Maples on a game night used to be FUN as evidenced by a long waiting list for season tickets and a student section that gave Maples a nationwide reputation for home court advantage. The place was BUZZING for games against UConn, Arizona, UCLA and (in a venue slightly North) Duke.
Not so much any more.Â
In 2004 when Mike Montgomery left, Stanford was on the verge of breaking into the elite teams that make up NCAA basketball royalty - a team with an identity, deep bench, frequent runs in the NCAA tournament and preseason #1 rankings.Â
It's sad to think that the next round of recruits were 6 years old when Mike Montgomery walked away. To them Stanford has always been a team fighting for their spot in the Pac 12s lower division.Â
As a one time 20 year season ticket holder I walked away when going to games was just too depressing and ticket prices just too high. I still see a couple of games a year but nostalgia takes over as I sit amongst the few in the sleepy bleacher. Mostly I reflect on how Maples is a shadow of its early 2000 self and the adjectives I use to describe game night afterwards rarely include "fun" and "Buzzing".
Not so much any more.Â
In 2004 when Mike Montgomery left, Stanford was on the verge of breaking into the elite teams that make up NCAA basketball royalty - a team with an identity, deep bench, frequent runs in the NCAA tournament and preseason #1 rankings.Â
It's sad to think that the next round of recruits were 6 years old when Mike Montgomery walked away. To them Stanford has always been a team fighting for their spot in the Pac 12s lower division.Â
As a one time 20 year season ticket holder I walked away when going to games was just too depressing and ticket prices just too high. I still see a couple of games a year but nostalgia takes over as I sit amongst the few in the sleepy bleacher. Mostly I reflect on how Maples is a shadow of its early 2000 self and the adjectives I use to describe game night afterwards rarely include "fun" and "Buzzing".
In 1938 Neville Chamberlain declared "Peace in our time", Superman first appeared in Action Comics, Seabiscuit beat War Admiral ....... and C.a.l last won the Rose Bowl.