The producers of The Drive had 12 teams to choose from. Why did they pick Cal? They must have been convinced that Cal was going to be a fun and exciting team to follow and not just rotting roadkill. Talking about a very bad gamble. I stopped watching after the WSU game because it only magnified my disappointment and increasing apathy. Did any of you hang in there for the whole season? I am sure the producers will be more careful in future years because sponsors will jump ship if they make a horrible choice again.

I'm pretty sure I read that there weren't a lot of volunteers. They were interested in the LA schools I believe and I think they passed.

Sandy thought it would get her the Alabama AD job.

New hire, exciting up beat dynamic style. Will turn around a moribund program. Ok, it looked good on paper

Sandy is looking to sell every part of this program that she can.

tenplay;842231973 said:

---

I am sure the producers will be more careful in future years because sponsors will jump ship if they make a horrible choice again.

---

Eh, I'm sure no heads are rolling at the Pac-12 network. They cover the Pac-12 24x7 and their audience is people who are looking for that, so their ratings shouldn't suffer too much as a result of featuring a bad team (as opposed to, say, if CBS were doing this in prime time).

Plus they picked 2 teams, probably to hedge against this risk.

I believe we rushed to volunteer. The utmost cynic in me says the TFS has something to do with that...

This recent story by Faraudo explains the decision.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_24531583/cal-football-at-least-drive-tv-series-has?IADID

The way it turned out, I wonder if the contrast between a winning and losing program made the show more appealing to viewers (unless you're a Cal fan of course).

CalGB94;842232141 said:

---

This recent story by Faraudo explains the decision.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/sports/ci_24531583/cal-football-at-least-drive-tv-series-has?IADID

The way it turned out, I wonder if the contrast between a winning and losing program made the show more appealing to viewers (unless you're a Cal fan of course).

---

interesting tidbit:

Quote:

---

The schools are allowed to make changes to the program before it airs, but project leader Jim Jorden said Cal has exercised that option just once all season.

Cut was a sideline moment during the Oregon State game when Dykes asks offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, "What's going on, man? How have we gotten so bad? We've got good players."

---

They wanted to show the contrast between the best and the worst teams in the conference. They call it "balanced programming".

GB54;842232040 said:

---

New hire, exciting up beat dynamic style. Will turn around a moribund program. Ok, it looked good on paper

---

Looked real good on paper. We were told we might lose, but we would look exciting while we were losing.

rough.

It's telling that the schools in Hollywood and big brand media-savvy UO-Niketown declined.

"Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport...
... the thrill of victory [ASU]...
... and the agony of defeat [Bears]...
... the human drama of athletic competition...
... This is ABC's Wide World of Sports!"

Who doesn't enjoy watching a trainwreck on TV?

I'm glad that Cal was one of the teams in the inaugural season of The Drive. They were a class organization throughout the entire process and always treated us great.

It also made the series more interesting, to follow a team doing well and a team doing not so well. The material was very different and it created some really good contrasts.

Although for Cal fans, I'm sure it could be annoying to watch occasionally!

driver;842233594 said:

---

I'm glad that Cal was one of the teams in the inaugural season of The Drive. They were a class organization throughout the entire process and always treated us great.

It also made the series more interesting, to follow a team doing well and a team doing not so well. The material was very different and it created some really good contrasts.

Although for Cal fans, I'm sure it could be annoying to watch occasionally!

---

Hey, driver, welcome to the forum. :beer:

I am currently on the fence whether to buy the dvd/blu-ray set when it is released.

Share w/ us a couple of interesting tidbits that were left on the cutting room floor, the type of reveals that could make it to the extras section of the disks and sway fence-sitters like yours truly. Thanks. :cool:

Sonny Dykes' favorite band growing up; Loverboy.

driver;842233606 said:

---

Sonny Dykes' favorite band growing up; Loverboy.

---

Loverboy: Working For The Weekend

Everyone's watching to see what you will do
Everyone's looking at you, oh

Everybody's working for the weekend
Everybody needs a second chance, oh

Everyone wants you to come through
Everyone's hoping it'll all work out

You want a piece of my heart?
You better start from the start
You want to be in the show?
C'mon baby, let's go

"Barbour virtually chased Murphy-Stephans out of the room after the meeting to tell her Cal was on board. ASU also was in."

Told you it was Sandy. The LA schools were smart enough to not touch this.

I wonder how much we got paid. This is yet another masterful stroke by Sandy. I bet the recruits are just lining up to come to Cal now.

I wonder if the Drive caught Sonny talking down to our players after BG.

ff - I know you were being sarcastic, but at least two commits mentioned "The Drive" as part of what influenced them to commit.

BTW, I never liked this reality show idea. I'm not defending Sandy, but if the coaches and players are supportive that's the proof in the pudding for me.

I can just picture Monty shaking his head "Hell no we're not doing that sh*t."