A Gentleman Taken Too Soon

As you probably know, TigerBlog has stayed in college athletic communications all of these years largely because of how much the profession has evolved over time. 

 

Long gone are the days of mailing out releases, producing printed media guides, placing photos into boxes through an obsolete desktop publishing software known as “PageMaker,” satellite coordinates for televising games, fax machines and, more than anything else, relying on others to do the bulk of your storytelling. Of all of those, the one that makes TB chuckle the most is the one about the satellite coordinates.

 

It used to be that if a game was televised by a local cable outlet, it was possible to share it with alumni groups by purchasing satellite time and uploading the game. It was up to the Office of Athletic Communications to then share those coordinates with the various groups who wanted to watch out outside of the Princeton area.

 

TB can still hear the conversations in his head:

 

TB: The channel is “Transponder C, channel RX5”

Alumni group leader: “Huh?”

 

There was probably a 30 percent success rate, followed by irate calls during and after the game by groups who had gathered to watch test patterns. These days, of course, there is simply the Ivy League on ESPN+.

 

There are some things about those days that TB misses. One of those is Ivy League football media day at Lyman Orchards Golf Club in Connecticut.

 

The football media day always followed Ivy League sports information rosters, which meant the annual knock-down, drag-out over standardized rosters. Hah. Those were hilarious.

 

After the meeting, before which the late great Kathy Slattery of Dartmouth would proclaim that this was all for “the good of the clan,” there would be an Ivy SID dinner, and then the next day would be football media day, followed by 18 holes of golf.

 

The 2019 Ivy League football media day was held on the campus of ESPN and included athletes, in addition to coaches. The 2021 version was yesterday, and it was done via Zoom. Princeton head coach Bob Surace appeared from the Levine Broadcast Center in Jadwin Gym, and rising seniors Collin Eaddy and Jeremiah Tyler, the two Princeton representatives, weren’t yet on campus.

 

As was announced last week, Princeton is the 2021 preseason Ivy League favorite. The Tigers will be seeking out Ivy championship No. 4 under Surace.

 

The media day at Lyman Orchards was special for a lot of reasons. In what might seem like a bit of a contradiction given what TigerBlog said before about telling his own stories, one of the things that was special was the presence of a group of longtime, old-school, traditional sportswriters. Maybe it’s because that was TB’s introduction to the business, but he still does cherish those memories. And he’ll always have a soft spot for those who made the business so special.

 

You know, people like Jay Greenberg.

 

When TB was told by his former colleague Craig Sachson that Greenberg would be covering Princeton football a few years back, his response was “Which Jay Greenberg? The Jay Greenberg?”

 

When Greenberg left the New York Post, he began to cover Princeton football for the Princeton Football Association. In doing so, he brought with him decades of experience – make that “Hall of Fame” experience – after he had written for some of the biggest papers in the country. He came to New York to write columns for the Post, and his hockey coverage during his career landed him in the Hall of Fame for that sport.

 

TB was impressed by Greenberg’s credentials. As he began to get to know him better, he became more and more impressed with Greenberg as a human being. There was no hint of ego, no sense that he was above it all, none of that at all.

 

There was just an unassuming manner, a welcoming smile and a disarming, friendly personality. He talked to everyone, and there was nobody he came in contact with who didn’t like him.

 

Jay passed away last week at the very young age of 71 after a battle with West Nile Virus. TB had heard a few weeks earlier that Jay was ill and not doing well, and then he heard after that Jay was in hospice.

 

Still, the news that Jay was gone stung. TigerBlog has read a great number of tributes these last few days about Jay from his former colleagues, and he wanted to add his own thoughts here as well.

 

As TB pictures Jay Greenberg in his mind, he sees a man in a football press box, notebook in one hand, stat sheet in front of him, smiling, engaging in conversations and swapping stories. It’s exactly who Jay was, and TB would imagine Jay would be happy to be remembered that way.

 

He was a true gentleman and a great sportswriter.