Why do I need to speak about them when we all know you inevitably will?

There’s no reason to mention those games. Nate threw to the correct spot on the field every time and our silly receivers failed to run their routes properly. Riley’s ability to adjust for variations in the system is admirable, but Tedford wants a perfect cog at quarterback, even if our receivers are imperfect cogs.

Seriously though, let’s just wait for Arizona. Nate can silence the haters by winning against a solid defense on the road. Proud Rilerians like myself expect a poor performance from Nate which will inevitably bring about a Riley led comeback. This comeback will both reaffirm his status as golden boy and rehabilitate my infallible wisdom.

Nice article, by the way.

I personally don’t know how CougCenter has persevered without your comments CaliSeth.

This was not the collective effort of the blog. Only one person on this blog wrote that article. I’ll let that one person reveal themselves if they want to.

My money is on Olsonist.

A great year to be a fan. I started watching football in 2000 and college football in 2006. I’m the first one in my family to go to college in the US.

Yet I probably act like a bunch of Holmoe-itis because I have a talent for loving teams that love to disappoint even though on paper they should win all the games.

I did not become a Cal fan until I came to Cal, in 2003.

To be honest, I will never “expect” a Rose Bowl. But if Tedford stays ad infinitum, the SAHPC gets built and stadium upgraded, I do not see how statistically we won’t be at least in the running every year. And being in the running every year means that one year, we just might get lucky enough to get there.

Cal fan since 2004. But I was a Bills fan before that (1993?), and they’re essentially a more devastating brand of disappointment. I’ll take my 8-4 seasons and run with them.

hey nick…mebbe make a fanpost tomorrow? I fear this will get lost in the muddle of new posts, and I think it would be great to hear when the um…blogbase? became bear fans….

I’m an avid reader, but I don’t post much.

I’m class of ‘95 and a third generation Cal grad. I have a good friend (’97) who also comes from a Cal family. At the games, I sit next to a couple that’s been attending since the ’80’s. We all find it very interesting to see what Tedford era fans consider a “successful” season. I grew up thinking that winning Big Game was a winning record, even if that was the only win. On balance, I think us Sad Old Blues are so used to being disappointed, that we take the good for what it is. I’ve sat through a lot, culminating in the 1-10 season, and honestly, I’ve loved every minute of it ‘cause I love my Bears. (Except for that Mack Brown stunt. That was truly the most frustrating moment of my fandom.) Sometimes I wonder if people know what a blessing Tedford has been. There was a time when you could walk into the stadium and pretty much sit wherever you wanted. Even if we don’t make it to the Rose Bowl with Tedford, he has set up a program that CAN get there, which is more than we’ve had for so long.

I think us SOB’s take the long view. My family has never seen a win in the Rose Bowl. It’s one thing to hear your Father talk about it, but it’s another to hear it from your Grandfather. With a history like that, the long view is the only view to take. And, it’s why I think we would all much rather see a Rose Bowl win than a National Championship. Is that so bad? Is that so horrible?

But we agree with it.

Please, destroy away. TOOT TOOT PAIN TRAIN COMING THROUGH

Seth, unlike you, I have a job. So, all these posts you made demanding I show up at like 2 in the morning, I was fast asleep by then. I was not avoiding you.

I cannot wait to destroy the entire premise of the argument. In order to do that properly, I need to know who wrote it.

Really? Seth, I should think your ability to destroy an argument would have little to nothing to do with the author of said argument. Otherwise, you’re simply attacking the author, and not their argument at all. Base politicians sink to this level; I know you can rise above that.

One of the reasons I like writing under an internet nom de plume is that the reader isn’t distracted by any personal baggage that I have as a person; in essence, my words — indeed, my entire argument — succeed or fail entirely on their merit. Don’t like me? Doesn’t matter. Think I’m unfairly biased? Such bias will come through in my writing, or it won’t.

Attack the argument, not the author, Seth. I know you can do it. I believe in you.

’97? “old timer” no way. You at least need to have suffered through the promise of Bruce Snyder followed by the horror of Gilbertson.

. Every year since he’s been here we’ve been in contention for a bowl, and considering that prior to him we only went to something like 3-4 bowl games over the span of 20 plus years, that’s an impressive acomplishment. I think most of the people who go out on a limb and aren’t happy with our team and feel like we are cursed etc etc… are a bye product of Tedford’s success since 2002.

You are correct. I started Cal in 2001 (1-10, but you all knew that) and was coming from the great fair-weather town of San Diego, so I was perfectly happy to acknowledge that football ’wasn’t our thing’. We were at the number 1 public university and it was okay to be bad at something. I had no hope, and that was okay! But then Tedford came, the religion started, and I started to believe. And now, once a year something terrible happens that makes me say “Why the HELL is my whole life wrapped up in college football?!?” and I start to emotionally back off. So it’s rather emotionally crushing and probably not healthy, since I have no control over the events on the field.

None the less, I buy season tickets, and at least 1 new Cal shirt every year, and go down to the LA game, and spend a lot of money on away game trips…. etc, etc. Hope is dangerous, but Glory is addictive.