38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

I started going to games when I was 5, exactly 38 years ago also. The Holmoe era was worse, but it was also different in that we had a lot less information -- particularly about programs outside the Pac-10. Following recruiting was a thing only for most intense fans (and you had to buy magazines to do it).

In 1963 when I was merely 8 years old. This game ranks in top 10 of worse ever. Player's will to win definitely not there. Can blame a lot for such but it all permeates from the top. The Nice Guys Finish Last phrase beginning to apply to the HC.

Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

This reminds me of when Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac an "embarrassment to humankind". The team didn't cheat, didn't forfeit, didn't try to intentionally injure the opposing players. They're not an embarrassment to the university. That's ridiculous and embarrassing for you to say.

And I've seen way worse games than today. I've seen them lose 61-0. We've all seen much worse. Get a grip.

kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

This reminds me of when Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac an "embarrassment to humankind". The team didn't cheat, didn't forfeit, didn't try to intentionally injure the opposing players. They're not an embarrassment to the university. That's ridiculous and embarrassing for you to say.

And I've seen way worse games than today. I've seen them lose 61-0. We've all seen much worse. Get a grip.

---

You get a grip. I repeat: This team is a complete embarrassment to the University of California. They either just quit on the coach, or they are historically bad. We scored only 6 damn points against a VERY bad WSU team. That's worse in my book than losing 61-0 to a highly ranked team.

You should stop making excuses for Wilcox. He is a crappy head coach, and he needs to go. If you are a true Cal fan and are not embarrassed by the play of this team, there is no hope for you.

Golden One said:

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kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

This reminds me of when Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac an "embarrassment to humankind". The team didn't cheat, didn't forfeit, didn't try to intentionally injure the opposing players. They're not an embarrassment to the university. That's ridiculous and embarrassing for you to say.

And I've seen way worse games than today. I've seen them lose 61-0. We've all seen much worse. Get a grip.

---

You get a grip. I repeat: This team is a complete embarrassment to the University of California. They either just quit on the coach, or they are historically bad. We scored only 6 damn points against a VERY bad WSU team. That's worse in my book than losing 61-0 to a highly ranked team.

You should stop making excuses for Wilcox. He is a crappy head coach, and he needs to go. If you are a true Cal fan and are not embarrassed by the play of this team, there is no hope for you.

---

I didn't make any excuses for Wilcox. You're hallucinating now. Get a f***ing grip.

I have followed Cal football on and off, mostly on, for 50 years, since 1970. There were some bad times under Holmoe, but we fielded some great defensive squads. Dykes was the opposite. In the 80s we had bad teams but some great QB play.

I have never seen a Cal team make a wholesale breakdown on almost every single level as happened today. I am basing that partly on the quality of the opponent, which came in as a total mess.

I have seen Cal get beat worse than this, but I haven't seen Cal break down this badly before. NO PASSION or drive in this team. NONE

kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

This reminds me of when Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac an "embarrassment to humankind". The team didn't cheat, didn't forfeit, didn't try to intentionally injure the opposing players. They're not an embarrassment to the university. That's ridiculous and embarrassing for you to say.

And I've seen way worse games than today. I've seen them lose 61-0. We've all seen much worse. Get a grip.

---

You get a grip. I repeat: This team is a complete embarrassment to the University of California. They either just quit on the coach, or they are historically bad. We scored only 6 damn points against a VERY bad WSU team. That's worse in my book than losing 61-0 to a highly ranked team.

You should stop making excuses for Wilcox. He is a crappy head coach, and he needs to go. If you are a true Cal fan and are not embarrassed by the play of this team, there is no hope for you.

---

I didn't make any excuses for Wilcox. You're hallucinating now. Get a f***ing grip.

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You have routinely been making excuses for Wilcox. You apparently adore mediocrity.

heartofthebear said:

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I have never seen a Cal team make a wholesale breakdown on almost every single level as happened today. I am basing that partly on the quality of the opponent, which came in as a total mess.

I have seen Cal get beat worse than this, but I haven't seen Cal break down this badly before. NO PASSION or drive in this team. NONE

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I completely agree! The lack of drive, passion, and aggression was appalling today. This team has just given up, and that is all on the head coach. Wilcox must go.

Golden One said:

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kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

This reminds me of when Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac an "embarrassment to humankind". The team didn't cheat, didn't forfeit, didn't try to intentionally injure the opposing players. They're not an embarrassment to the university. That's ridiculous and embarrassing for you to say.

And I've seen way worse games than today. I've seen them lose 61-0. We've all seen much worse. Get a grip.

---

You get a grip. I repeat: This team is a complete embarrassment to the University of California. They either just quit on the coach, or they are historically bad. We scored only 6 damn points against a VERY bad WSU team. That's worse in my book than losing 61-0 to a highly ranked team.

You should stop making excuses for Wilcox. He is a crappy head coach, and he needs to go. If you are a true Cal fan and are not embarrassed by the play of this team, there is no hope for you.

---

I didn't make any excuses for Wilcox. You're hallucinating now. Get a f***ing grip.

---

You have routinely been making excuses for Wilcox. You apparently adore mediocrity.

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What are these excuses I've made for Wilcox?

46 years (started when I was a gleam in my daddy's eye, lol)

I have seen many. many lower moments and worse play than today. What is absolutely stunning about this year is how far our stock has fallen in the last 30 days. Coming into our first game, most everybody was feeling fairly optimistic. Maybe we didn't have Rose Bowl talent, but this looked to be at least a winning season. Then, with each successive week (even the week we won), we've needed to readjust expectations downward. And today, quite a bit further downward. Nobody expected 1-4 at this point. Hard to believe (and that's after 46 years which included plenty of futility).

I've followed the team since I was a freshman in '92. There were some games during the Holmoe era and during Dykes' first season that were probably more thorough butt-kickings but this game felt somehow more disheartening, probably because I was holding out hope for Wilcox turning the corner this year but instead it's looking like it could be a historically awful season.

Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

Today was bad, but we saw worse during the Holmoe era. Granted - it was worse with Deltha O'Neal running back punts and playing corner.

kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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kal kommie said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

This reminds me of when Willie Brown called Elvis Grbac an "embarrassment to humankind". The team didn't cheat, didn't forfeit, didn't try to intentionally injure the opposing players. They're not an embarrassment to the university. That's ridiculous and embarrassing for you to say.

And I've seen way worse games than today. I've seen them lose 61-0. We've all seen much worse. Get a grip.

---

You get a grip. I repeat: This team is a complete embarrassment to the University of California. They either just quit on the coach, or they are historically bad. We scored only 6 damn points against a VERY bad WSU team. That's worse in my book than losing 61-0 to a highly ranked team.

You should stop making excuses for Wilcox. He is a crappy head coach, and he needs to go. If you are a true Cal fan and are not embarrassed by the play of this team, there is no hope for you.

---

I didn't make any excuses for Wilcox. You're hallucinating now. Get a f***ing grip.

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Jeebus guys. I think we can agree that today was bad. Very, very, bad. We're all Cal fans here. People defended Tom Holmoe up to the day he was fired on the previous incarnation of this board. This is not that.

Big C said:

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46 years (started when I was a gleam in my daddy's eye, lol)

I have seen many. many lower moments and worse play than today. What is absolutely stunning about this year is how far our stock has fallen in the last 30 days. Coming into our first game, most everybody was feeling fairly optimistic. Maybe we didn't have Rose Bowl talent, but this looked to be at least a winning season. Then, with each successive week (even the week we won), we've needed to readjust expectations downward. And today, quite a bit further downward. Nobody expected 1-4 at this point. Hard to believe (and that's after 46 years which included plenty of futility).

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I think that's the stunning thing from my perspective. The wheels have come off. And while I'm not ready to group JW with Holmoe and Dykes, I will agree this team quit on him today.

heartofthebear said:

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I have followed Cal football on and off, mostly on, for 50 years, since 1970. There were some bad times under Holmoe, but we fielded some great defensive squads. Dykes was the opposite. In the 80s we had bad teams but some great QB play.

I have never seen a Cal team make a wholesale breakdown on almost every single level as happened today. I am basing that partly on the quality of the opponent, which came in as a total mess.

I have seen Cal get beat worse than this, but I haven't seen Cal break down this badly before. NO PASSION or drive in this team. NONE

---

I was there for Kapp and year -one Bruce Snyder. Gale Gilbert actually had a fairly lengthy career as a backup at Seattle. I rarely got to see him play. He was always hurt.

I'd say they all played like they got in at 5:30 AM after a night of drinking and carousing. But I've seen guys that did that play better than our Bears did today.

Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

---

60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

I dunno - at 60 years, you came in right after my folks - the Marv Levy era. I'm told he loved to punt on third down. I'm told Theder was bad. The last year of Kapp was bad -- except for Big Game, which was glorious. Holmoe was never good.

Since 1973.

No. This is even worse than 2013, when we had a first year head coach that inherited a dumpster fire. This is year five - YEAR FIVE - for this coach.

SoFlaBear said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

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60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

Today was bad, but we saw worse during the Holmoe era. Granted - it was worse with Deltha O'Neal running back punts and playing corner.

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Yes, but consider the opponent. WSU is a very bad team, and we got our a$$ thoroughly kicked by them. I don't recall such a thorough beating by a very bad team in the Holmoe years,. as bad as they were.

SoFlaBear said:

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Golden One said:

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SoFlaBear said:

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38 years. I saw some bad play in the Kapp era; early Bruce Snyder; Keith Gilbertson took us in the wrong direction, and Sonny Dykes was bad. It was never - ever worse than Tom Holmoe. Today approached Holmoe-level futility.

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60 years for me, and I can't remember ever seeing a game that was worse than today. The team lacked passion the whole game; frankly, it seems that they have just quit. This team and its coaching staff are a complete embarrassment to a great university. Wilcox has to go, and the sooner the better.

---

I dunno - at 60 years, you came in right after my folks - the Marv Levy era. I'm told he loved to punt on third down. I'm told Theder was bad. The last year of Kapp was bad -- except for Big Game, which was glorious. Holmoe was never good.

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All of that is true. Those were bad years. But this year is right up there with them. When you consider that most of us had high expectations for this season, you realize how far we have fallen. During the eras you mentioned, we knew were bad, and our expectations accordingly were low.

since the mid-late 80s been following Cal, right now this all reminds me of the Holmoe years. Seasons like this tank recruiting which make it nearly impossible to come back from. It sucks because I really do like Wilcox, but his assistant hires have been really bad when we had to replace those leaving. The replacements have been massive downgrades.

Bad is bad. Lots of time wasting on this board around discussing whether or not this regime is "Holmoesque." Who gives a rat's? A D is a D, and a D-minus is a D-minus. Both fail in my book.

Since the late 50s with my dad going to games. If it weren't for JTs years, I wouldn't be here today. Long gone. What we saw yesterday was a team that completely outplayed us. Blame our program, but in so many years and games, we were simply outplayed. The Cougars lit us up.

I've been following Cal football since my family moved to the Bay Area 62 years ago. This isn't the worst team that I've seen, nor was this the worst game. BUT this may be the most disappointing situation because of the koolaid that we all have been drinking lately. As others have mentioned, our expectations for this team were very high. The results are so inconsistent with those expectations that the disappointment is intense. I gave up after the Nevada defeat. I'll watch the games, and continue to root for the team, but I'm I'm going to try to ramp down my emotional investment. I've canceled my premium membership and internet tags to other sites, and I'll only log on to the Growls site a couple of times a week. Why get worked up emotionally about something over which I have no input nor influence?

Big C said:

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46 years (started when I was a gleam in my daddy's eye, lol)

I have seen many. many lower moments and worse play than today. What is absolutely stunning about this year is how far our stock has fallen in the last 30 days. Coming into our first game, most everybody was feeling fairly optimistic. Maybe we didn't have Rose Bowl talent, but this looked to be at least a winning season. Then, with each successive week (even the week we won), we've needed to readjust expectations downward. And today, quite a bit further downward. Nobody expected 1-4 at this point. Hard to believe (and that's after 46 years which included plenty of futility).

---

Boy, for some reason I always thought you were older.

Been following em since '74, Jr yr of HS.

My take: Holmoe's years were the worst, but Tom was a great guy. Gilbertson's years weren't much better, and I thought he wasn't so great (he shoulda' known he was out of place here).

1. Something is wrong with the team. They are playing to "tight" now. I can see it in the way the DBs and LBs interact with each other. What's up with that? I don't think they've given up, but something is wrong with their game time frame of mind.

2. Special teams. Has any other team missed this many XPs? This is truly a disaster. Something has to be done about this.

3. Garbers-way too inconsistent. You can't execute (and Musgrave's offense requires clockwork precision to work when you have to rely on long drives) when you're throwing at WR's feet or out of their reach more than half of the time.

4. Oline-no real pass protection, leads to #3 above. Or is there something about how the QB is setting up that makes it difficult for the Oline to operate?

5. The Defense-the DL as a whole has problems. No push and rarely pressure the QB. That puts a lot of pressure on everybody else.

Overall, I'm still not board with any mid-season termination of JW. That's just plain stupid, given the overall situation here (money, HC candidates, etc). My opinion is that he gets 1 more season to show marked improvement, which means getting to at least .500 in conferece play. But I also believe JW needs to get a real QB coach on the field for our guys. I mean, ALL of our QBs can't be this problematic, can they?

Northside91 said:

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Bad is bad. Lots of time wasting on this board around discussing whether or not this regime is "Holmoesque." Who gives a rat's? A D is a D, and a D-minus is a D-minus. Both fail in my book.

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Hey, I got a D in Physics 4D and wasn't happy, but I was relieved I didn't have to take it again. Meanwhile, the Bears have to play 7 more games.

We've dumped on Garbers (justifiably in my opinion) but what about the offensive line? Cal's right tackle was repeatedly embarrassed yesterday and this has been going on all season. When the whole OL is bad, which they certainly are, that points to coaching. Our current and previous OL coaches appear to have been guys on the verge of retirement. Is that a problem? Can these guys attract, develop, and motivate today's players?

As for the OP's original questions:
1. I've been going to games since the early 1960s. So, that's through Levy, Willsey, White, Theder, Kapp, Snyder, Gilby, Mooch, Holmoe, Tedford, Dykes, and Wilcox.

2. Holmoe's last years were the worst. By the end, he'd lost control of his staff as well as the players. Wilcox is not at that point yet.

Honestly? I'm a Tedford bandwagon jumper. I suspect I'm not the only one.

My time as a student coincided with the Holmoe years, but I never cared about football. Not as a child. Not as a teenager. I mean, the Los Angeles NFL teams left when I was in high school and the Raiders were associated with gangs.

But while I didn't care about football, I got to know a lot of the people who covered sports for The Daily Cal. And I would hear the stories about how Holmoe was a nice guy who deserved a chance. (Also, the Cal football grade scandal happened while I was at the Daily Cal.) I knew the people who covered the 2001 team. I remember when Cal's punter (Nick Harris) came in the newsroom and all the women would swoon. I was at an airport exactly 20 years ago this month (I remember because it was a month after 9/11) when a Daily Cal colleague introduced me to Kyle Boller. One of the reporters covering that 2001 team was Jason Jones, who covers the Sacramento Kings for The Athletic. I believe he never covered a Cal victory. (The Daily Cal was too cash-strapped at the time to send a reporter to New Jersey.) Anyways, getting to know all about the 2001 disastrous season, I was sort of intrigued *after* the new coach who succeeded Holmoe started winning. And slowly became more and more addicted. To the point where watching games would make me sick.

Now? I don't care. I mean, I care. But I've never been more apathetic. Seeing Cal lose again was, well, not that shocking. I was more excited to watch Alabama-Ole Miss yesterday, and that turned into a huge disappointment. So I don't feel bummed. But I feel bad that I don't feel bummed.

Since 1963. Never seen worse.

Call me when we get a coach.

Since 1962. I've seen a lot of awful teams (see Holmoe, Tom) and some really terrible games and yesterday's game and this year's squad rank among the worst. The season is reminding of me 2012 (Tedford's last) when we came in with high expectations after a year away from Memorial Stadium (just like this year) then lost our opener to Nevada (just like this year) and finished 3-9. I'm getting the same vibe from this team. The crazy thing about it is that I'll keep coming back -- for the rest of this season and come what may next season. I'm hooked on a drug that rarely gets me high.
BTW, I would have walked out on them yesterday but was having too much fun chatting with my fellow sufferers. Bear fans are good people and we all deserve better.

50 years for me.

Watching the offense yesterday brought to mind the Justin Vedder (Holmoe) years, when our team scoring was led by somebody who didn't play offense. Delta O'Neal had more TDs on kick and interception returns than any of our RBs/WRs.

I saw my first game at Memorial in 1949, the win over USC featuring Frank Brunk's 102 yard kickoff return but I had listened to Cal games on radio from about 1946. I was at Cal at the end of the Waldorf era and it was funereal. I was at Cal when the '58 team stumbled (it was truly a very average team) into the Rose Bowl. Compared to the present, I'd say only Willsey, Mike White, Snyder and Tedford were significantly better and Levy, Holmoe and Dykes much worse. I confess to being a Wilcox believer when he was hired but I also thought Gilby or Mariucci would be better than they were and Mooch might have been had he stayed. I do subscribe to the theory that the greater Cal community...Admin, faculty, student body and alumni don't care much whether or not our major sports teams succeed. Personally, I don't need national titles or the Rose Bowl (like me, it ain't what it once was) but I would like to see a team that could take the field with a reasonable chance to win on any given Saturday. I thought Wilcox was building toward that. This year and last certainly belie that notion but only our expectations put this season in any list of our absolute worst.

txwharfrat said:

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Since 1973.

No. This is even worse than 2013, when we had a first year head coach that inherited a dumpster fire. This is year five - YEAR FIVE - for this coach.

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I would add that this is very similar to the Holmoe era, but Tommy could recruit, and left Tedford many useful pieces to play with. The next coach gets a few filler pieces, and not much else.

JSC 76 said:

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50 years for me.

Watching the offense yesterday brought to mind the Justin Vedder (Holmoe) years, when our team scoring was led by somebody who didn't play offense. Delta O'Neal had more TDs on kick and interception returns than any of our RBs/WRs.

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At least there was some excitement when he was on the field.