Tuesday TigerBlog - Staying Current
October 07, 2025 | Tiger Blog
Okay, kids, how many of you can identify this?
And for the rest of you, when was the last time you used one?
This little bit from the Museum of Used To Everywhere But It's Shocking To See One These Days was known as a "pay phone." When TigerBlog was a kid, you would put a dime into that little slot on the top left, and you'd be able to make a telephone call.
Eventually, that went up to a quarter. And then came the calling cards, which allowed you to dial a 16-digit number and then the number you wanted to call and have the call billed to your account.
Somehow, TB and everyone in his age range and a few decades younger managed to get all the way through childhood without being tethered to a cell phone at all times. You can argue, correctly, that smartphones have made significantly positive contributions to society, and you can also argue, correctly, the opposite.
When TB sees a pay phone, it takes him back to when he was covering high school sports and would have to call in to the newsroom if there was a looming deadline. He'd actually have to dictate his story to someone on the copy desk, and if you've never tried doing that off the top of your head, it's not easy at all.
Jadwin Gym used to have, if TB is remembering correctly, four pay phones, two on each side of the lobby. There were also these things called "phone booths;" if you don't know what that was, look it up.
Ah, those were the days. And with that bit of nostalgia, TB segues into some current events.
Speaking of which, currently the Princeton men's soccer team is still the No. 1 team in the RPI. That's No. 1 in the entire country.
Here's a question for you: How many of the top 11 teams in the current RPI are from Power 4 conferences? If you said "three," you'd be correct: No. 2 Virginia, No. 7 Stanford and No. 8 Indiana. There's a bit of an asterisk there, since West Virginia is No. 5, but it competes in the Sun Belt in men's soccer.
The rest of the top 11 has No. 3 Vermont (America East), No. 4 Bryant (America East), No. 6 High Point (Big South), No. 9 Portland (Big West), No. 10 San Diego (Big West) and No. 11 Georgia Southern (Sun Belt). That's pretty fascinating.
As an aside, Princeton will host Bryant on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
Princeton improved to 8-1-0 with a 1-0 win over Brown at home Saturday, a shutout that earned Tiger goalkeeper Andrew Samuels his third straight Ivy League Defensive Player of the Week Award. Samuels and his Princeton defensive teammates have allowed only three goals all season.
Next up is Cornell, who is 7-1-0 overall and the only other 2-0-0 Ivy team besides Princeton. That game will be Saturday at 4 in Ithaca.
The world of Princeton Athletic current events also includes Pru Lindsey of the field hockey team, who was named the Ivy League Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Lindsey scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in the Tigers' 2-1 win at Yale Friday night in the team's only game last week.
Lindsey's goal was her first of the year, and it also ended up on SportsCenter as the No. 9 Play of the Day Saturday morning. That's pretty good stuff for the sophomore from Nantwich, England (her hometown defies today's theme as it dates back to the Roman era).
Princeton is at Dartmouth Saturday and then Northwestern Monday. Princeton is currently No. 6 in Division I RPI, while Northwestern, the defending NCAA champ, is No. 3 (though unbeaten at 10-0).
Another current note: Princeton freshman Josh Robinson was named the Ivy League Rookie of the Week after his four-catch, 73-yard effort in the Tigers' 17-10 win over Columbia in its Ivy League opener. Robinson had two catches in the first two games combined.
If you watched the game, you certainly wondered who No. 86 was. Turns out it was Robinson, who came to Princeton from Tampa, Fla., and Carrollwood Day School, whom he helped to three district titles while also running track.
Princeton will host No. 25 Mercer Saturday at noon.