LINK

We’re seeing that repetitive injuries are causing damage to the nerve cells and these brains—a lot of these players are developing early signs of dementia as a result of these repetitive hits. And that’s where this kid is at risk. If he goes back and plays and this happens again and again, how many times will it take to cause early dementia? Nobody knows.

LINK

It’s going to take more creative ways to make the athletic program self-sufficient than cutting a whole team.

Get rid of meaningless expenses. Cut Andy Ludwig. Cal has had three offensive coordinators in the last three years, and the Bears still run the same plays. Save the money on his contract, or at least don’t give him a headset. Those things are expensive.

And there’s a ton more that can be cut, but let’s focus on making money.

Take a page out of the Milwaukee Beers’ strategy-sell more ad space. The AXE Hair Gel student entrance. “The Clutch Protection of the Day,” brought to you by Trojan Magnums. Imodium D sample packet night. People love that stuff.

Cal should try to get a cut of the UCPD’s profit from all the drunk-in-public citations they issue to students before home games. Football games provide them with students, and the UCPD should give the athletic department a take of the racket’s profits.

Think old school-every dollar counts. I would pay $3 for one of Sandy Barbour’s snickerdoodles at a bake sale before every home game. Tell me you wouldn’t buy a Cal linemen swimsuit calendar for $10. Can you say gold mine?

Gregory generously understates the nearly 75% completion rate.

Of course, Cal’s success against Rodgers didn’t help the team overall, as Oregon State ripped through the secondary. Beavers quarterback Sean Canfield’s 29-for-39, 342-yard performance more than made up for his team’s futility on the ground.

Defensive coordinator Bob Gregory said the Bears (6-3, 3-3) might have focused too much on Rodgers, creating holes that Canfield exploited.

“You are going to have games where the defense is stuffing the run,” Canfield said. “That just means you have to make some throws down the field in the passing game, and we did that.”

LINK

For some reason Cal Head Coach Jeff Tedford and Offensive Coordinator Andy Ludiwg were in love with calling the swing pass to the slot receiver again and again, and in situations where that play would not gain, say nine yards for a first down on 3rd and 9, as was done in the fourth quarter.

Tedford and Ludwig had the right formation idea – five wide receivers – but continuously running that play when it did not work was really frustrating to watch.

When the play calls were right on, Riley failed to connect with open receivers, essentially reverting to his overthrow habit of a few games back. But even here, a correctable pattern has emerged: Riley simply does not throw the crossing pattern or corner pattern or any lateral movement pass pattern calling for the passer to “lead” the receiver, consistently well, yet Tedford and Ludwig keep calling plays featuring those patterns. This has been a season-long problem.

If one goes back to the videos from this season, Riley throws the deep fly pattern well, the post pattern, as well as most quick-opening patterns like slants. But the kind of passes Riley would throw well don’t seem to be a major part of Cal’s system: hook patterns where the receiver goes 12 yard and then turns back into the quarterback; or drive patterns, which are deeper variations of the slant pattern, or seam patterns with the slot receiver and “out” patterns to the sideline, with varying depths timed to the quarterback’s dropback. That’s several different patterns alone that Riley would excel at executing if they were in Cal’s system and drilled on again and again.

The best offenses fit the plays to what the quarterback does best. Yes, you may say Riley should learn to make those throws, but not during the season; that’s what the off-season is for. If he can’t do that, forcing him to make the throws he’s not good at only produces losses and Cal’s got three of them now.

Ratto raises an intriguing point.

But with what we know about the human head and its relationship to football (they are not friendly), it may be time to finally build that wall between teams and the medical advice their players receive, especially when it comes to brain work.

As in this: If a player is injured during a game, a physician or medical team is on hand to evaluate and treat. If the head is involved, the player cannot play any further until he has been sent to a hospital and evaluated by specialists who have no relationship to the team or the university, who will then solely determine when a player may return to duty.

Not the coach. Not the team doctor. Nobody from or connected to the university. Not even the player.

This is not a new idea; it has been proposed by ethicists, former players and other ne’er-do-wells for decades now. It has always been rejected on grounds of paternalism and control, and then, like most other health and safety issues in football suggested from outside, it is rejected until the evidence becomes overwhelming, or someone loses a lawsuit from a distraught family.

So like all circular issues whose time never seems to come until the evidence is beyond overwhelming, it is time again to bring the debate back, only this time with the new pile of medical studies, pictures of CAT scans and the clip of Best’s landing as the lead-in to any discussion.

LINK

The Packers are on pace to give up 74 sacks this year, which would shatter the club’s previous record of 62. Green Bay set the original record in 1990, when Tony Mandarich was a starter. Current Packers OL coach James Campen was ironically the starting center on that team. Incredibly, Aaron Rodgers remains the No. 1 overall fantasy QB despite the line woes. He has 14 TDs in his last six games.

Academic Ranking of World Universities just published their 2009 survey

We’re #3! We’re #3! Behind Harvard and the (ugh) the Farm.

highlights:

1. in math
2. in computer science
3. in economics and business
4. in chemistry

here’s the methodology – it focuses on the sciences, as the methodology is mainly centered around major awards (Nobel, Fields Medal etc.) and published paper – both for alumni and current faculty.

Here’s a quick list off the top of my head (with a slight cheat) – this is by no means final.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Return of the King
3. The Departed/Infernal Affairs
4. Memento
5. O Brother Where Art Thou

Two bonus:

Shaun of the Dead

The Dark Knight

The 22-year-old tells NBC: “It was for private use, but does that justify what I did? No. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Ms. Prejean, if you recall, is the Bible thumper who’s fradulent breasts were purchased by Trump & Co. and made several comments against gay marriage. I believe she’s been on the Jesus tour for some time.

Interesting.

No offense intended for SoCal Bear fans, but I think I’ll stick to my N. Lake Tahoe ski slopes.

Can a brotha’ get a down payment?

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana has put his estate outside of Calistoga up for sale.

Montana is asking $49 million for the 500-acre property.

Besides a 9,700-square-foot main residence, the estate includes an equestrian center, basketball court, skeet shooting range, gym, pool and spa.

The article does not comment if the sale price comes with Jennifer Montana.

A few nominations and a few cheats:

Crash
Vanilla Sky
Revolver
The Jacket
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kill Bill

My Cheats:
Domino – loved what Tony Scott did with it
28 Days Later

Women’s soccer facing Auburn in NCAA Tourney:

BERKELEY – The California women’s soccer team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Committee announced Monday evening. The Golden Bears (10-8-1 overall, 4-5-0 in the Pac-10) will take on Auburn (10-8-3) in the first round of the tournament on November 13. The selection is Cal’s 17th playoff bid, the 11th in the last 12 years and the sixth straight.

“It’s great for the team,” Cal head coach Neil McGuire said. “I think the players are well deserving of this – they played well all season. Some results haven’t gone as planned, but over the course of the season, Cal earned this bid.”

The Bears finished out the regular season with a 10-8-1 overall record and closed their conference campaign at 4-5-0 to finish tied for sixth in the competitive conference.

While this will only be the second meeting between the Bears and the Tigers in program history, the last time the two teams played each other was also in the NCAA Tournament and also in Tallahassee, Fla. Cal defeated Auburn, 3-1, to advance to the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.

Cal is no stranger to postseason play in the state of Florida and the city of Tallahassee – the Bears have played in Florida in four of the past five NCAA Tournaments. Last year, the Bears lost to No. 7-seeded Florida in Gainesville. Cal traveled to Tallahassee for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in 2006 as well as for the third round in 2005.

The Tigers earned an at-large bid and bring a 10-8-3 overall record into the tournament. Auburn finished its conference schedule at 6-5-0, losing in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to LSU, 1-0. Last season, the Tigers reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 6-seeded Florida State, 1-0, in Auburn, Ala.

Rebecca Howell paces the Tigers with eight goals while Katy Frierson has a team-high 10 assists for a squad-leading 20 points. Goalkeeper Amy Howard has allowed an average 1.16 goals in 21 games of work for Auburn. Karen Hoppa coaches the Tigers and takes her squad to her ninth NCAA Tournament in 10 seasons at the helm of the Auburn program.

XC Going to Regionals:

CAL ON ROAD FOR NCAA REGIONALS: Invitations to the 2009 NCAA championships are on the line this weekend when the California cross country teams travel to Oregon for the NCAA regional meet. The event will be held at Springfield Country Club, with the men’s 10,000-meter race beginning at 9:45 a.m. and the women’s 6K starting at 10:45.

The top two teams in each race earn automatic berths to the NCAA championships Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, Ind. Individual and at-large bids will also be at stake. The women’s field includes six ranked teams, including No. 27 Cal, as well as No. 1 Washington, No. 5 Oregon, No. 14 Stanford, No. 16 Arizona State and No. 24 Arizona. Five schools from the men’s rankings will be present as well, led by top-rated Stanford.

The West Region encompasses colleges from the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, with the exception of Idaho State and Northern Arizona, which compete in the Mountain Region. Last season, the Cal men finished fourth and received a second consecutive at-large bid to NCAAs, where they placed 22nd. The Golden Bear women were seventh in 2008 and are seeking their first trip to the NCAA meet since 1988 when they were third at regionals.

Additional information on the regional meet can be found at here.

CAL WOMEN 5TH, MEN 7TH AT PAC-10 MEET: Sophomore Deborah Maier’s sixth-place finish helped the Cal women’s team take fifth overall at the Pac-10 championships Oct. 30 in Long Beach, Calif. – the program’s highest placing since the Bears were third in 1988. Cal claimed seventh place in the men’s competition. Maier, who completed the 6000-meter course in 20:00.10, had the best showing for a Bear individual at Pac-10s since Elissa Riedy was also sixth in 1997. She also improved on last year’s team-best 41st-place finish at the ’08 conference championships. The men, who were short-handed due to several key runners being affected by illness and injury, were paced by Steve Sodaro, who finished 18th.

VBall player receives award:

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – California volleyball senior outside hitter Hana Cutura has been named the Pacific-10 Conference Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 2-8, Commissioner Larry Scott announced today (Nov. 9). This is Cutura’s second player of the week award and the 26th time a Golden Bear has been selected for the honor. Cutura becomes the first player to receive the award twice this year and is the fourth player from Cal to be selected twice in the same season. The Zagreb, Croatia native was selected Pac-10 Player of the Week and AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 26.

Cutura led the 13th-ranked Bears to their third consecutive victory over a ranked opponent as they defeated No. 24 Washington State and No. 4 Washington on the road, including handing the Huskies their first loss at home this season. In Friday’s 3-1 win over the Cougars, Cutura recorded her team-high seventh double-double of the season with 19 kills and 10 digs.

In Saturday’s five-set upset over Washington, Cutura notched her third 30-kill performance of the season, as she posted career-high marks in kills (33) and attacks (77). In the process, she became Cal’s all-time career kills leader with 1,825, passing 20-year record holder Tiffany Rochelle. She also moved into third place for career attacks with 4,244.

On the weekend, Cutura totaled 56 points, 52 kills and 18 digs. She leads the Pac-10 and is third nationally in kills (5.10 kps) and fourth in points (5.59 pps).

The No. 12-ranked Bears (15-8, 8-5 Pac-10) host Oregon State (12-12, 3-9 Pac-10) on Friday, Nov. 13, in a 7 p.m. PT match before No. 16 Oregon (16-6, 6-6 Pac-10) completes Cal’s regular-season home schedule with a 12:30 p.m. PT match on Sunday, Nov. 15. The Bears will honor Cutura, libero Kristen Kathan and mid

Just in case people missed this in the open thread last night. Couple cited for having sex too loud in UK. Whatever you do, do not look at the photo of them:

Now Mrs Cartwright is appealing a conviction by magistrates for breaching a noise abatement notice that banned the couple from ‘’shouting, screaming or vocalisation at such a level as to be a statutory nuisance’’.

She is using Article 8 of the Human Rights Act to argue that she has a right to ‘’respect for her private and family life’’.

Mrs Cartwright, of Washington, Tyne and Wear, is also arguing that she cannot help making the noise and has instructed a sexual psychologist to give evidence on her behalf.

Rachel O’Connor, a neighbour, said she was frequently late for work because she overslept having been awake most of the night because of the noise.

‘’It is not very pleasant living there and it has been quite stressful,’’ she told the court.

‘’I always feel intimidated living there. I was aware of it when I first moved in but I did not believe it would be this bad.’’

BTW, best movie of the decade is Anchorman.

Period.

Warning: Actual Cal football-related content.
Disclaimer: This is 100% speculation with only anecdotal evidence, not actual stats, to back it up. If the data proves me wrong, that’s fine. If my thesis is wrong, tell me.

People have complained that we haven’t had a successful QB since Aaron Rodgers (or maybe since 2006 Longshore), which is odd for a head coach who built his reputation as a groomer of quarterbacks. And I was wondering if Tedford’s insistence on making QBs dropback passers plays some role in this.

Now, Longshore is built to be a prototypical dropback passer, so for this, I’m really looking at two QBs — Ayoob and Riley.

Ayoob was perhaps the most athletic QB we’ve had this decade, perhaps moreso than Boller. He had the ability to scramble (remember the “White Michael Vick” tag?) and make throws on the run. He most definitely was not a drop-back, stand in the pocket, type of passer. Looking at some of his game tape from his JC days, he really looked sharp in a spread offense. I personally am speculating that were he to be in a Florida-esque spread (even a more dumbed-down version), he could have succeded as a quarterback, because his talents were more suited to such a system.

On the flip side, Riley isn’t quite Ayoob, but it seems to me that he excels at the two-minute drill. When he overthinks, he overthrows. When the coach playcalls on the sideline, sends the signal in, Riley conveys it in the huddle, etc, then he doesn’t look too great. But when he runs a hurry-up offense, no-huddle, I personally think he’s actually looked good. Now I’m not a huge fan of Ludwig (I really think running Best up the middle too many times isn’t taking advantage of his talents) and I definitely don’t think he’s putting Riley into the right system.

I hope I’m making sense here. The bottom line is something I’ve said for a while — just because it’s used in the NFL does not make a pro-style system better in college than any other system.

Still need to think about my absolute top film of the decade; however, one movie that is in my top five for the decade that is absolutely underappreciated, is Children of Men. I honestly felt this film was phenomenal.

GLADIATOR!!!!!!!

Link

What’s more interesting is that they put up the actual contracts on some coaches.

Here’s Tedford’s

This time it’s Clinton Portis.

Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis left a 31-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons yesterday after taking a blow to the head.

Portis departed with 3:20 remaining in the first quarter after a helmet-to-helmet hit from safety Thomas DeCoud. There was no penalty on the hit.