Dr. J. was one spectacular highlight after another during his professional basketball career. TB was a fan from the time he watched him play for the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association, as he would dunk the red, white and blue ball in what seemed like a more amazing fashion each successive time.
Eventually he would move to the Philadelphia 76ers and help the team to its most recent NBA title, back in 1983. TigerBlog, back then doing student radio at Penn, interviewed him once after a Sixers practice and found him to be an easy-going, extremely friendly, very welcoming person.
He also played with what was obvious great joy, and fans couldn't help but respond. If you never saw him play, you'll have to take TB's word for it.
TB isn't the only fan of the Doctor who works around here. Bob Surace, the head football coach, clearly is as well.
Speaking of Surace, you can click HERE to read about another honor he has pulled in after the 10-0 season his team just had. Surace and John Lovett are both being honored by the Maxwell Club, and Lovett is the first Princeton player to win this honor since Dick Kazmaier.When am I thrilled to see the Doctor? When I’m at the Sixers game & get to meet one of my favorite all-time athletes, #6 Doctor J, Julius Erving!! #ClassAct pic.twitter.com/VpdiEDJVtu— Bob Surace '90 (@CoachBobSurace) December 20, 2018
Speaking of basketball, both of Princeton's teams are playing tonight, with both teams to tip at 7.
The women are at Hartford, with a chance to get back to .500 after a 1-7 start. Of course, Princeton became a different team when Bella Alarie returned from injury four games ago, all of which are Tiger victories. The current streak including the win over Davidson in Alarie's last game out is five straight.
The most recent win came Wednesday, when the Tigers defeated St. Francis of Brooklyn 83-64. Here's something TB wishes he could easily look up: When was the last time the women's basketball team had three players score at least 18.
Alarie had 18. So did Gabrielle Rush. The leading scorer was freshman Julia Cunningham, who had 19, including five three-pointers.
Hartford is 5-6 on the year, but there are two results that will definitely grab your attention. One is a 73-60 win over Harvard, back on Nov. 21. The other is the Hawks' most recent game, a 74-66 overtime loss to No. 22 Michigan State.
As for the men, they are at Lafayette. The women are playing Hartford for the third time. The men are playing Lafayette for the 71st time, and the Tigers hold a 51-19 edge to date.
It'll be a welcome opportunity for the Tigers, who are coming off a loss at Duke Tuesday night. After the game tonight, Princeton will next play at Arizona State a week from tomorrow.
In fact, after the two games tonight, Princeton Athletics has no events of any kind for a week, until the men's hockey team hosts Maine a week from today.
So that's Surace and basketball.
Now TB wants to talk about another generationally talented, universally beloved athlete, like Dr. J.
Hobey Baker was one such athlete.
TigerBlog has learned a lot about Hobey Baker through the years. The younger of two sons of a wealthy Philadelphia family, was already a well-known athlete by the time he came to Princeton from St. Paul's School (the one in New Hampshire).
He would play hockey and football at Princeton, and he is in the Hall of Fame for both. He was a great player in both sports, and he led Princeton to national championships in both.
His legend is pretty familiar. Baker was known as the most gentlemanly player who ever competed, with only one penalty in his entire Princeton hockey career. He graduated in 1914 and then, with no professional hockey or football, played in exhibition games in New York City, where he also worked in finance.
And he took up flying, even landing a plane at Palmer Stadium on one occasion.
Baker would become a fighter pilot during World War I, with three confirmed kills to his record by the time the war ended in November 1918.
It was shortly after the armistice that Baker was supposed to be headed back to the United States. He instead was killed when his plane crashed shortly after taking off in the French town of Toul, either, depending on which part of the legend you believe, in a terrible accident or in a suicide that was fueled by the thought that life without sports or war was not worth going back to.
Baker, like Dr. J., was a beloved figure. He was one of the first great American athletes, beyond just being an iconic Princeton figure. He was like the LeBron James or Peyton Manning of his time, only he died at the age of 26.
Princeton's hockey rink is obviously named after him, and the best player in college hockey each year is awarded the Hobey Baker Trophy. Even all these years later, he's still remembered as one of the three greatest Princeton athletes ever, along with Bill Bradley and Dick Kazmaier.
By the way, that day in Toul, France, was Dec. 21, 1918, or 12/21/18.
It was 100 years ago today that Hobey Baker died.
On this campus, he will live forever.
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1 comment:
The story of Hobey Baker resonates for many reasons, including that his tale of magnificent triumph and gentlemanly sportsmanship is laced with tragedy. As you say, Hobey was the younger son of a wealthy Philadelphia family. But his father's upholstery business ran aground in 1907 and, by the time Hobey's older brother Thornton was ready for college, there was only money enough to send one boy onto higher education. Thornton recognized that Hobey had special gifts, so he stepped aside, a gracious sacrifice Hobey never forgot. Hobey stayed on an extra year at St. Paul's so that the family could save more tuition, before in 1910 he finally stepped onto the Princeton campus and into the national consciousness.
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