Hi - Hi! We're your California Golden Bloggers - Ah-huh -
And have we got news for you - You better listen!
Get ready, all you lonely fans
and leave those umbrellas at home. - Alright! -

Humidity is rising - Barometer's getting low
According to all sources, the stadium's the place to go
Cause Saturday for the first time
Just about half-past five
For the first time in history
It's gonna start raining men.

It's (Going To Be) Raining Men! Hallelujah! - It's (Going To Be) Raining Men! Amen!
I'm gonna go out to run and let myself get
Absolutely soaking wet!
It's (Going To Be) Raining Men! Hallelujah!
It's (Going To Be) Raining Men! Every Specimen!
Tall, blonde, dark and lean
Rough and tough and strong and mean

Ok, ok, that's enough, I can't continue with this bit.  Look, it's just not working out for me.  I'm not feeling it.  You gotta feel it.  This is the last time I let The Maharg write for me here.

And, listen, The Maharg, I am definitely not getting into that Candy Striper outfit for the "Little Girl, Do You Want A Lollypop?" skit.  That one is just CREEPY.  Creepy like fuck.  Chris Hansen on Speed Dial Creepy.  *shudders*

So, take the Weather Girl backdrop off to wardrobe, so I can get some links up in this bitch.  Hallelujah! 

Firstly, an Open Letter to us (to us!):

Around Memorial Stadium, new steps have been taken to reduce traffic congestion and make access for pedestrians as smooth as possible. Fans will find new and expanded gates for easier entry and exit, some parking changes next to the stadium and enhanced mass transportation options.

It is fairly lengthy, so feel free to review the whole thing.  But that there is the main gist, how they've changed things bc of the protesters.  *sigh*

Some information on men's soccer:

This Week
The road to a third conference championship begins this week for the No. 13 California men's soccer team. The Golden Bears begin the 2008 season playing host to UC Riverside and then heading to Los Angeles, Calif. for a neutral site contest against No. 8 Maryland. Cal faces UC Riverside Friday, Aug. 29, at 2 p.m. at Edwards Stadium and Maryland on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 3 p.m.

 

Preseason Rankings
Cal secured two top-15 rankings in the preseason polls and was picked to win a third consecutive Pac-10 crown.
The College Soccer News preseason poll had Cal ranked higher than UCLA at No. 13 with the Bruins at No. 14. The Bears were selected 14th in the Soccer Times preseason national rankings and were the second-highest Pac-10 team in the poll, just below No. 13 UCLA.
In the preseason Pac-10 poll, Cal was picked to win the conference title for the first time in the nine-year history of the poll, as voted by the league's six coaches. Cal tallied 24 points and four of the six first-place votes. UCLA came in second and received 20 points and one first-place vote, while Stanford, picked to come in third, took the other first-place vote with 17 points.

Some information on Cross Country:

This Week
California begins the 2008 season at the 16th-annual San Francisco Invitational Saturday, Aug. 30, at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. The women's 5K race starts at 9:15 a.m., followed by the men's 8K event at 10 a.m. Last year, the Cal men and women both took second in their respective races. Chelsea Reilly led the Cal women in second place (18:13), and Rebecca Yau followed Reilly in fourth, clocking in at 18:23. The men's team had three runners place in the top 10. John Cheng took fourth (26:21), Austin Jett crossed the finish line in eighth (26:31) and Patrick Lynch finished in 10th (26:32).

 

Ghebray, Matusak Lead Cal Men
The veteran leaders for the Bears' men's team this season will be seniors Yosef Ghebray and Mark Matusak. In 2007, Ghebray and Matusak were selected NCAA All-West Region and All-Pac-10. Ghebray, who paced the Bears at the Pac-10 Championships (7th, 23:14) and the NCAA West Regional (8th, 30:14), made the all-conference first team while Matusak was named to the second team. Matusak crossed the finish line in the top 15 three times last season, including an eighth-place showing at the Pac-10 Championships in which he also earned his best time of the year (23:16).

Roseanne Niven is taking the golf world by STORM:

BERKELEY, Calif. - California junior Roseanne Niven has been selected to represent Scotland at the World Amateur Team Championship Oct. 8-10 at Grange Golf Club in Adelaide, Australia. More than 50 women's teams will be competing for the Espirito Santo Trophy.

"The team was going to be announced today at 12 o'clock, but they had to call me last night because they knew I was leaving the next morning really early (to come back to Berkeley)," Niven said. "I was so happy. I was trying not to get my hopes up, but I knew I had a very good chance of making the team."

Niven and her fellow countrywomen, Krystle Caithness and Kylie Walker, complete Scotland's team. Pamela Pretswell and Kelsey MacDonald are the reserves.

Last week, Niven defeated Walker in a sudden death playoff for the Ladies British Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship in Ireland.

"I started off the summer at the British Match Play and played pretty well there," Niven said. "I made it to the semis, but I knew I could have gotten further. I had a few tournaments in between that I did alright at. When I got to the British Stroke Play, I knew that I could win it because I had come so close at the start of the summer. It was incredible. I'm still on a high from it. It was such a good day. On the last day, I played 36 holes. I had a good first round, and in the afternoon, I went out and played some of my best golf. It's my best win by far."

Okanes has some final notes on Monday practice:

There was something different about practice Monday night. With a game now imminent, there seemed to be a renewed focus, but still a lot of enthusiasm.

The Bears are getting healthier. Tight end Cameron Morrah returned to practice, and right guard Noris Malele was back taking reps with the first team. Cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson has graduated to a yellow jersey.

Wide receiver Michael Calvin still isn’t practicing, but coach Jeff Tedford said he expects him and Thompson to be ready by Saturday.

Answers to 5 important questions:

5. Will the defense improve in the 3-4 alignment?: It sure seems that it will. The schemes allows Cal’s fast, playmaking linebackers to get more involved all over the field, and that works to the Bears’ advantage. And the Bears’ are getting strong play from their defensive linemen — Tyson Alualu and Rulon Davis had tremendous camps.

Article on changing attitudes at MSU:

EAST LANSING - The labels have stuck to them like a sweat-soaked T-shirt in August.

 

They accept mediocrity. They wilt under pressure. They're undisciplined. They can't handle success. They don't have a vision.

That's how nearly two decades of disappointment will stain a major college football program. Michigan State has not finished with a winning record in back-to-back seasons since a string of six consecutive above-.500 finishes during the height of the George Perles era.

Mark Dantonio's biggest accomplishment in his inaugural season as Michigan State's head football coach wasn't anything that his team did. It was convincing his players of what they didn't do

That's probably a good enough start.  If you see any Cal-related links (like MSU information), feel free to truck it on over.  It is, after all, your solemn duty haven taken the CGB Oath.  Do not violate that sacred oath!  Dump away!  Go Bears!