This past summer, a bathroom and shower that cost a rumored $50,000 to $70,000 to construct went into service at Stanford. It was built specifically and exclusively for Cardinal head coach Jim Harbaugh.
And that has Jon Wilner of the San Jose Mercury News, and people associated with the athletic program, up in arms.
While the construction of the facilities did not cost the university a single dime -- the money was donated by super-booster John Arrillaga -- it does come at a time when the athletic department, as the Mercury News puts it...
Harbaugh requested the construction of the bathroom. Said it reduces “drag”, although I don’t really want to know what that means given what goes on in the facility in question.
The coach was “forced” to walk 20 steps to the nearest bathroom before his own private poopdom was built. He also had to take a two-story trek down if he wanted to shower up -- presumably a journey that was uphill both ways, and in a driving blizzard to boot.
Now? He has all of those amenities at his disposal, without any of those pesky annoyances such as walking more than a few feet to get in the way of building on his 9-15 Cardinal football juggernaut.
Hell, those amenities aren’t even something Pete Carroll can lay claim to.
“Pete uses the same men’s room as everyone else,” a Southern Cal spokesman told the paper.
The reality is, this has little to do with anything as, again, it didn’t take a single penny out of the university’s athletic budget.
The perception, however, is something Stanford could do without.