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Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - Printable Version

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RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - old spanish trail - 07-03-2024

Hmmm, we are more excited to attend away fb games, and look forward to home BB for the first time in years.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - TriangleTree - 07-03-2024

I am not less interested.
I became a fan when we were a mediocre football and men’s basketball team and will continue to be.
I took interest and pride in what Stanford athletics represented and want it to continue to be the case. 
I am looking forward to see what we can do in this new era, with tempered expectations. I hope that for every Austin Jones there’s a few more Spencer Jones, enough make us competitive. 
The PAC demise is a tragedy.
The NIL and the transfer portal combo are a mess, but absent credible professional minor leagues (as in baseball) they needed to happen, it was not fair nor legal not to. 
My hope is that we can muster enough financial support to make Stanford NIL competitive for those players that value the Stanford experience. Not for those that don‘t, let them have USC. 

My hope is that the ACC (or whatever) emerges into a league that continues to value the student part of the athlete, even if less competitive. 
I loved what Stanford athletics added to my Stanford experience and I’m not ready to give up on finding a solution that works, against all odds.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - Mick - 07-04-2024

My enthusiasm for collegiate sports has diminished greatly over the years. I knew an athlete in high school who played nine years in MLB, he was our QB/PG/Catcher for the three main sports. In college, I attended classes with the athletes on our teams. I knew them, socialized with them and was excited for their successes and for the few who made it into pro sports.

I really enjoyed watching Elway, Margerum, Lofton, Nelson, etc. and those memories are fond. I know it's a different world now, and the derogatory term that sports reporters use ("I don't root for laundry") keeps jumping into my head. In the age of NIL and the transfer portal, all we do as spectators is root for what amounts to minor league teams.

It amazes me that the 40 year decision doesn't appear to hold as much water as it once did. I know so many 50- and 60-year olds who regret not attending a better school. I realize it's difficult for a 17 year old to have that perspective, but your life doesn't end after age 22 or after your (likely brief) pro career.

I'll still root hard for the men's volleyball team and the football team, and I'm still a fan of both basketball teams and the track teams, and I like it when Stanford wins the Director's Cup. But the current age, and the mentality that NIL/transfer portal creates among young student ATHLETES is just sad to me.

And you kids stay off my lawn...

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - GK3 - 07-04-2024

(07-04-2024, 08:14 AM)Mick Wrote:  My enthusiasm for collegiate sports has diminished greatly over the years. I knew an athlete in high school who played nine years in MLB, he was our QB/PG/Catcher for the three main sports. In college, I attended classes with the athletes on our teams. I knew them, socialized with them and was excited for their successes and for the few who made it into pro sports.

I really enjoyed watching Elway, Margerum, Lofton, Nelson, etc. and those memories are fond. I know it's a different world now, and the derogatory term that sports reporters use ("I don't root for laundry") keeps jumping into my head. In the age of NIL and the transfer portal, all we do as spectators is root for what amounts to minor league teams.

It amazes me that the 40 year decision doesn't appear to hold as much water as it once did. I know so many 50- and 60-year olds who regret not attending a better school. I realize it's difficult for a 17 year old to have that perspective, but your life doesn't end after age 22 or after your (likely brief) pro career.

I'll still root hard for the men's volleyball team and the football team, and I'm still a fan of both basketball teams and the track teams, and I like it when Stanford wins the Director's Cup. But the current age, and the mentality that NIL/transfer portal creates among young student ATHLETES is just sad to me.

And you kids stay off my lawn...

The difference I think is that the MONEY for many is NOW not maybe, sometime down the line.  How much NIL money can a 5 star highschool QB make over a 4 year college carreer if it at least half way decent.  My guess the number is in millions.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - msqueri - 07-04-2024

Yeah and what in the world has John Elway shown at any point in his life that would make anybody think he wouldn’t sprint to the money if he were a prospect today?

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - old spanish trail - 07-04-2024

(07-04-2024, 03:18 PM)msqueri Wrote:  Yeah and what in the world has John Elway shown at any point in his life that would make anybody think he wouldn’t sprint to the money if he were a prospect today?

So true, but Kevin Hogan would have stayed for 4 or 5 years.

TheWildJacko - TheWildJacko - 07-04-2024

I for one can’t wait for WBB season to come around again. I’m a Stanford fan, not a Pac-12 fan (I’m a doctor, not a…)

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - 81alum - 07-05-2024

College sports were my escapist source of entertainment.  There was a certain nobility about the fact that the entertainers were doing it for fun or for education.  Once that ideal became broken, my enthusiasm waned.  WBB seemed less corrupt, for a time, than football, so my attention turned there.  There was something amazing about a final four team when 15/15 of the players on the roster had at least 4.0 averages in high school and most went on after graduation to be doctors, lawyers, college professors, etc.  Perhaps it was the one and only time when the "amateur ideal" actually worked so well.

I am still digesting all the recent developments. I thought very very hard about whether I should renew my season tickets.  I elected to do so simply to give Kate Paye and Stanford a chance, but judging from the fact that this is my first post here in months, it is clear that my psyche has moved on from college sports for now.  I'm giving it a year to see how I feel after watching 1) transfer players starting for WBB, 2) the team jetting all over the country to play unfamiliar opponents, 3) Kate doing her best to continue Tara's legacy but in a very un-Tara like era.

We have different reasons for being Stanford sports fans.  There were those who were Stanford fans who turned to sports, and those who were sports fans who turned to Stanford.  Stanford values are just more important to me than sports, although I desperately wish--and still hold out a bit of forlorn hope--that they can be reconciled.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - SamuelMcF - 07-05-2024

(07-04-2024, 02:42 PM)GK3 Wrote:  The difference I think is that the MONEY for many is NOW not maybe, sometime down the line.  How much NIL money can a 5 star highschool QB make over a 4 year college carreer if it at least half way decent.  My guess the number is in millions.

DEFINITIVELY in the millions, assuming he actually starts and lives up to his billing.

It's not "spurn the NFL" millions though, assuming he's a legit prospect. (And will never be. Because if it is, the NFL will step in.)

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - GK3 - 07-05-2024

(07-05-2024, 09:22 AM)SamuelMcF Wrote:  
(07-04-2024, 02:42 PM)GK3 Wrote:  The difference I think is that the MONEY for many is NOW not maybe, sometime down the line.  How much NIL money can a 5 star highschool QB make over a 4 year college carreer if it at least half way decent.  My guess the number is in millions.

DEFINITIVELY in the millions, assuming he actually starts and lives up to his billing.

It's not "spurn the NFL" millions though, assuming he's a legit prospect. (And will never be. Because if it is, the NFL will step in.)

Yes, if he starts and lives up to his billing, he will make millions both in college and in the NFL. In the old days he would have made his tuition, board, room and books and whatever else he got under the table and then made his millions in the NFL.  Now he starts making his millions right after high school.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - M T - 07-05-2024

I, for one, wonder how long the money lasts.  Are these just the dot-com years of NIL? Pour a bunch of VC money in and see what you can do, but will that be sustainable?

While my attention is focused by the laundry a player is wearing, it is the players that I like to get to know (at a distance) and appreciate seeing them develop and get rewarded for their effort. 

This applies both to our team and our opponents both at the team level and the player level. Who hasn’t been impressed by some great skill and good sportsmanship shown by some opponents, as well as been angry at bad sportsmanship by some other opponents. 

If Stanford signees flit like a moth to a new flame, they will lose my interest (perhaps unjustly but in fact). I’d rather cheer for middling players that I see develop and win or lose than have to look up the name in the roster of some one-and-done.  Yea, I still enjoyed WBB in the years the team didn’t do so well. 

So, I’m still going to be watching the players that stick around.  81alum, I bet we’ll be meeting up at halftime in the future.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - BobK - 07-05-2024

And some 81 are those of us born Stanford fans. And will continue but I’ll miss the pac 12 schools

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - SkiBum80 - 07-05-2024

I'm frustrated and butt-hurt by the demise of the Pac-12.
And joining the ACC is of course geographically nonsensical*
And the wild west NIL landscape is disturbing.
But I'm still enthused for Stanford athletes and teams.
And find it heartening to see the smart young great athletes continuing to sign up to study at and play for Stanford.

*While joining ACC is laughable by geography, it was by far the best move left to us after crash of Pac-12 and no invites to B1G or SEC or B12.
And is a bit of irony that it has more schools more like us than in Pac-12.
Namely being private but aspiring to field top tier national teams in many sports, Duke and Notre Dame being the most obvious examples.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - lex24 - 07-07-2024

Yes.  As has the portal coupled with NIL.  I didn’t watch one second of the NCAA Basketball tourney.  Could care less.  And I’m tired of watching football games where it’s essentially the quarterback (transfer from X) hit’s the wide receiver (a transfer from Y) tackled by the cornerback (transfer from Z). It’s worse than professional free agency. At least then you have an idea of how long the players are under contract.

The ACC bit just kind of the last straw for me. Just don't care about for college sports anymore.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - Mudhead - 07-07-2024

(07-07-2024, 08:17 AM)lex24 Wrote:  Yes.  As has the portal coupled with NIL.  I didn’t watch one second of the NCAA Basketball tourney.  Could care less.  And I’m tired of watching football games where it’s essentially the quarterback (transfer from X) hit’s the wide receiver (a transfer from Y) tackled by the cornerback (transfer from Z). It’s worse than professional free agency. At least then you have an idea of how long the players are under contract.

The ACC bit just kind of the last straw for me. Just don't care about for college sports anymore.

Tech Mogul,  I understand your thinking. Your expression of it exactly mirrored that of our middle son who is a Stanford grad, loves athletics and lives in Menlo Park.  Then I lured him out to a softball game and we watched Najeree Canaday pitch.  “ Maybe we should renew the BB season tickets (men’s and women’s ) after all, says he.”  The of course , Canada goes into the portal.

It’s a roller coaster to be sure. But if Stanford makes the commitment to attract and retain top athletes who are top people and very good students, Im up for the ride.  Hope you’ll come along for at least a couple of years and see how this settles.

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - martyup - 07-07-2024

I miss windsurfing on Lake Lag. 

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RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - cardcrimson - 07-07-2024

(07-07-2024, 09:37 AM)Mudhead Wrote:  Then of course , Canada goes into the portal.

The whole country is in the portal? Where will they transfer to? Europe? Hope they do it, would make Alaska much closer!

PS I really don't like auto correct. . .

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - qwerty49 - 07-07-2024

(07-07-2024, 04:27 PM)cardcrimson Wrote:  
(07-07-2024, 09:37 AM)Mudhead Wrote:  Then of course , Canada goes into the portal.

The whole country is in the portal? Where will they transfer to? Europe? Hope they do it, would make Alaska much closer!

PS I really don't like auto correct. . .

If we lose Canada do we get a draft pick or two as compensation?  

Maybe New Zealand and Portugal?

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - PalmTree - 07-07-2024

I'd love to post a cleverly crafted response to this thread but watching an IG video of Kiki Iriafen in an SC uniform easily throwing down a one-hand dunk pretty much took the wind out of my sails.......

RE: Does the conference move diminish enthusiasm for this year? - oman - 07-12-2024

Very excited.