vs.  

Game #11 : November 22 vs. Stanford (time and television TBA).

TwistNHook:  Let's try to look on the positive side of last year's humiliating loss to Stanford.  Many of the young fans didn't even think of Stanford as a rival.  USC was the only rival.  Many of the fans who didn't live through the Holmoecaust viewed Stanford as just another team.  Hopefully, this will jumpstart those fans back into the Big Game spirit.

That might be the positive spin on it, but man was it disastrous last year.  Standing there, watching their fans swarm the field with that awful announcer yelling "THE AXE IS COMING HOME" I wanted to shoot myself in the face.  With a gun.

Yellow Fever:  What else would you shoot yourself with?

CBKWit:  That wasn't even the worst thing the announcer said.  He kept referring to us as UC Berkeley or Cal Berkeley throughout the game: "First and Ten UC Berkeley, Standford 14, California Berkeley 10," etc.  I really hope our stadium announcer returns the favor this year:  "Cal-28, Leland Stanford Junior University-1"

TwistNHook:  At least it wasn't UC Cal!

Yellow Fever:  And I'll be honest; I don't even remember watching last year's game.  I'm not even sure I did, or if I blocked it out.  Was I working?  Was I busy?  I have no memory of last year's Big Game at all.  Which is probably just as well.

TwistNHook:  Yes, that was a rather brutal exercise in futility.  Let's never speak of it again.

It looks like Pritchard is the QB here.  He was the one who beat USC, right?  He didn't exactly have shining numbers last year.  He only won 2 of his starts.  USC and, I think, The Game That Shall Not Be Named.

I mean we HAVE to beat these guys.  We just HAVE to!

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It's summer.  Summer is long and there is little sports news to report.  Thus, we here at the CGB are having a hard time filling content this summer.  Even though we're from an elite academic institution (so very elite!), the #1 public university in America (we're #1!), and the best UC of the UCs (although UCR is a darn close 2nd), we're running out of ideas.  EPIC PHAIL.  So with our creativity shot, and desperation settling in, we've turned to other sports and players that are only tangentially related to Cal.  Please excuse our failure to provide you with hi kwality Cal blogging that u have come 2 expekt from graduates of such a elite akademik instutushun.  With that, we now present you with a post on arena football.

So on Saturday night, I found myself in the hot California central valley with not much to do on a Saturday night.  Being a bit bored, I thought I might go to an arena football game since it was only $11 for a cheap end zone ticket.

I had never been to an arena football game before but thought I'd give one a try.  There is an arena football team in Stockton, CA called the Stockton Lightning.  For those of you who don't know where Stockton is, it's about 40 miles south of Sacramento.  There's not a lot in Stockton, yet there happens to be a minor league hockey team or something, a minor league baseball team, and an arena football team.  Oh, and Stockton is the hometown of former Cal Bear Lavelle Hawkins, and current Cal Bear Tad Smith... and yours truly.

Incidentally, former Cal offensive lineman Bryan Deemer is supposedly on the Stockton Lightning so I figured I had someone to root for at the game.  But then I on the online roster that he is inactive.  Bummer.

On the other hand, Lavelle Hawkins' cousin, Ruben Jackson, is a WR for the Lightning.  Ruben Jackson went to Oregon State.  This is his rookie year in the arena league. 

Because there were no other Cal players on the roster, I figured I'd root for Ruben Jackson since he is somewhat related to Lavelle Hawkins, and Hawk went to Cal, so... by the strange laws of loyalty, that means I'm rooting for Ruben.  Or something.

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In this seventh installment of approximately a 12 play analysis, we're going to look at a a short pass to Desean Jackson (THA1), in which the the offense defeats a cover 2 defense with a high-low read.  In case you missed the previous installments, here are Part I, Part II, Part III , Part IV , Part V and Part VI.

Let's begin.

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