Welcome, Class Of 2024

TigerBlog's lucky number, for now at least, is 2313.

That was his number for jury duty this week. He had to log on each day after 4 pm to see if juror number 2313 was being called in.

For Monday, jurors 8-197 had to go in. When he logged on Monday evening, it said that no jurors had to go in Tuesday. When he logged in Tuesday, it said that no jurors had to come in for the rest of week. 

And, on top of that, it meant that your jury duty service was fulfilled for three more years at least. 

TigerBlog, being TigerBlog, immediately thought of how many times Princeton played a football game that ended 23-13. It's just how he's wired.

The answer, if you're wondering is one. There's been one 23-13 game in Princeton history.

That came in one of the biggest seasons in Princeton history, the undefeated 1964 season. That season went unmatched for 54 years, until the 2018 team went 10-0.

The 23-13 game came in Week 2 of the season, in the Ivy opener against Columbia. The 1964 Princeton team was so good defensively that those 13 points were the second-most the team would allow all season, with the 14 that Yale would score in a 35-14 Tiger win the most.

Only three times all year did Princeton allow double figures (Cornell scored 12 in the final game of the year, a 17-12 win). In fact, Princeton had more shutouts (four) than it had double figures scored against it.

As TB has said, this will be the first fall without Princeton football since 1871. As much as that stings, there will be Princeton football, and all of Princeton Athletics, again.

The Class of 2024 is not having the start to its college experience that it would have wanted. This applies to every member of the Class of 2024 pretty much everywhere by the way.

The incoming group traditionally gathers in McCosh 50 for student-athlete orientation shortly before classes begin. With the change in the academic calendar, TB isn't sure where the orientation would have landed in a normal year - but as everyone knows, this is not a normal year. 

As a result, the orientation was held yesterday, via Zoom. Between incoming athletes, as well as coaches and administrators, there were more than 220 people on the call.

The goal was to informative and welcoming, while introducing the newcomers to the traditions and values of Princeton Athletics. In that way, it was no different than any other of these orientations.

It's easy to take for granted that everyone knows what you know, but that's usually not the case. As it relates to the call yesterday, or any year where there are all of the new athletes in one place together, TB always assumes they know how great the history of Princeton Athletics is. The reality, though, is they probably do not, and so it's good to remind them.

The orientation also fascinates TB each year because of the great variety of sports represented. Each incoming athlete has a unique story of how he or she came to be sitting in McCosh 50, or watching on Zoom, and the story of how one became a swimmer and another became a fencer and a third became a football player is always amazing.

And then there's also the point that the entire athletic class will not gather together in one place at the same time too many times in their Princeton careers. There's the orientation. There are a very small amount of social events. And there is the senior athlete awards banquet, the Gary Walters PVC Awards Banquet to be exact.

As always, TB wondered what their experiences would be. Who would be All-American and All-Ivy? Who would be hurt more times than not? Who would set records? Who would be four-year starters? Who would wait until senior year to get a chance for playing time and make the most of it?

Again, they'll all have their own paths from here to the finish line.

And now to that he added in the uncertainty of when they'll all get to compete for the first time as Tigers. They're walking into college under the COVID cloud, and it's put everything on hold for now. 

But make no mistake. That cloud will lift, and there will be bright days ahead for them. 

They will get their chances, and TB can't wait until they do.

For now, though, the best he can do is say Welcome to Princeton. It's great having you as part of the tradition.