I am 63 almost 64 years old. I vividly remember 1958 when my father and I were at a barber shop in Visalia. My father and another man started arguing about the 1959 Rose Bowl and how Iowa was a (I think) 17 point favorite over the Bears. My Dad said no way and bet the man $1.00 that CAL would beat the spread. Now $1.00 was a lot of money to our family then, we were on the opposite end of wealthy. Needless to say Iowa beat us by much more that 17 points. 38-12. My Dad paid off on that bet. I figured that we would get another chance with CAL the following year. I was ten at the time. My Dad died the next year without getting a chance to win his $1.00 back. But after 52 years I have not had the chance to win the $1.00 back either. All that I can say as to what a Rose Bowl would mean to me is that I would dearly love the chance to win my father's dollar back. I plan on attending the Rose Bowl and going to the parade when CAL goes to the game. I only hope and wish that one day I get the chance before it is too late.

I would recommend fish oil. Heart disease is still the number one killer. Regular exercise also.

Isn't is assumed that on the day that Cal actually wins (see I put that in there to hedge my bets) the Rose Bowl, that about 5-6000 Old Blues will keel over and die? Don't bet against it!<br /><br />Seriously, it means more to me than this type of thing should to someone my age. Yes, I should take it all in stride like Cubs fans for instance <img src="<img src="<img src="<img src="<img src="" />" />" />" />"> However, getting this is all out of proportion to what it really should mean, which really means I am nuts! I dream of sitting in the Rose Bowl, sunny day as usual, seats on the 50 purchased for $5000, watching the blimp overhead, looking at the view from the Arroyo, hearing the national anthem, seeing the stealth bomber or formation of jets flying over, and then all of a sudden the Cal Band kicks up and the team takes the field. I dream of this thing to put myself to sleep quite frankly!<br /><br />Yessirre....5-6000 dead Cal fans on January 2nd!<br /><br />:gobears:

Great story. I guess that gives you permission to be a Negabear (though I'm not sure if you are a Negabear). I could understand why someone like you would want Tedford out.<br /><br />How important is the Rose Bowl to me? There is nothing in sports I would want more than for Cal to go to the Rose Bowl. In fact, if Cal had a shot at the NC game, I would be one of the people urging Cal to decline the NC invitation and take the Rose Bowl instead. No question.

Now that is the kind of post I would expect from true Blue CAL fanatics. I just hope that I am not one of the 5-6000 but if it were too happen I could not imagine a better place to be.

As a 20 year old, I haven't accumulated all the years of misery and suffering of the older generation yet [though the last 8 or 9 certainly haven't been that good, with Kevin Riley's decision to take off running, Mack Brown, and all that jazz].<br /><br />Still, I feel like I'm just like the rest of you...waiting for a dream to come true. Young or not, by coming here, I feel like I'm a part of all that; I feel like I'm also carrying all your hopes for Roses going forward too. I'm probably not explaining this very well right now, but I hope you get the gist of it.<br /><br />Also, a Rose Bowl is the only thing I'm waiting left to see in sports [I've got my World Series already and could care less about a Super Bowl win.]

I do not want Tedford out. I do not know where you got that from. And no I am not a NegaBEAR. On the contrary I believe strongly in the program, and have since I was a student in late 60's and I believe in leaving it to the experts to get to that elusive Rose Bowl.

I completely agree with Bobby G. The Rose Bowl is the goal. I would gladly trade a BCS championship for a Rose Bowl championship. Just getting to the Rose Bowl would be a dream come true. I would do whatever it took to attend the game and the events surrounding the game.<br /><br />GO BEARS!

<blockquote><div class="name-said">mdcspe69;695204 said:</div><hr>I do not want Tedford out. I do not know where you got that from. And no I am not a NegaBEAR. On the contrary I believe in the program and leave it to the experts to get me there.<hr></blockquote><br /><br />Love your attitude! When we get to the Rose Bowl, I'll be thinking about you and your pops!

I also really want to see Tedford be the man who takes us there...but only for a few more years. After that, there won't be any more excuses that we can give him.

I've been a Cal fan since the early 1960s, went to Cal in the 1970s, and would love a chance to go to the Rose Bowl.....though I've been to the LA Coliseum many times, I've never been to the Rose Bowl, promising myself I would never go until Cal played there as a Rose Bowl participant. Unlike most of you, though, I would trade that in a heartbeat for a national championship. That would be much greater for the Cal program, I believe, and I've always thought Cal should shoot for the top, be it academics or athletics.....plus, if we win a national championship, we'd hopefully be good enough the next year to make it to the Rose Bowl!

I too am in my 60s and have had the sadness of fellow Old Blues biting the dust waiting for that one game to happen again. Count me in with the Rose Bowl over the NCS game guys. My kids have told me that they will sneak some of my ashes into Pasadena on that day if I don't make it. My fear is that about 50,000 other Cal fans will have made the same promise to their old ones and the field and the field will be buried with 3 feet of human ashes!:gobears: