Note: This is the first in a series of nine stories about early Cal Olympians.

Over the past 106 years, nearly three hundred athletes from the University of California have participated in the Olympic games. They have represented 37 different countries, and have won 159 Olympic medals. But only one athlete was Cal's first Olympian, and that was Robert Edgren, Class of 1896. Edgren, who at 6'5" and 225 pounds was considered absolutely massive in his era, represented the United States in shot put and discus at the 1906 Athens Olympics. In the mid-1890s, Edgren starred at Cal in all the throwing events: shot put, discus, hammer, and weight. He was a member of the famed 1895 Cal track and field team, which gained the first national notice for University of California sports during a triumphant tour through eastern schools, and helped give Cal its knickname of "Golden Bears." After graduating from Cal, Edgren became a nationally renowned journalist, cartoonist, and sports writer, while at the same time continuing to participate in amateur athletics. In 1901, Edgren held the world record in the hammer throw, and his athletic career culminated in the 1906 Olympics. He set a high standard for all Cal's future Olympic athletes.

Robert Edgren, as a member of the 1895 Cal track and field team.

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The first page of the program for the 1923 Big Game - the first game played at California Memorial Stadium

117,000 Americans died in World War I. 416,000 Americans died in World War II. 40,000 Americans died in the Korean War. 59,000 Americans died in the Vietnam War. 6,400 Americans have died in the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Many, many others died in other wars and conflicts. It is difficult to remember when one reads the statistics, that each and every one of those numbers was an individual loved by family and friends, with hopes and dreams never realized, with a unique life story. The best we can do is remember specific individuals, and let them represent the thousands of others who have given their lives in the service of our country. Here are the stories of just three such individuals, all Cal athletes, who are intended to stand as representatives of the many, many others who deserve to be remembered and honored on this day.

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Saturday afternoon's 3-2 loss to Arkansas was not a lot of fun for Cal fans. But there was one unquestionably great highlight for the Bears. In the fourth inning, singles by Jamia Reid and Britt Vonk put Bears at first and second. Arkansas then elected to intentionally walk Valerie Arioto to load the bases. The speedy Jamia Reid trotted over to third but then, taking advantage of Razorback inattention, she rounded the bag and stole home.

It was a great moment in an otherwise frustrating game. But since the Bears need to beat this same Arkansas team twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regionals, check out some video to give you an idea of what the Razorback-Bear match-up looks like.

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It was a good win for the Bears last night against the Iona Gaels. The Bears won 8-0 in five innings, via the "mercy rule," by scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Because of the lack of TV coverage, I wanted to share my video from the game. Unfortunately, taking video at softball games is a bit, shall we say, hit-and-miss. Unless you want to spend the entire game watching through a viewfinder, you never know when to have the camera on. As a result, I missed Breana Kostreba's big two-run homer in the first. But I did get some of the fifth inning action, including Frani Echavarria's RBI single, which drove in the Bears' eighth run and ended the game.

Let's start with some pregame warm-ups:

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Yesterday, we looked at the Cal women's crew team, which won the Pac-12 Championship last Sunday at Lake Natoma, near Sacramento. Today it's time to look at Cal men's crew. The #4 ranked Cal men's team knew they had a mountain to climb to defeat #1 ranked, and perennial rival, Washington. (For more on the history of the Cal-Washington crew rivalry, and the spectacular history of Cal crew, click here.) The Huskies had just swept the young Bears team at Redwood Shores on April 21, and were heavily favored to sweep the Pac-12 championships. On the other hand, the Bears were coming off a sweep of #8 ranked Stanford at The Big Row on April 28 (giving the Bears a 61-18 lead in that series all-time), and were hoping for the upset. Alas, it was not to be. But what is noteworthy for Cal fans in watching the videos of the races (and there are lots of videos!) is how elite Washington and California are, in a conference that has several very good crew teams. While the Huskies were the strongest team last weekend, the Bears finished second in every race, and are the only team in the conference able to pose any challenge to Washington.

Cal's Varsity 8 battle for the Pac-12 Championship.

Follow me after the jump for tons of video and photos from the first-ever Pac-12 Men's Rowing Championships.

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Is there any finer sight than a Cal team holding up a Pac-12 Championship banner? Well, yes -- the sight of that team holding up a national championship banner. But let's take one thing at a time. On a beautiful Sunday morning last weekend, the #1 ranked Cal women's crew team was totally dominant in the Pac-12 Championships. Winning conference championships is nothing new for the Bears. They have won five straight, and eight of the last nine. But this is a young Bear team, which struggled at the start of the season. In early April, the Bears finished only fourth in the San Diego Crew Classic, which was won by USC. In fact, #3 ranked USC was supposed to pose a big challenge to the Bears in this year's conference championships. Spoiler alert: USC finished fifth. Join me after the jump for tons of photos and video of a great morning for the Bears at Lake Natoma, just outside Sacramento.

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Most football fans these days are familiar with the term "Mr. Irrelevant." It is the title given to the last player selected in the last round of the NFL draft. And the name says it all: this guy is not supposed to make the team and is, frankly, considered to be a bit of a joke. In 1983, "Mr. Irrelevant" was a running back from the University of California named John Tuggle. He was the 28th player selected in the 12th round of the NFL draft. But John Tuggle was already known as a player who might not have the greatest athletic gifts, but who did have the biggest heart and the strongest drive to succeed. In 1983 he became the first "Mr. Irrelevant" in NFL history to make the roster of the team who drafted him, the New York Giants. And by the end of his rookie season, he had become the Giants' starting running back. Just how amazing John Tuggle's story might have become will never be known. Shortly after his rookie NFL season ended, Tuggle was diagnosed with cancer. Although he faced his illness with the same fighting spirit he brought to playing football, John Tuggle died two years later. As this year's NFL draft nears, let us remember the life and career of Cal's four-year starting running back, the hero of two Big Game upsets, and the "Mr. Irrelevant" who overcame the odds to become an NFL starter.

John Tuggle was a hero of the Bears' Big Game upsets in 1980 and 1982.

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No, I am not making this up. In 1924, the actions of the University of Southern California resulted in the Stanford football team playing a home game at California Memorial Stadium. Against Utah. There were allegations of players being paid, a fired coach, canceled games, secret deals, a school suspended from the conference, recriminations, counter-recriminations, even Knute Rockne got involved! Think of it as a preview for "Pac-12 Gone Wild!" And it all somehow resulted in the Stanford varsity football team taking the field at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley on November 8, 1924 -- as the home team. If you join me after the jump, I will do my best to sort out the great Pacific Coast Conference scandal of 1924.

"A home game in BERKELEY?" Stanford's first-year head coach Glenn "Pop" Warner was surprised by this turn of events.

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Cal basketball fans who are, shall we say, slightly older, like to wax nostalgic about old Harmon Gym, as it was before the expansion and modernization turned it into Haas Pavilion. Those fans talk about how small Harmon Gym was, with only 6,500 seats, how close to the action the Cal student section was, and how precious the student tickets were. In fact, California Golden Blogs' own LeonPowe has written a great piece about the outrageousness and charm of watching basketball at Harmon Gym. But many Cal fans do not realize that long before games were played at old Harmon Gym, there was an even older Harmon Gym, which was even smaller, and where the fans were even closer to the action. It was this original Harmon Gym where Cal men's basketball was first played in 1907, where the Bears played while winning eight Pacific Coast Conference Championships between 1916 and 1932, and where the sport became increasingly popular, until a larger facility was needed and finally built in 1933.

California basketball fans pack old, old Harmon Gym for a 1927 non-conference game.

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The 2011 University of California baseball team was the stuff of legend: the team told that the sport was going to be dropped, a massive fund-raising effort by alums and families, a season of uncertainty about the team's fate with players not knowing whether they needed to transfer or not, an eleventh-hour announcement that baseball would be saved at Cal, and a near-miraculous post-season run including a spectacular 4-run ninth inning comeback from the brink of elimination, capped off by a trip to the College World Series for the first time in nearly two decades. But the Bears are hardly strangers to the College World Series. In fact, it was Cal's long-time coach, Clint Evans, who was primarily responsible for the creation of the College World Series, and it was the Golden Bears who won the very first championship. The feats of the 2011 Bears have inspired this remembrance of their great predecessors: the College World Series Champion, 1947 University of California Golden Bears.

The 1947 Golden Bears. BACK ROW: Ken Gustafson, George Yamor, Ralph McIntire, Red Finney, Jim Anderson, Jackie Jensen, Virgil Butler, John Enos, Russ Bruzzone, George Sproul. MIDDLE ROW: Coach Clint Evans, Nino Barnise, Bob Anderson, LaVerne Horton, Ernest Mane, William Lotter, Sam Rosenthal, John Ramos, Bob Peterson. FRONT ROW: Robert O'Dell, Douglas Clayton, Cliff McClain, Lyle Palmer, John Fiscalini, Tim Cronin, Ed Sanclemente, James Brown, Glen Dufour, Jr.

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Here at California Golden Blogs, we are well aware that our athletic program is one of the finest in the nation. Last year we finished second in the Director's Cup (omitting the cheating and sanctioned tOSUers), and had national team championships in men's swimming and driving, women's swimming and diving, and rugby, as well as numerous individual national champions. The dramatic story of our baseball team's trip to the College World Series drew national attention. And, at long, long, long last, our athletic facilities have gotten, and our football stadium is getting, fantastic upgrades.

Cal fans know that we have one of the greatest all-around athletic programs in the nation. Yet there is one place where we have fallen behind. That is in the all-important area of providing liquor-themed nicknames to the leaders of our campus. Ucla has taken a huge lead on us in this area, and it is long past time for us to pick up the gauntlet. This DBD tries to remedy that failing.

Let's start where Ucla has the biggest lead -- with the Athletic Director. Obviously, Chianti Sandy is out. Such a cliche. And, frankly, I just don't see Sandy as the, "take the alums on a wine tour of Europe" kind of AD. To me, she seems much more like the "let's all go out and have some beer" type. Thus, my proposal: Heineken Sandy. It is Dutch, which is always good, and that European touch provides class. But I am certainly open to other ideas. Budweiser Sandy? A bit too plebeian? Sam Adams Sandy? Too many first names? Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Sandy? Too long? I, for one, think Heineken Sandy sounds just right. And as an added bonus, it recalls memories of the Highland Dutch, and the Lowland Dutch, as well as the Rotterdam Dutch. Although not, sadly, the Irish. (Guinness Stout Sandy?)

And while we're at it, how about some alcohol-themed nicknames for the rest of the Cal leadership? Chancellor Birgeneau is Canadian, right? So how about Moosehead Bob? And Martini Monty seems like a natural. Lemon Drop Lindsay? I have to admit, Tedford's got me at a bit of a loss. The only time I saw him consume alcohol was during the Coaches Tour, when he had a glass of red wine. But Cabernet Jeff just doesn't work for me. I need some help here, folks. Let's get to work!

NOTE: Our next project should probably be trying bridge the "ironic terms and conditions of joining" gap with our little brothers from the Southern Branch. Although reading these terms for joining BN leaves me almost despondent with regard to any hope that we can ever reach these heights of irony:

Relentless negativity will not be tolerated. What constitutes “relentless negativity”? It’s simple: simply posting the Bruins suck 100 percent of the time or the coaches are screwing up left and right without reasoning or proposing solutions. There is nothing helpful about someone who constantly says that their team “sucks” and complains. We’re all fans and we all get frustrated when the team doesn’t perform or has bad luck, but regurgitating the same venom over and over again doesn’t help anything or anyone. BN is aiming to be better than that. If you continue to do nothing but post negativity, you may lose posting privileges without warning. There’s a difference between someone who aims to point out flaws and be constructive and someone who is destructive. If you post string of fanposts or comments in a row about how Bruins stink or coaches are terrible with no reasoning or proposals, that is basically trolling and that’s how it will be treated. The goal is to make this community fun for everyone.

The University of California can boast of 159 Olympic Medals won by its students, alumni and coaches: 91 Gold, 40 Silver, and 28 Bronze. But of all those Olympic Medals, only one came in the Winter Olympics -- a Gold Medal in bobsledding in 1928. Making this solitary Winter Olympics Medal all the more remarkable was that it was won by a 42-year-old investment broker, who had never been on a bobsled, and had not participated in competitive sports at all, until he answered a newspaper advertisement just prior to the 1928 Olympics. Three weeks later, Cal alum Nion Tucker was an Olympic Champion. Here is Nion Tucker's improbable Olympic story.

Official poster for the 1928 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland

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[Twist: Thought we could get this party started right this year by bumping CalBear81's amazing post on Big Game Upsets to the top of the page.  It is as relevant this year as last, if not more so.  Enjoy and GO BEARS!]

2010: Stanford comes into in the Big Game this year 9-1, ranked # 6 in the BCS, and with a highly touted quarterback. Cal is 5-5, has had a strange and rather disappointing season, has lost its starting quarterback to injury, and is coming off a heartbreaking loss to the #1 ranked team in the nation. The oddsmakers have Cal as a 7.5 point underdog.

So does Cal have a realistic chance to win this thing?

Avinash edit: Turns out no. Oh well. Reboot!

2011: Stanford comes into the Big Game this year at 9-1, ranked #9, and with a highly touted quarterback. Cal is 6-4 and is coming off a strange and curious season away from Memorial Stadium at AT&T Park. The oddsmakers have Cal as a 17 to 20 point underdog. 

So does Cal have a realistic chance to win this thing?  Do Bears sharpen their claws on Trees? 

Joe Kapp is carried off the field by his players after the Bears' improbable 1986 upset of 21-point favorite Stanford

Cal has a great tradition of pulling off Big Game upsets, often against Stanford’s most well-known quarterbacks, and with unknown back-up quarterbacks starting for Cal. Here are ten of the greatest Cal Big Game Upsets.

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This Saturday will mark the first-ever conference game between the University of California Golden Bears and the University of Utah Utes. What more fitting way to honor this momentus occasion and to welcome our new Pac-12 brothers and sisters into the fold, than by remembering the first and greatest game ever played between our two fine universities, almost exactly 91 years ago.  No doubt every Utah fan will join us in celebrating Cal's 63-0 victory, and take pleasure in the knowledge that it was this game which gave rise to the revered nickname "the Wonder Team," for the unbeaten, Pacific Coast Conference Champion, Rose Bowl Champion, and National Champion, 1920 Golden Bears.

Cal's Brick Muller and Karl Deeds punch a hole in Utah's line, for Crip Toomey to waltz into the end zone at old California Field in Berkeley

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Clinton R. "Brick" Morse may be responsible for creation and preservation of more early Cal sports history and traditions than any other single individual.  It began in the 1890s, when Morse was a member of Cal's varsity baseball, track, and football teams, and played in the 1892 Big Game. While a student at Cal, he was a founder of the California Glee Club, and after his graduation he led the Glee Club for decades.  As a columnist for The San Francisco Call, he was an unabashed supporter of Cal sports, and he coined the name "The Wonder Team" to refer to the extraordinary 1920 Golden Bears. He wrote the first published history of Cal football.  And if all that were not enough, Brick Morse wrote dozens of Cal songs, including two of the most beloved, which are still played by the Cal Band at every football and basketball game. Known as "the Eternal Sophomore," Brick Morse was among the truest of all Old Blues.

Brick Morse as a member of the 1892 California varsity football squad.

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A few weeks ago I was at the Sacramento SPCA book sale, when I came across a book called Big Games: College Football's Greatest Rivalries, by a guy named Michael Bradley.  It contains entries on what the author deems to be the ten greatest rivalries in all of college football.  I checked the table of contents to make sure that the book included a certain rivalry. It did. (Considering the title, it pretty much had to, right?). So I plunked down my dollar and bought it.  Here are the ten rivalries Mr. Bradley says are the best, in the order he discusses them:

Harvard - Yale

Miami - Florida State

Oklahoma - Texas

Notre Dame - USC (Not Ucla? Don't tell BN)

Georgia - Florida

Lafayette - Lehigh

California - Stanford

Alabama - Auburn

Michigan - Ohio State

Army - Navy

If you are looking at Lafayette - Lehigh and saying, "huh?" (I confess, I did), note that this rivalry game has been played 146 times since 1886, and has been played every year since 1897, making it both the most played rivalry game and the rivalry played uninterrupted for the most years.  And they call their game The Rivalry, which is almost as good a name as The Big Game.

Mr. Bradley doesn't state anywhere what his criteria are for deciding which were the greatest rivalries.  So it made me wonder, what makes a rivalry great?  Are these ten really the best?  And what schools have the second-greatest rivalry in college football?

For much of the twentieth century, there was a widely-held stereotype that Asian Americans could not compete in athletics. It has only been in recent years that significant numbers of successful Asian American athletes have been recognized by the public. It may surprise you, then, to learn that as long ago as 1918, Chinese American Son Kai-Kee played varsity football for the University of California, and that George Fong became a football star for Cal in the 1940s. Here is the story of these pioneering Golden Bears.

Son Kai-Kee, who played fullback on Cal's 1918 varsity squad

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Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman may well be the single most significant athlete ever produced by the University of California. That is a bold claim to make about a women's tennis player from the Class of 1911. But it is almost beyond question that Wightman was the most important figure in the early history of American women's tennis, and it is beyond question that she is one of the most important figures in the history of women's sports.

Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman at the 1919 US Open

Not only was Wightman a great tennis champion and the winner of 17 Grand Slam titles and two Olympic Gold Medals, but she essentially invented international women's team tennis competitions, coached many future Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions, and made her life's work a virtual crusade to teach, encourage, and enable young women athletes to compete at the highest level. She also shocked the sports world when she returned to competitive tennis in 1915 after having children, something which was considered not merely unseemly, but actually impossible at the time. Indeed, when she won her Gold Medals at the 1924 Olympics, Wightman was already the mother of four, with a fifth still to come. And she broke another barrier by competing successfully in major tournaments well into her 50s, and continuing to compete in -- and win -- tournaments for players aged over 40, when she was in her late 60s. Tennis legend Billie Jean King wrote of her, "Hazel Wightman’s name is woven into the tapestry of women’s tennis like a shining golden thread that stretched from the 1900s through the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. Champion, patron, coach …she devoted her life to teaching, encouraging, sheltering, and enlightening aspiring young tennis stars. In a statistic not recognized by the record books, ‘Mrs. Wightie’ will be remembered as the most beloved tennis figure of all time." And it all started on a tennis court on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley.

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What are the requirements to be a Cal football fan?  A love of the game, of course. A strong affection for the University of California helps a lot. So does having the ability to keep hope alive even as your soul is being crushed. But what are the shared traditions and history that bind us all together?  What are the things you simply have to know to be a Cal football fan and to avoid embarrassing yourself in front of other Cal fans?  After the jump, we give you our admittedly somewhat arbitrary list of Cal fan essentials. Do you agree that all the items on are list are essentials? Are there other essential Cal traditions, events, athletes, or coaches you think we have left off the list?  If so, tell us what they are and why you think they are Bear Essentials in the comments section.

The Axe?  Yup, we think that qualifies as a Bear Essential.

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We have a brand new addition to California Golden Blogs: a digital version of the 1920 Big Game Program.  I happen to be the lucky owner of an original 1920 Big Game Program.  Our very own TwistNHook suggested that we could share that online with the CGB community, and he has undertaken to make my scans of it available to you. The entire 52-page program can be accessed here (where you can zoom in to get all the detail) and also on CGB's Facebook page.  After the jump, a little background on just what makes the 1920 Big Game Program so special, and a little more about the program itself.

The front cover of the football-shaped 1920 Big Game Program

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Note: This is the final installment in a series by OhioBear and CalBear81 about the eight greatest football coaches in Cal history.  Click here for the earlier installments: #8 Mike White, #7 Garrett Cochran, #6 Nibs Price, #5 Bruce Snyder, #4 Stub Allison, #3 Jeff Tedford, and #2 Pappy Waldorf

You were expecting somebody else?  Not likely. Andy Smith's accomplishments at Cal are, quite simply, beyond compare. In 10 seasons at California, Andy Smith compiled a 74-16-7 record, won five Pacific Coast Conference championships and four consecutive national championships, and took the Bears to two Rose Bowls.  He also led Cal to an astonishing five straight undefeated seasons.  In the Wonder-filled 1920 season, Smith's Bears outscored their opponents by a combined score of 510-14.  He also had a 6-1-1 record against Stanford, including Cal's two biggest Big Game blow-outs of all-time. Had it not been for Smith's death at the age of only 42, it is almost impossible to imagine what he might have accomplished.  As it is, Andy Smith is, beyond question, not only the greatest football coach in the history of the University of California, but one of the greatest in the history of football.

Andrew Latham Smith, Head Coach of the University of California 1916-1925

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 Note: This is the seventh in a series by OhioBear and CalBear81 about the eight greatest football coaches in Cal history.  Click here for the earlier installments: #8 Mike White, #7 Garrett Cochran, #6 Nibs Price, #5 Bruce Snyder, #4 Stub Allison, and #3 Jeff Tedford

Lynn O. "Pappy" Waldorf was the most beloved football coach in Cal history: beloved by his players, by the fans, and even by the Bears' opponents.  He was a great coach.  A career record of 157-89-19, and a 67-32-4 record at California, are evidence of this.  So are three straight Rose Bowl appearances and back-to-back 10-win seasons for only the second time in Cal history.  And so is his history of turning around losing football programs everywhere he went, from Oklahoma City University to the University of California, and of winning conference championships at all five schools where he was the head coach. But there was something more than this that made people love him. Something more, even, than his 7-1-2 record in the Big Game. There was something so special about Pappy Waldorf that 55 years after he retired from coaching, and 30 years after his death, his former players, men in their 70s and 80s who still call themselves "Pappy's Boys," gather regularly to remember and honor him.  He was not just a great coach, he was a good man.

Lynn O. "Pappy" Waldorf

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Note: This is the fifth in a series by Ohio Bear and CalBear81 about the eight greatest football coaches in Cal history.  Click here for the earlier installments: #8 Mike White, #7 Garrett Cochran, #6 Nibs Price, and #5 Bruce Snyder

The National Champion University of California Golden Bears. The Rose Bowl Champion University of California Golden Bears. Three conference championships in four years.  Back-to-back 10 win seasons for the first time in Cal history. These are the reasons why Leonard "Stub" Allison has to be on any list of California's greatest football coaches.  Allison's tenure as Cal's head coach, from 1935 to 1944, was not without its controversy.  His coaching did not change with the times, and his tenure at Cal ended with several unsuccessful seasons during World War II. But, nevertheless, Stub Allison must forever be remembered as the coach of the magnificent Thunder Team that brought California to the very pinnacle of college football glory.

Head Coach Stub Allison (center), with line coach Frank Wickhorst (left) and backfield coach Irv Uteritz.

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Note: This is the third in a series by Ohio Bear and CalBear81 about the eight greatest football coaches in Cal history.  Click here for the earlier installments: #8 Mike White and #7 Garrett Cochran

Who is the only person who ever coached teams to both the Rose Bowl and the Final Four?  The University of California's Clarence "Nibs" Price.  Nibs Price took over as Cal's football head coach in 1926, after the death of Andy Smith.  In his five years as head coach, he had three tremendous seasons and took the Bears to the 1929 Rose Bowl -- where they were involved in possibly the most famous (or infamous) play in football history.  And at the same time Price was coaching the football team, he was also the basketball head coach, ultimately winning more games than any coach in California basketball history, and earning a trip to the Final Four in 1946.

     Clarence "Nibs" Price

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Note: This is the second in a series by OhioBear and CalBear81 about the eight greatest football coaches in Cal history.  Click here for the first installment: #8 Mike White

Garrett Cochran was only 22 years old when he was hired as the head coach of the University of California football team in 1898, and he only coached at Cal for two seasons.  Despite his brief tenure, this young man earned his place on the list of Cal's all-time greatest coaches by taking a team which had gone 0-3-2 in 1897, and which had not won a Big Game in seven attempts, and turning it into a nationally recognized power. Under Cochran, the Bears compiled a 15-1-3 record, and outscored their opponents 363-7.  Even better, Cochran brought the Bears their first two victories over Stanford, by a combined score of 52-0.  And California became the first western team to gain the respect of the eastern football elite, then still dominated by the "Big Three" of Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. Garrett Cochran was the Bears first great coach.

Garrett Cochran in 1896: All America end and captain of Princeton's national champion football team

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What is the University of California's most spectacularly successful sport ever? A good argument can be made for rugby, with its 25 national championships. But an equally good argument can be made for crew. Rowing is certainly Cal's oldest organized sport. It has earned 19 national championships (16 men's, 3 women's) and has sent 67 Cal students and alumni to the Olympics, where they have won a total of 39 Olympic Medals, 33 of them Gold. And in 1928, 1932, and 1948, it was the Cal Bears as a team who won Olympic glory for the United States. If all that weren't enough, after their 2011 sweep of the Big Row, Cal Men's Crew holds a 60-18 record all-time against arch-rival Stanford in dual meets, while the victory of Cal Women's Crew boosted their all-time record over Stanford to 25-11. What follows is just some of the extraordinary history of one of Cal's greatest sports.

Cars carrying members of the Cal Crew team back from their triumph at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics make their way up Telegraph Avenue to a tumultuous greeting from the student body

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It is not widely known that it was the University of California, Berkeley, which gave the world the very first women's college basketball team. The Cal women played the first game ever by a women's college team against an outside opponent in 1892, only a year after the game of basketball had been invented by James Naismith.  Four years later, the Golden Bears played the first women's intercollegiate basketball game in history -- against arch-rival Stanford, of course.  The Cal women were the powerhouse of women's basketball in the west throughout the late 1890s, and into the early 1900s.  And the women accomplished all this more than a decade before the Cal men ever thought of playing intercollegiate basketball.  Here is the story of the beginning of women's college basketball, right on the Berkeley campus.

4'10" Sarah DeForest Hanscom shows off the 1896 Cal women's basketball uniform, with "UC" on the front in blue and gold

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NOTE: This article was originally posted on February 17, 2011 under the title "DBD 02.17.11: The Murder of Mrs. Stanford."  It has been moved to the front page by "popular demand."

Did the first president of Leland Stanford Junior University murder the school's co-founder, Jane Stanford?  Probably not.  But I recently came across a book called The Mysterious Death of Jane Stanford, written by Stanford Professor Robert W.P. Cutler, and published by Stanford University Press, which pretty conclusively establishes both that Mrs. Stanford was murdered and that Stanford President David Starr Jordan engaged in a cover-up of her murder which prevented it from ever been investigated or solved, leaving Jordan as a suspect.

The front page of the San Francisco Bulletin, March 1, 1905

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Wait a minute!  Where did the story about the murder of Mrs. Stanford go!?!?!  By popular demand (if annoying emails from the internet's most successful troll can be considered "popular demand"), it has been put on the front page, sans the 1000+ brilliant, hilarious, and insightful comments posted on the DBD yesterday. 

If you want to revisit Mrs. Stanford's murder, click HERE.

If you want to continue posting brilliant, hilarious, and insightful comments on the 02.17.11 DBD, scroll down and knock yourself out. 

-- CalBear81