Tonsil Talk

TigerBlog is in his 60s. 

He also had his tonsils out Monday morning — among other things to fix some issues in the back of his throat. Everything went well, though it's made for pretty much the worst sore throat imaginable. 

On the other hand, it might even be worse to hear the response every time he mentioned his procedure: "Why didn't you get that done when you were a kid? ... I didn't know they did that for people your age? ... I had that when I was five and all I remember is getting a lot of ice cream."

TB has no idea why he waited so long for this. All he knows is that he wished he'd done it way back when. 

TigerBlog had to be at the hospital at 5:30 am — as did a whole bunch of other people in advance of their various surgeries. As he sat there, TB couldn't help but wonder what everyone was having done, and if he was the only tonsil guy there. He did strike up a conversation with three other people who were waiting and said "what are you in for," to which everyone laughed and no one answered. 

Before he was wheeled into the operating room, TigerBlog had this exchange with his surgeon:

Surgeon: How are you?
TigerBlog: How are you more importantly?
Surgeon: I'm good.
TigerBlog: You still remember how to do this one? I think there are some videos on YouTube if you forget.

Always good to double check on the relative stranger who is about to go into the back of your throat with very sharp instruments. 

TB's pep talk seemed to work, since everything apparently went smoothly. And now, other than his complete inability to speak or to swallow anything, TB is on the road to recovery. 

He also got some nice text messages from his daughter after the fact, checking in to see how he was doing. And he also got this message after the procedure was over from his son: "When is your surgery?"

Two days before his operation, TigerBlog went to Villanova to watch the men's lacrosse team's scrimmage against the Wildcats. What's more ridiculous than that was the fact that Saturday was also opening day of actual games in Division I lacrosse. 

Princeton doesn't have a real game until Feb. 15, when the women are home against Virginia and the men are at Penn State. 

The Princeton men's team has four players who are the sons of former Princeton athletes who competed while TB was already covering the Tigers. One of them is Kevin Morrow, a freshman defenseman, who father David was the 1993 Division I Player of the Year and a 2018 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award winner. You can make a case that David Morrow is the greatest defenseman in lacrosse history.

Another is Cooper Mueller, whose father Kit was a two-time Ivy League men's basketball Player of the Year (1990, 1991). There is Porter Malkiel, whose father Jon was part of two NCAA championship teams on the men's lacrosse team (1992, 1994). And there is Billy Barnds, whose father Tom was the 1990 men's lacrosse captain.

As TB stood on the sideline at the scrimmage, he realized that Jon Malkiel was a high school junior when TB first started watching Princeton lacrosse. 

For years and years, TB thought that he'd feel old when the children of athletes who covered at Princeton started to compete as Tigers themselves. Those days have come and gone, and TB still hasn't felt old. 

Maybe it's because he still had his tonsils? He doesn't anymore. 

This season will be TB's 36th with the men's lacrosse team. He's been with the team for six NCAA titles and 11 Final Fours, most recently in 2022. The last three seasons have all ended in the NCAA tournament. The current season begins in the top 10.

Along the way, TB has had the chance to meet hundreds of Princeton men's lacrosse players, and they are among the best people he's met in his life. The experiences he's had with Princeton Lacrosse have taken him literally all over the world. 

When the time comes some day from him to think back on his career and asks the question "what it worth it," the answer will be a resounding "yes."

Ah, but he's not there yet. The thrill of another season is building. It's what Bill Tierney always used to say — each season is its own entity, its own challenge, its own reason to be excited. 

That's how you stay young.