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Princeton University Athletics
A Message From Bob Callahan
January 03, 2000 | Men's Squash
Jan. 3, 2000
Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends,
We are just back from two busy squash weekends with lots to tell you! After only being back in the U.S. from England for a few days, still struggling to get our biological clocks in order, we headed off to the Ivy League scrimmage at Yale University. It is a two day event that brings all the Ivy League schools together to play a "friendly" round robin of matches in preparation for the upcoming season. It is a great team building weekend and a terrific opportunity to see how our team stacks up against the competition.
We first played Cornell, and they are much improved. Four new players including a foreign transfer student makes them look primed to move up the Ivy League ladder. We didn't want to be their first victim so beat them comfortably 9-0 with freshman Will Evans playing #1. At the scrimmage teams have the flexibility to move players around their line-up to test them at different spots.
We next had a rematch with Yale who had beaten us last season 5-4 in a thriller played at Yale in front of hundreds of "screaming partying frat brothers". This year the "brothers" were gone and so was the air out of Yale's balloon. We beat them 8-1 very comfortably and look forward to playing them in the regular season. Next up was Brown and they are always fun to play. A nice group of guys and a very enjoyable coach, Stuart Legassick. We won 9-0 and enjoyed our visit with their team.
Sunday morning was Harvard. Everyone knew this would be the premier match of the weekend and all the other teams crowded round to watch the "war"! It was great match and a harbinger of a "barn burner" to come in February. The score went to 4-4 in matches with our last player on court fighting down to the end of the fifth game. Harvard prevailed 5-4 winning at #'s 5-9. We won the top four spots and lost very close matches at #'s 6,7. Peter Kelly had an off day at #5, while Harrison Gabel and Randolph McEvoy at #'s 8 and 9 learned that they are capable of beating their opponents and look forward to a rematch in February.
This past weekend we traveled with the Women's team to Cornell to officially open our season. Cornell is the last team to still play on narrow courts (they are opening a new "wide court" center in February). Having just played them the weekend before in the scrimmage, we knew what to expect, but playing them on the narrow courts made things more interesting. We prevailed again 9-0 and cheered on the Women's team as they won as well. We really enjoy traveling with the Women's team as the players on both teams get along great. To save the University some money and the students some time, we traveled up and back on the same day by bus. The students love to bring videos and we are treated to a "Cannes Film Festival" on our ten hour trip. This trip's movies ranged from Disney to desperadoes.
We have Thanksgiving weekend off and then will open our season at home against Brown on Saturday, December 4 at 12 noon. We will host a faculty and parents reception following the match. Please come join us.
Have a great Thanksgiving holiday and please remember to visit our web site at "www.goprincetontigers.com See you in two weeks!
Bob Callahan and the Princeton Men's Squash Team