The Daily Journal, the daily legal newspaper, is usually the place you can find the riveting latest on your general liability insurance policy, big deals and who is doing them and that new tax regulation that means your uranium depletion exemption just imploded. But much to my surprise the DJ ran an article about Stanford football on January 17. You can't post it without paying a ridiculously high reprint fee, but the author, David Carico (a Stanford alum in SF who specializes in appellate work) says we're underrated for five reasons:
1. Football is not that important at Stanford. We don't have a rabid fan base where the mania passes from one generation to the next. Some people at Stanford never go to games.Â
2. Stanford doesn't have an "identifiable" mascot like the ones that do pushups when the team scores; the sports media don't like the Tree.
3. Football revenue is small compared to the team's recent success, although Stanford is a bargain program. It pays less per win than any other ranked team except Kansas State.
4. Stanford is not in the SEC or Oregon. For example, Georgia went 12-2 and finished ahead of us, despite only one win vs. ranked teams vs. four for Stanford. We beat Oregon and they end up ranked ahead of us.
5. ESPN is not a Stanford-friendly medium. (Here the author mentions Lhoo Hotes's commenting too bad about the Stanford FG vs. Oregon.)Â They don't like the Band and their spoofs of the opposing side ("The Irish: Why Must They Fight?").
I don't see any of this changing at Stanford, except that fan interest should increase. There seemed no lack of numbers or enthusiasm at the Rose Bowl.
1. Football is not that important at Stanford. We don't have a rabid fan base where the mania passes from one generation to the next. Some people at Stanford never go to games.Â
2. Stanford doesn't have an "identifiable" mascot like the ones that do pushups when the team scores; the sports media don't like the Tree.
3. Football revenue is small compared to the team's recent success, although Stanford is a bargain program. It pays less per win than any other ranked team except Kansas State.
4. Stanford is not in the SEC or Oregon. For example, Georgia went 12-2 and finished ahead of us, despite only one win vs. ranked teams vs. four for Stanford. We beat Oregon and they end up ranked ahead of us.
5. ESPN is not a Stanford-friendly medium. (Here the author mentions Lhoo Hotes's commenting too bad about the Stanford FG vs. Oregon.)Â They don't like the Band and their spoofs of the opposing side ("The Irish: Why Must They Fight?").
I don't see any of this changing at Stanford, except that fan interest should increase. There seemed no lack of numbers or enthusiasm at the Rose Bowl.