The Weekly Blog: 4/4/07

Picture of concentration

Freshman Ross Staine is set to deliver a pitch against Rutgers March 28 at Clarke Field. Staine was the third of four pitchers for Princeton as the Scarlet Knights won, 12-4.

Photo by Frank Wojciechowski

Men’s lacrosse set to face off with Syracuse

Princeton men’s lacrosse relied on stifling defense and an outstanding performance in goal by Alex Hewit ’08 (14 saves) to beat Yale, 5-3, March 31. With a 5-2 record, the Tigers are ranked No. 5 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Division I poll, and they will face No. 15 Syracuse (3-4) April 7 at 3 p.m. in Princeton Stadium.

Men’s and women’s track and field also will be in action this weekend, hosting the Sam Howell Invitational April 6 and 7. The softball team, which posted a perfect 4-0 record in its first weekend of Ivy League games, will host doubleheaders against Harvard and Dartmouth, April 7 and 8 respectively.

Victory in Vermont

In July 2006, Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff ’79 wrote an essay in PAW about his latest project: launching a minor league basketball franchise called the Vermont Frost Heaves. The team, named after the bumps in Vermont roadways that form when the moist soil freezes, had a reasonably smooth road in its first season, winning 30 games and reaching the playoffs. Last week, the Frost Heaves defeated the Texas Tycoons 143-95 to win the American Basketball Association championship. “[I]n a league where the entire season’s payroll is capped at $120,000, no player will get rich,” Wolff wrote on the team’s Web site, “and for that very reason all have to figure out something non-monetary to take away from the experience. It might as well be a title —and that’s why minor-leaguers are more responsive to coaching than their NBA counterparts.”

Princetonians in the news

Physics professor Robert Socolow and ecology and evolutionary biology professor Stephen Pacala, the co-directors of Princeton’s Carbon Mitigation Initiative, were highlighted as “innovators” in Time magazine’s recent cover story on global warming. Socolow and Pacala’s novel approach to addressing climate change involves “not chasing a single magic bullet but harnessing seven different categories of reduction, using available technology.” … Aerial photographer David Maisel ’84 was featured on the nationally syndicated public radio program Studio 360 March 30. A slideshow of Maisel’s work is available on the Studio 360 Web site. … Former Princeton basketball standout and coach John Thompson III ’88 reached the NCAA Final Four as head coach of Georgetown’s men’s basketball team. The Hoyas lost in the semifinals to Ohio State, but their postseason success turned some of the basketball spotlight to the “Princeton offense” and Thompson’s mentor, former Princeton coach Pete Carril. Carril, who has a dozen former players and assistants now coaching in college and the pros, told The New York Times that he was thrilled to see Thompson on college hoops’ biggest stage. “The measure of any teacher,” he said, “provided he’s not an egomaniac, is to see anybody that he taught do better than he did.” … In the April 2 issue of New York magazine, Peter Hyman recounted the “other March madness” – the college squash individual championships – in a short but colorful piece that covered the “passionate attack style” of Princeton sophomore Mauricio Sanchez, this year’s runner-up and dubbed former champion Yasser El Halaby ’06 “the Michael Jordan of college squash.” … Kimberly Rogers ’05 was crowned Miss Philadelphia March 31. The pharmaceutical marketing consultant from suburban Philadelphia told The Philadelphia Inquirer that in her new post, she hopes to work toward preventing and addressing depression in young people.

Two months ’til Reunions

As alumni look forward to Reunions 2007 (May 31-June 3), the Weekly Blog looks back at Reunions 2006, as captured by the lens of student filmmaker Thomas Bender ’06.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57aa5zY2q0Q]

For more videos of Reunions 2006, visit PAW Online.