UCLA will always be the PRINCE HARRY of Universities.
Insecure, irrelevant, petulant.
But this win was bigger than just crushing the Bruins in historic fashion.
This was heroic. This was The Phoenix rising from its ashes.
Cal Football was in a great place in 2019.
9-4. Great Bowl win. Great Team coming back for 2020.
But then came the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse:
Covid, NIL, The Transfer Portal, and Conference Realignment.
And we barely survived.
Covid was the Death Penalty for us.
Cal, being in the PAC12, The State of California, and The City of Berkeley, got crushed.
We didn't just have all of our momentum suffocated, we almost went off a cliff.
While the SEC BIG-12 and ACC played full seasons, and the B1G and MWC played full conference schedules, Cal barely played 4 games.
And 2021 wasn't much better thanks to draconian protocols no one in the nation had to deal with but us. (Arizona Game was the tip of the iceberg.).
It's impossible to gauge the damage to our teams, our Brand and Pac12 football in general.
And then, just as we were getting back to normalcy... here comes The Transfer Portal and NIL.
The Wild West. A whole new normal.
Once again, Cal rallied. Sure, we lost some beloved players to hated rivals, but we also found incredible players who fit in with our culture and university.
We were going to be ok...
And then the Pac-12 imploded.
It's fun to remind UCLA that they're a "safety school'.
But... we should never forget that what they did.
Sneaking off with $C, desperate to believe that some network cared about them and not just the LA TV MARKET, was an attempted murder of our entire athletic department. Their reckless self absorption could have sentenced us to the same horrible fate Oregon St and Wazzu are suffering right now.
For a few weeks, we were done.
And yet, we survived. WE'RE BACK!
How Coach Wilcox and Jim Knowlton and Chancellor Christ navigated all of these complete disasters, we will never truly know.
But we should be eternally grateful.
These were unprecedented historic calamities.
And yet somehow... Cal is going bowling with one of the most courageous young exciting CAL teams we've had in years.
We are going to THE ACC!
#1 Academic Conference, #1 Basketball Conference, and the 2nd most Successful Football Conference in the last decade. We’ve always had to recruit nationally, but now we have a Bear Paw Print in the Southeast and Texas.
The future has never been more exciting.
So... These players, these Sons of California, are true heroes.
On Saturday night, the stakes had never been higher.
They had played the toughest schedule in the PAC-12. No one else played AT Oregon, UW, Utah, and an SEC Team, and SC and Oregon St.
But, like Avi laid out, they never quit. As tough as some of the losses were, and beat up as they were, they kept fighting.
And as 9.5 point underdogs, with the season on the line, they walked into The Rose Bowl for the last time and punched UCLA in the mouth.
And so did The University of California.
Just like those players won by playing like a team, so did our administration.
And anyone who was at Stanford or the UCLA Game… could feel the fanbase get reignited too.
So now is the time to rally, just like those players and administrators did.
Do everything you can to get to the bowl game.
If we get the GRONK BOWL at SoFi, lets PACK IT!
Buy some new NIKE CAL GEAR. (It’s cyber Monday!)
And hit www.CalLegends.com That’s how we, as fans, fight like our players and administrators did.
Make a one time donation. Set up a monthly donation. Whatever you can afford. Every dollar accounts.
If the last four years taught us anything, it is this:
I want some of the Koolaid you are drinking, SuperEQ! Look up where we rank in recruitment/ commits 2024 (hint; we are #64). I’d like to be a cockeyed optimist, but with Wilcox at the helm, perhaps 6-6 again? We play Auburn, Miami, NC State, Syracuse, Florida State, Pitt, and Wake Forest, among other games. Brutal!
Again, I pose to you, if YOU were a bonafide 5 star or 4star recruit , would YOU come to a Wilcox-coached team? Probably not. Times have changed; love it or hate it, the Transfer Portal is the new reality as well. We are a stellar academic school trying to run with the football ‘bigs’, and in football, we won’t be able to keep up. If you’re cool being 6-6 every year and going to the Mediocrity Bowl in some bumfuck town on a Wednesday in December, then enjoy it. We are Cal; mediocrity is unacceptable in my book.
If you want to go to the NFL, you need development. College in general should be all about getting you ready for life. If that life is football, you need a staff that will focus on you and build a program around you. That will happen at CAL. (see Jaydn Ott).
At Cal, you'll learn how to do things the right way. That it's not about winning and losing games... it's about working hard and winning at life.
The NFL is full of guys from Cal and endless schools that aren't winning titles every year. Watch the player introductions on MNF tonight. The players will be from schools across the Country. So elite players should surround themselves with the best and brightest. Not just on the field, but in the classroom.
Like...The #1 Public University in the World.😎
Remember: Easy to get lost at the "Bigs". Look what happened to JMike at UCLA. Heartbreaking. And we have so many examples of Cal guys excelling a the next level.
Biggest story at the start of the NFL season: Aaron Rodgers
One of the biggest as season has unfolded: Jared Goff.
Great recap. It really has felt like such a tumultuous grind. It feels weird to say I feel relief after 6-6, but that's where I am. Like I can exhale and hope for next year without guilt; hope for a new beginning.
Although, I'd rather not partake in a metaphor that makes us Prince William lol. Born into royalty is exactly the opposite of the ethos I would hope we aspire to. Also why is Harry catching strays? lmao.
I'll quibble with the line 'Jim Knowlton and Chancellor Christ navigated all of these complete disasters, we will never truly know.' I believe they failed during Covid. Failed to fight back against inane UC and City of Berkeley rules.
Remember... half our team and coaches couldn't travel to Arizona because of CONTACT TRACING on a FALSE POSITIVE. (7 Negative Tests followed.) And that was 2021.
Covid released a plague of petty tyrants in Berkeley.
Great article, Avi. Phenomenal.
Every Cal Fan should be on Cloud 9 right now.
UCLA will always be the PRINCE HARRY of Universities.
Insecure, irrelevant, petulant.
But this win was bigger than just crushing the Bruins in historic fashion.
This was heroic. This was The Phoenix rising from its ashes.
Cal Football was in a great place in 2019.
9-4. Great Bowl win. Great Team coming back for 2020.
But then came the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse:
Covid, NIL, The Transfer Portal, and Conference Realignment.
And we barely survived.
Covid was the Death Penalty for us.
Cal, being in the PAC12, The State of California, and The City of Berkeley, got crushed.
We didn't just have all of our momentum suffocated, we almost went off a cliff.
While the SEC BIG-12 and ACC played full seasons, and the B1G and MWC played full conference schedules, Cal barely played 4 games.
And 2021 wasn't much better thanks to draconian protocols no one in the nation had to deal with but us. (Arizona Game was the tip of the iceberg.).
It's impossible to gauge the damage to our teams, our Brand and Pac12 football in general.
And then, just as we were getting back to normalcy... here comes The Transfer Portal and NIL.
The Wild West. A whole new normal.
Once again, Cal rallied. Sure, we lost some beloved players to hated rivals, but we also found incredible players who fit in with our culture and university.
We were going to be ok...
And then the Pac-12 imploded.
It's fun to remind UCLA that they're a "safety school'.
But... we should never forget that what they did.
Sneaking off with $C, desperate to believe that some network cared about them and not just the LA TV MARKET, was an attempted murder of our entire athletic department. Their reckless self absorption could have sentenced us to the same horrible fate Oregon St and Wazzu are suffering right now.
For a few weeks, we were done.
And yet, we survived. WE'RE BACK!
How Coach Wilcox and Jim Knowlton and Chancellor Christ navigated all of these complete disasters, we will never truly know.
But we should be eternally grateful.
These were unprecedented historic calamities.
And yet somehow... Cal is going bowling with one of the most courageous young exciting CAL teams we've had in years.
We are going to THE ACC!
#1 Academic Conference, #1 Basketball Conference, and the 2nd most Successful Football Conference in the last decade. We’ve always had to recruit nationally, but now we have a Bear Paw Print in the Southeast and Texas.
The future has never been more exciting.
So... These players, these Sons of California, are true heroes.
On Saturday night, the stakes had never been higher.
They had played the toughest schedule in the PAC-12. No one else played AT Oregon, UW, Utah, and an SEC Team, and SC and Oregon St.
But, like Avi laid out, they never quit. As tough as some of the losses were, and beat up as they were, they kept fighting.
And as 9.5 point underdogs, with the season on the line, they walked into The Rose Bowl for the last time and punched UCLA in the mouth.
And so did The University of California.
Just like those players won by playing like a team, so did our administration.
And anyone who was at Stanford or the UCLA Game… could feel the fanbase get reignited too.
So now is the time to rally, just like those players and administrators did.
Do everything you can to get to the bowl game.
If we get the GRONK BOWL at SoFi, lets PACK IT!
Buy some new NIKE CAL GEAR. (It’s cyber Monday!)
And hit www.CalLegends.com That’s how we, as fans, fight like our players and administrators did.
Make a one time donation. Set up a monthly donation. Whatever you can afford. Every dollar accounts.
If the last four years taught us anything, it is this:
“The Bear will not quit. The Bear will not die.”
Go Bears
I want some of the Koolaid you are drinking, SuperEQ! Look up where we rank in recruitment/ commits 2024 (hint; we are #64). I’d like to be a cockeyed optimist, but with Wilcox at the helm, perhaps 6-6 again? We play Auburn, Miami, NC State, Syracuse, Florida State, Pitt, and Wake Forest, among other games. Brutal!
How would you recruit with our academic requirements to get into Cal? We don't have near the amount of NIL to get the 4 and 5 star recruits.
We don't have to settle for #64
www.CalLegends.com
Again, I pose to you, if YOU were a bonafide 5 star or 4star recruit , would YOU come to a Wilcox-coached team? Probably not. Times have changed; love it or hate it, the Transfer Portal is the new reality as well. We are a stellar academic school trying to run with the football ‘bigs’, and in football, we won’t be able to keep up. If you’re cool being 6-6 every year and going to the Mediocrity Bowl in some bumfuck town on a Wednesday in December, then enjoy it. We are Cal; mediocrity is unacceptable in my book.
It's a great question, Pete.
I would say "yes'.
If you want to go to the NFL, you need development. College in general should be all about getting you ready for life. If that life is football, you need a staff that will focus on you and build a program around you. That will happen at CAL. (see Jaydn Ott).
At Cal, you'll learn how to do things the right way. That it's not about winning and losing games... it's about working hard and winning at life.
The NFL is full of guys from Cal and endless schools that aren't winning titles every year. Watch the player introductions on MNF tonight. The players will be from schools across the Country. So elite players should surround themselves with the best and brightest. Not just on the field, but in the classroom.
Like...The #1 Public University in the World.😎
Remember: Easy to get lost at the "Bigs". Look what happened to JMike at UCLA. Heartbreaking. And we have so many examples of Cal guys excelling a the next level.
Biggest story at the start of the NFL season: Aaron Rodgers
One of the biggest as season has unfolded: Jared Goff.
Marshawn Lynch is a National Treasure.
Keenan Allen is a Fantasy Team lock.
Roll on and on and on.
You're right. Mediocrity is unacceptable.
So give the Program what it needs.
Let's become a Crowd Funded Super Donor.
www.CalLegends.com
It was gratifying to see Allen say UC Berkeley last night on the Football night
in America broadcast. Waitin all day for a Sunday night.
www.247sports.com
2024 Recruit Football Team Rankings
Of course this is all speculative, but usually the better horses win the race.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but we weren't we Top 20 Portal Class last year?
This year will be better. ACC opens up whole new recruiting grounds and our program is heading in the right direction. LFG!
Scott Van Pelt doing special on Cam Bynum and his wife right now on ESPN
Aw! Their story is heartwarming! And Cam has such a wonderful personality to go with his talent!
"insecure, irrelevant, petulant"
I've struggled for a long time trying to describe why I hate UCLA football as much as I do - more than Stanfors, more than Notre Dame, more than USC.
Now I have the words for it - thanks.
😎
Prince Harry out here catching strays. Killed my interest in reading further. #BowlOnYouBears
Great recap. It really has felt like such a tumultuous grind. It feels weird to say I feel relief after 6-6, but that's where I am. Like I can exhale and hope for next year without guilt; hope for a new beginning.
Although, I'd rather not partake in a metaphor that makes us Prince William lol. Born into royalty is exactly the opposite of the ethos I would hope we aspire to. Also why is Harry catching strays? lmao.
Also, 2019 was 8-5 not 9-4. :(.
A person could quibble pivotal details of that narrative, but I don't see the need. THAT WAS AWESOME!
I'll quibble with the line 'Jim Knowlton and Chancellor Christ navigated all of these complete disasters, we will never truly know.' I believe they failed during Covid. Failed to fight back against inane UC and City of Berkeley rules.
Their hands were tied.
Remember... half our team and coaches couldn't travel to Arizona because of CONTACT TRACING on a FALSE POSITIVE. (7 Negative Tests followed.) And that was 2021.
Covid released a plague of petty tyrants in Berkeley.
"Covid released a plague of petty tyrants in Berkeley."
And across the globe.
AWESOME, indeed!