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California Golden Blogs: Front Page Posts

WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THE AXE! WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THE AXE! WE CONTINUE TO HAVE THE AXE!

Big Game Photo Extravaganza - Post GameYesterday

Whew! What a game. Cal wins! We have the Axe. Go Bears!

And nobody was more excited than the players themselves:

Well, the players themselves and that one shirtless dude at the bottom of the photo there.

So, quickly, I made my way down. When we rushed the field after the lackluster 2006 Big Game, it was sort of like "We're doing what now?" But this was legit. We had the Axe back!

And I was right behind David Lonie (or somebody who beat up Lonie and took his jersey!):

Cal puntstud, Bryan Anger, came rolling by:

And soon I was in the middle of it all:

It was pretty crazzy:

Here are some videos of the scrum. Sometimes they got a bit wobbly, because I was getting pushed around. If you think the kwality is poor, click over to YouTube and watch them on high kwality:

You can see Felder in the distance in this one:

I saw some helmets, so I pushed my way through the crowd:

I saw a big lug OLineman who I later found out was Dominic Galas:

No offense to you, Mr. Galas, but I quickly spied Anthony Felder and moved on to him:

I slapped him on the shoulder and yelled "Great Job!" Somebody said "Stay for another year!" which I don't believe is legal under NCAA rules. Felder said "Nah, I'm outta here." It'll be tough to replace him, but better than forfeiting all our games, because of NCAA violations.

There were many players up in the crowd. I saw Kevin Riley, but was not able to get a photo of him. I was able to get a photo of Jeremy Ross, though:

Then, to my left Alex Mack came trucking through like a Mack truck (I'm so witty!). No idea where he was going, but he just didn't stop:

People were slapping him silly.

And there he goes:

This might be Sean Young, it's tough to see the number:

A lot of these photos might look the same to you. People jumping up and down with their hands in the air. But in this specific instance, there was a camera man doing a full 360 in the middle. It spurred people to go even crazzier:

You can see the camera on the right there.

I was trying to find the Axe, which I later found out had been quickly taken from the field. I did stumble upon the PAIN TRAIN signing endless autographs:

Honestly, it must feel weird. You are stuck in the middle of a HUGE crowd. People are slapping you silly. And sticking stuff in your face and demanding autographs. He was eating it up, though:

A true fan favorite!

Then, a camera crew pushed their way through to do an interview.

Here's video of it. All I can tell is that he thanks the Lord:

I continued my search for the Axe when Follett came running out of the crowd. Somebody had him by the hand and was all "GET OUT OF THE WAY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Prolly some Cal person, I don't know.

Even as he sprinted out, people were slapping him:

Sweet sign:

Most of the players were gone, so I headed back to hear the band. They were playing and the Stanford band was also playing. Here is the crowd watching the Cal band:

And watching the Stanford band:

Cal wins yet again!

The band was having a great time. Another dance block:

Even the Director, who generally doesn't direct the Band in the stands got involved:

College Bowl Pick'Em!November 30

We've once again established a College Bowl Pick'Em league this year, so here's how to sign up. Once again, we'll be doing this at Yahoo! so you'll need a Yahoo! ID to sign up if you don't have one already. If you do:

Click here
Use group #13086
Password "gobears"

And you should be good to go! We're still thinking over whether or not to offer a prize. I might just offer up my J.J. Arrington jersey since it looks like I'm still stuck with it after winning the Fantasy College Football league. Dammit.

Big Game Photo Extravaganza - Second HalfNovember 30

Royal Exchange

Pregame

First Half

When we last left our faithful heroes, Cal had kept Stanford to 3 at the tail end of the first half. Stanford had made 3 huge drives in the first half, resulting in a missed field goal, a fumble near the goal line, and a made field goal (albeit after having the ball on the 1 on 2nd down). Somehow even after giving up over 200 yards of offense, Cal's D had held Stanford to 3 points. Impressive, impressive stuff.

Also impressive? This guy:

via TheNick

You've gotta give it to the Stanford band. They are nothing if not inventive. As for how that guy felt after being wheeled around the field and spun over and over and over again, I do not know. I'm not sure I *want* to know! I can guess, though.

They're SO zany!

via TheNick

Speaking of spinning, think about what this says if spun quickly enough:

via TheNick

Yes, Ronk Cal Up. How dare they try to Ronk Us Up! How classless?!?!

Some interesting Card Stunts:

via TrisWeb

Note the colors there.

via TrisWeb

The Stanford band's show was about the earthquake that could hit and the hippies etc etc etc. As per usual for them, it was a potentially hilarious theory, but terrible execution. The writing is just not good, the field charting is boring, and you can only hear the percussion. In my more egotistical moments, I wonder if I had made it into Stanford if I could have improved upon their writing. Of course, my more egotistical moments are ones where I breath, the earth spins, and slash or women vomit at the mere sight of me. Which is to say, often.

I wish I could say better stuff about the Cal band. I think that generally they have had a great season so far, with the clear peak being the Sports Show. The problem was the announcer said they were playing "Songs That Defined A Generation: Songs Of The 90s"

via TrisWeb

However, they were, in actuality, playing 90s pop. That was poorly described and so confusion reigned when they started playing Hansen and the Backstreet Boys. Where is Nirvana?? If it had been expressed as "Cheesy 90s pop song" I think people would have been more amenable to it. I don't think people view Hansen and the Spice Girls as music that defined any generation. Least of all mine. Well, maybe Spice Girls. Maybe.

They did end well, though. With a N'Sync dance block (sorry about some of the shaky camera action here):

Previously, I was accused of claiming drum major Frankie Garland was a nazi. I didn't remember making such a claim, but who am I to remember what I've written? I barely plan it out ahead of time, let alone remember it afterwards.

But, hey, Mr. Garland, if you don't want anybody to know of your secret double life as a nazi, maybe you shouldn't be photographed like this:

What a nazi, that Frankie Garland. Heil Hansen Brothers! Mein Frankie!

I have previously spoken about how the atmosphere around Berkeley was electric. The hatred was back. Boom, baby! For example, I saw this random women go walking up the stands in a red shirt. The expected occurs:

But here's something cool. About a minute later, she comes scrambling out of the crowd being chased by some random dude. Go random dude. Harass complete strangers solely because they wear red. That's the very crux of a rivalry! If we can't harass complete strangers, why even have competitive sports played by other people who are much younger and in far better shape than us?

Bye Week Open ThreadNovember 29

And to think, my Thanksgiving weekend was going so well.

I drove down to San Diego on Wednesday to visit the in-laws for Thanksgiving, had a lovely dinner, got some drinks with some of her friends, did some holiday shopping, and watched Battlestar Galactica for the first time. I even taught my mother-in-law how to play Wii for the first time. That was fun. I was going to drive back to the Bay Area this morning, hoping to get back early enough to catch part of the Civil War, and then help a friend move on Sunday, but alas, it is not meant to be. Found out late last night that my car refuses to start, and I don't know why (already tried jumping it). Gonna call AAA in the morning, but until this gets figured out, I'm stuck in Southern California until further notice. No plans, nothing to do but sit around and watch a bunch of football today.

So, anyway, here's what I'll be watching:

Broadcast TV:
#22 Georgia Tech @ #11 Georgia, 9:00AM - CBS
Auburn @ #1 Alabama, 12:30PM - CBS
#4 Florida @ #20 Florida State, 12:30PM - ABC
#3 Oklahoma @ #12 Oklahoma State, 5:00PM - ABC

Four rivalry games featuring seven ranked teams, and I'm really only expecting Oklahoma at Oklahoma State to be close. An upset Cowboy victory would straighten out the Big XII South and send Texas Tech to the conference title game, leaving Texas the luxury of sitting around and waiting for a BCS bid. Oklahoma, on the other hand, could use

Big Game Photo Extravangza - First HalfNovember 28

Royal Exchange

Pregame

Whew! So many posts and photos so far and we've barely scratched the surface. We haven't even gotten to any actual game action. Well, that is about to change. And it got underway pretty quick as Jahvid Best took a potential 5 yard loss and broke the tackle for a 60 yard run! Of course, it wouldn't have happened if this joke Daily Cal prank by Stanford had been accurate.

via TheNick

Damn those Stanfordites!

Luckily, that was just a prank and Best did razzle dazzle his way down the field.