In Memorium

In the world of music, there are those that TigerBlog has loved, which includes, well, you know who is on that list if you've been paying attention here for the last 11 years.

Then there are those whom TB simply cannot listen to even for a minute. That's the largest group by far.

Lastly, there are those whom TB has always liked, and even owned several albums of at one point, but wouldn't say he loved them. This is the group whose music usually gets him to stop and listen when it's on, even if he doesn't actually seek it out.

These are groups that have a few songs that he likes a lot, and that's where it ends. For most of this group, he's never seen them in concert, because he hasn't cared enough to do so, but yeah, he likes them. Maybe it's because they bring him back to his much younger days? Maybe it's the genre? Maybe it's a bunch of factors like that?

However you want to describe them, their ranks have diminished by two in the last week with the deaths of Eddie Money and Ric Ocasek, the lead singer of the group The Cars.

TigerBlog liked both of them a lot. He didn't love either of them. They both sang songs that he's listened to a million times and really enjoys. He never saw either in concert.

He first came to like both in middle school or high school. Neither has come out with a song that he can think of in decades, but he still likes the old stuff.

Plus, both of them always seemed like pretty good guys. Ocasek, of course, was married to supermodel Paulina Porizkova, which proved conclusively that being a rock star meant you could overcome not exactly being the best looking guy around. Money was at one point on the road to being a New York City police officer, and he just seemed like he was having fun all the time.

Favorite songs of each? For Money, it was "I Wanna Go Back." For Ocasek, it was "Good Times Roll."

And now they're gone, both in their 70s.

TB found out about Money's death because his songs were dominating four different Sirius stations, and he assumed it was because it was his birthday. Instead, it was a memorial.

As was with the case of the two rockers, TigerBlog never met Redmond Finney. It doesn't mean that he doesn't know a lot about him.

Finney was a three-sport athlete at Princeton, in wrestling, lacrosse and football. How good was he at lacrosse and football? He became an All-America in both. How common is that? Only one other person has ever done so.

Care to guess who that was? It should be obvious. It was Jim Brown. When you're in that company, you've done something quite incredible.

Finney, a member of the Class of 1951, passed away earlier this summer. A Korean War veteran after graduation, he's known mostly for his long tenure as the headmaster at the Gilman School in Baltimore.

Finney was the 2012 Class of 1967 PVC Citizen Athlete Award winner. Here's what the story about his award said at the time:
Reddy Finney will receive the Class of 1967 PVC Citizen-Athlete Award, which is presented by the Princeton Varsity Club for selfless and noble contributions to society. Finney was a three-sport standout while at Princeton, earning All-America honors in both football and lacrosse, and being named captain of the wrestling team as a senior. He was the 1951 recipient of the prestigious William Winston Roper Trophy, which is awarded to a Princeton man of high scholastic rank, outstanding qualities of sportsmanship and general proficiency in athletics.
After graduation, Finney was a member of the U.S. Navy Amphibious Corps, spending two years in Korea. In 1954, he began a 38-year term of service at his secondary school alma mater, the Gilman School. Mr. Finney spent 14 years as a teacher and coach, followed by 24 years as Headmaster of the Baltimore preparatory school, whose athletic complex is named in his honor. He has given back to Princeton in many ways, including serving as an Alumni Trustee and Class President. 

If you want to read his full obituary, you can do so HERE.

Finney's full name was "Redmond," and he was only known as either "Redmond" or "Reddy," never as "Red." Also, Finney Field is not named for him but instead for his grandfather, John, a member of the Class of 1884.

TigerBlog, as he said, doesn't think he ever met Mr. Finney. He does know a lot of people from Gilman and Baltimore who have, as well as many people who knew him from Princeton, and they all spoke about him in the most glowing of terms.

One of TB's favorite things about Princeton is that it brings in people like Reddy Finney and then watches as they do great things for their lives after they graduate, all while staying close and loyal to the University for the rest of their lives.

By all accounts, Reddy Finney was that kind of a person, someone all Princetonians can be proud of, someone who lived his life with great honor and selflessness.