[socalstanfan1]

[quote author=burger link=topic=5389.msg39179#msg39179 date=1326677235]
I would be worried, Niners fans.  Alex Smith is no Aaron Rodgers.

Intellectually I feel like I should be rooting against the bay area NFL teams so that local football fans focus on Stanford.  In reality they're probably different markets so a crappy 49er team doesn't necessarily lead to more interest in the Cardinal.  Living in Los Angeles however, I feel jealous at the kind of treatment that even UCLA gets from the LA Times. 
[/quote]

Actually, I wonder if success for the 49ers might do us some good.  Anything that increases the interest in football in general would help all the football teams in the region (well, all of them that are reasonably successful).  I know when the 49ers were great in the 80s a lot of people who had no interest previously in football suddenly found it interesting.  It used to drive my roommate and I, long-suffering 49er fans who had followed the team through the late-70s dark years resented them taking up all the seats, both at the stadium and at the sports bars.  But it was great for the area, and I suspect there might be some synergy if both the 49ers and Stanford are doing good.

[socalstanfan1]

[quote author=burger link=topic=5389.msg39179#msg39179 date=1326677235]
I would be worried, Niners fans.  Alex Smith is no Aaron Rodgers.

Intellectually I feel like I should be rooting against the bay area NFL teams so that local football fans focus on Stanford.  In reality they're probably different markets so a crappy 49er team doesn't necessarily lead to more interest in the Cardinal.  Living in Los Angeles however, I feel jealous at the kind of treatment that even UCLA gets from the LA Times. 
[/quote]

Actually, I wonder if success for the 49ers might do us some good.  Anything that increases the interest in football in general would help all the football teams in the region (well, all of them that are reasonably successful).  I know when the 49ers were great in the 80s a lot of people who had no interest previously in football suddenly found it interesting.  It used to drive my roommate and I, long-suffering 49er fans who had followed the team through the late-70s dark years resented them taking up all the seats, both at the stadium and at the sports bars.  But it was great for the area, and I suspect there might be some synergy if both the 49ers and Stanford are doing good.