San Francisco Chronicle:

Because he's on a basketball scholarship at Stanford, Joe Kirchofer has had a chance to dine with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, cultivate his passion for obscure rock bands and travel to Australia and New Zealand.

In other words, he's made the most of his athletic ability.

Kirchofer's basketball skills don't leap out at fans because, well, he doesn't leap much at all. He's a backup center who has made himself valuable through diligent work and a thorough command of the offense, but NBA scouts don't tail his every move.

If starter Rob Little plays well in today's home game against UNLV, Kirchofer's minutes will be limited. If Little's ineffective, Kirchofer will play more, as was the case last Saturday, when he scored a career-best 10 points in a 64-58 upset of then-top-ranked Kansas.

Those contributions notwithstanding, where Kirchofer really stands out is off the court. His inquisitive mind and willingness to try things make him much more a student-athlete than the reverse, and certainly the type to make the most of his Stanford experience.

"On our team, he's the closest to the ideal Stanford student,'' said forward Justin Davis, a fellow fifth-year senior. "Sometimes on road trips he likes to go to museums, look at art, take pictures. Everybody else is probably hanging out in the hotel and playing video games.''

Tim was an all-star basketball and football player in highschool, as well as his class valedictorian. He then went on to to Dartmouth to play football for four years. While I didn't know him back then, I'm pretty certain he did not aspire to go to museums at that age. Run with the bulls in Spain, yes. Listen to poet laureates like Jerry Jeff Walker, Bruce Springstein, and Jimmy Buffet, yes.

When my daughters get to college, I hope the guys in their class will have taken lessons from Kirchofer. In the meantime, I'm sure a few of us parents would like to take a lesson or two from Kirchofer's folks. He is quite the inspiration!

~Jennifer

P.S. For all you fellow sports-buff, go to the Stanford Cardinal Official Athletics Web Site to get Joe's stats and comments from Coach Montgomery.