Friday Night Lights

So things seem to be going well in the WNBA.

The league has achieved an unprecedented level of interest in the last two years, driven of course by the Caitlin Clark phenomenon. And now? 

There are labor issues, with a potential player strike before next season. On top of that, one of the league's five best players, Napheesa Collier, went scorched earth on Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner, after Collier watched her Minnesota Lynx team get eliminated by the Phoenix Mercury in the fourth game of the semifinals in a boot after being injured in Game 3. 

Is this a good thing for one of your biggest stars to say about you? 

“We have the best players in the world, we have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world." 

Another person who wasn't able to participate in that Game 4 was Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who was suspended for her own rather direct comments about the league leadership and the officiating after Collier's injury (torn ankle ligaments). 

All in all, not exactly a great look. 

Lost in most of this is how incredible the Indiana Fever were to withstand the loss of half its roster due to injury, including Clark and Sophie Cunningham. The Fever went to Game 5 and OT against Las Vegas before falling, hanging in there even after losing another star, Kelsey Mitchell, during the game. It was a truly inspiring performance the last few months by the Fever, and it showed what cohesion and effort can do in sports. 

The WNBA Finals begin tonight at 8 Eastern, when Las Vegas and Phoenix play Game 1 of the best-of-seven. 

You won't be watching, of course, since you'll either be at Powers Field at Princeton Stadium or watching on EPSNU s Princeton football kicks off against Columbia at 7:30 in the Ivy League opener for both teams. 

The Tigers and Lions are both 1-1 on the season, with an opening day loss followed by a Week 2 win. In Columbia's case, that was a 38-14 loss at Lafayette followed by a 19-10 win over Georgetown at home. 

For Princeton, it was a 42-35 home loss to San Diego followed by a 38-28 win at Lafayette. 

Princeton has gotten out to blazing starts in both games. Against San Diego, the drive chart started out this way: Touchdown, Touchdown, Touchdown. Against Lafayette, it was this: Touchdown, Touchdown, Touchdown.

That's a lot of early touchdowns. 

This is the part of a Friday look at the weekend's football game where TigerBlog would see what the stats said about the upcoming matchup. After two weeks, it's a bit soon to draw any conclusions from the numbers though. 

For instance, right now Columbia ranks second in defensive passing efficiency, while Princeton is second in offensive passing efficiency. Is that significant at this point? 

What's more important is what you actually see. Through two weeks, Princeton has blended its two quarterbacks — Kai Colon and Blaine Hipa — well together, and both have moved the offense well. 

Princeton's Brady Clark leads the FCS in average yards per punt at 51.0. Will he continue to lead the country? Will he threaten the Princeton single-season record of 44.0 yards per punt, a record that has stood since Matt Evans set it in 1998?

It's too early to tell. In the meantime, he's clearly a field position weapon. 

There are five players in the league who have at least three touchdowns through two games, and Princeton is the only team with more than one — Ethan Clark and Dareion Murphy, with three each. 

Stats? They'll start to matter more in the next few weeks. 

Right now it's about which team gets off to a 1-0 league start, especially with another non-league game next weekend (Princeton will host No. 22 Mercer at noon; Columbia will host Lehigh). Already Harvard and Yale have won their league openers, last weekend with wins over Brown and Cornell. 

On top of all that, Powers Field always looks great under the lights. The weather will be perfect for football. 

Friday Night Lights. Tonight at 7:30.

The WNBA will have to wait.