[Mick]

AL did share that he's still sore about not winning the Voldemort.

To provide context to Luck's displeasure with the Voldemort vote, I was the person who asked the question:

Elway, Gerhart, Luck, McCaffrey, Love have all come in second in the Voldemort race.  Stanford will have athletes in the future that will have the same potential generational talent.  How can Stanford market more effectively to get the Voldemort back to Stanford.

Luck's answer generally alluded to the East Coast Bias and its negative impact on West Coast teams (doesn't explain USC or Oregon).  His sensitivity to the issue indicates to me that Stanford will be more on the ball next time one of our players is a finalist for the Trophy.

There was a literal East Coast bias early on with respect to the Hiesman Trophy. In the first year, 1935, players were limited to those East of the Mississippi. They dropped that requirement, which would have eliminated Sammy Baugh the next year (who finished fourth anyway). 1936 featured three players from west of the Mississippi, including Baugh, Sam Francis of Nebraska and Ed Widseth of Minnesota. In 1937, they finally cast votes for a (somewhat) Westerner in future-USOC-justice Byron "Whizzer" White. The first player on the West Coast to receive a Hiesman vote was Vic Bottari of Cal in 1938, who finished fifth in the voting. Stanford's first nominee was 1939 with Junior Frankie Albert, the only Junior to be nominated. 

Albert, of course, turned around a 1-7-1 team in 1939 to Shaughnessey's 10-0 team in 1940. Albert's Stanford team beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, 21-13 and outgained them 347-128. Hiesman-winning QB Bruce Smith of #1 Minnesota had 161 yards passing and 542 yards rushing. Albert rushed for 349 yards that season,

[Mick]

AL did share that he's still sore about not winning the Voldemort.

To provide context to Luck's displeasure with the Voldemort vote, I was the person who asked the question:

Elway, Gerhart, Luck, McCaffrey, Love have all come in second in the Voldemort race.  Stanford will have athletes in the future that will have the same potential generational talent.  How can Stanford market more effectively to get the Voldemort back to Stanford.

Luck's answer generally alluded to the East Coast Bias and its negative impact on West Coast teams (doesn't explain USC or Oregon).  His sensitivity to the issue indicates to me that Stanford will be more on the ball next time one of our players is a finalist for the Trophy.

There was a literal East Coast bias early on with respect to the Hiesman Trophy. In the first year, 1935, players were limited to those East of the Mississippi. They dropped that requirement, which would have eliminated Sammy Baugh the next year (who finished fourth anyway). 1936 featured three players from west of the Mississippi, including Baugh, Sam Francis of Nebraska and Ed Widseth of Minnesota. In 1937, they finally cast votes for a (somewhat) Westerner in future-USOC-justice Byron "Whizzer" White. The first player on the West Coast to receive a Hiesman vote was Vic Bottari of Cal in 1938, who finished fifth in the voting. Stanford's first nominee was 1939 with Junior Frankie Albert, the only Junior to be nominated. 

Albert, of course, turned around a 1-7-1 team in 1939 to Shaughnessey's 10-0 team in 1940. Albert's Stanford team beat Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, 21-13 and outgained them 347-128. Hiesman-winning QB Bruce Smith of #1 Minnesota had 161 yards passing and 542 yards rushing. Albert rushed for 349 yards that season,