Moraga's finest son has returned! Biondi is back after an early exit last year to pop culture sensation Glenn Seaborg. No scientists stand in his way this year, but there is softballer Michelle Granger. She upended Ryan Anderson last round.
You can view the full bracket here. Voting ends this Friday, so go and vote. Full write ups after the jump. GO BEARS!
Matt Biondi (2)
via www.h2opolo.be
Scootie provides the defense of Biondi.
I have to right an egregious wrong that was committed last year with the admission of Natalie Coughlin to the Hall of Fame before Matt Biondi.
Matt Biondi is, quite simply, the most accomplished individual athlete to ever graduate from Cal.
Why?
> NCAA Swimmer of the Year in 1985, 1986 and 1987
> Eight individual NCAA swimming titles, 13 overall titles including relays
> Twelve individual world records
> By the time he graduated from Cal, he had the ten fastest times ever swum in the 100m freestyle. Ever. In the world.
> World swimmer of the year in 1986 and 1988Oh, did I forget to mention the Olympics? Silly me. He competed in three Olympic games, winning golds at each. He was the most decorated athlete at the Seoul Olympics, the summer after his graduation. By the time he retired, he had won ELEVEN Olympic medals, EIGHT of them gold.
Oh, and what’s that? You heard he might have played a bit of water polo in the offseason to keep himself interested in things aquatic? Well, yes, indeed he did. In fact, he was a water polo star. And the boys in Speedos brought home three NCAA water polo championships with him on the team.
Fix the injustice! It’s no Hall of Fame without Matt Biondi.
Michelle Granger (7)
On the short list of best softball players ever. 1996 Gold Medalist. This article encapsulates her accomplishments
From 1989-93 Granger amassed 1,640 strikeouts and 94 shutouts in 183 games, both NCAA records.The statistic that perhaps exemplifies Granger’s dominance are her 25 no-hitters, five of which were perfect games Granger holds the top four spots in single-season strikeouts at Cal, and her 484 strikeouts during her senior year were a record at the time25 no hitters. 25 no hitters.
Ohio Bear: Perhaps still the greatest Cal softball pitcher of all time. (Played for Cal 1989-92.) She was also a 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist.
Her Cal Bears bio states the following:
Granger was the winning pitcher when the USA Softball team that won the sports' first Olympic gold medal in 1996. At the 1996 games, Granger finished with a 2-0 record, a 0.87 ERA and 25 strikeouts. Granger, who now resides in Davis, Calif., compiled a 13-7 record in five U.S. Olympic Festivals, went 4-0 in two ISF World Championships and 9-0 in three Pan American Games. She holds record for most consecutive strikeouts in a Women's Major Fast Pitch National Championship (18).
Granger played for Cal from 1989-93. She is the Golden Bears' all-time career leader in wins (119), games played (183), games started (162), complete games (155), innings pitched (1,202.2), strikeouts (1,640), shutouts (94), no-hitters (25) and perfect games (5).