The day is almost upon us.  The Big Game.  But we can do this.  We can beat Stanford. I know we all feel nervous and that's normal.  It is, after all, the Big Game.

But last night's "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia was instructive.  It portended great things.  See, Cal (i.e. the Dayman) defeated Stanford (i.e. the Nightman) in Charlie's faux-rock opera designed solely to get the waitress to marry him. 

Let's look at the tale of the tape here.

Cal is definitely the fighter of the Nightman.

Cal is definitely the champion of the sun.

Cal is definitely a master of karate and friendship for everyone.

Everything points to Cal being the Dayman here.  Dayman defeated Nightman.  Things are looking up, my friends.  Things are looking up!

PS This is what happens to the DBD when nobody else does it and I oversleep.  So, other people feel free to do one.

B-Ball throttles Pan-AM:

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP)-- Jamal Boykin matched his career high with 18 points and Jerome Randle added 10 points and seven assists to lead California to an 85-58 win over Texas-Pan American in the first round of the Global Sports Classic on Thursday night.

Patrick Christopher had 12 points for the Bears (3-0), who shot 67.9 percent from the floor and nearly broke the school record for shooting percentage. Cal was shooting 70 percent and led by 24 heading into the final minute, but missed two of three shots to fall just shy of the single-game record of 68.5 percent, which was reached most recently against Arizona State on Jan. 5, 1989.

Theo Robertson added 10 points and three assists to help Cal remain unbeaten in coach Mike Montgomery's return to the college ranks.

Emmanuel Jones had 21 on 9 of 12 shooting for Texas-Pan American, which shot 48.9 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers while falling to 1-2. At one point in the second half the Broncs were shooting over 60 percent from the field but trailed by 20.

Big Game Activities for today and tomorrow:

via grfx.cstv.com

Field hockey gets some honors:

BERKELEY - California seniors Ashley Glosz, Rachel Moffitt and Andrea Lo earned spots on the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) All-West Region teams, the coaches association announced on Wednesday. Glosz and Moffitt garnered berths on the first team and Lo took a spot on the second team. This is the second straight regional honor for Glosz, who was on the All-West second team in 2007.

Earlier in November, all three Golden Bears were also named to the NorPac All-Conference first team.

12 new lacrosse recruits:

BERKELEY - California signed 12 players to National Letters of Intent, Golden Bears head coach Theresa Sherry announced today. The large recruiting class includes England under-19 national team player Camilla Hayes, four players from the state of California, and Clemmy Little, the younger sister of current Cal senior midfielder Ghillie Little.

The Californians are Gina Holslag (attack), Melissa Humphrey (midfield) and Kelly McCarthy (goalkeeper), all from the San Diego area, and Ana Cyr (midfield), from nearby Livermore. Sherry also signed defender Sarah Milik; Molly Crawford, Carter Ellerman, Ali Ellickson, Megan Takacs, who will play in midfield; Little and Alexa Rozelle, who will play in the attack; and Hayes, who could play in midfield or in the attack.

"Every one of the 12 girls we are bringing in next year will add something right away to the Cal lacrosse program and the UC Berkeley campus," Sherry said. "The student-athletes we are bringing in all have the mental toughness, inner drive, and talent to contribute our team's quest for excellence both on and off the field."

Ashley Walker is READY for Rutgers:

BERKELEY (AP) - Ashley Walker received intravenous fluids before each Pac-10 tournament game for California last March, exhausted from anemia and dehydrated from the lack of iron.

But Walker still went hard every possession on both ends of the floor. Thanks to daily iron pills and better nutrition - she is learning to eat leafy greens like spinach - she's that much stronger ahead of the No. 7 Golden Bears game Friday night against No. 3 Rutgers.

In Cal's season opener last Friday, she had 23 points, eight rebounds and four steals in a 24-point victory against Albany. Two days later, she topped that performance with 27 points, 17 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots in a win over Nevada, surpassing the 1,500 career points mark in the process.

Walker has been carrying the load for a team missing starting posts Devanei Hampton, the 2007 Pac-10 Player of the Year, and Rama N'diaye. Both are recovering from right knee surgery.

Walker seems unconcerned about any national hype surrounding her - such as being considered the top power forward in the country by some basketball experts.

"That's just what I do, I guess," Walker said. "I'm playing without Devanei and Rama, so I have to do a little bit more. I think what makes me such a good player is I don't think about that stuff. There are a lot of talented power forwards out there."

Services planned for Pete Newell:

BERKELEY - The family of former Cal basketball coach Pete Newell has announced plans for his funeral, and two additional ceremonies honoring the Hall of Famer have been scheduled - one in Berkeley and one in Los Angeles.

A funeral mass will be held on Monday, Nov. 24 at 11 a.m. at the Church of Nativity at 6309 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe.

The first of two events celebrating Newell's life will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at the Pauley Ballroom on the Cal campus, starting at 5 p.m. It will include tributes to Newell as well as a video, and will precede Cal's basketball game vs. DePaul, which begins at 7:30 p.m. in Haas Pavilion later that night.

In addition, there will be a memorial service/testimonial at 9 a.m. on Dec. 15 at the Sacred Heart Chapel on the Loyola Marymount campus, Newell's alma mater.

Family and friends are welcome to all three ceremonies.

Mens water polo player receives honor:

WOODLAND, CALIF. - University of California sophomore utility Brian Dudley has been named the Nov. 17 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Co-Molten Player of the Week, it was announced earlier this week by MPSF commissioner Al Beaird. Dudley shared Cal's second MPSF player of the week honor of the season with USC freshman goalie Joel Dennerley.

Dudley, a 6-5, 210-pounder from Johannesburg, South Africa, helped the No. 4-ranked Bears to two MPSF road victories this past weekend, defeating Long Beach State, 11-10 in sudden death overtime, and topping UC Irvine, 8-6. Dudley notched six goals in the two matches, including the match winner in sudden death overtime versus the 49ers. He also added four steals, four ejections earned and an assist over the weekend as Cal improved to 17-6 overall and 3-3 in the MPSF.

On the year, Dudley now has scored 19 goals in 22 matches with 25 steals, 15 ejections earned and 10 assists. Last season, he scored one of the Bears' eight goals in the 8-6 NCAA title victory over USC.

Okanes Thurs night update:

Well, the Bears wrapped up the week of practice for the Big Game in spirited fashion. They had a good practice, culminated with some good hooting and hollering as the team huddled at the end of the session. Anybody who might be worried about a lack of morale or motivation for this game can rest easy. It’s pretty apparent these guys are definitely focused and up for this game on Saturday.

Unfortunately for the Bears, they won’t have the services of safety Brett Johnson, whom Jeff Tedford said was out with a shoulder injury. Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said Sean Cattouse will start in Johnson’s place with Bernard Hicks seeing plenty of snaps off the bench. It’s a pretty significant loss for the Bears. Johnson had been playing well.

Alexis Gray-Lawis off to fast start:

BERKELEY — Same ol' Lex.

Nearly 14 months ago, those were the very words Cal guard Alexis Gray-Lawson used to describe her return to the basketball court. She was convinced she'd fully recovered from the anterior cruciate ligament tear that derailed her sophomore season. She figured it was all behind her.

Only through the passage of time has Gray-Lawson come to realize she may have been fooling herself.

"I definitely wasn't back 100 percent," she said. "Everybody saw that at that point, I think."

For those familiar with Gray-Lawson's game, it was hard not to notice. She wasn't regularly driving to the hoop and taking on defenders with the same verve and authority that she'd done in the past. She wasn't punishing smaller guards in the paint or showcasing her lethal mid-range game, instead settling for 3-pointers.

Kapps dont lose to Stanford:

BERKELEY — Former Cal quarterback Joe Kapp has taught his son a lot about football, including one important rule that is especially important this week.

"From a young age, my dad always said, 'Kapps don't lose to Stanford,' " said Will Kapp, a backup fullback for the current version of the Bears. "He never lost to them when he was playing. He's told me so many stories about playing against Stanford and never forgets to point out that he never lost to them before."

Kapp, a redshirt freshman, doesn't figure to get on the field when Stanford visits Cal on Saturday for the 111th Big Game, but he still can provide a perspective on the game that arguably no other teammate can. Kapp was born in 1988, two years after his father's last season as the Bears coach. But he still grew up totally entrenched in Cal football, attending games and learning about the history of the program.

Joe Kapp was a first team All-America quarterback and led the Bears to their last Rose Bowl appearance Jan. 1, 1959. He also played basketball at Cal for the 1957-58 season (the Bears didn't lose to Stanford in hoops that season, either).

Dayman…
(Aaaaah, aaaaah, aaaaah.)
Fighter of the Night Man.
(Aaaaah, aaaaah, aaaaah.)
Champion of the Sun.
Master of Karate and Friendship for everyone

GO BEARS!