Pro Tigers

At one point maybe two years ago, TigerBlog walked into Jadwin Gym and saw someone at the three-point line of the side court lob a basketball, have it bounce off the floor and then catch it and reverse dunk it.

That person? Andrei Iosivas.

There is no sport at which Iosivas would not have excelled. TB would love to have seen him as a shortstick defensive midfielder in lacrosse, or a striker in soccer, or really anything else. Maybe not hockey. Do they ice in Hawaii?

Iosivas, of course, competed in football and track and field at Princeton and was an All-American in both. From Day 1 of watching him in football it was obvious that the only thing that would hold him back from the NFL was if he wanted to devote himself to becoming an Olympic decathlete.

Iosivas was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals last spring, and he was wildly impressive in training camp and the preseason. As the season has progressed, he's gotten more and more playing time, and this past Sunday he caught his first NFL touchdown pass.

It came from Joe Burrow, who made sure Iosivas got to keep the ball. TB has no inside information on this, but just judging from the way Iosivas' teammates react to him in social media and on TV, Iosivas is a wildly popular Bengal.

Not that this is surprising news. Anyone who has ever met him and spoken with him can tell you that this is one easy guy to root for, and it was with that background that every Princeton fan was thrilled to see him get on the scoreboard for the first time — though TB would guess not the last.

Iosivas joins other recent Princeton grads Jesper Horsted and Stephen Carlson in hauling in NFL touchdown receptions. That's the kind of thing you get say you did forever, by the way. 

Elsewhere in the world of professional Tigers, there are the two league championship series in Major League Baseball. You have Princetonians in both.

In the American League, the Texas Rangers defeated the Houston Astros twice in Houston to make it halfway to the World Series, while the Arizona Diamondbacks took on the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 1 last night.

TigerBlog knew that Chris Young was the general manager for the Rangers. That's the same Chris Young who was a dominant basketball center and baseball pitcher at Princeton, the same Chris Young who had a 13-year MLB career and could have had an NBA career of a similar length.

What TB didn't realize was that another Princeton basketball/baseball alum, Will Venable, is also a key member of the Rangers. Venable, who was a Major League outfielder for nine seasons, is the associate manager for the Rangers.

That's two first-team All-Ivy Princeton men's basketball players (who were also first-team All-Ivy in baseball) who are playing huge roles in a team that is hoping to reach the World Series one year after going 68-94.

How did TB find out about Venable, who is in his first year in Texas? That information came from John Nolan, who briefly did some broadcast work for Princeton and who has established himself as a rising star in the business through his work in Minor League Baseball, college basketball and the G-League in Fort Wayne. 

Don't be shocked to see Nolan work his way up to join other former Tiger broadcasters like Tom McCarthy, John Sadak and Patrick McCarthy on Major League broadcasts.

Meanwhile, in the National League, the Diamondbacks' general manager is another former Princeton athlete (though not a basketball player as well), Mike Hazen. Arizona last year was 74-88.

No matter what, this is all part of Scott Bradley's legacy as Princeton's baseball coach. His love for the game and his passion for playing it the right way carries over to his players, and they take that with them when they leave. Most don't get the chance to play in the Majors, but many have.

The Phillies are a tough team to beat this time of year. They're also a fun team to support. 

Still, it's as long as there is a chance for Princeton vs. Princeton in the World Series, how can you not want to see that happen?