[81alum]

But don't you guys think that players can still be in it for a lot of the right reasons AND make money (that they deserve IMO)?....

I also have a different opinion on the education piece. College sports has been riddled for years with players who don't really give a darn about their education....

Yes, I think they can be in it for good reasons and to also make money.  I am not denying that.  But professionals can say that as well, and so the relationship has fundamentally changed.  The players who put themselves in the social media spotlight to make money (that often has nothing to do with basketball) are no different than any other starlets.  Furthermore, I used to be linked to our players by virtue of our common experience as Stanford students and our personal devotion to the institution that had so fundamentally shaped us both.  No longer.  They are at Stanford to be paid.  I wasn't.  And they are willing to go somewhere else to make more money.  I could not have been paid to leave the place.  Their values are simply alien to me, and so I can't relate to them.

With regard to the education piece, you are of course correct that college sports have been corrupt in many ways for many years.  That is why I became a Stanford fan in the first place--because Stanford was unique in resisting that corruption.  Half the fun in cheering for Stanford has been that we routinely are the good guys and are playing against ethically challenged and corrupt schools.  If we stoop to their level and use their techniques, such as paying players, then the fun goes out of it for me.

I am not arguing that all of you should feel the same way as I do.  I am explaining my own depression at the situation.  I just can't get excited about cheering on a minor league sports franchise which borrows the Stanford name and plays in Stanford facilities but which doesn't really share those older Stanford values that made me into a sports fan in the first place.

[81alum]

But don't you guys think that players can still be in it for a lot of the right reasons AND make money (that they deserve IMO)?....

I also have a different opinion on the education piece. College sports has been riddled for years with players who don't really give a darn about their education....

Yes, I think they can be in it for good reasons and to also make money.  I am not denying that.  But professionals can say that as well, and so the relationship has fundamentally changed.  The players who put themselves in the social media spotlight to make money (that often has nothing to do with basketball) are no different than any other starlets.  Furthermore, I used to be linked to our players by virtue of our common experience as Stanford students and our personal devotion to the institution that had so fundamentally shaped us both.  No longer.  They are at Stanford to be paid.  I wasn't.  And they are willing to go somewhere else to make more money.  I could not have been paid to leave the place.  Their values are simply alien to me, and so I can't relate to them.

With regard to the education piece, you are of course correct that college sports have been corrupt in many ways for many years.  That is why I became a Stanford fan in the first place--because Stanford was unique in resisting that corruption.  Half the fun in cheering for Stanford has been that we routinely are the good guys and are playing against ethically challenged and corrupt schools.  If we stoop to their level and use their techniques, such as paying players, then the fun goes out of it for me.

I am not arguing that all of you should feel the same way as I do.  I am explaining my own depression at the situation.  I just can't get excited about cheering on a minor league sports franchise which borrows the Stanford name and plays in Stanford facilities but which doesn't really share those older Stanford values that made me into a sports fan in the first place.