GivemTheAxe said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

Big C said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

Big C said:

---

Well, you just cherry-picked the best three and...

Tedford started out great, then faded. Grade: B/B+
Monty had one NCAA Tournament win during his tenure here. Grade: B
Wilcox is, as yet, unproven. Grade: I (incomplete)

Again, those are the top three, too, so I'd still say no, the past few ADs weren't that good at identifying and attracting the right football and basketball coaches.

---

I realize we're in full on thread derail mode here, but i can't let this go. BIgC a few points re Monty, respectfully :-)

First off, regarding Monty, your facts are wrong. Under Monty in the NCAA tourney we beat Louisville in 2010 and we beat UNLV in 2013.

Secondly, even had we not had either of those tourney wins, in 2010 we won our first outright conference championship in 50 years. The only outright in either football or basketball in 5 decades. That may not matter to you, or some people may try and diminish it because of a weak conference, but it means a whole lot to a whole lot of people.

We swept the LA schools (USC / UC Los Angeles) in hoops in 2012 for the first time since 1959, that also meant a lot.

We were 63-38 in conference play during his tenure. Under Monty we never finished worse than 4th in conference, also finshing 3rd and (thanks to the a$swhipe Mike Greenstein handing the game to Stanford in the season finale) 2nd in 2012.

Monty may not get a straight A, but he gets no worse than an A-.

---

If you give Monty an "A" or an "A-" for the job he did at Cal, there isn't enough "upward room" to accurately grade the job he did at Stanfurd.

I laud Mike Montgomery for seeing the light and coming to Cal, for his ethics, for his tell-it-like-it-is interviews and, especially, for his good coaching, but I can't give a basketball coach an "A" or an "A-" if they never even got their team to the Sweet Sixteen. (Again, he got freaking Stanfurd to the Final Four: What does he get for that, an "A++++"?)

His conference regular-season championship definitely matters to me, but apparently it matters to you even more. Fine.

---

Monty was a great hire, but kind of like Tedford, he achieved his success when the Pac was awful. The talent level was putrid in the Pac during Monty's tenure.

A conference championship is a conference championship and he deserves credit. The only gripe I have with Monty is he didn't leave his "mark" when he left. He was disinterested in building a culture.

But his tenure (accomplishments) was unequivocally a success -- for Cal.

---

aaaand then there is this one... :-) Did you just write Tedford achieved his success when the Pac 12 was awful, ie when USC won back to back National titles (yes one was vacated) and lost what would have been the third in the closing second to Texas? When 12-0 Oregon lost in the NC game on a game ending field goal? Dude, seriously.

But we do agree on Monty's tenure being an unequivocal success :-)

---

If it weren't for the fact that USC was so dominant Cal would have been in 1 or 2 RBs/BCS playoffs under the Good Tedford and there would be another statue to a Cal Coach on campus.

---

That's true, but it doesn't really support his and your position -- USC was able to be so dominant in part because the Pac was so weak. They certainly belonged as elite in the nation, but the fact the best team in the country played in the Pac for multiple years doesn't at all support (or not support) the idea that the rest of the conference was weak

iwantwinners said:

---

GivemTheAxe said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

Big C said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

Big C said:

---

Well, you just cherry-picked the best three and...

Tedford started out great, then faded. Grade: B/B+
Monty had one NCAA Tournament win during his tenure here. Grade: B
Wilcox is, as yet, unproven. Grade: I (incomplete)

Again, those are the top three, too, so I'd still say no, the past few ADs weren't that good at identifying and attracting the right football and basketball coaches.

---

I realize we're in full on thread derail mode here, but i can't let this go. BIgC a few points re Monty, respectfully :-)

First off, regarding Monty, your facts are wrong. Under Monty in the NCAA tourney we beat Louisville in 2010 and we beat UNLV in 2013.

Secondly, even had we not had either of those tourney wins, in 2010 we won our first outright conference championship in 50 years. The only outright in either football or basketball in 5 decades. That may not matter to you, or some people may try and diminish it because of a weak conference, but it means a whole lot to a whole lot of people.

We swept the LA schools (USC / UC Los Angeles) in hoops in 2012 for the first time since 1959, that also meant a lot.

We were 63-38 in conference play during his tenure. Under Monty we never finished worse than 4th in conference, also finshing 3rd and (thanks to the a$swhipe Mike Greenstein handing the game to Stanford in the season finale) 2nd in 2012.

Monty may not get a straight A, but he gets no worse than an A-.

---

If you give Monty an "A" or an "A-" for the job he did at Cal, there isn't enough "upward room" to accurately grade the job he did at Stanfurd.

I laud Mike Montgomery for seeing the light and coming to Cal, for his ethics, for his tell-it-like-it-is interviews and, especially, for his good coaching, but I can't give a basketball coach an "A" or an "A-" if they never even got their team to the Sweet Sixteen. (Again, he got freaking Stanfurd to the Final Four: What does he get for that, an "A++++"?)

His conference regular-season championship definitely matters to me, but apparently it matters to you even more. Fine.

---

Monty was a great hire, but kind of like Tedford, he achieved his success when the Pac was awful. The talent level was putrid in the Pac during Monty's tenure.

A conference championship is a conference championship and he deserves credit. The only gripe I have with Monty is he didn't leave his "mark" when he left. He was disinterested in building a culture.

But his tenure (accomplishments) was unequivocally a success -- for Cal.

---

aaaand then there is this one... :-) Did you just write Tedford achieved his success when the Pac 12 was awful, ie when USC won back to back National titles (yes one was vacated) and lost what would have been the third in the closing second to Texas? When 12-0 Oregon lost in the NC game on a game ending field goal? Dude, seriously.

But we do agree on Monty's tenure being an unequivocal success :-)

---

If it weren't for the fact that USC was so dominant Cal would have been in 1 or 2 RBs/BCS playoffs under the Good Tedford and there would be another statue to a Cal Coach on campus.

---

That's true, but it doesn't really support his and your position -- USC was able to be so dominant in part because the Pac was so weak. They certainly belonged as elite in the nation, but the fact the best team in the country played in the Pac for multiple years doesn't at all support (or not support) the idea that the rest of the conference was weak

---

We were the second best team for much of Tedford's tenure and he was 1-10 against them.

This supports my position. Cal could not compete against the best team in the conference (i.e. were not matched up well with the best from around the country) and both USC and Cal beat up on bad teams in the regular season to pad their records.

iwantwinners said:

---

This supports my position. Cal could not compete against the best team in the conference (i.e. were not matched up well with the best from around the country) and both USC and Cal beat up on bad teams in the regular season to pad their records.

---

Really?

2003--WSU was 9th in the country at the end of the year
2004--ASU was top-20 in addition to both USC and Cal in the top 10
2005--Pac-12 had 4 in the top-25
2006--Cal and USC were top-20 and OSU was top-25
2007--4 Pac-12 teams in the top 25

WE got annihilated by the runner-up in the Big 12. We weren't a great team. We beat up on a weak conference. We were top 25 IMO, but we weren't a national team ... even though we did deserve based on resume to make the BCS

iwantwinners said:

---

WE got annihilated by the runner-up in the Big 12. We weren't a great team. We beat up on a weak conference. We were top 25 IMO, but we weren't a national team ... even though we did deserve based on resume to make the BCS

---

Come on man, just give this one a rest. That was a TOTAL DEFINITION of a let down game which happens to tons of teams, especially in THAT bowl. We were #4 and 11-1 going into that game. Despite that loss we finished the season in the top 10. But Cal fans being Cal fans, we've just got to discount it. It gets, well, tiresome.

We were 11-1 partly because the Pac was weak. Sure TT was a bad match up. It's not discounting anything. It's an observation that we lucked out a little with the state of the Pac at that time.

Elite teams don't get blown out on a neutral field against a conference runner up. We were a really good team that almost beat the #1 team in the country

iwantwinners said:

---

We were 11-1 partly because the Pac was weak. Sure TT was a bad match up. It's not discounting anything. It's an observation that we lucked out a little with the state of the Pac at that time.

Elite teams don't get blown out on a neutral field against a conference runner up. We were a really good team that almost beat the #1 team in the country

---

We went 11-1 because we had Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn Lynch, and over 20 other future nfl draft picks. Give up already. You've lost.

Look at the arcs of the Pac programs since then compared to the 2003-2006 era. Pointing out NFL players we had is a terrible argument.

We were the 2nd best team in the conference for three seasons at a time the only team to be reckoned with was USC.

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

iwantwinners said:

---

Look at the arcs of the Pac programs since then compared to the 2003-2006 era. Pointing out NFL players we had is a terrible argument.

We were the 2nd best team in the conference for three seasons at a time the only team to be reckoned with was USC.

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

Sure let's look at the arc of the conference. The conference stinks the last 3 years. It is arguably the weakest the conference has ever been in the entire history of the Pac-8/10/12. Far weaker than 2003-2006 which I would consider to be average.

The 2004 team finishes 12-0 if it played Cal's 2017 schedule.

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

iwantwinners said:

---

Look at the arcs of the Pac programs since then compared to the 2003-2006 era. Pointing out NFL players we had is a terrible argument.

We were the 2nd best team in the conference for three seasons at a time the only team to be reckoned with was USC.

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

We were neck and neck with USC for #1 in Sagarin up until the end because we only lost a game on the road that we outgained them, our offense outscored theirs and Aaron Rodgers set an NCAA passing record in. Even after the Holiday Bowl, Sagarin still had us far and away the #2 team in the country. Sagarin's algorithm takes into account who you played/strength of schedule, for all the games, so that negates any argument that our record was inflated due to the PAC-10 being "weak."

I posted the fact that during that period, other teams (OSU, ASU, UCLA, Oregon, WSU) all were top-25 at one point or another, but he chooses to ignore that. They can't ALL be beating up on weak teams, since they are (according to him) weak.

TheFiatLux said:

---

Sebastabear said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

Also, Cal needs to think out of the box on how to get students there, and of course preferably early.

I had offered a few years ago to fund this experiment. Have a threshold driven lottery for each game. Every game 5,000 students show up, 2 students (randomly) will win $1,000.

Why do it like that? because then that encourages students to get their friends to go since if you don't hit the 5,000 student threshold no one has a chance of winning. YOu'd have to publicize this, explain it a little, but we're smart people.

And I firmly believe once word gets out about the first couple $1,000 winners - JUST FOR SHOWING UP - it would generate excitement.

Even is this isn't the answer, at least be thinking about DIFFERENT ways to do thing.

And I'm still 100% willing to fund this. Sebast - you can match me and we can make it 5 students win each game or something like that. I'm down to meet with our development person, but they got to let us design so they don't f it up. But then again, I haven't got my college degree yet so not sure how qualified i am to offer ideas....

---

Fiat as a guy with his finger on the pulse of what the undergrads are thinking, what do you think the best approach is here? Is it having a drawing as you suggest, having the first couple thousand students get in free, or creating a fund to subsidize the tickets and take the price down from $105 to $50, for example? I think any of these could work, but I imagine some of them will have a harder time getting through the administration than others. I think that last one may be the most palatable and honestly easiest to implement .

---

Thanks Sebastabear. From everything I hear, cost of a season ticket does not seem to be a factor in students' decision to not purchase tickets. Especially with the combo football / hoops package where it's basically $5 a game, that is simply not an issue. I never hear from my classmates or fellow students this being a reason. I do HEAR this tho - if they don't buy season tickets then the cost of an individual game is sky high (as in $40-$50 - that IS A LOT to a student). I get wanting to incentivize students to buy season tickets but that should not come vis-a-vis de-incentivizing them to buy tickets later should they have not done that. This isn't rocket science, we should be able to figure this balance out. But i believe making student tickets free or creating a fund to cover them is a solution that doesn't address the actual problem. So a lose / lose really.

The # 1 thing I hear from students is, particulary for night games, they have other things to do that night. And there is good reason for this. Many belong to fraternities, sororoities, social clubs, student groups etc. Most of these plan events on Saturday nights. Given the choice between going to a football game and one of these events students will quite understandably choose the events because these are organizations to which they belong and for which they have a stronger affinity. This is where the deletrious impact of TV with the random night games comes into play (just as it does for alumni and general community members). The students will go to night games IF they don't conflict with their events. But since these events are planned well in advance, the night games need to be done the same. If not, with the option of TV, they can go to the event and have the game playing on TV in the background should they so desire. On the west coast we simply do not have the same culture as the south or midwest.

Additionally, and I don't have the #s on this, I think many more students work today to cover their school bills (or parts of it). Hey, I do!!! :-) While they might not be working on the weekend, if they work during the week, that means the weekend is when they have to study. Honestly, I hear this from a lot of students. Also, students today are sooooo much more stressed about their grades. I can speak from experience on this. Back in the 80s and 90s yeah, everyone wanted to get good grades, but getting a B, hell getting a C (hell, Ds earn degress!!) wasn't the end of the world. Now it seems like it is. One of the reasons I think the universe has me back at Cal right now is to let my classmates know it's going to be OK... they can chill.. life works out (they do NOT get that at all). I hear from so many of them how much they appreciate it. But i don't think replicating Ken is a good strategy (scary actually) so that's not a long term solution.


So here is what I think (among other things):

• We simply have to make going to the games part of the student communal experience. The suggestion above about groups, Haas students, professors, etc, is wonderful. In order to do that we need to work with the student group on understanding their schedules, agendas and what not. Maybe one answer is incenting them to move normal social events to Friday night instead of Saturday night.
• We need to reach out to non-traditional targets to get them excited. International students, transfers, etc. Cal (the university not the athletic department) did a great job on this a couple of years ago when they hosted all international students to a special pre-season clinic hosted by Jared Goff and others to teach them American football. It was a brilliant idea. So of course we haven't done it since... But even earlier this year, once again, the University did that great world record human letter C thing in Memorial Stadium. GREAT idea. More of that.
• We do this in corporate America, but we need to almost bribe students. That is the idea of the threshold lottery. In a normal, set-prize, lottery you want fewer people involved because it increases your odds. But tying it to attendance threshold ensures people get other people to go and you can win. It does't have to be 5K, you can start with 3K (which would ensure the main section is full at teh very least) or 4K or whatever... but students understanding that hey if we can get others there we may win $1K (or more, whatever we decide) i think would be very effective.

Finally, and this is something different, pride and shame go hand in hand. On the same side, I think we need to start insisting that attendance #s are ACTUAL attendance for all schools in the conference. This does not just impact Cal by the way - Wazzu, OSU, UW Stanfurd, UCLA SC, ASU UofA - all have issues with attendance for last minute night games (and frankly games in general). We ALL know that the attendance # announced has no bearing on the real butts-in-seats #. SO making Larry Scott actually confront that, publicly, would be very powerful (but please don't get sidetracked with this last thought).

Anyway, attendance last year for football was abysmal. There is no getting around that. Basketball was even worse (but for more understandable reason). We have THE WORST marketing / leadership of any organization I have ever seen. I'm tired of being politic on that. It needs to change. This incompetence was overcome during the 2000s by our success on the field. It was on full display with disasterous impact furing the transition year at ATT and we really haven't recovered. We're in a free fall - there's simply no denying that. Tweaking around the edges won't work. Doing the same, just more of it and harder, won't work. We need a fundamental transformation. We'll see what happens.

---

All excellent suggestions. Hope the new AD is listening

One of the best promos I've seen at Haas that is great marketing for the sponsor and ADDS, not subtract to the game day experience is passing out free pizzas to random fans

They get shared with others right near the winner, and I can say it was very appreciated (I got a slice!)

The drawing doesn't happen until the start of the fourth quarter and you must be present. Chick Filet won't fly here. I don't even know what it is or want to know. Is it something like Kentucky Fried Chicken?

HoopDreams said:

---

One of the best promos I've seen at Haas that is great marketing for the sponsor and ADDS, not subtract to the game day experience is passing out free pizzas to random fans

They get shared with others right near the winner, and I can say it was very appreciated (I got a slice!)

---

Free pizzas were good. Personally I liked the free burritos at BB games delivered by the masked Burrito Bandit tossing them to the fans. (Looked a little like Zorro but dressed in blue not black.)

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

---

That Cal D held the eventual undefeated National Champions, featuring two Heisman Trophy winnersto 164 yards passing and 45 yards rushing at the LA Coliseum.

It was built to beat a pro-style offense and most of its members later played in the NFL, but we made ZERO adjustments for the Air Raid and paid the price.

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

---

That Cal D held the eventual undefeated National Champions, featuring two Heisman Trophy winnersto 164 yards passing and 45 yards rushing at the LA Coliseum.

It was built to beat a pro-style offense and most of its members later played in the NFL, but we made ZERO adjustments for the Air Raid and paid the price.

---

We could have won without making adjustments for the Air Raid.

With the WR corps basically gone, we needed to run the ball. Texas Tech wasn't going to be able to stop the running game. An INT off the hands of Jordan was, in many ways, a turning point, he was a true frosh who didn't have a lot of experience because he didn't play until well into the season, Tedford giving up on the plan to redshirt him when all the receivers got hurt. Got behind and the running game really was abandoned. Yeah, yeah, I know, early on it is hard to ignore the passing ability of an Aaron Rodgers, but he can't do it all himself, he has to have receivers to throw to, and he didn't.

Drone racing during half time or drones dropping candy on students every time we score.

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

---

That Cal D held the eventual undefeated National Champions, featuring two Heisman Trophy winnersto 164 yards passing and 45 yards rushing at the LA Coliseum.

It was built to beat a pro-style offense and most of its members later played in the NFL, but we made ZERO adjustments for the Air Raid and paid the price.

---

we dominated them in between the 20's. Our special teams and red zone play ruined a great effort

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

---

That Cal D held the eventual undefeated National Champions, featuring two Heisman Trophy winnersto 164 yards passing and 45 yards rushing at the LA Coliseum.

It was built to beat a pro-style offense and most of its members later played in the NFL, but we made ZERO adjustments for the Air Raid and paid the price.

---

we dominated them in between the 20's. Our special teams and red zone play ruined a great effort

---

I think we dominated them between the 10s :-)

Curious, but did you go to the game? I did and it was one of the strangest atmosphere's I can remember. Before, during and after the game the only thing people seemed to care about was how we were screwed out of the Rose Bowl. The game itself was an afterthought. No one cared because the Rose Bowl is just so important to our program Like it or not, but the mental aspect of college sports is huge. Look no further than UMBC taking out the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament this year.

We were a phenomenal team that year, not sure how you could think otherwise.

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

---

That Cal D held the eventual undefeated National Champions, featuring two Heisman Trophy winnersto 164 yards passing and 45 yards rushing at the LA Coliseum.

It was built to beat a pro-style offense and most of its members later played in the NFL, but we made ZERO adjustments for the Air Raid and paid the price.

---

we dominated them in between the 20's. Our special teams and red zone play ruined a great effort

---

Special teams in the SC game cost us an undefeated season and National Championship. The entire arc of Cal football would have been forever changed.

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

calumnus said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

TheFiatLux said:

---

iwantwinners said:

---

I particularly love the "let down game" comment by Fiat...nothing like the culminating game of the season -- the culminating game for best team the program's seen in like forever -- coming to nip an unexpecting group in the bud. We were out-classed, out-coached, out-talented, out-played. We proved all the naysayers that wanted us out of the BCS right.

---

you really don't understand sports, if you don't think Cal was let down not to be playing in the Rose Bowl. Anyway, you've got your narrative and you're sticking to it. On to the next thread derail.

---

So it was all mental, had nothing to do with talent, X's O's?

What does that say about the coaching staff AND the players??? Probably something you'd reject too. But you can't have it both ways.

---

We had amazing talent, though the injuries at WR really hurt, but Leach/Dykes clearly outcoached Tedford and Co.

Despite a month of leadtime, we were clearly not prepared for the Air Raid and its wide OL splits--so despite Cal having a Top 10 defense with an amazing front 4, Cumbie had all day to pass. We played vanilla 4-3 defense afraid to blitz after getting butned a few times. We got behind and Tedford abandoned the run that was earning more than 9 yards per carry. Normally with Aaron Rodgers at QB that is not a bad decision, but with the WR injuries we had less experienced guys in and they had a few key drops and miscommunication resulted in a key interception.

---

Pretty accurate refresher. I decided to relive the agony last night. I hadn't watched it since I watched it live 14 years ago. Yeah the WR play was awful. I think our D all along was a little overrated (nationally), though still very good in the Pac.

---

That Cal D held the eventual undefeated National Champions, featuring two Heisman Trophy winnersto 164 yards passing and 45 yards rushing at the LA Coliseum.

It was built to beat a pro-style offense and most of its members later played in the NFL, but we made ZERO adjustments for the Air Raid and paid the price.

---

we dominated them in between the 20's. Our special teams and red zone play ruined a great effort

---

Special teams in the SC game cost us an undefeated season and National Championship. The entire arc of Cal football would have been forever changed.

---

Fire Alamar!