[Mick]

Yes, Stanford is an elite/elitist institution, but that's not a bad thing, that's a great thing.  And I think most of the schools that play power football are also elitist in their own way.  Have a conversation with an Oklahoma Sooner fan, especially about Texas and Nebraska, and the elitism will spill right out.  Same with Auburn, Michigan, LSU, etc.  Stanford is just elite on a different scale.  And when Stanford plays great football, people are attracted.  I never went to Stanford, but I've watched football since Plunkett, basketball since Kelley, volleyball since Fortune, women's basketball since Azzi, and watched track & field since the mid-1980s.  I've seen most of the so-called minor sports at least once.  

And BTW, in all the decades since, I've never felt snobbery from younger or middle-aged fans, and just once or twice from elderly fans who, frankly, were admitted to Stanford when the acceptance rate was 83% (1941, 1139 applicants, 948 acceptances).

[Mick]

Yes, Stanford is an elite/elitist institution, but that's not a bad thing, that's a great thing.  And I think most of the schools that play power football are also elitist in their own way.  Have a conversation with an Oklahoma Sooner fan, especially about Texas and Nebraska, and the elitism will spill right out.  Same with Auburn, Michigan, LSU, etc.  Stanford is just elite on a different scale.  And when Stanford plays great football, people are attracted.  I never went to Stanford, but I've watched football since Plunkett, basketball since Kelley, volleyball since Fortune, women's basketball since Azzi, and watched track & field since the mid-1980s.  I've seen most of the so-called minor sports at least once.  

And BTW, in all the decades since, I've never felt snobbery from younger or middle-aged fans, and just once or twice from elderly fans who, frankly, were admitted to Stanford when the acceptance rate was 83% (1941, 1139 applicants, 948 acceptances).