Observation Post

TigerBlog would like to talk to you about relationships today.

Spatial ones, that is. Well, maybe that's not exactly what this is, but whatever, it's close.

Picture in your mind the distance between the pitcher's mound and home plate on a baseball field. As everyone knows, that's 60 feet, six inches.

Now picture the distance from the floor of Jadwin Gym to the ceiling. How high do you think that is?

It's 60 feet.

How in the world is that possible? Doesn't it seem like the distance from the mound is a fraction of the distance from the floor to the ceiling in Jadwin?

TigerBlog has stood on a pitcher's mound and looked out at home plate. It didn't seem that far. He's been on the catwalk at the top of Jadwin and looked down and, well, he's lucky he lived through that.

As it turns out, it's also 60 feet from Powers Field to the top of the newly installed bubble that now covers the playing surface. Again, if you think of a pitcher's mound, it doesn't seem that big. If you think of the ceiling in Jadwin, it seems huge.

Here's what it looks like inside before it's 100 percent completed:

The bubble will be up each year now from the end of the football season through the spring. It'll be used by Princeton's varsity teams, as well as club teams, intramural teams and outside groups. That's all going to be happening really soon.

For now, TigerBlog's observation is that it's really cool.

Here are some other observations from the recent weekend in Princeton sports:

* Here's a question for you that TigerBlog was asked yesterday: What's the biggest win in Princeton women's soccer history, the one against North Carolina Sunday or the one over Washington in the 2004 quarterfinals that made the Tigers the only Ivy League team ever to reach the women's soccer Final Four? It's a great question. Princeton, by the way, will be at UCLA Saturday (8:30 Eastern) in this year's quarterfinal, with a chance to match the 2004 team.

* It's extraordinary what Chad Kanoff and Jesper Horsted did to the Princeton football record book. TigerBlog won't review them all here, but you can read about them HERE, as his colleague Craig Sachson put them together. If TB is correct, Kanoff tied or set 12 Princeton and/or Ivy League records by himself. Horsted shattered receiving records that had stood for nearly 35 years.

* Kanoff, by the way, certainly looks the part of an NFL quarterback at 6-4, 225 pounds, with good mobility and the ability to make pretty much any throw. Horsted looks the part of an NFL receiver, and possibly a Major League Baseball player, which is a good problem to have.

* Former men's basketball coach Bill Carmody, early in the 1999-2000 season, had a reporter say that his team had to be "the best 1-4 team of all time." Carmody responded without flinching: "I'd rather be the worst 4-1 team of all time." Good answer. The 2017 Princeton football team went 2-5 in the Ivy League and has to be the best 2-5 team ever. This season will be remembered for the extraordinary performances by the offense and the devastating injuries to the defense. A healthy defense plus that offense would have equaled an Ivy title. Nobody will be able to talk TigerBlog out of that.

* Georgia Tech's women's basketball team has a lot of size. In fact, of the 11 players who played in the 67-56 Georgia Tech win over Princeton Sunday, seven are at least six feet tall and five are at least 6-2. Princeton isn't small, but that was a lot of size. The Tigers played hard until the end and had some chances in the fourth quarter to make it a one-possession game, which isn't bad against the WNIT runner-up from a year ago. Princeton is now 2-1 with wins over George Washington and Seton Hall heading into the Thanksgiving break, and it's already clear that there's a lot to like about this team.

* The same is true of the men's team, which is home tomorrow night against Lafayette at 7. TigerBlog sat courtside Saturday night at St. Joe's, and if you've never been to a game at the Hagan Arena, it's definitely worth going. It's a great 4,200 seat venue, and the atmosphere there for the home opener was great. It included a ceremony honoring all of the former Hawks and they welcomed the newest Hawk. You know, the mascot, the one who never stops flapping.

* As for the game, Devin Cannady put on a great three-point shooting display in the first half, burying shot after shot from further and further away right in front of the jammed student section. Cannady, Amir Bell and Myles Stephens were a combined 18 for 31, with 50 points between them, in the 71-58 loss. Those three are the foundation of a special team. The task is putting the other pieces around them, and Mitch Henderson has plenty of options. Princeton is clearly a work in progress right now, but it's one that has a lot of potential as well. And is exciting to watch.

* The men's hockey team will be home tomorrow and Friday nights against Bemidji State, with faceoff at 7 both nights. The Tigers are going through some growing pains and are 3-3-1 after seven games. A year ago? They were 0-6-1 after seven games. And of their three losses, two (Cornell, Union) were against ranked teams at the time (Cornell is ranked . There's also a 0-0 tie with Colgate in there, and the Raiders are currently ranked 18th.

* The men's cross country team finished 28th in the NCAA championship race Saturday. The Tigers had an interesting season, not running together until just before Heps and then winning that and the NCAA regional easily. As for the women, they were represented by Heps champ Gabi Forrest, who finished 37th at the NCAA championships to earn All-America honors.

* The men's water polo team lost a heartbreaker, falling 12-11 to Harvard in two OTs in the NWPC championship game. The Tigers did have yet another great season under head coach Luis Nicalao, going 22-6.