Ted Miller is in the middle of posting one of his best and most amusing annual series of preseason articles: best case/worst case. Today is Cal's turn. As always, Uncle Ted pens an entertaining pair of stories.
Best Case:
California fans had seen it before. They were suspicious of a 3-0 start. Even though quarterback Kevin Riley was completing 65 percent of his passes and had thrown only one pick. Even though the defense was averaging three sacks per game. There was a feeling of foreboding heading down to Tucson for a date with unbeaten Arizona.
"I have a foreboding feeling about this," Cal fans tell each other.
...
A Cal fan then writes a 11,000-word essay on The California Golden Blogs, the gist of which is Riley only needs to beat UCLA for the Bear nation to finally believe in him. The Bears beat the Bruins 28-24. Another fan writes that she'll only buy-in if Riley leads the Bears to a win over USC.
...
The Alamo Bowl picks Cal over Stanford. The opponent? Texas. A Cal fan writes a 58,345-word essay on TCGB about how the Bears got screwed out of the Rose Bowl in 2004 because of old-school Texas politicking. A Texas fan shows up and demonstrates that, mathematically, the changes in the poll votes had little to no affect. Bears fans are irritated but respect the math skills and everyone becomes great friends.
"Who cares?" Riley says about the 2004 controversy. He then throws three TD passes in a 28-20 win. Cal finished 10-3 and ranked 10th.
I would like to visit TCGB too. It sounds like its writers are very intelligent and passionate! (You can read the bitter end of the worse case scenario by clicking the link above.)
After the jump, Mohamed/Anger/Miller earn pre-season honors, ESPN expects big things out of Justin Forsett, and more.
Football
- Justin Forsett places eighth on ESPN's list of NFL prospects who are unfamiliar to most fans. They must be picked in the 3rd-7th rounds in the draft, started five or fewer games, and still be in the second, third, or fourth year of their rookie contracts. ESPN anticipates he will be an efficient and effective RB for Seattle this year, even if he continues to fly under the radar.
- Bryan Anger, Anthony Miller, and Mike Mohamed all earned honorable recognition on College Football Insiders' Preseason All-American Team. This marks Miller's first time being named to a preseason all-American team.
- Leon Powe gives his take on "The Decision" and LeBron's departure to join Wade and Bosh in Miami.
- Patrick Christopher saw seven minutes of playing time in last night's loss to Miami. He only took one shot (and missed) and had a rebound and an assist.