Notebook: El PasoNotebook: El Paso
Football

Notebook: El Paso

Thursday, Dec. 29
 
Back to business. After several days of fun festivities around El Paso, the Cardinal mostly resumed its regular pre-gameday schedule on Thursday.

The only deviation was the annual Rotary Football Team Luncheon at the El Paso Convention Center. Both teams attended, and players were mixed with family members, Fort Bliss troops and Sun Bowl representatives at their tables. The luncheon is a long-standing tradition for the Sun Bowl, which is the second-oldest bowl game in the country (the 2016 matchup between Stanford and North Carolina is the 83rd edition of the Sun Bowl). To cap the event, former Wyoming and Purdue head coach Joe Tiller was inducted as a Legend of the Sun Bowl. Tiller was the winningest coach in Boilermakers history and led the team to three Sun Bowls (2000, 2001, 2004).

 

Later in the afternoon, back at the El Paso Convention Center, a Fan Fiesta was held for the supporters of both teams. The event featured the Stanford Axe committee and cheer squad as well as the band from Horizon High School. The band, who will represent the Cardinal at the Sun Bowl game, was a highlight among the food, fireworks, music and games for all Cardinal faithful who made the trip to Texas.
 

 Stanford players saw the Sun Bowl for the first time. Although, it was not very sunny for the team's afternoon practice at the stadium. A light rain and brisk wind accompanied the team during the workout, but was a good simulation of the expected weather for Friday's kickoff.
 

Started on The Farm, now we're here. #GoStanford

A photo posted by Stanford Football (@stanfordfball) on Dec 29, 2016 at 1:23pm PST

 Following practice, the team returned back to the hotel for dinner, the team highlight, team movie (Book of Eli) and some family time before bed check. Former Stanford men's golfer Notah Begay served as the honorary captain and spoke to the team as well. The three-time All-America selection was a teammate of Tiger Woods and a member of the 1994 national championship team.

Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. PT and the game can be seen on CBS.
 

 

Wednesday, Dec. 28
 
Here's a glance at Stanford's schedule for the day:
 
6:15 a.m MT – Wake-up call
7-8 a.m. – Group weight lifting at Eastwood High School
8-8:30 a.m. – Coordinator's press conference
8-9:30 a.m. – Team breakfast
8:35 a.m. – Staff meetings
8:30 - 9:30 a.m. – Children's hospital visit
9:45 - 10:30 a.m. – Special teams meeting
10:35 a.m. - 12:05 p.m. – Offensive and defensive meetings
12:05-1:45 p.m. – Lunch and meetings with CBS television talent
2:30-3:30 p.m. – Practice
4-4:45 p.m. – Lucchese boot factory visit
6-9 p.m. – Supper at Cattleman's Steakhouse
  
Several Cardinal visited area youth at Providence Children's Hospital, with Greg Taboada conversing in Spanish with a handful of patients.
 
"It was such an amazing experience," said Harrison Phillips. "Spending time with those children is something we'll never forget."
 
 

Expectations were high for the scheduled supper at Cattleman's Steakhouse, and justifiably so for the restaurant tabbed "Manliest Steakhouse in America" by Men's Health and "Best Steak in the Country" by People.

The meal did not disappoint.
 
This cowboy-style chophouse in the Texas desert served up some big steaks. Very big, big steaks.
 
The average plate was decorated with a 20-ounce slab of meat, coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad, dinner roll and apple pie a la mode.
 
Their vegetarian option? Chicken.
 
Cattleman's is situated on the authentic and spellbinding Indian Cliffs Ranch, which provided a true feel for the Old West -- ever-changing scenery and contrasting terrain of buttes and arroyos, bluffs and never-ending cacti looked reminiscence of a John Ford movie set.
 
The travel party made its way outside after the meal for a viewing of a fireworks show under the star-filled sky.
 

 


Ask any Lone Star State resident to name the Cadillac of boot brands and you'd most likely hear, "Lucchese."
 
There are now a number of said Cadillac kickers on the feet of the Cardinal, as hundreds of pairs left the factory store during an afternoon shopping spree. The ostrich variety seemed to be the style of choice for many, followed closely by snakeskin and classic leather.
 
The company originated in the late 1800's and has been associated with the Sun Bowl for the past several years. The Lucchese brand became as mainstream as the feet sliding into them, with names such as John Wayne, Bing Crosby, James Garner, Johnny Cash, and Zsa Zsa Gabor sporting custom boots.
 
President Lyndon B. Johnson was often photographed in his Lucchese.
 
The popularity and supreme fit of the iconic western Lucchese brand lives on today, thanks to the likes of Kate Moss, Willie Nelson, Jamie Foxx, Dwight Yoakam, Taylor Swift and Julia Roberts.
 
The boots certainly brought out the Rhinestone Cowboy in Quenton Meeks, who went with the alligator option.
    


While this is the first time under head coach David Shaw that Stanford will play in a game televised on CBS, Stanford fans should recognize the voice of play-by-play talent Brad Nessler. Nessler was in the booth for ESPN's broadcast of the 2015 Pac-12 Championship Game.
 
Nessler returns to CBS after 24 years at ESPN and replaces legendary Verne Lundquist, who stepped down from his lead college football role with the network. Lundquist celebrated his 53rd year in television in 2016 and will continue calling regular-season college basketball, the NCAA Tournament and golf, including the Masters and the PGA Championship.
 
Joining Nessler for the Sun Bowl broadcast will be lead analyst Gary Danielson and reporter Allie LaForce.
 
Tuesday, Dec. 27
 
A few bilingual Cardinal gave interviews in Spanish, many became marksmen at Fort Bliss, and all are now firm believers in hypnotism.

An eventful day in El Paso - which ended with some unforgettable experiences with the local troops -- began like many others for the Cardinal. There was an early wake-up call, a team workout, meetings and practice.

 

 
Tuesday's practice was open to the public and the media. Among the post-practice interviews, junior wideout J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and senior tight end Greg Taboada, who each have strong roots in Spain, utilized their bilingual abilities with the Spanish media. Also popular with the local media was freshman Henry Hattis. The offensive lineman has not played in his rookie campaign, but is a fairly local product from Rio Rancho, New Mexico, which is just a few hours drive to the Sun Bowl. 
  
Fort Bliss was up next. In a players-only event, the Cardinal met with the troops at the second-largest Army military installation in the United States. The team participated in individual tank simulations, six-man military mission simulations and had photo opportunities with two actual tanks. Players' snap stories were filled with teammates climbing in and on the tanks as military officers answered a plethora of questions from the curious Cardinal. To the dismay of many players, they were informed that the tanks were not part of their bowl gifts. 
 

 

Also at Fort Bliss, the team was taken to the marksmanship center and was taught how to shoot military-grade rifles in a simulation. Ten players at a time fired on enemy combatants in various environments while the simulation tracked their accuracy. In one round, senior safety Dallas Lloyd and his wife, Libby, were the top two marksmen in the group.  
 A memorable day was capped with an event that a select few will never remember. Both Stanford and North Carolina players and staff gathered for dinner and a hypnotist. Treyvion Foster, Jack Dreyer, Noor Davis and Bobby Okereke volunteered to represent the Cardinal for the hypnosis alongside four Tar Heels and four military members. All four were an entertaining part of the show, but if there were any non-believers, they were most likely swayed by Frank Buncom and Paxton Segina, who were both heavily hypnotized and pulled from the audience. They were told to forget the number 4, to count with letters, and to walk as if their feet were three-times the size, among a few other guidelines. They complied. None of the participants remember the hypnosis, but their teammates took plenty of pictures and video.   

Prior to the hypnotist, the two teams ate dinner with select troops. A few members of Fort Bliss were at each table with players and staff. Most of those that attended were selected because of their close ties to each university -- as natives of California or North Carolina and/or as fans of the teams. Many of the troops the team met will be at the game on Friday. In addition to the 2,000 tickets the Stanford fans purchased for the soldiers of Fort Bliss, the Sun Bowl allocated another 4,000 tickets to the troops.
 

 


Monday, Dec. 26
 
Greetings from El Paso, where Stanford's travel party received a spirited welcome under sunny skies this afternoon soon after the team charter plane touched down at El Paso International Airport.

 
Most of Stanford's student-athletes met on campus Monday morning to travel to El Paso from The Farm. Several more arrived earlier in El Paso after spending a portion of the holiday break at home across the country.
  
Stanford fans have purchased nearly 2,000 tickets for local troops, with the majority going to soldiers and families stationed at nearby Fort Bliss.
 
"The gesture of the Stanford Cardinal supporters of donating Hyundai Sun Bowl tickets to the soldiers at Fort Bliss is a great Christmas gift to the troops that will not be able to go home for the holidays," said Bernie Olivas, executive director of the Sun Bowl. "Many of these soldiers are preparing to be deployed oversees and the ability to go the game will put smiles on the faces of all the men and women of the United States Army. The Sun Bowl Association would like to thank Stanford as well, as Fort Bliss is a major part of the El Paso community."
 
Added Maj. Gen. Pat White, Commanding General, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss, "We appreciate the overwhelming support that the visiting Sun Bowl teams have shown to our soldiers. The team from America's Tank Division and Fort Bliss is excited for the game and look forward to a great matchup."
  
The squad arrived at the team hotel before 2 p.m. MT and went straight to lunch in the facility's atrium. Team meetings provided a mental refresher, and then it was off to a local high school for practice. It's Monday on the calendar, but Tuesday in terms of game week preparations.
  
Players were treated to a Mexican fiesta for supper and got to browse through the Sun Bowl gift suite, of which they chose from a variety of items ranging from headphones to televisions to Adirondack chairs to almost anything in between.
  
Before the team graces the turf of the Sun Bowl, where Stanford and North Carolina will play the stadium's eponymous annual postseason game, the Cardinal took care of its work off the field. The fall quarter wrapped up before the holiday break, as Dec. 16 was the last day of final examinations.
 
Here's a snapshot of some of the Cardinal student-athletes' academic endeavors:
 
Kevin Palma, an architectural design major, currently is in the process of applying to graduate school.
 
Sean Barton is planning to double major in international relations and French. He took a class during the fall quarter on famous French writer and philosopher Albert Camus.
 
Isaiah Brandt-Sims is a computer science major with the human-computer interaction track. Human-computer interaction is a multidisciplinary track that studies how people interact with computational devices from the largest computing machines to handheld devices to tiny, ubiquitous computers. The human-computer interaction group teaches user-centered design thinking with a focus on ubiquitous computing, novel interaction techniques, tools for enhancing designers' creativity, and rapid prototyping. These skills are applicable to areas such as collaborative work, information visualization, and tangible computing.
 
Biomechanical engineering major David Bright completed an internship this past summer with Stanford's on-campus mechanical bird flight lab.
 
Noor Davis, who earned his undergraduate degree in political science, went on to earn his graduate degree in communication and media studies. Completing both typically takes five years, but Davis accomplished the feat in four years and one quarter.
 
Eric Cotton is earning his degree in civil engineering (structures and construction). During finals week, he was working on a support structure design for an area warehouse.
 
During the fall quarter, economics major Lucas Hinds investigated the impact of Airbnb on the Bay Area market.
  
Ryan Gaertner and Pat McFadden and Calvin Chandler will be studying abroad in Madrid next quarter through Stanford's Bing Overseas Studies Program.
 
Dylan Jackson has declared his major in political science. His advisor is Dr. Condoleezza Rice.
 
Mustafa Branch took three computer science courses this past fall. Simply put, he is a coding machine.
 
Peter Kalambayi is majoring in communication, but the standout linebacker also is minoring in French.
 
Harrison Phillips is earning two degrees -- one in sociology, and another in science, technology and society. On top of that, he is minoring in education. In his third year at Stanford, Phillips is at senior status in terms of academic units completed.