Busy Bodies

Now that was quite an opening night for the Princeton men's basketball team.

Princeton came from 16 points down to rally past Iona 81-80 on Carril Court Monday night. The game had an intensity level that certainly superseded the date of early November. 

It was a showcase of what you can see all year from the Tigers, which is to say that any time you have a chance to see Xaivian Lee, Caden Pierce and the rest of the team, you should take advantage of it. Lee went for 27 points against Iona, including the game-winning foul shots with three seconds to play.

Lee was then on the postgame interview headset for the ESPN+ broadcast, where he said this: "Every day at the end of practice we shoot free throws for 10 minutes. I tried to pretend it was an empty gym, took my time and thankfully they went in." 

Not to get too far ahead on basketball season, but the way Lee controls a game is so impressive. As Pete Carril used to say: "He's got every shot in the deck," and in this case, that includes getting to the basket, pulling up from deep and nailing the stepback three-pointer, something he did multiple times against the Gaels.

TigerBlog watched the game on his television from his couch while he did work to prepare for the upcoming Ivy League field hockey tournament. It's something that is taken for granted now, that any game you want to watch is there for you. 

This isn't something that magically happens. For the overwhelming majority of events you watch, it also doesn't happen because ESPN sends a crew over. 

Nope. This originates with Cody Chrusciel and his multimedia staff  — Dave Turner, Mike Galayda, Drew Miller and Aylin Arifkhan. 

TB remembers interviewing Cody when the position was first created, when TB and Mollie Marcoux Samaan Skyped with Cody while he was in Europe with UMass men's basketball. At the time, it was pretty clear where the profession was going. Having someone in that position who was ready for the explosion that was to follow was imperative.

And in that respect, Princeton Athletics and Princeton fans everywhere are lucky that Cody signed on. And that Steven Mayer gave Princeton the Levine Broadcast Center. And that Princeton invested in the resources — and people — necessary to make it all work.

This week, especially this Friday, will be a challenge unlike any that the multimedia department has faced yet, TB believes. 

Consider this: Between 11:30 Friday and 1 Sunday, Cody's team will produce 17 broadcasts across eight sports in eight different venues, utilizing 15 different broadcasters. 

That's a lot. 

It was already going to be a busy weekend, with the overlap between fall sports and winter sports well underway. It got even busier when Princeton won the Ivy League championships in field hockey and women's soccer, which earned both teams the right to host their respective league tournaments. 

By the way, hosting the league tournaments means doing all three games on the weekend, not just the ones where Princeton plays. 

For the tournaments alone, that means a field hockey game Friday at 11:30 (Princeton vs. Columbia) and 2:30 (Harvard vs. Brown), with a women's soccer game at 1 (Columbia vs. Brown) and 4:30 (Princeton vs. Harvard).

Oh, and did TB mention there's a home football game Friday at 7? And home women's volleyball at the same time. And if that's not enough, how about the season opener for men's hockey, also at 7. 

When you're watching, just remember how much planning has gone into giving you the chance to do so.

It also puts a great deal of pressure on the communications staff as well. There are all of those games, plus home tennis, plus men's basketball in Trenton Friday at 8:30 against Duquesne plus women's hockey and men's water polo on the road. 

That's all Friday.

It'll all get done. It always does. 

It's just that those involved deserve a bit of a hat tip every now and then. For communications, that would be Andrew Borders, Elliott Carr, Warren Croxton, Chas Dorman, Joanna Dwyer and Alex Henn. Oh, and TB as well.

Not that they do it for any recognition. They do it because it's a passion. And because of how much pride they all have in Princeton Athletics.

Being busy bodies like this? 

It's not easy. It does beat the alternative.