Don't know if this is a booth or not...I was listening to Maurice Jones-Drew on the Rich Eisen Podcast, and I was encouraged by the following exchange regarding our new Strength and Conditioning Coach:

Eisen: Mike Blasquez
Jones-Drew: Yes, amazing
Eisen: He's currently strength coach at Cal, you met him at De La Salle
Jones-Drew: Yes, Cal is going to be a good football team because of him
Eisen: They always are
Jones-Drew: But because of him, they're going to be great

Not really sure how to link a podcast, but this conversation occurred about a hour into the Rich Eisen Podcast from June 23.

I always enjoy showing things like this to my co worker UCLA fans, tomarow will be a good day...

cbadbear;526042 said:

---

Don't know if this is a booth or not...I was listening to Maurice Jones-Drew on the Rich Eisen Podcast, and I was encouraged by the following exchange regarding our new Strength and Conditioning Coach:

Eisen: Mike Blasquez
Jones-Drew: Yes, amazing
Eisen: He's currently strength coach at Cal, you met him at De La Salle
Jones-Drew: Yes, Cal is going to be a good football team because of him
Eisen: They always are
Jones-Drew: But because of him, they're going to be great

Not really sure how to link a podcast, but this conversation occurred about a hour into the Rich Eisen Podcast from June 23.

---

Very interesting tidbit since MoJo Drew doesn't seem like the type to blow smoke. In my layman's mind, a drastic difference in S&C/toughness/innate confidence is the only way Cal gets to 8 wins next year with the tough schedule ahead.

Also noteworthy: Eisen saying "They {Cal} always are {a good football team}" made me shake my head with a smile. On one hand it would take some rhetorical gymnastics to call Cal's 2010 squad a good football team (decent but flawed at best). But on the other hand you have to give Tedford credit for doing enough to establish the perception that the Bears are "always" good. It's hard to imagine Eisen and ilk saying that about Cal a decade ago.

OneKeg;526053 said:

---

Very interesting tidbit since MoJo Drew doesn't seem like the type to blow smoke. In my layman's mind, a drastic difference in S&C/toughness/innate confidence is the only way Cal gets to 8 wins next year with the tough schedule ahead.

Also noteworthy: Eisen saying "They {Cal} always are {a good football team}" made me shake my head with a smile. On one hand it would take some rhetorical gymnastics to call Cal's 2010 squad a good football team (decent but flawed at best). But on the other hand you have to give Tedford credit for doing enough to establish the perception that the Bears are "always" good. It's hard to imagine Eisen and ilk saying that about Cal a decade ago.

---

Even in a bad season we gave the number one team in the country the hardest game they had up until the championship game.

StillNoStanfurdium;526055 said:

---

Even in a bad season we gave the number one team in the country the hardest game they had up until the championship game.

---

Agreed, our D was nails in the Oregon game. It may have been the best defensive performance by any team in any college football game last year. And perhaps among the worst offensive ones.

And we were down a mind-boggling 42-0 at halftime in the worst of our several blowout losses. Blowout wins against Colorado, UCLA, and ASU don't make up for that. The Bears were not the worst team in the league by a longshot, though they played like it occasionally, but they were not "good" either, though they also played like a good team occasionally too (Oregon game).

It would be awesome if S&C can be the rising tide that lifts all Cal units to excel consistently in 2011.

I'm sure he's great and all. Here's what I'm wondering.

If he's been at Cal for nearly a decade and football athletes swear by him, why was he on men's basketball for the past ten years? And why was Jim Halpert our man on football for so long?

MJD, as I recall correctly, is/was a frequent visitor to Memorial after his UCLA days. He'd work out with Justin Forsett and other Cal players/alums.

And he was close to Tedford. I remember seeing a magazine profile of Tedford in Diablo magazine with Tedford and MJD sitting in the Memorial bleachers.

LessMilesMoreTedford;526070 said:

---

I'm sure he's great and all. Here's what I'm wondering.

If he's been at Cal for nearly a decade and football athletes swear by him, why was he on men's basketball for the past ten years? And why was Jim Halpert our man on football for so long?

---

Ummmmmmm...... Thought he got hired like 6 months ago.

tim94501;526075 said:

---

Ummmmmmm...... Thought he got hired like 6 months ago.

---

Blasquez has been the Cal basketball S&C coach from 2003-10.