It's TAGD 6

Tiger Athletics Give Day No. 6, and it's been an extraordinarily successful addition to the Princeton Athletics calendar. And one that's been a lot of fun.

For information on TAGD, including how to make a gift, click HERE. 

TigerBlog wrote about Jesper Horsted's first career NFL touchdown catch yesterday.

When you think of Horsted's college career, you think of a big wide receiver who has great hands, especially in the end zone. You think of the fact that he is the all-time leader in receptions and touchdown receptions at Princeton.

You even think of him as a first-team All-Ivy League baseball player who had to choose which of the two sports to play professionally.

What you may not think of, at least without being reminded of it, is that he was also the narrator of last year's video on TAGD.

Of all the videos that Princeton Athletics has produced through the years, it's very likely that the TAGD video last year was TB's favorite, as Horsted narrated a famous Grantland Rice poem while athletes from all 37 teams posed in their venues. It ended with Horsted on camera, in full uniform, putting his helmet on after he says:
"For when the One Great Scorer comes
To write against your name,
He marks - not that you won or lost -
But how you played the Game." 

That was last TAGD.

Today is the sixth TAGD. The first five have enabled Princeton to raise more than $10 million as the competition among its Friends' groups has become an annual part of the calendar.

TAGD grew out of the 150th anniversary of the first athletic event in Princeton history, a baseball game against Williams College on Nov. 22, 1864. Since its beginning, TAGD has helped Princeton Athletics raise more than $10 million, with a record $2.7 million a year ago.
 
In addition to the dollars raised, another impressive number from last year was 8,693. That was the number of gifts that Princeton received a year ago.

That's an extraordinary number. It also speaks to something much larger.

The loyalty that the experience here breeds is like nothing else that TigerBlog has seen anywhere else. There is an unspoken, but obvious, responsibility on the part of those who have come through here to give back to the next generation so that those experiences can exceed theirs.

That has been one of the main takeaways from the TAGD experience to date. Another is the intensely competitive nature of everyone associated with Princeton Athletics, as each Friends' group wants to outdo the others in its bracket or overall.

It's also turned into a great deal of fun.


And today figures to be more of the same, with the annual social media presence (use the hashtag "#TAGD") and video content and contests. This year, one of the themes has been "on the hunt," which speaks to the idea that despite its overwhelmingly impressive history and the success that Princeton teams continue to have, nobody here is taking anything for granted or ever would take anything for granted.

That kind of sustained success has involved so many generations of athletes and coaches leading to the current group, the ones who will benefit directly from today's generosity.

Princeton Athletics uses that money to invest in the education and experience of its 1,000 student athletes and 37 varsity teams. Those athletes then use what they learn here in their educational and athletic pursuits and go off in so many different areas to make such a positive impact in their communities and globally, all fueled by their time as Princeton Tigers.


And that's what TAGD is really about.

So enjoy the celebration that TAGD has become. And, on behalf of the entire athletic department and all of its athletes, thank you once again for stepping up and showing the loyalty that defines Princeton.

It's TAGD.