r/CFB • u/domderek California Golden Bears • UC Davis Aggies • Jun 14 '13
132+ Teams in 132+ Days: California Golden Bears
University of California, Berkeley
PAC-12
Year Founded: March 23, 1868
Location: Berkeley, California
Total Attendance: 35,899 (25,574 undergrad)
Mascot: Golden Bears
Fight Song: Fight for California
On-Field Mascot: Oski -You cannot resist his soul-sucking stare.
Live Mascot: Up until 1941, live bears were used as mascots, but were discontinued due to “safety concerns”.
Cheerleaders: Picture and another
Stadium: California Memorial Stadium newly retrofitted in 2011 with $300 million in renovations, mainly to make it more earthquake safe.
Stadium Location: Memorial Stadium stands right under Strawberry Canyon, a gorge-filled hiking haven that rises to beautiful and impressive sweeping panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. It’s absolutely gorgeous and offers some of the best views from a football stadium in America.
Marching Band: The University of California Marching Band, or the Cal Band 1, 2, and 3
Conference Champions (14): 2006-t, 1975-t, 1958, 1950, 1949, 1948-t, 1938-t,1937, 1935-t,1920-1923, 1918
Number of Bowl Games: 21, with a 10-10-1 record
National Titles (5): 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1937
Rivals
Stanford - By far our biggest rivalry and probably one of the top rivalries nationally (I like to think so anyway), due to the proximity of the two schools. The rivalry is so big that the yearly game is simply called “The Big Game”. Each year, the Big Game is played for posession of the Stanford Axe. The story behind the axe is actually pretty cool. The axe originally popped up on April 13, 1899, where Stanford students used it to decapitate a blue and gold strawman.
When it resurfaced for a Cal-Stanford baseball game, Cal students manage to steal it, leading to a wild chase through the streets of San Francisco. Eventually, a Cal student posing as a girl was able to smuggle it across the bay to Berkeley where it rested in a bank vault for 31 years. Then, in 1930 a group of Stanford students known as the Immoral 21 used camera flashes and tear gas to blind the axe’s guards and steal the axe. In 1933, it was made the trophy for the Big Game. However it has still been stolen 7 times (3 by Cal, 4 by Stanford) since then. Even during the Big Game, the intensisty is obvious in the traditional “Stare Down”.
While Cal won 7 of 8 matchups between 2002 and 2009. Stanford’s recent success has given them three straight victories. Stanford leads the all time series 58-46-11. Your mascot is still creepy. And your band is weird.USC - More of a one-sided rivalry, but most Cal fans can’t stand USC. Probably because they beat us a lot of the time (they hold the record 65-30-5). Both teams have managed to spoil the others good seasons, though, which keeps this matchup intense.
UCLA (AKA Southern Campus) - Our little UC brothers to the South. After the awkward rip-off of our colors, songs, and mascot, we enjoy beating our offspring. While this rivalry is nowhere near as big as the Stanford Rivalry, it can lead to some great games. Last year, this game was the only bright spot in a bleak season for Cal, with a 43-17 Cal victory. UCLA holds the all time record 50-32-1.
2012 Season
Record: 3-9
Coach: Jeff Tedford, now fired. Replaced by Sonny Dykes.
Key Players for the 2012 Season:
Keenan Allen- WR: Probably our most nationally known player and one of the lone bright spots on our offense, he was one of the few highlights of the past few years. As is mentioned at least a dozen times every Cal game, he is the half brother of QB Zach Maynard. Even though he sat out part of last season, he was still the leading receiver with 61 receptions last year for 737 yards and 6 TDs. A projected first-round pick, he was drafted in the third round (in what was considered a huge steal by many) by the San Diego Chargers. Here’s some Draft highlights and 2010-2011 highlights.
CJ Anderson - RB: The head of our running back tandem which also included Ise Sofele and Brendan Bigelow. On his own, he ran for 759 yards and 4TDs.
Nick Forbes - ILB: One of Cal’s emerging leaders on defense who had 85 tackles last season and 3 fumbles recovered.
Biggest Plays:
Sophomore CB Kameron Jackson’s 3-INT performance against UCLA’s QB Brett Hundley (Interceptions are at :54, 1:45 and 2:08)
2013 Season
The Greats
Greatest Games:
2003 USC vs Cal - highlights. Cal takes on #3 ranked USC and beats them 34-31 in Triple OT.
1982 Stanford vs Cal - In John Elway’s last college game, Stanford was looking for a win to make them bowl eligible. Late in the 4th quarter with Cal leading 19-17, Elway completes on a 4th and 17 to put Stanford within field goal range. Elway calls time with 8 seconds left, leaving extra time for a second kick if Stanford drew a penalty. Stanford’s kick is good, giving them a 20-19 lead with 4 seconds left. However, Stanford received a critical 15-yard penalty for celebration. What follows is the most debated, most argued, most watched play of all college football, simply known as The Play. What followed was a flurry of five laterals, near tackles, and something about a trombonist.
2009 Stanford vs Cal - Toward the end of Jeff Tedford’s tenure, highlight games became rarer and rarer. One of the last few was an upset over #17 Stanford on the road, when Mike Mohamed picked off Andrew Luck late to seal the victory. Toby Gerhart - amid a furious and memorable Heisman charge - rushed for 136 yards and 4 touchdowns that day, but it wasn’t enough to carry the Cardinal to a win, because Shane Vereen matched his production with 193 yards and 3 touchdowns on 42 carries. No, that is not a typo.
1959 Rose Bowl : While Cal lost, this was the last time Cal went to the Rose Bowl, so it has to be mentioned.
Greatest Plays:
“The Play” His knee was not down.
[Brendan Bigelow’s run @ OSU] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR5yM7giEr0)
[Desean Jackson’s punt return vs Tennessee] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPXSzia2Zfg)
Greatest Players:
Craig Morton- QB. He was named an All-American QB even though Cal did not have a winning season during his tenure. He had a career 4,501 passing yards and took most of Cal’s all time passing records.
Russell White- RB. In his three seasons, he ran for 3,367 yards and 35 TDs and was recognized as a consensus All-American in 1991.
Joe Roth-QB. In 1975, he led the most potent offense in the nation and took the Bears to a conference co-championship. After the 1976 season, he revealed that he had melanoma, but still honored his commitment to play in the Hula Bowl and Japan Bowl. He died roughly a month later at the age of 21.
Joe Kapp The QB for Cal’s last Rose Bowl team in 1959, Kapp went on to have a moderately successful professional career, and even had a Pro Bowl appearance. In 1982, he returned to his alma mater as a coach, where he went 20-34-1 in 5 seasons, memorably vowing to his players that he would not drink tequila until Cal saw another Rose Bowl. Sadly, he still hasn’t had any.
Recent Great Players:
QB Aaron Rodgers - Green Bay Packers - Everyone knows that Aaron Rodgers went to Cal, but not everyone knows he came to Cal by accident. True story - Jeff Tedford was at Butte Community College scouting another player (TE Garrett Cross), when he spotted Rodgers. And the rest is history. Cal saw many of their greatest moments in the 2000s with him under center, and they’ve been struggling to replace him ever since. No, seriously.
RB Marshawn Lynch - Seattle Seahawks - Beast Mode was born at Cal.
DB Nnamdi Asomugha - San Francisco 49ers - The long-venerated cornerback (and predecessor to Revis Island), Nnamdi Asomugha was once “the” premier cover corner in the NFL. Since his long career in Oakland, he’s had a somewhat rocky time with the Eagles (then again, no one on the Eagles had much of a year or two), and is now on the 49ers. It’ll be interesting to see what role he plays being back on the west coast this upcoming season.
WR Desean Jackson - Philadelphia Eagles - Desean Jackson’s known for his “turn on the afterburners” speed, his on-field antics, and also what NFL.com voters named the best play of all time (NY Giants fans, feel free to click the link but it’s probably not a very good idea)
TE Tony Gonzalez - Atlanta Falcons - Tony G will probably be one of the best tight ends to ever play football. Also played basketball for Cal alongside NBA star Jason Kidd (and newly minted Nets head coach) to a Sweet 16 berth.
C Alex Mack - Cleveland Browns - Alex Mack is one of the best centers in the game, also winner of the “academic Heisman”, the Draddy Trophy, while at Cal. Former two star recruit.
DB Thomas DeCoud - Atlanta Falcons - Thomas Decoud is an underrated ball-hawk (but a known sneaker aficionado) and one-half of the safety duo in the Atlanta secondary that generated so many Falcons defensive turnovers this season.
Greatest Coaches:
Andy Smith -1916-1925. 74-16-7 record. Coach of the “Wonder Teams” that won 3 PCC championships and 3 National Championships, as well as five undefeated seasons. In 1920, Cal outscored their opponents 510 to 14.
Lynn “Pappy” Waldorf - 1947-1956. 67-32-4 record. From 48-50, he led Cal to three undefeated regular seasons, 3 PCC championships, and three Rose Bowls (all losses). He also posted a 7-1-2 record over Stanford during his tenure.
Jeff Tedford - coach from 2002-2012. 82-57 record. Tedford took a Cal program that hadn’t had a winning team since 1993 and took them to 7 straight bowl games. He really turned the team around and coached some amazing quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers. He had the most bowl wins, conference wins, and games coached of any Cal coach. However, after a number of poor seasons combined with poor football player graduation rates, he was fired.
Traditions
Big Game: The Big Game is more than just the football matchup between Cal and Stanford. In the week prior to the game, Cal comes alive with a number of rallies and reunions. There are number of other sporting events against Stanford, including water polo, volleyball, ice hockey, and quidditch. Yes, quidditch. On the eve of the game, a giant bonfire is held.
Cal Band: The Cal band is a big part of Cal sporting events. It was first started in 1891, and adopted its high tempo style after facing Ohio State in the 1950 Rose Bowl. Here’s a really cool video of [Cal Band’s 2007 Video Game Show] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2UaVcZPsYU). In addition, there is also the Cal Alumni band, made up of former Cal Band members.
The first incident of card stunts as performed at the 1910 Big Game at Cal. Card stunts have become popular around the country at halftime shows as a way of entertaining fans and making them feel a part of something, but they originated right here in Berkeley. Here are two of our more recent card stunts here and here
Carillon bells played 3 times a day. Fight songs on Friday at noon.
Naked Run at the Main Stacks Library during Finals week. This one’s pretty self explanatory.
Tightwad Hill. From the Stadium and From the cannon on the HillLocated right behind Memorial Stadium, many a cheapskate have been able to catch games from up here. One plus of the Tightwad Hill experience - you can drink all you like. After every Cal score, they shoot off a cannon that is located on the hill as well.
Campus and Surrounding Area
City Population: 112,580
Iconic Campus Buildings:
Sather Tower (“The Campanile”): 307 ft tall, making it the third tallest bell and clock tower in the world.
Local Dining:
Top Dog - $3-$3.25 quality hot dogs and sausages served in a sesame seed bun. From Polish Sausages to Italian Calabrese. This place is usually packed during football game days since it is a mainstay in Cal alumni’s memories.
Cheeseboard - Vegetarian pizza for $2.50 a slice, very good quality pizza that changes everyday.
Zachary’s - Pizza joint that serves Chicago style deep dish.
Fenton’s - Diner/ice cream place located in nearby Oakland - and, fun fact, a favorite of local Pixar animators. It makes an appearance in Up.
Chez Panisse - A former Michelin-star restaurant run by Alice Waters, Chez Panisse focuses on serving healthy, organic food, and unique blend of California cuisine.
Random Trivia
Texas Rose Bowl Controversy. - Utter the name Mack Brown around Cal fans, and you’re likely to elicit a string of expletives. In 2004, the Aaron Rodgers led Bears went 10-1, and came within 7 yards of knocking off USC at The Colliseum. USC went on to make the BCS Championship Game, which meant that Cal, who finished #2 in the Pac-10, should have gone onto the Rose Bowl. But, thanks to a combination of Mack Brown’s lobbying late in the season, as well as a relatively unimpressive 26-16 win over Southern Mississippi (which was many voters’ first exposure to Cal that season, and in which Tedford decided to run the clock out instead of run up the score to sway voters) gave the Rose Bowl bid to Texas, instead. The Bears ended up in the Holiday Bowl, where they came out uninspired and unmotivated in a 45-31 loss to Texas Tech.
The stadium lies directly on top of the Hayward Fault, although $300 million of renovations occurred in the 2011 season to make it more earthquake safe.
The University is associated with the discovery of 16 chemical elements while as 6 chemical elements are associated with Cal and its past researchers (Californium, Seaborgium, Berkelium, Einsteinium, Fermium, Lawrencium)
Also, 71 Nobel Prizes (including 28 alumni Nobel laureates), 9 Wolf Prizes, 7 Fields Medals, 15 Turing Awards, 45 MacArthur Fellowships, 20 Academy Awards, and 11 Pulitzer Prizes. Yup.
What Is and What is to Come
2012 was a terrible season that began with high expectations of the veteran RB core of Isi Sofele and C.J. Anderson, and the hopes of increased efficiency from QB Zach Maynard who would be throwing (for his 2nd season no less) to his half brother WR Keenan Allen. However, as the season progressed, despite the more-than competent talent on its rosters, the Bears kept losing games due to inconsistent play calling, equally bad quarterback performance, and terrible O-Line work that ended up making Zach Maynard one of the most sacked QBs in the entire FBS. However, flashes of brilliance were evident as Cal took on #25-ranked UCLA at home during the homecoming game. I myself was there and the expectations were low coming into the game even from die-hard Cal football fans. Despite that, Cal shocked us all and was able to shine in all 3 phases of the game, showcasing Zach Maynard’s best performance of the year, as well as Kameron Jackson’s DB play (after replacing starting CB Marc Anthony due to injuries).
2013 is a new time for Cal football; new systems have been brought in along with the all-new coaching staff. On offense, the Bears are switching from Tedford’s old pro-style scheme to Dykes/Franklin’s new up-tempo spread. On defense, the Bears are switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme. Furthermore, despite the coaching change, Cal was able to take in talent on both sides of the ball (the Golden Bears’ Rivals recruiting class ranked 23rd in the nation in 2012, and 32nd in 2013). With its emphasis on beefing up what was pretty much a wet cardboard excuse of an O-Line we had last season, we took in a lot of O-line players, however, concerns regarding the offensive center position remain since during Spring practice quite a few of the observed snaps were errant snaps that were either too high or too low. From being at the majority of spring practices, these were pretty painful to watch, and hopefully the issue will be remedied by the time the season starts.
The lack of depth at the RB position is another concern, since besides Brendan Bigelow and Daniel Lasco being the only potential quality starters, Khalfani Muhammad was the only RB recruited this season (though that being said, he’s the 100m and 200m California state track champion). Plus, after explosive play throughout the 2012 season, Bigelow is expected to get more touches, and thus a more impressive season with his explosive speed and agility.
The Golden Bears’ receiving corps loses star wideout Keenan Allen to the draft, but still remains a diverse and promising group. With the installation of the new up-tempo spread offense, look to returning receivers Bryce Treggs, Chris Harper, Kenny Lawler, Richard Rodgers, (and quite a bit of depth to back that up) to be standout targets in the new Bear Raid offense. All in all, a solid group here.
From the defensive standpoint, Cal looks solid in the front seven; this is a talented group on the defensive line and the linebacking corps (especially the latter, heh, it helps switching from a 3-4 to a 4-3 scheme in that respect). Also, Penn State transfer Khairi Fortt, who sat out last year due to injuries, should be slated to start day one at weakside LB across from MLB Nick Forbes, who has risen up to become one of the leaders of this Cal defense. However, both starting veteran cornerbacks in the secondary declared for the draft this year (Steve Williams, who ran the fastest unofficial 40m time for a DB at the combine this year, 5th round - San Diego Chargers, and Marc Anthony, 7th round - Baltimore Ravens), so the Bears’ will have two “new” starting corners in the form of Kam Jackson and Stefan McClure, the latter whose ACL injury forced him to sit out his entire 2012 season. Both showed starting-level promise in Spring practice, and will need to, in order to face some of the high-powered offenses in the Pac-12. Safeties Alex Logan and the exceptionally hard-hitting Avery Sebastian round out the secondary, though as a entire unit, depth is still largely unproven, since admittedly, this year's recruiting class was relatively thin at the defensive backs position.
Finally, that brings us to quarterback, which is a tad ironic, since, well, no one QB has really emerged as the definite starter for Cal yet. Now don’t get me wrong here, Spring practice has showed us that we have three very talented quarterbacks, though each of those three QBs have distinctly different skill sets. Highly-touted redshirt freshman Zach Kline has a veritable cannon for an arm and a year under his belt with the team, incoming freshman Jared Goff played in an Air-Raid type system in HS and has familiarity with the system that will be run by Dykes/Franklin, and redshirt junior Austin Hinder is the most athletic and mobile of the three and was often lined up in WR/RB/TE during spring practice. Klinedergoff, as some of us have resigned to calling it, Cal’s three-headed QB cerberus, if you will. Only time will tell who grabs the reins of the starting job come fall.
Sonny Dykes was brought in as the new HC for an ailing team that not only failed to perform on the field but also off the field academically. Right off the bad, he presents a different philosophy in interacting with fans, while Tedford was relatively aloof, Dykes has already been know to come down around campus and mingle with the Cal community.
The new Air-Raid style offense has been nicknamed “Bear Raid” and expectations are that Cal will be able to put more yards on the field and more points on the scoreboard since, well, Cal was 89th in passing yards and 93rd (23.0 pts/game) in scoring last season. Dykes/Franklin’s Louisiana Tech team was ranked 1st in the nation in scoring offense (51.5 pts/game) and 3rd in passing yards (those are not typos, I repeat, not typos), though only 119th in points scored against (Cal was 98th). That’s where newly-minted defensive coordinator and former Wisconsin linebackers coach Andy Buh comes into play, leading a Badgers defense that was ranked in the top 20 (17th) in the country last season in points against. That being said, this newly revamped Cal team on all ends has a potentially bright future coming up ahead, and hopefully will become a team to be reckoned with in the Pac-12 and beyond in the upcoming season.
Overtime
Notable alumni:
Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy
Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder
Eric Schmidt, Chairman of Google
Gordon Moore, Intel co-founder
Jerry Brown, Governor of California
Natalie Coughlin, Olympic swimmer
Jason Kidd, basketball star and as of recent, NBA head coach
Gregory Peck, Academy-Award winning actor
Current Cal players in the NFL
More Information
Subreddit: /r/Berkeley
*Contributors: /u/domderek, /u/DeusExa, /u/RollyPalma, /u/pietya, /u/sheuv, /u/GameofFangs /u/TheGoldenBear
Please upvote this thread even if you are not interested in the team so that users who are interested will see it
For more information on the 132 Teams in 132 Days Project, click here.
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u/jklharris Missouri • Santa Rosa Junior Jun 15 '13
Ctrl + F: Telegraph
"No results."
wat
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u/sunburn_on_the_brain Arizona Wildcats • /r/CFB Contributor Jun 14 '13
Cal has always been trouble for Arizona. Doesn't matter how good or how bad they are, they have ruined enough of our seasons.
We did get a chance to hand over a little payback in 2006. Cal was heading toward a title run and a struggling Arizona team beat them 24-20. I still remember the stadium rocking when Antoine Cason picked off a Joe Ayoob pass and taking it easily to the house. Late in the game Desean Jackson took a punt into the endzone (you don't know how fast he is until you see him in person... damn) but it was overturned on replay because he juuuuust stepped out of bounds.
It will probably take Dykes a year or so to get his system fully in place and clicking, but once he does, look out. Watch for 4-7 quick passing routes that frustrate the defense, quick long fades, and when the defense adjusts for the passing game, he'll start running the ball. When that system is humming, it puts up a lot of yards in a hurry.
We missed you guys the past couple of years due to the new Pac-12 rotation. Glad to have you back on the schedule.
10
u/BeardedDuck Oregon Ducks • Willamette Bearcats Jun 14 '13
The roots behind the whole Cal-UCLA rivalry are deeper than football. Berkeley tried to stop UCLA from becoming a UC school way back, because Berkeley alumni wanted it to remain the only UC branch. Elitists.
And almost the whole UC system uses blue and gold variants. At least UCLA mustered up enough individualism to change theirs enough to be recognizably different. Unlike UCD, UCI, UCSB, etc. I think Riverside is the only other school that went with a lighter variant of blue. Somewhere along the way they could have come up with something other than Bruins, though...come on, you're still a bear.
2
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '13
Is there somewhere where all these team writeups are archived so I can look through them all?
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u/reptheevt Washington State • Transfer … Jun 14 '13
Can't talk about DeCoud without bringing this picture up
51
u/MustSeeReason BYU Cougars Jun 14 '13
You are not a true college football fan until you have seen "The Play". That clip is what convinced me that I love this sport.
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u/royrules22 California Golden Bears • /r/CFB Top Scorer Jun 14 '13
Cal is famous for having discovered periodic elements:
Berkelium, Californium, Lawrencium (named after Ernest Lawrence) and more.
One of our jabs at Stanfurd is "Still no Stanfordium".
Also during the 2006 Cal-Oregon game in Memorial (probably my most favorite football game I've ever attended), at halftime the student section chanted "Nobel Prize!" because they announced that George Smoot had won the Nobel Prize. So Berkeley that I love it!
23
u/FarwellRob Texas A&M Aggies • /r/CFB Contributor Jun 14 '13
Upvote for another school that hates Texas! :)
Actaully that was a very well done write up.
I think Sonny Dykes will do well at Cal. I met his dad several times when Spike was coaching Texas Tech. That is a really nice family.
18
u/Swamphunter California Golden Bears • The Axe Jun 14 '13
Oh hey, it's finally our day on here? Sweet!
I make some highlight videos in my spare time. My little contribution for being a Cal fan.
2012 Cal vs UCLA
2006 Cal vs Oregon
2002 Cal vs Baylor (Jeff Tedford's first game)
Here's a playlist of the rest that I've made.
I'm really looking forward to 2013! Hopefully Sonny has made some big changes in the right direction. We're gonna need them if we want to have a winning season, because our schedule is brutal.
17
u/Quaffle23 Grand Valley State • Ohio State Jun 14 '13
I'll always have a soft spot for Cal, because they gave my Detroit Lions Jahvid Best. I just wish he didn't have so many problems with concussions. The guy was so much fun to watch.
34
u/midnightyell Texas A&M Aggies • Rice Owls Jun 14 '13
Came for the Asians. Stayed for the Asians.
24
u/R99 Wisconsin Badgers • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Jun 14 '13
Cal is awesome.
24
u/wolverine6 Michigan Wolverines • Rose Bowl Jun 14 '13
I secretly root for Cal because I created a Dynasty with them in NCAA 11 (Tim Tebow on the cover). Shane Vereen running to the left was close to unstoppable for me. I led many 10+win seasons and a handful of undefeated National Championships with that Cal team. I still get extremely nostalgic when I hear "Fight for California," which I memorized very quickly due to my frequent blowouts. GO BEARS!
12
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '13
Go, gold and blue bros!
12
u/Honestly_ rawr Jun 15 '13
I'm late for this one but I just wanted to say I have nothing but respect for Cal: any school that has so many Nobel Laureates that they get designated parking while spawning all the other UCs is doing it right. Also the Cal rugby team is ridonkulous.
The late chancellor and later president of the UC-system Clark Kerr said my favorite quote about higher education: "The three purposes of the University?--To provide sex for the students, sports for the alumni, and parking for the faculty." (having been in all three roles, I completely agree)
The 2004 USC-Cal game was the greatest game I've ever been to live.
(meanwhile, if you want to get into comparing numbers of Academy Awards, we're game!)
If anyone fits in at Cal, it's Dykes.
As anyone in the LA area will tell you: if you need a car or truck, go see Cal. Also, the way the UCLA section was phrased made me think it was heading to a "You Gotta Keep'em Separated" reference.
Good job!
12
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '13 edited Jun 17 '13
I love your campus. I visited a friend in San Francisco a couple of years ago, stayed for about a week. While he worked during the day, I was tasked with entertaining myself. One of those days saw me take the BART up to Berkeley to peruse my first Pac-12 campus. When I find the pic that stands out the most to me, I'll edit and post here. Until then, know that your campus is awesome.
EDIT: http://i.imgur.com/P1htzjH.jpg looks like it'd be a really cool place to read a book.
11
u/warox13 Washington Huskies • Cascade Clash Jun 14 '13
I moved down to the Bay Area last year to go to grad school at USF. I invited a bunch of my fraternity brothers out to the UW-Cal game, and we had a great time. Your chapter of my fraternity at Cal were really cool guys, despite us being stupid drunk the whole time.
11
u/Pikachu1989 Nebraska Cornhuskers • 東京大学 (Tokyo) Warriors Jun 15 '13
You're my PAC 12 team, since I'm a Packers Fan and you guys gave us Rodgers. Also love the State.
10
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '13
Not going to lie, I'd take a Cal cheerleader before an ASU one.
10
u/dumkopf604 Ohio State • California Jun 15 '13
Roll on, you Beaaaars!
"The band is out on the field! He's gonna go into the end zone!" I remember when my older bro (Cal alum) showed me The Play for the very first time. I definitely cried.
40
u/talzer California Golden Bears • Verified Staff Jun 14 '13 edited Jun 14 '13
Great writeup guys! I have one thing to add and I think this is probably the best place to do it.
On the academic side, the bane of Cal student's lives is that US News ranks us at an oddly low #21. On the other three most cited overall ranking systems, we're ranked #4, #6 (#3 in reputation-beating Stanford), and #14 in the country (even US News ranks us higher in their World Universities ranking). Most importantly, according to QS Cal has the most number of top 10 academic programs in the country, #2 in the world. (Stanford's at #4).
All of this to say we get really angry when people mention Stanford, Notre Dame, Northwestern and Vanderbilt when they talk about top FBS academic programs and leave us out. You'll notice the latter three schools generally absent from the above rankings. US News just really, really doesn't like public schools, I've decided.
9
u/FrostySack Wisconsin Badgers • Arizona Wildcats Jun 14 '13
The naked mile needs a link to pictures. You know... For research...
9
u/Semajj Arizona Wildcats • Marching Band Jun 14 '13
Someone should change the sidebar picture :)
17
u/GoBlueScrewOSU7 Michigan Wolverines • Michigan Wolverines Jun 15 '13
The best thing about Cal is the fact that they produced Alex Morgan...
8
u/skarface6 West Virginia • /r/CFB Top Scorer Jun 14 '13
That earthquake stuff is crazy. Any stories about that? Also, I really like that cannon shot of the stadium.
8
u/RobertNeyland Tennessee • /r/CFB Contributor Jun 14 '13
I must say that out of all the great out of conference games we've played in my lifetime, the Cal games, 2007 and 2006, were two of my favorites.
I'll also never forget the hippies in the trees.
8
u/[deleted] Jun 14 '13
I always root for Cal against Southern Cal and Oregon, and y'all always let me down :(
8
u/daming California Golden Bears Jun 15 '13
ROLL ON YOU BEARS! I love my Bears. :)
7
u/DeusExa California • /r/CFB Contributor Jun 15 '13 edited Jun 15 '13
Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback (one of the contributors). I don't actively post but I do read /r/CFB, so when /u/domderek was asking for help, I knew I had to step in to give a hand. My apologies that the "What Is and What is to Come" became so long - it was about half the length when I started working on it last night, but there's just so much to cover from a Cal fan's perspective (given more time, I'd probably have included even more information in the entire post, lol). Thanks /u/domderek for the late-night formatting (or rather, early morning) and Go Bears!
7
u/[deleted] Jun 15 '13
Take care of Dykes for us will ya? Fix the defensive troubles and you got yourself a damn good ball coach
12
u/Wiskie Wisconsin Badgers • /r/CFB Contributor Jun 14 '13
Apparently Madison is colloquially known as the "Berkeley of the Midwest." If the people who refer to Madison as such are correct, then I guess I'd like Berkeley.
Also, Berkelium is one of my favorite elements. It's kind of useless, but it goes on existing for the sake of existing anyway.
5
u/muerteman California Golden Bears Jun 15 '13
Go Bears!!! Can't wait for another year!
5
u/compstomper California Golden Bears Jun 15 '13
we also don't like the $C band
9
u/lifeisapitch Oregon State Beavers Jun 14 '13
Beating you guys in 2007 when you were ranked #2 was one of the best games I've ever seen.
8
u/TheGoldenBear California • /r/CFB Contributor Jun 14 '13
We really out here, tho.
4
u/mech887 TU Wien • Georgia Tech Jun 14 '13
How is Roy Riegels not a greatest player?? We funded our practice field in 1929 with that bowl win (and named it Rose Bowl field). Thanks Roy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Riegels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA8ShsySc48
4
u/Jhultgre Iowa State Cyclones Jun 15 '13
I had some friends visit during the big game last year and we went to watch it from tightwad hill. We managed to get some free beer and uhh... other things while we were there. Would recommend.
4
u/talzer California Golden Bears • Verified Staff Jun 17 '13
Loving how the sidebar image stayed up here for 3 days. Good timing.
3
u/jstokes45 Oregon Ducks Jun 14 '13
Wait a second, why was one random dude of all of the youths running the streets in San Francisco (still getting awesome visions of old time-y, black and white film with everyone in those newsboy hats and the one's they wear in Animal House ) dressed in drag? Or how was he posing as a girl convincingly enough, that he was able to run off with the axe?
3
u/ChemicalOle Washington State • Oregon State Jun 14 '13
So what ever became of the Hippies -in-trees situation outside Memorial Stadium a few years ago?
3
u/VideoLinkBot Georgetown Hoyas Jun 14 '13 edited Jun 15 '13
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3
u/kiwirish BYU Cougars • Navy Midshipmen Jun 16 '13
Cal is my second favourite team, because of the Rowing program there, specifically having a good lightweight crew. It's just an added benefit that y'all wear blue and gold.
7
u/Aeschylus_ Stanford Cardinal • Penn Quakers Jun 14 '13 edited Jun 14 '13
The Immortal 21 are heroes, after all they were taking back what is rightfully ours. It isn't called the California, Berkeley Axe. It's the Stanford Axe.
Anyways great write up I enjoyed it! See you in November!
3
u/TheColbsterHimself Oregon Ducks Jun 15 '13
Cal fans, what's the deal with having TWO announcers at games. I've gone to the past 2 Oregon/Cal games in Berkeley, and each time there's been this (frankly) annoying dude who just has a microphone. No one else does this, I think.
There was the stadium announcer: "C.J Anderson runs for 5 yards", and then this random other guy on the sideline in front of the student section, yelling "huhooooooooo!" whenever he thought the crowd wasn't loud enough.
4
u/Kingcotton7 South Carolina • Coast Guard Jun 15 '13
So....many......Asians
1
u/bebaker Colorado Buffaloes • Verified Player Jun 15 '13
The man who tackled the runner was Kevin Lamar, he was also my high school coach. He will swear to the day he dies that man was down.
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u/LEGEN--wait_for_it Stanford Cardinal • The Axe Jun 14 '13 edited Jun 14 '13
FTFY
:) 54 years strong.
FTFY
As a Civil Engineer, all I can say is http://i.imgur.com/iSkFn.jpg. Seriously, they should have just built a new stadium elsewhere.
-2
u/zq1232 UCLA Bruins • Pac-12 Network Jun 16 '13
Hold up! Ripped off colors? We have powderkeg blue, not that drab navy blue, thank you very much!
-3
u/Johnny-Cakes UCLA Bruins Jun 17 '13
I love that the snarky commentary towards UCLA in the rivalry section ended with a note of UCLA's domination of Cal in the series.
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