Eli, And The Basketball Doubleheader

If you remember the other time TigerBlog told you this story, then thanks for being one of his most loyal readers.

It was more than seven years ago when TB first wrote this:

TB is a huge David Justice fan. Why? Because TB once saw Justice - then with the Atlanta Braves - on a plane from Atlanta to Philadelphia, at a time when MotherBlog was in Piedmont Hospital during her fight against cancer.

TB, sitting in first class because MB had upgraded his ticket, was across the aisle and one row behind Justice. When TB mentioned to the guy sitting next to him that MotherBlog was in the hospital and that Justice was her favorite player, he said that TB should go talk to him, because "where could he go?"

Armed with that logic, TB wrote a note about how his mother had cancer, was in Piedmont Hospital and was a big Braves' fan and could he drop her a line or something. Then TB gave him the note to Justice, who nodded his head.

Later that night, TB spoke to MotherBlog, who said that David Justice had called her in the hospital and spoken with her for about 10 minutes. He followed up by sending her some Braves' stuff, including a ball autographed by 17 players and manager Bobby Cox.

Factoring out any Princeton alums whom TigerBlog knows personally, his list of all-time favorite professional athletes is a small one. Justice is way up there, largely because of the story TB just told. Greg Maddox and John Smoltz too.

Julius Erving is another. So is Phil Simms. And Patrick Ewing.

When TB was a little kid, his favorites were Joe Namath and Willis Reed, though he would have definitely been on the Bill Bradley bandwagon had he known how thing were going to go later in his life. Once you get to a certain age, you stop thinking of sports figures as heroes, per se.

There are some you like because they play for your favorite team or you simply admire how they play. TigerBlog really loved to watch Michael Jordan play, even though he killed the Knicks. Today he really likes LeBron James more than any other NBA player.

His favorite professional athlete of the last 15 years, though, has definitely been New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning. He has always carried himself with class, and TB can't remember any time he ever engaged in the seemingly everywhere me-first self-worship that has become routine in the NFL.

Plus, he's one of the greatest clutch athletes ever. Is 9 for 14 for 152 yards and two touchdowns a good quarter? That's what Manning's stats were in the fourth quarter of the first of his two Super Bowl wins over the Patriots, who had been 18-0 on the year heading into that game.

He ranks in the top 10 all-time in the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns, and he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. 

As the news came that Manning would not be starting this Sunday's game against the Raiders, ending his streak of 210 straight starts, TigerBlog took it as another sign that he longtime favorite team has become impossible to root for, just as the Knicks had been for a long time.

The Giants are awful this year. It is not at all Manning's fault.

To his credit, Manning said that he would not want to start the remaining games and then come out just to keep his streak alive. It was easy to tell that as he was being interviewed he was getting emotional, but again, he handled the situation with tremendous grace.

Anyway, TB wanted to say that about Manning before this weekend's game.

As for Princeton, TigerBlog was at the basketball doubleheader last night.

It began with the women's game, against No. 25 Villanova. If Villanova is the 25th-best team in the country, then Princeton is pretty good too.

It was a very entertaining game, one that the Wildcats would eventually win 62-59, holding off  a Princeton three attempt at the buzzer that would have tied it. The game featured an extraordinary performance by Bella Alarie, who scored a career-high 29 points on 9 for 12 shooting from the field, including makes on all three of her three-point attempts. She also had nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

Oh yeah, and she's early in her sophomore year. You can already include her in the discussion of the best players in program history.

As for the men's game, well, it was pretty much the exact opposite of the FDU game from Sunday. This time, Princeton fell behind big (by 22) and made the huge run (cutting it to two twice) before falling to Lehigh 85-76.

If you don't remember back to Sunday, Princeton went up by 27 and then FDU made it a one-possession game before the Tigers won 83-76.

That's very similar stuff.

Meanwhile, back at Eli, TigerBlog went to ride the bike yesterday morning and needed a sweatshirt. He was going to put on his New York Giants one, but he stopped and just couldn't do it. If you're a Giants fan, can you?

TigerBlog? Not this week.

He went with Princeton Basketball instead.