Boffo Olympic Opening; The Home of Olympians; Stanford's NIL Woes
The Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Paris were dazzling. The sight of 85 boats heading down the Seine with Olympic athletes waving the flags of their country was something to behold.
Despite the rain, the Paris organizers managed to pull off a ceremony that was beautiful, safe and artistic.
From the Olympic cauldron, shaped like a hot air balloon, to the stunning images of the Eiffel Tower, to Celine Dion's inspirational and magnificent performance, the entire production was impressive.
Of course, it wouldn't be France without a few racy twists, like the menage a trois scene and the almost naked blue Dionysus.
And the inane commentary from NBC announcers Mike Tirico, Peyton Manning and Kelly Clarkson didn't help.
But all in all, it was good fun, a fitting opening, featuring things you wouldn't see in any other host city.
Home of Olympians: Stanford athletes and alums have always performed well in the Olympic Games, The Cardinal had 57 participants in the 2020 Tokyo Games and claimed 26 medals to lead all institutions of higher learning.
This year, Stanford has 60 affiliates in Paris and looks to beat the previous medal record.
From the greatest woman swimmer of all time, Katie Ledecky (center above), to the best women's water polo player in the world, Maggie Steffens, to one of the best doubles players in tennis history, U.S. coach Bob Bryan, Stanford has 21 men and 39 women participating in 20 sports in the '24 Olympics.
One of them, swimmer Torri Huske, scored a thrilling victory in the 100 meter butterfly yesterday, edging teammate Gretchen Walsh at the finish.
Not all Stanfordites are competing for the USA. Stanford athletes will represent 15 different nations. Examples include basketball players Oscar da Silva (Germany), Dwight Powell (Canada), and Alanna Smith (Australia).
NIL/Transfer Woes: At the same time Stanford athletes and alums are being showcased to the world at the Olympic Games, Stanford is losing a number of top athletes to other schools because of NIL compensation and the transfer portal.
For decades, Stanford has been unmatched in combining academic and athletic excellence. While the University's high admissions standards have reduced the pool or recruitable athletes, the appeal of a great education, top coaches, a beautiful campus located in Northern California, and the highest level of competition in the Pac-12, have brought a steady stream of world-class student-athletes to the Farm.
But the new era of NIL payments and unlimited transfers is making it tougher to succeed at Stanford. College sports has become pro sports 2.0, with similar free agency and rapidly escalating money.
While the value of a Stanford education can't be under-estimated, and still resonates with many athletes, an increasing number of players are more interested in how much cash a school is willing to pay them to sign or transfer.
In the last year, Stanford has lost women's basketball star Kiki Iriafen, potentially the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft, five-star men's basketball players Andrej Stojakovic and Kanaan Carlyle, both of whom left after promising freshman seasons, All-Pac-12 tight end Ben Yurosek, baseball superstar Braden Montgomery, the No. 12 pick in the 2024 MLB draft, and most recently women's softball Player of the Year Nijaree Canady.
All transferred because of greener pastures elsewhere.
Canady got a heretofore unheard of guarantee of over $1 million to transfer to Texas Tech. According to two different reports, Stanford offered $350,000 or got "within striking distance" of Tech.
To some extent, I can understand a player like Canady taking the money and running. There is no pro women's softball league, so this is the only chance she has to rake in big money for herself and her family.
But Texas Tech?
Leaving one of the great universities in the world, which has reached the College World Series semi-final two years in a row, for, to put it politely, a rather undistinguished school ranked No. 216 by US News and World Report?
And leaving behind Palo Alto, California, for Lubbock Texas? Yikes.
Iriafen is from Los Angeles and transferred to USC, where she will team with JuJu Watkins to give the Trojans a great chance to win the NCAA Basketball Championship.
She received a reported guarantee of over $700,000 to move to SC.
Texas A&M has one of the biggest NIL budgets in the country, so Montgomery no doubt received a princely sum to transfer. He proceeded to dominate the SEC this season, hitting 27 home runs, driving in 85 runs and batting .322, to improve his draft stock.
Stanford's Future: What does all this mean for the future of Cardinal athletics?
The short answer is, things have changed. A great education, while still important, is not as powerful a recruiting tool as it used to be.
And attracting transfers to Stanford is not easy, due to the university's stringent admissions requirements and application deadlines.
Which means that if Stanford wants to play with the big boys in football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and softball, it will have to pony up big dollars to successfully recruit top players and keep them from transferring.
Stanford has always done things the right way. Its athletes go to class and they graduate.
Stanford also doesn't cheat, but things that used to be illegal are now legal, so "cheating" is becoming an oxymoron.
Today, every university has to consider its values and decide how to adapt to the new world order, where money is the driving force. Many have decided to open their checkbooks to lure top talent. Donors interested in a particular sport can fund a team of stars.
For Stanford, the question is, how far is the university willing to go to stay competitive and remain a major force in 36 varsity sports?
Already, Stanford has had to find a new home in a conference on the other side of the country due to the demise of the Pac-12.
Stanford has formed a collective, Lifetime Cardinal, to provide NIL dollars, but it's nothing like the war chests at places like Oregon, Texas A&M, USC, Texas and Ohio State.
Is it willing to pay an athlete a million dollars to keep him? Or her?
Things are likely to only get worse, and the cost to recruit and hold on to an athlete will continue to rise. The forthcoming "House Settlement" will allow universities to share up to $22 million in revenues per year with their athletes.
Realignment is not over. The conference Stanford just joined, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is on shaky ground, with Florida State and Clemson attempting to flee.
The Big Two conferences--the Big 10 and SEC--may not be willing to continue to subsidize underperforming members much longer.
The future is uncertain and, in many ways, rather bleak.
Our idea of a conference with schools that are more interested in academics than mortgaging the farm for a football player-- like Stanford, Cal, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Rice, the service academies, Syracuse and Boston College--may become a consideration sooner rather than later.
As the man likes to say, stay tuned.
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