DISQUS

Hmm...not sure I agree with you on Utah. Don't get me wrong, I think they're a solid team. Definitely top 15 at this point.

However, their win over Michigan is looking less and less impressive with each Wolverine Loss, Air Force will most likely end up in the middle of the Mountain West pecking order this year, and their comeback over Oregon St. was impressive, but the keyword is "comeback." And while Oregon State is better than their record indicates, they're still an unranked team.

I can't fully agree with your statement that wins over 3 unranked teams with a combined 9-9 record results in 3 quality wins. Decent, but not quite quality.

BTW, isn't it spelled "HO"?

I swear to you these fans were sitting in front of me during the game.

In the long run, it won't affect DJ, as long as he continues to be productive and lays low on the celebratory antics for a little while. At least for his rookie year.

You know the more I think about it, the more I kind of understand. Granted, the move was still dumb. Real dumb. But I put myself in his shoes when thinking about it last night. You're on Monday Night Football. You just burned past the vaunted Dallas secondary. Great grab. Here's my first NFL TD. Camera lights flashing. You're excited. Not really thinking.

Wait, I wasn't fully in the end zone?

Dumb, but I can understand how a young receiver, who has been dreaming of making that play since he was kid, could do something so thoughtless.

Turner: "Blocking Skills...coverage skills...bow hunting skills..."

Dah.

While I definitely feel our gameplan will be to wear down the Turtles, I think we break out several explosive plays throughout the game. Good writeup.

Really? How old is she? Looks like she's from the class of 2003, tops.

Wait...we had attractive cheerleaders? When the hell did this happen?

Great rebound performance for Javon Ringer after being shut down against Cal. Does he enter back into the Heisman discussion after punching in 5 TDs? As long as he promises to get in line behind Best.

Agree with you for the most part. While I was happy with the pass rush for the most part, I would have given them a B+ for not recording at least one sack. I know they created pressure, and Hoyer's quick release allows for more incompletions rather than sacks, but I wanted just ONE.

Didn't the media call our season opener "Redemption Saturday" last year? Ugh. I don't know whether to be reassured or worried by that.

I dunno Nash, I dunno. I agree with you in that at times, we place too much emphasis on a great play itself, rather than a body of work. (IE. The Giants' pass rush and pressure on Tom Brady was in my mind, more spectacular than the Manning-Tyree catch in that game.)

With that said, I still think there's still something about those amazing moments. Maybe its inherent, or psychological. But there's some reason why the Big Play of 1982 sticks out the most in most Cal fans' head, rather than what the team did on 3rd and 8 in the second quarter. Granted, the media may play a large part, but I believe there's something about sports fans that desire and immediately retain great plays.

They don't define our sports, but it's a big reason why sports are so amazing.

As for the Riley comebacks, much can be said, most which will be saved for later discussions. But much like Tedford has said before, too much credits is given to QBs when things go right, and too much blame when things hit the fan.

Really? Haven't heard too much about any of that. Hmm.

Why do you think Levy's an asshole? Because of bar room incident? Or the Holiday Bowl incident?

I'll agree with you that as a unit, the '05 squad definitely had a better defense. Though with Hughes, Bishop, and Mebane, it's hard to deny the star level talent we had at each unit of the defense.

And I'll again agree that Longshore struggled mightily from the Washington game on (with the exception of a spectacular UCLA game), as did the rest of the team.

As a whole, I say "at-times" dominant, simply because I saw what the '06 squad could do when they put it all together.

You have a valid point that we dominated inferior competition, but I also saw what we were able to do against legitimate Top 25 caliber teams (when we played them) such as Texas A&M and Oregon (before their slide).

It is hard to deny that we began clicking on all cylinders after the debacle of the Tenn, when we rattled off eight straight wins.

In the end, I suppose I retract my earlier statement. I CAN see how a team who almost lost to Washington and Stanford AT home, and inexcusably lost to Arizona, could lose to an 8-4 '05 Bears Squad. You got me 'Nash.

It's still hard for me to imagine an 8-4 Cal Bears squad BARELY losing to the at times dominant 10-3 team.

Considering the season we had last year, nearly half of our games will be considered "Revenge" games.

As much as I hate the Trojans, I must say that I'm most looking forward to the Cal Oregon game. In the Tedford Era, they have by far been the most consistently exciting. The Cal Oregon game last year was one of the best games all season, and I don't expect that much of a drop of a quality in this year's game.

Hmmm...didn't think that it would be so one-sided. I know the '04 squad is arguably one of the best in Cal history, but it's still hard to deny the level of talent on the '07 squad.

But I also forget that our '07 squad surrendered about 300 yards to the Huskies.

Yeh...I think JJ would have gone crazy too.

I predict '06 squad rolls over the '05 team. I think '07 matches up well with the '04 squad. '07 has more talent, but far more "issues"...

Hmm. The 07 squad was far more talented (by a pretty wide margin), but I'm not sure you factored in their "Callapse" ability enough. Especially in a best of seven series.

Maybe we'll see that come in more deeper into the tournament.

Oh, and Longshore getting sacked four times? I can see the two picks, but when was the last time he was sacked that much in a game?

You're shameless 'Nash.

Damn you 'Nash. I watched that whole freaking video. The whole thing.

A few things:

1) Really good write up.

2) I mentioned this in my post a few weeks ago in my comparison between Best and Joe McKnight (http://www.bearswithfangs.com/2008/05/jahvid-be...
of-1.html), but one thing to also consider is Best's amazing special teams abilities, finishing 2nd in the conference in kick off returns.

3) Most dismiss Best as being more of a speedster who is just dangerous in the open field or on pitches, but I was pretty impressed with his abilities on traditional handoffs right up the middle when I watched him midseason.

4) AS for the power bruiser. Slocum may ring the bell based on what little I saw of him in the spring. I'm also hoping Tedford utilizes our fullbacks more in some of those short yard situations. Ta'fo'ou is pretty darn athletic for his size, and Holley was running pretty well until his injury.

If seeing the Lakers go down in flames in the finals is my #1 reason for wanting to see the Celtics win, then seeing Powe, a Golden Bear being crowned an NBA champion is #1A.