DBD 1.15.08 Reasons for Being Flagged

Iodine is important in one’s diet, but I like sea salt because it sounds gourmet.

wow…I can’t believe I got 2nd place! That’s like being the fastest loser!

I’m a bit confused…when flagging, what constitutes “inappropriate” and what constitutes “spam.” I don’t remember having that option when I thought I was the only one flagging.

I wish I could rec this fanpost, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to flag a post about flagging.

That said, made me laugh. Awesome.

Also, is there a way to run an analysis to see who had how many posts in yesterday’s EPIC dbd?

IIIIIIIIIII AM THE CHAMPION, MY FRIENNNNNNNNNNNNNDS!

Lets get some links up in this bitch, people. I’ll do the official site, but you guys have to bring it from the Chron, from the CoCoTimes, from the Mercury News, LETS DO THIS THING:

Mack, Follett named to ESPN All-Bowl team (no Best?!?!?):

BERKELEY – Center Alex Mack and linebacker Zack Follett have both been named to ESPN.com’s All-Bowl team for their performances in Cal’s 24-17 victory over Miami in the Emerald Bowl.

Mack helped pave the way for the Golden Bears to rush for 217 yards and average 7.2 yards per carry against the Hurricanes. Jahvid Best was the primary beneficiary, totaling 186 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries, while Shane Vereen churned out 36 yards on eight rushes. In addition, Cal’s offensive line did not allow a quarterback sack.

Mack was also a member of ESPN.com’s All-Bowl team in 2006 after the Bears’ 45-10 win over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.

Rugby wants to win UCLA Tourney:

BERKELEY – Starting with a dizzying draw against six Pac-10 teams on Saturday, California will take the field eight times this weekend in a bid to take home its fourth straight title at the UCLA Tournament.

The Golden Bears hit the ground running with Oregon at 9:30 a.m. Saturday followed in quick succession by USC at 11, Arizona at 11:50, Washington State at 12:40 p.m., UCLA at 1:30 and Oregon State at 2:20. Head coach Jack Clark and coach Tom Billups are likely to mix and match players to meet the demands of the day.

Cal plans to use every one of its 55 players on the travel roster, with the Bears’ 25-member frosch-soph class likely to see much of the action.

“It’s a big ask mentally and physically to front to this much rugby over a weekend, but I sense it’s just what we need,” coach Clark said. “Competition is what our youngest players need most.”

Last year, the Bears advanced past Oregon, USC and Washington State to face UCLA in the final.

With a format of 40-minute matches for Saturday and 60-minute matches for Sunday, the Bears will play 360 minutes of rugby in total this weekend, the equivalent of over four full matches. The conclusion of Sunday’s action will mark the end of nine contests to date in the Bears’ 2009 campaign, putting the roster’s varsity playing experience at an impressive depth considering the season began only one week prior.

2009 Men’s gymnastics preview:

 BERKELEY -With a solid core of returners and a bright freshmen class of eight recruits, the California men’s gymnastics team looks to have a solid foundation for the upcoming 2009 season. Although the Golden Bears lost eight letterwinners from the 2008 season – including five-time NCAA champion Tim McNeill, who is helping coach this year’s team as a graduate intern – the team returns nine letterwinners and welcomes seven newcomers.

“It is always the goal is to be competing the last day of the year in the finals of the NCAA Championships,” Weiner said. “We need to see if we can be a good enough team together to be one of the final six teams and give ourselves again the chance to have a shot at winning the championship. Now, having said that, we lost a lot, but we also have a lot back.”

The talented senior class of four gymnasts – Kyle Brady, Kyson Bunthuwong, Justin Franklin and Evan Roth – will provide leadership and depth for the Bears. Brady, who is a three-year letterwinner and is in his first year at Cal’s Boalt Hall School of Law, joins the team to close out his collegiate eligibility. Franklin joined the squad last season as a junior and his season best score came in the upset over Penn State (March 15), with a 14.150, and the Vallejo, Calif., native is hoping to add floor and vault to his repertoire in 2009.

Captaining the squad this year are Kyson Bunthuwong and Roth. Kyson Bunthuwong, who will return to the all-around for Cal, excels at both pommel horse, on which he is a two-time All-American. Roth had the team’s best result of the year on vault with a 16.150 at the NCAA team qualifier (April 17). Weiner notes that Roth has matured since coming to Cal and that he has the ability be an NCAA ring and vault finalist this season.

FUCLA’s Verner will return

UCLA cornerback Alterraun Verner, who led the nation in passes defensed, will return for his senior season, according to a release for the school.

The ESPN.com first-team All-Pac-10 cornerback was credited with 20 passes defensed (two interceptions and 18 defenses) and his average of 1.67 per game led the nation.

Gwen Knapp on Big Mac…I used to love that guy…

But the best defense for McGwire has nothing to do with the slippery ethics of doping. It’s the fact that he didn’t commit perjury. Whatever grandiose vision he might have about himself, he didn’t have the gall to lie under oath, thinking that people would just believe him because of who he is.

Contrast that with Roger Clemens, whose Congressional appearance included the following: A. A defense about growth hormone used at his home that shifted the blame to his wife, who apparently wanted to look hotter than usual while posing for the SI swimsuit issue, B. Discussion of a supportive call he received from the elder President Bush on a duck-hunting trip, and C. Borderline hysteria over Andy Pettitte’s incriminating statements.

In fact, Clemens’ “he mis-remembered” line has more staying power than McGwire’s aversion to talking about the past, because it can’t be erased and because some wag Photoshopped a picture of Pettitte, adding a beauty-queen tiara and a sash that said “Miss Remembered.”

that’s all I got for now…slow news day.

Mike Montgomery is Jesus on the baseline

Eddy Kleinhans, the team’s public-address announcer and KNBR host of “March2March,” got openly mocked for his preseason prediction that the Bears were going to get a tournament berth. Media had projected Cal would repeat its eighth-place finish, but Kleinhans knew something that had yet to become public knowledge.

“To a man, every player I talked to said they were learning so much in workouts,” Kleinhans said. “It was obvious that Montgomery was wholly changing the culture of the team.”

The most dramatic change has been in the play of Jerome Randle, who is second in the conference in scoring at 19.1 points a game and has raised his assist total while committing fewer turnovers. After a nearly perfect offensive performance (26 points, 10 assists) against Arizona State, Randle gave Montgomery the credit. Of course, Montgomery maintained that the junior point guard made the improvements on his own.

Montgomery has been able to walk a tightrope between giving the players confidence in their abilities while demanding even more. He gives them freedom to make decisions, and teaches when they make the wrong ones. He is never satisfied, but not demeaning.

in Joe Lunardi’s latest Bracketology.

It’s early (still mid-January), but that’s an incredibly awesome result, given where the Bears were less than a year ago (heck, even three months ago). Also, the No. 5 seed comes with a first-round trip to Portland, which is the closest sub-regional site this year. Definitely road trip-able.

Article on PChris:

LIKE THOUSANDS in our inner cities, then and now, he was introduced to the big orange ball as a baby and fell in love with it. Thank goodness. For young Patrick Christopher, basketball became a tool of survival.

The ball kept the boy busy, kept him safe from the streets, kept his dream in the line of sight.

It spared Christopher, now a junior wing at Cal, from the traps and hazards that abound “smack-dab in the middle of Compton,” the Los Angeles-area community known as much for gang violence as for producing terrific athletes.

One of those athletes happened to live across the street from Christopher. Detroit Pistons forward Tayshaun Prince, eight years older, is Patrick’s god-brother — and big-brother figure.

“As a kid, I used to dribble around my neighborhood,” Christopher says. “Everywhere I would go, I’d carry my basketball with me. I wasn’t going that far, I was in Tayshaun’s back yard playing basketball. It’s something I grew up doing.”

Kids who grow up as Christopher did quickly become acquainted with pressure and fear. They know the violence, hear gunshots at midday, see boyhood pals disappear to the prison or the morgue. The first order of business in many such neighborhoods is the basest human desire: survival.

If you can survive the streets, then the basketball court, no matter who else is on it, is a picnic.

Slightly old article on womens bball:

BERKELEY— Joanne Boyle called the game “ugly,” a fitting — and somewhat generous — term for what transpired at Haas Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.

The Cal women’s basketball team slogged its way to a 62-34 victory over Washington, and though the No. 13 Bears locked down defensively, tying their fewest points allowed in a Pac-10 game, the result still left Boyle with plenty of talking points.

“I feel really good about some of the things we did, in particular defense and rebounding,” she said. “We have to be able to convert on those things. We had good looks. We’re in the open court, and we’re not making great decisions, transitioning from getting a great rebound and getting transition looks on offense. We’re being sloppy with that stuff, and we’ve got to clean that up.”

Cal (13-2, 4-0) has one week to attend to its shortcomings before No. 11 Stanford rolls into town. No doubt, offensive execution will be the main topic of discussion. The Bears scored only two field goals over the final 10:36 of the first half, committed 21 turnovers and outscored Washington by just five points in the second half.

Containing the Cardinal, eight-time defending Pac-10 champion, is an entirely different proposition than handing a reeling Huskies team clearly in recovery mode following back-to-back beat-downs.

Look back t Monty and UW game

– The Bears got a little lucky, and they know it. "There’s always a certain amount of luck involved. We didn’t exactly plan to have Patrick (Christopher) not draw iron on that last shot (in the second overtime) and have D.J. standing there to catch it," Montgomery said of the play where D.J. Seeley converted a put-back and free throw to force a third OT.

" You always say good luck happens to teams that prepare themselves, and OK, I’ll buy that," Monty said. "But there were circumstances that presented themselves: Does the official pass on the foul call (on Seeley) with (1.3 seconds)? How many times have you seen that in this league? He was fouled. There was no question, but they don’t always make that call. Then D.J. steps up there as a freshman and makes that shot."

By comparison, the Huskies missed 12 free throws in the second half and three OT periods after going 4-for-5 in the first half.

"There were circumstances involved where we were fortunate," Montgomery said, "and we need to understand that."

because everywhere else in the world it’s 2009.

Why did the pirate like the movie?

I, umm, found this SBN blog:

http://www.malepatternfitness.com/

Yes, Rishi, I’m straight.

http://www.ibabuzz.com/beartalk/2009/01/14/football-season-review-secondary/#more-2783

An A-minus for Syd’GOD, Darian the Barbarian et al.

It appears that Longshore and his wife are having a kid.

New blog post from Shantrell:

Our success against the Washington schools this past week was a much needed sweep for us going into one of the biggest weekends of the season. We beat Washington State on Jan. 8, 68-45, and then also defeated Washington on Jan. 1, 62-34.

In past years, any game against the Cougars has almost always turned into a battle. They have given us problems in the past because of the fact that they have nothing to lose and play 110 percent from start to finish. Schools like that can and often are the most dangerous teams. This year, the Cougars are much improved at each position and they are a completely different team than they were last year. Their athleticism on the wing and mobility in the post with the ability to shoot the three made our game against them more of an even match-up than in previous years.

After our win against Washington State, we all had one thing and one thing only on our mind. We wanted a win against Washington after we lost to the Huskies, 74-66, in the last game of the regular season on their home court to cost us our Pac 10 title. Going into this year’s game against Washington, there was a collective focus and eagerness to step out on the floor, win, and remind them of what it’s like to play in Haas Pavilion against a top-10 team.

about getting in on the epicness that was yesterday’s DBD, but I was intimidated by the massive quantity of subtle and intelligent humor contained within it.

So…much…flagging…