CGB HoF Sweet Sixteen: J.J. Arrington vs Leon Powe
The Sweet 16 rolls on! From here on out, the winners of these polls automatically enter the CGB Hall of Fame! Two of Cal's greatest modern athletes face off.
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".
J.J. Arrington
via i.a.cnn.net
Tightwad Hill encapsulated Arrington's 2004 season perfectly.
Cal fans were understandably anxious to see what Arrington would do carrying the full workload in 2004. What he did was have the greatest season by any player in the history of Cal football. That’s right. The greatest season ever.
In each of his 12 games, Arrington hit for at least 100 yards – the only back in America to make that claim. Against Air Force in the opener, he scored three times including an 89-yard run that set a Cal record. 3 more scores against NMSU, and then a couple of off games – 108 yards and a TD v Oregon State and 112 in the heartbreak loss to SC. Then J.J. got serious.
The first 1:19 are the only Cal highlights I could find of JJ. The run at :49 is my favorite. Nice tackling Ducks.
Leon Powe
Not many Cal fans can find a bad word to say about Leon. ragnarok has this classic story from the old blogsome of Powe's greatest performance in gold & blue:
Already demanding notice after setting a tournament record with 20 rebounds in avictory over USC the previous night, Leon Powe had what is probably his signature game at Cal during the semifinals of the Pac-10 tournament. Seventh-seeded Oregon was fighting for its season; with a 15-17 record, the Ducks knew there would be no postseason for them if they didn’t win the Tournament. Still, they had managed to beat hapless Washington State and then upset second-seeded Washington the next night, and early on, it looked like they might pull off their improbable run to the title game, sprinting out to a 32-16 lead in the first half. Then they ran into Leon Powe.
Of course, it took a team effort from the Bears to battle back from a 16-point deficit, including trailing by 7 with less than 3 minutes to go, but it often seemed that most of that team effort involved feeding Powe in the low post over and over and over again. And why wouldn’t they? The man was virtually unstoppable that night, shooting 14 of 17 from the floor and 13 of 18 from the line. You don’t really need an offense when you have Leon Powe, but the Bears did need every one of his tournament-record 41 points (and two overtimes) to hold off the Ducks in a game that had me (alone at home) screaming at my television and nearly convinced me to drive down to LA for the final. These Bears should have been upset, but Powe put them up on his back and barreled them into the final virtually singlehandedly.
As great as that performance is, we love Leon for a lot more than his put back dunks or even being the Show in the NBA Finals. His story from rags to riches would have left Jamal Malik reeling and Latika swooning. Leon Powe is where amazing happens.
Vote it up!
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Of all the matchups I saw in the Sweet 16
I had a feeling this one would be the closest. Can the Powe Show pull it off???
Contact me: bearsnecessities@gmail.com
by Avinash Kunnath on Aug 7, 2009 12:44 PM PDT reply actions
This is really tough. JJ had the single greatest offensive season of any modern Cal football player. However, Leon spent an extra year at Cal, his story is more compelling, and I think he meant more to Cal basketball during his time than Arrington meant to Cal football. JJ had a great offensive line, a great quarterback and some excellent WR. Leon did it by himself.
It'll be just you, me, and Peter Nincompoop.
Don’t speak ill of Ubaka like that!
Supreme Leader Ayatollah TwistNHook!
www.CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/09/SPG7ROICU11.DTL
(03-09[-07]) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles — In the Cal locker room, there are signs that read, “Anything can happen,” and “Dreams come true in March.”
When senior point guard Ayinde Ubaka strutted across the Staples Center court Thursday afternoon, pounding his chest in the final seconds of the Bears’ 76-69 Pac-10 tournament quarterfinal win over No. 4 UCLA, his belief in the signs had been strengthened.
by Yes We Cannon on Aug 7, 2009 6:17 PM PDT up reply actions
Arrington
I;‘m new here and but I’ve always read the blog. Awesome stuff guys. I always loved Powe, but I voted Arrington because he was a key part of the best Cal team in the last decade that should have been in the BCS. Powe never got us past the first weekend of the tournament.
Praying that Tim Alderson doesn't come back to bite us
Dub tee eff?
How is JJ not getting more love on this poll? From wiki:
The 2004 season would see Arrington earn the starting tailback spot after the departure of Echemandu for the NFL. Arrington played a major role in the Cal Bears’ first 10-win season since 1949. He would rush for at least 100 yards in every single game that season. Arrington rushed for 169 yards or more in eight of his team’s 12 games as well.
Ultimately Arrington would have one of the greatest seasons of any running back in NCAA and Pac-10 history, gaining 2,018 rushing yards that season. He became only the second Pac-10 Tailback to gain over 2000 yards, joining USC tailback Marcus Allen. His mark is also the tenth best total in NCAA history. He would receive the honor of the Pop Warner Award, deeming him the best College Football player on the west coast. He would also earn All-American and All-Pacific Ten conference honors.
Don’t punish him because the BCS screwed us out of the Rose Bowl. He was the key to that great season.
“He was the key to that great season.”
This didn’t factor into my voting at all, but just throwing this out there for consideration. If Arrington wasn’t on the team, would the team have been any worse? Marshawn was nasty, and I think he could have replaced almost everything Arrington gave the team.
by Missing Barry on Aug 9, 2009 7:37 PM PDT up reply actions
Even I had to think a bit
before throwing my vote behind the Show.
I’m giving it to the Show for overcoming adversity 20 billion times to succeed.
Powe is a sentimental favorite of mine. The double-OT game vs. Oregon in the Pac-10 tournament probably tipped it for me.
So, basically, you gotta Go Bears!
You had to think a bit before voting for yourself?
This one has all the makings of a classic.
Contact me: bearsnecessities@gmail.com
by Avinash Kunnath on Aug 7, 2009 10:07 PM PDT up reply actions
I’m giving it to the Show for overcoming adversity 20 billion times to succeed.
That’s pretty much why I voted for Leon. They both had big impacts at Cal, but Leon had to go through much tougher situations his entire life. Plus he’s had a more impactful pro career (in my opinion, at least).
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