Screw that...my kids want a rose bowl too. I got all the pics uploaded to the cloud and a new set of plans for a house.

hanky1;842351458 said:

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Mack Brown's home just burned down. I think it's safe to say that this is the deal he made with the devil when his team went to the Rose Bowl over ours in 2004.

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Watch out you might get what you're after
Cool babies strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house

Hold tight wait till the party's over
Hold tight We're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house

Here's your ticket pack your bag: time for jumpin' overboard
The transportation is here
Close enough but not too far, Maybe you know where you are
Fightin' fire with fire

All wet hey you might need a raincoat
Shakedown dreams walking in broad daylight
Three hun-dred six-ty five de-grees
Burning down the house

It was once upon a place sometimes I listen to myself
[U]Gonna come in first place[/U]
People on their way to work baby what did you except
Gonna burst into flame

My house S'out of the ordinary
That's might Don't want to hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house

No visible means of support and you have not seen nuthin' yet
Everything's stuck together
I don't know what you expect starring into the TV set
Fighting fire with fire
LINK

calumnus;842352003 said:

---

Watch out you might get what you're after
Cool babies strange but not a stranger
I'm an ordinary guy
Burning down the house

Hold tight wait till the party's over
Hold tight We're in for nasty weather
There has got to be a way
Burning down the house

Here's your ticket pack your bag: time for jumpin' overboard
The transportation is here
Close enough but not too far, Maybe you know where you are
Fightin' fire with fire

All wet hey you might need a raincoat
Shakedown dreams walking in broad daylight
Three hun-dred six-ty five de-grees
Burning down the house

It was once upon a place sometimes I listen to myself
[U]Gonna come in first place[/U]
People on their way to work baby what did you except
Gonna burst into flame

My house S'out of the ordinary
That's might Don't want to hurt nobody
Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
Burning down the house

No visible means of support and you have not seen nuthin' yet
Everything's stuck together
I don't know what you expect starring into the TV set
Fighting fire with fire
LINK

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Kudos for connecting the Talking Heads with Mack Brown.

burritos;842351365 said:

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I apologize to those who were offended or annoyed from this exercise(childish as it may be). Just a warning, I've posted many similarly inane queries and looking at my post count, it won't be my last. So if this kind of hypothetical nonsense irks you, for your blood pressure's sake, just skip my posts.

That being said, this is one of those question with a "in the grand scheme"theme in mind. Obviously for health, family, and friends, a RB swap is offensively ridiculous. But after reading about Mack Brown's house burning down, this follow up question just popped into my head. He got the 2004 Rosebowl. But his house burned down. One had nothing to do with another, but from a karmic balance sheet point of view, is it wash?

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I knew a lot of people who lost their homes in the Oakland Hills fire. What was strange is that we saw the fire from the stadium during the game and the guy that I go to the games with lives in that area and he was concerned that the fire was near his house (it was). The firefighters thought they put it out only to have it come back stronger. The next weekend there was another game and on the way home as I approached the tunnel you see hundreds of homes burned to the ground. Stark contrast from the week before.

I can understand some people being offended but the goal is to think how much you want a Rose Bowl, and that is an interesting question.

I'm guessing this guy votes yes

TandemBear;842351352 said:

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Interesting that you pose this question to the Cal fan community. Ironically, Cal was fighting tooth and nail for a win over UW and possible trip to Pasadena when the '91 Oakland Hills firestorm originally ignited, and subsequently burned over 3,000 homes. Many Cal fans and alumni lost everything. I'm sure we have several on this board who went through it. They'd be the best to ask. I know many people who lost their homes in the fire and I'd guess they'd DEFINITELY NOT take that deal. Lives were changed forever on October 20. Many happy families were torn apart after the fact. 25 people died, don't forget (even thought I realize giving up one's life isn't part of your inquiry).

I know a Furd grad who lost his house, the original remaining property through litigation, then his wife, then his career (however, the latter maybe not related) after the fire. The fire was the least of his problems. He's savored that Rose Bowl victory we all desire. I'll ask him the corollary question: would he give up the three Rose Bowls (including 1 win) to avoid ever experiencing the '91 firestorm, and thus getting his house and marriage back. I'm guessing he would.

I'll get back to y'all on Thursday with an answer.

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You must be an absolute blast at parties.

Yep, and I'd be holding hot dogs and marshmallows over the flames.

Why wouldn't I attend a local Cal game? Kids.

I missed a few Cal games last season due to youth soccer/basketball games (many of which I was coaching). Despite being a die-hard Cal fan, I would rather watch my kids play sports. Guess my priorities have shifted.

I had a nice discussion with my friend about his firestorm experience. I realize my initial post was perhaps a bit too revealing. I probably could have left some of the specific details of his situation out of my post.

I, too, lived through the ’91 Oakland hills firestorm, so this question was of very personal interest to me. I was actually on the Cal campus that Sunday morning when the conflagration took off. (And I was at the UW game the day before. When we saw the smoke, we feared a family member’s apartment on Panoramic was in danger.) My now wife called me on the phone crying and fearing her parent's house was gone. It actually wasn't when she called, but it succumbed to the flames later, at about 4pm - my father in law actually took video of it burning: their lifetime's possessions going up in flames.

As I said in my initial response to this thread, my friend is a Stanford grad who lost his house in the firestorm. After the smoke literally cleared, he was adamant about rebuilding and keeping his family in the community he loved. Unfortunately, the reality of rebuilding was far from what he expected. In fact, he attended a meeting for affected residents, in which a firestorm victim suggested very strongly to the crowd that they simply sell their property and walk away. No way, he thought; he would rebuild! He ended up walking away from his rebuilt house (with amazing full bay views, BTW) and his marriage ended. For him, the real trauma occurred during the rebuilding. He added that of the seven neighbors in his area, FIVE divorced after the fire. Two marriages survived. One couple consisted of a general contractor who was familiar with the trials & tribulations of rebuilding homes. The other couple sold their property and moved away. How telling!

As expected, his reply was as I had assumed: he'd give up Stanford's three recent Rose Bowls in a heartbeat to not have to go through losing his home in the fire. He didn't have to think about this response at all. It was a truly devastating loss on so many levels. The question seemed quaint after I had asked it and felt a little embarrassed to have posed it to him in the first place.

So given what I know, I would definitely NOT gladly have my house and home burn to the ground for a Cal Rose Bowl. Luckily, this trade-off is not a requirement to get to Pasadena! (As if the Rose Bowl were the big deal it used to be anyway.)

I also wanted to clarify to burritos that I was not offended by his post. If my tone implied that, it was unintentional.

However, that said... Given my personal experience and personal connections to the firestorm, I took HaloBear's comment in poor taste. My response is hardly off-topic or over the top, given the local community's experience with a massive firestorm 23 years ago - which ironically happened to start the day Cal played one of it's best and most important games in recent history. So I AM offended by your snark, Halo. Give it a rest, will ya.

TandemBear;842352339 said:

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I had a nice discussion with my friend about his firestorm experience. I realize my initial post was perhaps a bit too revealing. I probably could have left some of the specific details of his situation out of my post.

I, too, lived through the ’91 Oakland hills firestorm, so this question was of very personal interest to me. I was actually on the Cal campus that Sunday morning when the conflagration took off. (And I was at the UW game the day before. When we saw the smoke, we feared a family member’s apartment on Panoramic was in danger.) My now wife called me on the phone crying and fearing her parent's house was gone. It actually wasn't when she called, but it succumbed to the flames later, at about 4pm - my father in law actually took video of it burning: their lifetime's possessions going up in flames.

As I said in my initial response to this thread, my friend is a Stanford grad who lost his house in the firestorm. After the smoke literally cleared, he was adamant about rebuilding and keeping his family in the community he loved. Unfortunately, the reality of rebuilding was far from what he expected. In fact, he attended a meeting for affected residents, in which a firestorm victim suggested very strongly to the crowd that they simply sell their property and walk away. No way, he thought; he would rebuild! He ended up walking away from his rebuilt house (with amazing full bay views, BTW) and his marriage ended. For him, the real trauma occurred during the rebuilding. He added that of the seven neighbors in his area, FIVE divorced after the fire. Two marriages survived. One couple consisted of a general contractor who was familiar with the trials & tribulations of rebuilding homes. The other couple sold their property and moved away. How telling!

As expected, his reply was as I had assumed: he'd give up Stanford's three recent Rose Bowls in a heartbeat to not have to go through losing his home in the fire. He didn't have to think about this response at all. It was a truly devastating loss on so many levels. The question seemed quaint after I had asked it and felt a little embarrassed to have posed it to him in the first place.

So given what I know, I would definitely NOT gladly have my house and home burn to the ground for a Cal Rose Bowl. Luckily, this trade-off is not a requirement to get to Pasadena! (As if the Rose Bowl were the big deal it used to be anyway.)

I also wanted to clarify to burritos that I was not offended by his post. If my tone implied that, it was unintentional.

However, that said... Given my personal experience and personal connections to the firestorm, I took HaloBear's comment in poor taste. My response is hardly off-topic or over the top, given the local community's experience with a massive firestorm 23 years ago - which ironically happened to start the day Cal played one of it's best and most important games in recent history. So I AM offended by your snark, Halo. Give it a rest, will ya.

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For me, I would rather just keep my house and forgo the Rosebowl. In light of the Mack Brown incident, I thought my question was going to be a rhetorical question just to remind us that while we don't have a recent RB we should be thankful for what we have, like our homes.

Only if I rented, which I don't.