Oh, and apparently Cal has some sort of forward-passing rugby team with some kid named Jahvid Best.’

Go on…………….

many times. I think he’s pretty funny too so I suppose one could chalk that up to having a similar sense of humor.
 
not sure who this Jahvin Boast character is but he sounds interesting…

That’s basically me. Without the girls. Or the sexy accent. Or the interestingness. Or really anything that he has.

I guess on CGB I’m more:

I am seriously blanking at who I am actually like though.

I’m the one on the left:

He’s so damned fabulous.

…albeit a bit darker skinned

The Ten Most Influential Films of the Past Ten Years.

For those who just want the list: Bourne Ultimatum, Sky Captain, Greek Wedding, Traffic, Polar Express, Rushmore, Matrix, Children of Men, 40 Year Old Virgin, Coraline.

I’m not a fan of tearing down lists, so can anyone find films from the past decade that have been more influential?

LINK

California women’s tennis senior Claire Ilcinkas received her third selection to the Pac-10 Conference All-Academic team as Commissioner Tom Hansen announced the 2009 Men’s and Women’s Tennis All-Academic teams Monday, June 1. Ilcinkas took her second consecutive spot on the first team (2nd team in 2007) and was joined by fellow seniors Bojana Bobusic and Marion Ravelojaona and sophomore Marina Cossou, whom each received honorable mention. For Bobusic, it was her third such honor.

To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor. An economics major with a 3.69 GPA, Ilcinkas was an instrumental piece to a run that led the Golden Bears to their second consecutive NCAA runner-up finish. She logged a 31-10 singles record and posted a 20-4 mark in dual matches. In doubles play, Ilcinkas added 25 victories as she was selected to compete in both the NCAA singles and doubles championships.

LINK

California men’s tennis senior Geoff Chizever and sophomore Bozhidar Katsarov received second-team honors as Pacific-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen announced the 2009 Men’s and Women’s Tennis All-Academic teams Monday, June 1. Sophomore Jonathan Dahan was selected for conference all-academic honorable mention. To be eligible for selection to the academic team, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 overall grade-point average and be either a starter or significant contributor.

Chizever, an interdisciplinary studies major (3.37 GPA), earns his second selection to the all-academic team as he led the Golden Bears to 14 doubles-point victories in 22 matches this season. He and partner sophomore Pedro Zerbini posted a team-high 25-13 doubles record as they won the 2008 Wilson/ITA Northern Cal Championships doubles title. The two were subsequently selected to the NCAA doubles championship where they advanced to the round of 16. Katsarov, undeclared major with a 3.68 GPA, recorded 15 singles wins with 12 coming in dual matches to go along with 14 doubles victories this year. Dahan was third on the team with a 17-11 singles record and added nine doubles wins. Katsarov and Dahan are each first-time selections to the all-academic team.

LINK

California placed nine Golden Bears on the MPSF Women’s Lacrosse Academic All-Conference team, the conference announced on Monday. Cal seniors Morgan Dyson (goalkeeper), Ghillie Little (defender), Stephanie Smith (defender) and Elizabeth T Jahp (midfielder); juniors Tighe Hutchins (midfielder), Alyse Kennedy (midfielder) and Alex Tickner (midfielder); and sophomores Emily Abbood (midfielder) and Chapin Jackson (midfielder) earned the MPSF’s academic accolades.

LINK

Pac-10 champion California placed 22 Golden Bears, including six from the varsity 8+, on Pac-10 All-Academic teams, the conference announced last week. Seniors Elena Humphreys and Lou Kinder from Cal’s varsity 8+ earned spots on the first team along with senior Vanna Rocchi and junior Shay Seager from the second varsity 8+, which finished second in the grand final of the recent NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships. The Bears finished second overall in the national regatta, which took place May 29-31 at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif.

Cal placed 14 student-athletes on the all-academic second team – sophomores Bridget Moran (2V8+), Avalon Radys (3V8+), Jenny Rusher (3V8+) and Claudia Walterspiel (3V8+); juniors Kirsten Campbell (2V8+), Jill Costello (2V8+, coxswain), Adrienne Keller (2V8+), Laurel Kuhn (2V8+), Katie Luke (2V8+, coxswain), Taryn O’Connell (V8+); and seniors Melissa Herman (2V8+), Katy Milton (V8+, coxswain), Kaiti Seders (2V8+) and Sam Silvia (V4+).
 
Four Bears – sophomore Danielle Detloff (3V8+), freshman Elise Etem (2V8+), sophomore Mary Jeghers (V8+) and senior Lauren Nowinski (V8+) – earned honorable mention distinction.

LINK

California men’s crew, in the midst of preparations for the annual IRA Regatta, placed four members of its varsity 8+ on the Pac-10 All-Conference teams and 14 members of its program on the Pac-10 All-Academic teams. Junior Nareg Guregian, sophomore Nick Lucey, senior Jan Tize and junior Nikola Zunic from Cal’s varsity 8+ earned spots on the Pac-10 all-conference team. Zunic was also among 14 Bears who were awarded all-academic first team, second team or honorable mention status.

This is the second all-conference honor for Tize, who along with Guregian, Lucey and Zunic won the Pac-10 varsity 8+ title on May 17 at Lake Natoma in Gold River, Calif., the site of this week’s IRA Regatta. That boat’s victory in the last race of the day propelled Cal to the overall team crown at the Pac-10 Rowing Championship.

Cal put three Bears on the Pac-10 All-Academic first team – senior Janis Fontein (varsity 8+) and juniors Matt McLaren (V4+) and Jack Zhou (V4+, coxswain) – 10 Bears on the second team – juniors Will Dean (2V8+), Sean Engel (V4+), Kirk Halterman (open 8+), Jimmy Henson (novice 8+), Jordan Sartor (V4+) and Zunic; and seniors Jarrod McClendon (open 8+), Michael Porter (2V8+, coxswain), Geoffrey Roth (2V8+) and Axel Stelter (V8+). Cal sophomore Will Kolbe (open 8+) earned honorable mention.

Follow her blog here.

Cal Women’s Soccer Twitter feed is here!

“I was once great, but then I started coasting…and management still kept me on the payroll.”

Better f**king believe it.

Dont forget to vote for all the CGB Meme Invitational Action in the UC Eugene regional.

Here

and here.

Its been pretty tight and J-Y is pulling the upset over Lebowski! Only 3 votes separate CougCenter Week and Syd on offense!!!

It’s back. All links SF Gate unless otherwise noted:

Possible Air France debris found.

A dining couple keeps it real.

Groomzilla is a reality.

National Parks will be free on weekends this summer. Oh hell yes.

SF to cut 1600 jobs.

Fiorina doesn’t vote. Not a real good characteristic for someone who wants to be in politics.

The truth regarding sunscreen.

Club a Baby Seal:

Visit the marine mamal center in Sausalito (open to the public on 15-June). Or, check out the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo St. Park (while it’s still open; CA.gov).

Dick supports gays getting married. Selective morals?

Sports

YO on Lindy’s:

–USC’s visit to Cal on Oct. 3 is listed as one of the top 12 conference games across the nation this season.

–Lindy’s selected an all-decade team and Alex Mack was the second team center.

–The publication lists its top 100 recruits for 2010 and two Cal commits are among the rankings: quarterback Austin Hinder checks in at No. 76 and linebacker Cecil Whiteside is No. 91.

Wilner’s being a dick

But unofficially, the pressure has been turned on the Cal program for 2009.

The summer magazines are out and so are their national rankings — and these magazine rankings give us a pretty good idea where Cal will land in the preseason polls, which help establish the (external) pressure and expectations on various teams and coaches.

Bottom line: The college football world will have high expectations of the Bears, which as we’ve seen over the years isn’t necessarily the best thing for Cal.

The Bears do not always respond well to pressure and are more likely to underachieve than overachieve — not since 2004 have they finished the season ranked higher in the AP poll than where they started.

Let’s start with the ‘09 magazines …

* Cal’s ranked No. 11 by Athlon’s.

"If the passing game emerges, Jeff Tedford’s club could be in position to challenge USC for supremacy in the Pac-10." (Quote by Athlon’s editor taken from Cal’s website.)

* Cal’s ranked No. 12 by Lindy’s, behind USC

Says the mag: "With 15 starters back from a nine-win team, the Bears can push USC for the Pac-10 championship. It’s just that the Trojans always push back harder."

* Cal’s ranked No. 21 by Sporting News, behind USC and the Oregon schools.

Says the mag: "If the Bears had a few more players like the electrifying Jahvid Best, the Pac-10 could be a four-team race."

Given those rankings and my experience as an AP voter — not only in voting but in talking to other voters — the guess here is that Cal will land in the No. 10-15 range in the AP preseason poll.

That doesn’t bode well for the Bears in the post-Aaron Rodgers era.

He ends it with:

Maybe that all changes in ‘09.

Calogne on the rookies:

The Carolina Panthers have been trying to find backup linemen and a starting long snapper. Cal’s Nick Sundberg is in the hunt for the long snapping chore, but there’s still an awful lot of talk about the Panthers bringing back their former long snapper, Jason Kyle, this coming season. It doesn’t seem as though the Panthers are listening much to the talk just yet.

One of Cal’s favorite linebackers, Zack Follett, is fast becoming a favorite in Detroit – especailly after vowing to knock every player drafted ahead of him out of the games that he plays them in. For now, his biggest obstacle is learning the defensive playbook being installed in Detroit by former Raiders and Chiefs defensive guru, Gunther Cunningham.

The Chicago Bears have been sending their rookies all over the surrounding area to help the community. Undrafted rookie Will Ta’ufo’ou has been one of those rookies listed. Whether it’s promoting the importance of daily physical activity or refurbishing a teen center for the Boys and Girls Club of Lake County in Waukegan, the Bears rookies are putting in the time for good causes.

One thing forgotten with the drafting of Cal’s Alex Mack with the 21st pick was that Cleveland already had a pretty good player starting at Mack’s position. Hank Fraley told reporters that he’s ‘a team player’ and has already shared with the rookie lessons he learned about being a professional football player. So far, Fraley has good reviews of the 2009 Draddy Trophy recipient.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNHmq0PvPiY

This one is NSFW but I bet the lawyers will love it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D3aRPJI1Tc&feature=related

One of my English teachers in High School told me I would have made a very good Mr. Darcy (from Pride and Prejudice). I always liked that comparison.

And do you agree that Wilner has failed?

I know carp posted the link, but I’ll post the part of the story I’m using for the question he asked

But during the four-season stretch (2005-08) in which Cal has repeatedly failed to produce a better-than-expected year, four other Pac-10 programs have pulled surprises to the upside:

In 2005, the Bruins and Ducks were unranked in the preseason and finished Nos. 16 and 12, respectively.

In 2006, Oregon State received zero votes in the preseason poll and finished No. 21.

In 2007, the Sun Devils were unranked in the preseason poll and finished No. 16.

In 2008, the Beavers were unranked in the preseason and finished No. 18 while the Ducks were No. 21 and finished No. 10.

Sure, the Bears’ sometimes-lofty preseason ranking can limit the opportunity for an upside — like in ‘06, when they were No. 9 in the preseason.

But at the same time, 0-for-4 is 0-for-4.

You’d think that just once in that window, Cal would either handle the pressure (2007, anyone?) or exceed expectations. And yet it has repeatedly failed at both.

I found a quiz to help me decide!

Your Result:

You’re Jean Valjean from Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo. You were unjustly imprisoned for 19 years, and when you got out, you devoted your life to helping others around you, while at the same time you evaded authorities. You helped a prostitute’s daughter, and forgave all your enemies. You died at a nice old age, with your loved ones at your side. Aww.

That’s all true, except for the ‘being-a-guy’ part.

WOOOOOO ITS SUMMER!!!! PARRRRTAAAAAAYYYYYY.

Is anyone a member? What the hell is it like, and why do people pay real money for virtual property?

And some quotes:

Big 12 officials announced the telecast times for 2009 football games that have been selected to be aired on ABC, ESPN, FSN and Versus.

The list, released Monday, includes 14 telecasts on ABC or ESPN. Nine of the games are part of the Big 12’s conference package and five will be aired as nonconference road games. Of the 19 games selected, eight will be played on days other than Saturday.

Colorado emerged as the early leader for guaranteed air time, with five telecasts. Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Missouri were selected three times. Texas Tech and Nebraska have two guaranteed telecasts. Texas A&M, Kansas and Iowa State have one appearance each.

http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sports/story/1408239.html

This is pretty much me. Some people say that the Robert Downey Jr character in Scanner Darkly reminds them of me, but I resent that comparison.

you can create your own simpsons character on their website.
http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html

Jim Harbaugh is a lonely man. He keeps begging people to call him.

Coaches Roman, Shaw and I are watching ball tape. If you are following, feel free to give us a call.

Nothing new presented, the Pac-10 is discussed at the end of page two.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/andy_staples/06/01/conference-expansion/index.html?eref=T1

Talks about the conference expansionism taking place in the early 90’s.

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1140740/1/index.htm

Jahvid is #6

http://heismanpundit.com/archives/2140

The UCLA recruit Randoll Carroll finished 5.

Thanks EDSBS.

Ohio native Lauren White is stationed in Germany, where she met Buckeye head coach Jim Tressel during his travels headed to the Middle East last week. Read her email here …

Jim and about 5 other coaches are on a morale tour visiting troops overseas. The gym was almost all Ohio State fans, it was hilarious. The UCLA coach came in first and started to talk to the OSU “side”. Tressel walked in and the whole place just ignored UCLA and started chanting OH-IO…..it was awesome. I got Tressel’s book, for free of course, and he signed it, a hat, shirt, and some photos…yea!!!

The lesson? Bruins fans don’t serve in the military. Wonder why?

Jesus.

YOkanes:

I got off the phone with Deputy Director of Athletics Steve Holton a few minutes ago and found out a couple of interesting things:

–Because of the poor economy, coach Jeff Tedford has agreed to have the team bus to the UCLA game this season rather than fly. The Bears usually take charter flights to all road games, but the UCLA game is close enough that the team will travel by bus and save the athletic department a good chunk of change.

–The seating capacity at the renovated Memorial Stadium will be about 62,000. That’s a little lower than I first understood the plan to be, but Holton said the designs always had the capacity being slimmed to around that mark. The exact capacity still hasn’t been decided, but it will be about 10,000 seats less than what it is now.

Yeah, I don’t know either.

LINK

Google set out to digitize the world’s books in 2003, got sued for its trouble in 2005 by publishers and authors wanting to make money from the efforts, and in 2007 came to a proposed settlement that gives Google the rights to scan, index, display and even sell millions of books that are in copyright. So far its Google Book Search program has digitized around 10 million books from the some of the nation’s most prestigious university libraries, but only small portions of most in-copyright books are shown online currently.

(Learn more with Wired.com’s Google Book Search Settlement FAQ.)

Even the deal’s critics — such as New York University professor James Grimmelmann — admit that the deal sounds great: Books in copyright but out-of-print become available for viewing and purchase by the public, and researchers and students at universities will get access to the full technology.

But Grimmelmann, whose Google Book Search research has been funded by Microsoft, says that the Google deal gives it exclusive rights to books that are in copyright whose authors can’t be found — so-called orphan works — and that any competitor who wants to try the same project could get sued for huge sums of money.

That makes a monopoly, Grimmelmann told conference goers at the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

"On Day One, it will be illegal for anyone else to do what Google is doing," Grimmelmann said.

Way to answer my thought-provoking DBD, guys :(

What a disappointment.

Because I cannot make this stuff up

June 2 (Bloomberg) — Helios Capital Management Pte, the hedge-fund manager once backed by Tudor Investment Corp., plans to start a "Slumdog Millionaire" fund that will buy underperforming shares of Indian companies.

"We want to find slumdogs from the Indian equity markets who have the potential of becoming millionaires," Samir Arora, founder of Singapore-based Helios Capital, said in an interview.

The firm plans to raise about $50 million by the end of July for its long-only Helios India Jai Ho Fund, Arora said. "Jai Ho," which means "victory" in Hindi, is the Oscar- winning theme song from "Slumdog Millionaire," a feel-good tale of a Mumbai orphan’s escape from poverty that scooped eight Academy Awards, including best picture, this year in Los Angeles.

From here:

Last week EA Sports announced one new and innovative way to play Madden online with the advent of two-player co-op. Two pigskin junkies will be able to hop onto Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network and play together while enjoying customized camera angles for every position on the field. Today at Electronic Arts’ E3 press conference EA Sports let loose their second new multiplayer initiative: online franchise mode.

I’m guessing they’ll also do the same for NCAA 2010 this year, so yeah. Does this mean I need to get a Xbox 360 to be like everyone else on the blog now? And I want to call, “Not Washington, Wazzu, Arizona, or UCLA” right now.

Owens, who still is searching for a place to live, posted a message on his Twitter page Tuesday night:

sittin here trippin about residents @ 1 DEER RUN wn’t rent 2 me b/c they said they dn’t want any drama n their neighborhood!! LOL!!! Wow!!

There is a house for sale or rent at 1 Deer Run Ct. in suburban Orchard Park, where the Bills train and play. List price for the 4,002-square-foot, six-bedroom home is $489,387 (how do you come up with that number, anyway?), while the monthly rent is $2,950.

So Owens is good enough to receive a key to Buffalo, but some folks don’t want him moving in.

I’m Michael Bolton from the office. I hate my job, I might be fired, and I’m always messing up some mundane detail!

I’d be Captain Spaulding from “Animal Crackers”. I can’t understand how my mind works, but I just know it does. And it’s hilarious.

Spaulding: One morning, I was sitting in front of the cabin, smoking some meat.
Mrs. Rittenhouse: Smoking some meat?
Spaulding: Yes. There wasn’t a cigar store in the neighborhood. As I say, I was sitting in front of the cabin when I bagged six tigers.
Mrs. Rittenhouse: Oh, Captain!
Spaulding: Six of the biggest tigers…
Mrs. Rittenhouse: Captain, did you catch six tigers?
Spaulding: I bagged them. I…I bagged them to go away, but they hung around all afternoon. They were the most persistent tigers I’ve ever seen. The principal animals inhabiting the African jungle are moose, elks and Knights of Pythias. Of course, you all know what a moose is. That’s big game. The first day, I shot two bucks. That was the biggest game we had. As I say, you all know what a moose is? A moose runs around on the floor, and eats cheese, and is chased by the cats. The Elks, on the other hand live up in the hills, and in the spring they come down for their annual convention. It is very interesting to watch them come to the water hole. And you should see them run when they find it is only a water hole. What they’re looking for is an alco-hol. One morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don’t know. Then we tried to remove the tusks…but they were embedded in so firmly that we couldn’t budge them. Of course, in Alabama, the Tusk-a-loosa. But, uh, that’s entirely irrelephant to what I was talking about. We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren’t developed, but we’re going back again in a couple of weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbyzTI0M8eo