Whew! Spring Game 2012. After last year's itinerant experience with multiple spring practices all over the East Bay, it was good to be back home. Or at least, moderately close to home. Instead of the usual spring game in Memorial, it was held at Edwards (which normally has soccer, also track and field).
However, this year, Cal actually had a real game. Not random practices or scrimmages like last year, this was legitimately a "spring game." It was also 4,000 degrees. I do not know why God set Berkeley to broil on Saturday April 21, 2012, but hey, thems the breaks.
The game started at 11, but the doors opened at 10. We got there a bit early to check out all the hubbub. And believe me, there was a considerable amount of both hub and bub.
GOLDEN BEAR PRIDE! This is the before photo for that sign. After photo later. Many thanks to reader turkey for taking tons of great shots at the Spring Game. Tons of pre-game and game action shots after the jump. GO BEARS!
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This was the fan experience dealie they had there. Some booths, some jumpy houses, and a lot of wet mud. The one thing that was odd was that there was only 1 way in and 1 way out. So, you had yellow jackets directing traffic. You'd have to wait in line to get in and out. Kinda annoying.
The refs were jogging around the track before hand. Gotta stay in shape!
Here are some warm ups.
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Before the game, the mic men (led by CGB Superstar Aaron Eslamboly) tried to get things rocking. However, there were technical problems with the mic. So, he'd be all "GIVE ME A...." and then it'd cut off. Roxy would later have mic troubles when interviewing Justin Forsett and Cameron Jordan. I blame Pete Alamar!
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Coach Arroyo was up in the box, doing whatever it is coaches like him do. At one point, he yelled at QB Allan Bridgford about, well, something. I wasn't quite sure what was going on as I do not always understand the inside lingo.
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Golden Boy Zach Kline, warming up on the sidelines.
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Like I said Cameron Jordan (along with some other Cal alums currently in the NFL) was there.
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Like Mikey Mo!
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Here is more game action. I wish I had more commentary for you, but it is mostly self-evident. It is not like a regular season game with key moments, etc etc. It is more just a series of plays to see how things are going and give the fans a bit of a taste in the middle of the long football drought.
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Zach Maynard passing the ball.
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And Alex Mack, who came up into the box.
Tedford, chugalugging along.
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During one of the breaks, some fans got to catch balls from the QBs. It was an inventive and cool way to get the fans involved. The fan who caught the ball from Maynard had quite the catch. He sorta rolled over and then managed to come up with a clean catch! The place was going CRAAAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZY! Then, Maynard came over and did the flying body bump that is so popular with athletes these days. LOVIN IT!
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We will have more snaps of all the Spring Game action in Part 2. They had a mini Fan Fest, so we got some photos of the players fraternizing with fans and signing autographs. GO BEARS!