TigerBlog rarely writes in the first person, as you can tell from this space every day.
This is strictly a "third-person zone." TB has always thought that maybe it would be better to switch to first person, though he has not done that.
You know who always writes in first person? John McPhee, and he seems to know what he's doing.
Perhaps you saw the feature story that TigerBlog wrote on goalies yesterday. If not, you can see it HERE.
It was supposed to be a fun story, and so TB decided to go first person with it. He framed the story around what goes into being a goalie in general with Princeton's 22 goalies across nine teams (m/w soccer, m/w water polo, m/w lacrosse, m/w ice hockey and field hockey), along with what it's like to be a goalie's parent.
To that end he threw in some of his own experiences with TigerBlog Jr. throughout the piece. He also talked to the parents of two Princeton goalies, and they had similar thoughts to his own. All the while he thought about his friend in Ohio whose daughter has started every game as a freshman in goal for a Division III school, and, well, there's something about being a goalie's parent.
As TB wrote at the end, he seriously thought about trying his hand at being a goalie, possibly at a field hockey practice. And maybe one day he will, though he wouldn't exactly count on it.
You have to be a special breed to be a goalie. Often the difference between winning and losing is the save or two that one goalie makes that another doesn't, and goalies know this full well. It's part of signing up for the position.
Two of the best goalies in the country will be on opposite ends of the field tomorrow, when Princeton plays Cornell in men's lacrosse in Ithaca at noon. For the winner, there is an outright Ivy League championship. For Princeton, it's Michael Gianforcaro, who is second in Division I in save percentage. For Cornell, it's Chayse Ierlan, who is sixth. They're 1-2 in the Ivy League, and Princeton's Griffen Rakower is third.
There are other subplots to the game. Princeton's Coulter Mackesy leads Division I in points per game; Cornell's C.J. Kirst is second. Mackesy figures to be matched against Cornell's Gavin Adler, who could be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming Premier Lacrosse League draft.
It's fitting that it's Princeton vs. Cornell for the title. Cornell has won 30 Ivy League championships. Princeton has won 26. Nobody else is close.
The outright championship is a huge prize. There are other prizes down the road, including next weekend's Ivy tournament at Columbia (for tickets, click HERE).
The men's tournament is simple, unlike a year ago, when five teams entered the final weekend of the regular season tied for first. This time around, it's pretty clear, and nobody needs any help from anyone else.
Harvard is at Yale tomorrow, and the winner of that game will be the fourth seed. The winner of the Princeton-Cornell game will be the No. 1 seed and play either Harvard or Yale at 6 next Friday. The loser of Princeton-Cornell will play Penn at 8:30 (Penn is the second seed if it's playing Princeton or the third seed if it's playing Cornell, though that hardly matters).
The winners play next Sunday at noon for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
Easy, right?
Contrast that with the women, then. So far, only one team (Penn) has clinched a spot, and the tournament will be held at Penn Park. Also, Columbia is mathematically eliminated.
And that's all that's known. In fact, there are 26 different scenarios of what can happen. That's even crazier than last year's men's race.
Princeton hosts Harvard Sunday at noon, so by then all of the Ivy games will have been played, leading to at least some clarity. Where does it stand now?
There are multiple scenarios where it could come down to goal differential to get in the tournament.
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