Here's a thought for you: Your tradition doesn't mean jack shit. Oregon doesn't have any tradition at all, according to everyone, and yet is consistently successful. Oregon has also sold its soul to Nike, and has been rewarded for doing so by the football gods. Keep your traditions. We'll keep the wins. 11 Straight. Fucking wiener dogs.
I'll bite.
Oregon never had a soul, and if it did, all you got in return was a single Rose Bowl win.
Anyways, it isn't really about the tradition. It isn't really about the pageantry or the "experience" either. It's about winning in the end, and having a loud fucking stadium helps with that. "Our tradition" is having a winning program. Why do we want students on the 50? Is it so we can have "Go Huskies" as a tradition? No. It's because the students are the future season ticket holders and we want them to have the best experience at the games so that they will feel compelled to take the money earned in their future endeavors and invest it back in the program. The program being successful feeds into that, like a good version of a vicious cycle. Now, I know the students didn't feel that pull when our program sucked for the last decade or so. And I know that none of the fancy asian imports or Cali kids give a shit, because I was in the student section while Sark was here. But, if we had never let the program take a backseat to promoting the illusion of our academics being anything more than an above-average state school, the funding of the renovation would have taken care of itself. Instead, we let the agenda of upper-campus take hold and were forced to sell out in order to make a lame attempt at fooling the fan base into thinking we give a shit again.
Luckily, we have an actual coach now, and winning can cure everything. But if Pete can't do it, I think we might be permanently fucked. Simply put, the Malcolm Gladwell politicians that have taken over UW do not give a shit about football or what it means to the school. In fact, they oppose it. It will be the same way at Oregon when Phil is gone, and the same way it is at most faggot Pac-12 schools.
I guess I'd just rather hear a good marching band and have a real college atmosphere, and hopefully a little abundance with a great coach that will stay and compete for national championships. I think that would help build a the fan base for the future, because winning is why we ever had one in the first place. You know, like my Crimson Tide.
