When TigerBlog saw the news that Sir Alex Ferguson was retiring as the manager of Manchester United, his first thought was to wonder if perhaps he was the greatest coach of all time in any sport.
Ferguson. Not TigerBlog, though his record in youth sports is pretty strong.
Then TB started to wonder who in fact is the greatest coach ever, keeping in mind that his criteria includes being overwhelmingly successful and being overwhelmingly successful on the biggest stages in the entire sports world, not just within a smaller sub-culture. The second criteria eliminates some great, great coaches, by the way.
So where does Ferguson rank?
Well, in his 26 seasons with ManU, he won 13 Premier League championships, five FA Cups and two Champions' League titles, as well as some other championships mixed in. He also was as instrumental as anyone in the explosion of the Premier League as an international, world-wide phenomenon, far beyond what it was even 10 years or so ago.
Ferguson helped turn Manchester United into something akin to the Yankees, a franchise that is bigger than the league itself, bigger than the sport itself.
TB isn't the most knowledgeable international soccer fan. He does know that Ferguson is easily the most recognizable name in soccer coaching, and even the most casual fan knows who he is.
Ferguson was here, on campus, nearly three years ago, when he had lunch with Civil War historian James McPherson and others. Turned out Sir Alex is a big Civil War buff.
So where does Ferguson rank among the world's great coaches?
Honestly, TB doesn't know how to compare his record in the Premier League and with ManU to that of, say, Vince Lombardi. Or Phil Jackson. Or Scotty Bowman.
He does know that Ferguson is in the conversation, which says a lot about his record and impact on the international sporting world.
Ferguson was with ManU for 26 years, which means that Princeton's current streak of winning the Ivy League's unofficial all-sports began the year before he arrived.
Princeton's current streak is at 27, as the Tigers have already clinched this 2012-13 championship, even before the final three Ivy titles - in rowing - are contested.
Princeton has 197 points to date, 31.5 points ahead of Harvard. Princeton will move past the 200-point mark at the Ivy League rowing championships, and TB has figured out that 200 points is the sign of great success for any given academic year.
As for Ivy League championships, Princeton now has 11. Harvard and Cornell have seven apiece. With only three remaining, Princeton will win that number again as well.
It's a far cry from last year, when it went down to the last event before Princeton held off Harvard 191.5-190.5.
If you're keeping score, Princeton's 11 Ivy League championship teams to date are: women's soccer, field hockey, men's cross country, women's fencing, women's basketball, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, men's squash, women's squash, men's golf and men's outdoor track and field.
Princeton has also had seven teams finish in second place.
TigerBlog is of the belief that one of these years, Princeton will not win this championship. It's an extraordinary run, 27 straight years of having the best overall performance within the league.
And not one of those 27 years should be taken for granted.
Certainly next year isn't. When 2013-14 begins, everybody goes back to zeroes.
For now, though, it's a time to be proud of the accomplishment.
Sir Alex put up 26 great years.
Princeton is now at 27 - and counting.
With a warning, as always, that all glory is fleeting.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query ferguson. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query ferguson. Sort by date Show all posts
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Friday, July 23, 2010
PWCD: Guest-TB's Day With A Knight
Note - TigerBlog has a standing offer to all Princeton coaches to have the forum for a day on any subject they'd like. Men's soccer coach Jim Barlow is the first to take TB up on it:
If you are like me, you’ve noticed many people in the Princeton area have contracted the terrible affliction known as PWCD (post-World Cup depression) over the past couple of weeks. After a month of non-stop matches, lots of drama, and several clinics in skill and possession from the Spanish, it all ended so abruptly. For Princeton University soccer people the empty feeling is even greater, as we began the summer by hosting the US Men’s National Team on Myslik Field in Roberts Stadium. We had the best players in the country here for a week. We had great soccer at our fingertips. We were spoiled.
Now, with over a month left before college soccer begins, what is a soccer fan to do? Watch baseball? That’s also become difficult if you are a Mets or Phillies fan. Fortunately, several options remain. To the north, the NY Red Bulls are having a good season, opened up a beautiful new stadium, and this week signed and introduced the legendary French international Thierry Henry into their line-up. To the south, the expansion Philadelphia Union are playing their inaugural season in MLS and also opened an incredible new stadium (PPL Park) in Chester.
Both franchises have scheduled friendly matches in July against some of the best European professional teams who travel to the US for preseason. Good soccer, yes, but the World Cup? No.
So what to do to cure PWCD while waiting for preseason to arrive? Guest-TB feels like he did when he was a kid and the family decided to drive somewhere (like Florida) for vacation. It just seemed like we had so far to go until we got there, and we just wanted the fun part to arrive already. To pass the time on these long journeys, we’ve all posed hypothetical questions to each other, like, If you could invite a famous person to lunch, who would it be?
Would it be an actor, a politician, an expert in your favorite field, a musician, a religious leader? An athlete or coach? Would it be TigerBlog (Or, maybe the better question is, who would TB choose –I sense that blog in the near future)?
One person any soccer fan would want to invite to lunch is Sir Alex Ferguson, the manager of the most successful franchise in professional sports, Manchester United. A native of Scotland, Sir Alex took over a struggling Man United in 1986, and over the past 25 years he has won, among other trophies, 11 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, two UEFA Champions League titles, and a FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998/1999 the club became the only English team to ever win the elusive “treble” as the Reds captured the Premiership title, the FA Cup, and the Champions League trophy. The success led to Ferguson being “knighted” and thus the “Sir” before his name. What an honor it would be to have lunch with Sir Alex and to hear his thoughts on the game, coaching, and some of his experience working with athletes like Eric Cantona, Ruud van Nistelrooy, David Beckham, and Christiano Ronaldo.
But who would Sir Alex invite to lunch?
Well, how about Civil War historian and Princeton Emeritus Professor James McPherson, who arrived on campus in 1962 and, after his Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era won the Pulitzer Prize, became one of the nation’s most famous historians?
On Wednesday, Guest-TB had the privilege of sitting in on a lunch at Prospect House that included, among other distinguished guests, both Sir Alex Ferguson and Professor James McPherson. Sir Alex is in the States for preseason with Manchester United, and the team set up camp in Philadelphia prior to Wednesday night’s friendly against the Union (Manchester won the match, 1-0). An avid reader of Civil War history, Sir Alex used some time off to visit Gettysburg and was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet Professor McPherson at Prospect House and hear more about it.
There I was, sitting across the table from arguably the greatest Civil War historian in the world and the greatest soccer coach in the world. Both men are well past 65 but have more energy than most of the players I coach. They spoke of turning points in the war, naval blockades, Union and Confederate strategies, and lessons from Gettysburg. It was fascinating. The most striking similarities between Sir Alex and Professor McPherson are their passion, their desire to learn, and their ability to be fully engaged in the moment. For such enormously successful living legends, they have no ego, no arrogance. Their energy is contagious and you can’t help but feel fueled by their passion for what they do.
Having lunch with Sir Alex and Professor McPherson reminded me of a book I recently read (and highly recommend) called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle, who visits centers of excellence around the world and tries to explain how greatness is “grown.” Part of the process, according to Coyle, involves “master coaching.” He explains what he observed about master coaches:
…They were mostly older; many had been teaching thirty or forty years. They possessed the same sort of gaze: steady, deep, unblinking. They listened far more than they talked. They seemed allergic to giving pep talks or inspiring speeches…They had an extraordinary sensitivity to the person they were teaching, customizing each message to each student’s personality. After meeting a dozen of these people, I started to suspect that they were all secretly related (p. 162).
Master coaches aren’t like heads of state. They aren’t like captains who steer us across the unmarked sea, or preachers on a pulpit, ringing out the good news…They possess vast, deep frameworks of knowledge, which they apply to the steady, incremental work of growing skill circuits, which they ultimately don’t control (pp. 165-166)
I was able to witness first hand what Coyle was describing. How fortunate was I to spend a couple of hours with two masters of master coaching.
And what better way to get over PWCD.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Diana Matheson Goes Back To The Olympics
GoPrincetonTigers.com Olympic Page
TigerBlog is about halfway through Season 4 of "Wentworth" on Netflix.
The show is the Australian version of "Orange Is The New Black." Actually, it's way better than "Orange Is The New Black."
TigerBlog isn't sure that "Orange Is The New Black" knows exactly what it is trying to be. Is it funny? Serious? The mix doesn't always work.
"Wentworth" has no illusions of being a comedy. It is exactly what a prison drama should be, with its sense of the fear, frustration, boredom, loneliness and helplessness that the inmates live with everyday. And with a constant reminder of why these women are in prison in the first place.
It's a tough trick, to make sympathetic characters out of people who are criminals and in prison. If you look at "The Sopranos," for instance, it's easy to forget that Tony, one of the most lovable characters in TV history, is actually a sociopath and mob boss.
In Wentworth's prison, the line blurs between "good" and "bad." Yes, Bea - the leader among the prisoners - tried to kill her husband and did actually kill someone else, but she does have the best interest of the other inmates in mind. And she is painted as a person who never set out to hurt anyone but was forced into circumstances that led her down this path.
Yes, there are some inmates who have absolutely no sense of right and wrong and were destined to end up where they are. Then there are the rest, who, like Bea, made bad choices along the way and now are dealing with the awful consequences while trying to let their "good" side win out over their "bad" side.
The dynamic of the relationship between the prisoners and the guards is also portrayed well. There is a hint of friendship between them, coupled with a constant need on the part of the guards to remind the inmates of the reality of their situation, which is that the guards can go home when their shifts are over but they'll be here for years or, in Bea's case, forever.
The best character on the show is Frankie, who was paroled at the end of Season 3 and who hasn't figured prominently in the first half of Season 4. Frankie is something of a hybrid between the two kinds of inmates - she has a big heart and is a bit of a psycho who thinks nothing of lashing out (in a big way, like a "throwing a pan of hot oil on someone on live TV" sort of way).
TigerBlog senses that there will be more of Frankie in the second half of the season. He hopes it's not because she's sent back to the prison, though.
And then there's Ferguson, the former governor of the prison who is now an inmate. That part is a bit contrived, but it doesn't take away from just how evil a character Ferguson is.
TigerBlog figures that her character is so evil that the other actors on the show must hate her in real life too.
If you have seen "Orange Is The New Black," which is basically everyone with Netflix, but haven't seen "Wentworth," which is also basically everyone with Netflix, then you've been watching the wrong show.
"Wentworth" is a big hit in Australia, and it has won numerous awards there. In fact, the actresses who play Bea, Frankie and Ferguson have all won Best Actress in a drama awards, which has to be unique among any show in any country.
And now, for the easiest segue in TigerBlog history:
While we're on the subject of Australia, it will be Canada vs. Australia in women's soccer as the Summer Olympics begin today, actually two days before the Opening Ceremonies.
Canada features Princeton grad Diana Matheson, who four years ago in London scored the biggest goal in Canadian women's soccer history, when she gave her country the bronze medal with the goal in stoppage time of a 1-0 win over France in a game in which Canada was outshot 28-4.
The biggest goal came from the shortest player, as Matheson barely reaches five feet tall. It also came from the fittest player. TigerBlog has seen very few athletes who have ever come through Princeton who had Matheson's motor.
Or, for that matter, field vision. It's how she's managed to be a huge part of Canada's international women's soccer efforts for more than a decade now. In fact, Matheson, now 32, could be playing in her final major event for the Canadians.
It's been 12 years since she exploded onto the Princeton Athletics scene and helped Princeton to one of the greatest accomplishments in its entire athletic history. Back in 2004, Matheson was the glue of a women's soccer team that went all the way to the NCAA Final Four, and those Tigers remain the only women's soccer team in Ivy League history ever to do so.
Matheson was named a first-team All-America, which is a bit ironic. You know. Because she's Canadian.
Her team has a tough group, with Australia and Germany, though the Canadians could still come in third in the group and reach the quarterfinals. The fourth team in the group is Zimbabwe.
The Olympics begin today with Diana Matheson.
Against Australia. Which produces a great TV show.
Sigh. All segues should be that easy.
TigerBlog is about halfway through Season 4 of "Wentworth" on Netflix.
The show is the Australian version of "Orange Is The New Black." Actually, it's way better than "Orange Is The New Black."
TigerBlog isn't sure that "Orange Is The New Black" knows exactly what it is trying to be. Is it funny? Serious? The mix doesn't always work.
"Wentworth" has no illusions of being a comedy. It is exactly what a prison drama should be, with its sense of the fear, frustration, boredom, loneliness and helplessness that the inmates live with everyday. And with a constant reminder of why these women are in prison in the first place.
It's a tough trick, to make sympathetic characters out of people who are criminals and in prison. If you look at "The Sopranos," for instance, it's easy to forget that Tony, one of the most lovable characters in TV history, is actually a sociopath and mob boss.
In Wentworth's prison, the line blurs between "good" and "bad." Yes, Bea - the leader among the prisoners - tried to kill her husband and did actually kill someone else, but she does have the best interest of the other inmates in mind. And she is painted as a person who never set out to hurt anyone but was forced into circumstances that led her down this path.
Yes, there are some inmates who have absolutely no sense of right and wrong and were destined to end up where they are. Then there are the rest, who, like Bea, made bad choices along the way and now are dealing with the awful consequences while trying to let their "good" side win out over their "bad" side.
The dynamic of the relationship between the prisoners and the guards is also portrayed well. There is a hint of friendship between them, coupled with a constant need on the part of the guards to remind the inmates of the reality of their situation, which is that the guards can go home when their shifts are over but they'll be here for years or, in Bea's case, forever.
The best character on the show is Frankie, who was paroled at the end of Season 3 and who hasn't figured prominently in the first half of Season 4. Frankie is something of a hybrid between the two kinds of inmates - she has a big heart and is a bit of a psycho who thinks nothing of lashing out (in a big way, like a "throwing a pan of hot oil on someone on live TV" sort of way).
TigerBlog senses that there will be more of Frankie in the second half of the season. He hopes it's not because she's sent back to the prison, though.
And then there's Ferguson, the former governor of the prison who is now an inmate. That part is a bit contrived, but it doesn't take away from just how evil a character Ferguson is.
TigerBlog figures that her character is so evil that the other actors on the show must hate her in real life too.
If you have seen "Orange Is The New Black," which is basically everyone with Netflix, but haven't seen "Wentworth," which is also basically everyone with Netflix, then you've been watching the wrong show.
"Wentworth" is a big hit in Australia, and it has won numerous awards there. In fact, the actresses who play Bea, Frankie and Ferguson have all won Best Actress in a drama awards, which has to be unique among any show in any country.
And now, for the easiest segue in TigerBlog history:
While we're on the subject of Australia, it will be Canada vs. Australia in women's soccer as the Summer Olympics begin today, actually two days before the Opening Ceremonies.
Canada features Princeton grad Diana Matheson, who four years ago in London scored the biggest goal in Canadian women's soccer history, when she gave her country the bronze medal with the goal in stoppage time of a 1-0 win over France in a game in which Canada was outshot 28-4.
The biggest goal came from the shortest player, as Matheson barely reaches five feet tall. It also came from the fittest player. TigerBlog has seen very few athletes who have ever come through Princeton who had Matheson's motor.
Or, for that matter, field vision. It's how she's managed to be a huge part of Canada's international women's soccer efforts for more than a decade now. In fact, Matheson, now 32, could be playing in her final major event for the Canadians.
It's been 12 years since she exploded onto the Princeton Athletics scene and helped Princeton to one of the greatest accomplishments in its entire athletic history. Back in 2004, Matheson was the glue of a women's soccer team that went all the way to the NCAA Final Four, and those Tigers remain the only women's soccer team in Ivy League history ever to do so.
Matheson was named a first-team All-America, which is a bit ironic. You know. Because she's Canadian.
Her team has a tough group, with Australia and Germany, though the Canadians could still come in third in the group and reach the quarterfinals. The fourth team in the group is Zimbabwe.
The Olympics begin today with Diana Matheson.
Against Australia. Which produces a great TV show.
Sigh. All segues should be that easy.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Keeping The Fire Lit
In the world of coaching, TigerBlog presumes that there have been a lot more David Moyes than Alex Fergusons.
David Moyes is out as the coach at Manchester United. He lasted less than one year - though he will be paid for five more, apparently. His record was 27 wins, 15 losses and nine ties. In the world of international soccer, that's written as 27-9-15.
As an aside, TigerBlog gets that in international soccer, the city name in the team is considered plural, so it would be "Manchester are winning," not "Manchester is winning." What he doesn't understand is why American sportswriters insist on writing it that way. To seem hipper?
Anyway, Moyes didn't quite last at Manchester United. Ferguson? He did.
Alex Ferguson was the coach at Manchester United for 26 times longer than Moyes. During his time at Man U, he won 13 Premier League and two Champions League titles and established himself as one of the greatest of all-time in his profession. He also made a trip to Princeton University, which was undoubtedly the highlight of his tenure.
Unlike Moyes, who lasted for 51 games, Ferguson coached 1,500 games for Man U, winning 895 of them. Apparently replacing him won't be so easy, as Man U will miss the Champions League next year.
TigerBlog still hasn't figured out which EPL team is his favorite, though he knows it isn't Manchester United or Chelsea. It would be like rooting for the Yankees.
He'd consider Liverpool, except you'd accuse him of being a front-runner, as Liverpool is closing in on its first EPL title since 1990. Besides, in the EPL, it's more fun to see who is going to avoid relegation than who will actually win.
Meanwhile, back at the idea of coaching longevity, it's not easy to be a successful coach for decades. First, you have to be successful. Then you have to avoid complacency.
The secret is to treat each year as its own challenge, TB supposes.
Princeton has six head coaches who coached for all 20 years that Gary Walters was Ford Family Director of Athletics and and presumably will still be there when Mollie Marcoux takes over.
Those six are: men's track and field coach Fred Samara, women's track and field coach Peter Farrell, men's swimming coach Rob Orr, women's swimming coach Susan Teeter, women's squash coach Gail Ramsay and women's lacrosse coach Chris Sailer.
TigerBlog isn't sure who hired Ramsay, who started at the same time as Walters.
This past weekend, Princeton won two Ivy League championships. One was in women's tennis, whose coach, Laura Granville, who was born in the same year that Chris Sailer - who led the Princeton women to the championship - graduated from Harvard.
It's an interesting contract to TigerBlog. Sailer, a veteran of 28 seasons at Princeton, won her 10th Ivy title. Granville, in Year 2 at Princeton, won her first.
TigerBlog - also a veteran - first met Chris Sailer when she was already the head lacrosse coach and was also the assistant field hockey coach, back in the late 1980s. It was fairly normal back then for players to play both sports and coaches to coach both.
The world has changed considerably since then. The number of girls who play sports has skyrocketed, and with that has come greater specialization and way more women to fill college rosters. As a result, there are almost no field hockey/lacrosse players anymore.
Sailer has endured through that massive change in the culture of her profession, and she has thrived. She has won three NCAA championships and is the in the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
And, as each year presents a new challenge, she has shown that the fire still burns.
It's been an exciting year for Princeton, with more to come. The Tigers defeated Dartmouth 12-10 Saturday to finish the league season at 6-1, clinching at least a share of the Ivy title. Penn still has two games remaining, tomorrow against Columbia and Saturday against Cornell, and a pair of Quaker wins would mean a co-championship.
Regardless, though, the Ivy League women's lacrosse tournament comes to Sherrerd Field in two weeks. It's the first time Princeton - or any team other than Penn - hosts the event in its five-year history.
Princeton's lone Ivy loss came in its league opener March 8 at Brown, who knocked off the Tigers 14-13 in overtime to drop the Tigers to 1-3.
Since then, Princeton is 8-1, with a 9-5 win over Penn in the mix. The one loss was perhaps the most impressive performance of them all, an 8-7 loss to No. 2 Maryland.
The four teams for the Ivy women's tournament are set, with Princeton as the host and top seed, along with Penn, Cornell and Harvard in some order. The winner gets the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Princeton, in the meantime, finishes the regular season this Saturday at Penn State.
Chris Sailer, in addition to her 10 Ivy titles and three NCAA championships, has led Princeton to 20 NCAA tournaments, and the 46 NCAA games she's coached are the most by any coach in Division I history.
And each year she comes back looking for more.
Some coaches last. Others don't.
It's not an easy profession in general. It's even harder to have the kind of career Chris Sailer has had.
David Moyes is out as the coach at Manchester United. He lasted less than one year - though he will be paid for five more, apparently. His record was 27 wins, 15 losses and nine ties. In the world of international soccer, that's written as 27-9-15.
As an aside, TigerBlog gets that in international soccer, the city name in the team is considered plural, so it would be "Manchester are winning," not "Manchester is winning." What he doesn't understand is why American sportswriters insist on writing it that way. To seem hipper?
Anyway, Moyes didn't quite last at Manchester United. Ferguson? He did.
Alex Ferguson was the coach at Manchester United for 26 times longer than Moyes. During his time at Man U, he won 13 Premier League and two Champions League titles and established himself as one of the greatest of all-time in his profession. He also made a trip to Princeton University, which was undoubtedly the highlight of his tenure.
Unlike Moyes, who lasted for 51 games, Ferguson coached 1,500 games for Man U, winning 895 of them. Apparently replacing him won't be so easy, as Man U will miss the Champions League next year.
TigerBlog still hasn't figured out which EPL team is his favorite, though he knows it isn't Manchester United or Chelsea. It would be like rooting for the Yankees.
He'd consider Liverpool, except you'd accuse him of being a front-runner, as Liverpool is closing in on its first EPL title since 1990. Besides, in the EPL, it's more fun to see who is going to avoid relegation than who will actually win.
Meanwhile, back at the idea of coaching longevity, it's not easy to be a successful coach for decades. First, you have to be successful. Then you have to avoid complacency.
The secret is to treat each year as its own challenge, TB supposes.
Princeton has six head coaches who coached for all 20 years that Gary Walters was Ford Family Director of Athletics and and presumably will still be there when Mollie Marcoux takes over.
Those six are: men's track and field coach Fred Samara, women's track and field coach Peter Farrell, men's swimming coach Rob Orr, women's swimming coach Susan Teeter, women's squash coach Gail Ramsay and women's lacrosse coach Chris Sailer.
TigerBlog isn't sure who hired Ramsay, who started at the same time as Walters.
This past weekend, Princeton won two Ivy League championships. One was in women's tennis, whose coach, Laura Granville, who was born in the same year that Chris Sailer - who led the Princeton women to the championship - graduated from Harvard.
It's an interesting contract to TigerBlog. Sailer, a veteran of 28 seasons at Princeton, won her 10th Ivy title. Granville, in Year 2 at Princeton, won her first.
TigerBlog - also a veteran - first met Chris Sailer when she was already the head lacrosse coach and was also the assistant field hockey coach, back in the late 1980s. It was fairly normal back then for players to play both sports and coaches to coach both.
The world has changed considerably since then. The number of girls who play sports has skyrocketed, and with that has come greater specialization and way more women to fill college rosters. As a result, there are almost no field hockey/lacrosse players anymore.
Sailer has endured through that massive change in the culture of her profession, and she has thrived. She has won three NCAA championships and is the in the U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
And, as each year presents a new challenge, she has shown that the fire still burns.
It's been an exciting year for Princeton, with more to come. The Tigers defeated Dartmouth 12-10 Saturday to finish the league season at 6-1, clinching at least a share of the Ivy title. Penn still has two games remaining, tomorrow against Columbia and Saturday against Cornell, and a pair of Quaker wins would mean a co-championship.
Regardless, though, the Ivy League women's lacrosse tournament comes to Sherrerd Field in two weeks. It's the first time Princeton - or any team other than Penn - hosts the event in its five-year history.
Princeton's lone Ivy loss came in its league opener March 8 at Brown, who knocked off the Tigers 14-13 in overtime to drop the Tigers to 1-3.
Since then, Princeton is 8-1, with a 9-5 win over Penn in the mix. The one loss was perhaps the most impressive performance of them all, an 8-7 loss to No. 2 Maryland.
The four teams for the Ivy women's tournament are set, with Princeton as the host and top seed, along with Penn, Cornell and Harvard in some order. The winner gets the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Princeton, in the meantime, finishes the regular season this Saturday at Penn State.
Chris Sailer, in addition to her 10 Ivy titles and three NCAA championships, has led Princeton to 20 NCAA tournaments, and the 46 NCAA games she's coached are the most by any coach in Division I history.
And each year she comes back looking for more.
Some coaches last. Others don't.
It's not an easy profession in general. It's even harder to have the kind of career Chris Sailer has had.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Thanks For The Miracle
TigerBlog still hasn't figured out what his favorite English Premier League team is, even after all the time he's spent watching the league recently. He does know that he can't root for Manchester United or Chelsea, just because they win it every year.
In fact, he usually is a fan of the three new teams each year, to see if they can avoid being one-and-done, as it were, in the EPL.
TB thought the end of the 2011 EPL season was wild, and yet it had almost nothing on the end of the 2012 season. This is extraordinary considering that there is no EPL postseason, especially when contrasted with the current NBA and NHL playoffs.
TB was going to talk about the EPL's final hours for 2012, except he decided to let men's soccer coach Jim Barlow do it instead. TB has a standing offer to all Princeton coaches to write guest TB's, yet only Barlow has ever taken him up on it.
Here, then, are Jim Barlow's thoughts:
One of my favorite soccer books is called /Soccer in Sun and Shadow /by Eduardo Galeano. In it he writes:
"Years have gone by and I've finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good soccer. I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: 'A pretty move, for the love of God.' And when good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don't give a damn which team or country performs it."
On Sunday I witnessed one of those miracles.
While Mother's Day was jam-packed with great sporting events (Princeton vs UVA in men's lacrosse, the TPC Final Round, Game 7 of the Clippers vs Grizzlies, the Mets' ninth-inning meldtown vs the Marlins, the Red Bulls come from behind 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Union, just to name a
few), it was the Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers game in the English Premier League that may go down as the single greatest ending to a professional sports season of all time.
If you saw the game, no explanation is necessary. If you didn't, no description may suffice.
But let me try.
Manchester City and Manchester United entered the final weekend of the EPL season tied for first place with the same record (27-5-5), but City held a significant advantage in goal difference, the first tiebreaker.
While both clubs possess huge payrolls and rosters filled with some of the world's best players, City had not won the English Premier League championship since its inception in 1992 (their last league title was in 1967-68).
United, on the other hand, not only dominated the city's rivalry but also won an amazing 12 EPL titles since 1992. Legendary United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (who visited Princeton two years ago) saw his team's hopes for the title all but destroyed when City won the Manchester derby 1-0 with just two weeks to go, but he did not concede that the title was lost, and his sound bites may have been intended to put additional pressure on his neighbors:
"If you had told me at the start of the season we would still be involved on the last day I would have settled for that, no question," Ferguson said to "The Guardian" web page. "But in the situation we are in you would have to say the odds are stacked against us."
City's usually stoic Italian manager Roberto Mancini remained optimistic after an impressive 2-0 win at Newcastle on the penultimate weekend: "We have two fingers on the trophy. But it is not enough, because we still have one more game and it is a difficult one," he told ESPN.
On Sunday, City, with the EPL's best home record (17-0-1), hosted Queens Park Rangers, who sat in 17th place (out of 20 teams) and owners of the EPL's worst road record (3-14-2). But QPR also had something to play for.
Everyone at the Etihad was happy. The stadium went from despair to ecstasy in two seconds. When the final whistle blew seconds later, the fans mobbed the field. City were finally champions. Pictures from the Stadium of Light in Sunderland showed an incredulous United team, having gone from joy to sorry as word spread that City had done the impossible.
"They did it. They did it." I could not stop screaming these words so loud that I scared the neighbors, and I'm not even a City fan. I had witnessed a miracle, and I didn't give a damn which team performed it.
The best thing about these events was that all of these games were shown in the USA on national television. Ten years ago, we only would have been able to read about these games. Now, these games are making converts of former soccer bashers.
In fact, he usually is a fan of the three new teams each year, to see if they can avoid being one-and-done, as it were, in the EPL.
TB thought the end of the 2011 EPL season was wild, and yet it had almost nothing on the end of the 2012 season. This is extraordinary considering that there is no EPL postseason, especially when contrasted with the current NBA and NHL playoffs.
TB was going to talk about the EPL's final hours for 2012, except he decided to let men's soccer coach Jim Barlow do it instead. TB has a standing offer to all Princeton coaches to write guest TB's, yet only Barlow has ever taken him up on it.
Here, then, are Jim Barlow's thoughts:
One of my favorite soccer books is called /Soccer in Sun and Shadow /by Eduardo Galeano. In it he writes:
"Years have gone by and I've finally learned to accept myself for who I am: a beggar for good soccer. I go about the world, hand outstretched, and in the stadiums I plead: 'A pretty move, for the love of God.' And when good soccer happens, I give thanks for the miracle and I don't give a damn which team or country performs it."
On Sunday I witnessed one of those miracles.
While Mother's Day was jam-packed with great sporting events (Princeton vs UVA in men's lacrosse, the TPC Final Round, Game 7 of the Clippers vs Grizzlies, the Mets' ninth-inning meldtown vs the Marlins, the Red Bulls come from behind 3-2 win against the Philadelphia Union, just to name a
few), it was the Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers game in the English Premier League that may go down as the single greatest ending to a professional sports season of all time.
If you saw the game, no explanation is necessary. If you didn't, no description may suffice.
But let me try.
Manchester City and Manchester United entered the final weekend of the EPL season tied for first place with the same record (27-5-5), but City held a significant advantage in goal difference, the first tiebreaker.
While both clubs possess huge payrolls and rosters filled with some of the world's best players, City had not won the English Premier League championship since its inception in 1992 (their last league title was in 1967-68).
United, on the other hand, not only dominated the city's rivalry but also won an amazing 12 EPL titles since 1992. Legendary United manager Sir Alex Ferguson (who visited Princeton two years ago) saw his team's hopes for the title all but destroyed when City won the Manchester derby 1-0 with just two weeks to go, but he did not concede that the title was lost, and his sound bites may have been intended to put additional pressure on his neighbors:
"If you had told me at the start of the season we would still be involved on the last day I would have settled for that, no question," Ferguson said to "The Guardian" web page. "But in the situation we are in you would have to say the odds are stacked against us."
City's usually stoic Italian manager Roberto Mancini remained optimistic after an impressive 2-0 win at Newcastle on the penultimate weekend: "We have two fingers on the trophy. But it is not enough, because we still have one more game and it is a difficult one," he told ESPN.
On Sunday, City, with the EPL's best home record (17-0-1), hosted Queens Park Rangers, who sat in 17th place (out of 20 teams) and owners of the EPL's worst road record (3-14-2). But QPR also had something to play for.
In England, the bottom three teams are relegated to a lower division,
costing their club millions of dollars and forcing them to dump much of their
payroll (their spots are filled by three teams who are "promoted"
from the second (called Championship) division (can you imagine that in the
NBA, NFL, or MLB??). A QPR win or tie would not only keep them in the
Premiership but also give United, playing away at Sunderland, the chance to win
the title. A City win and the title was theirs.
With all EPL games on the final day (dubbed "Survival
Sunday") starting at the same time, the stage was set for an incredible
finish.
And what a finish it was.
United got off to a good start and was taking care of business at Sunderland, going ahead 1-0 on a first-half Wayne Rooney goal.
And what a finish it was.
United got off to a good start and was taking care of business at Sunderland, going ahead 1-0 on a first-half Wayne Rooney goal.
City also started quickly, and led 1-0 at the half while
completely dominating in possession and chances. At halftime, despite City
losing their star midfielder Yaya Toure to injury, I was so sure the title was
City's that I went to walk a friend's dog and didn't make it back to my
television until 10 minutes into the second half.
I missed a lot.
QPR had tied the game early in the 2nd half on Djibril
Cisse's counter, and then QPR captain Joey Barton, who earlier in his career made
over 150 appearances for City, was red carded for an elbow to City striker
Carlos Tevez's face.
Incredibly, playing a man down, in the 66th minute , QPR
went ahead 2-1 on another counter finished beautifully by Jamie Mackie. Very quickly,
fear and shock set into City's Etihad Stadium.
Man City fans were in tears. Forty-plus years without a
title and now it was going to slip away at home on the final day. Could they
endure another year of watching their neighbors hoist the trophy? QPR fans shed
tears of joy as the squad looked destined to avoid relegation. The usually
emotionless Mancini was going crazy on the City sideline, gesticulating wildly
at his players and yelling as if his life (or at least his job) depended on the
next 20 minutes.
The stubborn QPR defense, despite being outshot 44 to 3,
held on tight. The 90th minute came and the score remained QPR 2; Man City 1. The
fourth official indicated that there would be 5 minutes of injury time.
At about this time, the final whistle blew in Sunderland and United won 1-0. Players, coaches, and fans looked at the scoreboard and began celebrating their 13th EPL title in 20 years. With City down 2-1 this late in the game, surely the trophy was theirs.
But, in a moment, everything changed.
At about this time, the final whistle blew in Sunderland and United won 1-0. Players, coaches, and fans looked at the scoreboard and began celebrating their 13th EPL title in 20 years. With City down 2-1 this late in the game, surely the trophy was theirs.
But, in a moment, everything changed.
In the 92nd minute, on their 19th corner kick, City leveled
the score when Edin Dzeko rose above the QPR defense and headed home David
Silva's cross. They had tied it. I pulled my chair about two feet from the
television and yelled "they
still have two minutes."
still have two minutes."
A minute after Dzeko's equaliser, City burst into the QPR
box, and Mario Balotelli, a contoversial, tempermental substitute who had
fallen out of favor with Mancini many times during the season, collected a pass
from Sergio Aguero in the box, slid to
control it and send it back to Aguero, and watched as the Argentinian star pushed it past a defender and drilled it past the oncoming QPR keeper. It was bedlam. And, while QPR fans began to face the reality that they were being relegated, word spread that Bolton (the team behind them in the standings) had conceded a late goal to keep QPR safe in 17th place.
control it and send it back to Aguero, and watched as the Argentinian star pushed it past a defender and drilled it past the oncoming QPR keeper. It was bedlam. And, while QPR fans began to face the reality that they were being relegated, word spread that Bolton (the team behind them in the standings) had conceded a late goal to keep QPR safe in 17th place.
Everyone at the Etihad was happy. The stadium went from despair to ecstasy in two seconds. When the final whistle blew seconds later, the fans mobbed the field. City were finally champions. Pictures from the Stadium of Light in Sunderland showed an incredulous United team, having gone from joy to sorry as word spread that City had done the impossible.
"They did it. They did it." I could not stop screaming these words so loud that I scared the neighbors, and I'm not even a City fan. I had witnessed a miracle, and I didn't give a damn which team performed it.
The best thing about these events was that all of these games were shown in the USA on national television. Ten years ago, we only would have been able to read about these games. Now, these games are making converts of former soccer bashers.
Including TigerBlog. When I first met TB, he would have
known as much about the EPL as I know about rocket science. Now, you can't
bother him on a Sunday night when he's watching the EPL Review Show on Fox
Soccer Channel. And, it would have been TB writing this blog had he not been in
Charlottesville on Sunday.
As we have been creating more beggars for good soccer, there may be some taking place on Myslik Field today (16th), Friday (18th), and Monday (21st) from 4-6:30 as the USA Women's National Team has chosen to prepare for the Olympics at Roberts Stadium. These three sessions are free and open to the public.
As we have been creating more beggars for good soccer, there may be some taking place on Myslik Field today (16th), Friday (18th), and Monday (21st) from 4-6:30 as the USA Women's National Team has chosen to prepare for the Olympics at Roberts Stadium. These three sessions are free and open to the public.
Hopefully in a couple of months in London, we will see them
performing miracles the likes of Manchester City's on Sunday.
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
The 118 Year Old Uniform
FatherBlog turned 88 yesterday.
For the occasion, TigerBlog took him to the diner that his father loves. What else would you do when you turn 88?
He even got the usual, which for him is sunnyside eggs, breakfast potatoes, an English muffin with jelly, toast with butter, tomato juice and coffee. Apparently if you eat that at a diner in North Jersey four or five days a week for 40 or so years, you'll live well into your 80s.
The woman whose family owns the place, whom FatherBlog has known forever, gave him a cannoli with a candle in it while the staff sang "happy birthday." She, by the way, is a classic North Jersey diner hostess, meaning she loves to talk to everyone who comes in, especially the regulars. When TigerBlog said it was his father's birthday, she said "how old are you?" When FB said to guess, she said "108?"
You had to be there. It was sweet.
Of course, FB received the usual number of birthday calls. His hearing is awful, so the ringer on his phone is as loud as it can be. Also, he tends to speak loudly, so there he was in the diner, answering his really loud ringer with a bellowed "Hello," followed by an explanation that he and his son were in the diner eating and he'd have to get back to them.
Each time it rang, TB suggested he let it go and get back to the person. Each time, he picked it up with his "Hello." It took about five such calls for the people at the other tables to go from mildly annoyed to amused.
As for TB, he went with "mortified," which gave way to a sigh of inevitability. But hey, FatherBlog is 88, retired, self-sufficient and able to do pretty much anything he'd like, with the exceptions of hearing and driving. He even has a cruise in the Caribbean scheduled for this coming winter.
After breakfast, TB drove his father on some errands. At the last stop, as he waited in the parking lot, he saw his father come out of the store, walk up to the car and open the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't TigerBlog's car. It wasn't even a car that looked like TB's.
"I got in the wrong car," FatherBlog said with a laugh.
"What did the woman whose car it is say?" TB said without a laugh.
"She said that she's not going to press charges," FB said, again with a laugh.
After driving him on his errands, TigerBlog dropped his dad back at his house and then drove back to Princeton. Waiting for him here was a package from a woman named Adelaide Ferguson. A few weeks ago, she had sent this note to TB:
Inside the box was a sealed plastic bag, one that had the uniform. Adelaide was right. The entire uniform was intact, and it was in amazing condition.
The general consensus was that the uniform itself was very heavy and must have been very hot to wear. The look of it, though, was a bit mesmerizing. The idea that it was worn in baseball games that long ago is amazing.
Baseball was Princeton's very first varsity sport, debuting on Nov. 22, 1864. Charles Henry would have played for the great Bill Clarke, whose 564 wins are still the most by a Princeton coach — 120 more than Scott Bradley, who is in second place.
Henry was the leftfielder on the 1905 team, which went 24-8, with one of those losses was a 4-3 decision to the Pittsburgh Pirates and another a 14-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles (at the time an Eastern League team). Princeton defeated Amherst 1-0 in 18 innings in a game where both teams used one pitcher each; Princeton's Don Doyle didn't walk a batter in his 18 innings while striking out 12.
To get to Cornell to play, Princeton took two trains, first going to Newark and then taking an overnight train to Ithaca. Total time of the trip: 16 hours.
Charles Henry went from Princeton to Penn for medical school, and he also played baseball for the Quakers, something that is rather unimaginable these days. He went on to a career as a surgeon in the Reading, Pa., area.
He married a woman named Adelaide and had three children, Daniel, Joan and Charles. Adelaide Ferguson, Charles' granddaughter, is now a lawyer.
FatherBlog is now 88. The uniform was last used 30 years before he was born.
It was good to see both of them yesterday.
Monday, June 6, 2011
"Don't Listen To Him; He's Just The Trainer"
Okay, TigerBlog will state it publicly. He likes Lady Gaga.
Her music, that is. Not the whole Lady Gaga show.
TigerBlog has long suspected that Lady Gaga is toying with everyone around her with the overplayed excess that is her persona. And then he watched "60 Minutes" last night, where Anderson Cooper fawned all over her during a profile piece that was quite interesting.
In short, Lady Gaga - "call me Gaga," she told the star-struck Cooper at one point - basically was up front with the fact that she'd studied fame, and specifically why some performers sustain it and others don't. And her No. 1 conclusion is that the most important aspect is to get everyone focused on what you want them focused on and away from what you don't want them focused on.
Ultimately, she came across as, well, nice. And funny. And down-to-Earth. Of course, she was wearing 10-inch heels and a skin-colored body suit with makeup that was a tad flashy, but hey, that's the act.
And so with that public announcement about the fact that someone raised on Springsteen and Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny - not to mention The Beatles, the Stones, the Who - actually likes Lady Gaga, TigerBlog has nothing else to say today.
Instead, he turns the floor over to Princeton athletic trainer Russ Steves, who was recently in London for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United:
Some people have all the luck. In this case, I was one of them. This is what ran through my head when I was sitting in Wembley Stadium last Saturday night watching the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
On top of that, my day started sitting in the lobby of one of London’s posh hotels sipping tea with members of the Manchester United team. They had just returned from a walk about to get out of the hotel for a bit and had espressos. I was the stuffy American who thought you’re supposed to be drinking tea when lounging around a hotel lobby in London. It was very nice to catch up with my buddies the equipment manager, the masseurs, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson and some of his assistant coaches. They were all very generous to explain the strategy behind winning the game later that day. Play fast, run like crazy, and when you win the ball from Barcelona, get it out from the middle of the field as quickly as you can. Barcelona closes you down very quickly after a turnover. If you lose it to them at that point, you are very vulnerable to a dangerous counterattack.
Well, now I was armed with the critical points of strategy for the game and wanted to leave them to get focused on the task ahead. I was just saying so long to them since they’ll be back in the USA this summer for their preseason tour. I’ll have plenty of time to revisit them again then.
So at this point you might be wondering, how does a guy who Bob Bradley ‘80 once instructed an opposing coach, “don’t listen to him; he’s just the trainer” get a seat at this great world event and hang out with one of the participants? Well, working as the athletic trainer for the Princeton men’s soccer team has provided some perks. For one, a former Princeton player and coach, Charlie Stillitano ’81, works as a promoter to bring professional soccer clubs from Europe over to tour the US. Since 2003 I’ve been able to help him with that. This means that I’ve been able to make some pretty cool connections in world soccer. Cool enough to get me a ticket to this big game and get past security at the Manchester United team hotel.
Now back to London. My game day then involves checking out the sites around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Generally, just wandering around London waiting for when it’s time to head out to the game. Man, was it jam-packed with fans, mostly Barcelona fans. There were thousands of them, all with their blue and red shirts and singing Barcelona team songs, and having a grand old time. I was thinking, how were all these Barcelona fans going to get into the game? Surely, there were many more of them than the allotment of tickets. It turns out that most of them didn’t have tickets to the game. They were just hopping the best flight they could find so that they could be as close as possible to the stadium and support their team. That’s being a fan!
Finally, it’s time to take the London Underground out to the stadium. My friends and I hopped aboard the Bakerloo Line at Piccadilly Circus and rode the 12 stops out to Wembley. The ride took about 45 minutes but we were completely entertained by the back and forth on the train between the Manchester fans and Barcelona fans. Fortunately, there was no violence, but lots of singing and team chants. Not very much of this was understandable to me or repeatable on this PG-rated blog. I think there may have been just a touch of alcohol involved. Even so, we made it to our stop ready for the spectacle.
Wembley Stadium is magnificent. They’ve been playing soccer on this site since 1923. The original stadium was torn down in 2000 with this new arena reopened in 2007. It is the home of “football” in England, hosting FA Cups, European Cups, World Cups and Champions League finals. I was never in the old stadium, but this new one is fantastic.
It is different from most European stadiums in that it has concourses that allow you to walk around once inside the building. Most soccer stadiums in Europe have it so that your entrance gate is just for your section. There’s little or no chance to walk to a concession area or restroom. I think they do this to prevent the interaction of opposing fans. Wembley has much more of the American-style stadium feel. Nonetheless, I noticed that it was very much not like our stadiums in that there’s almost no parking. I saw about one-quarter of the space allotted for parking at Wembley and that was for buses. They make the majority of spectators arrive at the stadium by mass transit, predominantly the “Tube” (subway). I didn’t mind. It gave me the chance to bond with my new singing and chanting friends.
My friends and I arrived in plenty of time to walk around, take some pictures, and buy some memorabilia. I have to admit this didn’t work out too well for me. The vendors had run out of all the decent looking shirts with both teams’ logos on them (nice planning UEFA) and the official game program I bought got lost by my travel companion. Here’s a tip: never give your program to someone who chronically mislays things. In my defense, I learned about my friend’s malady after the fact. Nonetheless, it’s was now time to get to our seats.
Not a bad view, especially since this is the end that saw three of the four goals in the game (Rooney for Man. Utd., Messi, and David Villa for Barcelona). A photo was taken by a renowned photographer (at least in my own mind) just before kickoff as the teams were lined up at midfield. We’re down in the Barcelona fans end and you can see them holding up cards in the team’s colors. The far end shows the Man Utd fans holding up cards invoking the “Spirit of ‘68” when Man United defeated Benfica of Portugal in Wembley. Unfortunately, that charm didn’t work as Barcelona won by a resounding 3-1.
The game itself was very entertaining even though my friends from Manchester came out on the losing end. They tried to take it to Barcelona in the beginning of the game. After about 15 minutes though, Barcelona began to take possession of the ball and the game. Their ability to control the ball, move with deception and speed, along with having such creative ideas of how to get dangerous in attach make them too much to handle for very long. The first goal seemed inevitable, but I was heartened to see Manchester United fight back and tie the score at the half. Unfortunately, the second half began with Man United looking very tired and slow. After Barcelona scored twice in front of me, I was pretty sure that my evening was going to end in tears.
I have to admit that Barcelona is extremely good. They exemplify what people talk about as the “Beautiful Game”. They are so skillful, creative, and fast that you must give them a lot of credit for the way they attack. With that said, I think what makes them special now and an unbeatable force is how they defend. They use that same quickness and determination to give the opposition very little time or space to get offensive. It’s remarkable to watch such talented offensive players apply the same ability to defending. I can only hope they get old or unmotivated in a hurry.
I spent almost two days in London after Saturday’s match. This was just to satisfy my sightseeing part of the journey. Much of the talk on TV and in newspapers discussed whether this Barcelona team was the greatest club team of all time. I have trouble conceding that because of my fondness for my friends at Manchester United. But I don’t have any hesitation admitting how lucky I was to witness them demonstrate how good they are in person and to watch some really great soccer.
Her music, that is. Not the whole Lady Gaga show.
TigerBlog has long suspected that Lady Gaga is toying with everyone around her with the overplayed excess that is her persona. And then he watched "60 Minutes" last night, where Anderson Cooper fawned all over her during a profile piece that was quite interesting.
In short, Lady Gaga - "call me Gaga," she told the star-struck Cooper at one point - basically was up front with the fact that she'd studied fame, and specifically why some performers sustain it and others don't. And her No. 1 conclusion is that the most important aspect is to get everyone focused on what you want them focused on and away from what you don't want them focused on.
Ultimately, she came across as, well, nice. And funny. And down-to-Earth. Of course, she was wearing 10-inch heels and a skin-colored body suit with makeup that was a tad flashy, but hey, that's the act.
And so with that public announcement about the fact that someone raised on Springsteen and Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny - not to mention The Beatles, the Stones, the Who - actually likes Lady Gaga, TigerBlog has nothing else to say today.
Instead, he turns the floor over to Princeton athletic trainer Russ Steves, who was recently in London for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United:
Some people have all the luck. In this case, I was one of them. This is what ran through my head when I was sitting in Wembley Stadium last Saturday night watching the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United.
On top of that, my day started sitting in the lobby of one of London’s posh hotels sipping tea with members of the Manchester United team. They had just returned from a walk about to get out of the hotel for a bit and had espressos. I was the stuffy American who thought you’re supposed to be drinking tea when lounging around a hotel lobby in London. It was very nice to catch up with my buddies the equipment manager, the masseurs, Ryan Giggs, Sir Alex Ferguson and some of his assistant coaches. They were all very generous to explain the strategy behind winning the game later that day. Play fast, run like crazy, and when you win the ball from Barcelona, get it out from the middle of the field as quickly as you can. Barcelona closes you down very quickly after a turnover. If you lose it to them at that point, you are very vulnerable to a dangerous counterattack.
Well, now I was armed with the critical points of strategy for the game and wanted to leave them to get focused on the task ahead. I was just saying so long to them since they’ll be back in the USA this summer for their preseason tour. I’ll have plenty of time to revisit them again then.
So at this point you might be wondering, how does a guy who Bob Bradley ‘80 once instructed an opposing coach, “don’t listen to him; he’s just the trainer” get a seat at this great world event and hang out with one of the participants? Well, working as the athletic trainer for the Princeton men’s soccer team has provided some perks. For one, a former Princeton player and coach, Charlie Stillitano ’81, works as a promoter to bring professional soccer clubs from Europe over to tour the US. Since 2003 I’ve been able to help him with that. This means that I’ve been able to make some pretty cool connections in world soccer. Cool enough to get me a ticket to this big game and get past security at the Manchester United team hotel.
Now back to London. My game day then involves checking out the sites around Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Generally, just wandering around London waiting for when it’s time to head out to the game. Man, was it jam-packed with fans, mostly Barcelona fans. There were thousands of them, all with their blue and red shirts and singing Barcelona team songs, and having a grand old time. I was thinking, how were all these Barcelona fans going to get into the game? Surely, there were many more of them than the allotment of tickets. It turns out that most of them didn’t have tickets to the game. They were just hopping the best flight they could find so that they could be as close as possible to the stadium and support their team. That’s being a fan!
Finally, it’s time to take the London Underground out to the stadium. My friends and I hopped aboard the Bakerloo Line at Piccadilly Circus and rode the 12 stops out to Wembley. The ride took about 45 minutes but we were completely entertained by the back and forth on the train between the Manchester fans and Barcelona fans. Fortunately, there was no violence, but lots of singing and team chants. Not very much of this was understandable to me or repeatable on this PG-rated blog. I think there may have been just a touch of alcohol involved. Even so, we made it to our stop ready for the spectacle.
Wembley Stadium is magnificent. They’ve been playing soccer on this site since 1923. The original stadium was torn down in 2000 with this new arena reopened in 2007. It is the home of “football” in England, hosting FA Cups, European Cups, World Cups and Champions League finals. I was never in the old stadium, but this new one is fantastic.
It is different from most European stadiums in that it has concourses that allow you to walk around once inside the building. Most soccer stadiums in Europe have it so that your entrance gate is just for your section. There’s little or no chance to walk to a concession area or restroom. I think they do this to prevent the interaction of opposing fans. Wembley has much more of the American-style stadium feel. Nonetheless, I noticed that it was very much not like our stadiums in that there’s almost no parking. I saw about one-quarter of the space allotted for parking at Wembley and that was for buses. They make the majority of spectators arrive at the stadium by mass transit, predominantly the “Tube” (subway). I didn’t mind. It gave me the chance to bond with my new singing and chanting friends.
My friends and I arrived in plenty of time to walk around, take some pictures, and buy some memorabilia. I have to admit this didn’t work out too well for me. The vendors had run out of all the decent looking shirts with both teams’ logos on them (nice planning UEFA) and the official game program I bought got lost by my travel companion. Here’s a tip: never give your program to someone who chronically mislays things. In my defense, I learned about my friend’s malady after the fact. Nonetheless, it’s was now time to get to our seats.
Not a bad view, especially since this is the end that saw three of the four goals in the game (Rooney for Man. Utd., Messi, and David Villa for Barcelona). A photo was taken by a renowned photographer (at least in my own mind) just before kickoff as the teams were lined up at midfield. We’re down in the Barcelona fans end and you can see them holding up cards in the team’s colors. The far end shows the Man Utd fans holding up cards invoking the “Spirit of ‘68” when Man United defeated Benfica of Portugal in Wembley. Unfortunately, that charm didn’t work as Barcelona won by a resounding 3-1.
The game itself was very entertaining even though my friends from Manchester came out on the losing end. They tried to take it to Barcelona in the beginning of the game. After about 15 minutes though, Barcelona began to take possession of the ball and the game. Their ability to control the ball, move with deception and speed, along with having such creative ideas of how to get dangerous in attach make them too much to handle for very long. The first goal seemed inevitable, but I was heartened to see Manchester United fight back and tie the score at the half. Unfortunately, the second half began with Man United looking very tired and slow. After Barcelona scored twice in front of me, I was pretty sure that my evening was going to end in tears.
I have to admit that Barcelona is extremely good. They exemplify what people talk about as the “Beautiful Game”. They are so skillful, creative, and fast that you must give them a lot of credit for the way they attack. With that said, I think what makes them special now and an unbeatable force is how they defend. They use that same quickness and determination to give the opposition very little time or space to get offensive. It’s remarkable to watch such talented offensive players apply the same ability to defending. I can only hope they get old or unmotivated in a hurry.
I spent almost two days in London after Saturday’s match. This was just to satisfy my sightseeing part of the journey. Much of the talk on TV and in newspapers discussed whether this Barcelona team was the greatest club team of all time. I have trouble conceding that because of my fondness for my friends at Manchester United. But I don’t have any hesitation admitting how lucky I was to witness them demonstrate how good they are in person and to watch some really great soccer.
Thursday, September 6, 2018
And Claire Makes Four
Joan Ferguson better not have figured out a way out of that box.
If you've watched the first five seasons of the Australian TV series "Wentworth," then you know exactly what TigerBlog is talking about. If you haven't, go watch it.
If you have, though, then you know that Season 6 of "Wentworth" debuted yesterday on Netflix. Give TigerBlog til Sunday maybe to have knocked off entire 12-episode season.
As TB has said before, "Wentworth" at its best is as good as any TV show he's ever seen. It's set in a women's prison in Australia, but it's about a thousand times better than "Orange Is The New Black." If you like to binge watch and have never heard of it, the show gets TB's highest rating.
TB has been looking for a show of late, but nothing has stuck. In fact, he's gone back to rewatch two of his all-time favorites - "Sons of Anarchy" and "Boardwalk Empire."
He'd seen both series all the way through once, and it's amazing how much you don't remember when you go back to see it again. Maybe that's why it was important for him to watch "The Sopranos" about 10 times.
In fact, he didn't really appreciate just how good "Sons of Anarchy" and "Boardwalk Empire" both were. And now there's a spinoff of "SoA" called "The Mayans."
TB had "Boardwalk Empire" on Tuesday night, closing in on the end of Season 2. It's not looking great for Nucky Thompson, but TB can't remember how he wriggles out of this one.
He was only half paying attention to the TV though, since he was also watching Princeton-Penn State field hockey on his computer at the same time.
For everything that has made a 180-degree change around here since TigerBlog started, there is nothing that compares to the live streaming of games. It wasn't that long ago that the idea of being able to watch a Tuesday night field hockey game was unheard of.
Now? It's just expected.
The game was a big early season one. Princeton was ranked sixth coming in. Penn State was fifth.
Princeton has a history of challenging itself, and this year is no different. Coming off an NCAA Final Four and then a quarterfinal appearance the last two years, Princeton has put together another brutal non-league run, one that sees it have the current top five teams in the country on its schedule. The season started with a 1-0 loss to No. 2 North Carolina and then a 4-0 win over No. 14 Wake Forest.
Princeton defeated Penn State 2-1 in two OTs. Up next is the home opener, against Duke Friday. The key number for that game is 4, which is 1) the start time and 2) Duke's rank.
As for the game at Penn State, Princeton outshot the Nittany Lions 21-5, but it took an Annabeth Donovan goal 2:30 into the second OT for the win. The key number here is four as well, but TB will get to that in a second.
Field hockey overtime, by the way, is great, as four players are taken off the field and the teams play 7 v 7. It's wide open and exhausting, with a lot of subbing and a lot of chances both ways.
Meanwhile, back at the number four, freshman Claire Donovan played in the Wake Forest game, which made four Donovan sisters who have played field hockey for Princeton. Before Annabeth and Claire were Kaitlyn and Amy.
Oh, and both Donovan parents - Katy and John - and Katy's father William O'Connor are Princeton alums.
This got TigerBlog thinking. Are there any other examples of four (or more) siblings who played the same sport at Princeton? Or any sports at Princeton?
There were the five Callahan brothers in men's squash. TB can't think of any other, though he's guessing there have to have been at some point.
As is always the case in situations like this, he has to be overlooking an obvious family or two. He knows that there were three football players named Garrett, but that's not four.
He thought of Brendan, Connor and Brian Reilly from men's lacrosse, but obviously that's not four either. Neither is Dixon, Whitney and Sam Hayes.
This is going to bother him if he can't think of four siblings who've played here, almost as much as it will when someone emails him to tell him he missed the obvious.
That's quite an accomplishment for the Donovan family of course. Having your four oldest play the same sport at Princeton? That is not something that's easy to pull off.
And so the number for today is four.
Four Donovans.
And now No. 4 Duke-Princeton, Friday at 4.
If you've watched the first five seasons of the Australian TV series "Wentworth," then you know exactly what TigerBlog is talking about. If you haven't, go watch it.
If you have, though, then you know that Season 6 of "Wentworth" debuted yesterday on Netflix. Give TigerBlog til Sunday maybe to have knocked off entire 12-episode season.
As TB has said before, "Wentworth" at its best is as good as any TV show he's ever seen. It's set in a women's prison in Australia, but it's about a thousand times better than "Orange Is The New Black." If you like to binge watch and have never heard of it, the show gets TB's highest rating.
TB has been looking for a show of late, but nothing has stuck. In fact, he's gone back to rewatch two of his all-time favorites - "Sons of Anarchy" and "Boardwalk Empire."
He'd seen both series all the way through once, and it's amazing how much you don't remember when you go back to see it again. Maybe that's why it was important for him to watch "The Sopranos" about 10 times.
In fact, he didn't really appreciate just how good "Sons of Anarchy" and "Boardwalk Empire" both were. And now there's a spinoff of "SoA" called "The Mayans."
TB had "Boardwalk Empire" on Tuesday night, closing in on the end of Season 2. It's not looking great for Nucky Thompson, but TB can't remember how he wriggles out of this one.
He was only half paying attention to the TV though, since he was also watching Princeton-Penn State field hockey on his computer at the same time.
For everything that has made a 180-degree change around here since TigerBlog started, there is nothing that compares to the live streaming of games. It wasn't that long ago that the idea of being able to watch a Tuesday night field hockey game was unheard of.
Now? It's just expected.
The game was a big early season one. Princeton was ranked sixth coming in. Penn State was fifth.
Princeton has a history of challenging itself, and this year is no different. Coming off an NCAA Final Four and then a quarterfinal appearance the last two years, Princeton has put together another brutal non-league run, one that sees it have the current top five teams in the country on its schedule. The season started with a 1-0 loss to No. 2 North Carolina and then a 4-0 win over No. 14 Wake Forest.
Princeton defeated Penn State 2-1 in two OTs. Up next is the home opener, against Duke Friday. The key number for that game is 4, which is 1) the start time and 2) Duke's rank.
As for the game at Penn State, Princeton outshot the Nittany Lions 21-5, but it took an Annabeth Donovan goal 2:30 into the second OT for the win. The key number here is four as well, but TB will get to that in a second.
Field hockey overtime, by the way, is great, as four players are taken off the field and the teams play 7 v 7. It's wide open and exhausting, with a lot of subbing and a lot of chances both ways.
Meanwhile, back at the number four, freshman Claire Donovan played in the Wake Forest game, which made four Donovan sisters who have played field hockey for Princeton. Before Annabeth and Claire were Kaitlyn and Amy.
Oh, and both Donovan parents - Katy and John - and Katy's father William O'Connor are Princeton alums.
This got TigerBlog thinking. Are there any other examples of four (or more) siblings who played the same sport at Princeton? Or any sports at Princeton?
There were the five Callahan brothers in men's squash. TB can't think of any other, though he's guessing there have to have been at some point.
As is always the case in situations like this, he has to be overlooking an obvious family or two. He knows that there were three football players named Garrett, but that's not four.
He thought of Brendan, Connor and Brian Reilly from men's lacrosse, but obviously that's not four either. Neither is Dixon, Whitney and Sam Hayes.
This is going to bother him if he can't think of four siblings who've played here, almost as much as it will when someone emails him to tell him he missed the obvious.
That's quite an accomplishment for the Donovan family of course. Having your four oldest play the same sport at Princeton? That is not something that's easy to pull off.
And so the number for today is four.
Four Donovans.
And now No. 4 Duke-Princeton, Friday at 4.
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
No More At Home
If you're a Philadelphia 76ers fan, like, say, a certain Charles W. Caldwell Jr. Head Coach of Football at Princeton, then that was one tough way for your season to end.
That's up there with anything TigerBlog has ever seen.
If you missed it, the Sixers and Toronto were in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, with the winner to get Milwaukee. The game was tight and clearly headed down the stretch.
That's when fate ripped the hearts of Philly fans out twice. First, there were the three straight 24-second violations. It almost seemed like the shot clock was starting out at 10.
Then there was the game-winner from Khawi Leonard, after the Sixers had rallied to tie it with four seconds left. Leonard, who scored 41 points in a 92-90 win, took the ball, dribbled until he almost ran out of time and then launched a shot from the deep corner that bounced on the rim and decided it like the view, since it hung there for longer than any shot TB has ever seen do so, and then finally dropped in.
It was excruciating for the Sixers. Tough to process, one might say.
Like most general sports fans, TigerBlog watched the Johns Hopkins-Notre Dame men's lacrosse opening round game and flipped over to the NBA game during commercials. He did stay with the basketball game for the final minute or so, or just long enough to see the heartbreaking end.
During one commercial in the lacrosse game, TB did see Philly's J.J. Reddick make two foul shots, and it got him wondering what Reddick's career numbers are from the line, since TB doesn't think he's ever seen him miss a shot between Duke and the NBA. Turns out, he actually has missed 227 NBA foul shots in the regular season and another 27 in the playoffs.
Of course, he's taken 2,073 regular season free throws and 224 playoff ones, which leaves him just short of 90 percent for both. At Duke he was better than 90 percent for his career, shooting 662 for 726, or .912.
Guess they play better free throw defense in the NBA.
Reddick, of course, is one of TB's two least favorite college players ever, and both of them have gone on to become NBA guys he likes. In the case of the other one, he went from being TB's least favorite college player to one of his five favorite NBA players. Who was it?
Patrick Ewing.
Anyway, after Sunday, the Sixers are finished for this season. You know what else is finished?
Home events at Princeton. Yup. Another year come and gone.
At home at least.
There are still eight Princeton teams who are competing in the 2018-19 academic year, including the men's golf team, who is currently at the NCAA regional in Georgia.
The rest of the calendar includes the NCAA women's lacrosse quarterfinal between seventh-seeded Princeton and second-seeded Boston College Saturday at 1 in Chestnut Hill. Princeton fell 16-10 to BC in last year's NCAA second round.
Boston College is 20-1 by the way, with only a 15-13 loss in the ACC championship game to North Carolina. The Eagles also reached the NCAA championship game a year ago, falling to James Madison.
Beyond that, there are the NCAA track and field regionals and national finals and the IRA and NCAA rowing championships. After that, it'll be the curtain on yet another academic year.
TigerBlog tried to figure out how many home events Princeton has in any given academic year, but there's not way to do it other than to simply count them. He'll guess that number is more around 300 though.
That's a lot of events. And when you consider how many people work to get these events to run smoothly, that's a lot of effort, all coordinated by Associate AD for Events Karen Malec and her assistant Abby Ferguson.
It's not easy. There are so many details that go into every event, and the goal is to have those who come here to watch them - and especially those who compete in them - not notice any of those details.
Princeton's home events provide an opportunity to showcase all of the best parts of Princeton Athletics - the athletes, the facilities, the campus, the Department's values. It's an open invitation to the surrounding community to experience Princeton, with almost every event free.
And now, for another year, there are no more events. It's amazing how fast it goes.
Don't worry.
The time between now and opening day 2019-20 will zoom by as well.
That's up there with anything TigerBlog has ever seen.
If you missed it, the Sixers and Toronto were in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, with the winner to get Milwaukee. The game was tight and clearly headed down the stretch.
That's when fate ripped the hearts of Philly fans out twice. First, there were the three straight 24-second violations. It almost seemed like the shot clock was starting out at 10.
Then there was the game-winner from Khawi Leonard, after the Sixers had rallied to tie it with four seconds left. Leonard, who scored 41 points in a 92-90 win, took the ball, dribbled until he almost ran out of time and then launched a shot from the deep corner that bounced on the rim and decided it like the view, since it hung there for longer than any shot TB has ever seen do so, and then finally dropped in.
It was excruciating for the Sixers. Tough to process, one might say.
Like most general sports fans, TigerBlog watched the Johns Hopkins-Notre Dame men's lacrosse opening round game and flipped over to the NBA game during commercials. He did stay with the basketball game for the final minute or so, or just long enough to see the heartbreaking end.
During one commercial in the lacrosse game, TB did see Philly's J.J. Reddick make two foul shots, and it got him wondering what Reddick's career numbers are from the line, since TB doesn't think he's ever seen him miss a shot between Duke and the NBA. Turns out, he actually has missed 227 NBA foul shots in the regular season and another 27 in the playoffs.
Of course, he's taken 2,073 regular season free throws and 224 playoff ones, which leaves him just short of 90 percent for both. At Duke he was better than 90 percent for his career, shooting 662 for 726, or .912.
Guess they play better free throw defense in the NBA.
Reddick, of course, is one of TB's two least favorite college players ever, and both of them have gone on to become NBA guys he likes. In the case of the other one, he went from being TB's least favorite college player to one of his five favorite NBA players. Who was it?
Patrick Ewing.
Anyway, after Sunday, the Sixers are finished for this season. You know what else is finished?
Home events at Princeton. Yup. Another year come and gone.
At home at least.
There are still eight Princeton teams who are competing in the 2018-19 academic year, including the men's golf team, who is currently at the NCAA regional in Georgia.
The rest of the calendar includes the NCAA women's lacrosse quarterfinal between seventh-seeded Princeton and second-seeded Boston College Saturday at 1 in Chestnut Hill. Princeton fell 16-10 to BC in last year's NCAA second round.
Boston College is 20-1 by the way, with only a 15-13 loss in the ACC championship game to North Carolina. The Eagles also reached the NCAA championship game a year ago, falling to James Madison.
Beyond that, there are the NCAA track and field regionals and national finals and the IRA and NCAA rowing championships. After that, it'll be the curtain on yet another academic year.
TigerBlog tried to figure out how many home events Princeton has in any given academic year, but there's not way to do it other than to simply count them. He'll guess that number is more around 300 though.
That's a lot of events. And when you consider how many people work to get these events to run smoothly, that's a lot of effort, all coordinated by Associate AD for Events Karen Malec and her assistant Abby Ferguson.
It's not easy. There are so many details that go into every event, and the goal is to have those who come here to watch them - and especially those who compete in them - not notice any of those details.
Princeton's home events provide an opportunity to showcase all of the best parts of Princeton Athletics - the athletes, the facilities, the campus, the Department's values. It's an open invitation to the surrounding community to experience Princeton, with almost every event free.
And now, for another year, there are no more events. It's amazing how fast it goes.
Don't worry.
The time between now and opening day 2019-20 will zoom by as well.
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