Shorts Story

TigerBlog is in his 60s.

Other than Princeton Athletics apparel, he can count on his two hands and feet the number of times that people have asked him where he got whatever it was he happened to be wearing at the time, and probably 90 percent or so of those times involved his Kane recovery shoes.

With that as background, TigerBlog met up with a friend for lunch the other day. What did he wear? One of the two new pairs of shorts he bought a little over a week ago. This was the first time he'd worn them.

The overwhelming majority of TB's wardrobe, by the way, falls into two categories: things that say "Princeton Something" on them and things that are solid colors. He hasn't quite given up on his dream of being on the cover of GQ, but he will acknowledge that it's getting more and more unlikely.

So there he was, on his way for lunch, wearing his new shorts. They are a little more colorful than his normal selections. They're also really, really comfortable.

And, to top it all off, they're reversible. How great is that? He paid for two pairs of shorts, and in reality got four. And for 70 percent off to boot.

There was a short wait for a table, and so TB waited outside on the nice day. A woman left the restaurant, walked past him, stopped, turned around and said "I love your shorts. Where did you get them?"

At first, TB assumed she was talking to someone else. It was like one of those situations where someone waves at you and you're not sure if that person is waving at you or someone behind you, and you don't want to awkwardly wave back if you're weren't the intended recipient of the initial wave.

Once TB realized she meant his shorts, he immediately explained where he got them and that they were reversible.

About two minutes later, an older man walked out carrying a bag that clearly was a takeout order. And what did he say to TB? 

"Love your shorts. Where did you get them?"

This time, TB's first thought was that he was on candid camera. He wanted to say to the guy "okay, who put you up to this?" Instead, he simply said "thanks" and told him where he got them.

His friend then showed up, and their table was ready. They sat and ate and talked for about an hour, and then, suddenly, a woman at the next table said "I love your shorts. Where did you get them?"

TB, now beaming, told her where. In addition, he not only told her they were reversible but also folded them over so she could see. She called it "dinner and a show."

As she was saying that, her father came back from the men's room. His comment? "They're nice. You could make a dress out of them." TB attributed that to jealousy. 

Of course, nobody even noticed TB's shirt, which was the Henley Royal Regatta shirt he bought a year ago when he was at the oldest regatta in the world. He's not there this year, but he was up early yesterday to watch the first two Princeton boats that were competing there this year. 

One of the commentators, in fact, personally welcomed TB, sort of. Yeah, no. What she actually said was "If you're watching in New Jersey, good morning to you."

As he watched, TB was immediately taken back to last year's experience, as he watched from the banks of the Thames as race after race came down the stretch. He could see the people who were where he stood last year, and he thought about the ones behind the grandstands, in their colorful suits and ties or dresses, all with hats that ran the entire gamut, as they ate, sipped champagne and enjoyed the environment.

As for the races themselves, the course is 2,112 meters, which meant that the two Princeton crews rowed 4,224 combined meters — and never trailed.

There are 27 different trophies on the line at Henley. Princeton's first two competitors are vying for the same one, the Temple Challenge Cup. The Princeton A boat — the 2V — raced first and was never really challenged by Durham University B. 

The Princeton B boat — the 3V — was really, really never challenged by the Exeter University boat, which came through the qualifying ranks over the weekend. 

Having relatively — hmmm, what's the word; certainly not "easy," since nothing at Henley is easy — starts is a major plus, since both boats are right back at it today, and hopefully tomorrow and beyond. It's a single elimination format, and it'll take five wins to earn the Temple Cup. 

Racing continues tomorrow, which is the Fourth of July here and Thursday over there. As a local said to TB last year on America's Independence Day, it was "an unfortunate day for the Empire."

Enjoy your Fourth of July. And if you need great shorts for your picnic, TB got his at Tommy Bahama.

Oh Canada

TigerBlog watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals a week ago. 

It was a great game, one of the best Game 7s of any sport TB has ever seen. Florida had won the first three games. Edmonton won the next three. 

There was no way at all to predict what might happen when the puck dropped. As it turned out, Florida scored early, Edmonton tied it, Florida jumped back out 2-1 late in the second period and then held on for dear life in the third as the Oilers threw everything they had to try to get the tying goal. By the end, Edmonton's stars were exhausted. 

Would you have given the playoff MVP award to Connor McDavid, by the way? Yes, he had a record-setting playoff run, and it's for the whole playoffs. Then again, he was held without a goal or assist in Game 7. Then again, he was everywhere in Game 7. Then again, his team lost.

TB watched the series and never really figured out which team he wanted to see win. That was before he knew that Princeton men's hockey was represented in the series.

As it turned out, Princeton's own Paul Krepelka, Class of 1991, is Florida's Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. 

Krepelka's bio includes this:

After graduating from Princeton in 1991, Krepelka played for Hampton Roads in the ECHL during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons before earning his law degree from Suffolk University after retirement. He then went on to a 20-year career as an agent -- including a period where he co-founded Orr Hockey Group -- before joining the Carolina Hurricanes where he served as Vice President of Hockey Operations from 2018-20.

There's also this tidbit:

Krepelka is now the sixth former Princeton men's hockey player to be part of a Stanley Cup championship as a player, coach, or executive -- each coming since 2007. He is joined by George Parros '03 (Anaheim, 2007 as a player), Kevin Westgarth '07 (Los Angeles, 2012 as a player), Jeff Halpern '99 (Tampa Bay, 2020 and 2021 as assistant coach), Brent Flahr '96 (Anaheim, 2007 as an executive) and Chris Patrick '98 (Washington, 2018 as an executive) as Tigers to lift Lord Stanley.

The Panthers' win in Game 7 meant that a Canadian team was once again denied the Stanley Cup. In fact, you have to go back to the 1993 Montreal Canadiens to find a Canadian champ (Canadian teams 11 of the 17 before that). 

That has to be galling to your average Canadian hockey fan, no? 

Perhaps Canada can get revenge next month (hey, it's July 2nd) at the U20 women's lacrosse World Championships in Hong Kong. 

The Canadian team is ranked No. 2 in the world, behind the United States. Australia is ranked third.

There will be 20 teams who travel to Hong Kong for the event. There are four groups of five teams each, and then there will be a knockout round that is, like every other event that has "lacrosse" and "world championship" in it, figures to come down to the U.S. and Canada.

Among the athletes who will be competing there is Princeton's Jami MacDonald. Perhaps TB will ask her if the lack of a Canadian Stanley Cup champion since long before she was born bothers her when she comes to get the refrigerator that TB has been storing for her this summer.

TB and the MacDonald family — including parents Linda and Steve — go way back, to when Mikey MacDonald was a star for the Princeton men's lacrosse team. Mikey, in fact, won the Roper Trophy in 2015 after a career that saw him plaster his name all over the record book.

His senior year saw him put up 48 goals and 30 assists, which was the school single season record until Michael Sowers obliterated it in each of his three full seasons (and which Coulter Mackesy has since tied). MacDonald still ranks sixth in points in Princeton history with 208 and third in goals with 132 (though Mackesy will enter his senior year with 123).

Ah, but now here comes Jami. With two seasons down, Jami MacDonald has 97 career points, including 58 goals. That's not quite halfway to where her brother was, but he was at 89 points on 65 goals and 24 assists through two seasons.

Can she catch him? It'll be a fun race to follow for the next two years.

In the meantime, she has her trip to Hong Kong first. 

After the way the Stanley Cup playoffs ended, Canada really needs this one. 

English Stuff

Lizzie Bird is going back to the Olympic Games.

And she's doing it in TigerBlog's favorite track and field event. 

Bird is a 2017 graduate of Princeton, where she was a Heptagonal cross country champion and a two-time Heps champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. A native of England, Bird finished ninth in the steeplechase in Tokyo three years ago, setting the United Kingdom national record of 9:19.68 in the final.

The qualifying standard for the upcoming Summer Games in Paris is 9:23, meaning that to be eligible to compete, a runner has to meet that time in this calendar year. Earlier in June, Bird ran a 9:18.39 to finish third at the European Championships. 

She cemented her spot for Paris over the weekend when she won the U.K. championship, winning by four seconds over the second place finisher and 16 seconds over the third place finisher. 

This, by the way, will be the fourth straight Olympic Games in which Princeton has at least one of its own compete in the steeplechase. Also, this will only be the fifth time that women have run the steeplechase in the Olympics, something that seems a bit hard to believe.

Bird's performance was impressive, though it probably wasn't the most-noticed in the country this weekend. Did you see how the UEFA Euro 24 Round of 16 knockout game between England and Slovakia yesterday? 

The English team trailed 1-0 well into the final minutes. In fact, it was past the final minutes, into the 95th minute to be exact, before Jude Bellingham's fabulous bicycle kick tied it. Then, just seconds into extra time, Harry Kane's header made it 2-1, and it stood up from there.

Shockingly, England advanced to the quarterfinals, where it will take on Switzerland. That's a tough way to go out if you're Slovakia. 

The Euro 24 tournament is not quite the World Cup, though it is a great event. It gets even better when it gets to the knockout round.

TB has had the opportunity to see a game at Barcelona and a game at Tottenham, as well as a World Cup qualifier in Costa Rica. Those are some of the very best sporting events he's ever seen.

It would be hard for him to rank all of the events he's attended. It's clear that those soccer games would be way up there.

At the same time, so would his experience a year ago at the Henley Royal Regatta. 

This was more than just a sporting event. TigerBlog likened it to a combination of sports and Reunions, and that's a pretty good way of putting it. 

It might be more accurate to call it sports and Reunions from, say, the 1920s or so. It was definitely like stepping back in time, with its traditions and rules that have not changed in forever.

They're pretty easy to get into when you're there, by the way. TigerBlog loved the "gentlemen must wear suits, ties and hats at all times in the Stewards Enclosure," for instance.

Henley dates all the way back to 1839, making it the oldest rowing event in the world and one of the oldest in any sport. Somewhere around 300,000 fans will make their way to watch before it ends Sunday.

The course on the River Thames is 2,112 meters, and the format is a single-elimination tournament. Depending on how many boats are a particular event, a crew could row fie days in a row. 

This year's Henley event is underway, about 40 miles west of London. Princeton, a regular competitor in the event, has sent three heavyweight men's 8s to row. 

The first varsity will be in the Ladies' Challenge Plate division, which is slightly below the division for the national team boats. There are only eight crews in the Ladies' Plate, which means that Princeton will not row until Friday.

The 2V and 3V will both be in the water tomorrow in the Temple Challenge Cup, as the 2V will race against Durham University "B" at 11:40 local time (6:40 am Eastern Time) and the 3V rows against Exeter University Tuesday at 2:15 UK time/9:15 Eastern Time.

Win or lose, it's an incredible experience to be there, whether as a rower or a spectator. 

And that's today's episode of "English Stuff."

Tomorrow TigerBlog will be talking about Canada.