SB Nation User Blog: carp

DBD 12.11.09 Keep our A's in Oakland

carp — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:06:45 -0000

A lot of big stories this morning...while I'm waiting to ensure the baby's asleep before returning to my slumber I thought I'd throw up a DBD (it's 2:08 AM). All links links SF Gate, SFW, and should open in a new window unless otherwise noted. Cal-themed stories are in blockquotes.

65 people arrested in wheeler hall protest. Yawn.

Bart OK's people mover to Oakland Airport.

Epic meteor shower expected Sun night.

Bay Bridge lane closures to begin tonight.

Sports

Is he Irish enough? Notre Dame picks the 'natti's Brian Kelly to take over. I have watched 0 snaps of 'natti football so I have no idea if this is a good move. While I hate Notre Dame, I think that means I really like them. I love Notre Dame stadium, their unis, their non-conferenceness, and their history.

Just when you think the Pirates couldn't fuck up some more: Bobby Crosby signed a one year, $1 million contract to play for the Pirates.

Bruce Jenkins needs to retire.

Stanfurd hires Harbaugh's dad to be RB coach.

Clint Eastwood, who's directed Invictus starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, utilized noneother than Jack Clark (calbears.com) to help make the rugby authentic in the movie. I'm willing to pay the sitter for this one.

Finally, in huge news the City of Oakland (Caution: Carolyn Jones story) has listed three potential waterfront-ish sites for a new A's ballpark.

"We're willing to fight to keep our A's in this city," said city Councilman Larry Reid. A's owner "Lew Wolff said there's no viable stadium sites in Oakland. Well, we've proven him wrong."

I hope to Bak Bak this goes through.

Mayor Ron Dellums said Oakland offers the A's economic vitality, a solid fan base and great baseball tradition.

"Oakland and baseball are synonymous," he said. "If baseball is a game of the people, then what better place than this magnificent city that has embraced everyday people from all over the world?"

Well said, Mayor Dellums, well said. Now don't fuck this up and pay your damn taxes.

I'll get the rest of the News & World report as well as the official calbears.com stories at a more reasonable hour.

DBD 12.4.09 - Don't look past the Fuskies

carp — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:23:52 -0000

Let's make this a 3rd straight day with 1000+ comments.

Onto the News and World Report after the Yump.

All links SF Gate, SFW, and should open in a new window unless otherwise noted. Cal-themed stories are in blockquotes for your rapid scanning pleasure.

http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2009/12/03/ba-oliveridleytu_0500908415_part1.jpg

Rare giant sea turtle found in the Stinson Beach area. Biologists are drooling.

Guns and Deaths: OPD kills one suspect, wounds another in an E. Oakland apt complex. Homicide in Alameda.

Nov. unemployment rate drops to 10%.

Samoan tsunami wave was measured at 46 ft high.

Comcast makes an offer for NBC. Would, uh, love to see the Pac10 on the peacock.

Take a weekend trip to Big Sur.

Florida man lies about robbery to avoid telling wife about money he spent. As Ron White says, "You can't fix stupid."

AND YOU WILL KNOW MY NAME IS THE LORD WHEN I LAY MY VENGEANCE UPON THEE: Jesus Christ dumped from jury pool.

Jude Law's getting ex-sex (Caution: SFGate Daily Dish).

Sports

Tom Stienstra, aka the Chron's Best Columnist, on the status of Bay Area state parks.

A's aquire Jake Fox, a decent power 3b/utility guy, and Aaron Miles, a no-hit & no-field 2bmen, from the Cubs for Jeff Gray and 2 prospects. I like it, though Spencer seemed to have a very good A and AA seasons. Fox will play third when the wheels on Chavez fall off again (~March?) and Miles is the classic "I hope a change of scenery turns you into Jesus of the Double Play Pivot."

Tom Rathman and Jeff Ulbrich might be interested in HC and Asst Coaching positions at SJSU.

In case you were hiking in Iraq: Oregon's going to the Rose Bowl. Well, to date Cal's lost to 3 quality teams. I was thinking for a minute that this would be a wacky year if OSU won. Hopefully Scott and Company can build off the success of the teams on the field and the Pac10's success off it (regarding the better bowl agreements).

YO Thurs. night update:

To beat Washington, Cal will have to do so without starting left guard Matt Summers-Gavin. He has been ruled out of Saturday’s game because of the concussion he sustained against Stanford. This is the fourth game Summers-Gavin has missed this season — the previous three were because of a shoulder injury. Mark Boskovich and Richard Fisher will split time in Summers-Gavin’s place.

Cornerback Syd’Quan Thompson returned to practice tonight and is a go for Saturday. And the field goal kicker will once again be decided during pre-game warm-ups.

Coach Jeff Tedford didn’t have a report about Jahvid Best’s meeting with concussion specialist Michael Connors at the University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Center. He was scheduled to get a debriefing from a team doctor later tonight. But he did explain why Best was sent to Pittsburgh, even though he said Best hasn’t complained about concussion symptoms for a couple of weeks.

"How often do you get taken off on a stretcher?" he said. "If you have a headache, you’re not going to send him to Pittsburgh. If you take him off on a stretcher, you’re going to send him to Pittsburgh. We’re going to exhaust everything we can to make sure he’s OK."

I will be traveling to Seattle tomorrow and am not sure if I will have time to get on here before I leave. If not, I will certainly check in from the Pacific Northwest. The forecast actually doesn’t call for rain, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

That's about it for Cal-content on teh Internetz that isn't Sun Bowl-related. We wouldn't want to bring on bad juju.

Oh yeah, nominate Carlee for SI Cheerleader of the Week or die.

DBD 11.24.09 - Huck the Fuskies?

carp — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:25:55 -0000

Their TE is talking about running it up on our beloved Cougs in the Apple Cup. A win @ UDub and a quality bowl game performance and things are on the up and up...which should put Cal in line for another highly bloated preseason ranking in 2010.

I realize this is putting the cart before the horse, but they're not that far from that preseason ranking.

Baby carp says "wauuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhh.........eeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhh.............ploooozzzzzz" or, in adult talk "I just took a dump in your arms."

Wilner writes what I was pondering:

If anything, Vereen is better as the primary ballcarrier than as the backup, which happens with many backs because they get into a rhythm carrying the ball play after play.

Now, let’s be 1,000% clear:

1. I’m not about to suggest that Vereen is more talented than Best

2. Or that Vereen’s a better playmaker than Best

3. Or a better pro prospect

4. Or that the coaching staff blew it by playing Best instead of Vereen.

Not suggesting any of that in any way.

But after watching two all-Vereen, all-the-time performances, I do wonder if Cal is more effective right now with Vereen than it would be with Best healthy and starting and getting the ball 15-20 times per game.

And I can’t help but wonder if the increased physicality of Cal’s offensive linemen has at least something to do with the fact that they have a more physical runner behind them.

I know: That’s all CRAZY TALK!

But here’s how it looks from the Hotline perspective: Vereen runs straight ahead more often than Best and he runs between the tackles better than Best – he has a little Jacquizz Rodgers in him, in that respect (a small back who runs with power up the middle).

And it sure seems that for the Bears, as currently composed, a steady between-the-tackles runner is what’s needed.

If Cal had a high-precision passing game and could move the ball consistently with five- or seven- or 11-yard passes, maybe I’d feel differently. Then you want the best big-play tailback in the country.

But the Bears’ aerial attack is both high-risk and inconsistent. It’s not like Kevin Riley is a completion machine, or his receivers catch everything thrown to them or the offensive line is a pass protection wall of granite.

All of those things happen sometimes, but not nearly enough for Cal to move the ball effectively against quality defenses.

So without a consistent passing game, the Bears need something to help them in the ball-control department. I mean, an inconsistent aerial attack and an all-or-nothing running game is a recipe for trouble against sound defenses.

And Vereen seems like a better fit than Best in the ball-control department. He almost always runs straight ahead and almost always churns out three or four yards between the tackles — and he can bust one for 20 or 30 or 60 once in a while, too.

That’s how you win conference road games in November – not by hitting one or two long runs each game, but by churning out first downs, dominating the ball and overpowering opponents between the tackles.

Vereen gives Cal a better chance to do that then Best.

I wouldn't mind seeing Vereen getting the rock 20 times a game and watching Best get 20 "touches" in other creative ways. Will we get the chance to see that in 2010?

Cal-Nevada agree to 3 game series

carp — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:22:35 -0000

Cal-Nevada agree to 3 game series

Sweet! Next year @ Nevada, then Cal hosts Nevada twice. Tahoe's great in the fall.

carp's crazy thoughts for a Thursday: Comparing recruiting data, BCS rankings, and the salaries of coaches.

carp — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:16:48 -0000

I believe this is the first crazy thought of the season. Other posts in this series can be found here, here, and here. The key piece to this post is the following chart:

via farm3.static.flickr.com

Analysis after the Yump.

These 44 teams have appeared in Rivals Top 25 recruiting rankings in the past 5 years (some, of course, not every year). I used this to try and find an "appropriate sample." All should know that star ratings are slanted towards the "traditional" powerhouses because that sells subscriptions. However, it’s the best system we have (sound like the BCS?).

Cal ranks #20 in the average star rankings over the last 5 years according to Rivals. The 19 teams in front of them are all the traditional powerhouses. Since 2005, Cal’s average star ratings have dropped 0.48 stars and Cal has been below their 5 season mean (3.13) for the last 3 seasons. Of those 44 teams, only 15 are currently ranked in the latest BCS standings.

USA Today notes that several programs didn’t wish to include all or parts of their coaching salaries including Pitt, Notre Dame, Stanfurd, USC, Penn St, and Florida. It appears many of these coaches get paid in creative ways. I believe Wilner wrote recently that Harbaugh makes somewhere between $750k and $1.25 million. I went with $1 million, but that’s just a guess because they declined to participate. Weis’ salary was found from federal tax documents by USA Today.

Jeff Tedford’s total salary (not including bonuses) is tied for 8th on the list and is 2nd highest in the Pac10. Cal ranks 17th nationally in amount spent on all coaches.

Cal is second to last in total assistant coach (TAC) salaries at $1.458 million. On that list, only Minnesota pays their coaches less. This places them either #7 or #8 in the Pac10, depending on how much the ‘furd pays their coaches and assuming that USC pays their coaches well. Of this list, I count 25 schools that pay their coaches $500k more than Cal. Fiducial markers include public schools like UCLA (nearly $400k higher), Washington ($600k higher), Texas ($1.5 million higher), North Carolina ($500k higher) and Missouri ($700k higher). Note that I didn’t even mention the SEC schools. If one considers the cost of living in the Bay Area or SoCal compared to anywhere else, then these numbers become particularly alarming.

I found the comparison between the HC salary and the TAC salaries to be very interesting. Of the participating schools, the difference between these two categories is $100k or less at Texas, Nebraska, Illinois, Florida St, Maryland, ASU, and Oregon. If Cal, for example, paid all of their assistants $100k less than what Tedford makes, they’d have the third highest TAC payroll in the nation. Cal is behind only Florida, Texas, and Ohio St for the largest difference between HC salary and TAC salaries. Of those four schools, guess who pays both their HC and assistants less? Did I mention cost of living? Additionally, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Clemson have TAC salaries that are $980k or higher than the HC salary. I counted 15 schools on that list that have higher TAC salaries than HC salary.

I’m not advocating that Coach Tedford operate his football program like UCOP. However, it’s starting to appear that Cal Football is losing this arms race both regionally and nationally. While guys like Lupoi and Gould seem like excellent coaches from the reports I’ve read, Cal’s replaced two recent departures (Coaches M and Cignetti) with two journeymen (Coaches Marshall and Ludwig). Coach Marshall probably has enough NFL and college apparel to start his own Champs store while Ludwig’s jumped from Oregon-->Utah-->K-St (for like 5 min)-->Cal. Despite this I believe both are making what appear to be excellent salaries (6 figures), but perhaps compared to assistants at other schools they’re underpaid. Coach Lupoi, a grad assistant who seemed to only be valuable to Cal at the time, was aggressively promoted to D-line coach. While he seems like a solid pickup, would it have been possible to bring him along more slowly and hire a more experienced coach to man one of the most important positions in football? Was this a budget-driven move? Tennessee and their ridiculous bankroll hired former Mississippi head coach and renowned recruiter Ed Orgeron as their D-line coach.

Let’s look at the resume of Cal’s WR coach Kevin Daft:

Coaching Accomplishments
• Enters his second year as the team's wide receivers coach after one season working with the quarterbacks.
• Took over a young group of Cal receivers that had just 13 career catches as a unit entering 2008 and has turned them into an experienced group that will battle each other for playing time in 2009.
• Hired as the Bears' full-time quarterbacks coach in January of 2007 and helped the team's signal-callers throw for over 3,000 yards for just the sixth time in program history.
• Spent three years working with the Cal offensive line as a graduate assistant, assisting with game-planning, opponent scouting and individual player development.
• Coached the quarterbacks for one season at UC Davis, his alma mater.

Accomplishments as a Player
• Selected in the fifth round of the 1999 NFL Draft by Tennessee and was a quarterback for the Titans during their run to the 1999 Super Bowl.
• Also a member of the San Diego Chargers (2000), Atlanta Falcons (2000) and San Francisco 49ers (2001) before rejoining the Titans in 2002, where he set an NFL Europe record by throwing for 30 career touchdown passes.
• Led the Scottish Claymores to the NFL Europe World Bowl in 2000 and played for the Amsterdam Admirals in 2002.
• Spent two seasons in the Arena Football League, with the San Jose SaberCats in 2003 and the Indiana Firebirds in 2004.
• One of the most prolific passers in the history of UC Davis, Daft set five NCAA Division II records and still ranks third in passing yards (7,601) and second in touchdown passes (68) at the school.
• A two-time All-American who led the Aggies to the Divison II semifinals.
• Also a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy and played in both the Hula Bowl and the Blue-Gray All-Star game.
• Inducted into the UC Davis Athletic Hall of Fame in June 2005.

I’m no HydroTech, but I don’t see much in the way of "WR experience."

Let’s look at the resume of TE/Special Teams Coordinator Pete Alamar:

Coaching Accomplishments

• Has coached four teams that won at least 10 games with his 1993 and 1998 Arizona teams going 10-2 and 12-1, respectively, and 10-2 and 10-3 seasons with the Golden Bears in 2004 and 2006.
• Coached 2008 freshman All-American punter Bryan Anger to second team All-Pac-10 honors and Ray Guy Award semifinalist recognition in his rookie collegiate season.
• Has coached tight ends that have been selected in the NFL Draft in each of the last two seasons in Cameron Morrah (Seattle, 2009, seventh round) and Craig Stevens (Tennessee, 2008, third round) with Stevens also a two-time All-Pac-10 choice.
• Has placed specialists on All-Pac-10 teams in each of the last six years - Bryan Anger, Jahvid Best, Mike McGrath and Byron Storer.
• Alamar's special teams flourished during the 2006 season, when the Bears ranked fourth in the nation in punt returns (17.26) and eighth in net punting (38.27), and Sporting News rated Cal's special teams units as the best in the Pac-10 in its 2007 preview issue.
• All-American punt returner DeSean Jackson led the nation in punt return average in 2006 (18.20), including a national-best and Pac-10 record four returns for touchdowns.
• In 2005, Cal ranked fifth nationally and second in the Pac-10 in punt return average (15.64). Tim Mixon ranked ninth in the country in punt returns (14.9) in 2005.
• Placekicker Tom Schneider set a school record for most PATs in 2004 with 56.
• While working with the defensive line at Arizona in 1993, the Wildcats led the nation in rushing defense and ranked second in the NCAA in total defense.

Prominent Pupils

• Mike Lucky (Arizona) - All-Pac-10 tight end that played in the Hula Bowl and then spent four seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys.
• Brandon Manumaleuna (Arizona) - Two-time All-Pac-10 tight end that has played eight seasons in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers.
• Cameron Morrah (California) - Selected by the Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft after making a team-high eight touchdown receptions last season.
• Paul Shields (Arizona) - H-Back played two seasons in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts.
• Craig Stevens (California) - A third round NFL Draft pick of the Tennessee Titans in 2008; All-Pac-10 honoree at tight end.
• Byron Storer (California) - Three-time All-Pac-10 selection as a special teams player who has spent the last two NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after signing as a free agent in 2007.

Accomplishments as a Player

• Earned three letters as an offensive guard/offensive tackle, one at Western Oregon and two at Cal Lutheran.
• Played on two national playoff teams, one at each school.

Coaching History
2003-Present CaliforniavSpecial Teams Coordinator/Tight Ends

2002 Eastern Michigan Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends

2000-01 Eastern Michigan Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line

1998-99 Arizona Special Teams/Tight Ends

1997 Arizona Special Teams/Linebackers

1996 Arizona Special Teams/Tight Ends

1995 Arizona Tight Ends

1994 Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon Head Coach

1993 Arizona Graduate Assistant

1991-92 James Madison Tight Ends/Defensive Assistant

1987-88 Cal Poly Running Backs

1985-86 Cal Lutheran Offensive Line

1984 Louisiana-Lafayette Graduate Assistant

1983 Cal Poly Graduate Assistant

I particularly enjoyed the 1994 entry, where the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon made ALAMAARRRRRRRRRRR their head coach. Let’s say he had a couple of nice seasons in Arizona where he may or may not have been THE KEY, and now he’s been coaching the special teams at Cal for too long. No wonder Anger went to high school coach. What the hell is a guard from Cal Lutheran going to teach him about punting? However, I must say he’s done a good job with the tight ends.

Let’s look at the resume of Recruiting Coordinator/LB Coach Kenwick Thompson:

Coaching Accomplishments
• Joined the Golden Bear coaching staff in January of 2007 after six years with the San Jose State program.
• Cal's returning linebackers rank first in the Pac-10 among returning linebackers in tackles (334) and second in sacks (9.5) and tackles for loss (26.5).
• The Bear linebackers accounted for 48 percent of Cal's sacks and 43 percent of the team's tackles for loss in 2007 while also forcing seven fumbles.
• Coached the defensive tackles at San Jose State in 2006, helping the Spartans advance to the New Mexico Bowl, where they defeated host New Mexico. It was the program's first bowl victory since 1990 as well as its first nine-win season since 1990.
• The Spartans ranked third in the Western Athletic Conference in both scoring defense and total defense in 2006.
• After joining the San Jose State staff in 2001 as its linebackers coach, Thompson added recruiting coordinator duties from 2002 to 2004.
• Also spent seven years at Texas Southern University, including the last five (1996-2000) as the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.

Accomplishments as Player
• A two-time all-conference selection and his conference's Defensive Player of the Year in 1990 at Harding.
• Served as a team captain.
• Recorded 30 career quarterback sacks, a school record that still stands, and led the Bison in sacks in each of his last two seasons.

Coaching History

2007 - California Linebackers

2006 SJSU Defensive Tackles

2005 SJSU Strength & Conditioning Coach

2004 SJSU D-line/Co-Recruiting Coordinator/Co-Special Teams

2002-2003 SJSU LB/Recruiting Coordinator

2001 SJSU LB Coach

1996-2000 Texas Southern Asst Head Coach/DC

1995 Texas Souther D-line/Recruiting Coordinator

1994 Texas Southern RB Coach

1991-1992 Harding Grad Asst

1990 Italian-American Football Association Assistant Coach

I love the job he’s done with recruiting, particularly in Texas and Louisiana. However, his resume suggests he has modest experience with LB’s and very little BCS-caliber LB experience.

My point: Is Tedford’s budget so tight that he’s uncompetitive for assistant coaches or does he simply not want "guys like that" in his program? Is Cal hiring the best coaches or bottom-of-the-barrel types? If Cal paid Coach M more, would he have left for UDub and then the Raiders? I see a bunch of coaches who either have experience at inferior institutions, have experience at other positions, have little experience altogether, or have bounced around more established programs/NFL teams. I suppose the answer is what it always is, "I dunno, but I’m sure they’re doing their best!" but I’d be interested to hear the opinions of others.

carp’s knee-jerk, half-baked, $0.02 opinion:

Let Bob Gregory go. Cal’s regressed defensively. Call it a change of pace or what not. He had a modest resume to begin with, he’s had plenty of chances, and Cal’s come a long way since the 2001 season. Time to take this to the next level.
Offer Ron English three times the money he’s currently making as HC at E. Michigan and make him the DC. That would be $900k, as USA Today reports his current salary at $300k. I don’t give a damn if he runs a 4-3, 3-4, or a hybrid so long as it works.
Keep Lupoi and Thompson at the same salary and have them co-coach D-line/pass rushing LB’s. Keep Thompson as Recruiting Coordinator. Give them slight raises for being good sports.
Hire a LB coach who either emphasizes stopping the run, coverage, or both. Having an established BCS school track record without owning a Champs sporting goods store would be ideal.
Say to Al Simmons "WTF, this ain’t the ’03 Niners or Cal St Hayward!"
Keep Alamar at the same salary and have him coach the TE’s.
Hire an established Special Teams Coordinator (again, BCS track record w/o owning a Champs). If this person thinks it’s a good idea, hire a kicking game specialist who, you know, has actually kicked a football (Tom Schneider?).
Hire a WR coach who’s actually has WR experience either from their playing career or coaching career. Again, this hire will have a quality resume.
Keep Daft at the same salary and make him your QB coach since he is, after all, a QB by training and the most prolific DII passer evair. Allow Ludwig and Tedford to do their respective jobs but to interject when the QB’s have less than Aaron Rodgers-like form. Groom him so that perhaps he or Gould could be the next OC if Ludwig leaves or gets fired.
Pay Ron Gould whatever the hell he wants. Do not lose him.
Give Ludwig a raise. I like ‘em, let’s keep him here. He doesn’t need to be the 45th highest paid assistant coach.
Keep Marshall if he’s a good coach. His short term stops are eyebrow raising, but he’s at least a proven commodity and I’m not qualified to determine if he’s the root of the O-line’s problem. Send Coach M a text message with 1.5 times the salary that the Raiders pay him and see if he bites. Fire Marshall only if preliminary conversations with clearly superior candidates are positive.

References:

2005-2009 recruiting rankings gathered from Rivals

Current BCS rankings taken from ESPN The Ocho

Head and Assistant Coaches salaries taken from USA Today

Coach resumes taken from calbears.com

DBD 11.11.09 Hang on

carp — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:42:10 -0000

As the sumatra percolates to afford legal crack, I'd thought I'd remind everyone to keep the faith. The next 2-4 games could be L's in the W/L department and I'd hate to see everyone flip their shit because of it. However, use your problem solving skills to try and come up with a potential remedy since this is, after all, an SBN blog and Blez wouldn't have it any other way. I would like to see Tedford stay at least four years after the completion of the facilities, so that he can recruit at competitively and actually develop his players. I honestly fear, however, that L's in the coming weeks could accelerate the panic button. We know it will already becoming from the Bear Insider peeps, but lets make sure it doesn't happen here. He's a great coach, and I don't think we could find better. He's working in a UC system that's lead by an evil dickhead, the faculty are cramping the athletic department's style, and his assistant coaches aren't paid competitively. You should refi and cut 'em a big check. Onto the News & World Report after The Yump

All links SFGate, SFW, and should open in a new window unless otherwise noted. Cal-related stories are in blockquotes for your rapid viewing pleasure.

Fuck those guys, and the horses they rode in on. American soldiers find half a million pounds of ammonium nitrate, a chemical used in explosives (NYT).

Trash islands in your oceans (NYT). Remember that when you toss your empty Dorrito's bag on the ground.

Minnesota man assaults coworker with a backhoe:

Prosecutors charged the co-owner of a Hermantown construction company with allegedly assaulting a construction worker with a backhoe. The criminal complaint said a 48-year-old man told investigators he wanted to "nudge" the victim, but didn't want to hurt him. He also said it was a stupid thing to do.

Family of truck driver is pissed at Cal Trans. Who isn't? That's a long line. Quit looking for a handout and mourn your lost family member.

DC sniper executed. Can't believe that was 7 years ago. Wish they fired up Ol' Sparky for this one.

Yoo's attorneys seem desperate:

"Threatening executive branch lawyers with personal liability for reaching allegedly incorrect legal conclusions regarding the constitutionality of a president's wartime actions would infringe on the core war-making authority that the Constitution reserves to the political branches," said attorney Manuel Miranda.

Take a stroll through an SF beauty.

Research says I need more sleep (NYT).

Trying to understand the definition of "crazy." (NYT)

Sports

Sammy Sosa's bleaching his skin? (CBS)

The A's don't know who'll be playing 3rd next year. I don't see how this differs from other years.

Miller discusses Pac10's Round Robin (ESPN The Ocho).

Everyone misses Best:

"Jahvid is one of those guys who has a little special aura around him," offensive tackle Mike Tepper said. "He's not your T.O. (Terrell Owens). He's very humble, very quiet. When he walks into a room, he doesn't really need to say very much because everybody knows he's there. So you notice his absence."

Cal players have not seen Best since he was carted off the field at Memorial Stadium, strapped to a backboard and wearing an oxygen mask. That naturally was a disconcerting sight, and several players spoke eagerly of wanting to see Best again.

Tafur on Cal hoops:

Well, this season, turn on the lights and get out from behind the couch. Opposing teams will not be caught off guard by the Bears, thanks to their four returning senior starters, two of the best shooters in the country and a No. 13 national ranking.

"The rankings are based on a formula," Montgomery said. "If that team lost two or three players, and you didn't, then you're better. ... I like our team, but it certainly isn't as clear-cut as what would appear or what people would like it to be. ... I hope they're right."

Montgomery enjoyed last season immensely, and this one should be just as fun, with more pressure sprinkled on top. He has the conference's only two returning All-Pac-10 players in Randle and shooting guard Patrick Christopher, not to mention small forward Theo Robertson, who shot 49 percent from three-point range last season.

Bears w/ Fangs has an epic post (I posted a part of it, but you should read it all):

Cal doesn’t have the pass rushers this year
While I wrote last week that the Bears needed to be judicious about when and how to bring pressure, I did so with the understanding that we’d get killed on middle screens if we decided to send the house every play. It didn’t mean I didn’t think we needed to blitz, I just thought we had to be incredibly careful as to how we did so.

Yes, I don’t think Cal pressured Canfield nearly enough on Saturday. There were far too many instances when we were bringing just 3 or 4 pass rushers, which simply isn’t enough for a QB who had been shredding up similar defensive packages all year.

Yet, I distinctly recall Cal having much more success with this last year, despite only brining three to five pass rushers specifically. Last year, opposing offensive lines were being beaten not just by linemen, but our linebackers who excelled at shedding blocks, disguising their blitzes, and jumping the snap quickly to put adequate pressure on the QB.

While the defensive line this year has played up to par as last year, this falls more on the absence of a strong pass rusher at the LB position. I really don’t want to hear too much about our defensive line struggling, because they’ve really been the rock of this defense this year. I think we severely underestimated the losses at LB, and not having the pass rusher in Zach Follett or versatile MLB in Worrell Williams is really rearing its head in games where we aren’t seeing the success we used to when we do decide to send one or two extra linebackers or linemen.

Secondary Seconds
Many had expected Cal’s struggling secondary to have a potentially long day ahead against OSU’s potent passing attack, and well—they did. Sean Canfield was a sharp 29-39 for 342 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT. Saturday marked the seventh time this season that an opposing QB has thrown for more than 200 yards against the Bears (the exceptions being Maryland and Eastern Washington), and the fourth time that a QB has gone more than 300.

While the struggles in Cal’s secondary are head shakingly perplexing, some of it might be a lot easier to digest if you accept that Cal has struggled to field its four most consistent players in the backfield for this season.

While Syd’Quan Thompson has had his momentary lapses and battles with the injury bug, he’s still played like the preseason all-conference player that he is. The issue has been Cal’s inability to find the answer at the other CB spot.

Darian Hagan has become a near afterthought after his solid sophomore season has been followed up with inconsistent play, injury, and a team suspension. The aforementioned items has sent him plummeting down the depth chart behind RS frosh Josh Hill, Chris Conte, and Bryant Nnabuife.

And while all four of these players have gotten nods at the second DB spot this season, none seem to have played with the level of consistency to make opposing QBs hesitate just a little about throwing the ball to their side of the field. In fact, their play has essentially screamed, “Open” at certain moments of the season.

Similarly, while I’m pleased with the decision to place Sean Cattouse at one of the safety positions (I think the kid might be the best natural secondary player we have next to Squid right now), Cal has also struggled in the safety position. The most recent revelation that safety Marcus Ezeff has missed practices over the last few years to finish his degree on time has partially explained why his play has essentially stagnated over the past season, if not slightly regressed. Brent Johnson has showed the ability to lay some devastating hits, but has also found himself out of position on a few key passing plays this year as well.

Bears Burned in the Middle
Cal has struggled all year to defend tight ends or receivers over the middle, and the story wasn’t any different with Joe Halahuni steamrolling the Bears for 6 catches and 128 yards. The Bears haven’t been able to find an answer at a coverage linebacker who can adequately match one-on-one with tight ends, and safeties have struggled to keep the tight ends bottled up once they’ve snuck out 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. It’s quite frustrating to see it happen time and time again, which makes you wonder if it’s a constant issue in execution (which might reflect coaching) or simply a lack of personnel.

DBD 10.29.09 If you click on this link, you better post

carp — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:02:11 -0000

Warm title, no? For the Lurkers out there, feel free to bring a link about anything interesting (Cal-related or not). Alternatively, make a joke or mock someone. In other words, participate! Onto the News and World Report:

All links SF Gate, SFW, and should open in a new window unless otherwise noted. Cal-related stories are in block quotes. Baby had to be rocked for a good 40 min so we runnin' this early bird style.

via travel.latimes.com

Why should we trust you this time: Bay Bridge may be repaired by tonight. Is it safe?

Public option? Yeah right. New bill aims to make it an option for those that don't have employer-based insurance.

Affordable housing in Walnut Creek (stop laughing).

Fox News admits they aren't fair and balanced.

RI motorist drove with man in the windshield. Think about that for a minute.

Obama meets caskets of fallen troops (LAT).

Shooter targeting SoCal synagogues (LAT).

Cell phone radiation weakens bones (LAT).

Fighting prostate cancer with facial hair (LAT).

Sex pheromones are bending the laws of attraction (ARA Lifestyle via LAT).

Enjoy poblanos this holiday season. Check out new pizzerias.

We goin' to Sizzler tonight: CA to award $230 million dollars in nonembryonic stem cell grants (NYT). Why I have to read about it in the NY Times is another issue.

Sports

Cliff Lee was carvin'. 10 K's against that lineup is quite impressive.

The LA Times notes that the top four ranked teams could all be playing in the Rose Bowl.

Kroichek on Cal-ASU:

Saturday's game at Arizona State might offer some insight. The Bears (5-2, 2-2 Pac-10) will meet an ASU team (4-3, 2-2) similarly searching for its identity, trying to determine if it will rise toward the top of the conference standings or drift toward the bottom. Plus, Cal must hit the road and play in front of a hostile crowd.

Put another way: The Bears should learn more about themselves Saturday than they did in victories over UCLA and Washington State the past two weeks.

"It'll be good to get a more quality opponent and really see what we're all about," linebacker Mike Mohamed said.

It was striking to hear Mohamed candidly wonder which Cal team will show up in Tempe. Much like fans, Mohamed sees the wide disparity between the way the Bears played in their five turbocharged wins and the way they played in their two disheartening losses.

"The biggest thing is, can we get the explosive Cal out there? The Cal that scores points early in the first quarter and then the defense shuts guys down," Mohamed said. "We've kind of seen opposite sides of Cal at times, mainly the USC and Oregon games. We're hoping to go out there, put up some points and then hold their offense."

The Bears jumped ahead early the past two games, each time scoring 35 points by halftime. That helped the defense, which knew opponents had to crank up their passing game. Cal surrendered gobs of yardage to UCLA and WSU, but only six second-half points.

Don't count on another gaudy first-half outburst Saturday. Coach Jeff Tedford likened Arizona State's defense to USC's - an ominous comparison, because the Bears managed only one field goal Oct. 3 against the Trojans.

Cal also could find itself in a close game for the first time all season.

Kawahara:
Facing an ASU defense that Tedford said is similar to USC's in its personnel and speed, then, means preparing mentally for a game in which ground gains may come in smaller increments.

"We have to educate them to that," Tedford said. "They're going to be watching tape all week long, so it's not going to be a surprise, but it's something we've got to make sure that our mindset is right -- and that our mindset is that we're playing a very difficult defense."

Wilner:

Here’s something that could play no role, a minor or a major role: The weather.

Latest forecast for Eugene on Saturday evening: 50s, breezy and rain.

Now, I realize Matt Barkley isn’t your typical freshman quarterback in any way, shape or form. But I’d be curious to know when he last played a game in the rain. Has he ever played in the rain?

And regardless of that answer, he has not played a game in the rain against a defense like Oregon’s — that, we know for sure.

(If you don’t think playing in the cold, rain and wind could be an issue for a USC quarterback who was raised in SoCal, then you didn’t hear about Mark Sanchez’s five INT performance against the Bills in the cold rain in East Rutherford a few weeks ago.)

I came out of last weekend neutral on this game. But now, after pondering the matchups and the momentum, and after seeing that weather forecast, I’m leaning green.

Feels like a Duck day.

Last week: 2-3
Season: 20-23-3
Five-star special: 4-4

All picks against the spread.
Lines taken from the Mercury News.

USC (minus-3) at OREGON: Line opened at 4.5 and has been bet down to three just about everywhere, according to vegasinsider.com. Ducks won two years ago in Eugene, by a touchdown, in similar circumstances (i.e., the best teams in the league, huge stakes). Gimme: Oregon.

CAL (minus-6.5) at ARIZONA STATE: If Cal plays well, it’ll stomp the Devils. But Cal has been known to not play very well on the road. I’ve gone back and forth on this one, but with the number under 7, the favorite feels right. Gimme: Cal

Oskitalk:

The Bears do have some issues on the team. The defensive secondary and the LBs look like they need some improvement, and the mindset of Kevin Riley is critical. That being said, these kids can improve and they will. And, regardless of what people say - it is not the schemes of the coaches that are causing these lapses. It is the execution of the field. That is the least fixable part of the game - fixable generally only through recruiting. So stop killing yourselves because the kids are not as good as you thought they were. Over time, we will get better.

Miller picks Cal:

California 27, Arizona State 20: Arizona State's defense will mostly redeem itself after its letdown at Stanford, but the Sun Devils offense will make Cal's disappointing defense look stout again.

Miller:

2. Were Arizona State's defensive numbers a mirage? Last weekend, Stanford piled up 473 yards -- 237 yards rushing -- against the Sun Devils, who entered the game ranked seventh in the nation in total defense (248 yards per game) and second vs. the run (58 yards per game). It's fair to ask if the Sun Devils' previously impressive defensive numbers were a function of the middling-to-poor offenses they faced during the early going. They can answer that question by shutting down -- or at least slowing down -- California and running back Jahvid Best.

6. Riley must be sharp in Tempe: Arizona State is going to gang up against Cal's run game, and the Sun Devils have enough talent and speed to make things hard on Best and the Bears' offensive line. That means, however, that there are going to be opportunities in the passing game. Can Cal QB Kevin Riley take advantage? He's been hot and cold much of the season. This would be a good time for some consistent execution. Of course, ASU ranks third in the nation with 13 interceptions.

Item 6 scares the crap out of me. Here's hoping he makes me eat my shorts.

DBD 10.27.09: Oh Snap!

carp — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:46:04 -0000

carp's News and World Report

All links SF Gate, SFW, and should open in a new window unless otherwise noted. Cal related stories are in blockquotes for your rapid retrieval pleasure.

Our DBD kicks things off with a doozy: Cal profs want Cal Athletics to stop subsidizing sports.

But a growing number of Cal academics are disturbed by the practice, arguing that the prestigious research university should not subsidize elite athletes at a time of soaring college costs, faculty furloughs and reduced course offerings.

The faculty, which will debate the issue at next month's Faculty Senate meeting, is not alone. Now the independent Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics - formed 20 years ago by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to raise academic standards in college sports - is turning its attention to an out-of-control "arms race" among college football programs competing to pay increasingly high coaches' salaries and other associated costs.

"The data is eye-opening and quite troubling - athletic expenditures are rising three or four times faster than academic budgets," said William "Brit" Kirwan, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. He's co-chairman of the Knight Commission, which on Monday released a survey of university presidents' views on the cost of programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the nation's 120 top college football teams.

"We're painfully aware of the global fiscal implosion and the impact it's having on academic institutions," Kirwan said. "As a result, 75 percent of presidents say we can't continue on this path."

Deficits common

Only 24 of the 120 top teams operate in the black, with deficits averaging $10 million per school, he said.

Those deficits are typically made up by loans or gifts of university funds.

This year, UC Berkeley's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics - whose football team is in the Bowl Subdivision - is projected to run a deficit of nearly $6 million, rising to $6.4 million next year.

To make ends meet, Chancellor Robert Birgeneau expects to lend the athletes more than $12 million by the end of next year from a $165 million discretionary fund of interest income, gifts and undesignated bequests, said Cal spokesman Dan Mogulof.

The athletics department itself has a budget of nearly $65 million, which it uses for everything from heating the swim team's pool to paying football coach Jeff Tedford's salary - $2.3 million last year.

No tax money goes into that budget. Mogulof said it's funded from a combination of revenue from the men's football and basketball teams, gifts, student registration fees and the chancellor's funds.

It's not enough

But the income isn't enough. For years, the athletics department has spent more than it has taken in.

"The chancellor is disturbed by these deficits and is pressing athletics to close the gap as quickly as possible," Mogulof said, noting that the terms of repayment for the current loans have not been decided.

The last time the athletes ran up a multiyear debt - owing the university $31.4 million by 2007 - the bill was forgiven, according to a written explanation of Cal's athletics budget and policies prepared in response to questions from the faculty.

Some debt-ridden academic programs have also had loans forgiven, the document says.

But Birgeneau "is fully committed to ensuring that the short-term loans will be paid back in full," Mogulof said.

Meanwhile, a group of faculty members who have dubbed themselves a Sports Grinch Club objects to the use of any university funds being spent on intercollegiate athletics.

"We ought to stop subsidizing this program," said Michael O'Hare, a professor at Cal's Goldman School of Public Policy. He and others say the loss to the school far outweighs any benefit because elite athletes generally have lower graduation rates and receive unfair benefits compared with regular students.

He said the Faculty Senate - the voice of tenured instructors in university governance - will consider a nonbinding resolution at its Nov. 5 meeting to end the subsidies.

via imgs.sfgate.com

Home prices rise for the third straight month.

Renowned Bay Area Landscape Architect Lawrence Halprin dies:

Lawrence Halprin, the Bay Area landscape architect who pushed the design of America's urban spaces in new directions over a career that spanned 60 years, died Sunday of natural causes. He was 93.

He left his mark at all scales, from the crafting of San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square in the 1960s to the transformation of the 52-acre base of Yosemite Falls that was completed in 2005.

Mr. Halprin's best-known national work is the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C. - a saga that began when he won a design competition in 1976 but wasn't completed until the memorial opened in 1997.

"He was the single most influential landscape architect of the postwar years," said Charles Birnbaum, president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation. "He redefined the profession's role in cities."

The article notes that he also did Greenwood Common and Sproul Plaza.

This guy loves making the walls of buildings covered with ivy .

California’s never ending water war continues, this time involving Delta water which provides water for 24 million people or two-thirds of the entire state population (including SoCal). I don’t know about you, but I’m a little skeptical the yahoos in Sacramento are going to get this right.

West Hollywood : The place for Halloween.

‘Shroom in Mendocino.

Cougar has her prey: "Age thing" doesn’t stop this San Mateo couple:

Greg Sanders was 21 and a recent transplant from St. Louis when the naturally exuberant Debra DuPree, then 35, drove up next to him on Highway 101 and started waving her hands. His truck was splashed with stickers for Dent Wizard, advertising dent repair. He thought the animated blonde was trying to get him to pull over and give her an estimate.

For runaways, sex buys survival (NYT).

Well this is depressing: Only 2% of integrated circuits used for military purposes are built in the USA. The article says that Trojan horses represent one of the most severe threats to our military (NYT).

We didn’t start the fire: CalFire possibly lit up the Santa Cruz mountains. I believe they’re typically a rag-tag unit comprised of firefighters no city or county would want coupled with prisoners.

Chronicle’s new strategy is working: Charge more, distribute less . Not to worry, I still get their news for free. Did you know a NYT regional office went up in SF and will deliver a 2-4 page long Bay Area section?

In the first of a seven part series, the NYT present skullduggery. This article is in regards to FDR and the Dakota droughts of 1936.

Cancer: Treatment and Research

In what I consider to be kick-ass news, Cal and UCSF are teaming up to understand cancer:

Scientists at UC Berkeley and UCSF have formed a research center to explore the physical principles that govern the origin and behavior of cancer cells, and how they multiply in humans.

With a five-year, $15.6 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, the UC researchers have formed the Physical Sciences-Oncology Center where they will seek to understand the mysterious ways that cancer - its onset and responses to radiation and chemotherapy - are subject to the laws of physics.

The NCI announced the new grant Monday and said that related centers with similar goals have been created at 11 other major universities and research centers, and that all the groups will be collaborating with each other.

Physicists, chemists, engineers and mathematicians will be linked with physicians to probe the mechanisms of the disease's many aspects. Researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UCSF's Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center also will be included.

"By bringing a fresh set of eyes to the study of cancer, these new centers have a great potential to advance, and sometimes challenge, accepted theories about cancer and its supportive microenvironment," said Dr. John E. Niederhuber, the NCI director. "Physical scientists think in terms of time, space, pressure, heat, and evolution in ways that we hope will lead to new understandings of the multitude of forces that govern cancer - and with that understanding, we hope to develop new and innovative methods of arresting tumor growth and metastasis."

Director of the new UC center is Berkeley research biophysicist Jan T. Liphardt, and the co-director is UCSF pathologist Thea Tlsty. Neither could be reached for comment.

If there are any undergrads or grads reading this, think about getting involved with this. What a perfect combination. Thank you stimulus money!

Cancers can vanish without treatment…but how? (NYT). Also, MD Anderson might be the best thing ever associated with Houston (NYT). I mean, it’s a helluva lot better than Bush International Airport, amirite?

Sports

Big Mac’s returning to baseball as hitting coach for Tony LaRussa's Cardinals. Read the comment section.

And the Taylor Mays/dirty player thing continues: Pac10 suspends ref for missing facemask call in USC-Oregon St game.

Wilner has an interesting piece re: the WAC and Boise St (Merc).

The human body was built for running distance (NYT).

World Series managers have different styles:

Philadelphia Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel is a 65-year-old potbellied baseball lifer who honed his instincts in minor league outposts like Colorado Springs and Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. He comes armed with data but is more likely to play a hunch, to go with his gut. His counterpart on the Yankees, Joe Girardi, is a 45-year-old workout fanatic with a degree in industrial engineering from Northwestern. As much as any manager around, he is comfortable with statistics and employs a modern approach to his job.

BWNQ has a nice Cal-Wazzu highlights post up.

BWF recaps Cal-Wazzu:

Struggling Secondary
It’s about as official as it can be: Cal’s pass defense is struggling right now. Cal’s secondary was again lit up for major yardage on Saturday, this time from true freshman Jeff Tuel. Tuel had a career day, going 28-42 for 354 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. As some comparison, check out Tuel’s numbers in previous outings:

Against ASU: 11-22, 175 yards, and 2 TDs, 2 INTs
Against USC: 14-22, 130 yards, 1 INT

Yes. Cal allowed Tuel to rack up more than double the yardage of his ASU performance. Perhaps Tuel suddenly clicked as a quarterback. Perhaps. However, it’s far more likely that he faced off against a secondary that has some major issues, as this isn’t the first time this season.

Last week, UCLA frosh QB Kevin Prince also had a career day, completing 21 of 41 for 311 yards. His previous performances had included a 13-25 for 81 yard (1 INT) game against Arizona, and a 11-23, 101 yard (1 TD) game against Tennessee.

Two weeks prior to that game, USC true frosh Matt Barkley went 20-35 for 283 yards, also his highest yardage total of the season.

In the week before that, Oregon’s Jeremiah Masoli who had just completed 45.3% of his passes for just 379 yards went ballistic on the Bears, going 21-15 for 253 yards and 3 TDs.

The list goes on: Minnesota’s Adam Weber going 21-32 for 226 yards, EWU Matt Nichol’s efficient 23-31 for 195 yards and 1 TD game, etc.

As it stands now, the Bears are ranked 9th in the conference, just ahead of WSU, in passing yards allowed per game, with 271. That’s a whole heck of a lot of yards.

Now, to be fair, opposing teams throw on the Bears…a lot. Cal has the second highest number of passes thrown at them a game, so it’s expected that teams might rack up the yards in the air. But I think it might be more indicative of opposing teams' knowledge of our vulnerablity in our secondary right now.

We’ll talk about the pass rush in a second, but it became apparent that the yardage allowed on Saturday was more on the secondary than anything else. From what I’ve been seeing over the past few weeks and from what I gathered from the broadcast, defenders missed tackles, and weren’t closing on the ball quickly enough. There are also several plays in which there was miscommunication in zone coverage, allowing receivers to get open up top. And in some instances, like the TD over Nnabuife, some players just got straight up beat in their attempt to go up and make a play on the ball.

No one will dispute Cal's secondary struggled on Saturday. Both Bob Gregory and Coach Tedford admitted as much. But you can’t dispute the numbers anymore. Allow 354 passing yards to the worst offense in the conference is bad. Allowing 300+ yards in back to back games to the conference's two worst passing offenses is ever worse. And allowing 250+ yards through the air in the last four games is enough to make you sweat. And while I do think much of it was effort and focus, the results over the season thus far suggest that Cal’s secondary is the obvious weak spot of the entire defense, and perhaps the entire team. (Thank you Captain Obvious!)

Now with Cal’s offense ability to score a great deal, and the fact that we’ve played one-dimensional offenses the past few weeks, Cal’s secondary hasn’t been enough to cost the Bears any games. But unless the issues in the secondary and defensive schemes are addressed in the next few weeks, Cal is going to be unable to keep up with some of the better offenses they will see in Arizona, Oregon State, Stanford, and Washington (if Locker gets going).

Anyone else see Sean Canfield against the Trojans on Saturday night? Scary.

Pass Rush TBD
I had suggested last week that Cal’s issue in its pass defense started first and foremost in the pass rush. And in a way, we saw this validated a bit on Saturday. Cal managed just one sack in the first half, meanwhile allowing Tuel to go 15-22 for 232 yards and 2 TDs. Coincidentally, after the Bears switched to having 4 down linemen for much of the second half, the Bears racked up four additional sacks, meanwhile limited Tuel to just 122 yards on 13-20 passing.

I don’t think the players suddenly decided to try harder. Perhaps it was a renewed focus after the defensive letdown in the second quarter, but I do think that this defense may have to dial up more aggressive packages if they’re going to hold more legitimate offense to less than 20 points in upcoming games.

Kudos to the Bears’ D-Line, which has thus far been the rock of this defense this season. They’re going to continue to get additional support from their linebackers, when it comes to the pass rush though.

Jason Snell (EMFMV) has an interesting post up re: strength of schedule:

I was perusing Jeff Sagarin’s computer ratings this morning. His composite ranking places Cal 17th in the country overall, though his Predictor rating (which is more accurate, though less politically correct because it takes into account margin of victory) places them 28th.

I was more amused by the ratings of the teams Cal has played this year. Talk about three stinkers: Maryland is rated 115th overall (below a few I-AA schools), Washington State is rated 119th, and I-AA Eastern Washington is rated just one slot below the Cougars at 120th.

Cal’s other wins were over Sagarin #42 UCLA and Sagarin #59 Minnesota.

In contrast, Cal’s losses? To Sagarin #3 Oregon and Sagarin #5 USC. That’s the good news. The bad news? Cal has yet to play Sagarin #14 Arizona, Sagarin #23 Stanford, and Sagarin #24 Oregon State. In terms of the pure Predictor rating, Sagarin would predict that Cal will finish the season 9-3, with wins over Arizona, ASU, and Washington and a loss to Stanford (!). I can’t really call that an unreasonable prediction. It might even be optimistic.

2010 Cal rugby recruits

carp — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:10:59 -0000

This is a month old but I don't think it made it to the front of calbears.com. Cal rugby welcomes 2010 newcomers. Here's a few of them after the jump:

via www.rebellionrugby.com

The 128th year of Cal rugby commences in January just as the weather gets nasty.

New Yorker Seamus Kelly, a 5-11, 193-pound center, switches coasts to join the Bears for the 2010 season after a standout rugby and football career at Xavier High School in Manhattan, where he played rugby under coach Mike Tolkin, who guided Xavier to the Northeast Championship 2006-09 and the Tier B National Championship in 2007. Kelly, a two-year rugby captain and 2009 team MVP, played sevens with New York Athletic Club this past summer. His achievements on the gridiron, which earned first-team all-city marks in 2007 and '08, and first-team all-state honors in 2008, generated interest in his football talents from Holy Cross and Johns Hopkins, among others. Kelly was named ESPN's East Regional player of the week after a football game last October in which he scored seven touchdowns and had four 2-point conversions, rushing eight times for 291 yards (5 TDs), catching a 72-yard touchdown pass and going 80 yards for a score on a kickoff return for a reported 478 all-purpose yards.

via grfx.cstv.com
Of course a dude named Seamus plays rugby.

A very large lock from North Carolina:

A 6-8, 260-pound lock, Asher Thomas left Chapel Hill, N.C., to embark on his Cal journey after graduatiing from East Chapel Hill High School as a Distinguished National AP Scholar as recognized by the College Board. He enrolled at his mother's alma mater after a successful rugby career with the Chapel Hill Highlanders, the 2006-09 state champions and 2009 South Region champions under coach Robert Joseph.

The thought of getting tackled by someone of Asher's size makes me shudder.

via www.dailycal.org

I absolutely love this massive hit.

Sounds like he was a great student in an area which I presume has excellent schools and students. In the scrum, the two locks push with their heads inbetween the prop and hooker and have the flanker on their side. In lineouts, the locks are the crazy dudes in the air that jostle for the ball:

Cal loses a lineout in the national championship game vs BYU. Perhaps Asher can make an impact early?

via 4.bp.blogspot.com

via blog.dailycal.org

What's neat about rugby is that players of all shapes and sizes can be on the field at the same time. Josh Tucker's a FB/wing from the Sacramento area:

Josh Tucker is a 5-8, 184-pound fullback/wing who excelled at rugby for Christian Brothers High School for three years under coaches Sean Lyon and Bob Lutrell while also garnering collegiate interest for his achievements in football as a running back and strong safety (two-time all-league and 2009 Sierra Valley Conference MVP), soccer (Olympic Development Program U-17s) and track & field (4x100 regional qualifier). His father, Jerry, was a standout discus thrower and shot putter at Ashland University in Ohio.

The dude was on the relay team in track...he'll be fast as hell on the rugby pitch.

Cal even managed to get a recruit from Canada:

The lone international student-athlete to join the team this season is Andre Coquillard, a 6-4, 206-pound fullback from Brentwood College School in British Columbia, Canada, who attended the Cal Rugby Summer Camps in 2007 and '08. Born in Seoul, South Korea, and holder of a U.S. passport, Coquillard lived in China and Japan before enrolling at boarding school in B.C. His father, Nowell, played football at Dartmouth. Coquillard attained varsity-level recognition in soccer, basketball and rugby at Brentwood, acting as captain on the hardwood and rugby pitch. He was chosen to represent North Vancouver Island at the Provincial Rugby Championships and also played for the Cowichan Rugby Club his junior and senior years. He was his basketball team's leader in points, assists and rebounds, and the top goal-scorer for his soccer team.

Those are impressive dimensions for a rugby FB. The guess here is that he's quick, good in the kicking game, and a sure tackler - all essential qualities as the last line of defense.

via www.dailycal.org

Do your quads look like that?

DBD 10.9.09 - The Day carp jr got Dad up at 5:13 AM

carp — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:03:24 -0000

For you n00bs/lurkers, post interesting links below - related or unrelated to Cal sports - or just bring something funny, inappropriate, etc. Good talk. All links SFGate and SFW unless otherwise noted.

In shocking news, Obama wins the 2009 Peace Prize.

NASA crashes into moon (x2), no signs of water can be confrimed yet. Conspiracy theorists should have a field day with that one.

When keepin' it real goes wrong on MUNI.

Golf and rugby are now Olympic sports! I'm quite excited about the latter. I wonder who the coach will be?

That's all I got for now. Baby just dropped a deuce and upchucked at the same time. Awesome.