Before TigerBlog talks about how he hopes his longtime employer beats his alma mater four times tomorrow, he wants to start out by congratulating Princeton water polo coach Luis Nicolao.
In case you didn't see it, when Princeton defeated Iona 17-9 Thursday night, it gave Luis his 400th win with the men's program. He's now 400-162 for his career with the men to be exact.
How many Princeton coaches have ever reached 400 wins? It's not a very long list. It includes names like Pete Carril, Cindy Cohen and Glenn Nelson - oh, and also Luis Nicolao. Yes, he was already in the group, having reached the 400 mark in women's water polo already.
By the way, baseball coach Scott Bradley is very close, with 389.
Luis' record with the women's team is 442-149. That makes him 842-311 overall. That's a winning percentage of, uh, really good.
Luis is as much a part of the Princeton Athletics fabric as anyone. He's been here a long time, and he and his two programs have represented the very best of what Princeton Athletics hopes to be. There have been victories, championships, NCAA Final Fours, an Olympic gold medal - and wave after wave of athletes who have embodied the "Achieve, Serve, Lead" spirit.
At the head of all that has been Luis. He's run the program, two programs actually, but he's also made himself a visible and universally well-loved part of the department culture as a whole - including appearing as Santa at the holiday party, and in just a Speedo at formal events.
So congrats to Luis. That's a lot of wins, and counting.
And now there's the whole alma mater vs. employer deal.
As always, TigerBlog wonders how many Princeton alums have ever gone to work someplace else ad ended up rooting against Princeton as many times as TB has rooted against Penn? It can't be many.
Also, how many people have about 100 articles of clothing that have a college on them and not one of them is from where that person actually went? Can't be many of them either.
On the other hand, TB spent four years at Penn and now is closing in on 30 years of being around Princeton and its teams. So, you know, it's understandable.
Princeton is at Penn for four events tomorrow. Of those four, two of them have immediately Ivy League championship implications and a third might have as the season continues.
It'll be Tigers vs. Quakers tomorrow in field hockey (noon), football (1), women's soccer (4) and men's soccer (7).
The field hockey team has already clinched at least a share of the Ivy title, and the Tigers know they will be playing in the NCAA tournament no matter what happens tomorrow. On the other hand, a win would give Princeton an outright championship and a perfect run through the league.
Harvard can still tie Princeton for the championship should the Tigers lose and the Crimson defeat Columbia. Princeton's win over Harvard earlier this season, though, would be the tiebreaker for the NCAA bid, so Princeton knows it's in.
Princeton, by the way, has outscored its first six league opponents by a combined 30-4.
The women's soccer team is tied with Columbia for first place in the league at 5-1-0. Columbia owns a win over Princeton meaning Princeton needs to finish ahead of the Lions to get the automatic bid. Columbia hosts Harvard tomorrow.
Ah, but Princeton may have something a lot better than an automatic bid - the No. 8 spot in the Division I RPI rankings. That means that Princeton is pretty much a lock for an at-large bid with a great chance to be at home.
Should Columbia and Princeton both win or both tie, then there'd be a co-championship. Brown, at 4-2-0, could still get a share of the championship with losses from both Princeton and Columbia and a Bears win over Yale - but Columbia would still get the league's automatic bid in that case with its wins over both Princeton and Brown.
The men's soccer team has two games left, the one at Penn and then next week at home against Yale. Princeton, who got off to a rough start and who has had to deal with a brutal stretch of injuries, is quietly inching its way back to the .500 mark.
In fact, should Princeton win its last two, it would be above .500 in both the league and overall. Just getting back to where the Tigers are now shows a lot about the character and resilience of the team and its coaches.
The football team, like the men's soccer team, has had to deal with more than its share of injuries. The Tigers now sit at 2-2 in the Ivy League, which in most years would mean a title is out of reach.
This year, though, isn't most years. It wouldn't be shocking if the Ivy championship was shared among teams who are 5-2, which means Princeton is still very much in play to be one of them.
Obviously, if Princeton wins out, it would be 5-2. It would also mean that Princeton would have beaten Yale, which would mean the Bulldogs would have a second loss. That would leave one-loss Cornell and Columbia, and they still play each other, which would mean one of them would have to get a second loss.
So, for Princeton, all it would take would be the winner of the Columbia-Cornell game to lose one of its other two. Will that happen? In this wild year of Ivy football, anything is possible.
The bottom line for Princeton is that all it can worry about is the next game, or even the next series, and see what happens from there.
And that's the weekend in Tigers and Quakers.
Go employer. Beat alma mater.
Friday, November 3, 2017
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Opening Face-Off
TigerBlog was stunned by the conversation in his office Tuesday afternoon.
The subject was sports movies. TigerBlog had quote a line from one, and his colleague Warren Croxton 1) couldn't identify the movie and 2) once told what the movie was said he didn't like it.
Didn't like it? Didn't like "Hoosiers?" What the heck, Warren.
Who doesn't like "Hoosiers?" TigerBlog texted Warren a clip from YouTube later that day. It was THIS ONE.
Maybe he should have sent him THIS ONE too.
No offense, Warren, but "Hoosiers" is such a great movie that TigerBlog can even look past the fact that Norman Dale is one of the worst game coaches of all time. He waited until his team was down big in the state final and still needed his players to tell him that maybe they should get the ball to Jimmy?
Warren, and TB's colleague Cody Chrusciel, said that they thought that "Major League" was a great sports movie. TigerBlog would agree.
In fact, back when TigerBlog was in the newspaper business, he wrote a big story about sports movies and which ones were his favorites, on the day of the Academy Awards one year (maybe 1990 or 1991, so long before "Miracle."). He had a chart with nominees in the five major categories and then picked the ones he thought should have won. "Rocky" won for Best Picture, by the way.
He also wrote a story about his favorites and least favorites. He said that he never liked "Field of Dreams" and that "Major League" was very underrated.
He got more mail - actual U.S. Mail - from that story than he did from every other story he wrote in his 11 years in the newspaper business combined. His top five sports movies, by the way, were "Rocky," "Hoosiers," "The Natural," "Heaven Can Wait" and "Knute Rockne All-American."
As TB said before, the movie "Miracle" hadn't yet been released when he wrote that story. The movie is the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team's "Miracle on Ice," which is the greatest sports event of TB's lifetime. Nothing, by the way, will ever compare.
The movie, therefore, had a lot to work with, but that could also have been a detriment, since it could have come across as cheesy. That wasn't the case. Not with scenes like THIS ONE.
A little closer to home, the Princeton men's hockey team opened its season with a 4-2 win over Holy Cross this past Sunday. TigerBlog was there. He did the entry for StatCrew, the official stats program that is used for almost every NCAA sport.
Most of the programs work the same way in terms of how to start a game, load rosters, do live stats, create game and season stat reports. There are subtle differences in the in-game piece from sport to sport, and then there are differences between the rules for sports.
TigerBlog has very little experience doing StatCrew for hockey, but because of fall break, the regular enterers (students Anna and Delaney) weren't there.
TB would give himself a solid B for the effort. Hockey has lots of things that lacrosse doesn't have, like plus/minus, two assists on a goal and, within the program, having to return players to the ice after a power play. Oh, and he kept forgetting to reset the clock on face-offs, at least until the third period.
And the trickiest of all is when the goalie leaves the ice during a delayed penalty. You have to remove the goalie and make it an empty net and then put the goalie back in during the power play.
But hey, he had the score right. Princeton 4, Holy Cross 2.
It's a different season for Princeton. A year ago, Princeton was the last team in Division I to get a win. This year, the Tigers are 1-0. And Holy Cross is no pushover. The Crusaders came into the game 3-0-2, with a win over Dartmouth included.
Princeton had a turnaround season a year ago. Now the Tigers are expected to challenge for a top four spot in the ECAC, and there was an expectation of winning the game Sunday, which something different that the team will have to figure out this season.
A big difference was that Colton Phinney wasn't in goal for this one, after he started for four years and shattered the program record for career saves. In his place was a freshman, Ryan Ferland, who made 38 saves against the Crusaders. Another freshman, Reid Yochim, scored the third goal of the day. The other three were scored by familiar names - Max Veronneau, Eric Robinson and Jackson Cressey.
The Tigers are definitely an exciting team to see, and this weekend will be one of the more exciting ones, as Colgate and Cornell come to Hobey Baker Rink. Colgate, you might recall, was the team that Princeton knocked off in a thrilling three-game ECAC playoff series last season, so you know the Raiders will be ready. And Cornell is always a big game.
The high temperature today in Princeton is supposed to be 75. It'll be 72 tomorrow. But it's hockey season regardless.
And it'll be heating up quickly this weekend in Princeton.
The subject was sports movies. TigerBlog had quote a line from one, and his colleague Warren Croxton 1) couldn't identify the movie and 2) once told what the movie was said he didn't like it.
Didn't like it? Didn't like "Hoosiers?" What the heck, Warren.
Who doesn't like "Hoosiers?" TigerBlog texted Warren a clip from YouTube later that day. It was THIS ONE.
Maybe he should have sent him THIS ONE too.
No offense, Warren, but "Hoosiers" is such a great movie that TigerBlog can even look past the fact that Norman Dale is one of the worst game coaches of all time. He waited until his team was down big in the state final and still needed his players to tell him that maybe they should get the ball to Jimmy?
Warren, and TB's colleague Cody Chrusciel, said that they thought that "Major League" was a great sports movie. TigerBlog would agree.
In fact, back when TigerBlog was in the newspaper business, he wrote a big story about sports movies and which ones were his favorites, on the day of the Academy Awards one year (maybe 1990 or 1991, so long before "Miracle."). He had a chart with nominees in the five major categories and then picked the ones he thought should have won. "Rocky" won for Best Picture, by the way.
He also wrote a story about his favorites and least favorites. He said that he never liked "Field of Dreams" and that "Major League" was very underrated.
He got more mail - actual U.S. Mail - from that story than he did from every other story he wrote in his 11 years in the newspaper business combined. His top five sports movies, by the way, were "Rocky," "Hoosiers," "The Natural," "Heaven Can Wait" and "Knute Rockne All-American."
As TB said before, the movie "Miracle" hadn't yet been released when he wrote that story. The movie is the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic men's hockey team's "Miracle on Ice," which is the greatest sports event of TB's lifetime. Nothing, by the way, will ever compare.
The movie, therefore, had a lot to work with, but that could also have been a detriment, since it could have come across as cheesy. That wasn't the case. Not with scenes like THIS ONE.
A little closer to home, the Princeton men's hockey team opened its season with a 4-2 win over Holy Cross this past Sunday. TigerBlog was there. He did the entry for StatCrew, the official stats program that is used for almost every NCAA sport.
Most of the programs work the same way in terms of how to start a game, load rosters, do live stats, create game and season stat reports. There are subtle differences in the in-game piece from sport to sport, and then there are differences between the rules for sports.
TigerBlog has very little experience doing StatCrew for hockey, but because of fall break, the regular enterers (students Anna and Delaney) weren't there.
TB would give himself a solid B for the effort. Hockey has lots of things that lacrosse doesn't have, like plus/minus, two assists on a goal and, within the program, having to return players to the ice after a power play. Oh, and he kept forgetting to reset the clock on face-offs, at least until the third period.
And the trickiest of all is when the goalie leaves the ice during a delayed penalty. You have to remove the goalie and make it an empty net and then put the goalie back in during the power play.
But hey, he had the score right. Princeton 4, Holy Cross 2.
It's a different season for Princeton. A year ago, Princeton was the last team in Division I to get a win. This year, the Tigers are 1-0. And Holy Cross is no pushover. The Crusaders came into the game 3-0-2, with a win over Dartmouth included.
Princeton had a turnaround season a year ago. Now the Tigers are expected to challenge for a top four spot in the ECAC, and there was an expectation of winning the game Sunday, which something different that the team will have to figure out this season.
A big difference was that Colton Phinney wasn't in goal for this one, after he started for four years and shattered the program record for career saves. In his place was a freshman, Ryan Ferland, who made 38 saves against the Crusaders. Another freshman, Reid Yochim, scored the third goal of the day. The other three were scored by familiar names - Max Veronneau, Eric Robinson and Jackson Cressey.
The Tigers are definitely an exciting team to see, and this weekend will be one of the more exciting ones, as Colgate and Cornell come to Hobey Baker Rink. Colgate, you might recall, was the team that Princeton knocked off in a thrilling three-game ECAC playoff series last season, so you know the Raiders will be ready. And Cornell is always a big game.
The high temperature today in Princeton is supposed to be 75. It'll be 72 tomorrow. But it's hockey season regardless.
And it'll be heating up quickly this weekend in Princeton.
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
Halloween Nostalgia
You know how you can tell TigerBlog's kids are a little older?
He didn't write about Halloween at all yesterday. Had this been 10 years ago, it would have all been about how his 10 year old and seven year old had agonized over costumes, finally found ones that did or did not work for them and then spent the evening traipsing throughout the neighborhood collecting candy.
Ah, those were the days. TigerBlog is actually getting quite nostalgic thinking about it.
He has a great old picture somewhere, an actual picture, of TigerBlog Jr. as Harry Potter and Miss TigerBlog as a cat. There was also the year when TBJ wore a rabbit costume, and when he knocked on a neighbor's door, he was told that he looked like such a cute mouse.
And both of TB's kids wore the bear costume more than once. And the line at the pizza place? It's longer on Halloween than any other night of the year.
Now? MTB had a big test today and couldn't be bothered to care about Halloween. And TBJ? TigerBlog is just happy that the holiday has come and gone and he and his Sacred Heart lacrosse teammates managed to get through it without landing in the news.
TigerBlog saw a picture of TBJ and two of his friends in their costumes. One of the friends was Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV." The other appeared to be dressed as a roulette wheel. As for TBJ, he said he was a cowboy, but he mostly looked like a kid from the Northeast in a straw hat.
TigerBlog works with a lot of people who have kids in that age range, or younger. They all seemed to come up with cute ideas for costumes, or even improvised combinations, including one "Disney Princess/Pirate" that his colleague's daughter went with.
Halloween, of course, is one of the great days of the year. There's candy, candy and more candy, and the little kids - all in their preferred looks - can't get enough of it.
TigerBlog always preferred to be the one who stayed in and opened the door for the kids who came to the door. There were a lot of years where he said to himself "okay, just one more mini Kit Kat and that'll be enough" as he waited.
It's also the start of a sprint from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's. Of all the times of the year that fly by, this could be the one that zips by the fastest.
Today is Nov. 1. Within the next 12 days, Princeton will have every one of its fall teams, plus men's and women's hockey, basketball, swimming and fencing plus wrestling all compete.
In yesterday's event meeting, the schedule for the weekend of Nov. 10-12 was laid out. That'll be a very, very busy one, and it could get busier with some possible postseason events.
Actually, three Princeton teams will definitely be competing in the postseason: field hockey (which has clinched the Ivy League's automatic NCAA tournament bid) and the men's and women's cross country teams (who will be in the NCAA regionals). The women's soccer team needs a win and Columbia loss or tie (or tie and Columbia loss) to clinch the automatic NCAA bid, but the Tigers and their top 10 RPI figure to be in the NCAA tournament regardless.
Those weekends are the fun ones for TigerBlog.
This coming weekend isn't quite as busy. There is ONLY football, field hockey and both soccers (all at Penn), women's hockey at Colgate and Cornell, men's hockey here against those same opponents, women's volleyball here against Columbia and Cornell and women's fencing, men's tennis and women's tennis on the road.
Oh, and wrestling. That's a huge one.
Jadwin Gym will be the home Sunday for the NWCA All-Star Classic, which begins at 3 (and, unfortunately, there is an admission charge for this one). There will be high-profile wrestlers from around the country here, with wrestling on two mats - men on one, women on the other.
Everything you need for the event is right HERE.
What else an TB tell you today?
Ah, that's what he forgot.
The Jadwin lobby project is nearing its conclusion. Remember how he told you how it's going to look great when it's done, back when construction started in August?
Well, you'll be able to judge for yourself in the next few days. The project has resulted in a lot of hammering and noise upstairs for the last few months, but TigerBlog is okay with that, because 1) the finished product will be great and 2) his office is so far downstairs he couldn't hear it anyway.
He didn't write about Halloween at all yesterday. Had this been 10 years ago, it would have all been about how his 10 year old and seven year old had agonized over costumes, finally found ones that did or did not work for them and then spent the evening traipsing throughout the neighborhood collecting candy.
Ah, those were the days. TigerBlog is actually getting quite nostalgic thinking about it.
He has a great old picture somewhere, an actual picture, of TigerBlog Jr. as Harry Potter and Miss TigerBlog as a cat. There was also the year when TBJ wore a rabbit costume, and when he knocked on a neighbor's door, he was told that he looked like such a cute mouse.
And both of TB's kids wore the bear costume more than once. And the line at the pizza place? It's longer on Halloween than any other night of the year.
Now? MTB had a big test today and couldn't be bothered to care about Halloween. And TBJ? TigerBlog is just happy that the holiday has come and gone and he and his Sacred Heart lacrosse teammates managed to get through it without landing in the news.
TigerBlog saw a picture of TBJ and two of his friends in their costumes. One of the friends was Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV." The other appeared to be dressed as a roulette wheel. As for TBJ, he said he was a cowboy, but he mostly looked like a kid from the Northeast in a straw hat.
TigerBlog works with a lot of people who have kids in that age range, or younger. They all seemed to come up with cute ideas for costumes, or even improvised combinations, including one "Disney Princess/Pirate" that his colleague's daughter went with.
Halloween, of course, is one of the great days of the year. There's candy, candy and more candy, and the little kids - all in their preferred looks - can't get enough of it.
TigerBlog always preferred to be the one who stayed in and opened the door for the kids who came to the door. There were a lot of years where he said to himself "okay, just one more mini Kit Kat and that'll be enough" as he waited.
It's also the start of a sprint from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year's. Of all the times of the year that fly by, this could be the one that zips by the fastest.
Today is Nov. 1. Within the next 12 days, Princeton will have every one of its fall teams, plus men's and women's hockey, basketball, swimming and fencing plus wrestling all compete.
In yesterday's event meeting, the schedule for the weekend of Nov. 10-12 was laid out. That'll be a very, very busy one, and it could get busier with some possible postseason events.
Actually, three Princeton teams will definitely be competing in the postseason: field hockey (which has clinched the Ivy League's automatic NCAA tournament bid) and the men's and women's cross country teams (who will be in the NCAA regionals). The women's soccer team needs a win and Columbia loss or tie (or tie and Columbia loss) to clinch the automatic NCAA bid, but the Tigers and their top 10 RPI figure to be in the NCAA tournament regardless.
Those weekends are the fun ones for TigerBlog.
This coming weekend isn't quite as busy. There is ONLY football, field hockey and both soccers (all at Penn), women's hockey at Colgate and Cornell, men's hockey here against those same opponents, women's volleyball here against Columbia and Cornell and women's fencing, men's tennis and women's tennis on the road.
Oh, and wrestling. That's a huge one.
Jadwin Gym will be the home Sunday for the NWCA All-Star Classic, which begins at 3 (and, unfortunately, there is an admission charge for this one). There will be high-profile wrestlers from around the country here, with wrestling on two mats - men on one, women on the other.
Everything you need for the event is right HERE.
What else an TB tell you today?
Ah, that's what he forgot.
The Jadwin lobby project is nearing its conclusion. Remember how he told you how it's going to look great when it's done, back when construction started in August?
Well, you'll be able to judge for yourself in the next few days. The project has resulted in a lot of hammering and noise upstairs for the last few months, but TigerBlog is okay with that, because 1) the finished product will be great and 2) his office is so far downstairs he couldn't hear it anyway.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Heps Champs
If you've ever tried to park on a city street, then you probably have gone through what TigerBlog did the other day.
It was Friday morning. He was in the Bronx, for the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country championships. As you know, it is one of his favorite events on the Ivy athletic calendar.
The main drawback of having Heps at Van Cortlandt Park is that it's next to impossible to find a parking space there. The other one is that the runners spend way more time out of sight during the races themselves, but hey, that's okay.
Oh, and for this past one, the sun was so bright and the day so warm that it melted all of the cookies in the Princeton tent. Still, it Heps was what is always is - a big party, with lots of of old friends and two really competitive races.
TB will get back to the parking situation first though.
TigerBlog came down Broadway and then turned off back towards where the Fieldston School is. That's where he started to look for parking spaces.
And he found none. And then he found a few other streets with none. If you've ever driven around back there, these are pretty narrow streets, with cars just wedged in one after the other. Then, as you inch up the street, you see a space.
Ah, but it's a hydrant. Or a driveway.
When you finally find that one spot, like TB did, you start to think to yourself that "hey, this must not be a legal parking spot, or else someone else would have already taken it." In the case of the spot that TB found Friday morning, it seemed to be a little too close to a driveway and a little too close to a hydrant - but maybe it was okay.
So what do you do? Well, first you look up on your phone how close you're allowed to be to a hydrant in New York City. Turns out it's 15 feet. Then you try to estimate how far you are, possibly by stepping it off, only to conclude that you're somewhere between 14 and 16 feet away.
As TigerBlog was doing all this, a woman came out of one of the houses close to where he was considering parking and said that there is no way he'd ever get a ticket if he parked there. TigerBlog took this as gospel truth and, relying on the word of a total stranger, left his car there.
Turns out, she was right. When TB came back, there was no ticket on his car.
Also by the time he got back to his car, he'd seen two pretty interesting stories play out for Princeton.
On the women's side, Gabi Forrest was the individual champion. On the men's side, Princeton was the winner.
Let's start with Forrest, a junior. TigerBlog went back to last year's results to see how she did, only to learn that she didn't even compete.
And now, here she was, a year later. She figured to be a point scorer. But the champion?
It led to one of the nicer moments TigerBlog has ever seen at a Princeton event.
There was Forrest, the winner after a late charge to the tape. And there was her mother, who came to watch the race - all the way from their hometown of Brisbane. The one in Australia.
And there they were, mother and daughter, hugging near the finish. You can see it right HERE. That's pretty special, right?
The women's race was at 11. Then it was time for the men to go.
TigerBlog spent most of the men's race standing near the finishing line, kibitzing, as it were. You know who is great at kibitzing? Former women's track and field coach Peter Farrell, and he's not even one of TB's people. Peter was there, of course. It wouldn't be Heps without Peter.
As the men were off on the course, Peter was giving the guide of what racing is like. He grew up running at Van Cortlandt Park, and he loves the place.
And of course, pretty much everything he says is funny.
Eventually, as the men headed for the finish, it was pretty clear that it would be either Princeton or Columbia.
First it was Columbia. Then Princeton (Noah Kauppila), Princeton (Conor Lundy), Princeton (Garrett O'Toole). Then Columbia, Yale, Columbia, Columbia.
From where TB was standing, he couldn't really see who was about to cross the line until they were really close. He did know that he needed to see two oranges before one light blue, and that's exactly what happened.
There was Gannon Willcutts in ninth. There was Viraj Deokar in 10th. Columbia needed to come in at least 13th to tie, but there would be runners from every other school before the next blue shirt, and it was clear that Princeton had won.
The Tigers picked up their 19th Ivy Heps title in program history. It was also a sweep of Heps titles in the calendar year of 2017, after winning indoor and outdoor track and field.
And for TB, it was another fun trip to Heps. And no parking ticket.
He's pretty sure his son has more than made up for that, of course.
It was Friday morning. He was in the Bronx, for the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country championships. As you know, it is one of his favorite events on the Ivy athletic calendar.
The main drawback of having Heps at Van Cortlandt Park is that it's next to impossible to find a parking space there. The other one is that the runners spend way more time out of sight during the races themselves, but hey, that's okay.
Oh, and for this past one, the sun was so bright and the day so warm that it melted all of the cookies in the Princeton tent. Still, it Heps was what is always is - a big party, with lots of of old friends and two really competitive races.
TB will get back to the parking situation first though.
TigerBlog came down Broadway and then turned off back towards where the Fieldston School is. That's where he started to look for parking spaces.
And he found none. And then he found a few other streets with none. If you've ever driven around back there, these are pretty narrow streets, with cars just wedged in one after the other. Then, as you inch up the street, you see a space.
Ah, but it's a hydrant. Or a driveway.
When you finally find that one spot, like TB did, you start to think to yourself that "hey, this must not be a legal parking spot, or else someone else would have already taken it." In the case of the spot that TB found Friday morning, it seemed to be a little too close to a driveway and a little too close to a hydrant - but maybe it was okay.
So what do you do? Well, first you look up on your phone how close you're allowed to be to a hydrant in New York City. Turns out it's 15 feet. Then you try to estimate how far you are, possibly by stepping it off, only to conclude that you're somewhere between 14 and 16 feet away.
As TigerBlog was doing all this, a woman came out of one of the houses close to where he was considering parking and said that there is no way he'd ever get a ticket if he parked there. TigerBlog took this as gospel truth and, relying on the word of a total stranger, left his car there.
Turns out, she was right. When TB came back, there was no ticket on his car.
Also by the time he got back to his car, he'd seen two pretty interesting stories play out for Princeton.
On the women's side, Gabi Forrest was the individual champion. On the men's side, Princeton was the winner.
Let's start with Forrest, a junior. TigerBlog went back to last year's results to see how she did, only to learn that she didn't even compete.
And now, here she was, a year later. She figured to be a point scorer. But the champion?
It led to one of the nicer moments TigerBlog has ever seen at a Princeton event.
There was Forrest, the winner after a late charge to the tape. And there was her mother, who came to watch the race - all the way from their hometown of Brisbane. The one in Australia.
And there they were, mother and daughter, hugging near the finish. You can see it right HERE. That's pretty special, right?
The women's race was at 11. Then it was time for the men to go.
TigerBlog spent most of the men's race standing near the finishing line, kibitzing, as it were. You know who is great at kibitzing? Former women's track and field coach Peter Farrell, and he's not even one of TB's people. Peter was there, of course. It wouldn't be Heps without Peter.
As the men were off on the course, Peter was giving the guide of what racing is like. He grew up running at Van Cortlandt Park, and he loves the place.
And of course, pretty much everything he says is funny.
Eventually, as the men headed for the finish, it was pretty clear that it would be either Princeton or Columbia.
First it was Columbia. Then Princeton (Noah Kauppila), Princeton (Conor Lundy), Princeton (Garrett O'Toole). Then Columbia, Yale, Columbia, Columbia.
From where TB was standing, he couldn't really see who was about to cross the line until they were really close. He did know that he needed to see two oranges before one light blue, and that's exactly what happened.
There was Gannon Willcutts in ninth. There was Viraj Deokar in 10th. Columbia needed to come in at least 13th to tie, but there would be runners from every other school before the next blue shirt, and it was clear that Princeton had won.
The Tigers picked up their 19th Ivy Heps title in program history. It was also a sweep of Heps titles in the calendar year of 2017, after winning indoor and outdoor track and field.
And for TB, it was another fun trip to Heps. And no parking ticket.
He's pretty sure his son has more than made up for that, of course.
Monday, October 30, 2017
Six For Saturday
It was 11:05 Saturday morning when TigerBlog pulled his car into the lot above Princeton Stadium.
There were maybe a handful of cars there already. There were no people.
It was 10:50 Saturday night when TB came back to his car. It was still in the same spot, never having moved in all that time.
Princeton had six home events Saturday, and TigerBlog decided he would see at least some of all six. If you're keeping score, he saw all of two (field hockey and football), most of one (women's hockey), just about half of one (women's soccer) and a little of two (women's volleyball, men's soccer).
Princeton's record for the day was 5-1, with one Ivy title (field hockey) and another team (women's soccer) that got the win and the help it needed to put itself in a win-next-week-and-get-at-least-a-share-of-the-title position.
Here's the timeline of TB's day:
11:05 - Arrive at Princeton Stadium.
11:06 - For the first time on the day, TB tries to figure out if he'll be hot with his sweatshirt on or cold without out. He will repeat this often.
11:07 - Walk to Jadwin Gym to get cell phone charger, which he figures he'll need. Also, what to do about the Snapple diet peach he wanted for the football game, which was eight hours away. Should he put it in the fridge in Jadwin and go back and get it later, or should he leave it in the trunk of his car and not have to go all the way back to Jadwin later to get it, running the risk of having it be too warm to drink. TB leaves it in the trunk.
11:20 - TigerBlog has brought a sandwich with him but isn't sure when he should eat it. Though not particularly hungry at the moment, he eats it anyway, because, you know, what was he going to do, walk around with a sandwich all day?
11:30 - Arrive at Bedford Field. TB asks his colleague Cody Chruschiel whether or not he thinks that the Princeton lacrosse teams will play a home game on a day when the weather was this perfect. "Yes," Cody says. "But there's a better chance it'll be in February than in March or April."
11:50 - Senior day for field hockey.
12:00 - Game No. 1 begins - Princeton vs. Cornell field hockey. A win gives Princeton at least a share of the Ivy title and clinches the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
12:01:05 - First goal of the day - Ryan McCarthy drills one off a corner.
12:15 - TigerBlog sits on a golf cart behind the goal, next to his colleague Anthony Archbald. Two little children run by and duck behind the cart. As two others appear by the fence, it is clear they are playing hide-and-seek. "Five bucks or we tell them where you are," TigerBlog tells the kids.
12:45 - The field is being watered at the half. TigerBlog chooses the wrong place to stand.
1:30 - Princeton puts the finishing touches on its 5-1 win over Cornell. That's Ivy title No. 25 for the program.
1:40 - TigerBlog is introduced to Laura Swezey, whose daughter Casey is a junior on the Princeton field hockey team. TB explains that his daughter played against the high school team Laura coaches. Laura reponds with a big hug.
2:00 - TB arrives at Roberts Stadium, which is located approximately 100 yards from Bedford Field. It's the second senior day of the year, this time before Princeton-Cornell womens soccer.
2:30 - Kickoff, Princeton-Cornell.
2:40 - Men's soccer coach Jim Barlow comes by to watch a little of the women's game. Subjects include a dream he had in which soccer ties are broken by a vote of a committee and the last book he read.
2:51 - Vanessa Gregoire puts Princeton on top 1-0 with a rocket into the back of the net. Princeton would go on to win 2-0, improving to 5-1-0 in the league. Later in the day, Yale will beat Columbia 1-0, leaving Princeton and Columbia tied heading into the
3:05 - TB gets to Baker Rink for the women's hockey game, which has just started and is scoreless. This time, it is Princeton-Dartmouth.
3:10 - Sharon Frankel scores the first goal of the day for Princeton and the first goal of her career. Frankel is the diminutive freshman who did 30 pull ups in a team video posted on Instragram a few weeks ago. TB is pretty sure he couldn't do that many.
3:11 - TigerBlog checks the line chart to see where Frankel is from and learns she is from West Hartford, Conn. He wonders if she's ever gone to Rein's Deli, which is about 10 minutes from there, and if so, does she get the Boston Harbor sandwich (whitefish salad, lox) that he does.
3:35 - Princeton leads 3-0 after the first period. Cara Morey is well on her way to her first win as Princeton head coach.
4:10 - Dartmouth pulls starting goalie Christie Honor after she allows Princeton's fifth goal. This comes one day after Honor made 61 saves in a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac, which leads to a conversation between TB and Dartmouth athletic communications contact Charlotte Brackett that only people in athletic communications can fully appreciate - how the second game impacts Honor's chances at winning Goalie of the Week honors.
4:50 - Princeton is ahead 7-1, en route to what becomes an 8-1 final, when TB leaves Baker and heads to Dillon Gym.
5:00 - TB arrives at Dillon Gym in time for the starting lineups and national anthem before Princeton-Brown women's volleyball. TB doesn't see a lot of volleyball, but he does love the longsleeve dri-fit orange "Princeton Volley" shirt that Sam Shweisky gave him.
5:10 - Volleyball is loud. Princeton, by the way, defeats Brown. Yale's loss to Penn leaves Princeton one game back of the Bulldogs in the Ivy standings.
5:11 - TigerBlog walks back to Roberts Stadium. When he arrives, he sees that Cornell is up 1-0 in the men's soccer game. It is the first time this year that Princeton has given up a first-half goal.
5:18 - Harry Heffernan ties it with a header. The game-winner would come from Jeremy Colvin in the second half, and Princeton would win 2-1.
5:19 - TigerBlog walks back towards the football stadium. He detours to his car in the parking lot.
5:25 - The Snapple is warm, but he brings it with him anyway.
5:30 - TB heads up to the press box. He hasn't eaten since the sandwich six hours earlier, and he's hungry. He awaits the food at the pregame reception in the Class of 1956 Lounge.
5:45 - TB has a Philly pretzel as an appetizer.
6:00 - The food is out. TB goes with the rare "pulled pork sandwich without the bread and grilled veggie hoagie" double. As he heads back into the press box side, he runs into former Princeton offensive lineman Ross Tucker, now a very successful member of the national football media. Ross is there to do the color for NBC Sports Network, which will be televising the game. TB points Ross towards the food.
6:10 - TB says hello to Cornell's very likable athletic communications contact Jeremy Hartigan. They go over Cornell pronunciations, since TB is the PA announcer.
6:28 - TB gets a text message from his colleague Kellie Staples from the field. She's taken a picture of Tucker and former Princeton great Dean Cain with Derek and Zack DiGregorio. Derek, the honorary captain for the game, suffers from Ataxia-Telangiectasia, a rare disease affecting only 500 or so Americans. Despite that and the grim prognosis, Derek has recently graduated from Princeton High and is attending Mercer County Community College, and he's also a World Champion in Tae-Kwon-Do. Zack, Derek's older brother, is a Penn senior who plays sprint football and does a lot of writing. Their father Steve is a former Princeton assistant football coach, and he and his wife Nadia, along with current Associate Head Coach Steve Verbit and former Princeton basketball player and assistant coach Howard Levy have done amazing things to raise money to fight the disease.
6:55 - Derek comes out with his walker to midfield with the captains from Princeton and Cornell. The crowd give him a big ovation.
7:00 - Kickoff
7:00-10:20 or so - TigerBlog has no memory of how the football game went.
10:30 - Fifth quarter is going on on Powers Field. Do these little kids ever get tired?
10:45 - TB and Patrick McCarthy, part of the Princeton radio team, walk back to the parking lot. Patrick says he'll see TB on Nov. 15, for Princeton-BYU men's basketball. It dawns on TB that this is two weeks from Wednesday.
10:50 - Back to the car.
There were maybe a handful of cars there already. There were no people.
It was 10:50 Saturday night when TB came back to his car. It was still in the same spot, never having moved in all that time.
Princeton had six home events Saturday, and TigerBlog decided he would see at least some of all six. If you're keeping score, he saw all of two (field hockey and football), most of one (women's hockey), just about half of one (women's soccer) and a little of two (women's volleyball, men's soccer).
Princeton's record for the day was 5-1, with one Ivy title (field hockey) and another team (women's soccer) that got the win and the help it needed to put itself in a win-next-week-and-get-at-least-a-share-of-the-title position.
Here's the timeline of TB's day:
11:05 - Arrive at Princeton Stadium.
11:06 - For the first time on the day, TB tries to figure out if he'll be hot with his sweatshirt on or cold without out. He will repeat this often.
11:07 - Walk to Jadwin Gym to get cell phone charger, which he figures he'll need. Also, what to do about the Snapple diet peach he wanted for the football game, which was eight hours away. Should he put it in the fridge in Jadwin and go back and get it later, or should he leave it in the trunk of his car and not have to go all the way back to Jadwin later to get it, running the risk of having it be too warm to drink. TB leaves it in the trunk.
11:20 - TigerBlog has brought a sandwich with him but isn't sure when he should eat it. Though not particularly hungry at the moment, he eats it anyway, because, you know, what was he going to do, walk around with a sandwich all day?
11:30 - Arrive at Bedford Field. TB asks his colleague Cody Chruschiel whether or not he thinks that the Princeton lacrosse teams will play a home game on a day when the weather was this perfect. "Yes," Cody says. "But there's a better chance it'll be in February than in March or April."
11:50 - Senior day for field hockey.
12:00 - Game No. 1 begins - Princeton vs. Cornell field hockey. A win gives Princeton at least a share of the Ivy title and clinches the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
12:01:05 - First goal of the day - Ryan McCarthy drills one off a corner.
12:15 - TigerBlog sits on a golf cart behind the goal, next to his colleague Anthony Archbald. Two little children run by and duck behind the cart. As two others appear by the fence, it is clear they are playing hide-and-seek. "Five bucks or we tell them where you are," TigerBlog tells the kids.
12:45 - The field is being watered at the half. TigerBlog chooses the wrong place to stand.
1:30 - Princeton puts the finishing touches on its 5-1 win over Cornell. That's Ivy title No. 25 for the program.
1:40 - TigerBlog is introduced to Laura Swezey, whose daughter Casey is a junior on the Princeton field hockey team. TB explains that his daughter played against the high school team Laura coaches. Laura reponds with a big hug.
2:00 - TB arrives at Roberts Stadium, which is located approximately 100 yards from Bedford Field. It's the second senior day of the year, this time before Princeton-Cornell womens soccer.
2:30 - Kickoff, Princeton-Cornell.
2:40 - Men's soccer coach Jim Barlow comes by to watch a little of the women's game. Subjects include a dream he had in which soccer ties are broken by a vote of a committee and the last book he read.
2:51 - Vanessa Gregoire puts Princeton on top 1-0 with a rocket into the back of the net. Princeton would go on to win 2-0, improving to 5-1-0 in the league. Later in the day, Yale will beat Columbia 1-0, leaving Princeton and Columbia tied heading into the
3:05 - TB gets to Baker Rink for the women's hockey game, which has just started and is scoreless. This time, it is Princeton-Dartmouth.
3:10 - Sharon Frankel scores the first goal of the day for Princeton and the first goal of her career. Frankel is the diminutive freshman who did 30 pull ups in a team video posted on Instragram a few weeks ago. TB is pretty sure he couldn't do that many.
3:11 - TigerBlog checks the line chart to see where Frankel is from and learns she is from West Hartford, Conn. He wonders if she's ever gone to Rein's Deli, which is about 10 minutes from there, and if so, does she get the Boston Harbor sandwich (whitefish salad, lox) that he does.
3:35 - Princeton leads 3-0 after the first period. Cara Morey is well on her way to her first win as Princeton head coach.
4:10 - Dartmouth pulls starting goalie Christie Honor after she allows Princeton's fifth goal. This comes one day after Honor made 61 saves in a 1-0 win over Quinnipiac, which leads to a conversation between TB and Dartmouth athletic communications contact Charlotte Brackett that only people in athletic communications can fully appreciate - how the second game impacts Honor's chances at winning Goalie of the Week honors.
4:50 - Princeton is ahead 7-1, en route to what becomes an 8-1 final, when TB leaves Baker and heads to Dillon Gym.
5:00 - TB arrives at Dillon Gym in time for the starting lineups and national anthem before Princeton-Brown women's volleyball. TB doesn't see a lot of volleyball, but he does love the longsleeve dri-fit orange "Princeton Volley" shirt that Sam Shweisky gave him.
5:10 - Volleyball is loud. Princeton, by the way, defeats Brown. Yale's loss to Penn leaves Princeton one game back of the Bulldogs in the Ivy standings.
5:11 - TigerBlog walks back to Roberts Stadium. When he arrives, he sees that Cornell is up 1-0 in the men's soccer game. It is the first time this year that Princeton has given up a first-half goal.
5:18 - Harry Heffernan ties it with a header. The game-winner would come from Jeremy Colvin in the second half, and Princeton would win 2-1.
5:19 - TigerBlog walks back towards the football stadium. He detours to his car in the parking lot.
5:25 - The Snapple is warm, but he brings it with him anyway.
5:30 - TB heads up to the press box. He hasn't eaten since the sandwich six hours earlier, and he's hungry. He awaits the food at the pregame reception in the Class of 1956 Lounge.
5:45 - TB has a Philly pretzel as an appetizer.
6:00 - The food is out. TB goes with the rare "pulled pork sandwich without the bread and grilled veggie hoagie" double. As he heads back into the press box side, he runs into former Princeton offensive lineman Ross Tucker, now a very successful member of the national football media. Ross is there to do the color for NBC Sports Network, which will be televising the game. TB points Ross towards the food.
6:10 - TB says hello to Cornell's very likable athletic communications contact Jeremy Hartigan. They go over Cornell pronunciations, since TB is the PA announcer.
6:28 - TB gets a text message from his colleague Kellie Staples from the field. She's taken a picture of Tucker and former Princeton great Dean Cain with Derek and Zack DiGregorio. Derek, the honorary captain for the game, suffers from Ataxia-Telangiectasia, a rare disease affecting only 500 or so Americans. Despite that and the grim prognosis, Derek has recently graduated from Princeton High and is attending Mercer County Community College, and he's also a World Champion in Tae-Kwon-Do. Zack, Derek's older brother, is a Penn senior who plays sprint football and does a lot of writing. Their father Steve is a former Princeton assistant football coach, and he and his wife Nadia, along with current Associate Head Coach Steve Verbit and former Princeton basketball player and assistant coach Howard Levy have done amazing things to raise money to fight the disease.
6:55 - Derek comes out with his walker to midfield with the captains from Princeton and Cornell. The crowd give him a big ovation.
7:00 - Kickoff
7:00-10:20 or so - TigerBlog has no memory of how the football game went.
10:30 - Fifth quarter is going on on Powers Field. Do these little kids ever get tired?
10:45 - TB and Patrick McCarthy, part of the Princeton radio team, walk back to the parking lot. Patrick says he'll see TB on Nov. 15, for Princeton-BYU men's basketball. It dawns on TB that this is two weeks from Wednesday.
10:50 - Back to the car.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Park, Watch - And Grab A Nosh
To show you how fast things can chance in the world of sports, Tiger Blog was having a conversation with someone earlier this week about Ivy League football and it included this sentence: "Would it shock you if Harvard beat Columbia?"
Think about that statement, and it tells you a lot about sports - and about 2017 Ivy League football.
Harvard has beaten Columbia every year since 2003, and that Columbia win is its only in the series since 1999.
Ah, but what does that have to do with this year? Princeton is on a roll, yes, but for the Tigers to win the Ivy League title for a second straight year, then Columbia will have to lose at least once - and that's if Princeton wins out.
Columbia, if you haven't been paying attention, is 6-0, 3-0 in the Ivy League. Princeton is 5-1, 2-1, with the lone loss to Columbia 28-24 in Week 3.
Columbia's next two games are Yale and Harvard. Princeton is home tomorrow night, kickoff at 7, against Cornell.
In fact, the football team isn't the only Princeton team having a big year who nevertheless needs a Columbia loss to have a shot at a league title. The women's soccer team finds itself in the same situation, only two weeks later in the league season than football.
Those are two of the big storylines from an incredibly busy weekend for Princeton Athletics, and Ivy athletics in general. In fact, if you get to Princeton's campus tomorrow before noon, you can park and then see field hockey at noon, women's soccer at 2:30, women's hockey at 3, men's soccer and women's volleyball at 5 and finish up at football at 7 without ever having to go back to your car.
Admission to all but football is free. You can get a nosh whenever you can fit it in.
The first two Ivy League championships of the 2017-18 academic year will definitely be crowned today, at the Ivy League Heptagonal cross country championships in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City (women's race at 11, men's race at noon), and there could be as many as four teams who are celebrating championships by the end of the day tomorrow.
One of those is the Princeton field hockey team.
Princeton is the lone unbeaten in the Ivy League in field hockey after last weekend's dominating performance against Harvard in what at that point was a showdown of undefeateds. Princeton hosts Cornell tomorrow (that's the game at noon) on Bedford Field, and a victory would mean two things: 1) at least a share of the Ivy title and 2) the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Princeton would win the outright title with wins in its last two games, including next weekend at Penn, or a win and a Harvard loss in one of its last two.
As you recall, the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Final Four a year ago. Princeton, who has to have played the toughest non-league schedule in the country, might be primed for another good November run. Securing the league's automatic bid would be the first step.
Columbia's women's soccer team is in the same position as Princeton's field hockey team, meaning that a win tomorrow against Yale would clinch at least a share of the league championship and an automatic NCAA bid. The Lions are 5-0-0 in the league, ahead of 4-1-0 Princeton. The Tigers host Cornell tomorrow (that's the game at 2:30) and are at Penn next weekend, while Columbia has Harvard in soccer next week as well.
Princeton has had a great year in women's soccer, and it's hard to imagine the Tigers won't get an at-large NCAA tournament bid - probably even a home game - at this point. Still, the Ivy title is the first goal, and it's still out there, though some help is needed.
The women's game is the first of the doubleheader. The second game will see the men host Cornell, a team that is in the crowded hunt for the league championship.
The men's game will start at the same time as women's volleyball. The Tigers host Yale tonight at 7 and then Brown tomorrow at 5, and every match now is crucial.
The match tonight against Yale features the first-place Bulldogs (7-1) and second-place Tigers (6-2, tied with Harvard). Princeton handed Yale its lone league loss, up in New Haven.
The women's hockey team is 0-0-2 after a pair of 2-2 ties with Providence last weekend. This weekend, Princeton hosts Harvard tonight at 6 and Dartmouth tomorrow at 3. If you want to see a lot of hockey this weekend, then you can see the men's season opener against Holy Cross at Baker Rink Sunday at 4.
TigerBlog saw both games last weekend, and he did something he never imagined he'd do: He watched Princeton hockey in Baker Rink while wearing shorts.
It's hard to think that the women's hockey season that started a week ago will play on for just about five months, and that's if the team doesn't make it to the ECAC playoffs. This Princeton team has its goals set much higher than that, which would mean hopefully playing into March.
If you can't be in Princeton, by the way, or if you're at another event but want to watch women's hockey on the Ivy League Network, recently graduated All-America Kelsey Koelzer will be making her debut as a commentator.
And then there's the football game, which can be seen on NBC Sports. Princeton has scored at least 50 in each of its last three games, something that hasn't been done since the 1890 team did it four straight times.
Cornell is one of four teams who is 2-1 in the league right now, along with Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth.
The game on Powers Field tomorrow night will match the No. 1 offense in the league (Princeton's, at 485.8 yards per game) against the No. 1 defense (Cornell's, at 308.7 yards per game allowed). Games like that are always fun.
And it's huge. The winner stays in the Ivy hunt. The loser needs a lot of help.
It'll be the last game in a long day on Princeton's campus.
Take advantage of it. And let TB know if you see at least some of all six of those games.
Think about that statement, and it tells you a lot about sports - and about 2017 Ivy League football.
Harvard has beaten Columbia every year since 2003, and that Columbia win is its only in the series since 1999.
Ah, but what does that have to do with this year? Princeton is on a roll, yes, but for the Tigers to win the Ivy League title for a second straight year, then Columbia will have to lose at least once - and that's if Princeton wins out.
Columbia, if you haven't been paying attention, is 6-0, 3-0 in the Ivy League. Princeton is 5-1, 2-1, with the lone loss to Columbia 28-24 in Week 3.
Columbia's next two games are Yale and Harvard. Princeton is home tomorrow night, kickoff at 7, against Cornell.
In fact, the football team isn't the only Princeton team having a big year who nevertheless needs a Columbia loss to have a shot at a league title. The women's soccer team finds itself in the same situation, only two weeks later in the league season than football.
Those are two of the big storylines from an incredibly busy weekend for Princeton Athletics, and Ivy athletics in general. In fact, if you get to Princeton's campus tomorrow before noon, you can park and then see field hockey at noon, women's soccer at 2:30, women's hockey at 3, men's soccer and women's volleyball at 5 and finish up at football at 7 without ever having to go back to your car.
Admission to all but football is free. You can get a nosh whenever you can fit it in.
The first two Ivy League championships of the 2017-18 academic year will definitely be crowned today, at the Ivy League Heptagonal cross country championships in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City (women's race at 11, men's race at noon), and there could be as many as four teams who are celebrating championships by the end of the day tomorrow.
One of those is the Princeton field hockey team.
Princeton is the lone unbeaten in the Ivy League in field hockey after last weekend's dominating performance against Harvard in what at that point was a showdown of undefeateds. Princeton hosts Cornell tomorrow (that's the game at noon) on Bedford Field, and a victory would mean two things: 1) at least a share of the Ivy title and 2) the Ivy League's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Princeton would win the outright title with wins in its last two games, including next weekend at Penn, or a win and a Harvard loss in one of its last two.
As you recall, the Tigers advanced to the NCAA Final Four a year ago. Princeton, who has to have played the toughest non-league schedule in the country, might be primed for another good November run. Securing the league's automatic bid would be the first step.
Columbia's women's soccer team is in the same position as Princeton's field hockey team, meaning that a win tomorrow against Yale would clinch at least a share of the league championship and an automatic NCAA bid. The Lions are 5-0-0 in the league, ahead of 4-1-0 Princeton. The Tigers host Cornell tomorrow (that's the game at 2:30) and are at Penn next weekend, while Columbia has Harvard in soccer next week as well.
Princeton has had a great year in women's soccer, and it's hard to imagine the Tigers won't get an at-large NCAA tournament bid - probably even a home game - at this point. Still, the Ivy title is the first goal, and it's still out there, though some help is needed.
The women's game is the first of the doubleheader. The second game will see the men host Cornell, a team that is in the crowded hunt for the league championship.
The men's game will start at the same time as women's volleyball. The Tigers host Yale tonight at 7 and then Brown tomorrow at 5, and every match now is crucial.
The match tonight against Yale features the first-place Bulldogs (7-1) and second-place Tigers (6-2, tied with Harvard). Princeton handed Yale its lone league loss, up in New Haven.
The women's hockey team is 0-0-2 after a pair of 2-2 ties with Providence last weekend. This weekend, Princeton hosts Harvard tonight at 6 and Dartmouth tomorrow at 3. If you want to see a lot of hockey this weekend, then you can see the men's season opener against Holy Cross at Baker Rink Sunday at 4.
TigerBlog saw both games last weekend, and he did something he never imagined he'd do: He watched Princeton hockey in Baker Rink while wearing shorts.
It's hard to think that the women's hockey season that started a week ago will play on for just about five months, and that's if the team doesn't make it to the ECAC playoffs. This Princeton team has its goals set much higher than that, which would mean hopefully playing into March.
If you can't be in Princeton, by the way, or if you're at another event but want to watch women's hockey on the Ivy League Network, recently graduated All-America Kelsey Koelzer will be making her debut as a commentator.
And then there's the football game, which can be seen on NBC Sports. Princeton has scored at least 50 in each of its last three games, something that hasn't been done since the 1890 team did it four straight times.
Cornell is one of four teams who is 2-1 in the league right now, along with Princeton, Yale and Dartmouth.
The game on Powers Field tomorrow night will match the No. 1 offense in the league (Princeton's, at 485.8 yards per game) against the No. 1 defense (Cornell's, at 308.7 yards per game allowed). Games like that are always fun.
And it's huge. The winner stays in the Ivy hunt. The loser needs a lot of help.
It'll be the last game in a long day on Princeton's campus.
Take advantage of it. And let TB know if you see at least some of all six of those games.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Heps Time
TigerBlog was on the phone yesterday afternoon when he saw a familiar face outside his office door.
It was John Mack.
It's always good to see John. If you don't remember John Mack, he was a 10-time Heptagonal track and field champion and Roper Trophy winner before he graduated about 50 years ago. Okay, it was only 17 years ago, though TigerBlog likes to refer to him as a curmudgeonly old alum.
In reality, John Mack looks about the same as he did the day he graduated from here, by which time he'd already been a student-worker in the Office of Athletic Communications. He then worked in the athletic department for a few years before returning to the Midwest to work at Northwestern.
After that it was law school at Northwestern. And then marriage. And now three little kids - "my wife has been pregnant each of the last three Christmases," he said.
And there he was in the doorway.
It's always good to see him. He actually babysat for TigerBlog Jr. and Miss TigerBlog a few times when they were really little, including the night when MTB would not get off Cinnamon, a rocking horse.
As he usually does, John brought up former Princeton men's basketball player Ahmed El-Nokali, who also has three kids. As John talked about Ahmed, it dawned on TB that he was a similar type of player to Amir Bell, the subject of this week's episode of "Hard Cuts."
Ahmed, like John Mack, is an all-time TB favorite. TB thought Ahmed was living in England, but it turns out that he's actually back in Pittsburgh, near where he grew up.
TB is pretty sure Ahmed is still doing some financial thing, as opposed to basketball broadcasting, which is something that Ahmed did a little of and was really good at.
As for John Mack, one of TigerBlog's favorite stories in all the time he's worked here is when he and Mack were passengers in a car driven to Heps cross country in New York City. The rest of the story involves a former Ford Family Director of Athletics, the elevated subway line, a Do Not Enter sign and a McDonalds' drive thru.
The Heps cross country meet is one of TigerBlog's favorite events of the Ivy League calendar. The 2017 version takes place tomorrow at Van Cortlandt Park, with the women's race at 11 and the men's race at noon.
Heps cross country is a combination of party and athletic event. Each of the eight Ivy League schools will have a tent set up along the sidewalk near the finish line, and there will be food, food and more food at each. There will be old friends and alums and familiar faces, with lots of laughs and hugs.
At the same time, it's also the Ivy League championship meet, and the first two Ivy champs of the 2017-18 academic year will be crowned there tomorrow.
Where is Princeton in all of this? Both teams have interesting storylines.
The men's team ran a very close second to Penn a year ago at Heps cross country and then won the indoor and outdoor track and field titles. The Tigers this fall have been a mystery, since the A team has only run together once, last weekend at the Princeton Invitational.
On the other hand, the Tigers looked really good in that race. It certainly has helped build the excitement for tomorrow.
As for the women, they also figure to be in the hunt for the championship. The Tigers have the added boost of the return of the 2014 Heps champ, Megan Curham, who has battled injuries since.
TigerBlog has seen some great moments at the Heps championships at Van Cortlandt. It was there in 2009 that Princeton's women went 1-2-3-4-5, the only time that's ever happened at Heps for men or women.
He was there in 2010 to see then-junior Donn Cabral run away from the field down the final straightaway. TigerBlog is hard-pressed to describe how impressive Cabral was over the final 200 meters or so of that race. He was in a full sprint, not looking the least bit bothered. And, as TB recalls, Cabral was sick that day.
Since then, by the way, Cabral has been an NCAA champion and a two-time Olympic finalist in the steeplechase.
The setting at Heps is pretty much perfect for a championship event like this. The weather when the event has been held in Princeton has included snow and torrential rain. At Van Cortlandt, it always seems to be perfect.
Tomorrow's forecast? Sunny and 64.
Perfect.
The best part, other than the tents, is when the runners come towards the finish line and the spectators and coaches are left to try to figure out which team is the winner. At first, it's easy to keep up. Then, as the flood of runners pours across the line, it becomes impossible, at least for TB.
If you're in New York, get out there tomorrow to see it.
John Mack won't be there. He's back in Detroit, where he grew up.
He's always welcome in TB's office. He knows that.
It was great to see him the other day. He knows that too.
It was John Mack.
It's always good to see John. If you don't remember John Mack, he was a 10-time Heptagonal track and field champion and Roper Trophy winner before he graduated about 50 years ago. Okay, it was only 17 years ago, though TigerBlog likes to refer to him as a curmudgeonly old alum.
In reality, John Mack looks about the same as he did the day he graduated from here, by which time he'd already been a student-worker in the Office of Athletic Communications. He then worked in the athletic department for a few years before returning to the Midwest to work at Northwestern.
After that it was law school at Northwestern. And then marriage. And now three little kids - "my wife has been pregnant each of the last three Christmases," he said.
And there he was in the doorway.
It's always good to see him. He actually babysat for TigerBlog Jr. and Miss TigerBlog a few times when they were really little, including the night when MTB would not get off Cinnamon, a rocking horse.
As he usually does, John brought up former Princeton men's basketball player Ahmed El-Nokali, who also has three kids. As John talked about Ahmed, it dawned on TB that he was a similar type of player to Amir Bell, the subject of this week's episode of "Hard Cuts."
Ahmed, like John Mack, is an all-time TB favorite. TB thought Ahmed was living in England, but it turns out that he's actually back in Pittsburgh, near where he grew up.
TB is pretty sure Ahmed is still doing some financial thing, as opposed to basketball broadcasting, which is something that Ahmed did a little of and was really good at.
As for John Mack, one of TigerBlog's favorite stories in all the time he's worked here is when he and Mack were passengers in a car driven to Heps cross country in New York City. The rest of the story involves a former Ford Family Director of Athletics, the elevated subway line, a Do Not Enter sign and a McDonalds' drive thru.
The Heps cross country meet is one of TigerBlog's favorite events of the Ivy League calendar. The 2017 version takes place tomorrow at Van Cortlandt Park, with the women's race at 11 and the men's race at noon.
Heps cross country is a combination of party and athletic event. Each of the eight Ivy League schools will have a tent set up along the sidewalk near the finish line, and there will be food, food and more food at each. There will be old friends and alums and familiar faces, with lots of laughs and hugs.
At the same time, it's also the Ivy League championship meet, and the first two Ivy champs of the 2017-18 academic year will be crowned there tomorrow.
Where is Princeton in all of this? Both teams have interesting storylines.
The men's team ran a very close second to Penn a year ago at Heps cross country and then won the indoor and outdoor track and field titles. The Tigers this fall have been a mystery, since the A team has only run together once, last weekend at the Princeton Invitational.
On the other hand, the Tigers looked really good in that race. It certainly has helped build the excitement for tomorrow.
As for the women, they also figure to be in the hunt for the championship. The Tigers have the added boost of the return of the 2014 Heps champ, Megan Curham, who has battled injuries since.
TigerBlog has seen some great moments at the Heps championships at Van Cortlandt. It was there in 2009 that Princeton's women went 1-2-3-4-5, the only time that's ever happened at Heps for men or women.
He was there in 2010 to see then-junior Donn Cabral run away from the field down the final straightaway. TigerBlog is hard-pressed to describe how impressive Cabral was over the final 200 meters or so of that race. He was in a full sprint, not looking the least bit bothered. And, as TB recalls, Cabral was sick that day.
Since then, by the way, Cabral has been an NCAA champion and a two-time Olympic finalist in the steeplechase.
The setting at Heps is pretty much perfect for a championship event like this. The weather when the event has been held in Princeton has included snow and torrential rain. At Van Cortlandt, it always seems to be perfect.
Tomorrow's forecast? Sunny and 64.
Perfect.
The best part, other than the tents, is when the runners come towards the finish line and the spectators and coaches are left to try to figure out which team is the winner. At first, it's easy to keep up. Then, as the flood of runners pours across the line, it becomes impossible, at least for TB.
If you're in New York, get out there tomorrow to see it.
John Mack won't be there. He's back in Detroit, where he grew up.
He's always welcome in TB's office. He knows that.
It was great to see him the other day. He knows that too.
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
More Dogs, More Hard Cuts
There's updated dog news from last week.
First, longtime ticket manager Stephanie Sutton just got a dog.
She named her Scout, which is from "To Kill A Mockingbird." TigerBlog read it in high school and probably one other time, and he thought Scout was the boy and Jem was the girl. Turns out he had that backwards.
There there is Ellison. Or is it Ellington?
Or Eldridge. Or Ernie. Something with an E. That's for sure.
Anyway, here he is:
The E-dog belongs to one of Miss TigerBlog's friends. MTB said that the dog was very disappointed not to be included in the group of canine pictures that TB shared last week.
He has a nice face.
You want to see big dogs? Check out these guys. They belong to Macall Martin, who recently came on board in the marketing department.
Macall comes to Princeton from Oregon State. She made the cross-country drive a week ago, complete with her Great Danes.
Here's what she tweeted before they left:
This all begs the question of whether you would rather drive cross-country with two Great Danes or one small child, such as Blake Borders, the son of TigerBlog's colleague who was just shy of his third birthday when he went across the country with his parents this past summer. As much as TB thinks the Great Danes are cute and would be fun travel companions, Blake probably offers more in the way of conversation and has a great sense of humor for someone his age.
Actually the more TB thinks about it, the more impressed he is that Macall got the dogs here. Can you imagine driving that far with two Great Danes? TigerBlog can't imagine driving from here to Harrisburg with two Great Danes, let alone here to Oregon.
Macall, in addition to the tweet about the dogs, had great tweets as she crossed each state line between Oregon and New Jersey. Like this one:
Macall joins a marketing team that recently added Thelma Hughes, who came here from the NFL. Thelma, in a short time here, has demonstrated the ability to laugh at all the right things, which is a good sign.
Macall's last event at Oregon State was the football game against Colorado two Saturdays ago in Corvallis. Oregon State lost that game 36-33, falling to 1-6, and then had last weekend off before taking on Stanford Saturday. TigerBlog only knows this because he looked on the OSU website. He would have guessed that Oregon State had more than one win.
Just like that, she has gone from a 1-6 football team to a 5-1 football team. Her new team plays home for the first time in three weeks Saturday night, when Princeton hosts Cornell at 7.
Macall is now adjusting to life so far from home. Someone who isn't that far from home is Amir Bell, the senior on the men's basketball team.
Amir came to Princeton from East Brunswick, which in a traffic-free moment is 20 minutes from Princeton.
On the latest edition of "Hard Cuts, A Season Inside Princeton Basketball," Bell goes back to East Brunswick High School to see his old coach and some of his old teachers and administrators. Haven't seen it yet? You can right HERE.
As a reminder, "Hard Cuts" will be released each Tuesday at noon on goprincetontigers.com and on the athletics youtube page throughout the year.
The first episode, which was released last week, was a big success. The second one, with Bell's return trip to East Brunswick, is also excellent.
In it, you can see how thrilled the people who know Bell from his days as a high school student are with the success he has had here. He is their success too, and they all take great pride in what he's done. That much is evident from the video.
There are hugs and tears and smiles and laughs as he makes his way around the building, now a senior at Princeton University and someone who has been such an integral part of the basketball program here as well.
That's the point of the series. It's to give a look beyond just what is visible when Princeton plays its games. It's to show what goes into putting a program on the court and also what goes into the people who make up that program.
Bell, you can see, is confident and humble and appreciative of all the support he got during such a formative time. That's what it's all about.
It's already the last week of October, which means basketball season is sneaking up. The women open their season two weeks from Friday at home against George Washington, and then the men are at Butler two weeks from Sunday before the home opener against BYU the following Wednesday.
There will be a lot of opportunities to see both teams play, both on regular TV and online. The entire list can be found HERE.
Of course, that list doesn't include the weekly "Hard Cuts" series. Or the series of videos about the women's team, and the coming weekly podcast with women's head coach Courtney Banghart.
That's a lot of hoops on the way, starting very soon.
First, longtime ticket manager Stephanie Sutton just got a dog.
She named her Scout, which is from "To Kill A Mockingbird." TigerBlog read it in high school and probably one other time, and he thought Scout was the boy and Jem was the girl. Turns out he had that backwards.
There there is Ellison. Or is it Ellington?
Or Eldridge. Or Ernie. Something with an E. That's for sure.
Anyway, here he is:
The E-dog belongs to one of Miss TigerBlog's friends. MTB said that the dog was very disappointed not to be included in the group of canine pictures that TB shared last week.
He has a nice face.
You want to see big dogs? Check out these guys. They belong to Macall Martin, who recently came on board in the marketing department.
Macall comes to Princeton from Oregon State. She made the cross-country drive a week ago, complete with her Great Danes.
Here's what she tweeted before they left:
Now that's funny.These suckers just think they're going to Petsmart or something. Here's to the next 2,851 miles! pic.twitter.com/qeXX8FyBJ8— Macall Martin (@macallmartin) October 15, 2017
This all begs the question of whether you would rather drive cross-country with two Great Danes or one small child, such as Blake Borders, the son of TigerBlog's colleague who was just shy of his third birthday when he went across the country with his parents this past summer. As much as TB thinks the Great Danes are cute and would be fun travel companions, Blake probably offers more in the way of conversation and has a great sense of humor for someone his age.
Actually the more TB thinks about it, the more impressed he is that Macall got the dogs here. Can you imagine driving that far with two Great Danes? TigerBlog can't imagine driving from here to Harrisburg with two Great Danes, let alone here to Oregon.
Macall, in addition to the tweet about the dogs, had great tweets as she crossed each state line between Oregon and New Jersey. Like this one:
That's good stuff.It was a joy, Illinois 😊 pic.twitter.com/ajybpkuXiJ— Macall Martin (@macallmartin) October 17, 2017
Macall joins a marketing team that recently added Thelma Hughes, who came here from the NFL. Thelma, in a short time here, has demonstrated the ability to laugh at all the right things, which is a good sign.
Macall's last event at Oregon State was the football game against Colorado two Saturdays ago in Corvallis. Oregon State lost that game 36-33, falling to 1-6, and then had last weekend off before taking on Stanford Saturday. TigerBlog only knows this because he looked on the OSU website. He would have guessed that Oregon State had more than one win.
Just like that, she has gone from a 1-6 football team to a 5-1 football team. Her new team plays home for the first time in three weeks Saturday night, when Princeton hosts Cornell at 7.
Macall is now adjusting to life so far from home. Someone who isn't that far from home is Amir Bell, the senior on the men's basketball team.
Amir came to Princeton from East Brunswick, which in a traffic-free moment is 20 minutes from Princeton.
On the latest edition of "Hard Cuts, A Season Inside Princeton Basketball," Bell goes back to East Brunswick High School to see his old coach and some of his old teachers and administrators. Haven't seen it yet? You can right HERE.
As a reminder, "Hard Cuts" will be released each Tuesday at noon on goprincetontigers.com and on the athletics youtube page throughout the year.
The first episode, which was released last week, was a big success. The second one, with Bell's return trip to East Brunswick, is also excellent.
In it, you can see how thrilled the people who know Bell from his days as a high school student are with the success he has had here. He is their success too, and they all take great pride in what he's done. That much is evident from the video.
There are hugs and tears and smiles and laughs as he makes his way around the building, now a senior at Princeton University and someone who has been such an integral part of the basketball program here as well.
That's the point of the series. It's to give a look beyond just what is visible when Princeton plays its games. It's to show what goes into putting a program on the court and also what goes into the people who make up that program.
Bell, you can see, is confident and humble and appreciative of all the support he got during such a formative time. That's what it's all about.
It's already the last week of October, which means basketball season is sneaking up. The women open their season two weeks from Friday at home against George Washington, and then the men are at Butler two weeks from Sunday before the home opener against BYU the following Wednesday.
There will be a lot of opportunities to see both teams play, both on regular TV and online. The entire list can be found HERE.
Of course, that list doesn't include the weekly "Hard Cuts" series. Or the series of videos about the women's team, and the coming weekly podcast with women's head coach Courtney Banghart.
That's a lot of hoops on the way, starting very soon.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Lax Legends
Gary Mosley stood in front of a gathering of people whose lives on the Princeton campus he helped make better for the last 41 years.
They were back here Saturday for the men's lacrosse alumni game. They were here to play, and to eat, and to see old friends - and to honor the man they all know as "G Money." Or, "G$" for short.
About 120 miles away, also in the bright sunshine and unseasonable warmth of late October, Chris Sailer stood in front of another gathering of Princeton lacrosse players. They were there, like their male counterparts, for fall lacrosse - and to honor their mentor and head coach.
TigerBlog has never been around people who are more loyal to where they came from than the people who have played sports at Princeton University. They step foot on this campus and join their team, and they are a part of that extended family forever.
It's just how it works.
It's like this across the board. The devotion that Princeton alums feel to their teams is remarkable, and TB has seen it time and again.
And it was there on display again Saturday.
Gary Mosley retired this past spring after 41 years as the equipment manager for a variety of Princeton sports, most notably the men's lacrosse team. He was honored by the team at the alumni game.
For TigerBlog, the alumni game is one of his favorite events each year. It's low-key and low stress. It's as much a party as a game, and it's a great opportunity for him to see some of his favorite Princeton athletes of all time.
This past Saturday, that group included Lorne Smith. If you remember the names Hess, Hubbard and Massey, then you probably know who Lorne Smith is.
Smith came to Princeton as one of the many Tigers who have come from the Gilman School in Baltimore, arriving for the 1995-96 school year, just as Jon Hess, Jesse Hubbard and Chris Massey had established themselves as the cornerstones of what would be three straight NCAA titles.
Smith moved to midfield from his natural attack spot and became a first-team All-America. A big lefty, Smith is still 16th all-time at Princeton with 94 career goals.
And there he was Saturday, all the way from California, to be there to play with his old teammates, support the current team and honor G$. Early on the game, he swept to his left, stumbled a bit, regained his balance, switched hands and scored on a righthanded shot.
He's 40, by the way.
TB went up to Smith on the sideline and asked him how many righty shots he'd scored as an undergrad. Not too many, Smith said.
And then there was Cookie Krongard, who is 77 years old, and who still plays goalie in the alumni games.
It's a bit fascinating to watch. At first, everyone takes it easy on him, for fear of really letting loose and possibly hurting the guy. Then, once they realize that he is still serious, they increase the shot velocity.
TB wasn't keeping stats for the game, but he can say that Krongard made a ton of saves.
The highlight, though, was when Mosley spoke. TB has written about him before. He's a completely down-to-earth, with no phoniness at all. He also doesn't waste any words.
"I love all you guys," he said. "And I will never forsake any of you."
That was it. What more needed to be said?
As TB said, this was going on while Sailer was being honored outside of Baltimore.
You can read about it HERE.
It's exactly what Princeton is about. She was their coach. They're loyal to her forever. That's just how it works.
TigerBlog has known Chris Sailer for a long time. She's exactly what U.S. Lacrosse has honored her for being, which is a pioneer above most of the pioneers of her sport.
She played for Harvard in the earliest days of Ivy League women's lacrosse. She came to Princeton as the head women's lacrosse coach and assistant field hockey coach. Think about that, since that's how it was then.
She built Princeton into one of the model programs in the history of her sport, with three NCAA titles and a regular place deep into the NCAA tournament and at the top of the Ivy League. If you don't want to read the story that TigerBlog linked to above, then there's this quote:
“Seeing my alum[nae] graduate from Princeton, pursue meaningful careers, raise families, impact their communities and stay involved in the game has been incredibly rewarding,” she said. “My life is full because of this great game.”
As TB said, what else needs to be said?
You can make a very, very strong case that Chris Sailer is the greatest female coach in Princeton history, and she's way up there in Ivy League history as well.
And from now on, the U.S. Lacrosse training center has Chris Sailer Trail around William Tierney Field.
That's very, very deserving.
And it's a pretty nice thing for that wildly loyal breed known as Princeton lacrosse alums.
They were back here Saturday for the men's lacrosse alumni game. They were here to play, and to eat, and to see old friends - and to honor the man they all know as "G Money." Or, "G$" for short.
About 120 miles away, also in the bright sunshine and unseasonable warmth of late October, Chris Sailer stood in front of another gathering of Princeton lacrosse players. They were there, like their male counterparts, for fall lacrosse - and to honor their mentor and head coach.
TigerBlog has never been around people who are more loyal to where they came from than the people who have played sports at Princeton University. They step foot on this campus and join their team, and they are a part of that extended family forever.
It's just how it works.
It's like this across the board. The devotion that Princeton alums feel to their teams is remarkable, and TB has seen it time and again.
And it was there on display again Saturday.
Gary Mosley retired this past spring after 41 years as the equipment manager for a variety of Princeton sports, most notably the men's lacrosse team. He was honored by the team at the alumni game.
For TigerBlog, the alumni game is one of his favorite events each year. It's low-key and low stress. It's as much a party as a game, and it's a great opportunity for him to see some of his favorite Princeton athletes of all time.
This past Saturday, that group included Lorne Smith. If you remember the names Hess, Hubbard and Massey, then you probably know who Lorne Smith is.
Smith came to Princeton as one of the many Tigers who have come from the Gilman School in Baltimore, arriving for the 1995-96 school year, just as Jon Hess, Jesse Hubbard and Chris Massey had established themselves as the cornerstones of what would be three straight NCAA titles.
Smith moved to midfield from his natural attack spot and became a first-team All-America. A big lefty, Smith is still 16th all-time at Princeton with 94 career goals.
And there he was Saturday, all the way from California, to be there to play with his old teammates, support the current team and honor G$. Early on the game, he swept to his left, stumbled a bit, regained his balance, switched hands and scored on a righthanded shot.
He's 40, by the way.
TB went up to Smith on the sideline and asked him how many righty shots he'd scored as an undergrad. Not too many, Smith said.
And then there was Cookie Krongard, who is 77 years old, and who still plays goalie in the alumni games.
It's a bit fascinating to watch. At first, everyone takes it easy on him, for fear of really letting loose and possibly hurting the guy. Then, once they realize that he is still serious, they increase the shot velocity.
TB wasn't keeping stats for the game, but he can say that Krongard made a ton of saves.
The highlight, though, was when Mosley spoke. TB has written about him before. He's a completely down-to-earth, with no phoniness at all. He also doesn't waste any words.
"I love all you guys," he said. "And I will never forsake any of you."
That was it. What more needed to be said?
As TB said, this was going on while Sailer was being honored outside of Baltimore.
You can read about it HERE.
It's exactly what Princeton is about. She was their coach. They're loyal to her forever. That's just how it works.
TigerBlog has known Chris Sailer for a long time. She's exactly what U.S. Lacrosse has honored her for being, which is a pioneer above most of the pioneers of her sport.
She played for Harvard in the earliest days of Ivy League women's lacrosse. She came to Princeton as the head women's lacrosse coach and assistant field hockey coach. Think about that, since that's how it was then.
She built Princeton into one of the model programs in the history of her sport, with three NCAA titles and a regular place deep into the NCAA tournament and at the top of the Ivy League. If you don't want to read the story that TigerBlog linked to above, then there's this quote:
“Seeing my alum[nae] graduate from Princeton, pursue meaningful careers, raise families, impact their communities and stay involved in the game has been incredibly rewarding,” she said. “My life is full because of this great game.”
As TB said, what else needs to be said?
You can make a very, very strong case that Chris Sailer is the greatest female coach in Princeton history, and she's way up there in Ivy League history as well.
And from now on, the U.S. Lacrosse training center has Chris Sailer Trail around William Tierney Field.
That's very, very deserving.
And it's a pretty nice thing for that wildly loyal breed known as Princeton lacrosse alums.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Quite A Night In Cambridge
TigerBlog didn't figure that he'd be spending some of his weekend explaining to people that no, it wasn't that Edgar Allan Poe.
TigerBlog read some of Edgar Allan Poe's stuff in high school and college. Let's just say that he's not TB's favorite author.
Anyway, ol' Edgar, who seemed to have something of a dark side, had a nephew who played football at Princeton and set a bunch of records back before the modern rules of football existed. He was also the captain of the team of 1890.
That team was the last Princeton team to score at least 50 points in three straight games. Before the 2017 team, that is.
Princeton has now put up 50, 53 and 52 points in its last three. Those numbers could have been higher too, had the Tigers not called off the dogs.
The most recent outburst was also the most shocking. Princeton put those 52 up at Harvard Friday night, coming home with a 52-17 victory that was complete dominance from start to finish.
TB, for one, was not expecting that game to be a blowout. In fact, his exact pregame words were "this one will be tough from start to finish."
As it turned out, it wasn't.
TigerBlog didn't watch the game on TV from the start. He was at women's hockey instead.
From Baker Rink he checked his phone to get scoring updates from Cambridge. It was 7-0. Then 10-0. Then it was 17-3.
At one point, he stopped looking at just the score and went to the livestats, to see if anyone was having a big game.
Turned out, someone was. More than one someone, actually.
Chad Kanoff, when TB first looked, was 6 for 6. Then he was 10 for 10. Then 14 for 14.
What? No incompletions?
TigerBlog was the PA announcer the day Quinn Epperly set the NCAA record by completing his first 29 passes in a win over Cornell. Would Kanoff approach that?
As it turned out, he wouldn't. His 22nd pass would be incomplete. This came after about as good a first half as it is possible to play.
Kanoff finished the first half 20 for 20 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. That's absurd, by the way. You can watch football forever and never see a quarterback have those kinds of numbers for a half.
His second half was 11 for 15, for another 98 yards. Most of that time was spent trying to keep the clock moving, of course.
Added together, Kanoff was 31 for 35 for 421 yards and the two scores. Add everything together and he's completing better than 76 percent of his passes. That means if he completes three of his next four, his percentage will go down. That means that Kanoff is having a ridiculous year.
Kanoff was just short of the FCS record for completion percentage by an individual in a game. Ah, but if you add in Jesper Horsted's 1 for 1 (for a TD to Stephen Carlson) then Princeton set the record for team completion percentage in a game.
Speaking of Horsted, he looked completely unstoppable as well. He caught 12 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Horsted, who had the third best single-game receiving yardage total in program history, now has 55 catches for 712 yards and eight TDs.
He's now tied for 13th on Princeton's single-season receptions list and on pace to be No. 1, with 9.17 catches per game. That would take him to 91, with the record of 88 held by Kevin Guthrie from 1983.
He's also fifth in touchdown catches in a season with those eight. The record is 11.
With all the attention focused on Kanoff and Horsted, it's easy to overlook a few people. Stephen Carlson had 11 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Charlie Volker had three more three rushing touchdowns, giving him seven in two weeks. And the defense was outstanding, pretty much wiping out Harvard until long after the matter had been decided.
Pretty much anyone who played for Princeton was great. The offensive line kept Harvard off Kanoff, and when that happens, you saw what the result is.
Harvard, keep in mind, came into the game ranked eight in the FCS in total defense.
So what does it all mean?
Well, Columbia is the lone Ivy unbeaten. There are four teams at 2-1, including Princeton and Cornell, who meet at 7 Saturday on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium.
Princeton needs to keep winning, is what it means. Keep winning and hope Columbia loses.
Each game is like its own season. There are four little seasons to go - Cornell, at Penn, Yale, at Dartmouth. Yale and Dartmouth are the other two 2-1 teams, so none of this will be easy.
Before you worry about that, though, take a minute to think about what Princeton has done the last three weeks, and especially last Friday.
It's not easy to go into Harvard Stadium and do that to Crimson. Nobody had done that there since Princeton did it in 1967 with a 45-6 win.
And also take a second to think about what Kanoff did in the first half, because you won't see that again for awhile.
TigerBlog read some of Edgar Allan Poe's stuff in high school and college. Let's just say that he's not TB's favorite author.
Anyway, ol' Edgar, who seemed to have something of a dark side, had a nephew who played football at Princeton and set a bunch of records back before the modern rules of football existed. He was also the captain of the team of 1890.
That team was the last Princeton team to score at least 50 points in three straight games. Before the 2017 team, that is.
Princeton has now put up 50, 53 and 52 points in its last three. Those numbers could have been higher too, had the Tigers not called off the dogs.
The most recent outburst was also the most shocking. Princeton put those 52 up at Harvard Friday night, coming home with a 52-17 victory that was complete dominance from start to finish.
TB, for one, was not expecting that game to be a blowout. In fact, his exact pregame words were "this one will be tough from start to finish."
As it turned out, it wasn't.
TigerBlog didn't watch the game on TV from the start. He was at women's hockey instead.
From Baker Rink he checked his phone to get scoring updates from Cambridge. It was 7-0. Then 10-0. Then it was 17-3.
At one point, he stopped looking at just the score and went to the livestats, to see if anyone was having a big game.
Turned out, someone was. More than one someone, actually.
Chad Kanoff, when TB first looked, was 6 for 6. Then he was 10 for 10. Then 14 for 14.
What? No incompletions?
TigerBlog was the PA announcer the day Quinn Epperly set the NCAA record by completing his first 29 passes in a win over Cornell. Would Kanoff approach that?
As it turned out, he wouldn't. His 22nd pass would be incomplete. This came after about as good a first half as it is possible to play.
Kanoff finished the first half 20 for 20 for 323 yards and two touchdowns. That's absurd, by the way. You can watch football forever and never see a quarterback have those kinds of numbers for a half.
His second half was 11 for 15, for another 98 yards. Most of that time was spent trying to keep the clock moving, of course.
Added together, Kanoff was 31 for 35 for 421 yards and the two scores. Add everything together and he's completing better than 76 percent of his passes. That means if he completes three of his next four, his percentage will go down. That means that Kanoff is having a ridiculous year.
Kanoff was just short of the FCS record for completion percentage by an individual in a game. Ah, but if you add in Jesper Horsted's 1 for 1 (for a TD to Stephen Carlson) then Princeton set the record for team completion percentage in a game.
Speaking of Horsted, he looked completely unstoppable as well. He caught 12 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns. Horsted, who had the third best single-game receiving yardage total in program history, now has 55 catches for 712 yards and eight TDs.
He's now tied for 13th on Princeton's single-season receptions list and on pace to be No. 1, with 9.17 catches per game. That would take him to 91, with the record of 88 held by Kevin Guthrie from 1983.
He's also fifth in touchdown catches in a season with those eight. The record is 11.
With all the attention focused on Kanoff and Horsted, it's easy to overlook a few people. Stephen Carlson had 11 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Charlie Volker had three more three rushing touchdowns, giving him seven in two weeks. And the defense was outstanding, pretty much wiping out Harvard until long after the matter had been decided.
Pretty much anyone who played for Princeton was great. The offensive line kept Harvard off Kanoff, and when that happens, you saw what the result is.
Harvard, keep in mind, came into the game ranked eight in the FCS in total defense.
So what does it all mean?
Well, Columbia is the lone Ivy unbeaten. There are four teams at 2-1, including Princeton and Cornell, who meet at 7 Saturday on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium.
Princeton needs to keep winning, is what it means. Keep winning and hope Columbia loses.
Each game is like its own season. There are four little seasons to go - Cornell, at Penn, Yale, at Dartmouth. Yale and Dartmouth are the other two 2-1 teams, so none of this will be easy.
Before you worry about that, though, take a minute to think about what Princeton has done the last three weeks, and especially last Friday.
It's not easy to go into Harvard Stadium and do that to Crimson. Nobody had done that there since Princeton did it in 1967 with a 45-6 win.
And also take a second to think about what Kanoff did in the first half, because you won't see that again for awhile.
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