Never Let The Lyrics Get In The Way Of The Melody

The No. 1 song in the country for much of TigerBlog's senior year of high school was "Keep On Lovin' You" by REO Speedwagon.

TigerBlog has always been okay with REO Speedwagon. His theory is that the group has very good melodies and very good vocals and nobody who really was good at writing lyrics.

As a result, REO Speedwagon has some of the most forced rhymes in music history. For instance, from that song: "I don't wanna sleep. I just wanna keep on lovin' you."

TB can see it now. "We need something that rhymes with 'keep,' and all I can think of is 'sleep.' How do we make that work?"

This is the same group that sang the song that blared in the Caldwell Field House locker room area as TB walked in yesterday. These are some of the lyrics:

"And I can't fight this feeling anymore
I've forgotten what I started fighting for
It's time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever"

Yeah. Eh. But it's still a good song. That's the true genius of REO Speedwagon. It made these songs work.

Oh well. As the late great Maurice White said, "never let the lyrics get in the way of melody."

He should know. He's the one who brought you this:

"Come to see victory
In a land called fantasy
Loving life for you and me
To behold to your soul is ecstasy
You will find other kind
That has been in search of you
Many lives have brought you to
Recognise it's your life now in review"

And that's in one of the greatest songs TigerBlog has ever heard, like one of his 10 favorites ever.

Anyway, TigerBlog likes knowing that he works at a place where he can walk in and hear REO Speedwagon sing its silly lyrics in an enjoyable fashion.

He also likes working at a place where he can tweet a picture of Chester A. Arthur. Is this a great job or what?

TigerBlog's picture of the 21st President of the United States was used as emphasis for the difference in the time that Princeton and Monmouth have fielded men's lacrosse team. Monmouth is in Year 5 of playing men's lacrosse. When Princeton was in Year 5, ol' Chester was the President.

Monmouth has come a long way in a short time, though. The Hawks are the defending MAAC champs, and they played in their first NCAA tournament last year. That was in just Year 4.

Monmouth will start Year 5 Saturday at Princeton, on opening day for both. Somewhat insanely, there have already been more than 30 Division I lacrosse games played to date. Even more insanely, Duke's Justin Guterding already has 27 points in three games.
The rise of Monmouth lacrosse is a great thing for New Jersey. TB hopes it gives other schools that are similar in size and resources to Monmouth the push needed to start their own programs and continue to grow the game.

For decades, the only two Division I teams in New Jersey were Princeton and Rutgers, before NJIT and Monmouth started their teams within those last five years. This will be the first time Princeton plays all three New Jersey opponents, and this will also be the first time Monmouth has played an Ivy opponent.

The 2018 season will also the first time that Princeton plays all three of its New Jersey rivals. In fact, all three will be in Princeton, and all three will be in the first five games of the year, along with trips to Virginia and Johns Hopkins.

Princeton is five weeks away from its Ivy opener, in Princeton against Penn on March 17. The league should be pretty strong this season.

As for the Tigers themselves, this is Year 3 of Matt Madalon as head coach and Year 2 of Michael Sowers as the leader of an offense that ranked second in Division I in goals per game last year, with just short of 15. This came one year after an average of slightly more than 10 per game, and there's no secret what the difference was.

Sowers broke the Princeton record for points in a season with 82, on 41 goals and 41 assists. He broke the Ivy freshman records for goals and points, and he established himself quickly as one of the country's best players - and one of its most exciting.

Princeton also has Austin Sims, who will be a very high pick in the next Major League Lacrosse draft. Sims scored 27 goals last year as a middie, despite missing a third of the season due to injury. When he's on, there is no midfielder in the country who can score any better than he can. 

Princeton has a good mix this year of returning players, promising newcomers, big holes to fill, incoming freshmen and everything else that makes the start of a new season all the more exciting.

And that opening day is almost here. It's either stunning that Princeton will be playing outside again on Feb. 17 or that the Tigers and their Ivy League buddies are late to the party.

Either way, it'll be Princeton and Monmouth for the first time, Saturday at 1 on Sherrerd Field. Come to that, stay for hockey, get a nosh in the middle.

Perfect, right?