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Cardinal Conversations : sports

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    Fiesta Bowl Executive Director Robert Shelton

    Robert and Adrian SheltonFive months ago Arizona native Robert Shelton, '70, Engr. '72, became executive director of the Fiesta Bowl – just in time to watch Stanford take on Oklahoma State on January 2 at the University of Phoenix Stadium. He carefully avoids showing any favoritism.  (Note that his jacket is yellow, not red.) But he met his wife, Adrian (Millar, '70), pictured at left with Shelton, freshman year. And his three kids all spent at least four years on the Farm. He shares some thoughts about this other "big game" and about Stanford. Excerpts:

    You were president of the University of Arizona for the past five years. Why did you leave academia for sports?

    My goodness! First of all, it happened very suddenly. From the time of initial contact to when we announced the deal was maybe three weeks. It wasn't something I'd been thinking about, but I'd done this job at the Uni...

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    Posted by Ms. Karen Springen on Dec 20 2011 10:23PM | 0 comments

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    Football coach David Shaw

    Sure, Jim Harbaugh—who led Stanford to a 12-1 record—left for the San Francisco ’49ers. But there is still joy in Mudville (a.k.a. the Farm), thanks to new head football coach David Shaw, ’94. In January, athletic director Bob Bowlsby announced that the offensive coordinator would take over the top job. Though Shaw isn’t yet a household name, he has worked with the Philadelphia Eagles, the Oakland Raiders and the Baltimore Ravens. And as a Stanford student, he was a wide receiver. Days before the April 9 annual Cardinal & White Spring Game, the sociology major talks about his new job, his vision and his thoughts (all positive!) about Stanford. Excerpts:

    How was it being picked for the job?

    Mr. Bowlsby did a search. I feel very fortunate that he thought I was the right guy for the job. I was extremely pleased that he did pick me,...

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    Posted by Ms. Karen Springen on Apr 6 2011 2:39AM | 0 comments

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    Soccer player Rachel Buehler, '

    Rachel Buehler, '07, was captain of the Cardinal women's soccer team (for three years!). Recently she became the 12th woman to be named co-captain of U.S. women's soccer. She talks about sports, Stanford and her future. Excerpts:

    What do you do as co-captain?

    Christie Rampone is the other captain. She's very experienced. A lot of what I do is kind of help her. Part of the reason I got chosen to be captain is I'm a younger player. The national team has a range of ages. We have one girl in college that's in our pool of players; we have Kristine Lilly, who's 39 and a mom. A few of the women on the team [including Rampone] have kids, and several of them are in their mid-30s.

    How many people are on the team?

    There's a pool of players. That pool probably ranges from like 25, 30 players, that get brought into training camps pretty often. For tourname...

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    Posted by Ms. Karen Springen on Sep 1 2010 12:40AM | 0 comments

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    Athletics director Bob Bowlsby

    Three years ago, athletics director Bob Bowlsby moved from an area with many farms (the University of Iowa) to The Farm. Now 57, the soft-spoken former wrestler is going to the mat to preserve the quality and quantity of sports at Stanford. In June, Stanford nabbed its 15th consecutive NCAA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, given to the nation's top college athletic program. And this fall, the Cardinal football team is off to a 4-1 start, its best since 2001. But Bowlsby must grapple with millions of dollars in budget cuts; earlier this year, Athletics laid off nearly two dozen staff members. I talked with the AD about money, football and the future. Excerpts: 
     
    WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE? 
     
    Well, I've had to replace two major coaching positions, and I guess other than that, it's just been the general difficulty with finances. The whole university is struggling, especially with the downturn in the endo...

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    Posted by Ms. Karen Springen on Oct 14 2009 8:55AM | 1 comments