i'll begin by saying that i appreciate and enjoy the mix of analytical power, football savviness, and abiding love for cal demonstrated by all of the posters on golden blogs. however, i find myself scratching my head at responses to the first two victories. it seems many are shooting for an attitude of guarded or cautious optimism, but come across only as cautiously cautious. 

i don't call into question any specific concerns. run game? inferior opponents? riley overthrows? i'll cede the points and admit that your worries are justified. but now is the time to nurture our wild hopes, not curb them. cal's undefeated. #1 in the nation in defense. there is certainly enough for a cal fan to hang his or her hopes upon, and i'm hanging mine as high as possible like a glittery star atop a christmas tree. 

i'm reminded of pascal's wager, which states that if you believe in god and there is no god then you lose nothing, but if the reverse is the case, then you go to hell with the heat and the pitchforks( or is that tempe?) so it's ultimately a better bet to just go ahead and believe in god. 

but if we're overly optimistic and cal ends up not being very good, then we'll be disappointed, right? 

yes, but i'll be disappointed if cal loses no matter what. the intensity of my reaction to a cal loss is not something i can mitigate with lowered expectations or caution. a cal loss sucks always, no matter what, no matter where or to what team. 

 i'll get as stupidly excited and optimistic as i want to, because if not now, when? preseason and early season, like a drive to vegas, is the time for wild exuberance. later you can look back and say how dumb you'd been, but if you're likely going to suffer anyways, shouldn't you revel in this exuberance? it's part of the cycle--like the seasons changing--like the salmon of capistrano--it's a yearly tradition. 

and it's clearly our year! yeah! go bears!