Seven swimmers hear the whistle from the pool deck, and the race is on. Sprinting towards each other from opposite sides of the pool, a flurry of splashing moves from each end of the pool to the center where a bobbing yellow ball awaits the fastest swimmer.
Babes, bikinis and beaches are only a few of the things that come to mind at the mention of California, but for the men's water polo team, the upcoming trip to the Golden State will be full of anything but rest and relaxation.Princeton leaves for the West Coast on Thursday for its annual four-game trip.
Needless to say, following Saturday night's football game, I had a plethora of subjects to address in this week's column ? a loss to Columbia at home for the first time in 58 years, a seeming lack of coherent strategy in play-calling, a defensive secondary that fails to play the short stuff tight.because it is too afraid of getting beat down the field on the long ball.But instead I am going to address a problem that I see at the root of all of these ? lack of leadership.Leadership ? both on the field and on the sideline ? is of utmost importance.
When the fall season is over, the women's soccer team will look back on last night's game as one that got away.The Tigers (6-1-2 overall, 1-1 Ivy League), despite being outplayed much of the match, went into the locker room with a 2-0 halftime lead.
This past weekend the men's and women's tennis teams participated in two tournaments. The women traveled to Columbia University in New York City for the Columbia Invitational, and the men competed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.The women did well, playing in a scrimmage format against Columbia and Penn and boasting an overall record for the weekend of 10-8 in singles matches and 2-4 in doubles.
The women's golf team, Princeton's only undefeated team remaining this fall, garnered its third consecutive win this weekend at the Yale Invitational.
Every sport has two kinds of stars. One kind is the consistent producer who puts up big numbers all season long and wows the crowd with amazing plays no matter the opponent or game situation.
An undefeated record. An eight-day layoff. An inferior opponent. Fifty-degree New Hampshire air.These were all factors which ultimately doomed the women's soccer team Sunday afternoon.
To the long list of reasons to hate Penn, add one more. The Quakers (8-4 overall, 1-0 Ivy League) took the women's volleyball team's home opener away from them on Friday.No one expected the Penn game to be a pushover, but the Tigers' (6-5, 0-1) hopes were high as they entered the match.
On a cold and dreary day that seemed more appropriate for upstate New York than for beautiful central New Jersey, the field hockey team made sure its visitors from Ithaca did not feel too at home.Princeton (6-2 overall, 4-0 Ivy League) dominated Cornell (2-7, 1-3) in the early going, scoring two quick goals in the first fourteen minutes.
Five seconds left on the clock. Princeton and Columbia knotted at 27. Columbia has the ball on the Princeton 49-yard line.
Women's cross country finally did it.This weekend, the Tigers traveled to Cambridge, Mass., to participate in the 27th annual Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet.
Columbia won Saturday's football game, 33-27, on a miracle catch by Wade Fletcher. The last second Hail Mary gave the Lions their first victory against Princeton since 1997, and their first victory at Princeton since 1945.A clearly dejected Roger Hughes, head coach, downplayed the importance of the Hail Mary catch after Saturday's contest, saying "There were a number of plays during the course of the game that led to the outcome."The Hail Mary was simply the last huge momentum shift in a game that was marred with more ups and downs than a Red Sox playoff contest.In Saturday's game, the Tigers were unable to hold onto any momentum they were able to accumulate over the course of the game.Princeton opened with its best quarter of football in this young season.
With a win in last weekend's Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships, men's water polo proved itself to be the East Coast's best team.But the Tigers (11-1) did not play several teams in that tournament, including the Terriers of St.
All of a sudden those symmetrical 28-13 losses seem far, far away. The football team has a chance to put its early woes behind and start the Ivy League season off right as the team takes on Columbia in its league opener Saturday at Princeton Stadium.The Lions (1-1), picked to finish last in the league before the season, will be riding high after a touchdown in the final minute against Bucknell last week lifted them to a surprising first win.
Disappointing.That's the only way to describe the women's cross country team's results in the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet in recent years.
For a tenth straight season, the field hockey team is steamrolling its way towards the Ivy League title.As usual, the Tigers (5-2 overall, 3-0 Ivy League) will be heavy favorites when they host Cornell (2-6, 1-2) on Saturday.
The men's soccer team has been battling it out with other squads for three weeks, but those six games in the bag have been a mere warm-up for what many consider the heart of the season.Princeton (2-2-2) kicks off its 2003 Ivy League season Sunday at Dartmouth (4-0-2). Winning the Ivy League title not only guarantees the victor bragging rights among the Ancient Eight, but serves as a free ticket to the NCAA tournament.Both the Tigers and the Big Green know what it feels like to wear the Ivy crown.
This Sunday at high noon, the women's soccer team plays Dartmouth in Hanover, N. H. Both teams enter the match with a 1-0 record in the Ivy League, thus both teams have the same goal: stay on their perch atop the league standings.This goal, however, is where most of the similarity ends.
I have a confession to make. Or rather, confessions.I have yet to attend a public lecture this year.
