Here's hoping you all have a great 4th of July. Tell us, how will you be celebrating? Here, we'll be celebrating this weekend with more Sweet 16 action in the CGB Meme Invitational.
And reader Berklium97 has been kind enough to organize the questions from the Jahvid Best chat with Contra Costa Times writer Jonathon Okanes. We were lucky enough to get some of the questions answered by Jahvid Best. If you missed them or any other questions, the information is behind the fold.
GO AMERICA! GO BEARS! (in that order, natch).
Berklium97 sorted the questions as follows. The first set is questions brainstormed by us. The second set is questions that weren't brainstormed by us, but Berklium felt were still interesting to reread. Read the entire transcript here.
CGB questions
[Comment From Steve]
Which defenses (besides USC) have you found the most challenging to play against?
Jahvid Best: Besides USC defense, I'd say Oregon's defense because of their speed in the secondary and at the linebacking corps. Their defense played really physical and made it tough for us to move the ball. I'm looking forward to playing against them this year.
[Comment From bowl]
favorite berkeley restaurant?
Jahvid Best: My favorite Berkeley restaurant is hands-down La Burrita on Bancroft. I fell in love with that restaurant probably the first day I moved to Berkeley. I've been eating there ever since.
[Comment From JahvidBEAST]
What is the best part of having Tedford as a coach? The worst?
Jahvid Best: The best part of having Coach Tedford as a coach is just being around somebody that knows the game really well. He pushes you to be the best player that you can be and he puts you in the best position to make plays out on the field. I'd say the worst part, like with any coach, is that a coach is going to be hard on you. But that's just part of the game, so you have to deal with it.
[Comment From Berkelium97]
Former Cal runningback Marshawn Lynch’s weakness going into the draft was supposedly his pass blocking skills. Do you feel your pass blocking skills are up to par?
Jahvid Best: Pass blocking is something that Coach Gould has all the running backs work on every practice, so I get a lot of work on that during the season. There's a lot of aspects of my game that I need to work on before I pursue my dream of playing in the NFL. Pass blocking is one of those things, along with several other things.
[Comment From OskiMonsta]
Do you prefer to run behind zone blocking or man blocking? If man blocking, is there a certain blocking scheme that you prefer (such as a pulling backside guards, or tosses with pulling playside offensive tackles such as in the Emerald Bowl)?
Jahvid Best: I prefer to run behind zone blocking because it gives me a little more freedom to decide where I want to go whereas man blocking kind of has a set destination for the back to run.
[Comment From Best4Heisman]
Who is the best defensive player you've played against in the Pac-10?
Jahvid Best: The best defensive player I've played against is Brian Cushing of USC. He's probably one of the greatest linebackers I've ever studied on film. He's always around the ball, always in the backfield, and he's just a great overall player.
[Comment From GoldenBear]
Are you a Niners or a Raiders fan?
Jahvid Best: I have been a Raider fan since I can remember. I still I am a Raider fan even though they are not doing too well, but I'll always be behind them.
[Comment From stephen]
what are you looking forward to most this coming season? and are you seriously considering the nfl after this year?
Jahvid Best:
I'm looking forward to playing against the great competition in the Pac-10 this season. We have a lot of great games on our schedule. I'm looking forward to having another great season. With regards to the NFL, I'm not focused on it right now. I'm just focused on the season that's coming up. I'll put more time into that decision after the season.
Interesting/informative Non-CGB questions
[Comment From La Rone Smith]
Was your freshmen year @ Salesian your first year of organized football?
Jahvid Best: Yes, my freshman year of high school was my first year of organized football. I wanted to play Pop Warner but my mom would not let me. I always played football with my friends that played Pop Warner just in parks and on the street, but never organized until high school.
[Comment From Benjamin]
What has been the most memorable stadium you have played in since you've been at Cal?
Jahvid Best: The most memorable I've played in since I've been at Cal has to be the L.A. Coliseum. Playing against USC and the crowd that was there in combination with impact of that game had on both of our seasons really made that a special experience for me.
[Comment From CruzinBears]
Who are you looking forward to playing against most this year? (team-wise)
Jahvid Best: Top three teams I'm looking forward to playing this year would have to be Stanford, just keeping the axe; USC, because that's always a big game and I'd have to say Oregon State because it was a good game last year. It came down to a couple of plays and I like playing against competition like that.
[Comment From Jayo]
Growing up, what athletes did you look up to most and why?
Jahvid Best: I'd say the biggest athlete I looked up to growing up was Reggie Bush. But a lot of other athletes that I never really mention are Ricky Williams, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
[Comment From BestFan]
Who are the top 3 fastest Bears (after you of course :) )?
Jahvid Best: In my opinion, after me it would go Shane, Kevin Lewis and Nyan.
[Comment From Trevor]
How did you get the name Jahvid? Does it have anything to do with your heritage?
Jahvid Best:
"Jah" means "Almighty One" where my Dad is from, which is St. Lucia. My Dad's name is David, so he took the "Jah" and took the "Vid" from the last part of his name, and made my name.
[Comment From Jayo]
did anyone razz you for getting sick on national tv last year versus Maryland? it looked like you had a blue slurpee before the game.
Jahvid Best: I get a lot of jokes from my friends, family, teammates and even some fans for what happened in Maryland. All I can do is laugh about it now. It happened, it's in the past, there's nothing I can do about it, except laugh.
[Comment From bowl]
funniest player on the team?
Jahvid Best:
In my opinion, there's a three-way tie for the funniest player on the team. It's between Jeremy Ross, Devin Bishop and Josh Hill. J-Ross is always making jokes and purposely trying to make you laugh, and he's good at that while Devin and Josh, they're just kind of funny by nature.
[Comment From VallejoApache_Bear]
Jahvid, Why didn't you play for Vallejo High School instead of Salesian? You would've had more yards rushing... ;-D
Jahvid Best: I went to Salesian to play basketball. At the time, Salesian was a really good basketball team, and they still are. I went to that high school pursuing basketball dreams. But after my freshman year, I stopped playing basketball and I didn't feel like changing schools. So I just stuck with Salesian throughout high school.
[Comment From Robert]
Which of our linebackers on this year's team do you LEAST like to be hit by?
Jahvid Best: The hardest hitting linebacker is D.J. Holt. He's probably the heaviest linebacker we have. It is not fun meeting him in the hole at practice.