Question No. 5.2.0

Well, it's now three weeks until the first athletic event of 2019-20.

Yes. Three weeks from today. It'll be Princeton at St. Joe's in women's soccer.

Of course, if you're a St. Joe's fan, you can up that by a week. It's only two weeks until the Hawks open their season, with games at Drexel two weeks from today and then at Villanova two weeks from Sunday.

Also, by the time Princeton plays its first women's soccer game of the year, there will already have been 17 regular season college football games played. Yes. Fall is almost here.

Of course, it's still quiet around Princeton now and has been all week. TigerBlog has been answering the five questions he received asking him about some of his Princeton athletics memories, and it's been a fun exercise.

Today is Day 5, with one question left:
Most extreme emotions other than happy, sad or nervous (For instance, I think that arguably your best column ever was describing what went through your mind when you inputted the official scorer's entry for your daughter's ground ball. As another example, when I attended Princeton Stadium's 1998 inaugural game against Cornell, the pre-game festivities included football alumni marching onto the field beneath their class banners. Watching the history unfold in front of me, I started to tear up. My girlfriend at the time, a gritty street-smart New Yorker, saw me getting choked up and looked at me quizzically. I felt the need to explain myself and quietly said, "This makes me feel part of something bigger than myself." Within a month, we broke up. I think she literally thought to herself, "Any man who would come close to crying at a football game is not a good long-term match for me.") 

First, TB does have to say that it was the old girlfriend's loss if she couldn't appreciate the moment.

Okay, having said that, this one is the toughest question, because the question is asking about which emotions there are, not just about events or anything like that. And it can't be happy, sad or nervous.

And it's not asking for just emotions. It's asking for extreme emotions.

Hmmm. Where to start?

This question got TigerBlog to thinking about the things he's been a part of at Princeton that have brought out the most emotion in him. Certainly, as the question says, it was at its peak when he saw Miss TigerBlog ’22 play as a Princeton Tiger and be part of an Ivy League champion and Ivy League tournament champion.

But what about beyond that?

It got him to thinking less about events and games and individual honors and more about the people here, the ones he's worked with and the ones he's seen play and coach here. And it's really the day-to-day stuff, seeing how it all comes together to be the successful athletic program that you see here.

And it's the special occasions. The banquets. The retirement parties. The recognitions. The press conferences.

He likes to think that in his way, and in a small way, he's made contributions that have helped that success. It's part of what has kept him here for so long.

TB often jokes about the amount of stuff he owns that says "Princeton" on it. In reality, it's more than just free gear that he's been given through the years.

It's a symbol of what it means to part of Princeton Athletics.

The emotion that he's getting at is the same, he suspects, as the one that the commenter had when he saw the first game at Princeton Stadium.

It's pride.

It's a sense of pride in the entity that is Princeton Athletics. It's been something great to have been a part of all of this time.

Anyway, that's the last of the questions for the week. TigerBlog enjoyed the exercise, and he's appreciative of whoever it was who posed the questions.

Have another great summer weekend.

And get ready. Opening kickoff is rapidly approaching once again.