What A Day This Has Been

TigerBlog can't help but wonder how many people back in 1947 bought tickets for the Broadway musical about the leprechaun from Ireland and the Scottish town that appears once every 100 years and got all confused.

"Finian's Rainbow," the story of a man and his daughter from Ireland who move to the U.S. to bury a pot of gold near Fort Knox before a leprechaun can recover it, and "Brigadoon," the story of a Scottish town that appears for one day every 100 years, opened on Broadway within two months of each other in the winter of 1947.

That had to confuse someone at some point, right?  Two light, breezy musicals with the Irish/Scottish backdrop?

"Hey, honey, I got tickets for that show you wanted to see. That musical you heard is really great, with the Scottish leprechaun and the town and those songs."
"Bridagdoon?"
"Uh, no. It says 'Finian's Rainbow.' "

That same year, 1947, was the first year for the Tony Awards, which honor the best of Broadway for each season. There was no Best Musical that year, but there was a tie for Best Choreographer - Agnes de Mille for "Brigadoon" and Michael Kidd for "Finian's Rainbow."

Or was it the other way around? Either way, this has to be the most confusing set of musicals ever to cross paths. 

The most famous song from either show is "Almost Like Being In Love," which may actually be in both. No. It's only in "Brigadoon."

There were movie versions of each, of course. The movie of "Brigadoon" stars Gene Kelly (a TigerBlog favorite) and Cyd Charisse.

The movie version of "Finian's Rainbow" starred Fred Astaire and Petula Clark. What TB didn't realize is that it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

The year was 1968. In an 11-year period, Coppola would also produce "American Graffiti," write the screenplay for "Patton," direct and write the screenplay for "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" and write, produce and direct "Apocalypse Now."

That's quite a run.

TigerBlog heard "Old Devil Moon" from "Finian's Rainbow" yesterday (he has a version of it by Frank Sinatra), and TB, nearly 70 years after the openings on Broadway, was confused by the two musicals. In fact, for a little while, he thought "Finian's Rainbow" was the one about the Scottish town and couldn't even remember the name "Brigadoon."

TigerBlog prides himself on his ability to remember things. You know, like the name of Ryan Boyle's dog 14 years later.

He was starting to doubt himself a little until his colleague Warren Croxton came in to talk about the women's basketball team's game against UMBC the other day, a game in which Princeton made 14 three-pointers to set a school single-game record.

TigerBlog told Warren that he remembered a game in 1995 when the men's team set a school record with 14 three-pointers, a game played at Fresno State. Current head coach Mitch Henderson, TB said, was 6 for 15 from three in that game.

Then TB looked it up, and he was right. Then he wasn't sure which is more scary, not remembering "Brigadoon" or remembering a small detail from a game 21 years ago.

As for the women's basketball team started the year 0-4 before beating Rutgers, UMBC and then Seton Hall last night. The wins over the in-state rivals were by a combined 57 points, including the 94-67 win over Seton Hall.

Tip-off for the game against the Pirates last night was at 6, by the way. TigerBlog is a big fan of the earlier start time.

If you saw the Tigers opening night against Rider and then last night against Seton Hall, then you would have thought you had seen two different teams.

The Princeton team from opening night played as you might have thought it would having to replace four starters from a year ago. The team last night? Vintage Princeton. It defended well, though with room to improve. And it ran an efficient, balanced offense, with four players in double figures.

The team looked confident on both ends of the court. Players are figuring out their roles. It's a team that's probably ahead of schedule.

The one constant between Game 1 and Game 7 was Bella Alarie, a freshman who continues to be beyond impressive. Last night Alarie put up 26 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. TB isn't sure who the last Princeton women's basketball player to have those numbers in a game was. He also isn't sure who the last Princeton player with 15 rebounds and five made three-pointers in a game was. He will try to look those up.

He does know there has never been a triple double in Princeton basketball history, but it wouldn't shock him if Alarie becomes the first.

Whether the games start at 6, 7 or midnight, Princeton women's basketball continues to be a great attraction.

Oh, and one more thing.

The evolution of college basketball scheduling becomes rather clear when you look back at that Fresno State game 21 years ago and then contrast it with the women's schedule this year. In the 1995-96 season, the men's basketball team played two games in November and eight in December, including three two-game tournaments.

As an aside, TigerBlog was at all three of those tournaments, the one in Fresno and then subsequent ones at Iowa State and Wisconsin-Green Bay. Those sort of events, which took TB all over the country, have pretty much disappeared from the basketball calendar.

The game against Seton Hall last night was Princeton's seventh for the month of November. Princeton will play six games in December.

Oh, and if you want to go back a little further, back in the 1946-47 season, Princeton's eighth game of the year was a home game against Dartmouth. The next game was four days later, at Harvard. This was back before travel partners in the Ivy League, or, for that matter, before the Ivy League.

Last night was Game 7 for Princeton's women. Game 8 for the men 70 years ago was played on Jan. 10, 1947.

That was the same day "Finian's Rainbow" opened on Broadway.

Or was it "Brigadoon."