Around the Water Cooler: Welcoming Back Old People You Don't Know

Welcoming back old friends and old people that you don’t know is a timeless event that everyone holds very dear to their hearts. Homecoming season is getting underway in the Ivy League! And so is hockey season! Two Moores hailing from the Ivy League are playing in the NHL, while on a hockey rink in Ithaca, the Cornell men’s team will pick on little teenagers representing their country. Ah, exciting! Oh wait, save some of that excitement for the very late Midnight Madness-like event to hit Providence this Friday. Lets see what’s on tap for this week’s Around the Water Cooler.

Homecoming is finally here! Well not for Harvard yet, but for Columbia, as the Lions will host Dartmouth in New York. This season, Columbia has had mixed results, starting 1-1 in Ivy League play, while the Big Green is still looking to get its first win on the road in 13 games. Dartmouth will hope to spoil the NYC party and then head home for its own homecoming event, which it wants to celebrate in grand style against the Crimson.

Mike Moore (not the same Moore who produced Hollywood docs Sicko and Fahrenheit 9/11) made his NHL debut last night for the San Jose Sharks to become the eighth Princeton graduate to play in the league. Another Moore has also been excelling so far in the young NHL season, but this one used to go to school here in Cambridge. Dominic Moore ’03 has tallied four goals and an assist in five games for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

More news on the Tigers. The women’s basketball team has recently launched a blog-like feature on the Princeton Athletics website called “Through the Eyes of the Tiger.” Every week a player will talk about the trials and pressures of being on the Princeton women’s basketball team. I predicted that the Tigers will vie for a top spot in the Ivy League in the recent media poll, so we’ll see what drama will be brewing this season directly from the source.

Back to men’s hockey, please. The Cornell men’s team will play in two exhibition games: one against an international opponent, the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, and another against a team that plays international teams, the U.S. U-18 National Team. Quebec recently lost to Dartmouth, so the Big Red should have no problem disposing of this sorry excuse for a Canadian team. And as if this beat down wasn’t sufficient, Cornell will then play against high school kids who are 0-3 against NCAA Division I teams. It’ll be a fun weekend for Big Red fans.

Brown is also looking to start off its weekend on a celebratory note. Friday evening, the Bears basketball program will lure students to come out and watch the men’s and women’s teams scrimmage each other with $100 gifts cards, free tickets, and complimentary jerseys. I guess that’s what it takes to get a crowd to watch two teams that went 5-9 in Ivy League play last year. Cool.