<blockquote><div class="name-said">9thCircuitBear;686947 said:</div><hr>Originally Posted by <b>Papitobear</b><br /><i><b>There is NO WAY an assistant coach holds so much sway </b>other than the fact that BI is telling the WORLD and the kids who read that it's armageddon....which it is NOT!</i><br /><br /><br />this is absolutely correct. The real issue here is not even Tosh. Yes, he was a great recruiter, but he was a great recruiter for quite a few years before all this happened.<br /><br />The real issue are the people living in the pacific northwest themselves. These are butthurt people, many of whom got bounced out of CA for whatever reason because they couldn't cut it . . . maybe their job didn't work out, maybe they were wrongfully treated, etc. . . the reason doesnt matter. The issue is, they're bitter and have been that way for a long time. And their only release has been to go to the local FB stadium (whether at the aluminum kennel, paloos, nikeU, or beaverjack dam) and watch their team try to maul anyone with a CA jersey.<br /><br />The irony of their tradition is that they've had to rely on talented California athletes (the same people they dislike) to carry out their on-the-field ritual, and most of the young Californians they poached have been from nor-cal.<br /><br />So what changed this year? Why all the drama before signing day?<br /><br />This year the <b>[U]SAHPC [/U]</b>was completed. Now the people up there are panicking because they realize their tradition is coming to an end. The nor-cal talent they have relied on in the past is going to start staying in nor-cal. <br /><br />Those of you who point out that this is all about the recruits rather than coaches are correct -- and it is also much bigger than that: it is about AN OLD TRADITION BEING REPLACED BY A NEW ONE. And people are resistant to change.<br />:acclaim:<hr></blockquote><br /><br />Well, there's one tradition that doesn't seem to be changing at Cal. The "we don't have $$ to retain good people" refrain coming out of the ADs office. Seems like a serious enough problem to me.