DBD 10.6.11 - ROLL ON YOU BEARS

BwF hopes to avoid Autzen Atrocity©

I just see some more fight in this team than in years past. More than anything, I think that even if the Bears go down, they go down swinging. I also have a sinking feeling that there isn’t a single player in the locker room who isn’t going into this with the attitude that they put Cal back on the map on Thursday.

Something Calvin and Hobbes related. Too big to fail embed.

If UW was somehow in the SEC, they’d be ranked #________ in the nation.

Yeah, I get the close wins over E. Wash and Hawai’i. If you put 38 up on the board in Lincoln, that’s a quality loss (even though this is like the 1000th time UW-Nebraska have met). It’s not flukey, their QB and RB are awesome. And they rolled into Utah and put a thumping on a team that was popping up in the Top 25 over the last few years like Paula Abdul pops Norcos.

If UW was renamed “Florida” they’d be in the Top 15 no questions asked.

Only 10% chance of rain tonight in the Eugene area

Your media options:

2011 CALIFORNIA FOOTBALL
 Thursday, Oct. 6, 6:00 p.m. (PT)
 Cal (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) at Oregon (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12)
 Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
 
Live Coverage
 TV: ESPN/ESPN 3D – Rece Davis (Play-by-Play), Craig James (Analyst), Jesse Palmer (Analyst), Jenn Brown (Sideline Analyst)
Cal Commercial Radio: KGO 810 AM (San Francisco) – Joe Starkey (Play-By-Play), Troy Taylor (Analyst, Pregame Show), Todd McKim (Pregame Show, Sideline), Lee Grosscup (Postgame Show), Kate Scott (Postgame Show) Postgame at the Paragon, Claremont Hotel Club & Spa, 41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley, CA
IMG College/Cal Radio Network Affiliates: KFPT 790 AM (Fresno), KESP 970 AM (Modesto), KPRZ 1210 AM (San Diego), KMZT 1260 AM (Los Angeles), KTKZ 1380 AM (Sacramento), KFIG 1430 AM (Fresno).
 All-Access Radio: The Cal commercial radio broadcast feed of the game can be heard on the Internet thorugh the All-Access channel on CalBears.com. All-Access can be found under the Multimedia tab at the top of the page.
 Cal Student Radio: KALX 90.7 FM (Berkeley) – KALX 90.7 FM (Berkeley) – Danny Freisinger (Play-By-Play), Elliott Schwimmer (Analyst)
 Sirius XM Satellite Radio: The commercial radio broadcasts of both teams for the Cal-Oregon game can be heard on Sirius XM satellite radio. The Sirius and XM channels for the Cal feed are both 85. The Sirius and XM channels for the Oregon feed are both 91.
 National Radio: Sports USA Radio Network, sportsusaradio.com – Dan Fouts (Play by-Play), John Robinson (Analyst)
 
CalBears.com: Visit CalBears.com for complete coverage of Cal football, including a live play-by-play update via Gametracker.
 
Cal Coaches Corner: The one-hour program airs from 6-7 p.m. each Monday on KNEW Radio (910) and is broadcast live from the Paragon at the Claremont Hotel, Club and Spa in Berkeley.
 Fans are welcome to listen in person at the Claremont (41 Tunnel Road in Berkeley), while those who want to submit questions to coach Tedford can do so by logging on at CalBears.com/fanquestion.
 
Cal Sports Report: Host Todd McKim and reporter Francesca Weems bring viewers the latest in Cal Athletics each week on the Cal Sports Report airing on CSN California this week on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. PT, Thursday at 7 p.m. PT, and Friday at 2 and 10 p.m. PT. The show normally debuts each week on Wednesday at 5 p.m. unless pre-empted by a live sports event and replays several times each week.

carp, thanks for the DBD. Its 10.6.11, so I updated your headline.

Mens tennis doing great:

TULSA, Okla. – California men’s tennis sophomore Ben McLachlan won his third straight match to become one of 16 players to emerge from the qualifying tournament and earn a coveted spot in the singles main draw of the 2011 ITA Men’s All-American Tennis Championships on Wed., Oct. 5, at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. The second-year Golden Bear also claimed a spot in the doubles main draw as he and his partner junior Carlos Cueto posted two more wins in the qualifier.

McLachlan secured a 6-3, 6-2 win over Vitor Manzini of Texas Tech in the qualifier final to earn his berth in the main draw. He will get on court for a 9:30 a.m. CT match against fourth-seeded No. 5-ranked Chase Buchanan of Ohio State on Thur., Oct. 6. McLachlan’s second-round match would start no earlier than 2 p.m. should he advance past Buchanan.

Womens Soccer hosts LA schools:

Friday, Oct. 5
4 p.m. – No. 2 UCLA (10-0-1, 3-0-0 Pac-12) at No. 18 Cal (8-3-1, 1-1-1 Pac-12)
Edwards Stadium – Berkeley
Series Record with the Bruins: 4-13-0
Last Meeting: L, 1-0 in Los Angeles (Oct. 8, 2010)


Sunday, Oct. 7
1 p.m. – USC (3-9-0, 0-3-0 Pac-12) at No. 18 Cal (8-3-1, 1-1-1 Pac-12)
Edwards Stadium – Berkeley
Series Record with the Trojans: 5-10-1
Last Meeting: L, 5-4 in Los Angeles (Oct. 10, 2010)

BERKELEY – The No. 18 California women’s soccer team returns home to Edwards Stadium, where it hasn’t played since a victory over Arizona State on Sept. 23, this weekend. The Golden Bears host No. 2 UCLA on Friday at 4 p.m. and face USC on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Berkeley.

Cal in the National Rankings
California is ranked No. 18 in the latest TopDrawerSoccer.com national poll released this week. The Bears are also receiving votes in the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA), Soccer America and Soccer Times polls. Call climbed as high as No. 11 in the national rankings (TopDrawerSoccer.com) during the week of Sept. 19-25.

MWP heads to LA:

BERKELEY -

Fri., Oct. 7 at UCLA, Spieker Aquatics Center Los Angeles, Calif. 7 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 8 at Long Beach State, Campus Pool Long Beach, Calif. 2 p.m.

Sun., Oct. 9 at UC San Diego, Canyonview Aquatic Center San Diego, Calif. 12 p.m.

Bear Bites:
No. 2-ranked Cal (11-2), the 2010 national runners-up and featuring National Player of the Year Ivan Rackov, begins Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play this week as the Golden Bears travel to No. 3 UCLA Friday (Oct. 7) and No. 14 Long Beach State Saturday (Oct. 8) for league matches. Cal then competes at No. 9 UC San Diego Sunday (Oct. 9) in a non-league contest. The Bears should have a battle on their hands against the Bruins as the teams have split their two matches this season with Cal losing 6-5 at the NorCal Invitational, but winning, 8-4, last weekend. The Bears moved up a notch in the national rankings after reaching the finals of last week’s SoCal Invitational, defeating Santa Clara (16-8), Pacific (11-9) and previously No. 2 UCLA (8-4), before falling to Stanford, 10-9 in overtime in the title match. Cal has outscored its opponents, 172-71, this season and leads the MPSF with 13.23 goals per game. Defensively, the Bears are second in the league with 5.46 goals per game. On Sept. 5 Rackov became this season’s first MPSF Player of the Week after tallying 12 goals with eight steals and seven assists in Cal’s Sept. 3 home victories over UC Davis and Santa Clara. Along with Rackov, the Bears return four other All-Americans from the 2010 national runner-up squad that finished 24-4 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation – seniors Cory Nasoff, Charlie Steffens and Luka Saponjic, and junior goalie Justin Parsons. Cal also welcomes in junior Ayal Keren, a 6-2 utility player from Tivon, Israel who was the California Junior College Player of the Year at Diablo Valley College, and 6-3 freshman attacker Aleksa Saponjic, who joined brother Luka on the Serbian National Team that won the gold medal at the 2011 World University Games in Shenzen, China.

VBall has 2 matches up in Oregon:



Friday, Oct. 7
7 p.m. – No. 4 Cal (15-2, 5-2 Pac-12) at No. 15 Oregon (12-2, 5-1 Pac-12)
Matt Arena – Eugene, Ore.
Series Record vs. the Ducks: 49-15
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (10/30/10)
Coverage: GameTracker, Twitter, Video
Sunday, Oct. 9
1 p.m. – No. 4 Cal (15-2, 5-2 Pac-12) at Oregon State (11-5, 3-3 Pac-12)
Gill Coliseum – Corvallis, Ore.
Series Record vs. the Beavers: 41-17
Last Meeting: W, 3-0 (10/29/10)
Coverage: GameTracker, Twitter, Free Video
BERKELEY – The No. 4 California volleyball team takes to the friendly skies for this week’s outing – flying north to Oregon. On Oct. 7, the Golden Bears (15-2, 5-2 in the Pac-12) will face off against the No. 15 Ducks of Oregon (12-2, 5-1 Pac-12) in Eugene at 7 p.m. In their first Sunday match of the season, Cal plays Oregon State (11-5, 3-3) on Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. in Corvallis before returning home.

Briefly With the Bears
•After dropping its first two road Pac-12 matches last weekend, Cal returned in grand fashion with a 3-0 sweep of Arizona and a 3-1 victory over Arizona State
•With the two wins last weekend, the Bears upped their overall hitting percentage from .290 to .296 and jumped their conference attack from .246 to .272
•Christina Higgins is the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
•The Bears have beaten the Ducks in 21 of the 24 most recent meetings with the Ducks
•Cal has won 15 of the past 16 meetings with Oregon State
•Thanks to the two wins at home last weekend, the Bears are a perfect 12-0 at Haas Pavilion
•Cal is 1-2 on the road and 3-2 in road and neutral-site games combined
•Oregon, which is ranked 15th in the country, is the fourth ranked opponent of the year for the Bears

WBB practices officially starts:

The California Golden Bear women’s basketball team held the first official practice of the 2011-12 season on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

The players had been conditioning and training as well as doing skill work and playing in open gym time since returning to campus in August, but October 5 was the first official practice of the season as the team gets ready for the 2011-12 season opener Nov. 13 at Rutgers.

All Cal practices are closed. However, the Bears will be opening up the doors of Haas Pavilion to fans on Saturday, Oct. 15. The Bears will be holding a normal practice from 12-2:30. Fans are invited to come in and watch the practice, getting an insiders view of the preparations that go into building a team. The Open Practice is free and all are welcome to attend!

NinersNation talks DLine:



Yesterday afternoon, nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga made an unexpected appearance in the 49ers injury report with an unnamed infection. Matt Barrows did some digging and learned from “a source with knowledge of the situation” that Sopoaga has a staph infection. Sopoaga did not practice on Wednesday and is looking questionable for Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It is my understanding that staph infections can vary in severity, which makes it hard to know how much time Sopoaga will miss. Wide receiver Josh Morgan suffered a staph infection during the preseason of his rookie year and missed two preseason games and the regular season opener. Bucs tight end Kellen Winslow suffered a staph infection in 2008 (during a rash of Browns staph infections) and missed one game (with a bye before that game).

SilverAndBlackPride is talking Raiders prospects:

The Nation knows what Raider.org either does not or refuses to admit. We need real Linebackers and not converted DEs, swift footed knuckleheads, or freelancers lacking football instincts. For those just emerging from hibernation, you haven’t missed much defensively, the Raiders still rank 29th against the rush … just as we have the past several years.

I now present a viable Linebacker to help us stop the rush (and end the embarrassment) which, btw, is what a true Bully Team does – at the very least – stop the rush. Here’s video of Luke

FearTheFin talks Hockey Prospectus:

Recently, Plank and I were given a copy of Hockey Prospectus to peruse, abuse, and revuse. Review.

When I downloaded the book, I immediately flipped to the Sharks section. Initially, that’s what I believed what would be useful to me, as a Sharks fan and someone who covers the team.

I was very surprised by the detail that the authors took for San Jose, spending time pouring over every stat possible for the team. Did you know that the Sharks have the worst playoff save percentage of any team (with a minimum of four series appearances) in recent NHL history? They do: through 13 playoff series, San Jose has posted a league worst .906 save percentage. Although Niemi wasn’t great this past offseason, this stat from Hockey Prospectus quickly sheds some light on why Doug Wilson was willing to let Evgeni Nabokov walk and let Niemi take the reigns.

Cards beat Phils force Game 5:


Chase Utley might be my favorite non-Cardinal. I’ve probably mentioned this before. What I like about Utley is that he’s good at everything you can do on a baseball diamond—he’s a high-average hitter with a good eye and thirty-home-run power; he plays a rangy, effortless second base. He rarely grounds into the double play, he gets hit by a ton of pitches, and when he chooses to steal a base he’s successful almost ninety percent of the time.

Albert Pujols does all those things, but with Albert Pujols you can see the gears turning; lately, as he limps from base to base, you can just about hear them. His famous swing and his heads-up defense both come out of a tense, angry-looking pounce, and after he’s finished with either one you can watch him unselfconsciously wince and take inventory of his limbs, like a pinball machine self-testing after the lights come back on.

Chase Utley made an Albert Pujols decision Wednesday night—he got a great jump on Edwin Jackson, which isn’t hard to do, and then he rounded second on a groundball to Rafael Furcal and broke for third base. But then Albert Pujols made an Albert Pujols decision; he didn’t just catch Utley running, he gave up the out at first like it had never existed, caught Furcal’s throw on a little jog-step like the play had been drawn up that way, and threw the ball at David Freese like he’d never been moved off third base because of how shredded his arm was. Utley took a hard tag to his face, realized the jig was up, and walked quietly off the field. The camera was still focusing on Freese flipping the ball out of his glove, trying to act casual, so I can’t be sure, but Pujols probably winced.

DBacks win, force Game 5:

Two days ago, Arizona was done. Dead. Gone. History. An absolute afterthought of the post-season, lost amid a frenzy of coverage on the Yankees, Matt Moore, Sabathia vs. Verlander, the indestructible Phillies rotation, and Beast Mode. 48 hours later, Arizona has evened their series against the Brewers at two games apiece and will head back to Milwaukee for Game Five after scoring 18 runs in their offense’s last 16 innings. See how the magic happened after the break. Oh, yeah, I almost forgot……….

I’M GOING BACK TO MILWAUKEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Things didn’t start off particularly well for Saunders, beginning with a one-out single from the ever-pesky Jerry Hairston after Saunders K’d Corey Hart to lead off the game. Ryan Braun came up to the plate and did what he’s basically been doing all aggravating series long, absolutely demolishing a ball to the left-center field wall for an RBI double. Braun stole third while Prince Fielder was being “unintentionally” walked, but the hobbling Rickie Weeks came up with the lead-footed Fielder at first base. Sure enough, Weeks shot a ground ball to Ryan Roberts who started a double play that barely nabbed Weeks at first – I imagine Weeks would have easily beat the throw if he were full-health, but I certainly wasn’t complaining. Keeping Braun from scoring after a one-out double was certainly an impressive feat by Joe, and he gained instant approval points by pitching around Fielder. Not the greatest start to the game, but it was still a close game.

Gale’s son says bye bye to Texas

Gilbert was given an unconditional release from his scholarship to find another school. In a statement released Wednesday, Gilbert did not say where he planned to go, but indicated he has visited several schools and will visit more while finishing this semester at Texas.

Gilbert said he talked to coach Mack Brown and the staff and decided “it is in my best interest to transfer. I can’t thank all of my teammates and everyone at Texas enough for all of their support, but I just think I’m at a point in my life where I need a fresh start.”

The more I read about Steve Jobs, the more surprised I am. I never knew he was adopted. I never knew he fathered a daughter out of wedlock and spent years denying her paternity (even at one point apparently claiming under oath that he was infertile and couldnt have kids). I’m always interested in learning more about the “lionized” amongst us. People with amazing ideas and clear visions are still people, with all the same human flaws as those we’d see on Jerry Springer.

Further, what was Jobs’ role in Apple the last 10 years or so during this golden era. Is he sitting in a room designing products? Or is he receiving a variety of designed prototypes and then making decisions about how to move them forward to a workable product? I think its more the latter and have wondered who are the inventors here. Those people intrigue me. Its kinda how Edison is credited with inventing all of these things when they basically came out of his lab, but were invented by others. This is not to denigrate Jobs or anything, clearly his role (no matter how ti was defined) was of the greatest importance. I’m just intrigued.