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Honorary captains - StanFan88 - 12-30-2013

I have a bad taste in my mouth about the Bings being named honorary captains for the Rose Bowl.  Don't get me wrong, they are great supporters of Stanford both academics and athletics. But donors of any kind just doesn't feel right to me because it suggests - true or not - that this honor can be bought. Of all schools, Stanford is the last one who should project that this is possible

I have less of an issue with Julie Foudy, who was a great athlete at Stanford and beyond. But this is a football game and I think a football player should be honorary captain. Maybe Todd Husak or Tro Walters who played in the 2000 arose Bowl?  Or why not Plunkett, Margerum, or another player from the 1970s Rose Bowl teams?

Re: Honorary captains - terry - 12-30-2013

I think it's a great idea to have the Bings as honorary captains. They have done so much for the students at Stanford. I'm mystified about Julie Foudy. Sure she was a great player, but why her? Did ESPN somehow make this happen because she works for them?

Re: Honorary captains - yvonne - 12-30-2013

It's good. Nobody would have blinked twice if the honor had been given to Arrillaga, but the Bings have donated to the arts and the overseas program, areas that don't receive as much attention from the outside. Everybody talks about entrepreneurship, science, and engineering, but the concert hall really takes a step from the Stanford Tech back to a more full university.



Re: Honorary captains - 2 for 2028 - 12-30-2013

The Bings sponsored my research for two summers.  Not sure what I would have done otherwise.

Re: Honorary captains - fullmetal - 12-31-2013

It's been my impression that the Bings have donated more to the academic/university life aspect of Stanford than they have the athletics side of Stanford, and in that regard, they are eminently qualified for the honor, especially given the impact that they've had on students.  I can only wish that I'd been able to take advantage of their generosity through the overseas program, and I know that's not the only thing they've done for Stanford.

Re: Honorary captains - StanFan88 - 12-31-2013

I would have had an even bigger issue had it been Arrilaga because he is much more a donor to athletics than academics

And I don't mean to diminish how the Bings have helped Stanford in any way. I just think that when you give this honor to a donor it creates a perception that it's for sale - even if it isn't

Plenty of other ways to honor supporters - scholarship funds, buildings, etc

Has Plunkett ever been honored this way? - Redrum - 12-31-2013

It makes perfect sense, which is why the choice of Foudy is so...odd.

Re: Honorary captains - Spiny_Norman - 12-31-2013

(12-31-2013, 12:07 AM)fullmetal link Wrote:It's been my impression that the Bings have donated more to the academic/university life aspect of Stanford than they have the athletics side of Stanford, and in that regard, they are eminently qualified for the honor, especially given the impact that they've had on students.  I can only wish that I'd been able to take advantage of their generosity through the overseas program, and I know that's not the only thing they've done for Stanford.

When the coaches came through LA in May of this year, the event was hosted by the Bings.  I believe that they have endowed athletic scholarships, including those of several of the football players.

Julie Foudy is a head-scratcher of a choice.  She has a connection to the Rose Bowl and to football but not the same kind of football that we will see tomorrow.

Re: Honorary captains - oman - 12-31-2013

(12-30-2013, 04:59 PM)StanFan88 link Wrote:But donors of any kind just doesn't feel right to me because it suggests - true or not - that this honor can be bought. Of all schools, Stanford is the last one who should project that this is possible

Why?  As opposed to other schools/buisinesses/institutions making someone an honorary _________? 

Re: Honorary captains - dpbrewster - 12-31-2013

The Bings have given so much time as well as money to ALL aspects of the University, including athletics for over 50 years.  Wonderful, wonderful people.  Well deserved and an excellent choice.  That said, I am mystified that no football player such as Plunkett (though it wouldn't surprise me if he was offered and turned it down), Vataha, Barnes, Garcia, etc. not being among the Captains.

Re: Honorary captains - oman - 12-31-2013

Well, Julie Foudy is wonderful symbol, to me, of how Stanford has put resources into making their women's programs really strong.  There is no "women's version" of football.  To me, we should sell Stanford's football program as simply an extension of the university's overall belief and pride in seeking to make the most out of all of its endeavors.  The bowl game doesn't have to be just a specific celebration of football. 

Re: Honorary captains - Leftcoast - 12-31-2013

I believe Julie Foudy was a symbolic choice meant to signal that Stanford had not lost their commitment to women's sports even as they grasped one of the top rungs of the NCAA Football ladder.  Yes, it was an odd choice but only because no other NCAA BCS bound school shares that value in quite the same way.  I think THAT was the message.

Given many Stanford stakeholders have also wondered if success in the so-called Sears sports came at the expense of football excellence the message may have been more for an internal audience than an external.  "Yes, we choose to affirm our commitment to all sports on Stanford football's biggest stage of the year."

I still want to see Plunkett up there some day soon.

Sorry. Disagree - Redrum - 12-31-2013

Overthinking this by assigning a somewhat indirect symbolic meaning to something very immediate.  And, to bounce the rubble, it is the program itself and its breadth that is the much better symbol.  It speaks for itself and trotting Foudy out at a men's football event is a distant second, third or fourth.  Good for Foudy.  I cheered and watched her play.  But we ignore Jim Plunkett to make a point where none need be made?

Re: Honorary captains - Leftcoast - 12-31-2013

Ok, you're in the war room, conference call or lunch discussion at the Oasis and the subject of honorary captains comes up.  You want someone who embodies Stanford and not just one part of it.  Perhaps someone who is at least partially well known to folks outside of our community.  Tiger Woods, Jim Plunkett and John Elway have either already been honored or for some reason aren't available.  I think my answer is as good as any on why Julie Foudy was next out of the hat.

It has a lot to do with being a three time Olympian but it might also have something to do with her strong ties to college athletics and support of Title IX.  (Including her role on the Presidential Commission and public dissent over its findings.).  The Rose Bowl is also the site of the most famous game Julie played and perhaps the most important game in US Women's soccer history - the 1999 World Cup championship.  Why not link Stanford to that other Rose Bowl game and remind viewers we're about all forms of football for 30 seconds?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Foudy

I think the AD as a whole is very serious about keeping the whole program in balance and in view.  It's a little thing but why else Julie Foudy among the many other choices?

Do you disagree with the choice itself or with my rationale on why it was made?

Re: Honorary captains - Spiny_Norman - 12-31-2013

Here is how much this subject really matters. 

Do you remember who was/were the honorary captain(s) last year?  I don't either.

Re: Honorary captains - jacketree - 12-31-2013

Nobody flips a coin like Julie Foudy. Nobody.  (Or watches someone flip a coin while looking good standing there.)

Who knows why she was picked. Maybe she gave a shitload of dimes to the school.  (Which is just on my mind as I get ready to que up the annual New Year's Eve DVD set while we worry about what the adult and near-adult kids are out doing - Blazing Saddles, Dr. Strangelove, Django Unchained. Have to modernize somewhat. Right after it becomes readily apparent that A&M will curb stomp Duke.)

I can't remember who did it last year. (Condoleeza Rice and Jim Plunket? Elway?) Google doesn't even know. (Or I don't know how to correctly ask that question, although I learned that LeAnn Rimes was the last performer other than one of the bands - from the higher BCS-ranked school - to perform the National Anthem.) That's how important it is.  I do remember Luck and Wilson introducing the starting lineups which was pretty cool.

Re: Honorary captains - stupac2 - 12-31-2013

(12-31-2013, 04:13 PM)Leftcoast link Wrote:Ok, you're in the war room, conference call or lunch discussion at the Oasis and the subject of honorary captains comes up.  You want someone who embodies Stanford and not just one part of it.  Perhaps someone who is at least partially well known to folks outside of our community.  Tiger Woods, Jim Plunkett and John Elway have either already been honored or for some reason aren't available.  I think my answer is as good as any on why Julie Foudy was next out of the hat.

Before this came up I hadn't heard of Foudy, and my fiancee hadn't either. My future sister-in-law (who actually does pay real attention to women's sports and loves the Olympics) said "she sounds familiar but I can't place her". So I'm not really sure that choice makes sense from that perspective.

(I don't particularly care who gets chosen as an honorary captain, I think this is as good a choice as any. But I'm not sure she's actually all that well known.)

Re: Honorary captains - Kathy - 01-01-2014

According to GoStanford.com, Stanford's honorary captain program was developed by Assistant Athletic Director Mike Eubanks, who has been with the AD for seven seasons.

http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=749929&SPID=127013&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=208167716&Q_SEASON=2013
Quote:Eubanks developed his innovative honorary captain program, which connects the program with former players, alumni and campus leaders on game weekends.

John Elway was honorary captain of the 2011 Orange Bowl. There's no mention of Jim Plunkett serving as an honorary captain yet.


Re: Honorary captains - 82 Card - 01-01-2014

Jim Plunkett and Condi Rice did the coin toss at the 2009 Sun Bowl. I assume this means they were honorary captains.

Not sure having Jim Plunkett as honorary captain would be the best use of the opportunity. Jim is already strongly associated with Stanford. He is in PR for the program throughut the season. The message that he is proud to be associated with Stanford and Stanford is proud of him is circulated throughout the season. The Rose Bowl honorary captain position is an opportunity to broaden the associations.

Re: Honorary captains - Leftcoast - 01-01-2014

By the way this is the same Mike Eubanks who was one of the original Bootleg founders and content providers, posting as ME-97.  He leveraged his recruiting and organizing skills into a position as Stanford's recruiting coordinator and is often given credit by those inside the department with modernizing our approach - essentially identifying prospects early, focusing our attention on the correct prospects and working with them to take the right classes, etc.

I think he's been promoted to an assistant AD position.

I'm not sure whether he was a Stepford or Borg back in the day but I believe he was one of those initially hostile to our breakaway board.  Yvonne, Redrum or Garvin could provide more info.