Picture It

It was about an hour after Dalen Davis had drained a three-pointer with 1.6 seconds to play against Akron Monday afternoon when TigerBlog first saw the photo.

If you watched the game live or on ESPN+ with the great Derek Jones and Noah Savage, you know that Davis' three wasn't exactly a sure thing. In fact, it was reviewed and re-reviewed as much as any call TB can ever remember for a game on Carril Court.

In the end, the officials agreed that the shot was a three-pointer, turning the game into a 76-75 lead for the Tigers, instead of 75-75 and a likely overtime. When Akron's last chance came up empty, Princeton had itself a win.

Ah, but was it a three? That's where the photo came into play:

Clearly it was. That photo was taken by Shelley Szwast, by the way. 

If your interest is "getting it right," then you can't get it more right than that. 

The photo got TB to think about what the best pictures of 2024 were in Princeton Athletics. Maybe he'll go back and see what he comes up with, though he can tell you what the best one was:

That was a Brian McWalters picture from the Princeton-North Carolina men's lacrosse game. That's Cooper Mueller of Princeton, by the way. 

In the meantime, the first events of the 2025 calendar year take place tonight, when the men's hockey team hosts the first of two against New Hampshire (7) and the women's hockey team plays the first of its weekend ECAC series at RPI (6). 

Those two then play again tomorrow, with the men at 4 against the Wildcats and the women at 3 at Union. 

The other first weekend events are all in Jadwin Gym, which will be hosting a tripleheader. It begins with the men's basketball team at 11:30 am against Kean, followed by the women's Ivy opener at 2:30 against Cornell and then a wrestling match against West Virginia at 7.

The women's hockey team last played 23 days ago and will now play nine games in the month of January alone. The men defeated Army 1-0 last weekend, getting 24 saves from Arthur Smith and a goal from Jake Manfre to push their winning streak to five games. 

The Tigers have outscored those five opponents by a combined 15-5. Smith certainly helped the cause; he was the goalie for all five wins, and he was also named ECAC Goalie of the Month.

New Hampshire is ranked 20th nationally and is 8-4-3 overall. In its last five games UNH has gone 4-0-1 and outscored its opponents 26-12.

Kean is 5-7 in men's basketball, with its most recent games at a holiday tournament at the top-ranked team in Division III. Can you name that team? 

TB wouldn't have guessed it. The answer is: Emory. 

Cornell's women's basketball team has a new head coach, Emily Garner, who is trying to match Princeton head coach Carla Berube's career trajectory. Garner was a very successful head coach in the NESCAC at Trinity, and now she's trying to have that translate to the Ivy League. 

Her first Big Red team is currently 4-9 as it comes to Princeton. The Tigers swept Middle Tennessee and LeMoyne this past week in their final pre-Ivy games, improving their overall record to 9-4. 

The West Virginia wrestling team was in Florida before the New Year, while Princeton was at the Midlands event at Northwestern. This will be WVU's second trip to Mercer County this year, after the Mountaineers thumped Rider 31-9 in Lawrenceville back in November.

So that's four events tomorrow on campus, all with staggered start times. You know what that means, of course. 

You can see four Princeton teams play on one day, if you go to the two basketball games and then walk over to Hobey Baker Rink for the men's hockey game before heading back to the wrestling. 

You'll probably have enough time to grab a nosh between hockey and wrestling, by the way.

A Tiger, Gone Way Too Soon

TigerBlog ended his final post of 2024 with this: "In the meantime, have a safe and happy New Year's Eve — and a great 2025."

His plan was to start his first post of 2025 with this: "Happy New Year. Hopefully everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve." That's how he starts off at the beginning of every January.

From there, he was all set to go into the men's basketball team's 76-75 win over Akron, in what was another game of great drama. He was going to share with you the picture taken by Tiger photographer Shelley Szwast, which confirmed that the game-winning three-pointer from Dalen Davis was, in fact, called correctly. 

All of that went out the window, blown away by a bad wind that sent a chill down TB's back and a shiver straight to his heart. It was the same reaction that you had, and every other Princeton fan had, when you first saw the news that, no, not everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve.

TigerBlog woke up to the news of the terror attack on Bourbon Street, with the reports of at least 10 people who had been killed. It wasn't until several hours later that he saw the news that hit really close to home for Princeton — football alum Tiger Bech was among those who had been murdered.

Bech was only 27 years old. He graduated in 2021. 

How is it possible that someone so young, someone who was simply out to celebrate New Year's Eve at one of the most iconic fun spots in the country. Bech had been working in New York City, but he was a Louisiana native. For him, New Orleans was a homecoming.

His given name was "Martin," something that nobody ever called him. Maybe ever. He was nicknamed "Tiger" even before he was born, mostly because of the deep family ties to Louisiana State University. 

At Princeton he was a two-time All-Ivy League punt returner, as well as a wide receiver. For his career he caught 53 passes for 823 yards and three touchdowns, and his average of 15.6 yards per catch ranks 10th all-time in program history. 

Those are the numbers. How about the person? Here's what his head coach, Bob Surace, had to say about him:

"There was no more appropriate nickname of a Princeton player I coached. He was a 'Tiger' in every way - a ferocious competitor with endless energy, a beloved teammate and a caring friend. Our last conversation was about how proud I was of the growth he showed during his time at Princeton and the success he was having after graduation. My love goes to the entire Bech family."

Tiger's brother Jack is an All-American wide receiver at Texas Christian and an NFL prospect. Here was his post on X yesterday:

Love you always brother ! You inspired me everyday now you get to be with me in every moment. I got this family T, don’t worry. This is for us ❤️ https://t.co/8sSFf564Mb

— Jack Bech (@jackbech7) January 1, 2025

TB never met Tiger Bech. He did announce his name plenty of the times over the Powers Field at Princeton Stadium public address (it's pronounced "BESH," by the way). 

He certainly remembered his name. How could anyone at Princeton not, right? 

And he saw the picture of him on the bio page:

He sees a young man with long hair and a tie that isn't exactly tied perfectly. It's a picture like so many others TB has seen. 

He was, though, more than just a name on a roster, even if his name was the most distinctive any Princeton athlete has had. He went from Princeton to New York City, working as a trader. He grew up in Lafayette, about two hours from New Orleans. 

It was there that he was killed, on Bourbon Street, on New Year's Eve — struck down just as his life was beginning.

Princeton has been here before. There have been athletes who have been killed, though mercifully that number has been a low one. 

But each of them is its own horrific tragedy. This is again the case.

Can anyone wrap his or her arms around this? Can anyone make sense of it? 

How can you? 

As he said, TB never met Tiger Bech. He wishes he had, so he could tell you more about who the young man was, some interaction that the two of them had that would have stuck with him, but he had none of that.

Still, when he saw the news, he felt like he lost someone close to him, a member of the same extended family. 

Here was a Tiger, gone way too soon.

The Year In Review

Welcome to the final TigerBlog of 2024. 

TigerBlog's tradition is, ahead of the counting down of the ball in Times Square, to count down the top moments in Princeton Athletics for the previous 12 months. 

It's always been a fun exercise. TB has prefaced each year's list by saying that these would be his opinion and his choosing — and not everyone has always agreed with him. 

Here is what TB has had as his No. 1 story dating back to 2012, the first year of his end-of-year list:

2012 - the NCAA field hockey championship
2013 - the Ivy League football championship
2014 - Julia Ratcliffe's NCAA hammer title
2015 - the women's basketball team goes 31-1
2016 - Ashleigh Johnson wins gold as an undergraduate
2017 - the women's soccer team defeats UNC to reach the NCAA quarterfinals
2018 - the men's hockey team wins the ECAC championship/the football team goes 10-0
2019 - the field hockey team reaches the NCAA final
2020 - the Covid pandemic
2021 - the women's lightweight rowing national championship
2022 - the death of Pete Carril
2023 - the men's basketball team reaches the Sweet 16

So what was the top story for 2024? Well, this year, TB is going to go in a slightly different direction. 

There is no No. 1 story for this year. Well, that's not exactly true. There is, though it's not like the others. 

This year, the No. 1 story is that, as 2025 arrives, there are 19 — nineteen — Princeton teams that have won their most recent conference championship. That number, by the way, does not include the Ivy tournament titles of two other teams (men's lacrosse, men's soccer) who did not in their regular season title.

That is a crazy stat. It's incredible on so many levels. 

Because of all of that success, TigerBlog will not be asking the question of what the top 10 moments were. Instead, he'll ask a different question: Was 2024 the greatest calendar year in Princeton Athletic history? 

You can certainly make a case for it. And this is only considering what was accomplished at Princeton, not on the professional or international levels (such as three Olympic gold medalists).

Which of these individual performances and achievements would you rank as the top of the year?:

* Ellie Mitchell becomes the leading rebounder in school history, men's or women's, smashing the old record that had stood since 1978
* Xaivian Lee had the first recorded triple-double in Princeton men's basketball history
* Lauren Sablone hit a walk-off home run to win the Ivy League softball championship
* Tristan Szapary won the NCAA epee title
* Kaitlyn Chen of the women's basketball team became the first three-time Most Outstanding Player of the Ivy League tournament in any sport
* Roko Pozaric became Princeton's all-time leader in goals scored in men's water polo
* Beth Yeager became the third Ivy League field hockey player ever to be a three-time first-team All-American (the other two were also Princeton players and Yeager could become the first four-time honoree next year)
* Paul Inchauspe knocked off the No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's tennis tournament
* Victoria Liu became the fourth women's golfer to win multiple Ivy League individual titles
* Riccardo Fantinelli became the first Princeton men's golfer in 30 years to be an All-American

As TB said, this is only what happens at Princeton. If it didn't, then there was the Olympic gold medal in fencing won by current junior Maia Weintraub. 

Team success? Which story is the best? 

* the men's squash team rallied from 4-1 down to beat Penn 5-4 for its first Ivy League championship since 2013 — in the final match ever played on the Jadwin courts
* the men's soccer team won the Ivy League tournament by taking down nationally ranked Cornell and Penn
* the women's lightweight rowing team won a fourth-straight IRA national title
* the men's lacrosse team won a second-straight Ivy tournament, defeating Yale and Penn by a combined 32-21
* the women's soccer team won the outright Ivy title and the Ivy tournament title
* the men's track and field team completed an 11th "triple-crown" with Heps titles indoors and outdoors
* the men's and women's cross country teams swept the Heps titles in the fall
* the field hockey team won the Ivy League championship by going 7-0 and then defeated Boston College in the opening round of the NCAA tournament
* the women's open rowing team finished fourth at the NCAA championships after winning another Ivy title
* the men's heavyweights first varsity and second varsity both had undefeated regular seasons for the first time in program history and the first varsity had its first perfect regular season since 2006
* the women's basketball team won another Ivy title and then won a fifth-straight Ivy tournament championship
* the women's swimming and diving team led wire-to-wire to win the Ivy title
* the men's and women's water polo teams both won league championships to reach the NCAA tournament

Again, that's a lot.

What was the best game? Was it ... :

* the men's basketball team's riveting 83-82 win over Rutgers, accomplished with Caden Pierce's game-winning bucket with four seconds to play?
* the field hockey team's 2-1 win over Harvard, when Ella Cashman scored the tying goal in the fourth quarter and the winning goal in OT to essentially give Princeton the Ivy championship?
* the men's soccer team's 3-2 overtime win over Cornell in the Ivy semifinal, after the Tigers had trailed 2-0 early and then rallied to tie it with Nico Nee's goal with seven minutes left and won it on Daniel Ittycheria's OT goal (his second of the night)?
* the softball team's 5-4 win over Cornell to clinch an Ivy championship and the host role in the Ivy tournament (which the Tigers also won), accomplished on Lauren Sablone's three-run walk-off blast?
* the women's water polo team's 10-9 win over Michigan in the CWPA championship game, after the Tigers trailed by three and won it on Ava Houlahan's goal with one minute to play?
* the men's lacrosse team's 18-11 win over Penn in the Ivy League tournament final in a game where the Tigers outscored the Quakers 10-4 after intermission? 

Is TB missing anything? He's sure he is. 

Putting together a top 10 for the year? That would have been impossible. 

Hopefully it is again next year, right? 

In the meantime, have a safe and happy New Year's Eve — and a great 2025.

Andrei And MBB Game Day

The Cincinnati Bengals still have a chance at the NFL playoffs as the regular season heads into its final week.

The team wouldn't have had it lost to the Denver Broncos Saturday afternoon, in what turned out to be one of the best games this season. Just when it looked like one team had it won, something crazy would happen — an injury that saved a timeout, a miraculous fourth-down throw and touchdown catch, a short field goal that clanked off the upright — changed everything on a dime. 

In the end, it was the Bengals 30-24 in overtime, giving the team four straight wins and keeping alive the chance that a team that has been dynamic on offense all season while struggling on defense may sneak into the playoffs. Should that be the case, it would be one team nobody would really want to play. 

TigerBlog is rooting for the Bengals, largely because of Princeton alum Andrei Iosivas. In just his second year with the team, Iosivas has been Cincinnati's No. 3 receiver, making him an important part of the passing game led by quarterback Joe Burrow and featuring fellow wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins and three tights ends.

Iosivas had three catches for 59 yards against Denver, pushing his season stats to 34 receptions, 467 yards (13.7 per catch) and six touchdowns. He almost had another touchdown in the game Saturday on a beautiful and run of 50 yards, only to have it called back by a penalty.

He has 10 touchdown receptions for his career to date as he clearly has already established himself as a solid NFL wide receiver. He also had 16 touchdown catches in three Princeton seasons, so if he matches this year's total next year, then he'd have as many NFL TD receptions as he had in college.

Iosivas' athletic path could have taken a different turn had he pursued his other option, which was as a track and field decathlete. In truth, Iosivas is one of the very best all-around athletes Princeton has ever had, someone who could have probably played any sport and immediately been great at it. 

TB remembers a time when he saw Iosivas on a Jadwin Gym side court bounce a basketball off the floor, catch it in mid-air and dunk it. 

The Jadwin Gym main court will host the Princeton men's basketball team this afternoon at 1, when the Tigers take on Akron out of the MAC. As an aside, that's either a really good or really bad segue; TB isn't sure which quite yet. 

Today's game will be the third in the season and first in Princeton. In what states were the other two played?

Well, TB will give you Ohio (62-58 Akron win in 2012). That's fairly obvious. The other? That was in Hawaii (64-62 Princeton win in 2017).

If the game today is played at the normal pace that both teams like to go, then this time it'll take way more than 62 or 64 points to win it. Princeton averages 76.9 points per game and put up 83 in its last game, that thrilling one-point win against Rutgers at the Prudential Center nine days ago. 

Akron averages 81.2 points per game. The Zips are 7-4, and in those 11 games, the winning team has reached 90 points four times. 

Expect to see a lot of three-pointers attempted. Princeton, as you know, loves to shoot from deep. Akron does too, even more so. 

Princeton ranks 20th in Division I in three-pointers made per game, at 10.7. Akron ranks sixth, at 11.5. Between them, the teams take more than 60 threes per game. 

The Akron roster has nine players from the state of Ohio. There is one player with a Princeton connection — Bowman Hardman, who went to Princeton High School (the one in Ohio). Hardman by the way is one of nine — that's right, nine — Zips players who averages at least seven points per game, while no player averages more than 13.3.

With so many threes that figure to be taken, there also figure to be a lot of opportunities for offensive rebounds, something both teams do very well. Akron is 21st in Division I with 14.3 per game; Princeton had 19 of them in the win over Rutgers. 

On paper, at least, this looks like it should be a fun one.

The Times They Are A-Changin

Could TigerBlog have been a movie critic? 

He would have given "Major League" a much better review than "Field of Dreams." He would have said "Elf" wasn't funny but "Scrooged" was hilarious. 

He would have said that there haven't been too many more entertaining movies ever made than "Point Break." He would have written that he hated all of the superhero movies but for some reason loved "The Dark Knight." He'd have to have let his son write the reviews of all the "Star Wars" movies because he wouldn't have wanted to sit through them.

He'd also never use the word "film" unless it was in the context of "that scene was one of the best ever filmed." He'd also 

Do with that information what you will. 

TigerBlog went on Christmas Day to see the Bob Dylan movie, whose actual title is "A Complete Unknown." Here is his review: 

"With a run-time of 2:21, you'd probably be better off watching a Princeton game on ESPN+ and then spend the rest of your time watching Bob Dylan concert videos on YouTube."

Actually, that's not really fair. The movie does run a bit long and the character and plot development is a bit simplistic — or in some cases non-existent — but it's worth watching simply because of the performance of Timothée Chalamet as Dylan.

For starters, Chalamet learned to play the guitar and harmonica for the role, and he performed all of Dylan's songs that are featured in the movie. The scenes where he sings "The Times They Are A-Changin'' and "Like A Rolling Stone" will give you chills if you're a fan. 

Also, Monica Barbaro was great as Joan Baez. TB didn't even realize she was also in "Top Gun-Maverick," where she played the fighter pilot known as "Phoenix." 

It wouldn't be shocking to see Chalamet and Barbaro get Oscar nominations, even if the movie itself is severely lacking overall. 

So there's that. 

As for your next chance to watch a Princeton game on ESPN+, it comes up Sunday at 2, when the women's basketball team hosts Middle Tennessee State. If you're watching from Murfreesboro, then tip-off is at 1, since it's Central Time and well, the Times They Are A-Changin' (sorry about that). 

You can watch Princeton play Army at 4 tomorrow in men's hockey, by the way, though that game is not on ESPN+. It's on FloHockey.

Princeton has won four straight games in men's hockey, though the team hasn't played in 21 days. Army comes into the game at 5-11 having dropped five straight but also has been off for nearly three weeks.

As for women's basketball, a year ago these teams played at MTSU where the Tigers trailed by five at the half before coming back to win 65-60. Who was the leading scorer that day for Princeton? It was Skye Belker, who had 18. Kaitlyn Chen had 14, and then Ashley Chea was next with nine. 

Obviously Chen is now at UConn, but the other two are currently sophomores who are, with the absence of the injured Madison St. Rose, the two leading scorers on the team. Between them, they averaged 22 points per game prior to when St. Rose was hurt and have averaged just short of 28. That might not seem like much, but it's exactly what the Tigers needed without St. Rose and her 17 per game.

Princeton has played only once in the last two weeks, and that was a dominant 60-45 win over Vermont on the 21st. MTSU last played on the 17th, taking down Cal Baptist on the road, 74-54. 

Princeton brings a 7-4 record into the game. MTSU is 8-4.

Here's a fun fact: If both teams reach their scoring averages for the season in the game Sunday, then the Blue Raiders will win by three-hundredths of a point. Middle Tennessee averages 67.67, while Princeton averages 67.64.

Middle Tennessee has three players who average between 14 and 15 points per game, and those three — Anastasia Boldyreva, Ta'Mia Scott and Jalynn Gregory — combined for 40 of the 60 Blue Raider points in the game against Princeton last year. 

The game Sunday will be the first of three games on Carril Court in three days. Next up would be the men's game Monday at 1 against Akron, followed by the women at noon against LeMoyne Tuesday. 

That's three afternoon home basketball games in three days, at three different times. And, as TB has already established, "the times ..."

Twas The Day After Christmas

Twas the day after Christmas ... 

Do you think they have some sort of debrief/follow-up meeting at the North Pole this week, or is it just vacation time? 

By the way here's a Christmas joke you can file away for next year: 

"How much does it cost to power Santa's sleigh? Eight bucks. Nine if it's foggy."

TigerBlog will now give you a second to recover from the howls of laughter.

Ayway, so how was your Christmas? 

Merry, TigerBlog hopes. There was at least enough snow on the ground to qualify as a White Christmas in the Princeton area, something that doesn't happen most years.

Great news: TigerBlog Jr.'s gift is arriving today. TB was going to share with you a screenshot of the email he got confirming delivery before Christmas, but hey, why embarrass the company when it's really TB's fault for waiting so long to order it, right?

Today is Dec 26. As TB has written before:

Today has to be the worst day to have a birthday. Well, it's either today, or February 29. 

Actually, December 26 has to be way worse. When you're born on Feb. 29, yes, your birthday only comes around once every four years, but that has to be a pretty cool thing in a lot of ways. If you were, say, 28, you could tell people you were seven.

No, Dec. 26 is the worst day for a birthday. Yesterday, obviously, was Christmas. Today is the day that nobody really feels like doing anything after a long time, and actually a long month, of lead-up.

You don't want to be the one to say "hey, it's my birthday. What are we doing?" 

The answer has to be "nothing. You're on your own. We're all wiped out."

Anyway, if today's your birthday, well, happy birthday. 

There was some pretty interesting pre-Christmas news that TB saw the other day. It came in the form of one of the few things that might be able to get him to root against Caitlin Clark. 

The Washington Mystics hired Sydney Johnson to be their new head coach. 

That's the same Sydney Johnson who is the only Ivy League men's basketball alum ever to have all three of these things on his resume: Player of the Year, along with Ivy champion as a player and head coach. Actually, Johnson had two Ivy League championships (1996, 1997), with his Player of the Year honor in 1997, his senior year. 

Johnson was a defensive stopper at Princeton who could guard anyone on the other team and who still holds the school record for career steals with 169. He also found time to score 1,044 career points, 33 of which came on 11 consecutive made three-pointers, across two games, a number that is still the Ivy League record. 

Johnson began his coaching career at Georgetown under John Thompson III and was part of the Hoyas staff that led the team to the 2007 NCAA Final Four. He then got the head coaching job at Princeton and took the Tigers to the 2011 NCAA tournament and a two-point loss to Kentucky in the opening round. 

Now he takes over the Mystics, who finished a game back of the Atlanta Dream for the final playoff spot a year ago. The team also drew 20,711 fans to a game against Clark and the Indiana Fever in what is the most-attended game in league history. 

TigerBlog was the men's basketball contact during Johnson's career as a player at Princeton, and TB saw all but three games that Johnson played as a Tiger. He was one of those people who was mature beyond what you'd expect from a college athlete, and that made him one of the best leaders of a team TB has seen in all his years here. In fact, Johnson was a three-time team captain.

Here's a quote from the story announcing the hiring of Johnson as head coach and Jamila Wideman, a Stanford alum and the No. 3 pick in the first WNBA draft back in 1997, as the team's general manager:

“There are few things more valuable to me than tenacity, integrity, and excellence – and those qualities are what make Jamila and Sydney stand above the crowd,” stated Monumental Sports & Entertainment Partner Sheila C. Johnson. “These highly decorated, accomplished, and world-class leaders will serve to empower and inspire our players by maintaining a championship culture filled with purpose and compassion."

Those words — tenacity, integrity and excellence — those all perfectly describe Sydney Johnson. And now he's a WNBA head coach. 

Go Mystics. Even when they play Fever.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

The supermarket was super-crowded the other day when TigerBlog stopped in. 

He goes to the self-checkout lane, and there's almost never a wait. On this day, though, it was jammed. The line stretched so long that it was creating a log-jam for everyone who trying to go up and down the aisles. 

One man decided to take matters into his own hands. He successfully got everyone in the long checkout line to move away from the aisles and relocate to the other side of the self-serve lanes, saying "everyone just remember who was in front of you and line up the same way."

And that's what happened, without incident, without anyone who tried to move ahead of anyone else. It was a Christmas miracle, albeit a minor one.  

As tomorrow is Christmas, TigerBlog also wanted to share this screenshot with you. It dates back seven years now, with one text from former Princeton filmmaker John Bullis and then the perfect follow up from Greg Paczkowski, the Associate AD for Facilities at Princeton:

Perfect, right? 

In the meantime, here is what TB offered up last year on Christmas Eve: 

TigerBlog has a large collection of Christmas songs on his iTunes.

He's always been a big fan of Christmas music. He was a trumpet player in high school, and he loved when the concert band, or the jazz band, played holiday music.

What's his favorite? 

It's probably not a shock to anyone who has read this for awhile to learn that it's "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band version, of course. That's a big sticking point with TB.

It's the song, but it's also the artist. He's not interested in hearing anyone sing "Silver Bells" except for Dean Martin. The same goes for "Silent Night" and Emmylou Harris. 

It has to be Darlene Love's version of "Winter Wonderland," though his high school jazz band did do its own great version of the song.

"The Christmas Song?" If it's not Nat King Cole's voice that starts out with "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire," it's likely TB won't even make it to "Jack Frost nipping at your nose." 

And does he even have to mention "White Christmas" and Bing?

He has his favorites. 

Having said all that, he does have to give honorable mention to the Beach Boys jazzed up version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town."

Oh, and you know what he cannot stand, not even a little bit? TV commercials that substitute its own lyrics for classic Christmas songs. TB would rather listen to fingernails on blackboards.

Today, of course, is the day before Christmas. As he said last year (and the year before that and the year before that and so on and so on):

The surest way to get TigerBlog to tear up is invite him over, click HERE and fast-forward to the 7:00 mark.

Never fails.

If you don't want to go through all that, then the link takes you to the last scene of the Christmas classic "It's A Wonderful Life."

The line that always, 100 percent of the time, brings a tear to TB's eyes is Harry Bailey's toast to his brother. TB could watch it in early July on a day far removed from Christmas and still it'll have the same effect.

Want to see some more of TB's favorite Christmas clips? Then watch one of these:

* the end scene from "A Christmas Story"

* bonus scene from the same movie

* Charlie Brown makes a bold purchase

* the Grinch's heart grows

* now this is a duet

* and this is a ballet

* this one is the greatest ever version of any Christmas song ever performed 

* this one is second

* this is really cute

* and you can't watch the last one without this one

* this is long, but cute

* oh, and here's one more. Is this a Christmas song, or a show tune? It's both.

* you can thank Princeton's own Jeff Ingold for this one.

* and this one too.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hopefully it's safe and happy. 

And he'll leave you today with this, which, unfortunately, is not available on iTunes, at least not by these guys. And this one especially has to be these guys. 

 

A Princeton Christmas

TigerBlog will start out by saying this: The Princeton-Rutgers men's basketball game Saturday afternoon was one of the best he's ever seen.

There wasn't much missing, other than perhaps the words "NCAA" and "tournament." Other than that? This was an epic. 

The final score at the Prudential Center in Newark was Princeton 83, Rutgers 82, the game-winner from Caden Pierce with four seconds to go — after Rutgers' Ace Bailey put the Scarlet Knights up 82-81 with a three-pointer eight seconds earlier. 

WILD ending to Princeton-Rutgers 🤯@PrincetonMBB hangs on to win! pic.twitter.com/QvUNfmkulx

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) December 21, 2024

That was John Fanta on the call. "A Princeton Christmas." Well done.  

What made this such a great game? It just had that special feeling from start to finish. The intensity was obvious. The crowd was into it. There were huge shots on both sides.

There was just a spark to this one, and the way it played out only upped the ante.  

This was the first Princeton-Rutgers game ever where both teams reached at least 80 points. That's a total of 122 games, by the way. 

It was also the first time Princeton and Rutgers played a one-point game since the infamous 54-53 Scarlet Knights win in the first round of the 1976 NCAA tournament.

Neither team ever led by more than six. There were 13 ties and 17 lead changes. Each time one team looked like it was in control, the other team stormed right back. Momentum came and momentum went. 

There was the subplot of Zach Martini, the Princeton alum who is playing at Rutgers as a grad transfer. Martini had a seven-point day against his alma mater, including a three-pointer with eight minutes to play to account for one of the lead changes. 

And the stars? They played like stars. 

Rutgers guard Dylan Harper is third in Division I in scoring, first among freshmen. He's also a sure-fire lottery pick in the next NBA Drafter. Harper certainly looked the part Saturday, with a game-high 22 points and a season's worth of individual highlights. 

Bailey, another freshman and another lottery pick, finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, including what otherwise might have been the clutch winner were it not for Pierce.

Then there were Princeton's two first-team All-Ivy League selections from a year ago, Pierce and Xavian Lee. 

Harper and Bailey combined for 37 points, 17 rebounds and four assists. Pierce and Lee? They had 42 points, 20 rebounds and 13 assists. 

At times it looked like Harper and Lee were playing some sort of game of "HORSE" in the middle of the actual game. It was certainly a showcase of how to create your own shot, and it was definitely impressive.

Lee finished with a career-high 11 assists and six rebounds, leaving him only four boards away from another triple-double. He didn't score in the first 14 minutes, missing his first four shots, and then scored 21 in the final 26 minutes. 

Pierce led a rebounding effort that was extraordinary, as the Tigers had an edge of 43-36 on the glass, with 19 offensive rebounds that led to 23 second-chance points. Pierce had 14 rebounds, a season high, and there was no doubt that he was going to be the one to take the last shot. 

This was a "get out of the way" moment, and Pierce made it happen by himself. In fact, he was the only one who touched the ball after Blake Peters inbounded it after the Baily three-pointer. 

Peters had three three-pointers of his own and was one of five other Tigers who had at least seven in the game. It was a big shot here by Philip Byriel (he had eight points and five rebounds), and another one from Jackson Hicke (eight points, three for three shooting). Dalen Davis had seven, and Malik Abdullahi had eight points and four rebounds while providing a huge inside presence against the Rutgers inside players. 

In the end, it was a wildly entertaining game, one that ultimately will lack the historical significance of a game in March. That hardly matters to anyone who watched, either in the building or on TV. 

This was a classic, start to finish. And a great win for the Tigers.

Saturday Hoops

Back when TigerBlog was the Princeton men's basketball contact, one of the best parts of any year was seeing the schedule for the first time. 

This would be in the fall, well before the season began. Where was the team traveling? Anyplace good? Flights? Warm weather? 

It was with the Princeton men's basketball team that TB got to travel from here to there and pretty much everywhere around the country. He really appreciates the stops he made along the way in those years, places he might never have had the chance to see.

To name a few: El Paso, Texas. East Lansing, Michigan. Lawrence, Kansas. New Orleans (twice). Honolulu. Green Bay. Milwaukee. Champaign, Illinois. Fresno. Ames, Iowa (twice). Muncie, Indiana.

This was back when this time of year was dominated by holiday tournaments that no longer exist, usually four-team events both before and after Christmas. It was always a big deal to win the first game and avoid the dreaded "consolation" game, something Princeton was very good at doing. 

Ah, those were the days. All-tournament teams. MVPs. It reminds TigerBlog of one of his favorite Pete Carril moments, after one of those events. 

TB asked Carril what he thought about one of his players who had made the all-tournament team. Carril's response: "So did the guy he was guarding." 

Even all these years later, TB still laughed out loud as he typed that.

For all of those experiences, he can't imagine what the Vermont women's basketball team members thought when the 2024-25 schedule came across their phones. A trip to Minneapolis for the second game of the year? That was nothing compared to what was to follow. 

Vermont made the 4,256-mile trip to Anchorage, Alaska, for games Nov. 22 and 23. Next up? Two more games five and six days later in Cancun. Distance from Burlington? This one was only 3,656 miles. 

Or did the team go straight from Anchorage to Cancun? That's 5,775 miles. 

That is an incredible 10-day stretch for any team. Has any college basketball team ever had a four-game stretch with the first two in Alaska and the next two in Mexico? 

Vermont's next game is also on the road, though this trip is nothing quite like the other two. In fact, it's in Jadwin Gym, where the Catamounts will tip off at noon tomorrow against Princeton. 

It's a big Saturday tomorrow for Princeton Basketball, with the women's game at home and the men's game at the Prudential Center in Newark against Rutgers, also at noon tomorrow. It's a return to the court for the teams after first semester exams after they last played on Dec. 10 (the men) and Dec. 11 (the women).

The Vermont women will come to Jadwin on short rest, after they played yesterday at Buffalo, where they dropped a tough 70-68 decision to a Bulls team that is now 10-0. 

The Catamounts are 5-8 on the year with all the travel and the tough opponents. Their record the last three years combined was 70-30 (that's around a 70 percent winning percentage, right?) with an NCAA tournament appearance two years ago and a run to the WNIT semifinals last year. 

Princeton defeated Vermont 67-47 a year ago in Burlington. The leading scorer in that game was Madison St. Rose, who put up 23.

St. Rose, of course, is out injured. Without her, Princeton has gone 4-2, with wins over Rutgers, Seton Hall, Temple and Rhode Island and losses at Portland (who is still unbeaten) and Utah. 

As for the Princeton-Rutgers men's game, as TB wrote Monday, this is a chance for the Tigers to go up against the phenomenal Scarlet Knights duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who rank first and third in Division I in points per game among freshman, with more than 40 per game between them. 

What does Harper have in common with Bill Bradley, at least through 11 career games (as opposed to the 83 Bradley played)? They both have a career-low of 14 points. Harper has had at least 20 points nine times in those 11 games, with games of 36 against Notre Dame and 37 against Alabama in back-to-back outings. 

Rutgers also has former Tiger Zach Martini, a key member of Princeton's Sweet 16 team of two years ago. 

Whether you're in Jadwin or Newark, or in front of your TV or computer, make sure you take advantage of your Saturday hoops. 

The wrapping presents can wait until later.

To The Playoffs

So, it's finals week at Princeton. 

Christmas is next week. The schedule across all eight teams is light. Things are slow in the Ivy League right now, right?

Yeah, no.

TigerBlog has to say that he was not expecting the announcement yesterday of a major change in Ivy League policy. Beginning in 2025, the Ivy football champion will play in the FCS playoffs. 

If you haven't seen the release, you can read it HERE.

This is the first sentence: Following a year-long process initiated by the Ivy League's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Ivy League Council of Presidents has approved a proposal to participate in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs beginning next season.

Yale's Mason Shipp caught 39 passes 431 yards and two touchdowns, both of which came against Brown, this past season. That's not an All-Ivy League resume, but it is a solid senior season, obviously.

More than that, though, Shipp will be remembered for his role in what is among the top three changes that TigerBlog has witnessed in all his time in the league (along with freshman eligibility in football and the adoption of Ivy League tournaments in most team sports but especially basketball).

"It's a monumental day in the Ivy League and a special day to be an Ivy League student-athlete," said Mason Shipp, a senior football student-athlete at Yale who serves as the Ivy League SAAC chair and penned the proposal. "Thank you to the Presidents for listening and responding to the voices of your students. For the future generations that are fortunate enough to represent the Ivy League in the FCS playoffs, go win us some hardware!"

The vote of the Ivy presidents to adopt the proposal that Shipp put forward reminds TB of another athlete, Curt Flood, a pretty good Major League Baseball player in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, the Major Leagues operated under the Reserve Clause, which meant that the players were obligated to their teams until they were traded or released. 

It was Flood who refused to accept a 1969 trade, leading to a series of legal dominoes that ended with the first free agency four years later. Extra credit goes to those who knew that the first Major League free agent was pitcher Andy Messersmith.

So what does this mean for Ivy football? 

It's certainly a game-changing move. If you go back to 1945, you'll see the first Ivy Group agreement, one that was amended in September 1952. This is from the Daily Princetonian in 1952:

A new Presidents' Agreement governing football has been signed by the Presidents of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale. It revises the original agreement of November 1945 and formulates an association "to be known as the 'Ivy Group.'" Among the points changed is the rule regarding the abolition of spring football practice, football clinics and post-season games.

With that as a background, the Ivy League first contested an official football championship in 1956. The Division I-AA tournament — the forerunner to the FCS tournament — began in 1978, when Florida A&M was the first winner. Either North Dakota State or South Dakota State has won 11 of the last 13 championships, and one of them is guaranteed to be in this year's championship game, since they play Saturday in the semifinals (Montana and South Dakota play in the other). 

There have been two finalists from teams currently in the Patriot League, Lehigh in 1979 and Colgate in 2003. Lehigh was this year's Patriot League representative, and the Mountain Hawks won their first round game against Richmond before falling to Idaho. 

Have there been Ivy League teams since 1978 who would have made strong runs through the tournament? Probably. Were Princeton teams among them? Certainly — especially 2018. 

The Ivy League is still working out all of the tiebreakers to determine who would get its automatic bid in the event of multiple champions. The last two years have seen back-to-back tri-champions; there have been five teams who have won at least a share of the title in the last four years (including Princeton in 2021). 

In other words, it's obviously a league of great balance and competitiveness. Having its champion advance to the NCAA playoffs will make it even more so, with so much to play for each week. You don't want to leave things up to the tiebreakers, right? 

The biggest part of the story to TB, though, goes beyond anything that happens on the football field. It's that the Ivy League allowed its Student Athlete Advisory Committee to initiate a major policy change. 

It's a sign that the league puts on the value of intercollegiate athletics and how they are an important part of the experience — and the education — of those who compete here.

This was extraordinarily good news on so many levels.