Pete Carril Keeps on Pluggin'

Back in the early '60s when he was coaching high school in eastern Pennsylvania, Pete Carril was thrown out of a gym after, well, let's call it a spirited argument with the home team's principal over a certain cigar that the visiting coach refused to remove from his mouth. Sans Carril, the visitors went on to win.

The incident typifies Princeton's current mentor perfectly. The cigar, the intense, emotional spirit, and--oh, yes--the winning tradition, are Carril trademarks. The Carril winning tradition continued at the IAB last night when the seasoned Tigers handled Harvard, 79-65.

In the decade since the dumpy, sometimes disheveled 47-year-old coach took over the reins from Butch van Breda Kolff, Princeton has logged a 201-91 record, swiping three Ivy titles in the process. In the same period, just to put you in perspective (Crimson diehards, close your eyes now), Harvard has gone 108-147 (open, please).

Carril's resume--not that he needs to have one, mind you--is simply awesome. Ivy titles in 1969, '76 and '77, and the NIT title in 1974. Upset wins versus North Carolina (a 16-pointer, with McAdoo and Jones playing for the opposition), Notre Dame, South Carolina, Oregon, Providence, Alabama, et al. First-round draft picks the likes of Geoff Petrie, John Hummer, Brian Taylor and Armond Hill.

Physically, he is short and squat, with a balding round head and a Marcel Marceau repertoire of facial expressions. The style of dress can best be described as drab middle-class--co-captain Bill Omeltchenko thought he was a wino off the streets when he saw Carril scouting one of his high school games.

Along with the cigar, his sidekick at courtside is a rolled-up program (at least I think it's a program) clutched in one hand as he rocks and gyrates in his chair, threatening to but never quite plopping his knees on the floor.

And then there's the voice. It's a Buggsy Moran kind of bark, and he uses it to alternately chide and cajole his players, and to pick apart the opposing team's game from the sidelines. And occasionally, just occasionally, he'll do a little ref-baiting.

This year, for the first time, the Midas touch of King Carril has failed to produce its annual wonders. Princeton has three losses in the Ivies, and Penn--tonight's Harvard opponent--just about has the league title wrapped up.

"I can't recall another season like this in 23 years of coaching," he said after a 38-36 home loss to Columbia--a game that was interrupted when police evacuated Jadwin gym four minutes from the end, following a bomb threat.

This season is no different from others in terms of Carril and hot water finding each other. Carril's comments comparing Penn's Tony Price to notoriously dirty pro football player George Atkinson following one of two Princeton losses to the Quakers prompted Penn's athletic director to write a letter of protest to Princeton's A.D. and the league office. Technical fouls have been rampant, too.

But those kinds of things happen with feisty Pete Carril, especially during such a trying season--the Tigers have had eight five-point games this campaign, and they have lost all of them.

"Lotta close games, lotta tough games," Carril grumbled in a genre all his own at the IAB last night. Despite the Tigers' win, Carril had a hard time cracking a smile after last night's game--it's been a tough year for this weather-beaten man.

Asked if he thought Princeton would make postseason play this year, he just mumbled, "I doubt it," then walked away. Still, somehow, one sensed that this elf of a coach would be back in '78-'79.