Stanford Cardinal

Infobox college athletics
name = Stanford Cardinal

logo_width = 118
university = Stanford University
conference = Pacific Ten Conference | division = Division I
director = Bob Bowlsby
city = Stanford
state = California
stateabb = CA
teams = 31
stadium = Stanford Stadium
baseballfield = Sunken Diamond
arena = Maples Pavilion
arena2 = Taube Tennis Center
mascot = Stanford Tree (unofficial)
nickname = Cardinal
fightsong = "Come Join the Band" (official)
"All Right Now" (de facto)
color1 = Cardinal
color2 = White
hex1 = 990000
hex2 = FFFFFF
pageurl = http://www.gostanford.com/
pagename = Stanford AthleticsThe Stanford Cardinal is the nickname of the athletic teams at Stanford University.

Nickname and mascot history

Following its win over Cal in the first-ever Big Game in 1892, the color cardinal was picked as the primary color of Stanford's athletic teams. White was adopted as a secondary color in the 1940s.

In 1930, the athletic department adopted the mascot "Indian." The Indian symbol and name were later dropped by President Richard Lyman in 1972, after objections from Native American students and a vote by the student senate.

From 1972 to 1981, the official nickname was the Cardinals. Despite the plural form of the name, the name was intended to refer to the color, not the bird. During the 1970s, a number of suggestions were put forth as possible nicknames: Robber Barons (a sly reference to Leland Stanford's history), Sequoias, Trees, Railroaders, Spikes, Huns, and Griffins. The last suggestion gained enough momentum to prompt the university to move two griffin statues to be near the athletic facilities.

On November 17, 1981, school President Donald Kennedy declared that the athletic teams be represented by the color Cardinal in its singular form.cite web
title =What is the history of Stanford's mascot and nickname?
work =Stanford Athletics website
url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/school-bio/stan-nickname-mascot.html
accessdate =2007-02-12 ]

Stanford has no official mascot, but the Stanford Tree, a member of the Stanford Band wearing a self-designed tree costume, appears at major Stanford sports events. The Tree is based upon El Palo Alto, a redwood tree in neighboring Palo Alto that appears in the Stanford seal and athletics logo.

National championships

Through the spring 2008 sports season, Stanford has won 109 national championships. Of these, 95 are NCAA team championships, second most among all universities (UCLA ranks first). Of the 95 championships, 58 are in men's sports (third behind UCLA and USC) and 37 are in women's sports, the most of any university.cite web
title =Schools with the Most NCAA Championships
work =NCAA website
url =http://www.ncaa.org/champadmin/champs_listing1.html
accessdate =2007-02-09 ]

Stanford has won the NACDA Director's Cup for Division I, awarded annually to the college or university with the most success in collegiate athletics, for 14 consecutive years (1994-95 to 2007-08).

Stanford's championships occurred in the following sports (NCAA championships unless otherwise specified):cite web
title =Stanford Cardinal Championships
work =Stanford Athletics website
url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/trads/stan-trads-champs.html
accessdate =2008-06-26 ]

* Baseball: 1987, 1988
* Men's Basketball: 1937, 1938 (both Helms Championships) 1942
* Women's Basketball: 1990, 1992
* Men's Cross Country: 1996, 1997, 2002, 2003
* Women's Cross Country: 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007
* Football: 1926
* Men's Golf: 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1953, 1994, 2007
* Men's Gymnastics: 1992, 1993, 1995
* Sailing: 1997 (ICRA championship)
* Men's Swimming and Diving: 1967, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998
* Women's Swimming and Diving: 1980 (AIAW championship), 1983, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998
* Synchronized Swimming: 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (all U.S. Collegiate championships)
* Men's Tennis: 1942 (unofficial), 1973, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000
* Women's Tennis: 1978 (AIAW championship), 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006
* Men's Track & Field: 1925, 1928, 1934, 2000
* Men's Volleyball: 1997
* Women's Volleyball: 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2004
* Men's Water Polo: 1963 (unofficial), 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002
* Women's Water Polo: 2002

Football

Basketball

Baseball

Cal rivalry

Stanford has a traditional sports rivalry in the San Francisco Bay Area with the University of California, Berkeley.

Olympics representation

Stanford athletes have traditionally been very well-represented at the Olympics.cite web
title =Stanford Olympic Medalists by Olympiad
work =Stanford Athletics website
url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/trads/stan-trads-allolympics.html
accessdate =2008-08-25] Stanford sent 47 current or former student athletes to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 32 of whom competed for the United States, 14 for other countries, and one as a coach for the United States softball team.cite web
title =Stanford Well-Represented at Upcoming Summer Olympics
work =Stanford Athletics website
url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/genrel/071608aaa.html
date=2008-07-16
accessdate =2008-08-25] In all, Stanford athletes won 25 medals:cite web
title =Stanford Medal Count
work =Stanford Athletics website
url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/sports/olympics/spec-rel/08-medalcount.html
accessdate =2008-08-25]

tanford Athletic Hall of Fame

The Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame was established on December 21, 1954. The brainchild of Walt Gamage, sports editor of the now-defunct "Palo Alto Times", the first class of inductees consisted of 34 Stanford sports greats. New members are inducted annually and are recognized during halftime of a home Stanford football game.

The Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame Room is located on the first floor of the Arrillaga Family Sports Center on the Stanford campus.cite web
title =The Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame
work =Stanford Athletics website
url =http://gostanford.cstv.com/trads/stan-trads-hof.html
accessdate =2007-02-13 ]

References

External links

* [http://gostanford.collegesports.com/Official Stanford Athletics Website]
* [http://www.stanford.edu/dept/nacc/mascot.html Stanford Native American Culture Center: The Removal of the Indian Mascot of Stanford]