If you didn't make it all the way to 12:39 a.m., then you missed quite possibly the single most exciting baseball game ever played and the greatest World Series game of all-time.
Given that baseball goes back 150 years and the World Series goes back to 1903, that's saying a lot.
Still, what beats last night's unreal 10-9 by the Cardinals over the Rangers, on a night when the Rangers twice were one strike away from winning the first series title in franchise history, on a night when the teams combined for 19 runs, 28 hits, five errors, six home runs, 42 players used and one unbelievable twist after another?
Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956? Game 7 in 1960? Game 6 in 1975? Game 6 in 1986? With all due respect, TB watched two of those (1975, 1986) and knows a lot about the other two and sorry, they don't match up to last night.
As an aside, TB would say Game 5 in 1975 comes closest.
The tendency when something new comes along is to break out terms like "greatest ever," and TB hates when he hears or reads stuff like that when it obviously is hyperbole.
In this case? TB think it fits.
Think about it. The Rangers snapped a 4-4 tie (in what had been a messy, messy game) with back-to-back home runs and an RBI single in the seventh, going up 7-4. Even when Allen Craig got one back in the eighth, the game seemed over when the Cards left the bases loaded in the eighth, meaning it was 7-5 into the bottom of the ninth and Neftali Feliz on the mound for the Rangers.
Except it was only getting started.
So what happened? Two on, two out and David Freese - whom TB had never heard of three weeks ago - at the plate, Freese, who suddenly is the clutchest athlete alive. Freese, down to his final strike, rips one to rightfield, where Nelson Cruz may have it, may have it, may have it ... doesn't have it.
Now keep in mind that if he catches the ball, the World Series is over. And also keep in mind that he probably should have had it, only to appear to lose track of where he was in relation to the wall.
Instead, Freese ends up with a triple, tying the game at 7-7. Now keep in mind that Feliz still has to work his way out of the inning or the game will be over right there. And he does.
This brings us to the top of the 10th. With one out, Elvis Andrus singled up the middle, and up to the plate stepped Josh Hamilton, reformed drug addict who had come all the way back from appearing to flush away his great talent to become one of the most inspirational athletes of all-time, almost like a real-life Roy Hobbs. Only now, the 2010 American League MVP has been slowed by a groin injury the entire postseason and hasn't homered once - until he drilled one not off the lights but far enough to clear the fence and make it 9-7.
Over? No chance (why did Ron Washington take Feliz out?). Back come the Cards, down to their final strike again, only to have Lance Berkman line one up the middle to tie it. And then, an inning later, here came Freese again - rocketing one over the centerfield wall to make it 10-9.
And so this World Series - as good as any TB has ever seen - has one more night left, Game 7 tonight. If the Rangers lose, then this will be as agonizing as any loss in history.
Hey, TB's having a lot of fun with the superlatives right now, but they all fit. If you watched the game, you know exactly what he means.
Peter Farrell, Princeton's cross country coach, came in this morning to talk about "my Cardinals," even as TB pointed out that in all the time he's known him, he's never once heard him talk about the team.
TigerBlog is rooting for the Rangers and has never really liked the Cardinals. He did go to college with a guy from St. Louis named Sandy Friedman who was (and presumably is still) a huge Cardinals fan. For all TB knows, Sandy might have been at the game last night, but at the very least, he was definitely watching somewhere in the St. Louis area. TB was okay with the outcome, because 1) it was such a great game and 2) at least Sandy was happy.
The World Series will end tonight, one day before a huge athletic day on the Princeton campus, one during which Farrell's team will be at center stage.
Today ordinarily would have been the Ivy League Heptagonal cross country championships, held this Friday each year at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. Instead, it was moved from today in New York to tomorrow in Princeton, with the men's race at 11 and the women at noon.
Also on tomorrow's home schedule:
* field hockey vs. Cornell at noon
* football vs. Cornell at 1
* men's soccer vs. Cornell at 4
* women's soccer vs. Cornell at 7
Also on tomorrow's schedule? Horrible weather. At least a horrible forecast.
This will mark the fourth home football game of the year - and the fourth time the forecast has called for precipitation. Of course, the other three times, the bad weather was gone before kickoff.
Tomorrow? Maybe not.
So be brave, people. Bundle up and get out here. There are some great events here, beginning early and running late.
They won't be as good as the World Series, but that's okay.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Go Princeton - And America
TigerBlog was trying to figure out the history of the United States in Olympic women's field hockey, and so he googled "Olympic field hockey."
Of course, there's a Wikipedia page for that.
Except that TB can't really figure out the Wikipedia page. And he found, egads, a mistake. On Wikipedia.
How is that possible?
As Michael Scott said a long time ago, back when "The Office" was in its hilarious stage (as opposed to its current hardly watchable soap opera-esque stage), "anyone can update Wikipedia, which means you know you're getting the best possible information."
On the Wikipedia page, it says that the United States has won two bronze medals, but TB can only see one - by the women in 1984.
And then there's the table that lists participation. Unless TB is missing something, he can't figure out if that's men's field hockey, women's field hockey or both.
The men's game isn't huge in this country, though it is in other parts of the world, most notably India, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. TB also wouldn't have gotten this correct, but the last Olympic men's field hockey gold medalist was Germany.
On the women's side, the Netherlands defeated China in the gold medal game, while Argentina defeated Germany in the bronze medal game at the most recent Olympic games.
As an aside, how much must it stink to lose the bronze medal game? Once you've won in the semifinal, at least you're assured of a medal. To get to the semifinals and come away without a medal has to be an awful feeling.
Anyway, the U.S. team is on the verge of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics in London, though there is a huge hurdle in the way.
The Americans defeated Canada 4-2 in the Pan Am Games semifinal, helped by a goal from Michelle Cesan, one of four Princeton players - along with Katie Reinprecht, Julia Reinprecht and Kathleen Sharkey - who have taken this year off from school to train with the U.S. national team in hopes of reaching the Olympics, which begin July 27, 2012. The four are among the 25 players in the national team pool, and all three but Sharkey were among the 18 who are on the active Pan Am roster.
The Olympic goal would be achieved with a gold medal at the Pan Am games, but doing so would require a win against Argentina, which is ranked No. 1 in the world right now. The gold medal game will be played tomorrow in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Tomorrow will mark the fifth straight Pan Am final between the U.S. and Argentina - and the sixth in the last seven - and Argentina has won them all. The U.S. is currently ranked 13th in the world.
Of course, 12 teams will qualify for the Olympics, so tomorrow's game is not all-or-nothing for the Americans. In fact, there are three other tournaments - held in India, Japan and Belgium - early in 2012 that will fill out the rest of the field.
In the meantime, the Princeton field hockey team finds itself in a rather odd position, considering its history of success.
The conversation at this time of year for Princeton usually involves whether or not the Tigers will host the first round of the NCAA tournament, not whether the team will get the Ivy League's postseason bid.
That, though, is the current issue for Princeton field hockey.
Minus its fab four, the 2011 Princeton field hockey team has had to scratch and claw its way into what is now a favorable position for an Ivy title and postseason bid, though nothing is yet etched in stone.
A week ago, there was a five-way tie for first place in the league. Now, with two league weekends remaining, that has been whittled down to a three-way tie.
Princeton, Yale and Columbia are all 4-1 in the league, followed by Harvard and Dartmouth at 3-2, Cornell and Penn at 1-4 and Brown at 0-5.
The good news for Princeton is that it has already beaten Yale and Columbia (Princeton's loss is to Dartmouth).
In fact, Columbia hosts Yale tomorrow night, so somebody has to lose that game. Columbia also plays Harvard; Yale also plays Brown.
As for the Tigers, they host Cornell Saturday (noon) and finish the regular season at Penn next Friday night. Should Princeton win its last two games, it would get at least a share of the Ivy title and just as importantly would get the Ivy League's NCAA bid, which this year means playing the Northeast Conference winner in a play-in game (at the Ivy school).
There's no way that the Ivy field hockey race would be this close if the Reinprechts, Sharkey and Cesan were on the Princeton team. Its wins over Yale and Columbia were both by a single goal, and the Tigers have outscored their league opponents by a combined 17-7, including 10-1 the last two weeks against Brown and Harvard.
Compare that to last year, when Princeton went 7-0 and outscored the league 46-5.
But hey, that makes this year even more special, that it's been such a close struggle to get to this point. Closing out a league championship would be something unique for a program that has dominated the Ivy League with 17 titles in 18 years.
And the fab four will be back next year, resuming their playing careers at Princeton with the goal of not just an Ivy title but also a national title.
First, though, there's the final against Argentina and the quest to get into the Olympics.
TigerBlog always finds it easy to root for Princeton and the United States. Here it's even easier.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Squashed
TigerBlog isn't quite ready to say that he's a better athlete than Mitch Henderson and Brian Earl.
After yesterday, though, he'll go out on a limb and say that he's a better squash player. For now, at least.
TigerBlog was a longtime participant in the lunchtime basketball game at Jadwin Gym, something that has probably had about 400 or so different players in the last 20 years. TB actually made a list at one point, and it was well over 250 at that time.
Eventually, TB bailed on basketball, for a few reasons. First, there was the injury factor. Second, there was the foul shot factor.
The injury factor is self-evident. The foul shot factor is the idea that if there happened to be more than 10 players, then the winning team stayed on and the other team was filled by the players who had just sat out, with the remaining slots filled by a foul shooting contest among players who had just lost.
TB is an awful foul shooter, and really not much of a shooter beyond, oh, five feet. As a result, he had far too many play, lose, miss foul shot, sit and then play situations in his lunchtime hoops career.
If memory serves, though, it was when the floor in Jadwin was being redone one year that TB first started playing squash, a sport he had played exactly once in his life prior to then. That had been back in college, when TB and BrotherBlog played once, something TB doubts BB even remembers.
Anyway, it was with Mike Cross, now the athletic director at Bradley, that TB first played at Princeton. TB can't remember who won - but he can remember how badly his thighs and quads were burning the next day.
Since then, squash has been at least a three and sometimes five day a week activity, except for two rather lengthy injury recovery situations, neither of which was squash related.
Through the years, TB's main squash partner has been fellow OAC member Craig Sachson. TB imagines that he and Sachson have played close to 1,000 times, and Sachson probably has won 51% of the time. In other words, it's a very competitive rivalry.
There have been a few other opponents through the years, most notably former men's hockey coach Guy Gadowsky (let's just say Guy had difficulty differentiating between the concept of what happens when a puck goes into a corner and when a squash ball does) and former women's soccer assistant coach Scott Champ (for whom squash became something of an obsession).
When Mitch Henderson was hired as men's basketball coach, John Mack, the 10-time Heptagonal track champ who worked with Henderson at Northwestern, pointed out that Henderson was a squash player.
This past summer, TB, Sachson and Henderson ventured over to Dillon Gym to play a few times because of construction on the Jadwin courts. Henderson hadn't played in awhile, and the rust was evident.
Yesterday, Henderson and assistant coach Brian Earl said they'd be playing around noon and asked if TB and Sachson wanted to have something of a round-robin.
The basic format was that there'd be two simultaneous games to seven. The winners of those games would play on Court 10; the losers would play on Court 9.
It was apparent early on that Henderson has improved and that Earl is something of a beginner. As a result, the OACers never lost to the basketball coaches.
Something else that was apparent was that Henderson and Earl, both nearly 15 years removed from playing basketball at Princeton, are still extraordinary athletes. They cover the court (squash, that is) really quickly, because of both their speed and size.
What they aren't is experienced squash players. Once they figure out how to play - and assuming they continue to play - they'll get better very quickly.
Oh, and they're both super competitive, often diving on the court to try to win a point. It's the nature of their backgrounds, both as athletes and coaches.
Afterwards, TB and Sachson talked about the pressure of not wanting to be the first one to lose to Henderson, who came close a bunch of times to the magic number of seven. Once he gets one win, there'll be no reason to expect that he won't follow that with many more.
Beyond just the squash, TB couldn't help but think of all of the years he's know both Henderson and Earl, back to before they played their first minutes here.
They were kids really when TB first heard about them, from Pete Carril and Bill Carmody, who were ecstatic about having them come to Princeton.
They arrived at a time when Penn was in the midst of a 42-0 run in the Ivy League, one that included a 14-0 season in 1995, Henderson's freshman year. It would all change with Henderson and Earl, as well as Steve Goodrich, James Mastaglio, Sydney Johnson, Gabe Lewullis, Nate Walton, Mason Rocca, Chris Doyal and others.
Henderson's famous picture after the win over UCLA came his sophomore year, Earl's freshman year. The team would go 51-6 overall and 28-0 in the league the next two years, rising in to the national Top 10 in 1997-98, Henderson's senior year.
Even when the Class of 1998 graduated, Earl's senior year was special in a different way, with a win in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, the amazing comeback win over Penn at the Palestra and then a three-game run into the NIT.
From the start of Henderson's career through the end of Earl's - a five-year stretch - TB went to 139 of the 142 games the Tigers played. He traveled with Henderson and Earl to games in five time zones and brought both to the Jadwin interview room on countless winter nights.
Together they combined to score 2,398 points at Princeton, and they helped give Tiger fans one of the greatest eras in the history of athletics at this school.
As for TigerBlog, they helped give him way more than any athletic communications person could ever have asked. Their teams were amazing to watch, especially 139 times.
Back then, TB thought both were destined to be coaches, and he's been proven right about that. Now, together, they head up the Princeton men's coaching staff as the Tigers look to defend their Ivy League championship, in a season that begins in just a little more than two weeks.
Ah, TB could go on all day about Henderson and Earl, two of his all-time favorite Princeton athletes.
But hey, it's time for squash.
UPDATE - Mitch Henderson finally got one game off of TigerBlog and Sachson in Friday's round-robin.
After yesterday, though, he'll go out on a limb and say that he's a better squash player. For now, at least.
TigerBlog was a longtime participant in the lunchtime basketball game at Jadwin Gym, something that has probably had about 400 or so different players in the last 20 years. TB actually made a list at one point, and it was well over 250 at that time.
Eventually, TB bailed on basketball, for a few reasons. First, there was the injury factor. Second, there was the foul shot factor.
The injury factor is self-evident. The foul shot factor is the idea that if there happened to be more than 10 players, then the winning team stayed on and the other team was filled by the players who had just sat out, with the remaining slots filled by a foul shooting contest among players who had just lost.
TB is an awful foul shooter, and really not much of a shooter beyond, oh, five feet. As a result, he had far too many play, lose, miss foul shot, sit and then play situations in his lunchtime hoops career.
If memory serves, though, it was when the floor in Jadwin was being redone one year that TB first started playing squash, a sport he had played exactly once in his life prior to then. That had been back in college, when TB and BrotherBlog played once, something TB doubts BB even remembers.
Anyway, it was with Mike Cross, now the athletic director at Bradley, that TB first played at Princeton. TB can't remember who won - but he can remember how badly his thighs and quads were burning the next day.
Since then, squash has been at least a three and sometimes five day a week activity, except for two rather lengthy injury recovery situations, neither of which was squash related.
Through the years, TB's main squash partner has been fellow OAC member Craig Sachson. TB imagines that he and Sachson have played close to 1,000 times, and Sachson probably has won 51% of the time. In other words, it's a very competitive rivalry.
There have been a few other opponents through the years, most notably former men's hockey coach Guy Gadowsky (let's just say Guy had difficulty differentiating between the concept of what happens when a puck goes into a corner and when a squash ball does) and former women's soccer assistant coach Scott Champ (for whom squash became something of an obsession).
When Mitch Henderson was hired as men's basketball coach, John Mack, the 10-time Heptagonal track champ who worked with Henderson at Northwestern, pointed out that Henderson was a squash player.
This past summer, TB, Sachson and Henderson ventured over to Dillon Gym to play a few times because of construction on the Jadwin courts. Henderson hadn't played in awhile, and the rust was evident.
Yesterday, Henderson and assistant coach Brian Earl said they'd be playing around noon and asked if TB and Sachson wanted to have something of a round-robin.
The basic format was that there'd be two simultaneous games to seven. The winners of those games would play on Court 10; the losers would play on Court 9.
It was apparent early on that Henderson has improved and that Earl is something of a beginner. As a result, the OACers never lost to the basketball coaches.
Something else that was apparent was that Henderson and Earl, both nearly 15 years removed from playing basketball at Princeton, are still extraordinary athletes. They cover the court (squash, that is) really quickly, because of both their speed and size.
What they aren't is experienced squash players. Once they figure out how to play - and assuming they continue to play - they'll get better very quickly.
Oh, and they're both super competitive, often diving on the court to try to win a point. It's the nature of their backgrounds, both as athletes and coaches.
Afterwards, TB and Sachson talked about the pressure of not wanting to be the first one to lose to Henderson, who came close a bunch of times to the magic number of seven. Once he gets one win, there'll be no reason to expect that he won't follow that with many more.
Beyond just the squash, TB couldn't help but think of all of the years he's know both Henderson and Earl, back to before they played their first minutes here.
They were kids really when TB first heard about them, from Pete Carril and Bill Carmody, who were ecstatic about having them come to Princeton.
They arrived at a time when Penn was in the midst of a 42-0 run in the Ivy League, one that included a 14-0 season in 1995, Henderson's freshman year. It would all change with Henderson and Earl, as well as Steve Goodrich, James Mastaglio, Sydney Johnson, Gabe Lewullis, Nate Walton, Mason Rocca, Chris Doyal and others.
Henderson's famous picture after the win over UCLA came his sophomore year, Earl's freshman year. The team would go 51-6 overall and 28-0 in the league the next two years, rising in to the national Top 10 in 1997-98, Henderson's senior year.
Even when the Class of 1998 graduated, Earl's senior year was special in a different way, with a win in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii, the amazing comeback win over Penn at the Palestra and then a three-game run into the NIT.
From the start of Henderson's career through the end of Earl's - a five-year stretch - TB went to 139 of the 142 games the Tigers played. He traveled with Henderson and Earl to games in five time zones and brought both to the Jadwin interview room on countless winter nights.
Together they combined to score 2,398 points at Princeton, and they helped give Tiger fans one of the greatest eras in the history of athletics at this school.
As for TigerBlog, they helped give him way more than any athletic communications person could ever have asked. Their teams were amazing to watch, especially 139 times.
Back then, TB thought both were destined to be coaches, and he's been proven right about that. Now, together, they head up the Princeton men's coaching staff as the Tigers look to defend their Ivy League championship, in a season that begins in just a little more than two weeks.
Ah, TB could go on all day about Henderson and Earl, two of his all-time favorite Princeton athletes.
But hey, it's time for squash.
UPDATE - Mitch Henderson finally got one game off of TigerBlog and Sachson in Friday's round-robin.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Chasing The Back In Black
TigerBlog was watching "Jeopardy" the other day when one of the answers asked what cabinet department Bruce Babbit headed up in the Clinton administration. For some reason, TB knew that it was the Interior.
How did TB remember that? Why? He has no idea.
It's useless information, the kind that just floats around in his head, bouncing around song lyrics, movie lines, historical dates - and of course Princeton athletic records.
There are some records here that TB is reasonably sure of, and there are others that are fuzzier.
The other day, TB was talking about the time he went to Nova Scotia to see Princeton play Ohio in men's basketball, back on the day after Thanksgiving of 1999. He was positive that Chris Young set the school record blocked shots in a game that day, and he was sure it was either nine or 10. As it turned out, it was 10.
There are some numbers, though, that are just seared into TB's brain, and they are unable to be forgotten.
Numbers like 2,503.
Or 11.
Or 40-13.
Or 43-41.
Or 53 and 163.
Or 41 seconds.
Or 20 and 12.
Or many others.
For those who are curious, those numbers correspond to: the number of points Bill Bradley scored in his career, the number of 40 point games Bradley had at Princeton (nobody else has ever had one), the largest deficit Princeton faced against Penn in the 1999 comeback game at the Palestra, the final score of the Princeton-UCLA game, the number of goals Jesse Hubbard scored in a season and career, the time remaining in the first overtime when B.J. Prager scored against Syracuse in the 2001 NCAA final and the number of goals and assists Esmeralda Negron had while leading Princeton to the 2004 NCAA Final Four.
Another number that's impossible to forget is 4,208, the number of career rushing yards Keith Elias had at Princeton.
His total is 1,099 more than the second-best total of Judd Garrett. Cameron Atkinson ranks third all-time at Princeton with 2,449 rushing yards, which means that no player who was eligible to play four varsity seasons ever came closer than 1,759 yards away from Elias, who could only play for three varsity seasons.
TigerBlog has been around Princeton athletes for nearly three decades, and some of his all-time favorite people played sports at Princeton.
When it comes to sheer charisma, there is only one athlete who has ever rivaled Elias, and that's men's lacrosse player Ryan Boyle.
If you didn't know Elias or never saw him play, this is all you need to know: All conversation always stopped the second he entered the room.
Dressed always in all black, usually with sunglasses, Elias would stroll into the media room at the time - the lounge in the Caldwell Field House - and talk with such confidence and self-assuredness that it seemed absurd to even remotely question anything that came out his mouth.
Anyway, current freshman Chuck Dibilio is leading Princeton in rushing with 536 yards, 300 more than the next highest total on the team and already the highest single-season rushing total by a freshman in school history.
Dibilio has exploded onto the Princeton football scene, especially at a position where such an explosion is so noticeable.
The question is, what does the future hold for Dibilio?
Can he catch Elias?
Well, at his current average of 89.3 yards per game, Dibilio would finish his career with 3,215 yards, or just under 1,000 away from Elias.
At his current rate, Dibilio would finish his freshman year with just about 900 yards. That would leave him needing to average 110 yards per game for 30 more games to equal Elias.
Can he do it? Of course, he has to stay healthy, though Elias did essentially miss one game of his career due to injury.
He'd also have to have some monster games along the way, like Elias did, like the seven times he went over 200 yards.
It's too early to think of Dibilio in terms of history, not with his career still in its infancy.
One thing that Dibilio does have is a bit of a "wow" factor, the thought that anytime he touches the ball he's about do to something special. Elias had that to an extraordinary degree.
It's hard to describe just how exciting a player Elias was if you didn't see him. He was also a winning player - Princeton went 8-2 each of his three varsity seasons.
Princeton football isn't on that level right now. A player like Dibilio is a great foundation for the rebuilding process - whether he finishes with 4,209 yards or doesn't approach Elias.
How did TB remember that? Why? He has no idea.
It's useless information, the kind that just floats around in his head, bouncing around song lyrics, movie lines, historical dates - and of course Princeton athletic records.
There are some records here that TB is reasonably sure of, and there are others that are fuzzier.
The other day, TB was talking about the time he went to Nova Scotia to see Princeton play Ohio in men's basketball, back on the day after Thanksgiving of 1999. He was positive that Chris Young set the school record blocked shots in a game that day, and he was sure it was either nine or 10. As it turned out, it was 10.
There are some numbers, though, that are just seared into TB's brain, and they are unable to be forgotten.
Numbers like 2,503.
Or 11.
Or 40-13.
Or 43-41.
Or 53 and 163.
Or 41 seconds.
Or 20 and 12.
Or many others.
For those who are curious, those numbers correspond to: the number of points Bill Bradley scored in his career, the number of 40 point games Bradley had at Princeton (nobody else has ever had one), the largest deficit Princeton faced against Penn in the 1999 comeback game at the Palestra, the final score of the Princeton-UCLA game, the number of goals Jesse Hubbard scored in a season and career, the time remaining in the first overtime when B.J. Prager scored against Syracuse in the 2001 NCAA final and the number of goals and assists Esmeralda Negron had while leading Princeton to the 2004 NCAA Final Four.
Another number that's impossible to forget is 4,208, the number of career rushing yards Keith Elias had at Princeton.
His total is 1,099 more than the second-best total of Judd Garrett. Cameron Atkinson ranks third all-time at Princeton with 2,449 rushing yards, which means that no player who was eligible to play four varsity seasons ever came closer than 1,759 yards away from Elias, who could only play for three varsity seasons.
TigerBlog has been around Princeton athletes for nearly three decades, and some of his all-time favorite people played sports at Princeton.
When it comes to sheer charisma, there is only one athlete who has ever rivaled Elias, and that's men's lacrosse player Ryan Boyle.
If you didn't know Elias or never saw him play, this is all you need to know: All conversation always stopped the second he entered the room.
Dressed always in all black, usually with sunglasses, Elias would stroll into the media room at the time - the lounge in the Caldwell Field House - and talk with such confidence and self-assuredness that it seemed absurd to even remotely question anything that came out his mouth.
Anyway, current freshman Chuck Dibilio is leading Princeton in rushing with 536 yards, 300 more than the next highest total on the team and already the highest single-season rushing total by a freshman in school history.
Dibilio has exploded onto the Princeton football scene, especially at a position where such an explosion is so noticeable.
The question is, what does the future hold for Dibilio?
Can he catch Elias?
Well, at his current average of 89.3 yards per game, Dibilio would finish his career with 3,215 yards, or just under 1,000 away from Elias.
At his current rate, Dibilio would finish his freshman year with just about 900 yards. That would leave him needing to average 110 yards per game for 30 more games to equal Elias.
Can he do it? Of course, he has to stay healthy, though Elias did essentially miss one game of his career due to injury.
He'd also have to have some monster games along the way, like Elias did, like the seven times he went over 200 yards.
It's too early to think of Dibilio in terms of history, not with his career still in its infancy.
One thing that Dibilio does have is a bit of a "wow" factor, the thought that anytime he touches the ball he's about do to something special. Elias had that to an extraordinary degree.
It's hard to describe just how exciting a player Elias was if you didn't see him. He was also a winning player - Princeton went 8-2 each of his three varsity seasons.
Princeton football isn't on that level right now. A player like Dibilio is a great foundation for the rebuilding process - whether he finishes with 4,209 yards or doesn't approach Elias.
Monday, October 24, 2011
That's A Negative
Princeton's former marketing director Scott Jurgens now works at East Carolina, and there his new team was on Saturday afternoon, playing at Navy.
TigerBlog tuned in just in time to see a graphic flash that read that ECU's quarterback, Dominique Davis (apparently Scott only works at schools where arguably the most well-known athlete is D. Davis) was 19 for 19 passing.
TB texted Scott, who was not at the game. Instead, he was busy putting an East Carolina purple sweatshirt on his dog Barnaby.
As it turned out, Davis wasn't done yet.
The ECU quarterback went 26 for 26 in the first half. Yes, many of his completions were short dump-offs, but he did throw for 256 first-half yards. And besides, how many quarterbacks can go 26 for 26 without a defense on the field?
For the day, Davis finished 40 for 45 for 372 yards in a 38-35 win, one accomplished on a blocked field goal on the final play.
Davis set two records in the game.
First, his 26 straight completions to start the game (his first of the second half was incomplete) were the NCAA single-game record, breaking the old record of 23 set by Tee Martin of Tennessee and none other than Aaron Rodgers, the Packer quarterback, when he was at Cal.
Davis had also completed his last 10 passes against Houston the week before, which gave him 36 straight completions over two games, which is the overall record for consecutive completions.
Given TigerBlog's occupation, he starts to get curious about the historical significance of accomplishments as they unfold, such as completing a bunch of passes in a row or, in Princeton's case, having Chuck Dibilio or Matt Costello put together rushing or receiving yards that obviously have to be approaching or exceeding freshman records here.
The question that TB has always had, also given his occupation, is what responsibility does an athletic communications staff have in terms of providing negative information about its own teams?
For instance, if you're the Navy sports information staff, do you have an obligation to let everyone know that the visiting quarterback is setting a record against your team?
It's actually one of the great dilemmas in athletic communications.
Maybe not for that specific situation. In that case, yes, if you've looked it up, then there's nothing wrong with letting the press box know what's going on.
But what if your team, say, ranks statistically last in the country in something? Or is approaching programmatic records for futility?
What if the release before a game talks about a player who is on a long streak of, oh, missing three-pointers. Maybe a player scored five goals on the first 10 shots of the season but hasn't scored on the last 20 or so?
Does the athletic communications person attempt to create a context for a season? Or is it taboo to go down the path of any negativity.
Fortunately here at Princeton, with its athletic success, the people in athletic communications way more often than not are faced with positive notes and stats and such.
At the same time, that makes the negative stuff stand out more and be more obvious.
Also, there is the whole issue of being a "flack" or engaging in "spin." If you do that, you won't be taken seriously - and it'll be obvious to any reader that there are huge omissions in the information being produced.
TigerBlog's background is in newspapers, where the negative is usually more preferred than the positive, though TB never really went down that path. Instead, he's a big fan of objective context, something that allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
Here at Princeton, TB has had to deal with some coaches who weren't happy about what was being written about their teams. In most cases, it wasn't after something like "Princeton has its longest losing streak in 25 years" but more like when the information was construed by the coach as painting that team's style of play in a negative light, which would then (at least according to the coach) impact recruiting.
For instance, the 2001 Princeton men's basketball team won the Ivy League championship and played in the NCAA tournament and yet never at any point of the season had a player dunk the ball. John Thompson, then Princeton's coach, didn't like when TB would write that the team had 200 or so three-pointers but no dunks, because he felt it played to a stereotype that more up-tempo recruits wouldn't embrace.
Of course, the next recruiting class included Judson Wallace and Will Venable. Still, TB understood his point, or at least the concept of his point.
In athletic communications, there's a fine line between promoting teams and doing everything that can be done to pump up the players and coaches and coming across as a disingenuous lacky that isn't taken seriously.
When in doubt, it's not necessary to go over the top with information or notes that paint teams negatively. At the same time, it's important to be professional and legitimize the information that is produced.
Still, the line is blurry.
Another time that sticks out to TB was when Princeton's football team in the late 1990s was stopping the run but unable to run itself. TB came up with this:
"1.4 yards and a cloud of dust - Princeton and its opponents both average 1.4 yards per rush."
Acceptable?
TigerBlog tuned in just in time to see a graphic flash that read that ECU's quarterback, Dominique Davis (apparently Scott only works at schools where arguably the most well-known athlete is D. Davis) was 19 for 19 passing.
TB texted Scott, who was not at the game. Instead, he was busy putting an East Carolina purple sweatshirt on his dog Barnaby.
As it turned out, Davis wasn't done yet.
The ECU quarterback went 26 for 26 in the first half. Yes, many of his completions were short dump-offs, but he did throw for 256 first-half yards. And besides, how many quarterbacks can go 26 for 26 without a defense on the field?
For the day, Davis finished 40 for 45 for 372 yards in a 38-35 win, one accomplished on a blocked field goal on the final play.
Davis set two records in the game.
First, his 26 straight completions to start the game (his first of the second half was incomplete) were the NCAA single-game record, breaking the old record of 23 set by Tee Martin of Tennessee and none other than Aaron Rodgers, the Packer quarterback, when he was at Cal.
Davis had also completed his last 10 passes against Houston the week before, which gave him 36 straight completions over two games, which is the overall record for consecutive completions.
Given TigerBlog's occupation, he starts to get curious about the historical significance of accomplishments as they unfold, such as completing a bunch of passes in a row or, in Princeton's case, having Chuck Dibilio or Matt Costello put together rushing or receiving yards that obviously have to be approaching or exceeding freshman records here.
The question that TB has always had, also given his occupation, is what responsibility does an athletic communications staff have in terms of providing negative information about its own teams?
For instance, if you're the Navy sports information staff, do you have an obligation to let everyone know that the visiting quarterback is setting a record against your team?
It's actually one of the great dilemmas in athletic communications.
Maybe not for that specific situation. In that case, yes, if you've looked it up, then there's nothing wrong with letting the press box know what's going on.
But what if your team, say, ranks statistically last in the country in something? Or is approaching programmatic records for futility?
What if the release before a game talks about a player who is on a long streak of, oh, missing three-pointers. Maybe a player scored five goals on the first 10 shots of the season but hasn't scored on the last 20 or so?
Does the athletic communications person attempt to create a context for a season? Or is it taboo to go down the path of any negativity.
Fortunately here at Princeton, with its athletic success, the people in athletic communications way more often than not are faced with positive notes and stats and such.
At the same time, that makes the negative stuff stand out more and be more obvious.
Also, there is the whole issue of being a "flack" or engaging in "spin." If you do that, you won't be taken seriously - and it'll be obvious to any reader that there are huge omissions in the information being produced.
TigerBlog's background is in newspapers, where the negative is usually more preferred than the positive, though TB never really went down that path. Instead, he's a big fan of objective context, something that allows the reader to draw his or her own conclusions.
Here at Princeton, TB has had to deal with some coaches who weren't happy about what was being written about their teams. In most cases, it wasn't after something like "Princeton has its longest losing streak in 25 years" but more like when the information was construed by the coach as painting that team's style of play in a negative light, which would then (at least according to the coach) impact recruiting.
For instance, the 2001 Princeton men's basketball team won the Ivy League championship and played in the NCAA tournament and yet never at any point of the season had a player dunk the ball. John Thompson, then Princeton's coach, didn't like when TB would write that the team had 200 or so three-pointers but no dunks, because he felt it played to a stereotype that more up-tempo recruits wouldn't embrace.
Of course, the next recruiting class included Judson Wallace and Will Venable. Still, TB understood his point, or at least the concept of his point.
In athletic communications, there's a fine line between promoting teams and doing everything that can be done to pump up the players and coaches and coming across as a disingenuous lacky that isn't taken seriously.
When in doubt, it's not necessary to go over the top with information or notes that paint teams negatively. At the same time, it's important to be professional and legitimize the information that is produced.
Still, the line is blurry.
Another time that sticks out to TB was when Princeton's football team in the late 1990s was stopping the run but unable to run itself. TB came up with this:
"1.4 yards and a cloud of dust - Princeton and its opponents both average 1.4 yards per rush."
Acceptable?
Friday, October 21, 2011
Run, Forrest
Do you know what movie ranks first on the IMDB.com Top 250? No, it's not "The Godfather" or "Citizen Kane" or "Gone With The Wind."
It's actually "The Shawshank Redemption," which has a score of 9.2 out of 10 and edges out "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" in the top three.
"Shawshank" is a great movie, obviously, though TigerBlog isn't ready to call it the greatest movie of all-time. It's definitely in the Top 50 or maybe even higher, and it certainly has great characters, a great story, great scenes and a nearly perfect ending.
What it doesn't have is the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1994. That honor belongs to "Forrest Gump," a movie that checked in at 28th on the IMDB list.
In fact, at the Academy Awards that year, Tom Hanks won Best Actor, beating out Morgan Freeman from "Shawshank" (who should have been Best Supporting Actor), while Tim Robbins - who played Andy in "Shawshank" - wasn't even nominated.
TigerBlog holds grudges against some movies that won Best Picture over others, such as "Chariots of Fire" over "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Unforgiven" over both "A Few Good Men" and "Scent of A Woman," not to mention the biggest travesty of all, "Shakespeare In Love" over "Saving Private Ryan."
In the case of "Forrest Gump," it beat out two of the top five movies in the IMDB list (which, by the way, is merely a ranking done by people who go to the website), winning Best Picture over "Shawshank" and "Pulp Fiction."
TB likes "Forrest Gump," though he's never quite understood the message. Is it that some things are just destiny and others can be controlled? Is it just supposed to be a nostalgic look at some of the major events of the late 20th century? Is there no message?
"Gump" was on the other night, and TB was switching back and forth between that and another Best Picture winner, "From Here to Eternity," which stunningly isn't in the IMDB Top 250. By any objective view, "From Here To Eternity" is one of the 25 best American movies of all-time.
Flipping back and forth, TB was able to see most of his favorite scenes from both.
The best parts of "Forrest Gump" are the ones in Vietnam, the one where he first becomes a shrimp boat captain and the best one, where he sees Jenny in Washington.
As for "From Here To Eternity," every scene is great, pretty much. If TB had to pick his favorite moments, it'd be anytime Burt Lancaster speaks.
As an aside, Lancaster did not win Best Actor of 1953. Nope, that went to another military role, William Holden's portrayal of Sefton in "Stalag 17." TB is fine with that choice.
Going back to "Gump," it loses TB in the parts where he runs across the country and back and around and over and finally stops. TB has no idea what it's supposed to symbolize, what is means, why it was important to be in the movie in the first place or any of it. He also didn't like it at all.
Really, what was the point of it? This one is completely lost on TigerBlog.
"Gump" ran across the country.
As for Princeton cross country (that's a great segue, even by TB's standards), well, the first really big meet of the year is a little more than a week away, as the Ivy League Heptagonal championships come to Princeton on Oct. 29.
Actually, that's a huge day of events at Princeton, with Heps cross country in the morning followed by football, field hockey and men's and women's soccer against Cornell through the day.
Princeton swept the Heps titles a year ago. The Princeton women have won the last five years, and they are one of the favorites, along with Yale and Columbia.
As for the men, they lost by one point to Columbia two years ago, which is the men's only loss in the last five years. Princeton won convincingly last year.
This year, Princeton will enter the race ranked in the Top 10 nationally, unless the Tigers fall two spots without running a step this weekend.
Princeton is ranked ninth in this week's poll, after having finished fourth last weekend among 21 ranked teams in the meet at Wisconsin. This is Princeton's first trip into the national Top 10 for the men since 1998.
Heps cross country is one of TB's favorite events each year, and he'll miss not heading up to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx this Friday, which and where the meet is usually held. This year, because of construction at Van Cortlandt, it'll be held on Princeton's West Windsor fields before returning to New York next year.
If you've never seen a major cross country race, don't miss the Heps this year. It's a wild scene, as runners move up and down at the end, leaving spectators bewildered as to where the team standings are from second to second.
And the runners certainly give their all, as many collapse after crossing the finish line.
And then there's football, field hockey and two soccer games.
Princeton hasn't had that many home events the last few weeks, but next Saturday will more than make up for it.
Get it circled, and get out there, starting with the men at 11 a.m. and then followed by the women.
It's actually "The Shawshank Redemption," which has a score of 9.2 out of 10 and edges out "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II" in the top three.
"Shawshank" is a great movie, obviously, though TigerBlog isn't ready to call it the greatest movie of all-time. It's definitely in the Top 50 or maybe even higher, and it certainly has great characters, a great story, great scenes and a nearly perfect ending.
What it doesn't have is the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1994. That honor belongs to "Forrest Gump," a movie that checked in at 28th on the IMDB list.
In fact, at the Academy Awards that year, Tom Hanks won Best Actor, beating out Morgan Freeman from "Shawshank" (who should have been Best Supporting Actor), while Tim Robbins - who played Andy in "Shawshank" - wasn't even nominated.
TigerBlog holds grudges against some movies that won Best Picture over others, such as "Chariots of Fire" over "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Unforgiven" over both "A Few Good Men" and "Scent of A Woman," not to mention the biggest travesty of all, "Shakespeare In Love" over "Saving Private Ryan."
In the case of "Forrest Gump," it beat out two of the top five movies in the IMDB list (which, by the way, is merely a ranking done by people who go to the website), winning Best Picture over "Shawshank" and "Pulp Fiction."
TB likes "Forrest Gump," though he's never quite understood the message. Is it that some things are just destiny and others can be controlled? Is it just supposed to be a nostalgic look at some of the major events of the late 20th century? Is there no message?
"Gump" was on the other night, and TB was switching back and forth between that and another Best Picture winner, "From Here to Eternity," which stunningly isn't in the IMDB Top 250. By any objective view, "From Here To Eternity" is one of the 25 best American movies of all-time.
Flipping back and forth, TB was able to see most of his favorite scenes from both.
The best parts of "Forrest Gump" are the ones in Vietnam, the one where he first becomes a shrimp boat captain and the best one, where he sees Jenny in Washington.
As for "From Here To Eternity," every scene is great, pretty much. If TB had to pick his favorite moments, it'd be anytime Burt Lancaster speaks.
As an aside, Lancaster did not win Best Actor of 1953. Nope, that went to another military role, William Holden's portrayal of Sefton in "Stalag 17." TB is fine with that choice.
Going back to "Gump," it loses TB in the parts where he runs across the country and back and around and over and finally stops. TB has no idea what it's supposed to symbolize, what is means, why it was important to be in the movie in the first place or any of it. He also didn't like it at all.
Really, what was the point of it? This one is completely lost on TigerBlog.
"Gump" ran across the country.
As for Princeton cross country (that's a great segue, even by TB's standards), well, the first really big meet of the year is a little more than a week away, as the Ivy League Heptagonal championships come to Princeton on Oct. 29.
Actually, that's a huge day of events at Princeton, with Heps cross country in the morning followed by football, field hockey and men's and women's soccer against Cornell through the day.
Princeton swept the Heps titles a year ago. The Princeton women have won the last five years, and they are one of the favorites, along with Yale and Columbia.
As for the men, they lost by one point to Columbia two years ago, which is the men's only loss in the last five years. Princeton won convincingly last year.
This year, Princeton will enter the race ranked in the Top 10 nationally, unless the Tigers fall two spots without running a step this weekend.
Princeton is ranked ninth in this week's poll, after having finished fourth last weekend among 21 ranked teams in the meet at Wisconsin. This is Princeton's first trip into the national Top 10 for the men since 1998.
Heps cross country is one of TB's favorite events each year, and he'll miss not heading up to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx this Friday, which and where the meet is usually held. This year, because of construction at Van Cortlandt, it'll be held on Princeton's West Windsor fields before returning to New York next year.
If you've never seen a major cross country race, don't miss the Heps this year. It's a wild scene, as runners move up and down at the end, leaving spectators bewildered as to where the team standings are from second to second.
And the runners certainly give their all, as many collapse after crossing the finish line.
And then there's football, field hockey and two soccer games.
Princeton hasn't had that many home events the last few weeks, but next Saturday will more than make up for it.
Get it circled, and get out there, starting with the men at 11 a.m. and then followed by the women.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
If The World Series Falls In The Forest ...
Raise your hand if you care about the World Series.
Okay. Now raise your hand if you used to care about the World Series.
If you're like TigerBlog, then you didn't raise your hand the first time and did raise your hand the second time.
There was a time that the World Series was a big deal to TigerBlog, as big as any annual sporting event. It didn't matter who the teams were either.
In fact, TB goes back before the World Series was played at night, to a time when they were all day games. His earliest memories of the World Series are somewhat romanticized, though not quite to the level of FatherBlog, who grew up a New York Giants fan in Brooklyn during the 1940s and 1950s.
One year while TB was in high school, one of his teachers - an English teacher named Mr. Ridley - allowed the students to pick one of the teams in the Series as part of a bet of sorts. If a student wanted to participate - not mandatory, but as TB remembers it, everyone did - then a team would be selected, and the difference in Series wins between that team and the other team would be added or subtracted from the next test.
TigerBlog bet against the Yankees - and it cost him two points on a test.
Game 1 of the 2011 World Series was last night, and the Cardinals beat the Rangers 3-2.
As an aside, the idea of allowing the league that wins the all-star game to have home field advantage for the World Series is nuts.
Anyway, as TB drove around yesterday afternoon listening to sports talk radio, he heard a lot about Rex Ryan's comments about how he'd have won two rings if he'd been hired as the coach of the San Diego Chargers when Norv Turner was or the merits of the Carson Palmer-to-the-Raiders trade.
He heard nothing - or very little - about the World Series.
Think it'd be remotely possible for the reverse to be true? Will there be hotstove baseball talk on the days leading up to the Super Bowl? Uh, nope.
This World Series is an intriguing one on many levels.
On the one hand, there's the Cardinals, one of the most venerable franchises in baseball history. They are led by arguably the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols, as well as a manager who is easy to dislike. They have gotten hot at the right time, have played some dramatic games in the playoffs and have had some unfamiliar players make a big leap to the forefront.
On the other hand, there are the Rangers, in their second-straight World Series - and second all-time. They have a very likeable manager and what appears to be a team of nice guys. They also have the most compelling story in baseball bar none - the resurrection from drug addiction of Josh Hamilton.
So why does nobody care?
Is it because baseball is past its prime? Because football simply dominates baseball? Because of the residue of the steroid era? Because of all of the other entertainment options out there?
TB spent years and years driving back from away Princeton football games listening to postseason baseball on the radio, usually from trips to Harvard or Cornell.
He's pretty sure it was the ride back from Harvard in 2003 when TB heard the accounts of Josh Beckett as he two-hit the Yankees in Game 6 to give the World Series to the Florida Marlins.
TigerBlog went on basically every football road trip from 1990 or so through about 2004. They are among his favorite memories of working here.
This even includes the time it took seven hours on a Friday to get to Brown, a trip that included a two-hour stop on a New York highway as the Pope's helicopter landed nearby for a visit to a church.
Traffic? Yes, TB spent hours and hours in it on Fridays, especially heading up 95 through Connecticut on his way to Brown or Harvard or Dartmouth. The goal was always to leave by 11 or so in the morning - but it never worked out that way.
Through the years, TB find every possible shortcut, alternate route, eatery and anything else along the various paths.
The Friday night before the game was often spent at dinner with the home team's sports information people, back when there was a greater camaraderie among the league's staffs, largely because of how much more had to be done in-person or on the phone, rather than by email.
Saturday mornings often included time spent at the tailgates, or possibly at soccer or field hockey if they started early enough and were at the same site.
TigerBlog won't be making the trip to Harvard this weekend, where the forecast is for 65 and sunny. It's a full day of Princeton vs. Harvard, with games in field hockey, football and men's and women's soccer.
It's the kind of weekend TB used to love. Lots to do, lots of people around. A chance to see everyone, enjoy the fall weather, watch some great games.
And then listen to the World Series on the way back.
Instead, TB has a busy day planned, and he'll find time to listen to the football game.
And maybe watch the World Series.
Or maybe not.
What's the big deal?
Okay. Now raise your hand if you used to care about the World Series.
If you're like TigerBlog, then you didn't raise your hand the first time and did raise your hand the second time.
There was a time that the World Series was a big deal to TigerBlog, as big as any annual sporting event. It didn't matter who the teams were either.
In fact, TB goes back before the World Series was played at night, to a time when they were all day games. His earliest memories of the World Series are somewhat romanticized, though not quite to the level of FatherBlog, who grew up a New York Giants fan in Brooklyn during the 1940s and 1950s.
One year while TB was in high school, one of his teachers - an English teacher named Mr. Ridley - allowed the students to pick one of the teams in the Series as part of a bet of sorts. If a student wanted to participate - not mandatory, but as TB remembers it, everyone did - then a team would be selected, and the difference in Series wins between that team and the other team would be added or subtracted from the next test.
TigerBlog bet against the Yankees - and it cost him two points on a test.
Game 1 of the 2011 World Series was last night, and the Cardinals beat the Rangers 3-2.
As an aside, the idea of allowing the league that wins the all-star game to have home field advantage for the World Series is nuts.
Anyway, as TB drove around yesterday afternoon listening to sports talk radio, he heard a lot about Rex Ryan's comments about how he'd have won two rings if he'd been hired as the coach of the San Diego Chargers when Norv Turner was or the merits of the Carson Palmer-to-the-Raiders trade.
He heard nothing - or very little - about the World Series.
Think it'd be remotely possible for the reverse to be true? Will there be hotstove baseball talk on the days leading up to the Super Bowl? Uh, nope.
This World Series is an intriguing one on many levels.
On the one hand, there's the Cardinals, one of the most venerable franchises in baseball history. They are led by arguably the best player in baseball, Albert Pujols, as well as a manager who is easy to dislike. They have gotten hot at the right time, have played some dramatic games in the playoffs and have had some unfamiliar players make a big leap to the forefront.
On the other hand, there are the Rangers, in their second-straight World Series - and second all-time. They have a very likeable manager and what appears to be a team of nice guys. They also have the most compelling story in baseball bar none - the resurrection from drug addiction of Josh Hamilton.
So why does nobody care?
Is it because baseball is past its prime? Because football simply dominates baseball? Because of the residue of the steroid era? Because of all of the other entertainment options out there?
TB spent years and years driving back from away Princeton football games listening to postseason baseball on the radio, usually from trips to Harvard or Cornell.
He's pretty sure it was the ride back from Harvard in 2003 when TB heard the accounts of Josh Beckett as he two-hit the Yankees in Game 6 to give the World Series to the Florida Marlins.
TigerBlog went on basically every football road trip from 1990 or so through about 2004. They are among his favorite memories of working here.
This even includes the time it took seven hours on a Friday to get to Brown, a trip that included a two-hour stop on a New York highway as the Pope's helicopter landed nearby for a visit to a church.
Traffic? Yes, TB spent hours and hours in it on Fridays, especially heading up 95 through Connecticut on his way to Brown or Harvard or Dartmouth. The goal was always to leave by 11 or so in the morning - but it never worked out that way.
Through the years, TB find every possible shortcut, alternate route, eatery and anything else along the various paths.
The Friday night before the game was often spent at dinner with the home team's sports information people, back when there was a greater camaraderie among the league's staffs, largely because of how much more had to be done in-person or on the phone, rather than by email.
Saturday mornings often included time spent at the tailgates, or possibly at soccer or field hockey if they started early enough and were at the same site.
TigerBlog won't be making the trip to Harvard this weekend, where the forecast is for 65 and sunny. It's a full day of Princeton vs. Harvard, with games in field hockey, football and men's and women's soccer.
It's the kind of weekend TB used to love. Lots to do, lots of people around. A chance to see everyone, enjoy the fall weather, watch some great games.
And then listen to the World Series on the way back.
Instead, TB has a busy day planned, and he'll find time to listen to the football game.
And maybe watch the World Series.
Or maybe not.
What's the big deal?
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Dog Days
Little Miss TigerBlog takes cello lessons once a week, at the home of a local high school student who appears in TigerBlog's contact list as "Cello Meg."
Each week, when TB drops LMTB off for her 45-minute lesson, Cello Meg's dog Sam - LMTB calls him "Samuel" - comes bounding to the front door, looking for a little affection.
As an aside, if you have to drop someone off for 45 minutes, what do you do in the interim? You can't really stay. You can't really go anywhere, because you have to turn around and come back. It's a weekly conundrum.
Anyway, Sam is a big black Portuguese something dog, one with a really long tail that he whacks back and forth against whatever gets in its way and with very sharp nails that he uses to scratch an unsuspecting visitor who has not been petting him enough.
Still, TB is a fan of Sam's. And Cello Meg has taught him a trick where he appears to do a dance, which is very cute.
Dogs are a lot of work. Maybe not as much as kids, but they're close. Mostly, it's the walking, before they turn your house into their own limitless toilet.
And then there's the whole overwhelming emotional attachment you can get to a the dog, knowing full well that it has a life expectancy of 10-14 years or so.
Of course, there is something special about a dog, especially when it looks at you and seems to be saying something that you can clearly understand, a thought of how the two of you are buddies and don't really need to be able to speak the same language or be the same species for that matter to both know what's going on.
TB had a dog when he was a kid, a toy poodle named Louis XVI, named by his cousin who named a whole litter of puppies after French Revolution figures (his parents were named Napoleon and Josephine, which sort of reversed history, but hey, they were toy poodles, not people).
One amazing thing about dogs is that they know that other types of dogs are still dogs, while things like cats and squirrels aren't, regardless of whether the other dog is five times the size or tiny or a different color or with wildly different ears or any of it. How does the dog know that's another dog?
LMTB plays field hockey on Saturday mornings, and TB is always amazed by how many people bring their dogs with them to the fields where the girls are playing.
Last Saturday, TB noticed a tiny dog in a red dog sweater, which was a good look for it. When a big dog came along, sweater dog hid under its owner's chair and wailed.
Shortly after that, another big lab-type dog strolled by, while a really, really tiny dog stood by. When they came close to each other, the little one jumped up to get face-to-face with the lab and stood for a second with its paws on the bigger dog for support. After falling, the little dog tried it again and actually landed on the lab's back, for a brief second at least.
Princeton's facilities have signs saying that dogs are not permitted, though that doesn't always stop people from bringing theirs in.
Class of 1952 Stadium is one such venue, and TB has seen people bringing dogs there since the facility first opened 15 years ago.
These days, Class of 1952 Stadium is home to the Princeton field hockey team, which has won 17 of the last 18 Ivy League titles and currently sits in first place again this year.
Of course, minus its four best players, who are currently competing with the U.S. national team in the Pan Am Games and are taking the 2011-12 school year off in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics, this is not quite a normal tear-through-the-league year for the Tigers.
In fact, there is a five-way tie for first place right now in Ivy field hockey, with Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth and Yale all at 3-1 with three league games remaining. Penn is 1-3, while Cornell and Brown are both 0-4.
For TigerBlog, there's nothing quite like figuring out tiebreaking scenarios, but this one is a little beyond the ordinary.
It starts to sort itself out this weekend, as Princeton is at Harvard and Columbia is at Dartmouth. Still, this race almost by mathematical probability has to go to the last weekend.
In addition to the game at Harvard, Princeton is also home with Cornell and at Penn.
The Tigers have won three straight since dropping the league opener to Dartmouth, and a Dartmouth loss last weekend to Yale helped create the five-way tie.
It's not quite last year, when Princeton outscored its league opponents 46-3 in seven games. And with the return of the four next year, the race is unlikely to be as wide open again.
Still, there has to be something fun for the team about being involved in something this competitive.
The winner of the Ivy League hosts a play-in game this year against the Northeast Conference champ for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
If the next three weeks go well for the Tigers, that means the game would be at Class of 1952 Stadium, possibly against Rider.
No dogs allowed.
Each week, when TB drops LMTB off for her 45-minute lesson, Cello Meg's dog Sam - LMTB calls him "Samuel" - comes bounding to the front door, looking for a little affection.
As an aside, if you have to drop someone off for 45 minutes, what do you do in the interim? You can't really stay. You can't really go anywhere, because you have to turn around and come back. It's a weekly conundrum.
Anyway, Sam is a big black Portuguese something dog, one with a really long tail that he whacks back and forth against whatever gets in its way and with very sharp nails that he uses to scratch an unsuspecting visitor who has not been petting him enough.
Still, TB is a fan of Sam's. And Cello Meg has taught him a trick where he appears to do a dance, which is very cute.
Dogs are a lot of work. Maybe not as much as kids, but they're close. Mostly, it's the walking, before they turn your house into their own limitless toilet.
And then there's the whole overwhelming emotional attachment you can get to a the dog, knowing full well that it has a life expectancy of 10-14 years or so.
Of course, there is something special about a dog, especially when it looks at you and seems to be saying something that you can clearly understand, a thought of how the two of you are buddies and don't really need to be able to speak the same language or be the same species for that matter to both know what's going on.
TB had a dog when he was a kid, a toy poodle named Louis XVI, named by his cousin who named a whole litter of puppies after French Revolution figures (his parents were named Napoleon and Josephine, which sort of reversed history, but hey, they were toy poodles, not people).
One amazing thing about dogs is that they know that other types of dogs are still dogs, while things like cats and squirrels aren't, regardless of whether the other dog is five times the size or tiny or a different color or with wildly different ears or any of it. How does the dog know that's another dog?
LMTB plays field hockey on Saturday mornings, and TB is always amazed by how many people bring their dogs with them to the fields where the girls are playing.
Last Saturday, TB noticed a tiny dog in a red dog sweater, which was a good look for it. When a big dog came along, sweater dog hid under its owner's chair and wailed.
Shortly after that, another big lab-type dog strolled by, while a really, really tiny dog stood by. When they came close to each other, the little one jumped up to get face-to-face with the lab and stood for a second with its paws on the bigger dog for support. After falling, the little dog tried it again and actually landed on the lab's back, for a brief second at least.
Princeton's facilities have signs saying that dogs are not permitted, though that doesn't always stop people from bringing theirs in.
Class of 1952 Stadium is one such venue, and TB has seen people bringing dogs there since the facility first opened 15 years ago.
These days, Class of 1952 Stadium is home to the Princeton field hockey team, which has won 17 of the last 18 Ivy League titles and currently sits in first place again this year.
Of course, minus its four best players, who are currently competing with the U.S. national team in the Pan Am Games and are taking the 2011-12 school year off in hopes of qualifying for the Olympics, this is not quite a normal tear-through-the-league year for the Tigers.
In fact, there is a five-way tie for first place right now in Ivy field hockey, with Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth and Yale all at 3-1 with three league games remaining. Penn is 1-3, while Cornell and Brown are both 0-4.
For TigerBlog, there's nothing quite like figuring out tiebreaking scenarios, but this one is a little beyond the ordinary.
It starts to sort itself out this weekend, as Princeton is at Harvard and Columbia is at Dartmouth. Still, this race almost by mathematical probability has to go to the last weekend.
In addition to the game at Harvard, Princeton is also home with Cornell and at Penn.
The Tigers have won three straight since dropping the league opener to Dartmouth, and a Dartmouth loss last weekend to Yale helped create the five-way tie.
It's not quite last year, when Princeton outscored its league opponents 46-3 in seven games. And with the return of the four next year, the race is unlikely to be as wide open again.
Still, there has to be something fun for the team about being involved in something this competitive.
The winner of the Ivy League hosts a play-in game this year against the Northeast Conference champ for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
If the next three weeks go well for the Tigers, that means the game would be at Class of 1952 Stadium, possibly against Rider.
No dogs allowed.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Built Ford Tough
TigerBlog's first car was a Dodge Diplomat, which meant he was driving a Chrysler.
As TB remembers the car, the lock to the glove compartment wouldn't open, though the locking unit itself also would come off into TB's hand if he moved the key in just the right way. To TB, it was the perfect mechanism, since the lock, while technically stuck in the locked position, was still able to be opened.
The car was two-tone, red and white, with white leather seats and, of course, an eight-track player.
The car progression went like this: Dodge Diplomat, VW Rabbit, VW Jetta, Chrysler LeBaron, Pontiac Grand Am (actually two of those) and then back-to-back Ford Tauruses, before going to a minivan and now a mini-SUV, both from Japanese companies.
TB has never been one of those people who was consumed by a "dream car." TB's dream car is one that is reliable, doesn't break down, doesn't need a lot of maintenance.
He hasn't had a terrible experience with any of the cars he's owned. When his current car is paid off, he'll keep it for as long as possible before getting another one, though he has no idea what that will be.
Maybe, though, he'll give Ford another chance.
For starters, Ford was the only one of the Big 3 American car companies not to take federal bailout money.
And for another, the Ford family has now endowed the Director of Athletics position at Princeton, as well as providing additional endowment for programs that will directly aid student-athlete experience.
From now on, Gary Walters - the first person to hold this endowed position - will be known as the "Ford Family Director of Athletics."
Yes, TB knows that the first reaction could be an eye roll, not because of this one but because of all of the named positions that come about. At Harvard, for instance, Bob Scalise is the "Nichols Family Director of Athletics."
The first thought from the outside looking in is that this is snobbishness or ego-driven or even Ivy League elitism, though there are colleges on all levels that do this.
The reality, though, is that Princeton Athletics is not rolling in money, regardless of the University's endowment. There are all kinds of limitations to what Princeton - and schools everywhere - has been able to do because of monetary limitations, and the need to fund-raise is ever-present.
The gift from the Ford family is a huge step forward for Princeton Athletics, and it will have a direct impact on the experience that Princeton's athletes have here. In turn, those athletes, once they graduate, will in large numbers, be part of the group of former athletes who also support the programs they represented.
Yes, it can be bulky to welcome people to Powers Field at Princeton Stadium, but the presence of FieldTurf in the football stadium and on the practice fields has been a great addition.
Yes, it can be bulky to say Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium, but ask any Princeton soccer player the last four years if they like playing at the facility and if they appreciate what the Myslik and Roberts families have done.
The gift from the Ford family will do more of the same, and figures to touch athletes across every sport here.
While it may be bulky to say, it's significance cannot be underestimated.
In a perfect world, corporate sponsorship and individual naming rights wouldn't be necessary.
In 2011, it's just how it is, and the value in what these gifts do help make places like Princeton Athletics much more able to perform the core function of providing the best possible experience for the athletes who give so much to compete here.
Those athletes owe the Ford family a huge thank you.
Whatever kind of car they drive.
As TB remembers the car, the lock to the glove compartment wouldn't open, though the locking unit itself also would come off into TB's hand if he moved the key in just the right way. To TB, it was the perfect mechanism, since the lock, while technically stuck in the locked position, was still able to be opened.
The car was two-tone, red and white, with white leather seats and, of course, an eight-track player.
The car progression went like this: Dodge Diplomat, VW Rabbit, VW Jetta, Chrysler LeBaron, Pontiac Grand Am (actually two of those) and then back-to-back Ford Tauruses, before going to a minivan and now a mini-SUV, both from Japanese companies.
TB has never been one of those people who was consumed by a "dream car." TB's dream car is one that is reliable, doesn't break down, doesn't need a lot of maintenance.
He hasn't had a terrible experience with any of the cars he's owned. When his current car is paid off, he'll keep it for as long as possible before getting another one, though he has no idea what that will be.
Maybe, though, he'll give Ford another chance.
For starters, Ford was the only one of the Big 3 American car companies not to take federal bailout money.
And for another, the Ford family has now endowed the Director of Athletics position at Princeton, as well as providing additional endowment for programs that will directly aid student-athlete experience.
From now on, Gary Walters - the first person to hold this endowed position - will be known as the "Ford Family Director of Athletics."
Yes, TB knows that the first reaction could be an eye roll, not because of this one but because of all of the named positions that come about. At Harvard, for instance, Bob Scalise is the "Nichols Family Director of Athletics."
The first thought from the outside looking in is that this is snobbishness or ego-driven or even Ivy League elitism, though there are colleges on all levels that do this.
The reality, though, is that Princeton Athletics is not rolling in money, regardless of the University's endowment. There are all kinds of limitations to what Princeton - and schools everywhere - has been able to do because of monetary limitations, and the need to fund-raise is ever-present.
The gift from the Ford family is a huge step forward for Princeton Athletics, and it will have a direct impact on the experience that Princeton's athletes have here. In turn, those athletes, once they graduate, will in large numbers, be part of the group of former athletes who also support the programs they represented.
Yes, it can be bulky to welcome people to Powers Field at Princeton Stadium, but the presence of FieldTurf in the football stadium and on the practice fields has been a great addition.
Yes, it can be bulky to say Myslik Field at Roberts Stadium, but ask any Princeton soccer player the last four years if they like playing at the facility and if they appreciate what the Myslik and Roberts families have done.
The gift from the Ford family will do more of the same, and figures to touch athletes across every sport here.
While it may be bulky to say, it's significance cannot be underestimated.
In a perfect world, corporate sponsorship and individual naming rights wouldn't be necessary.
In 2011, it's just how it is, and the value in what these gifts do help make places like Princeton Athletics much more able to perform the core function of providing the best possible experience for the athletes who give so much to compete here.
Those athletes owe the Ford family a huge thank you.
Whatever kind of car they drive.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Tragedy at 220 MPH
TigerBlog watched the 1973 Indianapolis 500 on television and saw the carnage that resulted in the deaths of two drivers and one pit crew member, critical injuries to another driver and burns suffered by 11 fans.
He remembers that race to this day, nearly 40 years later, as well as the Sports Illustrated headline: "Trial By Fire and Rain."
TB has never really been a motorsports fan, though he does marvel at the risk the drivers are willing to take to compete.
As one driver said yesterday after the crash that killed this year's Indy 500 champ, Dan Wheldon, in Las Vegas, the idea of death is out there every time they race, though it's not something that is in the forefront of their mind when they get behind the wheel.
Still, it's there.
TigerBlog supposes it's there in other sports as well, most notably football, the idea that death or catastrophic injury is a possibility.
TB read that Wheldon's death was the first in Indy car racing in the last five years and the fourth in the last 15 years. While no professional football players have been killed in on-field action in that time, there have been, TB supposes, many high school players who have each year.
Still, when it comes to auto racing, pushing the furthest limits of the car and the driver are the name of the game.
And so the images from yesterday's race were so haunting, especially the shots beforehand of Wheldon as he got ready for the start. What's most amazing to TB is that nobody else was killed in the wreckage, or that there aren't many more deaths in racing given the number of crashes.
There are some who think that ratings are down, especially in NASCAR, because the sport has become too safe. TB would hate to think that's the case.
All that's left today, though, is the death of a 33-year-old driver, with a wife and two little kids, who less than five months ago won his second Indy 500, who apparently was extraordinarily well-liked.
It's a great tragedy, even if, like all drivers, he knew and probably embraced the risks.
TB first saw the news of Wheldon's death shortly after the Giants had finished off the Bills 27-24 in a game that was a little conflicting, given the fact that the Giants are TB's favorite team but that it's also hard to root against an Ivy League quarterback in the NFL, as in the Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Jay Fielder, who played at Dartmouth and then had a solid NFL career, routinely had big days against Princeton in the early 1990s. In fact, Fiedler's career against Princeton actually began in a legendary freshman game, where he and Keith Elias put up huge numbers (on Finney Field, TB believes) in a game won by Princeton (TB believes).
Fielder capped his career against Princeton by throwing for nearly 300 yards on a wild afternoon in Hanover, one on which Elias ran for nearly 200. Dartmouth ended up winning 28-22 in a game, as it turned out, meant nothing.
If you think Fitzpatrick got to the NFL by showing them game tapes against Princeton, think again. He did little in his career against the Tigers.
In fact, he made only one start against Princeton, that in his senior year. In that game, a 39-14 Harvard win, Fitzpatrick was 14 for 31 for 172 yards, one TD and an interception. He also ran for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Clifton Dawson ran for 201 yards in that game for the Crimson, and it was Dawson who did much more damage against the Tigers than Fitzpatrick in those years. In fact, Dawson had 11 career touchdowns against Princeton, which has to be the record (and maybe the record in all of college football for one player against one team).
This weekend, Princeton is at Harvard in football again. Unlike yesterday, TB won't be rooting for the Crimson quarterback to do well.
Still, it worked out fine. Fitzpatrick had a good game, and the Giants won.
Of course, when the news about Wheldon came, it was hard to feel good about any of that.
He remembers that race to this day, nearly 40 years later, as well as the Sports Illustrated headline: "Trial By Fire and Rain."
TB has never really been a motorsports fan, though he does marvel at the risk the drivers are willing to take to compete.
As one driver said yesterday after the crash that killed this year's Indy 500 champ, Dan Wheldon, in Las Vegas, the idea of death is out there every time they race, though it's not something that is in the forefront of their mind when they get behind the wheel.
Still, it's there.
TigerBlog supposes it's there in other sports as well, most notably football, the idea that death or catastrophic injury is a possibility.
TB read that Wheldon's death was the first in Indy car racing in the last five years and the fourth in the last 15 years. While no professional football players have been killed in on-field action in that time, there have been, TB supposes, many high school players who have each year.
Still, when it comes to auto racing, pushing the furthest limits of the car and the driver are the name of the game.
And so the images from yesterday's race were so haunting, especially the shots beforehand of Wheldon as he got ready for the start. What's most amazing to TB is that nobody else was killed in the wreckage, or that there aren't many more deaths in racing given the number of crashes.
There are some who think that ratings are down, especially in NASCAR, because the sport has become too safe. TB would hate to think that's the case.
All that's left today, though, is the death of a 33-year-old driver, with a wife and two little kids, who less than five months ago won his second Indy 500, who apparently was extraordinarily well-liked.
It's a great tragedy, even if, like all drivers, he knew and probably embraced the risks.
TB first saw the news of Wheldon's death shortly after the Giants had finished off the Bills 27-24 in a game that was a little conflicting, given the fact that the Giants are TB's favorite team but that it's also hard to root against an Ivy League quarterback in the NFL, as in the Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Jay Fielder, who played at Dartmouth and then had a solid NFL career, routinely had big days against Princeton in the early 1990s. In fact, Fiedler's career against Princeton actually began in a legendary freshman game, where he and Keith Elias put up huge numbers (on Finney Field, TB believes) in a game won by Princeton (TB believes).
Fielder capped his career against Princeton by throwing for nearly 300 yards on a wild afternoon in Hanover, one on which Elias ran for nearly 200. Dartmouth ended up winning 28-22 in a game, as it turned out, meant nothing.
If you think Fitzpatrick got to the NFL by showing them game tapes against Princeton, think again. He did little in his career against the Tigers.
In fact, he made only one start against Princeton, that in his senior year. In that game, a 39-14 Harvard win, Fitzpatrick was 14 for 31 for 172 yards, one TD and an interception. He also ran for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Clifton Dawson ran for 201 yards in that game for the Crimson, and it was Dawson who did much more damage against the Tigers than Fitzpatrick in those years. In fact, Dawson had 11 career touchdowns against Princeton, which has to be the record (and maybe the record in all of college football for one player against one team).
This weekend, Princeton is at Harvard in football again. Unlike yesterday, TB won't be rooting for the Crimson quarterback to do well.
Still, it worked out fine. Fitzpatrick had a good game, and the Giants won.
Of course, when the news about Wheldon came, it was hard to feel good about any of that.
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