[81alum]

One part of my enjoyment of college football is the game itself, but another part of it is the sense of history and tradition behind it.  The specter of competing against an age-old rival and the enthusiasm of the students and fans for beating the other school adds a lot to the college game that pro sports lack for me.  I used to know some of our football players when I was in college, and the fact that they and I were fellow students dramatically increased my attachment to our team.  And going to the games with other students was a deep social experience that left a lifelong warm and fuzzy residual memory.

Every time the traditions associated with the game get weakened my interest has waned.  This includes a great many changes that were all made to enhance revenue.  1) Cal no longer being the last game of the regular season, 2) moving games from Saturday afternoons to night or even other days of the week, 3) making the game increasingly about carpetbagger players rather than loyalty to the school, 4) the loss of 100 year rivals like USC and UCLA to the almighty buck, 5) the knowledge that many players are primarily playing for dollars and not out of attachment to their school--even those who stay put.  

I already find my attachment to the whole "walk to the stadium on Saturday afternoon to watch the good guys battle the bad guys" experience to be diminished, vanished.  I am the kind of fan who gets "sidelined" by the whole "produce a canned TV product for mass consumption and the rest of the experience be damned" mentality that has taken over.

The loss of Cal would simply be one more in a long string of changes that has already undermined my interest in football.  It might be a fatal one, given that my interest is already at the lowest point it has been since I became a fan my freshman year (Walsh's first year) in 1977.

[81alum]

One part of my enjoyment of college football is the game itself, but another part of it is the sense of history and tradition behind it.  The specter of competing against an age-old rival and the enthusiasm of the students and fans for beating the other school adds a lot to the college game that pro sports lack for me.  I used to know some of our football players when I was in college, and the fact that they and I were fellow students dramatically increased my attachment to our team.  And going to the games with other students was a deep social experience that left a lifelong warm and fuzzy residual memory.

Every time the traditions associated with the game get weakened my interest has waned.  This includes a great many changes that were all made to enhance revenue.  1) Cal no longer being the last game of the regular season, 2) moving games from Saturday afternoons to night or even other days of the week, 3) making the game increasingly about carpetbagger players rather than loyalty to the school, 4) the loss of 100 year rivals like USC and UCLA to the almighty buck, 5) the knowledge that many players are primarily playing for dollars and not out of attachment to their school--even those who stay put.  

I already find my attachment to the whole "walk to the stadium on Saturday afternoon to watch the good guys battle the bad guys" experience to be diminished, vanished.  I am the kind of fan who gets "sidelined" by the whole "produce a canned TV product for mass consumption and the rest of the experience be damned" mentality that has taken over.

The loss of Cal would simply be one more in a long string of changes that has already undermined my interest in football.  It might be a fatal one, given that my interest is already at the lowest point it has been since I became a fan my freshman year (Walsh's first year) in 1977.