I prefer Jodi Ann Paterson, another Oregon State Playmate of the Year, Y2K.

I’m offended!

HydroTech doing all he can to undercut my attempts to bring class and dignity to this pee-pee soaked heck-hole.

Cal to take on Pacific:

After defeating Seattle Pacific, 91-70, in an exhibition game Nov. 6, California officially tips off the 2008-09 season when the Golden Bears host Pacific at 5:00 p.m. Saturday in Haas Pavilion.

With new head coach Mike Montgomery at the helm, Cal returns two starters, junior guards Patrick Christopher and Jerome Randle, from a team that posted a 17-16 overall record in 2007-08, reaching the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.

Last season, Christopher raised his scoring average 10.0 ppg from his freshman year in 2006-07 – the largest increase of any player in the Pac-10 – and he enters his junior campaign as the fourth-leading returning scorer in the league. Randle also has shown the ability to score, having earned MVP honors at the 2007 Golden Bear Classic after tossing in a career-best 26 points vs. North Dakota State.

Womens bball to take on my mothers alma mater, Albany:

BERKELEY – The California Golden Bears, coming off a pair of decisive victories in their exhibition games over Chico State (95-51) and Vanguard (87-37), open the season at Haas Pavilion on Friday Nov. 14, with a special 1 p.m. tip-off against Albany. The Bears are looking for their sixth-straight season-opening victory and also bring a 29-game home non-conference win streak to the Newell court. The Bears close out the weekend with a game Sunday afternoon, Nov. 16, against Nevada at 2pm at Haas Pavilion.

Cal enters the season as the No. 9 ranked team in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ ESPN Coaches’ polls. The Bears have also been ranked No. 2 by Athlon Sports Magazine and No. 8 by Lindy’s.

The Bears hope to build on the momentum of last year’s record-setting season. Cal posted a 27-7 overall record to break the 1983-84 school record for victories (24-8). On the heels of a 23-9 mark in 2006-07, Cal posted at least 20 wins in a season for consecutive years for only the second time in program history (first time was 1980-81 and 1981-82). The Bears were ranked as high as No. 8 in both the AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ polls last season, a record-high ranking for the team. Cal earned its third straight NCAA Tournament berth for the first time in program history and recorded the Bears’ first NCAA win and second overall since the 1992-93 campaign.

Womens soccer to take on Florida in NCAA Tourney:

BERKELEY – The California women’s soccer team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, it was announced Monday evening. The Golden Bears (10-8-1 overall, 3-5-1 Pac-10) will take on No. 7 Florida (17-3-1, 11-0 SEC) in the first round of the tournament on Friday at 4 p.m. EST at the Gators’ James G. Pressly Stadium. The selection is Cal’s 16th playoff bid, the 10th in the last 11 years and the fifth straight.

“As a team, we’re obviously hopeful,” Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. “We played a tough schedule, and the last several games were not so easy for us. It’s good to renew the spirit.”

The Bears finished the regular-season at a 10-8-1 clip and went 3-5-1 in the competitive Pac-10 to finish sixth in the competitive conference. Sophomore forward Alex Morgan leads Cal with nine goals and redshirt sophomore Lisa Kevorkian is second with six scores. Sophomore defender/midfielder Megan Jesolva is tops on the team with eight assists. Junior goalkeeper Gina Pellegrini has spent the majority of time in goal for the Bears and owns a 1.34 goals allowed average.

Swimming takes on Stanford:

This Week
Eleventh-ranked California (2-0, 1-0 Pac-10 1-0) next competes against third-ranked Stanford (2-0, 1-0 Pac-10) in the Cardinal’s Triple-Distance Meet at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at the Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford, Calif.

Wednesday’s meet will not count towards either team’s dual-meet record, but it will feature some of the very best collegiate swimmers in the nation competing in a non-standard event schedule. The official Pac-10 dual meet between the two rivals is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Nov. 21 at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley.

In the Triple-Distance Meet, athletes divide into specialty groups that compete with one another in three races to determine a specialty champion in each of swimming’s six event domains: sprinters (50, 100, 200 free), distance swimmers (200, 500, 1000 free), butterflyers (50, 100, 200 butterfly), breaststrokers (50, 100, 200 breaststroke), backstrokers (50, 100, 200 backstroke) and individual medlyists (100, 200, 400 IM).

Divers will compete in one-meter and three-meter events and the winner will be decided by the highest score total of two designated divers from each team.

Individual champions will be recognized in each domain as the athlete with the fastest cumulative times from three events.

XC prepares for regional:

This Week
The California cross country team returns to the national scene this week, competing in the NCAA West Regional on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Stanford. The first race will be the women’s 6,000-meter race at 11 a.m. and will be followed by the men’s 10,000-meter race at noon. The Golden Bear men look to capitalize on their success of a second-straight third-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships two weeks ago.
The top two teams in each race qualify automatically for the NCAA Championships, along with the top four individuals not on qualifying teams. In addition, teams around the country are competing for 13 at-large berths, which will be awarded based on a season-long points system developed by the NCAA, with priority toward top regional placers. Historically, the West Region has received several at-large bids.

Minimal time to prepare for Pacific:

Coach Mike Montgomery hardly painted an optimistic picture of Cal’s front-court injury situation as the Bears began the countdown to Saturday’s season opener vs. Pacific.

Montgomery said sophomore forward Harper Kamp’s sore right knee continues to pose a problem, and that sophomore center Taylor Harrison is at least a month away from beginning practice.

"We’ve got big-guy issues," Montgomery said at his Monday press conference. Jordan Wilkes and Jamal Boykin are starting at the center and power forward spots, but there’s no help in the second line at either position.

Kamp, who had arthroscopic surgery in August, played nine first-half minutes in Thursday’s exhibition win over Seattle Pacific, but did not return in the second half. Monty was happy with his play, but reluctant to risk bringing him back in an exhibition game.

Okanes on Bowl possibilities:

BERKELEY — Although Cal’s hopes of snapping a 50-year drought of playing in the Rose Bowl likely were dashed with Saturday’s loss at USC, the Bears still are in a pretty good position to finish off a very good season, one that could have important implications for recruiting and next season.

The Bears have three games remaining, the final two at home against teams they will be favored against. That means Saturday’s game at No. 23 Oregon State could be crucial in determining what the history books ultimately will say about this season.

“I think we can bounce back,” Cal center Alex Mack said. “We’re still a good team. We had so many opportunities (against USC) that we missed. If we would have made those plays, we could have won. Knowing that, we can go into (Saturday) trying to make those plays and really finish out the season right.”

The Bears (6-3, 4-2 Pac-10) can clinch at least a tie for second place by winning their final three games. That would put Cal at 9-3 overall and likely around No. 20 in the national rankings at the end of the regular season. The Pac-10’s second-place team goes to the Holiday Bowl against one of the top teams from the Big 12, which this year also will mean a team ranked high in the polls.

If there is a tie for second place, the Holiday Bowl has the choice of which team to invite to San Diego.

The picture gets a lot murkier if the Bears lose to the Beavers. Cal likely would

finish no higher than third place, and could be tied with as many as two other teams. That would put the Bears either in the Sun Bowl or Emerald Bowl.

OSU article on Cal game:

If another step toward the Rose Bowl is taken this weekend, the Oregon State football team must go through one of its toughest opponents in recent years.

California comes to town to face the No. 23-ranked Beavers at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday in Reser Stadium. That’s a problem since the visiting team in this series has won the last five games dating back to the 24-13 OSU win in 2002 at home.

And when the Bears (6-3,

4-2) have come to Corvallis the last two times, they’ve mauled the Beavers (6-3, 5-1). The scores were 41-13 in 2006 and 47-7 in 2004.

"I wish this game is in Berkeley," coach Mike Riley said as a joke. "But just like all the other stuff, all those kind of things, they are just part of history. It’s the same old thing about who plays the best on Saturday. These are two new teams."

OSU has a QB controversy:

Tough lineup decisions may need to be made this week by Oregon State football coach Mike Riley.

Who starts at quarterback is the first and foremost.

Starter Lyle Moevao has felt better each day after injuring his throwing shoulder on Nov. 1 against Arizona State, but he sat out Saturday’s 34-6 victory over Pacific-10 Conference rival UCLA.

Moevao threw the ball during warmups, but wasn’t a viable backup in the game. It won’t be known how far along he is in his recovery until Tuesday when the No. 23-ranked Beavers practice again, coach Mike Riley said Sunday night.

And even if he can play, will Riley take out the hot-handed Sean Canfield, who has led the Beavers (6-3, 5-1) to victory in the last two games?

"It could be a tough decision," Riley said. "I think it’s how close is it. It will boil down to the time of good preparation Lyle can get before the game. I don’t like putting guys in games unless they have a good week of practice, particularly at that position."

The coach wouldn’t say who he would go with if both were healthy. However, Riley likes his options either way.

Great article on the Daily Show. Great stuff.

Big Game is a lot more fun when it matters to both teams — fun for the players, coaches, fans and media — and regardless of what happens Saturday, the stakes will be high for Cal and Stanford in Berkeley on Nov. 22.

Cal (6-3) will be playing for bowl position, possibly top-tier bowl position, perhaps even Rose Bowl position.

Stanford (5-5) will be playing for a bowl bid, unless the Cardinal beats USC on Saturday, in which case Stanford will be playing for bowl position, as well.

(If Stanford beats ‘SC, then Big Game could have much more significance for Cal if the Bears beat Oregon State.)

The last time both teams were bowl-eligible before Big Game?


According to my bleary-eyed research, it was 1991.

Wilner seems to think the ‘furd have a good chance against $C this year…we’ll see. I think he thinks U$C is overlooking the ‘furd and it comes a week after an emotionally draining victory. He’ll have more on this scenario later. I’m not getting my hopes up, but I do think the Big Game will actually be Big this year. Hot Real, Real Big, but Big nonetheless.

* If Cal beats Oregon State on Saturday, the Bears could still have a chance to win the Pac-10 title, depending on the results of other games. (At worse, the Bears will be playing for a Holiday Bowl bid.)

* Big Game probably will be a big game for the Bay Area’s only bowl, the Emerald, which has the No. 5 pick this year.

I can’t imagine a scenario in which neither Cal nor Stanford is in the running for the Emerald when the teams take the field on Nov. 22.

1st and goal at the 2 with 40 sec left…becomes 3rd and goal at the 2 with 2 sec left…and THEY CALL A FB DIVE with Michael Robinson who goes nowhere! Unbelievable!

I kept waiting for the Niners to spread the D out with 3 or 4 WRs and either run gore or pass it. I’m waiting for the “genius” of Martz to deliver but I think his O doesn’t fool anyone anymore.

Here is a dream scenario for the Bears, and a nightmare scenario for the BCS – how would you like to play at the Sugar Bowl this year against the SEC?

New Orleans at the holidays!!!

Here is how it could work.

The current BCS standing have the Bears at 29, but we are 26 in the polls (we are 30 in the computer polls with a .667 winning percentage). Our computer rankings will drop as we play more games – most of the teams have already played 10 times this year, while we have only played 9 times, which would translate into a 10% change in the computer rankings. That is significant – for Sagarin, for example, that would be a change in moving from 36th to 11th.

If we win out, we will probably be ranked in the 12-16 range in the computers on average. Based on the teams ahead of us that have to play each other, at least 7 will have losses. I predict that more like 10 to 12 will. Now, the Bears will not jump in front of all of them, but we will jump in front of enough to get to possibly 14 or 15 in the polls that count. With a little luck, we could get to say, 13. In any event, it could possibly be enough to get us into the BCS at large poll.

Check out the full story at his/her’s blog.

say…USC gets into the title game if and only if the Big12N team (Mizzou) wins the Big 12.

I would love to see Florida-$C. ‘Bama vs. Big 12S would be good, too…but I think it wouldn’t be the best matchup.

The Rose seems like way too many “ifs” have to happen. It’s possible…but it’s under 10% chance that a) $C plays in the title game, b) Cal ends up in the top 14, and c) The Rose or Sugar Bowl actually picks them.

NEED MOAR VOTES

http://www.seniorclassaward.com/vote/ncaa_football_2009/

Kevin Riley starts and I’m sure he hopes to impress his friends and family who will attend the game and make up for his colossal mistake at the end of the last OSU game.

“We’re going to start Kevin and let him go with it,” coach Jeff Tedford said during Tuesday’s Pac-10 teleconference.

That’s all Tedford said about the issue today.

Sean Canfield likely to start for the Beavs.

Riley said that Moevao will try to throw some today, but Moevao told his coach that he was about “80 percent.”

“We have to assume Sean will play right now,” Riley said.

I definitely would have gone to that if it was at a time when people could actually go!

Did anyone else notice the dudes in the front row of the SC student section with their bodies painted to say PLAYOFFS ?

I thought that was pretty good. Too bad the game wasn’t national…

You have got to be joking. Of all the days!

An acquaintance slash friend of mine from law school joined the Oakland Raiders. They instantly made her 1,000X more ugly. In the photo below, she looks NOTHING like she does in real life. And now shes made the big time.

Cheerleader of the Week: Emily of the Oakland Raiderettes. Apparently, Al Davis has no influence over the pep part of the Raiders’ operation, since the Raiders’ cheerleaders, always high on aesthetic appeal, look as good as the Raiders’ players look bad. According to her team bio, Emily went to law school at the University of San Francisco, and works as an attorney. Emily was also in the Air Force ROTC, was a varsity soccer player in high school, and has visited “roughly 24 countries.” Isn’t that an exact number?

We’ll do a Beaver’s hottie of the week to match. This week:

Sean Canfield

oh you thought I meant girls didn’t you? Silly assumption

Because he’s starting Riley will get 2/3rds of the practice snaps this week. Hopefully he’ll be more in sync with his receivers this week.