By Ray Ratto
Faith, that rarest of commodities when applied to college football, is most in evidence in August. That's when the lack of results allows every fan to believe that this is the year of his or her reward. In these parts, rewards range as high as the Rose Bowl for Cal, and for Stanford, simply not having to return money to the customers. Stanford's chance of success within these parameters is greater than Cal's, but even if the Bears excel enough to get back to the Holiday Bowl, it will require exceptional work from each team. And until then? Faith.
Cal fans, who largely found last season to be most unsatisfying, need to have faith that coach Jeff Tedford: A) Finds his quarterback soon; B) Keeps running back Jahvid Best healthy and hearty; and, C) Gets as much from his defense as all the pundits think he should. Then they have to have faith that neither Oregon nor Arizona State is as good as advertised.
Stanford, on the other hand, has to have faith in Jim Harbaugh's vision for the way out of the school's longest-ever run of bad football. Fans have to have faith in the idea that the wins over USC and Cal are the real signs of the Cardinal's future, rather than the eight losses in the other 10 games.
Cal's faith lies in accepting the idea that Tedford's first five years are the proper template for its expectations. Stanford's, in fighting the notion that the last six years are the school's proper place in the world. The tests come too early for either coach's real comfort. Stanford opens this evening in its all-too-hospitable home against Oregon State, and Cal on Saturday against Michigan State at Memorial Tree-Sitters Stadium and Arboretum. The Pac-10, apparently alone among the BCS conferences, views the nonconference schedule as a midterm rather than as a pop quiz, so their teams need to get up to speed quicker than most.
And though Cal at least has a series of winning seasons at its back and can envision happier times without too much strain, Stanford has the more difficult issue of having faith in something none of its current players have ever enjoyed and that most of their coaches have known only in other places. Oh, and there is also that triumph of faithlessness - Stanford's money-back-guarantee promotion. The Cardinal players and coaches keep trying to portray the USC and Cal wins as yesterday's news, but without them, the program would have nothing of value to cling to going into the new season. The wins were so nationally stunning (USC) and locally gratifying (Cal) that they ought to be the jumping-off point for Stanford's new glory.
Harbaugh and the players also know that their true progress won't be made against USC or Cal but against the rest of the schedule. The games at TCU, San Jose State, at Washington, Arizona, Washington State and maybe even at UCLA will either justify or undermine the faith the players have shown in Harbaugh's leadership. Indeed, the entire plan top to bottom is built on faith, all the way down to the daffy money-back-guarantee idea. If you buy a ticket knowing you could get your money back if and/or when you are disappointed, you are being rewarded for either your lack of faith or the team's. This is what happens when you let your most lucrative athletic entertainment slip as far as Stanford has. Going back six years, the Cardinal's 20-48 record puts them just below Baylor, the Big 12's traditional bottom-feeder, and just above Vanderbilt, the SEC's traditional bottom-feeder. Duke, the ACC's traditional bottom-feeder, is so bad that Stanford looks like Oklahoma by comparison. The salient point is that Harbaugh and the marketing department are putting an awful lot on this group of gents. Bo McNally, the senior safety, might have gotten to the heart of the matter when he said the goal was to get six wins and let the bowl game possibilities sort themselves out, but he also knows that other than a fleeting moment in late 2005, neither he nor his mates have ever known even the suggestion of bowl eligibility.
The upside going into the new year is that Tavita Pritchard, the quarterback who engineered the USC upset, won the starting job, and the other 15 returning starters give the Cardinal a clear starting point. But they know that until they get something more tangible, they have to have faith in Harbaugh's faith, and he has to have faith in the faith of his players, and the money-back-guarantee trolls ... well, I guess they can have faith in the notion that they can get their money back if they have to. That might not be faith, but it represents another virtue, prudence, at least until faith can sustain the program more efficiently.
No comments:
Post a Comment