Thu 29 May 2008
We came, we saw, we ate some bacon. So this morning I went to breakfast with Mr. Ephblog himself, David Kane. I will have you all know that the entire affair was quite civil - indeed, quite friendly. Although the fur flies here on Ephblog, we alums know how to behave in public (when not at sporting events). Anyway, our discussions and David’s exhortations that just about everything I said would make a good post for Ephblog have motivated me to write something tonight.
We joke sometimes about making David take an Ephblog vacation for a week, or about how posts need to be more positive or the general tone of our discussions. It is really one of my favorite little pastimes to poke holes in David’s arguments and needle him about being less critical. But this morning as we were talking about all the trouble I used to cause at Williams when I was there, I realized that the only way to change anything is to work on making it better. In keeping with that, I’m going to try to post more (NOT because I am in any way better, but because I want to change the tone). Thus far, I post here and there, then get really frustrated by some of the things I see up here and get discouraged, then come back and make snarky comments, eventually feeing motivated enough to make my own post again. This is a pretty circular pattern that doesn’t seem to accomplish much. So, I’m going to start off with a modest goal of one post each week even if that means expanding a comment into a whole post (good idea btw David) or just finding some obscure Williams connection to a news item. If I want more positive or constructive posts, I should quite whining about it and do something, so I will try.
On a related note of navel gazing, when I went to write this, I noticed the list of incoming links to Ephblog and one caught my eye. It is a comparison of Williams and Princeton of their relative “ridiculousness.” Now this fits under navel gazing, because I really thought I wanted to go to Princeton, got waitlisted, and picked Williams. Thank goodness I did! Anyway, so I thought I’d check out that link and discovered a pretty hilarious chart comparing various aspects of the two schools, from reunions to newspapers, to latin names to random days off, to the best category of all:
Blog Run By Students/Alums Who Care Entirely Too Much
And the winner was (of course): EPHBLOG!!! Good to know someone thinks well of us. So keep caring entirely too much everyone - you’re doing your part!
P.S. Any Boston-area Ephblog readers should get in touch with David and grab a meal. Fun stuff!
May 30th, 2008 at 12:53 am
JG:
Alas, I don’t have much to say about Princeton at the moment….however….
I wondered about your reference (in an earlier comment) to”tone” over “breakfast”, and then decided that it must have been some sort of boardroom discussion at your workplace. So, what a pleasure to read this post and discover otherwise!
As a relative newcomer to EphBlog, a woman, and a cohort in the desire to see a change in…ahem…”tone”, I think we have much in common. Like you, I have experienced the “circular patterns”, and the “snarky comments” (”admonishments”, on my part), that seem to lead nowhere except to a personal disdain of my own “tone.
And, this pattern has been all the more frustrating because I am truly grateful to David… for a lot. I have learned much here, not just about Williams, but about myself. And in the process, I have made some personal connections that are invaluable [...].
So, before I invite criticism for such unbridled sentiment, let me just finish with…Hallelujah!!! Post away, my dear! Give David a much needed break, and moi, perhaps the necessary inspiration to become an author as well!
In the meantime, could I possibly send some of my ‘ideas’ your way? Like the link to the article about Smith and Wake Forest doing away with SATs, or other… nonsense? (So interesting, IMO, and likely to have huge repercussions!). I promise to not be offended if you choose not to post it, but would love to have someone else to ‘bug’ other than David.
May 30th, 2008 at 5:52 am
Without snark EphBlog’s happy, chauvinist fools will accelerate their intrabreeding and resultingly grow in number as rabbits.
May 30th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Thank you for your continuing efforts.
May 30th, 2008 at 11:34 am
You are certainly welcome.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Frank,
You are funny. One witty Williams wag.
Between your ‘replicating reprobates’ and ‘tolerable Toledians’, you are one consistently comical curmudgeon.
BTW, why is EB so slow? Like Parisians, do Ephs all go on vacation at exactly the same time?
Or, is there an Eph convention somewhere?
May 30th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
The “thank you” was actually meant for JG (my post was delayed in showing up), but FU deserves thanks as well.
FM - Not much going on. Grading papers and exams, paperwork, moving out of dorms, saying “farewell” during Senior Week, getting through the roller coaster of the end of the academic year with the younger ones, grabbing a bit of vacation, starting summer jobs, that sort of thing — busy immersion in the details of ordinary life.
The latest news is that the Williams women’s first and second varsity boats both won their heats in the D3 NCAA regatta earlier today (unheard of!), and advance directly to the Grand Final tomorrow. The other heat was won by Trinity’s first boat (in just about the same time as the Williams first boat), which also advances directly to the Grand Final. The Trinity boat will give the Williams boats a very hard run tomorrow, having traded firsts with the Williams 1V in their two encounters a month ago. (Trinity won the first one and Williams the second, both by photofinishes, so the competition tomorrow will be intense.)
The way this works with D3 is that the boat that wins the Grand Final is the champion (and gets 100 Directors Cup points). The team that has the most points, between its first and second boats, is the team points champion (in D1, it is the team points champion that gets to go to the White House, even though that is rarely the school that wins the 1V, but D1 races a 1V eight, a 2V eight, and a 4, so the situation is very different from that in D3).
Anyway, Williams looks very well positioned for the team points championship, although it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the Trinity 1V or the Williams 1V will be first in the Grand Final. (Should Trin sneak by, it’s 100 Directors Cup points for them, and 50 for Williams; unless there is some amazing mishap, the Williams 2V will give the first boats a hard race but will not beat them — the 2V then brings no Directors Cup points, but a lot of glory for what could be a Grand Final bronze.)
The racing starts first thing tomorrow, California time. Check out the Williams sports website to see if you can get a webcast link and schedule.
This will end the season for Williams sports. I heard the crew seniors were being flown home in time for graduation.
Go Ephs!
May 30th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
The Ephwomen’s boats race Trinity’s 1V tomorrow at 10:30 Sacramento time (1:30 Eastern time). It will be a shoot-out, with the 2V breaking its heart to try to beat the Williams 1V and both Eph boats gunning for Trinity.
(And where in my Quaker heart did these violent metaphors come from?).
Go Williams!
May 31st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Rowing update: The Trinity 1V had a magnificent start and the Williams boats could not catch up (100 Directors Cup points to Trinity). It was a silver to the Williams 1V (50 Directors Cup points) and a bonze to the Williams 2V, which is exceptional. And Williams is the NCAA 2008 Division 3 points champion.
Many congratulations to the Ephs.
May 31st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
And congratulations also to Trinity for a well-deserved gold. They rowed a splendid race.