Football Statue all Dressed Up

From the UC Berkeley News Center - the Football Statue was all dressed up today.


Photos at right by Steve McConnell



Douglas Tilden's Football Statue (officially called "Football Players") was the precursor to the Axe. San Francisco Mayor James Phelan promised to award the statue to the winner of two of the three Big Games of 1898, 1899 and 1900. Cal won the first two, thereby winning the statue.

Go Bears!

Guardsmen Lunch

Correspondent G2 '85 supplied some of the traditional Bob Sarlatte quips at the Guardsmen Lunch yesterday:

Due to Jeff Tedford's success in Berkeley, the number of Cal season ticketholders is up to 33,000 this year. And many of YOU have the splinters to prove it.

John York just called. He's proposing to move the Cal Bears to Emeryville, and the Stanfurd team to Hollister.

Stanfurd's team is 1-10. Thank goodness they have a new stadium. This smaller stadium makes it possible to sit closer to the UN-action!

The Mormons have plans for Longshore to do his two years of service. Tedford has a different proposition. He thinks every point Longshore scores should count as a Conversion.

stanfurd banned, Part III

Letter to the rag they call the Daily: Go to Big Game

This is a call to arms. We here at the Stanford Band have been in stealth mode for much of the quarter, but we’d like to speak to you today with the greatest enthusiasm and honesty. Our apparent absence has all been part of our master plan. We hoped to lull the enemies of humor and fun into a false sense of security, but lo! Now our grandiose plan is to be unfurled: Just when the Weenies think we have been defeated, just when they think the Cardinal fans have grown silent and apathetic, just when Oski was about to stuff his face with another donut — we strike. A musical assault for all history and time will occur on Saturday. The Band will invade the Big Game, equipped with a full complement of dollies and a mighty Tree. Though the powers-that-be deem our field shows to be too lethal a weapon against Cal, we’re still going to bring the funk. Hard.

But we hope not to be alone in the sea of overzealous crazed Weenie fans. We need your help. For many of us, this is our last Big Game. But you may be saying to your yourselves: “Why, why would I want to join this suicidal assault on a stadium stacked with chagrined UC scoundrels? I have an IHUM paper to do.” No, you don’t. Here is our promise to you, the student body: we will do all of your IHUM papers and problem sets if you go to Big Game and be generally rowdy. Not “Jump during ‘All Right Now’ and sit down” rowdy. We mean shouting, creative and psychotic cheers, standing on your seat, paint-your-face-with-goats-blood rowdy. The Band, after playing at Big Game and a week’s worth of rallies will sit down and write your papers. We’ve checked with the dean of students, this is completely kosher with the honor code.

So join our ranks this Saturday. Be there as we witness the greatest thing ever and we take back what is ours. The Band knows our football team has a better game plan than our own to win the day; they only ask your help in bringing the funk.

To arms and Go Cardinal!

The Band

First grade inflation, and now cheating? And they think they are better than Us?

A stanfurd fan fesses up

I do have to admit, I find very humorous Big Game material from self-deprecating stanfurd fans. But it's like watching the various hosts and personalities on Shout-TV News - they're annoying, I can't stand listening to them, but I kinda feel sorry for them. From the Bootleg (via Bear Insider):

Believe it or not, there are some things I actually like about cal. Berkeley, despite its many, many, many flaws, is a far better “college town” than Palo Alto. About the only time I like Stanford's band more than cal's band is when our guys play “Swingtown” during the introductions at basketball games. Outside of that, cal's band is superior in just about every way imaginable. Their fight song is so good that another school had to rip it off and call it their own.

[snip]

Yup, life is good for the Weenies. Yet, even though their football team's fortunes have changed, I'm sure one thing hasn't: their near-maniacal hatred of Stanford and all things Cardinal. Only in Berkeley could 10,000 people all be yelling for one person to “take off that redddd shirt.” Only in Berkeley could an entire stadium blatantly disrespect the Star Spangled Banner by changing its lyrics and referring to the rocket's “blue” glare. Only Carl Lewis has done more damage to our national anthem.

[snip]

Then it occurred to me: cal hates Stanford because, well, we are Stanford. We are Us. They are Them. They will never be Us. By most accounts, We are better than Them. And those facts drive Them bonkers.

Yeah, buddy...continue to drink the farm Kool-aid.

Thursday random quotes

KGO's Mike Shumann has this video report from the Guardsmen Luncheon at the St. Francis Hotel held yesterday.

Also from the Salem StatesmanJournal:

Stanford at California: Yes, I know I said I would pick all of the Pac-10 rivalry games (in which I currently am 1-2 ... ouch). This one, however, doesn't seem fair. But I've seen my share of Big Game weirdness. The Bears are favored by approximately 900 points. It will be closer than that. Cal wins 31-7.

From that poor haiku-writing insomniac on the farm:

ARGH some bastards who I can only assume are the Cal band is playing loud trumpets outside. At 3:15AM. Of course I was up anyway (Advantage: night owl!), but still, obnoxious.

Big Sail Results

From 'Lectronic Latitude (including this great photo and others):

Stanford swept Cal 2-0 in the Big Sail yesterday at St. Francis YC, but not before Cal took both alumni races in the annual match race between the Bay Area's rival universities.

Message from the Chancellor / President

A message about Saturday's Big Game
29 November 2006,

Dear members and friends of the Stanford and UC Berkeley communities:

On December 2, Cal and Stanford will square off in the 109th Big Game — a Pac-10 tradition. This year’s game will be played at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

Our two universities share a strong football and academic heritage, as well as a spirited and storied rivalry. It is important that we reinforce the traditional goals of this annual event: a lively competition on the field and an enjoyable experience in the stands.

Unfortunately, in past years, the spirit of this and other highly-anticipated games has been dampened by the behavior of a few people who engage in fighting and mean-spirited "pranks" or damage property. Those who do so can be ejected from the stadium or arrested.

Please do not engage in activities that may draw law enforcement and security personnel and resources away from more pressing matters, and please discourage such behavior among others.

Let’s do all we can to ensure that this chapter in our treasured Pac-10 tradition is a safe, positive experience for everyone there. Enjoy the game!

Sincerely,
John L. Hennessey
President,
Stanford University

Robert J. Birgeneau
Chancellor,
University of California, Berkeley

San Francisco Sighting

As I was venturing across the Bay Bridge this morning, the Bay Area was stunningly beautiful, albeit colder than normal.

Maybe I missed it in the recent years, but the 48-story building at 345 California Street (with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the upper floors) was flying both the Cal and the other flag after what seemed like a long hiatus. What the building also traditionally did was to fly the winner's flag for at least a week more.

It's nice to see them fly again during Big Game Week.

You gotta love Joe Kapp

I've met Joe Kapp two times, once when he was Head Coach and another time at Kapp's Pizza Bar and Grill in Mountain View. Always colorful - in a very Blue & Gold way - and an entertaining guy. He's still the same...from today's SJ Merc...

About the Cal-USC game -

"Oh, the players played their hearts out,'' Kapp says. "The Bear will not quit! The Bear will not die! The Bears have played with spirit and they always have! No matter who the coach is. They played hard for me, too! The players always play hard! And the fans root hard!''

At this point, I am ready to put down my fork and run out to tackle the next vehicle on Lincoln Avenue. That's the effect a Kapp rap can still have.

About firing up the players -

Between now and kickoff time, if Tedford does not ask Kapp to give the Golden Bears a pep talk, something is wrong. Because those players are missing an experience that will motivate them, inspire them, give them a great lesson in Cal football tradition and make them truly appreciate what school loyalty means.

As a bonus, it would also teach them a very important lesson about drinking tequila.

"Let me say this,'' Kapp is telling me, lowering his voice. "As much credit as I get for all the drinking I did as a player in the NFL, you know what I always did? I always found a driver, found someone who liked to drive and not drink. These rich guys today, rich athletes . . . get a driver! Pay them! Get your cousin!''

Well, that's not exactly the lesson I meant...

On the Big Game -

"The strategy of it still fascinates me,'' Kapp said. "But it is the passion, the visibility of the passion and teamwork, the great example it sets. And 'The Play' is the epitome of that, in my opinion. You look at fundamentals and strategy, but overriding all of it is, `Where's the fever? The Bear fever? The corazon, the heart of it?' That's why it is such a great game.''

About giving up tequila until Cal wins the Rose Bowl -

Kapp doesn't want you to think he's thirsty, though. He still has not sipped any tequila. But that has not ruled out other spirits.

"Thank God for Mexican beer and California wine,'' Kapp said.

[snip]

"What if we did a survey in the paper of whether Joe Kapp should get a dispensation from the pope so he can drink tequila again?'' he asks.

Tightwad Hill's top-10 Big Games

Tightwad Hill - the blogger - summarized his top-10 Big Games. Number 8 on his all-time hit list is the 93rd Big Game (1990) when stanfurd beat Cal in the waning seconds of the game:

...but this was a series of catastrophes - like a bad wreck on the highway. Stanford scored. Russell White somehow missed the onside kick. John Belli got a ticky-tack roughing penalty on Jason Palumbis on a simple throwaway pass. And then the field goal, and that song. That song. It's frankly too painful to write about, so let's move on. [emphasis added]

Annoying axe committee

The stanfoo axe committee is doing their part to annoy stanfurd students by blowing their train whistle every hour for 109 hours (for the 109th Big Game). One student blogger penned a haiku about it:

Big Game horn each hour
Mocks me through the silent night
I am still working

Tuesday Big Game Quotes

The San Jose Merc:

Monday, at the Big Game media luncheon in San Francisco, there was the same brave chatter about what a close rivalry this is.

``It's always been a hard-fought, close game,'' Jeff Tedford said, with a straight face.

Not exactly, Coach.

While it's true that only 23 points separate the schools after 108 meetings, Tedford is doing his best to change that. The margin was much closer a year ago -- only one point separated them after 107 games.

``If you look at the series the last four years, it's always very, very close,'' Tedford said.

Absolutely. That is if you're talking about at kickoff.

The Bootleg (via the Bear Insider)

This, fellow Cardinalmaniacs™, is exactly why I believe that we not only have a chance this Big Game Week to reverse the tide and shock the world, but that the chance is much greater than any of us might have even realized. Really. I'm serious.

C'mon, the numbers are on our side. It's too weird the way we've been sucker-punched, pimp-slapped, cheap-tricked and banana-peel skidded at the hands of these guys. Like they have the original deed to The Farm. The one with Leland's and Jane's fountain-pen signatures. Cal's been working us like rubes at the State Fair in Sacramento, skinning us at three-card Monty. Walking around with a “I'm-a-Dork” sign they taped on our backs and a “kick-me” yellow sticky on our rear-end. And don't even talk to me about the toilet paper dragging from our shoe. Yeah, they put THAT there, too.

[snip]

I remember last Big Game Weekend, only too well. And now, it's payback time! Call me nuts, call me deluded, call me anything. But you may be calling me “Nostradamus” because I will not budge from my prediction this week: We smoke the Aggies tomorrow night.

note: the farm plays UC Davis in basketball tonight.

Upcoming Guardsmen Lunch

Warning - if you are going to the Guardsmen Luncheon, it is being held at the St. Francis Hotel this year. As G2 '85 pondered:

how many people do you think will be wandering the hallways at the fairmont, "I don't even hear the bands?"

stanfurd banned, Part II

The stanfoo stumbling band will be at the Big Game, but will not perform. I'm undecided if this is good news for my ears or bad news to the tradition. I think I'll take the good news.

According to [Associate Dean of Students Chris] Griffith, the Band is scheduled to participate in a number of Big Game activities, including events with the Cal Band in San Francisco and celebrations on campus. The Band is also scheduled to travel to Cal for Big Game, but it will not perform a field show.

Band Drum Major Bryan Schell, a senior, said he was disappointed that the Band will not be able to “make other people happy” by performing a field show at Big Game.

“It would really be awesome to create some fun for the Stanford fans out there, who will be surrounded by a sea of blue and gold angry belligerent hatred,” Schell said. “However, we are going to take full advantage of the small amount of time we still have in the stands to show that we can still bring the funk.” -stanfurd daily

"Make other people happy"?

The Upset - 20 years later

SF Chron Caption - Cal students and players celebrate with the Stanford Axe, newly returned to Berkeley following the 1986 Big Game. Photo courtesy of Cal Media Relations.

The SF Chron has an article on the 89th Big Game - the upset in 1986 by a 1-9 Cal team over the 7-2 Gator Bowl-bound stanfoo team.

Looking for a little more motivation, [Head Coach Joe] Kapp called upon 74-year-old Natalie Cohen to lead the Axe cheer to his players right before the game. After Cohen's exhortations, Ortega recalled, "We ran out on the field together, as a team. We didn't do that every week that year."

[snip]

"Those Cal crazies got all excited," [stanfurd QB John] Paye said.

"Our fans will rally when they see anything good happen," said [Cal QB Kevin] Brown, who works in marketing and communications for Delaware Investments in San Francisco.

The Play revisited

On Mondays of every Big Game Week, I typically have written about The Play - the incomparable kickoff return from the 85th Big Game held in 1982. It continues to get air time, recently getting #1 on Best Damn's Top 50 Unforgettable Sports Moments. You can find all sorts of videos concerning The Play on YouTube.com. My favorite is the "lo-def" version used for a Sony HD commercial:

Other Play memories:
- The ESPN Classic 7-minute video
- The Joe Starkey transcript

Sure - most Cal students today have only seen the youtube.com version. But I'll still celebrate the "unforgettable sports moment" 24 years later. Why?

The most famous Cal play before The Play was the 1929 Rose Bowl game against Georgia Tech. Roy Riegels '30 (inducted into both the Rose Bowl and Cal Hall of Fame) ran 65 yards the wrong way resulting from a GT fumble. He was finally turned around by his own teammate but was tackled by the opposing team at the 1-yard line. GT eventually scored a safety and won the game 8-7. It was known as the "worst football blunder". I remember growing up watching the rerun of this event every January 1 before the Rose Bowl game. It took nearly 54 years to transform the talk about the "worst football blunder" to the "most unforgettable sports moment".

I figure we have another 30 years to keep talking about The Play.

SJ Merc Sightings

Geracie - in today's San Jose Merc

• There is talk this could be the worst Big Game ever, but that 1901 game couldn't have been much to watch: Cal 2, Stanford 0.


• Stanford football could take a lesson from Stanford rugby, which canceled its game against Cal in 2001.


• St. James is hoping the Stanford doctors will have a better winning percentage in their new hospital than the football team has had in its new place.


• When Cal (8-3) and Stanford (1-10) get together this time you can't throw out the records.

Entering Enemy Territory

Slow week for Big Game news, so I stumbled upon a few sites - first, the stanfurd sapling has a blog...good for a few chuckles if you have the stomach for it.

Also, the stanfurd alumni magazine has a couple of articles - Pack Mentality - about college rivalries, especially Big Game. The author interviewed Jeff Tedford:

As I got up to leave, the Cal coach motioned to the black leather couch along the front wall of his small office. On the cushion nearest the door lay a stack of gray T-shirts that said “California Football.” Would I like one? Tedford asked.

“No,” I said. “I can’t take it.”

“Oh,” he replied. “Do you have some sort of rule against that?”

Tedford probably assumed my employer prohibits the taking of freebies. But that was not the rule I cited. Twenty-five years after graduating from Stanford, professional pride took a powder. My response came from someplace other than my mind, as if my body was responding to invasion by bad shellfish.

“Yeah, I do,” said Mr. Professional Journalist. “I went to Stanford, and I don’t wear anything that says ‘Cal’ on it.”

Tedford, God bless him, responded with a laugh. Out the door I went, leaving behind a little dignity and an extra-large T-shirt.

The alumni magazine also has an "exclusive" - a former dollie talks about Big Game:

As a Dollie, did you encounter any abuse from Cal students?
During half-time of a basketball game at Cal, Oskie [SIC] made some extremely offensive gestures toward the five of us. It was really appalling. I mean, we all know the Tree would never publicly exhibit inappropriate behavior.

Now you know why they're still called dollies.

stanfurd band used "get out of jail free" card

The Santa Clara County DA's office dropped charges to lsjumb band members that allegedly trashed their temporary Band Shak over the summer.

However...the farm's Daily, in its sub-headline, said that the stanfurd banned will not be able to perform during halftime at the Big Game.

"We believe there is insufficient evidence for us to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt unanimously to a jury,'' [Deputy District Attorney] Boyarsky said.

Stanford News Service Director Elaine Ray said the band remains on something akin to double-secret probation, which the university calls "indefinite provisional status.'' -Palo Alto Daily News.

"Double-secret probation"? What is this...Animal House?

Thanksgiving thoughts

Forty-eight years of waiting. What's one more?

Becoming more philosophical, I'm reminded of many things, but mostly of the song by The Byrds Turn! Turn! Turn! (and for you biblical scholars, based from the Book of Ecclesiates) that:

To everything
There is a season
And a time for every purpose under heaven.

I guess this isn't the Bears time.

But there's many things to be thankful for, as we head into Thanksgiving week. A great football team, another Nobel prize, etc., etc. Have a great week.

This Year's "Other" Big Games

The other big game Cal Fans have been looking forward to all year long is the Cal v. USC game, while the rest of the nation looks forward to the Ohio State - Michigan matchup (Go Blue & Maize!). The Berkeleyan has a good article to check out - Bring us the Head of Tommy Trojan. Kind of a "fair and balanced" checklist of who is better - Cal or USC.

Heading into what has been traditionally Rivalry Weekend, pundits have been deriding our "Big Game" as a big game - mostly due to its lack of importance in college football this year. USA Today apologized to Cal and the farm for using the term to describe the Big 10 matchup; Newsday conceded the title; the Washington Times noted: "Please, no meaningless Pac-10 tea party (Stanford-Cal) deserves the superlative yet simple nickname. This isn't croissants in Cali before a little good-natured contact."

Even a Daily Cal writer had this to say earlier this year (I guess his "big game" was Cal-UCLA):

We come to Berkeley with built-in Stanford scorn, and for what?

Because we’ve heard stories?

Because the Rally Comm is still living their lives through 1982?

Guess what?

“The Play” already belongs to Cal. Yeah, it was probably, as Joe Starkey called it, “the most amazing, sensational, traumatic, heart rending ... exciting thrilling finish in the history of college football,” but we’ve only seen a YouTube version.

Many of us witnessed last year’s ESPN Instant Classic in Pasadena and can account every detail of Drew’s 82-yard punt return that gave the Southern Branch its first lead.

That’s what matters.

Forget tradition. Rivalry is something that an individual has to find for himself.

Don’t hate Stanford because the books tell us to. Hate UCLA because our pride and overly excessive fanaticism force us to.

Call me old, but I don't advocate the use of the word "hate". My wife and I always tell our son that you can "strongly dislike" something...OK, we're talking semantics here...but the real Big Game is really a celebration of the meeting of a world-class university and a lesser, but very well-known, university. A time to appreciate another competition between the institutions where Nobel Prize winners hang their laurels. To admire the accomplishments of these fine institutions of higher learning that helped California, the Bay Area - and even ourselves - become what they and we are today.

So let's continue to celebrate the Big Game as what it represents overall, rather than looking at it as unimportant to the college football rankings. And I will continue to strongly dislike the farm.

OK - off my soapbox. Go Bears! Let's beat USC!

Tedford - the All-Knowing Bear

For those of you who missed these two installments of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine last week:

November 10
November 11

The creator is from the Class of '89. Go Bears!

Hat tip - G2 '85

Stadium EIR delayed

Memorial Stadium was built to honor the Californians who died in WWI. The stadium opened its doors to the public on Big Game Day in 1923. Many Cal fans possess exhilarating and heart-wrenching experiences in that stadium. But the stadium is old, it was built on top of the Hayward Fault, and needs renovation and work to keep it safer and to modernize the facilities.

The new Southeast Campus plans, which include additions to the Stadium, were delayed by a UC Regents committee, who were asked to certify the EIR November 14. Construction was slated to begin after this year's Big Game. The committee is expected to reconvene December 4 after further review of the project. The construction was to begin that same week; University officials told the committee that a delay to December 4 should not materially impact the schedule.

Reasons for the delay:

The City of Berkeley is threatening a lawsuit

Tightwad Hill fans are concerned about free views

Panoramic Hill residents are concerned about safety

Oak tree fans are concerned about woodlands

Early '80's Rally Comm alums are concerned that a certain Monterey Pine is targeted for removal

OK, I might be stretching that last point.
SF Chron article
Oakland Trib article
Daily Cal article
Berkeley News Article (hat tip - MGH '97)

Forget the pros! We have Cal and the farm.

Dave Newhouse, columnist for the Oakland Tribune, had this to say concerning the latest announcements that the A's are moving from Oakland to Fremont (perhaps being called the "San Jose A's in Fremont") and the 49ers are moving from Candlestick to Santa Clara.

LET'S SEE, it's Wednesday, and no other local sports franchises have announced plans this week to move. So we needn't concern ourselves about the Malibu Sharks or the Watsonville Warriors.

Meanwhile, the Bay Area's two oldest sports programs haven't ever threatened to move.

Cal and Stanford have been in the athletic business through parts of three centuries, two world wars, one depression and a gigantic swing toward the pros, who dominate sports fanaticism locally.

Shamefully, it's overlooked hereabouts that Cal is selected annually as the nation's No.1 public university, and that Stanford is consistently rated among the top five private universities.

Also, Stanford is routinely awarded as the country's best all-around college sports program. And Cal, which often outdraws the Raiders and the 49ers, is playing Saturday for the Rose Bowl against USC.

Cause for celebration, you'd think. The Bay Area could care less. The only institutions it favors include John York University and Lew Wolff Tech.

Well, these two institutions are relocating, heartlessly. That's because there is little heart inside any sports owner regarding fan support. It's money, money, money, because it's, indeed, a rich man's world.

Thus loyalty and tradition be damned. The A's, who've won four World Series in Oakland since 1968, are heading to Fremont. And the San Francisco 49ers, who've won five Super Bowls since 1946, are targeting Santa Clara.

[snip]

One thing for certain about Cal and Stanford: They'll be here even if every local professional sports franchise moves away. Then, dreamily, they would have the Bay Area all to themselves, although USF, Saint Mary's, Santa Clara and San Jose State would benefit to a lesser degree.

So go ahead, you potentially abandoned pro sports nuts, and get all worked up over whether Baron Davis can stay healthy, Barry Bonds is coming back, or the Raiders will ever find an offense ... in Oakland or wherever.

For the otherwise sane local sports fans, let's hear it for the stable, sturdy Golden Bears and the homebody Cardinal.

Trombone Guy Pale Ale

Caption for Picture - Gary Tyrrell shows off his home brew called Trombone Guy Ale, which features a Stanford King sitting on top of a Cal Bear on the label. (Alex Gallardo / LAT)

There was an article about Gary Tyrell in today's Los Angeles Times (requires registration). He is the stanfurd bandsperson made (in)famous in having a key part of The Play in the 1982 Big Game. Wow...24 years ago. I am uncertain about the "Stanford King" reference in the photo caption, but I wouldn't mind getting a label from his bottle.

As seen in countless television replays over the last 24 years, Tyrrell is the tumbling trombonist who was bowled over in the end zone at the end of the magical, mythical, multi-lateral, last-second kickoff return that gave California an unforgettable 25-20 victory over Stanford on Nov. 20, 1982.

Or, as the return has come to be known, "the Play."

These days, the 45-year-old Stanford grad lives in Half Moon Bay, Calif., and works in nearby Redwood Shores, where he is the chief financial officer at the Woodside Fund, an early-stage venture capital company.

He rarely plays the trombone and never plays the instrument he toted that day. That one is in the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind.

No longer a pariah on campus, where the bitterness of the '82 loss lingered for years and intensified criticism of the anything-goes Stanford band, Tyrrell is a longtime Stanford football season-ticket holder who at pregame tailgate parties serves his signature microbrew, Trombone Guy Pale Ale.

Even now, though, nearly a quarter-century since his brush with fame, rarely do more than a few weeks pass without somebody asking him to once again recount his sidesplitting role in "the Play," and he happily obliges each time.

As for the man who so cavalierly plowed into him, Cal footballer Kevin Moen, Tyrrell calls him "a great guy and a gentleman, a total class act."

The unmarried Tyrrell and Moen, a husband and father of two who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes and manages a real estate office, have developed a kinship through years of sharing banquet podiums and reliving their awkward first meeting.

"He's one of the few guys I know from the Stanford side who's kind of kept a proper perspective on everything," Moen says. "He kind of looks back on it as a unique moment, a little bit of an oddity. It wasn't do-or-die…. Where a lot of the Stanford folks are still a little bitter, he's kind of like, 'Hey, it was a historical moment. Let's look at it for what it was.' "

Big Game Big Show

This is new...an after-Big Game event...

If you're going to be at Memorial Stadium for this year's Big Game, or even just in the Berkeley area, come check out the first-annual BIG GAME BIG SHOW at Cal's Greek Theatre after the game! Brought to you by the University of California Alumni Association, the BIG GAME BIG SHOW will feature performances by the Cal Marching Band and a set of rock-and-roll classics by the cover band Tightwad Hill, which includes members of the Cal Football staff -- the same band that rocked The Joint at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel after Cal's big win in the Vegas Bowl last year.

In addition to the music, the BIG GAME BIG SHOW will also feature appearances by Cal head coach Jeff Tedford as well as other members of the football team, and some surprise special guests too. Beginning just 30 minutes after the end of the Cal-Stanford game in Berkeley on December 2, the BIG GAME BIG SHOW will start a brand-new Berkeley tradition that lets Cal fans congregate, celebrate a great season, and enjoy food and drinks (alcohol will be available) while listening to some fantastic music.

Tickets are $15.

Cal Patriot Online Missing in Action

Last year, I posted an entry about a humorous Big Game article in the California Patriot magazine, which bills itself as "Berkeley's Conservative Voice".

Somehow, the account expired (doh!) at calpatriot.org - coincidentally around the time Dems took back control of the House and Senate - and somebody else picked up the domain name. It may take weeks before the site is back up and running.

This really bums me out because I was looking forward to see if the magazine had another stellar Big Game article. Anybody out there that can get me a copy?

Denver sightings

I was in Denver last week for business meetings. Staying in Cherry Creek, my good buddy, Ken '82, informed me that I was across the street from Elway's, a John Elway restaurant.

Never having set foot in an establishment operated by a famous stanfurd / Bronco quarterback, I walked by the restaurant one morning. Besides the number "7" jerseys hanging near the bar, this is nothing like Kapp's Pizza Bar & Grill, a place I would definitely rather be.

The saving grace? There was a Peet's nearby, which gave me my daily Berkeley coffee fix.

Trees, Tightwad Hill and Stadium Plans

Based on my experience, all new re/development plans will undoubtedly bring out people opposed to the project.

The new Memorial Stadium plans have at least two opponents - "Save Tightwad Hill" and "Save the Oaks at the Stadium". Both are delivering petitions to the UC Regents meetings November 14-15 at UCLA. The Regents are expected to certify the EIR for the $112MM Stadium Plan during the two-day meeting.

The Tightwad Hill opponents are basically attempting to ensure that views remain the same from the traditional vantage point.

Since learning of planned modifications and renovations to Memorial Stadium that will block Tightwad Hill's views of the playing field, Sicular and fellow cheapskates have collected 1,000 signatures of people opposed to the university's plan. -Oakland Trib

The Save the Oaks campaign is also collecting signatures to stop or revise the Stadium Plan to save the oak grove on the West side of the stadium.

They, along with a student arm of the group, delivered a petition with 3,000 signatures to Chancellor Robert Birgeneau's office. They plan to present copies to the UC Board of Regents at its meeting to consider athletic center plans Tuesday.

[snip]

For their part, UC officials said three new trees will be planted for every specimen tree that is removed. What's more, to offset the loss of the trees, the athlete center is being built "to preserve the health of the remaining grove by safeguarding its natural water supply and drainage." -Oakland Trib

I wrote a little about this last year, except it was about a Monterey Pine called Moen.

Big Game Fans - Give Blood, preferably Blue

The American Red Cross and the Stanford Blood Center are asking for blood donors during this Big Game season.

For more than a century, the Big Game between the Cal Bears and Stanford Cardinals has inspired fan frenzy and a host of game-related traditions. One of those traditions involves bloodshed — but in a good way.

[snip]

From Nov. 13 through Dec.1, donors to the American Red Cross and Stanford Blood Center may designate their favorite Big Game team and enter a contest to win autographed footballs and jerseys. Over the past 10 years, this competition has evolved from a campus-only contest to one that encompasses the entire Bay Area. Both blood banks are hoping fans will be inspired to participate as the blood supply typically dips dangerously low during the coming winter holidays.

One young man who knows the importance of blood on the shelves is Cal Bears offensive tackle Mike Tepper. As the result of a violent attack on a Berkeley street last year, the sophomore lost a tremendous amount of blood as his foot was nearly severed. “Come out and support this effort,” Tepper urged. “Donors like you helped save my life.” Fortunately, his foot was saved and he is now healthy enough to take the field again.

Give 'em the Cleaver

The product of too many cable channels? We now can add the Big Cook Off to the list of Cal Stanfurd rivalries. This new Big Game event is based on the Food Channel's Iron Chef. It is being held November 5 at 2 p.m. in the Pauley Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union.

An SF Gate blog has some more information here.

Cooking Club website: cooking.berkeley.edu. Go Bears!!

UPDATE: The secret ingedient: TOMATOES! Cal won by one point.

2006 Big Game Month - Welcome!!

Cal Fans!!!

I'm firing up my Big Game blog about a month early. Big Game News is starting to trickle in, plus it doesn't feel right to have a Big Game in December.

Stay tuned and GO BEARS!