Countdown To Kickoff

Robert Redford passed away early yesterday at the age of 89.

Here's a trivia question for you: Other than a lifetime achievement award, Redford won only one Academy Award. For what did he earn this award? TB will give you a few paragraphs to think about it. 

If you're below a certain age, then you probably know the name but don't appreciate the impact that he had on the history of American movies. If you're above that line, then you probably spent a least some time yesterday discussing with someone else what your favorite Redford role was. 

TigerBlog's favorites: 3) the Sundance Kid in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," 2) Roy Hobbs in "The Natural" and 1) Johnny Hooker in "The Sting." Honorable mention? His roles in "The Hot Rock," "Downhill Racer," "All The President's Men" and "Brubaker."

Redford also had a very underrated performance in a very underrated movie called "Legal Eagles." He had no role in "The Godfather," though he could have — he turned down the role of Michael Corleone. How'd that work out for everyone involved? 

One of his biggest successes came in "Out Of Africa," a movie TB still has never seen. Perhaps one day he'll watch it; he hears it's good.  

Trivia answer: Redford won the award for Best Director for "Ordinary People" in 1980. He was nominated only once for an Academy Award for acting, for Best Actor for his role as Hooker in 1973. The winner that year? 

Jack Lemmon, for "Save The Tiger."

If you've never seen that movie, Lemmon plays a quarterback who throws for hundreds of yards per game in Palmer Stadium. Just kidding. Just kidding.

There's no Princeton football in the movie. 

There is Princeton football this coming Saturday, at noon, on Powers Field at Princeton Stadium. San Diego will be the opponent for the start of the season. 

Remember - Princeton is using a new ticketing system this year, so if you haven't set up your new account yet, make sure you do. This Saturday will also be the annual PVC Youth Sports Clinic, with a free introduction to Tiger sports and athletes for kids ages 5-12 on Finney/Campbell Fields before the opening kickoff.  

TB's longtime friend and former colleague Craig Sachson is as dialed in on Tiger Football as anyone. He and head coach Bob Surace bonded long ago over, among other things, Princeton and the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Craig posted his preview of the offense two days ago and then followed that with the defense and special teams yesterday. You can read them HERE and HERE.

Like every other football team in every other season, all discussions start with the quarterback position. But is that fair? 

Look at the NFL. The first two weeks of the season have seen star quarterbacks (or almost-star quarterbacks) who have gone down, some for extended periods of time. Perhaps the conversation should start with offensive lines? 

Yeah, no. That's just not how it works in the sport. 

Princeton has four captains this season, and two of them are senior quarterbacks — returning starter Blaine Hipa and Kai Colon. The offensive preview references the idea that Princeton could go back to using two-quarterbacks, sometimes even on the same play. 

If you look at last year's stats, Princeton does not have huge numbers returning. If you read Craig's previews, you'll see that there are all kinds of new names on the horizon. And depth. Lots of it. 

This time of year drips with optimism. That's how it should be heading into the first game of the year. 

This team has practiced for nearly a month now. There is no chance that the Tigers won't be swarming at the chance to play another team, and that first opportunity is right around the corner. 

Surace, for his part, has won four Ivy League titles in his first 13 seasons as the Tiger head coach. This is one of the lines Sachson wrote in his preview of the offense, way up near the top:

Determined to return to the elite level of the Ivy League, he pushed his team throughout spring and preseason, turning anything and everything into a competition.

That should have every Princeton fan as eager for kickoff as the players.