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E-PrinceAs the school year comes to a close, the ‘Prince’ will bring you the best of Princeton sports in the 2011-12 season. Today, we complete our countdown of the top 10 head coaches, which started with the first five on ...(back to the article)
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Men's squash WON a national championship. Trinity had won 13 years in a row until they were taken down. Whether or not you know or care to know anything about the sport, 13 years is still 13 years of dominance. This ought to be the biggest Princeton sports story of the year. I don't think people realize the difference, but this year's victory was the first national championship Princeton has won in softball squash. Coach Bob Callahan should be number 1.
Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man...
Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuisssssssssss. What an incredible year.
Squash's championshit would be even more impressive if it was not such a small sport. It's not a NCAA recognized sport and not many schools have squash.
How can Zoltan Dudas not be on your list?
Princeton's achievement in squash in beating the longest running national championship winning streak of ANY NCAA sport and it's not even an NCAA sport. Callahan deserves it. Anybody know how many times Princeton has come in second in Callahan's 32 year tenure?
The Daily Princetonian staff is an absolutelu disgraceful unit for not giving it to Coach Bob Callahan. The man is a legend and coached a team to a national championship. If the Prince doesn't revise this list and print an edited version with Bobby C at 1, then you should feel ashamed of yourselves as weak pathetic journalists. Do your homework for once.
So I don't know if this is a legitimate take on the list, but here's how I see it. By choosing "coach of the year" the Prince is looking at how coaches performed this year, relative to past performances. Yes, Callahan and men's squash had an absolutely phenomenal season, and deserve all the recognition the school can throw at them (not nearly enough has been done, in my opinion), but men's squash has a tradition of success and high achievement.
Nicolao and the water polo teams, on the other hand, saw success this year that were unprecedented for the program, with both teams making the NCAA tournament. The men were third, a remarkable result, and with any luck the women will have a great tournament this weekend. Water polo's seasons this year were absolutely phenomenal given their past, which while successful, didn't necessarily indicate the kind of success they've had this season.
Callahan deserves huge applause for his team's national championship this year, but Nicolao raised the bar proportionately more from his teams' previous performances. So ultimately, I agree with the rankings, more or less. Sad Zoltan wasn't on there, but there isn't room for everyone, and you have to admit the 10 coaches profiled are remarkable. Perhaps the list should have been top 11?
Coach Callahan motivated his team past this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzjPjDGyj8
AND this kind of brutal match-play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6hj9JrHtGs
Also, Callahan coached the team to not only take down the 13-time National Champs, but also to take home the CSA Team Sportsmanship Award as nominated and voted on by other team's coaches at the end of the year. To be both number one in on-court achievement, while also respected as the fairest team in the national competition is remarkable. There is something unique about this coach, and what he accomplished this year, that The Prince has truly failed to acknowledge. What a shameful thing to not put Coach Callahan at Number 1. 'Figureitout' has it right: "do your homework."
A question that needs to be answered: how can you compare a national championship in a sport like squash where very few schools (both college and high school) have teams with an Ivy League championship in a sport like cross-country or basketball when almost all colleges and high schools have teams?
Water polo, I believe, falls in the same category as squash in this regard, but I raise the question to point out how difficult it is to compare accomplishments between sports.
tl;dr- Squash fans, chill out.