Today we check in with some recent Cal alumni in the NFL.

After having his rookie season cut short due to a nagging hamstring issue, Shane Vereen is making a push to become New England's top running back. He received first-team reps at RB during a practice session open to the media.

The big thing that jumped out was Vereen served as the top back during practice. The unknown is whether or not it means anything, particularly since I have no idea who took on that role during their first two sessions. It’s just like preseason carries in that regard, as Bill Belichick will designate certain times for certain players to have their time with the first-team offense. But again, Vereen is high on my list of players to watch during the offseason, since it was difficult to make any lasting impressions last year.

Mychal Kendricks is one of NationalFootballPost's 10 players who will make an immediate impact as rookies.

If Kendricks was 6-1 instead of 5-11 he would have easily gone in the first round. The Eagles had a need at linebacker and Kendricks fits the scheme. Like Kuechly, Kendricks is an instinctive playmaker and should make an early impact with the Philly D.

Mitchell Schwartz has always loved baseball and played pitcher and first baseman. Even while playing football Schwartz keeps close to his baseball roots.

He never stopped loving the act of throwing a ball.

At one point during his football career at Cal, where he was a four-year starter at offensive tackle, he established an unusual pre-game ritual.

When he first hit the field during pre-game warmups, he would grab a football and play catch. He would close the ritual by trying to throw a football to the center of the crossbar, first from 40 yards, then 50 ... then 60.

One time, Rick Neuheisel, then the head coach at rival UCLA, gave him a throwing tip. Mitchell tried it, and it worked.

After the jump softball heads to Oklahoma City and men's golf prepares for play in the NCAA Championship.

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For the first time since 2009 the Cal Coaches' Tour returned to Southern California. Mike Montgomery and Sandy Barbour spoke to Cal fans in San Diego on Wednesday and were joined by Jeff Tedford to meet with fans in Los Angeles and Newport Beach on Thursday evening and Friday afternoon, respectively.

FiatLux attended Thursday’s dinner in Westwood at the Palomar Hotel and Berkelium attended the Friday luncheon which took place at Big Canyon Country Club. While the price tag was a little heftier than usual, they provided more goodies than in previous years. We received a Cal backpack, hardcover Cal notebook, and, of course, a tasty meal. While Berkelium liked his lunch, Fiat reports the dinner was just OK but – and this is a big but – there was an OPEN BAR! Fiat got his money’s worth on Mojitos. Having CGBers at each event is great because we can get more info to you and more importantly can see if the coaches recycle the same jokes!

At the dinner event Tedford, Monty and Sandy arrived during cocktails to meet with the fans. At lunch shortly after the food started rolling out, they made their way into the room to meet and greet with fans and grab a quick bite before taking the podium. They had played a round of golf at the LA Country club on Thursday and, Sandy in particular, had the red faces to show they had been in the sun. Fiat gently warned Sandy to apply more sunscreen which he hopes she took to heart as Berkelium reports that at lunch they all look like they just finished playing a round of golf, as they were decked out in their finest golf apparel (Sandy's face was still rather red, though!).

Join us after the jump to read about Sandy’s remarks as well as some insights from the always comedic Mike Montgomery.

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It's been an exciting weekend at the plate for the Bears, as baseball and softball have won their games by a combined 25-9. Let's keep the momentum rolling into today's games!

Friday night's baseball game was an instant classic spanning 18 innings.

Friday night's Giants game lasted 3 hours and 4 minutes. The A's game went an even 3 hours. The Cal-Stanford game at Stanford's Sunken Diamond lasted almost as long as both those games combined.

It started at 5:36 p.m. and ended at 11:34. After 5 hours and 58 minutes, after 18 innings, 569 pitches and nine sacrifice bunts, the Bears pulled out a 5-4 win that eliminated the No. 11 Cardinal from the Pac-12 title race.

"With better pitching and fewer home runs because of the new bats (introduced last season), that kind of game can happen," Cal coach David Esquer said.

On Saturday night the Bears softball team got off to a quick start when UW decided to pitch to Val Arioto.

Conference rival Washington decided to pitch to the Pac-12 Player of the Year in the NCAA super regionals on Saturday night, and Arioto blasted a two-run homer in the first inning that propelled the Bears to a 5-0 victory before a capacity crowd of 1,117 at Levine-Fricke Field.

"I'm glad they pitched to her," Cal coach Diane Ninemire said. "If you're going to pitch to her and she gets the pitch, you'll get what you saw tonight."

The top-seeded Bears (55-5) are now one victory away from their 12th trip to the College World Series. Cal and UW (39-18) meet Sunday at 4 p.m., with a third game, if necessary, at 6:30 p.m. The Huskies must win twice to earn the bid to the CWS, which starts Thursday in Oklahoma City.

After the jump crew and tennis compete in the NCAA Championships and assistant swim coach Kristen Cunnane takes us through an inspiring story.

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Ted Miller continues to run through his "Most Important Game" series, which is looking more and more like "Everyone's success is predicated on a victory against Cal." Today we have two more whose seasons will be made or broken after a trip to Memorial Stadium. As they are our two California rivals, let us hope we break their seasons with extreme prejudice. First up are the Lobsterbacks.

The visit to Cal feels important because it something more approximating a "must-win." Start with the fact that Stanford, Washington and California seem like a troika that falls together -- in that order -- below Oregon in the Pac-12 North Division pecking order. This could serve as a separation game for the Cardinal, which will have already visited Washington on Sept. 27. Stanford has dominated the Huskies lately, so a win over Cal may be enough to ensure at least a second place finish in the North -- with a puncher's shot still remaining in Autzen Stadium. So this is a rivalry game with significant North Division ramifications.

But it's even more than that. Stanford has won two Big Games in a row and played in two consecutive BCS bowl games. It has taken over the Bay Area after years of struggling versus Jeff Tedford and the Bears. Some Cal fans might try to write off the Cardinal surge as something produced by a serendipitous aligning of the college football planets. As in by the flash-across-the-sky tenures of charismatic former coach Jim Harbaugh and a once-in-a-generation quarterback. If Cal wins this game, it could claim exactly that with justification. "Ah, the Bay Area pecking order has been righted," Bears fans might say. "Stanford's reign of terror is at an end. Ad perpetuam memoriam! Or not. And ad victoriam!"

But wait, there's more! UCLA at Cal was tabbed as the Bruins' most important game.

Not counting Nebraska in Week 2 -- which falls under the category of we won't know much about the Bruins -- Cal is UCLA's toughest opponent in the first half of the season. And it's on the road.

Tevin McDonald had the game of his career last season with three interceptions in a 31-14 win over Cal, so there is some internal confidence that this is a winnable game. Plus the Bruins rushed for 294 yards on Cal. Don't expect those kinds of numbers again with Cal's talented defensive line. But if UCLA and new coach Jim Mora want to make a statement, this is the game to do it.

After the jump the Bears pick up a linebacker commitment and several teams shake up their coaching staffs.

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Bad news, Bears. We have lost another standout player from our 2010 recruiting class. Cecil Whiteside has been dismissed from the team.

Cal sophomore linebacker Cecil Whiteside has been dismissed from the football team for unspecific violation of team rules.

— CalBearsBANG (@CalBearsBANG) May 24, 2012

We'll have more details when we hear them.

The Oregon-USC game will have Pac-12 and possibly national championship implications. It is clearly the most important game for both teams. The Ducks' second most important game, however, is a trip to Memorial Stadium, a place where they have struggled against the Bears over the years.

So, let's do this: Where is Oregon's second most important game? Figuring that out requires a couple of things. First, it has to be on the road, which eliminates Washington and Stanford. The Ducks have lost just six games under Chip Kelly, and only one was in Autzen Stadium. Second, it has to be a team that has given the Ducks some trouble and has the potential to do that again. For extra credit, it would help if this road game against a team that gives the Ducks some trouble could be played immediately after the Ducks game at USC.

Well, lookie here: At California on Nov. 10.

Oregon has lost three of its last four games in Berkeley. It's lone victory -- a 15-13 thriller in 2010 -- was the lone nailbiter in the Ducks unbeaten regular season. Cal also has the size and athleticism on defense to give the Ducks offense some trouble.

And, of course, there's that beloved sportswriter construct: "The Letdown Game." That's when a team wins a huge, emotional showdown only to show up flat the following weekend and faceplant. What I really cherish about that cliché is the thought of bringing it up to Kelly in advance of the game. He loves stuff like that.

After the jump Jorge Gutierrez continues to work out for his suitors and softball books a ticket to the Super Regional.

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When Joe Ayoob shattered the paper airplane distance record, he used a plane that he did not construct. Not everyone was happy about that--some purists suggest that using Ayoob as a stand-in to throw the airplane violated the unwritten rules of competitive paper airplane throwing.

"Competitive paper airplane flying had always been, in my mind, what can one person do with one piece of paper," says Mr. Kreiger, a 23-year-old engineer. Using a ringer, he says, is problematic: "I don't really think that's the spirit of the competition."

Guinness World Records NA Inc. thought otherwise. Mr. Ayoob's throw, immortalized on YouTube, sailed 226 feet and 10 inches, breaking Mr. Kreiger's record of 207 feet, 4 inches. Guinness in March named him and Mr. Collins the record holders.

A Guinness spokeswoman says there was no internal debate about giving Mr. Collins credit. But some paper-plane purists are still aflutter.

Paper-plane enthusiasts have traditionally seen theirs as an individual sport. The question now: Is Mr. Collins's ringer a bad precedent, or has he ushered in a new era in which designers can focus on better paper folds instead of muscle tone?

After the jump softball fights for survival after a postseason upset and Mike Leach prepares for Cal's October 13th visit in unusual fashion.

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Uncle Ted has been going through each team's schedule and determining which game is the most important. Ours should be no surprise: the September 15th visit to Ohio State.

Most important game: at Ohio State, Sept. 15

Why it's important: While a midseason Big Game against Bay Area rival Stanford would be the obvious choice -- particularly one in newly remodeled Memorial Stadium -- we're going to be contrarian. Our starting point is this: When was the last time the Bears won an, er, big game on the road? You could say perhaps the win at Stanford in 2009 counts, but driving an hour or so south hardly qualifies as a road trip. By our calculations, it was 2007, when the Bears nipped Oregon 31-24 in an Autzen Stadium thriller (a really, really entertaining game). That was back when everyone thought Jeff Tedford was one of the nation's best coaches and Nate Longshore was a sure-thing NFL prospect. Do Cal fans recall what happened next? I'm a little fuzzy. Ranked No. 2, about to jump to No. 1 after LSU lost. Oregon State in Strawberry Canyon. Kevin Riley's scramble. Tedford's infuriated stomp! OK, no need to go on (losing six of seven!). You could make the case that victory in Eugene hardly served a positive purpose, seeing what happened thereafter, but sometimes big wins are springboards into someplace other than the abyss. You know: Like a good season.

Winning at the Horseshoe, one of the toughest places to play in the nation, would make a significant statement, nationally as well as within the Pac-12. If the Bears are able to beat a vulnerable but likely nationally ranked Ohio State squad, they almost certainly would take a 3-0 record and their own national ranking to USC the next weekend. The Bears would start the Pac-12 schedule with confidence. Quarterback Zach Maynard would have a marquee road win under his belt. The fanbase would stop wringing its hands over Tedford's hotseat and start imagining the program getting back on track. Even if the Bears lost to the Trojans, three winnable conference games follow before Stanford comes to town. Facing the Cardinal at 6-1 would make the Big Game worthy of its name. But a loss at Ohio State, particularly a lopsided one -- think horrible trips east against Tennessee and Maryland -- would add pressure to the visit to the Coliseum, where good things have not happened for the Bears of late. At 2-2, the leading topic among Bears fans would be Tedford's future. That would not be the case at 3-1 with a win over Urban Meyer.

After the jump softball sweeps the Pac-12 awards and rugby enters the pool for the 7s national title.

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Having withdrawn from the Premier League (and no longer competing for the NCAA Championship), Jack Clark and Cal rugby are looking for new venues to exert their dominance. With increased popularity worldwide and in the US, rugby 7s will be a new direction for Cal.

The Bears withdrew from Division I-A because of dissatisfaction with how the 31-team league was structured and the cost of travel, coach Jack Clark said. Instead, Cal is beginning to emphasize the seven-man version of the game that will make its debut at the Olympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Two former Cal players, Colin Hawley and Blaine Scully, are training with the U.S. national team 7's at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista (San Diego County) in the hopes of being Olympians in 2016. That draw will now be part of Clark's recruiting pitch to high school seniors.

"It's not lost to anyone on our team, I'll tell you," Clark said. "We see that as a real important part of the game. We never paid much attention to it before. We just threw a team together at the end of 15's season. It's going to take an approach that is more comprehensive."

Referring to the prospect of developing future Olympians, Clark said, "Those five rings give us that credibility we need."

Clark said Cal will now take a bifurcated approach to the sport and play in 7's tournaments in the fall and the traditional 15-man version in the spring. There is also a chance that under proactive commissioner Larry Scott that the Pac-12 Conference will soon begin a rugby schedule among member schools.

After the jump Shareef Abdur-Rahim earns his degree and softball earns the right to host an NCAA Regional.

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I am a bit surprised, Cal fans. A(n almost) 3000-yard QB, a 1300-yard RB, a first-round receiver, and one of the most talented defenses in the Pac-12, yet we only expect to win 7 games? When I solicited our first round of 2012 season predictions, I thought the average number of wins predicted would be around 7.5 or 8. But 7.1? Last year our predictions were also 7.13. Maybe we finally have shut off the sunshine pumps...

Many thanks to the nearly 500 of you who submitted predictions in the last week. Today we can enjoy the fruit of your labor.

To the right you will find a table with our chances of defeating each of our opponents. We favor the Bears in all but three of our games, and based on the odds we should win one of those three games. Where will the other three losses come from? The answer to that will undoubtedly bring much consternation and fist-shaking from the lot of us. The Stanford, Utah, Washington, and Oregon State games are all pretty much toss-ups. Let's say we drop two of those. Where will that fifth, final, and most flabbergasting loss come from? UCLA? ASU? ...Southern Utah?

Strap yourselves in Cal fans, this ride might be as bumpy as last year's was. Join us after the jump as we take a closer look at our predictions for the 2012 season.

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How important is a veteran quarterback to success this season? The Seattle Times' Bud Withers looks into the importance of returning QBs in recent decades and predicts how the Pac-12 North will sort itself out.

1. Oregon. I'll take the bait and believe Oregon can do it again with an unproven quarterback, mostly because the defense might be the Ducks' best ever. But there are reasons for pause, not only the quarterback, but questionmarks at receiver, and LaMichael James is no longer around. (De'Anthony Thomas is, however.)

2. California. This could be completely crazy, but I'm banking on a quantum improvement from QB Zach Maynard. And as we know, Cal customarily plays pretty salty defense. It should also help that the Bears are back home in remodeled Memorial Stadium.

3. Washington. The Huskies have their share of questionmarks, not the least of which is how much they can obliterate memories of their awful 2011 defense. I'm guessing that can be upgraded significantly, though not to a championship level. Without Chris Polk, QB Keith Price might find the offensive going tougher, though.

4. Stanford. No doubt this pick might be the biggest stretch of the division. I think Stanford's defense will be top-shelf, but no team in the country will see a bigger shortfall at quarterback than the one left by Andrew Luck's departure. And the Cardinal also lost three high draft picks up front, which is going to change the equation as well.

5. Washington State. Part of me sees Jeff Tuel putting up preposterous numbers, throwing to more quality receivers than he can keep happy. The other part of me envisions a defense with a lot of leaks and a lot of youth. The Cougars may have to win games 47-42. (And they might.)

6. Oregon State. If anything will mark the conference in 2012, I think it's a compression from the bottom - meaning there won't be anything resembling a pushover among the 12 teams. And certainly OSU isn't. But Sean Mannion is going to have to lower his interceptions (18 last year) for the Beavers to make a serious surge upward.

After the jump softball wraps up the Pac-12 title and a likely #1 seed and both tennis teams begin the march to the NCAA Championship.

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Have you filled out our 2012 Cal football season predictions form yet?

While most Cal fans remember Alex Lagemann and Michael Costanzo for Big Game heroics and laying the wood on opposing players, respectively, their up-and-coming music careers have earned them a swath of new fans.

During their time on the football team under coach Jeff Tedford, wide receiver Alex Lagemann (Class of 2011), defensive lineman Michael Costanzo (2010) and wide receiver Ian Albrecht (2011) did not necessarily distinguish themselves on the playing field, but they did discover a shared interest in music and performing. Thus was the band Radical Something born two years ago.

"It started when I got bored as a junior in college and started rapping," said Lagemann, a Saratoga native. "I've always liked poetry. Ian really fostered the development of it, and I met Mike. We've traveled the world now because of music, and I never thought I'd pick up a guitar."
...

Along with lead singer Josh Cocktail, whom the three former Golden Bears met at a recording studio in New York in 2011, Lagemann, Costanzo and Albrecht share a house in Carson, close to the Los Angeles music scene. Also living in the "Rad Pad" is Joe Nash, who handles the band's photography and videos.

Costanzo does a little of everything - producer, bass, keyboard, drums, DJ. Lagemann is the rapper of the group and plays a little guitar. Albrecht is not in the band proper but serves as its creative director.

In addition to touring throughout the US and Europe, they have enjoyed commercial success as well.

In fact, Radical Something's album "No Sweat" ranked No. 6 on iTunes for the week of Feb. 26, sitting between Gotye at No. 5 and Whitney Houston at No. 7.

"My mom just loved to see that," said Lagemann, adding that Radical Something also had the No. 9 "Heat Seeker" album on Billboard's chart for the same time period.

After the jump softball prepares for a battle with conference and national title implications and Green Bay marks Aaron Rodgers Day on its calendars.

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In light of Junior Seau's suicide and the renewal of the national discussion on the implication of concussions, Cal fan favorite Zack Follett spoke to a radio station in Detroit about his experience with a serious neck injury. He also spoke about his advice to fellow Golden Bear-turned-Lion Jahvid Best.

Follett’s friend Jahvid Best is trying to make a comeback after his own head injury — and Follett says he’s cautioning him about it.

"The advice I have is to be careful and definitely protect yourself, not just from a brain compression standpoint, but from a business standpoint because he has to look out for what’s best for him," Follett said, adding, "I’ve reached out to him, to try to talk to him … He’s had some serious ones (concussions)."

Zack also shed light on how difficult of a decision it is for most guys to walk away from the sport they love.

"Without a doubt," Follett said. "There’s two identities, there’s Zack Follett and then there’s No. 49, so you have to hold up that reputation of that football player identity. For us to say ‘I’m hurt so I’m going to walk away,’ it is a pride issue. It’s hard for a lot of guys to do that.

"We’re tough guys, we’ve been programmed to have a tough mentality our whole life. We’re gladiators, we’re going to keep on going until we can’t go any more."

And is his own body holding up after the beating it took from football?

"Honest answer: No, my body is messed up. I have three bulging discs in my neck. I wake up every single day in neck pain," Follett said. "It’s rough, but when I was done playing football, I said I’ve worked out my whole life, I’m going to take three months off, not work out to see if my body can heal … in reality, my body started to break down and fold on itself and I had to lift weights to make a strong back to keep my body intact so I don’t just crumble down.

"It’s a lifestyle change I had to do, I’ve accepted it and I have to live with it. I had fun, I wouldn’t take it back or trade my experience in the NFL for anything."

After the jump the "rank every possible category in college football" lists keep on comin' and men's golf's Steve Desimone wins the second Pac-12/10 Coach of the Year Award of his long career.

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Last season ended on a sour note. After solid performances in the final regular season games, the Bears struggled mightily against Texas. Our dreams of avenging the 2004 fiasco were crushed. Two weeks later, previously beloved coach Tosh Lupoi left for Washington and our top-10 recruiting class fizzled. We loved the Bears once again and they broke our hearts. We were reminded of that familiar life lesson: never love anything.

Many of us took that lesson seriously--we vowed to do no more sunshine pumping. The emotional investment in the Bears was too costly. No matter how many times we told ourselves to be modest and humble in our expectations, we would build up grand expectations of the Bears and be disappointed over and over again. This time, we had learned our lesson.

Months have passed and spring has come. Witter field was again filled with the smells of freshly cut grass and warm pigskins flying through the air. The sun is out and shining again...will we dust off the old sunshine pumps or have we finally decommissioned them? What better way to find out than by making some predictions for the 2012 season.

Spring practice is becoming a distant memory. Some questions have been answered (plugging holes in the front seven) while others are in doubt (will anyone be able to play center this fall? will we have a decent punter or will we go for it on every fourth down?). We undoubtedly know more about the team than we did two months ago and it's time to put that knowledge to the test.

After the jump we encourage you to fill out your predictions for the 2012 season (you can also find the form here). Instead of simply predicting wins and losses, we are interested in the chance that Cal will win. If you believe Cal has a 99.9% chance of beating Utah Southern, submit a "0.999" on the form underneath that game. If you believe Cal has a 20% chance of beating USC, submit "0.20" there. And so forth. Please keep your submissions between 0.00 and 1.00, otherwise it slows things down when I run the numbers. You can add up your percentages to get an estimated number of wins. You have until 8pm on Sunday May 13th to fill out a ballot. We will have the results soon after.

Thanks for participating and Go Bears!

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First Bryan Anger conquers the NFL Draft, now he conquers The Onion. Is there anyone untouched by his greatness?

"As a punter, you look at this team and you know you're going to be getting a lot of playing time," Anger said. "Which is fine with me. I look at all the teams that passed on me, and the only thought I have is 'Just you wait, guys. I'll be punting to all of you soon enough.' Mark my words, there are 31 NFL franchises out there who are going to be seeing a lot of me."

Coach Mike Mularkey was quick to welcome his new player to the team, saying Anger was going to be "Jacksonville's punter of the future and, in many ways, the centerpiece of our team."

The Jaguars franchise, meanwhile, seemed to be just as excited about Anger, releasing two previous punters, Nick Harris and Spencer Lanning, the day after the draft.

"You look at how a lot of teams these days are built around a high-powered passing game, and you look at [Jaguars quarterback Blaine] Gabbert, and you realize how important it is for us to have a great punter in our arsenal," Mularkey said. "After all, we punted third-most of any team in the league last year, so it's about time we started getting good at it. In fact, at this point, we may as well just resign ourselves to building our entire team concept around the idea of pinning other teams deep with a really good punt."

"I'm not saying this team is automatically going to be a Super Bowl contender just because I'm punting," Anger said when told of Mularkey's comments. "All I'm saying is, if it does come to that—Super Bowl, fourth quarter, clock winding down, Lombardi trophy on the line—at that moment, I want to be the punter the Jaguars turn to."

After the jump Ryan Anderson wins the NBA's Most Improved Player award and Cal Athletics holds its annual Oskis award ceremony.

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It looks like the BCS is on its way out. While no one will deny that the BCS is an imperfect system, are we sure that its playoff-centric replacement will be any better? Ted Miller opines.

During the BCS Era, the epicenter of controversy was typically at No. 3. While some years things laid out perfectly and there was a wide consensus on the two best teams, many years there was little tangible justification to see the No. 2 -- or No 1 -- team as being any better than No. 3. For example, Oklahoma State was No. 3 this past season, and many would have rather watched the Cowboys play LSU for the title than an SEC West rematch between the Tigers and Alabama.

Well, in a four-team playoff, No. 5 becomes the new No. 3 -- the last team left out. Dennis Dodd goes back and ranks the best No. 5 teams from 1998-2011, and there is plenty of Pac-12 representation. Which means there would have been plenty of Pac-12 consternation.

And, oh boy, the conference would have been in the thick of controversy if there were a four-team playoff based on last year's BCS standings. Notes Dodd: "Look at last season when Pac-12 champ Oregon – fifth in the BCS -- would have not played in a four-team playoff but a division rival it beat (Stanford) would have. The difference? Oregon scheduled tougher."

Without a BCS system to guarantee money for each of the conferences, the financial system could get ugly.

Further, don't think your team doesn't have dog in this hunt. If the Pac-12 gets left out of the Final Four, all 12 members will miss out on millions. Recall that the conference has equal revenue sharing. If Oregon makes the Final Four, Oregon State still gets an equal share. And if Oregon and USC makes the Final Four, that will mean even more money. If a BCS bowl game is worth $23 million, then just imagine what a Final Four game will be worth. And how it would hurt to miss out.

And if the Pac-12 gets left out a couple of years in a row, then it could find itself at a substantial revenue disadvantage compared to other conferences.

Not to be a party pooper, but there are tangible concerns going forward. Don't pack up your frustration with the system just yet.

And we haven't even touched on how the system may interrupt the proud tradition of games like the Rose Bowl...

After the jump everyone previews the 2013 NFL Draft and the Bears' post-spring depth chart is released.

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With the NFL draft behind us, we have entered that vast, unforgiving landscape of the offseason. Sustained by only the slightest trickle of legitimate football news, we have entered the heart of silly season, where we must live off wild rumors and rampant speculation. Let's take a look at this week's "lolwut news of the week": speculation that Sandy Barbour has Pete Carroll on speed dial and ready to replace Tedford.

Looking at Seattle’s schedule, I foresee a third straight 7-9 season under Carroll. While that could buy him a fourth season because of his massive contract and the fact the Seahawks made the 2010 playoffs, another seven-win season would mean the Seahawks have improved by just two wins since Carroll took over three years ago.

If Jim L. Mora got fired for one 5-11 season, how can you justify getting a fourth season after three losing campaigns?

And if Carroll is fired, there’s no likelier and better landing place than Berkeley, CA, as head coach of the Cal Bears.

Should the Seabears decide that they've had enough improvement and excitement under Carroll, Cal is obviously a natural home.

You better believe that Cal AD Sandy Barbour already has her eye on Carroll after years of mediocrity on the gridiron. Barbour is overseeing the finish of a $321 million renovation of Memorial Stadium and spearheaded the controversial Student-Athlete High Performance Center, also known as a training facility, that cost $136 million and angered a lot of people by removing oak trees in the process.

Spending something around $4 million a year to lure Pete Carroll back to the Bay Area will be the best investment Barbour has made on the football program yet, and Cal will have plenty of money to work with off the conference’s $3 billion television contract with ESPN and FOX.

Yes, the Reggie Bush scandal isn’t a good look for Carroll but he was never directly implicated in it. Kentucky looked the other way on John Calipari’s two vacated Final Four appearances and just won a national title in his third season. While Carroll might not be able to replicate that success, he could win big quickly by stealing recruits from Southern California because of his recruiting ties there and sealing off talented and plentiful Northern California recruits from flocking to places like Oregon.

Can anything top this story? We'll see after the jump as golf brings home a pair of conference titles and softball continues to annihilate everything in its path.

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This was one of the more successful NFL drafts in Cal history both for the Bears and for their new teams. Nearly every pick was praised as a valuable addition. While Marvin Jones may have been the best steal of the draft in the fifth round, Mychal Kendricks' second-round pick by Philadelphia was widely praised as a fantastic pick by everyone from draft analysts to head coach Andy Reid.

After suffering through years of spotty linebacker play, Reid believes Mychal Kendricks can make a big difference on the Eagles D. (Here's a transcript with the rest of Reid's comments). With a pair of Pro Bowl-caliber Bears on his team already, Reid has much respect for Cal's athletes.

"[Mychal Kendricks] played all the positions. The one thing that really interests me there is we're getting a phenomenal pass rusher on that side. We're getting someone who can really cover the tight end, and his pass cover skills are a strong part of his game. When you see the way he's built, you'll understand. He plays a very physical game. You've heard the term 'heavy-handed,' so when he locks onto you, he's pretty strong with that," — Eagles head coach Andy Reid

Things weren't as warm and fuzzy down in Jacksonville after the Jags drafted Bryan Anger in the third round.

[Jacksonville GM Gene] Smith has already been in the crosshairs of Jaguars' fans for a so-so draft record in three-plus years as GM, and this move will deservedly get his loudest critics screaming at the top of their lungs.

I'm sorry, but under no circumstances should any NFL team, especially one with as many needs as the Jaguars, take a punter in the third round. Even if Anger, considered the nation's best punter, is a reincarnation of Lechler, a punter is just not valuable enough to be taken that high.

Lechler has led the NFL in punting five times in the past decade and not once during those seasons did Oakland win more than five games. The advantage gained from having a great punter, over an average one like the Jaguars' Nick Harris, simply isn't substantial enough to use a third-round draft pick. You might make that same argument for a placekicker because they make and miss field goals when games are on the line. But not a PUNTER!!!

After the jump we round up reactions and analysis of all the Bears' draft picks and free agents. Nearly every draft pick was met with unbridled enthusiasm and optimism.

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Saturday was rather stressful for Marvin Jones. The consensus third- or fourth-round pick did not get his name called until the fifth round, after 21 other receivers were chosen. No matter, Jones was delighted to be picked.

"Oh man, it was definitely crazy ... stressful," Jones said. "I went up and down with emotions. Initially, I was high on a lot of people's boards. That didn't work out for whatever reason. Regardless of what theories I have, it doesn't matter.

"I ended up in a great spot. I'm blessed for the opportunity. I just want to start my new life as a Cincinnati Bengal."

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"The young talent says something about the direction they're going," Jones said. "They run a West Coast offense. Obviously, playing at Cal for four years, that's what I'm used to. I can come in and run every route and vie for a position."

Anger had an equally emotional phone call, but for the opposite reason! Expecting to be drafted sometime on day three, Bryan Anger was caught by surprise when he received the phone call on Friday.

On his reaction when he got the call
"I went kind of numb for a second. I got a call a couple picks before it and they asked me a couple questions and then said `congrats, we're going to take you with the next pick.' So my heart started racing a little bit. It finally came true. It's been a long process, and the process has been fun, but I was definitely ready to figure out where I was going. So it was nice."

After the jump we recap one of the most successful drafts in Cal history, as the Bears lead the Pac-12 with six picks.

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Trevor Guyton is headed to the NFL, joining nearly everyone else in this picture. He has been drafted by the Minnesota Vikings!

via www.calbearsonline.com

Congratulations Trevor!

D.J. Campbell breaks the lull in Bears drafted! He is headed to the Carolina Panthers!

via www.dailycal.org

Congrats, DJ!

After a long wait Marvin Jones is off the board! He is an absolute steal as a fifth round pick. This is a great choice for the draft pick gained from the Ochocinco trade.

via www.dailycal.org

Thanks for four great years, Marvin!

Definitely proud to play for the #Bengals

— Marvin Jones (@MarvinJones_1) April 28, 2012

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Some criticized Bryan Anger for having the audacity to hold a draft party on Saturday. It looks like they were right; he was ill-advised to hold his party on Saturday. Why? Because he has been DRAFTED IN THE THIRD ROUND!

Our good friends at Big Cat Country might be wary of drafting a punter in the third round. Please assuage any doubts they may have by letting them know that Anger is the greatest punter in the history of the world.

Go Bears! Thanks for four excellent years of punting, Bryan!

Mychal Kendricks is joining DeSean Jackson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Mike Gibson and the Iggles!

Head over to Bleeding Green Nation to congratulate them on their pick. If they have any concerns about Kendricks, just show them the pic below.

via imgs.sfgate.com

Go Bears!

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Mitchell Schwartz is the first Bear off the board! He joins Alex Mack on the Cleveland Browns offensive line.

Head on over to Dawgs By Nature to tell Cleveland Browns fans how excited they should be that Mitchell Schwartz will be lining up alongside Alex Mack.

We'll keep you updated as we hear more about Schwartz and the Browns.

Excited to be a Brown! It's a great organization and I'm looking forward to helping the #Browns win a Super Bowl!

— Mitch Schwartz (@M_Schwartz72) April 28, 2012

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This is a big weekend for several of our Bears. I've rounded up some complete mock drafts and it looks like this will be an exciting weekend for Cal football, as we will see several players drafted on Friday and Saturday.

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After the jump we have more draft coverage including Tedford's comments on his players' draft prospects.

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Punters don't often get drafted, but that's not going to stop Bryan Anger from holding a draft party on Saturday. At this point, the question is not whether he'll get drafted but how soon someone will steal the nation's top punting prospect.

"I think I'm the top guy that's going to go," Anger said of his place among punters in the draft. "I'm pretty much guaranteed to get drafted."

In reality, there's no such thing. Over the past six years, teams have drafted an average of only two punters per year. Just one was taken in 2011. Teams usually prefer to wait until after the draft, then sign a free agent at the position.

But Anger and Cal special teams coach Jeff Genyk are convinced this year will be different.

Anger is the consensus No. 1 punter among a half-dozen online mock drafts, and both CBS Sports and NFL Draft Scout project him to go in the third or fourth rounds.

Genyk said one NFL special teams coach told him Anger is the best college punter prospect in nine years.
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Genyk said the quality that has NFL teams interested is Anger's ability to adjust to the situation. He said that was a key to Cal improving to seventh nationally last fall in net team punting average.

"A lot of that was Bryan's willingness to not think about how far he could punt the ball, but strategically how he could punt it ... how high, hang time, away from returners," Genyk said. "I think he improved his stock with scouts. They could see he was able to modify his punts to suit the situation."

After the jump the mock drafts start trickling in and water polo alum Mike Sample saves a man from drowning in the Bay.

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At the end of last season many of us were interested in watching the quarterback competition to see if Bridgford or Kline could push Maynard for the starting role. Yesterday Maynard proved he was clearly the best QB on the team. Running back, however, could be interesting heading into fall camp as CJ Anderson made the case that he should be getting more carries next season.

"I liked it," Tedford said. "A lot of people did a lot of hard work to get this ready. The kids got excited. ... It was a good way to end spring ball."

The most productive player for either team was Gold running back C.J. Anderson, who had 85 yards on 14 carries and a 15-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter. Anderson, a senior to be, is down 15 pounds from last season and looked quick and explosive.

"It's a mind-set. You want to compete," Anderson said. "That's all we talk about. I've got a year under my belt. Losing weight helped. I'm a lot quicker, a lot faster. I got lazy in the offseason (a year ago) coming here, thinking I was already a man."

The game started well for the Blue squad when Maynard directed a 74-yard drive on six plays that culminated with his 29-yard touchdown pass to his cousin, Harris. Maynard completed 6 of 10 passes for 109 yards, and Harris had seven receptions for 95 yards.

"We've got a lot of young guys who are going to have to step up and be ready to play in the first game," Maynard said. "I think we'll all be ready. It's been a good spring for us."

After the jump we have interviews, photos, and recaps from the spring game, including Dominic Galas' tips for winning the pie-eating contest.

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It's been about four months since most of us saw the Bears on the field. As is customary for Cal Day, we are able to watch the annual open practice. Fortunately the coaches decided to hold an actual game this year.

The coaches held a draft to determine the Blue and Gold teams. Avinash broke down the rosters and concludes that Blue has a sizable advantage over Gold. Maynard leads the Blue team while Bridgford quarterbacks for the gold team.

We have several members of the CGB team at today's event and we'll keep updating this post with all the latest info from the spring game. We'll even have coverage of the play called by one lucky fan as HydroTech breaks it down and explains why he would have called for the ball to be centered on first down.

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Ohio State head coach (and good friend of Jeff Tedford) Urban Meyer said on Wednesday that his new team's offense will look similar to the Oregon offense. Our eternal optimist Ted Miller believes that the Bears--who have mostly stifled the Oregon offense over the past couple years--can take advantage of the lowly tOSU offensive line and pull an upset in the Shoe. Is it time to start pumping the sunshine again?

But there's no escaping this: California will go to Ohio State with perhaps the biggest and most athletic front seven the Buckeyes will face in 2012. And the Bears line up against a highly questionable offensive line, one that welcomes back just two starters from a unit that yielded 46 sacks -- 118th in the nation -- on just 245 pass attempts.

For comparison: Arizona, with four new starters on its offensive line in 2011, gave up 23 sacks on 577 passes. Washington State gave up 40 on 492 passes.

The Ohio State offense in 2011 was QB Braxton Miller, who led the Buckeyes in rushing (715 yards with seven touchdowns) and passing (1,159 yards with 13 touchdowns) as a freshman. He's a major talent, but he certainly won't be the first dual-option QB the Bears defense has seen.

I know Cal fans don't want to hear any optimism from the Pac-12 blog because they well know that is typically the program's ineluctable KISS OF DEATH.

So I won't mention the plausibility of the Bears visiting USC on Sept. 22 at 3-0 and nationally ranked.

After the jump Cal Athletics responds to the Wall Street Journal article and the entire football team shows up at the 49ers Pro Day (or it least it seemed that way).

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