KAL belongs in a G5 conference they are not competitive and are delusional about their worth. KAL belongs in the MWC with their peers like San Jose State, Fresno State, even in the MWC they will rank below most of the teams.
All of this madness would had went away had the University brought in Deion Sanders to coach the team. We saw what he did at Jackson State and we are witnessing what he is doing at Colorado.
College football is personality driven and Deion would have had the entire state rocking! Cal would have seen an influx of national recruits, ticket sales would be through the roof, merchandise/apparel sales would increase 500-1000%, and the university would live in the media.
The man has roots in the Bay Area and has hundreds of thousands of fans/supporters throughout the region.
I’m shocked that Cal didn’t find a way to hire him as the next head coach. Colorado saw the writing on the wall and their schools football portfolio changed quickly.
Although possibilities exist for Cal and Stanford entering the ACC, it remains somewhat doubtful until determination how the 'Rights' clause of the ACC might be affected by adding additional teams. Inclusion possibly would allow ACC teams desiring out of the ACC to file legal action that could be tied up in court for months if not years. However, a ray of hope may exist, slim as it may be, for Cal and Stanford's entering the B1G. Recently, some scribes in the B1G ask the question
Now this guy is a true fork-tongued little b*tch. The travel cost thing is really a minor issue for the existing ACC schools, but they are acting as if it's a big deal (all they have to do is eliminate some non-conference traveling). The real reason they don't want Cal and Stanfurd is because they don't want to compete with them in recruiting, by giving them a foot-in-the door on the East Coast (watch the clip, he says it himself). And all from one of the schools that will likely jump ship as soon as they have the chance. Short sighted and greedy. America.
I understand it's likely too late, but I can't help but wonder if moving forward, Cal could devise a mechanism to prevent UCLA from colluding with other schools regarding conference realignment. While I can't say for certain whether this measure would have altered the course of events, it would have provided us with insight into their intentions from the outset. As we proceed, we must emphasize increased transparency to safeguard our interests.
I imagine this will be an unpopular opinion, and I find it difficult to locate the precise words. Basically, the idea that big time athletics is a worthy endeavor for a university has always been a balancing act and a bit suspension of disbelief. I've always gone in for the rah rah for my old school routine. The fact that I'd occasionally have a recognizable football or basketball star in one of my classes made it easy to feel like I was rooting for my classmates on the weekend.
I don't know if there's any clear tipping point. If so, we're probably well past it. In any event its quite clear that universities are contorting themselves to provide content for tv networks. Some schools make out quite well in that endeavor, and others do it at great cost. But for me the question of whether this is worthy of any institution of higher learning is quite clearly a "no."
I've been a big Bears fan for 30 years. Really I have. But all this nonsense makes it so easy to not care. So long Bears, its been mostly fun. Also, there are other problems in the world.
Oh, I think it's important that academe is not in a protective bubble and apart from gravity. Athletics are an important component to a balanced university environment. And how can we say, as a university, we pursue excellence, but athletic mediocrity is "okay"?
Honestly, intellectual snobs who hated P.E. will drive to kill sports programs at any university, if given the voice to do so. Intellectual bullying is no better than physical such. And what do you have without athletics? Cal Tech? Bubbles need to be burst every now and then.
I think athletics are an important part of the campus culture that attracts and retains students, but I understand where you (and others who share this opinion, including faculty) are coming from. The relentless pursuit of justification in the name of the almighty dollar has crossed into a new realm of destructive and selfish stupidity.
I think we have no choice but to embrace the new reality, the Pac 12 is gone. From an Admin standpoint, hopefully the new chancellor understands the value of sports and its clear we need a new AD immediately. I would love to see more effort put into getting the students out supporting the teams, winning more would sure help that. I have had season tickets for 25+ years and will keep going to games, I hope that we still have some day games.
Welp, not praising Shaw nor Furd. While the article is Furd-o-centric, Shaw confirms that PAC12 died from incompetence and neglect. Of course, maybe you're suggesting that Shaw's words are meant to deflect from Furd's double dealing and $C-like scheming that set the PAC12 on course for the iceberg. If so, though, how did Furd not jump ship in time?
If you please and only for my information, would you kindly give a brief recap of the attempted murder? This is the first I have heard of it. Who? What? Where? And When?
Possible that it was swept under the rug. Sounds pretty serious and, yet, handled "internally"? Yeah, I plum fergot about this. Fabiano seemed to bounce back positively.
I must agree with Rashaverick, though, this was clearly more than "rough play." Assault and battery most certainly, while, IMHO, "attempted murder" may need more facts to support such an allegation.
Yeah, "just targeting," but targeting from the coach with an "enforcer" brought in to take the penalty beef as in hockey. Yeah, kind of reminds me of the Eagles "just rough play" with the 49ers.
Fortunately, the Trojans will get plenty of pushback in the B!G. It's a shame we don't do more of that ourselves, like payback hit batters in baseball.
I think the main campus community tends to see things through an academic lens and I would agree with the sentiment that collegiate sports has become its own autoimmune disease. However, as a former professor, I can tell you that the two things that matter are degree value and campus culture. While Cal has more to offer than just sports, don't understate the importance of sports impact on campus culture. UCLA to the B1G without us puts a big dent in the Berkeley campus status as the premier UC destination. They had already made substantial ground on this over the last decade. If you were a kid picking schools who wants the big campus experience, which institution would you choose now? I think this is what the admin and faculty completely overlooked: that this will affect the quality of our student body. Berkeley just got a whole lot weirder!
I wish that you had been at Cal when this whole mess was unfolding and you are 100% right! We are the flagship in name only right now and FUCLA is going to get a lot of public exposure and applications by being on TV regularly. It is unbelievable how DUMB Christ and Knowlton are! Did they consider this at all? Part of me thinks that Christ and a lot of the faculty want us to become a west coast version of Yale or the University of Chicago.
UCLA is a perfect example of how good looks and popularity matter more than brains. They have access to media and the weather is popular- minus Hurricane HIlary 💩
Cal has an opportunity to prove their commitment to College football and men’s basketball. It sounds like the remaining P-4 conferences are not sold on the Bear’s commitment. The Bears will probably have to prove themselves in the revamped Pac 4, which won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
Winning in the revamped Pac4 conference would be a huge step in the right direction! Making the NCAA tournament and winning a Bowl game would put Cal back on the map.
The Bears were exposed and now they have to fight their way back to relevancy. It can be done but they will have to humble themselves.
The die hard fans will still be there and the community will support a winner!
My relationship with cal athletics has less to do with what conference we are in and more to do with the athletic department showing an interest in being competitive. Changing conferences, wherever we end up, won’t change my commitment to the teams. What will is an athletic department that does the bare minimum to survive, shows no interest in investing to create winning programs, does very little to cultivate a gameday atmosphere and, in general, makes it as hard as possible to be a fan of their teams. After decades of dealing with it I’m wearing down, the disintegration of the pac 12 just happens to be taking place at the same time.
This is the sh*t or get off the pot moment for cal athletics. If they care, I’ll care. If they don’t, it probably won’t matter because soon we won’t have sports to care about.
KAL belongs in a G5 conference they are not competitive and are delusional about their worth. KAL belongs in the MWC with their peers like San Jose State, Fresno State, even in the MWC they will rank below most of the teams.
All of this madness would had went away had the University brought in Deion Sanders to coach the team. We saw what he did at Jackson State and we are witnessing what he is doing at Colorado.
College football is personality driven and Deion would have had the entire state rocking! Cal would have seen an influx of national recruits, ticket sales would be through the roof, merchandise/apparel sales would increase 500-1000%, and the university would live in the media.
The man has roots in the Bay Area and has hundreds of thousands of fans/supporters throughout the region.
I’m shocked that Cal didn’t find a way to hire him as the next head coach. Colorado saw the writing on the wall and their schools football portfolio changed quickly.
At this point I believe even the MWC would pass on CAL and Stanford because it would TARNISH the reputation of their conference.
Hearing that from Tommy Trojan means little.
Although possibilities exist for Cal and Stanford entering the ACC, it remains somewhat doubtful until determination how the 'Rights' clause of the ACC might be affected by adding additional teams. Inclusion possibly would allow ACC teams desiring out of the ACC to file legal action that could be tied up in court for months if not years. However, a ray of hope may exist, slim as it may be, for Cal and Stanford's entering the B1G. Recently, some scribes in the B1G ask the question
This former Bear feels bad about us
https://www.si.com/college/oklahoma/football/oklahoma-ol-feels-terrible-for-pac-12-teams-left-behind-by-conference-realignment
https://www.wralsportsfan.com/dorrance-i-want-cal-and-stanford-to-die-on-the-vine/21011056/
Now this guy is a true fork-tongued little b*tch. The travel cost thing is really a minor issue for the existing ACC schools, but they are acting as if it's a big deal (all they have to do is eliminate some non-conference traveling). The real reason they don't want Cal and Stanfurd is because they don't want to compete with them in recruiting, by giving them a foot-in-the door on the East Coast (watch the clip, he says it himself). And all from one of the schools that will likely jump ship as soon as they have the chance. Short sighted and greedy. America.
Afraid to compete
I understand it's likely too late, but I can't help but wonder if moving forward, Cal could devise a mechanism to prevent UCLA from colluding with other schools regarding conference realignment. While I can't say for certain whether this measure would have altered the course of events, it would have provided us with insight into their intentions from the outset. As we proceed, we must emphasize increased transparency to safeguard our interests.
100 years of memorial stadium...
https://calbears.com/news/2023/8/20/athletics-news-cal-celebrates-100-years-of-california-memorial-stadium.aspx
I imagine this will be an unpopular opinion, and I find it difficult to locate the precise words. Basically, the idea that big time athletics is a worthy endeavor for a university has always been a balancing act and a bit suspension of disbelief. I've always gone in for the rah rah for my old school routine. The fact that I'd occasionally have a recognizable football or basketball star in one of my classes made it easy to feel like I was rooting for my classmates on the weekend.
I don't know if there's any clear tipping point. If so, we're probably well past it. In any event its quite clear that universities are contorting themselves to provide content for tv networks. Some schools make out quite well in that endeavor, and others do it at great cost. But for me the question of whether this is worthy of any institution of higher learning is quite clearly a "no."
I've been a big Bears fan for 30 years. Really I have. But all this nonsense makes it so easy to not care. So long Bears, its been mostly fun. Also, there are other problems in the world.
Oh, I think it's important that academe is not in a protective bubble and apart from gravity. Athletics are an important component to a balanced university environment. And how can we say, as a university, we pursue excellence, but athletic mediocrity is "okay"?
Honestly, intellectual snobs who hated P.E. will drive to kill sports programs at any university, if given the voice to do so. Intellectual bullying is no better than physical such. And what do you have without athletics? Cal Tech? Bubbles need to be burst every now and then.
"Penny, Penny, Penny."
I think athletics are an important part of the campus culture that attracts and retains students, but I understand where you (and others who share this opinion, including faculty) are coming from. The relentless pursuit of justification in the name of the almighty dollar has crossed into a new realm of destructive and selfish stupidity.
Also fair question to ask if public universities should be subsidizing what amounts to a for-profit sports league?
I have no issue if everything was paid by tax money
I think we have no choice but to embrace the new reality, the Pac 12 is gone. From an Admin standpoint, hopefully the new chancellor understands the value of sports and its clear we need a new AD immediately. I would love to see more effort put into getting the students out supporting the teams, winning more would sure help that. I have had season tickets for 25+ years and will keep going to games, I hope that we still have some day games.
David Shaw has some insights on the PACalpyse
https://www.si.com/college/stanford/football/david-shaw-reveals-that-stanford-got-caught-sitting-and-waiting-in-conference-realignment
Okay, but did you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln? 😳
Welp, not praising Shaw nor Furd. While the article is Furd-o-centric, Shaw confirms that PAC12 died from incompetence and neglect. Of course, maybe you're suggesting that Shaw's words are meant to deflect from Furd's double dealing and $C-like scheming that set the PAC12 on course for the iceberg. If so, though, how did Furd not jump ship in time?
I love this class.
Pssst... I think I might Ace it.
Welp, that's good, but I'd be careful, Disney is desperate enough these days, they may sue even us little guys. 💩
U$C just hired a new AD from Washington. Hey head-up-your-ass Cal administrators, are you paying attention?
An amazing AD. Her Football hire was a home run.
Washington takes a 50% cut rate deal to join the B1G..
U$C swoops in and steals their AD.
Coincidence?
If you please and only for my information, would you kindly give a brief recap of the attempted murder? This is the first I have heard of it. Who? What? Where? And When?
Fabiano Hale? But that was almost 10 years ago
Possible that it was swept under the rug. Sounds pretty serious and, yet, handled "internally"? Yeah, I plum fergot about this. Fabiano seemed to bounce back positively.
I must agree with Rashaverick, though, this was clearly more than "rough play." Assault and battery most certainly, while, IMHO, "attempted murder" may need more facts to support such an allegation.
https://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2014/3/20/5531424/fabiano-hale-california-golden-bears-football-2014
I didn't remember it so I looked up. It looked like just a targeting and not an attempted murder.
However I did remember this after the play.
https://twitter.com/bearswithfangs/status/1195918556837244929
Like the comment: "Spirit of Troy?"
Yeah, "just targeting," but targeting from the coach with an "enforcer" brought in to take the penalty beef as in hockey. Yeah, kind of reminds me of the Eagles "just rough play" with the 49ers.
Fortunately, the Trojans will get plenty of pushback in the B!G. It's a shame we don't do more of that ourselves, like payback hit batters in baseball.
I think the main campus community tends to see things through an academic lens and I would agree with the sentiment that collegiate sports has become its own autoimmune disease. However, as a former professor, I can tell you that the two things that matter are degree value and campus culture. While Cal has more to offer than just sports, don't understate the importance of sports impact on campus culture. UCLA to the B1G without us puts a big dent in the Berkeley campus status as the premier UC destination. They had already made substantial ground on this over the last decade. If you were a kid picking schools who wants the big campus experience, which institution would you choose now? I think this is what the admin and faculty completely overlooked: that this will affect the quality of our student body. Berkeley just got a whole lot weirder!
I wish that you had been at Cal when this whole mess was unfolding and you are 100% right! We are the flagship in name only right now and FUCLA is going to get a lot of public exposure and applications by being on TV regularly. It is unbelievable how DUMB Christ and Knowlton are! Did they consider this at all? Part of me thinks that Christ and a lot of the faculty want us to become a west coast version of Yale or the University of Chicago.
UCLA is a perfect example of how good looks and popularity matter more than brains. They have access to media and the weather is popular- minus Hurricane HIlary 💩
Cal has an opportunity to prove their commitment to College football and men’s basketball. It sounds like the remaining P-4 conferences are not sold on the Bear’s commitment. The Bears will probably have to prove themselves in the revamped Pac 4, which won’t necessarily be a bad thing.
Winning in the revamped Pac4 conference would be a huge step in the right direction! Making the NCAA tournament and winning a Bowl game would put Cal back on the map.
The Bears were exposed and now they have to fight their way back to relevancy. It can be done but they will have to humble themselves.
The die hard fans will still be there and the community will support a winner!
Should have hired Deion Sanders!
But really, it’s just time to rebrand…
My relationship with cal athletics has less to do with what conference we are in and more to do with the athletic department showing an interest in being competitive. Changing conferences, wherever we end up, won’t change my commitment to the teams. What will is an athletic department that does the bare minimum to survive, shows no interest in investing to create winning programs, does very little to cultivate a gameday atmosphere and, in general, makes it as hard as possible to be a fan of their teams. After decades of dealing with it I’m wearing down, the disintegration of the pac 12 just happens to be taking place at the same time.
This is the sh*t or get off the pot moment for cal athletics. If they care, I’ll care. If they don’t, it probably won’t matter because soon we won’t have sports to care about.
This Cal alum is very disappointed
https://www.si.com/nfl/commanders/news/washington-commanders-ron-rivera-college-football-realignment-pac-12-california-usc-ucla