(04-11-2014, 07:06 AM)Farm93 link Wrote:In 96-97, everything was clicking in the big three (four including baseball) and people were very happy with the year over year progress in those three/four sports. That just isn't true today.
On November 2, Stanford football played UCLA in the Rose Bowl (I was there). Stanford's record at the time was 2-5. A week earlier, Mark Soltau of the Examiner wrote:
"A billboard outside Stanford Stadium reads, 'On The Right Track.' If so, the 1996 Cardinal football team is on the wrong train."
However, that Stanford team defeated UCLA 21-20. I remember an awesome sideline catch and run for a TD by Troy Walters and another last minute touchdown to steal the game from the Bruins. The Cardinal rolled off three more wins to reach 6-5 and then destroyed Nick Saban's Michigan State team in the Sun Bowl. While things were indeed looking rosy for the future, the football team had some tough breaks and went 5-6 in 1997.
As much as I love 1996-97, I'm still thinking that, for my big three, this year gets the edge. But I do appreciate your argument Farm93.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)