I’m at Stanford Stadium to cover Stanford vs. Oregon State, a game which may or may not have lots of bowl implications for the Cardinal. I just read a terrific article online by the Merc’s Jon Wilner about Stanford having a tough time selling out the stadium which was redone before the 2006 season for big bucks. There often are 10,000 unsold tickets.

My first reaction was chauvinistic — like gee they need to get on the ball. Then I calmed down. As you know I went to Stanford 6 years and got two graduate degrees. I love Stanford — the school. I didn’t attend Stanford because  of sports and I never asked myself if the football team would improve the English Dept. because it would be a stupid question. If they don’t sell out the stadium Stanford will have wonderful departments and a great med and law school. Stanford is a a school not a football team surrounded by a school.

Here is my pet peeve. Schools like Stanford have gone into the football business and for now Stanford is paying a price. It is Stanford’ s free choice to become a minor league team for the NFL. If it doesn’t work out I don’t feel sorry for Stanford. It’s still a wonderful university and that’s what really counts. To read Wilner’s article click here.