The First Weekend Of Summer

Don't forget. Donn Cabral runs tonight in the 3,000 meter men's steeplechase final at the U.S. Olympic Trials at 7:42 Eastern time.

For Cabral to make the Olympics for the third time, he needs to finish in the top three and run the Olympic qualifying standard of 8:22.0, something he's done many times in his career but has not yet done this year. 

In the least surprising Olympic qualifying news of the year, Ashleigh Johnson will be back in goal for the U.S. women's water polo team. Johnson, who has been named the best women's water polo player in the world on more than one occasion, won a gold medal with the U.S. team at the 2016 Summer Games.

And there you have everything that TigerBlog was going to say today. 

And that's all of 119 words, so he'll have to come up with something else.

He can tell you that one of the most annoying things to deal with in the world today is the automated voice system when you're trying to get a human on the phone in customer service. You've experienced this. The computerized voice asks you a series of questions, when all you want is to talk to someone. Also, the questions they ask don't lend themselves to the exact situation you need to address. 

In the end, you probably let out a few curse words and throw your phone across the room. Yes, many things can be handled online. No, not all can. 

What else? 

Okay, how about a bit more on Johnson. She deserves it, of course.

Johnson will be trying to join Caroline Lind as the only two Princeton women alums to win two gold medals. Lind won gold medals in women's rowing in 2008 and 2012. 

On the men's side, Princeton has had four athletes win multiple gold medals. Only two have done so in Princeton varsity sports. 

The first was back in the first modern Games, the ones in 1896 in Athens. There, Princeton's Robert Garrett Jr. won gold in the discus and shot put and silver in the long jump and high jump. Imagine what Fred Samara could have done with a guy like that.

Karl Frederick of the Class of 1909 won three gold medals at the 1920 Games in Antwerp, making him the only Princetonian ever to do so. Frederick's specialty was shooting, and not with a ball. He won the individual free pistol event and then two team events, the 30 meter military pistol and 50 meter free pistol.

The next two-time gold medalist was Hermon Whiton, who won gold in 1948 and 1952 in sailing. The other two-time gold medalist was Nelson Diebel, who won the 100 breaststroke and was on the winning 4x100 medley relay team in the 1992 Games in Barcelona.

Oh, speaking of annoying things, how many calls do you get from a number that isn't in your contacts that is telling you about your car's extended warranty or some other scam like that? Some of them are pretty creative and convincing.

The down side is that 1) they're a pain and 2) it makes you not want to answer the phone from any number you don't recognize. This is especially problematic when you're trying to call someone who won't have you in their contacts, because they think you're just another scammer.

And that's 559 words. Is there something else TB can share today?

How about the fact that it'll be Princeton vs. Princeton tomorrow night in Baltimore in the Premier Lacrosse League. The game at 8 at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field matches the Archers, featuring alums Tom Schreiber, Ryan Ambler and Austin Sims and coached by former Tiger head man Chris Bates, against the Waterdogs, with Tigers alums Zach Currier and Michael Sowers, though Sowers is still unable to play after a vicious cross check to the back of his head after one of his goals in his pro debut three weeks ago.

The game can be seen on the NBC Sports Network and on Peacock. Another Princetonian, Ryan Boyle, will be the color commentator.

And to get past 700 words, TB will say that this is the first weekend of summer for 2021. He hopes everyone has a chance to get outside and do something fun, and that it's the start of a great summer for everyone.

And with that, have a great weekend.