So cruel it shouild be illegal

This past Saturday, the Cal Bears football team lost to Arizona in Tuscon and with it, their week long residency as the #25 team in the nation. Now under heavy analysis this past weekend, I have narrowed down the reasons for them losing to some or all of the things in this list:

• I wasn't wearing this year's Cal football shirt, I was wearing last years shirt
• We had touchdown starburst's, which seems ok until you notice that the previous times we did TD brownies and cream puffs, losses resulted
• We were watching the game at my place, which we never do
• We didn't watch the halftime analysis and instead played mario kart
• I didn't study enough before the game, and this was my punishment
  
• I wasn't worried about winning the game, because I thought we would show up and win

We got creamed (2nd half). We were completely dominated (2nd half). We were lost (2nd half). Shane Vareen touched the ball twice in the first 3 quarters, and we abandoned the run before we were even behind by a lot. Our running backs, not our wide outs or QB's, are our offense. They are our leading receivers, and obviously our backs. Jahvid Best even returns our kickoffs. And we abandoned them. That's like the 90's Bulls going into a playoff game (because that's what these games basically are) and passing the ball to Pippen TWICE in the first 3 quarters, and not letting MJ go to work often enough against whoever was guarding him.

Our defense missed tackles left and right, and we let their running back, an unheralded freshman, look like a top 3 Pac-10 runningback.

Our quarterbacks, (becasue we used both at one point), underthrew, overthrew, threw behind, threw ahead, but rarely hit our receivers perfectly in stride. And when they did, there were many times our receivers dropped the ball. For a recruiting class of receivers that ranked #7 in the nation, that can't happen.

Basically, top down, we were shaky. We were up 10 in the first half, but just gave it away.

What is so cruel that it should be illegal? The hope that a team gives to a fan. When they are on a winning streak, a fan is at an ultimate high. The school week becomes bear-able (sorry, couldn't resist), and I look forward to the next game. I love reading the cal football blogs, becasue they have positive analysis about our play, and even when there are negatives, it's more of a "this can be changed by next week". It's hope. It's going forward believing you can have success and garner national attention.

But when you lose, oh man. Because college football is a 'what have you done for me lately' sport, any loss the later you get into the season not only shoots you in the foot for the standings, but kills you for the next year when the initial rankings come out. You'll have to win out to just crack the rankings. And if you lose just once, you're thrown back into oblivion. Teetering at #25, we needed to win out to get some respect, and potentially challenge USC for the rose bowl (assuming no one else matters). Even though with this loss, we are still tied for first in the Pac-10, it feels like we have already lost.

I know we'll win 6 games by the end of the year, become bowl elligible, and have a decent season. But like an Asian mom who demands perfection of their kid, I'm not satisfied with a B average (grades slipped from B+ with this loss). I want straight A's, and there is no reason they can't get it!!

But what just hit me was that maybe I have to step back from asian-mom status and look at it objectively. They are a young team, they have made mistakes, and they can't win a big one when it really matters right now. Maybe they are a B average team, and I have to be happy when we play games at a B+/A- level.

Or maybe I should continue to demand perfection from this team, because if they don't push themselves for that top spot, then they don't deserve to play football. You play to win, and nothing else. Take the loss in stride, get better. Fix the mistakes, prepare the team as best as you can, practice hard. Each saturday is a new day, a new chance to win. And if they focus on that, the success will come by itself.

I like the latter choice better. It hurts to lose, but when they win, it's an awesome feeling. I'm pumped for the rest of the week.

The Play

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S.O.T.D.

The World Is (Below the Heavens) - Blu

The Art of the Upset

Every week, in college football, there is at least one upset. Some unranked, or lower ranked team take out a quality team in some fashion, whether it a be blow out, ora close game. How does this happen?

We'll use USC/Oregon State as an example, because their polar differences make this easier to describe.

USC is a powerhouse. The name Pete Carroll is known to every high school football player, every D1 hopeful, whether they like USC or not. And if he or his contingents come knocking at your door, you know you're big time. USC recruits the best of the best of the best. Of the best. Talent wise, they have no match in all the nation.

Let's juxtapose this with Oregon State, a middle of the pac-10 (pun intended) team. They get quality, hard working players who had nothing handed to them. Their raw talent is not as high as those of USC, but they may know how to play the game, they may have talent, maybe not the right body. Jacquizz Rodgers, for example, is a 5'7 first string running back, who wouldn't even get blinked at by USC recruiters.

Big difference, right? Somehow, these Oregon State players got motivated to come together, make the big plays, and take out mighty USC. I've narrowed it down to 1 reason.

Motivation.

That sounds stupid at first, like 'what do you want to eat' 'uhh, food'. But even though it's a general term, it's the core of the upset.

It starts with the coaches, because no matter how talented or not your players are, the preparation you put them through plays a vital role in determining the outcome of the game. If the best team in the world has a coach who doesn't notice the other teamsNFL Blitz '99-like play that keeps getting touchdowns, then you're guaranteed that the other team will score that way in the game.

At the same time, if the coach looks at every facet of the game, has watched every play, every tendency of the opposing team, and has provided that information to his own team, then all that is left is execution. If executed well, victory will always be within grasp.

Coaches are important. At the end of the day, however, the players themselves are of utmost importance in making an upset a reality.

Every player, whether it be the scout team players who don't play to the to-be-outmatched safety, must believe not only that they can win, but that they will win. Every player, every coach, everyone on the team. The second that someone feels outmatched, or that they can't do their job, they instantly concede defeat. You lose the will to work harder, to push that extra bit, that will to dig in when you have nothing left, when you need a big play.

If you lose that fear, if you feel that regardless of who you are facing, you know that you have the capability of playing great, that you can trust in the countless hours of training, tons of video you watched, and your general talent, then you have the chance to do something great on the field. When every player on a team feels like this, the whole team comes together, and you can just feel the energy gushing out.

Upsets don't usually work. Usually the other team is prepared, too talented, whatever you want to call it. But every week, you'll find a team that had all those qualities listed above, and found success. That is the beauty of sports. That also leads me to my next question:

Why can't we do the same thing on our respective intramural teams? Let me make one thing clear first: I have never played on a team where people didn't try their hardest, regardless of whether we were up 20 or down 30, everyone hustled on defense and played to the last second. Trying hard, however, is not the same as believing you can win. I understand that no team trains for games, watches video footage, and puts everything into their games. Except maybe frat teams with nothing better to do. But getting on that page where you all feel that you can beat a team is more important than anything in an upset. Yeah, upsets don't always work. But every time you're an underdog, you fight for that one time where it does.

All this put into a clip on VM Sports

Links

I'm fresh out of things to write, but unlike many other writers who instead write an article on some overly abused topic without much of their own opinion thrown in, I will admit it, and simultaneously, propose a solution. I know, I know, sheer brilliance.

On days like this, I'll just spam you with links of random things, it could be articles, pictures, youtube clips . . . well I guess that's all I could possibly link you to. Except for a link to download a file, which I won't do. So let's get this show on the road.

• Too close for comfort, but thank god for live news. (Link to pics from Vishal of VM Sports)
• This brought me a smile. And this. And this. Can't forget about hustler's.
• I'm a California Bear, you can catch me on my grizzly.
  
• New MacBook and MacBook Pro, revealed today. Regardless of my anti-apple bias, you can't argue with this comment about it.
• Up there on the unintentional comedy scale. Well unintentional for that guy. He was serious.
• My favorite soccer player of all time. He played with calm (for the most part), and had amazing ball control, great passes, and even better finishes.
• Zack Follett's (One of Cal's touted linebackers) first ever tackle in elementary school. A good article about him.
• You know what he did?
  
• I'm going to kick his ask.
• The glory days, with a random song in the background by this dude.
• New addition to the team, thanks to eBay. Going through its physical right now, but should go through and report to training camp within the next week or so.
• I'll be educational for a bit. An election article.
• Can't finish this off without a classic. Or two.

11/4 and 10/15

This is too important an election not to have a post within three weeks of the election. Sports will have to . . . . wait *gasp!*

The next presidential debate is October 15, 2008, at 6pm on CNN for those of you who didn't know. Whether you don't care or are ridiculously interested, I recommend watching this one; it's the last debate, and your last chance to hear the promises that these candidates make before one of them steps into the White House.

Not convinced? Watch because there are going to be 'fighting words', at least political fighting words, on display all throughout this debate. It's not only your last chance to watch a debate for this election, but the candidates last chance to make the other candidate look like a fool. They've held their tricks up their sleeve, saved the best for last, and are ready to deliver the knockout punch in the 10th round. They need your votes; don't tell me you wouldn't vote for McCain if you found out Obama was sleeping with Paris Hilton or vote for Obama if you found out McCain was an identity thief. Some things are going to be said, and I wouldn't be surprised if McCain physically attacks Obama in anger after this. Who would the winner be . . . Obama looks like he could take McCain, but McCain survived torture. I just can't tell.

The candidates want to tell you the plans they have for the administration they would be running. What to do about the economy. How they are going to change America for the better. And no message about their own campaign is more important than "the other guy just doesn't get it" or "he will increase taxes" as well as the almost 95% guaranteed to come out "that man is affiliated with a terrorist". If you were merely acceptable in your high school english classes, you should have gleaned the tone and read between the lines of this paragraph. If not, then tell all your friends the Clippers are the best team in the NBA right now.

Understand one thing. My friends, watching this debate for the sake of learning their true policies in full is as dumb as picking Stanford to win the BCS Championship this year. The candidates, my friends, will tell you everything you want to hear. Lower taxes. Better economy. Victory in wars overseas. Better health care. Candy for everyone. My friends, there will be a better world. Those aren't the reasons you should watch the debate, my friends.

These are the real reasons:

• The fighting words
• To feel smart
• To reassure yourself that moving to Europe if the candidate you're not going to vote for wins, is not the best idea
• To reassure yourself that moving to Europe is definitely the best idea
• You've put off caring about the election long enough
  
• To watch the SNL election special on Thursday at 8:30 on NBC, where they make fun of the debate that just took place. They do a good job too.
  

On a more serious note, other reasons:

• I'll admit, they do talk about some of their plans. You may find that you disagree with some of the policies the candidates talk about (i.e. McCain's 'spending freeze' or Obama's 'spending spree')
• Getting a feel for the tendencies of the candidates, though that depends on how they word things, their responses to attacks from the other candidates, etc.
  
• Noticing when one candidate brings up a point about the other, and the other does nothing to refute it, but instead, transitions the topic (they're very well trained at that) to avoid the subject. May hint at the truth of their policies
  
• To celebrate the fact that whichever of these candidates wins, George Bush is stepping down in January

I've said it in other posts and I'll repeat it again. This is the most important election we may ever have in our lifetimes. The economy is in complete shambles. The world no longer respects America (and rightfully so). We aren't the number one power in the world anymore. I am a clippers fan, so I've already had my share of losing. I'm not ready for America to be losing. We need to get back into being the Cal Rugby team (16 of the past 17 national championships). In order to do that, I need to know who to vote for, as do you.

Questions . . .

I have some questions about random stuff, so if you know the answer to any of these, please make my day. Some are rhetorical though. Go ahead and answer those if you want, it'll still make my day.

• At fast food restaurants, if it's old school, the order gets put on paper, and then put on a 'bulletin board' like thing that holds it up for the chef's (cooks? workers? what would you use? ahh, yet another question to be answered) to see and work with. Well how does that thing hold the slips of paper? It can't be a clip, because whoever puts it there practically throws it on there and it just sticks. Anyone?
• What? Lil' Wayne has a blog? What? He blogs for ESPN? What? He is so serious about it, he got an ESPN tattoo? What? It's actually an alright sports blog and kinda interesting to read? (No, seriously. Check it out.)
• How screwed is the economy? The previous two Tuesday Morning Quarterbacks (on ESPN), Gregg Easterbrook wrote about how these bailout plans are pretty ridiculous and how the next generation (wait, you mean my generation??) is going to have to pay heavily for it. So again, I implore, how screwed are we, and who is down to move to Europe and keep me company? I hear their European (American) Football League is the fourth best league in the world.
• Why is this foam padding that I see on my right made of hexagonal structures . . . I want to take it, but it's part of the machine . . . Do you think anyone will notice? Trust me, it's worth it, I just need that second opinion.
  
• How did Shaun Livingston's knee injury not get career ending status (correct me if I'm wrong), yet Darius Mile's knees that just got normal 'athlete' surgury (I think it's arthroscopic, might have been something else in this case) get that tag? Will Livingston become competent again? He is playing in Miami (apparently), and the PG role is wide open
• Will the Boom Tho movement gain in France?
• Will shirt.woot.com ever come out with another good shirt? It's been 2 months since I saw a good one worth buying. And these are $10 good quality shirts. The designs just aren't that amazing right now
• Will the Zune overtake the iPod in the next 3 or 4 years? (One of those rhetorical questions again, with the obvious answer being a resounding yes we can. This message is approved by Obama)
• If Lil' Wayne or T.I. suddenly dropped dead, would there be a tribute at the VMA's, Grammy's, BET Awards, etc.? They are established in the mainstream music industry, but is it enough to warrant an actual tribute? Biggie and Tupac get tributes, but Dwyane Carter and Cliffort Joseph Harris Jr.?
• Gotta go with the classic: how many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop. BUT. Don't google that question. I don't care whose daughter did what test. I need raw, unused data. So quit reading this without a tootsie pop in your mouth, and get cracking. Or licking.
  
• Seriously. How was the first computer programmed. Don't say punch cards, because that means that you put punch cards into a machine and it knows what to do with that stuff by itself. How? That thing that knows what to do with the punch cards is a computer itself. So how was that made.
• What do you think of Phillip Rivers in comparison to the new, young core of quarterbacks, a.k.a. Romo, Palmer, Rodgers, Roethlisburger, Cutler? I feel he is overrated, and a punk. And you know what I think about punks.
• Last question of the day: will Gilbert Arenas return to full form, or will he become the new Allan Houston?