[donkey687]

I'm not as worked up as some here over the 11 sports.  Some of them are extremely expensive, few West Coast competitors, and sports in which Stanford is unlikely to be a title contender.  

I'd love to see Men's Volleyball, Crew, and Wrestling back and I've attended matches as a fan for these.  I also realize that with football and, as. unpopular as it is to mention, Title IX considerations it will be difficult to get these back without some of the women's sports that seem superfluous to me (sailing, squash, field hockey, synch swimming).  I truly don't mind us participating at a club level in those sports.  This isn't intended to denigrate the effort, training, and commitment of the athletes involved - but we can't save every puppy at the pound as my dad once reminded me.

Truthfully, in a mind exercise where Muir was told to trim cost and admissions load was there ANY good way he could have done this and avoided a backlash?  I sincerely doubt it.  Our backlash looks just like Cal's when they dropped varsity sports last decade and several others I've watched from a removed distance.  It's just personal because it's ours.

So, give me Men's volleyball,  and women's Synch Swimming as it's Title IX counterpart and I'll be sad about the others .... an happy when it all blows over.  As it will.

It does seem like Club Sports funded by alumni donations could be a good home to some of these sports, but the question is whether any club sports should get admissions/recruiting support as the programs are dead without them.  Sports like rowing, fencing and sailing are varsity sports at much of the Ivy League and those Ivies offer admissions support.  Stanford will never have another Olympic level rower, fencer or sailor again if there isn't admissions support as those elite level athletes even if they are A+ students will take the bird in hand Yale or Harvard spot which they need to commit to early rather than roll the dice on Stanford admissions with no support.  No top level coach will come coach Stanford rowing, fencing or sailing if there is no admissions support to effectively recruit against the Ivies.  Thus, the club sport model could work for some of these programs but only with admissions support. It doesn't mean the standards get lowered, but it means the coach needs to get feedback on recruits in a timeframe that is consistent with the Ivy League admissions cycle.  That is a paradigm shift for club sports.  If Stanford cut these sports from varsity status and said we will still support you as a club and we want to have these Olympic caliber scholar athletes on campus, there would be a viable path for club being an option, but instead they rescinded all offers to recruits in those 11 sports and sent them mostly to our academic peers.

[donkey687]

I'm not as worked up as some here over the 11 sports.  Some of them are extremely expensive, few West Coast competitors, and sports in which Stanford is unlikely to be a title contender.  

I'd love to see Men's Volleyball, Crew, and Wrestling back and I've attended matches as a fan for these.  I also realize that with football and, as. unpopular as it is to mention, Title IX considerations it will be difficult to get these back without some of the women's sports that seem superfluous to me (sailing, squash, field hockey, synch swimming).  I truly don't mind us participating at a club level in those sports.  This isn't intended to denigrate the effort, training, and commitment of the athletes involved - but we can't save every puppy at the pound as my dad once reminded me.

Truthfully, in a mind exercise where Muir was told to trim cost and admissions load was there ANY good way he could have done this and avoided a backlash?  I sincerely doubt it.  Our backlash looks just like Cal's when they dropped varsity sports last decade and several others I've watched from a removed distance.  It's just personal because it's ours.

So, give me Men's volleyball,  and women's Synch Swimming as it's Title IX counterpart and I'll be sad about the others .... an happy when it all blows over.  As it will.

It does seem like Club Sports funded by alumni donations could be a good home to some of these sports, but the question is whether any club sports should get admissions/recruiting support as the programs are dead without them.  Sports like rowing, fencing and sailing are varsity sports at much of the Ivy League and those Ivies offer admissions support.  Stanford will never have another Olympic level rower, fencer or sailor again if there isn't admissions support as those elite level athletes even if they are A+ students will take the bird in hand Yale or Harvard spot which they need to commit to early rather than roll the dice on Stanford admissions with no support.  No top level coach will come coach Stanford rowing, fencing or sailing if there is no admissions support to effectively recruit against the Ivies.  Thus, the club sport model could work for some of these programs but only with admissions support. It doesn't mean the standards get lowered, but it means the coach needs to get feedback on recruits in a timeframe that is consistent with the Ivy League admissions cycle.  That is a paradigm shift for club sports.  If Stanford cut these sports from varsity status and said we will still support you as a club and we want to have these Olympic caliber scholar athletes on campus, there would be a viable path for club being an option, but instead they rescinded all offers to recruits in those 11 sports and sent them mostly to our academic peers.