Opening Whistle

So one person in Massachusetts won the Powerball, huh?

TigerBlog knew he wasn't going to win. He didn't even buy a ticket.

Instead, he asked a few of the people he knows who did buy tickets whether or not they would pay all of TigerBlog Jr.'s and Miss TigerBlog's remaining educational expenses. TB's Office of Athletic Communications colleague Warren Croxton flat out said no, he would not.

What the heck, Warren?

TigerBlog figures that he's talking about a few hundred thousand dollars. What's that compared to $700 million?

Brian Fitzwater, the IT guy here, was demanding his $20 back after Warren convinced him to go play.

Fitz, of course, made a pretty good point. Why do so many more people play for $700 million than $40 million, or whatever it reverts to now that someone won? The odds are the same.

"Greedy people," he said. 

The obvious question is "what would you do if you had $700 million?"

TigerBlog's friend Todd said that had he won, he would have just done a few simple things:
* pay his kid's college expenses
* maybe buy a beach house
* drive around the town in his brand-new Lamborghini throwing $100 bills out the window

You know. The usual.

Would you quit your job?

Andrew Borders, another TB colleague, said he would not quit his job at all if he won all the money. He likes his job. Plus, he needs something to do.

That's the big key. You could have all the money in the world, but what would you do all day? Eventually, you'd run out of stuff to buy and get tired of traveling. Then what? How long could you sit outside on your deck and look out at the ocean?

TigerBlog said yesterday that if you get to this time of year and aren't excited, then you're working in the wrong place. Tonight is the first athletic event of the year, a women's soccer game between the Tigers and Monmouth, on Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium at 7. Admission is free, as it is to all regular-season soccer games for men and women.

It's Game 1 of more than 600 for the academic year 2017-18, and that doesn't included other events that are more than just two opponents in one game, things like golf tournaments and Heps track and field and such.

Andrew, for his part, is always among the most fired up for opening night. You will be too after you watch the video HERE.

There's always a certain interesting feel to the first game of the year. It's almost like the game is trying to convince everyone there that hey, this really counts, summer is over, it's time to get back to work.

It was another day, another team for head shots yesterday. This time, it was the field hockey team's turn.

Princeton opens the season next weekend by hosting No. 1 North Carolina. As TB said the other day, head coach Carla Tagliente and assistants Dina Rizzo, Mike Pallister and Dave Williamson are being quite ambitious this year, as the eighth-ranked Tigers take on all seven teams currently ranked ahead of them.

Such intensity is for the coming weeks. Yesterday it was about getting pictures taken, mostly by the incoming freshmen. They all seemed relaxed and happy, their own opening whistle a week away.

They were all very polite, with a lot of "thank yous" as they left.

TigerBlog will see plenty of Princeton Athletic events this coming year, like he does every year. One game he won't be at is the soccer game tonight.

He has a good excuse.

Tonight is the wedding of another of his OAC colleagues, Cody Chrusciel, one of the two video and multimedia studs here at Princeton Athletics. Cody will be marrying longtime girlfriend Justine Nothstein.

Had TigerBlog played the Powerball and won, he would have given them enough money to cover the wedding and the honeymoon.

On their response cards, Justine and Cody asked guests to write down a song that they promised to dance to were it played. TigerBlog put down "Hava Nagila." He doubts it will actually be played, which is good, because he's not a dancer anyway.

Best of luck to Cody and Justine of course. TigerBlog wishes them nothing but the best.

And good luck to the 1,000 or so athletes who will compete for Princeton this academic year.

And it all starts tonight.

Princeton women's soccer against Monmouth at 7. It'll be a nice night for a game.