08-02-2023, 08:30 AM
We are all sports fans here. It *is* a sports discussion board. So everyone knows the emotional investment in being a fan. Imagine Stanford competing in intercollegiate athletics without any of its traditional rivals - USC, UCLA or Cal. It doesn't matter which sport - football, basketball, softball, soccer, tennis, baseball, volleyball, swimming, etc. - Stanford has a close rivalry with at least one of those schools in just about every sport.
What would it mean to you as a fan if Stanford was in a conference with none of its traditional rivals? Maybe new rivalries would develop with the other conference teams. But I think it will diminish the intensity of the fan experience. Cynical (but perhaps accurate) observers might say that overall fan intensity at both Cal and Stanford is already pretty low so why do we care?
My $0.02 is that Stanford needs to stay tethered to Cal to preserve at least one traditional rival for both schools.
What would it mean to you as a fan if Stanford was in a conference with none of its traditional rivals? Maybe new rivalries would develop with the other conference teams. But I think it will diminish the intensity of the fan experience. Cynical (but perhaps accurate) observers might say that overall fan intensity at both Cal and Stanford is already pretty low so why do we care?
My $0.02 is that Stanford needs to stay tethered to Cal to preserve at least one traditional rival for both schools.
"We have an unwritten rule around here not to do anything stupid."
-Casey Jacobsen, Feb 3, 2000