CGB Hall Of Fame: Alex Mack v. Geoff MacArthur

CGB Hall Of Fame time!  It's the most wonderful time.  OF THE YEAR!  So, this week we have two more Cal fan favorites facing off.  Tough decisions, but these crunch time matchups are where legends are born! 

Today, we have Alex Mack v. Geoff MacArthur.  Two great Cal players, who never played on the same team, but would have worked perfect together.  But only one can move on!

Alex Mack got a first round bye and then Nnamdi Asomugha.

Geoff MacArthur beat  Angie Pressey and Tosh Lupoi. 

So, vote.  V-O-T-E!  Voting ends on Friday at noon PST.  Here is the bracket if you want to see it. 

Alex Mack

CBKWit (remember him?) provides insightful commentary on Alex Mack: 

I have so many memories of Mack that it's hard for me write something coherent (ok, I rarely write anything coherent, so harder than usual).  I guess it starts back in 2005 around the Vegas bowl.  Some may not remember but we had a really good center before Mack, Marvin Philip.  Philip started every game in 2004 & 2005, finishing 2004 as an AP second team All-American and 2005 as an AP first team All-American, in addition to being named Cal's offensive MVP (for comparison's sake, Mack was only a third team AP All-American this year).  Despite the prospect of losing our All-American center to graduation, I remember telling anyone who would listen (and not too many people will listen to you talk about back-up centers, especially in Vegas) about a redshirt freshman named Alex Mack who was apparently mauling people in practice.  It's not too often that you can feel comfortable losing a first team All-American, but that's what Mack did.

 

I remember playing Tennessee at Memorial on NCAA Football 2007 and having Alex Mack pull and take out two guys to spring Forsett for a touchdown...and a few days later watching Mack take out THREE guys on almost an identical play (0:51 on the video) during the actual game.  I remember Mack eliminating two WSU players to spring Forsett for a 40 yard TD against the Cougs (2:02 on the same video), our only win in 7 games and perhaps my favorite single play from the 07 season.  I remember asking Mack after the USC game that year if he would be coming back in '08, and hoping that "I don't know, man" would become a yes.  I remember watching Mack run around the sidelines after the Emerald Bowl, slapping hands and thanking everyone that could get close enough to him as he tried to extend his Cal career for another 15 minutes.

Ironically, Mack departs in a fasion similar to Philip - with a much talked about younger player ready to take his place.  Chris Guarnero was a standout in practices as a redshirt freshman and played extremely well at left guard last year before going down for the year with a toe injury.  He may not equal Mack in his Cal career (who will?) but judging by what we've seen so far (that's him sprining Best on the first play), Cal's in good shape yet again at center.

Geoff MacArthur

thehawkse7en makes a simple and concise case for why Geoff deserves the honor:

Didn’t have the overall skill set that some of the other receivers had, but he put up the best, monster numbers and was simply a beast. Wouldn’t we love to have him now??

CALumbus Bear adds in his thoughts:

Wasn’t G-Mac second in the NATION (behind Larry Fitzgerald) one year in receiving yards? He had the best hands evair, maybe even better than D-Jax when it came to muscling a ball away from a defender. He deserves it. Vote for G-Mac!

Some assorted thoughts on Geoff Macarthur from the grandfather of Cal blogs, Tightwad Hill.

They say it's better to be lucky than good. Well, "they" never met G-Mac. This guy comes out of nowhere to rewrite the Cal record book in 2003, catching 85 passes for 1,504 yards. He has five 150+ yard games and basically wins the Big Game by himself with the greatest stat line in Cal history: 16 catches/245 yards/2 TDs. Then, basking in the glow of All-Pac 10 and 2nd team All-America status and Cal's first bowl invitation in seven years, he fractures his right arm in a non-contact drill. No one touched him. Misses the Insight Bowl win over Virginia Tech.

Oh well, he comes into his senior year a pre-season All-America selection, and opposing defenses are ready. They feed him a steady diet of double teams, and Aaron Rodgers spreads the ball around. Seven different receivers have at least 14 catches on the season, and G-Mac's numbers fall to 57 catches for 862 yards and 7 touchdowns. Plus he plays with a strained oblique muscle for most of the season.