We spend a lot of time on these boards dissecting certain aspects of Cal athletics or discussing various other topics, but I'm interested to hear what everyone's single favorite memory, anecdote, or experience was during their years at Berkeley.

BearBoarBlarney said:

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We spend a lot of time on these boards dissecting certain aspects of Cal athletics or discussing various other topics, but I'm interested to hear what everyone's single favorite memory, anecdote, or experience was during their years at Berkeley.

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The Play

I sadly missed The Play in person but heard Joe's call as it happened. Best moment I was at was Tyler Fredrickson's winning FG against U$C in triple OT.

My two favorites both involve Nelson Polsby, my political science professor, and a giant in the field:

1. I'm in Polsby's class on the presidency, winter quarter 1982. His class is limited to about 40 people, and I'm intimidated by the peers. Polsby wants discussion, but I'm afraid to open my mouth and look dumb. We do the mid-term. Polsby is a rotund guy, and gets driven around campus by his TA in a cart. About a week after the mid-term, I"m emerging from another class in Dwinnelle, and as I'm just coming out of the plaza, Polsby comes rolling by, waves, yells "Hi Jeff!!" and motors on without stopping. I was dumbstruck. About a week after that, I ran into the TA and asked, "How did he know who I was?" The TA smirks and replies: "You got the highest score in the class on the mid-term, and he asked me to point you out. He said 'This kid is smart, he should be talking more."" So I did, including getting in an argument with the women in the class regarding the fact that women almost always vote the same as their husbands, something Polsby confirmed that the research at the time said was absolutely correct. I had read the research for a different class, with Herb McCloskey.

2. My Dad is a CPA, and during tax season, my mother would get bored and come visit me for dinner in Berkeley. That same quarter, I told her to come early, and I would take here with me to Polsby"s class (Tu-Th 3:30-5 in Barrows). She's sitting with me, the discussion is going back-and-forth, and she raises her hand and says, "I"m Jeff's mom, can I say something?" Polsby looks at me. I say, "Go ahead, just don't embarrass me." She made her point, and we went on. Fast forward to Dead Week, and I go to Polsby's office to ask about something on the syllabus. He says "You've got the class wired, you won't have any problem with the final." I get up to leave, and he stops me, and says "By the way, I wanted to tell you I admire you. It takes guts to bring your mother to class." I say, "No bringing her to class was a no-brainer. Letting her talk takes guts, but of she and I, only one of us already has a degree from the University of California (she graduated in Nursing from UCSF in 1958), and it's not me."

My mom is gone now, and I told that story at her funeral. Polsby was a great guy, a great teacher, and wrote me a great letter for grad school. It just goes to show that at least at that time, even the greatest professors did make an effort to connect with undergrads.

Jeff82 said:

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I say, "No bringing her to class was a no-brainer. Letting her talk takes guts, but of she and I, only one of us already has a degree from the University of California (she graduated in Nursing from UCSF in 1958), and it's not me

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What an awesome rejoinder by you -- quick on your feet! And both your mom and the professor in question sound like wonderful people. Sorry about your mom's passing, she sounds like she was a lot of fun!

P.S. I did not realize Cal was on the quarter system at that time. By the late-80s, it was on the semester system.

Both my parents went to Cal. They met at a dance at Hillel on Bancroft Way. She was fun, and very smart. It's too bad she was born in an era where the only professional options for most women were nursing or teaching. She approached being a mom with real intelligence. She made me take skating lessons, which I hated. When I asked her as an adult why she did that, she said: "I knew you're dad would want you to play sports, and I thought this would help you be more coordinated." I told that story too, as almost everyone I've met says I'm much more of a jock than my appearance would indicate. I really miss her.

Cal was on quarters (Fall, Winter, Spring) for my entire time. Typically three five-unit classes per quarter would get you out in four years. The only issue was that if you got sick, you had to just fight through it, because a 10-week class gives no margin for error.

1986/beating of ucla at Harmon gym.

Winning the Pac 10 title in 2010 in men's bball I cried like a baby

Tie between 2002 Big Game and 2003 U$C.

-Pac 10 Basketball title was incredible.

-Putting $100 on the bears against U$C in that triple-OT win and knowing I'd "probably" be able to collect at halftime as all of the $C homers slogged out of the Vegas sportsbook was a close one as well.

-The clanked extra point win at Texas was definitely the only time I screamed like a little girl.

But my favorite of all has to be getting a huge hug from Momma Lynch at the Tennessee game in Knoxville as we were both wearing his jersey and her sister noticed me and brought me to her for the hug.

Drinking frosty beverages at Blakes, and then exploring the underground tunnels on campus. You never know where you're going to pop up.

1) Even though it was a game between 2 also ran teams that year, the '72 Big Game. Cal marched down the field in about a minute and Vince Ferragamo (who had quarterbacked the JV team to a loss to furd earlier in the week) hit Steve Sweeney for the winning TD in the south end zone on the last play of the game. Absolute bedlam to end a game that was the ultimate mud bowl. I've never seen Stanford fans more dejected, although I wasn't there at the game for The Play.

2) The '75 USC game, where an unranked Cal team led by Joe Roth and Chuck Muncie manhandled the #1 ranked trojans. Ricky Bell took the opening kickoff nearly 100 yards back to the Cal one or two yard line, and it looked like "here we go again." But USC was called for clipping (remember that?) and it was all downhill for John McKay and the trojans. It was a tough, hard fought game, but Cal was relentless and steadily exerted their will against an overwhelming favorite. The hits doled out by the Cal D were brutal. I have definitely never seen USC fans as disappointed which made it all the more fun.

3) The '70 Big Game. Another big upset, with Cal handing a Rose bowl bound Stanford Indian team their only conference loss in Berkeley. A nail biter all the way to the end, with a gritty Dave Penhall (Mike Pawlawski before Mike Pawlawski) outdueling Jim Plunkett, who would go on to win the Heisman that year.

BearBoarBlarney said:

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P.S. I did not realize Cal was on the quarter system at that time. By the late-80s, it was on the semester system.

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It was '83-'84 that Cal started on the semester system. That was my senior year, and by that time, my brain was completely locked into the rhythm of 10-week quarters. I found that after 10 weeks, my attention span completely shut down, and it was a horrendous slog for those five additional weeks to finals.

Marshawn Lynch's golf cart ride &ct=g

As this is football growls there are two games that come to mind.

1975 Big Game where Muncie went nutzoid at Stanford in our 48-15 win

1991 Win over U$C when we scored 52 points (I think the most at that time vs. U$C) in a 52-30 win.

The best of the best. I think, if I remember correctly, we had them down 49-30 and kicked a field goal to go over 50 and set a record against them. Normally, poor sportsmanship, but after years of getting butt kicked it was sooo sweet.

In the post-game celebration after the 2003 win over USC, the players were standing on the locker room balcony (before the re-model moved the locker room) with a cheering throng below. Burl Toler threw his gloves into the crowd. I caught them, and still have them.

TBear56 said:

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Winning the Pac 10 title in 2010 in men's bball I cried like a baby

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I was there as well and that for me felt like a major anticlimax, but anyway:

favorite moment on campus: Cal vs. Portland State 2006 (I can explain why if asked)

1965 - Football. I was 11 years-old, sitting in the S end-zone. Cal trailing Penn St. with 00.01 on the clock. Jim Hunt completes a Hail Mary TD pass to Jerry Bradley. At my age, this really seemed like a miracle. I ran onto the field with buddies after the game.

1968 - Football. Cal stomped favored #10-ranked Syracuse 43-0 in CMS. The first time I can recall thinking Cal really had a good team. Too bad they shat-the-bed in the Big Game a few weeks later.

1975 - Football. My senior year at Cal. Stebbins Hall co-op had a Halloween party the night before the USC game and I got shyte-faced drunk - sick as a dog on game day. Walked to the game with friends and I had to stop several times just to rest. Before entering the student section, I realized that once seated, there would be no way I could get to a bathroom if I needed to puke again, so I walked over to the bushes on the hill and blew the tea/toast I'd eaten earlier. Those of you who were there remember the stadium was ELECTRIC! Team enters the field (sans current histrionics like flames/fog/etc) and student section went bonkers. I got a huge adrenaline rush and felt fine after that. Roth, Muncie, etc. The normally so-so Cal defense really stepped up. What a game! Mike White will always be my favorite Cal coach.

1982 - Of course, The Play. I sat on the east side with future wife. I've now seen the TV replay from the west side so many times that I have to struggle to remember my original view. I'm looking right now at the "100 Years of Blue and Gold" poster from that season, but don't recall at which game they handed them out.

1976 - Senior year. June during Dead Week - I ran the entire Strawberry Canyon fire trail for the first time. Sure, I still had to take Finals, but that felt like sort of a capstone on my student career at Cal.

YamhillBear said:

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BearBoarBlarney said:

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P.S. I did not realize Cal was on the quarter system at that time. By the late-80s, it was on the semester system.

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It was '83-'84 that Cal started on the semester system. That was my senior year, and by that time, my brain was completely locked into the rhythm of 10-week quarters. I found that after 10 weeks, my attention span completely shut down, and it was a horrendous slog for those five additional weeks to finals.

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Doing the reading for a 10-week class was not easy, probably 200-300 pages a week between the three classes. On the other hand, I found three five-unit classes to be manageable, compared to some of my friends in hard sciences, where the unit values were artificially suppressed because of the number of classes they needed to take. One of my roomates was in Chem E., and he typically had to take five three-unit classes, including weekly labs, every quarter.

2003. #3 USC at Cal. 3OT win. There may or may not have been field rushing and Aaron Rodgers back patting.

HeartstMining, I'm with you on that Penn State game. That was a sensational game. In those days we could be on the field after the game and pretend we were Cal football players. Kids have lost that experience now, but it sure made me want to be a Bear.

All the Alumni Band Days with my Dad (founder of the Cal Alumni Band along with 2 others). As a kid, those were really special. In later years my daughter's participation marching with the banner. (Anything with my daughter would be special anyway).

A tie for third place goes to the year Cal beat stanford and the goal posts were paraded down Bancroft, and the year Cal scored 53 on $C for the victory. Chang Lin Tien was running through all of us as we exited the stadium joyously yelling "Go Bears!"

Honorable mentions to the year I met Pappy Waldorf in the stands and got to talk with him for a while, along with the game where Cal honored Admiral Nimitz and he was driven around the Memorial Stadium field. People still remembered how important he was to our victory over Japan in World War 2.

1997 Big Game down on The Farm when we lost and tore down the goalposts. It wasn't the right result, but in several decades of athletic attendance across different levels and different sports, that was still the most intense (even before the posts came down) and surreal contest I've ever been to.

Any random 2am night/morning at Top Dog when Jerry Springer (RIP) was on the TV.

In Sproul Plaza one sunny afternoon, there were 2 guys with Caribbean steel drums playing Steven Stills' "Love the One You're With".

I was so struck by the thought that: this place is weird in the best possible way...that memory has never left me.

(And their choice was not that big a stretch. if you listen carefully to the original, there's a steel drum in the arrangement.)

Non-sports memory - 1978 or 1979 - I Hate You and the Moon Man get into a severe shouting and mocking session on the Bancroft Entrance. Holy Hubert might have been there too.

I was a recent Univ of Hawaii graduate who got a job in San Francisco and moved with my college girl friend. I wanted to experience a big time college football environment and USC was in town, and me and a friend took the Bart from SF to Berkeley, saw the scene of the frat row and watched the game from Bears Lair. Walked around Sproul, saw the Campnile - I was like, "where am I?" I was hooked. Something about Berkeley, this college town with really smart and interesting people - pageantry, big campus.

I remember my dad telling me when Cal played at Hawaii in the 1990's that Berkeley was a really good school. I didn't know what the heck he was talking about. I was in middle school or early high school.

Anyways, fast forward and my dad got dementia and I told him I was attending Berkeley for grad school and he was really proud.

Another proud moment was in a Haas MBA class our professor (a very well respected VC) started talking about the story of Clark Kerr. It was not an ordinary lecture but one that instilled a meaning to what getting an education at Berkeley meant.

Long before I decided to go to grad school and apply to Berkeley, I always felt the school and campus had this open feel. Whether it be for a student run conference, a football game, or Cal Day (before they changed it), it has this openness.

ncbears said:

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Non-sports memory - 1978 or 1979 - I Hate You and the Moon Man get into a severe shouting and mocking session on the Bancroft Entrance. Holy Hubert might have been there too.

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Bonus track:

Berkeley's Most Lovable Weirdos | Bear Insider


https://bearinsider.com/forums/2/topics/56471

OT: Who were the most memorable street crazies when you went to Cal? | Bear Insider


https://bearinsider.com/forums/2/topics/66553

Then there was Ed Roberts,TA for Jack Citrin poly sci class.he incorrectly gave me a non passing in a class by mistake. Jack sent me to his apartment to get it fixed. He corrected the error but it was a hassle .

I was a student at Boalt Hall when one friday evening my wife came by with our three-year-old Caely to give me a ride back home. We were walking around near the I-House, enjoying the sunset, and we sort of just fell in with a big crowd walking across Gayley Dr. I had Caely up on my shoulders. She was not shy, and she shouted out to as many as could hear her,

"WHERE IS EVERYBODY GOING?"

Someone yelled back, "TO CHEER FOR THE BEARS!"

Puzzled, Caely yelled back, "WHAT ARE THE BEARS GONNA DO?"

"PLAY FOOTBALL!" was the response.

Caely laughed deep at this lunacy, and shouted back, "BEARS CAN'T PLAY FOOTBALL!"

And she continued to argue the point all the way into the Greek -- our first bonfire. Some years later Caely would return to play at four more such bonfires as a member of the Cal Band. She even got some designation from the Band as its "Evil Newman." I have no idea what that means and it's probably best that I don't.

K_townbear

Witnessed: Jerry Bradley's diving end zone catch to beat Penn State.

TV: The Play

Jeff82 said:

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My two favorites both involve Nelson Polsby, my political science professor, and a giant in the field:

1. I'm in Polsby's class on the presidency, winter quarter 1982. His class is limited to about 40 people, and I'm intimidated by the peers. Polsby wants discussion, but I'm afraid to open my mouth and look dumb. We do the mid-term. Polsby is a rotund guy, and gets driven around campus by his TA in a cart. About a week after the mid-term, I"m emerging from another class in Dwinnelle, and as I'm just coming out of the plaza, Polsby comes rolling by, waves, yells "Hi Jeff!!" and motors on without stopping. I was dumbstruck. About a week after that, I ran into the TA and asked, "How did he know who I was?" The TA smirks and replies: "You got the highest score in the class on the mid-term, and he asked me to point you out. He said 'This kid is smart, he should be talking more."" So I did, including getting in an argument with the women in the class regarding the fact that women almost always vote the same as their husbands, something Polsby confirmed that the research at the time said was absolutely correct. I had read the research for a different class, with Herb McCloskey.

2. My Dad is a CPA, and during tax season, my mother would get bored and come visit me for dinner in Berkeley. That same quarter, I told her to come early, and I would take here with me to Polsby"s class (Tu-Th 3:30-5 in Barrows). She's sitting with me, the discussion is going back-and-forth, and she raises her hand and says, "I"m Jeff's mom, can I say something?" Polsby looks at me. I say, "Go ahead, just don't embarrass me." She made her point, and we went on. Fast forward to Dead Week, and I go to Polsby's office to ask about something on the syllabus. He says "You've got the class wired, you won't have any problem with the final." I get up to leave, and he stops me, and says "By the way, I wanted to tell you I admire you. It takes guts to bring your mother to class." I say, "No bringing her to class was a no-brainer. Letting her talk takes guts, but of she and I, only one of us already has a degree from the University of California (she graduated in Nursing from UCSF in 1958), and it's not me."

My mom is gone now, and I told that story at her funeral. Polsby was a great guy, a great teacher, and wrote me a great letter for grad school. It just goes to show that at least at that time, even the greatest professors did make an effort to connect with undergrads.

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Embarrassing moment re Polsby: Softball game between the Poli Sci Dept and Sociology, I think. I had just flied out and Polsby came to bat. My wife and 4 yo son were on the sidelines. My son was irrepressible, if you know what I mean. Polsby had on a light t shirt and, seeing him, my son yelled, "Lookit the boop-boops on that guy!" My biggest crawl in a hole moment of my life.

"My Chem 1A professor thinks I'm working on my lab assignment
instead I'm making punch for frat parties!"

Blueblood said:

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"My Chem 1A professor thinks I'm working on my lab assignment
instead I'm making punch for frat parties!"

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You should have gone to Med, Dent, Nursing, Pharm school on Parnassus Heights. The Pharm students titrated some pretty good additives for punch. Had a lotta punch.

Some of my happiest memories was seeing various Sire Records including Talking Heads for free in lower Sproul when they were being broken out by college radio. My most interesting memory was being in Leon Litwack's office with him when he was on the phone with Zia Al Haq, the Pakistani Prime Minister, asking him to not execute Ali Bhutto, which he did anyway. Litwack ran against Bhutto for Cal student body President when they were undergrads and he beat Bhutto but they were friends. Talk about real life ****…

OdontoBear66 said:

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Blueblood said:

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"My Chem 1A professor thinks I'm working on my lab assignment
instead I'm making punch for frat parties!"

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You should have gone to Med, Dent, Nursing, Pharm school on Parnassus Heights. The Pharm students titrated some pretty good additives for punch. Had a lotta punch.

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FYI, I did go to UCSF med school...on the quarter system.....ugh!