Rewind

The pain of last weekend's gameday is almost gone. I was able to sit down, have a few drinks and rewatch the first half of the Oregon St. game last night. I have to tip my hat off to Versus and their quality programming. They really make Memorial Stadium look a lot nicer on TV than in person. The grass is almost sparkling and the Golden Bears just look awesome.

The more I see Riley, the more I like him. Barring the last play of the game, he showed excellent poise in the pocket, escapability and a strong arm. He threw for nearly 300 yards, 2 TDs and ran for another TD. There is one excellent play in the waning moments of the first half, where he is pressured and proceeds to step up in the pocket and throw a strike to Robert Jordan. Longshore would have most likely taking a sack on that play. I'm eager to see more of this kid. I'll probably end up rewatching the second half later this week, as I still get goosebumps when I see Forsett run. There are a lot of good plays in the second half, including Riley's off balance rocket to Craig Stevens, Hawkin's 70 yard TD catch and run, and also his gutsy 4th down and 15 conversion. Desean also had a diving catch in the last minute of the game.

Although Desean was a no show for the game, I'm getting the feeling that he really only gets up for big games. Next week, we have UCLA away and then Arizona St. away. These are two huge games on the road coming up. Will Longshore play? Will we see more of Riley? Will Desean make a statement for Heisman? Who knows. We just have to wait and see.

ABC Sports

ABC Sports, what is wrong with you? Why do you like picking up PAC-10 games and presenting them in non-HD? It was bad enough when you showed the CAL v. Oregon game 3 weeks ago in non-HD, but now you're doing the same thing with the the CAL v. UCLA game? Look, even Hawaii vs. San Jose St. was shown in glorious HD by ESPN. You guys can't get a couple of HD cameras and a crew down in Los Angeles for this game? You got ESPN, FSN, Versus and CBS Sports showing all their games in HD. Someone should be fired over at ABC.

Edit: So upon further review, maybe ABC is broadcasting this one in HD. I'll believe it when I see it.

The Day After

In my last post, I wrote that LSU was in a trap game with Kentucky. Sure enough, LSU lost in triple overtime. Finally, LSU goes down. They are no different than any other top tier SEC team and the hype train blew it's caboose and went down in flames. Thank God. Now, all CAL has to do clean up in Memorial Stadium and take over the #1 spot in the Nation. Don't disappoint, right? right?

After tonight's game, and hearing about most of the aftermath, it seems that a good amount of CAL fans are ready to hang Kevin Riley and then throw him under the bus. Sure, he made 1 terrible, undeniable and unforgettable decision, but he did not cost us the game. With 14 seconds left, Riley saw a hole open up for him, and he probably had flashbacks of his 1st running touchdown he had earlier in the game, and decided to tuck CAL's hopes under his arm and make a run for it. Well, the hole closed as quickly as it opened and you all know the rest of the story. But still, the blame does not fall squarely on the Freshman's shoulders.

We lost because of turnovers. As the #3 team in the Nation for turnover margin, we gave up 4 turnovers and 3 of them deep into enemy territory that lead to scores. That's it. That was the reason why we lost. There is no crying in Football, and nobody gives cares that your star quarterback didn't play. Nobody cares that Longshore said all week that his ankle was fine and that even Tedford said that while Riley took the snaps in practice, Longshore would start. Nobody cares that Riley was told minutes before the game that he would start, and that his nerves really showed in the first quarter. No, it doesn't matter.

Kevin Riley deserved to play. He had beat out Kyle Reed as #2 on the depth chart. Kyle Reed then transferred, and Brock Mansion (Freshman) is #3. Even though there is an eternity of games still left this season, I couldn't help but look forward towards next year. Will Longshore stay? He is the best Junior QB in the nation right now. But there are as many as 5-6 Senior QB that can be picked in the NFL draft. So, will Longshore stay for his Senior season? Maybe yesterday's game gave us some insight on his thought process. He isn't willing to play at 75% and possibly injuring his ankle even more because he knows he'll be around for another 18+ games. So, will Desean Jackson be back? Last week, he was primed and ready to be the frontrunner for the Heisman if CAL had won and he would have had another career-game. However, what a difference a day makes and it looks like if Desean doesn't win the Heisman, he'll be more inclined to stay another season. He also needs to bulk up his frame more for the NFL. An extra offseason can really help him out. But even if both Desean and Longshore leave, we saw a glimpse of what is there to come for next season. And it looked good.

I like to call our future QB "Wiley" Riley, as he can scramble and run. Tedford, at heart, is a quarterback coach and has always picked and developed excellent quarterbacks. When he was the offensive coordinator at Oregon, he coached Joey Harrington (NFL) and ran an offense that scored nearing 60 points a game. When he came to CAL, he had one year with Kyle Boller (NFL). This was the same Kyle Boller that had a 1-10 season under Tom Holmoe. With just one year with Tedford, Boller was drafted #19 in the first round. Next up was Aaron Rodgers (NFL). Tedford hand picked him as he was scouting over at Chico St. Rodgers had only one division-I offer and was just wallowing around in anonymity. Tedford saw his potential and molded him into the star that he became. He went from having almost no scholarship to leading a #4 ranked CAL bear team to an almost undefeated season, which propelled him into almost being picked #1 in the NFL draft, but instead was selected by the Green Bay Packers at #24. Now, we have Longshore (future NFL) and Kevin "Wiley" Riley waiting in the wings. And, yes, I specifically declined to mention Ayoob. If Longshore were to leave, I would be happy with Riley taking over. He showed flashes of brilliance yesterday. And under Tedford's molding and coaching, he destined to become a star.

Now, having said all that, Riley, in that situation, next time you throw the goddamn ball into the back of the endzone to stop the time, so we can kick a game tying field goal to send it into overtime. Don't try to be a hero. Instead, you ended up as a zero. And Longshore, next time, remove your skirt and get yourself into the game. Angry Californian, out.

Football Saturday

Football Saturday. No upsets as of yet, but LSU is in a classic trap game at Kentucky. Kentucky is coming off of a disappointing loss and LSU is coming off of a tremendous win against Florida. The game is in Kentucky and Woodson just threw a TD pass. What could be better for CAL than a huge upset by Kentucky. Seriously though, I hate the SEC analysts. And I quote, "This isn't Stanford beating USC, Kentucky is a serious football team." Seriously, it's bullshit like that, that gives the perception that the PAC-10 is weaker than the SEC. It simply isn't true.

Southern Living?

So as part of my daily ritual, I always load up Firefox in the morning and see what's new on ESPN.com. Today, I was greeted with "Southern Living, A Weekend in the Life of the SEC" on the frontpage. I threw up a little in my mouth, closed my browser and went back to sleep.

Seriously, I love ESPN. But really, it's enough that all we hear about is how great LSU is and how strong the SEC conference is and blah blah blah. But does ESPN really think a good amount of college football fans care about "a weekend in the life of the SEC"? Is this a bad joke? Why not, a day in the life of Glenn Dorsey's toe jam? Seriously, SEC needs to get over itself. Maybe Cal should go to the National Championship game against LSU and kick them in their teeth at their home court. But I'm getting ahead of myself, focus Bears, focus!!

USC Fallout

It's been nearly a week after USC's monumental collapse against Stanford, and I'm still not sure what to make of it. See, Cal hasn't been to the Rose Bowl since 1948. For most Bear fans, we could care less about the National Championship game. It's Rose Bowl or BUST! Even before the season started, I took January 2nd, 2008 off, in anticipation for Cal's rise in the Pac-10 and a potential Rose Bowl game against a gimpy Big 10 team. So, USC lost, what does that mean for Cal? Well, for one, on November 10th, it won't be a matchup of two 9-0 teams, it won't be as great when Cal beats down USC at home, since USC has already been defeated by Stanford. For another, it actually reduces our chances of going to the Rose Bowl. How? Well, we have to think of the bigger picture here. Since USC is just about out of the National Championship picture, all they have left really is the Rose Bowl. At this point, if (BIG IF) USC defeats Cal and runs the table, they would most likely go to the Rose Bowl (this is if LSU and OSU and OK also go undefeated from now on). If the same scenario happened and USC had not lost to Stanford, USC would be going to the National Championship game, which would open the door for a 1 loss Cal team to go to our precious Rose Bowl.

But still, right now, Cal is in the driver's seat to win out and go to the National Championship game, but is that what Bear fans really want? I rather see myself in Los Angeles on January 1st, 2008 watching the Bears live, instead of huddled in front of a TV on January 7th (Monday??) and watching Cal play a LSU team in New Orleans, LA. Did you know that Baton Rouge is only 1 hour away from New Orleans? I much rather see Cal come up roses against Ohio St. than go into enemy territory and play LSU at their home.

Either way, this Saturday, 4pm, don't dissapoint Cal.

First Post!

Angry Californian here. I have a 1 track mind, and right now it's all about College Football. It's week 7 of the season and the California Golden Bears will be taking on the Oregon State Beavers at Memorial Stadium at 4pm Pacific. It's been 2 weeks since our big win at Oregan against the Ducks. For Bear fans, a 2 week layoff is almost too much for some of us that salivate at the thought of a Saturday watching our Golden Bears play football.

Now, what I still don't understand is why Ohio St. University is so close to CAL in all the major polls, especially the Coaches Poll and the Harris Poll (which are both included in the BCS poll). OSU has not played anyone significant this year, except for Purdue. And Purdue hadn't played anyone significant, except for Notre Dame (HAH!). So, yea, I get that OSU is a powerhouse, and yea, I get that they are undefeated. But their Strength of Schedule is pitiful this year, because the Big 10 is terrible.

So, another thing, everyone knows that Cal's offense is fantastic and analysts are always very quick to praise Desean Jackson, Nate Longshore and Justin Forsett, but it's always followed with a knock on our defense. Now, don't get me started on the defense now. Our defense is underrated. We only gave up 24 points to Oregon, at Eugene, to a team that was averaging over 40 points a game. And that is without 3 defensive starters that have been injured. Also, I know people love harping on the 28 points we gave up to Colorado St. But people fail to remember that Colorado St. had 14 points at halftime and didn't score until the final 5 minutes of the game, when the game was already won by Cal. Tedford had put in his backup corners in the final 5 minutes for some experience, and they were burned on some deep shots. So, what? Will you see those guys against Arizona St.? USC? No. Also, so we gave up 27 points to Arizona. I think people forget that Cal was up 28-3 in the first quarter. Also, we have a bend-don't-break defense. Having said that, with a huge lead and the game in the bag, it's understandable that we'll give up some points, especially when we made 1 crucial turnover. Also, I have to note that CAL is #3 in the nation in our turnover margin at -2.2 a game.

I'm getting too angry to continue for now, until next time, Angry Californian out.