How was your Fourth of July?
TigerBlog hopes you had a good one.
There are a lot of staples of the Fourth of July, including one that happens on Coney Island each year.
Princeton University has 37 varsity teams. One team that Princeton does not have is competitive eating, which is a good thing, because TB doesn't see the sport in it.
Joey Chestnut won the Nathan's contest for the 12th time when he downed 71 hot dogs in 10 minutes yesterday. That's hot dogs and buns. How in the world is that possible?
TigerBlog can't even imagine how sick he would get if he tried that. He also can't imagine how this ever got to be considered sport.
TigerBlog's two favorite things about the Fourth of July are the song "Fourth of July Asbury Park" by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy." How many people love both?
The song is something that TB can listen to all year round. The movie only really works on the Fourth of July.
The movie stars James Cagney as George M. Cohan. Cagney, if you're TB's age or older, was probably known more for his roles as a gangster in the 1930s and 1940s, which are classics, and yet he also was able to mix in a role like the one as Cohan, which was all singing and dancing and lighthearted comedy.
TB has written about this movie before, including this:
It's hard to say if James Cagney was better in all of those gangster
movies or in "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Either way, he's an A+ in both. For wholesomeness? It's hard to beat Cagney as he sings and dances his
way through one breezy show tune after another, all while reaffirming
his patriotism and love of country in a time of World War.
Here. Watch THIS.
Yeah. That's great stuff.
Or do you like THIS better?
As for the most recent Fourth of July, did you see fireworks? Everyone likes fireworks, especially the big finale.
TigerBlog
likes the big finale as well. He'd actually prefer it if the entire
show was much shorter but consisted solely of a few big finales.
Come see the fireworks. It's only five minutes, but it's five minutes of all grand finales.
The Fourth of July this year fell on a Thursday. Perhaps it should be moved to be a Monday holiday? Just kidding.
Even though it was a Thursday, it felt all day like it was a Saturday, didn't it? And because this Monday is the Princeton Football Association golf outing, TB kept thinking he had to play golf in two days.
TigerBlog has played in the Friends of Lacrosse outing the last two years. Before that, he hadn't played golf in 20 years or so.
He was absolutely horrific two years ago, and then, without practicing at all in between, he improved his game so much that someone told him that he "wasn't completely horrible." Maybe he'll be even better this year.
The Fourth of July is pretty early in the summer. Football season, though, isn't really all that far away.
TigerBlog is excited for this Princeton football season. It'll be a much different one for him than the last, oh, 17.
TB's introduction to Princeton football came when he did the 1984 Princeton-Penn game from Palmer Stadium for Penn student radio. It was five years later that he started to cover the team during his sportswriter days, back when the team's center was Bob Surace, who is now the head coach.
When TB came to Princeton in 1994, he was the football athletic communications contact, among other things, and was from 1994 through the 2001 season.
Then, for the 2002 season, his former colleague Craig Sachson came in to cover football. Two years later, TB became the PA announcer at Princeton Stadium, and that's what he's done for football since.
Now that Craig has left, TigerBlog will be back as the football contact. Has anyone in athletic communications history ever done this? Eight seasons as the football contact, 17 seasons not as the contact and then back again?
Being the football contact will be fun, TB suspects. Certainly Surace and the coaches and staff are great to work with, and this is even more special since it's the 150th anniversary of the birth of the sport, with the Princeton-Rutgers game from 1869 as the starting point.
Mostly, though, it's been a long time since TB knew any of the football players well. He's looking forward to getting to know them beyond just announcing who carried the ball or who made the tackle.
That's always been the best part of being in college athletics and working with teams. Getting to know the athletes and learning about them beyond just what you see when they compete.
So it's the Fifth of July. Opening kickoff is the 21st of September, at home against Butler.
TB is looking forward to it already.
Friday, July 5, 2019
Wednesday, July 3, 2019
Almost Independence Day
TigerBlog, as you know, went to Penn.
Also as you know, he's spent the last 30 years covering Princeton teams and he long, long ago converted to rooting for orange and black over red and blue.
He's not sure exactly when this happened, but he knows it didn't take long. He remembers that he was still in the newspaper business in the early 1990s when he covered a Princeton-Penn men's basketball game at Jadwin Gym and Chuck Yrigoyen, then of the Ivy League, asked him which team he wanted to win. He didn't even need to answer.
As such, he can sort of relate to what Jill Ellis went through yesterday, when she coached the U.S. women's soccer team against England in the World Cup semifinals, a game that the U.S. won 2-1. Ellis, after all, is a native of Portsmouth, England.
Like he said. Sort of.
It has to be pretty wild to coach a national team against the national team of the country in which you were born, especially on that stage. Of course, Ellis has been in this country for a long time, though it has to be a little strange at least, no?
Ellis moved to Virginia and then began to play competitive soccer there, winning a national club championship with the Braddock Road Blue Belles. One of her teammates there, and then at William & Mary, was Julie Shackford, who would spend 20 years as Princeton's head women's soccer coach and is now the head coach at their alma mater.
In fact, Ellis would coach against Shackford in the 2004 NCAA semifinals when Ellis was the head coach at UCLA and Princeton became the only Ivy team ever to get that far.
It was a great run, by the way. Princeton won four NCAA tournament games that year, all of which were played on old Lourie -Love Field, the last of which was a 3-1 win over the University of Washington to get the Tigers to the Final Four. There was a crowd of more than 2,500 at that game, as the team's success really resonated in the local community.
The 2017 Tigers, led by Sean Driscoll, Shackford's replacement, almost matched that achievement when they reached the quarterfinals before also losing to UCLA. That 2017 team defeated North Carolina in the Sweet 16, which is one of the biggest wins any Princeton team in any sport has ever had.
The game between the U.S. and England was highly dramatic, that's for sure. England had a goal first called good but then ruled offsides after video review, and then the U.S. got a late save on a penalty kick to hold on.
The disallowed goal call got TB to wonder how many iconic sports moments might have been different had video review been around when they were played. He's not talking about famous blown calls, like the 1985 World Series or the Steelers-Oilers AFC Championship Game in 1979.
He's talking about games that might have turned on small changes like a disallowed goal that was offsides and how that might have affected entire games or tournaments or playoffs. There had to be quite a few of them.
The U.S. will now play the winner of today's game between Sweden and the Netherlands in Sunday's final.
The semifinal game, by the way, saw an England native coach the U.S. against the English on July 2, which is the day that the Continental Congress voted unanimously to declare independence and the day that John Adams said was going to be considered Independence Day.
Of course, American Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, which is the day that the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Congress.
In Sunday's final, Ellis will be attempting to do something that's only happened once before in World Cup history, and that's coach a team to two championships. The only coach who's ever done it before is Vittorio Pozzo, who coached Italy to the 1934 and 1938 World Cups. No women's coach has ever done it.
The championship game is Sunday, which is the seventh.
In the meantime, there's the game today and then the Fourth of July tomorrow.
So have a great Fourth. And a safe one.
Also as you know, he's spent the last 30 years covering Princeton teams and he long, long ago converted to rooting for orange and black over red and blue.
He's not sure exactly when this happened, but he knows it didn't take long. He remembers that he was still in the newspaper business in the early 1990s when he covered a Princeton-Penn men's basketball game at Jadwin Gym and Chuck Yrigoyen, then of the Ivy League, asked him which team he wanted to win. He didn't even need to answer.
As such, he can sort of relate to what Jill Ellis went through yesterday, when she coached the U.S. women's soccer team against England in the World Cup semifinals, a game that the U.S. won 2-1. Ellis, after all, is a native of Portsmouth, England.
Like he said. Sort of.
It has to be pretty wild to coach a national team against the national team of the country in which you were born, especially on that stage. Of course, Ellis has been in this country for a long time, though it has to be a little strange at least, no?
Ellis moved to Virginia and then began to play competitive soccer there, winning a national club championship with the Braddock Road Blue Belles. One of her teammates there, and then at William & Mary, was Julie Shackford, who would spend 20 years as Princeton's head women's soccer coach and is now the head coach at their alma mater.
In fact, Ellis would coach against Shackford in the 2004 NCAA semifinals when Ellis was the head coach at UCLA and Princeton became the only Ivy team ever to get that far.
It was a great run, by the way. Princeton won four NCAA tournament games that year, all of which were played on old Lourie -Love Field, the last of which was a 3-1 win over the University of Washington to get the Tigers to the Final Four. There was a crowd of more than 2,500 at that game, as the team's success really resonated in the local community.
The 2017 Tigers, led by Sean Driscoll, Shackford's replacement, almost matched that achievement when they reached the quarterfinals before also losing to UCLA. That 2017 team defeated North Carolina in the Sweet 16, which is one of the biggest wins any Princeton team in any sport has ever had.
The game between the U.S. and England was highly dramatic, that's for sure. England had a goal first called good but then ruled offsides after video review, and then the U.S. got a late save on a penalty kick to hold on.
The disallowed goal call got TB to wonder how many iconic sports moments might have been different had video review been around when they were played. He's not talking about famous blown calls, like the 1985 World Series or the Steelers-Oilers AFC Championship Game in 1979.
He's talking about games that might have turned on small changes like a disallowed goal that was offsides and how that might have affected entire games or tournaments or playoffs. There had to be quite a few of them.
The U.S. will now play the winner of today's game between Sweden and the Netherlands in Sunday's final.
The semifinal game, by the way, saw an England native coach the U.S. against the English on July 2, which is the day that the Continental Congress voted unanimously to declare independence and the day that John Adams said was going to be considered Independence Day.
Of course, American Independence Day is actually celebrated on July 4, which is the day that the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Congress.
In Sunday's final, Ellis will be attempting to do something that's only happened once before in World Cup history, and that's coach a team to two championships. The only coach who's ever done it before is Vittorio Pozzo, who coached Italy to the 1934 and 1938 World Cups. No women's coach has ever done it.
The championship game is Sunday, which is the seventh.
In the meantime, there's the game today and then the Fourth of July tomorrow.
So have a great Fourth. And a safe one.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
No. 30
It's been a little more than two months since the Princeton men's volleyball team won the EIVB championship and earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers won the league championship match over Penn State three sets to two, taking the fifth set 15-13. The match was held in a packed Dillon Gym, as Princeton had also won the league regular season title, and it was definitely one of the absolute highlights of the 2018-19 athletic year.
The MVP of the tournament was also the league's Player of the Year, Princeton's George Huhmann. Most recently, Huhmann has been playing for the United States team at the FIVB Nation's League, with matches held in Bulgaria.
Huhmann helped the U.S. to two wins in three matches, losing to the host team before beating Serbia and Iran. Huhmann had 18 kills in the three matches.
The U.S. will host the league championships in Chicago next week.
Huhmann's appearance in Bulgaria got TigerBlog to wondering about how many Princeton athletes, or students in general, have traveled this summer. Some, he knows, have competed.
It appears that the taller you are the more likely you are to compete internationally in the summer, since in addition to the 6-11 Huhmann from volleyball, 6-4 Bella Alarie has done so as well.
How many others?
And how many have traveled outside this country for academic, service and other educational ventures - not to mention just to have fun? It has to be a pretty high number.
Princeton prides itself on offering opportunities around the globe. It's great to know that so many take advantage of it at some point during their four years.
Huhmann's gigantic junior year helped put Princeton in the NCAA tournament, where the Tigers won their opener Barton College before falling in five sets to Pepperdine.
The result was more than just a great season for the men's volleyball team. It also gave Princeton 25 points in the Learfield IMG NACDA Directors' Cup.
The final Cup standings were announced at the conclusion of the College World Series, won by Vanderbilt over Michigan in the best-of-three final. Those three games, by the way, were three of the four highest rated ESPN baseball games last week.
Princeton finished the 2018-19 academic year in 30th place in Division I in the Directors' Cup standings. The Cup measures overall athletic success by assigning points based on NCAA championship participation and success.
Princeton finished with 722.50 points, leaving the Tigers as the highest finishing FCS school. The next-best finish by an FCS school was 57th, which happened to be Harvard.
Unlike last year, Princeton was not the top school from a non-Power Five Conference. That would be BYU, who finished one spot ahead of Princeton in 29th.
The 28 schools ahead of BYU and Princeton all were from the Power Five, with eight from the SEC, seven from the Pac 12, six from the ACC, five from the Big Ten and two from the Big 12.
Princeton improved by 10 spots from last year's 40th place finish. The best Princeton has ever done has been 21st, in the 2001-02 academic year.
The 30th place finish this year was the best Princeton has had since that 21st place.
Historically, Princeton has been the top finishing Ivy League team 23 times in 26 years. Princeton has been in the top 50 in 22 of those years, never finishing higher than 63rd, and has now been in the top 40 17 times.
It's a remarkable run of sustained excellence. The best part is that this success hasn't been the result of simply a handful of sports but instead has been spread throughout the athletic program. In fact, every eligible sport has contributed points at one time or another.
By the way, there are 65 Power Five Conference schools. If 28 of them finished ahead of Princeton, that means that 37 others finished behind Princeton.
That's perhaps the most impressive part of the whole thing.
The Tigers won the league championship match over Penn State three sets to two, taking the fifth set 15-13. The match was held in a packed Dillon Gym, as Princeton had also won the league regular season title, and it was definitely one of the absolute highlights of the 2018-19 athletic year.
The MVP of the tournament was also the league's Player of the Year, Princeton's George Huhmann. Most recently, Huhmann has been playing for the United States team at the FIVB Nation's League, with matches held in Bulgaria.
Huhmann helped the U.S. to two wins in three matches, losing to the host team before beating Serbia and Iran. Huhmann had 18 kills in the three matches.
The U.S. will host the league championships in Chicago next week.
Huhmann's appearance in Bulgaria got TigerBlog to wondering about how many Princeton athletes, or students in general, have traveled this summer. Some, he knows, have competed.
It appears that the taller you are the more likely you are to compete internationally in the summer, since in addition to the 6-11 Huhmann from volleyball, 6-4 Bella Alarie has done so as well.
How many others?
And how many have traveled outside this country for academic, service and other educational ventures - not to mention just to have fun? It has to be a pretty high number.
Princeton prides itself on offering opportunities around the globe. It's great to know that so many take advantage of it at some point during their four years.
Huhmann's gigantic junior year helped put Princeton in the NCAA tournament, where the Tigers won their opener Barton College before falling in five sets to Pepperdine.
The result was more than just a great season for the men's volleyball team. It also gave Princeton 25 points in the Learfield IMG NACDA Directors' Cup.
The final Cup standings were announced at the conclusion of the College World Series, won by Vanderbilt over Michigan in the best-of-three final. Those three games, by the way, were three of the four highest rated ESPN baseball games last week.
Princeton finished the 2018-19 academic year in 30th place in Division I in the Directors' Cup standings. The Cup measures overall athletic success by assigning points based on NCAA championship participation and success.
Princeton finished with 722.50 points, leaving the Tigers as the highest finishing FCS school. The next-best finish by an FCS school was 57th, which happened to be Harvard.
Unlike last year, Princeton was not the top school from a non-Power Five Conference. That would be BYU, who finished one spot ahead of Princeton in 29th.
The 28 schools ahead of BYU and Princeton all were from the Power Five, with eight from the SEC, seven from the Pac 12, six from the ACC, five from the Big Ten and two from the Big 12.
Princeton improved by 10 spots from last year's 40th place finish. The best Princeton has ever done has been 21st, in the 2001-02 academic year.
The 30th place finish this year was the best Princeton has had since that 21st place.
Historically, Princeton has been the top finishing Ivy League team 23 times in 26 years. Princeton has been in the top 50 in 22 of those years, never finishing higher than 63rd, and has now been in the top 40 17 times.
It's a remarkable run of sustained excellence. The best part is that this success hasn't been the result of simply a handful of sports but instead has been spread throughout the athletic program. In fact, every eligible sport has contributed points at one time or another.
By the way, there are 65 Power Five Conference schools. If 28 of them finished ahead of Princeton, that means that 37 others finished behind Princeton.
That's perhaps the most impressive part of the whole thing.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Welcome To July
Welcome to July.
It's the first of July, which means this week features the Fourth of July, which means this is getting into the heart of the summer.
July is a month that is pretty much universally loved. Kids are off from school. There are vacations to be had. There are cookouts and ice cream trucks and swimming pools and water slides.
And days at the beach. And pizza on boardwalks. And shorts and t shirts.
As for sports, there's a lot to see this month.
There will be the Women's World Cup semifinals and finals. The United States team takes on England tomorrow at 3 Eastern, and the other semi matches Sweden and the Netherlands Wednesday.
The losers play in third place game Saturday, and the winners play Sunday in the championship game.
There will also be a lot of Major League Baseball this month, including the All-Star Game. This weekend two games between the Yankees and Red Sox in London, where the teams combined for 65 hits, 15 doubles and 10 home runs (and a combined 9:06 to play).
The Yankees won both, 17-13 in the first game Saturday and then 12-8 yesterday. Those are lacrosse scores, not baseball scores.
Speaking of lacrosse, there are two professional outdoor men's leagues playing now. There are Princeton players in both, and TigerBlog wonders a few things about the future of these two leagues. Can they really co-exist?
What else do you have sports-wise in July?
You have NBA free agency, which began last night. Kevin Durant apparently is headed to the Nets, even though he can't play next year because of his Achilles injury.
The contract is for four years and $164 million. That, of course, should be more than enough money for this and many future generations of Durants.
On the other hand, his old team, the Warriors, could have offered him five years and $221 million, which is a lot more.
Also, the Nets are getting a player who can't play next year and who will be 33 when he tries to return from this injury. Risky, risky stuff.
So now Durant won't be a Knick. Who will Princeton alums Steve Mills and Craig Robinson come away with during this free agency period?
Well, they won't get Durant or Kyrie Irving, which is really good news, if you ask long-time Knick fan TigerBlog. Durant is hurt and may never be the seem and Irving thinks the world is flat and appears to be hated by his teammates.
The Knicks did sign Julius Randle, who gets three years and $65 million. This is the second straight great move the Knicks made, after drafting R.J. Barrett with the third pick.
Barrett is going to have the best career of anyone from this draft class, and Randle is a way under-the-radar player who averaged 21.4 points per game in New Orleans last year and is only 24.
The Knicks also took Taj Gibson, another very solid veteran player who didn't break the bank. The moral of the story is that you don't need the biggest names. You need the guys who make your team a winner.
What else?
July is when NFL teams get to work when training camps open for real.
If you're a Princeton fan, your eyes are glued to the Tiger alums in the NFL, especially the three who are trying to make teams as undrafted free agents.
John Lovett is with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jesper Horsted is with the Chicago Bears. Stephen Carlson is with the Cleveland Browns.
Will any or all of them make it? Carlson is off to a good start apparently:
TigerBlog apologizes for the brief hint of profanity there, but it was too good not to share.
There's more to sports in July. Wimbledon, for one.
You know what there isn't in July?
Princeton sporting events. Well, not Princeton's varsity teams. There's plenty of sports to be played on campus in the next few weeks, but those are from summer camps, ranging from elite prospects to the littlest kids.
Princeton teams don't play in July. They play in every other month, even August. But nothing in July.
That's okay. The Tigers will be back soon enough. And TB will find something to write about every day in the meantime.
So welcome to July. Relax, and have some fun.
It's the first of July, which means this week features the Fourth of July, which means this is getting into the heart of the summer.
July is a month that is pretty much universally loved. Kids are off from school. There are vacations to be had. There are cookouts and ice cream trucks and swimming pools and water slides.
And days at the beach. And pizza on boardwalks. And shorts and t shirts.
As for sports, there's a lot to see this month.
There will be the Women's World Cup semifinals and finals. The United States team takes on England tomorrow at 3 Eastern, and the other semi matches Sweden and the Netherlands Wednesday.
The losers play in third place game Saturday, and the winners play Sunday in the championship game.
There will also be a lot of Major League Baseball this month, including the All-Star Game. This weekend two games between the Yankees and Red Sox in London, where the teams combined for 65 hits, 15 doubles and 10 home runs (and a combined 9:06 to play).
The Yankees won both, 17-13 in the first game Saturday and then 12-8 yesterday. Those are lacrosse scores, not baseball scores.
Speaking of lacrosse, there are two professional outdoor men's leagues playing now. There are Princeton players in both, and TigerBlog wonders a few things about the future of these two leagues. Can they really co-exist?
What else do you have sports-wise in July?
You have NBA free agency, which began last night. Kevin Durant apparently is headed to the Nets, even though he can't play next year because of his Achilles injury.
The contract is for four years and $164 million. That, of course, should be more than enough money for this and many future generations of Durants.
On the other hand, his old team, the Warriors, could have offered him five years and $221 million, which is a lot more.
Also, the Nets are getting a player who can't play next year and who will be 33 when he tries to return from this injury. Risky, risky stuff.
So now Durant won't be a Knick. Who will Princeton alums Steve Mills and Craig Robinson come away with during this free agency period?
Well, they won't get Durant or Kyrie Irving, which is really good news, if you ask long-time Knick fan TigerBlog. Durant is hurt and may never be the seem and Irving thinks the world is flat and appears to be hated by his teammates.
The Knicks did sign Julius Randle, who gets three years and $65 million. This is the second straight great move the Knicks made, after drafting R.J. Barrett with the third pick.
Barrett is going to have the best career of anyone from this draft class, and Randle is a way under-the-radar player who averaged 21.4 points per game in New Orleans last year and is only 24.
The Knicks also took Taj Gibson, another very solid veteran player who didn't break the bank. The moral of the story is that you don't need the biggest names. You need the guys who make your team a winner.
What else?
July is when NFL teams get to work when training camps open for real.
If you're a Princeton fan, your eyes are glued to the Tiger alums in the NFL, especially the three who are trying to make teams as undrafted free agents.
John Lovett is with the Kansas City Chiefs. Jesper Horsted is with the Chicago Bears. Stephen Carlson is with the Cleveland Browns.
Will any or all of them make it? Carlson is off to a good start apparently:
“Just throw it to Carlson” @Steve_OCarlson pic.twitter.com/3yZfWPK0t7— Jordan Argue (@jordanargue) June 28, 2019
TigerBlog apologizes for the brief hint of profanity there, but it was too good not to share.
There's more to sports in July. Wimbledon, for one.
You know what there isn't in July?
Princeton sporting events. Well, not Princeton's varsity teams. There's plenty of sports to be played on campus in the next few weeks, but those are from summer camps, ranging from elite prospects to the littlest kids.
Princeton teams don't play in July. They play in every other month, even August. But nothing in July.
That's okay. The Tigers will be back soon enough. And TB will find something to write about every day in the meantime.
So welcome to July. Relax, and have some fun.
Friday, June 28, 2019
Demolition
If you've driven on Interstate 95 from New Jersey into Pennsylvania at any point, then you've done two things.
First, you've gone over the Scudders Falls Bridge. Second, you haven't paid a toll to do so.
All of this will be changing soon. The old Scudders Falls Bridge is on its last legs, soon to be replaced by a brand-new version, one that opens in July. And, progress being what it is, there will also be a toll.
If TB understands it correctly, if you have EZ Pass, it'll be $1.25 to go from New Jersey into Pennsylvania and nothing to go the other way. If you don't have EZ Pass, then that becomes $2.60 to get into Pennslyvania.
When TB saw this the other day, it got him thinking about how many times he's driven over that bridge and how much money he would have spent by now had it had a $1.25 toll each time he crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania. It would be thousands of dollars, since there have been days when he's gone back and forth five or more times.
The new bridge has been constructed directly next to the old one. Once it opens, the old one will be torn down and a second bridge will be built in its place. For now, until that it completed, the new bridge will have traffic going both ways.
TigerBlog has ridden his bicycle under the old bridge and the new bridge as he's gone along the Delaware River. When you're underneath looking up, you can definitely tell the difference between the old one, which opened in 1961, and the new one.
In fact, it reminded TigerBlog of the last days of old Palmer Stadium, which stood where Princeton Stadium now does from 1914 until March of 1997.
It's amazing to think about how many people TigerBlog currently works with who never went to a game in Palmer Stadium. TB went to a lot of them there, and his memories of the building are much fonder now than they were back when he was lugging a copy machine up through the stands to the press box or the way the wind whipped through that press box in the late season.
Palmer Stadium's press box was two levels, and TB used to run stats up to the TV and radio booths several times a game. It was open air, with nothing remotely resembling a frill to it, and yet it had its charms.
And of course, it gets more charming with the passing of time.
By the mid-1990s, it was clear that Palmer was on its last legs. The most obvious indicator of this was the orange and black netting that had to be installed underneath the concrete to prevent it from falling on the people who happened to be walking around the facility.
The 1996 season was Princeton football's last at Palmer Stadium, which means that the stadium was the home of Tiger football for just about half of its 150 years of existence. TB has seen pictures of the place from the 1920s where the stands were packed and the "parking lot" was filled with horses, not cars. He saw a picture from the last 1940s that said "Press Box - No Women Allowed."
The first game TB saw at Palmer Stadium was a Princeton-Penn game where he did student radio for the Quakers. He covered games there when Bob Surace was the center, before he became the head coach.
And he was there on the morning when the stadium was torn down.
It was a sunny day, and there was a ceremony to have the first sledgehammer swung to start the process. There were also bulldozer-like vehicles with claws on the end that sort of made them seem like dinosaurs.
The plan, as TB remembers it, was that it would take two weeks or so to tear down the entire building. The dinosaur claws started at one end and pulled down a small block, and then they moved over a little and pulled another block.
When the claws got near the press box, they yanked - and the entire thing caved in like dominoes. It took about five seconds and the entire press box was down.
As TB stood there and watched it, he couldn't help but think about all the times he'd been up there, secure that the floor was not about to cave in under him. And then there it was, gone just like that.
He tries not to think about that as he drives over the old bridge.
First, you've gone over the Scudders Falls Bridge. Second, you haven't paid a toll to do so.
All of this will be changing soon. The old Scudders Falls Bridge is on its last legs, soon to be replaced by a brand-new version, one that opens in July. And, progress being what it is, there will also be a toll.
If TB understands it correctly, if you have EZ Pass, it'll be $1.25 to go from New Jersey into Pennsylvania and nothing to go the other way. If you don't have EZ Pass, then that becomes $2.60 to get into Pennslyvania.
When TB saw this the other day, it got him thinking about how many times he's driven over that bridge and how much money he would have spent by now had it had a $1.25 toll each time he crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania. It would be thousands of dollars, since there have been days when he's gone back and forth five or more times.
The new bridge has been constructed directly next to the old one. Once it opens, the old one will be torn down and a second bridge will be built in its place. For now, until that it completed, the new bridge will have traffic going both ways.
TigerBlog has ridden his bicycle under the old bridge and the new bridge as he's gone along the Delaware River. When you're underneath looking up, you can definitely tell the difference between the old one, which opened in 1961, and the new one.
In fact, it reminded TigerBlog of the last days of old Palmer Stadium, which stood where Princeton Stadium now does from 1914 until March of 1997.
It's amazing to think about how many people TigerBlog currently works with who never went to a game in Palmer Stadium. TB went to a lot of them there, and his memories of the building are much fonder now than they were back when he was lugging a copy machine up through the stands to the press box or the way the wind whipped through that press box in the late season.
Palmer Stadium's press box was two levels, and TB used to run stats up to the TV and radio booths several times a game. It was open air, with nothing remotely resembling a frill to it, and yet it had its charms.
And of course, it gets more charming with the passing of time.
By the mid-1990s, it was clear that Palmer was on its last legs. The most obvious indicator of this was the orange and black netting that had to be installed underneath the concrete to prevent it from falling on the people who happened to be walking around the facility.
The 1996 season was Princeton football's last at Palmer Stadium, which means that the stadium was the home of Tiger football for just about half of its 150 years of existence. TB has seen pictures of the place from the 1920s where the stands were packed and the "parking lot" was filled with horses, not cars. He saw a picture from the last 1940s that said "Press Box - No Women Allowed."
The first game TB saw at Palmer Stadium was a Princeton-Penn game where he did student radio for the Quakers. He covered games there when Bob Surace was the center, before he became the head coach.
And he was there on the morning when the stadium was torn down.
It was a sunny day, and there was a ceremony to have the first sledgehammer swung to start the process. There were also bulldozer-like vehicles with claws on the end that sort of made them seem like dinosaurs.
The plan, as TB remembers it, was that it would take two weeks or so to tear down the entire building. The dinosaur claws started at one end and pulled down a small block, and then they moved over a little and pulled another block.
When the claws got near the press box, they yanked - and the entire thing caved in like dominoes. It took about five seconds and the entire press box was down.
As TB stood there and watched it, he couldn't help but think about all the times he'd been up there, secure that the floor was not about to cave in under him. And then there it was, gone just like that.
He tries not to think about that as he drives over the old bridge.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Another Year Of Winning
Every now and then, TigerBlog stumbles onto a tweet from someone he's never heard of that has been retweeted and captures his attention.
Like this one, for instance:
If you never got to see Bo Jackson in his prime, you missed an amazing athlete. He played NFL football and Major League Baseball and was an unstoppable physical force in both in a way that even Deion Sanders probably envies.
In fact, Bo is the only person ever to have played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the NFL's Pro Bowl.
TigerBlog can agree that Jackson is a great answer to that question. Of course, it's not the answer he came up with when he first saw it.
Nope. That would be Mason Rocca, the oft-injured Princeton men's basketball player who graduated, wait, what? Nearly 20 years already?
Rocca was a member of the Class of 2000, which means that his 20th reunion is a year away. That's nuts.
TigerBlog is pretty good at remembering facts, numbers, scores, high schools and hometowns. He doesn't even have to look to know that Mason Rocca is from Evanston, outside of Chicago.
He's actually better remembering class years of athletes who competed here in the 1990s and early 2000s than he is with more recent ones. What does that mean?
As for TB himself, he's worked here for more than 25 years now and has covered Princeton Athletics for more than 30, including his five years covering the Tigers during his newspaper days. The anniversary of his hiring was actually a few days ago.
He remembers the summer of 1994 as he started to work here and a conversation with Tom O'Connell, the late baseball coach, who asked him how he was adjusting going from the newspaper to here. TB said something along the lines that it was fine, but he was ready for the games to start.
Since then, he can't even imagine how many Princeton games he's been to, though if he had to guess, he'd say it's well past a thousand.
Each year since then has had its own ups and downs, with way more ups than downs, and in some ways they start to run into each other in ways that make it hard to remember exactly what happened when, even with TB's memory. Fortunately, there are a lot of records that have been kept through the years as a reminder.
For instance, the 2018-19 athletic year recently ended. Princeton teams combined for 643 events where one team won and the other lost (or there was a tie), so this excludes things like multi-team golf tournaments and track meets.
What was Princeton's record for those 643 events?
How about 399-231-13.
That's a combined winning percentage of .631. That's awesome.
Broken down by gender, Princeton's men's teams were 186-128-6 (.591). The women were 213-103-7, which is a ridiculous .673, which means that Prineton's women's teams won more than two-thirds of their games.
If you look at head-to-head against Ivy opponents, Princeton won at least 60 percent of its games against all seven other schools.
Princeton also won 15 league titles, 12 of which were in the Ivy League. There were eight second-place finishes and four more third-place finishes, which means that 27 of Princeton's 37 teams finished in the top three in the standings.
Yeah, it was another great year of winning.
These numbers are really good, but they're not much different than most years for Princeton. The challenge is to keep it that way.
That's been the challenge ever since TB got here. He's seen coaches, athletes and administrators embrace that and thrive under it. And he's had a chance to see a lot of more Tiger wins than losses.
It's made the last 25 years go pretty quickly.
Like this one, for instance:
If you don't feel like going through all the answers, then TB can sum it up for you. A bunch of people threw out some names until someone mentioned Bo Jackson, and then everyone basically agreed that Bo was the only real answer.SOCIAL EXPERIMENT: If you come across this tweet, reply with the one athlete you’d wish had been perfectly healthy their whole career.— Brandon Olsen (@WNS_Brandon) June 24, 2019
Don’t read the replies before you reply.
If you never got to see Bo Jackson in his prime, you missed an amazing athlete. He played NFL football and Major League Baseball and was an unstoppable physical force in both in a way that even Deion Sanders probably envies.
In fact, Bo is the only person ever to have played in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the NFL's Pro Bowl.
TigerBlog can agree that Jackson is a great answer to that question. Of course, it's not the answer he came up with when he first saw it.
Nope. That would be Mason Rocca, the oft-injured Princeton men's basketball player who graduated, wait, what? Nearly 20 years already?
Rocca was a member of the Class of 2000, which means that his 20th reunion is a year away. That's nuts.
TigerBlog is pretty good at remembering facts, numbers, scores, high schools and hometowns. He doesn't even have to look to know that Mason Rocca is from Evanston, outside of Chicago.
He's actually better remembering class years of athletes who competed here in the 1990s and early 2000s than he is with more recent ones. What does that mean?
As for TB himself, he's worked here for more than 25 years now and has covered Princeton Athletics for more than 30, including his five years covering the Tigers during his newspaper days. The anniversary of his hiring was actually a few days ago.
He remembers the summer of 1994 as he started to work here and a conversation with Tom O'Connell, the late baseball coach, who asked him how he was adjusting going from the newspaper to here. TB said something along the lines that it was fine, but he was ready for the games to start.
Since then, he can't even imagine how many Princeton games he's been to, though if he had to guess, he'd say it's well past a thousand.
Each year since then has had its own ups and downs, with way more ups than downs, and in some ways they start to run into each other in ways that make it hard to remember exactly what happened when, even with TB's memory. Fortunately, there are a lot of records that have been kept through the years as a reminder.
For instance, the 2018-19 athletic year recently ended. Princeton teams combined for 643 events where one team won and the other lost (or there was a tie), so this excludes things like multi-team golf tournaments and track meets.
What was Princeton's record for those 643 events?
How about 399-231-13.
That's a combined winning percentage of .631. That's awesome.
Broken down by gender, Princeton's men's teams were 186-128-6 (.591). The women were 213-103-7, which is a ridiculous .673, which means that Prineton's women's teams won more than two-thirds of their games.
If you look at head-to-head against Ivy opponents, Princeton won at least 60 percent of its games against all seven other schools.
Princeton also won 15 league titles, 12 of which were in the Ivy League. There were eight second-place finishes and four more third-place finishes, which means that 27 of Princeton's 37 teams finished in the top three in the standings.
Yeah, it was another great year of winning.
These numbers are really good, but they're not much different than most years for Princeton. The challenge is to keep it that way.
That's been the challenge ever since TB got here. He's seen coaches, athletes and administrators embrace that and thrive under it. And he's had a chance to see a lot of more Tiger wins than losses.
It's made the last 25 years go pretty quickly.
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Old Timers' Day
The Ivy League announced its ESPN football schedule for the 2019 season earlier this week, and not surprisingly, Princeton is featured most prominently.
That's what happens when you go 10-0 the year before and are one of the two focal points of the 150th anniversary of the sport. In all, three of Princeton's 10 games this coming season will be on one of the ESPN linear networks, which ranks the Tigers first among league schools.
Those three include one home game (Friday night, Oct. 11, against Lafayette), one away game (Friday night, Nov. 1, at Cornell) and one neutral site game (Saturday, Nov. 9, against Dartmouth at Yankee Stadium, time to be determined.
The first two will be on ESPNU and start at 7. The Dartmouth game will be on an ESPN network to be announced.
As for Princeton's other four home games, they'll all be on ESPN+. The season opener will be against Butler on Sept. 21, with a 5:00 start for Community and Staff Day. The other four games will start at 1, including home games against both Harvard (Oct. 26) and Yale (Nov. 16) for the first time.
TigerBlog updated the schedule on the webpage yesterday, and as he did, he wondered what to do about the Cornell game. If it's a 7:00 kickoff, then the game won't end until at after 10. Even if you factor in one hour after to get on the road, now it's after 11.
That's a four-hour ride. Stay over? Come back after the game? Hmmm. What to do?
Princeton football now has start times for eight of its 10 games. The Sept. 28 game at Bucknell will begin at 3:30, and it's a 12:30 kick in Providence on Oct. 19 against Brown.
That game, by the way, will be the first between Princeton head coach Bob Surace and his former offensive coordinator, James Perry, who is now the Brown head coach.
The only games remaining without start times are the game at Yankee Stadium and the season finale at Penn.
TB will remind you of this a lot this year, but this is a huge year for the Tiger football team. For starters, it's the year after the 10-0 season, one that saw Princeton have the highest-scoring offense in Ivy League history.
The 2019 Tigers have a unique opportunity. There have been 12 Ivy League championship teams at Princeton, but only once - in 1963 and 1964 - have the Tigers repeated. Also, Princeton has now won three Ivy titles in six years, and Princeton has only once had four in seven years - 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969.
Plus, this team has the immediate intrigue of seeing who will be filling the big shoes left by, among others, quarterback John Lovett, the two-time Bushnell Cup winner.
Factor in the 150th celebration, and you have the making of a very exciting season.
Princeton football dates back to 1869, of course. Football, though, was not the first sport at Princeton.
If you go back five years earlier, you'll see that Princeton played a baseball game against Williams College on Nov. 22, 1864. It must have been chilly.
TigerBlog has always been intrigued by the fact that the first baseball game in school history had what would now be considered a football score - Princeton won 27-16 - while the first football game in school history had a baseball game - Rutgers won 6-4.
Speaking of Princeton baseball, head coach Scott Bradley is a former Major Leaguer who played for the New York Yankees among other teams. Each year he heads back to Old Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium, and this year, he was mic'd up for the occasion.
The result is a really entertaining video that you can see HERE.
The best parts are, well, really the whole thing is one continuous best part.
Princeton alum David Hale, who pitched for Bradley and is now on the Yankees, makes an appearance. Hale is pitching out of the bullpen for the Yankees, and he's 1-0 with a save in nine appearances.
Hale has pitched in 79 career games, with 20 starts and an 11-10 career record. He's also pitched for Atlanta, Colorado and Minnesota, and he's also been a member of 11 different minor league teams at various points of his career.
In the video for Old Timers' Day, he was a Yankee, hugging his college coach, a former Yankee.
The rest of the video is pretty classic Bradley. You'll figure it out when you watch it.
It's a perfect late June Princeton Athletics video.
That's what happens when you go 10-0 the year before and are one of the two focal points of the 150th anniversary of the sport. In all, three of Princeton's 10 games this coming season will be on one of the ESPN linear networks, which ranks the Tigers first among league schools.
Those three include one home game (Friday night, Oct. 11, against Lafayette), one away game (Friday night, Nov. 1, at Cornell) and one neutral site game (Saturday, Nov. 9, against Dartmouth at Yankee Stadium, time to be determined.
The first two will be on ESPNU and start at 7. The Dartmouth game will be on an ESPN network to be announced.
As for Princeton's other four home games, they'll all be on ESPN+. The season opener will be against Butler on Sept. 21, with a 5:00 start for Community and Staff Day. The other four games will start at 1, including home games against both Harvard (Oct. 26) and Yale (Nov. 16) for the first time.
TigerBlog updated the schedule on the webpage yesterday, and as he did, he wondered what to do about the Cornell game. If it's a 7:00 kickoff, then the game won't end until at after 10. Even if you factor in one hour after to get on the road, now it's after 11.
That's a four-hour ride. Stay over? Come back after the game? Hmmm. What to do?
Princeton football now has start times for eight of its 10 games. The Sept. 28 game at Bucknell will begin at 3:30, and it's a 12:30 kick in Providence on Oct. 19 against Brown.
That game, by the way, will be the first between Princeton head coach Bob Surace and his former offensive coordinator, James Perry, who is now the Brown head coach.
The only games remaining without start times are the game at Yankee Stadium and the season finale at Penn.
TB will remind you of this a lot this year, but this is a huge year for the Tiger football team. For starters, it's the year after the 10-0 season, one that saw Princeton have the highest-scoring offense in Ivy League history.
The 2019 Tigers have a unique opportunity. There have been 12 Ivy League championship teams at Princeton, but only once - in 1963 and 1964 - have the Tigers repeated. Also, Princeton has now won three Ivy titles in six years, and Princeton has only once had four in seven years - 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969.
Plus, this team has the immediate intrigue of seeing who will be filling the big shoes left by, among others, quarterback John Lovett, the two-time Bushnell Cup winner.
Factor in the 150th celebration, and you have the making of a very exciting season.
Princeton football dates back to 1869, of course. Football, though, was not the first sport at Princeton.
If you go back five years earlier, you'll see that Princeton played a baseball game against Williams College on Nov. 22, 1864. It must have been chilly.
TigerBlog has always been intrigued by the fact that the first baseball game in school history had what would now be considered a football score - Princeton won 27-16 - while the first football game in school history had a baseball game - Rutgers won 6-4.
Speaking of Princeton baseball, head coach Scott Bradley is a former Major Leaguer who played for the New York Yankees among other teams. Each year he heads back to Old Timers' Day at Yankee Stadium, and this year, he was mic'd up for the occasion.
The result is a really entertaining video that you can see HERE.
The best parts are, well, really the whole thing is one continuous best part.
Princeton alum David Hale, who pitched for Bradley and is now on the Yankees, makes an appearance. Hale is pitching out of the bullpen for the Yankees, and he's 1-0 with a save in nine appearances.
Hale has pitched in 79 career games, with 20 starts and an 11-10 career record. He's also pitched for Atlanta, Colorado and Minnesota, and he's also been a member of 11 different minor league teams at various points of his career.
In the video for Old Timers' Day, he was a Yankee, hugging his college coach, a former Yankee.
The rest of the video is pretty classic Bradley. You'll figure it out when you watch it.
It's a perfect late June Princeton Athletics video.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Break A Leg
Sam Gravitte Feature From 2017
TigerBlog, as he has said before, would love to have been born with the requisite talent to sing on Broadway.
He has spent his entire life enamored of those who can, and he has been a fan of musical theater for as long as he can remember. He grew up in a house with a room adorned with Playbills from various shows, almost all of which were musicals.
He saw a lot of the classics, and his parents listened to a lot of show tunes on car trips. Many of those songs are still on TB's regular playlists, and he's heard some of them thousands of times and still loves them.
One is Len Cariou, who is known more these days as Tom Selleck's father on "Blue Bloods." TigerBlog saw him when he played the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in "Sweeney Todd" - for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical - and met him in a diner in FatherBlog's building, since the two are neighbors.
The other is Debbie Gravitte, whom TB also saw when she made her debut in "They're Playing Our Song," with Robert Klein and Luci Arnaz. Gravitte would go on to win a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for "Jerome Robbins' Broadway."
What must it be like to be able to stand on a stage like that and be able to sing like they can? TB will never know.
He'll also never know what it's like to play Division I lacrosse. He has met several hundred people who have done that.
And now, he knows one who has will have done both. Division I lacrosse and Broadway musical.
Sam Gravitte, Debbie's son, makes his Broadway debut this week, in the musical "Wicked."
It wasn't that long ago that Sam Gravitte was a member of the Princeton men's lacrosse team. In fact, Gravitte graduated in 2017 after being a major contributor for four years, as a longstick midfielder, shortstick defensive midfielder and a close defenseman.
Sam's strengths were his speed, athleticism and tenacity with an endless motor. He was a great teammate with a great attitude.
He was great in transition and could even score goals, and he finished his career with exactly 100 ground balls.
TigerBlog saw pretty much every game Sam played at Princeton. He also saw him play the lead in the musical "Once" at McCarter's Belind Theater, and it was obvious that this was a uniquely talented individual.
And so after he graduated, Sam headed out on the road, in the national touring company of "Wicked" in stops all over the country and in Canada. And now it's on to Broadway.
To start, Sam will be in the ensemble and also will serve as the understudy for Fiyero, the male lead. He did this in the national touring company as well.
It's an incredible achievement for anyone to reach this, well, stage.
Sam obviously comes from a theater family. TigerBlog, given his long-standing love of theater, was looking forward to meeting Debbie Gravitte when he heard Sam was coming to Princeton, and it wasn't really all that tough to figure out which one she was before he met her. She carries herself like a Tony Award winning actress.
Sam's father Beau is also in the theater, as a Broadway actor and producer. Now it's Sam's turn to follow in the family business.
Sam was a football and lacrosse standout at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut, and he set the school record for career touchdowns and was all-state in both sports. He also found time to be in his school's musicals, including playing Jean Val Jean in "Les Miserables," which is one of the most challenging roles ever created.
He did other shows at Princeton, often playing lacrosse during the day and then performing at McCarter that same night.
TigerBlog wrote a feature about Sam, which you can read at the top. His mom had this to say about him:
“The light went on when he did his first show in high school,” Debbie Gravitte says. “It was 42nd Street. He stood in the middle of the stage, and you couldn’t take your eye off him. He just had that thing. It can’t be named. It’s just 'the thing.' Either you have the thing or you don’t have the thing. He can stand on a stage, and he just has that thing.”
In addition to all of his athletic and theatrical talent, he's just a super young man to be around. He's always smiling, always upbeat, always with a positive attitude. All of this couldn't happen to a better guy.
And now it's his first time on the Broadway stage. TB is pretty sure it won't be his last.
Break a leg, Sam.
TigerBlog, as he has said before, would love to have been born with the requisite talent to sing on Broadway.
He has spent his entire life enamored of those who can, and he has been a fan of musical theater for as long as he can remember. He grew up in a house with a room adorned with Playbills from various shows, almost all of which were musicals.
He saw a lot of the classics, and his parents listened to a lot of show tunes on car trips. Many of those songs are still on TB's regular playlists, and he's heard some of them thousands of times and still loves them.
One is Len Cariou, who is known more these days as Tom Selleck's father on "Blue Bloods." TigerBlog saw him when he played the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in "Sweeney Todd" - for which he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical - and met him in a diner in FatherBlog's building, since the two are neighbors.
The other is Debbie Gravitte, whom TB also saw when she made her debut in "They're Playing Our Song," with Robert Klein and Luci Arnaz. Gravitte would go on to win a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for "Jerome Robbins' Broadway."
What must it be like to be able to stand on a stage like that and be able to sing like they can? TB will never know.
He'll also never know what it's like to play Division I lacrosse. He has met several hundred people who have done that.
And now, he knows one who has will have done both. Division I lacrosse and Broadway musical.
Sam Gravitte, Debbie's son, makes his Broadway debut this week, in the musical "Wicked."
It wasn't that long ago that Sam Gravitte was a member of the Princeton men's lacrosse team. In fact, Gravitte graduated in 2017 after being a major contributor for four years, as a longstick midfielder, shortstick defensive midfielder and a close defenseman.
Sam's strengths were his speed, athleticism and tenacity with an endless motor. He was a great teammate with a great attitude.
He was great in transition and could even score goals, and he finished his career with exactly 100 ground balls.
TigerBlog saw pretty much every game Sam played at Princeton. He also saw him play the lead in the musical "Once" at McCarter's Belind Theater, and it was obvious that this was a uniquely talented individual.
And so after he graduated, Sam headed out on the road, in the national touring company of "Wicked" in stops all over the country and in Canada. And now it's on to Broadway.
To start, Sam will be in the ensemble and also will serve as the understudy for Fiyero, the male lead. He did this in the national touring company as well.
It's an incredible achievement for anyone to reach this, well, stage.
Sam obviously comes from a theater family. TigerBlog, given his long-standing love of theater, was looking forward to meeting Debbie Gravitte when he heard Sam was coming to Princeton, and it wasn't really all that tough to figure out which one she was before he met her. She carries herself like a Tony Award winning actress.
Sam's father Beau is also in the theater, as a Broadway actor and producer. Now it's Sam's turn to follow in the family business.
Sam was a football and lacrosse standout at Ridgefield High School in Connecticut, and he set the school record for career touchdowns and was all-state in both sports. He also found time to be in his school's musicals, including playing Jean Val Jean in "Les Miserables," which is one of the most challenging roles ever created.
He did other shows at Princeton, often playing lacrosse during the day and then performing at McCarter that same night.
TigerBlog wrote a feature about Sam, which you can read at the top. His mom had this to say about him:
“The light went on when he did his first show in high school,” Debbie Gravitte says. “It was 42nd Street. He stood in the middle of the stage, and you couldn’t take your eye off him. He just had that thing. It can’t be named. It’s just 'the thing.' Either you have the thing or you don’t have the thing. He can stand on a stage, and he just has that thing.”
In addition to all of his athletic and theatrical talent, he's just a super young man to be around. He's always smiling, always upbeat, always with a positive attitude. All of this couldn't happen to a better guy.
And now it's his first time on the Broadway stage. TB is pretty sure it won't be his last.
Break a leg, Sam.
Monday, June 24, 2019
Kareem Keeps Winning
Question - How many Ivy League Player of the Year Awards did Bill Bradley win in men's basketball?
Well, freshmen were ineligible back then, so he played three varsity seasons. So he won three, right?
Nope. None.
The Ivy League didn't award a Player of the Year in men's basketball until 1974-75, when Penn's Ron Haigler was the winner. Princeton had the winner each of the next two years, with Armond Hill and then Frank Sowinski.
Speaking of Player of the Year winners, it still bothers TB that Nate Walton didn't win in 2001.
There have been five two-time winners of the Ivy League Player of the Year award on the men's sidek including two Princetonians - Craig Robinson and Kit Mueller. There has never been a three-time winner.
On the women's side, there have already been three players who won Ivy Player of the Year three times - Gail Koziara Boudreaux of Dartmouth, Allison Feaster of Harvard and Diana Caramanico of Penn.
There's another player who has already won twice who is entering her senior year. That, of course, is Princeton's Bella Alarie.
The Ivy League first awarded a Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in women's basketball in the 1979-80. Koziara, by the way, was the first winner.
As TB said, the first men's winner was Haigler in 1974-75.
What he can't understand is why there was a Rookie of the Year that dates to 1970-71. That first winner was Princeton's remarkable Brian Taylor, whose accomplishments are somewhat overshadowed by Bradley.
If you look at the Princeton men's basketball records, you'll see that Bradley ranks 1-2-3 in single-season points scored and Taylor ranks 4-5 on that same list. Taylor only played two seasons at Princeton before leaving for the ABA for four years and the NBA for six more, but he returned to graduate in 1983 before embarking on a long career in education.
Elsewhere in the Princeton record book, you'll see that Taylor averaged 24.3 points per game for his career. Bradley averaged 30.2. No other Princeton player has ever reached 20.0 for a career.
Anyway, back at the awards, why add a Rookie of the Year, especially when freshmen couldn't play? TB wishes he knew why.
Doesn't make sense, right?
Maybe TB will ask a few people.
Those were the only two major awards the Ivy League had until the 2009 season, when the Defensive Player of the Year award was added. Princeton has had three winners - Kareem Maddox, Myles Stephens and Amir Bell.
Maddox won it in 2011, after Cornell's Jeff Foote won the first two. If you remember the 2011 season, that's the one that ended with a playoff win over Harvard on Doug Davis' buzzer beater and then a 59-57 loss to Kentucky in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Maddox had 12 points, three rebounds and three steals in that game.
Trivia question - Maddox was one of four Princeton players in double figures in that game. Who were the other three? TB will give you the answer at the end.
Meanwhile, eight years later, Maddox is still making his mark in basketball. In fact, this past weekend, Maddox won a FIBA World Cup 3x3 championship with Team USA.
From the goprincetontigers.com story:
Princeton alum Kareem Maddox '11 and teammates Robbie Hummel, Damon Huffman and Canyon Barry completed a perfect run Sunday through the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Amsterdam, securing a spot in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament ahead of the 2020 Games in Tokyo. The title is the first for the U.S. in the event, which began in 2012 and was held every other year until 2016, when it began as an annual event. The previous U.S. best was a runner-up finish in 2016.
You can read the entire story HERE. In case you were wondering, Huffman played at Brown, Hummel played at Purdue and now is a really good ESPN commentator and Barry played at College of Charleston and Florida and is Rick Barry's son.
The sport of 3x3 basketball will be an Olympic sport in 2020, and Maddox and his teammates are hoping to qualify. The win over the weekend in Amsterdam got the Americans into the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, or they can get an automatic bid by being ranked in the top four in the world rankings this coming Nov. 1.
And the trivia answer - Dan Mavraides (14), Davis (13), Maddox (12), Ian Hummer (11).
Well, freshmen were ineligible back then, so he played three varsity seasons. So he won three, right?
Nope. None.
The Ivy League didn't award a Player of the Year in men's basketball until 1974-75, when Penn's Ron Haigler was the winner. Princeton had the winner each of the next two years, with Armond Hill and then Frank Sowinski.
Speaking of Player of the Year winners, it still bothers TB that Nate Walton didn't win in 2001.
There have been five two-time winners of the Ivy League Player of the Year award on the men's sidek including two Princetonians - Craig Robinson and Kit Mueller. There has never been a three-time winner.
On the women's side, there have already been three players who won Ivy Player of the Year three times - Gail Koziara Boudreaux of Dartmouth, Allison Feaster of Harvard and Diana Caramanico of Penn.
There's another player who has already won twice who is entering her senior year. That, of course, is Princeton's Bella Alarie.
The Ivy League first awarded a Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in women's basketball in the 1979-80. Koziara, by the way, was the first winner.
As TB said, the first men's winner was Haigler in 1974-75.
What he can't understand is why there was a Rookie of the Year that dates to 1970-71. That first winner was Princeton's remarkable Brian Taylor, whose accomplishments are somewhat overshadowed by Bradley.
If you look at the Princeton men's basketball records, you'll see that Bradley ranks 1-2-3 in single-season points scored and Taylor ranks 4-5 on that same list. Taylor only played two seasons at Princeton before leaving for the ABA for four years and the NBA for six more, but he returned to graduate in 1983 before embarking on a long career in education.
Elsewhere in the Princeton record book, you'll see that Taylor averaged 24.3 points per game for his career. Bradley averaged 30.2. No other Princeton player has ever reached 20.0 for a career.
Anyway, back at the awards, why add a Rookie of the Year, especially when freshmen couldn't play? TB wishes he knew why.
Doesn't make sense, right?
Maybe TB will ask a few people.
Those were the only two major awards the Ivy League had until the 2009 season, when the Defensive Player of the Year award was added. Princeton has had three winners - Kareem Maddox, Myles Stephens and Amir Bell.
Maddox won it in 2011, after Cornell's Jeff Foote won the first two. If you remember the 2011 season, that's the one that ended with a playoff win over Harvard on Doug Davis' buzzer beater and then a 59-57 loss to Kentucky in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Maddox had 12 points, three rebounds and three steals in that game.
Trivia question - Maddox was one of four Princeton players in double figures in that game. Who were the other three? TB will give you the answer at the end.
Meanwhile, eight years later, Maddox is still making his mark in basketball. In fact, this past weekend, Maddox won a FIBA World Cup 3x3 championship with Team USA.
From the goprincetontigers.com story:
Princeton alum Kareem Maddox '11 and teammates Robbie Hummel, Damon Huffman and Canyon Barry completed a perfect run Sunday through the FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Amsterdam, securing a spot in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament ahead of the 2020 Games in Tokyo. The title is the first for the U.S. in the event, which began in 2012 and was held every other year until 2016, when it began as an annual event. The previous U.S. best was a runner-up finish in 2016.
You can read the entire story HERE. In case you were wondering, Huffman played at Brown, Hummel played at Purdue and now is a really good ESPN commentator and Barry played at College of Charleston and Florida and is Rick Barry's son.
The sport of 3x3 basketball will be an Olympic sport in 2020, and Maddox and his teammates are hoping to qualify. The win over the weekend in Amsterdam got the Americans into the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, or they can get an automatic bid by being ranked in the top four in the world rankings this coming Nov. 1.
And the trivia answer - Dan Mavraides (14), Davis (13), Maddox (12), Ian Hummer (11).
Friday, June 21, 2019
Bill Carmody Retires
Of all of the people that TigerBlog has met during his 30 years at Princeton, there hasn't been anyone else remotely like Bill Carmody.
TigerBlog met Carmody in 1989, when he was still as an assistant coach under Pete Carril with the Princeton men's basketball team, and he liked him immediately. TB was with Carmody forthe final seven of the 14 seasons he spent as an assistant to Carril, and then he spent four glorious years as the men's basketball contact while Carmody was the head coach.
As he has said before, no Ivy League basketball contact could ever ask for more than those four seasons.
They were filled with wins - two Ivy League titles, two NCAA appearances, two trips into the national top 25 and one into the top 10 - and even when Carmody's Tigers didn't win the league, they had incredible moments that TB will never forget - the comeback win over Penn at the Palestra in 1999 and the run to the NIT quarterfinals later that year, as well as the Rainbow Classic championship in Hawaii in December 1998.
More than that, there was Carmody himself. TigerBlog can't think of one bad moment that he ever had with Carmody. He can think of dozens, maybe more, where he laughed, smiled, learned something and generally admired the man for his basketball knowledge, way with people, demeanor, humor, extraordinary competitiveness, family ties and, well, something TB would call a calm ferocity.
Bill Carmody retired earlier this week after winning 342 games in 21 seasons at Princeton, Northwestern and Holy Cross. TigerBlog wanted to write something about him as he heads to retirement, but he realized he'd already said exactly what he wanted to say about him back in 2013.
And so, TB shares this with you again. And he congratulates Bill Carmody, one of the absolute best people TB has ever met, on an amazing career:
Somewhere in TigerBlog's closet is the mini-cassette from the 1998 Rainbow Classic press conference in Honolulu.
Of course, nowhere in TigerBlog's universe is anything to play a mini-cassette on anymore, so you'll just have to take his word for it.
Anyway, the tape is of Bill Carmody's press conference at the University of Hawaii, after Princeton defeated Charlotte to win the tournament. Carmody was asked by one of the Hawaiian sportswriters about how everyone on the team seemed comfortable shooting three-pointers, even the big men.
Carmody's response:
"Everyone here can make a three. Our center can make a three. Our SID can make a three."
He thought back to the four years when Carmody was Princeton's head coach and TB was the men's basketball SID.
Carmody went 92-25 in his four years at Princeton, and TigerBlog was at every one of those 117 games, in the locker room after each one, on the walk to the interview room after each one.
He ran the press conference in Indianapolis, hastily called, when Carmody officially took over for Pete Carril. Somewhat famously, Carril had announced his retirement after 29 seasons at Princeton after the Tigers had defeated Penn in the Ivy playoff at Lehigh in 1996 a few days earlier, when he went up to the podium in Bethlehem and basically said this:
"I'm retiring at the end of this year ... and Billy Carmody will be the new coach."
TB remembers vividly walking Carmody from the locker room into the media room in the RCA Dome (a building that no longer exists) and to a small circular table like it was yesterday, as opposed to 17 years ago.
He remembers Carmody's first game as head coach, in the 1996 preseason NIT at Indiana. After the Tigers had played hard and lost, Carmody was asked about his team's performance. He said this:
"We run the shoot and run. One guy shoots, everyone else runs back on defense."
Princeton would go 24-4 his first year and then 27-2 his second with an Ivy League record of 28-0 those two years combined. Princeton lost to Cal, with future NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez, in the 1997 NCAA tournament and then defeated UNLV before losing to Michigan State in the 1998 tournament. Princeton and Michigan State were tied in the final minute; the Spartans would start four of the same players two years later when they won the NCAA title.
The Tigers reached the NIT the next two years, but even those years had silver linings.
Princeton won that Rainbow Classic by beating Florida State, Texas and Charlotte on consecutive nights. The 1999 season featured the amazing comeback win over Penn at the Palestra, when the Tigers trailed 27-3 and 40-13 with 15 minutes left, only to rally for a 50-49 victory.
And there was the 1999 NIT, when Princeton beat Georgetown at home (playing the same five guys the entire game) and North Carolina State in Raleigh (last game in Reynolds Coliseum) before falling at Xavier, who could come back to Jadwin the next year and see future NBA player David West shoot 1 for 11.
Added up, it came to four seasons, two NCAAs, two NITs, a Top 25 national ranking in 1997, a Top 10 national ranking in 1998, 13 wins over teams currently in BCS conferences, in-season tournament wins as far away as Hawaii and as close as Madison Square Garden (where he famously called timout and when, asked by the players how to attack the zone that they didn't expect, said "you're smart guys; you'll figure it out) and perhaps the best game in any sport TigerBlog was ever at (the comeback at the Palestra).
As TB has said so many times to people since, no Ivy League basketball SID can ever ask for more than Bill Carmody provided during his time here, starting with the day Carril retired and lasting for Carmody's four years as head coach. TB was the one lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Beyond just the winning, Carmody was hilarious, especially during the walks to the postgame interview rooms and his interactions with the media once he got there.
TB can't remember ever having one problem with Carmody during the entire time he worked with him. He respected what TB did and, like the best coaches TB has worked with, made him feel like what he did was important to the program without being a phony or condescending about it.
Carmody is among the most competitive people TB has ever met, something that came out every time he'd play lunchtime basketball, let alone coach the Tigers.
TigerBlog wonders what's next for Carmody. Maybe the NBA? TB thinks he'd be awesome on television, for that matter.
He hasn't spoken to him about anything; in fact, he's only spoken to him once in the 13 years since Carmody left here.
But he's rooted for him the entire time he's been at Northwestern, a place where it's impossible to win big at and a place where he won more than the school was used to winning.
TB has two stories that completely encapsulate what Bill Carmody is all about.
The first was in practice at Jadwin one day, when a backup got beat for a layup and yelled a curse really loudly in the empty gym.
"Hey," Carmody snapped at him. TB assumed he was going to tell the kid not to use that language anymore.
"The idea of the game," Carmody said, "is to get the other guy to curse."
Then there was the lockerroom in 1999, after Princeton had defeated the Bison in Lewisburg 50-48 on Mason Rocca's hook shot with two seconds left. It was a Tuesday night, TB believes, and he's pretty sure it was raining.
He stood in the back of the locker room, sort of in an adjoining room, so he couldn't see anyone, could only hear what was being said.
Carmody told his team that night that yes they had won but no they hadn't given their best effort. He told them that they only get four years worth of opportunities to give their best effort, and to let one of them get away was something they'd regret later on.
It was such a great speech, so passionate, so insightful. It was the last thing TB expected to hear. He thought it would be "great job, let's get out of here." Instead, it's something that TB has never forgotten, something that he has referred back to in his own experiences since.
And he wasn't even a player.
His time at Princeton was a glorious one, and TB laughs and smiles every time he thinks back to those days.
TB was just lucky to have a front row seat for the Bill Carmody era here.
TigerBlog met Carmody in 1989, when he was still as an assistant coach under Pete Carril with the Princeton men's basketball team, and he liked him immediately. TB was with Carmody forthe final seven of the 14 seasons he spent as an assistant to Carril, and then he spent four glorious years as the men's basketball contact while Carmody was the head coach.
As he has said before, no Ivy League basketball contact could ever ask for more than those four seasons.
They were filled with wins - two Ivy League titles, two NCAA appearances, two trips into the national top 25 and one into the top 10 - and even when Carmody's Tigers didn't win the league, they had incredible moments that TB will never forget - the comeback win over Penn at the Palestra in 1999 and the run to the NIT quarterfinals later that year, as well as the Rainbow Classic championship in Hawaii in December 1998.
More than that, there was Carmody himself. TigerBlog can't think of one bad moment that he ever had with Carmody. He can think of dozens, maybe more, where he laughed, smiled, learned something and generally admired the man for his basketball knowledge, way with people, demeanor, humor, extraordinary competitiveness, family ties and, well, something TB would call a calm ferocity.
Bill Carmody retired earlier this week after winning 342 games in 21 seasons at Princeton, Northwestern and Holy Cross. TigerBlog wanted to write something about him as he heads to retirement, but he realized he'd already said exactly what he wanted to say about him back in 2013.
And so, TB shares this with you again. And he congratulates Bill Carmody, one of the absolute best people TB has ever met, on an amazing career:
Somewhere in TigerBlog's closet is the mini-cassette from the 1998 Rainbow Classic press conference in Honolulu.
Of course, nowhere in TigerBlog's universe is anything to play a mini-cassette on anymore, so you'll just have to take his word for it.
Anyway, the tape is of Bill Carmody's press conference at the University of Hawaii, after Princeton defeated Charlotte to win the tournament. Carmody was asked by one of the Hawaiian sportswriters about how everyone on the team seemed comfortable shooting three-pointers, even the big men.
Carmody's response:
"Everyone here can make a three. Our center can make a three. Our SID can make a three."
He thought back to the four years when Carmody was Princeton's head coach and TB was the men's basketball SID.
Carmody went 92-25 in his four years at Princeton, and TigerBlog was at every one of those 117 games, in the locker room after each one, on the walk to the interview room after each one.
He ran the press conference in Indianapolis, hastily called, when Carmody officially took over for Pete Carril. Somewhat famously, Carril had announced his retirement after 29 seasons at Princeton after the Tigers had defeated Penn in the Ivy playoff at Lehigh in 1996 a few days earlier, when he went up to the podium in Bethlehem and basically said this:
"I'm retiring at the end of this year ... and Billy Carmody will be the new coach."
TB remembers vividly walking Carmody from the locker room into the media room in the RCA Dome (a building that no longer exists) and to a small circular table like it was yesterday, as opposed to 17 years ago.
He remembers Carmody's first game as head coach, in the 1996 preseason NIT at Indiana. After the Tigers had played hard and lost, Carmody was asked about his team's performance. He said this:
"We run the shoot and run. One guy shoots, everyone else runs back on defense."
Princeton would go 24-4 his first year and then 27-2 his second with an Ivy League record of 28-0 those two years combined. Princeton lost to Cal, with future NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez, in the 1997 NCAA tournament and then defeated UNLV before losing to Michigan State in the 1998 tournament. Princeton and Michigan State were tied in the final minute; the Spartans would start four of the same players two years later when they won the NCAA title.
The Tigers reached the NIT the next two years, but even those years had silver linings.
Princeton won that Rainbow Classic by beating Florida State, Texas and Charlotte on consecutive nights. The 1999 season featured the amazing comeback win over Penn at the Palestra, when the Tigers trailed 27-3 and 40-13 with 15 minutes left, only to rally for a 50-49 victory.
And there was the 1999 NIT, when Princeton beat Georgetown at home (playing the same five guys the entire game) and North Carolina State in Raleigh (last game in Reynolds Coliseum) before falling at Xavier, who could come back to Jadwin the next year and see future NBA player David West shoot 1 for 11.
Added up, it came to four seasons, two NCAAs, two NITs, a Top 25 national ranking in 1997, a Top 10 national ranking in 1998, 13 wins over teams currently in BCS conferences, in-season tournament wins as far away as Hawaii and as close as Madison Square Garden (where he famously called timout and when, asked by the players how to attack the zone that they didn't expect, said "you're smart guys; you'll figure it out) and perhaps the best game in any sport TigerBlog was ever at (the comeback at the Palestra).
As TB has said so many times to people since, no Ivy League basketball SID can ever ask for more than Bill Carmody provided during his time here, starting with the day Carril retired and lasting for Carmody's four years as head coach. TB was the one lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Beyond just the winning, Carmody was hilarious, especially during the walks to the postgame interview rooms and his interactions with the media once he got there.
TB can't remember ever having one problem with Carmody during the entire time he worked with him. He respected what TB did and, like the best coaches TB has worked with, made him feel like what he did was important to the program without being a phony or condescending about it.
Carmody is among the most competitive people TB has ever met, something that came out every time he'd play lunchtime basketball, let alone coach the Tigers.
TigerBlog wonders what's next for Carmody. Maybe the NBA? TB thinks he'd be awesome on television, for that matter.
He hasn't spoken to him about anything; in fact, he's only spoken to him once in the 13 years since Carmody left here.
But he's rooted for him the entire time he's been at Northwestern, a place where it's impossible to win big at and a place where he won more than the school was used to winning.
TB has two stories that completely encapsulate what Bill Carmody is all about.
The first was in practice at Jadwin one day, when a backup got beat for a layup and yelled a curse really loudly in the empty gym.
"Hey," Carmody snapped at him. TB assumed he was going to tell the kid not to use that language anymore.
"The idea of the game," Carmody said, "is to get the other guy to curse."
Then there was the lockerroom in 1999, after Princeton had defeated the Bison in Lewisburg 50-48 on Mason Rocca's hook shot with two seconds left. It was a Tuesday night, TB believes, and he's pretty sure it was raining.
He stood in the back of the locker room, sort of in an adjoining room, so he couldn't see anyone, could only hear what was being said.
Carmody told his team that night that yes they had won but no they hadn't given their best effort. He told them that they only get four years worth of opportunities to give their best effort, and to let one of them get away was something they'd regret later on.
It was such a great speech, so passionate, so insightful. It was the last thing TB expected to hear. He thought it would be "great job, let's get out of here." Instead, it's something that TB has never forgotten, something that he has referred back to in his own experiences since.
And he wasn't even a player.
His time at Princeton was a glorious one, and TB laughs and smiles every time he thinks back to those days.
TB was just lucky to have a front row seat for the Bill Carmody era here.
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