Week in Review: World Cup Edition (June 7 - June 13)
Top of the agenda this past week: World Cup. Princeton alums had a hand on all sides in the run-up to the tournament, from coaching, to hosting, to lambasting on Comedy Central. More sports on the docket too, as some Tigers got picked in the MLB drafts this past week. And other stuff: Paul Krugman made funny sounds in an unfunny movie and Meg Whitman '78 won an election to go to another election.
Unless you've recently slipped into a coma, or are one of millions of Americans who are wondering why people are playing football with their feet, you've probably tuned into a few of the World Cup matches. The biggest news of the Cup on this side of the Atlantic has to be the unexpected tie between England and the U.S. on Saturday.Strangely, Princeton has a hand in all this: you may have heard that the U.S. Men's National Team trained at Princeton's Roberts Stadium from May 17 to May 23. Not only that, but the team's coach, Bob Bradley '80 earned a history degree from the University, coached soccer at Princeton for 11 years, and his brother, Scott Bradley, coaches Princeton's baseball team. Eerie, we know.Princeton-soccer-Comedy Central connections abounded on Thursday, as The Daily Show's John Oliver reported from Princeton on the state of the U.S. Soccer Team. Here's the clip, complete with tons of shots in Princeton's rather indistinguishable stadium (save for some orange and black and Fine Hall in the distance):
But even afterwards, on the Colbert Report, Comedy Central kept on with the Princeton-soccer vibe.On the show, Stephen interviewed Princeton grad, Washington Post columnist, and UPC alum (represent) Marc Fisher '80. Fisher sounded off on American soccer culture and why soccer is inherently un-American. Skip to 5:30 for some seriously funny commentary from Colbert and Fisher:
- Moving on from the World Cup madness, Princeton sent up some (base)ballers to the major leagues: the Toronto Blue Jays drafted Princeton's Dan Barnes '11 in the 35th round of selections this past Wednesday, the Oakland A's drafted incoming freshman Bobby Geren, and the San Diego Pirates picked another incoming freshman, Michael Fagan.
Barnes had a 1-3 record this past season and a 5.14 ERA over 49 innings; Barnes had 90 strikeouts over his 95-inning career. With the pick, he becomes the 43rd Princetonian to be picked in the MLB draft. The Prince reports Barnes plans to finish his degree in the next two years, taking off the spring semesters to head up to Toronto. Read more stats at GoPrincetonTigers.
Things happened off the playing field too, so don't worry majority-of-Princeton-student-body-that-doesn't-understand-sports:
- We told you earlier that eBay czar and Whitman College funder Meg Whitman '78 won the California Republican gubernatorial primary. She'll be facing Democratic ex-governor and state Attorney General Jerry Brown in the fall.
- Princeton economics professor/Nobel laureate/NYTimes columnist/all-around important person Paul Krugman made a cameo in a new box-office blockbuster, Get Him to the Greek, which everyone on the Internet thought was really funny. We agree. Sadly unfunny: Most of Get Him to the Greek.
(Bradley image via mirrorfootball.co.uk; videos via comedycentral.com)