Y'all have to love stories like this... - Printable Version
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Y'all have to love stories like this... - OutsiderFan - 04-12-2014
On Friday evening I took an Amtrak regional train from New Haven to Hartford to complete the final leg of my roundtrip into NYC. Before the train left, a retired gentleman sat next to me, who turned out to be from Richmond, VA. He had no phone, tablet, or even reading material, and neither did I, as my phone battery was dead after forgetting my charger at home, I had done a bunch of work on my tablet on the trip from NYC to new Haven, and was too tired to read. So I was just sitting, looking out the window. After a few minutes of the man talking to his wife, who was sitting in the next row due to the fullness of the train, asked me about the UConn Huskies, clearly wanting to strike up a conversation about the dual titles won by their hoops programs this week. Here's an excerpt of what transpired:
Me: Yeah, it's amazing. They did the same thing 10 years ago, both the men and women winning in the same year... I'm not from here. I'm from California, so I have no love for UConn.
Man: California? Is that right. Stanford had a really good year. Real good year. They're more known for football though.
Me: Yeah, they've been good the last few years for sure.
Man: They've really gotten good. Now they are the top dog in the Pac-12 every year.
Then I told him how I used to go to Stanford games, and we had a nice chat. What stood out about this interaction was how Stanford was the first school the guy thought of when he heard California, not UCLA or USC. The guy talked about Stanford football as a brand as if it were Alabama or USC. I mean to hear him talk, you'd never imagine 2002-2008 ever happened.
If a retired guy from Richmond, Virginia thinks Stanford's football program is the top dog in the PAC-12, it shows the magnitude of being in the Rose Bowl back-to-back years. If my mind was sharper and I wasn't exhausted, I would have asked him more questions about his perception of Stanford and had more to report. Still, I found the conversation and what this man volunteered about the impression Stanford football has made on him to be quite interesting and something y'all would like to know.
Re: Y'all have to love stories like this... - Rally - 04-12-2014
You didn't offer to swap seats so he could sit next to his wife?
Re: Y'all have to love stories like this... - Farm93 - 04-12-2014
I recently had a man at a store tell me that Stanford is a football school, like USC, as we were waiting for our orders.
While intended as a compliment, I was livid for so many reasons. Still, I went with the nice response about noting how few programs went to 5 BCS bowls, including 4 in that back-to-back-to-back-to-back run. And it is true that most of the programs that have gone to 5 BCS bowls are definitely football powerhouses, so I guess one could call Stanford a football school.
I was still not happy, but then again I get annoyed when Bay Area grade school kids say that Stanford is that really nice shopping mall.
Re: Y'all have to love stories like this... - Bruce Wang - 04-12-2014
The good thing about Connecticut Yankees: they know Stanford is in California.