[msqueri]

If you want to discuss something on a message board be the change you want to see in the world. Message boards discuss what the posters post about. Give a thought, share some information, or ask a question if you would like more discussion. I promise I, for one, would engage. I've posted tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of words about the upcoming Stanford football season on the two other fan sites I frequent. What do you want to talk about?

Time management.

Lest you think me humorless, I think this is indeed very funny. Good response, touche. I'm well aware that the time/effort I devote free of charge to Stanford football is way over-the-top. I'll let my professional/personal accomplishments speak for themselves but I'm comfortable with the way I manage time and what I fit into a day/week/month/year/life. But it definitely does/should open me up to tweaks and yours is a good one.

At the risk of being too earnest, this thread so far is a good example of why there isn't a lot of discussion about Stanford football. Our fans are, in the grand scheme of things, negligible in number and among those few who do exist overwhelmingly tend to be old curmudgeons who either don't care enough to post on message boards or come to the message boards for some snark and venting/vibes. There are probably 5-10 people on the planet who if they stopped posting about Stanford football there'd be no discussion of it at all.

To that point, yes, the health of Stanford football is dire, the fan base is that uninterested in Stanford football, and the athletic department should not be proud of the excitement they've generated.

Regarding the coming season, I am starting to let some optimism creep in. When I've looked at the fundamentals of the program every sign points to a 3-6 win season with 4-5 being the most likely range. As TJ says, that's our new sea level. But something I've been struck by in recent weeks following our preseason camp is that the theory of the case for the 2022 season checks out more than I've been thinking. The things we are hanging our hat on:

* McKee and the skill position players....it's objectively one of the best such groups in the nation, as validated time and time again by external pundits

* The highly veteran offensive line.....this is the position that most benefits from experience historically and there's lots of evidence that teams with four senior OL should be confident

* The incessant, highly annoying health/injuries trope.....actually, we did suffer a lot of injuries in 2019 and 2021 and average luck is empirically proven to produce at least some meaningful effect on win/loss records

* The defensive "tweaks".....data bear out that the biggest thing holding Stanford football back over the last half decade has been our miserable defense and everything the coaches and players are saying about simplicity, decisiveness, and aggression corresponds to the most obvious failings of the defense

All in all, I might be persuaded that we can expect an end to the bowl drought. None of this is enough for me to predict this will be a good team. It will be shocking to me if the defense is good given how far of a hole it has to dig out of and how much its hands will be tied behind its back due to the defensive line. Even my optimistic take above doesn't get me past 5-7 wins. I'll be shocked if this is a good team (top 25).

[msqueri]

If you want to discuss something on a message board be the change you want to see in the world. Message boards discuss what the posters post about. Give a thought, share some information, or ask a question if you would like more discussion. I promise I, for one, would engage. I've posted tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of words about the upcoming Stanford football season on the two other fan sites I frequent. What do you want to talk about?

Time management.

Lest you think me humorless, I think this is indeed very funny. Good response, touche. I'm well aware that the time/effort I devote free of charge to Stanford football is way over-the-top. I'll let my professional/personal accomplishments speak for themselves but I'm comfortable with the way I manage time and what I fit into a day/week/month/year/life. But it definitely does/should open me up to tweaks and yours is a good one.

At the risk of being too earnest, this thread so far is a good example of why there isn't a lot of discussion about Stanford football. Our fans are, in the grand scheme of things, negligible in number and among those few who do exist overwhelmingly tend to be old curmudgeons who either don't care enough to post on message boards or come to the message boards for some snark and venting/vibes. There are probably 5-10 people on the planet who if they stopped posting about Stanford football there'd be no discussion of it at all.

To that point, yes, the health of Stanford football is dire, the fan base is that uninterested in Stanford football, and the athletic department should not be proud of the excitement they've generated.

Regarding the coming season, I am starting to let some optimism creep in. When I've looked at the fundamentals of the program every sign points to a 3-6 win season with 4-5 being the most likely range. As TJ says, that's our new sea level. But something I've been struck by in recent weeks following our preseason camp is that the theory of the case for the 2022 season checks out more than I've been thinking. The things we are hanging our hat on:

* McKee and the skill position players....it's objectively one of the best such groups in the nation, as validated time and time again by external pundits

* The highly veteran offensive line.....this is the position that most benefits from experience historically and there's lots of evidence that teams with four senior OL should be confident

* The incessant, highly annoying health/injuries trope.....actually, we did suffer a lot of injuries in 2019 and 2021 and average luck is empirically proven to produce at least some meaningful effect on win/loss records

* The defensive "tweaks".....data bear out that the biggest thing holding Stanford football back over the last half decade has been our miserable defense and everything the coaches and players are saying about simplicity, decisiveness, and aggression corresponds to the most obvious failings of the defense

All in all, I might be persuaded that we can expect an end to the bowl drought. None of this is enough for me to predict this will be a good team. It will be shocking to me if the defense is good given how far of a hole it has to dig out of and how much its hands will be tied behind its back due to the defensive line. Even my optimistic take above doesn't get me past 5-7 wins. I'll be shocked if this is a good team (top 25).