*This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011. *

Last day, guys.  Message from EA Sports after the jump.  And 4evergolden has a cool photo post of potential covers for the game.  Don't worry, we'll have a real post up in 30 minutes and it is going to be a really awesome one.  I worked really, really hard on it with Goldblooded and it is about Cal history.

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This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011.

Well, all good things must come to an end.  Also, the EA Sports NCAA Football 2011 game preview selloutathon.  It's been real, folks is about to end.  We had a lot of fun.  We laughed.  We cried.  We snuggled.  We briefly gained political control over the autonomous region of East Timor.  Pretty much exactly what EA Sports wanted when they came to us SBNers.  The game comes out tomorrow, so we are supposed to take a look at the upcoming season. I guess I am supposed to put my smart brain hat on and write a few witticisms and in depth knowledgesies that will wow you with their knowledgesie!  Well, I'm sorry, but I'm too stupid.  Did you really doubt that?  Did you really think people come here, going "Well, I really hope Twist has written an in depth analysis of a sporting event, because that is something I want to read!"?  NO!  Nobody ever thinks that.  My sole ability is to look pretty and stand near people who do know what they are talking about.

People like you!  Which is why it's great that we do have a post (written helpfully by noted intelligent person, Avi) that takes into account over 500 of our readers' views on the upcoming season.  So, why listen to me, when you can listen to you!  Because if there is one thing we know the best, it's that you are much smarter than me.  Yes, even you!

After the jump, let's take a closer look at the upcoming season.  Thanks to you.

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This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011.  Because all we ever get paid by our readers is compliments on our looks.

We've discussed many of these moments before in our decade in review series, but as John Madden would say, memorable moments make memorable games.  And vice versa.  And honestly, what's more memorable than another Boller to Ward, incomplete.  Or even, Boller interception returned by _____ for a touchdown.  Or Kittner to Lloyd, touchdown Illini.

So those were my formative memories of Cal football.  But we can delve into a few of the happier ones (and some of the more notable unpleasant ones) after the jump.  In no particular order.

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This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011.

We Cal fans sure do love to wax poetic about our favorite players.  We've got our Hall of Fame.  We've got our player of the decade.  We can't stop expressing our Marshawnthusiasm.  Some of us use amazing kung fu video skills to honor our idols.  Some of us are even lucky enough to spend an afternoon with our most beloved players.  I guess I could just end this post right here and let you all click on links to your heart's content!  But we here at CGB take our selling out much more seriously than that!

I could spend many words describing all of the players I've loved over the years.  During my boyhood I loved a series of 90s wide receivers.  Sean Dawkins, Iheanyi Uwaezuoke, Dameane Douglas and Bobby Shaw all wormed their way into my heart.  In the 2000s I took great joy at yelling Joe Ma-NIN-go or BANTA-CAIN when either defenders recorded a sack.  And Deltha O'Neal singlehandedly made Cal football watchable in the late 90s.  But for today let's focus on a more neglected athlete.

Let me describe to you one of my favorite Golden Bears of all time.  I think it's safe to say that this Bear is the undisputed best to ever play at his position.  He owns multiple NCAA records.  He was a consensus All-American, and he has enjoyed a long and productive professional career.  This illustrious athlete?  Nick Harris, of course!

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As part of our SBN contract, I now have to stare at this logo for 10 minutes an hour on the hour. Every hour.

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This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011.  Buy the game for advanced game metrics, but keep it for the most realistic Passion Of The Tebow simulation available on the open market.

Welcome to day 3 of the EA Sports NCAA Football 2011 post-orama.  We've really enjoyed selling out this week and look forward to discussing today's topic, which is tailgating.  Tailgating is something that I love, because, as I stated in Monday's post, I enjoy Cal sports mostly for the socialization.  Win, lose, as long as I get to chatter aimlessly to those unlucky around me, I'm satisfied. 

So, yes, today's post should be a lot of fun.  I've been having a lot of fun promoting EA Sports and EA Sports merchandise.  I've already shaved my chest hair into the EA Sports logo.  I'm considering getting a tattoo sleeve of the front cover of NCAA Football 2011.  But instead, let's just discuss tailgating traditions.  We'll talk about ours, you talk about yours.  GO BEARS!

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This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011

We Cal fans are blessed to have so many choices for 'All-Time Favorite Team.'  I remember that undefeat . . . wait, that hasn't happened in my lifetime.  There's that team that won the confer . . . hold on, that doesn't work.  What about the year that Cal earned their first ever BCS appear...OK, that doesn't work either.  Let's face it - in my 25 years of life, Cal has only had 11 winning seasons - 8 of which have come in the last 8 years under Tedford.

So I'm guessing we'll be getting lots of comments in support of 2004 and 2006.  Two teams filled with great players who were competing for the Pac-10 and BCS bids from September to November.  Both reasonable, excellent choices.  CGB may have even ran  multi-part series comparing, contrasting, and arguing the merits of each campaign, before reaching a verdict (apparently I'm a member of the CGB Supreme Court?)  But I'm going to talk about a different year.  A year with few expectations.  A year that began with many questions and ended with pleasant answers.  That year was 2003.

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This post is sponsored by EA Sports NCAA Football 2011

When we initially made the jump from Blogsome.com to the SBN servers, the cries were massive and immediate.  "Sell outs!"  "Capitalists!"  "I used to read you guys when you were an underground, indie blog, but now that it's all about the big money contracts, I'm moving on to BearsWithFangs!" 

And it's true, it's true, we are sell outs.  We will sell ourselves for the highest bidder.  Since we try to donate most, if not all, of the money we receive to the California Marching Band, we can't wait to sell out.  So, when we were approached by the SBN higher upz, saying that EA Sports was ready, willing, and able to pay us real American cash money to write some posts, we initially asked for Chinese RMB.  Why not go straight to the source, right?  Our negotiation tactic having failed, we still jumped at the chance.  They have a new football game coming out soon and, I guess, wanted to try to appeal directly to the fan.  I hear we have some Cal fans around here.  That's what I hear.  Today is the first post of the series, a discussion of where we came as a Cal fan.  So, let's get this party started right.  And hey if you want to donate to the California Marching Band, we ain't gonna stop you.

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