2015 Cal Football

Here are highlights from 2014.

 

Cal Commit Jaylen Brown and Shareef Abdur-Rahim

There are some interesting connections that link Jaylen Brown with Cal. Brown is a product of Wheeler High School in Georgia. Not a usual locale for Cal to find basketball players, but this is not first highly regarded recruit to commut to Cal.

Shareef Abdur-Rahom, who might've been the first and maybe only one-and-done player to play hoops at Cal (even Jason Kidd played for two years) was also from Wheeler High. Now Cal could have two such players from the same high school in Georgia (if Jaylen Brown does turn pro after only one year at Cal as expected).

The other school connection between that Shareef team and today's Bears' team is the University of Tennessee. Cuonzo Martin, Cal's current coach only ended up at Cal because of Tennessee did not want him. The other key player on that Cal team led by Shareef was Ed Gray who was a transfer from Tennessee.

 

The Ultimate "Cube-y" Photo Bomb!

While Bill Walton continues to talk some inane nonsense (probably) - I wasn't paying attention - Cal fan solves Rubik's cube in near record time.

Ethan, Happy Birthday and Go Bears!!

Ethan landed a sweet, late addition to his birthday gifts. Not only did he get to have six of his best friends over Friday night for a sleepover game night, he was also able to attend the history making Cal Bears game against the top ranked Arizona Wildcats that unfolded as a toe-to-toe basketball slugfest from beginning to end.

Arriving at the game, we found yellow T-shirts at our seats so we put them on and happily ate our sandwiches from Bongo Burger (a Berkeley institution for many Cal students that deserves a bow on the Food Networks' "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" show if not a higher level of recognition) and waited for the start of the game. Sightings at the game included Lute Olson (former Arizona coach and all-time Pac-12 winningest coach), the Pac-12 broadcast crew including Dan Belluomini (a familiar voice to die-hard Cal basketball fans), a stadium fully festooned in yellow with T-shirts at all seats in the Haas, Cal Bears jacked-up in warm-ups with Bears trying all kinds of crazy dunks, and although not spotted by us, others in attendance included Bob Melvin (former Cal Bear and current Oakland A's manager) and over 20 scouts from 14 NBA teams. The atmosphere was electric, quite appropriate for a Super Bowl weekend.

The game did not disappoint as the Cal and Arizona sections (yes, Arizona fans travel well and they were at the Haas in large number) went back and forth with full-throat cheers, jeers, chants and yelling. As soon as chants of "U of A" would go up, they would get swallowed up by chants of "Cal-i-fornia" or "Go Bears." And so the night would go on in this manner over the top of a well-played game.

At the time of the game, we did not realize how much the Bears relied on one player: Justin Cobbs. He apparently scored the final 12 points of the game for the Bears: with game at 48-42 Bears, Cobbs makes two free throws; with the game at 50-48 Bears, Cobbs makes two free throws again; with the score 52-50 Bears, Cobbs scores on a lay-up; with score 54-56 Arizona, Cobbs makes a jumper; with the sore 56-58 Arizona, Cobbs makes another pair on a one-and-one; and finally with the score netted at 58, Cobbs hits the game winner with 0.9 left on the clock to all but decide the game.

The end of the game was really chaotic. The student section stormed the court twice. The first time was when we all thought the game was over, but the refs apparently wanted to check to see if there was time left on the clock so they had stopped the game. Coach Montgomery had to take the court to try to help escort a few hundred delirious Cal fans off the court. Not an easy task, but somehow order was restored. After the video review, they put 0.9 seconds back on the clock and Arizona ran one final futile play after both sides were able to adjust and prepare for the play. Then the students got to storm the court for real. We stayed to soak up the atmosphere for a little bit. It was crazy. Richard Solomon was still walking around with the game ball in his mitts as if he were Smeagal clutching the ring.

The game was history making not because of what the announcer said at the end of the game: first time for a Cal team to knock off a number one ranked team. This actually was incorrect. This was the first time for a Cal team to knock off a number one ranked team at home at Haas. Cal has done this twice before. >br />
Here's Ethan at the game.

What's not to like about the usual serious Coach Monty doing the "Nae Nae." Check out the end of the video below. Although it's not easy to see the coach, you can see him in the middle of the Bears' mosh pit with arms flailing doing his version of the "Nae Nae."

Bears Win Big Over Buffs

Here's a game highlight:

Can Uncle Chuck Dunk?

No, but Robert Thurman, forward with Cal Bears can...doesn't he look like Uncle Chuck, though? says Ethan.

2012 Basketball Season Opens Ceremoniously

The Cal men's basketball season opened with a little bit of pomp and circumstance being that it was Veterans' Day weekend. The Bears won fairly easily, but the highlight was the gigantic flag that was unfurled for the usual singing of the Star Spangled Banner.
 

Getting Ready for Cal Basketball

Maybe this will help you Cal Bears fans forget about the awful football loss yesterday at Cal's return to Memorial Stadium...maybe not. Or for others like me, this should help you get ready for the upcoming basketball season.

This was probably one of the top two or three games that John and I ever attended in our 18 seasons or so of attending Cal basketball together, especially so because the comeback was against Stanford. The best part was that the comeback took the entire game to accomplish, which lengthened the suspense even more. Imagine a good novel with the reveal at the very end. Once the comeback started, it wasn't a certainty that the Bears would make it all the way back. It was not like Stanford played poorly. They were just in a boat with a slow leak.

Senior Day at Cal

It was a memorable day for us in more than one way. It was Senior Day at Cal with two of the more popular Bears in recent memory playing their last game at home.

Harper Kamp after five years and countless bumps and bruises, one missed year due to injury and the firing of the coach, Ben Braun, who recruited him to Cal. When Braun was shown the door after Kamp's freshman year, Harper almost followed Kamp out the door to UNLV. He decided to stay with the Bears and the rest is history.

Jorge Gutierrez was Montgomery's first recruit at Cal. It was a lucky break for both sides as it turns out. There was a slot open for Jorge only because another player had asked out of his scholarship when Braun was fired. Jorge was available only because he was not highly recruited out of a prep school in Las Vegas.



The part of the memory will be our luck to be chosen for the pre-game experience to take in the Bears' pregame practice from court-level. The only way this could've been better was if they allowed to remain in the court side seats for the game.

This means that we also got our photo up on the big screen during the second half of the game. The kids were pretty excited about it especially Ryan. At first when I told him that we were going to be able to see ourselves on the big screen, his reaction was, "I don't want our picture up there." Later during the game, he kept asking when our photo would appear.

What made the evening perfect was that the Bears won!

Everyone went home happy. Even the larger than life posters of Jorge and Harper.

And also the large contingent of Jorge fans who were at the game wearing yellow matching T-shirts. In the group were Jorge's parents with his father trying to capture the moment with a video camera. That's his mother holding up the Mexican flag and his father to the left of the flag in the photo below.

Cal Wins Thriller

Ethan and I were on-hand for this thriller that featured three technical fouls called and a game of "I can do better than that" between two former Golden Gopher teammates. Joseph of Oregon won the scoring battle, but Cobbs' Bears won the game. Ethan says that this was the best game that he's ever seen in person.

Go Bears!

The Bears are winding down their football season that has AT&T (home of the SF Giants) as their home field with Memorial Stadium under renovation. They have their last home game tomorrow against the Oregon State Beavers.

At their home game last week against the Washington State Cougars, they had Tony La Russa of the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals on their sideline sporting a Cal lid. He was on hand promoting his Animal Rescue Foundation located in Walnut Creek, California.

As he has announced his retirement from baseball, the words out that he's looking for a new gig. He announced that his first job offer was one to be an elephant trainer.

Go Bears!

This is for you John...

http://www.yahoosportsradio.com/shows/rivals/jeff-tedford-7229/

Cal Bears Baseball - Team of Fate?

Cal Bears baseball was on life support earlier this season due to the university budget cuts. Although the program has been reinstated because of fundraising and generous gifts from alumni, it seems that the team is still playing as if these are their last games.

The Bears don't seem to care to do things the easy way. In the regionals at Rice University this past weekend, the Bears promptly lost their first game to Baylor with their ace pitching. This meant that to advance to the super regionals, the Bears would have to play their way out of the losers' bracket in the double elimination format. They proceeded to advance by beating Alcorn State and Rice only to find the undefeated Baylor Bears waiting for them. In this double elimination format, the Cal Bears would have to beat their brethren Bears from Baylor twice to advance.

The Bears won the first game 8-0, a game that was not a must win game for Baylor. In the nightcap game for all the marbles, the Bears again with their ace on the mound promptly worked themselves into a 7-1 hole. The sun seemed to be setting on the Bears' season. No amount of fundraising would help them this time.

But due to a series of fated, fortuitous events that included...

1. With the Bears still down 7-3 to start the 8th inning, the first Bears quietly were retired, arguably two of the Bears' better hitters.
2. That's when the Bears sprang for a single and a home run to quickly make it 7-5.
3. But in the top of the 9th, due to 2 errors on one grounder, Baylor gets one run back to make it 8-5.
4. In the bottom of the inning the Bears get a lead-off single, a crack in the door.
5. The next Cal player hits a perfect double play grounder that goes through the legs of the Baylor infielder. More fate?
6. Now the Bears have runners on 1st and 3rd.
7. Next batter hits another ball that has double play written all over it.
8. To start the double play, Baylor throws to 2nd base for the first out; but as Baylor starts the second throw to 1st for the double play, the Cal runner on 3rd breaks for home.
9. Baylor catches this and charges the runner headed for home to get him into a rundown. Being that Baylor was up 3, the correct play for them would've been to complete the double play and let the Bears score their one run.
10. So the rundown ensues, but Baylor makes another error by forgetting to cover home plate. Cal gets a gift without getting the 2nd out recorded against them. Still 8-6 Baylor.
11. Cal scores another run to get to within one run.

The Bears find themselves in the situation in this video:

Big Game Win for Bears

Ethan got to experience his first Cal game against Stanford yesterday. Although it wasn't the biggest crowd of the season, Haas Pavilion was rocking just the same. After all, it was Stanford in the house. It was fun to see Ethan's reaction to seeing the Stanford tree for the first time. He thought that it was goofy, especially that the mouth that was attached to the tree looked ready to fall off at any time.

The Stanford band was their usual obnoxious self, playing barely recognizable tunes that became less frequent as the game wore on as it became apparent that there would be very little to cheer about for the cardinal-clad. Most of the empty seats were arranged around the Stanford band giving the band a halo-like effect. Even the Stanford fans who were nearby chose to distance themselves from the seats closest to the band probably to prevent premature deafness. Although we were on the opposite side of Haas from the band, each time the band would strike up Ethan would put his fingers in his ears because it was too loud.

The Bears broke out to a 10-2 lead and never looked back to cruise to a 74-55 win. When the Bears started to clear out their bench, the lead had grown to 28 points. Here's a link to highlights from the game, including a fastbreak layup (starting at about the 1:17 mark of the video clip) that must've brought a smile even to Coach Montgomery. Pass, pass, layup with not a single dribble over half court. This was like one of those drills run in practice with no defenders.

On senior day, the Bears faithful said good-bye to three seniors in pre-game ceremonies. Markhuri Sanders-Frison and two team managers. The Bears lose one key player, but will be adding at least 4 new faces, including two players who are currently redshirting. Although the Bears are not loaded with blue chip recruits like some schools (Arizona, UCLA and Washington come to mind in the Pac-10) and usually are undersized and less athletic compared to their opponents, having the best Pac-10 coach on our side of the court is a big plus. The players part in this is that they have figured out how to play as a team with great chemistry and no hint of personal agendas. The Bears are a very good college team in every sense of the word "team." Looking forward to more Pac-10 hoops next year.

One Final Look at Jerome Randle

Here's a final look at Jerome Randle, arguably the second best point guard to come out of Cal in recent times (J. Kidd being the first). Jerome's the second best that I have seen in person without a doubt. So it's perplexing why he was not drafted. I was surprised when a friend of mine mentioned that Jerome was not drafted. I just assumed that he would be drafted somewhere based on the on-line sites that I had seen leading up to the draft. Most had him going some place in second round. He was even named MOP in one of the showcase camps leading up to the draft.

If players like Spud Webb, Earl Boykins and Muggsy Bogues (all 5'3" of him) could make it in the NBA, Jerome Randle should be able to make it too. No slight to the other three that I just mentioned, but none of them had a consistent shot like the one Jerome has.

The latest is that he's signed a contract to play professionally in Turkey so at least he will play professionally some place and be paid handsomely to do so. Maybe one day he will catch the eye of an NBA scout that can look beyond his 5'9" stature so that we will have a chance to see what he can do the world's biggest basketball stage.

Here's the video mix from YouTube on the "Bulldog":

The Bear Man

John, this photo is for you.



The rest of the story...

When John and I first started going to Cal basketball games back in about 1990, we noticed the man in the picture above. He sat near us and attended nearly every game like we did. He almost aways wore the same outfit as he is wearing in the above photo. Before the start of the game and halftime, without fail he would stand or sit and read his newspaper.

Then at one point we stopped seeing him. John and I would look for him, but to no avail. So we made a bet. The first one who got definitive proof of the Bear Man would be owed a dinner. The photo above was taken at the Cal women's NIT championship game earlier this year. I told John about this, but never got a chance to show him the photo.

Here's a photo of the Bear Man reading his paper.

Cal Bears Women's Basketball Wins WNIT!

It's a rare year to be able to see two teams cut down the net. For those of you not familiar with basketball, the "cutting down the net" ritual is part of winning a championship. Usually this happens after winning a league championship or after winning a tournament.

Earlier this year, the Cal men's basketball team clinched the Pac-10 conference championship by winning their last home game of the season. I wrote about this earlier on this blog. This was their first conference championship in 50 years so it was only fitting that they clinched the crown at home and had a presentation after the game that included the team cutting down the net.

We decided to attend a Cal women's basketball game for the first time yesterday. It just so happened that they were playing at home for what was the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) championship. The women's games are general admission meaning that the seating is first come first serve so we got seats four rows behind press row across the Bears' bench.

Harmon seats about 12,000 and usually fills up once or twice each year for men's games. The men's games draw about 9000 or 10,000 people on average. The women's games usually draw fewer than 1000, but on this day the announced crowd was about 2500 although there were times that the place got loud enough to feel like more than the announced crowd. I think that this speaks for the passionate, loyal fan base that the women's team has. Kind of reminds me of the old days with the men's program when Harmon only seated 6600 and had a waiting list for season tickets.

If the men's games had the same kind of boisterous fans on the alumni side of the court as at the women's game, we'd probably have to wear ear plugs for the game. At men's games, often times it takes something really special for the alumni side to give a standing ovation. Not so at women's games. The difference probably is the general admission seating. Perhaps at men's games they should consider making all seats available to anyone in attendance after half time. It's a shame to see empty seats closer to the court.

The women's program seems to have a bright future. They started four freshmen for this game and the first player off the bench was also a freshman. They have another top recruiting class coming in too. With the ticket prices being in the $6/$12 range, I can see more people attending their games in the upcoming years.

2010 Pacific 10 Conference Champs

Here's one last video for Cal fans out there.

Hip! Hip! Jorge!

Talk about your proverbial taking the team on your back and willing them to victory. This is exactly what Jorge Gutierrez, the lightly recruited super sub sophomore guard out of Las Vegas' Findlay Prep did last evening. This is the same school that produced the much heralded Avery Bradley who laces them up for the Longhorns, but on this evening I would've wanted to have Gutierrez on my team over any of the other more sought after recruits.

With chants of Hip! Hip! Jorge! raining from the rafters, much as the blue and gold confetti would after the Bears' hard fought 62-46 win, it was Gutierrez that showed the team the way to a grinding victory. Montgomery might not have his prototypical beefy inside-oriented team yet, but he has one player who can lead his team to play like the prototypical Montgomery team.

Monte Poole of the Bay Area News Group wrote an article about Gutierrez. Montgomery was quoted as saying, "He's a very quiet kid, unassuming, with a great a sense of how to help in any way he needs to. He'll make a great play that others won't make."

And so it was with the game's outcome still up for grabs with 11:49 left, coming out of a media timeout that Jorge in his own unassuming way put the Bears on his back and figuratively said, "Follow this." The "follow this" was a smooth gliding slash to the basket that ended in the most unbelievable of dunks. I turned to my friends and said, "Wow! Where did that come from?" as the Harmon crowd got to its feet for yet another standing ovation.

After this basket, ASU's McMillan nailed a left wing three to make it 44-42 Bears when Gutierrez was not able to switch out in time. Jorge clearly knew that that one was on him, but did he hang his head? No. On the very next sequence, Jorge made amends by scoring on what could only be called a circus shot that would've made even "Circus King" proud with the ball kissing high off the glass while he was getting shoved out of bounds by Jeren Shipp. Only Pete Newell and others in basketball heaven know how that shot went in. After his free throw completed the three-point play, and another miss by the Sun Devils on a desperation heave as the shot clock was expiring, Jorge drove the key and assisted on a basket by Boykin with 9:48 left in the game. This only gave the Bears a 7-point edge, but for all intents and purposes the outcome of the game would no longer be in question. This was perhaps the most important two minutes in the last 50 years for the Bears from the point of winning championships.

Montgomery took Jorge out of the game at this point to what could only be called the loudest ear-piercing ovation of the evening. It was a well earned rest for the unlikeliest of leaders.

Indeed the Sun Devils would not recover from this onslaught. They would remain stuck on 42 points for another two and half minutes when the Bears had built their lead to 53-42. Then ASU would not score another basket until there were but 31 ticks left on the clock and all of the subs were in the game.

The other half of the story is what Jorge did on the defensive end where he was matched up against the much taller and larger Trent Lockett. ASU's delight at seeing the smaller Gutierrez on Lockett resulted in repeated attempts to post up Lockett. These attempts would only turn to frustration with Lockett even taking a swing at Gutierrez with the officials missing this action because it was at the back end of the play. If Randle is the "Bulldog" on offense, Jorge is the "Bulldog" on defense.

There are certain players that come along who are just fun to watch. These are players that make the game enjoyable for whatever reason. Jason Kidd was the first such Cal Bear for this writer. Lamond Murray for his prolific dunking from passes from Kidd. Shareef Abdul-Rahim for his coming out of nowhere to dominate the Pac-10 as a freshman. Same for Ryan Anderson. Jerome Randle was the next in line for the "Fun to Watch" tag. Now the baton has seemingly been passed onto Gutierrez. Hip! Hip! Jorge!

Bears Win Pac-10 Championship

We headed to the Cactus Taqueria on College Avenue near the Rockridge BART station after the game. What started as a late lunch turned into a single-course la comida. I don't think any of us wanted to let the feeling of the Bears winning their first Pac-10 title in 50 years leave too quickly.

During a break late the game, AD Sandy Barbour presented the Bears' clock operator, John Mahaffey, with an honorary jersey and game ball. The number on the jersey was 58 to signify the number of years Mr. Mahaffey has been the clock operator at Cal basketball and football games. This was his last game. One of my friends remarked, "He's probably the only one in the building who saw Cal win their last men's basketball championship."

Tayshaun Prince, who was in town because his Pistons had a game later in the evening against the Warriors, was court side to root for his godbrother and fellow Compton native Patrick Christopher. Christopher walked over to bump fists with Prince before the opening tip.

Scott Fujita, former Cal Bears football walk-on and current member of the Super Bowl champion Saints, was also on hand to soak in the electric atmosphere. Kevin Johnson attended with his wife, mother and other family members and also received a loud ovation when he was introduced to the crowd. Others in attendance included Sean Lampley, former coach Dick Kuchen, current head football coach Jeff Tedford, and other basketball alums. It was a night that would not be soon forgotten.

It was an aligning of the stars and ironies no doubt. A game being played on the day after the anniversary of the Bears last conference championship 50 years prior. Senior Day that was seeing off five popular senior players. A match-up of current conference number one versus number two. A match-up of centers who were once roommates at Duke. The first home sell-out of the year. A Cal win would mean that they could be returning to Stanford next week under the leadership of former Stanford coach Montgomery for a chance at an outright Pac-10 championship.





For more on the game, see this link.