Dude, were facing Utah:

Cal/Utah Outlook
Cal heads into its seventh consecutive bowl game with five victories in its final seven regular-season games. The Golden Bears finished 8-4 overall and 5-4 in the Pac-10 to tie for fifth place in the conference. Cal had an opportunity to finish tied for second with a victory in their final regular-season game at Washington but suffered a 42-10 loss.

In their previous two outings Nov. 14 and Nov. 21, the Bears posted wins over ranked opponents in their home finale vs. Arizona and in the 112th Big Game at Stanford – marking the first time the Golden Bears had accomplished the feat in consecutive weeks in 59 years since home wins over Washington and UCLA on Nov. 11 and 18, 1950. After falling to Oregon State at home on Nov. 14, the Bears rebounded with a hard-fought 24-16 victory over Arizona (then No. 17 BCS/No. 18 AP, No. 19 USA Today) in their final home game of the season. The Bears then knocked off the Cardinal (then No. 14 AP/No. 17 USA Today/No. 17 BCS) by a 34-28 count. Arizona and Stanford ended up finishing in a second-place tie (along with Oregon State) in the final Pac-10 standings. Both had three-game win streaks ended by the Bears and were leading the Pac-10 in total offense coming into their games against Cal but were limited to an average of 306.0 yards per game by the Bears’ defense.

Utah was still in contention for the Mountain West Conference title in mid-November. The Utes won their first five league games before falling in road games at TCU and BYU – a pair of teams that finished No. 4 and No. 14 in the final regular-season BCS Standings, respectively. The Utes only other defeat was at Rose Bowl-bound Oregon, which is currently the nation’s No. 7 BCS team. Utah finished the 2009 regular season 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the MWC for a third-place showing. Last season, Utah posted a perfect 13-0 record and a Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama to rank No. 2 in the final AP ranking and No. 4 by USA Today.

Cal-Utah Series Notes
Cal holds a 4-2-0 series lead over Utah in the six games played between the schools. The teams have played just twice in the last 45 years. Utah was a 31-24 winner the last time the teams played in Salt Lake on Sept. 11, 2003. Three seasons earlier, the Bears scratched out a 24-21 victory on Sept. 9, 2000. During the 2003 matchup, the primary quarterbacks were Aaron Rodgers (Cal) and Alex Smith (Utah), both of whom became first-round NFL Draft picks in 2005. Rodgers was 15-of-25 for 224 yards and two touchdowns while rushing eight times for 28 yards. Smith was 18-of-27 for 136 yards, in addition to rushing 12 times for 71 yards and a score. This will be the first postseason meeting between the two clubs.

LET’S ALL GO TO PLEASANTON:

BERKELEY – Come meet members of the California men’s basketball team at the Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton on Saturday, Dec. 19, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Jamal Boykin and Max Zhang will all be present to meet the fans, sign autographs and take pictures at the Grand Court in the mall. Cal’s lovable mascot Oski will also be in attendance to take pictures and meet the kids.

Fans will also have a chance to win a number of prizes at this free event for fans of all ages. The first 200 fans will receive a voucher good for discounted tickets (restrictions apply). Fans will also have a chance to win Cal basketball tickets, autographed memorabilia, courtside seats to a Cal women’s basketball game, as well as Cal holiday ornaments.

Purchase a full-price Cal hat at Lids in the Stoneridge Mall and receive a free Cal ornament. If you purchase $25 worth of Cal merchandise, in addition to the free ornament, fans will also receive two tickets to Day One of the Golden Bear Classic on Dec. 28 at Haas Pavilion. The offer is good for in-store purchases on Dec. 19 and Dec. 20, while supplies last.

Womens BBall takes on Long Beach State:

The California Golden Bears (4-4) end an 11-day break with a game Monday, Dec. 21 at Long Beach State, taking on the 49ers (3-7) at 5 p.m. at the Walter Pyramid.

Head Coach Joanne Boyle will again try for her 100th career win as the Cal head coach. With a victory, Boyle will become just the second head coach in Cal history to achieve triple-digit wins with the Bears. She comes into the game with a Cal career mark of 99-39. Her overall career record is 166-68, including her three seasons as the head coach of the Richmond Spiders.

Long Beach State comes into the game looking to snap a four-game losing streak, including a pair of losses to Pac-10 teams. They lost 83-77 at home against USC and 102-70 at Oregon.

Cal is also looking to return to the victory column after dropping two straight games. The Bears have not lost three games in a row with Joanne Boyle as their head coach. The last time Cal lost three game is a row was the later portion of the 2004-05 season when they dropped back-to-back-to-back contests against Stanford, UCLA, and USC. The last time they lost three non-conference games in a row was earlier that season at the Rainbow Wahine Classic where they went 0-3 against TCU, Idaho, and Hawaii.

Women’s Soccer players receive honor:

BERKELEY – Four members of the California women’s soccer team were named to the All-Pacific Region Team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, it was announced Tuesday. Junior forward Alex Morgan was placed on the second team while senior defender Brianna Bak, senior midfielder Katie Oakes and sophomore midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir were named to the third team.

Morgan is currently with the U.S. senior national team at training camp, marking her first call-up to the national squad. Thanks to Morgan’s team-leading 14 scores this season, Morgan now has 31 career goals, and is now tied for fourth place all-time with Erika Hinton for career goals. With 36 points accumulated this year, she now stands in fifth place with 41-career points, just fourth points shy of tying for third.

Bak, a four-year letterwinner, has been a stalwart defender on Cal’s backline and was co-captain with Oakes this season. Bak scored her lone goal of the season in the 22nd minute against Texas, jumpstarting the Bear offense to a 4-2 victory.

Oakes started 19 of the 19 games in which she played. Oakes scored thrice in 2009, two scores coming off of successful corner kicks. Oakes, who was a key member of Cal’s midfield in her four years as a Bear, also had two assists and was co-captain with Bak this season.

Women’s Gymnastics has new promotion:

The California women’s gynastics program and head coach Cari DuBois are announcing an exciting new way for young gymnastics fans to enjoy Cal gymnastics meets this season. Kids in the eighth grade and younger are encouraged to sign up to become a member of Cari’s Cub Club. Members of Cari’s Cub Club will be able to sit down on the floor in special cub club seating to watch the Cal gymnasts compete during the 2010 season. Cari’s Cub Club members will receive a Cari’s Cub Club t-shirt, cheer cards, a poster, and pom poms. Coach Cari DuBois will come over and visit with members prior to the start of the competition. They will also have a chance to possibly be the honorary team member for the day. After the meet, members are encouraged to join the Cal women’s gymnastics team in the Haas Club Room for autograph signing and picture opportunities!

I know normally I wait until the morning to post the DBD, but I was so excited by this investigative journalism into the psyche of Kevin Craft that I just had to put it up! I deserve a pulitzer!

We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.

We don’t need no education
We dont need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall.
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall.

Free-agent quarterback J.P. Losman has agreed to terms with the Raiders, NFL Network’s Michael Lombardi has confirmed.

Bruce Gradkowski, who had started four games for the Raiders this season, missed the second half of his team’s 34-13 loss to the Washington Redskins with a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and a partially torn MCL in his right knee. A second opinion Tuesday confirmed that result. On Monday, Raiders coach Tom Cable said that wasn’t quite ready to elevate former No. 1 overall draft pick JaMarcus Russell back into the starting role, and that he wouldn’t rule out third-stringer Charlie Frye as an option if Gradkowski couldn’t play. A decision on the team’s starting quarterback for Week 15 is expected Wednesday.

In other news, 82% of NFL fans would rather kick a wounded puppy down a flight of stairs than watch JaMarcus Russell play professional football.

Does anyone know if Tad Smith: (1) Applied for a medical redshirt (2) Know what the status of that application is

A broad, yet concise overview of the question….

http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/15857/expansion-roundup-quotes-and-links

Here

The stereotype of computer scientists as geeks who memorize Star Trek lines and never leave the lab may be driving women away from the field, a new study suggests.

And women can be turned off by just the physical environment, say, of a computer-science classroom or office that’s strewn with objects considered “masculine geeky,” such as video games and science-fiction stuff.

“When people think of computer science, the image that immediately pops into many of their minds is of the computer geek surrounded by such things as computer games, science-fiction memorabilia and junk food,” said lead researcher Sapna Cheryan, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Washington. “That stereotype doesn’t appeal to many women who don’t like the portrait of masculinity that it evokes.”