eh, he doesn’t wear Zegna and Gucci. he wears ugly ass “clever” slogan t-shirts that i might’ve worn in college. But not at age 31. and not out ot clubs.

but good use of the run-on sentence! rev’d!

Unfortunately, I can’t tell whether this is real or a parody of Arthur Kade.

JO has postgame quotes from Tedford, Hagan, Syd, Alualu, Riley, Best, Ross, Ludwig, Mohamed, and Gregory.

DARIAN HAGAN
On getting beat a couple times by Eric Decker:
He’s a great athlete. It wasn’t anything really too special that he did. I just took my eyes off of him both times. That was on me. I was being over-aggressive, trying to go for the interception instead of guarding my man. He got me with the double move. There are some things I have to work on to clean up, but he’s a great athlete.
 
On his day:
This was a humbling experience for me, coming on the road and having to deal with the type of game that I played. I have a lot of work to do this week. I plan on going back home and getting ready for Oregon.
 
How would he have felt had Cal lost?:
If we would have lost, I’d be sick right now. We pulled the win out. I’m glad that we came out here and showed that we can win on the road in this hostile environment.
 
On mood when they tied it up:
Our defense stayed strong and we pulled it off. It was a down feeling, but once we scored, everybody was kind of up again.

Tedford glad they flew out on Thursday. Also, D’Amato will handle kickoff duties next week.

Last year at Maryland, all the team had time to do was have a walkthrough Friday night, eat dinner, have meetings and go to sleep. They woke up in the morning and it was time for the game. This year at Minnesota, they had all day Friday to help ease into kickoff. The team spent part of Friday at the famous Mall of America in Minneapolis, and Tedford said the players had good focus during meetings on Friday.

"I do feel like it helped, for different reasons than people think," he said. "People think that you are tired when you get up that early in the morning. That’s not so much it. I think we didn’t feel so rushed. That was more relaxing. It wasn’t the sleep patterns. I did really like it that we were there in plenty of time.

"I like this schedule a lot, and I think our kids handled it well. They were focused in our meetings, and they had time to relax. If we had to do it over again, I would do the same thing."

–Tedford said Vince D’Amato will be the starter handling kickoffs this week, unless "something happens throughout the week." Kickoffs are going to start getting even more emphasis. The kickers actually practiced today, which is not usually the norm. Tedford said D’Amato will get a lot of reps this week to help improve his confidence.

Someone needs to write a “Why College Gameday needs to come to Cal” fanpost, fast.

From College Gameday’s Twitter

GameDay has Coral Gables (where Miami plays) on its radar. but, a few things still have to fall into place……its been a while……lf, producer

Oklahoma plays at Miami on October 3rd. Better be prepared for this inevitability assuming the Hurricanes beat Virginia Tech, Cal fans.

Justin Forsett led the prayer service the night before the game!

Just studying and reading my bible I have the honor of doing chapel for UW football team tonight
4:20 PM Sep 18th from web

Just got back from chapel with UW football team it was a blessing to be there and speak to them they look very ready for tomorrow
10:50 PM Sep 18th from web

SFW Photo, unless your boss is a dipshit prude.

Watch out for her tonight in primetime! She’ll be doing the foxtrot and the salsa.

Interview with Natalie and her partner. Her dance partner, Alec Mazo, is also a Cal grad.

Vote for her after the show!

Just got my official Dancing with the Stars’ number: 1-800-VOTE4-13. Set it to speed dial and VOTE please!!!!! :)

LINK

Believe it or not, there is a reason why the word "student" precedes "athlete" in our official description. In order to play on Saturdays, we go to class Monday through Friday, even those especially killer 8 a.m. sections.

This semester, I am taking my first ever psychology class (Psych 160: Social Psychology to be precise), allowing me to verbalize the snare sports fans and student athletes alike often find themselves in.

My professor (and yes, this is a shameless plug for Professor Chen – remember this on our midterm coming up!), while discussing the concept of schemas, lectured on Confirmatory Hypothesis-Testing, which is the tendency to seek information selectively that confirms our preexisting beliefs.

This concept struck me as being particularly applicable to student-athletes on two levels. First, the nature of recruiting essentially exemplifies this notion. It is not uncommon for athletes to deny upper-echelon schools in favor of less prominent universities at the mere suggestion that they may be better suited to play an alternate position.

Conversely, many capable athletes will blow off smaller schools because of a certainty that the Pac-10 will come calling. Players like Kevin Hart, although his situation was extreme, are so convinced of this fact that they pay no attention to other potential suitors.

The second glaring example is the uncomfortably common practice of transferring schools. Some athletes transfer multiple times, simply because they disagree with the amount of playing time received. If they aren’t starting, they don’t want to hear it.

A bit like standing in an echo chamber, isn’t it? Ever lambast the wise Mike Silver via email when he slots your team lower than first (which is where they belong, of course) for his "32 Questions?" Ever turn off ESPN when their panel of "experts" picks against your team?

Here is my confession: I used to be you. Sometimes I still am. My advice? Get over it.

Lou Holtz thinks Jahvid Best transferred to Oregon this Saturday.

S is for Shiiiiiiiiiiiit (With 12 i’s) The setting for Jahvid Best the instant when a defense realizes, in one common 11-man shudder, that he has a lane, and that they might be completely and utterly screwed on a play. There were at least two moments like this in the Cal/Minnesota game, including Best’s first TD run, where the play broke, blockers met blockees, and everyone on the Minnesota defense instantly raised the hair on the back of their necks in a universal fear response when the geometry started looking worse and worse for decent pursuit angles.

This, viewers, is what it looks like when eleven men think "Shiiiiiiiiiiit" at once.

Five TDs on the day is individually formidable, but additional interest came from watching the mix of plays balanced between new offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig’s old Utah attacks and the classic pro-style Jeff Tedford playbook. Cal now runs a qb draw on third and short, something the old Tedford would have considered beneath his pro-robot brain. The evolution is a fascinating one to watch this year, even if it hasn’t fully been put to the test in games against Maryland (owned for second year in row by MTSU) and Minnesota, who almost lost to Syracuse (winners, yes, this weekend over Northwestern) and Air Force. Their proving ground lies ahead in the Pac-10 schedule, with the crux coming against a wounded USC squad.

Mens soccer wins Bay Area classic:

BERKELEY – Andrew Wiedeman scored twice, Hector Jimenez collected two assists and former Bronco Jeff Cosgriff scored the game’s first goal for California in the Golden Bears’ 3-1 win over Santa Clara in the Bay Area Classic on Sunday at Edwards Stadium. Cal (2-0 in the Bay Area Classic, including a 3-0 win over San Francisco on Sept. 17) wound up as the Bay Area Classic champion after Stanford’s 1-0 overtime victory over USF on Sunday night gave the Bears (plus 5) a better goal differential than the Cardinal (plus 3). Stanford was also 2-0 in the local derby. Overall, Cal has a 5-1-0 record after the non-conference victory. Santa Clara fell to 2-4-0.

Cosgriff, a senior forward who played the first three seasons of his college career at Santa Clara, scored against the Broncos in the seventh minute, heading in a free kick from Jimenez, a junior midfielder.

Santa Clara freshman midfielder Erik Hurtado tied the match at 1-1 in the 11th minute, dribbling through the defense and firing past diving Cal goalkeeper David Bingham.

The match was still 1-1 at halftime.

Jimenez also assisted on Cal’s second goal, sending a nice cross into the Broncos’ box that Wiedeman slotted past SCU goalkeeper Larry Jackson. Cal led, 2-1. Jimenez, Cal’s second-leading scorer (9 points), now paces the Bears with seven assists on the season.

Mens Golf wins Spartan Classic:

KINGSELY, Mich. – The No. 24 men’s golf team won the three-round weekend at the Spartan Golf Classic that ended Sunday at The Kingsley Club , with junior Eric Mina taking the individual title and junior Stephen Hale coming second with a course-record 63 in his second round. Newcomer Chad Vivolo finished sixth. The Golden Bears held off UC Davis during Sunday’s final round to exit their second fall tournament with a 9-stroke victory over the Aggies and 13 other teams.

A 5-under team score for the final round sealed California’s victory over UC Davis. The host, Michigan State University, took third place with a team score of 863. The Bears left their mark of the event with under-par performances in all three rounds, shooting 8-under and 5-under in rounds two and three.

Saturday’s fireworks were keyed by the scorching 63 from Hale, who blew through the course on his second time through with 8 birdies and 10 pars to leave his name in the Kingsley history books.

Mens water polo loses to USC and Stanford (rough!):

The No. 3-ranked Cal men’s water polo team (7-2) was tipped by No. 2-ranked and host Stanford, 8-7, Sunday, Sept. 20 in the semifinal of the NorCal Invitational at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center and then fell to No. 1-ranked USC, 8-6, in the tournament third-place match.

Against the Trojans, the defending 2008 NCAA champions, the Golden Bears were led by a pair of goals from sophomore standout Ivan Rackov. Cal and USC were tied, 3-3, after the first period, but the Trojans outscored the Bears, 5-2, in the next two periods on the way to their two goal win. Senior captain Spencer Warden, juniors Brian Dudley and Zach White, and sophomore Travis Bickham also notched goals for Cal.

Mens Tennis doing great in Napa Valley:

ST. HELENA, Calif. – The California men’s tennis team logged five more singles victories and three doubles wins on the second day of the Land Rover Napa Valley Tennis Classic at Meadowood Resort. Junior Jonathan Dahan recorded his second singles win of the young season with a two-set decision over Harvard’s Alistair Felton; 7-5, 6-1. Sophomores Nick Andrews and Tommie Murphy took home their second singles wins as well; Andrews over Harvard’s Andy Nguyen, 6-4, 6-3; and Murphy against Harvard’s Mac McAnulty in three sets, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

Sophomore Zach Gilbert got a win against Liinus Hietaniemi of Harvard as his Crimson opponent retired after falling, 6-1, in the first set. Freshman Christoffer Konigfeldt got his first collegiate victory in two sets against Davis Mangham of Harvard. Junior Bozhidar Katsarov was denied his second singles win after fighting out a three-set match against Aba Omodele-Lucien of Harvard. Katsarov fell; 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

In doubles, Cal’s freshman tandem of Konigfeldt and Riki McLachlan took a 9-8 victory against Omodele-Lucien and Alexei Chijoff-Evans of Harvard. The Bears took home three doubles wins out of four matches. Katsarov and Andrews got a 9-7 win against Nguyen and Felton; and sophomore Sky Lovill and Murphy took an 8-5 win against Mangham and Hayes.

Play concludes Sunday (Sept. 20) with matches going from 9 a.m. through noon. Admission to the Land Rover Napa Valley Tennis Classic is complimentary. Please visit www.meadowood.com for more information or call (707) 963-3646 to make reservations at the resort.

Field Hockey loses to Delaware:

VBall beats USF:

BERKELEY – Behind the solid hitting of seniors Hana Cutura and Mindi Wiley, the No. 13-ranked Cal women’s volleyball team (7-3) defeated San Francisco (5-7), 3-0 (25-9, 25-12, 25-23) Saturday night at Haas Pavilion. Cutura paced the Golden Bears with 14 kills and only two errors in 29 attempts for a .414 hitting percentage, while Wiley knocked down 10 kills (.529 hitting percentage). Cal’s match against the Dons was part of the Pac-10/WCC Challenge. On Friday night, the Bears had upended Saint Mary’s, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 21-25, 25-18). Cal has now captured its last five matches.

Sarah Mandala paced San Francisco with 13 kills.

Other top performers for the Bears, who out-hit the Dons .348 (41 k, 10 e, 89 att) to -.010 for the evening, were sophomore Tarah Murrey with eight kills and freshman Correy Johnson with five kills with no errors in six attempts (.833). Junior setter Carli Lloyd finished the evening with 33 assists and senior libero Kristen Kathan had a match-high 17 digs.

Cal dominated the first two games of the match, 25-9 and 25-12, but had to battle back from an 8-0 deficit in game three. Finally, the Bears were able to tie game three, 18-18, on a service ace by Lloyd. USF followed with a Mandala hitting error to give Cal its first lead on the way to the 25-23 win. Wiley sealed the Bears’ win with the final kill of the match.

Womens Soccer beats St. Mary’s:

MORAGA, Calif. – The No. 7 California women’s soccer team rebuffed East Bay rival Saint Mary’s, 4-1, on Friday afternoon at Saint Mary’s Stadium. Sophomore midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir had a team-high two goals while junior forward Alex Morgan scored the ultimate gamewinner. The Golden Bears are now 6-1-0 overall while the Gaels fall to 4-4-0.

In the 16th minute, the Bears earned a penalty shot, which senior co-captain Katie Oakes converted for her second goal of the season to give Cal a early 1-0 lead. Four minutes later, junior forward Alex Morgan had a good look on goal with a shot that was saved by Gael goalkeeper Tara Larson.

Cal had another opportunity with a corner kick at 29:45, freshman Samantha Walker took a shot that went just wide. Saint Mary’s got its first shot of the game in the 31st minute off a header from Jessica Menzhuber that went wide. Menzhuber followed up her miss with a goal at 32:47 with a strike off a free kick from 35 yards out to the far post, and the teams went into halftime tied, 1-1.

The Bears controlled the first part of the second half, scoring a goal in the 57th minute when Morgan took a shot from eight yards out to the near post off the assist by Miranda White. Morgan’s goal was her third gamewinner of the year.

Vote for Jahvid:

ATLANTA – Cal Heisman Trophy candidate Jahvid Best is one of four nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week Award in Week Three of the 2009 college football season. Fans can help Best win the honor by voting for him in the only college football honor determined by fan voting. Text VOTE to 345345 and then reply with your selection. Fans have until 8:59 p.m. PT on Wednesday to submit their votes. The winner will be announced during Thursday’s ESPN College Football Primetime presented by Applebee’s. Standard text messaging rates apply.

The Golden Bears’ junior tailback set a new modern-era (1937-current) single-game school record and also posted a new career-high with five rushing touchdowns to lead Cal to a 35-21 victory at Minnesota on Saturday. He finished with 131 yards rushing on a career-high 26 carries against the Golden Gophers. Best now ranks among Cal’s all-time leaders in rushing touchdowns (25, No. 5) and rushing yards (2,213, No. 10). In addition, he had three rushes of 20 or more yards against Minnesota and now has eight this season and 30 in his career.

After the first three games of 2009, Best leads the nation in scoring (18.0 ppg) as well as the Pac-10 in rushing (137.3 ypg, No. 3 NCAA) and all-purpose running (163.0 ypg, No. 15 NCAA). He has rushed for 412 yards and eight TDs on 53 carries for an average of 7.8 yards per carry. Best also co-leads the Bears with seven catches for 59 yards and one touchdown.

In addition, Best has a current string of seven consecutive games of 100 or more rushing yards dating back to the final four contests of 2008. He has rushed for 1,228 yards and 17 TDs on 126 carries (9.7 yards per rush, 175.4 yards per game) during that seven-game span.

Daily Cal on Jahvid Best:

MINNEAPOLIS — It was a day of firsts for the Cal football team.

For the first time this season, the Bears recorded an interception.

For the first time in the modern era, a Cal running back rushed for five touchdowns.

Above all, for the first time in over a year, the No. 8 Bears won a road game.

Having lost eight of its last nine on the road, Cal came into Saturday’s game against Minnesota looking to erase the futility of years past. With their 35-21 win over the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium, the Bears (3-0) did just that.

After outscoring its first two opponents of the season by an average of 45.5 points, Cal found itself in a dogfight.

Daily Cal on winning on the road:

They’ve done it.

It took four consecutive losses to figure it out, but the Cal football team may have discovered the formula for winning on the road.

Frustrated from all the talk about their inability to play away from Berkeley, the players banded together and decided to withstand the adversity rather than allowing it to defeat them.

Whereas past squads would have faltered, the 2009 Bears proved that they may be ready to take the leap from contender to the team to beat, and it’s all thanks to these simple steps.

Step 1: Turn your weakness into a strength by depending on it in the most critical of times.

Pinned on its own 22, Cal faced a third-and-16. Up to that point, it had not yet picked up a single first down in the second half.

With the scored knotted, everyone knew the Bears would have to throw the ball. In previous seasons, this would have resulted in fourth-and-16.

Couple good videos on Hot Clicks today.

Wowzers…what a weekend. A few thoughts:

1) Great teams, irregardless of the sport, don’t let teams back into games. That being said, does Cal need to be a “great” team in order to smell the Roses this year?

2) That being said, there’s a lot to learn from “playing 4 quarters” of football and coming up clutch when need be.

3) Jahvid Best will win the Heisman if Cal [can’t say it]. I really believe that. However, how can one of the best players in CFB become either a) a non-factor or b) not get his number called when the game is tied or a one possession game? Then, why make him carry the rock 3 times in the last minute when the games in hand? I thought Vereen was 1a)? Oh yeah, let’s stop pretending that. Best is used best when Cal’s confusing the shit out of your defense (see first quarter).

I really think 2009 is the Year of the Bear, but I can’t figure out if Cal will be a very good or a great team. I’m leaning towards the former.

PS – My preseason worries have arrived: I’m officially scared of the Fuskies in Fusky Stadium in December. OTH, it’s great for the Pac10 to have Fusky Football back. Great program…sad to have seen them and Colorado go belly up for so long.

Will we be having another invasion? That was absolutely brilliant last time.

Looking forward to hear the comments from the U.C. Eugeners.

http://www.phys.utk.edu/sorensen/cfr/cfr/Output/2009/CF_2009_Ranking_Best.html

However, I don’t understand these rankings and shouldn’t spend too much time trying to figure them out. Help?

Mostly:

There are questions about whether the 195-pound Best will be able to hold up physically at the next level given his injury history in college, but he is put together well and certainly passes the eyeball test. The only other remaining concern is in pass protection, which is often the toughest part of the NFL transition for college running backs.

Best needs to show better technique and be more physical in pass pro. He let a defender inside at one point again t Minnesota and QB Kevin Riley was forced to throw the ball away as a result.

Still, we have little doubt that Best will be a first-round pick if he chooses to enter the draft after this season, and it would be a shock to us if he lasts past the first few picks of the second round.

If I’m disappointed that JB only has 7.8 ypc?

I think I may be spoiled.

I have tix to this Saturday’s game at Oregon and it’s in section 39. Is that where all the Cal fans will be?

Also the game is at 12:30. I’ll be driving from Bellevue, WA to Eugene which is according to Bing is a 289.4 mi, 4 hr 34 min journey. Counting traffic, the fact that I need to park and I like to get to the stadium decently early what time should I leave home? I’m thinking sometime b/w 3-4AM…

CGB tailgate?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0909/campus.football.superfans.week3/content.25.html

http://cfn.scout.com/2/901289.html

 http://tr.im/zkfn

Alright, so maybe USC 2007 wasn’t so bad after all, weather wise.

check out the national lurvin

http://calgoldenbearfootball.blogspot.com/

mandel’s got a nice article up on Cal and Miami…LA Times has Cal in it’s 5 things to watch, and The Oregonian said Cal’s becoming Oregontrified or something.

Interesting post on CC about what went wrong versus UW.

I think Boise St and their diarrhea defense is ranked too high. If they’re ranked that high, Oregon should be in the rankings too. I’m not that impressed with either team, but all we know is Oregon played like shit, lost a (relatively) close game on the road to a good team.

Here’s a fun topic: What teams will be in the Top25 (AP) when we play ’em?

UCLA-Furd will be on TV as the 3:30 PM/12:30 PM ABC broadcast. I’m going to have to find a way to watch that one before playing USC.

About supposedly spreading unsubstantiated claims of Neuheisel and Chow not getting along.

We have sent an email to John Berkowitz of UDubDawgPound requesting him to provide a link or cite to a credible source substantiating his rumors.

He has not been able to offer any credible citation whatsoever. This seems to be rumor mongering and smearing on the part of John B, which is unfortunate b/c I have a lot of respect for him.

I saw SCRN walking down Rodeo Drive WITHOUT a Coach bag! Norm Chow was behind him trying to give him a Coach bag, but SCRN turned around and slapped SOCNC and ran crying from the scene.

LINK

Tony Seminary is a 1996 graduate of the University of Oregon and a season ticket holder for the Ducks football team. He attended the Boise State game, and witnessed the loss to the Broncos and LeGarrette Blount’s PunchGate up close and personal. After the game, Seminary wrote an email to Chip Kelly, and did what you may have dreamt of doing after traveling to watch your team put in an embarrassing performance on the road: he asked for a refund, and attached an invoice bureaucrat-style. From the original email:

I was so angry with the game (even before the post-game melee) I am sending you an invoice for my trip to Boise. The product on the field Thursday night is not something I was at all proud of, and I feel as though I’m entitled to my money back for the trip. Please see my invoice attached in this email. I will happily send along receipts if need be.

Unlike most fans, he actually wrote this up and sent it. Unlike most coaches, Chip Kelly responded with a personal check written to one Anthony Seminary.

I heard that CRN and Sark went clubbing with CPC and CJT and didn’t call CNC to go because he was a loser and a terrible wingman and that CDE asked CMS’ wife to go to prom which is why they got divorced but then he was all like “whatever” and she was all like “WHATEVER!!!!!”

ESPN’s Updated Expert Votes
                                              1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th TOTAL
Tim Tebow QB Florida Sr. 9 4 0 1 1 64
Jahvid Best RB Cal Jr. 6 4 3 2 0 59
Colt McCoy QB Texas Sr. 0 2 10 2 1 43
Jacory Harris QB Miami So. 0 4 1 5 4 34
Case Keenum QB Houston Jr. 0 0 0 3 1 7
Eric Berry S Tenn. Jr. 0 1 0 0 2 6
Dez Bryant WR OkSt. Jr. 0 0 1 0 0 3
J. Clausen QB ND Jr. 0 0 1 0 1 4
Tony Pike QB Cinc. Sr. 0 0 0 0 3

Sorry for the formatting.

T.j. Ward listed as questionable for Saturdays game. Big hit for the ducks if they hoped to stop our running game.