The Titus Shell

So, uh, yeah, TigerBlog was wrong.

TB said yesterday that he was confident Germany and Brazil would advance through the group stage at the World Cup, even though both faced elimination. He was wrong.

He didn't count on South Korea 2, Germany 0, coupled with Sweden 3, Mexico 0.

The results shockingly meant that Germany will not advance out of the group stage for the first time ever. It's also the third straight time and fourth time in the last five World Cups that the defending champion did not make it past the group stage.

Why is that?

What do you think of the way the TV broadcasts have been showing the standings for the groups in a way that assumes the point that particular game is at will stay that way. TB thinks it's great, though it took him a few times looking at it to get what they were doing.

The drama of final few minutes of the first games yesterday was extraordinary. Germany was scoreless with South Korea late into the game, and Mexico had suddenly fallen behind the Germans in goal differential, which is the first tiebreaker.

At that point, Germany needed a goal to knock out Mexico. TB just assumed it would come in the 91st minute or so, but instead it was South Korea who scored, just before stoppage time. The reaction of the Mexico fans at their game was amazing, since they were all clearly following the other game while it was all falling apart on the field for their team.

Now Germany needed to score twice to advance. Instead, they didn't score at all. South Korea would again, on a stunning empty net goal, something TB has never seen before. Germany, needing offense, had all 11 of its players across midfield, including the goalkeeper, and South Korea simply kicked it deep and then outran the Germans.

The crowd reactions that TigerBlog finds so annoying during American sporting events continue to be among the best parts of the World Cup. Maybe if U.S. fans cared as much - and TB isn't saying they don't care - as the international fans do, the reaction shots would be better. At the World Cup they're just so heartfelt, and they really help tell the story of the game.

And maybe it's because in soccer the momentum changes so many times, with a near-miss here and a counter there, but it seems like there are more emotional shifts to see.

Anyway, Brazil took care of things relatively easily to move on, but those 15 minutes or so that ended the Mexico-Sweden and Germany-South Korea games were extraordinary.

Meanwhile, back at TigerBlog's week of superlatives, he got an email from Greg Hughes, the heavyweight men's rowing coach, yesterday. If you've never met Greg Hughes, he's exact the kind of a coach you'd want your child to learn from, with an intense competitive spirit coupled with the perfect values to be a head coach at Princeton. He definitely buys into what Princeton Athletics wants to be.

Here's what he said to TigerBlog:
I saw your post on the first ever coaches at Princeton and wanted to pass this along.  It is the brief history of Constance Titus, whom we recognize as the first “official” rowing coach.  Prior to Titus, a grad student ran the program.  Connie was also a remarkable oarsman in his own right and a big reason for his decision to coach at Princeton was the newly completed Carnegie Lake.  He was the first person to row on the new lake… See the attached page from Rowing at Princeton with a brief history of Titus’s time at Princeton.
A cool side note: Just last summer, we took possession of the shell that Titus is rowing in this picture.  It was built in 1898 and was the shell that he rowed to several championship victories.  It was also the first ever hull to be rowed on Carnegie Lake. Later this summer, we hope to suspend it from the ceiling in the Ball Room at the boathouse along with some history on Titus.

Then he included this:

The part about the shell that Titus is using in the picture is fascinating. That'll be cool to see.

As for who the first actual head coach at Princeton, apparently that leaves it at either Langdon Lea in 1899 for football or Bill Clarke for baseball in 1900.

And that's enough superlatives for one week.

For tomorrow, TB has something different. A first, you might say.

Wait, that's a superlative, right?