DBD 12.4.08 Longshore think we are a "Nation of Whiners"

You know he tried to ruin the 2007 by playing through pain.

And you just found out that he tried to ruin 2008 with his endless menagerie of rogue PAT attempts.

But did you know 10 years ago, he worked to loosen the banking regulations.  You probably didn't.  And did you know he was in charge of FEMA from 2002-2007?  Again, you probably didn't.  Here are some other fun facts about Longshore:

1.  Killed Ceaser

2.  Brought Ceaser back to life with own blood

3.  Wrote the screenplay for Twilight.

4. Killed Ceaser again

5.  Starter Little Ceaser's chain of pizza.

6.  Invented the Limbo

7.  Made The Maharg do work.

8.  Blogs under the name "Nestor."

9.  Economic advisor for John McCain.

These are all things we learn about Longshore and we say to ourselves "Why did we ever let this guy into our hearts?"  Or, in my case, let him crash on my couch for 3 weeks in 2005.  But its OK, this rogue PAT attempter will be out of our lives soon and then we can return to the sweet slumber of knowing all of our PAT attempts will go as planned.  Praise be to Bak Bak for that!

Cal Men's BBall beats DePaul:

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Jerome Randle hit three key 3-pointers over the final 7:38 and finished with 24 points and six assists, as California survived to defeat previously unbeaten DePaul 77-67 on Wednesday night.

Patrick Christopher scored 16 of his 23 points in the first half and also had eight rebounds, and Jamal Boykin added 10 points and seven boards for Cal.

Cal allowed the Blue Demons to get back within 52-50 on Dar Tucker's steal and layin with 8:21 to play after leading by 14 at halftime.

Christopher scored 12 of Cal's first 20 points, shooting 6-for-8 to start the game and making an ally-oop dunk off a nice pass from Randle. Christopher knocked down a 3 with 3:46 to play after Tucker pulled DePaul to 63-59 and scored another basket on Cal's next possession. Randle's third late 3 gave the Golden Bears a 71-65 lead, then he made two big free throws with 41 seconds left and another pair at 24.8.

Women's swimming set to swim:

Berkeley - Fresh off its first-place finish at the Art Adamson Invitational hosted by Texas A&M two weeks ago, the California Golden Bear women's swimming team will compete in its second and final invitational of the season at the Georgia Invite, Dec. 5-7, at Gabrielsen Natatorium. Live results will be provided on georgiabulldogs.com.

Clemson, Denver, Harvard and West Virginia will also compete in the three-day invitational. Each day, preliminary heats will begin at 6:30 a.m. (PT) with finals being held at 2 p.m. (PT) on Friday and Saturday. The finals on Sunday will take place at noon (PT).

With hard work in the pool, many of the Cal swimmers have lowered their times, especially after the performances at Texas A&M two weeks ago. Senior Dana Vollmer had a great three-day outing at the Art Adamson Invitational securing an NCAA automatic-qualifying time and personal best of 1:43.66 (second-lowest in the nation this season) with her first-place finish in the 200-yard free. It was also the second-best time on Cal's all-time top 10 performance list, and 3.77 seconds fast than her time of 1:47.73 against Washington earlier this season. Her previous personal best was 1:43.95 set at the 2007 Pac-10 Championships.

Vollmer clocked a Natatorium pool record and first-place time of 1:56.24 in the 200 fly, (fourth fastest in the nation this season) and nearly achieved a personal best in the 100-yard freestyle final when she placed second with an NCAA B time of 48.51 (her personal best is a 48.65 set last season). The time of 48.51 is the third fastest time in the country this season.

New Cal golf recruit:

BERKELEY - Cal women's golf head coach Nancy McDaniel announced that Jacqueline Williams, a senior at Loretto High in Sacramento, has signed a letter of intent to play golf for the Golden Bears beginning with the 2009-10 season.

Williams, a three-time All-Capital Athletic League selection and a two-time MVP from Fair Oaks, Calif., won the 2007 CAL title, one of eight recent tournaments she has won. She qualified for the 2007 Illinois Junior Golf Association TOC, the 2008 State Finals Big "I" in Santa Cruz, 2008 Junior World at Carlton CC and Torrey Pines, and qualified as the first alternate for the 2008 Big "I" Junior National Tournament. She qualified for and participated in the 2008 Walmart First Tee Open, an event that partners 78 junior golfers with 78 Champions Tour pros in a three-day tournament at Pebble Beach and Del Monte golf courses, partnering with Denis Watson. Williams is also involved in the California Eagles, a Special Olympics golfing program for individuals with Downs Syndrome.

Mens swimmingg ready to swim:

This Week
Fourth-ranked California (2-0, 1-0 Pac-10) heads to the Evergreen state to compete in the University of Washington's Husky Invitational Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 4-6, in Federal Way, Wash. The meet is a combined men's and women's event, with 13 schools, including 10 men's teams, participating.

Each day will consist of preliminary races in the morning and finals in the evening. On Thursday, the prelims will run from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and the finals will run from 6-7:30 p.m. On Friday, the prelims will run from 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. and the finals will run from 6-8 p.m. On Saturday, the prelims will run from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and the finals will run from 6-8 p.m.

Bears Star in Stanford's Triple-Distance Meet
Sixth-ranked California took on rival and third-ranked Stanford in the Cardinal's annual Triple-Distance Meet on Nov. 12 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 Tom 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.

 

Tribute to Pete Newell:

BERKELEY — More than 200 of Pete Newell's players and friends gathered Wednesday night on the Cal campus to celebrate the life of a man who influenced basketball around the world and won an NCAA championship with the Golden Bears during his 93 years.

Newell, who died Nov. 17, coached Cal to four conference championships in six seasons and won a national title in 1959. He spent the next half-century involved with the game at every level, sharing his knowledge through clinics and camps on virtually every continent.

"Pete's greatest asset was bringing the right people together and letting them flourish," said Ned Averbuck, who played on Newell's final Cal team in 1959-60.

Defense looks to hold down Huskies:

BERKELEY — Cal is locked into fourth place in the Pac-10 and faces a team Saturday that is 0-11. But don't let that make you think the Bears aren't motivated to play their regular-season finale against Washington.

The Bears — at least their defensive players — can't wait to get another shot at the Huskies. Last year, Washington rushed for 360 yards in a 37-23 rout over Cal at Husky Stadium.

"I remember coming off the field, it was the worst I've ever felt in football," Cal linebacker Worrell Williams said. "We got embarrassed by this team. We have a chance to embarrass them by having them 0-12."

Last year's defeat was part of the Bears' late-season collapse that ended with a loss the following week to Stanford. Cal unraveled down the stretch, losing six of its final seven regular-season games.

"That was a pretty bad one," linebacker Zack Follett said. "Our mind-set as a team was in the dumps at that point. We had guys taking themselves out that game. They wouldn't go in."

Another article on beating DePaul:

BERKELEY — Cal fans who watched the Golden Bears' first four home games saw pretty basketball and tidy victories.

The 3-point shots were falling, the defense was generally tight, and turnovers were kept to a minimum.

Cal returned to Haas Pavilion on Wednesday night and prevailed 77-67 over DePaul in a game that was rough and ragged. The Bears (6-1) definitely had to work for this one, and it often wasn't attractive.

But after making just one of their first nine 3-point attempts, the Bears delivered from deep in the final 41/2 minutes. Jerome Randle made two 3-pointers — one of them after the Blue Demons whittled a 16-point deficit down to 59-57 — and one from Patrick Christopher.

Okanes Wedned night update:

The last couple regular season practices of the season are winding down at chilly Memorial Stadium. The Bears will have more practice time for the bowl game, but there is something significant about the end of the regular season, especially for the seniors.

The first part of bowl practices typically are for the younger players, as coaches use the bonus practice time to get a head start on the future. This is one of the last times the seniors will practice in the conventional sense on their home field.

“It’s the last time those guys are going to be able to compete here in this stadium and walk down that tunnel,” Cal coach Jeff Tedford said after practice tonight. “As we get closer to the end of the week, that stuff will start to really resonate with them and have a lot of meaning.”

Catching up on the injury front, safety Brett Johnson has returned to practice after missing the Big Game with a shoulder injury. He’s still in a yellow jersey but figures to be back Saturday. Whether he starts is another story. We should know more about his status tomorrow.

Dump away!  Go Bears!