11-13-2019, 02:51 AM
No misery for me! People choose their own pain and pleasure. It is a game played by men and nitpicked the morning after by even older men. Hey, if it pleases you to micro analyze and always assume that you are right, so be it. There are many of us who have been unable to enjoy the good times for the fear that it may end. I fear it may have nothing much to do with Coach Shaw or the football program but more about their take on life in general.
Very few, if any of us have had the opportunity to lead, manage and guide one hundred or so 17 to 22 year olds and hold them to high performance outcomes at their part time job/ secondary pursuits. Yes, all of our guys love football and would give anything to play everyday for a living. But I am sure at least 90 % of them came to Stanford because they have priorities beyond the game of football. Don't get me wrong, I am sure all of them work incredibly hard and give everything for the team. My point is that it is an incredibly difficult process to produce consistent results from a constantly changing group of young men.
But, hey, internet message boards are meant for commenting and pontificating on things we have no control over or real insight into:) I obsessively lurk/read the Cardboard for the thoughtful exchanges between fellow Cardinal fans. However, the moment things start going south, the conversation seems to go into the same loop.
Stanford is not a football factory and never will be - although we briefly rubbed shoulders with the elite programs this past decade. We will never fill our 100 person roster with 5 stars and 4 stars and runoff those who don't develop as per their recruiting star potential. Enjoy the success of our young men and the program whenever and wherever you can... be it the Library, the Rose Bowl or the Sun Bowl. We talk about how bizarre and improbable this season has been with 25+ guys out injured. Have we stopped to consider how lucky we have been with 4 H.eisman candidates following one after the other. Yes, football is the ultimate team game but it didn't hurt to have Toby, Andrew, Christian and Bryce play in the Cardinal and White. It's been a great ride the last decade.
This season totally sucks. I always thought Shaw would not have a losing season but it is very likely this season may end up below 500. His even keeled stoic leadership always seemed to bring a wayward season back on track to a respectable 8-5. He still may - I have no clue which team shows up to play the next 3 Saturdays. I am not lowering the expectations or standards of excellence we associate with Stanford but stay grounded in the reality that the integrity of the academic mission of the University is paramount. At Stanford the student will always balance the athlete in student athlete. But we can always hope and fantasize about the perfect schedule, zero injuries, the perfect coaches, the perfect schemes, the perfect calls, perfect execution and the perfect season.
Bowl or no bowl. This season is toast (for me - I doubt the team or staff have thrown in the towel). I will root for the team to go on a miracle 3-0 run to finish the season. I will not blink if they go 0-3. My only prayer is that everyone get healthy for next season and those with eligibility decide to stay and enjoy one more year in college.
I am delusional. I am crazy. I am a fanatic. You heard it here first. Stanford will win the PAC 12 North in 2020! We play away at Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, Cal, Arizona and Washington. We will play half our home schedule before students show up to campus. All the usual challenges of the even years. But this will be an experienced, battle tested group eager to get the taste of the 2019 season out of their system. Shaw will have them ready.
Also I hope Mills will have off-season surgery to become "bionic" Mills ... there is always hope:)
Enjoy the last 3 games of the season:)
GO STANFORD!
Very few, if any of us have had the opportunity to lead, manage and guide one hundred or so 17 to 22 year olds and hold them to high performance outcomes at their part time job/ secondary pursuits. Yes, all of our guys love football and would give anything to play everyday for a living. But I am sure at least 90 % of them came to Stanford because they have priorities beyond the game of football. Don't get me wrong, I am sure all of them work incredibly hard and give everything for the team. My point is that it is an incredibly difficult process to produce consistent results from a constantly changing group of young men.
But, hey, internet message boards are meant for commenting and pontificating on things we have no control over or real insight into:) I obsessively lurk/read the Cardboard for the thoughtful exchanges between fellow Cardinal fans. However, the moment things start going south, the conversation seems to go into the same loop.
Stanford is not a football factory and never will be - although we briefly rubbed shoulders with the elite programs this past decade. We will never fill our 100 person roster with 5 stars and 4 stars and runoff those who don't develop as per their recruiting star potential. Enjoy the success of our young men and the program whenever and wherever you can... be it the Library, the Rose Bowl or the Sun Bowl. We talk about how bizarre and improbable this season has been with 25+ guys out injured. Have we stopped to consider how lucky we have been with 4 H.eisman candidates following one after the other. Yes, football is the ultimate team game but it didn't hurt to have Toby, Andrew, Christian and Bryce play in the Cardinal and White. It's been a great ride the last decade.
This season totally sucks. I always thought Shaw would not have a losing season but it is very likely this season may end up below 500. His even keeled stoic leadership always seemed to bring a wayward season back on track to a respectable 8-5. He still may - I have no clue which team shows up to play the next 3 Saturdays. I am not lowering the expectations or standards of excellence we associate with Stanford but stay grounded in the reality that the integrity of the academic mission of the University is paramount. At Stanford the student will always balance the athlete in student athlete. But we can always hope and fantasize about the perfect schedule, zero injuries, the perfect coaches, the perfect schemes, the perfect calls, perfect execution and the perfect season.
Bowl or no bowl. This season is toast (for me - I doubt the team or staff have thrown in the towel). I will root for the team to go on a miracle 3-0 run to finish the season. I will not blink if they go 0-3. My only prayer is that everyone get healthy for next season and those with eligibility decide to stay and enjoy one more year in college.
I am delusional. I am crazy. I am a fanatic. You heard it here first. Stanford will win the PAC 12 North in 2020! We play away at Notre Dame, Oregon, UCLA, Cal, Arizona and Washington. We will play half our home schedule before students show up to campus. All the usual challenges of the even years. But this will be an experienced, battle tested group eager to get the taste of the 2019 season out of their system. Shaw will have them ready.
Also I hope Mills will have off-season surgery to become "bionic" Mills ... there is always hope:)
Enjoy the last 3 games of the season:)
GO STANFORD!