...for highlighting what a truly awesome place CGB has turned out to be.  Thanks Avinash, CBKWit, Hydro, Rags, Twist, Fever, Berkelium, Danzig, and everyone else for making this a great place for an open, fun, lighthearted, argument-filled, hilarious way to discuss Cal sports.  It makes the workdays go quickly, makes me question my assumptions about football and I have learned more about the game from CGB than I could read in any other source.

I'm glad you all value free speech and contrasting viewpoints as much as you do, because we've all seen what the opposite is like.  Thank fuck I chose Cal. 

Thanks again guys!

GO BEARS.

Tuesday, 7/28, at 10:30am Jon Okanes will have a Livechat with Cal head coach Jeff Tedford.  As with the Jahvid Best livechat, let's aim to flood JO with as many excellent questions as possible.  Personally, I would focus on questions outside the norm: there are sure to be plenty of average questions from other folks.

Post your questions for Jeff Tedford in this thread and, please, rec the best ones. We'll compile the best ones to ask right before the chat goes live.  

Junipero (Spanish for "Juniper") Serra was an extraordinarily religious figure originally born in Spain in the 1700s.  Having moved to Mexico to teach, he was charged with leading the formation of religious missions in Alta California (Spanish for "Alt California.")  Having made his way first to San Diego (which is Spanish for--never mind) to found a mission, Serra slowly traveled up the California coast, eventually settling in what is now modern day Monterey.  Close by, he started mission Carmel where he remained stationed as one of the more awesome titles in historical figurity, "Father Presidente" to the California Missions.

But Monterey County's history is not all sleepy and religious.  A presidio was established just to the north to protect the coastline, but apparently it wasn't a very good presidio, because a pirate named Hypolito Bouchard completely tomfooled the shoreline Spanish garrisons by employing a new, cunning technique: attacking at night.  Well, not really, he merely sailed his ship close to the shore at night: so close, in fact, that the cannons which the Spanish had cemented in place at 90 degree angles could not fire on his ship.  So Bouchard mercilessly fired on shoreline Spanish homes with his Adjustable Cannons until the occupants fled, raided the homes, stole everything, burned them to the ground, and blew up the Spanish cannons too, just for snorts and jollies.  No, I don't mean he fired off celebratory rounds, he literally blew up the cannon barrels by burying them halfway in the ground and THEN firing them.  A lifetime supply of Badass Fuck Yes Points were earned by Bouchard that day, after which he sailed south and never returned.

Speaking of fires, some of you readers may recall from the news that in 2008 Big Sur was nearly engulfed by a massive series of wildfires burning nearby.  Unbeknownst to me, these fires engulfed a good measure of the area I would be traveling through, as well.  Which brings us to Junipero Serra Peak in the fourth installment of Your California: Monterey County

via img197.imageshack.us

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It was a Sunday, and I was bored out of my mind, with a subtle hint of apricot.  I had woken up with notes of cinnamon, much too late to do the 16 miles required for Discovery Peak in Alameda County.  I ate lunch and found it to be about 1.  The scent of bark and mushrooms permeated the 75 degree, sunny day as high clouds and light breezes wasted on by. Ridiculous.

Something in my laze-encrusted brain told me to get the fuck up and go somewhere or life might not be worth living, with a nice cheese assortment.  My first option was Mt. Vaca, highpoint of Solano County with tones of peppermint, but you can drive to within a half mile of the summit.  Weak. 

Or I could opt Mt. Saint Helena, a light, dry summit located above the Alexander Valley, just north of the Bay.  That’s right, in this, the 3rd installment of Your California, we get road rage at the wine tasting crowd in the very heartland of self-aggrandizing douchebaggery: Napa County.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Here we see a Self-Aggrandizing Douchebag in his native habitat, in full summer self-aggrandizing mating plumage.  The correct protocol to follow if you see one in the wild is to approach it slowly, say something like " '96 Chardonnays sure were oblique, weren't they?" and then commence with swift, repeated kicks to the testicles. 

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White Mountain Peak sits atop (get outta here) the White Mountains, the highest and westernmost of the Great Basin ranges.  It requires a left turn at The Boonies, a right turn once you reach Nowhere, then another left when you reach The Middle.  To get to the trailhead, you have to cross-and I am only partially joking-the moon, and ascend a to a breath-stealing height of close to 12000 feet, higher than the large majority of the actual county highpoints. 

It is in the rainshadow of the Sierras, so it is very dry.  It is high elevation, so there is not much oxygen.  And since it is nowhere near the tempering breezes of the Pacific Ocean, it is also cold.  There is also lava, and dinosaurs, and locusts, and ...and... welcome, welcome indeed to the highpoint of Mono County, the second entry in the 55-part county highpoint series: Your California.

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We like California. 

We either grew up here, or went to school here, or for whatever reason, think it's a pretty cool state and place to be (JShufelt can go cry and drink his rain-infused pee Oregonian beer).  But aside from rather opaque terms like "Norcal" and "Socal" and "Tahoe," very few Berkeley students I know seem to have much of a sense of place when it comes to California.  Mike Mohamed's hometown is Brawley, CA.  Off the top of your head can you tell me anything about Brawley, other than that it sounds like a good place to walk into a saloon and punch people for no reason?  When you're driving south on 5 and you look west from Kettleman City, do you wonder what is beyond those hills?  Are there In n Outs out there, too? 

We all see references to California dozens of times a day in the news, on sweatshirts, on uniforms, but what is the place behind the word?  WHERE do we really live?  I decided to find out, county by county. 

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(But bonus points for Cal).

In bygone eras, athletics were defined by personal competition: one person or group striving to better another via physical strength and ability.  It was not until the turn of the 20th century until sports, organized or otherwise, took off in popularity among the general public.  Furthermore, as time passed, sports and the spectacle of athletics became ever more present in the everyday lives of regular people, where we find ourselves today.  Athletics are a multi-billion dollar industry, in every country in every corner of the world. Multiple media networks exist solely to provide sports-related information.

via www.lostmag.com

Didn't that guy get a Web Gem last night?

How did the simple concept of physical competition get this far?  My theory is: the advent of media imagery first made possible by photography at the beginning of the 20th century enabled people to connect with athletics far more than times prior.  Regular people could now live vicariously through their athlete heroes because they could see their struggle on a daily basis through photographs.  The sports fan could put themselves in the place of the athletes in the photographs, and seemingly form a bond with someone who "shared" that struggle. 

via i.cdn.turner.com

Oh God my neck. 

But truly great sports photographs do more than show a physically gifted person on the field.  They tell a story about.  So, CGB, what is your favorite image from all sports?  Why?  What does the image tell you or make you think?  Has it affected your sports fandom?  Do you just like it because it looks cool?  Dig it up on Google images and post it...  (Also, don't feel like you have to have a long writeup or anything...just post!)

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