I work in a growing economy and the recession affects me. Our headcount – even though its open and we deseperately need to hire – we can’t because just recently laid off 10 people from our department in the States – so I’m now doing TWO jobs (rebounding and defending) one of which I’m wholly unqualified to do and learning as I go along.

By Cory McCartney

With Jahvid Best physically unable to participate in Cal’s spring practices while rehabbing from foot and elbow surgeries, running backs coach Ron Gould thought up a solution to keep his star tailback sharp: visualization.

“At the beginning, I didn’t really understand it,” Best said.

Gould gave Best a script of each day’s practice and asked the junior to mentally put himself through the same drills and snaps his teammates were performing. “I started doing it and I saw that it was helping me be mentally prepared,” Best said, “so when I physically can go I’ll be there mentally and physically.”

Even if he initially thought it was all mumbo-jumbo, Best has learned that when Gould talks, he’s wise to listen. In 12 years in Berkeley, Gould, the running backs guru, has developed a laundry list of NFL draftees, tutoring the likes of J.J. Arrington, Adimchinobi Echemandu, Justin Forsett, Marshawn Lynch and Tarik Smith.

….Continued


http://m.si.com/news/cfb_sp/to_cfb_sports/detail/1564984

Womens Tennis to host NCAA Regionals:

The No. 9-ranked California women’s tennis team (17-4, 7-1 Pac-10) has been selected to host first and second round matches in the 2009 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships. The Golden Bears received the No. 8 seed in their 28th-consecutive appearance in the NCAA championship tournament and are riding a six-match winning streak into a matchup against unseeded Northeast Conference champion Long Island (10-7, 3-0 NEC). The Blackbirds are on an eight-match winning streak entering the postseason. Cal and LIU will face off at 1 p.m. on Friday, May 8, at the Hellman Tennis Complex.

In the other first-round match, No. 31 Texas (16-7, 10-1 Big 12) will take on No. 41 Pepperdine (13-11) at 10 a.m. on Friday, May 8. The Longhorns took a second-place conference finish and are making their 27th-consecutive appearance in the tournament after advancing to the round of 16 a year ago. The Waves won their 22nd West Coast Conference crown to earn an automatic postseason bid.

The winners of each match will play in the second round match scheduled for Saturday, May 9, at noon. Sunday, May 10, will serve as a make-up day in the event of weather-induced postponement. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for seniors, students with valid identification and youth (K-12). Single-day tickets will only be sold at the gate.

Pacific beats baseball:

BERKELEY, CALIF. – The California baseball team had 14 hits – including home runs from junior catcher Dylan Tonneson, freshman outfielder Danny Oh and junior second baseman Jeff Kobernus – but were plagued by five errors and yielded 17 hits in a 16-11 loss to Pacific Tuesday afternoon at Evans Diamond. The Golden Bears dropped to 19-23 overall and the Tigers improved to 17-22. Tonneson and Oh had three hits and three RBI apiece, while Kobernus extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

The losing pitcher for Cal was sophomore right-hander Brian Diemer (1-6, 1.1 innings, six hits, four earned runs, one walk), who was the fourth of six Bear hurlers. The winning pitcher for UOP was the second of four Tiger hurlers, David Rowse (2-1), who game into the game in the fifth and threw 4.0 innings with four hits, two earned runs, four walks and three strikeouts.

Cal had jumped out to a 4-0 lead with four runs in the second inning on Kobernus’ lead-off homer, an RBI single by Tonneson, a wild pitch by Tiger starter Hunter Carnevale and an RBI single by junior center fielder Brett Jackson. But, UOP made a comeback with two runs in the third inning, and single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Finally, the Tigers took the lead with five runs in the sixth inning on five hits and an error with 10 batters coming up to the plate.

Cal got within 9-5 with a run in the sixth inning on an RBI single by Oh, but then yielded single runs in the seventh and eighth innings, and five runs in the top of the ninth. The Bears mustered two runs in the eighth inning on Tonneson’s two-run homer, and four runs in the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by junior designated hitter Blake Smith, an RBI single by sophomore pinch hitter Austin Booker and a two-run homer by Oh for the final 16-11 margin.

Mens golfer in hunt for Pac10 Title:

SEATTLE – John Murphy and Stephen Hale both fired 69s on Tuesday at the Pac-10 Championship, with Murphy in the hunt for the individual title in a tie for 2nd place and Hale leaping 17 places into a 23rd-place tie with teammate Eric Mina, but California remained 6th and fell 4 shots behind Stanford in its bid to crack the top half of the pack at the tournament with 18 holes remaining tomorrow.

Michael Jensen’s 75 and George Gandranata’s 74 leave them tied for 41st, while Kent Yamane fired his second 79 Tuesday, which does not figure in Cal’s tally with the championship’s five-count-four format.

The Washington Huskies had a 13-under day as a team and lead the event at 8-under, with UW’s Dan Wallace in the lead at 9-under, five strokes ahead of Murphy.

The final round tees off tomorrow with live scoring available at Golfstat.com. Wednesday.

Womens Crew to meet Stanford:

This Week
California faces Stanford in the Big Row on Saturday, May 2, at Redwood Shores Lagoon in Redwood City, Calif. The Golden Bears’ varsity 8+ has won the last six straight head-to-head races against the Cardinal.

Here is the schedule, including the men’s races that will also take place on May 2 at Redwood Shores, for the Pac-10 dual between the two rivals:

10 a.m. MV8+

10:10 a.m. WV8+

10:30 a.m. WVL8+/W3V8+

10:40 a.m. M2V8+

10:50 a.m. W2V8+

11:00 a.m. WV4+

11:15 a.m. MF8+

11:30 a.m. WN8+

Cal’s top-ranked varsity 8+ last faced fourth-ranked Stanford at the April 18-19 Lake Natoma Invitational, co-hosted by the Bears and Sacramento State. Cal posted a time of 6:20.56 in its varsity 8+ final to beat Stanford (6:29.41) and Wisconsin (6:31.85).

Softball to take on UC Davis:

The No. 13/14 California Golden Bears will play their final non-Conference game of the regular season at UC Davis on Wednesday, April 29 at 3 p.m. and then return home for a three-game weekend series at Levine-Fricke Field. On Friday, the Bears host No. 8/7 Arizona in a game that will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net. First pitch is at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the No. 4/7 Arizona State Sun Devils open a two-game set with a 1 p.m. first pitch. The series wraps up with the final home game of the year for the Bears on Sunday, May 3 at 12 p.m.

Cal moved up in both polls this week, coming in at No. 14 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top-25 poll and at No. 13 in the USA Today/NFCA poll. The Pac-10 continues to dominate the polls with four of the top-five teams in the USA Today/NFCA poll coming out of the conference. Oregon and Oregon State are the only teams in the Pac-10 not ranked in the top-25.

Junior pitcher Marissa Drewrey was back to form last week, striking out 15 batters in 14.1 innings of work. Drewrey allowed just two earned runs in her two complete-game victories. She threw her third one-hitter of the season against Oregon on Sunday, coming within one out of tossing a no-hitter. With two outs behind her in the top of the seventh, Oregon sent a pinch hitter to the plate who rifled the first pitch she saw down the left field line to break up the no-hit bid. It was the sixth time in Drewrey’s career that she threw a one-hitter. It was the fifth one-hitter of the season for the Cal pitching staff. The game was also Drewrey’s team-leading eighth shut out of the season.

Mens crew also to take on Stanford:

This Week
California takes on rival Stanford in the Big Row on Saturday, May 2, at Redwood Shores Lagoon in Redwood City, Calif. The Golden Bears’ top-ranked varsity 8+ is seeking the Schwabacher Cup, awarded to the victor of the annual race between Cal and Stanford’s varsity 8+ boats. Stanford’s varsity 8+ is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation.

Here is the schedule, including the Cal and Stanford women’s races that will take place on May 2 at Redwood Shores, for the Pac-10 dual between the two schools:

10 a.m. MV8+

10:10 a.m. WV8+

10:30 a.m. WVL8+/W3V8+

10:40 a.m. M2V8+

10:50 a.m. W2V8+

11:00 a.m. WV4+

11:15 a.m. MF8+

11:30 a.m. WN8+

Cal had won the annual varsity 8+ competition between the rivals 17-straight times heading into last season’s meeting, in which the Cardinal’s ninth-ranked boat defeated Cal’s sixth-ranked varsity 8+, 5:42.52-5:43.39.

Womens water polo player named to all tournament team:

BERKELEY – Junior utility Camille Hewko was named to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Tournament team, the conference announced Tuesday. She is the first Golden Bear to be named to the team since 2005, when Elsie Windes was placed on the team.

Hewko paced the Bears with three goals in the 12-8 victory over No. 6 San Jose State in the opening round of the tournament on April 24.

She scored the first goal against No. 1 USC, when she scored before the halftime break to bring the Bears within two, 3-1.

I know exactly what you are talking about, Ragnarok. Recently, I had to give up my gold-plated monocle, because 3 of my butlers felt it sent the wrong signal to the rest of my butlers.

But keep your head high, because I’ve heard there might just be a gold-plated monocle on its way to you!

PS DON’T FORGET TO SET UP A “PREDICT IT” FOR THE MEME INVITATIONAL!!

Is there a snazzy Wed/weekend job you could snatch up? Your a computer guy, right? Is there a computer service that’s analogous to a handyman/carpenter? Is the Geek Squad hiring?

My brother-in-law’s small business is about to drop like $800k on inetgrated secured software/website to help make their business flow like the California Aqueduct. How to get in on similar types of action?

I’ve had to cut back on the number of hookers I “employ.” I used to “employ” four per week but my wife has made me cut it down to two per week! She says we need to tighten our belts! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ECONOMY COMING TO??!!!?

here has us at 20.

Key returnees: QB Kevin Riley, RB Jahvid Best, DE Cameron Jordan, CB Syd’Quan Thompson.
Spring star: QB Brock Mansion. The sophomore from Dallas closed spring practice strong, but he still remains locked in a competition with junior Riley and redshirt freshman Beau Sweeney for the starting job. Coach Jeff Tedford will pick a winner during preseason camp.
Spring recap: The Bears’ Best player missed spring practice after foot and elbow surgeries in January, but the nation’s top returning rusher should be ready for camp. Senior Chris Guarnero, healthy after an injury-shortened 2008, should replace Alex Mack at center. Meanwhile, Mychal Kendricks and Devin Bishop should fill the vacant linebacker spots.

from here:

UCLA’s quarterbacks. Rick Neuheisel will pick a starter, but only because he has no choice. In the spring game, probable starter Kevin Prince started 1-for-7 with an interception, prompting Norm Chow to say, “If this is too big for you, we’ll call off the game.” Holdover starter Kevin Craft, meanwhile, failed to complete a pass in five attempts and fumbled a snap inside the five-yard-line, while newcomer Richard Brehaut completed 7-of-14 passes for 47 yards and a TD. At this rate, it’s hard to imagine things getting much better for a squad that threw 21 interceptions to nine TDs a year ago.

here:

Clothing and sobriety would seem unlikely requirements of a college Ultimate Frisbee squad, but the lack of both has brought an end to the University of Oregon’s season. A five-member student board that governs club sports at the university has voted to cut the season short because of conduct violations.

There are no words to express this.

For Yellow Fever:

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Despite missing the playoffs for two straight years, Rod Thorn is convinced the New Jersey Nets are on the right road and that Lawrence Frank is the man to lead the team.

Thorn announced on Wednesday that the 38-year-old Frank, who is the longest tenured coach in the Eastern Conference, will be returning for a sixth full season.

“In my mind, Lawrence is a very good coach,” Thorn said. “The players understand he knows what he is doing and they play hard for him.”

Thorn said he reached his decision on Frank’s future the past two weeks and told him on Wednesday morning.

Frank has posted a 225-225 record in five-plus seasons as coach. He has a year left on a contract that was to pay him $4.5 million next season. His 225 wins are a franchise record.

Frank was not immediately available for comment.

Thorn is not concerned that Frank will enter next season as a lame duck.

This much

8. California: The Bears move up because of departures from teams that were in front of them and the decision by Patrick Christopher to return to school. Cal is the clear favorite in the Pac-10 with the top backcourt in the West (Christopher and Jerome Randle).

LINK

Sean Marks plays consistent, important minutes for the New Orleans Hornets.

He is the second most consistent player on a team that just lost by 58 points. I think this is an honor.

Name a specific part of the body that shrinks as a person gets older. Show me private parts!

The correct answer was biceps.

I met a few folks from another school with solid academics. Somehow, we were talking about times in college, including the parts in-between drinking (class). I mentioned how it was normal how classmates would refuse to help each other (or, in some more devious cases, would provide wrong answers) when midterms were coming up, so that they could beat the curve.

Apparently, this is unheard of elsewhere.

lost my old job in April – but I’d already lined another gig for the summer, so no harm no foul (aside from the 6 weeks of no work in between jobs). My main problem is that I’m now trying to make a living in a line of work where there ain’t much money to be made. I’m good for summer, but after that… well, I’m hoping the economy’s improved enough that I can get a part-time job to fill in the gaps in my main job. And if I can’t… damn, I might just have to leave California for somewhere that isn’t so in-the-crapper.

Good times.