grover (over at AN) has an excellent post on Furcalgate and its implications

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WD7fKwjW04

I posted this late last night in the DBD, but I thought it might be best to post it again.

3-Dot Lounge on the passing of former Cal lineman John Erby.

Here’s to the memory of former Cal football player John Erby, who died recently at 68. Erby played during the Marv Levy years in the early ‘60s, winning the 1961 Brick Muller award as Most Valuable Lineman. He received two Purple Hearts during his service in Vietnam, where he lost part of his right leg when his platoon came under mortar fire. He returned to join Ray Willsey’s coaching staff at Cal, becoming the first African American coach in the Pac-8 (now Pac-10) conference. He later moved to the greater Cincinnati area, where he told people that going through life with an artificial leg “isn’t so bad. There’s always someone not far away who has it so much worse. No matter how bad you think you have it, stop feeling sorry for yourself. Get up and go help someone. That’s been my philosophy.”

Bruce Jenkins…best columnist in the Bay Area? Might not be saying that much, but I like all his pieces on baseball announcers, the Dubs, Maverick’s surf contest, and old school baseball. Plus I believe he’s the son of former jazz great Gordon Jenkins. I enjoy Ratto’s sattire…but the rest of the SF columnists are “meh.” I like Kawakami because I think he works hard to snuff out stories, analyze them, and get his opinion out. His writing style is fairly amateur though. Any others worth noting?

ESPN’s All Pac10 Team. No changes for the Bears…Perez instead of Anger as P…less Oregon DBs.

Jimmy hats pick John Morton as their new OC:

“We brought in John a few years ago for exactly this opportunity,” USC coach Pete Carroll said.

Morton will still serve as wide receivers coach. Carroll said Morton’s responsibilities as offensive coordinator — including whether he calls plays — will be determined in the offseason.

DOESN’T KNOW IF HE’LL CALL PLAYS! WHO ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT AT $C??? Frankly, I’m glad he didn’t hire some hotshot OC…this guy feels like the niners equivalent of Jim Hostler…

for some info on this weekend’s recruiting visits.

As of now, we’ll be hosting a lot of our JC targets because the JUCO Signing Period is right around the corner (Monday, I believe).

Plus, Dasarte Yarnway will be back in Berkeley after leading his team to a small schools section title.

A mystery guest (HS recruit) will also be making his way here. I’ll let everyone know who it is once I’ve found out. I really cannot speculate at this point, but some rumors are that it’s Reuben Randle, Rivals’ new #1 recruit in the country. I still maintain that we don’t have much of a shot, but you never know if you get someone to visit.

Last, the Hawaii vs. Mainland High School All-Star game will be shown today on FSN PT at 11am. We have a number of targets playing: Randall Carroll, Stan Hasiak, Adam Hall, Charles Siddoway, Chris Jimenez to name a few.

You may not have heard of Chris Jimenez…. He’s a huge, huge sleeper OL who’s really showing his skills in the prep leading up to the game. He was the offensive MVP of a summer camp Cal hosted for HS juniors, but he wasn’t offered because he was TOO big— 6’3" 355 to be exact. That’s like 3 TwistNHooks made into one large 17yo. Coaches told him to lose weight, and he has trimmed down to a svelte 315. Look for Cal to offer him soon if he continues to show progress.

Trojans WR coach the past two seasons, spent a year on the Saints staff that went to the NFC championship game, also an offensive assistant on the Raiders 2002 Super Bowl team. I don’t know anything about him.

Sarkisian will be offering Trojan assistants key jobs soon. So there could be more shuffling in Petie’s future.

Hydro actually only came on after Spring Game 2007. So, its only been about a year and a half for him.

But two years of Yellow Fever being Asked. And Ragnarok Ragnaroking. And me doing what any avant garde college sports blogger does: waste all of your time with inane and esoteric references.

Despite playing only ten miles from home, Cal seems excited to play Miami.

“It’s a really exciting game for us to play,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said. “I know it will definitely get our kids attention. We have a great opponent here. They have a great tradition and are a quality football team.”

The game has a special meaning for Williams, who picked Cal over Miami coming out of high school. Williams’ older brother, Denver Broncos linebacker D.J. Williams, played for the Hurricanes.

“I talked to my brother and he said he doesn’t think we have enough speed,” Williams said. “That’s just added motivation. It will be nice for him to watch, I’m sure. It will be personally important for me.”

Who starts against Miami? My guess is Riley. But if Riley starts will Longshore get playing time? (akin to Riley last year)

But anyone watching the Heisman ceremony? I will! I’m really excited to see who wins!

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/auburn-finds-tubervilles-replacement/

Iowa State Coach Gene Chizik is apparently stepping into Tommy Tuberville’s former spot as the head coach of Auburn.

Tuberville stepped down after a 5-7 season. He was 85-40 in 10 seasons at Auburn and beat archrival Alabama six straight times until a season-ending loss this year.

Chizik has Auburn ties, having been the Tigers’ defensive coordinator in 2004 when they went undefeated and gave up an average of 11 points a game. However, his time in Ames has been less than stellar. The Cyclones went 5-19 in his two seasons, including 2-10 this year.

???
!!!

A) What is it with Auburn defensive coordinators and going to Texas anyway?
B) So you fire Tuberville, who went 13-0 and won six straight against the biggest rival because he had one losing season… and turn around and hire a guy who went 2-10 at Iowa State? That too, 2-10 without playing Texas, TTU, or Oklahome?

By a friend, that perhaps Coach Michalczik has been hired by Sarkisian to coach at Washington…. uh oh. Please don’t be true.

Despite BeastMode’s 21 rushes, 121 yards, Buffalo loses 31-27. With a 27-24 lead, Buffalo’s Losman has a fumble which is run in for a TD. On the next play he tosses an interception. To top things off Losman’s hail mary with ten seconds left is also intercepted.

again. Damnit.

Good defensive effort, great play by Shaun Hill, just fell short in red zone scoring and Mark Roman, safety, gave up on a play that led to a sixty yard touchdown.

Frustrating, but I’m used to it being a fan of Cal… and the Warriors…

I look forward to the day when one of these teams wins a championship.

ARTICLE ON SCOUT (Look at the picture at the top)

All I can say is… it’s about time he gets some national L O V E. Quizz eats his Shizz

(Unfortunately, they spell his name wrong in certain parts of the article)