DBD 1.30.12 Why does the GOP hate Berkeley?

Cal runner sets record in mile:

SEATTLE, Wash. – Sophia Oberg obliterated the Cal record in the women’s mile by seven seconds and Golden Bears swept the top three positions in the men’s long jump and first two places in the women’s 400 meters to highlight the final day of the UW Invitational Saturday.

Senior Taylor Dutch actually broke the school mark in the mile before Oberg, finishing her section in 4:48.53, which was just ahead of Chelsea Reilly’s 2010 record of 4:48.89. However, the mark stood for only about five minutes, as Oberg crossed the line in 4:41.57 in the next section race.

“That was a great time for Sofia,” Director of Track & Field Tony Sandoval said. “It was a big drop for her and a good beginning to her season.”

Oberg, who redshirted indoors last year, is coming off a strong summer in which she ran 4:17.72 in the 1500 meters during a meet in her native Sweden to put her third on Cal’s all-time performer list in that event.

Listen to Coaches Corner tonight:

BERKELEY – Sophomore guard Allen Crabbe, gymnast Madisyn O’Brien and new defensive line coach Todd Howard, as well as basketball coaches Mike Montgomery and Lindsay Gottlieb, will be guests on Monday’s Cal Coaches Corner. The program airs from 6-7 p.m. on NewsTalk 910 and is broadcast live from the Paragon at the Claremont Hotel, Club and Spa.

Crabbe, the 2011 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year, is coming off an 18-point performance in Sunday’s 69-59 victory over Stanford. For the season, he paces the squad with 15.8 ppg.

A great memory I took from the "We Believe run" happened off the court, away from the arena, away from a TV even. I recall stepping outside my apartment on a clear warm day, strolling down Shattuck Avenue as bicyclists wove around. They sported the yellow GSW jerseys, the sun beamed off that mesh. Behind them, verdant hills crawled upwards for miles. I spotted more people in more unis. Call it bandwagon, but it was nice to see locals reconnect with an old friend. The love of pro basketball lies largely dormant here, always primed for an excuse to show out. The sanguine aura of that fairly mundane day stays with me. It felt like mutual happiness in a place that can make you constantly give thanks for life.

http://www.warriorsworld.net/2012/01/30/gsw-homerism/

WBB falls in OT to Stnaford:

Stanford, Calif. (AP) – The California players celebrated when they forced two Stanford misses in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime. The Golden Bears were unable to celebrate a second time as they once again fell just short against a marquee team.

Chiney Ogwumike scored three of her career-high 27 points in overtime to go with a career-high 18 rebounds and Cal made just one field goal in the extra session to lose 74-71 to No. 4 Stanford on Saturday.

“We want to put ourselves in the company of the elite programs in the country,” first-year coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “I think we’ve done that. Now we need that next step: knock down free throws when we need to, take advantage of what they’re giving us, get critical stops. That’s all part of the process.”

Cal fell to 1-4 this season against ranked opponents, with the only win coming in Hawaii in November against former coach Joanne Boyle’s Virginia team. The losses have been by a combined nine points.

3 Bears play in Pro Bowl:

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Former Cal football players Tony Gonzalez, Marshawn Lynch and Aaron Rodgers all put up impressive numbers playing for the NFC in a 59-41 Pro Bowl loss to the AFC on Sunday at Aloha Stadium. Andre Carter was also selected to the AFC roster for the game but did not play due to injury and because his New England Patriots are preparing for Super Bowl XLVI against the New York Giants next Sunday.

Playing in his second Pro Bowl and starting the game for the first time, Rodgers gave the NFC an early 14-0 lead by completing two touchdown passes to Larry Fitzgerald on back-to-back offensive plays in a nine-second span early in the first quarter. The Green Bay quarterback found the Arizona receiver for a 10-yard score with 9:14 remaining to complete an eight-play, 51-yard drive. After a David Akers’ onside kick was recovered by the NFC at the AFC 44-yard line, Rodgers and Fitzgerald hooked up for a 44-yard connection on the next play.

Mens tennis beats LSU:



BERKELEY – The 13th-ranked California men’s tennis team (2-0) earned a 4-0 shutout of No. 32 LSU (1-1) on Sunday, Jan. 29, in the 2012 ITA Kick-Off Weekend event held at the Hellman Tennis Complex. The Golden Bears have advanced into the second round and will face the winner between No. 25 Minnesota (1-0) and No. 27 San Diego (1-0) for one of 16 spots in the ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championships set for Feb. 17-20, at the Boar’s Head Tennis Club in Charlottesville, Va.

“We came out a little bit nervous, today,” said head coach Peter Wright. “It was the first real home match of the year after a long break with the rain-out, last week, but I think we got it done on a lot of courts. We had a lot of poise. LSU is a well-coached team. We had really good leadership from our older players, today.”

As the day got started, the Tigers took the first bite as their team of Neal Skupski and James Turbervill came up with an 8-2 win at No. 3 doubles against junior Riki McLachlan and senior Tommie Murphy. Though the first two doubles courts had closer matches, the Bears on court two came away with an 8-5 win to even the score as Cal’s 27th-ranked team of junior Carlos Cueto and sophomore Ben McLachlan defeated Roger Anderson and Stefan Szacinski.

Ruigby beats SacSt 48-3:

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. – California defeated Sacramento State, 48-3, in the featured nightcap Saturday at the Kick Off Tournament. Jack O’Beirne scored two of the Golden Bears eight tries, Brandon Kraft made 3-of-6 conversions and Andre Coquillard converted 1-of-2.

Hornets scrumhalf Chris Turner was the lone scorer for Sac State, connecting on a 15-meter penalty kick in the 59th minute. Turner missed an earlier attempt from 30 meters and the Bears were otherwise able to shut down their opponents as the temperature plummeted.

“It’s great to get out there and play fluidly, but there’s definitely a lot to work on,” said match captain Zack Klaas. “In the second half we let off the gas a little bit but all in all, a good effort.”

Scrumhalf Paul Bosco said the Bears “played to our pattern and really quickly, which is what we’re aiming for this season. It was a big step forward in terms of the pace that we want to play.”

The Bears hustled to the event – now in its 28th year, featuring Under-8 through high school and U-19 sides, and hosted by Sacramento Valley Youth Rugby in partnership with the Sacramento Valley High School Rugby Conference – after beating Stanford earlier in the day.

NinersNation talks Pro Bowl:

For those that weren’t paying attention (likely most of you) the 2012 NFL Pro Bowl turned in its usual offensive fireworks as the AFC blew out the NFC 59-41. Brandon Marshall was the MVP of the game thanks to his six receptions for 176 yards and a Pro Bowl record four touchdowns. Larry Fitzgerald looked like he was on his way to an MVP performance with two touchdowns in the first quarter, but the NFC defense fell apart (well, moreso than normal for a Pro Bowl) and Marshall benefited.

The 49ers had numerous participants in the game, but as has been the case much of the season, the special teamers stood out. David Akers successfully attempted two onside kicks, with long snapper Brian Jennings recovering the second one. Andy Lee got in on the action as well, completing a pass to Patrick Peterson on a fake punt that netted a first down.

Warriors lose to Thunder:

Creating Turnovers

We knew going into this one that the Thunder can be a bit turnover prone at times, and that the Warriors have shown an ability to create turnovers at times. So what happened tonight? The Thunder ended the night with 22 turnovers including 7 from Westbrook, and 7 from Durant. In the second half it seemed like the Thunder were just begging for the Warriors to take the lead, but every time OKC tried to hand the Dubs the game they handed it right back. Golden State ended up with 20 turnovers themselves. But hey, I thought I said I was going to focus on the positive… moving on…

Shoot the Three!

A lot of Warriors fans have been calling for more of a focus on getting three point shots on offense, and tonight that was one of the big reasons the Warriors were able to hang around so long. They put up 28 threes tonight and made 43% of them. With Rush, Curry, Thompson, and Wright out there this team should have no trouble taking and making threes. So far this season they’ve had a hard time consistently translating Monta penetration, and an improved post presence from Lee, into effective kickouts for open threes. Tonight they moved the ball around and found the open man outside.

Overall, Los Angeles took the top spot on our list this year (eight other California cities were also on the ranking). In LA and Santa Ana (#15) only 43% to 45% of residents can afford to own homes and daily livings costs closely trail New York’s in terms of priceyness. Up north, three Silicon Valley cities make our list: San Jose at No. 8, Oakland at No. 14, and San Francisco at No. 19. "Coastal state cities are high-amenity cities and people are willing to pay more for those amenities," explains Robert Helsley, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, specializing in real estate development and urban economics.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbrennan/2012/01/27/americas-most-overpriced-cities/

SacTown Royalty recaps the week:

The Good:

1. DeMarcus Cousins

See Player of the Week

2. Jimmer Fredette’s Shooting

Jimmer’s shot has finally arrived in the NBA. He’s still struggling in other areas of the game (playmaking, defense), but his shooting has been phenomenal. He shot 48.4% from the field and a whopping 64.7% (11-17) from three over this past week. His 3P% is now up to 38% for the year, and it will continue to rise with more consistent shooting performances.

3. Isaiah Thomas Off the Bench

Isaiah might be the best bench player currently on the Kings. For a rookie, that’s saying something. When he comes into the game, he’s able to bring energy, a scoring punch, and distribution. His defense is still a work in progress, but he has the quickness and mindset to become a pesky defender in time, despite his size. His shooting needs to become consistent as well, although his shot looked very good these past two games.

SSR talks Lakers Big Three:

One could make the case that the Lakers possess the best “Big Three” in the league, even better than that team from South Beach. Unfortunately the Lakers big three of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum have yet to put together a dominating group performance. The season began with Bynum out due to suspension; he then returned and Gasol struggled; then both big men faltered while Kobe went on his scoring binge; then Kobe dialed back the field goal attempts and neither big men emerged from their funk. Tonight we were finally treated to the offensive potential that this trio is capable of as they combined for 86 points. Not only did this outburst result in a win, but it resulted in the first time in thirteen games the Lakers broke the century mark on offense.

The Lakers began the game by force feeding Pau Gasol, whose efforts bore fruit tonight as he scored 14 points in the opening period on 6 of 8 shooting. The second and third periods saw the offense shift to Kobe on the perimeter and Bynum inside. Then in the fourth quarter after a furious Wolves comeback, the door was slammed shut in a 12-2 run where the Lakers scored on six straight possession, with each member of the trio contributing 4 points in the run. It was a stark contrast to the struggles seen in many of the close games the Lakers have endured so far this season.



Pau Gasol’s offensive performance was nearly flawless. He scored 28 points on 11 of 15 shooting while dishing out three assists with not a single turnover. He played like the Pau Gasol that has two championship rings and not like the passive player that infuriates this loyal fan base. Gasol’s performances have been anything but consistent as he has flipped back and forth from white swan to black swan. He showed once again what he is capable of tonight. Now the Lakers need him to demonstrate it consistently.

Clips beat Denver:

The Los Angeles Clippers went into one of the toughest buildings in the league, against the hottest team in the league, and came away with a 109-105 win. And the weird thing is they didn’t play that well. What they did was shoot well.

Chauncey Billups scored a game high 32 in his Denver homecoming against his former Nuggets team. Billups made 6 of 12 three pointers, and the Clippers as a team made 14 of 30 threes, more than one of them of the bail out variety late in shot clocks.



The Clippers gave up a 12-1 run to fall behind by ten points early in the fourth quarter with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul on the bench. It was the biggest deficit of the game for the Clippers, but they brought their Paul and Griffin back into the game and immediately went on a 10-0 run to tie the game.

Down the stretch, Billups made the play of the game with a difficult and-one with the score tied at 99. Lawler’s Law clicked in on the bucket, and the Clippers were bound to win the game. As if that were not enough, Billups also made the defensive play of the game. With the Clippers clinging to a two point lead and 17 seconds left, Billups got switched onto Nene on a pick and roll. Although he was at a massive size disadvantage, Billups is one of the few guards in the league with enough strength to bother Nene. He crowded the big Brazilian, and when the pass finally came Nene pushed off to gain some space and was called for the offensive foul that essentially iced the game for the Clippers.

Morgan leads US past rival Canada, 4-0

Wambach and Alex Morgan made for a formidable tandem, accounting for all the goals in a game for bragging rights among Wambach focused on health, gold
Sundhange selects 29-player pre-qualifying squad
Abby Wambach handily wins Female Athlete of the Year
US Soccer conditionally approves WPS

Wambach’s head-flick provided the assist on Morgan’s goal in the fourth minute, then Morgan assisted in the 24th and 28th as Wambach pushed her career total to 131 goals, one ahead of longtime U.S. captain Kristine Lilly. The 31-year-old forward said last week that it’s only a matter of time before she or Canada’s Christine Sinclair topple Hamm’s record of 158, but that’s still a few years off.

Wambach left for a sub at halftime, but Morgan continued merrily on, scoring her second goal in the 56th.

FearTheFin crunches some numbers:

As most of you probably know by now, I’ve been tracking Sharks scoring chances this season, both here on Fear the Fin and previously at The Neutral. For an in-depth review of what constitutes a scoring chance, please see this post from about a month ago (the most pertinent stuff, including a diagram of the scoring chance area, is right after the jump). Since it’s only been 16 games since the last roundup, I won’t inundate everyone with a complete breakdown of the numbers but seeing as there’s some downtime here during the All-Star break, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at zonestart-adjusted scoring chances for individual players.

Obviously, not every player in the league starts an equal percentage of their shifts in the offensive and defensive zones. Coaches make strategic decisions based on players’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as the overall composition of their rosters, to shelter some players with more shifts in the opponent’s end of the ice and rely on others in a defensive role, most frequently sending those players over the boards to take care of business in their own end. The most extreme example of zonestart distribution happens in Vancouver, where Henrik and Daniel Sedin have begun 79% of their EV shifts in the offensive zone this season while former Shark Manny Malhotra allows them to do so by starting a ridiculously low 13% of his own shifts in the opponent’s end of the ice.

1. Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs showed their mettle late in the season and almost wormed their way into the playoffs a second straight year. Manning would be an instant upgrade at quarterback over Matt Cassel and has a top-tier target there in Dwayne Bowe. Also, a nice young defense has been constructed in K.C., which would get the ball in Manning’s hands more often.

3. San Francisco 49ers: Yes, Alex Smith grew up a lot this season. Yes, he had a playoff game for the ages against New Orleans to get into the NFC championship game. But when the chips were down, he couldn’t move the offense and the New York Giants are in the Super Bowl instead.

http://delcotimes.com/articles/2012/01/29/sports/doc4f261523aef20164718286.txt

BTW,

1. Today is the 30th.
2. I’ll have a dbd for tomorrow. I tried to post something on the bus, but it was too slow. But i do like this premise

Went to the As FanFest yesterday. Firstly, they had it at the Oracle Arena and now the Coliseem. I tried to enter the Coliseum and got confused. I asked one of hte security guys and thoguht he was joking when he said to go to Oracle. But he wasnt! Here are some photos.

So, we went and listend to some of the Q+As. Players were moving around a lot. Getting photos here with fans. Signing autographs here. Answering questions here. We basically had enough time to be in 1 line. We did the clubhouse line, which was fun. We got to see the VERY walkway where they filmed the scene in Moneyball where Brad Pitt walked down the hall and the security guard turned off the TV. I got to breath the same air that Brad Pitt breathed!

We got to meet Eric Sogard. I asked him to do my taxes.

Then, there was a plyer I didnt know and couldnt recognize. I took a photo with him so I could figure it out later. Its Tom Millone obtained in the Gio trade.

Then, Mike Gallego! I asked him if we were moving to SJ and he said the coaches were the last to know.

Then, Brandon Allen. My friend thinks he is really cute and was so excited to meet him. But she is an Angels fan. So, when she went to shake his hand, I went “Dont shake her hand, shes an Angels fan!” He went “Unbeleivable!” And my friend got mad! Oh well. She can curl up with her Albert Pujols jersey.

BTW, no weekend Angels serieses this year???! They do have 3 weekend NYY/BOS series, so thats sweet. But I was looking forward to seeing Albert and CJ Wilson.

They asked the players which team they wanted to beat the most and Cliff Pennington said “Angels, bc of CJ WIlson bla bla bla” and hte fans went crazy. At the Q+A the bleacher crew was there with their flags and they were doing chants and whatnot.

One of the peopleI was with is (was) a big ANer, so I got to have a front row seat to all their drama. We did see Nico and I briefly chatted with him. Hes never been anything less than respectful and kind to me, so I have no reason to be rude to him. But my friend just walked past him without saying hi or anything. I did get a chance to go to the AN Tailgate, which was fun.

If I think of more storees from the day, Ill write em in. Here are a bunch of photos.

I think they did it there to make it look more packed. And it was fairly well attended. Super long lines for autographs, photos (with players/ World Series trophies). They had Q+As in the main basketball arena:

So, in anticipation of baseball season I started sifting through the various multimedia options they have.

Am I correct in understanding that if I get the audio app for iPhone that I would have to buy a separate subscription to listen via a computer?

[…from other DBD…]

DUELING BANJOS!!!

Did anyone else notice last night that it appears that Warren Buffett has joined the Stanfurd coaching staff?
"/>

I posted a ton of links in the other DBD…

I guess I’m heading back there. See you guys tomorrow.

Thanks to Kodiak for doing the ticket thing (sorry I didn’t get my order in in time) and to Twist for getting the pre game thing going at Jupiter… I had a BLAST at Jupiter, at the game obviously, and at Cappy’s after. Was great seeing everyone and meeting new folks and catching up with old folks!

Omg dooooooooooooom

In the past 48 hours, Mike Leach has announced to the world that he is now staking a claim in American Samoa. Along with Destiny Vaeao, the two latest commits both hail from the tiny island in the South Pacific. According to CF.C, this time Robert Barber has pledged his allegiances to the Washington State Cougars. Samoan pipeline!

Also, Mike Leach does his conditioning at night. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

A portion of teamwork is sacrifice. During the two-week conditioning circuit, I wanted them to sacrifice their evenings. We called it Midnight Maneuvers. We would actually start around 10 at night. The timing was perfect because that’s roughly the time of day when we’d be playing a lot of fourth quarters. I’ve heard a lot of teams do their conditioning at dawn, but how many games are their players going to play before breakfast?

We’d have our guys do a bunch of stations, where they’d have to do everything from bear crawls, to dot drills for their footwork, to obstacle courses. Better still, we knew they weren’t out with their buddies partying. Instead, they were with their team. They gave up their nights because it was a team endeavor. We were working together as a team — it was a good message to send.

Thanks, Dubya! Appreciate everything you did for us. Great president! Really brought around the rejuvenation of Cal football.

The Yankees didn’t win a World Series during Dubya’s time in office. They won right before he came into office (2000) and the one right after (2009). Bring him back, President for Life!

Super Bowl ads: Broderick’s Ferris Bueller takes day off for Honda

Ferris Bueller has been gone from the big screen for more than a quarter-century, but he receives the perfect homage in an extended cut of a new Super Bowl ad for the Honda CR-V released Monday (check it out below).

Without ever mentioning the names Bueller, Cameron or Principal Rooney, director Todd Phillips and the creative team at the Santa Monica ad agency RPA pay homage to the cinematic truant in a 2½-minute short that is a veritable festival of references for ‘80s movies geeks. (The material, which continues a Super Bowl advertising trend of referencing modern classics such as “Star Wars” and “Vacation” — that is, movies thirtysomething and fortysomething consumers grew up with — will air as a 60-second commercial in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Patriots-Giants game.)

So Saturday morning as I was beginning my meander up to the Bay Area, I took the coast all the way up, I stopped in Ventura… You ever get Driscol Strawberries? This is where they are from… I think the biggest strawberry growers are a three Japanese families… anyway, you know what is frickin’ amazing about California… is we get fresh produce in January! if you ever get a chance I highly recommend you head out directly to some of the farms for your produce… Look at those strawberries, picked that morning… man it doesn’t get better…. I actually got to go out and pick some myself…

You know, with all its faults and crappy government, California is still an amazing place.

"/>

"/>

So a little later I was up in Santa Barbara and saw this fountain… struck me as kind of “yeah baby!”

By the way, I can’t think of many better places to live sublimely than Santa Barbara…

"/>

MR PITT IS DEAD:

Ian Abercrombie, the classically trained British stage actor best known to American TV audiences as Elaine Benes’ nutty boss Mr. Pitt on “Seinfeld,” died of a heart attack Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 77.

Abercrombie appeared on several other U.S. TV shows. He played the 800-year-old Professor Crumbs on "Wizards of Waverly Place and a butler on “Desperate Housewives,” and made guest appearances on “Twin Peaks,” “Dynasty” and “Days of Our Lives.”

He appeared in a number of movies, including “Stalag 17,” “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “The Prisoner of Zenda,” with Peter Sellers.

Cal v Harvard! Battle of the Nerds! (ughhh. Kentucky in the 2nd round!?)

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology

#GoldOutHaas this Thursday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8cU9Br3sOU&feature=player_embedded

(see if you can spot me :P)