And he also offers a thank you to two other Princeton alums for calling this to his attention.
First, there is Jesse Marsch, a men's soccer player who graduated in the Class of 1994. Not too many alums can say that they've taken a path anywhere close to the one Marsch has.
Carol Brown, one of the greatest athletes Princeton has ever had as a swimmer and rower (she was the first Princeton woman athlete ever to win an Olympic medal, with a rowing bronze in 1976), sent THIS STORY from the Toronto Star TB's way earlier this week. It chronicles the road Marsch has taken from Princeton to his current position as the head coach for the Canadian national team at the World Cup.
The crux of the story is one that you're probably familiar with as a Princeton fan — the enduring friendship between Marsch and Tiger head men's basketball coach Mitch Henderson. The two are certainly close; Marsch is even the godfather of one of Henderson's children.
The story also does a great job of showing what the coaching life can be, especially in a sport like soccer on the international level, with its quick triggers of moving on from one coach to another. It's impacted Marsch several times, in contrast with how Henderson has been at Princeton for the last 15 years.
TB isn't nearly as close to Marsch as Henderson is, though he does know him well enough to know that he is one of those people that you meet and immediately like. And immediately want to see succeed. Marsch is a person of great depth and a genuine nature, very much like his head coach at Princeton, Bob Bradley.
Canada does not have a great World Cup history. In fact, prior to the current edition, Canada had scored only a single goal in its entire World Cup past.
The Canadians were also 0-6 in World Cup games prior to this go-around, with three losses in 1986 and then three more losses in 2022. The current team tied its first game 1-1 against Bosnia-Herzegovina and then exploded past Qatar 6-0 yesterday afternoon.
The tournament this time has expanded to 48 teams, with 12 groups of four. There will be a 32-team knockout stage, featuring the top two in each group plus the eight best third-place teams. The win yesterday almost certainly will advance Marsh's team to the knockout stage for the first time.
Next up will be a the final group stage game against Switzerland Wednesday in Vancouver. The Swiss are also 1-0-1 in the tournament, with a 4-1 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina and a 1-1 tie against Qatar.
Meanwhile, there is Will Venable, Class of 2005.
Howard Levy, a 1985 graduate and still Princeton's career leader in field goal percentage in men's basketball, sent along a picture from Yankee Stadium earlier this week. That's Howard on the left, his son Lior on the right and Will in the middle.
Venable, as you know, was a two-sport star at Princeton in basketball (a 1,000-point scorer and one of the best defenders the program has ever had) and baseball (a longtime Major League career).
TB once wrote this about Venable:
Venable wasn't the character that his fellow 1,000-point teammate Judson Wallace was, and he didn't have the big Texas personality of another teammate, Ed Persia. He was somewhat quiet, with a smile that often said more than he did. He was polite and engaging and easy to work with, and he was a ferocious competitor who was at his best in the biggest moments.
As a coach, Venable won a World Series ring with the Texas Rangers (as did another Princeton basketball/baseball alum, Chris Young, the Texas general manager). He got his first shot as a Major League manager a year ago with the Chicago White Sox, who were coming off a 41-win season the year before he took over.
Venable improved the Sox to 60 wins in his first season, even if the team did finish last. Chicago already has 39 wins through just 73 games far this season after last night's 5-1 win over the Yankees. That has the team tied for first in the American League Central with Cleveland.
Taking over a team that won 41 for an entire season and within two years having that team headed to eclipsing that total before the end of June? That's crazy impressive.
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