Archive for Cal Football
Statistically Speaking: Michigan State-Cal Preview
As we gear up for the season opener, it’s time to scope out the Spartans. This is mostly Michigan State; the evaluation on how Cal can handle them will come soon enough. This is also longer than some passages of the Bible, so pop a can of beer or grill some sausages before you settle […]
Searching for Redemption: Cal’s 2008 Motto
Finding a theme for this upcoming season has been elusive. There are too many departed stars and unfamiliar characters to construct a proper narrative. These new California Golden Bears remain quite a mystery to us. Our experience with them has been too ephemeral to provide any meaningful terms beyond potential and hope; we know the […]
Present is Past is Future
Regardless of all the games on the field, I sense that the big battle this year is about something more than just mere games. The battle most of our fans will have is internal, one about grappling identities between what they think is possible and what they believe is possible. Fans that haven’t tasted ultimate […]
Worthless Cal Predictions
Lots of varying predictions about what Cal’s season is going to look like only confirms one thing: Someone on this list is going to look damned stupid. Phil Steele already set the bar by ranking Cal #2 in the conference, certainly above most normal expectations. However he also had Cal #5 last season, which was […]
Pathos of Nate Longshore
It seems football, more than any other sport, provides us with an interminable offseason of endless chatter that rinses and repeats the same old storylines. By the time we get to opening day we’re so exhausted of the cycle we’re just happy for the release of the kickoff. “He played admirably through three and a […]
The OC (Frank Cignetti at Fresno State, Part II)
After about a month’s break since publishing Part I of the series, we’re going to dive back into the basic tenets of what we can expect from our new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti. You’re getting all the nice political answers from Frank at Ted Miller’s blog, but here we’re going to dive into the trenches […]
Pac-10 Quarterback Analysis, Part III: The Situation Room
(Read Part I on Longshore and Part II on Pac-10 QBs here) Seems people demand it, but it looks like it’s time to figure out what Nate Longshore and his Pac-10 bretheren are truly capable of situationally. You’ve probably read about the situational practices Tedford is placing his quarterbacks through and how each of them […]
The Open Door Policy
I’d like to talk a lot about practice or the overall merit of it; not that I think it’ll have too much correlation with how Cal performs this season. But of course the usual rules are in effect–practice is closed except to a few beat reporters like Okanes from the Contra Costa Times and Andrew […]
The Longshore-Riley-Mansion Debate
MODERATOR: Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Wheeler Auditorium for tonight’s momentous Cal quarterback debate. Remember, Coach Tedford is monitoring this very closely as a testament to your strength of character. No personal attacks, let’s keep this civil and on-topic as to why each of you should be starting next season. Mr. Nate Longshore, my first […]
The Big Play
I hate this term. I hate this term more than Baby Boomers lamenting the thuggery of the NBA (and I really love basketball). I hate this term more than that dude from Florida with the billboards. I almost hate it more than that turdbox Skip Bayless. This term has dulled the minds of sports-loving Americans […]
