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What it means to be a Stanford fan - fullmetal - 11-15-2013

Yes, it's a Bleacher Report article, but it was written by a Stanford fan, and having read it, I understand exactly what's going on...some of you will as well!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1842467-stanford-vs-oregon-and-what-it-means-to-be-a-cardinal-fan

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - Kathy - 11-15-2013

Oh so familiar ...
Quote:It's over. Another touchdown, another onside kick, and this time Stanford had recovered. Three heart-attack-inducing running plays later ("Don't fumble, don't fumble, please God don't fumble") the Cardinal had won.


Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - SUBuddha - 11-15-2013

That was a nice read, but for all the heart break there have been some real good surprises too. I still hold on to those victories against ND at ND in the early '90s, or the upset of UW by Elway, the pasting of Penn State in the holiday bowl etc. as signs that being a fan of the team has its upside. Then again, those upsets and small victories in the past may be part of what makes it so hard not to have hubris at times, and makes the loses hurt all the more.

The article did hit home for me though, for instance, I am actually upset that my pops has already started looking at hotels for a particular location around the new year. NO DAD STOP!

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - yvonne - 11-15-2013

Why did that have to run this week?

(She said, understanding fully the irony of the statement.)

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - yvonne - 11-15-2013

(11-15-2013, 10:54 AM)SUBuddha link Wrote:That was a nice read, but for all the heart break there have been some real good surprises too. I still hold on to those victories against ND at ND in the early '90s, or the upset of UW by Elway, the pasting of Penn State in the holiday bowl etc. as signs that being a fan of the team has its upside. Then again, those upsets and small victories in the past may be part of what makes it so hard not to have hubris at times, and makes the loses hurt all the more.

Don't forget the 1990 Big Game.

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - SUBuddha - 11-15-2013

I will never forget that one Yvonne. My freshman year was a good year for upsets and heartbreaks. I ended up living next to Hopkins my junior year and always wanted to ask him about that kick.

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - FarmBoy - 11-15-2013

I thought the article posted by Stanford-fanship pretty well. (I was one of the few still in the stands that rainy day in 2000, holding out hope but fearing the worst.) But like SUBuddha, I do wonder if we don't give our team/program enough credit sometimes. Every program has memorable heart breaking losses and few have the kind of sustained success that 'Bama has. FSU, for example, certainly has its share of wide rights and wide lefts, but is clearly still a top program over the past 40-50 years.

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - yvonne - 11-15-2013

(11-15-2013, 11:08 AM)FarmBoy link Wrote:Every program has memorable heart breaking losses and few have the kind of sustained success that 'Bama has.

Punt, 'Bama, punt!

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - Oasis - 11-15-2013

This was a really fine piece of writing.  No doubt all of us have shared some of these experiences and been affected by them.  For a few years after The Play I lost my sense of certainty about the world. I used to triple-check or even quadruple-check things like having my keys, making sure doors were locked and that I had all my papers for a meeting.  Maybe it was because of The Play.  More likely it was just OCD.  (Now it's senility.  I can't remember.) 

And in the 70s and 80s when we would play USC I felt as if disaster loomed every snap. Their tank running back could break through our outmanned defense at any moment and the house would come down on us. 

I am a lot more confident now.  We all know the litany of qualifiers. ("But we're not taking anything for granted, no sir.....") But I'm not going to run out onto the field before the game is over.  What I think doesn't affect the result.  So while I want the team to be out there fighting like hell every play, I have confidence that they will do that.  Last week, even after Oregon made in 26-20, I didn't think we would lose because we had a chance to win.  It wasn't about what Oregon might do but what we could do.  (Oregon was extremely lucky to block the FG and recover even one onside kick.)  I didn't think we would blow the last onside kick.  And we didn't.

I'm confident about tomorrow too. I'm going to places crawling with USC people and I'll be a conspicuous Stanford fan.  Not obnoxious but not hiding my colors either.  We're going to go into that frenzied, sold-out Coliseum with about 80,000 rabid Figueroans and we're going to whip their butt.  That's the new reality.

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - martyup - 11-17-2013

in light of last night's loss to USC Stanford fan should reread this article.

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - fullmetal - 11-18-2013

Never underestimate the effect of dropped passes, interceptions, and blocked FG attempts :(

Re: What it means to be a Stanford fan - Kathy - 11-18-2013

(11-17-2013, 04:04 PM)martyup link Wrote:in light of last night's loss to University of Spoiled Children  Stanford fan should reread this article.

I think everyone here is only too familiar with the heartbreak of Stanford fandom. Last Saturday's game brought back the bitter memory of my last trip to the Coliseum: November 1973, sophomore year. Improbable as it seemed, we were at the doorstep of beating the eighth-ranked team in the nation. We had the best kicker in the country ~ Rod Garcia had already set a Pac-8 record with a 59-yard field goal in the first quarter. We were delirious in anticipation of a 26-24 upset. But $C's mediocre kicker, who had never kicked anything longer than 25 yards, booted a 34-yarder with 34 seconds left for the win. Eating out in LA that night,  still in our Stanford fan gear, was my introduction to the heights of Trojan obnoxiousness.

Even the balm of sweet revenge two years later when Mike Langford repaid the favor with a last-second, game-winning field goal was not enough to wipe out the pain of 1973. I have witnessed worse Stanford losses, to be sure (like the slaughter in Ann Arbor in 1976) but I count back to Nov. 10, 1973, as the birth of my hatred of USC.