I know that they killed us last year, embarrassingly.  And I know that the bane of my collegiate football existence (besides Holmoe himself) coaches there.  But I find it difficult to irk any of my ire against the Huskies.  And I do so love to irk my ire.  I really love to irk anything.  Really.

I think it's because a)I'm still really happy and content after Big Game and b)their team is in shambles.  This is why it's best to leave the Big Game as the last game of the regular season.  Its a perfect exclamation point.  I just hope that the football team isn't like me!

And it's tough to hate on TDub when hes been fired and this is his last game.  His career really took a downturn after he left Stanford.  He gets fired from ND (inappropriately, imho) and now UDub (not so inappropriately, imho).  Lord am I happy he left Stanford and failed to make UW any good.  But still.  It is what it is, I guess.

I know our Duck and Beaver brethren to the north really, really, really hate UW.  And thats cool.  But am I the only one struggling to irk anything, let alone my ire?

Mens Water Polo beats Long Beach State:

The No. 3 ranked Cal men's water polo team (19-9) closed out the season with a 13-9 defeat of No. 8 Long Beach State in the 7th place match of the MPSF Conference Tournament, Sunday, November 30th at the Raleigh Runnels Aquatic Center in Malibu. The Bears were lead by five players who each scored two goals against the 49ers.

The Bears jumped on the board early on a goal by senior captain Frank Reynolds to take a 1-0. On Long Beach State’s next possession, Justin Koeppen scored to tie the match at 1-1. Less than a minute later, freshman Ivan Rackov scored to give Cal a 2-1 lead. Neither team would score for the next three minutes. The end of the first period saw each team score twice and trade goals as Cal led 4-3 after the first period.

Midway through the second period, Cal extended its lead to 6-3 on Reynold’s and Rackov’s second goals of the match. After Rackov’s goal, Taylor Clute scored for 49ers to cut the lead to 6-4 with 2:07 remaining in the first half. With 0:55 seconds remaining in the half, Cal junior All-American Spencer Warden notched his second goal of the match to give the Bears a 7-4 lead at the half.

Womens BBall wins Paradise Jam Tourney:

St. Thomas, U.S.V.I. - The California Golden Bears won the Paradise Jam Reef Division tournament title with a 76-43 victory over the Iowa Hawkeyes Saturday night at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas. Senior forward Ashley Walker scored 32 points, tying her career high, en route to being named tournament MVP. Junior guards Lauren Greif and Alexis Gray-Lawson were also named to the All-Tournament team.

Iowa started the game strong, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead. Cal senior forward Ashley Walker found her stroke, scoring 11 straight points for the Bears to give them a 13-8 lead. The Bears built on Walker's foundation, extending their run to 24-2 to take a 26-10 lead. Once again, it was the Bear defense fuelling the offense. Iowa shot just 26.7% in the first half with the two teams retiring to the locker rooms with Cal leading by 20, 40-20. Walker accounted for 20 of those first half Cal points.

The most important basket of the half came at the 1:26 mark when junior guard Alexis Gray-Lawson drove through the lane to lay in the ball, scoring two points for her team and becoming the twentieth member of Cal's 1,000 point club. The St. Thomas crowd gave Gray-Lawson a rousing ovation when the accomplishment was announced.

VBall ready for NCAAs:

BERKELEY - The California volleyball team received its school-record seventh consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament today and will host three teams in the first and second rounds of the Penn State regional. The No. 7-ranked Golden Bears (23-6, 13-5 Pac-10) will play Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament champion Siena College (20-12, 15-3 MAAC) in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship on Friday, Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. In the other first round match, No. 25 New Mexico State (25-8, 15-1 Western Athletic Conference) will take on St. Mary's College (20-7, 10-4 West Coast Conference) at 6 p.m. The winners of each match will advance to face each other in an 8 p.m. match on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. for the right to advance to the round of 16. All three matches will be played on Pete Newell Court at Haas Pavilion.

Tickets go on sale at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow (Dec. 1) and are only available through the Cal athletic ticket office website. Adult two-day packages that include admission to all three matches can be purchased for $18; $14 for seniors (65+), youth and students with valid identification.

Cal finished the regular season with a 23-6 overall record and won a program-best 13 matches in Pac-10 play. The Bears also set school records by winning 29 consecutive sets from Sept. 14 through Oct. 19. Cal's 8-0 Pac-10 start and 18-1 overall start were also program records.

Another article on VBall:

Cal and Stanford both will host first- and second-round matches as the 64-team field for the 2008 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship was announced Sunday.

The seventh-ranked Bears (23-6) received their school-record seventh straight tournament bid and will play Siena (20-12) at Haas Pavilion on Friday at 8 p.m. New Mexico State (25-8) will face Saint Mary's College (20-7) at 6 p.m in the other first-round match. The winners will play Saturday at 8 p.m.

The at-large bid was the fourth in Gaels' history, as they made appearances in 2003, 2004, and 2005.

The Cardinal (26-3), seeded No. 2 overall, will begin its quest for its seventh NCAA title Friday at 7 p.m. at Maples Pavilion against Albany (23-8). Pepperdine (20-7) and Long Beach State (25-5) will meet in the other match at 4:30 p.m. The winners will meet Saturday at 7 p.m.

Stanford is one of just two teams to have made it to all 28 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championships and finished second to Penn State last year.

Also, Santa Clara (17-9) will play Kansas State (24-7) in Seattle on Friday, and USF (22-7) will face Duke (24-8) in Los Angeles.

Okanes on Bowl possibility:

Cal got back together Sunday night after the Thanksgiving break, knowing a lot more about their postseason status. After Oregon’s rout of Oregon State last night, it seems to be almost a sure thing that the Bears are headed to the Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park on Dec. 27.

 

Cal is going to finish alone in fourth place in the Pac-10 or tied for fourth place. Either way, the Bears will be in fourth place and be in the crosshairs of the Emerald Bowl. The Emerald Bowl wants Cal in a bad way, giving the game a local flavor for the first time and almost assuredly guaranteeing a sellout.

This season, the Emerald Bowl actually is slotted to take the conference’s fifth-place team with the Las Vegas Bowl scheduled to have the fourth place team. But the two bowls work in tandem for the 4-5 slot, switching off every year with the first pick. The Las Vegas Bowl actually has the first pick this year, but the Emerald Bowl is working with the Las Vegas Bowl to make sure it gets Cal and the Las Vegas Bowl is happy with its team.

As of right now, Arizona is the fifth-place team. The Las Vegas Bowl likely would rather have Arizona anyway. It’s closer than Cal, hasn’t been to a bowl game since 1998 and should travel well.

So, anyway, there you go.  Vote in the poll.  And dump away.  Go Bears!