Returned yesterday from San Diego. My sister and BIL are housesitting for their oldest and DIL, who are honeymooning in Hawai'i. So, I flew down on Friday to visit with them. Saw the happy couple as well before they flew off to Hawai'i.
I did the favorite uncle thing: bearing gifts for the happy couple. Mrs Slug and I also contributed to their honeymoon fund as a wedding present prior to the wedding which was about 8 weeks ago.
It was a good visit and especially appreciated as I don't often see my sister and BIL.
Took a self guided tour of the Colosseum and the Roman forum. I still have my notes from Classics 175b, Roman architecture. I walked around the forum trying to identify stuff. Not all that successful.
Super fun to see all this old stuff for the first time
Just outside the Colosseum is the only place in my travels where someone tried to pickpocket me. A group of kids swarmed me and one tried to grab my wallet from my front pocket while I was distracted.
That also happened to me as I was heading from the Colosseum to the metro. A rather big (compared to me) guy actually had his hand in my front pocket. I held on from the outside and walked faster and faster and started running, and he stayed with me until I got onto the train.
On Monday I flew to Lisbon for work (W-Sun). I decided to fly through Toronto rather than fight Mon after Thanksgiving airports in the US (options were EWR and IAD). I was here for the same testing event the week of the Notre Dame game in 2022. That week I skipped Fri and flew to Chicago for the ND game. I do like Lisbon. Cool things to see and the food is very reasonable.
Next Mon I fly to Rome to visit HSB and family for a few days (kids are studying in Rome this fall).
Man on the Inside Season 2 (16/19 WB Netflix). A new season of the Ted Danson show on a College campus. All they say is it's Wheeler college in the Bay Area. They used Mills for some of the exterior shots. At the end of episode 8 they go to the "Buena Vista Cafe" but it clearly isn't the BV Cafe. Just a restaurant with a small plaque next to the characters that say Buena Vista Cafe.
I thought it was a good season but not as good as Season 1. There are cameos of people from other Michael Schur shows such as Parks and Rec and The Good Place.
Street in Berkeley. Arch has two segments - northernmost runs from Spruce Street down to Eunice Street (the 1100 block). It intersects Corona Court and Oak Street. This segment had a firehouse on it at one time, which is now a private residence. The Berkeley Fire Department symbol is clearly visible on the front of the building.
Southernmost and longer segment runs from Glen Avenue to Hearst Avenue, where it also meets Le Conte Avenue. The southernmost segment has a few landmarks - a number of residences along what was once known as Professors Row (from Rose Street to Glen Avenue). Included in this group is the Schneider-Kroeber House at 1325 Arch. Anthropology professor Albert Kroeber and his family lived here, including his daughter, science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin.
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at Arch and Vine. This is the former site of Congregation Beth El, which moved to 1301 Oxford Street.
Pacific School of Religion - nestled between Arch St. and Scenic St. and touching Le Conte Ave. It has a mix of buildings with different architectural styles and a path that cuts across a large lawn.
Across Hearst Ave from the southern terminus of Arch St. is a construction project on campus called The Gateway. On the site of the demolished Tolman Hall, this will be the home of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), the first new college at Cal in 50 years. The Gateway has an anticipated completion date of Spring 2026.
Cal football fun fact. Justin Wilcox ended his tenure as one of only seven Golden Bear head coaches since the permanent switch to football in 1915 to have a winning record in Big Games (5-4). Four of the others were the only coaches who spent more seasons at California than JW -- Smith, Allison, Waldorf and Tedford. The other two were Joe Kapp (3-2) and Pete Elliot (2-1). Roger Theder and Keith Gilbertson were both .500 vs. Furd, both going 2-2.
Some elaboration on Wilcox's record vs Dead Kid U:
vs. David Shaw - 3-3 All of the wins against Shaw came with Shaw's weakest teams, especially the '21 and '22 teams which were a combined 6-18, 3-15 in Pac-12 play.
vs. Troy Taylor - 2-0. Both of Taylor's teams were 3-9. Both teams had 2 wins in conference play (2-7 Pac-12 in '23; 2-6 ACC in '24).
vs. Frank Reich - 0-1. This was a rare instance in Big Game history where a team with an inferior record (Stanford was 3-7 prior to the Big Game) defeated a team with a superior record (Cal was 6-4 prior to the Big Game). 'Nuff said.
Pretty impressive company when you include Smith, Allison, Waldorf, and Tedford. Too bad that winning record against LSJU was built against some of the least impressive teams in Stanford history.
Yup. the 2017 'Furddies played USC in th Pac-12 Championship game, losing 28-31. That team played in the Alamo bowl and lost to TCU, 37-39. Their final ranking was #13.
The 2018 Furddies finished 3rd in the Pac-12 North division, and defeated #15 TCU in the Sun Bowl, 14-13. That team finished unranked.
This year marks a remarkable milestone for the University of California - 150 years of men's rowing, the university's first intercollegiate sport. To honor this legacy and look ahead to the next 150 years, Cal Men's Rowing has produced the new documentary Owe Them Victory that celebrates the program's deep history and its many achievements including 19 National Championships, 3 Team Olympic Gold Medals, and 59 individual Olympians while also highlighting the powerful sense of community it continues to inspire among alumni and supporters.
BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team kept visiting Utah at bay and rang up a 79-72 win to stay perfect at Haas Pavilion and improve to 7-1 overall. Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen both went big on the offensive end to lead the Bears, scoring 25 and 23 points, respectively. Utah goes to 6-3 overall with tonight's Cal victory.
The No. 5 California women's swimming & diving team is set for a midseason test closing out the fall at the Minnesota Invitational at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. The three-day meet runs from Thursday to Saturday and is intended to mirror the schedule of the NCAA Championships hosting the prelims in the morning and the finals in the evening.
With the fall tennis season coming to an end, the California men's tennis team announced its schedule for the second half of the year, with the Golden Bears playing 24 dual matches, including 13 ACC duals in their second season in the conference. The Bears will host 14 matches at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley
The California women's basketball team (6-2) will play in its second ACC/SEC Challenge when it plays at Missouri (7-2) this Thursday at 6 p.m. PT at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri. In their first-ever ACC/SEC Challenge last season, the Golden Bears defeated then-No. 19 Alabama 69-65 at Haas Pavilion.
A trio of California football players – Jacob De Jesus, Hezekiah Masses and Cade Uluave – combined for four first-team honors to highlight nine Golden Bear selections by seven players on the 2025 All-ACC Football Teams announced Tuesday. The four first-team picks were Cal's most all-conference selections since four Bears were named to the Pac-12's first team in 2011, while also equaling Clemson, Georgia and Miami for the ACC's most in 2025.
For the second time in three weeks, California football quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was named the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week for his performance in the Golden Bears' 38-35 upset victory over No. 21 SMU.
Sagapolutele was initially named to the Davey O'Brien Great 8 on Monday but was later named the National Quarterback of the Week on Tuesday. He becomes the first freshman to win the honor multiple times and joins Georgia's Gunnar Stockton as the only other player this season to win the award twice.
Mike Silver said he believes Tosh Lupoi is the right guy to become Cal’s next head coach after the recent firing of Justin Wilcox.
A proud Old Blue and national NFL columnist at The Athletic, Silver shared his perspective on Oregon’s defensive coordinator, who is the leading candidate for the vacancy in Berkeley.
“He’s a Bear,” Silver said of Lupoi. “And he’s a f---ing killer candidate.”
DBD Travel
Returned yesterday from San Diego. My sister and BIL are housesitting for their oldest and DIL, who are honeymooning in Hawai'i. So, I flew down on Friday to visit with them. Saw the happy couple as well before they flew off to Hawai'i.
I did the favorite uncle thing: bearing gifts for the happy couple. Mrs Slug and I also contributed to their honeymoon fund as a wedding present prior to the wedding which was about 8 weeks ago.
It was a good visit and especially appreciated as I don't often see my sister and BIL.
Took a self guided tour of the Colosseum and the Roman forum. I still have my notes from Classics 175b, Roman architecture. I walked around the forum trying to identify stuff. Not all that successful.
Super fun to see all this old stuff for the first time
Just outside the Colosseum is the only place in my travels where someone tried to pickpocket me. A group of kids swarmed me and one tried to grab my wallet from my front pocket while I was distracted.
That also happened to me as I was heading from the Colosseum to the metro. A rather big (compared to me) guy actually had his hand in my front pocket. I held on from the outside and walked faster and faster and started running, and he stayed with me until I got onto the train.
I do remember doing the Colosseum during our family trip to Europe back in 87. It was pretty cool.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/XUpqbyUrfcBz8HLH7
Going to Florence for a day trip tomorrow. I could go to the big museums or just see some small churches. It is not really tourist season
On Monday I flew to Lisbon for work (W-Sun). I decided to fly through Toronto rather than fight Mon after Thanksgiving airports in the US (options were EWR and IAD). I was here for the same testing event the week of the Notre Dame game in 2022. That week I skipped Fri and flew to Chicago for the ND game. I do like Lisbon. Cool things to see and the food is very reasonable.
Next Mon I fly to Rome to visit HSB and family for a few days (kids are studying in Rome this fall).
We can't decide which restaurants to take you to.
Any of them!
DBD AV Club
Man on the Inside Season 2 (16/19 WB Netflix). A new season of the Ted Danson show on a College campus. All they say is it's Wheeler college in the Bay Area. They used Mills for some of the exterior shots. At the end of episode 8 they go to the "Buena Vista Cafe" but it clearly isn't the BV Cafe. Just a restaurant with a small plaque next to the characters that say Buena Vista Cafe.
I thought it was a good season but not as good as Season 1. There are cameos of people from other Michael Schur shows such as Parks and Rec and The Good Place.
Politix
Arch
, Gateway. Smallest national park in the US. The shape is a catenary curve—the shape created by a hanging chain.
Street in Berkeley. Arch has two segments - northernmost runs from Spruce Street down to Eunice Street (the 1100 block). It intersects Corona Court and Oak Street. This segment had a firehouse on it at one time, which is now a private residence. The Berkeley Fire Department symbol is clearly visible on the front of the building.
Southernmost and longer segment runs from Glen Avenue to Hearst Avenue, where it also meets Le Conte Avenue. The southernmost segment has a few landmarks - a number of residences along what was once known as Professors Row (from Rose Street to Glen Avenue). Included in this group is the Schneider-Kroeber House at 1325 Arch. Anthropology professor Albert Kroeber and his family lived here, including his daughter, science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin.
Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at Arch and Vine. This is the former site of Congregation Beth El, which moved to 1301 Oxford Street.
Pacific School of Religion - nestled between Arch St. and Scenic St. and touching Le Conte Ave. It has a mix of buildings with different architectural styles and a path that cuts across a large lawn.
Across Hearst Ave from the southern terminus of Arch St. is a construction project on campus called The Gateway. On the site of the demolished Tolman Hall, this will be the home of the College of Computing, Data Science, and Society (CDSS), the first new college at Cal in 50 years. The Gateway has an anticipated completion date of Spring 2026.
Golden -es
Manning...is he overrated? Early on I'd say yes. Seems like he's played better over the last couple of games I think.
PRO
Warriors go down 22 after half, come back to take the lead by 4 with maybe 7 min left, then the Thunder pull out a win 124-112.
Jimmy Buckets only played in the 1st half (assume he got hurt). No Steph and Al Horford. Seth, Magnum PI (Pat Spencer) play well.
CAL
Is Tosh signed yet?
Cal football fun fact. Justin Wilcox ended his tenure as one of only seven Golden Bear head coaches since the permanent switch to football in 1915 to have a winning record in Big Games (5-4). Four of the others were the only coaches who spent more seasons at California than JW -- Smith, Allison, Waldorf and Tedford. The other two were Joe Kapp (3-2) and Pete Elliot (2-1). Roger Theder and Keith Gilbertson were both .500 vs. Furd, both going 2-2.
Some elaboration on Wilcox's record vs Dead Kid U:
vs. David Shaw - 3-3 All of the wins against Shaw came with Shaw's weakest teams, especially the '21 and '22 teams which were a combined 6-18, 3-15 in Pac-12 play.
vs. Troy Taylor - 2-0. Both of Taylor's teams were 3-9. Both teams had 2 wins in conference play (2-7 Pac-12 in '23; 2-6 ACC in '24).
vs. Frank Reich - 0-1. This was a rare instance in Big Game history where a team with an inferior record (Stanford was 3-7 prior to the Big Game) defeated a team with a superior record (Cal was 6-4 prior to the Big Game). 'Nuff said.
Pretty impressive company when you include Smith, Allison, Waldorf, and Tedford. Too bad that winning record against LSJU was built against some of the least impressive teams in Stanford history.
Also JW was 0-2 against Furdies with winning teams. Those games were in his first two seasons.
Yup. the 2017 'Furddies played USC in th Pac-12 Championship game, losing 28-31. That team played in the Alamo bowl and lost to TCU, 37-39. Their final ranking was #13.
The 2018 Furddies finished 3rd in the Pac-12 North division, and defeated #15 TCU in the Sun Bowl, 14-13. That team finished unranked.
[MROW] Owe Them Victory
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/mens-rowing-owe-them-victory.aspx
This year marks a remarkable milestone for the University of California - 150 years of men's rowing, the university's first intercollegiate sport. To honor this legacy and look ahead to the next 150 years, Cal Men's Rowing has produced the new documentary Owe Them Victory that celebrates the program's deep history and its many achievements including 19 National Championships, 3 Team Olympic Gold Medals, and 59 individual Olympians while also highlighting the powerful sense of community it continues to inspire among alumni and supporters.
Go Bears!!!
FB had a good game to upset SMU last Sat. Had the 2nd half/4Q defensive lull but JKS pulled it out at the end.
[MBB] Cal Fends Off Utah For Another Win At Haas
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/mens-basketball-cal-fends-off-utah-for-another-win-at-haas.aspx
BERKELEY -- The California men's basketball team kept visiting Utah at bay and rang up a 79-72 win to stay perfect at Haas Pavilion and improve to 7-1 overall. Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippen both went big on the offensive end to lead the Bears, scoring 25 and 23 points, respectively. Utah goes to 6-3 overall with tonight's Cal victory.
[WSWIM] No. 6 Cal Closes Fall At Minnesota Invitational
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/womens-swimming-diving-no-6-cal-closes-fall-at-minnesota-invitational.aspx
The No. 5 California women's swimming & diving team is set for a midseason test closing out the fall at the Minnesota Invitational at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. The three-day meet runs from Thursday to Saturday and is intended to mirror the schedule of the NCAA Championships hosting the prelims in the morning and the finals in the evening.
[MTEN] Men’s Tennis Announces Spring Schedule
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/mens-tennis-mens-tennis-announces-spring-schedule.aspx
With the fall tennis season coming to an end, the California men's tennis team announced its schedule for the second half of the year, with the Golden Bears playing 24 dual matches, including 13 ACC duals in their second season in the conference. The Bears will host 14 matches at the Hellman Tennis Complex in Berkeley
[WBB] Cal Hits The Road For ACC/SEC Challenge
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/womens-basketball-cal-hits-the-road-for-acc-sec-challenge.aspx
The California women's basketball team (6-2) will play in its second ACC/SEC Challenge when it plays at Missouri (7-2) this Thursday at 6 p.m. PT at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Missouri. In their first-ever ACC/SEC Challenge last season, the Golden Bears defeated then-No. 19 Alabama 69-65 at Haas Pavilion.
[FB] 7 Honored On All-ACC Football Teams
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/7-honored-on-all-acc-football-teams.aspx
A trio of California football players – Jacob De Jesus, Hezekiah Masses and Cade Uluave – combined for four first-team honors to highlight nine Golden Bear selections by seven players on the 2025 All-ACC Football Teams announced Tuesday. The four first-team picks were Cal's most all-conference selections since four Bears were named to the Pac-12's first team in 2011, while also equaling Clemson, Georgia and Miami for the ACC's most in 2025.
[FB] Sagapolutele Wins Second Davey O’Brien Weekly Honor
https://calbears.com/news/2025/12/2/football-sagapolutele-wins-second-davey-o-brien-national-quarterback-of-the-week-honor.aspx
For the second time in three weeks, California football quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele was named the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback of the Week for his performance in the Golden Bears' 38-35 upset victory over No. 21 SMU.
Sagapolutele was initially named to the Davey O'Brien Great 8 on Monday but was later named the National Quarterback of the Week on Tuesday. He becomes the first freshman to win the honor multiple times and joins Georgia's Gunnar Stockton as the only other player this season to win the award twice.
Mike Silver endorses Tosh Lupoi as ‘killer candidate’ for Cal head coach
https://www.dailycal.org/sports/msports/football/mike-silver-endorses-tosh-lupoi-as-killer-candidate-for-cal-head-coach/article_3478774f-be96-4e7c-b24a-62c03eb483be.html
Mike Silver said he believes Tosh Lupoi is the right guy to become Cal’s next head coach after the recent firing of Justin Wilcox.
A proud Old Blue and national NFL columnist at The Athletic, Silver shared his perspective on Oregon’s defensive coordinator, who is the leading candidate for the vacancy in Berkeley.
“He’s a Bear,” Silver said of Lupoi. “And he’s a f---ing killer candidate.”