Riley Time?

I was surprised to find a headline on ESPN.com that Cal won the final football game. My initial thought: they're still playing? To me, the season was over after the Big Game fiasco.

Anyway, after reading the recap, it seems like the kid who screwed up the season (frosh QB Kevin Riley) redeemed himself today after taking over for Longshore and leading the Bears back from a 21-0 deficit. So the big question that I'm wondering now is: who's the starting QB next year - Riley or Longshore?

Regardless, you know that somewhere in the world, Ayoob must be cursing himself once again.

An Obituary to Cal Football 2007

Yesterday, I took a day trip to NYC to do the preppy thing and check out the Yale Club. After the wine-and-dine, I went over to the Lower East Side and hung out with Roberto and Christina at the Cal bar to watch The Big Game. While it was great to reunite with some old friends, I was frustrated and saddened to see all of the Tedford magic that I have gotten used to over the years gone from the team. It was a clear sign that their hearts weren't in the game when our No. 1 receiver, DeSean Jackson, was on the sidelines just watching. Come on. It's the big freakin' game! All hands on deck, injury or no injury!!

As the game went on, I couldn't help but find parallels between being a Cal fan and being a Red Sox fan, pre 2004. In both cases, they give you so much hope only to have them bust you down with disappointment. This season and yesterday's game exemplified this. After playing like crap for the first three quarters and racking up so many penalities, the Bears came storming back with some great plays. And then they had not one, but TWO opportunities to score, but the dude kept dropping the ball. This caused several heart attacks at the bar. And of course, during the third attempt to score, we got intercepted and we saw the Longshore face.

To take a quote from the upcoming movie, "The Consultant," this team played with their heads and not with their hearts. For The Big Game, they lacked the passion and drive to win it especially when they were in control of their own destiny. But more seriously. How can you lose to a team that lost to Notre Dame last week?

The 2007 season started out with a bang, but ended with a whimper. And while I do blame the entire team and Tedford for the failure (and I hate doing the latter, but it's ultimately the coach's responsibility), there is one person I am glad to see leaving. Screw you Schenider! If you hadn't gotten injured during practice, who knows what could've happened?

The Right Position

Saturday was a horrible sports night for me.

The night seemed to have promise. I was at Mohegan Sun with my parents, won some pocket change from Deal or No Deal, saw that LSU had lost their game, and witched the first three innings when the Sox staked a lead and got to the Indians' pitcher. That's when I decided to start the ride back home so I can catch the end.

The long road leading from Mohegan Sun to New Haven gets bad sports radio reception. I was able to tune in and out of the Sox game, but I really couldn't understand what was going on, so I popped in my iPod and listened to my random music for the rest of the trip. I got home, turned on the tv, and suddenly, the score has gone up, Schilling was out of the game, and there were Indians runners on base. WTF!

I quickly flipped over to the Cal game and saw that we were losing with two minutes remaining. On top of that, Longshore wasn't in. WTF SQUARED! After calling Rohit to get the lowdown on Longshore (he had a sprained ankle), I watched as Cal charged down the field, get in field goal position, and.... COMPLETELY MESS UP in a horrible, horrible ending. In the company of my floormates, I was livid and went nuts. I called Rohit, who was on the verge of crying (personal note: despite what he wrote on his blog, he totally cried. You all know it), spewing rage and threats of violence, then called Jason and continued on this rampage. It was horrible and after a bit of grievance, I moved back to my Sox.

The game lasted forever even by my standards. It didn't end with a bang, but with a whimper in the form of Eric Gagne. Horrible. After giving up 6 runs in the 11th ending, I couldn't stand it anymore and shut my tv off.

Bill Simmons said it best about how it sucks being a sports fan to a specific team because probability wise, they can't win all the time and will break your heart. I sure realized how true his words were last Saturday.

By Any Means Necessary

One of the benefits of having a tv in my dorm room is that my neighbors often drop by, grab a seat, and watch some tv when my door's open. Tonight, as I was doing my accounting problem set, two of my neighbors came by and watched the USC/Stanfurd football game. Since I didn't care at all about their respective teams and I was zoned into the joys of cash flow, I didn't pay one bit of attention for most of the game.... until there were about 2 minutes left and Stanfurd was charging down the field. Down by 6 points, the team needed a touchdown to win the game and they were getting closer and closer to scoring.

I was facing an ethical situation. Obviously as a Cal fan, I have developed a strong distaste for the Stanfurd football team. On the other hand, if USC lost, Cal could move up in the rankings (they are #3 now. #3!!!). So who should I be rooting for? Could I really take that leap and root for the evil empire?

And with a snap judgement, and shockingly so, I was rooting for the Cardinals for the first time in my life. I wanted them to win. Call me Johnny Damon or Benedict Arnold, but it was all for the greater good. If a Stanford victory could get Cal one step closer to the Rose Bowl, I had to go for it and take that chance. Damnit, it was Jack Bauer esque. You know how it is. By any means necessary.

So, with 2 minutes left, I started cheering the Cardinals when they got a 1st down. When they converted on 4th down to bring up 1st and Goal. And finally, when they scored a touchdown on 4th and Goal. I even high-fived my Stanfurd neighbor and watched as my USC neighbor almost cried. As the time expired, I even gave the team one of my highest honours: the slow clap.

Yes, it was shocking. I couldn't believe it and I still can't believe it now, about an hour after the game. Was it worth it? I think so. I hope so. Come January, if I am reporting from Pasadena, then it was totally worth it. Who knows what will happen between now and then?

One thing is for sure though. I'll never see the world in the same way again.

You Just Never Know

Last Friday, there was a grad student mixer at one of the grad student dorms. I went with my public health posse and within minutes, lost track of them as I made a beeline to the beer line. The line was a little bit longer, but free beer is free beer. A woman followed directly behind me and made a comment, "Is this the beer line?" I confirmed her suspicion and then introduced myself. One thing led to another and I found out that we both went to Cal. She introduced me to another new friend of hers who also went to Cal and all three of us spent like an hour talking about Berkeley and more importantly, the state of Cal football. The next day, huddled around a laptop in a boiling hot (and tiny) dorm room, we watched the second game of the season against Colorado State.

Despite being a few thousand miles away, it's just funny how this east coast-west coast connection is and how you meet people from your own university like that.

And onto serious business...

For 80% of the game, I was impressed with how Cal played on Saturday. The only thing I am still concerned about is the defense, which during one scary moment in the fourth quarter, almost gave up the game. Tedford better look into fixing this because there were easily 14 points that Colorado scored that were gifts by the Cal secondary.

At least we still moved up two slots in the rankings!

#10 Ranking - A Start

After the great performance last Saturday, Cal jumped a few spots in the rankings and is now #10. It's definitely a well deserved jump, and I'm glad the Bears made a statement on National TV. The game was not perfect though. While I thought the offense looked great, I am a bit concerned with our defense giving up so many points and allowing Tennessee to stay in the game until maybe around the fourth quarter. Regardless, I think it's a great start for the fighting Tedfords and I'm looking forward to next week's game against Colorado State