[Mick]

I'm old. Some on the forum are even older.

Before I came to Stanford, I was aware of its success in Olympic and so-called minor sports. I knew Kathy Jordan and John McEnroe. Debi Thomas's being on the forefront of women's figure skating intrigued me. After being accepted, I watch Stanford men's gymnastics' performance in the NCAA finals. I was puzzled when a Princeton graduate student who had done her undergraduate work at Cal refused to talk to me after I'd been accepted to Stanford.

Then, I arrived on campus.

We were on the way to a bowl game. I attended the bonfire and (a very boring) Gaieties. Cal had only one other win all season. The other coach, who had played for Cal cut a reporter's tie because it had red in it. He unzipped his zipper when asked about the team's performance. Everything looked like an easy win.

We lost.

The opposing coach as carried off the field. I fell in love. I even considered writing a book about college football rivalries.

A few years later, I was invited to a joint Big Game party with alumni from both schools. For more than 30 years, the man who invited me has become my partner.

When NACDA introduced the then, Sears Cup, I was proud of Stanford's overall performance, first coming in second and then winning it so often that NACDA had to change the scoring. 

That world is long gone. More than a decade ago, TV made it impossible to host Big Game parties. Olympic sports were cut two years ago. Football players began to see USC, not Cal, as their rival. 

Does anyone think it's possible to return to a world in which tradition mattered in college football? If Stanford dropped football or went to a lesser league or division, would it be possible to support Stanford's broad array of successful non-profit sports?

In the mid-1980s, I went to work for a St. Mary's grad and we pranked each other all the time.  It was great fun.  In 1987 St. Mary's beat SCU at SCU in the last two minutes, 21-16, and there were fistfights for 45 minutes afterwards...just like in 1933:
SANTA CLARA TIES ST. MARY'S, 6 TO 6; Both Teams Tally in First, Nichelini Scoring for the Gaels on 76-Yard Run. 55,000 WITNESS CONTEST Police Break Up Fight Among Rival Fans at the End of Struggle on Coast. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Four years later, SCU dropped football.  At least they beat rival St. Mary's in the last game played at Buck Shaw stadium, 44-14.

I think the yesteryear rivalries are still there, just muted.  If Stanford dropped football or went to a lesser league, they'd still be there, just in a smaller, quieter, less obnoxious fashion.  I don't think the fan bases would change much at all.  Not an exact point of comparison, but when my alma mater dropped football, basketball attendance didn't change, nor did it for the other sports. They still viewed St. Mary's and USF as key rivals, just...in a much calmer way.

[Mick]

I'm old. Some on the forum are even older.

Before I came to Stanford, I was aware of its success in Olympic and so-called minor sports. I knew Kathy Jordan and John McEnroe. Debi Thomas's being on the forefront of women's figure skating intrigued me. After being accepted, I watch Stanford men's gymnastics' performance in the NCAA finals. I was puzzled when a Princeton graduate student who had done her undergraduate work at Cal refused to talk to me after I'd been accepted to Stanford.

Then, I arrived on campus.

We were on the way to a bowl game. I attended the bonfire and (a very boring) Gaieties. Cal had only one other win all season. The other coach, who had played for Cal cut a reporter's tie because it had red in it. He unzipped his zipper when asked about the team's performance. Everything looked like an easy win.

We lost.

The opposing coach as carried off the field. I fell in love. I even considered writing a book about college football rivalries.

A few years later, I was invited to a joint Big Game party with alumni from both schools. For more than 30 years, the man who invited me has become my partner.

When NACDA introduced the then, Sears Cup, I was proud of Stanford's overall performance, first coming in second and then winning it so often that NACDA had to change the scoring. 

That world is long gone. More than a decade ago, TV made it impossible to host Big Game parties. Olympic sports were cut two years ago. Football players began to see USC, not Cal, as their rival. 

Does anyone think it's possible to return to a world in which tradition mattered in college football? If Stanford dropped football or went to a lesser league or division, would it be possible to support Stanford's broad array of successful non-profit sports?

In the mid-1980s, I went to work for a St. Mary's grad and we pranked each other all the time.  It was great fun.  In 1987 St. Mary's beat SCU at SCU in the last two minutes, 21-16, and there were fistfights for 45 minutes afterwards...just like in 1933:
SANTA CLARA TIES ST. MARY'S, 6 TO 6; Both Teams Tally in First, Nichelini Scoring for the Gaels on 76-Yard Run. 55,000 WITNESS CONTEST Police Break Up Fight Among Rival Fans at the End of Struggle on Coast. - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Four years later, SCU dropped football.  At least they beat rival St. Mary's in the last game played at Buck Shaw stadium, 44-14.

I think the yesteryear rivalries are still there, just muted.  If Stanford dropped football or went to a lesser league, they'd still be there, just in a smaller, quieter, less obnoxious fashion.  I don't think the fan bases would change much at all.  Not an exact point of comparison, but when my alma mater dropped football, basketball attendance didn't change, nor did it for the other sports. They still viewed St. Mary's and USF as key rivals, just...in a much calmer way.