The DBD is a bulletin board community for Write for California. It’s meant to talk more in-depth about Cal sports or any off-topic issue you want.
Today, I want to pay tribute to Francis (aka Cugel) - a long-time DBDer spanning back to the California Golden Blogs era - if not the very beginning. Last week, Cugel passed away after a year-long battle with brain cancer.
I will miss his deadpan serious expression that you could easily break with a wisecrack into a smirkig smile, an eye-roll, and a hearty chuckle. I will miss his endless passion for Cal Athletics, which was strong enough to drag his son into its depths. I will miss our bantering about whatever shenanigans crossed our minds. I will miss his ability to laugh off the running joke that he witnessed something in person from an impossibly long time ago even though he wasn’t that old. Some of you were blessed to have met him at various Cal/DBD events and tailgates. We all will miss him at the upcoming game road trips that he was looking forward to; but we shall raise a glass to our friend’s memory. And this is one of the reasons that I love the DBD — unlike some other boards that have trolls, jerks, and weirdos on it - I count myself blessed to have met people like him who are good people - or at least be our type of weirdo. And we are all the better for it. Rest easy, friend.
I only had the pleasure of interacting with him in person a couple times, at the UNC game and at the W4C "failgate" (when Piotr and I flew across the country for the 2018 Big Game, only for it to be postponed about an hour after I landed--many of the usual tailgate crew nevertheless got together and took over a local watering hole for a while). But he had quite a presence both in-person and online: a wry sense of humor, an endless knowledge of wine, great appreciation of a good meal, and quite a colorful past (that he occasionally divulged tidbits of on the DBD). He will be greatly missed.
This one is difficult for me. Francis was a good friend. We met online in the old CGB days, mostly in the DBD but also in game threads. We first met in person at a Cal basketball game that was set up by the DBD. We had met up at Jupiter beforehand and then all sat together for the game (a win over furd iirc). Over the years we would have discussions about music, food, arts, and life online and in person and eventually we started hanging out together absent the CGB community. Just two friends having dinner and wine and a good chat. I was lucky enough to meet and know his family and had the privilege of being invited over for sunday dinner on a number of occasions. And over the past few years, a group of us here, including Cugel, had established a travelling crew for away games, which also included myself, FS, SGBear, HAG, HSB, and Jimmy Chitwood. May he RIP. You will be missed my friend.
Thank you for posting this today so we can share our memories. I'm thankful to have known Francis and his family, gotten to hear his larger-than-life stories, and poked fun at him like an uncle. You know, the old uncle ;) Trying to remember all the laughter <3
The post above unfortunately confirms what I had surmised in the last month: something wasn't right in the universe with our friend, Cugel. And if I got it, I figured others did, too. As Paul Simon wrote,
When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
But the last one to know
Damn. Welp, this should not have happened. Not now, not at this time. He should be right with us for a few more decades. As I get older, I feel a touch more vulnerable. Cugel's passing only makes that feeling a touch more acute. *sigh*
Thoughts and prayers to his family. Always enjoyed chatting with him at Ole Miss, TCU, ND and of course at the Cal tailgates. He will be missed....such a good guy.
I had no idea he was ill, I feel like a bit of an ass. He was kind enough to invite me along to a concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion once when he was out here visiting his sister - it was a pleasure to meet him in person, and his wife & daughter were delightful as well (I think maybe a little skeptical about having to meet some rando off the internet, but too polite to show it). I don't have any good red wine in the house, but I will have a single malt in his memory this evening.
I should add that's not the only time I met him in person, I guess being a little pedantic is as good a way to honor his memory as any, but there's a difference to me between "CGB meetup near me" and "reaching out to someone during a family trip," and I appreciated that.
i think it is ok not to know someone is ill or suffering something internal. some people (speaking for myself) prefer not to reveal these things and continue to have normal experiences w/o special attention.
sounds like you had good experiences and memories, so hopefully that is something you can keep ..
Well that blows. I guess we are all not getting any younger. All the good memories of Cugel's friends (internet and otherwise) will keep him alive in our hearts.
Remember when we were at House of Shields waiting for DC Trojan to show up (who conveniently waited for me to leave before showing up smdh) and Cugel-son came in with a lady, saw his dad there, said hi, and immediately left just like that Grandpa Simpson gif? We have fun here.
This is shitty. Francis was one of the best, I thought I'd have the rest of my life to tease him about being the timeless ageless one. I have realized that with fewer trips to the Bay and with work travel picking up, I see and spend time with different groups of friends less and less, often thinking "I'll catch them at the next one". I know that there won't always be a next one, but it still hurts actually having to accept that. I'll be praying for him, his family, and all of us. Cheers to Cugel, he is not Cugel the Clever for nothing.
In my defense, I was late because I was too stupid to accept the warnings I was given about how long it would take to get to House of Shields from Orinda or Lafayette or wherever it was I dropped off the missus to visit a friend - not because I was trying to avoid you. (also holy hell that was a while ago)
i have been dating someone this year and things seemed to be going well so i brought her to the tailgate for the Auburn game and had to face the fact that i have known some of the fools in this very dbd for ~15 years. that same lady and i are still dating.
This is shocking. Like many, I had no idea he was even going through anything, though not being in the Bay Area and thus not interacting with him much in the last few years played a role I'm sure. The old DBD on CGB had vigorous debate on any topic anyone could find, and Francis was always a part of it, but his friendliness, warmth and hospitality was far more memorable and speaks more to who he was.
Sad news. I met him at that game. We were standing right there (I literally could have taken that picture). We joked about his taste in wines and commented that we might drink something really good if Cal ever made it to a big bowl game, but for now it was beer and bbq beef. Seemed like a good guy. May he rest well.
Going to miss Francis and Cugel-son being part of the travel group to away games. He opened up his home to host CGB-Pi-Day parties and shared his numerous selections of bourbons, scotches, and whiskeys. I hope he's having tequila with Joe Kapp and reminiscing about Cal football. Thoughts to his wife, daughter, cugel-son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby.
This is laughable. Colorado got rid of most of its 2022 team and got most of its 2023 team with players who had earlier committed and played for other schools. I guess Deion doesn't know the definitions of irony and hypocrisy.
This has been an excellent series and I always find myself envious of people who have been able to attend decades of Cal football games. As I only lived in the Bay Area while attending Cal and only attended a handful of games after graduating and before moving to the East Coast, I've been to maybe two dozen games in my lifetime (though that will surely grow in the ACC era). So I always enjoy hearing stories from others who have long been steeped in the rich history of Cal football.
Love this list. As I've been on the east coast for (gulp) 2 decades now, the memorable for me games are half and half home and away. Maybe a future W4C post could be about memorable travel games, right around the time the 2024 ACC schedule is out-- I'm hoping we can encourage lots of Cal fans to come to the away games to show those schools who we are. Would be great to motivate some fans who haven't done much away game travel.
I was looking at bowl projections while eating lunch. The updated Fox Sports projection has Cal in the - Sun Bowl against Georgia Tech. Someone, can't remember who, would be thrilled I think.
Kicking is winning. Bears boot four FGs to beat the Vikings. Vikes QB Joshua Dobbs completed 68.8% of his passes -- if you don't count another 12.5% he completed to the Bears.
the Vikings came back in the 4th q to take a 10-9 lead after scoring the only TD. but they couldnt run out the clock nor stop the Bears from driving just far enough to kick the winning FG as time expired.
I think this belongs here, at least tangentially: I was reading a story about an ongoing brouhaha in Edinburgh over event-driven exemptions to closing hours for bars, when the city by default extends closing time from 0100 to 0300. Lots of pushback from the local police and NHS because they get more work and not in a good way for those events.... anyway, I got a chuckle out of this paragraph:
"Burns Night, St Andrew’s and St Patrick’s remain on the city’s list of special events where 3am openings will be considered the default, alongside Edinburgh Pride, the football and rugby World Cups and the Olympics. However, the Superbowl was struck off the list, after councillors agreed it was not a significant enough sporting event in Edinburgh to warrant special treatment."
I love that the Super Bowl is not considered "significant enough" in a large city within the United Kingdom. It's certainly over emphasized in the United States.
Watched Asteroid City last night with the missus - I blow hot and cold with Wes Anderson films, but I enjoyed this one. The "behind the scenes at the theater" scenes were sometimes a bit much, but the conceit bringing a constrained cartoonish quality to the main scenes made for a visually interesting film - and rather like Moonrise Kindgom, I think Anderson gets something very true about kids and teenagers onto the screen.
Watched S2E2...Taylor Sheridan's latest project starring Daniel Oyelowo as one of the first black US marshalls west of the Mississippi. Sheridan is Zoolander/Hansel-hot right now, and this one is also pretty good.
this is moderately bonkers: the man hired to be in charge of the Florida elections police apparently stormed out of a meeting in the Governor's Office (which is a section of the state house) because he was so angry at what was being proposed, collapsed of a heart attack in a corridor, and somehow was left on the ground for over 20 minutes. You won't be surprised to hear he didn't make it.
Hey guys, it's Giving Tuesday today and my school - Oakland School for the Arts! -- is doing a big fundraising push because we're a charter authorized through OUSD with a lot of special costs/facilities, being located on top of the Fox Theater. The yearly goal is to hit $1.2 to $1.5 million and this is one of the big activation days for it: they're looking to see us gather 300 unique donors today ideally.
If you can send $1 or more, please consider doing that! Go Bears.
OK done. I had to do it through my work community grant portal but you’ll get my donation right away and the match in January. I put your name on it so you get credit. 😉
Cugel
I only had the pleasure of interacting with him in person a couple times, at the UNC game and at the W4C "failgate" (when Piotr and I flew across the country for the 2018 Big Game, only for it to be postponed about an hour after I landed--many of the usual tailgate crew nevertheless got together and took over a local watering hole for a while). But he had quite a presence both in-person and online: a wry sense of humor, an endless knowledge of wine, great appreciation of a good meal, and quite a colorful past (that he occasionally divulged tidbits of on the DBD). He will be greatly missed.
This one is difficult for me. Francis was a good friend. We met online in the old CGB days, mostly in the DBD but also in game threads. We first met in person at a Cal basketball game that was set up by the DBD. We had met up at Jupiter beforehand and then all sat together for the game (a win over furd iirc). Over the years we would have discussions about music, food, arts, and life online and in person and eventually we started hanging out together absent the CGB community. Just two friends having dinner and wine and a good chat. I was lucky enough to meet and know his family and had the privilege of being invited over for sunday dinner on a number of occasions. And over the past few years, a group of us here, including Cugel, had established a travelling crew for away games, which also included myself, FS, SGBear, HAG, HSB, and Jimmy Chitwood. May he RIP. You will be missed my friend.
Thank you for posting this today so we can share our memories. I'm thankful to have known Francis and his family, gotten to hear his larger-than-life stories, and poked fun at him like an uncle. You know, the old uncle ;) Trying to remember all the laughter <3
The post above unfortunately confirms what I had surmised in the last month: something wasn't right in the universe with our friend, Cugel. And if I got it, I figured others did, too. As Paul Simon wrote,
When something goes wrong
I'm the first to admit it
I'm the first to admit it
But the last one to know
Damn. Welp, this should not have happened. Not now, not at this time. He should be right with us for a few more decades. As I get older, I feel a touch more vulnerable. Cugel's passing only makes that feeling a touch more acute. *sigh*
Thoughts and prayers to his family. Always enjoyed chatting with him at Ole Miss, TCU, ND and of course at the Cal tailgates. He will be missed....such a good guy.
RIP Brother... I'll miss you
Never had the pleasure of meeting the man but he always came off as a good dude on this board -- as do all of you.
will definitely miss him on DBD. especially the part w/ the fine wine pairings and the "dessert my daughter made"
RIP
also, the TCU tailgate pictured above was probably the last time i saw him in person. good times ..
I had no idea he was ill, I feel like a bit of an ass. He was kind enough to invite me along to a concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion once when he was out here visiting his sister - it was a pleasure to meet him in person, and his wife & daughter were delightful as well (I think maybe a little skeptical about having to meet some rando off the internet, but too polite to show it). I don't have any good red wine in the house, but I will have a single malt in his memory this evening.
I should add that's not the only time I met him in person, I guess being a little pedantic is as good a way to honor his memory as any, but there's a difference to me between "CGB meetup near me" and "reaching out to someone during a family trip," and I appreciated that.
i think it is ok not to know someone is ill or suffering something internal. some people (speaking for myself) prefer not to reveal these things and continue to have normal experiences w/o special attention.
sounds like you had good experiences and memories, so hopefully that is something you can keep ..
Well that blows. I guess we are all not getting any younger. All the good memories of Cugel's friends (internet and otherwise) will keep him alive in our hearts.
Remember when we were at House of Shields waiting for DC Trojan to show up (who conveniently waited for me to leave before showing up smdh) and Cugel-son came in with a lady, saw his dad there, said hi, and immediately left just like that Grandpa Simpson gif? We have fun here.
This is shitty. Francis was one of the best, I thought I'd have the rest of my life to tease him about being the timeless ageless one. I have realized that with fewer trips to the Bay and with work travel picking up, I see and spend time with different groups of friends less and less, often thinking "I'll catch them at the next one". I know that there won't always be a next one, but it still hurts actually having to accept that. I'll be praying for him, his family, and all of us. Cheers to Cugel, he is not Cugel the Clever for nothing.
In my defense, I was late because I was too stupid to accept the warnings I was given about how long it would take to get to House of Shields from Orinda or Lafayette or wherever it was I dropped off the missus to visit a friend - not because I was trying to avoid you. (also holy hell that was a while ago)
that was probably 2012? RIP CGB comments.
i have been dating someone this year and things seemed to be going well so i brought her to the tailgate for the Auburn game and had to face the fact that i have known some of the fools in this very dbd for ~15 years. that same lady and i are still dating.
I mean if you're still together after meeting us, she's a keeper.
This is shocking. Like many, I had no idea he was even going through anything, though not being in the Bay Area and thus not interacting with him much in the last few years played a role I'm sure. The old DBD on CGB had vigorous debate on any topic anyone could find, and Francis was always a part of it, but his friendliness, warmth and hospitality was far more memorable and speaks more to who he was.
RIP Cugel, I enjoyed interacting with you on W4C and CGB.
Sad news. I met him at that game. We were standing right there (I literally could have taken that picture). We joked about his taste in wines and commented that we might drink something really good if Cal ever made it to a big bowl game, but for now it was beer and bbq beef. Seemed like a good guy. May he rest well.
Going to miss Francis and Cugel-son being part of the travel group to away games. He opened up his home to host CGB-Pi-Day parties and shared his numerous selections of bourbons, scotches, and whiskeys. I hope he's having tequila with Joe Kapp and reminiscing about Cal football. Thoughts to his wife, daughter, cugel-son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby.
Man, that's tough. I'm sorry to hear about his passing. :(
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
This is laughable. Colorado got rid of most of its 2022 team and got most of its 2023 team with players who had earlier committed and played for other schools. I guess Deion doesn't know the definitions of irony and hypocrisy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/deion-sanders-loses-three-commitments-after-taking-shot-at-ncaas-recruiting-policy/ar-AA1kD3Se
and now it seems his scapegoated OC will be the new HC at SDSU
CAL
One last bit of 100th anniversary recognition from me. Here are my 25 favorite football games witnessed at California Memorial Stadium: 1982 Furd, 1970 Furd, 1972 Furd, 1975 U$C, 1965 Penn State, 1993 Oregon, 1986 Furd, 2006 Oregon, 2002 Furd, 2003 U$C, 1990 UCLA, 1996 Ariz, 2006 UCLA, 2022 Furd, 2016 Utah, 2015 ASU, 1977 U$C, 2004 Oregon, 1985 U$C, 2018 UW, 2008 Furd, 2002 Baylor, 1968 Syracuse, 2009 Ariz, 2021 U$C.
This has been an excellent series and I always find myself envious of people who have been able to attend decades of Cal football games. As I only lived in the Bay Area while attending Cal and only attended a handful of games after graduating and before moving to the East Coast, I've been to maybe two dozen games in my lifetime (though that will surely grow in the ACC era). So I always enjoy hearing stories from others who have long been steeped in the rich history of Cal football.
I've also mostly lived away. But I think that 2007 win over Tennessee would rank pretty high.
While not a win, I'd have to put 91 UW in there. That was an amazing game.
same, honestly think it is in my top 3 Memorial games.
I would add 1973 UW (54-49, Bears), and 1993 Arizona, though I'm uncertain on how to rank them.
That 2002 Baylor game made me fall in love with football. So many good games on this list.
Love this list. As I've been on the east coast for (gulp) 2 decades now, the memorable for me games are half and half home and away. Maybe a future W4C post could be about memorable travel games, right around the time the 2024 ACC schedule is out-- I'm hoping we can encourage lots of Cal fans to come to the away games to show those schools who we are. Would be great to motivate some fans who haven't done much away game travel.
Wow a long list of great games you got to witness. No 2006 UW?
Are these in order?
Yup
Ben Finley in the portal
https://twitter.com/bfin_5/status/1729633982545788952
I was looking at bowl projections while eating lunch. The updated Fox Sports projection has Cal in the - Sun Bowl against Georgia Tech. Someone, can't remember who, would be thrilled I think.
JC flare!
I thought that's who it was but wasn't sure.
Go Bears!!!
Rest in Peace Francis. You'll be missed.
PRO
Bye-bye Oakland A's. Hello Oakland B's. And not for nothing, but my cousin is their head coach.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/38997038/oakland-area-fans-start-ballers-independent-baseball-team
Lakers get smoked 138-94 by the 76ers, the former not doing themselves any favors by giving up 11 steals and 17 turnovers.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584883
Kicking is winning. Bears boot four FGs to beat the Vikings. Vikes QB Joshua Dobbs completed 68.8% of his passes -- if you don't count another 12.5% he completed to the Bears.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/recap/_/gameId/401547565
the Vikings came back in the 4th q to take a 10-9 lead after scoring the only TD. but they couldnt run out the clock nor stop the Bears from driving just far enough to kick the winning FG as time expired.
Wizards played the Pistons. Someone had to win. Wizards (3-14) win 126-107, while the Pistons fall to 2-15.
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401584881
[NHL] Minnesota not wild about coach Dean Evason
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38993712/stuck-seven-game-skid-minnesota-wild-fire-dean-evason
It's a rumor, so there's nothing to it... but I do love the craziness of the Internet
https://www.hockeyfeed.com/nhl-news/crazy-rumor-involving-corey-perry-and-connor-bedard-may-explain-perry-s-absence-from-blackhawks
Every player on the ice at the Florida Ottowa game got a 10 minute misconduct
https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1729333339784417396
https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/1729330589885690220
I think this belongs here, at least tangentially: I was reading a story about an ongoing brouhaha in Edinburgh over event-driven exemptions to closing hours for bars, when the city by default extends closing time from 0100 to 0300. Lots of pushback from the local police and NHS because they get more work and not in a good way for those events.... anyway, I got a chuckle out of this paragraph:
"Burns Night, St Andrew’s and St Patrick’s remain on the city’s list of special events where 3am openings will be considered the default, alongside Edinburgh Pride, the football and rugby World Cups and the Olympics. However, the Superbowl was struck off the list, after councillors agreed it was not a significant enough sporting event in Edinburgh to warrant special treatment."
I love that the Super Bowl is not considered "significant enough" in a large city within the United Kingdom. It's certainly over emphasized in the United States.
DBD AV CLUB
Watched Asteroid City last night with the missus - I blow hot and cold with Wes Anderson films, but I enjoyed this one. The "behind the scenes at the theater" scenes were sometimes a bit much, but the conceit bringing a constrained cartoonish quality to the main scenes made for a visually interesting film - and rather like Moonrise Kindgom, I think Anderson gets something very true about kids and teenagers onto the screen.
we saw this in the theaters a few months ago and it was very enjoyable, quirky, fun, strange, all at once ..
Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Watched S2E2...Taylor Sheridan's latest project starring Daniel Oyelowo as one of the first black US marshalls west of the Mississippi. Sheridan is Zoolander/Hansel-hot right now, and this one is also pretty good.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
this is moderately bonkers: the man hired to be in charge of the Florida elections police apparently stormed out of a meeting in the Governor's Office (which is a section of the state house) because he was so angry at what was being proposed, collapsed of a heart attack in a corridor, and somehow was left on the ground for over 20 minutes. You won't be surprised to hear he didn't make it.
https://www.floridabulldog.org/2023/11/peter-antonacci-stricken-governors-office-lay-hallway-24-minutes-before-noticed/
Hey guys, it's Giving Tuesday today and my school - Oakland School for the Arts! -- is doing a big fundraising push because we're a charter authorized through OUSD with a lot of special costs/facilities, being located on top of the Fox Theater. The yearly goal is to hit $1.2 to $1.5 million and this is one of the big activation days for it: they're looking to see us gather 300 unique donors today ideally.
If you can send $1 or more, please consider doing that! Go Bears.
https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E352329&id=4
P.S. A small portion of my raise is tied to hitting these bonuses.
I got you. Investigating whether i can get it matched at work too.
OK done. I had to do it through my work community grant portal but you’ll get my donation right away and the match in January. I put your name on it so you get credit. 😉
LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO
I got an email from the fundraising arm of the school that recognizes you guys wrote my name in lmfao KEEP WRITING IT IN I GUESS
Always
Be
Closing
Done - I'm not a high roller like Scootie, but I kicked in a little bit and name checked you in the "who inspired this" field
<3