[81alum]

Plus John Dunning :)

mea culpa.  Corrected.  I dunno why I did that.

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I would put Ratcliffe ahead of Marquess and probably Dunning as well. He is a great recruiter and coach.

You may be right to do so.  I don't have the expertise to rank that finely.  But he surely will go down as one of the greatest Stanford coaches of all time if he keeps this up for another decade....

...which brings me to another question.  Given that women's soccer is one of Stanford's finest programs, why is there relatively light interest in it on this board?  I would love to have someone who is truly expert on soccer posting here.  I am not that person, even though I know a good thing when I see it.  Why doesn't one of Stanford's consistently best sports have the following on the Cardboard that it deserves?

Seriously folks, rather than beat your heads against the Jerod Haase wall, or obsess over a 2-10 rebuilding team, why not follow and get excited by a national championship contender?   (Ranked 6 in RPI at the moment.)

Is it that most folks on this board just don't like the world's most  popular sport?

For me, the barrier is knowledge.  I really need to hear from fans who have played or coached the game and understand it more deeply.  Watching a soccer match must be more engrossing if you know the strategies and tactics than if you don't--the same as all sports.

[81alum]

Plus John Dunning :)

mea culpa.  Corrected.  I dunno why I did that.

---

I would put Ratcliffe ahead of Marquess and probably Dunning as well. He is a great recruiter and coach.

You may be right to do so.  I don't have the expertise to rank that finely.  But he surely will go down as one of the greatest Stanford coaches of all time if he keeps this up for another decade....

...which brings me to another question.  Given that women's soccer is one of Stanford's finest programs, why is there relatively light interest in it on this board?  I would love to have someone who is truly expert on soccer posting here.  I am not that person, even though I know a good thing when I see it.  Why doesn't one of Stanford's consistently best sports have the following on the Cardboard that it deserves?

Seriously folks, rather than beat your heads against the Jerod Haase wall, or obsess over a 2-10 rebuilding team, why not follow and get excited by a national championship contender?   (Ranked 6 in RPI at the moment.)

Is it that most folks on this board just don't like the world's most  popular sport?

For me, the barrier is knowledge.  I really need to hear from fans who have played or coached the game and understand it more deeply.  Watching a soccer match must be more engrossing if you know the strategies and tactics than if you don't--the same as all sports.