A Man Without A Cell Phone

TigerBlog learned something yesterday that he didn't know. Or never really considered.

In what year did the first woman receive a college diploma in the United States. And where?

Here's your hint. It wasn't at Princeton. Here's another hint. It was more than 130 years before Princeton awarded one.

The answer is 1840. It was awarded by the Georgia Female College, which is now Wesleyan College. The one in Macon, Ga., not the one in Connecticut.

The woman who received it was Catherine Elizabeth Benson Brewer. Why was she first? Was she the only woman in her graduating class? Nope. She was first alphabetically.

TigerBlog is humored by that.

He learned about this from a story in the student newspaper for the University of Washington. It was part of a profile of Joe Janes, the official brother-in-law of TigerBlog.

You can read it HERE. Be forewarned: It has absolutely nothing to do with sports. TigerBlog is putting it out there to boost family circulation.

Joe is a professor in the UW (simply "you-dubb" to anyone in the Pacific Northwest) information school. The basic point of the story is that he does a podcast series about anything and everything. TigerBlog has heard them; they're informative and entertaining.

So listen to one. Maybe you'll learn something.

The story mentions that during his interview he showed the same humor that often makes it into his podcasts. Joe is not the "fall down laughing, everyone cracking up around him" kind of funny. His humor is subtle and understated, which makes it 1) more effective, 2) the kind you'd expect from someone in his job and 3) the kind that TigerBlog appreciates the most.

It also mentions the view from Joe's office. The best view on the UW campus is looking out towards Mount Ranier - a view that disappears about nine months of the year due to the rain. As Joe said the last time TB was out there, they lure you there with the view and then you can't see once you get there. 

Like basically everyone else in Seattle, Joe is transplanted from someplace else, in his case, Syracuse. He holds a bachelor's and Ph.D. from Syracuse, and he is a huge fan of the Orange in sports, especially football and basketball.

He is also the only person TigerBlog knows who, in the year 2016, does not have a cell phone. It's even more insane when you consider that he's in the information business.

TigerBlog isn't sure if Joe has ever done a podcast with a sports theme. He'd text his brother-in-law and ask him, but, well, no, he can't.

So, instead, he had to email BrotherBlog, who forwarded to Joe who emailed TB. Arduous.

Anyway, the answer is yes. You can read it HERE. It's about the rules of English soccer.

And if you want the link to check out the entire series, it's HERE.

Princeton Athletics, by the way, has long had its own podcast. It comes to you every Thursday, courtesy of Craig Sachson.

Craig has been podcasting for seven years now. The first one featured Liz Costello, the former distance runner.

Tomorrow's, by the way, will feature men's tennis coach Billy Pate, women's open rower Georgie Howe and baseball player Zack Belski (he of the eight-RBI game last weekend; his team is at St. John's tonight, on ESPN3).

So here's what you do. Listen to Joe's podcast. Listen to Craig's. See which one you like better.

Before you can listen to Craig's podcast tomorrow, there is the little matter of the big game on Sherrerd Field tonight. That would be the one between the Princeton women's lacrosse team and top-ranked, defending NCAA champion Maryland. Actually, that's two-time defending NCAA champion Maryland.

Maryland has won more NCAA women's lacrosse championships than any other school, with 12. The Terps are unbeaten and ranked No. 1 this year and are the heavy favorite to win again, but hey, anything can happen.

Princeton has won three NCAA women's lacrosse championships, which is tied with Virginia for third all-time. Northwestern, who has won seven, is in second.

There have been 11 teams who have won an NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship. There have been only five in the last 25 years: Princeton, Maryland, Northwestern, Virginia and North Carolina.

The only other Ivy team ever to win the NCAA championship is Harvard, which did so in 1990. The first winner? UMass, in 1982. The others with at least one: New Hampshire, Temple, Delaware and Penn State.

Princeton will follow the game tonight with huge Ivy League games Saturday against Cornell (Princeton and Cornell are the lone unbeatens in the league) and next Wednesday against Penn.

But first, there's a chance to take on the best.

The game tonight begins at 7. There is no admission charge. The weather will be perfect. You have no excuses for not being there.

You can't even blame it on wanting to listen to the podcasts. You can do that on your phone.

Unless you're Joe Janes.