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Vol. LXIII, No. 26
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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Vol. LXIII, No. 26
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Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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(Photo Courtesy of Ivy League Sports)
GROWING IVY: Jeff Orleans poses outside a building on the Princeton University campus. Last Tuesday, Orleans ended his 25-year tenure as the Executive Director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents. During his quarter century guiding Ivy League athletics, Orleans helped the conference advance on many fronts with improvements in league scheduling, officiating, television exposure, and competition, among many others. |
When Jeff Orleans took charge of the Ivy League athletics office in 1984, he came into a barebones operation.
While Orleans had the highfalutin title of Executive Director of the Council of Ivy Group Presidents, he only had a secretary and a typewriter at his disposal.
Last week as he reflected on a 25-year tenure that was slated to end on June 30, Orleans’ office walls on Alexander Street were crammed with baseball memorabilia, Ivy League knickknacks, and photos of family members, friends, and colleagues.
In the 1988 Eddie Murphy film Coming to America, the My-T-Sharp barbershop is a hub for jokes, gossip, and good times.
When the Princeton Recreation Department Summer Men’s Basketball League started play a year later, Darius Young’s thoughts turned to the Murphy flick as he thought about a name for the team he was putting together.
“I was an Eddie Murphy fan,” recalled Young, a 1988 Princeton High School (PHS) alum who starred in basketball and football. “I must have been watching that movie one day and I was like that was going to be the name of our team.”
Last March, the Princeton High School (PHS) boys’ basketball team produced an electrifying state tournament run that captured the imagination of the school and turned heads in local hoops circles.
The fifth-seeded Little Tigers went on the road to beat No. 4 Point Pleasant 47-35 in the opening round of the tourney and then pulled off a shocker with a 55-46 win at top-seeded Monmouth Regional in the sectional semifinals.
While PHS ultimately fell to third-seeded Neptune 72-44 in the Group III Central Jersey sectional final, the team’s scintillating stretch drive left a slew of indelible memories.
The foundation for the success last winter was laid in June and July when the PHS players competed as the Princeton Youth Sports (PYS) entry in the Princeton Recreation Department Summer Men’s Basketball League.
Steve Fuchs knew that the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball team would be fighting an uphill battle this summer as it went with a youth movement.
“We have at least three or four freshmen who are starting every game, the team is almost all underclassmen,” said former Princeton High standout Fuchs.
“They are doing a great job but playing against guys that are three or four years older, that makes a difference. I really don’t think you can ignore that factor. They are learning very quickly but they have to learn on the fly.”
Chris Sanderson has suffered some tough setbacks during his lacrosse career.
The Ontario native was in goal when his University of Virginia team lost to Princeton in overtime in the 1996 NCAA championship game and when Canada fell in double-overtime to the U.S. in the title game at the 1998 World Championships.
But for Sanderson, those defeats were nothing compared to the dark moment last October when he found out he was suffering from a malignant brain tumor.