But can it ever compare to Cougar Week?  I don't know.  I mean Beaver Week is Beavers.  It has many Beavers.  But Cougar Week is Cougars.  It has many Cougars.

So, in my mind at least, its hard to tell which one is better.  Beaver Week.  Or Cougar Week.  Beaver Week.  Or Cougar Week. 

Well, let's leave this up to the people.  What do you like more?  Vote at the end of the post. 

A lot of info on recruits today.  Women's v-ball:

BERKELEY - The California volleyball team has signed four recruits to letters of intent to compete with the Golden Bears as a part of the incoming 2009 freshman class. Among the signees, Cal received commitments from three middle hitters and the nation's top senior setter.

"This incoming class is really special and each of the players brings an intangible specialty of their own," said head coach Rich Feller. "We are beyond excited about what the future holds with the talent that these players bring with them."

The most highly-regarded senior setter in the nation and one of 2009's most sought-after recruits, Elly Barrett (Westlake HS/Austin, Texas) is as accomplished as prep volleyball players come. She led her team to the Texas state finals in 2005 and 2007 and was named a 2007 PrepVolleyball.com High School All-American. Among her many all-tournament and MVP accolades, Barrett holds the distinction of having led her Junior Olympics team to the 2008 title, garnering MVP honors on the way.

"Elly is a highly talented and athletic setter and will only continue to grow and become better when she arrives at Cal," said Feller. "She has a marvelous leadership quality about her and has a lot of experience guiding her teams to great heights. Her calm on-court demeanor is unflappable and to top it all off, her volleyball skills are wrapped up in what we can only call a truly winning personality."

Local product Katherine Brown (St. Francis Central Coast Catholic HS/Watsonville, Calif.) helped lead her club team as the starting middle blocker, to the U18 American Division National Championship in 2008 at the Junior Olympics and was a PrepVolleyball.com Top Senior Ace this season. She has regularly appeared on top-players lists throughout her career at St. Francis and as just a sophomore, Brown was a finalist for the Santa Cruz Sentinel All-County Athlete of the Year award.

Womens b-ball:

BERKELEY - Seven highly-ranked student-athletes, all of whom are ranked in the top 50 by at least one scouting service, have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at California beginning with the 2009-10 season, Golden Bear head coach Joanne Boyle announced Wednesday.

The combination of the seven incoming players has given Cal the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the nation, according to Blue Star Basketball Report. Cal's recruiting class is ranked No. 2 by All-Star Girls Report and the Collegiate Girls Basketball Report, with ESPN HoopGurlz ranking the class at No. 3.

Included in the Bears freshman class of 2009-10 are two Bay Area standouts, Sacred Heart Cathedral High's Tierra Rogers and Pinole Valley High's DeNesha Stallworth, who will be joining four Southern California prep stars, Talia Caldwell of Marlborough High in Los Angeles, Layshia Clarendon of Cajon High in San Bernadino, Eliza Pierre of John Muir High in Pasadena, and Gennifer Brandon of Chatsworth High in Sylmar, and one Oregon product, Brenna Heater of Ashland High in Ashland. Of the seven Bear recruits, five are rated in the top ten at their position (as ranked by ESPN HoopGurlz) and all are in the top 15.

"We are extremely excited about this class," said Boyle. "They bring a ton of individual talent and athleticism as well as a great basketball IQ. There is a good balance between posts and guards, but most importantly, I think this group of athletes is a fantastic fit with the chemistry we already have on the team. Their personalities and styles of play are going to mesh really well with what we already have in place."

Softball:

BERKELEY - Three California high school standouts - pitcher Jolene Henderson, infielder Jordan Wallace and catcher Lindsey Ziegenhirt - have signed National Letters of Intent to join the University of California softball program for the 2009-10 season, Golden Bears head coach Diane Ninemire announced Wednesday.

"I feel that this is a really strong class," said Ninemire. "All three are very accomplished players on the field and in the classroom. They are all very strong academically. Jolene is one of the top pitching prospects in the country and she has led her team to the top of the national rankings. She is the type of pitcher we need in our program. We are also glad to have her teammate, Lindsey, who has been catching Jolene for four straight years. We're fortunate to have a catcher of her caliber. She is going to provide the necessary leadership behind the plate with her catching skills and will bring a big bat to the lineup. And Jordan is a big-time power hitter with great range. She is just a tremendous athlete who can provide a lot of depth to this team."

Henderson, from Sheldon High School in Sacramento, has a bevy of high school accolades on her resume, including an ESPN/Under Armor All-American nod, and first-team all-league and All-Metro honors in 2008. She garnered Player of the Year honors from the Sacramento Bee and CalHi Sports in 2007 when she earned first-team all-league and All-Metro honors, as well. Henderson registered a 0.17 ERA in 2006, a 0.47 in 2007 and a 0.41 in 2008. She also posted a .400 batting average in 2008.

And, of course, the info you wanted:

BERKELEY - University of California men's basketball coach Mike Montgomery announced the signing of two players - Bak Bak and Markhuri Sanders-Frison - to National Letters of Intent Wednesday.

Bak is a 6-10, 200-pound forward out of Village Christian High School in Sun Valley, Calif., while Sanders-Frison is a 6-8, 265-pound junior center from South Plains Community College in Levelland, Texas.

Originally from Sudan and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Bak spent last summer playing with the Double Pump AAU team. After moving to the United States, he attended the American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla. for 2006-07, but did not play basketball. Bak then relocated to California in the fall of 2007, sitting out last season as a transfer at Valley Christian HS.

"Bak Bak is a very talented big kid who can shoot the ball well and has good ball handling skills," said Montgomery. "He needs to get stronger, but we fully expect him to flourish in our system. He has a world of experience and we are looking forward to having him in our program."

Sanders-Frison originally attended Jefferson HS in Portland, Ore, where he averaged 10 ppg and 8 rpg, helping the team to three city titles. Last year, he helped Eastern Arizona College to a 30-6 record and contributed 10 ppg and 10 rpg. EAC, located in Thatcher, Ariz., defeated Arizona Western College in the Region I Tournament final, 69-58, to advance to the NJCAA National Tournament. EAC then captured the fifth-place game with a 70-63 victory over Indian Hills CC in Iowa.

Rugby sked released:

BERKELEY - With a slate of fixtures that could exceed last year's 25-match journey to the national championship, the 2009 schedule for the University of California rugby team will test the Golden Bears with a wide variety of opponents, from local competition and traditional rivalries to teams Cal normally does not see until the national postseason and a rematch against the Rugby Super League champion.

Witter Rugby Field will also host Pools A and C of the national postseason's Rounds of 16 and 8 from April 17-19.

"This schedule should provide us the right mix to develop our team," said head coach Jack Clark. "The frosh-soph, reserve-grade and varsity teams will all share in the responsibility of representing our University in match play. I imagine we'll be underdogs a few times out and we'll additionally stress the team with double-headers and a variety of venues and environments, all of which is important to building the team we want to become."

The season begins Jan. 10 and continues a week later with a trip to the UCLA Tournament, where the Bears will seek to win their fourth straight weekend gathering of fellow Pac-10 universities.

A February clash against the University of Calgary stands as an early wrinkle in the schedule, with Cal meeting the Dinos as the Friday night featured match of the Kickoff Tournament, a major assembly including many of the best high-school teams in the nation.

 

Mens soccer to take on stanford:

This Week
After earning two much needed wins last weekend, No. 10 California plays host to Stanford this week in the final game of the regular season. The Golden Bears (9-3-5, 4-2-3 Pac-10) would record their eighth consecutive 10-win season with a victory. Stanford will be looking for revenge after Cal topped the Cardinal, 1-0, in overtime when they met at Stanford earlier this season. The Bears take the field on Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. at Edwards Stadium.
Saturday's game will also be Senior Day for Cal's five seniors - Tyler Barry, Chris Deal, Ian Ebert, Pat Marion and Michael Nieraeth.

 

Bears Beat Beavers and Huskies Last Week
Last weekend featured a pair of wins that Cal needed to win in order to remain in the hunt for an at-large bid to the NCAA College Cup. Behind the efforts of the team's leading scorer, sophomore Andrew Wiedeman, the Bears defeated Oregon State, 1-0, and Washington, 2-1, last weekend in Berkeley.
Wiedeman was instrumental in both of Cal's victories, tallying two goals, one of which was the gamewinner. Against the Beavers, Wiedeman scored the game's only goal in the 72nd minute. It was Wiedeman's third game-winning goal of 2008. Junior goalkeeper Stefan Frei also recorded his seventh shutout of the season.
Against the Huskies, with Cal trailing 1-0, Wiedeman took a pass from sophomore Demitrius Omphroy and went down field and scored to tie the game at one. It was the eighth goal and the 20th point of the season for Wiedeman. The Bears would go on to win the game when senior Pat Marion found the back of the net in the 88th minute

Cal swimming apparently would hvae lost to Stanford had they been scoring this meet:

STANFORD, Calif. - The 11th-ranked California men's swimming and diving team took on rival and third-ranked Stanford in the Cardinal's annual Triple-Distance Meet on Wednesday at the Avery Aquatic Center. The Golden Bears won six events, with sophomore Damir Dugonjic claiming the 50- and 100-yard breaststrokes, senior Bennett Clark taking the 100 freestyle, freshman Martin Liivamagi placing first in the 100 individual medley, sophomore Thomas Henninger edging a Cardinal diver for the top spot in the three-meter springboard and the Cal A group of Clark, junior Josh Daniels, sophomore Graeme Moore and sophomore Nick Cordes winning the 200-freestyle relay.

While not scored like a conventional dual meet, Stanford swimmers had the best combined times in the six individually contested swimming disciplines: sprint freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, individual medley and distance freestyle. The two rivals split the relays (200 free and 200 medley) as well as the diving events.

Dugonjic, a 2008 Slovenian Olympian, posted a time of 25.15 in the 50 breaststroke and 55.00 in the 100 breaststroke but was disqualified in the 200 event. Liivamagi, a 2008 Estonian Olympian, was first in the 100 IM in 50.69, second in the 200 IM (1:50.59) and third in the 400 IM (4:01.53).

Clark won the 100 free in 44.75 and took second in both the 50 (20.76) and 200 (1:42.45) freestyles behind Stanford's Austin Staab.

Golf recruits:

BERKELEY - The University of California Men's Golf program has signed five highly-ranked junior golfers - Brandon Hagy, Max Homa, Curtis Loop, Brian Murphy and Michael Weaver - to National Letters of Intent. The five high school seniors will join the Golden Bears for the fall of 2009.

Hagy, son of Richard and Karyn Hagy, is a product of Westlake Village, Calif. Highlights for Hagy include being selected as a 2008 AJGA HP Scholastic Junior All-American and selected to represent the United States in the FCWT Honda International Junior Championship in Japan, where he was the low American shooting 74-75-71, 220 to finish tied for seventh. He also won the 2008 Thousand Oaks City Amateur (65-69 - 134) and the 2008 FCWT Hunter Ranch Invitational (68-70 - 138). Other accolades include 2008 FCWT First Team All-American, 2008 Ventura County Star's Boy Golfer of the Year and 2008 CIF Marmonte League MVP.

"Brandon is an outstanding individual who will thrive here at Cal," said Head Coach Steve Desimone. "He is an excellent student, has a true sense of team and his play on the golf course speaks loud and clear. He's going to be a major contributor to all aspects of this program and the University."

Max Homa, from Valencia High School in Valencia, Calif., is the son of John Homa and Bonnie Milstein. Homa's highlights include being selected to represent Southern California in the 2008 Junior America's Cup, winning the SCPGA Junior Tour at Silver Rock (70-71 - 141), finishing third in the AJGA Hanmi Bank Junior Open (72-72-69 - 213), sixth in the AJGA Midwest Junior Players Championship (76-75-76 - 226), seventh in the FCWT Hunter Ranch (69-75 - 144) and a recent tie for 33rd in the Golfweek Junior Invitational.

Monty on sked:

New coach Mike Montgomery is happy to be playing Pacific and USF — traditional Northern California rivals — but doesn’t sound like he’s married to putting them on the Golden Bears’ schedule every year.

Monty understands there are fans out there who’d like to see Cal play those teams and others in the Bay Area, including Saint Mary’s. It’s not that simple, he said.

“I think it’s good to play those people. I think you need to play all the people every now and again, but I don’t think you need to get stuck on it,” he said at his weekly press gathering Monday. “You’re trying to get a well-rounded schedule from a travel standpoint, trying to get a well-rounded schedule from the level of play.”

There was a time the NorCal teams played each other routinely. Cal and USF have met 74 times, but just once in the past 12 years. The Bears and UOP have played 25 games, only one of them in the past 14 seasons.  Cal’s series with Saint Mary’s features 77 matchups, just one of them in the past 11 years.

Don't forget today is a big day.  Okanes chat day!  You know he never did get back to us about answering those questions we sent him.  Hmmm.  Go Bears!