CGB HoF Sweet Sixteen: Morgan Beck vs Marshawn Lynch

Two of Cal's most popular athletes square off in a battle for the inaugural CGB Hall of Fame class! The winner automatically enters the CGB Hall of Fame!

For each athlete, you can vote in the poll; it closes a week from today at midnight.  After the jump, you can read the athlete profiles written up by our commenters, and discuss in the comments your memories of each athlete and which one deserves to move on. 

Check out the full bracket here.  To check out the original nomination thread, click here. For those who want to track the CGB Hall of Fame posts exclusively, click here or right next to the timestamp above where it says "Hall of Fame".

Morgan Beck

This whole section is thanks to Danzig here.

MORGAN BECK

(Click to enlarge)

TEAM USA BIO  
CAL BIO 
FIVB BIO

Home:  Coto De Caza, CA
Birthday:  3/30/1987
Position: Opposite/Outside Hitter
Height: 6-3/191 cm
College: California
Current Team: Women's US National Team

If an official vote were to be taken today, she wouldn't make the Cal HOF.  No surprise, she only graduated this year.  But why does she deserve to be inducted into our mock HOF?  Because in the following years, we probably won't be able to keep her out. 

She's an incredible volleyball player and a physical presence at the net.  She still has the most impressive overhand jump-serve I've ever seen.  She's got a big time arm and has the feet to play both indoor or go pro-beach.  Her fluid movements remind me of another great player, Gabrielle Reece.

Forecast: MORGAN BECK WILL BE THE NEXT GABRIELLE REECE.  She's got all the tools to attain the female-athlete career trifecta: sports, modeling and broadcasting.  Plus, she's a Cal grad so we should probably expect a book or two.   Morgan and Gabrielle play the same position, are the same height and are both from SoCal.

 

The evidence is starting to pile up: 

1999-2000: Gabrielle Reece represented our country in international Volleyball competition.

 

2009: Morgan Beck will be representing our country in international competition, starting this year.

 

When you play for the USA, sometimes you have to wear red.

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Gabrielle Reece started modeling during college (FSU).

...Morgan is just getting started.

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Gabrielle's book was, um... I didn't read it. 

Morgan's first book was a tour de force.  Her elegant hybrid-asset pricing model started turning heads immediately among the savviest hedge fund traders.  It was also clear that she had a guru's grasp of the fundamentals of value investing. 

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Do I detect a pattern here?  Now Morgan just needs to get on TV. 

(By the way: Reece was inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame in 1997.)

Why does she deserve a spot in our mock HOF?  Because one day she's going to make our school look cool.  She's going to represent Cal and the USA on the world stage.  And we're going to be so proud that she's a Golden Bear.  

Marshawn Lynch

via www.mybearterritory.com

Avinash: That Washington game was awesome. You could feel the tension in the stadium, that all our Rose Bowl hopes were about to slip away to some 4-6 team (probably a warning sign of things to come). Then Marshawn entered Beast Mode and would not let us lose. Great great game.

 

I also have fond memories of him playing second backup to Arrington. Underscores the importance of having two not just capable but dynamic running backs. Forsett had his struggles in his backup role to Marshawn, Vereen did the same with Best. There was no real drop off with Marshawn though. 8.8 yards per carry, 8 touchdowns on only 71 carries.