[SkiBum80]

I may be in the distinct minority here...or maybe not.  I can't get excited cheering on a team of professionals.  This is true of the true professional sports which I abandoned years ago.  And it is even more true of college sports, now that motivations have become hopelessly mixed. 

Stanford WBB is my last tie to the money sports in college--having given up on football and MBB some time over the last few years.  I'll hang with it another year, but I am not optimistic about my long term future as a fan.

I guess the question is...which of the non-revenue sports--which will NEVER pay college athletes--are worth cheering on.  Where should I direct my attention?  Or will they ALL become part of what I regard as the corruption of the amateur ideal?  Will anything worth watching be left?

I understand your frustration. And am not trying to sway or change your perspective on anything to do with watching Stanford, or any other sports, going forward.
But I want to make an observation, which is that while Stanford sports might becoming less desirable for some to watch because of the commercialization and professionalization of the athletes, it also becomes a question of will I continue to watch Stanford teams, or something else? What are the alternatives: pro sports, of course, always available.
What else: News, always available, usually its bad news, reality shows, daytime soap operas, politically motivated promotion masquerading as a talk show, reruns of old sitcoms, new sitcoms with loud canned laugh track, old movies already seen before, bachelors or bachelorettes, of young or old, gallivanting in vacation locales in a completely unsustainable temporary fantasy life, home purchasing or remodeling show, for a place I'd never move to, or for a remodel I'd never undertake....
Online, tiktok endless loops of youngsters hiphop dancing, or funny cat or dog antics.
Or online keeping up with friends or acquaintances or even strangers, about how much more of a fun and exciting life they are living than me.
Or ...
So in the scope of what is available to watch, regardless of the impurity of the athletes, I'm still planning to watch and support Stanford teams.

[SkiBum80]

I may be in the distinct minority here...or maybe not.  I can't get excited cheering on a team of professionals.  This is true of the true professional sports which I abandoned years ago.  And it is even more true of college sports, now that motivations have become hopelessly mixed. 

Stanford WBB is my last tie to the money sports in college--having given up on football and MBB some time over the last few years.  I'll hang with it another year, but I am not optimistic about my long term future as a fan.

I guess the question is...which of the non-revenue sports--which will NEVER pay college athletes--are worth cheering on.  Where should I direct my attention?  Or will they ALL become part of what I regard as the corruption of the amateur ideal?  Will anything worth watching be left?

I understand your frustration. And am not trying to sway or change your perspective on anything to do with watching Stanford, or any other sports, going forward.
But I want to make an observation, which is that while Stanford sports might becoming less desirable for some to watch because of the commercialization and professionalization of the athletes, it also becomes a question of will I continue to watch Stanford teams, or something else? What are the alternatives: pro sports, of course, always available.
What else: News, always available, usually its bad news, reality shows, daytime soap operas, politically motivated promotion masquerading as a talk show, reruns of old sitcoms, new sitcoms with loud canned laugh track, old movies already seen before, bachelors or bachelorettes, of young or old, gallivanting in vacation locales in a completely unsustainable temporary fantasy life, home purchasing or remodeling show, for a place I'd never move to, or for a remodel I'd never undertake....
Online, tiktok endless loops of youngsters hiphop dancing, or funny cat or dog antics.
Or online keeping up with friends or acquaintances or even strangers, about how much more of a fun and exciting life they are living than me.
Or ...
So in the scope of what is available to watch, regardless of the impurity of the athletes, I'm still planning to watch and support Stanford teams.