Cal fans rewrote their story on 'College GameDay'

It's one thing to talk the talk, but fans walked that walk

Somehow this photo wasn’t AI generated. Via @calfootball on twitter

The storm before the calm

Parking myself by Doe Library so I could furiously document and upload clips from College GameDay was a fever dream. Had you told me that Cal, a team and fanbase that has been kicked in the face several times over, was almost left for dead, and told they didn’t matter, sent the nation into a frenzy I would have called you insane.

The emotion from fans was apparent from the night before GameDay, when about a thousand sturdy Golden Bears stormed the barricades before wristbands were handed out over 6 hours before showtime. It was clear expectations had to be recalibrated, and it almost left people frothing at the mouth as to just what scale of crowd was going descend on the heart of campus. When I feel asleep at 1:00 AM for a power nap heading into GameDay, there was even a part of me that was worried that defeat would be snatched from the jaws of victory because of the security risks stemming from this ordeal.

Nevertheless, the fans eventually found their poise and persisted onwards.

At 5:00 AM I waltzed into the glade and it was PACKED, it felt like a concert that had general admission tickets flying out of the box office like no tomorrow. Looking back at Avinash and Nam’s documenting of the overnight fiasco, and it became clear this was different. You know it. I know it.

Cal fans were not going to be denied the chance to rewrite their story.

Showtime

I mean listen to this opening sequence from College GameDay. Friends who were watching at home exclaimed to me that this was the best environment for the show all season and this crowd was astounding.

My mind at this point was scrambled in several different directions. Is this real? How feral is this crowd? Is the three hour power nap before this cooking my point of view? When will I wake up?

It was all real and it was all spectacular.

The chants of “California” in the opening minutes, students understanding the assignment with Rece Davis and Nick Saban, telling them to “take off their red ties” to which they eventually happily obliged after working the crowd. I genuinely felt like a part of some sort of college football WWE Wrestlemania.

Additionally, how could one forget the MVP of the entire day, Cal sophomore and Civil Engineering major Daniel Villasenor.

Justin Wilcox was geeking backstage after the kick, talking and congratulating Daniel on meeting the moment. This kick netted 700k in donations towards Hurricane Helene funds, 500k from College GameDay, 100k in bonus money, and 100k that eventually came from Vans after they caught wind of the calamity.

These are the types of moments you dream of. Here’s the chaos from my vantage point:

It seemed after every meaningful sequence, that there was no way the Cal crowd could top it. But they did, every single time. The signs were masterful, here were some of my favorites that told the story:

Those damn Bears, our Bears, took their chance and ran with it. They embraced every tradition at every turn and let everyone know that this era of fandom is different. It’s not all talk, it certainly isn’t apathetic, and it has an appetite for winning on and off the field. They certainly told the world.

Nuggets and conclusions

If you watched the show on television this weekend, you may have missed out on some of the marquee moments off screen. I already mentioned Wilcox embracing Daniel as if he found a football son, but the devil is even further in the details.

Everyone’s new favorite song, Ott To Go, was played on the glade during a commercial break, stunlocking a lot of people in the crowd before they (and I as heard here), got right into it. A grassroots movement built by the fanbase for the fanbase, on the national stage at College GameDay. What in the world.

I’m sure you’ve sensed the themes of the morning by now. This was a communal gathering where fans that were either old, new, students, alumni, Bay Area observers, and beyond all descended upon The University of California…..for a college football pregame show. A show that generated 2.0 million AVERAGE viewers and up to 2.5 million during the broadcast.

But I was told Cal has no fans and this would be a total flop 🤷‍♂️

What occurred Saturday was culmination of capitalizing on an opportunity and showcasing exactly what this fanbase is about. Rece Davis, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard, and Kirk Herbstreit were effusive in their praise for everyone who came out to the glade by 5:00 AM. They stated they didn’t know what to expect walking on to campus, but declared and left knowing that not only was this a worthwhile stop, but one of the most memorable shows ever.

That was because of you, you sturdy Golden Bears. One thing became clear once I finally woke up Sunday after reminiscing upon it all.

Everyone told the damn world this is bear territory.