Author: Danny Belch

Three years ago, I wrote a column comparing the states of California and Texas in terms of athletic supremacy. Not surprisingly and deservingly, California won. However, there have been some crucial updates to my criteria and I think my rankings deserve a second look. California folks shouldn’t be getting too comfortable here.

In 2002, Sports Illustrated released thorough, “scientific” rankings of the best college sports programs in the nation. They had the University of Texas No. 1, barely edging out Stanford at No. 2. However that makes you feel, we cannot argue. Texas 1, California 0.

I’m not a huge fan of USC, which is located in California. But I actually am beginning to like the Texas Longhorns, at least more than I did three years ago. I went to Austin last spring and loved the school and the town. Texas 2, California 0.

Colt McCoy in the BCS National Championship game. I am not disrespecting the injury, but how did it happen? Texas 2, California 1.

Texas is greatly known as a jock school. Stanford is known mostly for its academics, yet we still have won 15 consecutive Director’s Cups. Texas has come in second a few times. Texas 2, California 2.

I once heard that 40,000 people watched a high school football game in Texas. Perhaps the number is exaggerated, but I do know for a fact their high school games are huge, once pumping in $20 million for a high school stadium. That’s pretty cool. Texas 3, California 2.

Andrew Luck is from Texas. Texas 4, California 2.

When I was in Austin (see point #2) I went to a good old-fashioned Texas Barbecue restaurant. I am dying to go back. Texas 5, California 2.

If you take the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, you have eight teams in Texas and a whopping 15 in California. The Lakers are also located in California. Texas 5, California 3.

Interestingly enough, the NBA’s Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James all were born in states other than Texas or California. No points awarded on the basis of shame. Texas 5, California 3.

Tiger Woods was born and raised in California. While that was a “Boo yah” in the last version, today it is an “oh crap.” Sorry California, at least for the time being we cannot claim a point here. Texas 6, California 3.

Jeez, look at that lead for Texas. I might as well just stop here — damn them Texans. Well, I have to give them some credit. They have proven over the last few years to belong in the debate with California and even have some decent arguments as to why they should be No. 1. Ironically enough, I am actually in Texas right now as you read this column. Perhaps I will return with a new feeling that California is really the best state and I was just being nice to Texas right now. But for now, I give congratulations to Texas. The Cowboys did make a decent run in the playoffs this year while the Chargers fizzled and were ousted by a bunch of rookies, so I guess you can claim this one for the time being.

Danny Belch counts a random barbecue restaurant as the same as 15 Director’s Cups. Tell him how absurd this is at dbelch1 “at” stanford.edu.

If you were a Stanford athlete, which season would you want your sport in — fall, winter or spring? Would you want to get to campus while it is barren and lifeless and open the Stanford sporting season? Would you want to cut your winter break a little short to prep for the winter season, competing during a lull in the Stanford atmosphere? Or do you want a spring sport, closing out the Stanford sports season as the campus is abuzz with the energetic aura of spring quarter? Let’s take a look at the upsides and downsides to each sporting season.

An advantage of fall sports is that they are the first to begin a new school year. New freshmen, an exciting time on campus and great weather all factor into more enthusiastic and spirited Stanford fans. In addition, several of Stanford’s most successful teams play in the fall, including women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s water polo. These sports also bank off of football, which is the fall sport across the nation. Success in football translates to even more excitement over other fall sports. Not to mention, the weather is particularly nice up here from August to November, so it’s a nice time to play and watch sports.

Perhaps the biggest downside for fall sports is that all of them have to report early for practice. That means their summers get cut short and by the first or second week of August they return to Stanford to start training, usually living in some dorm. For some athletes it’s a fun time, but for others, it is a bit too much. But since some teams start playing at the end of August — nearly a full month before any other students get to Stanford — they have to start early.

But starting early means you end early and fall sports do just that. By December, the sports are over and the fall athletes get the rest of the year off. While this does not mean that they stop practicing and training, they have no competitions and are mandated by the NCAA to practice less. For some, this is a welcomed time off to rest. For others, it is a time to catch up on school work and take harder loads and harder classes. For the rest, their weekends begin on Thursday.

There definitely aren’t as many big name sports in winter as there are in fall and spring, with the exception of basketball. While basketball is the heavy hitter of the winter sports, sports like men’s volleyball, gymnastics, swimming and wrestling are fun spectator sports.

An upside that winter quarter sports have is that there are fewer things going on around campus. This means that: 1. athletes get less distracted with social and University-wide events and 2. the general student body may have more time to come to sporting events.

Some downsides include, for certain sports, cutting Winter Break short to return early and train for competition. Another is the weather, which often is not favorable to practicing and playing outdoors. While almost all winter sports are played indoors, lots of practices still take place outside and sports that need to practice for the upcoming spring season are affected as well.

While some would argue that sports are just better in the fall, winter sports have the hardware to prove that they are just as good if not better. For example, this winter we will be following our women’s basketball team as it goes for a third straight Final Four appearance, as well as our world-record holding swimmers and the No. 1 men’s gymnastics team.

The sweet smell of spring brings the final stretch of Stanford sports, some of which are baseball, softball, women’s lacrosse, tennis, women’s water polo and track and field. All these outdoor sports are played under the warm weather and most go well into late May and June. Track extends to the day before graduation and baseball postseason goes far beyond graduation. Spring sport athletes that have been waiting all year to play finally get the chance come March and April — this time for real.

Obvious upsides to spring quarter sports include finishing out the Stanford sports season, the nice weather that rarely affects practices and competition and the general atmosphere around the Stanford community in spring. Look around to find students sunbathing on the lawn at Sunken Diamond or jumping between a track meet, a water polo game and tennis match all going on at the same time, all within 100 yards of each other.

Downsides include having to wait all year to finally step on the field and a lot of social distractions. It often is hard to practice and train intensely in October when you know you won’t be stepping on the field until March or April. Spring quarter is also the most social and fun quarter at Stanford. It is tough for some athletes to go to bed because of practice or a game while there are people yelling and music blasting downstairs or even right outside their door. While for many athletes it’s a no-brainer tradeoff, for others it’s actually kind of tough to get adequate rest.

I cannot fail to mention sports that run through both or all seasons, muddling the seasonal divisions and making for a long and tenuous year. The ones that jump out to me are swimming, tennis, baseball and softball and cross country/track and field. These sports have competitions that span two quarters and keep the athletes in competition mode for several months in a row. In fact, all cross country athletes at Stanford run fall, winter AND spring seasons: cross country in the fall, indoor track in the winter and outdoor track in the spring. One season of competition is enough, let alone three in a row with little break in between. The athletes of these sports have to stay healthy and motivated over a longer period of time than some others.

So what kind of athlete are you? Are you a first-out-of-the-gate, early riser athlete that gets all the hard work out of the way, so the rest of the year is yours to have? Or are you one of those people that never liked to present their project first, but definitely would go second? Or maybe you are a spring-sporter, waiting all school year, closing out the sports season on the Farm under the sunshine and playing off the energy from a fun and active campus. Perhaps you want to take it all on and join the Stanford distance runners and compete all three quarters. Perhaps you don’t want to be an athlete and would rather every weekend start on Thursday.

Danny Belch’s weekends never end. Find out how he spends them at dbelch1 “at” stanford.edu.

I have nothing to write about this week because nothing has interested me in the sports world outside of Stanford lately. My colleagues cover enough over the week, leaving me the tough job of originality. Well, most Stanford winter sports are just gearing up. Lane Kiffin sucks and will probably bring more violations to USC. Pete Carroll isn’t worth writing about. The NBA is boring. There haven’t been enough upsets in college basketball yet. The NFL is reasonably exciting, but let’s come back next week when the Super Bowl spots are on the line. Mark McGwire cheated, but like we were really surprised when we heard that.

Thus, this column is about nothing. It is about the boring, banal, whatever and who cares of sports. It is the things you wish you didn’t know about, the things you don’t understand why you know so much about, or the things you wish just didn’t exist. It is Brett Favre, Olympic race-walking and fishing. It’s golf without Tiger Woods, the NBA regular season and the Pro Bowl. It’s the things that have you going “why?” or “huh?” or screaming an obscenity at the television.

This column is the things about sports that make me want to turn off the TV or put down the newspaper. The things that are surely a hit with somebody around the world, but in my mind are better reserved for the 3 a.m. TV slot. The things that don’t get me excited or make me glad to be a sports fan. The things that make me just want to go “Really?” or “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

It’s a 2-7 poker hand and a 37-0 rout in football at halftime. It’s Roger Federer’s demeanor on the court, the 10th NFL highlight in a row on Sunday, Tony Dungy’s analysis and Pam Ward (YouTube her).

I can tell you some things that this column is not. It’s not Chad Ochocinco (or whatever his last name is) — it’s not NHL playoffs, Chris Johnson, Venus and Serena Williams, the NBA Dunk Contest, a shootout in soccer or Shaquille O’Neal.

This column is the Super Bowl halftime show post-Janet Jackson, Bill Belichick interviews, a JaMarcus Russell-led offense, Walt Harris’s Stanford play calling, terrible sports movies, the World’s Best Dog competition and David Beckham.

It’s not the World Cup, college football overtime, a play that features a triple option, March Madness, the 100-meter dash, the “C’mon Man” segment of Monday Night Countdown, Gus Johnson (YouTube him) or when Ed Reed intercepts a pass.

It is the Favre-Childress saga, the discussion of why the Colts decided to rest their starters, ESPN’s Mike & Mike (especially Greenberg), archery, arena football and the XFL, and billiards on TV.

It’s not Kobe Bryant at the buzzer, SportsCenter commercials, Jimmie Johnson, Sunday at the Masters, the night session at the U.S. Open or Nick Robinson at the Stanford-Arizona basketball game in 2004.

It is minor league baseball, the WWF and UFC, Lil Wayne’s columns on espn.com, Tim Tebow’s 50th inspirational video segment, golfers from South Africa and athletes taking Twitter too far.

It’s not Darrelle Revis, Derek Jeter, the challenge rule in the NFL, New Year’s Day bowl games, a good version of the national anthem before a big game, beach volleyball, the Arthur Ashe ESPY award for courage, Peyton Manning’s commercials or sports montages.

It is the Papajohns.com and Little Caesar’s Pizza bowls, the opening coin toss, an intentional walk, Bible verses written on fake eye black, seemingly endless timeouts at the end of a basketball game, player holdouts for bigger contracts, badminton and the “Kiss Cam”.

It’s not the Kentucky Derby, Mariano Rivera, a triple, icing the kicker, the Little League World Series, a perfect game, Toby Gerhart, Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest and Boise State’s trick plays.

Next week I’ll have something more exciting. Come on, men’s basketball.

Danny Belch clearly did not realize that the MLS Draft took place yesterday. Contact him at dbelch1 “at” stanford.edu.

It’s 2010 — time for a new year and a new decade for the Stanford Cardinal. It is safe to say that Stanford has dominated the collegiate athletics landscape for the past 10 years, winning every Director’s Cup (15 in a row total) and 21 NCAA Championships over that period. There is no sign of stopping for the Card heading into the second decade of the 2000s and it starts with 2010. Here are 10 things to watch for on the Farm this year.

Men’s Volleyball

The men’s volleyball team is ranked No. 3 in the preseason, its highest preseason ranking since 2002. Coming off a season in which it won 21 games — its most since 1997 — the Cardinal could be national title contenders. The reason for the optimism lies in the experienced lineup, which returns five starters from last year, including kill-leader Evan Romero, All-American setter Kawika Shoji and the 2009 national Newcomer of the Year, libero Erik Shoji.
Men’s Tennis
After a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament last year, the men’s tennis team is back this year looking for more. The Cardinal’s top recruiting class joins five returning starters. Alex Clayton, Bradley Klahn, Ryan Thacher and Richard Wire will lead the team, which is ready to return to the Stanford men’s tennis teams of the past. Klahn and Thacher had a decorated fall season in doubles while Clayton was an NCAA singles semifinalist in 2009. This team will be fun to watch in 2010.
Women’s Basketball
A stellar 2009 was only a springboard into 2010, where the women’s basketball team is ranked No. 2, its only loss coming to No. 1 Connecticut. The team looks unstoppable in Pac-10 play this year. Jayne Appel, Nneka Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen will lead this team deep into the NCAA tournament. You can be sure this team wants a rematch against Connecticut on a neutral court. Don’t be surprised if it happens in the NCAA Finals.
Julia Smit and Elaine Breeden
Two world-class swimmers will be swimming their final seasons on the Farm after what will be historic swimming careers. Smit just broke two world records a month ago and both she and Breeden have Olympic hardware from Beijing in 2008. They will be the ones to watch in the pool this year for Stanford and across the nation. The two are both 19-time All-Americans, Smit with three individual NCAA titles and Breeden two. Needless to say, expect big things out of them in 2010, both at Stanford and beyond.
2010-11 Men’s Basketball
While this season is not over and anything can happen in this year’s Pac-10 (example: Wednesday’s win over USC), fans should be excited for the new crop of talent coming in for Dawkins’s third year. Dawkins’s best recruiting class — currently ranked 13th in the nation by Scout.com — enters Stanford next season to join this year’s relatively young team. After a two-year lull in Stanford basketball, next year could begin a rise back up to where the program has been in the past.
2010 Football
The biggest thing to look forward to from the football team next season is the way it responds after an 8-5 season in 2009. In all likelihood, Stanford will lose Toby Gerhart and backs Stepfan Taylor and Tyler Gaffney will have big shoes to fill. But the defense should be better and Andrew Luck should excel after a year of experience. A schedule with some key home games will be huge and the Cardinal will have the confidence of this year’s winning season in them. A big question mark is how the new coaches will adjust. Stanford will have a few new assistant coaches on the sidelines next season; hopefully the players will take to them nicely.
Chris Derrick

Stanford’s All-American distance runner will hit the track this spring and the cross-country course next fall to continue his already decorated career. The sophomore is already a five-time All-American and was the 2009 Pac-10 Runner of the Year in cross country. A third-place finish at the NCAA Championships in cross country this past fall followed a freshman track campaign where he finished third in the 5,000 meters in the outdoor NCAA finals. He will be looking to add to his success with a first-place trophy in track this season, as well as cross country next fall as he gets older and stronger and his competitors graduate. The guy is just really good.

Teagan Gerhart
The younger sister of Toby Gerhart takes to the Stanford softball field along with her sister, Kelsey. Teagan, a pitcher, will challenge for the starting spot as a freshman. She had a 30-2 record with a .35 ERA in high school. Perhaps the Gerhart magic will carry over from the football field to the softball field this spring.

The Director’s Cup
It’s the beginning of the winter season and we are already winning. It might be over already. Sweet 16.

Danny Belch loves Stanford. E-mail him at dbelch1 “at” stanford.edu.