Fact vs. Opinion II

 TigerBlog was looking through the photo archives in search of a specific picture when he stumbled on two others that made him laugh.

Here's the first:

Hey, everyone needs a nap every now and then. 

Are you cranky when you wake up from a nap? Hungry? Thirsty? 

Well, here's the next picture:

So this is Watson. He's a Princeton Bulldog through and through, as opposed to that other kind of Bulldog you find in New Haven. He belongs to women's lacrosse player Shea Smith's family, and he can be found at most team events.

And Watson will be today's lead in to a second edition of "Fact vs. Opinion Thursday." TB is pretty sure everyone liked the first one he did a few weeks ago, even if nobody said anything. 

Here he goes again:

Fact: Those pictures of Watson were taken last year at the Ivy League tournament final against Yale. 

Opinion: Watson is a very, very lovable dog.

Fact: Princeton and Yale will renew their women's lacrosse rivalry Saturday in New Haven. A year ago, they met on consecutive weekends, first when both teams were unbeaten at 6-0 in the league on the final day of the regular season and then again in the league tournament final, both of which were won by Princeton.

Opinion: TB likes that the schedule is not the same every year. And hey, you never know what game is going to be the de-facto championship game in any given year. 

Fact: The EIWA wrestling championships will be held at the Palestra this weekend. In addition to the team and individual weight class championships that are being contested, there will be a certain number of NCAA championship spots on the line, and they vary from class to class. 

Opinion: Events like the EIWA championships are awesome. TB covered a bunch of high school wrestling back in the 1980s, when the state finals were held in Jadwin Gym, and they were some of his favorite events to write about back then. With action on a bunch of different mats and high stakes on every match, it's great competition from start to finish.

Fact: If the seedings hold up, Princeton would have three NCAA qualifiers: Patrick Glory at 125 (second seed, six NCAA bids to be awarded), Quincy Monday at 165 (second seed, five bids) and Luke Stout at 197 (third seed, five bids). Princeton also has two wrestlers (Nate Dugan at 185 and Travis Stefanik at 285) who are seeded one spot above the NCAA number.

Opinion: The idea that Princeton could send "only" three wrestlers to the NCAA championships shows you just how extraordinary the rebuilding of that program has been by the wrestling staff. TB would put what Chris Ayres, Sean Gray and Joe Dubuque have done with the wrestling team up there with any coaching turnaround that's happened here, and that's saying something.

Fact: For more information on the wrestling event, click HERE.

Opinion: That story will tell you everything you need to know ahead of the event.

Fact: The men's hockey team is Union Saturday at 4 in the opening round of the ECAC hockey playoffs. This year, the format calls for the opening round to be a single-game, as opposed to a best-of-three as in year's past. The winner will advance to the quarterfinal, which will in fact be best-of-three, followed by the single-elimination semifinals and final.

Opinion: Does TB like the new format? It seems like there are a lot of examples through the years of teams who lost the first game but came back to win the series. This makes it more dramatic for one night, but then again, it also makes it more of a toss-up. In the end, TB comes down on the side of "likes it." 

Fact: Princeton lost to Union 3-1 last Saturday night in the final game of the regular season in a game that was also played at Union. Princeton defeated Union 2-0 in Princeton earlier in the season.

Opinion: Those result have no impact on the playoff game Saturday. It's the postseason, which brings with it a different kind of intensity. 

Fact: There are 12 teams who compete this weekend (including men's tennis, who has four home matches). You can see the entire schedule HERE.

Opinion: This time of year is fun.