You know what movie was on the other night?
"The Graduate."
TigerBlog had already seen it several times before the night a few days before commencement when the movie was shown to any soon-to-be Penn graduate who wandered in for the screening. That's the viewing that stands out the most, especially the part where Ben's dad asks him what those four years of college were for, and Ben has absolutely no answer for him.
That made the entire class howl with laughter. Perhaps some of it was nervous laughter, knowing that everyone in the room had to face the same question.
The movie tells the story of Ben, an accomplished student, cross country runner and college newspaper editor who graduates from a prestigious Eastern college, comes back to California and, well, starts having an affair with his father's partner's wife, whose name is, of course, Mrs. Robinson.
As an aside, Ben is played by Dustin Hoffman and Mrs. Robinson is played by Ann Bancroft. In the movie, they're supposed to be separated by 25 years or so. In reality, Bancroft was only six years older than Hoffman.
Anyway, it doesn't really work out between Ben and Mrs. Robinson, largely because Ben falls in love with someone else, Elaine Robinson. It gets a bit complicated at the end, and eventually they both somehow have the right amount for bus fare in Santa Barbara shortly after Ben shrieks Elaine's name several times from high above a church.
If you haven't seen the movie, make sure you put it on your list.
The movie is from 1967, and you don't need to look at the movie's Wikipedia entry to know that. It's obvious by the hairstyles, the clothes, the societal mores - all of it.
There are two things that stood out to TigerBlog the first time he saw it, the 25 or so times since then he's seen it, and the time the other day that he saw it.
First, the Simon and Garfunkel music fits so perfectly into the storyline.
Second, there are some extraordinary camera angles, which resulted in having so much of the filming be so unique.
TigerBlog had his mind on other graduates this week as well as he wrote the script for senior night for the women's basketball team, one of three teams competing for Ivy League championships this weekend.
Princeton hosts Yale and Brown tonight and tomorrow, and should Princeton win both, then the team would clinch a fourth straight outright Ivy League title.
Add in the fact that Princeton beat Yale by 46 and Brown by 31 the first time around, on the road, and the chances for there to be a celebration at Jadwin Gym this weekend are reasonable.
It's also senior night for the most successful class in Ivy women's basketball history. Should Princeton win the league, then the Class of 2013 would be the first in league women's basketball history to play in four NCAA tournaments. The only other class to play in four NCAAs (dating back to freshman eligibility in the mid-1970s) was Princeton's men's class of 1992.
Attendance for women's basketball has nearly tripled from the time this class arrived to now. Much of that can be attributed to Niveen Rasheed, who plays for the final time in her spectacular career at Jadwin.
The men are also playing for a championship this weekend.
Princeton is 9-2 in the league. Harvard is 9-3.
Princeton is at Yale (who beat Princeton the first time) and Brown this weekend and then Penn Tuesday. Harvard is home against Columbia (who beat Harvard the first time) and Cornell.
Obviously if Princeton wins out, it will win the league championship outright and advance to the NCAA tournament. If Harvard gains one game in the loss column the rest of the way, then there will be co-champions and a one-game playoff for the Ivy's bid to the NCAA tournament.
For Princeton, it's an envious position. Win three and you're in the tournament. Of course, all three are on the road.
For Harvard, it's win twice at home and hope for some help.
The other Ivy title up for grabs is in men's swimming and diving.
The champion there will also either be Princeton or Harvard. After Day 1 Thursday at Brown's new pool, Harvard had 467 points, Princeton had 423 points, and nobody else had more than 301.
TigerBlog doesn't know much about the order that the events are held in and who is favored where, so Harvard's lead could be anything from a mirage to insurmountable.
Still, Princeton and Harvard have a great rivalry going in men's swimming and diving. In fact, when was the last year that someone other than one or the other got even a share of the title was in 1993, when Yale and Harvard split the league championship.
The last time a team other than Princeton or Harvard won it outright? How about 1970.
These are the last three Ivy titles of the winter. They could all be decided this weekend or linger into Tuesday.
And there's a chance for another playoff or two (mathematically at least) next weekend.
If nothing else, make sure you're at Jadwin Saturday night, to see Niveen Rasheed and the rest of the Class of 2013 play there for the last time.
Showing posts with label women's basketball women's swimming and diving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women's basketball women's swimming and diving. Show all posts
Friday, March 8, 2013
Friday, February 24, 2012
A Slam Dunk
TigerBlog was watching "Nightline" on the night of April 6, 1987, back in his apartment in Plainsboro.
As an aside, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who was single in those days and who works in Mercer County now who didn't live in one of the Princeton Meadows apartment complexes at some point.
Anyway, watching "Nightline" was nothing unique for TigerBlog. This was back before the internet and 24-hour news cycles and cable news channels and all that, and in fact "Nightline" grew out of the Iranian hostage crisis with its debut in 1980.
On that night of April 6, 1987, Ted Koppel was discussing the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's having broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball, and one of his guests was Campanis, the longtime Dodger executive who had been close to Robinson.
As you probably know by now, Campanis said some pretty outrageous statements regarding the absence of blacks in managerial and general manager positions in baseball. To his credit, Koppel handled it about as flawlessly as anyone could have.
TB remembers being dumbfounded that somebody with Campanis' record, background and reputation could have said the words he was saying, and TB was positive he heard it wrong. In fact, he woke up his roommate at the time and made him watch the rest of the interview.
Not surprisingly, Campanis was forced out of his position with the Dodgers. Mention his name to anyone today, and the "Nightline" interview will be the first thing they say about him.
The interview became a huge issue obviously, even without the web to fuel the fire. And TB was about the only person who had actually been watching the show.
You know what else TB watched live? The 1976 ABA (not NBA, but ABA) slam dunk contest.
Back then, the dunk was a somewhat mystical event, and the coolest of the cool played in the ABA, with the red, white and blue ball and three-point shot.
The 1976 dunk contest featured the one where Dr. J. took off from the foul line and dunked, a first of its kind that has since been emulated by many, including most famously Michael Jordan.
Today, dunk contests are all over the place, from the NBA to college to even high school. These contests all follow the same basic format, and the idea is to come up with the most creative dunk, such as having Blake Griffin jump over a car with Baron Davis feeding him through the sun roof.
Or, as Iman Shumpert was planning to do this year, jump over a couch as Jeremy Lin pretended to be asleep, only to have Lin lob Shumpert the ball.
The Princeton Plays Pink commercial on goprincetontigers.com was pretty creative as well.
In the commercial, women's basketball players Devona Allgood, Lauren Edwards and and Laura Johnson are sitting on the side court of Jadwin, appearing to chat among themselves. As the camera pulls back, Ian Hummer of the men's team leaps over the three of them and dunks.
Pretty creative stuff, no?
Both basketball teams are part of a huge weekend of sports, one that actually began last night with Day 1 of the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships.
Between now and Sunday, at least three and as many as five Ivy champions will be crowned. If you're a Princeton fan, you're hoping that number is actually four.
To wit:
* the women's swimming and diving championships began last night at Harvard, where the host Crimson are the favorite but the Tigers can never, ever be counted out, not after having won 10 of the last 12 titles. Princeton also had a very good first day, as the Tigers sit just three points behind the Crimson.
* the indoor Heps track and field championships for the men and women will be held at Cornell this weekend. The Princeton men are a heavy favorite to win their fifth straight Heps title (between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track), while the women are in a group of schools including Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth
* the men's basketball team is at Harvard tonight and Dartmouth tomorrow night. While this game against the Crimson isn't quite as make-or-break as the Ivy playoff game last year, it might as well be. Harvard has one league loss (two weeks ago to Princeton at Jadwin Gym), while Penn has two and Princeton and Yale have three each.
Here's what Princeton needs to get a share of the title: win out and have Penn beat Harvard. Should Harvard sweep this weekend, then the Crimson would clinch a tie for the title and need to win one of two next weekend at Columbia/Cornell, which essentially is a sure thing, to get the outright crown. Should Penn win out, it knows it's assured of at least a tie for the title. That means winning tomorrow, of course.
* on the women's side, Princeton can wrap it all up this weekend. The Tigers are 9-0 in the league, while Yale is 8-2 and Harvard is 7-3. Should Princeton sweep this weekend, then Harvard would be eliminated and the best Yale could do would be to tie. Princeton needs to win two of its five remaining games to clinch a tie and three of its five to win outright. All of these come against teams Princeton has already beaten by at least 12, and four of them are against teams Princeton has beaten by at least 25.
Quite the weekend, no?
And oh yeah, lacrosse starts as well.
As an aside, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who was single in those days and who works in Mercer County now who didn't live in one of the Princeton Meadows apartment complexes at some point.
Anyway, watching "Nightline" was nothing unique for TigerBlog. This was back before the internet and 24-hour news cycles and cable news channels and all that, and in fact "Nightline" grew out of the Iranian hostage crisis with its debut in 1980.
On that night of April 6, 1987, Ted Koppel was discussing the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's having broken the color barrier in Major League Baseball, and one of his guests was Campanis, the longtime Dodger executive who had been close to Robinson.
As you probably know by now, Campanis said some pretty outrageous statements regarding the absence of blacks in managerial and general manager positions in baseball. To his credit, Koppel handled it about as flawlessly as anyone could have.
TB remembers being dumbfounded that somebody with Campanis' record, background and reputation could have said the words he was saying, and TB was positive he heard it wrong. In fact, he woke up his roommate at the time and made him watch the rest of the interview.
Not surprisingly, Campanis was forced out of his position with the Dodgers. Mention his name to anyone today, and the "Nightline" interview will be the first thing they say about him.
The interview became a huge issue obviously, even without the web to fuel the fire. And TB was about the only person who had actually been watching the show.
You know what else TB watched live? The 1976 ABA (not NBA, but ABA) slam dunk contest.
Back then, the dunk was a somewhat mystical event, and the coolest of the cool played in the ABA, with the red, white and blue ball and three-point shot.
The 1976 dunk contest featured the one where Dr. J. took off from the foul line and dunked, a first of its kind that has since been emulated by many, including most famously Michael Jordan.
Today, dunk contests are all over the place, from the NBA to college to even high school. These contests all follow the same basic format, and the idea is to come up with the most creative dunk, such as having Blake Griffin jump over a car with Baron Davis feeding him through the sun roof.
Or, as Iman Shumpert was planning to do this year, jump over a couch as Jeremy Lin pretended to be asleep, only to have Lin lob Shumpert the ball.
The Princeton Plays Pink commercial on goprincetontigers.com was pretty creative as well.
In the commercial, women's basketball players Devona Allgood, Lauren Edwards and and Laura Johnson are sitting on the side court of Jadwin, appearing to chat among themselves. As the camera pulls back, Ian Hummer of the men's team leaps over the three of them and dunks.
Pretty creative stuff, no?
Both basketball teams are part of a huge weekend of sports, one that actually began last night with Day 1 of the Ivy League women's swimming and diving championships.
Between now and Sunday, at least three and as many as five Ivy champions will be crowned. If you're a Princeton fan, you're hoping that number is actually four.
To wit:
* the women's swimming and diving championships began last night at Harvard, where the host Crimson are the favorite but the Tigers can never, ever be counted out, not after having won 10 of the last 12 titles. Princeton also had a very good first day, as the Tigers sit just three points behind the Crimson.
* the indoor Heps track and field championships for the men and women will be held at Cornell this weekend. The Princeton men are a heavy favorite to win their fifth straight Heps title (between cross country, indoor track and outdoor track), while the women are in a group of schools including Columbia, Cornell and Dartmouth
* the men's basketball team is at Harvard tonight and Dartmouth tomorrow night. While this game against the Crimson isn't quite as make-or-break as the Ivy playoff game last year, it might as well be. Harvard has one league loss (two weeks ago to Princeton at Jadwin Gym), while Penn has two and Princeton and Yale have three each.
Here's what Princeton needs to get a share of the title: win out and have Penn beat Harvard. Should Harvard sweep this weekend, then the Crimson would clinch a tie for the title and need to win one of two next weekend at Columbia/Cornell, which essentially is a sure thing, to get the outright crown. Should Penn win out, it knows it's assured of at least a tie for the title. That means winning tomorrow, of course.
* on the women's side, Princeton can wrap it all up this weekend. The Tigers are 9-0 in the league, while Yale is 8-2 and Harvard is 7-3. Should Princeton sweep this weekend, then Harvard would be eliminated and the best Yale could do would be to tie. Princeton needs to win two of its five remaining games to clinch a tie and three of its five to win outright. All of these come against teams Princeton has already beaten by at least 12, and four of them are against teams Princeton has beaten by at least 25.
Quite the weekend, no?
And oh yeah, lacrosse starts as well.
Friday, February 3, 2012
A Super Weekend
It didn't take Eli Manning long to earn TigerBlog's highest respect.
Even when he was being derided as merely Peyton Manning's little brother - the ESPN commercial with them on the tour is tremendous - TigerBlog liked how he threw the ball down the field and especially his penchant for playing better as the game went along and the moment became bigger.
Now, two days from now, Eli can do something his brother never did - win a second Super Bowl.
Quite amazingly, the Giants have made a march almost identical to the one they made IV years ago, reaching the big game to find waiting there for them the New England Patriots.
This time, New England isn't undefeated, or for that matter undefeated against the Giants. In Super Bowl XLII, New England was going for 19-0 and a Giant win seemed so unfathomable; this time, it seems like either team can win.
FatherBlog was almost more of a Jets fans, and TB remembers watching Super Bowl III as one of his first sporting memories. One of TB's favorite early athletes was Joe Namath (the other was Tom Seaver).
It has been decades, though, since TB became a Giants fan.
And while there have been some brutal years and some awful losses, on balance, there haven't been too many better teams to root for all these years. The team has already won three Super Bowls and been to four, and two of the three Super Bowl wins came in some of the greatest games pro football has ever seen, including possibly the best ever the last time these teams got together in the big game.
TB's prediction - Giants 31, Patriots 21. This is his third prediction, after one abysmal one (Colts over the Saints easily) and one that was almost right on the nose last year (Packers over Steelers).
Bonus prediction - Victor Cruz wins the MVP award.
Of course, TB will have to miss the opening kickoff, because of the decision to schedule a basketball game for Little Miss TigerBlog at 4:30 Sunday. Must have been an Eagles' fan who did that.
Between now and kickoff, there is more than just LMTB basketball.
There is also a huge weekend in Princeton Athletics, including:
* Yale at Princeton men's squash, tomorrow at noon
The Ivy title is essentially Princeton's with a win, though not necessarily Yale's should the Bulldogs win.
So far in collegiate men's squash, you have Princeton 5, Harvard 4; Yale 5, Trinity 4; Trinity 7, Princeton 2; Harvard 5, Yale 4 (that last one was at the Ivy League's preseason scrimmage, so it doesn't count in the regular-season standings).
Harvard and Yale still have to play each other, and that figures to go either way. As for Princeton, wins over Yale and Harvard would basically seal the title, even with a very good Cornell team still to play.
This year, the national squash title is not a gimme for Trinity, obviously. In fact, depending on matchups, any of the top four could win it. Getting an Ivy title would be a big prize along the way.
* women's basketball vs. Brown tonight (7) and Yale tomorrow night (6)
Princeton hasn't played in three weeks, since its 59-point win over Columbia and 29-point win over Cornell, which followed a 35-point win over Penn.
The Tigers are the lone undefeated team in the league, but this weekend figures to be a challenge, with 2-2 Brown and 3-1 Yale (both are 11-7 overall) catching the Tigers after the long exam break.
Harvard and Cornell are 2-1 in the league, and Princeton is at Dartmouth/Harvard next weekend.
Princeton is bidding to become the first team to win three straight outright league titles since the start of double round-robin play in 1982-83. The Tigers are getting considerable national attention in polls, RPI, potential NCAA tournament scenarios and all the rest, but none of that will matter if the team doesn't take care of its business in the league.
This weekend should be a pretty good indicator if there will be a race or not.
If nothing else, Saturday night's game is a draw because of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which begins with an interactive athletic fair that includes several of Princeton's women's teams. It's one of the best events that Princeton does each year.
* men's hockey home vs. Dartmouth tonight (7)
Like the women's basketball team, the men's hockey team has been out of the league for three weeks. Unlike women's hoops, the men's hockey team did play a non-league game, defeating UConn 4-3 Tuesday.
The ECAC hockey standings are, in a word, bizarre. Princeton is currently ninth, though the Tigers are also two points out of sixth and three points out of fifth.
The goal as always is finish in the top four, to get a first-round bye, or at the very least finish in the top eight, to get home ice in the first round.
Princeton has only the game against Dartmouth this weekend. There is a Skate With The Tigers event after the game.
* men's basketball and Brown/Yale
Even with a 1-2 league record, Princeton knows at the very least that if it wins its remaining 11 games, it would probably have at least a share of the title (only Penn at 13-1 would be better than Princeton in that scenario). Regardless, there is still so much of the season to play, and this weekend if nothing else brings a halt to the ridiculous stretch of road games against Division I opponents.
Princeton is home next week (believe it or not) against Dartmouth and Harvard.
By that time, Ian Hummer almost surely will have reached the 1,000-point mark, as he enters this weekend 1) with 988 career points and 2) having been in double figures in every game this year.
* H-Y-P swimming
While it lacks the importance of knowing there's a league title on the line, anytime Princeton swims with Harvard and Yale there is significance.
The HYP event will be contested at Harvard, where the women will have the Ivy championships later this season. The men's Ivy championships will be in DeNunzio Pool.
Even when he was being derided as merely Peyton Manning's little brother - the ESPN commercial with them on the tour is tremendous - TigerBlog liked how he threw the ball down the field and especially his penchant for playing better as the game went along and the moment became bigger.
Now, two days from now, Eli can do something his brother never did - win a second Super Bowl.
Quite amazingly, the Giants have made a march almost identical to the one they made IV years ago, reaching the big game to find waiting there for them the New England Patriots.
This time, New England isn't undefeated, or for that matter undefeated against the Giants. In Super Bowl XLII, New England was going for 19-0 and a Giant win seemed so unfathomable; this time, it seems like either team can win.
FatherBlog was almost more of a Jets fans, and TB remembers watching Super Bowl III as one of his first sporting memories. One of TB's favorite early athletes was Joe Namath (the other was Tom Seaver).
It has been decades, though, since TB became a Giants fan.
And while there have been some brutal years and some awful losses, on balance, there haven't been too many better teams to root for all these years. The team has already won three Super Bowls and been to four, and two of the three Super Bowl wins came in some of the greatest games pro football has ever seen, including possibly the best ever the last time these teams got together in the big game.
TB's prediction - Giants 31, Patriots 21. This is his third prediction, after one abysmal one (Colts over the Saints easily) and one that was almost right on the nose last year (Packers over Steelers).
Bonus prediction - Victor Cruz wins the MVP award.
Of course, TB will have to miss the opening kickoff, because of the decision to schedule a basketball game for Little Miss TigerBlog at 4:30 Sunday. Must have been an Eagles' fan who did that.
Between now and kickoff, there is more than just LMTB basketball.
There is also a huge weekend in Princeton Athletics, including:
* Yale at Princeton men's squash, tomorrow at noon
The Ivy title is essentially Princeton's with a win, though not necessarily Yale's should the Bulldogs win.
So far in collegiate men's squash, you have Princeton 5, Harvard 4; Yale 5, Trinity 4; Trinity 7, Princeton 2; Harvard 5, Yale 4 (that last one was at the Ivy League's preseason scrimmage, so it doesn't count in the regular-season standings).
Harvard and Yale still have to play each other, and that figures to go either way. As for Princeton, wins over Yale and Harvard would basically seal the title, even with a very good Cornell team still to play.
This year, the national squash title is not a gimme for Trinity, obviously. In fact, depending on matchups, any of the top four could win it. Getting an Ivy title would be a big prize along the way.
* women's basketball vs. Brown tonight (7) and Yale tomorrow night (6)
Princeton hasn't played in three weeks, since its 59-point win over Columbia and 29-point win over Cornell, which followed a 35-point win over Penn.
The Tigers are the lone undefeated team in the league, but this weekend figures to be a challenge, with 2-2 Brown and 3-1 Yale (both are 11-7 overall) catching the Tigers after the long exam break.
Harvard and Cornell are 2-1 in the league, and Princeton is at Dartmouth/Harvard next weekend.
Princeton is bidding to become the first team to win three straight outright league titles since the start of double round-robin play in 1982-83. The Tigers are getting considerable national attention in polls, RPI, potential NCAA tournament scenarios and all the rest, but none of that will matter if the team doesn't take care of its business in the league.
This weekend should be a pretty good indicator if there will be a race or not.
If nothing else, Saturday night's game is a draw because of National Girls and Women in Sports Day, which begins with an interactive athletic fair that includes several of Princeton's women's teams. It's one of the best events that Princeton does each year.
* men's hockey home vs. Dartmouth tonight (7)
Like the women's basketball team, the men's hockey team has been out of the league for three weeks. Unlike women's hoops, the men's hockey team did play a non-league game, defeating UConn 4-3 Tuesday.
The ECAC hockey standings are, in a word, bizarre. Princeton is currently ninth, though the Tigers are also two points out of sixth and three points out of fifth.
The goal as always is finish in the top four, to get a first-round bye, or at the very least finish in the top eight, to get home ice in the first round.
Princeton has only the game against Dartmouth this weekend. There is a Skate With The Tigers event after the game.
* men's basketball and Brown/Yale
Even with a 1-2 league record, Princeton knows at the very least that if it wins its remaining 11 games, it would probably have at least a share of the title (only Penn at 13-1 would be better than Princeton in that scenario). Regardless, there is still so much of the season to play, and this weekend if nothing else brings a halt to the ridiculous stretch of road games against Division I opponents.
Princeton is home next week (believe it or not) against Dartmouth and Harvard.
By that time, Ian Hummer almost surely will have reached the 1,000-point mark, as he enters this weekend 1) with 988 career points and 2) having been in double figures in every game this year.
* H-Y-P swimming
While it lacks the importance of knowing there's a league title on the line, anytime Princeton swims with Harvard and Yale there is significance.
The HYP event will be contested at Harvard, where the women will have the Ivy championships later this season. The men's Ivy championships will be in DeNunzio Pool.
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