With 2 road game and a bye week, it took way too long for Berkeley to fill up again with the peculiar, yet pure joy of a home football game. Thankfully, on October 9, 2010, the drought was over. We had the gorgeous glory of grilling back again!
I missed you so much, fried and unhealthy food served in a parking lot! After the jump, check out more from the Cal gameday, including more great game action from Monica's Dad. GO BEARS!
With homecoming in full swing, many fun faces were back in town. Not that the crowd to see the band is ever small, but it certainly was packed at Sproul Plaza at 11 AM on Saturday as the band performed the Latin Pop show:
They left to march up:
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While that was going on and frat row was alive with the sound of music, CGB was having another fun tailgate!
Great to see a lot of you out at Faculty Glade. Made some new friends, same some familiar faces. Before I got there, apparently the entire Rugby team gathered to receive "Save Cal Rugby" flyers and hear a motivational speech from Mr. Motivation himself, Jack Clark. The rugby players were stationed strategically all around campus handing out the flyers. I did not know how the baseball rally went, perhaps somebody can pipe up with some information?
So, yes, fun time had by all at the tailgate. Soon, it was time to head up to the stadium.
Before the game, UCLA was all smiles.
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Those were the last UCLA smiles we'd see all day.
After the teams warmed up, it was time for the UCLA band to come out onto the field. I have no idea what the hell they are doing here.
The UCLA marching band is viewed generally as a joke. The best damn high school band in the land, we call them. Addicted To Quack mod, Takimoto, was hanging out with us on Saturday. He went to Oregon and was in the Oregon Marching Band. He confirmed that Oregon's band viewed the UCLA band the same way we do. It's all very basic, all very competent, remarkably unexciting.
When I think of the UCLA band, I think of the flag girls and giant lines turning, always turning. I have no idea why they always seem to have huge lines that turn. I guess it's their thing.
But enough about them! Time for the best damn band in the land!
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The Drum Major led the band in their wedge formation across the field and then, after doing all those twirls of his, threw the baton up in the air AND CAUGHT IT! Legend states that if the Drum Major catches the baton, Cal will win! Decades of empirical evidence have proven there is no correlation, but if it's legend, IT HAS TO BE TRUE!
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And with the bands done with their pre-game shows, the team put on their own pre-game show!
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Soon, the game had begun!
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Like all stories, there must be a beginning, middle, and end. Here, all three involved running. Running, running, and, to a much greater extent, running.
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Cal marched down the field and scored first blood, causing what appears to be a giant sea creature to be rolled up:
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Even when we weren't running, Cal was still running!
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Unfortunately, not every drive ended with a TD:
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BUT THIS ONE DID!
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An old Cal football player gave a stirring speech on the Bearvision about when he was a player. I missed the years that he played, but he was 92 years old he said. He looked good for 92!
The game wasn't all about the Cal running game. The Cal D coupled with some UCLA bone-headedness kept UCLA from scoring in the first half. Moreover, they even helped put UCLA in some rather embarrassing situations:
That 3rd and 35 ended up as a 4th and 35! I will accept 4th and 35. Things kept occurring, which in my wildest imagination I did not anticipate occurring. But I will gladly accept them!
You can see with intimidation like this, UCLA is not going to be playing at 100%:
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Riley didn't have his greatest game out there, but he battled:
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GO BEARS!
This was an ad for the Joe Roth Commemorative T-Shirt. I wonder why it is $18.22. That is such an odd number to market something at.
With that, we ended the first half. Cal was up 28-0. Life was good. In the second half, we'd take a look at more marching band shows, check out more game action, and enjoy a UCLA fan getting tackled after he ran onto the field. Check back here soon for that information. GO BEARS!