California Golden Bears Football

Cal v. Colorado 9.11.10 Photo Essay I

By Twist NHook Sep 13, 2010, 5:00pm PDT

It's September, Bears! It's the most wonderful time of the year! For Cal fans, at least.

Well, this was a fun game. Cal won 52-3 in week 1. Then, they went on to win 52-7 in week 2. Does that mean, if recent trends hold, we'll win all games and be beating Washington 52-47 with a delightful 52-51 win in the National Championship game? One can only assume!

What was fun about this game was not only the crushing victory over Colorado, but the CGB tailgate ahead of time. Of course, I have some photos to post. Of course, none of the photos will include the faces of any person at the tailgate as I did not receive permission to do so nor would I have ever asked. However, rest assured that it was a fun time. We had perhaps 30 or maybe 40 people come through, although the max at one time was probably closer to 20 or 25.

After the jump, let's talk more about the fun tailgate and the game. And you can check out more of Monica's Dad photos here. GO BEARS!

Yes, fun time had by all. Of course, it is wildly awkward to meet people in real life that you have solely interacted with in an online context. This awkwardness was driven home early when Tailgate Heisman Trophy Winner sec119 showed up and quietly asked "Uh, is this some sort of internet website tailgate?" It was early, before we had the banner and he knew not a single person by face or name. That was the point at which I realized it is an odd and modern world we live in.

But, as things got a bit more relaxed, I'd like to think people had a fun time. We had good food and good conversation:

One big point of contention was whether RallyComm blindfolded the statute of Pappy only for Big Games or for all games. I argued that it was for all games, but CBKWit felt that it was solely for the Big Game. For those who might be unaware, the blindfold is a tradition for Pappy Waldorf, a great coach at Cal in the 1940s who ostensibly still resides in his statute on campus, to focus on the game.

A tour guide who was giving a tour said it was only for the Big Game. So, there was mass confusion. However, we did see Rally Comm come by and turn this:

into this:

So, yes, the tailgate was fun. We got to meet some new friends, see some old friends, and generally strengthen this growing community. Soon, it was time to enter the stadium, though, and enjoy the game. That is when Tailgate Heisman Trophy Winner sec119 showed his epic awesomeness by assisting CBKWit and NorCalNick in packing up all of the assorted items there. I hope that he goes to heaven based solely on that assistance!

And I hope that everybody had as much fun as I did.

On the way in, I noticed these markings on the wall. No idea what it means, but hopefully it means good upgrades are happening at Memorial:

The band was great as usual. The drum major was killing it with his baton twirling. Always twirling, onward and upward!

And he caught the baton! Monica's Dad has a whole series on it!

IMG_2248 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2261 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2262 (via Monica's Dad)

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NAILED IT!

There was a huge plane used for the fly-over. This photo does not do justice to the size of the plane as it was well into the fly-over after it had passed over the stadium:

They now have an item on the video board on what to do in case of massive emergency:

Basically, everybody go up the hill side of the stadium. If you are on the west side, try not to die in the concourses and head onto the field to go towards the hill side. They specifically stated do not enter the concourses. I think that as an east sider if there is a massive problem, we'll get a great view of the carnage of the west side. Eek!

The team came running out onto the field:

IMG_2377 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2397 (via Monica's Dad)

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Some game action. The game started off a bit poorly when Isi Sofele dropped the kick return:

IMG_2428 (via Monica's Dad)

The Cal team was marching down the field, but sometimes had trouble with the interior running game:

IMG_2445 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2741 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2472 (via Monica's Dad)

Riley had some good scrambles out there:

IMG_2481 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2498 (via Monica's Dad)

I like Brock Mansion's air guitar signal here:

IMG_2453 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2520 (via Monica's Dad)

Here is Riley throwing a sweet TD to Shane Vereen:

IMG_2567 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2568 (via Monica's Dad)

The OLine creates a good hole for for Vereen here:

IMG_2597 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2598 (via Monica's Dad)

This appears to be the 4th and 2 where Riley could not hit the wide open WR:

IMG_2614 (via Monica's Dad)

Defense was looking good:

IMG_2688 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2689 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2767 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2782 (via Monica's Dad)

Nice throw to Marvin Jones:

IMG_2647 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2652 (via Monica's Dad)

More scrambling from Riley:

IMG_2667 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2670 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2803 (via Monica's Dad)

Vereen, looking good, scores a TD:

IMG_2829 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2876 (via Monica's Dad)

IMG_2881 (via Monica's Dad)

On the jumbo tron they interviewed another old rally comm member (how come they only do rally comm and not, yknow, band members???). His said his favorite game was the blowout of Oregon in 2006. This not only angered CBKWit, who felt it was a very literal rendition of his great post on the game, but it also angered CGB poster and CGB North regular Takimoto, who was at the game and is a big Oregon fan and former band member. He told us that fans at Oregon don't really care as much about their band as Cal fans do. Apparently, they have ins and outs there, so during halftime most Oregon fans head to the parking lot to down a few more beers. Then, they scramble back in just as the 3rd quarter is starting. So, the Oregon band plays to a lot of suddenly empty seats. Awkward.

Of course, decades upon decades of sucking have left Cal fans with a strong and abiding love of their band. It was, in most cases, the high point of the gameday. I can remember many a game where after the band performance ended, many fans started leaving the massive blowout loss. So, that is one upside to the horrid history of Cal football!

CAL ETIQUETTE NOTE! When the team is kicking off, spin your hat around on one finger. I guess you could do more than one finger, but it can be complicated. I'm not sure I see enough of that going on in the game. We need more hat spinning:

UC Davis brought a lot of fans last week. One might have not been faulted for thinking Colorado, geographically further away than Davis, would not do as well. However, they did a solid job of bringing in thousands and thousands of fans:

IMG_1614 (via Monica's Dad)

Of course, they also brought their band. When watching the band, it seemed like I was watching a Glee-style band from some WB sitcom. They played every cliched high school band song. The Hey song. Emperor's Death March. I was in ever increasing disbelief at the band. But the fans seemed to enjoy it.

And then at the tail end of the half, Mike Mohamed rocked a pick six: