The Carnegie Cup

So who said this and on what occasion?

"You can't afford in your life to do anything that will lower the estimation in which you are held today by every student of Princeton University.

It certainly sounds like it was from a speech of some significance, and it was. It also seems like it goes back a little ways as well.

If you had "Andrew Carnegie" and "on the occasion of the dedication of Lake Carnegie in November 1907," then you are correct.

Andrew Carnegie, as you probably know, was one of the richest Americans ever. He made his fortune in the steel business, and he gave away 90 percent of the money as he got older.  

Before Carnegie came along, Princeton rowing competed on the canal, which at the time was wider and was also a major artery for commercial shipping. In the early 20th century, Carnegie decided he wanted to build either a lake or a football stadium on the Princeton campus, and he chose, obviously, the former.

Princeton could have had Carnegie Stadium for football, but Carnegie thought rowing would be bigger than football in the coming decades. Instead, Princeton ended up with Palmer Stadium, which was built in four months in 1914. It was named for Edgar Palmer, Class of 1903. 

Unlike Palmer, Andrew Carnegie never went to college. In fact, he was born in Scotland to a poor family, one that eventually made its way to Pittsburgh when he was 12 years old.

The first races ever held on Lake Carnegie were on Nov. 8, 1907, both rowing and canoeing. The boats that competed were all made up of Princeton University students.

When it was over, Andrew Carnegie spoke. In addition to what TigerBlog already mentioned, he offered this:

"I hope, young gentlemen, that this victory of the body, this physical victory, which you have won to-day will spur you on to win victories with the head hereafter. It is all very well for a man to hew away with the axe, to work with his hands, but there is no man if he does so who should not have in his heart the ambition some day to be compelled to work less with his hands and more with his divine brain within him."

The main event was a two-mile race among the classes in the fours with coxswain, and the sophomores won. Carnegie said this afterwards at the award presentation:

"Here is the regatta, here are the victors, here is the trophy. We have been making history to-day, because it will pass down forever in the annals of Princeton that the first regatta was this which we have witnessed to-day. And upon this trophy which hundreds will come and look at will be the names of these five men. They will be fresh in the memory of all visitors; and while the names of all the crews that . come after will also be scanned, a peculiar importance attaches to those of the first."

How prescient was Carnegie? Very.

Coming up Saturday, the Princeton heavyweight men will row in New Haven against Cornell and Yale for that same trophy, the Carnegie Cup. That's a 116 year old tradition.

It was an intramural Princeton race from 1906 through 1910, and then it was awarded to the winner of Princeton-Cornell-Yale race for the first time in 1911. 

It went back to being an intramural award for 10 more years after that, and it's since been awarded almost every year to the Princeton-Cornell-Yale winner since 1922 – 100 years ago.

TigerBlog loves that kind of stuff. 

He doesn't expect the current generation of athletes who will be rowing Saturday in New Haven to know any of this. On the other hand, if they do, maybe they'll have an even greater appreciation of the trophy that they're hoping to take home is all about.

There are other trophies that are older, mostly in soccer, rugby, golf and tennis. The Stanley Cup is a bit older too, dating back to 1893. For that matter, it's not even the oldest cup in Princeton rowing – the Childs Cup dates to 1879

Still, the Carnegie Cup is a trophy with an incredible history to it. And with a speech on Day 1 that was so accurate it's scary.