Stick Around

So TigerBlog was in the supermarket yesterday afternoon when he stumbled upon a scene that belonged on some pretty good comedy special.

There was a woman who was using the self-checkout, which as you know is TB's preferred method of paying — except for the brick wall that is the dreaded "Please put your item in the baggage area" and the subsequent "Help is on the way."

This woman, her name was Tracy, was scanning her items when she hit that brick well. She tried and tried, and yet the message kept repeating: "Please put your item in the baggage area. Please put your item in the baggage area. Please put your item in the baggage area."

At this point, Tracy clenched her teeth, balled up her fist and appeared ready to start bashing the scanner. When TB said he could relate, Tracy said "Stick around. There's about to be cursing."

Who could have blamed her? 

In the meantime, you can stick around for some pre-Labor Day weekend Princeton Athletics things.

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The women's soccer team played its second game of the season last night. By the time the weekend ends, there will be two more teams who open their seasons. 

The first is tonight, when the men's soccer team is at Rutgers for a 7 pm start (admission is free). Rutgers enters the game at 1-1-0, having defeated Northeastern 3-1 and lost to Delaware 4-1. 

Princeton has won the Ivy League title twice in the last five years. The 2023 Tigers were led by Daniel Ittycheria, who was second in the Ivy League in goals scored with nine as a sophomore after having one the year before. He also earned first-team All-Ivy League honors. 

The other team who opens its season is the women's rugby team, who will host Sacred Heart Saturday at noon. 

The game will be the first at the new Rickerson Field at Haaga House, which is part of the new Meadows Campus. Admission is free, and the first 100 fans will get a Haaga House t-shirt. 

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TigerBlog has one last thing from the U20 World Championships for women's lacrosse. 

Princeton's Jami MacDonald was named to the All-World team after finishing fourth in the tournament in points and tied for second in goals. MacDonald's Canadian team was the runner-up to the United States, who featured Princeton's Haven Dora. 

Jami was in Hong Kong with her parents Steve and Linda, who also spent some time in Thailand as part of the trip. They sent along the above photo. 

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Speaking of Princeton athletes who are representing the U.S. and Canada on the U20 level, women's soccer players Pietra Tordin (USA) and Zoe Markesini (Canada) begin play this weekend in the U20 World Cup in Colombia. 

The United States is in a group with Morocco, Paraguay and Spain. Canada is in a group with Brazil, Fiji and France. 

The USA will play its three group stage games in Cali, starting Sunday against Spain. Canada plays tomorrow in Medellin, beginning its run against France.

There are 24 teams in the field, of which 16 will advance to the knockout rounds. 

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Lastly, TigerBlog went into New York City yesterday to meet with Nick Mead, the rower from the Class of 2017 who won gold in Paris in the fours and then was voted by his U.S. teammates to carry the flag at the Closing Ceremonies. 

TB had never met Mead before. You only have to talk to him for a few seconds to know that 1) he's really tall, 2) he's really humble and 3) he's really not looking to be in the spotlight. 

Unfortunately for Mead, the spotlight found him yesterday as he and TB ate in the Mr. Broadway Deli on 38th Street. 

The restaurant hostess, Chani Staniewski, saw that TB was on his laptop, taking down what Mead was saying, and asked if Mead was a celebrity. TB said that of course he was and explained Mead's accomplishments. 

Before he and Mead were able to leave, Mead posed for several photos and was the recipient of a chocolate lava cake with a sparkler in it as the restaurant's sound system played a song called "Congratulations." 

Mead, as you might expect, was a good sport about it all. Oh, and he stands 6-7. Chani? Yeah, no. She's a bit shorter than that, as you can see in the photo.

The full story will be on goprincetontigers.com probably the second week of September, after the story about another Princeton rowing gold medalist, Hannah Scott. You can look for that one over the weekend.