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October 11, 2000 Sports Double
trouble Football
comes up short to start season Sports Web Exclusives! Matt Golden's From the Cheap Seats column Double
trouble
Last spring, Young helped pitch the Tiger baseball team into the NCAA tournament by posting five wins and no losses with a 1.82 earned run average. Though clearly a top pitching prospect, Young's commitment to basketball and his education at Princeton made him a draft risk for the financially strapped Pirates. After declining Pittsburgh's initial offer, Young spent most of the summer pitching for the Chatham A's of the prestigious Cape Cod League. It was his performance there, against the top college baseball players in the nation, that dramatically raised Young's baseball stock - persuading the Pirates to up the ante to a reported $1.65 million signing bonus. In addition to the bonus, the Pirates will pay for the remainder of Young's Princeton education and will allow him to complete a continuous junior year before reporting to their spring training complex in late May. Young says, "I wanted midlevel first-round money and the Pirates exceeded that. A Princeton University education is priceless, and if they offered me $10 million and asked me to forgo my education, this deal wouldn't have happened." Under MLB rules, Young was available to the Pirates after his sophomore year because he turned 21 years old on May 25, before the June draft. He also had the option of returning to school to continue his two-sport career as a junior, giving him unusual leverage in his negotiations. In fact, Young never budged from his original demands. He explains, "I told them that I was in a win-win situation. Either by going back to school or signing a contract, I was going to win." In Young's case, an early departure was imminent - it was only a question of how soon. Carmody following suit, though, came as a shock. A fixture on the Princeton sidelines for the last 18 years - the last four as head coach - Carmody enjoyed great success with the Tigers and compiled a career record of 92 wins and 25 losses. His 1997-98 squad finished the season with a 27-2 record, and, at one point, was ranked eighth in the country. Carmody takes the reins of a perennially woeful Northwestern team that finished last season with only five wins against 25 losses. He also faces the unenviable challenge of competing against the defending national champion Michigan State Spartans and other Big Ten conference titans. Carmody said at his press conference that "to be able to coach at a school with such a tremendous academic standing and in the top conference in Division I basketball was something that I could not turn down." Carmody's longstanding acquaintance with Northwestern president Henry Bienen, former dean of the Woodrow Wilson School, may have played a role in his decision, as did, probably, the reported long-term contract and hefty pay raise Carmody received. Whatever his motives, Carmody will certainly be put to the test at Northwestern. So will Thompson, who
has spent the past five years on the Princeton bench as an assistant
coach. And Tiger fans are left wondering whether their team, on
the threshold of reclaiming the Ivy throne from the Penn Quakers,
will be equal to the task, minus two of its brightest stars.
By M.G. Football
comes up short to start season Roger Hughes was the offensive coordinator of Dartmouth's football team from 1992-99. During that time, the Big Green featured an explosive offense that was triggered by the precision passing of current Miami Dolphin quarterback Jay Fiedler. So when Hughes replaced Steve Tosches as Princeton's head football coach, Tiger fans were optimistic that the new coach's innovative style would lead to an entertaining and successful 2000 campaign. Some of that flash was evident in Princeton's first two games of the season. The Tigers used several different offensive formations and some creative designs to get the ball into the hands of playmakers like sophomore receiver Chisom Opara. Princeton also mounted strong second-half comebacks against both Lafayette and Lehigh before losing in heartbreaking fashion. And the Tigers showed tremendous improvement from week one to week two. But some old demons - big plays against the Princeton defensive secondary and inconsistent play on special teams - returned to haunt the Tigers and their new coach. In losing the season opener 24-17 to the Lafayette Leopards, Princeton's defensive backs were routinely victimized by Lafayette freshman quarterback Marko Glavic, who completed 18 of 30 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns. Glavic made a habit of picking on Princeton sophomore defensive back Paul Simbi. The diminutive Simbi was twice flagged for pass interference, gave up both Lafayette touchdown passes, and was in coverage when Glavic completed a 54-yard pass to the Princeton 15-yard line with seconds remaining in the game and the score knotted at 17. Glavic then lofted a pass to the right corner of the end zone, where Leopard receiver Phil Yarberough out-leaped Simbi for the game-winning touchdown. The Princeton special teams also made some costly errors in the defeat. A fumbled punt return gave Lafayette possession at the Princeton 48-yard line, leading to a first-quarter field goal. And junior place kicker Taylor Northrop missed two first-half field goal attempts. Hughes characterized the team's mood as disappointed but not discouraged heading into the week two match-up with the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, who were ranked 19th nationally in Division 1-AA. He said, "The mistakes we made were correctable," adding, "I saw a couple of things offensively in the fourth-quarter that were encouraging." Entering the Lehigh game as a decided underdog, the Tigers nearly pulled off the upset. On a rainy night under the lights of Princeton Stadium, the Tiger defense put forth a tremendous effort. Buoyed by the improved play of the defensive secondary, which held Lehigh to 150 passing yards, Princeton managed to give the Mountain Hawks a major scare. Limited mostly to short completions, the potent Lehigh offense failed to muster a score after the second quarter and produced just 95 second-half yards. Northrop rebounded from his opening-week misses to convert on field goals of 26, 27, 46, and 50 yards - keeping the Tigers within striking distance throughout the game. Tailing 20-12 with 7:45 remaining in the game, the Tigers embarked on a 15-play, 85-yard drive that was capped when senior running back Kyle Brandt dove and extended the ball across the goal line for a touchdown, making the score 20-18. Princeton then lined up for a two-point conversion that would tie the score with 1:18 to play. Opara went in motion and took a hand-off from junior quarterback Tommy Crenshaw. Rolling right, Opara lofted the ball toward freshman receiver Blair Morrison, but a Lehigh defender deflected the pass and preserved the Mountain Hawk victory. Still looking for his first win at Princeton, Hughes was pleased with his team's early progress, saying, "If we play at this level the rest of the season, I think we're going to win a lot of games." Lehigh coach Kevin Higgins
echoed Hughes's sentiments, saying of the Tigers, "This is
a team that will get better and better as the season goes along.
They're well coached and have a bright future."
By M.G.
*if team qualifies
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The
lure of big money, bright lights, and exciting opportunities was
just too tempting to allow baseball/basketball star Chris Young
'02 and head basketball coach Bill Carmody to remain at Princeton.
The Tiger basketball team lost its two most recognizable names in
a single week when Young signed a professional baseball contract
with the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 30 and Carmody accepted the
head coaching position at Northwestern University on September 6.
Assistant coach and former Princeton player John Thompson III '88
assumed the head job following Carmody's departure, but replacing
the 6-foot, 10-inch Young will prove a daunting challenge for the
basketball program.
Young's
decision to sign with the Pirates and forgo his basketball eligibility
at Princeton comes as a mild surprise to fans of the two-sport standout.
Young was a first-team All-Ivy and honorable mention All-America
selection in basketball last season after leading the Tigers to
a second consecutive National Invitational Tournament berth. The
center was on pace to finish his basketball career second only to
Bill Bradley '65 in career scoring, and he was poised to become
the Tigers' all-time leader in blocked shots. Despite Young's status
as a National Basketball
Association prospect, his dominance as a pitcher for the Princeton
baseball team prompted Pittsburgh to select the hard-throwing right-hander
in the third round of Major League Baseball's June amateur draft.
