Us Marshawnthusiasts absolutely love running the California Golden Blogs.  As an outlet to satiate our own addictions to Cal Athletics, we find it essential, and we totally dig interacting with all of you commentators on a daily basis.  But there is one part of this gig that I'll admit none of us are particularly enamored with:  moderation.

When we moved to SBNation from our old Blogsome site, we left our moderation policy intentionally open-ended.  Our site membership agreement consisted of a single statement:

In general, act as though your mother might read this blog -- CBKWit's mom does!

We thought something broad and loosely-defined would be better than listing a whole bunch of rules telling people what they could and couldn't do.  Also, we were lazy, and didn't want to deal with it.  Truth be told, we'd much rather all of our commentators got along with each other, expressing their passion for Cal Athletics in a manner that doesn't offend anyone, but as this site's readership has grown (and it has grown significantly over the past couple months), it's become obvious that site is in need of some light moderation.

I initially posted a link to the following community guidelines in the DBD last week, so if you saw it then, there's nothing new here.  I've also posted a permanent link to the CGB Community Guidelines page on our left sidebar, under the 'About Us' section.  If you have specific concerns about the content of the guidelines I have written up, please let us know; we don't want to be inadvertently discouraging legitimate discussion.  If you have more general concerns about the need for any kind of moderation whatsoever, well, that's too bad.  This site has grown big enough to the point where some moderation of and between commentators is necessary; rest assured, however, that CGB's mods are going to try and be really unobtrusive in our moderation, only breaking it out when necessary.

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Image via blogs.psychologytoday.com

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year.  One year since the California Golden Blogs moved over to SportsBlogs Nation, and this community really began to take off.  9 great wins and 4 devastating losses for our football team, a surprise NCAA tournament appearance for our men's basketball team, a first-ever Sweet 16 appearance for our women's basketball team, and one epic battle to remove the hippies from the trees and finally break ground on the Student Athlete High Performance Center.

I can say with absoulte certainty that when TwistNHook, Yellow Fever and I started this blog 2 1/2 years ago, none of us ever thought this blog would get this big.  In our first month of posting on Blogsome, we had a grand total of 30 comments left, almost all of them by the site authors.  After a year on SBN, we now have 709 registered users who have collectively posted 590 FanPosts, 401 FanShots, and over 126,000 comments (yeah, and only 16,000 of those comments are by TwistNHook!).  In our first month, we probably had something like 200 visits (again, almost all by the site authors).  After a year on SBN?  Over 410,000 visits and over 1.1 million page views!  Even TwistNHook can't refresh his browser that often!

While blogging was fun when no one was reading us, it's a whole lot more rewarding thanks to this great community that we've got.  It truly makes stopping by every day a joy, and motivates me to write during those times that I don't really feel like it.  To all the CGB members out there who bring us praise, criticism, and inanity:  thank you thank you thank you.  And to those lurkers who simply stop by every day or week or whenever to read our stuff, you too are appreciated, so thank you too.

Anyway, to celebrate our first anniversary at www.californiagoldenblogs.com, I've compiled a list of some of our best work from the past year; if you've found our site only recently, click after the jump to check out some of the writing that, I think, has caused this blog to be so well-trafficked.

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We did it again!  We moderately succeeded yet again.  It appears to be our MO.  Do well.  But not too good.  Then, you guys might respect us in the morning.

Yes, we got 3rd place!  And not just in any sort of random Pick Em, like Addicted To Quack's.  Their Pick Em was so pointless, I came in last and JShufelt came in first.  Please, join me in a round of "WHA?!??!"

No, this is a real pick em.  Populated with real teams like Peninsula Is Mightier and Western College Hockey Blog.  Nothing screams "Intelligent Fan Of College Basketball" like Western College Hockey Blog.  Yes, 78 SBN blogs got together to prove who was the best Pick Em Pickers?  And guess who was #1?  Wait, stop guessing, NOBODY CARES!  Now, guess who was #3?

YES, THAT'S RIGHT!  US!  WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS (KIND OF!) 

Sing it, Freddy.

"This keeps my thighs very cool and breezy!"  via www.queenmania.net

Now, you might ask, why is this post seemingly the Bronze Medal sequel?  Because this isn't the first time we've gotten 3rd place.  No!  Many moons ago, a blog that hasn't updated since 2007 decided to rank ALL the Cal blogs.  Not just some, but ALL!  And we got 3rd!  Behind two blogs that no longer exist (and one that didn't even exist AT THAT TIME!).  It was tough to lose out to a blog that had stopped by then.

It was even tougher to lose out to The Band Is Out On The Field.  Because, as this Barry gentleman noted, they sucked balls.  So, doing what any rage-filled ball of insecurities would do, I challenged TedfordIsGod to a monkey knife fight.  That's still an open offer, btw.  You never did get back to me TedfordIsGod. 

You might be asking yourself "why is this night not different from all other nights"?  Toads obv!  Time to challenge the #1 (Five For Howling) and #2 (Clone Chronicles) to a monkey knife fight!  It's the only way!  And don't forget, The Maharg is organizing a Fantasy Monkey Knife Fight League.  Can I suggest you draft me first?  I'm great at monkey knife fighting!  Nobody is better at monkey knife fighting than me.  Certainly not Tim Lincecum.

After the fold, check out the Top 10 SBN blogs and a special message from Avinash about our Pick Em League!  You'll never guess who won there.

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aka:  "Meeting Internet People In Real Life, and Then Shotgunning Cheap Beers With Them"

I'll admit, I was a little apprehensive when planning this tailgate.  I had no real idea if 5 people or 50 people would show up.  I couldn't know whether the weather would hold.  I had never tailgated at AT&T park before, and wasn't sure what it would be like.  My wife even got a ticket to the CAA event (where a number of my friends would be), and I had fears of the event being me and 4 other dudes drinking beer under a tent in the rain for 4 hours.  Would people show up?  Would they even be able to find the tailgate?  Would everyone bring chips, and no one bring dip (the Alanis Morissette definition of irony)?  I had no way of knowing.

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It's been a week and a half since it became official, but I thought I'd take an opportunity to gloat over my victory in CGB's second-annual College Football Pick 'Em Challenge.  So here goes:

All y'all suckers can bow before my prognostication prowess!

Well, that was kinda lame.  Honestly, I'm rather out of practice at gloating.  My last fantasty victory was over 4 years ago in a baseball league that had just 5 teams, and my only Yahoo-recognized triumph was an NFL fantasy league where I pretty much kept the default team drafted for me and rode Peyton Manning to victory through the playoffs (upsets meant my 3rd-seeded team only had to face the 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-seeded teams to win the title).

And really, what's to gloat about?  Yes, I won the group by 4 points, and would have still won had I not bothered to submit picks for the final weekend, but what did I really demonstrate with my crushing victory?  Really, nothing more than my ability to enter picks, any picks, each and every single week.

Participation : Everyone's a winner!  -  Image via www.teachnet.com

FYI, here's the top 10:

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The trees are down!  The hippies have been arrested/dispersed!  The construction can begin!

I am excited and relieved that this unendingly stupid saga has come to a "safe and certain conclusion".  As much animosity as we may have had for the hippies in the trees, it is time to move on, to move forward.  It is time this site had a new tagline.

Two days after this site launched on Blogsome in 2006, the first hippies climbed the trees outside Memorial Stadium.  Our tagline, "Climbing Trees and Punching Hippies since 2006", reflected this.  However, it is now readily apparent that that sentiment is sooooo yesterday.  Old fashioned.  In need of an update.  Gone the way of slap bracelets, parachute pants, and TwistNHook's wardrobe (Ed Note:  But all I wear is slap bracelets and parachute pants!).  That's where you guys come in.

It's a CGB Caption Contest writ large.  Place your entry in the comments section.  There's no limit on the number of entries.  Humor is not required, though it certainly couldn't hurt.  It would also be nice if our new tagline wasn't one that needed to be changed in another year's time.  Feel free to check out other SBN sites and steal their ideas.

Unless there is one entry that clearly stands above the rest, we'll probably collect the best five or so and put up a poll next week.  Winner(s) will receive the satisfaction of having contributed something positive to society, which is more than we can say for TheMaharg.  Also, if you're old enough, I'll buy you a beer.  (If you're not, I'll still buy you a beer, but we gotta keep it on the down low, m'kay?)  [NOTE: The California Golden Blogs does not endorse the cool crime of underage drinking.]

With that, give us your best shot!  Tagline away!

[Edit:  By all means, if you see a tagline you like, use the 'Rec' button.]

Just wanted to put up a quick thread for those who commented in the GameDay Open Threads.  That was our first time doing, so we are looking for feedback.  What worked, what didn't work.  What could be changed for future games.

Either post it in here or email us at the contact email.  Thanks!  We are open to all suggestions and constructive criticism.  We want to tailor the best possible GameDay experience for the California Golden Blogs.  GO BEARS!

via www.xlntads.com

You might have noticed recently a new ad on the left side of the screen there.  It's post-modern, it's Cubist, and it's evokes the strong impression of a Marc Chagall print.  Live it, love it, make it your own.

From this ad, we make money.  Think of a number in your head right now.  Keep thinking of that number.  Now triple that.  Now, add 40.  Now, multiply that number by Marshawn.  That's how much we get.  I know.  I know!  It's a lot and we are so very happy about it.

Of course, at first, we were going to use it for personal expenses.  HydroTech was going to use his share towards the "Win A Massage By Nate Longshore" contest.  Yellow Fever was going to buy several thousand DeSean Iggles jerseys.  And I was going to buy a slave.  Yes, an honest to goodness slave.

But then it came to our attention that others amongst us decided to put their earnings towards the World's Greatest High School Marching Band, the World's Most Fight Song Stealingest Maching Band, the World's SukSomWongiest Marching Band the UCLA Marching Band.

So, out of pure spite and rage and spite (don't forget the spite, the lovely, lovely spite), we have decided to forgo our DeSean Jerseys and slaves and donate all the funds we receive to the Best Damn Band In The Land, the Internet Sensation, THE CALIFORNIA MARCHING BAND!

We still do this all for the money.  Always have.  Always will.  One of my dreams is to buy a giant pool, fill it with money, and then kill the USC Marching Band (not necessarily in that order).  Then, after my tiring USC Marching Band killing afternoon, I can relax in my pool of money, ScroogeNHook style. 

So, in conclusion, continue to send us money.  Because only the money from that specific ad is going to the band.  We'll continue to pocket the rest.  GO BEARS!

PS Nobody has to actually tell the band about this empty promise, right?  Let's just keep it between you and me, smashed hat.