[Genuine Realist]

Almost my earliest memories of Stanford football is John Brodie in 1955. I was nine and he was a hero. My dad and brother and me always sat in the end zone on the closed end. Tickets were $5.00, maybe $2.00. The ambiance was more like a high school game than the current spectacle. I miss that old stadium, the eucalyptus, even the very bland band arrangements. (Later, during the Plunkett years, the pre game show was really good, with Come Join The Band modifying into a solid arrangement of Surf City. The 50's stuff was fun, but dull. Even a little kid could see that.) 

Back then, the NCAA insisted on one-platoon football, so Brodie had to play safety on defense as well. He specialized in a jump pass that looked spectacular, at least to a nine-year old. Paul Wiggin also played on those teams. Two All-Americans. 

Stanford had a fine year in 1955, 6-3-1, including a 6-0 win over Ohio State and a Voldemort winner, Hopalong Cassady, who did absolutely nothing. This is the first game I can remember seeing. The 1956 team was a major disappointment, finishing under .500 - dramatic underachievement. which should have warned me about what was coming. 

Brodie was a superb natural athlete, golfer (as everyone knows), but good at just about everything. A few years later, he was a habitue of the Los Altos Golf and Country Club, not nearly as raw-taw then as it is now. where my dad was a member. He made some money gambling, which undercut his popularity. My understanding is that, in addition to the athletic gift, he was a very good card player, gin rummy being his game of choice. 

All this seems a long time ago, because it was.

[Genuine Realist]

Almost my earliest memories of Stanford football is John Brodie in 1955. I was nine and he was a hero. My dad and brother and me always sat in the end zone on the closed end. Tickets were $5.00, maybe $2.00. The ambiance was more like a high school game than the current spectacle. I miss that old stadium, the eucalyptus, even the very bland band arrangements. (Later, during the Plunkett years, the pre game show was really good, with Come Join The Band modifying into a solid arrangement of Surf City. The 50's stuff was fun, but dull. Even a little kid could see that.) 

Back then, the NCAA insisted on one-platoon football, so Brodie had to play safety on defense as well. He specialized in a jump pass that looked spectacular, at least to a nine-year old. Paul Wiggin also played on those teams. Two All-Americans. 

Stanford had a fine year in 1955, 6-3-1, including a 6-0 win over Ohio State and a Voldemort winner, Hopalong Cassady, who did absolutely nothing. This is the first game I can remember seeing. The 1956 team was a major disappointment, finishing under .500 - dramatic underachievement. which should have warned me about what was coming. 

Brodie was a superb natural athlete, golfer (as everyone knows), but good at just about everything. A few years later, he was a habitue of the Los Altos Golf and Country Club, not nearly as raw-taw then as it is now. where my dad was a member. He made some money gambling, which undercut his popularity. My understanding is that, in addition to the athletic gift, he was a very good card player, gin rummy being his game of choice. 

All this seems a long time ago, because it was.