Well, that sucked! A lot! And now we have visual evidence of its absurd sucktitudinalosity! But before it sucked, there were many non-suck events. Like when Cal volleyball beat Stanford (photos all courtesy of PaleoDan):
We have more photos of the volleyball action along with Royal Exchange and some Big Game action after the jump. GO BEARS!
You can read more about the game here. Looks like there was a great crowd at the game.
This was apparently a promotion where the fan could win a prize with a bowling exhibition. Notice the ball itself in the lower right hand corner of the photo. Rough shot!
While that was going on, the band was traveling through San Francisco helping promote Cal spirit at many of the fine drinking establishments. One of those establishments is the Royal Exchange in the Financial District:
I had been there for some time without the band showing up. I was getting concerned. I had, even, stopped believing. Fortunately, the band had a song with clear instructions to the contrary! And they played it twice!
Oddly enough, they had trouble with some of my requests. I requested Sons Of Westwood. Not in the packet! I requested All Right Now. They didn't know it. BUT IT'S LIKE THE 70S IN MUSIC FORM! They wouldn't even play Tribute To Troy no matter how many times I hummed all 3 bars for them!
Please, join me in a round of "WHA??!"
Anyway, there was much Cal spirit everywhere, be it in the music or the back of T-Shirts:
After a fun evening of festivities, finally the day of the Big Game was upon us. It was supposed to rain, but surprisingly was rain-free for 99.9% of the pre-game and game activities. Which was great for the Shane Vereen-loving owner of this car:
There were a lot of people roaming the pre-game tailgates hawking their wares. This gentleman was pushing buttons:
There was another guy selling both Cal hats and Stanford hats. I was saying to him how he could try to come to our tailgate and sell Stanford stuff! He said that he was rooting for Stanford, because he wanted a Bay Area team to go to a bowl game. I told him he had the worst sales technique ever! What is that? "Hey, Cal fans, here is a bunch of Cal stuff, which you should buy. Or get this Stanford stuff, it's great too...just like the team....which I am rooting for!" Oy!
More planes with banners flying above:
There were a decent chunk of Stanford fans about. And even some confused people, who seemed unwilling to pick a side:
You can see how packed it got. This is on the staircase up to the Southern entrances to the stadium. Total madhouse. I actually started chatting with a guy wearing a Stanford shirt and a Giants hat. I presumed he was the most evil person to ever walk this planet. Then, I saw a girl wearing a Stanford shirt and a pink (PINK!) Red Sox hat. My jaw dropped when confronted with such rampant bandwagonism. I hope it's not contagious. I feel mysteriously like rooting for the Atlanta Falcons. No! Must. Control. Bandwagonism!
Interestingly enough, there was a pre-game fight and I believe a Stanford player was ejected from the game. I fear to know how bad they woulda won with that player!
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Monica's Dad had a front row seat for the Stanford band as they went on and off the field for their pregame:
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Here, you can see the Cal band doing the script Cal in the background as the ref prepares for the game:
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Rally Comm was making circles around the stadium showing everybody the Axe. Drink deep of this photo, we're not going to see anything like this for a year. At least.
Stanford has a decent amount of fans, but I feel like Oregon had more fans.
Some game action from our boy Monica's Dad. Here we see Mansion fumbling the snap. Not sure which time this is:
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I feel sorry for Mike Mohamed and other seniors for which this is their last Big Game:
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Here, the players were discussing their Thanksgivings.
Vereen took a moment to discuss the Stanford D scheme, it would appear.
Monica's Dad got some photos that show some of the offensive line breakdowns:
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In all of these photos you can see the Stanford players deep into the pocket. Not good! Here, Vereen barely had a chance to receive the ball before he was met by a Stanford player.
This play shows Mansion with some wheels, though:
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However that play turned out, the drive didn't last much longer:
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And soon, it was 31-0 at half. Ouch! Oh well, what can be done? Up next Part II with the band showdown and some actual good things for Cal. Eventually. GO BEARS!