A Busy Weekend Begins

If you know TigerBlog, it probably doesn't surprise you to learn that he has memorized the codes that go along with the fruits and vegetables he buys each week.

He likes to go to the self checkout line, which means he needs to keep entering the codes for fruits and vegetables. And he always gets the same stuff, so it didn't take long to get the numbers down.

For instance, bananas are 4011. Avocados are 4225. Eventually he's started referring to the items not by their names but by their numbers, as in "salad with a little 4225."

When he mentioned this to his colleague Warren Croxton the other day, he said something along the lines of having a "4131," which is a Fuji apple. Croxton, a diehard Eagles fan, said he'd rather have a "4133," sight unseen.

Eagles fans are obsessed with the number 4,133. That was the final score of the Super Bowl the Eagles won over the New England Patriots.

What TB didn't realize is that these numbers aren't unique to his supermarket or even that supermarket chain. They are called PLU codes, which stands for "Product Look Up" codes.

They start with either "3" or "4," though they will have a "9" in front of them if they are organic items or an "8" if they are genetically engineered. The numbers are randomly assigned.

As it turns out, a 4133 would be a small gala apple.

Princeton fans should know the meaning of the number 4341. If you don't, that was the score of Princeton's 1996 NCAA tournament win over UCLA. A 4341 would be a yellow seedless watermelon.

This is obviously Super Bowl weekend, as the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers play Sunday in Miami.

TigerBlog would be rooting for Kansas City anyway, because he's a fan of Chiefs' quarterback Pat Mahomes. Throw in the fact that Princeton alum John Lovett is a member of the team, and that makes it even more so.

Lovett, the only two-time Bushnell Cup winner in Princeton football history, has spent the season on injured reserve with Kansas City. He had a strong preseason before getting hurt, and he seemed to make a strong impression on the team.

TigerBlog will be talking to Lovett this afternoon to get his thoughts on the experience to date, at the Super Bowl and throughout the season. TB's goal is to have that story on goprincetontigers.com before the start of men's hockey and men's basketball tonight.

This is the start of the run from the return from exams through the end of the regular season and then into the postseason. The teams - not just in basketball and hockey - will go from not very busy to very, very busy, starting tonight.

If TB is counting correctly, there are 38 Princeton events scheduled from today through Sunday. That's a lot.

If he's also counting correctly, there are 16 teams who are competing. That's also a lot.

And it's not even crossover season yet. That's coming soon. If this weekend's schedule isn't enough for you, tomorrow is also Day 1 of spring practices, not to mention the first actual Division I lacrosse games - 13 of them to be exact.

The men's hockey team is home this weekend against Colgate and Cornell, with face-off at 7 both nights. Princeton was playing well before the breaking, having tied Harvard and beaten St. Lawrence (on a goal with 0.6 seconds left in OT of a scoreless game).

The Tigers have eight regular season games left as they try to get some momentum going and possibly get home ice in the playoffs.

The men's basketball team has 12 league games left - two each for the next six weekends. That run starts this weekend with home games against Dartmouth (tonight at 7) and Harvard (tomorrow at 6).

Each league team has played both of its games against its travel partners to date. Princeton, Harvard and Yale all swept those two games, while Columbia and Cornell split.

There are also home events in men's and women's tennis, men's and women's squash and men's and women's swimming and diving, which hosts the H-Y-P meet at DeNunzio Pool.

The full schedule is HERE.

And TB's Super Bowl prediction?

Chiefs win. Final score: Fava beans.

You know. That's 45-28.