DBD 9/24/2009 - NEWS YOU CAN USE . . FROM CHINA!

Leon, how good is the Chinese Basketball League, or whatever they call it? Is it way below the Euro leagues, or are they comparable to any of them?

Bruins Nation debates:

That said, I thought this story from late summer is worth noting now that the Cardinal are our next opponent. Jon Wilner from the San Jose Mercury News reported the following at the end of August:

This summer, Stanford mega-donor John Arrillaga built a private luxury bathroom and shower for Harbaugh that sources said cost between $50,000 and $70,000.

“John A did a nice job,” Harbaugh said Monday of the man who built Stanford Stadium.

The bathroom might look good from the inside, but it looks awful from the outside.

The Stanford athletic department is facing a multi-million revenue shortfall. Fundraising has cratered. Team budgets are being sliced. More than 20 jobs have been eliminated through layoffs and buyouts, and at least one sport (fencing) is in danger of being cut.

So by all means, build the football coach a private bathroom.

“It was something I’d asked for,’’ Harbaugh said. "It cuts down on drag.’’

In other words, it saves time.

Until now, the nearest bathroom was about 20 steps down the hall from the football office. The nearest shower was two floors below Harbaugh’s desk

Wilner went on to speculate how the project “would enrage athletic department staffers and members of the Cardinal sports community,” in the current economic climate.

 I thought the story was kind of interesting given the message Coach Neuheisel and Howland sent to the UCLA community this past summer when both of them volunteered to take as much as 10 percent cuts from their salaries. Note even though the cuts were mandated for other state employees even though, Neuheisel and Howland were not subject to that reduction because of their multi-year contracts.

Well, I think what folks at Stanford Athletics decide to do is strictly their business. I don’t really have an opinion on Harbaugh’s (rather expensive) throne. The stark contrast with what CRN (and CBH) did is kind of funny though.

What do you guys think?

This is like Best-Quizz all over again.

Tell yourself. You’re the one who insists Pete Carroll is a better coach than Jim Tressel because he wins more than Jim Tressel — even as you conveniently forget that Carroll should win more than Tressel.

Yet Carroll doesn’t win the games he should. Not every time. About once a year his team loses a game it has no business losing. Carroll got the choke shock out of the way early this season against Washington, but I’m disagreeing with Dennis Dodd on one thing: He suggests Carroll’s dynasty is teetering. Not me. As long as he’s there, Carroll will win 84.9 percent of his games and the occasional national title. He’s the perfect fit for USC because he knows how to attract future NFL talent. Does he know how to coach it, how to maximize it? No. He does not.

Tressel coaches. Tressel maximizes. His teams don’t choke or get shocked. Do they lose to the best opponents on the biggest stages? Yeah. They do. All things being equal, the more talented team wins, and Ohio State hasn’t been more talented than LSU or Florida or USC or Texas. And Ohio State should never be more talented than LSU or Florida or USC or Texas.

But Tressel does get the most out of his teams. I’m sure of that. Carroll? I’m not so sure about him. The only thing I’m sure of, when it comes to Carroll, is this: He signs guys like Leinart and Bush and White and Sanchez and stud after stud after stud, but it’s wrong to say Carroll signs great talent and then just rolls the ball onto the field and lets them play.

Some additional stuff on Riley.

Seems pretty top-notch. Cal ranked in the top 3 according to their sports writers.

1. Washington

In the preseason Pac-10 coaches’ poll, Washington garnered the top spot. The Huskies clearly haven’t had a problem dealing with the high expectations.

No. 3 Washington has come out more emphatically than nearly any other team in the country, easily putting together the most impressive non-conference resume among its Pac-10 peers.

On the road, the Huskies destroyed then-No. 4 Florida in straight sets, holding the Gators to a .067 hitting percentage while reeling off 44 kills. On the same road trip, Washington also defeated then-No. 9 Minnesota.

But as everyone knows, the games only get harder once you hit conference play. Luckily for Washington, it returns practically everyone from its 2008 squad — and every one of those players earned all-conference honors at the end of last season.

So, do we have a winner in Washington?

-Katie Dowd

2. Stanford

This isn’t the 2008 Stanford volleyball team. This isn’t even the 2005 Cardinal.

For the first time in four years, Stanford comes into the Pac-10 play with a significantly different look — and it’s a lot smaller.

After the 2008 season, the Cardinal graduated two of the most influential and dominant players in program history, Foluke Akinradewo and Cynthia Barboza. With them gone, though, Stanford has endured the pain of adjusting to thenew personnel changes.

No. 10 Stanford continues to run the 6-3 offense that it started using last year, but with setter Cassidy Lichtman also taking on outside hitting duties.


Expect the Cardinal to be a lot smaller but a lot scrappier this year. And while it might just be a down year for Stanford’s lofty standards, it’s hard to count out the juggernaut across the Bay.

-Katie Dowd

3. Cal

The Cal volleyball team reached the final four in 2007 and the elite eight in 2008, but it’s hard to see the Bears making as deep of a run into the postseason this year.

While the usual suspects have returned — outside hitter Hana Cutura had a career-high 30 kills against No. 4 Hawaii, and Carli Lloyd has two years of experience as the starting setter — the rest of the team’s production has been less than consistent.

When Pac-10 defenses key on Cutura, Cal’s younger players will likely have to shoulder the load for Cal (7-3) to be successful.

On a roster that has only three seniors, freshmen like Correy Johnson and Tia Gaffen have been utilized by coach Rich Feller in non-conference play.

Especially in the No. 12 Bears’ Pac-10 opener against No. 10 Stanford on Friday at Haas Pavilion, depth at the net will be important against a Cardinal squad that is very familiar with Lloyd and Cutura.

-Jeff Goodman

How many convos have you had like this during a game before?

2:25 PM Jessica: BearwithFangs,
i cannot handle this
are you watching
this is ridic
i’m so pisssssed off right now

2:29 PM me: I’m pretty pissed too

Jessica: RILEY SUCKS RIGHT NOW
I"M SOOOOOOOOO MAD
OMG
OMG

2:30 PM me: ..

Jessica: I’m feeling so let down
i hate being let down
because it happens ALL the time

me: ANGER SMASH!
I know
I know

2:32 PM Jessica: we need a better DEFENSE
i’m so pissed
i cant watch this
i really cant
i hate being a cal bear
hate it
2:33 PM OMG
BAD CALLLLLLLL
2:34 PM we have to dig really deep right now!!!

2:35 PM me: That was a horrendous call
Our defense is playing ok
Except for hagan

Jessica: that guy
2 TDs on him
wtf

Dennis Dodd gives his take.

I’m not sure we know how good Cal is yet. The fact that it needed every one of Jahvid Best’s five touchdowns to beat Minnesota distrubs me. Oregon’s offense is just rounding into shape with LaMichael James going for 152 yards against Utah. On the undercard, watch for the DB battle between Syd’Quan Thompson and Walter Thurmond III. The Ducks, wearing uniform combo No. 1,324, catch the Bears looking ahead to USC.

LINK

Cal’s offense has been dominant avg 48.7 points per game led by Heisman hopeful RB Best (137 rush ypg, 7.8, 8 TD). Last week OU QB Masoli completed just 4-16 for 95 yds (3 TO’s). This one will be won in the trenches. Oregon is inexperienced along both the Offensive and defensive lines and I rate Cal in the top ten of the country on both the offensive and defensive lines. Cal has won 4 of the last 5

LINK

No. 6 California at Oregon
3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

Now that the clouds have rolled in on USC’s half of Los Angeles and the sun is shining brightly in Berkeley, it might not be the best time to be visiting rainy Eugene.

With everything seemingly going right for Cal and RB Jahvid Best booking a flight to New York City in December, the Bears ought to be wary of the trap that awaits them at Autzen Stadium.

Fresh off its 31-24 victory over Utah, which snapped the Utes’ 16-game winning streak, Oregon is dead set on distancing itself from the nightmare of that opening night game at Boise State.

The overhyped Bears provide the Ducks with a golden opportunity to get that done. Cal QB Kevin Riley hasn’t made any mistakes yet this season … meaning that he is due for a couple.

Opening point spread: California by 6

Interesting questions proposed by a Bear Insider poster.

Do we need to pull out all the stops and use the whole playbook to beat Oregon, or can we just overpower them and save some plays to surprise u$c? Or, assuming we can win while holding back part of the playbook, should we use everything and increase the margin of victory? Do coaches even consider this topic? Or are they really focused on one game at a time? If we get ahead by a couple of touchdowns, will we follow our typical pattern and get conservative to run time off the clock?

His top pick is UCLA though.

James, the No. 4-ranked running back and the No. 18 player overall, and Wright are considering three of the same schools: Arizona, California and Washington. The touted recruits are even taking two official visits together: They visited Washington on Sept. 5, and they will travel to Arizona the first weekend in November.

Those headphones are half the size of DeSean’s head! You may proceed to make jokes about how DeSean has a big head as well.

Dude, that’d be sick if you can get that Jamal Sampson int.

Jahvid answers Qs and looks sharp:

BERKELEY – California Heisman Trophy candidate junior TB Jahvid Best addressed the media Wednesday following a Cal football practice at Memorial Stadium. Following are selected comments of what he had to say.

On how much he played against Oregon last year
“I think I played about three quarters worth.”

On what he remembers about the 2008 game against Oregon at Memorial Stadium
“I remember that it was raining. And it was a physical game. They had a good defense, and we’re expecting the same thing this year.”

On the 2007 game at Oregon
“I don’t think I had a handoff that game. I played special teams mostly, recovered the fumble. The biggest thing I remember about that game is the crowd. Crowd noise is crazy in there. Honestly any other away game I don’t really even hear the crowd. Oregon’s the only place where it just really got on my nerves.

On whether he has noticed more Heisman hype this week
“Well I noticed I was on ESPN a little more. But besides that I don’t really pay attention to it so I don’t know if I went up or down or anything like that.”

On Oregon’s defense
“They’ve changed their defense around a little bit. They’ve got pretty much almost the same personnel coming back so I’m assuming it’s going to be the exact same type of game.”

Womyns Soccer to take on Cal Poly:

This Week in Cal Women’s Soccer
The No. 7 California women’s soccer returns home, where the Golden Bears are a perfect 4-0, to host Cal Poly on Friday, Sept. 25, at 4 p.m. Cal holds an all-time 3-1-0 series record over the Mustangs, and won the past two meetings, the most recent of which was a 2-1 overtime win Oct. 3, 1997. The Bears have won their past five games, and have three more nonconference games before heading into the Pac-10 Conference season.

Last Week in Cal Women’s Soccer
The Bears rebuffed East Bay rival Saint Mary’s, 4-1, on Sept. 18 at Saint Mary’s Stadium. Sophomore midfielder Katrin Omarsdottir had a team-high two goals while junior forward Alex Morgan scored the gamewinner. Senior Katie Oakes got Cal on the board in the 16th minute, successfully converting a penalty kick. Omarsdottir tacked on her two goals in the 67th and 78th minutes to put the game well out of the Gaels’ reach, and increase Cal’s winning streak over SMC to four games and improve its all-time series record up to 15-8-3.

On the Pitch With Neil McGuire
“We are looking forward to the game this weekend. Cal Poly will provide us a stiff test. If we have hopes of winning we will need to be at our best.”

Did You Know?
• You can read all the newspaper articles from this season about the Golden Bears by going to the side bar of the women’s soccer home page or clicking here.
• You can get inside information, links to stories and scoring updates by following Cal Women’s Soccer on Twitter? Go to www.Twitter.com/CalWomensSoccer or click here.

Mens Water Polo to take on Pacific:

Bear Bites: The No. 4-ranked Cal men’s water polo team (7-2) will travel to Stockton this Saturday, Sept. 26 for a noon non-conference match at No. 16 Pacific. The Golden Bears, who will play the Tigers in an MPSF match Nov. 14 at Spieker Aquatics Complex, are fresh off a fourth-place finish last weekend at the NorCal Invitational at Stanford. Cal defeated Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara in day one, but fell in close matches to then-No. 2-ranked Stanford (8-7) and then-No. 1-ranked USC (8-6) in day two. Head coach Kirk Everist’s troops feature several key returnees from last season, including senior captains Spencer Warden and Mike Sample, and juniors Brian Dudley and Zach White – all members of the Bears’ 2007 NCAA championship team. Warden and Dudley notched scores during the 8-6 win over USC in the `07 final. Warden garnered second-team All-America honors last year after leading Cal with 40 goals and 68 steals, while Dudley was an honorable mention All-American after scoring 28 goals, including a match-winning shot in overtime at Long Beach State. The Bears also feature 6-2, 190-pound sophomore attacker Cory Nasoff, who earned this season’s first MPSF Player of the Week accolade when he notched 11 goals in three Navy Open matches with seven assists, five steals and two ejections earned. Nasoff is currently tied for fourth in the MPSF with 2.38 goals per game. As a team, Cal is second in the MPSF with 14.0 goals per game.

Cal at the NorCal Invitational:In their toughest test of the season, the Bears were 2-2 at the NorCal Invitational, defeating No. 10 Santa Clara, 14-9, and No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, 12-8; before narrowly losing to host Stanford (who won the tournament) and defending national champion USC. In the scoring ranks, Cal was led by sophomore Ivan Rackov’s eight goals, including a team-high three goals against both UC Santa Barbara and Stanford. Nasoff added six goals and Dudley notched five goals in his first action of the year since sustaining an injury to his left hand prior to the season-opener. The Bears also recieved strong goalie play from sophomore Wil Toppen, who had 33 saves over the weekend, including a career-high 15 saves versus UC Santa Barbara.

Field Hockey to take on Stanfraud:

This Week
The California field hockey team looks to rebound this weekend in its NorPac conference home opener against No. 13 Stanford. The Golden Bears (2-5, 0-1 NorPac) have lost their last five games after starting the season 2-0. Cal hosts Stanford on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m. at Maxwell Family Field.

Lohre Earns All-Conference Honors for the Second Time
Junior Lisa Lohre earned NorPac Defensive Player of the Week honors this week, the second time this season, when she recorded her second and third defensive saves of the season last weekend at American and Delaware. In Monday’s contest at Maryland, Lohre went on to post her fourth defensive save of the campaign. She leads her team and the conference in that category. As a team, this is Cal’s second conference weekly award.

Cal Goes Winless in Three-Game East Coast Road Trip
The Bears trekked to the East Coast for three matches last weekend, but unfortunately were not able to secure a victory. In addition, Cal only managed to score one goal, while allowing 12.
The trip started with a contest against then-No. 19 American. After tallying two second-half goals. American defeated California, 2-0. Junior Natalie Nurnberg and freshmen Deanna Kennedy and Rachelle Comeau recorded Cal’s three shots on goal.
Sophomore Jessica Kreck earned the Bears’ lone goal of the weekend against Delaware on Sunday. After giving up a goal in the fourth minute, Cal tied the game at one in the 52nd minute on Kreck’s third goal of the year. The Bears eventually lost to Delaware, 2-1.
The Bears were not able to produce much offense in their 8-0 loss at Maryland on Monday, as Cal finished with just one shot on goal from Kreck.
One of the few bright spots of the weekend was Lisa Lohre notching three defensive saves, giving her a conference-high four on the season.

Cal baseball has a great new crop of recruits to lose with:

The University of California baseball program’s 2009 recruiting class has been selected the 24th best in the nation, and third-best in the Pac-10, by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. The national publication selected the Golden Bears’ 15 newcomers among the conference’s top three, behind only 2008 College World Series participant Arizona State (2nd) and Bay Area rival Stanford (10th), and ahead of Oregon State (25th), Oregon (26th) and UCLA (33rd).

Cal’s 2009 recruiting class features seven pitchers (two of which are also position players), three infielders, two outfielders, a first baseman/outfielder, a first baseman and a catcher.

Among the 2009 class is Brett Bishop, a 5-11, 175-pound infielder from Clovis, Calif. (Buchanan High School) and Jimmy Bosco, 5-10, 180-pound left-handed hitting outfielder from Granite Bay, Calif. (Jesuit High School). Bishop was a four-year varsity player for Buchanan HS and last spring batted .369 with eight doubles, a triple, 11 home runs and 32 RBI, earning first-team all-conference and second-team all-state honors. Bosco set a Jesuit HS batting record as a junior when he hit .505 with three home runs and 24 RBI in 2008, earning Delta River League MVP and first-team All-Sac-Metro honors. He was also Cal Hi Sports first-team All-State Underclassman in 2008, helping his team to the 2008 San Joaquin Section Division I championship, and was Cal Hi Sports second-team all-state in 2009.

David Buscovich, a 5-11, 195-pound first baseman, is a junior college transfer from Diablo Valley College where he was a 2009 first-team All-Big 8 Conference selection, batting .308 with seven doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 50 RBI. Buscovich played high school baseball at San Leandro HS, batting .478 with six home runs and 26 RBI as a senior, earning All-East Bay honors.

What section is the visitor section at Oregon? I’m thinking of going, but I want to sit near some Bear fans.

Can we hire Tyrone Willingham as our recruiter?

From Deadspin:

When Man U were leading after 90 minutes, referees put an average of 191 seconds on the clock — less than the average for Liverpool, Chelsea or Aresenal. But when they were tied or losing, refs put on 257. That’s more than a minute in additional stoppage time when they most needed those extra seconds.

Does it matter? This year, United have led two games after regulation and played an average of 304 seconds. If that held true on Sunday, City would have secured a draw. But instead referee Martin Atkinson allowed seven minutes.

NSFW pic of Florida fan

Forrealz this time

Space scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that water exists on the moon, a discovery that helps complete a picture of a water-rich solar system and that could make colonizing our nearest neighbor in space much easier than previously thought.

Using data from three spacecraft that have made close flybys of the moon in recent years, research teams in the United States say they have found proof that a thin film of water coats the surface of the soil in at least some places on the moon.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

the world’s first full-size Lego house – including a working toilet, hot shower and a very uncomfortable bed

Apparently it’s now or never.

Huge Anglo-Saxon gold hoard found

Experts say the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, is unparalleled in size and worth “a seven figure sum”.

It has been declared treasure by South Staffordshire coroner Andrew Haigh, meaning it belongs to the Crown.

Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said it “was what metal detectorists dream of”.

“I declare you TREASURE!”

“(It is) absolutely the equivalent of finding a new Lindisfarne Gospels or Book of Kells.”

Omg Book of Kells NO WAI!

“We also cannot say who the original, or the final, owners were, who took it from them, why they buried it or when.

Someone in a nearby office is cursing out loud. Real loud. He’s pissed off at something. He must have used all the curse words known to mankind in a 5 minute outburst. He just calmed down…

I know someone else posted this last night…but, how much of an impact will that be if he can;t play and how much of a dropoff is it to Boskovich?

Could it be that Wilner’s bipolar?

Other than the final score from Eugene — and the amount of time Mike Bellotti spends on the Oregon sideline talking to players, consulting with coaches … and calling plays — what interests me most is the performance of Cal QB Kevin Riley.

He has won just two road games as a starter, Washington State last year and Minnesota last week, and neither came close to approaching the significance of Saturday’s tango.

This is the kind of game, against a conference rival in a rowdy stadium with Rose Bowl implications, that elite quarterbacks win.

How Riley performs will go a long way toward determining whether Cal wins the game, obviously. But it will also tell us a ton about Cal’s prospects for the next two months.

So far, Riley has done everything right: five touchdowns, 0 interceptions, a 64.8 completion percentage, a 170.6 passer rating.

"We’re very pleased with his preparation, his maturity level," Coach Jeff Tedford said. "He’s grown so much and he’s making great decisions, handling the huddle very well, the clock, play clock.

A first-rate performance from Riley, which is what I expect, won’t guarantee success the rest of the season.

But an erratic performance will surely signal trouble ahead for the Bears.

Prof’s strike despite coeds being on campus.

I must say, there’s a quite a few 5-star recruits floating around lost as all hell. They also haven’t managed the bike + skirt = phail eqn yet.

AIDS vaccine works.

Would like to see this in a peer-reviewed science journal first…but I suppose that’s coming.

Cal v. Oregon 2007 on ESPN Classic at 11AM.

Rome digitally rebuilt in hours

U. WASHINGTON-SEATTLE—Using a new computer algorithm, researchers were able to take 150,000 tourist photos tagged "Roma" or "Rome" downloaded from the photo sharing Web site Flickr and combine them into a single 3-D digital model in about 21 hours.

Video of the digitally reconstructed San Marcos Square and St. Peter’s Basilica .

anyone familiar with SlideRocket and how does it compare to Mac’s epic Keynote program and lame ass powerpoint?