Remember the 1975-1976 school year? Gerald Ford was in the White House, the Buffalo Braves were in the NBA Playoffs, Joe Morgan won the MLB MVP award, Lynn Swann won the Super Bowl MVP award and Stanford still had a plural mascot.
A lot has changed since then – Ford is dead, the Braves are now the Clippers (and not in the playoffs), Morgan is a broadcaster, Swann is a broadcaster-turned-politician and the Cardinals dropped the “s.”
The one constant throughout these past few decades, though, has been the success of Stanford athletics. Since that ‘75-‘76 season ended, the Cardinal (or Cardinals) have won at least one national championship every year. From men’s water polo in 1976 to men’s gymnastics and women’s rowing last year, Stanford has surpassed every school in the country in at least one sport every season for 33 seasons.
Why is this streak important?
Well, besides the fact that it’s really freaking impressive and by far an NCAA record, it’s also in jeopardy of ending.
It’s officially spring quarter, so we’re past two-thirds of the way through this season. And we’re still waiting for Stanford’s first national championship of 2009-2010. Which is not to say that Cardinal athletes have been struggling this year – far from it. Stanford is on pace for another Director’s Cup (its 16th straight) thanks to some incredible seasons. At the last tally, the Cardinal had an 11-point lead in the Director’s Cup standings. And that doesn’t include women’s basketball, men’s swimming or any of the spring sports that Stanford has top teams in – both gymnastics teams, both tennis teams, men’s volleyball, women’s water polo, etc. So it’s safe to say that Stanford is having a good year sports-wise.
The fact remains, though, that here at Stanford, we like to win. And tonight, we’ve got a golden opportunity.
Stanford women’s basketball is just 40 game minutes from a national championship.
Yes, I know those 40 minutes are against one of the most dominant teams in the sports world today, or maybe in history. Yes, I know Connecticut hasn’t lost since Pangaea broke apart. Yes, I know that no team has even gotten to within single digits of UConn since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, and that Maya Moore and Tina Charles could drop 100 on the newly-inducted Dream Team.
Or maybe it just seems that way. UConn is really, really good, but not unbeatable. Just a few months ago, Stanford led these same Huskies at halftime. In Connecticut. I know that’s just a half, and UConn dominated in the second half, but it still shows that the Cardinal can contend with the Huskies.
Because Stanford has some talent of its own. Anyone who saw Nneka Ogwumike singlehandedly win a Final Four game Sunday night knows what she can do, and UConn could not stop her when the teams first matched up.
Kayla Pedersen is a matchup nightmare for anyone, and Jayne Appel can throw caution to the wind and play her heart (and ankle) out in her final collegiate game. Jeanette Pohlen and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude are strong defenders and underrated scorers and ball-handlers. JJ Hones and Joslyn Tinkle provide good options off the bench, and Tara VanDerveer can coach with the best of them.
Of course UConn is favored – how can you not favor a team that has won 77 in a row? Pretty much everyone in the country expects that number to go up to 78 and probably a lot higher next year.
But that shouldn’t stop every Stanford fan from watching and cheering for the Cardinal women tonight. We’ve got a chance to end one of the most impressive streaks in sports and keep our own streak alive. We can bring another national championship back to the Farm.
Sure, we’ll have more chances to win titles, and this streak isn’t the most important thing in the world. Sure, there are several more top-10 teams at Stanford with championship runs ahead of them, and we’ll have much more to root for in the next few months.
But for tonight, it’s all about women’s basketball.
Jacob Jaffe bet his life savings on Stanford winning the title. Find out the odds at [email protected].