The Clubbie and the Jock: A Tale of Two Princes

Peter Boyle and Chris Montgomery both play football for Princeton. The similarity ends there.

Boyle is a hard-core jock from Long Island (better known as "The Island" at Princeton beer blasts). Named to the ECAC All-East team of the week twice this season, he leads the Princeton team with five interceptions. He is a flashy, risk-taking linebacker, somewhat like Dartmouth's Murrey Bowden.

He is also a little temperamental. He beat up Princeton's star running back, Hank Bjorklund, after an argument at an early football practice. Boyle is 6'1", 210 pounds. Bjorklund is 6'0", 175 pounds.

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When a CRIMSON reporter called Boyle last Wednesday for an interview and identified his newspaper, Bolyle slammed the phone down. When the CRIMSON reporter called back, Boyle's roommate answered.

"He isn't talking to you," he said, and hung up.

Chris Montgomery is a good tight end, and according to a Princeton manager, "not a bad guy." Montgomery has made the long and arduous climb to social glory at Princeton. Once a high school student in Kansas, he is now a member of Princeton's chubbiest club, Cap and Gown.

"It's a long way from Kansas to Cap," Montgomery said, "but my roommates helped.

"I tend to look down on the preppy stereotype, however," he added. "After all, the Princeton clubs really have a fraternity atmosphere, which is a midwestern institution and something that's natural for me."

Despite his disregard for the preppy stereotype, Montgomery has apparently done a pretty good job of emulating it. There is no Middle American in his Locust Valley Lockjaw, and according to an acquaintance of his, "He's the kind of guy you find in Sakes Fifth Avenue the day after freshman registration buying striped ties and top-siders to replace his high school sweat shirt and basketball sneakers."

Montgomery was more interested in talking about football than his social life. He can't understand why Princeton hasn't "put it all together yet."

"We're on the verge of exploding," he said, "but little things keep going wrong." Many observers feel that Princeton suffers from the inexperience and lack of poise of its junior quarterback Rod Plummer.

Montgomery wasn't willing to put the blame on Plummer alone, however. "Being young hurts. It's not just a question of Plummer's inexperience but the attitude of the whole team. There are very few seniors on the team, and it's hard to generate the enthusiasm the seniors feel in the rest of the team."

Montgomery has no reservations about the coaching. "Jake [McCandless, Princeton's head coach] is a great guy. I talk to him about Hemingway's latest novel as much as I do about the halfback option. Why, I can even talk to Jake about my love life."