Jadwin Blowout

As the Princeton women's team jumped to a very lopsided lead, some in the audience didn't know what to do. Fans who take pleasure in hurling insults at the opposition found no sport in it when the other team proved so hapless. I was hurling mild insults at myself for having botched my pre-game research, which was aimed at avoiding blowouts. The Princeton University women's team is so good there aren't many teams that will pose a challenge.

My daughter having found her friends and headed for the highest seats, there to ignore the game in favor of junk food and cell phone diversions, I explored what else Jadwin Gym has to offer.

The Princeton marching band showed up, featuring a shrink-wrapped sousaphone and drum major with motorcycle helmet who translated the pep music into writhing, reptilian dance steps.

The band accommodates examples of divergent musical evolution, such as this pink flamingo percussionist.

Wandering into the front lobby, one can puzzle over the dysfunctional recycling arrangement. This is one of the rec department's many trash cans confusingly ornamented with a recycling insignia--evidence of a recycling program that long ago gave up the ghost.

The one remaining recycling bin (blue top, left) stands tucked in a corner where no one will notice it. Seeing the same problem last year, I offered a peppy guide to a winning recycling season and alerted the sustainability department at the university, all to no avail. This is not the first recycling program to break down for lack of vigilance.

More pleasing than the trash can arrangement is the statuary. I plan to take a photo of myself in this pose one of these days, with a catcher's mitt on the left hand and a soccer ball in the other.

This soulful tiger should have a slot where people could contribute to saving real tigers' habitat. Just an idea.

The sculptor of a "Princeton student", Daniel Chester French, also sculpted Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial.

Returning to the game, the Princeton women almost made it to 100, with several of their second string players showing a knack for sinking 3 pointers.

Entry is $5 for adults, $3 for kids. The schedule is here. If your internet research chops, like mine, can't meet the challenge of figuring out which opponents are contenders, Jadwin offers a diverting atmosphere even if the scores are lopsided, and you can be confident that there will be at least one good team on the court.