CAL FOOTBALL PREVIEW

I spent a good time of my summer scouring the net for articles on the Bears, their roster, news, and etc. After 2 months, here's what I know:

The Overstated: Constantly over the year, you're going to hear about our complete implosion, going from 5-0 to losing 6 of the next 7 games. All year. You have no choice. One of the reasons for this implosion, apparently, was we weren't a team in the sense that we didn't have established leaders who stepped up to keep the morale up and help each other out. Players didn't acknowledge eachother's existence when passing eachother on campus. Coach Tedford completely focused on the offense and didn't even talk to Defense. This year, however, all of this has changed, there is great communication, and Tedford is overlooking both the offense and the defense. All the problems have been addressed, we've come out of it better than ever before, and now, all we can do is look at our prep and performance for Saturdays.

QB Situation: Riley got the nod over Longshore, though Tedford said both will play in the Michigan State game, he just doesn't know when Longshore will play exactly. My ridiculously insightful analysis tells me that Longshore will not play ONLY if Riley is doing well AND it's a close game. If it's a blowout either way, or Riley is struggling, Longshore will see time. (Just in case you didn't figure it out already)

RB and FB: Jahvid Best splitting carries with Shane Vereen for now, though there are others that may be in the mix. I'm going to let their game speak for themselves, you'll just have to find out. Let's just say that I am very excited about our running game. It could be comparable to Lynch/Forsett production wise. Fullback is Will Ta’ufo’ou.

WR Situation: Well this was a little surprise. To those who don't know (which should be no one because Cal Football is pretty damn amazing), we lost our whole receiving corps, so we are running with a very inexperienced set of new receivers: Michael Calvin, Sean Young, LaReylle Cunningham.

Michael Calvin: Redshirted as a freshman last year, but has come to play this year. He is a beast and is going to be special. Solid player, was expected to be in this lineup.

Sean Young: Stories about him scared me. He came into Cal touted as a good receiver who would be amazing. He lost himself over the next few years to last year's three receivers, and never recovered . . . until this year. I believe he has a confidence issue, and because it is essentially a fresh start this year with everyone competing, had a good camp. I am hoping for the best, but can't help but feel that if he gets outperformed during the year, he will regress, and become ineffective. We shall see.

LaReylle Cunningham: All I have heard about is that he is a solid receiver. Wasn't sure whether to expect him in the lineup or not, so all we can do is hope for the best and start judging him based on his performances on Saturday.

Shocker -- Nyan Boateng: Once a top receiving recruit at Florida, this transfer was supposed to be a great receiver. He ran into some school issues, but finally got it straight this year. He, however, did not train well during the spring, and some questioned his dedication. Apparently, however, he shaped up for the summer and was having a good camp. I expected him to be in the lineup, but was left off; once again, we will see how this all unfolds.

Bottom line: The receiving corps is basically a huge question mark. Everything looks good based on camp, but who knows what that means. It has to translate on the field in front of screaming fans. We'll just have to test it out.

O-Line: For the most part, solid and unchanged. Mike Tepper is currently injured, and we have Alex Mack's successor Chris Guarnero getting playing time right now at LT instead of C.

D-Line: Look out for Rulon Davis, an ex-marine (which means prepare for stories about this whenever we're on national television), who had a ridiculous camp and is apparently finally healthy for the first time. He looks to be a beast.

Linebackers: We have two on the preseason Butkus Award list in Worrell Williams and Zach Follett. Anthony Felder and Eddie Young finish this group of athletic and talented linebackers. There is no reason these guys should not be able to do well this year. The defense has shifted from a 4-3 to a 3-4, meaning that there is more reliance on the linebacking corps, and with this talented a unit, we should be able to meet the challenge.

Corners: Syd'quan Thompson is our senior, and is solid at corner. The other position will be fought for by Chris Conte and Darian Hagan. This too will have to be seen on the field during a game.

Kickers: David Seawright, a walkon, challenged Jordan Kay the incumbent for his job and ended up winning. We'll see how he does with pressure. If he folds, Jordan Kay isn't a bad backup.

I'd be lying to you if I told you I didn't believe that we could beat everyone in the Pac-10, except for USC. Yeah, I'm drinking gallons of kool-aid, but I see so much potential, so much positive change, and so much underrated talent that I feel like we can do well. Offensively, we are young at receiver, but we can establish our ground game behind two talented tailbacks and a veteran O-Line. The receivers will be surprise as well; they will have a lot to prove, so stars will learn to shine, and with a good running game, they will get more single coverage, which means better chances to break out and gain confidence. Contrary to what the media keeps implying, our QB situation is better than that at other schools: at least we have QB's with game experience who have proven themselves in years before instead of new QB's who may struggle. Defensively, we have many returning starters and talent, enough to make me believe this is the year we become a solid defensive team.


Prediction: 2nd in the Pac-10, 11-1. (A little bit hopeful, but hey, I wouldn't be a fan if I couldn't believe that this is our year)

now THATS shady

I'm watching men's gymnastics to follow the story of John Horton, who is basically the underdog in these olympics. He performs out of his mind on the high bar, something I, and many others, felt was better than the other Chinese gymnast's, but his score is just barely less.

Two other chinese gymnasts got inflated scores as well according to the commentators and some other analysts.

I am not taking anything away from the Chinese, they have worked hard; maybe it is because I don't understand how scoring works. If you actually understand how scoring works, please explain it to me. I want to convince myself that I am just another fan complaining about perfectly correct calls, and that home court advantage is NOT a little too advantageous right now, in an extra shady way . . .

U.S.A. vs. Germany -- The Little Things

Dwyane Wade may be a devout Christian, but he loves to gamble -- Wade hasn't been playing defense this whole tournament. Yeah he has been getting steals all over the place, but his steals are all off anticipation passes, a.k.a. gambling. If the player handling the ball fakes the pass and Wade bites, he runs way too fast (see: nickname, the flash) and has to recover. This translates to, even with his speed, a shot being fired. But hey, he's tripled up and is at a hot table, so why stop?

This will work for the rest of the tournament, and maybe for the Wade replacement, if he's good enough, in 2012. But as soon as we lose our athleticism (which, I'm convinced, is all we have as an advantage), this gambling will screw us over. But once again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.


Chris Kaman/Clipper fans should be worried -- I am a diehard Clipper fan, and I have the utmost faith in Chris Kaman. I am not worried at all about his poor offensive showing today. He was double teamed, getting the ball at the wrong places, and missed stupid layups that he can work on over the rest of the offseason. Plus, he had some decent moves against Dwight Howard, who is apparently pretty good, so I've heard.

Did you see him interact with the other German players? He seemed pissed off a lot, was barking orders (not in the positive sense), and the general behavior made it seem as if he wasnt getting along with a lot of them. Yeah, compared to the level he is used to playing at, I can see him being frustrated. But, you can also put this at the level of him not understanding how to take a leadership role, him not being able to interact with a bunch of new teammates he doesn't know. Wait, this sounds familiar . . . doesn't he have tons of new teammates on the Clippers now? Isn't he supposed to step up leadership a little, seeing as hes supposed to be one of the top centers in the West (list em, you'll see what I mean)? I can see him having problems this year, him being unhappy, and tons of other things. It will be something to follow, if you're a Clipper fan . . .

Michael Redd isn't 'bang-banging'-- What happened to our sharp shooter? Even I would have hit one of those threes he took, some were wide open. His playing time is going to start dropping steadily, as Tayshaun takes his place (as noted by someone on ESPN, I forget who)

The U.S. can be beat (here's the secret formula) --Run a play (as also noted by ESPN, but something I believed as well). Thats it. Run a set play. How many plays have you seen perfectly executed by opposing teams? How many get the chance to even set up a play? If a team gets into a groove and sets up plays consistently, we may just have a match. Then again, that feat itself is looking nigh impossible at this point.

Is this the last best chance we have to win it? -- Players that I am guessing will not renew their Olympic 3-year contracts: Kobe, J-Kidd, LeBron, Wade, Melo, Dwight Howard. Now I am taking nothing away from the remaining talent, which includes two phenomenal point guards who will step up their game to ridiculous new levels by 2012, but let me re-list and rephrase the players you will potentially/probably lose: Defensive Stopper, Veteran Presence, Leader/Unguardable, Intangibles Energy, Commitment and Shooter, Beast and Beast.

Thats a lot to replace, and I don't see the incoming class having anywhere near that kind of talent and leadership enough to match it. Couple that with the ever improving FIBA players plus the potential expansion of the NBA bringing about better players overseas? We're done after this olympics, and it'll be evident when you see the players who sign the 3 year commitment contracts. They'll be good, but not great. It will take great to win after these olympics are over.

Building Hand Speed and Coordination

How we're tackling obesity. Brilliant. (A little sarcasm, a little bit of 'at least they're doing something'). Crazy either way.

S.O.T.D.

No Diggity - Blackstreet

Worried About the Election? I Am

The American public is pretty stupid. If you're not on board with this truth, then you might as well stop reading, because you won't agree with what I'm writing.

You have all heard about the whole "more people vote for American Idol than for the elections" and "some people know the 'big mac' song but not the pledge of alleigance (supersize me)"; all this means that as a whole, we are victims of advertisement, and horrible ones at that. Just look at the mac commercials and how many of you fell for them (sorry, couldn't help myself).

We (once again, as a general whole) take in these commercials which come up at least once an hour, and slowly absorb what they say, almost to the point where we begin to associate the people in them permanently with what they are being connected to. If you saw the verizon guy in any other commercial, any other movie, or in real life, the words coming out of your mouth would proably be something along the lines of "its the verizon man!".

Now how many of you saw the recent pro-McCain commercials that compared Obama to pop-stars, Brittney Spears, Paris Hilton, etc? Now if you are educated enough, you will easily come to the conclusion that those are stupid comparisons and that you can't possibly compare them. The same, however, can't be said about the same public who voted So Real Crew ahead of Super Crew and Fanny Pack.

McCain is focusing on attacking Obama for his popularity, basically slandering, and even though they are coming out to the press saying it's only providing light hearted jokes to a serious election, that's not the intent. My fear is that Obama, with no other choice, will follow his footsteps and start attacking McCain. They've already called him the "wrinkly white-haired guy". This will start becoming the storylines, this topic will dominate commercials, and it will take away time from more pressing issues, such as reducing the national deficit, lowering gas prices, figuring out some sort of solution with the troops, things that matter, not how old McCain is, and how cool Obama is.

The public will eat up all these commercials and make their decision for president based on that. If this continues to happen, we will elect the wrong president into office. We need to focus on each of their strengths, and what they can bring in office. In office, McCain's looks aren't going to slow him down, and neither will the fact that Obama and Brad Pitt are related (true by the way). Hopefully this shapes up, because honestly, this election is going to affect me as I start becoming more independent, paying taxes, and providing for myself. I don't want a confused public determining important parts of my future.

That being said, it's time for a change.

Get your free Obama pin (no strings attached)

Comedians

S.O.T.D.

Regulators - Warren G feat. Nate Dogg

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I'm a huge fan of comedies and comedians (they're my favorite genre) but I don't actively pursue them. Lately, however, I haven't found many movies that made me laugh throughout, and most comedians I know end up pulling dirty jokes most of the time, which is funny to a certain extent, but after a while, just gets dull.

If you're with me on this one, I recommend Eddie Izzard. He has an English accent and is a little hard to understand sometimes, but his jokes are up there, and he talks about everything, with a slight focus on history, so what do you know, he's a little bit educational. He's a transvestite as well, which was a little weird to get used to for a comedian, but you get over it quickly, and every time I see him now, it's practically normal. He does cuss a lot, but its doesn't overwhelm his jokes. Here's a couple clips:

Clip 1

Clip 2

The Olympics So Far . . .

I couldn't help but mention the olympics, sorry. But are you kidding me? Phelps by himself is making the olympics ridiculously amazing; not only is he winning golds, which, I must admit, might have gotten boring (everyone needs a challenge), but he is literally, as my buddy pointed out, racing against the green line and nothing else.

And he's not just barely beating it. He's smashing it. What about the one where it was close? That was an amazing swim as well, with the Americans coming back to beat the trash talking French in the 4x100 relay. This is a really special year for Phelps and American swimming in general. I also like to win, so these together make me a happy camper.

ON TOP OF THAT, even gymnastics is getting me interested. The young, untested Americans are landing jumps, doing crazy stuff, but somehow still losing to the Chinese who mess up their jumps but go crazy on their difficulty levels. It's just the height of competition on gymnastics biggest stage.

I know some people may forget the olympics after tonight (Madden is coming out), or may not like them at all, but if you appreciate sports at the smallest possible level, you need to watch at least some part of the olympics.