Pac-10 Media Day, Part II: Jeff Tedford and Mike Mohamed Interviews

When we left off in Part I of media day, Tedford and Mohamed had just finished their press conference.  Before we look at the second half of the press conferences and the luncheon, let's take a look at what Tedford and Mohamed said when I had the chance to talk to them near the end of the day.  As a bonus, let's also see if I managed to avoid having an awkward conversation with Cal media reps about CGB!

Because it was so hot out, most reporters started interviewing coaches during the second half of the press conferences (that way they wouldn't have to sit in the sun any longer).  By the time Tedford and Mohamed were available during the luncheon it seems like most major outlets (ESPN, etc) had talked to them, so they had more time and attention to devote to other reporters.  Unlike last year when the Cal table was surrounded with people wanting to talk to Tedford and Best, there were only a handful of people who still wanted to talk to Tedford when he arrived at the luncheon.  It helped that Tedford showed up at 1:30, an hour after the luncheon started.  Before that, he was somewhere inside the Rose Bowl presumably doing interviews.

Shortly before Tedford arrived at the luncheon, I wandered over to the Cal section again (I was there at the start of the luncheon, but was told I couldn't sit there because all the seats were reserved) and asked our good friend Herb Benenson if Tedford planned on coming to the luncheon.  Benenson assured me that Tedford would, at some point, be there to answer questions.  Not wanting a rehash of last year's awkward but enlightening conversation with Herb and Kyle McRae, I headed towards the Cal table where Mike Mohamed was eating a tasty-looking fruit/ice cream parfait thing.

As a quick diversion, here's a fun history lesson for those who don't remember last year's Media Day or want to learn why CGB's tagline is "The California Sports Website that's .....different from all the rest."  This is from last year's writeup:

While [Tedford and Best] were talking to reporters I talked to a pair of Cal media reps, Kyle McRae and Herb Benenson.  Both had heard of CGB and in fact had read some of it.  Herb said he had been forwarded Rag's/Avi's post on athletics revenue.  Before I had the chance to ask him what he thought of it, he stepped aside to talk to someone or answer his phone or something.  Kyle took his place a few minutes later and sat next to me.  When I told him I was with CGB he slowly nodded his head and said "Ohhh, okay."  I asked if he had heard of us and indeed he had.  He said CGB was not your average Cal site.  He said CGB is "...different." I asked him if this was good or bad and he paused for a while and eventually said "...neither."  I'm under the impression that "neither" isn't necessarily a good thing. I didn't get to learn more about his perspective because he also had to step aside shortly after I talked to him. Awkward!

I walked over to Mike and introduced myself as a writer for CGB and asked him questions for a good 5-10 minutes:

• First off, Mike is huge.  The roster says he's 6'3" and 245, but he looks even bigger than that.  He's a solid guy and I'd hate to be on the receiving end of a full-speed tackle from him.
• He's heard of CGB!
• He's really excited about the upcoming season.  He speaks very highly of Pendergast and believes this defense will surprise people next season.  They've been working hard and have developed into an excellent unit.
• Asked to name a defensive player who could be a household name next year, he chose cornerback Steve Williams.  He also mentioned Owusu, who showed flashes of potential last year (especially against Maryland), and ought to see the field more this year.
• He describes linebacker Steve Fanua as a "ball of fire."
• He said the loss of Whiteside and Martin isn't affecting the team.  He made the valid point that those guys haven't even taken  a snap at practice, so their loss won't have any effect on the defense.
• Asked about who on offense gives the defense problems in 7-on-7s and 11-on-11s, he mentioned Vereen and Sofele.  He said Sofele is very tough to bring down and described him as a "bowling ball."  He also mentioned the O-line as a unit, saying that they're showing great improvement over last year.