[BostonCard]

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.

Or you could, "touch grass".  Not to be too flippant, but we are in an era of virtually unlimited entertainment, and, were one to give up watching Stanford sports, even if one wanted to avoid professional sports or anything on television, there is a plethora of alternatives including:

• Reading a book
  
• Volunteering
  
• Going to a concert
  
• Watching a movie (you know, at the movie theater) or a broadway show
  
• Listening to a podcast
  
• Playing a sport recreationally
  
• Netflix (± and chill) or just skip to the "chill" if you are avoiding television
  
• Rooting for your kid play youth sports
  
• Travel
  
• Walk in the park (where you can "touch grass")
  
• Hiking, Surfing, Sailing, Skiing, etc.
  
• Going to a restaurant
  
• Stamp collecting, pottery making, other hobbies
  
• Practicing yoga
  
• Participating in a religious community
  

and on, and on, and on.  The list is only limited by my (lack of) imagination.

If Stanford decided not to play sports, I would be briefly saddened (even as my own experience resembles 81alum's), but my life wouldn't be meaningfully diminished.  Now, I don't begrudge you if you prefer watching Stanford sports to many of those activities (or, more likely, in addition to some of those activities), but for the people to whom the current situation is a bridge too far to support, there are plenty of alternatives.

And then there is also the question of allocation of resources.  Personally, I think the $20 million can be spent better elsewhere (and is on top of the subsidy the university has to give athletics due to the loss of revenue from moving to the ACC).  The University doesn't agree with me, and they can certainly afford it, but I do think they should periodically reassess the role of athletics in the University and its financial cost, and not just keep going because they historically have.

BC

[BostonCard]

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.

Or you could, "touch grass".  Not to be too flippant, but we are in an era of virtually unlimited entertainment, and, were one to give up watching Stanford sports, even if one wanted to avoid professional sports or anything on television, there is a plethora of alternatives including:

• Reading a book
  
• Volunteering
  
• Going to a concert
  
• Watching a movie (you know, at the movie theater) or a broadway show
  
• Listening to a podcast
  
• Playing a sport recreationally
  
• Netflix (± and chill) or just skip to the "chill" if you are avoiding television
  
• Rooting for your kid play youth sports
  
• Travel
  
• Walk in the park (where you can "touch grass")
  
• Hiking, Surfing, Sailing, Skiing, etc.
  
• Going to a restaurant
  
• Stamp collecting, pottery making, other hobbies
  
• Practicing yoga
  
• Participating in a religious community
  

and on, and on, and on.  The list is only limited by my (lack of) imagination.

If Stanford decided not to play sports, I would be briefly saddened (even as my own experience resembles 81alum's), but my life wouldn't be meaningfully diminished.  Now, I don't begrudge you if you prefer watching Stanford sports to many of those activities (or, more likely, in addition to some of those activities), but for the people to whom the current situation is a bridge too far to support, there are plenty of alternatives.

And then there is also the question of allocation of resources.  Personally, I think the $20 million can be spent better elsewhere (and is on top of the subsidy the university has to give athletics due to the loss of revenue from moving to the ACC).  The University doesn't agree with me, and they can certainly afford it, but I do think they should periodically reassess the role of athletics in the University and its financial cost, and not just keep going because they historically have.

BC