Tuesday, February 10, 2015

And Then There Was One

Apparently, there aren't too may dog breeds that can have blue eyes.

TigerBlog stumbled upon one of them the other day. He can't remember if he ever saw a dog with blue eyes before.

What do you do in a situation like this in 2015? Of course, you take a picture with your phone.

TigerBlog asked the owner for permission first. How many times, though, do you see someone in the supermarket or on line at the movies or something and you want to take a picture of something about them without having them notice? That's very 2015.



Anyway, say hi to, uh, what was the dog's name again? Bailey? Roscoe? Something like that.

Dexter. That's it. Dexter the blue eyed dog.

Dexter obviously realizes that there's something unique about being a blue-eyed dog, as he posed perfectly for TigeBlog. The owner said he went into a pet shop and saw the blue eyes and said he had to take him home (and presumably name him after a serial killer from a TV show that TigerBlog never saw).

This isn't the first time TigerBlog has offered a picture of a random dog that he's encountered. The last one was Fred, the coolest dog on Earth.

It would be a shame if Dexter wore shades like Fred. You don't want to be covering up those blue eyes.

TigerBlog did a little research and found that blue-eyed dogs are somewhat rare, though not completely uncommon. You know what's even rare than a blue-eyed dog?

An undefeated women's basketball team in Division I.

In fact, there's only one of those. And it's Princeton, who moved to 21-0 over the weekend when it overwhelmed Columbia and Cornell.

Prior to yesterday there were two undefeateds, Princeton and No. 1 South Carolina, who had to play at UConn last night. UConn is No. 2 and loses at home probably as often as blue-eyed dogs come strolling down the path.

UConn defeated South Carolina 87-62, somewhat predictably. And that leaves Princeton as the only undefeated women's basketball team in Division I.

Kentucky, for the record, is the only undefeated team in Division I men's basketball.
Princeton moved up to No. 16 in the AP poll yesterday. Each time Princeton moves up, it breaks its own record for the highest ranking ever for an Ivy women's team.

TigerBlog saw both games at Jadwin this past weekend, and the word he used - "overwhelmed" - is pretty accurate. The Tigers shot 55% in both games, outrebounded both of its opponents by double digits - remember, there aren't a lot of offensive rebounds when you don't miss a lot of shots - forced more than 40 turnovers, never trailed and built double digit leads within the first nine minutes both nights.

What's next for Princeton?

Well, this isn't a coronation or anything. The rest of the league is trying to win as well, and there is one team in particular that can change the entire tenor of everything Saturday night in New Haven.

Right now, Princeton is 5-0 in the Ivy League. Yale is 5-1. Every other team has at least two losses.

If Princeton sweeps this weekend, then it's going to be next to impossible for the rest of the league to catch up. Someone would have to go 7-0 over the second half of the season and hope that Princeton loses to someone else on top of that just to force a tie.

On the other hand, if Yale can beat Princeton Saturday night? Then all kinds of things change, not the least of which is the aura of invincibility that Princeton now has.

Yale kids are smart. They know that their best opportunity is the one this week.

It's a big advantage for Princeton to play the Bulldogs Saturday instead of Friday. Yale can't spend the whole week focused on Princeton, and Penn is 3-2 in the league and the defending champ who still hopes to get to the last game of the season at 11-2 against a 12-1 Princeton team.

Yale, on the other hand, is home.

Will Princeton be favored? Of course.

But TigerBlog learned long ago to be cautiously optimistic about these things.

TigerBlog tweeted his good friend Eddie Timanus of USA Today during the UConn-South Carolina game and reminded him of something that Timanus already knew, that Princeton would be the lone remaining undefeated team in Division I.

Timanus asked TigerBlog if he'd like a shot at UConn, and TB said of course, because it would probably mean that Princeton was playing deep into March.

Timanus responded by saying "good answer."

Before Princeton can think about that, though, it has to take care of its business in the league. And this weekend, at 3-3 Brown and then at Yale, is a huge road test.

At the same time, you don't get to be the last unbeaten in Division I accidentally.

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