May 9, 2006
You wouldn't know it the next morning, but for about a 30 minutes on Monday evening one of the athletic administration buildings on the Stanford campus was transformed into a newborn nursery.
Thirty or so players, coaches and fans of the Cardinal women's lacrosse team gripped each other's shoulders and arms as they tried to push for the delivery of a bouncing baby...bid.
An NCAA bid, that is.
"This was really like having your first child and not knowing whether it was a boy or a girl," said Stanford coach Michele Uhlfelder after the team found out it received one of the at-large berths in the 2006 tournament. "We're feeling like new parents right now."
The Cardinal players must have skipped the epidural anesthesia considering all the noise they were making during the berth. Several administrators from other floors of the building had to come down to see what the ruckus was all about when Stanford's selection was announced at approximately 5:30 p.m. local time.
The excitement was heightened by the fact that Stanford was one of four teams who had legitimate expectations of being added to the 16-team tourney, yet the Cardinal had no indication they might be the chosen ones. All of the teams -- including Hofstra, Johns Hopkins and William & Mary -- had strong resumes, forcing the committee to get down to serious number crunching to determine the recipient.
Even though there was a chance they could be left out of the mix, Uhlfelder decided before the selection show she would not try to temper any expectations just to avoid possible disappointment. She just let the players soak it all in and enjoy the moment.
"There was a cautious optimism," said Uhlfelder. "Our kids were optimistic and nervously excited. As a coaching staff we tried to be prepared both ways.
"Our team has accomplished most of its goals for the season and that's where we were focused. They were happy with their performance this year."
The performance will go down in history as the Cardinal becomes the first West Coast team to crack the NCAA tournament barrier. It is an honor the team is aware of, but the program is more excited about helping their conference, and the sport, grow.
"We were well-wished by all of our conference teams," said Uhlfelder about her fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation competitors. "They said, `We hope you can represent us.' This means a lot to the history of the game, but our conference is excited to have a representative and to know that it can be done."
The NCAA tournament bid is also a "Welcome to the Club" right of passage at Stanford. During her initial interview at Stanford, Uhlfelder was told that every sport is expected to compete for a national championship and to help the school reach its goal of winning the Director's Cup trophy, given each year to the most successful athletic department in each division.
"There's an internal competition to see who can get the most cup points," said Uhlfelder, who has been the coach since the program's inception six years ago. "Everyone wants to do their part."
While there were smiles all around after the announcement, there was the understanding this would be no easy childhood. Stanford was paired off with defending national champion Northwestern in the first round after the Wildcats were stunningly seeded as the fourth team in the field.
"Reality kind of sets in. Just like new parents after the diapers start to pile up," laughed Uhlfelder.
Some might call drawing Northwestern in the first round an ugly berth. But it's Stanford's berth, and they couldn't be happier.
