A new set of eyes for sports

As aimless freshmen, we were lured onto The Daily Princetonian's sports staff by the possibility of traveling with the men's basketball team to the NCAA tournament. It seemed like a real possibility at the time, since the Tigers had gone to the Big Dance just a season before and hung tight with the third-seeded Texas Longhorns well into the second half.

So much for that dream.

But we're still here — and becoming editors, to boot — because we are captivated by something about Princeton's athletics that transcends mere results. We cover the Tigers because we feel their passion on the fields of play should be matched by the zeal of those who record their exploits. Plus, we're sports fans, too. For some of our teams, you'd have to be.

That's not to say that things are headed downhill all over Tigertown. Far from it. Princeton is currently home to 14 defending Ivy League champions — including one team that brought us all a surprise bonfire with its gridiron prowess.

Looking forward, there are plenty of reasons for the excitement to continue. Men's lacrosse head coach Bill Tierney says he's never seen a Princeton team under him play a better fall than this year's did. Baseball is coming off a surprising victory over Harvard in the Ivy League World Series, while the softball team will look to "three-peat" as Ancient Eight champs.

Lori Dauphiny was last year's NCAA Coach of the Year for the women's open crew team, guiding the Tigers to a national title to go with their Ivy crown. This spring, Princeton might want to consider competing on a global stage: against the nation's best at the NCAA Championships, the Tigers finished six seconds ahead of their nearest competitor.

Of course, we like to think that our section is interesting to read not only because Princeton's athletes are great, but also because those same athletes are fascinating people.

Take, for example, men's hockey senior goaltender Eric Leroux, who won the 2006 Hockey Humanitarian Award for his work with HIV education in Kenya over the summer. Or women's basketball senior forward Casey Lockwood, whose skills as a singer/songwriter have earned her a cult following around campus.

Our job extends beyond simply reporting the triumphs and tribulations of Princeton's teams on the field. This year, we'll strive to reach beyond the sweat and tears to bring you in-depth features about everything from on-court lingo to the exploits of alums still in the sporting arena.

Did you know, for example, that a former Princeton grad student is now the owner of an NBA franchise? Or that another old Tiger is responsible for the revolutionary baseball front-office expose, "Moneyball"? Profiles of those individuals — Robert Johnson GS '72 and Michael Lewis '82 — will have appeared in these pages by the end of our first week alone.

We'll also continue to follow up with those Tigers attempting to make names for themselves in the professional ranks. Jon Dekker '06 is currently pursuing a career in the NFL as a tight end, having spent all of last season on the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ross Ohlendorf '05, a minor league pitching prospect, nearly made the Arizona Diamondbacks' roster coming out of spring training last year and recently became a New York Yankee when he was traded for — among other players — Randy Johnson.

In covering standouts such as these, we will bring you the most comprehensive and incisive writing about Princeton athletics, period. That mission will extend to all of our journalistic endeavors this year.

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We don't want to see students checking GoPrincetonTigers.com on their laptops during lectures to find out how their friends did in athletic events — we want them to go to the 'Prince' because they know that our coverage will give students a little something extra. Something only fellow students can give.

Regardless of whether that buzzer-beating three pointer goes in or not, we'll be there to tell you all about it.