[Mick]

I have very fond memories of Stanford football games in the early 80's   Our football record in my 4 years on the farm was 15-29. Elway never went to a bowl game. After he left, the team went 1-10 in 1983. It was rough to watch. But the students went to the games because they were most definitely a part of campus culture. College fun abounded with kegs in the stands, girls in bikini tops, and of course the band was absolutely hilarious (IMO). I would say that of the ~100 students in my freshman dorm, well over half went to every home game. Sure it would have been great to have a top-20 program, but the football team was still a big part of the college experience for many.

Today's Stanford is a much different place. Campus parties need to be approved, the band's acts need to be approved,...much has been written about this.  I was at a game a few years back on a glorious Saturday afternoon and the level of student body participation in tailgating and pregame activities was abysmal. The band and dollies were parading around campus with maybe 20 students following them. It's embarrassing when the TV broadcast pans the empty stands or a small group of students are shown dancing around after we score a touchdown. When discussing whether or not Stanford should go all in on NIL in order to compete in football...I would also ask the question of "for who"? Maybe it would be better to go all in on NIL for basketball and some of the other team sports and just let football die a miserable death.

I'm of your vintage, with the same experience.

Some time back, I had invited a friend to a Stanford game, we got there early to tailgate. He had been a wide receiver in college, had a great arm and great hands, so we started tossing the football around. One of the older Stanford supporters came running over (this fella was 70 if a day, he was literally running and I was genuinely worried he'd break a hip) to tell me and my buddy to knock it off because throwing the football was verboten in that particular tailgate area, an area in which my family had tailgated since before my arrival on the scene.

Checked it with one of the security guards. Sure enough, no longer allowed. A recent decision, it was in the fine print.

There've been other "fun eradication specialists" over the years, and I'd weathered them all, including the grim security personnel telling me to move along in the lower stands pre-new stadium. Because, you know, someone might buy one of the thousands of empty tickets around me.

But not throwing the football? At a football game? Some of my fondest and earliest memories were throwing the football with my father and yes, my grandfather who was a state high jump champion and all-league high school quarterback, who thought he'd try out for the Stanford team but some guy named Albert was playing QB. So he settled for tossing it to his grandsons decades later. Sorry, Granddad. No more passes, unless we go across the street to Paly. 

For all of those reasons and for the reasons that BillBradley cited, that was the last time I enjoyed tailgating at Stanford (well actually the home game prior to that game). Today, I show up at game time, and I leave early, mildly depressed.

[Mick]

I have very fond memories of Stanford football games in the early 80's   Our football record in my 4 years on the farm was 15-29. Elway never went to a bowl game. After he left, the team went 1-10 in 1983. It was rough to watch. But the students went to the games because they were most definitely a part of campus culture. College fun abounded with kegs in the stands, girls in bikini tops, and of course the band was absolutely hilarious (IMO). I would say that of the ~100 students in my freshman dorm, well over half went to every home game. Sure it would have been great to have a top-20 program, but the football team was still a big part of the college experience for many.

Today's Stanford is a much different place. Campus parties need to be approved, the band's acts need to be approved,...much has been written about this.  I was at a game a few years back on a glorious Saturday afternoon and the level of student body participation in tailgating and pregame activities was abysmal. The band and dollies were parading around campus with maybe 20 students following them. It's embarrassing when the TV broadcast pans the empty stands or a small group of students are shown dancing around after we score a touchdown. When discussing whether or not Stanford should go all in on NIL in order to compete in football...I would also ask the question of "for who"? Maybe it would be better to go all in on NIL for basketball and some of the other team sports and just let football die a miserable death.

I'm of your vintage, with the same experience.

Some time back, I had invited a friend to a Stanford game, we got there early to tailgate. He had been a wide receiver in college, had a great arm and great hands, so we started tossing the football around. One of the older Stanford supporters came running over (this fella was 70 if a day, he was literally running and I was genuinely worried he'd break a hip) to tell me and my buddy to knock it off because throwing the football was verboten in that particular tailgate area, an area in which my family had tailgated since before my arrival on the scene.

Checked it with one of the security guards. Sure enough, no longer allowed. A recent decision, it was in the fine print.

There've been other "fun eradication specialists" over the years, and I'd weathered them all, including the grim security personnel telling me to move along in the lower stands pre-new stadium. Because, you know, someone might buy one of the thousands of empty tickets around me.

But not throwing the football? At a football game? Some of my fondest and earliest memories were throwing the football with my father and yes, my grandfather who was a state high jump champion and all-league high school quarterback, who thought he'd try out for the Stanford team but some guy named Albert was playing QB. So he settled for tossing it to his grandsons decades later. Sorry, Granddad. No more passes, unless we go across the street to Paly. 

For all of those reasons and for the reasons that BillBradley cited, that was the last time I enjoyed tailgating at Stanford (well actually the home game prior to that game). Today, I show up at game time, and I leave early, mildly depressed.