Ever wonder why Stanford University does not have more rabid sports fans? Danny Belch, a columnist for The Stanford Daily, has an answer: The university is “just too good at everything.” That’s right, because Stanford excels in so many sports, fans lack one or two teams to rally around, according to Mr. Belch.
He continues. “We are unique at Stanford and that uniqueness separates us. We aren’t psycho crazy fans, because we have other passions in life. We will be creators of new technologies, future world leaders and strategists, innovators and developers. Most of our minds do not revolve around sports 24/7. We are not just one-dimensional — we did not come here just to attend sporting events. And that is perfectly fine by me. because I don’t think other schools can say the same.”
And if you’re wondering what Stanford students smell like, it’s roses and sandalwood. –Eric Hoover
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3 Responses to The Unbearable Rightness of Being a Stanford Fan
11159995 - September 30, 2009 at 11:35 am
So, what is Stanford’s secret? How can it keep winning the Sears Cup year after year? I’m a Princeton grad and work for Penn State, both fine schools with excellent athletic programs, but neither can match Stanford for overall athletic achievement. (Of course, Princeton cannot offer athletic scholarships.) My hat is off to Stanford for fielding so many good teams so consistently.
bootlegger - September 30, 2009 at 2:10 pm
After following Stanford sports and the evolution of the school’s student body for more than 40 years, it’s my opinion that the casualness by which today’s students regard those sports has much more to do with the personal, cultural interests of current students than it does with the record(s) of the various teams. Stanford does not have a lot of rabid football fans for the simple reason than it doesn’t have a lot football fans to begin with. Same for basketball, baseball, or water polo. American football is, literally, foreign to great many of them. A gameday in autumn for a large number of Stanford students isn’t exactly what it is for their counterparts at Penn State, Notre Dame, Texas or USC. All fine schools, BTW. It’s the student, not the sport.
robeullr - September 30, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I remember hearing an NPR program several years ago in which MIT football players, anticipating a match with WPI, gave the following account of their preparation for the up-comng game: “We will practice for an hour or so, but then we have problem sets to to.” Bravo.