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Kevin Whitaker

Photos of the Week: Posterized!

by Kevin Whitaker on February 20, 2012 · View Comments

The sports editor is taking over the “Photo of the Week” series this week, because this set of photos from Conor Dube was too amazing not to share. If you haven’t heard about Ian Hummer’s massive dunk on Saturday, well, you’re missing out; if you saw it live, you certainly know what I’m talking about. Nobody I know could remember ever seeing a more emphatic Princeton dunk. A video of the dunk was posted on Saturday, but most observers agreed that it didn’t do justice to the ferocity of Hummer’s slam. I don’t think you’ll feel that way after looking at these photos.

The countdown to takeoff has hit zero, and Hummer’s engines are beginning to fire. Johnathan Gray, on the left, is beginning to regret his decision to challenge the shot. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll give you my lunch money, anything!” But Hummer’s not listening. His eyes are locked in to his target, 10 feet high. Not pictured: all of our jaws dropping, wondering if he’s really about to dunk that.

Engines are fully engaged. Hummer’s now, what, two feet off of the ground? And he’s still rising. Gray can’t keep up. Shonn Miller, in the background, also can’t seem to believe what’s happening.

This is by far my favorite image of the series. Look at this picture. Ian Hummer is four feet in the air, and he’s still about a yard away from the rim. Johnathan Gray is all but smacking him in the face, giving up all pretense of a clean block and just trying to shove him away from the basket as Hummer uses his other hand to shove Gray’s arm away. From this picture, could you ever imagine Hummer being able to throw this ball down through the rim without breaking the laws of physics?

(Spoiler alert: he does. #iansanity)

And here the magic is revealed, sort of. Gray is beginning his descent, but somehow Hummer keeps going up, like one of those video games where you can jump a second time in midair. His long arm, disappearing behind his black shooting sleeve in the abyss of Jadwin, extends all the way to the rim, throwing the ball through. Hummer will call it the best dunk of his life, with nothing else a clear second.

Here’s the final image in the sequence, the one that graced the back page of our Monday issue. Hummer is still flying thousands of feet in the air, staring at the wonders of Jadwin from above. The net recoils in terror from the force of the slam, curling up into a ball. Gray is on the ground while Hummer is still flying, and even worse, he will be whistled for a foul, and Hummer will make the free throw. Mack Darrow (32) is watching every move, gathering inspiration for the next possession, when he will throw down his own dunk. The crowd is going absolutely wild.

Princeton won 75-57, but pretty much all I’ll remember is that play.

Tagged as: photo of the week, photography, sports

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Sideline Dispatches: What’s in a name?

by Kevin Whitaker on January 10, 2012 · View Comments

In the true spirit of procrastination, I’ve gone through the rosters of all 38 varsity sports teams, mining data on the most important piece of information you can know about anybody: first names. But before I tell you what I’ve found, why don’t you guess?

Let’s be real – it’s reading period, so we know you’ve been on Sporcle for the past couple days anyway. Take five minutes (or less, if you’re good) to try our official Princeton Athlete Names quiz, and then check out more details and pretty word clouds after the jump.

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First, some basic demographics:

-According to the rosters on GoPrincetonTigers.com, there are currently 971 varsity athletes at Princeton, around 18-19% of the student body.

-Of these 971 student-athletes, 602 are men and 369 are women. This difference is explained by three factors: there are two more men’s teams than women’s teams; men’s teams tend to have more players than comparable women’s teams (for example: baseball vs. softball; men’s vs. women’s lacrosse); and the football team, which accounts for nearly half that difference alone.

On to the names. A total of 238 athletes had unique names – 125 guys and 113 gals. These ranged from monikers as common as Josh and Leah to less familiar names like Jaiye and Diamond. A surprisingly annoying part of this project was categorizing variations on the same name – for example, Katherine also includes Catherine, Cathryn, Cathy, Kathryn, Kathy, Kate and Katie.

The most popular name is … Michael, by a wide margin. This shouldn’t come as a large surprise, as Michael was the most common boys’ baby name in America every year from 1989-93, the birth years of most undergraduates. 32 Princeton athletes go by the name, including senior defensive lineman Mike Catapano, who won the top program award at the team’s banquet, and defenseman Michael Sdao, a junior assistant captain on the men’s hockey team who is featured in our Wednesday issue.

Alex is tied for second because of its versatility: it doesn’t crack the top four for either gender alone, but 13 men and eight women share the name. That total of 21 is matched by the aforementioned Katherine family, easily the top women’s name.

Robert (including Rob and Bobby) is second among men at 18, followed closely by Thomas at 17. According to Wikipedia, John (11) and Jonathan (9) actually are not related names; combined, they would be second among men, but individually, neither cracks the top 10.

While 15 different male names are in double digits, only three female names crack the same barrier – largely, of course, because there are more male athletes, but also because girls’ names tend to vary more. Sarah (12) and Rachel (10) are next on the female list, with Emily following at nine.

The two most common girls’ baby names of the early ‘90s, Jessica and Ashley, are notably absent. In fact, only three current Princeton athletes share each name, on the same level as Cecilia and Theresa. On the guys’ side, I was a little surprised by the popularity of Alec (5), while Josh, a top-four baby name every year from 1989-93, is represented only once.

I’ll leave you with some pretty word clouds, courtesy of Wordle, showing the distribution of athlete names:

Tagged as: names, Sideline Dispatches

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Sideline Dispatches: Verlander and the Tigers

by Kevin Whitaker on October 8, 2011 · View Comments

At 8 p.m. tonight, Justin Verlander will take the mound for the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. Verlander, the presumptive AL Cy Young Award winner, is considered one of the top pitchers in baseball at the moment and is one of the biggest postseason weapons for the Tigers. But before he joined Detroit, he had some experience pitching against a different group of Tigers at the college level.

In 2002, when Verlander was just a freshman pitching two hours from his Virginia hometown, Princeton opened its season against his Old Dominion team in Norfolk, Va. The righty started the first game of the series and, as he did against many teams that season, overpowered the Tigers. Verlander threw seven innings in a 5-0 win, allowing only one hit and striking out 11 batters for the first of his 21 college wins.

Two seasons later, Princeton again traveled to Old Dominion for its first series of the year. Scouts packed the Bud Metheny Baseball Complex to watch Verlander, who had established himself as one of the nation’s top amateur pitchers and would be eligible for that summer’s draft. The righty was named a first-team preseason All-American by Baseball America and had competed for Team USA in the offseason. Those scouts expected Verlander to dominate a rusty, overmatched group of Ivy Leaguers.

They could not have been more wrong. After Verlander got two quick outs, B.J. Szymanski ’06 blasted a home run over the center-field fence, and Andrew Salini ’06 followed with a three-run dinger of his own later in the first inning. When Verlander was finally pulled after the fifth inning, the Tigers had scored 10 runs (eight earned) on 11 hits off of the fearsome righty, avenging their loss from two seasons earlier. Ross Ohlendorf ’05 outdueled the future star, matching Verlander’s nine strikeouts in five innings while allowing only two runs.

Princeton went on to sweep the three-game series from the Monarchs and eventually won the Ivy League championship. Verlander, meanwhile, allowed only 31 earned runs in his other 15 starts that season and was picked by Detroit with the second overall selection in the 2004 draft. He won the Rookie of the Year award in 2006 and led the American League in most statistical categories this season, proving the old adage: If you can’t beat Tigers, join them.

Tagged as: Sideline Dispatches, sports

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Sideline Dispatches: 2010-11 season recaps

by Kevin Whitaker on May 26, 2011 · View Comments

If you’re a student still on campus or an alum returning for the weekend, look for today’s reunions issue of The Daily Princetonian, featuring the biggest stories from one of the most newsworthy years in the history of the University.

For the reunions issue, the sports department traditionally publishes recaps for each Princeton team’s season. We didn’t have enough space in the print version to run every story, so this year we’ve published them all online.

Want to relive the men’s basketball team’s thrilling season? Read about sophomore squash player Todd Harrity’s historic national championship? Catch up on each of Princeton’s record-setting 15 Ivy League titles? Check out our 2010-11 season recaps here.

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Sideline Dispatches: Ivy League Lacrosse Tournament scenarios

by Kevin Whitaker on April 23, 2011 · View Comments

After a 9-8 loss to Harvard at Class of 1952 Stadium earlier this afternoon, the men’s lacrosse team now no longer has control of its postseason destiny. The Tigers (4-7 overall, 2-3 Ivy League) must win the Ivy League Lacrosse Tournament to advance the NCAA Tournament, and need some help just to qualify for the four-team conference championship.

Three league games remain, all of which take place next Saturday – Princeton at No. 3 Cornell, No. 18 Yale at Harvard and Brown at Dartmouth. Cornell has already clinched the regular-season championship and will host the tournament, while Penn will be the second seed.

Here’s how the rest of the tournament scenarios could play out:

If Harvard defeats Yale, it qualifies for the tournament as the third seed, regardless of the other results. A Princeton loss would leave the Tigers at 2-4, one game behind Harvard and Yale at 3-3; even if the Tigers won, they rank behind the other two teams in the first tiebreaker, because they lost to both Harvard and Yale head-to-head.

If Yale beats Harvard, the Bulldogs earn the third seed and allow Princeton to claim a spot in the tournament with a win; the Tigers would then be alone in fourth place at 3-3 and earn the final bid.

If Yale beats Harvard but Princeton loses, things get more interesting. Princeton and Harvard would then be tied for fourth place at 2-4, joined by the Brown-Dartmouth winner. If the Bears win, the procedure is simple: Harvard beat Brown and Princeton, so it receives the fourth tournament berth via the head-to-head tiebreaker.

But if Harvard loses to Yale, Princeton falls at Cornell and Dartmouth beats Harvard, all sorts of chaos ensues. Princeton beat Dartmouth, which beat Harvard, which beat Princeton, so all three teams would be 2-4 and 1-1 head-to-head. The second tiebreaker is record against the top team, then record against the second-best team, and so forth; however, in this scenario, all three teams would have lost to Cornell, Penn and Yale and have defeated Brown, so that’s no help either.

According to the league office, the only other tiebreaker is random chance – a series of coin flips. Which, in my opinion, would be pretty awesome.

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Sideline Dispatches: Football star Smith ’54 passes away

by Kevin Whitaker on April 16, 2011 · View Comments

Homer Smith '54When most fans think of Princeton’s greatest sports minds, they might think of Pete Carril, the legendary basketball coach who pioneered the famous “Princeton Offense.” But around the same time as Carril was perfecting his backdoor plays, another coach was revolutionizing offense in his sport. Homer Smith ’54, a former Princeton running back and one of the most prominent practitioners of football’s wishbone offense, passed away last week at the age of 79.

Smith played in the era before freshmen were eligible to participate in athletics and was overshadowed by Heisman Trophy winner Dick Kazmaier in his first season, but the fullback blossomed as an upperclassman. He ran for a then-program record 273 yards in a 41-21 victory over Harvard as a junior, a mark that has since been surpassed by two players, and gained 6.2 yards per carry that season, which ranks second in the all-time record books. Smith still holds the record for the team’s longest rushing touchdown – a 93-yard score that was the difference in a six-point victory at Yale – and was  the team’s captain the following season.

After graduating, Smith would spread his influence across the country. He worked as the offensive coordinator at four different schools, as well as the Kansas City Chiefs, and had head coaching jobs at Davidson, Pacific and Army. While at the latter school, he was named the Eastern College Conference Coach of the Year in 1977, leading Army to a 7-4 record just four years after the team went 0-10.

He had three different stints as the offensive coordinator at UCLA, but made the most impact the first time around. Smith ran a wishbone offense, featuring a triple-option rushing attack and the occasional deep pass. In this system, most plays are designed as an option to a specific side of the field; the quarterback can hand off to the fullback, pitch outside to a halfback or keep it himself, depending on how the opposition defends the play. In 1973, UCLA led the nation with 400 rushing yards per game, and Smith was hired by Army the following season.

Though the wishbone has largely disappeared from the professional and college levels, many high school teams still base their offenses around the system.

Before becoming a full-time head coach, Smith received an MBA from Stanford, where he also coached the freshman football team. Later in his career, he obtained a master’s degree in theological studies from Harvard between coaching jobs.

While working at Arizona in 1997, Smith was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the top college assistant coach. He retired after that season.

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Sideline Dispatches: Quakers block path to Ivy title

by Kevin Whitaker on March 8, 2011 · View Comments

Each year, the eight Ivy League men’s basketball teams play a total of 56 conference games. For the first time since 2002, we head into the final contest without knowing who the Ancient Eight champion will be.

Here’s what’s at stake when the Tigers (23-6 overall, 11-2 Ivy League) visit Penn (13-14, 7-6) at The Palestra tonight:

-If Princeton wins, it ties Harvard at 12-2 atop the conference, clinching a share of the official championship and setting up a one-game playoff against the Crimson for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The potential playoff would be played at 4 pm Saturday at Yale.

-If Princeton loses, it finishes the season 11-3 and Harvard advances to the Big Dance as the league’s outright champion. The Tigers would likely receive an invitation to the NIT, which would come as little consolation to a team that won its first eight conference games.

The Tigers already had one chance to claim the league championship outright, but lost to Harvard 79-67 at Lavietes Pavilion last weekend and must now win two consecutive games for a taste of March Madness. The Tigers, whose 25 Ivy League championships are tied with Penn for the most in the conference, have not won a title since 2004.

Don’t be fooled by Penn’s mediocre record – this game will not be a cakewalk. Four of the Quakers’ six league losses were decided by one possession or extra time, including a memorable 62-59 defeat at Jadwin Gymnasium exactly one month ago. Though the visitors never led in regulation and needed a stunning three-pointer from senior guard Tyler Bernardini to force overtime, they led the Tigers until a fluke play in which forward Jack Eggleston tried to call timeout when his team had none, drawing a technical foul from which Penn would not recover.

That was just one of five overtime games the Quakers have played this season – including four in a two-week stretch early in the conference season – so Penn is no stranger to excitement. Neither is Princeton, which has seen 12 games decided by overtime or five points or less. Given the rivalry, the nature of both teams and the magnitude of the game, expect it to go down to the wire.

You can watch the game live on ESPN3 and follow our live blog for updates and analysis.

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Sideline Dispatches: February 8, 2011

by Kevin Whitaker on February 8, 2011 · View Comments

Sideline Dispatches will be getting its own blog early next month. Until then, catch these posts on the Prox.

If you’ve looked at today’s sports section, you might have noticed something a little different from most Tuesdays.  Each year, on the morning of the first Princeton-Penn men’s basketball game, the sports editors of The Daily Princetonian and The Daily Pennsylvanian trade columns about the rivalry.

Most of these articles in the past have been nothing more than an excuse to take cheap shots at the Quakers and their university (see last year’s and a similar one from two years ago).  This year, we decided to take things a little more seriously.

Sure, there are some (perfectly valid) notes about Penn’s players – such as the fact that star Zach Rosen tends to disappear against the Tigers, senior Jack Eggleston has been incredibly lucky and, oh yeah, the Quakers lost to Manhattan and Marist – but our main point is that Penn’s program is almost exactly where Princeton’s was in 2008-09. In other words, Penn can dream of being as good as the Tigers currently are, two years from now.

The Daily Pennsylvanian’s four sports editors penned their own column, which we printed today.  Their biggest shot was that Jadwin Gymnasium, the site of tonight’s game, looks like a spaceship.  (You can judge for yourself, but I’m not sure I see that building blasting into orbit anytime soon. If you’re looking for a rocketship at Princeton, Feinberg Hall is a much better bet.) Anyway, the biggest reason people mock Jadwin is that they’re scared of it – Princeton’s men’s and women’s basketball teams are both undefeated at home this season, with a collective 23 consecutive victories there.

There are some basketball-related disses in there as well, including the fact that Princeton’s offense sucked in 1906.  We also enjoyed the reference to our hit video series, “On the Prowl,” which was a sign of either mocking or admiration; we choose to believe it’s the latter.

Stay in the loop on Princeton sports by following @PrinceSports on Twitter.

All trash talk aside, the feud will be settled on the court at 7 pm tonight, and while some Penn supporters will likely make the trip northeast, we expect plenty of Princeton faithful on hand for the rivalry game. The Tigers are 4-0 in the conference after sweeping Harvard and Dartmouth last week, while Penn is 3-1 after falling to the 5-1 Crimson in double overtime on Saturday, so today’s game will have huge implications for the Ivy League title race.

If you can’t make it to Jadwin, follow the game with our live-blog tonight!

Tagged as: basketball, Crimson, Harvard, Penn, Quakers, Tigers

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