Ivy League titles dropped from a record-setting 15 a year ago to 10 this year, judging by the looks of the trophies, the gross weight might be greater this year.
Either way, TB is glad he's not the one dragging them over there, especially the men's cross country one, which looks to be the size of a small car.
It's wild to TB that it's time for another PVC banquet, since the last one seems like it was 20 minutes ago, not 52 weeks ago. Of course, that's how it is in college athletics.
TB has two main jobs for the banquet, writing the script and putting together the slideshow/video of the senior athletes.
Last year's script ran 7,000 words, and TB resolved this year to substantially cut that count back, which he successfully did, coming in at just under 5,000.
The night always ends with the video, which has the live-action part to start and then one action picture of every senior athlete, set to music. TigerBlog chooses the music, and here's a hint for tonight - one of the songs if by a group that is somewhat famously associated with the Jersey Shore.
Anyway, putting together one picture of each senior athlete is always an amazing process.
There are usually right around 200 senior athletes each year, and each one of them is represented, across 38 sports.
As TB goes through the task, he's always struck by the overwhelming diversity of athletic experiences, backgrounds, sports, athletes and all of it.
When you field 38 varsity teams, you're going to have athletes who have come here from wildly different backgrounds and who have competed here in wildly different ways.
How can the track and field athlete and the basketball player and the golfer and the hockey player have the same experience? They can't.
Team sizes differ. Attendance at events differs. Practices, team dynamics, squad sizes, skill sets - all of it varies from sport to sport.
And yet, as he puts the video together, TB can't help but be struck how all of these people come together under the banner of "Princeton Tigers."
The athletes always cheer for their teammates and friends when their names and pictures come up during the video. The pictures, by the way, are put in a completely random order, so there's no rhyme or reason to who will be next, until the end, when the award-winners appear.
TB also hopes that as they watch it, they see the big picture, that they've been part of something bigger than their next practice or next competition of next time they traveled together.
They were 1/38th of Princeton's program, one that's been in the intercollegiate athletic business since 1864.
Hopefully they realize that as the pictures go by, one after another. TB assumes they will.
Well, he hopes they will. He thinks they will.
But they definitely won't unless TB finishes the thing.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
1-2-3-4-5-6
TigerBlog was listening to Fred Samara as he spoke about what a gifted natural athlete Conor McCullough is, how he could have been a tight end, how far he could drive a golf ball, and he came back to the same thought he always has: How do kids end up in the sports (and positions) that they play in high school and college?
And, growing off that idea, there's the question of just how transferable athletic ability is. If you are a great basketball player, could you also be a great fencer? Or do you have some specific skill set that only lends itself to that particular sport?
Forgetting the obvious that you need to be 6-5, 300+ to play offensive line in the NFL or that it's hard for 6-3 to guard 6-11 in basketball, the answer to the skill set question is a little of both.
There are some athletes who could drift easily from sport to sport. There are others who found the one sport (and in certain cases, the one position) in which they could excel. So maybe the question should be what percentage does each answer get? In that case, TB would say more find their niche than could do just about anything, probably at around a 2-1 margin.
McCullough, though, is definitely in the "could do anything" category.
Every now and then, there is the freak athlete whose natural ability is just overwhelming, and that's what Princeton has in McCullough. As it turned out, he ended up as a hammer thrower because his father did the event for Ireland in the Olympics.
McCullough has destroyed the competition to this point.
He is the Princeton and Ivy League record-holder indoors (the weight throw) and outdoors (the hammer). At the NCAA regional this past weekend in Florida, all six of his throws eclipsed the best throw from anyone else in the field, a group of 48 other throwers that just happened to include the second- and third-best throwers in the country.
In other words, McCullough would have finished 1-2-3-4-5-6 in the competition, one that included the next two highest-ranked athletes in the country.
McCullough is probably headed to the Olympics, though not likely this year. Donn Cabral might be Olympic-bound in his event, the steeplechase, and he'll find that out in the Olympic trials in late June/early July.
Where McCullough and Cabral are both headed is the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-8, and both could come back from the event with a championship.
Princeton is wrapping up an extraordinary year of men's track and field/cross country. The Tigers won all three Ivy League team championships, running their two-year streak to six, by the way.
Individually, Princeton is sending six men (and one woman, 1,500 runner Greta Feldman) to the NCAA championships. The six from one gender and seven total are both records for the program.
It goes way beyond the number of athletes who have qualified.
It's the fact that two Princeton athletes have legitimate chances - in fact may actually be the favorites - of winning their events and that the others have real chances at earning All-America honors.
For Cabral, his road won't end in Des Moines. He hopes that a year that started with summer training in high altitude in Utah and saw him go through three seasons at Princeton will end in London at the Olympics.
McCullough in all likelihood is in the wrong event to get to that stage this quickly, as the hammer throw is dominated by those who have reached full physical maturity and have international experience. In other words, by those who are where McCullough will be in four years or even eight years.
Cabral was a decent youth soccer player who turned to distance running in high school and took to it immediately.
McCullough is a freak of nature who could do any sport.
Different paths. Same goals.
On the same team.
And, growing off that idea, there's the question of just how transferable athletic ability is. If you are a great basketball player, could you also be a great fencer? Or do you have some specific skill set that only lends itself to that particular sport?
Forgetting the obvious that you need to be 6-5, 300+ to play offensive line in the NFL or that it's hard for 6-3 to guard 6-11 in basketball, the answer to the skill set question is a little of both.
There are some athletes who could drift easily from sport to sport. There are others who found the one sport (and in certain cases, the one position) in which they could excel. So maybe the question should be what percentage does each answer get? In that case, TB would say more find their niche than could do just about anything, probably at around a 2-1 margin.
McCullough, though, is definitely in the "could do anything" category.
Every now and then, there is the freak athlete whose natural ability is just overwhelming, and that's what Princeton has in McCullough. As it turned out, he ended up as a hammer thrower because his father did the event for Ireland in the Olympics.
McCullough has destroyed the competition to this point.
He is the Princeton and Ivy League record-holder indoors (the weight throw) and outdoors (the hammer). At the NCAA regional this past weekend in Florida, all six of his throws eclipsed the best throw from anyone else in the field, a group of 48 other throwers that just happened to include the second- and third-best throwers in the country.
In other words, McCullough would have finished 1-2-3-4-5-6 in the competition, one that included the next two highest-ranked athletes in the country.
McCullough is probably headed to the Olympics, though not likely this year. Donn Cabral might be Olympic-bound in his event, the steeplechase, and he'll find that out in the Olympic trials in late June/early July.
Where McCullough and Cabral are both headed is the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Des Moines, Iowa, June 6-8, and both could come back from the event with a championship.
Princeton is wrapping up an extraordinary year of men's track and field/cross country. The Tigers won all three Ivy League team championships, running their two-year streak to six, by the way.
Individually, Princeton is sending six men (and one woman, 1,500 runner Greta Feldman) to the NCAA championships. The six from one gender and seven total are both records for the program.
It goes way beyond the number of athletes who have qualified.
It's the fact that two Princeton athletes have legitimate chances - in fact may actually be the favorites - of winning their events and that the others have real chances at earning All-America honors.
For Cabral, his road won't end in Des Moines. He hopes that a year that started with summer training in high altitude in Utah and saw him go through three seasons at Princeton will end in London at the Olympics.
McCullough in all likelihood is in the wrong event to get to that stage this quickly, as the hammer throw is dominated by those who have reached full physical maturity and have international experience. In other words, by those who are where McCullough will be in four years or even eight years.
Cabral was a decent youth soccer player who turned to distance running in high school and took to it immediately.
McCullough is a freak of nature who could do any sport.
Different paths. Same goals.
On the same team.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Yeah Hounds
TigerBlog is a big fan of the on-line message boards, especially about subjects that hit close to home.
They're a great source to find out what people are thinking, what they know, what they don't know, what myths persist. In many ways, they're instant market research.
His favorite is probably the one on laxpower.
In the wake of Loyola's dominant run through the 2012 men's lacrosse season, one that culminated Monday in a 9-3 demolishing of Maryland in the NCAA championship game, TB went back to the "Loyola 2012" entry on laxpower to see what the general thought was in the preseason.
And what did he find? Among Greyhounds fans, there was some optimism that the team could make a run - in the ECAC, not nationally.
In fact, Loyola began the season unranked in either of the two major polls. Under the preseason Inside Lacrosse poll, there are 70 comments, and Loyola is mentioned in only two of them, both of which say that the team should have been ranked in the Top 20.
It's a rarity in lacrosse for a team to emerge the way Loyola did.
It's a rarity in any sport for a team that enters the postseason ranked No. 1 in both polls and No. 1 in RPI and to be the No. 1 seed in the tournament to be so generally disregarded the way the Greyhounds were.
TB fell into the same trap, and his selection of Duke from before the tournament and Final Four was way off, as the Blue Devils were thumped 16-10 by Maryland in the semifinals.
In reality, TB hadn't seen enough of Loyola to know just how good this team was, and he senses that that is fairly common among those that sold the Hounds short.
They were a fun team - and by all accounts a likeable team with a very likeable coach - to watch, as TB did from Gillette Stadium, where he helped with official stats for the eighth straight championship weekend. In all, it was the 18th time in 21 years that TB attended the Final Four.
He's seen it grow from Princeton's first NCAA title, back in 1992 at Franklin Field, through the five that followed - all on college campuses - and now through the era of NFL stadiums as the venue.
When Princeton defeated Syracuse 10-9 in two overtimes on Memorial Day 1992, the game was shown on a two-week tape delay in a one-hour time block.
This year, every NCAA tournament game was televised live. Hey, for the entire season, it was a rarity to have a weekend go by without two, three, four or more games on TV.
This championship weekend consists of the Saturday Division I semifinals, the Sunday Division II and III championship games and then the Monday Division I final. The NCAA and ESPN have tinkered with start times through the years, but that basic format has been unchanged.
In most years, there is at least one incredible game, an overtime game or two, more games with dramatic fourth quarters than blowouts.
The 2012 tournament lacked pretty much any of that. The closest thing to a dramatic ending was in the Division II game, when Limestone had a possession in the final 30 seconds to try to get the tying goal against Dowling but couldn't.
Or even in the postgame celebration, when Massachusetts state troopers arrested six Dowling fans who hopped onto the field from the stands.
Other than that, the other games were all decided long before the final minutes. As for the final, it was a chance to see Loyola dominate on both ends of the field, and while it was ridiculously impressive, it was hardly dramatic.
Other than the DII arrests, the biggest topic of conversation was the continued dip in attendance during championship weekend, as each of the last five years has seen a decline. The 2008 final in Foxboro drew 48,970; the game this year in the same stadium drew 30,816.
The two big questions were 1) why and 2) what to do about it?
From TB's point vantage point, the situation isn't as dire as it's being made out to be.
Hey, look at this way, way more people went to watch the DII and DIII doubleheader (17,005) than went to the SEC baseball championship game (12,526). So some of it is relative.
There were the usual factors, of course, as to why attendance wasn't what it was in 2008:
* no Johns Hopkins or Syracuse, who have the biggest followings
* the economy, which makes disposable income more previous
* gas prices - since it was a long drive from pretty much anywhere to Foxboro
* the "we did this once" concept, in which casual fans who want to check out a variety of events once as opposed to going to the same one every time have already done so
Mostly, TB thinks it had to do with three things more than any other.
First, it's the money involved in going.
Second, it's something that had to be planned in advance. Fans who went to Gillette in the past had memories of traffic nightmares, and fans who went to Baltimore last year had memories of the overwhelming heat and humidity.
Third - and this is the one that will be impacting American sports attendance way beyond the lacrosse championships - is the ease of watching on television.
It's a lot of effort to get to Foxboro. It's not a lot of effort to turn on your HD TV and watch the game in the comfort of the house.
And in ESPN's Quint Kessenich, lacrosse has found its own version of Howard Cosell, an announcer that is either loved or hated but whom lacrosse fans flock to for his insights. It used to be that the youth/high school players TB knew would ask about players; now they ask him about Kessenich.
The NCAA lacrosse committee will be thinking long and hard about the future of the event. There is thought that maybe it should always be in Baltimore, the way the College World Series is always in Omaha.
Next year's event is in Philadelphia. The 2014 tournament is in Baltimore. TB thinks attendance will go way up for both.
TB will be at Lincoln Financial Field next Memorial Day weekend, at least he hopes he will.
And he hopes Princeton will be there with him.
Hey, why not? If Loyola could do it this year, why not the Tigers next year? Or any other team?
That's what the talk should be about. Not attendance.
About the Loyola Greyhounds and their great run to the championship.
Congrats to the Hounds.
They're a great source to find out what people are thinking, what they know, what they don't know, what myths persist. In many ways, they're instant market research.
His favorite is probably the one on laxpower.
In the wake of Loyola's dominant run through the 2012 men's lacrosse season, one that culminated Monday in a 9-3 demolishing of Maryland in the NCAA championship game, TB went back to the "Loyola 2012" entry on laxpower to see what the general thought was in the preseason.
And what did he find? Among Greyhounds fans, there was some optimism that the team could make a run - in the ECAC, not nationally.
In fact, Loyola began the season unranked in either of the two major polls. Under the preseason Inside Lacrosse poll, there are 70 comments, and Loyola is mentioned in only two of them, both of which say that the team should have been ranked in the Top 20.
It's a rarity in lacrosse for a team to emerge the way Loyola did.
It's a rarity in any sport for a team that enters the postseason ranked No. 1 in both polls and No. 1 in RPI and to be the No. 1 seed in the tournament to be so generally disregarded the way the Greyhounds were.
TB fell into the same trap, and his selection of Duke from before the tournament and Final Four was way off, as the Blue Devils were thumped 16-10 by Maryland in the semifinals.
In reality, TB hadn't seen enough of Loyola to know just how good this team was, and he senses that that is fairly common among those that sold the Hounds short.
They were a fun team - and by all accounts a likeable team with a very likeable coach - to watch, as TB did from Gillette Stadium, where he helped with official stats for the eighth straight championship weekend. In all, it was the 18th time in 21 years that TB attended the Final Four.
He's seen it grow from Princeton's first NCAA title, back in 1992 at Franklin Field, through the five that followed - all on college campuses - and now through the era of NFL stadiums as the venue.
When Princeton defeated Syracuse 10-9 in two overtimes on Memorial Day 1992, the game was shown on a two-week tape delay in a one-hour time block.
This year, every NCAA tournament game was televised live. Hey, for the entire season, it was a rarity to have a weekend go by without two, three, four or more games on TV.
This championship weekend consists of the Saturday Division I semifinals, the Sunday Division II and III championship games and then the Monday Division I final. The NCAA and ESPN have tinkered with start times through the years, but that basic format has been unchanged.
In most years, there is at least one incredible game, an overtime game or two, more games with dramatic fourth quarters than blowouts.
The 2012 tournament lacked pretty much any of that. The closest thing to a dramatic ending was in the Division II game, when Limestone had a possession in the final 30 seconds to try to get the tying goal against Dowling but couldn't.
Or even in the postgame celebration, when Massachusetts state troopers arrested six Dowling fans who hopped onto the field from the stands.
Other than that, the other games were all decided long before the final minutes. As for the final, it was a chance to see Loyola dominate on both ends of the field, and while it was ridiculously impressive, it was hardly dramatic.
Other than the DII arrests, the biggest topic of conversation was the continued dip in attendance during championship weekend, as each of the last five years has seen a decline. The 2008 final in Foxboro drew 48,970; the game this year in the same stadium drew 30,816.
The two big questions were 1) why and 2) what to do about it?
From TB's point vantage point, the situation isn't as dire as it's being made out to be.
Hey, look at this way, way more people went to watch the DII and DIII doubleheader (17,005) than went to the SEC baseball championship game (12,526). So some of it is relative.
There were the usual factors, of course, as to why attendance wasn't what it was in 2008:
* no Johns Hopkins or Syracuse, who have the biggest followings
* the economy, which makes disposable income more previous
* gas prices - since it was a long drive from pretty much anywhere to Foxboro
* the "we did this once" concept, in which casual fans who want to check out a variety of events once as opposed to going to the same one every time have already done so
Mostly, TB thinks it had to do with three things more than any other.
First, it's the money involved in going.
Second, it's something that had to be planned in advance. Fans who went to Gillette in the past had memories of traffic nightmares, and fans who went to Baltimore last year had memories of the overwhelming heat and humidity.
Third - and this is the one that will be impacting American sports attendance way beyond the lacrosse championships - is the ease of watching on television.
It's a lot of effort to get to Foxboro. It's not a lot of effort to turn on your HD TV and watch the game in the comfort of the house.
And in ESPN's Quint Kessenich, lacrosse has found its own version of Howard Cosell, an announcer that is either loved or hated but whom lacrosse fans flock to for his insights. It used to be that the youth/high school players TB knew would ask about players; now they ask him about Kessenich.
The NCAA lacrosse committee will be thinking long and hard about the future of the event. There is thought that maybe it should always be in Baltimore, the way the College World Series is always in Omaha.
Next year's event is in Philadelphia. The 2014 tournament is in Baltimore. TB thinks attendance will go way up for both.
TB will be at Lincoln Financial Field next Memorial Day weekend, at least he hopes he will.
And he hopes Princeton will be there with him.
Hey, why not? If Loyola could do it this year, why not the Tigers next year? Or any other team?
That's what the talk should be about. Not attendance.
About the Loyola Greyhounds and their great run to the championship.
Congrats to the Hounds.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Lax Thoughts
The first time TigerBlog saw Tom Schreiber play lacrosse, it was on
the internet, of course. It was the last game of his high school career,
the Long Island Catholic final, and TB saw highlights of it on MSG's
website.
The game took two days to play, as lightning interrupted the game at one point. It would take overtime for Schreiber's team - St. Anthony's - to defeat Chaminade (featuring Schreiber's current teammate Will Himler). The game-winner came on as nice a pass as TB has ever seen in a lacrosse game, courtesy of Schreiber.
The first time TB saw Jesse Hubbard, there weren't nearly as many options. The University's official athletic website, goprincetontigers.com, was still a half-decade away and blogging didn't exist.
TB saw Hubbard first in a magazine, Lacrosse Magazine to be exact, in a still picture from a high school all-star game.
He had the same first reaction to both players: Wow.
Jesse Hubbard found out this week that he is part of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2012.
TB hasn't studied the history of each year's class, but he can't imagine that there have been too many that can equal the one that will be inducted this October. Brian Dougherty is arguably the greatest goalie of all-time. TB was shocked to see that Tim Nelson (North Carolina State one year; Syracuse the next three) wasn't already in; after all, Nelson's 221 career assists are the most in Division I history.
Roy Colsey was a Syracuse All-America in the early 1990s. Cindy Timchal and Missy Foote have coached teams to a combined 13 NCAA championships.
You can make a case for Jen Adams as the greatest women's lacrosse player of all time. You could make a case that no single person has impacted women's lacrosse as much as Kelly Amonte Hiller, as a player at Maryland and now as Northwestern's coach.
Hubbard is up there with any of the members of the Class of 2012.
A 1998 Princeton grad, Hubbard is Princeton's career leader with 163 goals, and his 53 in 1996 are the school single-season record. He had more games in his career with three or more goals than he had with fewer than three.
Hubbard had 33 goals and 43 points in 11 NCAA tournament games, in which Princeton went 10-1, by the way. His last three seasons were a 43-2 stampede, and each ended with the NCAA championship trophy.
Hubbard was part of an epic attack unit, including feeder Jon Hess and Chris Massey, whose 146 goals are second at Princeton to Hubbard. When he left Princeton, he went on to be the career leader in goals scored in Major League Lacrosse.
Hubbard's strength was, well, his strength, his legendary ability to shoot. He had unlimited range, and as his numbers suggest, he was an unstoppable offensive force.
TB saw 59 of the 60 games Princeton played during Hubbard's career. The only one he missed was the 1996 regular-season game at Virginia that Princeton lost before coming back to defeat the Cavs later that year in the NCAA final - on Hubbard's overtime goal (that game at UVa was the same day that Princeton defeated Penn in the Ivy League basketball playoff).
It was a privilege to see his career from so close, to see the way he could dominate any opponent, the way he could change games simply by catching and shooting.
Beyond that, Hubbard, Hess and Massey were about the three easiest players to root for that TB has ever run into in his time here. They combined for 121 points in those 11 NCAA games and 618 points in four years.
Hubbard now enters the Hall of Fame. TB assumes Hess will get there too and that Massey, the perpetually underrated one, will not. No matter. TB will always think of them together, not individually - and so in TB's mind, Hubbard's induction is really about the three of them together.
As for Schreiber, he has matched Hubbard by being the Ivy League Rookie of the Year as a freshman and first-team All-America as a sophomore. In fact, only four players at Princeton have ever done that, Schreiber, Hubbard, Scott Bacigalupo and Ryan Boyle.
Bacigalupo is already a Hall-of-Famer. Boyle will be there once he's done playing. Hubbard will be there this October.
TB isn't suggesting that Schreiber will be in the Hall of Fame one day. On the other hand, he's not saying he won't be either. And if he does get there, he'll be the second from his family, along with his father Doug.
Schreiber is one of four Princeton All-Americas, along with fellow first-team selection Chad Wiedmaier, second-team pick Tyler Fiorito and honorable mention pick John Cunningham.
Schreiber has two years remaining at Princeton; the other three will be graduating in another week or so. All three are among the best who've ever played their positions at Princeton.
Finally, the NCAA lacrosse championships are this weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
TB's pick to win it all is the same as his pick before the tournament started - Duke.
We'll find out how much he knows by Monday.
The game took two days to play, as lightning interrupted the game at one point. It would take overtime for Schreiber's team - St. Anthony's - to defeat Chaminade (featuring Schreiber's current teammate Will Himler). The game-winner came on as nice a pass as TB has ever seen in a lacrosse game, courtesy of Schreiber.
The first time TB saw Jesse Hubbard, there weren't nearly as many options. The University's official athletic website, goprincetontigers.com, was still a half-decade away and blogging didn't exist.
TB saw Hubbard first in a magazine, Lacrosse Magazine to be exact, in a still picture from a high school all-star game.
He had the same first reaction to both players: Wow.
Jesse Hubbard found out this week that he is part of the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame Class of 2012.
TB hasn't studied the history of each year's class, but he can't imagine that there have been too many that can equal the one that will be inducted this October. Brian Dougherty is arguably the greatest goalie of all-time. TB was shocked to see that Tim Nelson (North Carolina State one year; Syracuse the next three) wasn't already in; after all, Nelson's 221 career assists are the most in Division I history.
Roy Colsey was a Syracuse All-America in the early 1990s. Cindy Timchal and Missy Foote have coached teams to a combined 13 NCAA championships.
You can make a case for Jen Adams as the greatest women's lacrosse player of all time. You could make a case that no single person has impacted women's lacrosse as much as Kelly Amonte Hiller, as a player at Maryland and now as Northwestern's coach.
Hubbard is up there with any of the members of the Class of 2012.
A 1998 Princeton grad, Hubbard is Princeton's career leader with 163 goals, and his 53 in 1996 are the school single-season record. He had more games in his career with three or more goals than he had with fewer than three.
Hubbard had 33 goals and 43 points in 11 NCAA tournament games, in which Princeton went 10-1, by the way. His last three seasons were a 43-2 stampede, and each ended with the NCAA championship trophy.
Hubbard was part of an epic attack unit, including feeder Jon Hess and Chris Massey, whose 146 goals are second at Princeton to Hubbard. When he left Princeton, he went on to be the career leader in goals scored in Major League Lacrosse.
Hubbard's strength was, well, his strength, his legendary ability to shoot. He had unlimited range, and as his numbers suggest, he was an unstoppable offensive force.
TB saw 59 of the 60 games Princeton played during Hubbard's career. The only one he missed was the 1996 regular-season game at Virginia that Princeton lost before coming back to defeat the Cavs later that year in the NCAA final - on Hubbard's overtime goal (that game at UVa was the same day that Princeton defeated Penn in the Ivy League basketball playoff).
It was a privilege to see his career from so close, to see the way he could dominate any opponent, the way he could change games simply by catching and shooting.
Beyond that, Hubbard, Hess and Massey were about the three easiest players to root for that TB has ever run into in his time here. They combined for 121 points in those 11 NCAA games and 618 points in four years.
Hubbard now enters the Hall of Fame. TB assumes Hess will get there too and that Massey, the perpetually underrated one, will not. No matter. TB will always think of them together, not individually - and so in TB's mind, Hubbard's induction is really about the three of them together.
As for Schreiber, he has matched Hubbard by being the Ivy League Rookie of the Year as a freshman and first-team All-America as a sophomore. In fact, only four players at Princeton have ever done that, Schreiber, Hubbard, Scott Bacigalupo and Ryan Boyle.
Bacigalupo is already a Hall-of-Famer. Boyle will be there once he's done playing. Hubbard will be there this October.
TB isn't suggesting that Schreiber will be in the Hall of Fame one day. On the other hand, he's not saying he won't be either. And if he does get there, he'll be the second from his family, along with his father Doug.
Schreiber is one of four Princeton All-Americas, along with fellow first-team selection Chad Wiedmaier, second-team pick Tyler Fiorito and honorable mention pick John Cunningham.
Schreiber has two years remaining at Princeton; the other three will be graduating in another week or so. All three are among the best who've ever played their positions at Princeton.
Finally, the NCAA lacrosse championships are this weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
TB's pick to win it all is the same as his pick before the tournament started - Duke.
We'll find out how much he knows by Monday.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
The Sports Parade
When TigerBlog goes through the TV lineup, he usually makes stops at channel 126 (Military Channel), 181 (A&E), and 230 (Turner Classic Movies) and 231 (AMC), as well as the usual ones along the way. The last few weeks, when he's watched way more of the hockey playoffs than he usually does, he's figured out that NBC Sports is channel 90.
These days, he's looking to catch up on "Big Bang Theory," a show he was late getting into and still isn't 100% sold on, though he did laugh heartily when Raj tells his blind date that it's okay for her to wash her hands all the time but not Sheldon because "you're a dentist, and he's just nuts."
As an aside, he's tried to get into "Mad Men," though with limited success to date.
Anyway, he saw that there was a movie called "The Sports Parade" on channel 230, so he went to the information button to see what it was about.
Turns out "The Sports Parade" is from 1932, and the description said it followed two former college football stars after their graduation as one goes in a successful direction and the other is constantly trying to get ahead.
The successful one, if TB may add, becomes a big shot in the newspaper business, specifically as the sports editor. The newspaper business as it was portrayed in 1932 bore little resemblance to the one that TB knew in the 1980s and 1990s.
What made the movie even more interesting was the fact that the two athlete/friends were Dartmouth guys. They played football, hockey and baseball actually.
There were a few scenes in the beginning that were supposed to be on Dartmouth's campus, and there was a large banner that read "DARTMOUTH" in the same block letters that TB has seen so many times when he's been in Hanover.
TB only saw the first 30 minutes of it or so, and he has no idea how it turns out. If the movie is from 1932, then the two guys played in the late 1920s or so.
TB, being somewhat along the same lines as Sheldon, immediately wondered how they did against Princeton, and the answer is - they didn't, not in football at least, as Princeton and Dartmouth did not face each other between 1916 and 1933.
At one point, the sports editor guy talks about how they'll be covering "Yale-Dartmouth at the Bowl," which is where every Yale-Dartmouth game was played back then. In fact, Yale and Dartmouth tied 0-0 in 1930 and 33-33 in 1931.
Princeton did play Dartmouth in baseball in those years, and the schools would play in hockey twice a year as well, once in Princeton and once in New York City.
Of course, Princeton and Dartmouth did not play in women's athletics back then, since Princeton would not admit women for nearly 40 more years.
Back in the present day, the NCAA women's rowing championships come to the area this weekend, as Mercer Lake is the venue. The hosts, by the way, are the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Rider (which doesn't have a rowing team, but that doesn't mean it can't be the host for the event).
Princeton is the defending first varsity 8 champion, but the overall champion is the team that wins the points championship, which puts it in direct contradiction with the way the Ivy League crowns its winner.
This year was the first time the Ivy League women's rowing championships were separate from the Eastern Sprints, and the Ivy champion for years had been recognized as the highest finished first varsity 8 boat at the Sprints. For continuity sake, the league carried that over this year.
Beginning next year, the winner of the Ivy League title gets an automatic bid to the NCAA event, but TB isn't quite sure what that means. Is it the first varsity 8 boat? The overall team winner?
Anyway, seven schools have won the NCAA women's rowing championship: Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cal, Washington, Stanford and Virginia. It's unlikely that Princeton breaks into that elite group this year, but the Tigers are coming off a fourth-place finish a year ago - and they are the highest ranked Ivy team in the final poll (sixth). The top five in the poll? Cal, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio State and Washington.
The racing begins tomorrow and runs all day, continuing all day Saturday and then wrapping up with the finals Sunday. The first varsity 8 grand final is 12:05.
Looking for something to do? Mercer Lake is in Mercer County Park, about 10 minutes from Princeton's campus.
These days, he's looking to catch up on "Big Bang Theory," a show he was late getting into and still isn't 100% sold on, though he did laugh heartily when Raj tells his blind date that it's okay for her to wash her hands all the time but not Sheldon because "you're a dentist, and he's just nuts."
As an aside, he's tried to get into "Mad Men," though with limited success to date.
Anyway, he saw that there was a movie called "The Sports Parade" on channel 230, so he went to the information button to see what it was about.
Turns out "The Sports Parade" is from 1932, and the description said it followed two former college football stars after their graduation as one goes in a successful direction and the other is constantly trying to get ahead.
The successful one, if TB may add, becomes a big shot in the newspaper business, specifically as the sports editor. The newspaper business as it was portrayed in 1932 bore little resemblance to the one that TB knew in the 1980s and 1990s.
What made the movie even more interesting was the fact that the two athlete/friends were Dartmouth guys. They played football, hockey and baseball actually.
There were a few scenes in the beginning that were supposed to be on Dartmouth's campus, and there was a large banner that read "DARTMOUTH" in the same block letters that TB has seen so many times when he's been in Hanover.
TB only saw the first 30 minutes of it or so, and he has no idea how it turns out. If the movie is from 1932, then the two guys played in the late 1920s or so.
TB, being somewhat along the same lines as Sheldon, immediately wondered how they did against Princeton, and the answer is - they didn't, not in football at least, as Princeton and Dartmouth did not face each other between 1916 and 1933.
At one point, the sports editor guy talks about how they'll be covering "Yale-Dartmouth at the Bowl," which is where every Yale-Dartmouth game was played back then. In fact, Yale and Dartmouth tied 0-0 in 1930 and 33-33 in 1931.
Princeton did play Dartmouth in baseball in those years, and the schools would play in hockey twice a year as well, once in Princeton and once in New York City.
Of course, Princeton and Dartmouth did not play in women's athletics back then, since Princeton would not admit women for nearly 40 more years.
Back in the present day, the NCAA women's rowing championships come to the area this weekend, as Mercer Lake is the venue. The hosts, by the way, are the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Rider (which doesn't have a rowing team, but that doesn't mean it can't be the host for the event).
Princeton is the defending first varsity 8 champion, but the overall champion is the team that wins the points championship, which puts it in direct contradiction with the way the Ivy League crowns its winner.
This year was the first time the Ivy League women's rowing championships were separate from the Eastern Sprints, and the Ivy champion for years had been recognized as the highest finished first varsity 8 boat at the Sprints. For continuity sake, the league carried that over this year.
Beginning next year, the winner of the Ivy League title gets an automatic bid to the NCAA event, but TB isn't quite sure what that means. Is it the first varsity 8 boat? The overall team winner?
Anyway, seven schools have won the NCAA women's rowing championship: Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cal, Washington, Stanford and Virginia. It's unlikely that Princeton breaks into that elite group this year, but the Tigers are coming off a fourth-place finish a year ago - and they are the highest ranked Ivy team in the final poll (sixth). The top five in the poll? Cal, Michigan, Virginia, Ohio State and Washington.
The racing begins tomorrow and runs all day, continuing all day Saturday and then wrapping up with the finals Sunday. The first varsity 8 grand final is 12:05.
Looking for something to do? Mercer Lake is in Mercer County Park, about 10 minutes from Princeton's campus.
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