Weekend? What Weekend?

If you want to make a prediction for an MVP for Princeton athletics for the coming weekend, how about Karen Malec? Or maybe Steve Kanaby? Or Tom O'Neill? Maybe it's some combination of Garfield Brown, Brad Cabral, Matt Conti, Jay Hulick, Whistle Madill, Paul Merrow, Mark Mills, Elysee Nicholas or Jim Ogden?

Of course, they're all hoping you don't notice any of them. That'll mean everything has been smooth as silk.

The above names comprise Princeton's events and facilities staffs. To say they have a busy weekend ahead is an understatement.

Here's a slice of what's happening here this weekend:

* Friday night men's basketball vs. Harvard at 7 in Jadwin Gym
* Friday men's squash national championships in Jadwin Gym and Dillon Gym, pretty much all day
* Friday night men's hockey vs. Brown at Baker Rink at 7
* Saturday men's lacrosse vs. Canisius at 1 at Class of 1952 Stadium
* Saturday men's squash all day

* Saturday women's water polo at DeNunzio Pool all day
* Saturday men's basketball vs. Dartmouth at Jadwn Gym at 6
* Saturday men's hockey vs. Yale at Baker Rink at 7
* Sunday women's water polo all day

* Sunday men's squash final in the afternoon
* Sunday men's track meet at Jadwin beginning at 9 a.m.

And those events don't even take into account two other items worth noting:
* Alumni Day is Saturday, meaning a luncheon for a few thousand at Jadwin from noon to 2
* Saturday night is the Carril Court event, and there are prep issues for that as well

These events don't happen accidentally. The set up for one basketball game is enormous, let alone the need to incorporate cleanups and additional set ups. The addition of the Alumni Day luncheon just adds to the stress, as basketball set up can't begin until that event ends. And the track meet Sunday means that cleanup and breakdown from basketball can't wait until Monday.

All of this is done with totally uncompromising deadlines, since the next event has to start when it says it will. And the lacrosse and hockey games means that staff is more spread out.

TigerBlog doesn't envy the job of the facilities and event people. By comparison, how hard is keeping stats, writing a story, talking on the radio?

They're a very dedicated group, and they operate in the shadows, only called out when something goes wrong. So TigerBlog is calling them out now, to commend them on the job they do and do hope they have a nice weekend. Rest can wait until Monday. Oh wait, no it can't. The next group of tasks will be waiting.

Let Them Eat Cake

Here it is, the Jadwin Gym 40th anniversary cake that fans were treated to during the Princeton-Concordia game Sunday.

Fans were invited into the Backcourt Bistro to share the cake, and share they did. TigerBlog was looking forward to having the leftovers available on Monday, but there were no leftovers. The entire cake was eaten during the game.

To those who had a piece (or 2, 3 or whatever), glad you were able to enjoy it.

Tramps Like Us

So, the "Jadwin At 40" list is now final, and The Boss is No. 1. The performance by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at Jadwin in 1978 has been called the No. 1 moment in the building's history.

TigerBlog is pretty sure there were other great moments that it missed during its research. Already one comment has appeared on Jon Solomon's princetonbasketball.com site mentioning the time in 1998 that the Jadwin crowd was assessed a technical foul against Harvard. Most of the great moments of that season were away from Jadwin, including three games at the Meadowlands, two at Madison Square Garden, the one at the Dean Dome in Carolina and the two NCAA games. Jadwin, though, did rock during the Ivy League season that year; perhaps some spot on the list could have been found.

One great point about the list is that you never know when the next one is going to happen. The crowd on Dec. 18, 1999, didn't realize that Spencer Gloger was about to knock down 10 threes, and the crowd on the weekend of Feb. 28-Mar. 1, 1997, didn't realize Sydney Johnson was going to hit 11 straight threes.

Maybe the most amazing was moment No. 6, where Dave Ulrich of Mt. Laurel won a Saturn by hitting three halfcourt shots at halftime (when he only needed two to win). Here was a crowd listed at 400 at a women's basketball game, and they ended up at a game that produced the Play of the Day. In many ways, that's what sports is all about.

Anyway, enjoy the list, and if you can get to Jadwin for the game Sunday, there'll be 12 square feet of cake waiting for you.

And Eat It Too

As we have been saying for awhile now, this Sunday is the 40th anniversary of the first game ever played in Jadwin Gym. To commemorate the event, you can click here and see the list of the top 40 events in Jadwin history that goprincetontigers.com has been counting down.

The men's basketball team returns to action after an 18-day break for first semester exams when it takes on Division II Concordia Sunday at 5 at Jadwin. And what would a 40th anniversary be without a cake?

All fans in attendance will be invited to share in the Jadwin birthday cake, which will be in the Backcourt Bistro during the game. The cake will be 36" x 50", which is more than 12 square feet of cake (courtesy of our friends in dining services, led by Stu Orefice).

There will also be a second cake, made to look like Jadwin, for decoration purposes.

TigerBlog advises going after the cake Sunday and backing away with carrots and celery Monday.

Jadwin's Top 40 At 40

This Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of the first event ever at Jadwin Gym, a men's basketball victory over Penn. Since then, the building has hosted thousands of events all of different varieties besides Princeton athletics, including high school sports, pro sports, concerts, political gatherings and pretty much anything else.

Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday), goprincetontigers.com will be counting down the top 40 moments in the building's history. We'll have Nos. 31-40 on Tuesday, 21-30 Wednesday, 11-20 Thursday and 1-10 Friday.

Researching this project led TigerBlog to more information than it realized about the building. Jadwin, in addition to being a building with great history, is also the home to much of the Department of Athletics, including much of the administration, athletic communications, marketing, business and ticketing, Princeton Varsity Club and offices for 18 of the 38 varsity sports.

TigerBlog will pause every now and then and look around the building and realize there are worse things than working in a place that most people pay to get into.

Make sure to check out the top 40 moments. Even if you think you know the building, you'll be surprised by some of what is on the list.

On another note, congrats to Sean Morey of the Arizona Cardinals, who is back in the Super Bowl against the team with which he won a Super Bowl ring earlier, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Morey, a Pro Bowl special teams player, is a Brown grad who scored the first touchdown in Princeton Stadium history.