We do not condone doxxing of individuals in the athletic department or people doing their jobs. Taking any personal shots at individuals with no factual information is against our community rules. We will be deleting some of these posts and if they continue to do so you will be warned and/or banned as part of our community agreement.
I don’t know that appealing to email those who are destroying important traditions is doxxing. Their email addresses are publicly listed on the athletic department’s website, so nobody has outed anything that isn’t publicly available. And these are people that some of us have tried to have respectful interactions with and have been completely blown off. I know you guys need to keep press credentials and maintain a positive relationship with the athletic department, so I get it, but at the same time, alums, fans, and donors deserve a voice. Our athletic department is largely comprised of people from outside the “Cal family” that they love to highlight. Their words are hollow and they deserve to hear about it.
Understand about being careful re doxxing concerns, but why also remove the original mic man post? I was glad to hear from current students on this site, particularly one with unique insights on an issue that has been of concern for many W4C commentators.
Hey Macarolina, It was me who took down my original post. (Although my comment and other replies were deleted by the mods) Upon further reflection there is a more professional way to handle my/our issues with my superiors, even though I still stand by everything I said in the post. They are good people who are just trying to do their jobs and I don't want to spread negativity on this forum. If my negotiations with them don't improve in the coming weeks I will find a more professional and organized way to ask the Cal community for help.
Thanks my guy. Appreciate the mature response here to come back and explain the decisions and own up to it. Mucho respect. And nothing but love from my end.
Since my original comment was deleted, I want to once again thank you all collectively for the spirit and enthusiasm you bring to games! I can respect your desire to handle this internally, but should you get nowhere (as is many of our experience with Cal Athletics), I hope you do appeal to the alumni and fanbase for help. It is patently absurd that negotiation is needed to keep our traditions alive. Especially in light of the fact that the new f$&@ing ad we play on tv broadcasts is narrated by perhaps the greatest mic “man” to ever grace Strawberry Canyon. I just do not understand where the disconnect is down there. I get that the current landscape of college athletics requires more commercialization of the game experience, but this can be done in a way that doesn’t destroy tradition. The band and the mic men are two of our greatest traditions, and minimizing/diminishing/phasing out either of them would be a criminal offense. This is a hill I will die on.
Many thanks for the reply. Glad you will still pursue the student cause, we all wish you well and want to see the students maximizing their fun and contributions to game days. I hope we can all find a professional yet persuasive arguments to make desired improvements to the stadium experience.
What seemed to me like an increasingly canned music emphasis at games over the past two years was revealed by the current mic man indeed to be part of a systematic plan by the Assistant Athletic Director in Charge of Marketing to phase out the student yell leader altogether, and to decrease the role of the Cal Band as a featured component during the Golden Bears’ football games (especially between plays), in favor of piped in, extremely high volume, amplified pulsations, curated by a hype man/DJ who is a paid professional. This person was specifically hired to “professionalize” the game day experience, said the mic man who provided his thoughts on the matter (WFC handle of this brave student is abbreviated TOTRS). I just edited this to reflect that his post was not blocked. He removed it himself. Anyway, in the original post he was just trying to give folks a glimpse of what is going on, from his perspective. His post was a voice from the inside, shall we say, and he was respectful about it. I didn’t think it was a hit job, though he did name the person whose plan is being implemented. I am grateful to TOTRS for speaking up.
I didn't find those posts to be doxxing AT ALL, but a an appropriately measured call for fans to vocalize their concerns in a respectful and polite manner. Still, I can understand WFC concern about fans taking action based on one person's point of view and posting email contacts for folks. That could get out of hand quickly, even if our mic man did not intend it this way.
At the risk of going GB 49 here: I wonder if WFC would consider a post addressing this concerns here? I don't know how staff at WFC envisions itself, but seems like y'all have a role as the 4th Estate. Its been a while, but I even recall long-form journalism back in the CGB days. Either way, it could help us all to know how the AD Department envisions the fan experience at CMS and how they plan to bring a modern CFB experience while balancing tradition (and ensuring the hype man knows basics of the job). Seems like a legitimate concern that many folks care about and that WFC may be poised to address.
I think the second part is a very good question to have defn a topic for an article I’ll have in the docket for after the season is over. Appreciate your understanding of the situation. And you nailed the biggest reason from our end of moderating here. Yes the email addresses are public but we also didn’t want the site and this article be the staging ground for a bombardment of emails to individuals when we don’t know the full extent of the story. And as you said. It could end up being snowballing a lot quicker and into something that was not intended. So appreciate your understanding. And hopefully everyone else understands as well.
Once again, Mr. Kranz, you have summarized a game with insight and clarity that is beyond most sports columnists. More than this, you have captured the zeitgeist of a single day with an economy of words and a fluid through-line that shares expertise and passion with a Miles Davis composition.
I just wanted to thank everyone that made this past Saturday happen: the writers, the burners, our chancellor, and the students for showing up. It's been a very long time since we've seen this type of excitement around campus for football and none of it would be possible without the leaders of our community.
The beauty of Cal fandom is that you're always given just enough hope to prevent the numbness of despair. There's always something to remind you that you care and it will be used to hurt you.
Still, going though this whole nearly 24-hour process feels like I earned a promotional merit in Cal fandom.
Nick, once again, excellent write up. I agree with your observations.
I actually think some good will come from this game in the form of recruiting AND acquiring better portal talent. Wilcox will now attract better talent to CAL. Why? because Game Day showed the world that CAL Football has real fans. It showed that the Admin with our new Chancellor are on board for doing what needs to be done to better our program. And more importantly, recruits will see how well Wilcox has done with talent that has been lesser than our opponents. Wilcox's pitch to a great recruit/transfer simple: We want you because you will help us get over the top. With a player like you we will start winning these close battles and become a top team. Come and be part of our success at the best public academic institution in the world and have fun doing it.
We have some great starters everywhere but the o-line. We need more athleticism there. And we need more depth across the board if we want to get to that top level. If we build to that, we will be a top program. Coach Wilcox has been incrementally doing this every year. The path has been painful, but progress is visible. Now it's time to take the next step. Let's see if we can win our last 7 games and finish with 10 wins...I might be pumping sunshine, but maybe it happens. Go Bears!
I think the national exposure is a bigger deal than it’s given credit for. Conference realignment alone is already yielding better tv coverage and exposure to an east coast audience. How many games on ESPN so far this year? And we’re not even a marquis team. Way easier to sell your program when people have actually seen your team on TV and are familiar with who you are. And I don’t care what anybody says. Seeing Pat McAfee and company broadcasting from Memorial Glade and get excited about the crowd is a big deal to the young’ins who watch the show religiously and did a ton to break through the whole Cal=Berkeley thing.
I just want to say, one of my coworkers who knows I am a Cal fan, came to me today and said her dad, who has no ties with either school but is a Bay Area native, chose to stay home and stay up to watch the Cal game, seeing how "it's been a long time since I've seen them play on TV". Unpack that as you will.
Suspect recruits are looking for playtime, winning football, and fun… a place where one can be successful, sure, but also be well supported. And I think the Game Day spectacle hit that well. Don't you want to be a big man on that campus? Yes please.
The great show out for Game Day goes far to counter the “why go to a school that doesn’t know or care about football” often held against us in power football recruiting states like TX, GA, FL.
Who is to say what building awareness actually leads to? But if it did not, in general, lead to good things, then “building awareness” would not be in the mission statement of just about every cause on planet Earth.
1. A perplexing no call on what even the TV analysts saw as a targeting call that could have determined the outcome.
2. An obnoxious stadium music and announcer who drowned out students and the band.
3. Fabulous turn out of fans for the Bears. Let's keep it going.
4. The Bears gave their best, but still a complete game eluded them. Next week will be a big test for them against an undefeated Pittsburgh team at home.
5. Keep the faith, both the Bears and us long-suffering fans.
6. Congratulations to Vanderbilt, we can understand their joy. It was a minute away for us.
I agree with all of these, especially your point #2. The sound system is ridiculously loud and repetitive, and waaay overused throughout the game and during breaks. I miss hearing the sound of the Cal Band unimpeded as well as the actual student yells sans interruption by bass heavy throbs coming out of the loudspeakers. It really is diminishing the game day experience for me, and many of my friends/alums feel the same way.
Folks need to write to the Athletic Director and make this point. At a meeting a week ago he claimed that "the Cal Band can play whenever they want", he said it was up to them. Yet during the game, the canned music and the obnoxious announcer droned out everything.
Not to mention the clueless "hype" man who twice called for Cal fans to make noise when Cal had the ball. Whoever is in charge of the stadium "experience" needs to be replaced. I felt like I had gone to a disco for four hours and a football game broke out.
And you highlighted the main story of this game. I've seen so many people screaming "CAL BLEW A 25 POINT LEAD!" Devil is in the details. That lead was built with big exciting plays... that took virtually no time off the clock. And put our great defense back on the field over and over and over. We just needed one 10 play time consuming drive in the second half.
The last two games, we got to see what excellent Offensive and Defensive lines built with NIL money through the portal look like. And how important depth is. I love our kids, and our coaches really are giving them the best chance to win... we just need more of them. If you choose to spend money on other forms of entertainment (Warriors/Niners/17 Streaming services) instead of monthly contributions to Cal Legends, look in the mirror... this loss is on you, too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Put in perspective, if we had won it wouldn't even have been a Top 3 upset last Saturday. College Football is nuts.
So, chins up. Long season ahead. Toughest 3 games are behind us. We have some serious talent (especially at WR) due back from injury soon. PITT is a very good football team, but we've been forged through fire.
I agree with everything you said in the fan culture section. Chants were basically non existent due to the DJ playing music over anything and everything. The sound system for the mic man isn’t good at all so even when they tried, you couldn’t hear them clearly or at all. Granted we had a lot of quick strikes and not long sustained drives so we couldn’t really get any “roll on you Bears…” chants going. I don’t mind the DJ/music but it was just too much and overwhelming at times. They kept playing it while we were on offense and huddled up, which made no sense at all. The band hardly played due to the DJ music. If this is how gameday experience in Memorial is going to be going forward, I would rather just stay home and watch from my TV.
I sit in section T every game, right next to the students, on the aisle. I like the DJ music, but it is a bit too loud and played too often with no context to the game. It needs to be choreographed better with what is actually happening in the game on the field. The connectivity is lacking. The students are amusing, great, and wonderful, mostly. But they could use more direction to channel that young energy. Football isn't in their blood, being a fan takes some practice, when to make noise when to not. And yes, that mic man's system sucks. I hope they come back for the NC State game on the 19th.
Another exhausting game with a nasty outcome, saw it coming early in the 4th Q, and there it was. Gotta move forward; Pitt is a good team, better get ready. Go Bears!
The thing that’s frustrating to me is that people are going to use this gut-puncher to add to the Fire Wilcox pile when, in this case I feel like coaching was a big reason we were in a position to win in the first place. We can criticize them for not doing a good enough job on bringing in/developing O-line recruits, but then again, if it was easy, every school would be doing it. Decision-making wise, i thought the coaches called a pretty good game. They can’t play defense in lieu of exhausted players and they can’t go on the field and block in lieu of an overmatched offensive line. A blown coverage on Miami’s best receiver at literally the worst time possible in the entire game sucks, but you could also argue they shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with if that stupid targeting non call wasn’t a thing. You shouldn’t have to depend on the refs, but if you’re an inferior team and you did enough to squeak by, the refs shouldn’t be giving the other team a helping hand either.
I’ve been here for long time so trust me, I get it. Im just curious what the alternative is. If you could promise me the next guy has the ability to magically pull 4 and 5* linemen out of his butthole on command that won’t turn around and transfer to greener pastures and on an equitable budget, then by all means, let’s make some wholesale changes. Otherwise we’re just going to keep having the same problems no matter who our coach is and we’re never going to pay people enough to poach the all world talents from other schools or out-NIL anyone else. College football is a completely different animal than it was even 5 or 6 years ago. I can’t even fathom trying to deal with the actual scheming/Xs and Os stuff let alone having to navigate the change from the world of college football with no transfer portal/No NIL to all of those things and the People’s Republic of Berkeley Covid stuff in the very middle of all that. I guess what I’m saying is, I think judging his tenure as a single linear period of time is different than how I would judge 7 consecutive years of Sonny Dykes, or Tedford or something. If his teams were quitting on him or our players were flunking out in addition to the mediocre overall record I’d be on board. I’m not there, yet.
Doc, these are good points. And great respect. I honestly believe we all want what’s best for Cal.
But, as a loud advocate for, and ardent supporter of, a change in leadership atop the Cal football program, here’s my thing: Cal simply does not have time to wait to see if Wilcox will EVER get us over the hump. It’s been 7.5 years and that’s more than enough time for a Head Coach to show what he’s got. I mean, he has had so many opportunities to deliver that signature win or season, and has so often come up short, and oftentimes painfully. Hell, even his wins are painful to watch. COVID was 4 seasons ago. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of the sheer lunacy that college athletics has become, but it is what it is.
Jeff Tedford inherited Holmoe’s utter disaster of a roster and built Cal into a top-10 team in 3 seasons. Winner’s win…even at Cal. Wilcox is 18-games below .500 against conference foes…18. That’s just brutal, and all we have heard is a parade of excuses for why he can’t win. Lack of institutional support, COVID, NIL, etc. How about the eye test though?
We have seen what a change in leadership atop the Men’s Basketball program has done. We absolutely have momentum - the pup and I were at GameDay and it was f-ing amazing. Just awesome. Saturday could very well have been the greatest day in program history - it was still a game-changer.
Losing at Florida State and home to a top-10 Miami don’t cost you your job. But it’s more than just 1 or 2 games…it’s a pattern. If you want to remain a Power 4 school, you may not have more time.
Sadly, this is all right on, and I absolutely love Wilcox as a person. He’s the perfect leader for our program… except for the winning part. The record, especially the conference record, is just not good enough. The florida state and Miami losses were just absolutely soul crushing. Now all this to say, if he can really get us going from here and get to 8 wins, I would advocate letting him continue trying to build. But the expectations just have to be higher.
Agree. I think Wilcox is a great dude. He gets Cal. He wants to be here. The players seem to like him. I mean, he checks SO many boxes. So many. This is not a Mark Fox or Wyking Jones situation where these detestable human beings were in charge of things.
And honestly, I am really hoping things perhaps eventually click. Maybe a switch is flipped with this O-line and they gel and start opening up some holes. That could change the equation. I am just not confident.
It’s just times are different…we do not have the luxury to wait out a Rich Brooks-type of evolution here over the course of a decade and a half. The O put 31 points on the board…Wilcox simply has to win that game.
I love Wilcox and I want him to have success at Cal. I am not saying "fire Wilcox" but honestly, what P4 program has a HC for 8 years and has a losing record, and only one winning season? Isn't 8 years really long for someone who hasn't had much success? Just wondering.
But Wilcox has gotten a lot of institutional support and NIL money. I think the portal and NIL have been a net positive for Cal and Wilcox. I can only think of maybe 2 guys who we lost to the portal who were starters, a OG to Oklahoma and a WR to ucla. Other than that Wilcox and Cal have dependent heavily on portal transfers these last 3 seasons and have gotten a lot of starters from the portal, while losing very few to it.
Yes, I couldn’t remember their names off the top of my head and didn’t feel like searching for them. Yeah, we lost some guys but every program loses someone each year. Losing only a couple of contributors in today’s NIL/portal CFB, IMO, isn’t that bad. How many transfers have we picked up that are starters or contributors?
Wilcox’s HS recruiting has been underwhelming but I do think he has done a very good job in the portal, both retaining players and adding players through it.
I think Cal’s future coaches they should look into are:
Bret Beliema (Ilinois)
Curt Cignetti (Indiana)
D’Anton Lynn (DC USC)*
I believe these coaches are within reach for Cal’s donor budget and undstand the balance of performing well and academic compliance. I would love to see what they can do with Cal’s roster composition. As I stated before, year 8 is YEAR 8! “There is no tomorrow,” if Cal does not make waves before the next round of realignment and future power 2 conference; they’re out! I like JW as a personality and leader but the quant data displays he is not the person that will lead this program to the promise land. This is Silicon Valley after all, I want to see positive disruption for the better, why not see what another talent could do at the helm, unless you’re okay with a mediocre program and being outside looking in.
*this pick is more wishful thinking, he seems to be a wizard in tranforming defenses overnight
Your comment is the first one I’ve read in multiple comment sections to actually suggest actual replacements so thank you. I’m not as plugged into the greater college football universe and I genuinely don’t know who the up and comers are that would also be good fits for Cal’s unique program quirks.
It’s my understanding that linemen are, now, at a premium, with some getting 6 figure NIL deals. So, it’s all of the schools that have been standing flat-footed and not getting up to speed on this new CFB landscape.
Thanks Nick, you hit on so many aspects of what I'm feeling this season and this game. I love our Bears, and I embrace the rollercoaster of Cal Bear fandom BUT THIS ONE F-ING HURT. I think putting our team on the shady side has some benefits, especially in the early season day games. But having our student section behind the visitors has been a disaster and I hope Cal Athletics figures something out before someone gets hurt. I chucked whole oranges at the USC band as they lined up for a halftime show when I was a student - dangerous, stupid and immature - and the modern student body is certainly no more mature. The Cal family showed up and showed out for that amazing 24 hours of chaos, and it was the best day ever as a fan until it all came crashing down. Cal football almost always plays up or down to the level of the opponent. Miami is good, and it is now very likely that they make the playoff, but they are nowhere near elite. They ground us down with time of possession and an exceptional set of weapons on offense. But now the ACC conspiracy theorists have even more fuel after the VA Tech reversal and the targeting no-call.
The big reason Miami is where they are is because of Cam Ward. I said last year that he is one of the best QB's in college football and you cannot be a top tier program without a great QB. This year I said he is the best QB in college football. If you look at FSU, which I think is deeper in talent than Miami, DJ was a poor selection from the portal for QB. I noted that he is not a great QB because of his record at Clemson. He did well at Oregon State because Jonathan Smith is a QB Whisperer and dumbed down the offense for him. In any event, without Cam Ward, Miami is just another good but not great ACC team.
Btw, I think Mendoza has what it takes to be a great QB. Without being highly mobile, he still possesses traits to be a top QB: smarts, hard work, leadership, football IQ, great arm, toughness. If we can ever put together an o-line that can protect him and get our run game established, I think you'll see his performance elevate substantially. Remember, establishing the run takes the pressure off the QB. Good pass pro then gives him time to make throws he can make.
Mendoza reminds me of my namesake Mike P. Doesn't have an elite arm or legs, but man he sure makes up for it in his leadership and toughness, not to mention his preparation, work ethic and overall steadiness. But holy hell is he tough. I can't stress that enough.
Cal fans: One positive that came out of Saturday's gut-punch of a game was that the entire country knows that we have passionate, enthusiastic fans who absolutely love their Golden Bears. I hope that Saturday's game and ESPN Game Day will go a long way towards dispelling the notion that we are somehow a college football wasteland where nobody gives a shit. Memorial was rocking! Hell, I was getting "GO BEARS!" before the game when I was out walking my dog! We absolutely have to beat Pitt this Saturday but I think that the entire team, coaches and players, are going to learn from Saturday's experience and be better off for it. Cal still has a chance to make its mark on college football this season. GO BEARS!!!!
At the end of the game I was disappointed. But I also chose to see the positives.
* That first half (+ the pick 6) was the most fun I've had at a Cal game in a long time. You could see our big plays unfold. The stadium was full. The crowd around me was electric. Kudos to the OC, for drawing up some good misdirection (4th and 1 for the TD), Mendoza for some big passes downfield and plays at the line of scrimmage that busted open for huge gains.
* At the beginning of the season, I had this as a loss. Going into the game, I was worried we'd have a let down game -- we usually don't do well after bye's. And I know how electric Cam Ward can be. I knew we had a chance to win but it would mean us playing our best and them playing below their level. That's what I saw for the first half.
* Is it better to lose a close one or to get stomped? I think it's better to lose a close one. It's more heartbreaking but less demoralizing. It just feels like we're on the cusp when your team can play like this against a top 10 team. Getting stomped just means we're a bad team.
We've had 2 close losses, this one worse than the last. But we've still got a good team -- I think one good enough to win out from here. As they say, you go from losing big to losing close ones to winning close ones to winning big. I think we'll have a 1 or 2 more close ones for the rest of the season and I won't be surprised if we won those.
Regarding the thread that is happening below.
We do not condone doxxing of individuals in the athletic department or people doing their jobs. Taking any personal shots at individuals with no factual information is against our community rules. We will be deleting some of these posts and if they continue to do so you will be warned and/or banned as part of our community agreement.
I don’t know that appealing to email those who are destroying important traditions is doxxing. Their email addresses are publicly listed on the athletic department’s website, so nobody has outed anything that isn’t publicly available. And these are people that some of us have tried to have respectful interactions with and have been completely blown off. I know you guys need to keep press credentials and maintain a positive relationship with the athletic department, so I get it, but at the same time, alums, fans, and donors deserve a voice. Our athletic department is largely comprised of people from outside the “Cal family” that they love to highlight. Their words are hollow and they deserve to hear about it.
Wait are you serious? Their emails are publicly listed. It’s not like we are putting their home address and telling people to go harass them.
Understand about being careful re doxxing concerns, but why also remove the original mic man post? I was glad to hear from current students on this site, particularly one with unique insights on an issue that has been of concern for many W4C commentators.
Hey Macarolina, It was me who took down my original post. (Although my comment and other replies were deleted by the mods) Upon further reflection there is a more professional way to handle my/our issues with my superiors, even though I still stand by everything I said in the post. They are good people who are just trying to do their jobs and I don't want to spread negativity on this forum. If my negotiations with them don't improve in the coming weeks I will find a more professional and organized way to ask the Cal community for help.
Thanks my guy. Appreciate the mature response here to come back and explain the decisions and own up to it. Mucho respect. And nothing but love from my end.
Since my original comment was deleted, I want to once again thank you all collectively for the spirit and enthusiasm you bring to games! I can respect your desire to handle this internally, but should you get nowhere (as is many of our experience with Cal Athletics), I hope you do appeal to the alumni and fanbase for help. It is patently absurd that negotiation is needed to keep our traditions alive. Especially in light of the fact that the new f$&@ing ad we play on tv broadcasts is narrated by perhaps the greatest mic “man” to ever grace Strawberry Canyon. I just do not understand where the disconnect is down there. I get that the current landscape of college athletics requires more commercialization of the game experience, but this can be done in a way that doesn’t destroy tradition. The band and the mic men are two of our greatest traditions, and minimizing/diminishing/phasing out either of them would be a criminal offense. This is a hill I will die on.
Many thanks for the reply. Glad you will still pursue the student cause, we all wish you well and want to see the students maximizing their fun and contributions to game days. I hope we can all find a professional yet persuasive arguments to make desired improvements to the stadium experience.
What seemed to me like an increasingly canned music emphasis at games over the past two years was revealed by the current mic man indeed to be part of a systematic plan by the Assistant Athletic Director in Charge of Marketing to phase out the student yell leader altogether, and to decrease the role of the Cal Band as a featured component during the Golden Bears’ football games (especially between plays), in favor of piped in, extremely high volume, amplified pulsations, curated by a hype man/DJ who is a paid professional. This person was specifically hired to “professionalize” the game day experience, said the mic man who provided his thoughts on the matter (WFC handle of this brave student is abbreviated TOTRS). I just edited this to reflect that his post was not blocked. He removed it himself. Anyway, in the original post he was just trying to give folks a glimpse of what is going on, from his perspective. His post was a voice from the inside, shall we say, and he was respectful about it. I didn’t think it was a hit job, though he did name the person whose plan is being implemented. I am grateful to TOTRS for speaking up.
I didn't find those posts to be doxxing AT ALL, but a an appropriately measured call for fans to vocalize their concerns in a respectful and polite manner. Still, I can understand WFC concern about fans taking action based on one person's point of view and posting email contacts for folks. That could get out of hand quickly, even if our mic man did not intend it this way.
At the risk of going GB 49 here: I wonder if WFC would consider a post addressing this concerns here? I don't know how staff at WFC envisions itself, but seems like y'all have a role as the 4th Estate. Its been a while, but I even recall long-form journalism back in the CGB days. Either way, it could help us all to know how the AD Department envisions the fan experience at CMS and how they plan to bring a modern CFB experience while balancing tradition (and ensuring the hype man knows basics of the job). Seems like a legitimate concern that many folks care about and that WFC may be poised to address.
I think the second part is a very good question to have defn a topic for an article I’ll have in the docket for after the season is over. Appreciate your understanding of the situation. And you nailed the biggest reason from our end of moderating here. Yes the email addresses are public but we also didn’t want the site and this article be the staging ground for a bombardment of emails to individuals when we don’t know the full extent of the story. And as you said. It could end up being snowballing a lot quicker and into something that was not intended. So appreciate your understanding. And hopefully everyone else understands as well.
Once again, Mr. Kranz, you have summarized a game with insight and clarity that is beyond most sports columnists. More than this, you have captured the zeitgeist of a single day with an economy of words and a fluid through-line that shares expertise and passion with a Miles Davis composition.
Also, belated thanks and congrats to you, Miles Goodman, Avinash Kunnath, Admiral Bear, Callie and Mickey Hage for representing us so well in the ESPN piece, “We live in the weird - How Calgorithm became college football’s newest sensation” ( https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/41532952/cal-football-calgorithm-social-media-community-2024 ).
A memorable day for a program on the rise.
very well represented.
I think he rites real good.
I just wanted to thank everyone that made this past Saturday happen: the writers, the burners, our chancellor, and the students for showing up. It's been a very long time since we've seen this type of excitement around campus for football and none of it would be possible without the leaders of our community.
The beauty of Cal fandom is that you're always given just enough hope to prevent the numbness of despair. There's always something to remind you that you care and it will be used to hurt you.
Still, going though this whole nearly 24-hour process feels like I earned a promotional merit in Cal fandom.
Hopeium!
Nick, once again, excellent write up. I agree with your observations.
I actually think some good will come from this game in the form of recruiting AND acquiring better portal talent. Wilcox will now attract better talent to CAL. Why? because Game Day showed the world that CAL Football has real fans. It showed that the Admin with our new Chancellor are on board for doing what needs to be done to better our program. And more importantly, recruits will see how well Wilcox has done with talent that has been lesser than our opponents. Wilcox's pitch to a great recruit/transfer simple: We want you because you will help us get over the top. With a player like you we will start winning these close battles and become a top team. Come and be part of our success at the best public academic institution in the world and have fun doing it.
We have some great starters everywhere but the o-line. We need more athleticism there. And we need more depth across the board if we want to get to that top level. If we build to that, we will be a top program. Coach Wilcox has been incrementally doing this every year. The path has been painful, but progress is visible. Now it's time to take the next step. Let's see if we can win our last 7 games and finish with 10 wins...I might be pumping sunshine, but maybe it happens. Go Bears!
I think the national exposure is a bigger deal than it’s given credit for. Conference realignment alone is already yielding better tv coverage and exposure to an east coast audience. How many games on ESPN so far this year? And we’re not even a marquis team. Way easier to sell your program when people have actually seen your team on TV and are familiar with who you are. And I don’t care what anybody says. Seeing Pat McAfee and company broadcasting from Memorial Glade and get excited about the crowd is a big deal to the young’ins who watch the show religiously and did a ton to break through the whole Cal=Berkeley thing.
I just want to say, one of my coworkers who knows I am a Cal fan, came to me today and said her dad, who has no ties with either school but is a Bay Area native, chose to stay home and stay up to watch the Cal game, seeing how "it's been a long time since I've seen them play on TV". Unpack that as you will.
Bingo!
Larry Scott, had us backed into a media-isolated canyon that favored $C and any already strong programs.
The Game Day ---> recruits is a specious argument. Does Game Day come because of the [great] recruits previously arriving and playing great? Is there any causal relationship in either direction, Evans Hall? I would be shocked if so. Where would we even look (Appalachian State's big win in 2002 - https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/article/college-gameday-locations-all-time-appearances-most-times-hosting)?
Suspect recruits are looking for playtime, winning football, and fun… a place where one can be successful, sure, but also be well supported. And I think the Game Day spectacle hit that well. Don't you want to be a big man on that campus? Yes please.
The great show out for Game Day goes far to counter the “why go to a school that doesn’t know or care about football” often held against us in power football recruiting states like TX, GA, FL.
Speaking of poor support. Did everyone see the VT-Furd game?
Who is to say what building awareness actually leads to? But if it did not, in general, lead to good things, then “building awareness” would not be in the mission statement of just about every cause on planet Earth.
A good analysis of a hard loss. Some thoughts:
1. A perplexing no call on what even the TV analysts saw as a targeting call that could have determined the outcome.
2. An obnoxious stadium music and announcer who drowned out students and the band.
3. Fabulous turn out of fans for the Bears. Let's keep it going.
4. The Bears gave their best, but still a complete game eluded them. Next week will be a big test for them against an undefeated Pittsburgh team at home.
5. Keep the faith, both the Bears and us long-suffering fans.
6. Congratulations to Vanderbilt, we can understand their joy. It was a minute away for us.
I agree with all of these, especially your point #2. The sound system is ridiculously loud and repetitive, and waaay overused throughout the game and during breaks. I miss hearing the sound of the Cal Band unimpeded as well as the actual student yells sans interruption by bass heavy throbs coming out of the loudspeakers. It really is diminishing the game day experience for me, and many of my friends/alums feel the same way.
Folks need to write to the Athletic Director and make this point. At a meeting a week ago he claimed that "the Cal Band can play whenever they want", he said it was up to them. Yet during the game, the canned music and the obnoxious announcer droned out everything.
Not to mention the clueless "hype" man who twice called for Cal fans to make noise when Cal had the ball. Whoever is in charge of the stadium "experience" needs to be replaced. I felt like I had gone to a disco for four hours and a football game broke out.
Seriously, my entire section just screamed "NO" when he called for the stadium to get loud on our last drive.
He could not hear over his own voice blaring into the sound system.
Exactly.
I would not have minded such obnoxious overplays every single time $C band started to play.
LOL, yes, I agree.
Great write up.
And you highlighted the main story of this game. I've seen so many people screaming "CAL BLEW A 25 POINT LEAD!" Devil is in the details. That lead was built with big exciting plays... that took virtually no time off the clock. And put our great defense back on the field over and over and over. We just needed one 10 play time consuming drive in the second half.
The last two games, we got to see what excellent Offensive and Defensive lines built with NIL money through the portal look like. And how important depth is. I love our kids, and our coaches really are giving them the best chance to win... we just need more of them. If you choose to spend money on other forms of entertainment (Warriors/Niners/17 Streaming services) instead of monthly contributions to Cal Legends, look in the mirror... this loss is on you, too. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Put in perspective, if we had won it wouldn't even have been a Top 3 upset last Saturday. College Football is nuts.
So, chins up. Long season ahead. Toughest 3 games are behind us. We have some serious talent (especially at WR) due back from injury soon. PITT is a very good football team, but we've been forged through fire.
Go Bears
Well-said.
Go Bears! 🐻🐻
All I can say after waking from this fever dream is Go Bears, Forever.
I agree with everything you said in the fan culture section. Chants were basically non existent due to the DJ playing music over anything and everything. The sound system for the mic man isn’t good at all so even when they tried, you couldn’t hear them clearly or at all. Granted we had a lot of quick strikes and not long sustained drives so we couldn’t really get any “roll on you Bears…” chants going. I don’t mind the DJ/music but it was just too much and overwhelming at times. They kept playing it while we were on offense and huddled up, which made no sense at all. The band hardly played due to the DJ music. If this is how gameday experience in Memorial is going to be going forward, I would rather just stay home and watch from my TV.
I sit in section T every game, right next to the students, on the aisle. I like the DJ music, but it is a bit too loud and played too often with no context to the game. It needs to be choreographed better with what is actually happening in the game on the field. The connectivity is lacking. The students are amusing, great, and wonderful, mostly. But they could use more direction to channel that young energy. Football isn't in their blood, being a fan takes some practice, when to make noise when to not. And yes, that mic man's system sucks. I hope they come back for the NC State game on the 19th.
Another exhausting game with a nasty outcome, saw it coming early in the 4th Q, and there it was. Gotta move forward; Pitt is a good team, better get ready. Go Bears!
Thanks for stating so much of what many of us felt about the entire day. I still love my Bears and will always be optimistic .
The thing that’s frustrating to me is that people are going to use this gut-puncher to add to the Fire Wilcox pile when, in this case I feel like coaching was a big reason we were in a position to win in the first place. We can criticize them for not doing a good enough job on bringing in/developing O-line recruits, but then again, if it was easy, every school would be doing it. Decision-making wise, i thought the coaches called a pretty good game. They can’t play defense in lieu of exhausted players and they can’t go on the field and block in lieu of an overmatched offensive line. A blown coverage on Miami’s best receiver at literally the worst time possible in the entire game sucks, but you could also argue they shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with if that stupid targeting non call wasn’t a thing. You shouldn’t have to depend on the refs, but if you’re an inferior team and you did enough to squeak by, the refs shouldn’t be giving the other team a helping hand either.
It’s not this one game people have a problem with - it’s the past 7 years.
If this was his first or second year as HC, we would be excited that the program is on the way up.
We’ve seen this show before but most of us here will still show up every week to cheer Cal and even Wilcox on to victory.
Such is our purgatory.
I’ve been here for long time so trust me, I get it. Im just curious what the alternative is. If you could promise me the next guy has the ability to magically pull 4 and 5* linemen out of his butthole on command that won’t turn around and transfer to greener pastures and on an equitable budget, then by all means, let’s make some wholesale changes. Otherwise we’re just going to keep having the same problems no matter who our coach is and we’re never going to pay people enough to poach the all world talents from other schools or out-NIL anyone else. College football is a completely different animal than it was even 5 or 6 years ago. I can’t even fathom trying to deal with the actual scheming/Xs and Os stuff let alone having to navigate the change from the world of college football with no transfer portal/No NIL to all of those things and the People’s Republic of Berkeley Covid stuff in the very middle of all that. I guess what I’m saying is, I think judging his tenure as a single linear period of time is different than how I would judge 7 consecutive years of Sonny Dykes, or Tedford or something. If his teams were quitting on him or our players were flunking out in addition to the mediocre overall record I’d be on board. I’m not there, yet.
Doc, these are good points. And great respect. I honestly believe we all want what’s best for Cal.
But, as a loud advocate for, and ardent supporter of, a change in leadership atop the Cal football program, here’s my thing: Cal simply does not have time to wait to see if Wilcox will EVER get us over the hump. It’s been 7.5 years and that’s more than enough time for a Head Coach to show what he’s got. I mean, he has had so many opportunities to deliver that signature win or season, and has so often come up short, and oftentimes painfully. Hell, even his wins are painful to watch. COVID was 4 seasons ago. It’s an unfortunate byproduct of the sheer lunacy that college athletics has become, but it is what it is.
Jeff Tedford inherited Holmoe’s utter disaster of a roster and built Cal into a top-10 team in 3 seasons. Winner’s win…even at Cal. Wilcox is 18-games below .500 against conference foes…18. That’s just brutal, and all we have heard is a parade of excuses for why he can’t win. Lack of institutional support, COVID, NIL, etc. How about the eye test though?
We have seen what a change in leadership atop the Men’s Basketball program has done. We absolutely have momentum - the pup and I were at GameDay and it was f-ing amazing. Just awesome. Saturday could very well have been the greatest day in program history - it was still a game-changer.
Losing at Florida State and home to a top-10 Miami don’t cost you your job. But it’s more than just 1 or 2 games…it’s a pattern. If you want to remain a Power 4 school, you may not have more time.
Sadly, this is all right on, and I absolutely love Wilcox as a person. He’s the perfect leader for our program… except for the winning part. The record, especially the conference record, is just not good enough. The florida state and Miami losses were just absolutely soul crushing. Now all this to say, if he can really get us going from here and get to 8 wins, I would advocate letting him continue trying to build. But the expectations just have to be higher.
Agree. I think Wilcox is a great dude. He gets Cal. He wants to be here. The players seem to like him. I mean, he checks SO many boxes. So many. This is not a Mark Fox or Wyking Jones situation where these detestable human beings were in charge of things.
And honestly, I am really hoping things perhaps eventually click. Maybe a switch is flipped with this O-line and they gel and start opening up some holes. That could change the equation. I am just not confident.
It’s just times are different…we do not have the luxury to wait out a Rich Brooks-type of evolution here over the course of a decade and a half. The O put 31 points on the board…Wilcox simply has to win that game.
I love Wilcox and I want him to have success at Cal. I am not saying "fire Wilcox" but honestly, what P4 program has a HC for 8 years and has a losing record, and only one winning season? Isn't 8 years really long for someone who hasn't had much success? Just wondering.
But Wilcox has gotten a lot of institutional support and NIL money. I think the portal and NIL have been a net positive for Cal and Wilcox. I can only think of maybe 2 guys who we lost to the portal who were starters, a OG to Oklahoma and a WR to ucla. Other than that Wilcox and Cal have dependent heavily on portal transfers these last 3 seasons and have gotten a lot of starters from the portal, while losing very few to it.
I'm guessing you are referring to Mettauer and Sturdivant.
We also lost KEO and Hunter this past off season. They were our top level contributors.
Yes, I couldn’t remember their names off the top of my head and didn’t feel like searching for them. Yeah, we lost some guys but every program loses someone each year. Losing only a couple of contributors in today’s NIL/portal CFB, IMO, isn’t that bad. How many transfers have we picked up that are starters or contributors?
Wilcox’s HS recruiting has been underwhelming but I do think he has done a very good job in the portal, both retaining players and adding players through it.
Yeah we are getting more than losing transfers.
Marcus Harris and Nohl Williams are transfers from I think Idaho and UNLV too. So is Teddye from UCD. We haven't lost as much i would have feared.
I think Cal’s future coaches they should look into are:
Bret Beliema (Ilinois)
Curt Cignetti (Indiana)
D’Anton Lynn (DC USC)*
I believe these coaches are within reach for Cal’s donor budget and undstand the balance of performing well and academic compliance. I would love to see what they can do with Cal’s roster composition. As I stated before, year 8 is YEAR 8! “There is no tomorrow,” if Cal does not make waves before the next round of realignment and future power 2 conference; they’re out! I like JW as a personality and leader but the quant data displays he is not the person that will lead this program to the promise land. This is Silicon Valley after all, I want to see positive disruption for the better, why not see what another talent could do at the helm, unless you’re okay with a mediocre program and being outside looking in.
*this pick is more wishful thinking, he seems to be a wizard in tranforming defenses overnight
Your comment is the first one I’ve read in multiple comment sections to actually suggest actual replacements so thank you. I’m not as plugged into the greater college football universe and I genuinely don’t know who the up and comers are that would also be good fits for Cal’s unique program quirks.
We currently have the 65th ranked recruiting class for 2025, so our line and depth issues aren't getting fixed there.
It’s my understanding that linemen are, now, at a premium, with some getting 6 figure NIL deals. So, it’s all of the schools that have been standing flat-footed and not getting up to speed on this new CFB landscape.
Thanks Nick, you hit on so many aspects of what I'm feeling this season and this game. I love our Bears, and I embrace the rollercoaster of Cal Bear fandom BUT THIS ONE F-ING HURT. I think putting our team on the shady side has some benefits, especially in the early season day games. But having our student section behind the visitors has been a disaster and I hope Cal Athletics figures something out before someone gets hurt. I chucked whole oranges at the USC band as they lined up for a halftime show when I was a student - dangerous, stupid and immature - and the modern student body is certainly no more mature. The Cal family showed up and showed out for that amazing 24 hours of chaos, and it was the best day ever as a fan until it all came crashing down. Cal football almost always plays up or down to the level of the opponent. Miami is good, and it is now very likely that they make the playoff, but they are nowhere near elite. They ground us down with time of possession and an exceptional set of weapons on offense. But now the ACC conspiracy theorists have even more fuel after the VA Tech reversal and the targeting no-call.
The big reason Miami is where they are is because of Cam Ward. I said last year that he is one of the best QB's in college football and you cannot be a top tier program without a great QB. This year I said he is the best QB in college football. If you look at FSU, which I think is deeper in talent than Miami, DJ was a poor selection from the portal for QB. I noted that he is not a great QB because of his record at Clemson. He did well at Oregon State because Jonathan Smith is a QB Whisperer and dumbed down the offense for him. In any event, without Cam Ward, Miami is just another good but not great ACC team.
Btw, I think Mendoza has what it takes to be a great QB. Without being highly mobile, he still possesses traits to be a top QB: smarts, hard work, leadership, football IQ, great arm, toughness. If we can ever put together an o-line that can protect him and get our run game established, I think you'll see his performance elevate substantially. Remember, establishing the run takes the pressure off the QB. Good pass pro then gives him time to make throws he can make.
Mendoza reminds me of my namesake Mike P. Doesn't have an elite arm or legs, but man he sure makes up for it in his leadership and toughness, not to mention his preparation, work ethic and overall steadiness. But holy hell is he tough. I can't stress that enough.
He’s tough.
I think he’s been looking forward to this Miami game for a long, long time. It meant so much that it was too much.
If he gets back in the saddle, again, he’ll be better for it.
Cal fans: One positive that came out of Saturday's gut-punch of a game was that the entire country knows that we have passionate, enthusiastic fans who absolutely love their Golden Bears. I hope that Saturday's game and ESPN Game Day will go a long way towards dispelling the notion that we are somehow a college football wasteland where nobody gives a shit. Memorial was rocking! Hell, I was getting "GO BEARS!" before the game when I was out walking my dog! We absolutely have to beat Pitt this Saturday but I think that the entire team, coaches and players, are going to learn from Saturday's experience and be better off for it. Cal still has a chance to make its mark on college football this season. GO BEARS!!!!
From a fan perspective this was so painful that it makes you want to tune out for a while and follow less gut wrenching pasttimes…
Best way to help team morale this week and build better depth for future teams is to finish out the $1million dollar match NIL campaign. We still need $150k+ to max out the match. Let’s get it done!! https://www.spotfund.com/story/5bbfc2ff-a186-44b2-a4e3-65609e323b81?SFID=GameDayMatchCampaign
Thank you for the reminder and the link, which is straightforward and easy to use.
At the end of the game I was disappointed. But I also chose to see the positives.
* That first half (+ the pick 6) was the most fun I've had at a Cal game in a long time. You could see our big plays unfold. The stadium was full. The crowd around me was electric. Kudos to the OC, for drawing up some good misdirection (4th and 1 for the TD), Mendoza for some big passes downfield and plays at the line of scrimmage that busted open for huge gains.
* At the beginning of the season, I had this as a loss. Going into the game, I was worried we'd have a let down game -- we usually don't do well after bye's. And I know how electric Cam Ward can be. I knew we had a chance to win but it would mean us playing our best and them playing below their level. That's what I saw for the first half.
* Is it better to lose a close one or to get stomped? I think it's better to lose a close one. It's more heartbreaking but less demoralizing. It just feels like we're on the cusp when your team can play like this against a top 10 team. Getting stomped just means we're a bad team.
We've had 2 close losses, this one worse than the last. But we've still got a good team -- I think one good enough to win out from here. As they say, you go from losing big to losing close ones to winning close ones to winning big. I think we'll have a 1 or 2 more close ones for the rest of the season and I won't be surprised if we won those.