"Forgive me father for I have sinned.
Let me start by saying I have never, no matter the score, no matter the weather, left a game early.

Maybe it was the numerous fourth down conversions Utah piled up on us earlier in the game, yielding six yards on fourth on two over and over. Maybe it was the memory of the calls. Were they fictitious? Did the Pac have an agenda keeping Utah undefeated? It looked like a block in the back from the stands...Maybe i didnt understand why we werent taking a time out to give us time to score when we surely yielded points. Let our team strength have time to reclaim Victory. But when that PI flag came out, it was like slow motion, were my eyes tired from staring into the glorious sunny weather all day? That pass was not catchable. First and goal from the two heard over the loudspeaker as i trudged to the gate.

I couldnt watch. I didnt want to see these kids suffer a defeat like this. Stupid Refs, bad coaching, its not their fault i thought. They couldnt do it all day, I couldnt watch them suffer to lose like that.
And then i heard it, i was down by the Basketball court, two distinct cannon shots.. Thats wierd after a loss i remember thinking....i rushed to my car and heard a choppy recap of the game finish on the radio and thats when it hit me...
They werent losers. I was. For losing faith..............."

jposlosky;842739323 said:

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"Forgive me father for I have sinned.
Let me start by saying I have never, no matter the score, no matter the weather, left a game early.

Maybe it was the numerous fourth down conversions Utah piled up on us earlier in the game, yielding six yards on fourth on two over and over. Maybe it was the memory of the calls. Were they fictitious? Did the Pac have an agenda keeping Utah undefeated? It looked like a block in the back from the stands...Maybe i didnt understand why we werent taking a time out to give us time to score when we surely yielded points. Let our team strength have time to reclaim Victory. But when that PI flag came out, it was like slow motion, were my eyes tired from staring into the glorious sunny weather all day? That pass was not catchable. First and goal from the two heard over the loudspeaker as i trudged to the gate.

I couldnt watch. I didnt want to see these kids suffer a defeat like this. Stupid Refs, bad coaching, its not their fault i thought. They couldnt do it all day, I couldnt watch them suffer to lose like that.
And then i heard it, i was down by the Basketball court, two distinct cannon shots.. Thats wierd after a loss i remember thinking....i rushed to my car and heard a choppy recap of the game finish on the radio and thats when it hit me...
They werent losers. I was. For losing faith..............."

---

Are you too young to remember the Play. You never leave s Cal Game early. If the Cal players are on the field, I remain in the stands.

Let this game be your punishment. The victory over Utah is the most exciting that I have experienced since Mike Mohammed intercepted the stanfurd pass to seal the win over stanfurd.

jposlosky;842739323 said:

---

"Forgive me father for I have sinned.
Let me start by saying I have never, no matter the score, no matter the weather, left a game early.

Maybe it was the numerous fourth down conversions Utah piled up on us earlier in the game, yielding six yards on fourth on two over and over. Maybe it was the memory of the calls. Were they fictitious? Did the Pac have an agenda keeping Utah undefeated? It looked like a block in the back from the stands...Maybe i didnt understand why we werent taking a time out to give us time to score when we surely yielded points. Let our team strength have time to reclaim Victory. But when that PI flag came out, it was like slow motion, were my eyes tired from staring into the glorious sunny weather all day? That pass was not catchable. First and goal from the two heard over the loudspeaker as i trudged to the gate.

I couldnt watch. I didnt want to see these kids suffer a defeat like this. Stupid Refs, bad coaching, its not their fault i thought. They couldnt do it all day, I couldnt watch them suffer to lose like that.
And then i heard it, i was down by the Basketball court, two distinct cannon shots.. Thats wierd after a loss i remember thinking....i rushed to my car and heard a choppy recap of the game finish on the radio and thats when it hit me...
They werent losers. I was. For losing faith..............."

---

Beautifully said. Thanks for posting this.

Go Bears, Beat the Beavers!

Ouch hate it for you ... My first win live at cms

Voice is still gone

Haha great recap. Remember, during the Gibson shot in 1988, as the ball headed into the bleachers, you can see dozens of brake lights in the background, all screeching when Vin exclaimed over their car radios, "she.is.gone!"

I hear you man. I felt the exact same way. That 9 minute drive in the second...all those 4th downs...all the plays...

...and the PI in the endzone was the kicker--we lose that game 999 times out of 1000.

Still tear up thinking about it. GO BEARS!!!!!

I'm just glad this wasn't a 10 or 10:30pm start for those of us fake fans on the east coast. It takes at least a good solid hour to wind down after a Cal game and the Utah game would certainly have required more, so it was nice to go to bed before 3am on a Saturday night for once!

TheSouseFamily;842739477 said:

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I'm just glad this wasn't a 10 or 10:30pm start for those of us fake fans on the east coast. It takes at least a good solid hour to wind down after a Cal game and the Utah game would certainly have required more, so it was nice to go to bed before 3am on a Saturday night for once!

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Amen! The 9pm EST game time was most welcome.

jposlosky;842739323 said:

---

"Forgive me father for I have sinned.
Let me start by saying I have never, no matter the score, no matter the weather, left a game early.

Maybe it was the numerous fourth down conversions Utah piled up on us earlier in the game, yielding six yards on fourth on two over and over. Maybe it was the memory of the calls. Were they fictitious? Did the Pac have an agenda keeping Utah undefeated? It looked like a block in the back from the stands...Maybe i didnt understand why we werent taking a time out to give us time to score when we surely yielded points. Let our team strength have time to reclaim Victory. But when that PI flag came out, it was like slow motion, were my eyes tired from staring into the glorious sunny weather all day? That pass was not catchable. First and goal from the two heard over the loudspeaker as i trudged to the gate.

I couldnt watch. I didnt want to see these kids suffer a defeat like this. Stupid Refs, bad coaching, its not their fault i thought. They couldnt do it all day, I couldnt watch them suffer to lose like that.
And then i heard it, i was down by the Basketball court, two distinct cannon shots.. Thats wierd after a loss i remember thinking....i rushed to my car and heard a choppy recap of the game finish on the radio and thats when it hit me...
They werent losers. I was. For losing faith..............."

---

Well, I predicted we were going to lose after that BS call to pick up the flag on the block in the back, and then charge us with some nonsense.
However, you can never leave.
I definitely held out hope (decent shot to hold them) thru 4th and goal from the 10.
The PI call seemed like the final straw, but even still....

And then, we held them on 3 straight plays to win the game.

You can never leave. Especially when you HAVE THE LEAD! They could have fumbled, anything.... 2 stuffs up the middle and a dropped pass. Quite easy, actually, in retrospect.

At least you are able to admit it. We all go sideways now and then. Just don't let it get you again.

After witnessing Kenny Stabler's "Sea of Hands" play when I was just a 9 year old, I vowed I would never leave a game early. That resolve was sorely tested in 1982 after Elway completed a ridiculous 4th and forever pass to Emile Harry on the way to the, ahem, apparent game winning FG in the Big Game. After having fans rushing back in asking me "what happened?" because they had started leaving, I renewed my vow I would never leave a game with time on the clock. That resolve has since been tested many times (and most of those times I wished I had left early...) but games like Saturday's game are why I never leave.

Regardless of what people think of Dykes as a HC in terms of play calling, clock management, defensive recruiting, etc - one thing he has firmly established in his program is a true never quit attitude. When I think back to all those Cal teams that would get punched in the face early and just roll over on the way to 20+ point blowouts, I find this program very easy to root for because they really do play until the final whistle. For them, I feel I owe it to stay until the very end.

Still - much respect for admitting to a moment of weakness rather than leaving rants mid-way through games about how everyone needs to be fired, why is so-and-so even a D-1 scholarship player - and then saying nothing, or even worse, doubling down on the negativity after Cal somehow pulls out the win.

Lesson learned and looking forward to cheering on the Bears together as Cal fans for many more decades and many more fantastic finishes!

Go Bears!

Hail.. Nice job weaving the Sea of Hands in. I too was there for that classic along with having been blessed to attend the Heidi game as well. Never give up should be the motto on the tee shirts this year because of the effort the team gives in every game.