clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Cal v. EWU 9.12.09 Photo Essay I

Yay!  Another Cal victory.  I always love these C games.  No stress.  Just relax in the stands.  Chat with friends and anybody in a 14 row radius of me foolish enough to make direct eye contact.  So foolish.  So, so foolish.  Honestly, I could go for like 6 of these a year and then the Big Game.  And if these 1-AA teams become too stressful, let's just start picking on high school teams. 

Although for all the fun of Saturday's game (and it was a LOT of fun!), there was a period of time when I've never been so frustrated at a Cal game before.  For all of the games we lost during the Holmoecaust, for all of the times we saw Ayoob QB that Cal team, I've never been as frustrated as during Saturday's game when the security guards were attempting to kick about 1,000 people out of a section.

But more on that later.  The day started where all Cal games start.  With a pre-game tailgate.  Of course, in Berkeley, we tailgate a little differently.  It's not necessarily about the rate of speed of alcoholic intake or even the most savory of all the cured meats.  It's about the artistic expression of your food preparation.  Don't worry, Tweedledamn, we tailgate in the spirit of Berkeley sometimes.  Like something from the Alphonse Berber gallery, I present the newest piece, Kabobs In Lettuce.

9230_841726261673_1218201_47692774_4710488_n_medium

Kabob In Lettuce has a feeling of being rebellious, anarchic, highly idiosyncratic and, some feel, rather nihilistic.  Many see it as abstract expressionism.  It is particularly poetic and highly prescient in relationship to Lyrical Abstraction that became prominent in the late 1960s and the 1970s.  Wow, hardest Wiki cut and paste job I've had in a while.

Anyway, enough about that.  The real depressing part of the morning was the weather.  It had been 1,000 degrees (Disclaimer:  Rough estimate) in the week preceding the game.  So, I was definitely looking forward to another classic "brutally hot" Cal gameday.  Instead, early Saturday morning, a giant thunderstorm rocked the Bay Area.  It rained off and on all morning, as late as about 12:30.  It was coming down hard.  Praise Be To Bak Bak I was under an overhang during the tailgate. 

Of course, the upside of all that rain is that the campus is truly lovely when lush:

9230_841726291613_1218201_47692780_6117205_n_medium

And, oddly, another side effect of the rain was that every acapella group was out on the campus.  I saw no less than 2 different groups on the 5 minute walk to the stadium.  No more than 2 different groups, too.  Try to guess how many groups.  Or, maybe I'm wrong, they weren't campus acapella groups and I am attending the wrong kind of tailgates.  But how do I get invited to a tailgate of delightful singing (that doesn't include the Cal drinking song)???

9230_841726296603_1218201_47692781_2056367_n_medium

When I got to the stadium, the Cal team was just finishing up warm ups:

9230_841726306583_1218201_47692782_8038233_n_medium

 

And Spencer Ladner limped out on crutches:

9230_841726316563_1218201_47692784_7552300_n_medium

Look at how tall he is:

9230_841726326543_1218201_47692785_7696539_n_medium

 

Warm ups continued:

9230_841726331533_1218201_47692786_2114012_n_medium

9230_841726346503_1218201_47692787_4552864_n_medium

9230_841726361473_1218201_47692789_2784097_n_medium

They came in for what I can only assume was a brief period of Nam Japo meditation.  Given the results of the game, I hope we have pre-game Nam Japo meditation seshes more often.

9230_841726366463_1218201_47692790_1252291_n_medium

 

And then it was the time for the DRAMATIC RUNNING OFF OF THE FIELD!  CUE THE SMOKE!

9230_841726381433_1218201_47692792_5772715_n_medium

9230_841726386423_1218201_47692793_8376065_n_medium

The OTHER 13 is Jarred Price, a sack specialist.  He has 2 sacks in 2 games and has the most energetic sack celebrations.  I look forward to seeing him celebrate more sacks in the future.  He is diminutive in comparison to some of the other players, but has a lot of power and speed.

9230_841726396403_1218201_47692794_5033612_n_medium

9230_841726416363_1218201_47692795_5855733_n_medium

9230_841726421353_1218201_47692796_3361750_n_medium

9230_841726426343_1218201_47692797_5110237_n_medium

9230_841726431333_1218201_47692798_3921311_n_medium

9230_841726436323_1218201_47692799_4131740_n_medium

9230_841726441313_1218201_47692800_3077443_n_medium

9230_841726446303_1218201_47692801_7322028_n_medium

Ruh roh, I think Vereen has a receding hair line.

9230_841726461273_1218201_47692803_2974273_n_medium

Michael Calvin, bee tee dubzzzzzzzzzzz, has shaved his head.  He looks toads diff:

9230_841726466263_1218201_47692804_5455529_n_medium

 

 

9230_841726471253_1218201_47692805_1991706_n_medium

As the team finishes entering the North Tunnel, the drumline of the band starts playing a strong beat and the band and the team starts dancing around.  Like the swine flu, its infectious!

9230_841726481233_1218201_47692807_3204415_n_medium

I did not see Tosh Lupoi (in the white shirt) dance at all, tho.  C'mon Tosh!  Show us some moves!

9230_841726496203_1218201_47692810_3674580_n_medium

 

Then, came out the band. Never forget this:


Gotta give it to the drum major David "David Nagle" Nagle.  He might not grasp fully the concept of shaving ones face, but he does have remarkable flexibility.  I credit Bikram Yoga. 

9230_841726501193_1218201_47692811_3780284_n_medium

Ow!  He caught the baton again, but again with the throwing it 10 feet to his side.  I never get a good shot, because Im moving my camera at the last second to capture it.  I suck.  Fortunately, he doesn't!  Hopefully, he'll catch it again for USC.

I'm not going to pull punches here.  Attendance was embarrassing.  Perhaps it was due to the 1-AA opponent.  Perhaps it was due to the rain.  Perhaps it was due to a post-Maryland let down.  I don't know.

But here was a section of the Blue Zone right before kick off:

9230_841726506183_1218201_47692812_4307280_n_medium

WE'RE THE 10TH BEST TEAM IN THE NATION, PEOPLE!  I knew EWU wouldn't bring a lot of fans, but c'mon.  After the DRAMATIC RUNNING OFF THE FIELD, it is only natural story line progression to have the DRAMATIC RUNNING ONTO THE FIELD:

9230_841726521153_1218201_47692815_3085987_n_medium

And the Oskimobile was back in action!

9230_841726536123_1218201_47692817_6739157_n_medium

So, that's all the pre-game action.  We still have first half and second half action coming up.  Including photos from Monica's Dad, TheNick, Ragnarok of all the action, both on and off the field (including in the stands!).  GO BEARS!