For six years now, I’ve gone on about what a great deal CSULB is, with solid academics, great athletics, and a price that can’t be beat.  I’ve derided those who’ve gone fifty grand into debt to go to a more prestigious school, and been proud of Long Beach State’s mid-major status.  But really, it was the price tag: yes, we didn’t have all the flash of a bigger school, but when you can get a degree without going into debt, what does any of that matter?  Then yesterday I saw Stanford.

It has the beauty of a UCLA or Berkeley, with the well-funded athletics complexes of a USC.  The football stadium was unbelievable, probably three or four full tiers above Qualcomm, with tons of seating and a well-sculpted exterior that even includes the school’s logo.  Holy crap!  It was a fun day to be there, too, since the previous night the Stanford women’s basketball team had advanced to the Final Four, and the whole campus was wearing its colors and jerseys in support.

The quality of athletic arenas extended into the surrounding community, another added benefit of so much money flowing around.  Just a block away, while we were enjoying lunch, we noticed this deluxe artificial surface multi-purpose athletic playing field, known in Long Beach as a park.  The locals didn’t seem to mind enduring a few skinned knees and elbows on the turf in exchange for free access to such high-quality open areas.  I guess next time CSULB proposes a fee hike, I’ll leave my picket sign at home; the rec center will be a nice start, but maybe thirty years down the road we’ll get to take in Prospector Pete engraved 6 stories up, the way he deserves to be seen.