The 1975 NIT

TigerBlog has two things for you today that he should have written earlier this week. 

The first one is World Cup related. And while he didn't write it here, he did text it to a friend of his before the U.S.-Belgium game, so he can produce the evidence if subpoenaed:

"If Balogun plays, then the U.S. will lose. If he doesn't play, the U.S. will win."

TB was spot on about that. Oh, and it took him about 10 tries before he spelled "subpoenaed" correctly. 

TigerBlog was actually amazed at the entire Folarin Balogun situation, on so many levels. Even more than the politics of it all, TB is just shaking his head at how many people who never heard of him before acted like Michael Jordan had been kicked out of the next round.

Seriously, if you knew a month ago that there was a player in the World Cup named Folarin Balogun, you might have thought he played for Belgium. And speaking of Belgium, they seemed to have figured out trolling to a high level with this:

Meanwhile, there was yesterday's Argentina-Egypt game. Could Argentina possibly do anything that would measure up to its previous game, the epic 3-2 win over Cape Verde last weekend? 

Turns out that the answer was yes. Argentina trailed 2-0 late into the second half and then scored three goals to win, the second a massive strike from Lionel Messi and the third a controversial one that came after a non-call that would have given Egypt a penalty kick at the other end. 

This all happened as Novak Djokovic was winning a first-set tiebreaker in his Wimbledon quarterfinal. Did you see what he did from there? It was simply stunning to watch as he beat an opponent 16 years younger than he is in 5:16. That's five hours and 16 minutes. 

Messi and Djokovic are two of the most remarkable athletes ever, both still at or near the top of their sport as they are approaching 40 years old (Djokovic, in fact, is 32 days older than Messi).

So that's the first thing TB wanted to say. 

The other is this: How in the world did he forget to mention the 1975 NIT when he was talking about Princeton and Madison Square Garden yesterday? 

TB always thinks he's overlooking something or someone obvious when he makes a list of things. This one, though, should have been completely obvious. 

Back in 1975, the NCAA tournament had a field of 32 teams, which left a lot of really good teams on the outside. An additional 16 made it into the NIT, putting 48 teams between the two tournaments. This past year, that number was 100 — and it'll be going up this coming year. 

The fact that the NCAA field was so small still meant that the NIT back then was still a very, very important event. And also in 1975, the entirety of the tournament was played at the Garden, something that was true from the tournament's inception in 1938 until 1977. 

Princeton had one previous NIT appearance, in 1972, when it beat Indiana in the first round and then lost to Niagara. In 1975, Princeton opened the tournament on Sunday, March 16, with an 84-63 win over Holy Cross, after which Pete Carril had this to say: 

"We are still alive and we'll have the ignominious pleasure of playing South Carolina." 

Ignominious. That's not a word TB ever heard from Carril. 

South Carolina that year had been ranked as high as fifth nationally and had defeated Princeton 64-48 in Columbia in December. This time, four days after its tournament opener, Princeton thumped the Gamecocks 86-67. This time, Carril said this, about South Carolina coach Frank McGuire:

"I just hope that by the time I'm his age, I can be half as successful as he's been." 

McGuire coached St. John's, North Carolina and South Carolina, with one year as the head coach of the NBA's Philadelphia Warriors, winning an NCAA title with an unbeaten UNC team in 1957 (beating Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain 54-53 in the final). McGuire (not related to Al McGuire, who coached Marquette to the 1977 NCAA title) also coached St. John's baseball team to the 1949 College World Series. 

Their career college basketball records? McGuire was 549-236. Carril was 523-273. Both are in the Naismith Hall of Fame. Carril might not have won an NCAA championship, but he was way more than half as successful as McGuire. Also, that reminds TB of one of Carril's best quotes: 

"One day I'll be dead and two guys will walk past my grave and say 'poor guy, he never won a national championship, and I won't hear a word they say.'"

Princeton closed out the tournament with a 58-57 win over Oregon and an 80-69 win over Providence in the final on consecutive days that weekend. And what did Carril say afterwards?

"My father told me when I was a kid that the strong take from the weak and the smart take from the strong. They had brains and courage. How can you beat that?"  

Does any of that sound familiar?