CGB Hall of Fame: 2010 Nominations Thread

Kevin Johnson…

Justification: Cal great, NBA great, Mayor of a terrible city, the name escapes me right now, I know it has lots of cows… ummmmmm….

On the short list of best softball players ever. 1996 Gold Medalist. This article encapsulates her accomplishments

From 1989-93 Granger amassed 1,640 strikeouts and 94 shutouts in 183 games, both NCAA records.The statistic that perhaps exemplifies Granger’s dominance are her 25 no-hitters, five of which were perfect games Granger holds the top four spots in single-season strikeouts at Cal, and her 484 strikeouts during her senior year were a record at the time

25 no hitters. 25 no hitters.

I have to right an egregious wrong that was committed last year with the admission of Natalie Coughlin to the Hall of Fame before Matt Biondi.

Matt Biondi is, quite simply, the most accomplished individual athlete to ever graduate from Cal.

Why?
> NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 1985, 1986 and 1987
> Eight individual NCAA swimming titles, 13 overall titles including relays
> Twelve individual world records
> By the time he graduated from Cal, he had the ten fastest times ever swum in the 100m freestyle. Ever. In the world.
> World swimmer of the year in 1986 and 1988

Oh, did I forget to mention the Olympics? Silly me. He competed in three Olympic games, winning golds at each. He was the most decorated athlete at the Seoul Olympics, the summer after his graduation. By the time he retired, he had won ELEVEN Olympic medals, EIGHT of them gold.

Oh, and what’s that? You heard he might have played a bit of water polo in the offseason to keep himself interested in things aquatic? Well, yes, indeed he did. In fact, he was a water polo star. And the boys in Speedos brought home three NCAA water polo championships with him on the team.

Fix the injustice! It’s no Hall of Fame without Matt Biondi.

Superman

Between Muncie and Lynch the best running back who attended Cal

I love Tony G – and attended school with Tony G – but Russell had a far greater impact as a player. He was that stepping stone from joke of a program to Copper Bowl to Citrus Bowl to, uh, well let’s just forget Gilby.

Let’s look at the stats:

White played at UC Berkeley from 1990 through 1992. He amassed 3,367 yards and a 5.1 yards/carry average to become the Golden Bears’ all-time rushing leader.1 He also has the most career touchdowns at 35. White graduated in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social welfare.

He also was on the cover of my LA Times that sealed my decision to attend the University of California Berkeley.

Big Bad Cal Mauls Poor USC (from Sean “yoda” Rouse’s page):

Cal vs U$C, Nov 2, 1991

The newspaper headlines screamed the news: Big Bad Cal Mauls Poor USC; Bears Slaughter Trojans 52-30.
Cal dominated the nationally televised contest from start to finish. Russell White¹s second touchdown of the 1st quarter, a 72 yard breakaway, gave Cal a 14-7 lead, and the Bears never looked back. Sean Dawkins scored; White scored again, and the defense became a brick wall. By halftime it was 35-7, and everybody was checking the record books.

By the 4th quarter, they were burning the record books. The Cal offense amassed 601 yards in total offense. White finished with 229 rushing yards (the most ever allowed by U$C) and three scores. Dawkins also scored three times. The defense registered five quarterback sacks and two interceptions. Leading by 38 points, Coach Snyder pulled the first string, allowing U$C to score two late, meaningless touchdowns.

Then Bill Glass, the stadium announcer, proclaimed that Cal¹s 52 points was the highest total ever scored by an opponent in the history of U$C football. It was icing on the cake for the 70,000 fans, most of whom stayed to the end.

With the victory, the Bears climbed to 7-1, positioning themselves for a major bowl invitation. U$C fell to 3-5, and finished the season at 3-8. (One week later Stanfurd defeated UCLA, completing the first Bay Area Pac-10 sweep of UCLA and U$C in over 40 years.)

Hardy Nickerson was a badass linebacker from 1983-1986.

From the Cal Hall of Fame writeup:

For three straight seasons from 1983-85, Nickerson led the Golden Bears in tackles and was voted the team’s Most Valuable Player. A first team All-Pac-10 selection as a senior, he reeled off tackle totals of 141 in 1984, 167 in 1985 and 132 in 1986. His 167 stops as a junior remains a Cal single season record, while his 501 career tackles rank second behind David Ortega’s 525 in school history.

He went on to play in the NFL for 16 years (primarily for the Steelers and Bucs), where he was a five-time pro bowler, and was named to the 1990s all-decade second team. He is now a coach at Bishop O’Dowd, where his twins (boy/girl) go to school. I am hoping to see him on the Cal staff sometime soon.

Jerrott Willard was a badass linebacker from 1991-1994 . . .who rocked the half shirt.

From tightwad hill’s description of Willard

Jerrott Willard was probably the best tackler I’ve ever seen wear Blue and Gold. Broadcasters love the cliche of “football instincts.” Cliche or no, Willard had those instincts in spades. He exploded through ball carriers and rarely missed a tackle. His angles were as sharp as a geometry major’s, and he squeezed the absolute most out of what God gave him. He played sideline to sideline with a non-stop motor that recalls Desmond Bishop of this year’s team.

Willard led the Bears in tackles in each of his four seasons and wound up third all-time with 469 career stops, 54 of them for losses. He also had the knack for the big play, which separates him from other Cal defenders with gaudy stats. In his freshman year he blocked a critical punt for a touchdown against Oregon State in a 27-14 victory. In Cal’s 37-3 Alamo Bowl victory over Iowa in 1993, he returned an interception 61 yards for a score, and was named Defensive Player of the Game. In countless other situations, we could count on Jerrott to make the critical stop on third down, or to force a turnover.

Though Willard played alongside some outstanding talents in his time at Cal, he was voted Team MVP after both his junior and senior seasons, and he was a two-time All-Pac 10 first team selection at inside linebacker.

Aaron Rodgers

“The Play” Players

Dealth O’Neal

2000 fucking yards bitches

Vicky Galindo

Allison Stokke

All-Pac 10 2007-2008, awesome fastball, already looking to be a very promising Oakland Athletic!

Justification: While he didn’t always stand out as a player, and his overall book of work wasn’t enough to get him into the NFL, he has certainly stood out as a coach and role model for future generations of Bears. His reputation as a great recruiter was backed up by Lupoi earning National Recruiter of the Year honors for the incoming class of 2010, which is being called one of Tedford’s top 3 recruiting classes of all time.

And, if that’s not enough, there’s also the questionable history between Lupoi and Carp’s wife, which has made for many an entertaining comment posted here on CGB.

In my opinion, probably the greatest Cal Women’s basketball player of all time. Led Cal to their first sweet 16 appearance in school history, led the successful effort to break a decade-long losing streak to the ’furd.

2nd most points in Cal history, most rebounds in Cal history, 3rd best points per game in Cal history, 2nd in total games played in Cal history. I believe the first player drafted into the WNBA in Cal history. Currently the best basketball player in Israel, and will be coming back to Seattle for the start of the WNBA season soon.

Cal football walk-on to world champion… Plus a bad ass mother fucker… Also threatened to beat up one of Twist’s friends IIRC

Because Bobby Shaw is my Tiger….

Not to mention a great Cal WR in a time of terrible Cal football…

Plus I believe the first Cal player to be mentioned in a song by a Bay Area rapper… Others now include Leon Powe and Marshawn Lynch…

When she’s on, one of the most dominating offensive players in Cal history. Holds the single game record for points (47, in double OT). Played arguably the single greatest offensive game in Cal history when she scored 37 of Cal’s 54 points to defeat top 10 Stanford. Also a great defender and was named to the Pac-10’s all defense team. Leads Cal in career games played. 3rd most career points in Cal history. Most 3 pointers made in Cal history.

Sean Dawkins

I’m not familiar with all of Cal’s ADs, but her list of accomplishments would probably rank her near the top:

-Retained Tedford with a contract extension
-Hired Mike Montgomery
-Kept Joanne Boyle in Berkeley
-Shepherded the Athletic Department through the tree sitter fiasco and now the SAHPC and Memorial retrofit is well on it’s way.
-Is presiding over perhaps the most successful collective run in Cal sports, at least based on Director’s Cup standings.

People forget how good he was.

A.K.A. The pass rush of the 2009 Golden Bears

Desean, Hawk, and Rojo

I nominated her last year. And I’ll do it again this year. Until Boyle’s Bears came to Cal (Ashley Walker, etc.) best Cal women’s basketball player ever. Tall rangy point guard with an uncanny ability to get into the lane and overpower smaller guards with court vision for days. Here’s the official Cal Athletic Hall of Fame bio

One of Cal’s only first team Kodak All-American (1993) in women’s basketball history…Vukadinovic propelled the Golden Bears to NCAA postseason berths in each of her two seasons with the program…two-time first team All-Pac-10 choice led Cal to the 1992 and 1993 NCAA playoffs…a member of the Yugoslavian National Team, she would have competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics if her country had not been banned…Vukadinovic, also a GTE Academic All-American and two-time first team Pac-10 All-Academic choice, ranked as high as fourth in scoring average (15.7 ppg), sixth in assists (358) and third in three-point shooting percentage (.389) among Cal’s career leaders…voted the school’s women’s basketball Player of the Decade for 1986-96.

More than just the stats – she was amazing to watch. Being on the Cal campus in 1992 and 1993 was heaven for point guard fans. With Kidd (and KJ Roberts) leading the men’s team and Milica running the woman’s team. A tall point guard, she could see over her defenders – she was fond of the creative pass – with a bit of flair. The rest of her offensive game wasn’t as pretty but she would just get into the lane and shoot over short guards or go around posts.

Okay, I’m cheating a bit, both because I wasn’t around in his heyday and because he’s technically not an athlete. But, on point one, I got to run his slide projector for a presentation he was making in my History of Cal De-Cal and then shake his hand, so it sorta counts.

Anyway, while Seaborg did his undergraduate work at that inferior UC in Los Angeles, he came to Berkeley for graduate work and never left — coming to be one of our biggest fans all the way around. And most importantly, he was chancellor (chancellor!) of the University during both our last Rose Bowl and our NCAA basketball success of the late 50s. He believed that athletics rounded out the academics — he was Chancellor Tien before Chancellor Tien. He never failed to support the Golden Bears through all the lean times after.

And this doesn’t even cover what he did for Cal academically. He’s the discoverer of plutonium, integral to our war efforts in World War II — so integral, they didn’t let him go to Los Alamos, because his work in Berkeley was that important. He was Ernest Laurence’s right hand man on work with the cycletron. And because of all this, he was awarded the Nobel Prize, and then an even greater prize — element 106, Seaborgium.

A university would be lucky to have such a man associated with them.

Plus, as he was known to point out, his surname was an anagram for “Go Bears!” He was the quintessential Cal Bear, and a model for all to follow.

I humbly submit his name for your consideration.

Joe Igber. My all-time favorite Cal running back. Often overlooked, his name litters the pages of Cal’s record books.

- His 3,124 career rushing yards are the third most in Cal history. Only Russell White and Marshawn Lynch can claim more.

- His 2002 rushing total of 1,130 yards was the 3rd highest single-season total in Cal history (at that time).

His greatest performance: a 226-yard, one-touchdown performance in the 2002 Big Game, which Cal won 30-7. Not only did he set the record for most rushing yards in the history of the Big Game (which still stands), he helped bring the Axe back to its rightful home after a painful 7-year drought.

These accomplishments alone should be enough to garner him consideration. And while these are all great reasons to appreciate Joe Igber, I’m most impressed with him because his career typified what we strive for Cal to be. You see, Igber somehow managed to balance the athletic workload of a star Pac-10 running back with the academic workload of becoming a civil engineer.

Now, most people can barely handle one of those challenges. We all know how time consuming and stress inducing engineering majors are – between physics/math/engineering courses, labs, projects, research (if you’re ambitious) – it’s more than enough for most of us. UC Berkeley is one of the best (and toughest) places in the world to study engineering. People come from all over the world to study engineering at Cal; that reputation is well-deserved, and it was the main reason that Joe Igber decided to come to Cal in the first place.

Also, we’ve all heard about how much time, sacrifice, dedication it takes to play Pac-10 football, let alone be a starter – the practice, the training, and weight rooms, the film, the travel. Add to the that the pressure of being the star running back, and you’ve got yourself a full plate that very few have the patience and focus to handle.

On top of even that – to perform at the level that Joe Igber did, to set records and do things on the field no Golden Bear has ever done, while handling that academic workload – it’s just ridiculous.

One last note: When Igber’s football career at was over, the world was his oyster. He was a talented running back from a major conference, had a good head on his shoulders, and was wildly intelligent. He had the potential for a promising NFL career ahead of him – he was invited to several NFL camps. With his combination of natural talent and incredible work ethic, he surely would have been a useful piece of an NFL team, and would have made a lot of money in the process. He saw the opportunity for a professional sports career – and turned it down, choosing instead to return to Cal to earn his masters’ degree in civil engineering, a field he works in to this day. Not many of us would have the fortitude to make a similar decision.

Joe Igber is that rare combination, the very best of both of Cal’s worlds – an amazing athlete and an impressive scholar. As such, I nominate him for the CGB Hall of Fame.

(Bonus: follow this link for incredible pictures of Joe Igber from Life magazine)