STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Dick Gould has been around Stanford sports long enough as a tennis player and coach — a remarkable run of seven decades — that he clearly remembers some down years for the university's sports programs.
He heard the excuses by coaches and student-athletes back in the day of “we just can't win at Stanford, you can't be smart and be an athlete.”
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FILE - Director and Chair of Athletics John Donahoe speaks at a news conference in Stanford, Calif., Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Maggie Steffens speaks to reporters during a news conference ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 24, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - Stanford head coach Kate Paye reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against California in Berkeley, Calif., Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer reacts during the first half of the team's second-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament against Iowa State in Stanford, Calif., March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
That's what makes the current streak of success on the national stage extra special for the retired, longtime tennis coach — Stanford just captured an NCAA championship for a 50th consecutive year.
“I think it's important to not take it for granted. I think that you get used to it, sometimes comfortable about it and I don't think we ever should do that,” Gould said. “I know when I was at Stanford we went 0-10 in football in 1960, my last year playing on the tennis team.
"There was a pervasive fuel among the coaches and the athletes and everybody. Men's golf won a championship in 1953 and men's swimming did in the winter of ‘67 the year I started (as tennis coach). They hadn’t done anything since the early 40s, I think we won a basketball championship in ('42) or something like that during the war, so our successes were really small and in between.”
During this current academic year, Stanford's women's cross country and soccer teams had already come up just short before the men's gymnastics team won Saturday night in Champaign, Illinois, and extended the remarkable run to a half-century.
The reign of dominance by Cardinal athletics began with a 13-12 men's water polo triumph over UCLA in 1976 and has featured 126 national titles.
And no other university currently even comes close: North Carolina is next with seven.
Southern California went 19 straight years with an NCAA championship, from the 1959-60 school year through 1977-78.
“Stanford has had incredible success. We have outstanding coaches and student-athletes,” said retired Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer said, whose teams captured three titles. ”It is really inspiring to be around such accomplished people.”
Stanford has won 126 of its record 138 overall NCAA team titles in the current 50-year streak.
Women’s tennis at Stanford ranks No. 1 at the school with 20 NCAA team titles — six in a row from 1986-91 — while men’s tennis has earned 15, men’s water polo and women’s swimming and diving have 11 each, and women’s water polo and men’s gymnastics have 10 apiece.
Gould coached the Cardinal, including players like John McEnroe and Roscoe Tanner, for 38 years from 1966-2004 and is the program’s winningest coach with a record of 776-148 (.840). His wife, Anne, coached the first women’s team to a national title in any sport at Stanford when she guided tennis to the 1978 championship.
“What we did in tennis coupled with football just kind of opened the floodgates,” Gould said.
Women’s basketball coach Kate Paye credited the leadership of Stanford President Jonathan Levin, new athletic director John Donahoe and others for leading the way with “a renewed commitment” to excellence in the classroom and athletic venues.
“We have a singular identity as the No. 1 academic and athletic institution in the country and in the world,” said Paye, born in Stanford Hospital and part of that 1992 NCAA championship team. “We call it one team, Stanford is one team. We're 36 strong. Stanford is a really special place, incredible student-athletes. ... Stanford athletics has so much momentum right now.”
AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports
FILE - Director and Chair of Athletics John Donahoe speaks at a news conference in Stanford, Calif., Dec. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Maggie Steffens speaks to reporters during a news conference ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 24, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, File)
FILE - Stanford head coach Kate Paye reacts during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against California in Berkeley, Calif., Dec. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer reacts during the first half of the team's second-round college basketball game in the women's NCAA Tournament against Iowa State in Stanford, Calif., March 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
VIENNA (AP) — The Eurovision Song Contest reached its sequin-drenched final on Saturday, with tight security and rainy weather failing to dent the enthusiasm of fans, or the opposition of critics who think Israel shouldn’t be invited to the party.
After a week’s buildup, acts from 25 countries took to the stage at the Wiener Stadthalle arena in Vienna to battle for the continent’s pop crown. Millions of viewers around the world will cast judgment on a fiery Finnish violinist, a Moldovan folk rapper, a Serbian metal band and many more at Eurovision’s 70th anniversary event.
The campy, colorful contest has been likened to the World Cup with songs instead of soccer. And like global sports, it often becomes entangled in politics. The contest has been clouded for a third year by calls for Israel to be excluded over its conflicts in Gaza and elsewhere, with five longtime participants — Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia — boycotting in protest.
The show opened with a performance by last year’s winner, the operatically trained Austrian singer JJ, and an Olympics-style flag parade of the 25 finalists. Then it was on to performances by the musicians, who had just 3 minutes to win over millions of viewers who, along with national juries of music professionals, pick the winner.
First up was Denmark’s Søren Torpegaard Lund, among the contest favorites for the sultry “Før Vi Går Hjem” (“Before We Go Home”), followed by Germany’s Sarah Engels with the power ballad “Fire,” the first of doubtless several performances to make liberal use of jets of flame.
Israeli competitor Noam Bettan was cheered as he performed “Michelle,” a rock ballad in Hebrew, French and English. Earlier in the week, four people were ejected for trying to disrupt his semifinal performance. Then came “Dancing on the Ice,” a techno-ballad by Belgium's Essyla.
Ukrainian singer Leléka offered the ethereal, beautiful "Ridnym,” and Australian star Delta Goodrem showed what a diva should be like with her slick midtempo ballad “Eclipse” — and a bravura performance that sees her raised into the air above a glittery piano. A European country would likely host for Australia next year if she wins.
Serbian metal band Lavina provided a dramatic change of pace with the angsty “Kraj Mene” — the sort of head-spinning variety that is the joy of Eurovision.
Pleasant ballads like “Bella” by Aidan from Malta alternated with the five-part vocal harmonies of Croatian folk-pop group Lelek, the operatic voice of France's Monroe and British act Look Mum No Computer’s jokey oddity “Eins, Zwei, Drei.”
Newcomers looking to grasp the essence of Eurovision and its interplay of pop and politics should look no further than two of the fan favorites. Rapper Satoshi’s ebullient “Viva, Moldova” is a bouncy, pro-European song from a country moving toward the European Union after decades in Moscow’s orbit. Greek artist Akylas’ song “Ferto,” or “Bring It,” provides a playful take on conspicuous consumption in a country still scarred by the economic wounds of the 2008 financial crisis.
Both are likely to score highly with viewers, though national juries, which tend to be more impressed by technical excellence, may be less impressed. Winners are chosen by a mix of votes from the two, translated into points by a system confusing even to Eurovision fans. The act with the most points wins, and their country gets to host the competition next year.
Finland is the favorite in betting odds with “Liekinheitin,” or “Flamethrower,” a fiery duet between the singing of pop star Pete Parkkonen and the fiddling of classical violinist Linda Lampenius.
But Eurovision often produces surprises.
“Eurovision has never really been a contest for big stars. It’s largely been a contest for underdogs,” said Eurovision historian Dean Vuletic. “People like to see the underdog on stage. They like to the artist-in-the-making on stage or an artist from a smaller, poorer country on stage.”
Viewers around the world can vote for their favorites during and for a short time after the performances, before the results are tallied. Viewers in participating countries can vote up to 10 times but aren’t allowed to vote for their own country’s act. Viewers in the U.S. and other nonparticipating countries can vote online at www.esc.vote.
Street protests opposing Israel’s inclusion over the conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza have been smaller in Vienna than at the 2024 contest in Malmo, Sweden and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland.
Hundreds marched near the contest arena before Saturday's final, some holding placards saying “Block Eurovision.” Pro-Palestinian groups also staged an outdoor concert on Friday under the banner “No stage for genocide.”
“Inviting Israel on such a beautiful stage as the Eurovision Song Contest stage is an affront to all the people who believe in humanity, who believe in love and togetherness,” said Congolese-Austrian artist Patrick Bongola, one of the organizers.
The five-nation boycott is a revenue and viewership blow to an event that organizers say was watched by 166 million people around the world last year.
Still, Eurovision is eyeing expansion, with a spinoff Eurovision Song Contest Asia due to take place in Bangkok in November.
Eurovision director Martin Green urged viewers to put politics aside and enjoy the “brilliant, wonderful, heartfelt show.”
Vuletic says political controversy is nothing new. The first Eurovision boycott was in 1969 — ironically, by Austria, which refused to send a delegation to Spain under dictator Francisco Franco.
“We’ve seen very politicized editions of the contest in the recent past,” Vuletic said. “All of them were very much mired in political controversy, yet Eurovision continues."
Associated Press writers Hilary Fox and Philipp Jenne in Vienna contributed to this report.
Delta Goodrem from Australia performs the song "Eclipse" during the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Noam Bettan from Israel performs the song "Michelle" during the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Delta Goodrem from Australia who will perform the song "Eclipse" walks onstage with her counties flag during the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Noam Bettan from Israel walks onto the stage carrying his countries flag ahead of the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Soren Torpegaard Lund from Denmark performs the song "For Vi Gar Hjem" during the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Demonstrators protest against Israel ahead of the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Spectators wait for the start of the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Delta Goodrem from Australia performs the song "Eclipse" during the dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Satoshi from Moldova performs the song "Viva, Moldova!" during the dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Akylas from Greece performs the song "Ferto" during the dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Linda Lampenius and Pete Parkkonen from Finland perform the song "Liekinheitin" during the first semifinal of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, May 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
Aliona Moon sings "Viva Moldova" during her featured performance with Satoshi from Moldova during the dress rehearsal for the Grand Final of the 70th Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Friday, May 15, 2026. CORRECTS PERFORMERS NAME TO ALIONA MOON FROM SATOSHI. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
