Doom Days

A terrible week in a terrible year in a terrible decade - does Cal athletics have a future?

There must be something in the Kool-Aid
Cruising through the doom days

Here’s the thing: I think Cal sports will fail.

It’s something I’ve thought about for a long time. I don’t think it’s fait accompli or anything. I’ve gone back and forth on it over time as circumstances change, but the idea that Cal sport could fail has been an ever-present concern in the back of my mind for the better part of a decade. When Cal got relegated to the ACC, I was pretty confident Cal sports would fail. When the Cal Legends collective rallied donors to try to save Cal sports, I saw some amount of hope. When Cal fans manifested College Gameday, I started to believe in miracles. When that sugar high wore off and the reality of another season stuck in the mud set in, the pessimism returned. The longer Cal dithered over firing Jim Knowlton, the longer we watched as the revenue programs bled out, the pessimism increased.

I suppose I should define what ‘failure’ means to me. It could mean something different to each and every Cal fan. It could theoretically range from Cal going the way of the Ivies or the University of Chicago all the way to “Cal sports exists but stay mediocre forever.”

The “failure” I fear is that Cal sports never receive the resources necessary to compete nationally, and there is no hope that they ever recover from a financial death spiral.

We are seeing the impacts of Cal Athletic’s financial death spiral right now.

Why are Cal donors in revolt? Because Cal is too broke to pay to get rid of their awful, scandal ridden athletic director.

Why did Andrej Stojakovic transfer? Because Cal was too broke to hire an even vaguely competent Cal MBB coach for six years, destroying the program’s donor base so that the program cannot compete on the NIL market.

Why has Cal failed to build a practice facility that has been rumored for decades and is a massive hindrance to basketball recruiting? Because Cal was too broke to hire an even vaguely competent Cal MBB coach for six years, destroying the program’s donor base. And donors are necessary to pay for this project, because the athletic department absolutely doesn’t have the money and campus isn’t going to step in to provide funding.

Why has half of Cal’s offense hit the transfer portal? Because Cal is too poor to fire their head coach, who across eight seasons has fully demonstrated his inability to hire competent offensive coordinators. Because Cal is too poor to retain good coaches (like Aristotle Thompson) or to avoid hiring coaches that are damaged goods (like Bryan Harsin).

I often hear Cal fans complain about different functions within the athletic department. Cal can’t get people to buy tickets because the marketing department is ineffective. Cal can’t keep athletes healthy because the training team is ineffective. Cal can’t get enough donors because the donor relations team is ineffective. Maybe that’s true. But based on everything I’ve heard, my strong belief is that the rank and file people working for Cal athletics are dedicated, effective professionals who are overworked and hamstrung by a lack of funding and a lack of support.

Every single problem in Cal sports has an immediate cause, but the root cause to nearly every single problem in Berkeley is lack of money. Cal is attempting to compete at a level that they cannot afford to compete at.

You could MAYBE get around a lack of funding by being smarter. Hire great coaches. Find market inefficiencies. Find ways to recruit athletes in spite of your limitations. Instead, Cal is hamstrung by the poor decisions of the past, too skinflint to jettison the coaches and administrators whose failures created the very existential crisis we face.

Let’s pick the truth that we believe in
Like a bad religion

I’ve described the Cal fan experience since the collapse of the Pac-12 as an act of magical realism. An attempt to create our own reality, to reclaim Cal sports from the Cal administration. An attempt to save Cal sports from existential doom by inventing our own narrative of fandom.

The problem is that magical thinking can only push back against reality for so long. When Cal football loses to NC State at home or finishes the season 2-6 in the ACC, it becomes harder and harder to pretend that things aren’t bleak.

Losing Fernando Mendoza, then Jaydn Ott, two players who embraced Cal and seemed to embody hope and who actually inspired and energized Cal fandom, is a hammer blow to morale. This happening mere months after turning out thousands to Memorial Glade makes the gut punch hurt that much more.

The only solution to the problem is wins on the football field. No amount of magical thinking can create wins. That takes football players, and Cal appears desperately short on football players that can win games.

We'll stay offline so no one gets hurt
Hiding from the real world
Just don't read the comments ever, ever

I was having a conversation with a Cal friend this week about whether or how to remain a Cal fan. The idea of even trying to emotionally connect as a fan with an individual athlete is folly. The two who Cal fans connected with specifically because those two athletes appeared to connect with Cal decided to transfer. Basketball players spend 4 years in Cal roughly twice a decade.

No, if you’re dedicated to continuing as a Cal fan, clearly the only logical choice is to divorce yourself from the day-to-day comings and goings. Tune out. When a fall Saturday rolls around, turn on the TV or show up at Memorial Stadium and root for the colors on the field, as anonymous players with helmets on compete for your entertainment.

It’s an explicitly passive form of fandom, and it seems likely that any meaningful passion would fade over time. It sounds like a path that ends with me sitting on the couch scrolling mindlessly on my phone, glancing up, seeing Cal fall behind by 14 in the 3^rd quarter, and deciding to skip out on the rest of the game in favor of yard work. Damned fall leaves.

Distinctly unsatisfying, no? I also don’t know what that kind of fandom would mean for those who run a website dedicated to exhaustively following the ins and outs of Cal sports.

Think I'm addicted to my phone
My scrolling horror show
I'm live-streaming the final days of Rome

Maybe part of the reason that I find myself drifting away from Cal sports is because it feels so inconsequential compared to the general state of the world.

I want to get mad at Cal’s administration for the damage done to Cal athletics. And while I appreciate and broadly agree with Rich Lyons’ efforts to fix the terrible situation he inherited, I could easily forgive him if he decided that there were more important issues to address as Cal’s chancellor.

Cal has to figure out how to support international students who are having their visa cancelled for unclear or capricious reasons. Cal will have to respond to the impacts of sudden cuts to major federal grant funding. Cal will have to respond to the economic impacts of tariffs and inflation and likely recession. The UC system has a hiring freeze in place in anticipation of funding cuts from multiple sources, and the private fundraising environment is not rosy.

All of these things will impact Cal athletics in ways both direct and indirect, in ways that are foreseeable and in ways unpredictable. They will also impact Cal’s academic programs. I know, ultimately, which of the two is more important.

We'll be the proud remainers
Here 'til the morning breaks us

I have heard from multiple, die-hard Cal fans that this week might be their breaking point. It’s a reaction that I understand and respect.

The song I’ve been quoting from throughout is about finding escapism from modern anxieties. Cal sports is more than an escape for me. It’s an ongoing source of community that has enriched my life in ways I cannot fully emote.

So I’m going to stick around. I dithered on renewing my football season tickets for no reason other than laziness and forgetfulness, and ended up paying Cal for the tickets after the events of last week.

Dumb? Probably! Am I a sucker? Arguably! But almost regardless of the product on the field, Cal sports is still a source of escapism, hapiness, and community. That has value to me, so I’m going to keep showing up here, and showing up on for Cal sports in spite of it all.

If you elect to do the same, there is no guarantee that Cal sports will provide you with even the slightest iota of on-field joy.

But I do think there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll find joy in the Cal fan community, if that’s something that you value. Hopefully that’s enough, because it might have to be. If I have to watch the world burn, I’d much rather do it with ya’ll