Ringer: doesn’t seem to have any particular jukes or moves, but good balance and speed around the corner.

Dantonio: seems like a bitter man.

Hoyer: seems pretty good, maybe more mobile than Hydro gave him credit for.

Overall, I haven’t wet my frock yet. Then again we have so many ? who know how this one will turn out.

Twist – I just flew in from Detroit to catch the game this weekend, and there were a lot of MSU fans on my flight. They are really pumped up for this game. In fact, one guy told me he heard upwards of 20,000 MSU fans might attend the game. It should be a ton of fun.

I discovered this site called Fantell reading a thread on Scout.

It is pretty fun. You can predict scores for all games and it breaks down predictions by fans of each team and neutrals. It also has line-ups (2-deeps!) for all the teams and you can view player info and rate them (speed, power, etc.).

The data is pretty good for Cal already but you can always give your player ratings. Not too much on MSU.

Check it out.

The only prediction I feel comfortable making is that there will be a lot of Spartan green in the stands on Saturday. Probably not 15,000 people’s worth, but a lot. The Bay Area is full of Midwest transplants, more so than from Rocky Top, so I expect MSU’s fans to make a bigger impact than Tennessee’s last year. But, they won’t own the stadium. It will still be a Blue-and-Gold day, still Bear Territory.

As far as the game, who knows? Both teams come off of up-and-down years, and while Cal boasts a veteran defense, it’s the same group of veterans who were mediocre for the bulk of last year. Plus they’re sporting a new scheme, and who honestly knows how that will work out? I wouldn’t be surprised if Ringer rung up more than 200 yards on Saturday. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he gets absolutely shut down for less than 50.

One of the biggest mistakes Big-10 teams make is assuming that they can “smash mouth” their Pac-10 opponents. More often than not, they quickly discover that the Pac is far more physical and stout against the run than its reputation would hold, and that the Big-10 teams would be better served by opening things up and testing the West Coasters through the air. Yes, the Pac-10 probably has a few more “athletes” suited to that sort of finesse, speed, aerial brand of football, but the difference isn’t huge.

Because I have faith in the Cal offense, and because I think the Spartans game plan will be too conservative to really test the Bears D, I’m predicting a comfortable Cal victory in the neighborhood of 34-20. But again, this really isn’t a true prediction as much as it is a cautious, hopeful, homerish feeling that Tedford’s team is back on track.

As for jazz, the discussion begins and ends with Duke Ellington, whether played by his own band or by the likes of Thelonious Monk and the other usual suspects. And since the subject has been breached, I’ll once again offer my perennial suggestion that the Cal Band start playing Ellington’s “Blue Pepper” after every big defensive stop—because you all know that the vaunted Blue Pepper defense is nothing to sneeze at.