Mourning Dr. Bechler

TigerBlog had a really nice chat yesterday afternoon with Tom Bechler.

Unfortunately. TB had never spoken to Tom before yesterday, and it would have been better not to have to talk to him at all.

It's not because Tom wasn't a great person to speak to or anything. Far from it. He and TB had a great chat about all kinds of subjects, ranging from careers and backgrounds to Princeton Athletics and, more than anything else, children.

Tom was intrigued to hear about TB's two. And, tragically, TB had to offer condolences to Tom on the passing of his son Jeff, who passed away last week at the age of 63 after a battle with cancer.

To hundreds of Princeton athletes, Jeff was Dr. Jeffrey Bechler. He was a member of the Dartmouth Class of 1982 and then a New York Medical College graduate in 1988. Beyond that he has a long list of fellowships, honors and awards.

TB can't imagine how many Princeton athletes Jeff tended to through the years, and how many of those athletes had way better experiences because of Jeff's care.

When athletes head to college, they do so with the idea that they will stay healthy for their four years. Many do, but many others aren't so fortunate. 

As such, they rely heavily on their athletic trainers and ultimately the team physicians if necessary. Dr. Bechler was a great doctor.

TB can tell you that first hand, having been treated more than once by Dr. Bechler. The same is true of TigerBlog Jr., after the second of his four shoulder labrum tears.

Jeff Bechler had a great bedside manner, as it were. He was direct and to the point. He never made you feel like he was rushing you. He answered all questions. He offered every possible treatment option and let you decide what was best for your own needs.

Again, every Princeton athlete he came into contact with benefited from his approach. And he helped so many of them get back to doing what they loved to do. 

Beyond all that, he was just a nice guy, a very warm, likeable person. When TB first heard the news of Jeff's illness, he was really saddened by it. 

When he got the text message last week from Howard Levy that Jeff had passed away, it was crushing. It is, sadly, an emotion that has hit too many in the Princeton Athletics orbit in the last year or so. 

There was a moment of silence in Jeff's honor prior to the men's basketball game against Harvard on New Year's Eve. Tom Bechler left a message for TB saying how much he appreciated it and asking if he could get the text from it.

Here is the text:

Before we meet today’s starting lineups, we ask that you please rise if you are able and join us in a moment of silence as we remember longtime Princeton Athletics orthopedist Dr. Jeff Bechler, who passed away this week after a long battle with cancer. Dr. Bechler was a passionate advocate for the Princeton community and the Princeton University athletic community, and his love and empathy were spread openly to everyone he came in touch with. 

Love and empathy. Passionate advocate. These all describe him perfectly.

TB returned Tom's message and of course offered his condolences. He and Tom spoke for about 15 minutes, during which time Tom, also a Dartmouth grad, told TB about how he had played football in high school and college against Royce Flippin, who would go on to become Princeton's second Director of Athletics. TB and Tom agreed that Flippin had been one of the greatest New Jersey high school athletes of all time.

From Dartmouth Tom would go into the Navy, and after that he'd get an MBA from Wharton. He started in the computer business long before there was much to it, and he'd spend 50 years watching it skyrocket into what it has become.

TB loves to talk with former athletes, especially former Ivy athletes, from the era before he was following things closely. It helps bring it into greater perspective and makes events and people he's only read about come to greater life.

Talking with Tom Bechler certainly had those moments. There were also a few laughs, and a lot of well wishes at the end.

It was a really nice 15 minutes. It was also 15 minutes that TB wishes happened under different circumstances.