06-02-2014, 01:31 PM
The streak of 42 years with at least one championship does include individual achievements and non-NCAA sponsored sports. For example, last year they list four NCAA champions in fencing (one team and one individual/sabre championship), one in field hockey and one in men's distance running (indoor medley run).
They cited that statistic at this morning's P'ton graduation, but it's really the only NCAA stat they mention. They are far more interested in Ivy titles and Olympic participation, based upon the athletic awards given out and their AD's speech. What was most interesting to me is that two athletes weren't at the graduation ceremony, but the AD called out both of them for awards. One was at the Detroit Lions rookie camp (5th round draftee Caraun Reid), said announcement of which received a very small round of applause. I was surprised, Princeton rarely puts a player in the NFL. They had one free agent make it last year. But one of the other athletes was at the national championships for some Ivy-ish sport, squash or crew or something and that person received war-victory applause..
Incidentally, the speaker was Al Gore. In prior years you had news personalities and comedians (Katie Couric, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Bill Cosby, etc.). Gore did three minutes of self-deprecating, which was actually quite funny (big laugh for comparing his popular vote win/electoral vote loss to the grade deflation policy at P'ton). Then he launched into the sermon. Ugh. I don't care about political stripe, I was wondering how this guy ever got elected to anything, he was such a boring speaker. Also of interest, all of the honorary degree honorees put on the University beer jacket when they received their degrees, Gore (a Harvard grad) declined to do so. NICE.
They cited that statistic at this morning's P'ton graduation, but it's really the only NCAA stat they mention. They are far more interested in Ivy titles and Olympic participation, based upon the athletic awards given out and their AD's speech. What was most interesting to me is that two athletes weren't at the graduation ceremony, but the AD called out both of them for awards. One was at the Detroit Lions rookie camp (5th round draftee Caraun Reid), said announcement of which received a very small round of applause. I was surprised, Princeton rarely puts a player in the NFL. They had one free agent make it last year. But one of the other athletes was at the national championships for some Ivy-ish sport, squash or crew or something and that person received war-victory applause..
Incidentally, the speaker was Al Gore. In prior years you had news personalities and comedians (Katie Couric, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Bill Cosby, etc.). Gore did three minutes of self-deprecating, which was actually quite funny (big laugh for comparing his popular vote win/electoral vote loss to the grade deflation policy at P'ton). Then he launched into the sermon. Ugh. I don't care about political stripe, I was wondering how this guy ever got elected to anything, he was such a boring speaker. Also of interest, all of the honorary degree honorees put on the University beer jacket when they received their degrees, Gore (a Harvard grad) declined to do so. NICE.
Audaces fortuna iuvat