ROLL ON



BERKELEY – Fans will have the opportunity to follow the excitement of National Signing Day presented by ZipRealty by visiting CalBears.com/SigningDay on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Comprehensive coverage of the day’s events is scheduled to begin at 5 a.m. PT. Live coverage of a press conference featuring Cal head coach Jeff Tedford discussing the 2010 signing class is slated for 2 p.m. PT.

CalBears.com will be on site at Memorial Stadium throughout the day to update the Golden Bears’ list of 2010 signees as National Letters of Intent arrive and are approved by the school’s administration. A live blog, biographical information, video clips and much more is also planned.

Additional coverage will be provided via the following Cal Athletics social media outlets …

• Facebook (facebook.com/CalAthletics)
• Twitter (twitter.com/CalAthletics)
• YouTube (youtube.com/CalAthletics)

2/2/2010 – M. Basketball

Mike Montgomery Press Conference Quotes
After a tough four-point loss last Sunday at Arizona, California heads right back out on the road to Los Angeles this weekend to face USC and UCLA. The Golden Bears are halfway through their four-game road trip and the conference portion of the schedule. Cal and USC FULL STORY

2/2/2010 – W. Basketball
The California Golden Bears (11-9, 5-4 Pac-10) start the second half of Pac-10 play by hosting the LA schools this week at Haas. The Bears open on Thursday, Feb. 4 with a 7:05 p.m. game against USC (13-7, 7-2 Pac-10). FULL STORY

Golfstat Tournament Coverage
The Cal men’s golf team charged back by making up 12 shots on the final four holes to win its school-record third tournament of the regular season with a one-shot victory over host Arizona at the Arizona Intercollegiate. FULL STORY

Mrs. Fire Starkey (aka “The Heisman”)?

2/2/2010 – W. Basketball
California women’s basketball head coach Joanne Boyle and her staff will coach in their bare feet on Saturday, Feb. 6 against UCLA in Haas Pavilion as part of the “Bearfoot for Barefeet” Coaches Initiative to raise awareness and money to purchase shoes for the impoverished children affected by the recent earthquake in Haiti. UCLA’s staff, led by head coach Nikki Caldwell, will also coach without shoes in Saturday’s 2 p.m. game to aid Haiti’s children, who suffer from foot-borne diseases and infections due to a lack of shoes. FULL STORY

Ego’s announcing at 5:45 AM I believe (8:45 in NYC) (H/T California Eternal)

McCain, King, and Allen are announcing together. I think this also means Maynard’s announcing at the same time. Mike Farrell from Rivals thinks it can happen (H/T solarise)

It has come to my attention that Cal also has landed two Ore. St transfers who are already enrolled in school. Does anyone know if the Kreb (Cycle!) brothers are eligible for the coming fall? Any news/info on these guys would be awesome.

The first real interview in many, many years (although I don’t think the quoted year of 1989 being his last, in the article, is correct). Bill Watterson is one of the most professional cartoonists ever to exist. He is the anti-Jim Davis. Rejoice!

Bill Watterson, creator of beloved ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ comic strip looks back with no regrets

By John Campanelli, The Plain Dealer
February 01, 2010, 5:45AM

This marks the 15th year since “Calvin and Hobbes” said goodbye to the comics pages. Creator Bill Watterson, who grew up in Chagrin Falls and still makes Greater Cleveland his home, recently answered some questions via e-mail from Plain Dealer reporter John Campanelli.

Best motion picture of the year
    * “Avatar”
    * “The Blind Side”
    * “District 9”
    * “An Education”
    * “The Hurt Locker”
    * “Inglourious Basterds”
    * “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
    * “A Serious Man”
    * “Up”
    * “Up in the Air”

Performance by an actor in a leading role
    * Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
    * George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
    * Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
    * Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
    * Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
    * Matt Damon in “Invictus”
    * Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
    * Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
    * Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
    * Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Performance by an actress in a leading role
    * Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
    * Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
    * Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
    * Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
    * Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
    * Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
    * Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
    * Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
    * Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
    * Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Best animated feature film of the year
    * “Coraline”
    * “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
    * “The Princess and the Frog”
    * “The Secret of Kells”
    * “Up”

My quick 2 cents:

Best Picture nods for “Avatar” and “Up” are out of line.

• “Avatar” is simply not that great of a movie. Yes, it is beautiful; yes, it’s a game-changer. But a candidate for Best Picture? Not even close. The storyline is borrowed from a hundred other movies, and the acting is merely serviceable. Hell of an enjoyable movie, but special effects shouldn’t be enough to garner this honor. This, like the re-introduction of 10 Best Pictures nods, is a reaction to last year’s snub of The Dark Knight. – another movie that was hugely popular and visually stunning. The difference, of course, is that The Dark Knight had a virtuoso performance by Heath Ledger and terribly strong acting across the board by the rest of the cast.
• The same case holds true for “Up” – but this time the catalyst is the snubbing of “Wall-E” from last year’s Best Picture nods. Both contain excellent animation and a huge following. “Up”, however, is no “Wall-E.” While the former is a quality movie, it lacks the grandeur, scope, and passion of the latter. Though Wall-E does fall a bit flat toward the end of the film (as does The Dark Knight), Up begins to falter much sooner, with plot holes and incredulities enough to pull the viewer out of the world of the film. This nomination seems to be the Academy’s way of apologizing to Pixar for last year’s trangressions.

“9” deserves a Best Animated Film nomination.

• I’m truly saddened by this omission. “9” was a wonderful movie for all the right reasons – it was beautiful, it had a compelling story, and it completely envelops the viewer into the world of the movie. It has drama, it has action, and the voice performances are engrossing. For having made no movies of his own in 2009, Tim Burton sure backed some winning horses(“Coraline” and “9”). Despite its character and quality, “9” only grossed $42mln domestically – which just means it’s more of a shame that so many people didn’t get to see it.