Pre Game

First Half

CBKWit and HydroTech share post-game thoughts.  Our Examiner article.

Look, I often try to hold my tongue on smack-talking.  It might not seem like it, but many of the snarky, jerk-store-esque things that pop into my mind never make it here for fear of "angering people" (which says something about the craziness that is my mind).

But I will lay the gauntlet down here.  I will make it plain and clear.  The Cal band absolutely dominated, destroyed, mutilated, mauled, decimated, slaughtered, cross-bowed, Maharged, and, to a lesser extent, gang-uh-tackled the UCLA band on Saturday.  It wasn't even close.   Were the bands to be compared like football teams on the field of play, Cumberland Gap wouldn't feel so bad all of a sudden.  Were they to still be alive. 

UCLA's band did what it always did.  Stand there.  Play something.  Then, walk around a bit.  People threw flags in the air.  You heard some drums.  It was pleasant.  At points, you might be able to determine what song was being played.  It might have been that fight song they stole from us.  Nobody could quite tell.  

Then, the Cal band came out onto the field.  Yes, they had a little trouble guiding their lines at a few points.  But otherwise, they showcased the creativity and ingenuity that they always do.  This show might not become the viral internet sensation that the Video Game Show was last year.  But coming on the heels of the UCLA band's "performance," it laid the smackdown.

Inside the fold, let's look at some photos of the second half, including TrisWeb's.  But first, let's play Name That Tune!

Like this one (BTW the embedded video kwality is a lot worse than if you go to youtube itself and change over to the "high kwality" setting):

They did the Broadcast Sports Show.  Which is a great idea, because all those little ditties that they play before Curt Menefee starts the halftime show are always stuck in our head.  And they tend to have a lot of lower instruments and percusion (i.e. the only instruments you can actually hear).  And they are short, so you can really hit the hook without a bunch of other middling stuff. 

Tune #2:

Tune #3:

Tune #4.  Sorry for the jostling at the start.  I panned to the video screen to show that they had created two helmets moving back and forth on the field:

Tune #5:

On that last one, they did a basketball court on the field.  To wit:

Tune #6.  This one is BY FAR my favorite of the show and one of my favorite band things of all time.  The people who came up with this idea should get Oscars AND Tenn Choice Awards:

One final coda:

Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, stick that in your fife and smoke it, UCLA band.  And name that tune!

I kind of did this out of order, because the card stunts took place during the UCLA bands performance.  But I always love watching the post-card stunt flying cardboard attack. 

Watch your heads!  And also, your necks.

This guy had a LOT of gall.  Most people have small modicums of gall.  But man, this guy.  So much gall:

Then again, a man who has lots of gall will be less likely to hurt Stampy The Elephant.

You know I often take mediocre photos of the Cal football games.  These aren't those sort of football photos.  These are LESS than mediocre.  Luckily, TrisWeb has some at the end.

Here is Cal ALMOST getting a safety:

And here we are AGAIN almost getting a safety:

At least on this one, I managed to get 50%+ of the action:

What great framing I can manage!  Somebody give me a job as a photographer!

That was the drive that CBKWit wrote about in his thoughts, where we stuffed them, got the ball at the 40 and proceeded to drive backwards on the field towards our own endzone.  Go Bears?

Each game they have a Cal fan tell their story on the big board.  This guy was like 93 years old and hadnt missed a game since 1934:

He even stayed at the game when his house burned down in 1991.  Now, *that's* a real fan!  People cheered his heart-warming tale of negligence towards private and real property.  Go Bears!

Some more game action:

The framing on this one came out a bit poorly, too:

Jahvid barrels forward:

It was pretty taut there for the first three quarters, but then out of nowhere, bam, flea flicker and it ALL changed!

And then with the interception return, we saw a different kind of celebration:

Some more poorly framed action shots:

This woman several rows behind me had these sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet shoes:

And now some photos from TrisWeb:

Nice shades on 54 there!

FLEA FLICKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It..............was hot.  I LOVED IT!

The final receipt:

What a game!  It had the delightful feeling of a blowout without the boring 2 or so quarters.  The game was taut until things relaxed near the end.  So, you go away feeling happy and you got your moneys worth.  And the band, THE BAND!  Go Bears!