Maybe not great, but fairly amusing during this slow period:

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac12/post/_/id/70891/mailbag-dictators-unions-sister-schools

He nailed the sister school thing. Even before I got to Cal I knew it'd be Michigan. Now if we could mimic their success on the field.

WSU and LSU is an epic fail.

Yeah, he really blew it with Wazzu and LSU... it doesn't work on any level. I honestly think Wazzu and Kansas State are a closer compare, as both are in fairly remote locations and both made their reputations by being coached by old men (Mike Price, pre-Bama scandal, and of course, Bill Snyder at K-St). As for Oregon State, this might be a bit of a reach, but I kinda think maybe Auburn. Both play 2nd fiddle in their home states to glitzier programs, they have to put up with the opposing fanbases taunts as being "Moo U" type schools (Oregon state = sheep jokes; Auburn = all barn), and both are coached by coaches who have defied convention (Riley & Malzahn). Plus they both have orange in the uni's.

I've always thought stanfurd and Notre Dame are pretty close, plus they have a rivalry.

I still see Stanford/Duke and Stanford/Northwestern more. Notre Dame's rich football history looks nothing like Stanford's, and Stanford's academic rep is considered much stronger than ND's. Plus, Palo Alto and South Bend have absolutely nothing in common, and the fanbases seem pretty different.

GB54;842311476 said:

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WSU and LSU is an epic fail.

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Yeah, seemed like he nailed some pretty good ones, then ran out of ideas and said, "screw it" and threw in WSU/LSU.

The Cougars: Pac 12 Afterthought

GB54;842311476 said:

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WSU and LSU is an epic fail.

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In the article, I think LSU stands for Lompoc low-Security federal prison Unit.

Big C_Cal;842311599 said:

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Yeah, seemed like he nailed some pretty good ones, then ran out of ideas and said, "screw it" and threw in WSU/LSU.

The Cougars: Pac 12 Afterthought

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Same as the settling of Pullman by humans

Big C_Cal;842311599 said:

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Yeah, seemed like he nailed some pretty good ones, then ran out of ideas and said, "screw it" and threw in WSU/LSU.

The Cougars: Pac 12 Afterthought

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Clemson is the best sister school for WSU I could think of. Both schools are good in football every now and then. And both schools have a history of choking it. Also both schools are in the middle of nowhere.

btsktr;842311614 said:

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Clemson is the best sister school for WSU I could think of. Both schools are good in football every now and then. And both schools have a history of choking it. Also both schools are in the middle of nowhere.

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Yeah but it doesn't take long to get somewhere from Clempson as compared to Pullman...

Big C_Cal;842311599 said:

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Yeah, seemed like he nailed some pretty good ones, then ran out of ideas and said, "screw it" and threw in WSU/LSU.

The Cougars: Pac 12 Afterthought

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Kansas State was a good suggestion. I also think Iowa State is a good comparison.

I think WSU aligns more with Idaho State

BearBoarBlarney;842311597 said:

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I still see Stanford/Duke and Stanford/Northwestern more. Notre Dame's rich football history looks nothing like Stanford's, and Stanford's academic rep is considered much stronger than ND's. Plus, Palo Alto and South Bend have absolutely nothing in common, and the fanbases seem pretty different.

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Yeah plus Notre Dame is catholic with a national fan base. Imagine some guy in a New York or Boston saloon with pictures of the Virgin Mother and JFK over the bar wearing a Stanford sweat shirt.

Cal could pair with Wisconsin as well, but Michigan is the more natural choice.

I can't count how many ND faculty left tenured jobs in Palo Alto for the Dome. Both are incredibly wealthy private colleges with a country club feel/Harry Potter feel. Both compete in all major sports. Both are religious schools (ND = Catholic, stanfurd = whichever religion is most evil). They play each other in football every year, and both of their WBB teams are always in contention for the national championship. There are a lot of similarities.

Cal on the other hand is incomparable. I love Michigan and Ann Arbor. But there is no comparison. There is Berkeley and then there is everyone else.

WSU = Mississippi State

The Duke!;842311628 said:

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I can't count how many ND faculty left tenured jobs in Palo Alto for the Dome. Both are incredibly wealthy private colleges with a country club feel/Harry Potter feel. Both compete in all major sports. Both are religious schools (ND = Catholic, stanfurd = whichever religion is most evil). They play each other in football every year, and both of their WBB teams are always in contention for the national championship. There are a lot of similarities.

Cal on the other hand is incomparable. I love Michigan and Ann Arbor. But there is no comparison. There is Berkeley and then there is everyone else.

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In what department? That would be unheard of in my field.

A Michigan grad told me they call Michigan the Berkeley of the east.

:beer:

BearEatsTacos;842312553 said:

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In what department? That would be unheard of in my field.

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Several. But I am in the humanities. It isn't rare at all. Especially if you have certain religious convictions or desire a University that pays just as much if not more and where the cost of living is infinitely less.

beelzebear;842311635 said:

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WSU = Mississippi State

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That was exactly what I was thinking

Wazzu = Mississippi State - the forgotten school in the conference
UW = Minnesota - great history, not particularly successful recently - but headed in the right direction in football
Oregon = Ohio State - a$$hat fans, big money donors, successful in football and basketball
Oregon St = K-State - overachievers
Stanford = Northwestern - Stanford >>> NW but is probably the closest comparison
Cal = UVA - better basketball than football
UCLA = UNC - big time basketball schools with a lot of potential in football (though UNC's scandal will hurt them short term)
Utah = Iowa - pretty solid in both football & basketball, but not great
Colorado = Pittsburgh - good bball, bad football
Arizona = Maryland - excellent basketball, UA's football is better tho
ASU = West Virginia - good football, pretty good basketball, drunken idiots, poor academics

BowDowntoWashington;842312619 said:

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That was exactly what I was thinking

Wazzu = Mississippi State - the forgotten school in the conference
UW = Minnesota - great history, not particularly successful recently - but headed in the right direction in football
Oregon = Ohio State - a$$hat fans, big money donors, successful in football and basketball
Oregon St = K-State - overachievers
Stanford = Northwestern - Stanford >>> NW but is probably the closest comparison
Cal = UVA - better basketball than football
UCLA = UNC - big time basketball schools with a lot of potential in football (though UNC's scandal will hurt them short term)
Utah = Iowa - pretty solid in both football & basketball, but not great
Colorado = Pittsburgh - good bball, bad football
Arizona = Maryland - excellent basketball, UA's football is better tho
ASU = West Virginia - good football, pretty good basketball, drunken idiots, poor academics

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pretty good

The Duke!;842312610 said:

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Several. But I am in the humanities. It isn't rare at all. Especially if you have certain religious convictions or desire a University that pays just as much if not more and where the cost of living is infinitely less.

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I am as well. I have never heard of this. I wouldn't be surprised for those who are devoutly Catholic. But I can also say my MA adviser, who was devoutly Catholic, would never have considered leaving his current institution (not Berkeley, but very close in academic stature) for South Bend. I suppose it would be appealing if you are both Catholic and in Theology/Religious Studies.

BearEatsTacos;842312641 said:

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I am as well. I have never heard of this. I wouldn't be surprised for those who are devoutly Catholic. But I can also say my MA adviser, who was devoutly Catholic, would never have considered leaving his current institution (not Berkeley, but very close in academic stature) for South Bend. I suppose it would be appealing if you are both Catholic and in Theology/Religious Studies.

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Not just for Catholics. There are many others who feel that religious ideas (of any sort) are either ignored, implicitly forbidden, or not taken seriously at other institutions. I know of a case of a prof. with a Princeton/Harvard background who was early tenured with multiple book awards at the furd. He moved to South Bend just as soon as ND would take him. He upgraded from a small 3 bedroom condo in San Jose to a 6,000 sq. foot palace a 1 minute walk away from the campus. More money, more research support, more intellectual freedom, lower cost of living, etc.

Not at all unusual. I know of many similar stories. But for some reason, it seems to happen a lot more from the furd than from other institutions. That is why I think it is an appropriate sister school.

BowDowntoWashington;842312619 said:

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Cal = UVA - better basketball than football
UCLA = UNC - big time basketball schools with a lot of potential in football (though UNC's scandal will hurt them short term)

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UVa has a much different vibe than Cal-more like a private school than a public school. Students from Northern Va and out of state are similar to Cal students, but students from Richmond, Tidewater, and the rest of the state are a lot different. Michigan and Wisconsin are much more similar to Cal.

I've heard a Carolina grad describe UNC as "the Berkeley of the South". Carolina's much preppier than Cal. UCLA, Carolina, and Texas are pretty much interchangeable.

The Duke!;842312705 said:

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I know of a case of a prof. with a Princeton/Harvard background who was early tenured with multiple book awards at the furd. He moved to South Bend just as soon as ND would take him. He upgraded from a small 3 bedroom condo in San Jose to a 6,000 sq. foot palace a 1 minute walk away from the campus. More money, more research support, more intellectual freedom, lower cost of living, etc.

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I am curious where these neighborhoods exist, within a 1 minute walk to the University of Notre Dame campus? The Harter Heights section of S Bend, immediately south of the ND campus, has some old homes, but that neighborhood gets progressively sketchy as you get south from ND. And as nice as some of those old places are, not sure I would characterize that neighborhood as having many palaces...

As others have said, I would be very surprised to see early tenured profs from Ivy/Furd/Cal/Mich/UVA type schools going to ND. I can certainly see that move for that subset of academia that is (a) Catholic, (b) did their undergrad studies at ND, (c) seek a school that is more open to religious / theological dialogue, or (d) really love lake-effect snow. But that's a fairly small subset of academia, no?

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6294996

BearBoarBlarney;842312796 said:

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I am curious where these neighborhoods exist, within a 1 minute walk to the University of Notre Dame campus? The Harter Heights section of S Bend, immediately south of the ND campus, has some old homes, but that neighborhood gets progressively sketchy as you get south from ND. And as nice as some of those old places are, not sure I would characterize that neighborhood as having many palaces...

As others have said, I would be very surprised to see early tenured profs from Ivy/Furd/Cal/Mich/UVA type schools going to ND. I can certainly see that move for that subset of academia that is (a) Catholic, (b) did their undergrad studies at ND, (c) seek a school that is more open to religious / theological dialogue, or (d) really love lake-effect snow. But that's a fairly small subset of academia, no?

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6294996

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Not at all. There are some really amazing houses around the University. South Bend used to be a major city (Studebaker was based here). The Studebaker brass and managers built big, beautiful riverside mansions, many of which have fell into disrepair when Studebaker went under. Many profs like this situation -- you can get a huge, beautiful rehabbed house for very cheap. Sure, you don't have to walk far from the mansions to get to the areas that are still in disrepair, but this isn't all that different from the location of many of the Ivys (or Berkeley, Univ. of Chicago, USC, etc).

Your "c" category mentioned above certainly is true of some profs, who prefer an environment where free speech extends to the study of religious topics and in which all ideas can be asserted and defended. But you would be surprised. We have lots of former furd profs including those who got early tenure there. And every year we get tenured faculty from the Ivys apply for positions. Equal or better pay, more research money, much lower cost of living, great resources, competitive grad stipends -- these sorts of things attract many applicants from the Ivys. Sometimes ND hires them. Other times we reject them.

did you guys see this gem?

Brandon Joseph Ferguson Top Commenter Pacific University
The U of Wisky has a lot in common with UO academically speaking.
Reply April 7 at 12:18pm

62bear;842312848 said:

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did you guys see this gem?

Brandon Joseph Ferguson Top Commenter Pacific University
The U of Wisky has a lot in common with UO academically speaking.
Reply April 7 at 12:18pm

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I almost replied to that one. What a joke.

Wisconsin is a top 20 public school. Oregon is ... is ... Phil Knight's play room