75 Comments
Oct 27Liked by Rick Chen

Shout out to Rob H who brilliantly and boldly called the blow out

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author

I committed to the bit this season.

And it paid off. I’ll go back to rational predictions now.

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Rob “Broken Clock” Hwang 😏😏

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Yeah, can’t say I was there, but props to his optimism and going for it.

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Doesn’t he call a lot of blowouts?

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Nice work Rob!

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I think it should be mentioned, that if Cal had not made it into the ACC, they'd look just as bad as Oregon State just looked.

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We would have lost more than half the roster too

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100%. With the portal, the impact was immediate.

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Fun day at Memorial. It doesn't make up for the four losses or even put a dent into that misery but it was still nice to win convincingly regardless of the opponent. We still look like we're heading for 7-5 when 8-4 should have been the minimum expected. But I savor any California football victory.

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Feels like we unleashed 4 games worth of frustration on the poor beavers

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Oct 27Liked by Rick Chen

Thanks Rick!

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I fail to see how beating oregon state changes anything?

This is like a cheating spouse making you a nice dinner after going to Vegas on a month long bender and getting d’d down by every single guido she saw and draining your bank account and only returning after running out of funds, and only making you dinner after you threatened a divorce.

In these situations you have two options: trust the consensus, or go against the consensus of your friends and end up alone in misery.

Wilcox is no different.

Sure, he didn’t lose us this game but he lost us the previous 4 and should’ve lost @auburn as well if Thorne and Freeze hadn’t bailed him out.

Anyone who argues it was the players who lost us the games where we had something like advantages of 200 yards, 4 red zone trips to 2, an average 3rd quarter lead of 7 points needs to un-blinder themselves. This team has once per decade talent and depth and should’ve been aiming towards a 10 win season at least. Instead we’re celebrating a win against oregon state and hoping to go to some second rate bowl game that Wilmoe will undoubtedly lose.

Without trust you cannot have a relationship with anyone or anything that is healthy.

Does anyone honestly trust Knowlton or Wilmoe with the keys to our athletic department?

And if a win against oregon state was what gave you renewed trust after 8 years of this nonsense?

Wow just wow!

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author

I'd recommend enjoying a nice Cal victory for the players then dwelling too hard on what might have been. We have a whole offseason to talk this over.

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PTSD- it's real.

How may we help?

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Talent and depth on the offensive line? NO

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It was fun to see a Cal blow out. Very fun. I hoped for a shutout. Still, this was a very satisfying win. The team needed that. I did too. Go Bears!!!!

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On another note, the insipid and obnoxious canned music continues to drown out the Cal Band and the rooting section. The Director of the Cal Band posted the following:

Matt Sadowski@MattSadowskiUCB

For the third game in a row, a massive subwoofer has been placed on the field directly in front of the Cal Band. Despite being on wheels and repeated complaints of headaches and tinnitus after every game, it apparently must be placed at this very specific location directly beneath our director’s podium. Combined with the speakers above, sound levels consistently peak over 100 decibels before we’ve played a single note. This is neither respectful or healthy. @CalAthletics must do better.”

After the game, at a gathering, another friend asked what I thought of the blaring sound and canned music. She complained that people could not hear one another speak, the sound was so loud. Another friend after the last game said they would not attend, and would watch the games on TV as the sound was deafening. At a meeting weeks ago, the Athletic Director said the Cal Band plays as often as they want, but did not indicate whether the canned music and paid announcer would speak over the band and the rooting section. The Marketing Department has no concept of Cal or its traditions and is trying to turn us into a Big 12, SEC or some other conference setting.

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I’m glad you bring forth this issue. The incessant bass is obnoxious and offers no value whatsoever. The deep base permeates my head space in a very uncomfortable manner. Get rid of the genius who thought this was a good idea.

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Write the athletic director. Thanks for your response.

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Nice to see that Cal has the potential for playing a complete game. Makes you wonder what they have been doing up until this week.

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Playing Power conference teams…

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Haha fair point.

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Honestly, if they can get healthy and clean up the O-line play, 7-5 is perfectly doable.

We’ll see.

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8-4 until further notice

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We better go 8-4.

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Pretty confident after the Beaver game, eh?

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So, do you think we really will win at SMU?

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Mark: SMU almost lost to Duke. Yes, they are beatable.

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Losing to Pitt was not on our menu. SMU was, heretofore, circled as a loss, but, now, to show meaningful turnaround of the season, it's a must-win.

I am not optimistic, but...*chugs hopium...there's hope.

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Actually those seconds and freshman who filled in for all the injuries on the O line did OK yesterday. Hope the young ones stay here.

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Okay against a shell of OSU's roster decimated contrasted with the previous 8-10 years.

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Why do you think the O-line play can get cleaned up? Its been a problem for the first 2/3 of the season, why would it change for the final 1/3?

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Truthfully, I don’t.

But that’s the pathway to a 7-5 season.

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Would you consider 7-5 a successful season?

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The only way the season can be considered a success is if Wilcox is fired, but he won't be so its a moot point.

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I wouldn’t because I felt this teams floor was 8 wins this season and it’s ceiling was 10.

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Plus a majority of the fanbase has turned on Wilcox.

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Successful, but nonetheless incredibly disappointing.

Back-to-back bowl bids are nothing to sneeze at for the Cal football program, so there’s that.

But it’s never been more evident that new leadership is needed, tho it may very well already be too late.

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How about 8-5?

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The "Cal Fan's Burden"

I guess this game gives us a shot of "irrational hope".

It's like those small and occasional large wins that keep people glued to slot machines until they're broke.

https://calfansburden.com/shop/p/tee?fbclid=IwY2xjawGLXfhleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHShAZJO3RosqUDa5SLJ-YVrVuQ7qvrnf-_xSIcxCVIoA6gt6os6jTvvByg_aem_GK1OQB1KC3Z8foCo6GxoMA

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We....fucking....won....next!

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The decision to roll-out Mendoza rather than keeping him in the pocket gave him 1) more time to scramble, 2) the ability to go through progressions, and 3) relieved some pressure on the offensive line. That enabled the offense to drive down the field and score consistently, although the lack of a running game turned potential touchdowns into field goals. The ripple effect was that the defense was able to play a full game, though the Beavers lacked a consistent passing attack. These next two games will determine the success or failure of this football season. For the sake of the team, I hope it's the former. Our Achilles heel remains the lack of a productive run game on first down, and in the red zone.

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The Athletic has a clip of Nando's touchdown run in its top stories

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We lost the 4th Quarter again, 3-7.

Panic?

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Be real man. We were playing seconds and thirds and others in the 4th Q. Giving those guys experience is good for the future. Also, our best LB, Uluave, didn't play this week.

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I'm about 99% sure he was being sarcastic.

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Be unreal man.

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Thank you lol

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