Fan of the Season Entry

30 games and counting

Since Stanford played Arizona State at home on 10/24/2009, my friend Albert Thomas and I have not missed a single Stanford football game. In this streak of 30 consecutive games, we’ve logged thousands of miles and countless hours on the road, and have been fortunate enough to witness one of the greatest stretches in Stanford football history. It all started when we were seniors (Class of 2008) and attended 166 Stanford sporting events. However, in a season where Stanford basketball reached the Sweet 16, it was not a basketball game that stood out. Despite going through 3 football coaches in our 4 years on the Farm, we believed in Stanford football and made that 5 hour drive down to the Coliseum to see Stanford play #2 ranked USC. The rest, as they say, is history.

Fast forward to a couple of years after graduation and with a little more discretionary income at our disposal, Albert and I decided that we wanted to visit every single Pac-10 stadium. That is how the streak began. Fittingly enough, the first road trip was to a place where we harbored our fondest memories and once again, we triumphantly strode out of the Coliseum after a 55-21 victory. We followed that up with El Paso, Pasadena, South Bend, Eugene, Seattle, Tempe, Berkeley, Miami, Durham, Tucson, Pullman, Los Angeles again where we are now 3-0, and last but not least Corvallis. With the formation of the Pac-12, Boulder and Salt Lake City are up next.

This season has been a little more trying on my bank account as I’ve relocated to Las Vegas from the Bay Area but that was never going to get in the way of our travels which we’ve chronicled in our blog: cardinalmaniacs.blogspot.com Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination”. This journey has been one hell of a ride. The team has gone 26-4 in those 30 games, beaten every Pac-10 team at least once, owned the nation’s longest active winning streak and won a BCS bowl. We’ve seen the country and met alums as passionate as us from classes that span multiple decades whom we would have otherwise never met. Stanford football has brought us together but these friendships go beyond the score of a football game. They will last a lifetime.

As many players from the recruiting Class of 2008 – guys who committed when we were seniors and represented the future of Stanford football – make their last walk and play their last game in Stanford stadium, it would be an absolute honor to be on the sidelines because our journey would not be as meaningful without the hard work and dedication of the student athletes. And it was this recruiting class in particular that took a leap of faith which contributed to the football program’s turnaround. For that, we are eternally grateful. Go Card! Beat the Irish!