I wish, and perhaps this did happen, that Jeff Tedford and Co. found someway to make it work for C-Mart at Cal. Crazy ideas that pop into my mind include having him room with Alex Mack-type guys, asking him to leave his car at home (really puts you on an island). I mean, it’s July 20th. At most he’s been back home for 7 weeks if he just graduated from that Colorado high school.

Of course, some things could have become apparent to Tedford in that short time (drug dealing/using, gang activity, Reggie Bush-like entourage) that maybe made “fighting to help C-Mart work it out” something that could have had catastrophic consequences down the line.

Chris Martin did what he had to do for himself. Realize, though, that Chris Martin has to be his own advocate, because very few, if any, other people will be.

It’s natural that fans of a particular program would be disappointed if a highly respected and touted recruit left their favorite program as Chris Martin did. But the fact remains that no fan has the facts to have a clear picture of Chris Martin’s life and is, therefore, incapable of making any sort of meaningful evaluation of his decision to transfer.

It’s difficult, if not impossible, to see how Martin’s decision will affect Cal. What happens in the fullness of time will tell the story. I remember very vividly during the Holmoe years that many fans were wailing and gnashing their teeth over the continued Holmoe head coaching tenure. Almost no one was similarly upset with the man who hired him, John Kasser.

And yet, because Holmoe’s two resignations (after the ‘99 and ’00 seasons) were refused by Kasser, it was possible for John Kasser to leave Cal well before Holmoe did. As a result, Kasser’s successor, Steve Gladstone, made the decision on Holmoe’s successor: Jeff Tedford. Because of that timing, and the fact that key people (Berdahl and Gladstone, in particular) were in key positions (as Chancellor and Athletic Director, respectively), it was possible to find a candidate for Cal’s football head coach who could rebuild the program in ways that were seemingly unimaginable in 2001.

Undeniably, this loss stings. But have faith that what Chris Martin is doing for himself will also work out for Cal in the long run.

The sky may look gray and cloudy, but it certainly isn’t falling.

While trying very hard not to engage in overt speculation about the reason for this kid’s transfer, the phrase “distractions” sure does carry some heavy implications. And, all things considered (and assuming my inferences are in the right area), leaving the Bay Area is a wise move by Martin. After all, he’s got his whole life to make bad choices, why start now?

But the thing that really pops into my head is why Florida? I mean, recent history sure does indicate that there will be more than a fair share of “distractions” there, too.

Anyway, I do hope things work out for him. Sad to see him go, but such is big time football.

Why do bears fans read the other site? What else do i gotta do to get more fans here!

Quick note about Cecil Whiteside – he is in my humble opinion equal if not a better DE/OLB prospect compared to Chris Martin. When you watch Whiteside’s tapes he has just as much physical and athletic upside w/ even greater lateral speed compared to Martin to chase after RBs and harass QBs. Now that Martin is transferring Whiteside becomes even more important in our future plans. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for both Martin & Whiteside to succeed, no matter where they end up.

Taken from someone that bought a stupid #9 Jersey and personalized “Martin” on the back in hopes that he will become the defensive standout that we need to be a championship-caliber team….

…this sucks, but whatever.

There appears to be a lot of enablers around him, especially his parents. What he calls “love and support” is basically another term for enabling him to do whatever he chooses, on whatever whim he has.

He surely has issues, and his choice has been to run away from them. What might have suited him best is just to face up to his challenges, however daunting they may seem.

He surely is lucky that he has everyone door open and opportunity in his life…but one day, if he doesn’t man up, those doors will close. Best of luck to him, although I won’t be cheering.

….2011 scares me. Talk me down from the ledge, because that depth chart looks pretty scary….some of these guys are going to get playing time early.

Chris Martin says he’ll play Brandon Spikes position at #UF. He’ll play on and off the line

I’m not worried about the depth chart at LB, quite frankly. We all want the young guys to play, and that’s clearly going to happen. If there’s going to a be a year for tempered expectations and “rebuilding,” it should be next year because we’ll be breaking in a new QB anyway.

And, Pendergast has shown in the past that he’s more than willing to go 4-3 if it turns out to be a better fit with our personnel. (depth at d-line, thin at LB)

Does this have any impact, either positive or negative on our recruiting for this year?

Maybe positive if Cal looks more attractive post-Martin to someone looking for “early PT” at the hybrid position? Jason Gibson? Or if we really want to dream, why not Ray Drew?

Maybe negative if losing such a high-profile recruit in unusual circumstances casts Cal in a bad light and hurts our momentum.

all such accusations not based on any hard evidence will not be tolerated either

I know people are upset that he’s gone, but it does us no good to denigrate him when he’s walking out the door. It doesn’t matter to us anymore why he’s gone, it only matters that he’s gone.

Focus on how this affects the football team, not Martin.

FUCK THE DODGERS

I’m not sure if this is the right place to speculate about this, but I heard a rumor that Chris Martin left, because he wanted to be represented by a better SBN blog than CGB.

So, it’s all your fault readers of this site! Especially you Cali49A! Especially you!

1. Consider what has happened just the past couple of months in the conference alone:

- USC: sanctions, losing scholarship players, losing scholarships, losing top recruit in the nation (whatever that means), etc.
- UCLA: three high ranked recruits dismissed from team on first day of summer school for theft, at least for a year, maybe forever
- Washington: lose highly rated junior Tight End to discipline issues
- Oregon: lose starting quarterback and potential Heisman short lister
- Stanford: still Stanford (sorry, cheap shot)
- Oregon State: loses several starters on defense to various issues
- and I am sure there are others

Which is to say: teams lose key recruits, or even established players, all the time. This is not a special plague on Cal. In fact, arguably all the teams listed above lost more than Cal in this situation.

2. Consider how many highly ranked recruits don’t pan out. ESPN story identified above and again here. Who is to say Mr. Martin would have been better than two star Mike Mohamed was, or better than the fine list of linebacker recruits from this year alone?

http://espn.go.com/blog/pac10/post/_/id/11082/a-look-back-at-2007-recruiting

3. Consider the stories quoted above – it is not clear at all that Mr. Martin was going to excel at Cal had he stayed.

4. Consider injuries, academic wash outs, players who switch to ballet or piano, players who get into trouble with agents, etc. Projecting any individual high schooler to college level performance is an inexact science. Think about how much you changed between 18 and 22.

So, I think Cal will get through this fine. Yes, it would have been interesting to see a unique character like Mr. Martin grow and mature at Cal. Yes, he could be a top flight talent that could have helped the team (including this year.) But there are others who can step up, football is a team game, and developing players is a key part of the coaches jobs.

Finally, stay classy Cal. The young man changed his mind, which he had every right to do. And it is just football watching for us. It is his life. Let’s wish him well and hope he grows up as a player and a man.

jh

I’m not sure if this is the specific place I should be speculating about this, but have you guys heard the rumors that Chris Martin left Cal, because he didn’t want to have to pay any income tax on all of the money that Coach Jeff Tedford was going to pay him to play football.

It’s true, we pay our players, which is dishonest. But we also 1099 them, so it evens out.

Look, I don’t know where we are supposed to speculate, but I think this is most likely the best place to posit the thought that perhaps he is filming a giant reality show. Has anybody reviewed the future listings for the E! network???? Perhaps “Miami Martin” is upcoming.

Take this all with a grain of salt, but I heard a rumor from a Faceypage account that Chris Martin is transferring to Florida to run for US Senate. Given that nobody has ever seen a photo of Kendrick Meek or even heard him talk, it’s highly likely that Chris Martin is, in fact, Kendrick Meek.

The word on the street is that future transfers may only go to other division 1 FBS SUKMIDIK schools if they can beat Jack Clark in a knife fight.

The following month Clark attended a party at the house of an acquaintance in San Francisco and went outside to help break up an altercation. He ended up squared off against a man with a 9-mm Magnum. The assailant, who was under the influence of PCP, fired at Clark, hitting him four times. One bullet shattered his left femur, another the left fibula. At San Francisco General Hospital, heavily sedated and suffering significant nerve damage in the leg, Clark was confronted with the possibility of amputation. One night, while drifting in and out of consciousness, he awoke to a lecture on prosthetic limbs from a hospital counselor. “I called up one of my mates,” Clark recalls, “and said, ‘I need you to get down here, and whatever you do, don’t let them take my leg.’”

“Competitive cheer may, some time in the future, qualify as a sport under Title IX,” Underhill wrote. “Today, however, the activity is still too underdeveloped and disorganized to be treated as offering genuine varsity athletic participation opportunities for students.”

http://cbs5.com/sports/cheerleading.title.ix.2.1818234.html