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How was your weekend?

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My son and I drove to Furd to check out the general scene. He has sensory issues and often wants to leave “big” stimulating events early. When he told some people on Furd gear that “Stanford sucks,” although it was a proud moment for me, I chided him to be respectful, since, after all, Furd leadership somehow included us in their exodus. After several “Go Bears” within our ursine family, my son was ready to go, as we were leaving and as we passed some Furdies, I heard “ F… Cal.”

The hate endures, thank goodness! 😅

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023

Great Big Game win...decent Niners win.

Mediocre fantasy football weekend - won with one team, lost with the other.

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It was fine until I went to drive my pickup earlier this afternoon. Broken door lock, broken ignition, rifled through glove compartment. Nothing of value taken, apparently.

Eff this nonsense.

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I recommend a pickup version of a trunk monkey that can ride in the extended cab.

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weekend in Pullman WA.

drove out and back from Seattle from Fri-Sun. it is a beautiful but somewhat long drive, about 4.5 hours. the last hour really drags.

the stretch of I-90 over the Snoqualmie Pass is among the nicest scenic parts of interstate highway driving i have done in a long time.

nice medium long hike up Kamiak Butte with a nice view at the top. got back in time to watch the 2nd half of the Big Game w/ another Cal fan.

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ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE

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Ethan Garbers throws 3 TDs as UCLA beats USC 38-20. USC had 3 yards rushing and three turnovers.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401524062

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the perfect wet fart ending to the season. Steering into the skid (mark), you might say.

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PLTM.

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Nov 21, 2023·edited Nov 21, 2023

Hard to sort of feels. Do I celebrate the doom of the Trojan Empire (for this season) or dread our game with their revitalized foe?

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Well, if your defense has a pulse and your offensive line can run-block, you should be in with a puncher's chance

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Colorado's Shadeur Sanders injured and Wazzu rolls 46-14 behind 2 scoop and scores by Brennan Jackson

https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401524057

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Is Colorado stuck with him? Not sure how any SEC team could want him to coach after how this season turned out.

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I don't know if they feel like they are "stuck" yet? He's certainly improved Colorado over what they were last year.

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The talk I've heard is he's sticking at Colorado another season because Shedeur and Shilo would have trouble transferring again.

If he makes a bowl next year in the first B12II season, that would still be a pretty remarkable 2-year turnaround and he'll be gone to the South, likely SEC (Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina being candidates.)

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I thought Shedeur was going to go into the draft. Maybe not after teams figured out his weaknesses.

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Win or lose:

Prime=$$$$

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Washington beats Oregon State 22-20

https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401524060

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Was a good game. The margin of victory was provided by a bad snap on a punt play that turned into a safety.

The end of that play (punter kicking the ball out of the back of the end zone) looked just like the end of a play earlier in the day in the Michigan vs Maryland game. The Terps punter had his punt blocked in that game.

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The safety did hurt, but it wasn't the difference, even though it mathematically was. The Huskies went for 2, an analytics chart call, later, and predictably didn't get it. Had there not been the safety, they would have kicked the PAT. There is no difference between being down by 2 vs 1 when you take over late in the 4th quarter, needing a drive to get into field goal position.

A torrential rain thru the first 3 quarters really quelled both passing offenses, and caused or contributed to multiple turnovers and incompletions. But it stopped raining just as the 4th qtr started.

What it really came down to is Rome Odunze is a game changer, which OSU (and many teams) doesn't have a match for, or a shutdown corner to match up with him.

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Point taken on the MOV. Which brings up my disagreement with many coaches on when to go for 2. Almost invariably, they do it too soon or with a shade of gratuitousness. Washington went for 2 in the first half and failed.

If UW had gone for 1 and made it (highly likely) the MOV would have been 3, and an OSU FG can't beat UW at the end.

You shouldn't go for two if you're ahead unless it's late in the game and you're ahead by 1 or 5 with the PAT coming up. If you're successful on a PAT2, then a FG or a TD can't beat you; your lead is now 3 or 7. Otherwise a PAT1 doesn't change either calculation materially.

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Chasing points too early. Wilcox fell into that trap @TCU. Sometimes he still does it...Like earlier this year when Luckhurst was missing PATs.

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I didn't see much of that game but was scratching my head when I saw that.

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Arizona continues hot streak with 42-18 win over Utah

https://www.espn.com/college-football/recap/_/gameId/401524058

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Cam Rising goes full Uncle Rico as he announces that he'll play his redshirt super-super senior year (year 7). He'll be 25 years old this may.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/38938447/utah-qb-cam-rising-says-return-team-2024

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How did Arizona turn the program around so quickly?

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Good recruiting and some solid NIL, which gave the 'Cats the tools to play solid football. Radical approach, I know, but it might be worth trying in the Bay Area.

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Oregon goes up 42-0 in the first half, cruises to 49-13 win over ASU.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401524059

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Fresno State somehow loses to New Mexico and gets knocked out of the MWC Championship race. Poor Tedford.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore/_/gameId/401532622

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Apple Cup continues for 5 more years

https://twitter.com/Andy_Staples/status/1726330718115287170

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Syracuse fires Dino Babers. Cal gets to play a rebuilding Orange in Berkeley next year.

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A typical Wilcox Win that feels like a Loss?

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yeah, he FIOA'd his cell phone records

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Geez, you were everywhere this weekend. Not by being a front-and-center attention grabber. Just in the background of like every shot on TV & social media. It was like playing Where's Waldo, but the G.Oso version.

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My phone is still blowing up by random tags on twitter. Surreal actually

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Notre Dame fans are baffled that their game at Stanford will be shown on Pac-12 Network.

https://fightingirishwire.usatoday.com/lists/social-media-reacts-to-notre-dame-relegation-to-pac-12-network/

Honestly, so am I. Is the Pac-12 Network jealously guarding a premium game for itself as its last act before disappearing from college football forever?

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Notre Dame fans aren't reading the schedule for November 25 too closely. I'd also suggest they're more than a touch Golden Domer-centric when it comes to affronts expressed through TV scheduling.

Without getting into it too deeply, I'd guess ESPN and Fox are filling contractual obligations and don't have room to broadcast UND at LSJU.

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023

ESPN has Arizona-ASU and Cal-UCLA on the same day. Does anyone think they would get more national viewers than Notre Dame? I don't.

Notre Dame fans are used to their games being on nationally available networks because they pretty much always are. Don't get me wrong, I'm not feeling sorry for them or anything, but it is puzzling to see their game on a Tier 3 network.

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I'm not arguing that ESPN wouldn't get more viewers with the Notre Dame-Stanf*rd game. I'll even stipulate that ESPN would get more viewers.

But I think the answer for why ESPN (or Fox) isn't televising that game in preference to a different game has to do with contractual obligations. If the Pac-12 Network could sell the game to ESPN or Fox, then I'm not sure why they don't except, again, it could have to do with the contract.

ESPN would have to jettison some other game to telecast Notre Dame-Stanf*rd. And I imagine that they can't easily do that or that they *can't* do that..

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Yeah, that's what I speculated elsewhere . . . this was likely a part of Larry Scott's original plan to have some premium content reserved for the Pac-12 Network. This time Notre Dame got caught up in it.

Which IMO is kind of dumb, as it prevents a larger national audience from accessing your best games. The other conferences don't do it this way for a reason.

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Well, hold on. Doesn't the Pac-12 hold the media rights on that game because Stanf*rd is hosting?

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023Liked by SGBear

Yes, but typically a Notre Dame game will get picked up by one of the major networks (Fox or ESPN) because they always draw an audience. It's very strange that this one wasn't.

But there have been a number of strange programming decisions this year that saw games you'd ordinarily expect to be on Fox or ESPN relegated to P12 Network. I know Larry Scott said that he wanted the network to have some premium games reserved for itself (which is not what most of the conference networks do), and this seems to be part of that . . . albeit an extremely high-profile example.

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I was wondering if it was something that could be hold and NBC could take it. Although maybe that agreement is only for Fox and ESPN/ABC.

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I thought ND was contracted with NBC.

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Only for home games and some neutral site games.

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Only for home games. When they play on the road the game is governed by the other team’s conference and its TV deal.

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PRO

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Don't worry Las Vegas residents, you only have 9 more years of this

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/vegas-formula-1-disaster-18502043.php

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Consensus was the race itself was exciting, though a 10 pm Pacific start time won’t draw in many new fans in the US. Hopefully they can work out the kinks.

It is interesting that Vegas is the only race being put on directly by F1-the-organization, though.

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Vegas, not the most sincere pumpkin patch to begin with. Gives me schadenfreude to see this.

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The rest of the NFL teams are thrilled that the Chargers Staley doesn't want to change

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/38940366/chargers-brandon-staley-asserts-full-confidence-self-defense-loss-packers

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Anyone else wonder if the end is near for coach Staley's time with the Chargers? Or is that too obvious?

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Bears have ball for more than 40 minutes, have a 3 turnover advantage, Justin Fields is electric, and Jared Goff has one of his worst career days. Naturally, the Lions win 31-26.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/recap/_/gameId/401547546

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Ludvig Åberg wins PGA Tour title with a record score by having a record weekend. Not bad for a kid who was at Texas Tech six months ago.

https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/38938484/ludvig-aberg-ties-72-hole-scoring-record-first-pga-tour-win

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CAL

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023Author

The motel girl who saved a cop's soul

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-cop-and-the-motel-kid_b_5831414

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I need to stop chopping onions in front of the computer...

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That’s a great story! Thanks.

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023Liked by SGBear

On this day in 1982 in Memorial Stadium the Golden Bears defeated Stanfurd, 25-20 to finish Joe Kapp’s first season 7-4. The Bears were led by Quarterback Gale Gilbert who connected on 17 passes on 31 attempts and two touchdowns. John Tuggle had 28 carries for 97 yards and Mariet Ford caught seven passes for 132 yards and a TD. Special teams played a key role in the California victory as the Bears returned a kick off on the game’s final play for the winning points. The return featured five laterals and four different players participated. Kevin Moen started the action by lateraling to Richard Rodgers who found Dwight Garner who tossed the ball back to Richard Rodgers who then found Mariet Ford who in turn lateraled over his shoulder to Moen. The play finished with Moen weaving his way through the Furd band and into the end zone. A classless Lobsterback QB named John Elway moaned after the game that “the referees ruined my last college game.” Meanwhile Coach Kapp told the world that the ending demonstrated that “the Bear will not quit the Bear does not die.” Cal linebacker Ron Rivera called the finish “an act of God” evidently referencing Oski. The game was a classic back-and-forth affair preceding the final four seconds, after, it became a game for the ages, perhaps college football’s most memorable game. For more see this account being at that game that I wrote last year. https://rikuwrites.blogspot.com/2022/11/it-was-college-footballs-most.html

DBD celebrates 100 years of football in Strawberry Canyon with this daily feature appearing throughout the football season.

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no other recap will ever beat this one.

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I feel like everything before this was just a warm-up to getting this one perfect.

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Ooops, fixed it.

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We've got the Axe!!!

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And exceeded reasonable expectations this year (4 wins) and a couple other close games, getting to 5, with at least a shot at an upset that would make the Bears bowl eligible. And there is talk of a second possibility if needed as the conference may drop the 6 win requirement.

And Wilcox and the Bears has identified their QB for the next few years. (This may be the most important thing to come out of this season.)

And with the Bears having secured a conference for next year, and it looks like one where reasonable expectations will be elevated by a game or two just by being there.

And you got an axe!

Looks like Thanksgiving will be a good holiday for Oski and his disciples.

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I just hope Nando and Ott choose to stay. Although listening to Nando and Ott in their post game interviews, it sounds like they really like it here and have embraced it.

https://calegends.com/

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023

It means that at Thanksgiving when everyone says what they are thankful for I'll start by saying:" I'm thankful that California has the Stanfurd Axe, Go Bears!" Then there'll be the yada yada about family.

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You can plan out the details for the trip to UCLA! I would expect there should be almost as many Old Blues there as baby blue bruins.

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[MPOLO] Bears Earn No. 2 Seed at NCAA Championship

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/19/mens-water-polo-bears-earn-no-2-seed-at-ncaa-championship.aspx

BERKELEY – The No. 2 California men's water polo team will get a chance to defend its national title crown for a second straight time at the 2023 NCAA Championship which begins Dec. 1 at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

After holding a top-two national ranking for the entire season, the Golden Bears were announced as the tournament's No. 2 seed on Sunday evening. Cal is one of eight teams headed to Los Angeles.

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[MPOLO] Bears Edged In MPSF Championship Game

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/19/mens-water-polo-bears-edged-in-mpsf-championship-game.aspx

BERKELEY – After forcing a turnover with 15 seconds left, the No. 2 California men's water polo team had one final chance to equalize in Sunday's MPSF Championship game against No. 3 USC. But the Golden Bears fell 13-12 after their final attempt went off the crossbar at the buzzer.

Cal (21-5) had beaten the Trojans (15-6) six straight times entering Sunday's final, but USC snapped that streak with two unanswered goals in the final minutes of the game.

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[VB] Li’s 23 Kills Power 3-1 Win Over UCLA

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/19/volleyball-lis-23-kills-power-3-1-win-over-ucla.aspx

LOS ANGELES – Maggie Li posted a match-high 23 kills, Sam Taumoepeau recorded a career-and-match-high 18 digs and both Annalea Maeder and Tara DeSa notched double-doubles as the California volleyball team defeated UCLA on Sunday, 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23), to improve to 16-13 (5-13 Pac-12) and clinch a winning record.

Li had eight kills in both the first and last sets and posted the clinching point in all three of the Bears' set wins, while also adding seven digs and two blocks. Freshman Sawyer Thomsen earned eight kills (tied with Taumoepeau for second-most on the team) and added four blocks, both career bests.

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[MSWIM] Cal Divers Have Strong Showing At Ohio State Invitational

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/19/mens-swimming-diving-cal-divers-have-strong-showing-at-ohio-state-invitational.aspx

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Five members of the California men's and women's diving team had a strong showing at the Ohio State Fall Invitational at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Over three days, Cal had four divers advance to the finals in three events, with three individual divers earning top-3 finishes.

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[rubs eyes]. W... we had a good day... diving?

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Yeah, surprising. Hopefully the women also have good divers. Would definitely help when the NCAA rolls around.

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[WBB] Cal Concludes Road Trip At Florida A&M

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/19/womens-basketball-cal-concludes-road-trip-at-florida-am.aspx

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The California women's basketball team looks to finish its East Coast road trip with another win as it faces Florida A&M on Monday at 1 p.m. PT. The matchup is part of the Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series, a partnership between the two conferences aimed at creating both a forum for competition, as well as promotion and education around issues of anti-racism and social justice.

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[FB] Grizzell Leads Bears Past Stanford In 126th Big Game

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/18/football-grizzell-leads-bears-past-stanford-in-126th-big-game.aspx

STANFORD - It may not have been quite as dramatic as Chase Garbers' game-winning touchdown run in 2019, but Trond Grizzell - a walk-on who had played a grand total of one career snap heading into this season - added "Big Game Hero" to his growing resume on Saturday.

The Cal wide receiver caught two touchdown passes - part of a career-defining performance - and the California football team won its third Big Game in a row with a 27-15 triumph over Stanford at Stanford Stadium.

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Grizzell played slot. It also helps when you're covered by a freshman NB who constantly goes for the homerun hit and the two safeties who are actually second and third string respectively. While I'm happy for Trond, Spav just was taking advantage of a very weak spot for Stanford.

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He still met the moment.

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[MBB] Cal Opens SoCal Challenge With UTEP

https://calbears.com/news/2023/11/18/mens-basketball-cal-opens-socal-challenge-with-utep.aspx

BERKELEY – The California men's basketball team will play away from home for the first time this season when it faces UTEP in the semifinal round of the SoCal Challenge on Monday in San Juan Capistrano. Tipoff from The Pavilion on JSerra High School's campus is slated for 9:30 p.m. PST on CBS Sports Network.

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BACK

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In Black

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DESCRIBE YOUR BIG GAME EXPERIENCE

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glad you asked (i be keeping a low profile these days with not writing full time obviously but in case anyone wanted to see what i wrote)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/93176233

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Very definitely worth reading. I enjoyed every syllable.

Thank You.

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Watch via our join Cal/Stanfurd club watches in North Carolina. As is typical, not a single Furdie watched the game. And almost none of the Cal fans lasted to the end except me and another couple.

The cherry on top was talking to a Furdie whose daughter also attends LSJU and was convinced to join the Stanford Band to play saxophone. She doesn't play an instrument. They told her to join, they'd teach her to occasionally toot the sax, and then jump around. He said "it's not the Cal band who actually have know how to play and march around".

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Nov 20, 2023·edited Nov 20, 2023

Went with a few non-Cal folks and sat in the GA section somewhat close to the Stanford band. Trond made me look smart as I was explaining to a friend that Stanford wasn't respecting Cal's pass game with how many guys they had within 10 yards, all while Fernando and Trond hit on the 54 yard TD.

Game never really felt in doubt, but I still waited until after Ott took his name to head down to storm the field. Explaining all of the Cal superstitions make you realize how many times we've all been burned before.

Gotta savor this one, nothing more beautiful than beating Stanford. Go Bears!

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Visiting #1 cub in MA. He found a YouTube channel showing Pac12 network broadcast. “This is how I watch all Pac 12 network games” 😁. He’s looking forward to joining us for Cal’s ACC away games next season.

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I only saw the first half as I was visiting my friend in Phoenix. The first time I did not watch a full game this season.

I felt comfortable with the lead so I did not tune in or check scores until the game ended.

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Great tailgate. Great friends. Great win. No 2 was back for Thanksgiving and No 3 drove up from UCSC for the game. He's got classes until wed, though he's probably going to bail on Wed and watch the recorded lecture. No 2 is now 3-0 in person.

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Great tailgating atmosphere...LOTS of blue and gold. (Crappy) Stanfurd Stadium was DOMINATED by Cal fans. It was AWESOME!

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I cannot say enough how money it was that Cal fans rushed Stanfurd's field.

https://twitter.com/NilsHeadley/status/1726074504156418215

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Weird in some ways as it was the first Golden Bear Big Game win I hadn't seen in person since 1980. Thus it was my first time watching Cal beat Furd on TV. Somewhat regretted my decision not to go. Still it was fun to watch. We seemed well in control but there were memories of the Auburn and U$C losses nagging me until the final 4th quarter drive.

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Why not make the short drive over the bridge?

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Checked the score periodically on Gamecast. It never felt comfortable until very late.

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OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

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Colorado Judge issues victory for Democrats as Trump is NOT banned from the Colorado ballot, but is deemed to be an insurrectionist

https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/4318515-a-colorado-court-makes-it-official-trump-is-an-insurrectionist/

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Because Argentina hasn't suffered enough, a right-winged bombast has won the country's election

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/19/world/argentina-vote-milei-massa-nov-19/index.html

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Apparently, Kevin McCarthy got physical beyond just elbowing Rep Burchett

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/kevin-mccarthy-elbow-adam-kinzinger-b2449748.html

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So.... this means there IS pee-tape kompromat on Trump then....

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-iowa-speech-tape/

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Rosalynn Carter - who joined Jimmy in hospice care on Friday - died at the age of 96. SHe is survive by four children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren

https://news.yahoo.com/support-pours-death-former-first-215009810.html

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DBD AV CLUB

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the missus and I have been watching Ahsoka and hoo boy is that a comedown from Andor

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Who is Bear19 that is overprotective of Bob and causing more mess in the front page? Is it Bob's mother?

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No idea. I read FP comments but he hasn't stood out before.

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