DBD 9.1.09 Gameday Rituals

Great article on the Squid.

During a session of one-on-one’s with defensive backs covering receivers, I watched Thompson sit in the hip pocket of Verran Tucker—the same Tucker who won one of Cal’s starting receiver jobs to start the season. Tucker streaked ten yards up field, cut on a dime towards the sidelines, then cut quickly again up the field. Thompson never let Tucker get farther away than a forearm’s length, maybe less.

What made the battle so impressive wasn’t just the fact that Thompson wasn’t fooled on a double-move by the receiver. The coverage was so extraordinary because that double-move by Tucker was impressive and the receiver still looked like he was handcuffed to Thompson.

There were many more situations that Thompson showed his talents, but nothing epitomizes the senior corner more than when he makes the best receivers look pedestrian. That sort of talent comes from hard work, which is what he did during the offseason. When Thompson wasn’t working in team activities, he had plenty of other things to help improve his game. Thompson explained, “Being able to get out on the field and like work a little technique stuff by myself, getting in the weight room a little longer, and just really helping guys. You know, learning from other players at the same time.”

Thanks to LeonPowe for picking up. Plus some stuff about Max!

Two games to watch out for nonconference:

Cal versus Syracuse, Nov. 19 (Coaches vs. Cancer): Long before the Bears go to Kansas, they’ll have a shot to make some noise in New York with one game against Syracuse and then another opposite either Ohio State or North Carolina. Cal needs to at least split at MSG to prove it has staying power for the long haul. It has as many veterans back as Ohio State and more than Syracuse and UNC.

Cal at Kansas, Dec. 22: The Bears are the conference favorite, and that means they must perform well outside the league. Cal will get a shot to make a national name for itself in December when it goes to Allen Fieldhouse. No one should expect the Bears to beat the loaded Jayhawks, but this Christmas week game will offer up a golden chance for them to make themselves known as a national contender.

Again, hat-tip Leon Powe. LINK

Former Cal coach Pete Newell, as highly regarded for his basketball acumen around the world as he was in Berkeley, has been inducted into the FIBA International Basketball Hall of Fame.

Newell, who died last November at the age of 93, led Cal to the 1959 NCAA title, then coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Games. A member of that team, Oscar Robertson, is also part of the 11-member FIBA class. The only other American honored this year was the late Kay Yow, former women’s coach at North Carolina State.

Newell coached the Bears for six seasons through 1960, but continued to be influential in the sport worldwide for decades after. Besides coaching the Olympic team and working in the NBA, he traveled to conduct clinics and camps around the globe and was particularly revered in Japan.

His teams at Cal reached the NCAA Tournament four times, and his final squad was national runnerup in 1960. His teams in Berkeley were a combined 119-44.

The summer of 2009 is going as bad for the Trojans as Verdun did for the Germans.

USC’s secondary shuffle went from temporary to permanent on Monday after starting cornerback Shareece Wright was declared academically ineligible.

Wright’s status had been in doubt throughout training camp, forcing Josh Pinkard to move from safety to cornerback for last weekend’s mock game at the Coliseum.

LINK

UCLA’s football program and fans may feel the heat of the fires currently raging through Southern California.

The Station Fire that is tearing through a La Cresenta and other areas not far from Pasadena already claimed more than 85,000 acres, the lives of two firemen and caused more than $7 million in damage on Monday afternoon — and the leading edge of the fire is about four miles from the Rose Bowl, where on Saturday afternoon UCLA is scheduled to start its football season against San Diego State.

Jimmy Tran of the Daily Cal answers that question for you.

So why do fans return every fall with hopes of a Rose Bowl berth or even a national title game appearance, especially when the conference has been ruled by a powerhouse that has arguably been the best team in college football over the past eight or so years?

For fans, it shouldn’t be about liking a team just because they win games. It’s more about respect and whether or not the attitudes of the players on the team fit their visions of how the game should be approached.

It begins with desire, and that’s why 72,000 strong will be packing Memorial Stadium every home game. This team is so hungry and likable that it would be crazy, at least at this point, to question its heart.

TV and radio notes. I know David Norrie digs some rock and roll thing in SF (he did some feature on it during the Oregon game last year).

Television: ESPN2 – Terry Gannon (Play-By-Play), David Norrie (Analyst)

*Cal Radio: KGO 810 AM (San Francisco) – Joe Starkey (Play-By-Play), Troy Taylor (Anaylst), Todd McKim (Sideline)

*Each broadcast begins with a 30-minute pregame show that leads to the kickoff. The postgame show includes reaction from the Bears’ locker room and the "Postgame at the Paragon" live program from the Paragon Bar & Cafe at the Claremont Resort & Spa hosted by Lee Grosscup and Kate Scott.

ISP Sports/Cal Radio Network Affiliates: KGIL 1260 AM (Los Angeles), XSURF 540 AM (San Diego), KESP 970 AM (Modesto), KTKZ 1380 AM (Sacramento)

Sirius XM Satellite Radio: Cal fans can listen to the ISP Sports/Cal Radio Network broadcast feed on Sirius XM Satellite Radio on channel 220 (Sirius) and channel 193 (XM).

CalBears.com: Visit CalBears.com for complete coverage of Cal football, including a live play-by-play update via Gametracker.

Brandon Mebane taking down Matt Cassel animated breakdown.

LINK

California junior running back Jahvid Best and senior defensive back Syd’Quan Thompson continued to be showered with 2009 preseason honors on Monday when both were selected to the CBSSports.com 2009 Preseason All-American first-team. Both have been named to multiple first-team preseason All-American squads prior to the 2009 campaign.

Best is one of the nation’s leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy and also on watch lists for the College Football Performance Awards Player of the Year and Running Back of the Year, Doak Walker Award, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award. He is the country’s leading returning rusher after averaging 131.67 yards per game last year when he ran for 1,580 yards to record the second-highest single-season total ever at Cal. His 8.1 yards per carry in 2008 set a new single-season school record while his 15 rushing touchdowns tied the Bears’ single-season mark. Best was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection as a running back in 2008 after earning the same honor on special teams as a true freshman the previous campaign.

Season kicks off this weekend against Iona, #12 Navy and #18 Bucknell.

After a one year hiatus from competing for a national championship, the 2009 California men’s water polo team is back and ready for another run at the NCAA crown. Kirk Everist’s squad was not able to make it three-straight in 2008 after winning back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007, yet the Golden Bears return five players with championship rings and the knowledge of what it takes to capture a final, plus several other standouts ready to build on Cal’s legacy of 13 national titles.

Leading the Bears’ way to the top will be senior captain Spencer Warden, Cal’s most decorated returning player. Warden, a 6-4, 190-pounder, is a three-time All-American and was a second-team All-America pick last season after leading the team offensively with 40 goals and defensively with 68 steals. He has been a clutch performer ever since his freshman season when he was MPSF Newcomer of the Year and produced the match-winning assist against USC in the 2006 NCAA title match.

Two more stalwarts, senior captain Mike Sample and junior Brian Dudley, represent the best in Cal’s athletic and academic excel-lence. Sample gained valuable international experience this past summer as a member of the United State’s squad, coached by Ever-ist, which competed at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia. He is a two-time member of the ACWPC All-Academic team, and was a contributor on the 2007 NCAA title team, playing in 30 of the squad’s 32 matches that year.

Dudley, a 6-5, 210-pounder from Johannesburg, South Africa, is another two-time ACWPC All-Academic honoree and was a key player in the Bears’ 2007 NCAA championship run, scoring a goal against USC in the finals. He has notched 47 goals in two sea-sons, including 28 goals last year when he had the match-winning shot in overtime against Long Beach State, was selected the Nov. 17 MPSF Player of the Week and was an honorable mention All-American.

LINK

A pair of former California rowers – Mara Allen and Erin Cafaro – captured gold medals for the United States at the World Championships that were contested in Poznan, Poland, Aug. 23-30.

Cafaro, who graduated in 2006, won two gold medals while competing in both the eight and the pair, while Allen was a member of the eight boat.

The U.S. eight won its fourth consecutive world championship Aug. 30, dominating the final from the start and covering the 2000-meter distance in 6:05:34 to hold off Romania.

LINK


Olivier Siegelaar


Troy Kepper

California rower Olivier Siegelaar won the bronze medal in the men’s eight for his native Netherlands in the World Rowing Championships this past weekend in Poznan, Poland. In addition, Cal alum Troy Kepper (‘06) captured the gold medal for the U.S. in the men’s pair.

Siegelaar, who rowed for the Netherlands in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, was part of the crew that clocked a time of 5:28.32. Germany took the gold (5:24.13) and Canada earned the silver with a time of 5:27.15. The Netherlands started off slow, but got stronger as the race went on, as the boat was in sixth after the first 500 meters and fourth after the first 1,000. They took third for good by the 1500-meter mark.

Eric Mina

Cal is still way behind though.

California wrapped up the second round of Golfweek’s Collegiate Conference Challenge with better play from the bottom up in its lineup, with top-slot holder Eric Mina playing even-par golf to round out the Bears’ day with three golfers at or below par in their second round. Cal remains 16 shots off the lead at 8-over, good for 8th place, with host Iowa in the lead at 8-under.

Freshman Michael Weaver showed the greatest improvement for the Bears between rounds one and two, scoring a 1-under 71 to better his performance by 10 shots versus his first round, leaving him in a tie for 58th place at 8-over alongside teammate Chad Vivolo.

Eric Mina recorded three birdies and three bogies for his even-par 72, leaving him in 10th place overall after two rounds. Fellow veteran Stephen Hale shot even-par for the second straight day, with two birdies and two bogies, and sits in a tie for 13th.

With the top-four scores counting toward the day’s tally, Max Homa’s 9-over 78, which leaves him tied for 60th after 36 holes, did not figure into the team score.

Play resumes with the final 18 holes tomorrow. Live scoring will be available at Golfstat.com.

Nathan Adrian


Sean Mahoney


David Russell

Adrian is the highlight of the class.

Three University of California men’s swimmers – junior sprint freestyler Nathan Adrian, senior breaststroker Sean Mahoney and former standout backstroker David Russell – have been named to the USA Swimming 2009-2010 National Team, it was announced recently by USA Swimming.

Swimmers are selected for the USA Swimming National Team based upon times swum in 2009 at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships, the U.S. Open, the World University Games and the FINA World Championships. Swimmers with the top six times in each event make the National Team.

Adrian has the second-fastest U.S. times in the 50 (21.46 at World Championships) and 100-meter (48.00 at World Championship Trials) freestyle. He swam the anchor leg (46.79) of the United States’ July 26 gold medal-winning 400-meter free relay at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome. Adrian also placed sixth in the finals of the 50-meter free (21.49) at the World Championships, and earlier had captured both the 50 and 100-meter freestyle at the ConocoPhillips National Championships, July 9-10, in Indianapolis.

LINK


Coach Neil McGuire

The California women’s soccer team was tabbed to finish fourth in the competitive Pacific-10 Conference, according to a preseason coaches’ poll, it was announced recently. The Golden Bears were just three points behind third-place predication USC.

Stanford was predicted to win the conference championship with six first-place votes and 78 total points. UCLA received four first-place votes and 76 points to take second. This is the second straight year that Stanford has been picked to win, with UCLA commanding the poll from 2004-07.

The sophomore is touted as one of the best in her class at the midfield.

California women’s soccer sophomore midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir recently finished play at the European Championships with her native Iceland. Omarsdottir started two of the games in which Iceland played and got on the pitch in all three.

“Katrin is one of the best center midfielders in her age group in the world,” McGuire said. “To bring her back to our team will provide us with experience, leadership and an offensive mindset that will add to our team.”

Iceland lost its opening game, 3-1, to France, and lost its second match, 1-0, against Norway. The squad was eliminated from the tournament Aug. 30 after a 1-0 loss to Germany. Omarsdottir started the matches against France and Germany and came on as a substitute versus Norway.

(Click on photo for Washington Post article)

“I’ve got a lot of second-place and third-place trophies, but I don’t have a lot of first-place trophies,” said An, a senior at Bradenton (Fla.) Preparatory Academy who has verbally committed to play at California next year.

Kamsamnida, South Korea!

An Byeong-hun has acquired something memorable to showcase next to his parents’ Olympic table tennis medals, the Havemeyer Trophy, as he won the U.S. Amateur Championship title Monday (KST) at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla.

What’s better, the South Korean, who will turn 18 in two weeks, became the youngest champion to top the tournament in its 109-year history.

It’s the second year in a row that the top U.S. amateur event has crowned the youngest champion in its history.

Danny Lee, a South Korean-born New Zealander, broke Tiger Woods’ record to become the youngest champion last year at age 18.

“I can’t believe it. I just won,’’ said An, who defeated American Ben Martin 7 and 5 in the 36-hole final.

“I’ve said it before, but my goal was to make it to the first round and then somehow I made it this far. I think I got lucky.’’

In clinching the Havemeyer Trophy, An, a resident of Bradenton, Fla., has received a 10-year exemption from qualifying for the U.S. Amateur if he maintains his amateur status. He has also earned an exemption into the U.S. Open and British Open in 2010 and traditionally will be invited to the next Masters Tournament.

The USA Today thinks so.

Golden Bears lost only four games in four seasons, won three Pacific Coast Conference titles and played in three consecutive Rose Bowls, losing all three.

Too early, why you up this early?

ESPN’s Doug Gottlieb picks Cal to win the Pac-10:

1. California: Swept Washington last season and lost no one of consequence. Jerome Randle might be the best big-shot-maker on the West Coast, and Patrick Christopher is probably the most underrated wing in the country. Coach Monty will make them guard. Although the Cal bigs are still limited offensively, they are old, tough and know their roles. Theo Robertson is sneaky good, too.

Love that interview with Aaron Rodgers and his confidence in Riley really makes me feel a lot more comfortable. I still can’t stop myself from thinking about how great it would’ve been if he came back for his senior season. Oh well.

I WANT TO MAKE LOVE IN THIS CLUB!

40+ posts down and nothing on the DBD topic?? I can see nothing has changed during my hibernation!

Let me get this gameday ritual bidness started on tWerp week…

I live overseas so Cal games usually start in the middle of the night. My ritual consists of tiptoeing out of bed around 2 AM, putting on my Cal hat and/or sweatshirt, taking a couple of shots to get up to speed and sitting down in front of the computer – Slingbox, baby!)

My gameday ritual has changed so much, typically after a devastating Cal loss.

My favorite ritual was waking up at 7 to watch College Gameday, go to Bears Lair for a couple pitchers, grab a Top Dog and take a shot of booze, and finish off with those $2 Long Islands at Henry’s. That was a while ago, and, I’m not sure my stomach can handle it anymore.

If you just woke up from hibernation in time for the start of football season, JO has an article to get you caught up on the last 8 months.
 
Best is fighting history in his race for the Heisman.

“I’d have to defeat the odds to win it,” Best admits.
Best’s 1,580 yards rushing last season were second-most in Cal history, trailing only J.J. Arrington’s 2,018 yards in 2004. Arrington led the country in rushing that year but finished eighth in the Heisman voting.

“In my traveling the last 15 years, I’ve recognized without any question an East Coast bias from the fans and media,” Herbstreit said. “USC is the only school in the Pac-10 that gets national exposure consistently. Unless you’re at USC, it makes it very, very tough. It’s just hard to see, outside of highlights on ‘SportsCenter,’ just how good a player Jahvid Best is.”

The consensus seems to be that for Best to have any chance of beating last year’s finalists, the Bears will have to get off to a strong start as well as win the Pac-10. The good news for Best is that Cal has a chance to make an imprint on the national scene fairly early, opening Pac-10 play at Oregon followed by a home game against USC.

If the Bears were to begin the season 5-0, including wins over the Ducks and Trojans, they likely would be firmly in the national championship race, with Best probably having a lot to do with that.

“He needs to be included in the conversation, there’s no question about it,” CBS college football analyst Spencer Tillman said. “Jahvid has everything you need to be a difference-maker. If he just holds serve and does what he did last year — maybe get a couple hundred more yards — and Cal wins the Pac-10, he is going to be right
there in the thick of it.”

Cal offense gets the hype and Cal defense gets the job done.

“I like how we’re under the radar – it’s cool,” defensive end Cameron Jordan said. “There’s always pressure to do well, but there’s not a lot of national attention. We’re coming to do our job and we’re going to get it done well.”

Jordan and his colleagues mostly did their job last season, when the Bears ranked 26th nationally in total defense, allowing 315.2 yards per game. They were 23rd in the nation in scoring defense at 19.9 points per game – solid, though not nearly as imposing as USC (No. 1 at 9.0).

The Bears still must learn to smother opponents as thoroughly on the road as they do in Strawberry Canyon. More numbers: Cal allowed an average of 15.8 points in seven home games last season, while surrendering an average of 26.2 points in five road games. Not coincidentally, the Bears were 7-0 at home and 1-4 on the road.

Linebacker Mike Mohamed could not explain the disparity – even though he brought it up – but he still peers ahead with abundant confidence.

“I think we can be better than we were last year,” he said, “and even be the No. 1 defense in the Pac-10.”

I don’t think I had any real Gameday rituals as a student, particularly because Rally Committee is basically working on shit for the game from hours before kickoff to an hour or two after the game ends.

When you said you’ll consolidate my DBD into yours I thought you’re going to stick the entire thing into one DBD. I didn’t forsee this! Hell Twist’s DBD yesterday was a stupid question and it stood!

This is Marshawnthus-ism!

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&page=dash0901&sportCat=ncf

Just Shut Up Offseason Fan Award

This one goes to the fans at Central Florida (35), who simply cannot believe that their school will no longer allow them to commence getting liquored up on campus at 7 a.m. on game days. UCF has prohibited campus tailgating until the intolerably late hour of 8 a.m. for games that kick off before 6 p.m. (there are three of them this year), and until noon for games that kick off at 6 or later (four of those).

The university decision has so enraged some fans you’d think the school had just gone Mormon on them.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, some Knights backers have threatened to drop their season tickets or stop giving to the university. UCF coach George O’Leary reportedly commiserated with the fans, telling them, “I’m on your side.”

Nobody is telling UCF fans they can’t crack the seals on their whiskey bottles at 7 a.m. They just can’t do it on campus. If that’s worth canceling your season tickets, you might be better off at the Betty Ford Clinic than the lyrically named Bright House Networks Stadium.

1. Skin three live goats.
2. Eat their glands.
3. ???
4. CANNON GOES BOOM!

No seriously, for a typical 5pm start:

Wake up, put on game clothes, head to Macarthur Bart, Bart in, meet friends for Brazil Cafe, head up to stadium, hang out, watch band/warmups, gametime!, yell a LOT, leave after game, get either Barney’s or spicy soup or Fenton’s, go home, watch highlights for rest of night, fin.

http://cal.rivals.com/commitlist.asp?school=11

Anyone notice any changes?