I have a warning for Cal from older fans: you have turned football games into what you apparently see as an "entertainment experience": constant loud bass-dominated music, MCs that continue to yell at the fans to try to get us "excited," constant sponsored "games" that are often irrelevant to the football game we came to see and are pretty stupid at that. Most of us go to Cal games to see a football game, not to be drowned out by irrelevant noise. You need to find a better balance or you will lose your older, most die-hard supporters (including financially). My wife won't even go to games anymore for these reasons. Are you listening Ron Rivera? Too many of my older friends are saying the same thing. Who are you trying to appeal to?
Probably a younger and new fan base. Old fans are great but the problem with old fans are they all eventually die and you need to replenish the fan base. Cal needs to do a better job of engaging the younger students/fans, as well as a wider East Bay audience.
The only constant in life is change. Cal is doing many of these things because that is what the younger generation appears to want.
Dread it, run from it. Destiny arrives all the same, and now it's here…
This is a non-rebuttal, really. It matters for middle-aged and older fans to be included in the planning of game day experiences. Not to mention, they’re the ones who would be filling the expensive cushy seats. Cal Band is awesome, as are many of the storied cheers that still get the entire stadium going. These need to be the main thrust, if you want an environment that maintains the unique thrill of college football for many lifetime fans. These priorities remain front of mind at the best altars of college football. No reason for it not to be so in Strawberry Canyon. I am not averse to the occasional Journey singalong; I like good music, whether it’s Snoop Dog, Earth Wind and Fire or Santana. By the way, the Cal Band has some outstanding renditions of songs by many of these artists. Let the 250 or so Cal Band members who work their tails off all season (no NIL money, no class credit) be the dominant soundtrack. Gimme some “Roll on you Bears”, “Hey Alumni Go” etc., and less of the repetitive, tired recordings of “Everybody ClapYour Hands” and “Turn Down for What” and you’ll please a lot of people. I’m just sayin.’
Yup, this. If the choice is to get more young fans or more old fans to show up, I choose the young fans. They are more likely to keep showing up for years to come.
Can't we make everyone happy? Maybe lower the decibels down into the double digits? And maybe only half as often? I can't believe this is what makes the games worth attending to the younger crowd. Great music, played at the right time, can get any crowd going - I'm in favor of that.
agree. Things change, but one of the things that makes college football great is the tradition. The marketing dept and mic men would do well to find a way to study some of the past and fold it into today.
The best places in college football all show a heavy emphasis on the Band and Student cheers. It isn’t just the old blues that would like to hear what we have to offer. Mic the band and Mic the Mic Men/Women and blast it.
My biggest objection is to the heavy metal music that drowns out the band as the team takes the field. To me it is utter blasphemy, never mind how horrible I find the noise. But I'm an older gent so never mind.
I absolutely agree!! The constant rhythm beat during non play time makes it impossible to hear what the PA is saying or what the referee announces. that constant beat in the LOUD speakers is really annoying and has nothing to do with FOOTBALL. It completely made it impossible to clearly hear the recognition given to the GREAT coach Tedford and the other recognitions given to past players and other sport athletes.
And it is often drowning out what the Cal band is doing. Idiotic. Not to mention, when TX Southern brought its massive Ocean of Sound marching band, the amplified sound system from the get-go often played right over them. And that was a fantastic, passionate performing group, that had travelled thousands of miles from an HBC where they understand the value of marching bands, as a moving, indispensable component of what makes CFB so special. They are a renowned musical phenomenon. Disgraceful! I was pissed, to say the least, and in the ensuing weeks contemplated whether I’d attend another game. Diehard fan, but hoping the insanity and frequency of canned beats will be used more judiciously.
Oh for the good old 1 pm start times. They make the commute home after the game much more convenient and safe. We are at the mercy of the networks. ESPN said they would broadcast these last two games only at 7:30 Cal and their opponents had to take that if they wanted the TV money which is sizable. But where did the Friday night game scheduling come from. Friday night football is traditionally for high school football.
I will say the Train singalong is an abomination, and anyone associated with that should be disallowed from ever setting foot on campus or in the City of Berkeley ever again.
I think it's great that they are appealing to the Raider crowd, BUT perhaps spend a little more money on security and check the bathrooms more often, LOTS of Black Bear shirts smoking pot in stands and restrooms. No objection to it morally, I just don't want to smell it at a football game.
These changes have not been a consequence of requests from younger fans. Address your concerns with the athletic department. Certainly a lot of the changes in the game day experience are to help encourage casual fans, and they are making a bet that those changes lure more fans even if it may mean losing some.
She gone! But in her defense, the loud piped in music started a long time before she arrived. I was in TT for the aughts and I found the volume level pretty torturous (and I was a young man still). And bad mic men have been an issue since probably after the Eddie Kleinhans era when they started relying more on a committee approach.
Warning: If you are not happy when Cal football is 5-2 and playing/beating brand names on national TV...then Cal fandom is a dangerous way to invest your time and energy
Last year's 3-4 team at this point in the season was quite a bit better than this year's 5-2 team. But, because the football is shaped funny, bounces have conspired to bless Cal with a better-than-deserved record this year, while doing the opposite last year. The way you win or lose can be just as valid a measuring stick to rejoice or complain about as the w-l record.
After 60 plus years of rooting for them I believe I've earned the right to feel however I want to about Cal football with no judgments, scoldings or warnings from anyone.
I’m happy with the record, although I do think it could be better. I’m not happy with what seems like a lack of improvement at OL and WR this season. Lots of drops by WR, lack of run blocking by the OL. I haven’t seen much growth or improvement from Oregon State and that is what is upsetting to me
I'm not sure I agree that we could be better. We've won the games we could win and lost to the two teams that are clearly better than us. We have some pretty deep flaws with mediocre to poor OL play both in pass protection and run support, no pass rush, and a general lack of dynamic playmakers. I hope our ceiling can be raised a little in the second half with experience and scheming, but I think we're largely what we have seen. Fortunately, despite our flaws, there aren't any teams left on the schedule that are considerably better than us. So, if we can pocket a couple more of these 50/50 games, I think we can file this season as a success.
However, they ARE, in fact, close to mediocre, started a RS FR QB, were missing their best player, and we needed a muffed fumble at home on a bonehead play to really pull that one out. We could not run the ball a lick, plus lost the time of possession battle and were basically outplayed in the trenches.
Quality win, but we executed all around much better in Corvallis, before there was film out on JKS and the O. We've regressed in all aspects since, which seems an unfortunate hallmark of Wilcox-coached teams - lack of development, progress and execution.
I've been going to Cal games since I was 5 - many decades ago - and have seen them through the best and worst of times, so their current record has nothing to do with it. I just don't want to see the older generation stop going to games - not because of the football but the other aspects of the current scene. I know they need to draw younger people and families and I'm asking them to consider the entire fan base in doing so.
Exactly what “brand names” are we beating? Our wins have been against very poor names, not a blue blood or even a historically decent one among them. The most you could argue is Minnesota, who is 57% all time win record.
How do I avoid piped in music; it's simple, I don't go to the games. After being a season ticket holder, that's 4 season tickets, taking another couple to the games on me, for 37 years, after 2013 I quit. That's after spending $10K a year for tickets including donating and going to many away games.
Why did I do it? After meeting with the new marketing guy in 2013 who was marketing previously for the NY Jets, his whole focus was on piped in music. I endured it for 2013 but could not take being tortured as part of my game experience. I wanted a college football experience not some washed out version of what goes on at Pro games.
What do I do now. I watch all games in mute because I don't what to hear all the garbage that sometimes sneaks into the broadcast. When there is a time out, I go to my trusty CD player loaded with the last CD the CAL Band did and I can listen to BIG C and the other great CAL songs I used to hear before the advent of the crap I would have to listen to if I was at the game.
I’ve been a season ticket holder for 34 years now, so I’m behind you by roughly 15 years. I totally understand your viewpoint, and I do wish they would chill on some of that stuff. But the fact of the matter is that’s just normal experience nowadays, I’ve been to many away games and this is not abnormal by any stretch.
Personally the kick of being there and feeing the excitement in the stadium during an amazing game (which is unfortunately fairly rare nowadays) overrides all those concerns for me, and I wouldn’t miss seeing my Bears in person for anything.
Do I wish they would let the band play more, turn down the volume and stop the inane promotions? Absolutely. But I’d like the world to be different in a lot of ways, and this one isn’t a hill I’m willing to die on.
I am grateful that - while all those things are still happening - they are legitimately trying. The drone show was fun, the golden bears lights thing shows promise (synchronized phone lights through their app during a couple show times in the game), etc.
I’m likely no longer the target demographic - they are presumably trying to bring in more casual fans from the area and have the game be good entertainment - so I’ll accept reality and enjoy watching my bears in person.
I think you're basically right about teams now having "the book" on defending Cal: keep a lot of defenders back in coverage and force Cal to try either running the ball or consistently completing short passes to move the chains. So far, we've been super inconsistent at it.
What can happen? Well, I think JKS is a smart, talented player so at some point he will probably learn how to put more touch/accuracy on the short throws. That will help some. But can the rest of the team help him out? Our receivers often get the dropsies and aren't great at breaking tackles in space. Our line has struggled to hold up against decent fronts (Duke destroyed us by getting pressure with just three rushers).
The big exception here is Minnesota. We actually did run the ball when we had to and the OL held up well against a decent B1G front seven. But that was a month ago and increasingly looks like an outlier performance. Can we recapture that? I'm pretty pessimistic about Wilcox's abilities at this point, but one thing I will say is that he tends to have a partial recovery after a lousy October so I can't rule out that it happens again.
As always, great read, Nick! Thank you for noting the “fastball” to the receiver 5 yards downfield. This was my annual sojourn from Portland for a home game and we in the south end of the stands were wondering why he was drilling his receivers so hard. We were also wondering why so many drops (!!!) but maybe that’s just our situation this season. Shout-out to De Jesus who was clutch when we needed him. So glad we got to see a win!
Credit where credit is due. This team HAS won 3 games (Minnesota, BC and NC) that former Cal teams would have lost. The aforementioned teams out Caled Cal. And that's a positive.
Yes, the games are not comfortable to watch - but they are Ws. What to make of that? We won't know until the season plays out. Beating VT and 'Furd is imperative. Stealing a game against Louisville, SMU and Virginia would be nice. Remains to be seen if it will be done. Hoping the team continues to gel and figure things out.
Wilcox has been playing coin flip games for 9 seasons…5-2 is great, and is a sign that this year, he’s gotten some much deserved breaks, unlike in ‘24.
You can be happy Cal’s 5-2, and at the same time completely skeptical of just how good this team really is.
We’re now underdogs in all 5 of our remaining games, so let’s see how this season plays out.
And it isn’t even coin flips against good teams, we are still stuck trying to win coin flip games against bad teams. Losing to Miami is frustrating but at least they are a really good team so to be even in a position to win is awesome. UNC and BC are terrible teams so be in a coin flip to lose is upsetting
Ha, plenty of Calgorithm folks are defending him, citing the same 5-2 potential mirage you are, but no matter. Enjoy the hell out of it - no one is telling you not to. Never said you’re an apologist.
Literally the entire article is about how we’re 5-2 yet still need to play better because we have the weakest P5 schedule in the nation, which is what this entire discourse is about and which plenty of us have been saying.
Let’s see if they can put it all together and finish strong. Hopefully they can. Go Bears!
Thanks as always Nick...your comments are a tonic. I'll only add my appreciation for your calling out the renewed focus on the game day experience. Some old timers here may remember my lengthy diatribe on the subject right as we were reopening Memorial Stadium. It attracted enough attention to get me a lunch with Sandy Barber, but not much else. All these many years later much of what I called for is happening. Belated gratification...I'll take it. Go Bears Forever!
I'd rather have Wilcox than a vacant HC position. If next year we at least double the $82mil donated this year (demonstrating monetary & institutional support), then possibly a superior HC could be lured to Cal. But how to identify such a coach? Search committees gave us Keith Gilbertson, Tom Holmoe, Wyking Jones, Mark Fox...
I would definitely trust in Ron Rivera to lead a successful coaching search. You don't not fire someone -- in any field of work -- who is incompetent out of fear that you can't find a worthy replacement. You always back yourself to find the right person.
"Florida State AD Michael Alford (in support of Mike Norvell) and Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh (in support of Luke Fickell) both felt compelled to issue statements Monday to let everyone know, I’m not firing anyone. Yet. Norvell’s 3-4 team just suffered an inexplicable loss at Stanford and is 1-11 in ACC play since the start of last season" via The Athletic. That one win...
Sports are interesting because of the uncertainty, especially at the college level. Training hard, trying hard, being disciplined are prerequisites but no guarantee of wins. And even having lots of institutional support, big name coaches, and money is no guarantee (see Florida, FSU, and any number of other schools upset at their coaches). It’s easy to think that a better coach or better recruiting will provide consistent winning seasons and excitement (how many of you would have jumped at hiring one of the just-fired coaches two or three years ago?)
The reality is that fan-site fans are passionate and important but hardly representative of the larger fan base that a team needs to be economically and socially successful. Most fans support a team because of identity more than because of victories, values, or anything else. How else has Seattle had the Mariners stay in business for decades? Or why anyone still follows the former Oakland teams? And many casual (but economically important) fans who do care about wins don’t care as much as people here about how you get there, 21-18 or 30-10.
Bottom line is that winning is fickle and ultimately is not the metric that matters most. Identity is. As to wins, there is risk in change, and in the world of sports, it’s not a simple formula that hiring x brings the success you imagine. Wilcox’s successor may be better or worse, and often for variable reasons that depend only partly on competence. Instead, building a community identity over time, a community that coheres in good seasons and bad, is paramount. Of course winning can help; everyone loves a winner. But the question for Rivera and Lyons really is, “who helps build and maintain identity the best?” Those are the coaches and people who need to be in place.
Unfortunately, Justin Wilcox is not paid $5 mil/year to be a boy scout leader. Football continuing to wallow in mediocrity will have consequences that reverberate across our athletic department and deeply affect the olympic sports programs that do actually consistently win. The last round of conference relaignment was way too close a call and should have served as a massive wake up call for all fans. Maybe someday in the future the university decides modern college athletics is just not something worth being a part of, but for now, we have no choice but to pursue a winning football program with everything we have, because the future of many other sports depends on it. The professional teams you mentioned stay in business for decades because of the revenue sharing they enjoy as a result of their league's media rights deals. If Cal is left out during the next round of realignment, we are screwed from a revenue perspective. And unfortunately, the fans do care how we win because the Wilcox rock fights are happening in front of a half-full stadium with tarped end zones. Look I don't disagree that identity matters and the guy who is a fit at Cal might not be a fit at some of the football-first sports club universities, but the reality with Wilcox is that it's year 9 and we know what we get with him. It's stale and we need the proverbial 'new voice in the room.'
Second this. College football is changing, whatever us old blues may wish. Doing the minimum, with corresponding on field results, may have worked for us for decades in the pac. But the world has changed and we are looking at mid-major directly in the face. If we go the mid-major route, we will not be able to support non-revenue sports and will have difficulty servicing our stadium debt. How much money do we foresee the campus forwarding to cover old blue nostalgia? I don’t see much.
Coaches absolutely affect winning - sometimes dramatically. We have our own example in Tedford, but look at UCLA this year. Does that mean if you hire a splashy coach all will be well? No. But if you consciously choose a poor coach, you majorly affect a program - we should know this from recent basketball experience. So using the excuse of “history” or “identity” to not try is unacceptable.
This is the time to either win some games or accept second tier (or lower) status, with the accompanying side effects - minimal non-revenue sports, and minimal ongoing excitement from the more casual fans in the area and from new alums.
Nobody is saying the business of football hasn’t changed. Nobody is saying we shouldn’t consider change. I’m merely pointing out that choosing the “right” coach for guaranteed wins is something that almost all institutions and search committees are bad at, not because the decision makers are dummies, but because wins turn on lots of fun and stupid things like fumbles, missed PATs, injuries, trick plays, and all the other craziness that college fans love. It is hard to win, and even harder to please us armchair coaches who lurk on fan sites. But universities and coaches can share/promote an identity that the larger fan base can relate to, and I would venture that ours is some combination of “The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die”; we are disciplined and play hard but don’t cheat or try to bust someone’s knee, we model ourselves to the community (Patrick Laird and Good Hands service players), our players appreciate Cal as a school, and while we appreciate good talent, we are not a foolish school that throws a disproportionate amount of money at a dubious player (osu) or coach (unc, psu). When we look for a coach, competence and leadership are important, but even more important is alignment with whatever identity fans (not just wfc fans) will relate to and want to throw hard earned time and money at. There are way too many interesting things to do in the world , and enough winning teams to choose from. We, like many universities , may never get back to the attendance and viewership numbers of the Tedford years, because people have so many choices what to do with their time. But my point is that wins or a splashy coach are not enough. You need a fan base that will turn out regardless of whether we have the best players, regardless of whether we are underdogs, regardless of whether you have occasional disappointing games (as all schools do). Wins are less in your control than you think (cf. everyone, especially men, thinks their driving is above average), and identity is more important and more in your control than you think.
And aside from us die-hard fans, I wager that years from now most fans will have a stronger emotional memory of the never-give-up quality of singular plays like Ezeff’s or Austin’s more than who our opponent was or the W/L record or the slog of two quarters of the game. You do not need to be a perennial top-25 team to have a loyal fan base that drives revenue
Maaaaaybe we can capitalize on the emptying of East Bay professional sports and create an environment that people will come to games win or lose. But I don’t think so - we tried that for decades and it was nice to have entire rows of benches to yourself, but it didn’t pay the bills.
This is not Nebraska, we don’t have the history or the tradition to attract fans regardless of record. We live in a metropolis that has plenty of other activities that are attractive for people’s entertainment dollars. To not chase wins is to give up at this point, the time to do all that identity stuff was decades ago when our head wasn’t on the chopping block. But now we have to be honest with where we are at. We have a few years at best before the next round of realignment, which is likely to kill the ACC, or at least move it to a mid-major ala the Pac-12. This is not a time for complacency or for long term brand definition, we just don’t have the time.
The alternative is the daunting task OSU and WSU are working at, rebuilding a conference around promising but still upcoming programs. With the accelerating concentration of dollars to the top two conferences, this would be a loooong road to walk and I just don’t think Cal athletics as we know it will survive that road.
And when I reflect on some of the most satisfying experiences in my decades of identifying as a Cal fan, the upset wins as an underdog (Cobb over Arizona, Mohammed over Luck) have been more memorable and important than the expected wins or expected winning seasons. We don’t always win, and there are more important things in life, but I do love the plucky or lucky play that topples the rich, entitled institutions.
I disagree on the grounds that you believe Cal has an identity. The reality is Cal hasn’t had an identity since Jeff Tedford and you can strongly correlate that identity to not winning, plain and simple.
If an institution does not have the history or lore of being a college football “blue blood” or powerhouse, there is no identity. If you want to attract younger folks, new fans, and put asses in seats you need to win. I read an article on Bloomberg or WSJ that kids from the northeast and from “priviledged” backgrounds are applying to SEC school bevmcause of college football success and tradition. I know that is not the only reason these kids are choosing to go to the SEC (i.e. politically, socially, “traditional” values, etc.) but having a winning football greatly accelerates interested and it directly correlates into financially success and a happier student body.
And what is the way in 2025 to build a winning program…? I need not repeat what is known, for I do not want to beat a dead horse. But, if Cal and its “older” fans don’t want to get in line with the modern way of college football then maybe Cal footbal should stay in the past and let itself be relegated.
One thing on the game-day experience - the only game we've made it out to was TSU, and the blaring rotation of techno, rap, and welcome to the jungle over the loudspeakers, during every single non-football moment was almost enough to never want to attend another game. Maybe it's a generational thing, but are our attention spans so short that we require non-stop stimulation for the entire 3 hours?
At the rate Cal is going this season, if we lose to a lousy VT team on the road this week (dismal vs dismal) a 6-6 season could come down to beating Stanford on the Farm which is definitely not a given. Otherwise, we’re 5-7 and saved from a bowl bid to the Pop Tart Bowl in Bismarck, South Dakota on a Tuesday night in mid December. Beating UVA, Louisville and SMU seems like about as likely as winning the Powerball Lottery.
They will all have watched the Duke films and will likely try to follow the Duke strategy:
Protection & turnovers: Duke sacked Cal six times and grabbed four INTs (three by JKS). Expect opponents to copy the heavy-pressure plan. 
Run game issues: Cal managed just 41 rushing yards vs Duke, so defenses can pin ears back. If that repeats, it depresses Cal’s upset odds across November.
Matchup odds of winning:
at Louisville — Cal win ~25%
Louisville is legit: just upset No. 2 Miami on the road and jumped into the AP Top 25; they picked off Miami four times. Home field in L&N is a big edge. 
vs Virginia (Berkeley) — ~40%
UVA is ranked (No. 18) and just finished a fourth-quarter comeback vs WSU; they’ve been excellent late. Home helps Cal, but UVA’s defense travels. 
vs SMU (Berkeley) — ~40%
SMU is rolling; they just won at Clemson 35–24 and controlled the ground game. Even in Berkeley, this is no soft spot. 
at Virginia Tech (Friday night in Lane) — ~35%
Night kick (7:30 p.m. ET) at Lane is a real advantage for VT even in a down year. 
I
at Stanford (Big Game) — ~45%
Rivalry volatility + Stanford’s home field narrow this toward a coin flip.
I think you are probably right, so it's closer to a toss up. Here's the stats that support a close to neutral impact:
Short version: Stanford’s home-field edge vs Cal is mild—about +1 to +1.5 points, noticeably smaller than the typical FBS home bump (~2–3 points).
Proximity kills some advantage. Berkeley ↔ Stanford is ~40–50 miles, so there’s little travel drag and both fanbases show up.
Recent rivalry results at Stanford. Cal won the last Big Game at Stanford Stadium (2023, 27–15), part of Cal’s current four-game streak—so “The Farm” hasn’t flipped outcomes lately.
Data points on HFA. Broad studies and market power ratings place average college HFA around 2–3 points, but Stanford specifically has been estimated closer to ~1.5 historically—i.e., below average.
Net: for handicapping the 2025 Big Game in Palo Alto, I’d treat Stanford’s venue effect as a tiebreaker, not a decider—roughly a one-point nudge toward Stanford, with rivalry volatility easily swamping it, so I agree with you that venue perhaps not much of an impact. Still, if we are 5-6 going into the Big Game, it may add to Stanford's incentive to beating Cal out of a bowl bid. But, hey, it's the Big Game and as we all know, anything can happen!
re game day experience--- I'm really glad to have seen a mostly full student section for most of the games this year. The butts in the seats in the student section are going to be the future Cal ticket holders. Lots of the current empty Memorial seats are due to all those years (decades?) of so-so student attendance that didn't create enough volume of loyal game-going fans and donors.
Something is definitely going right in the student fan recruitment and game experience this year. It killed me during the 2023 season that after a packed student section for the Auburn home game there was such a huge cutoff in student fans after that awful loss. I've heard unlike the rest of us, students really like the Friday night games-- ability to have pre-and post-game fun, and also sleep in on Sat, but it can't just be the Fri nights keeping them coming. Lyons has done a great high profile job of supporting Cal sports, which likely helps (fond memories of spirit-filled Chancellor Tien here). Anyone heard what else is new in student recruitment this season? If we can keep up student section momentum, that is a huge positive for future season ticket holders and Memorial game day experience.
Thanks, Nick. I think we are of the same point of view. We are in effect no different than we've been, and that mediocrity is maddening. It's just not worth my continued highest level engagement, though I bought my season tickets and depending on how things go, may go to the Big Game and even a bowl. It's just so sad to see the same old, same old.
I have a warning for Cal from older fans: you have turned football games into what you apparently see as an "entertainment experience": constant loud bass-dominated music, MCs that continue to yell at the fans to try to get us "excited," constant sponsored "games" that are often irrelevant to the football game we came to see and are pretty stupid at that. Most of us go to Cal games to see a football game, not to be drowned out by irrelevant noise. You need to find a better balance or you will lose your older, most die-hard supporters (including financially). My wife won't even go to games anymore for these reasons. Are you listening Ron Rivera? Too many of my older friends are saying the same thing. Who are you trying to appeal to?
Probably a younger and new fan base. Old fans are great but the problem with old fans are they all eventually die and you need to replenish the fan base. Cal needs to do a better job of engaging the younger students/fans, as well as a wider East Bay audience.
The only constant in life is change. Cal is doing many of these things because that is what the younger generation appears to want.
Dread it, run from it. Destiny arrives all the same, and now it's here…
This is a non-rebuttal, really. It matters for middle-aged and older fans to be included in the planning of game day experiences. Not to mention, they’re the ones who would be filling the expensive cushy seats. Cal Band is awesome, as are many of the storied cheers that still get the entire stadium going. These need to be the main thrust, if you want an environment that maintains the unique thrill of college football for many lifetime fans. These priorities remain front of mind at the best altars of college football. No reason for it not to be so in Strawberry Canyon. I am not averse to the occasional Journey singalong; I like good music, whether it’s Snoop Dog, Earth Wind and Fire or Santana. By the way, the Cal Band has some outstanding renditions of songs by many of these artists. Let the 250 or so Cal Band members who work their tails off all season (no NIL money, no class credit) be the dominant soundtrack. Gimme some “Roll on you Bears”, “Hey Alumni Go” etc., and less of the repetitive, tired recordings of “Everybody ClapYour Hands” and “Turn Down for What” and you’ll please a lot of people. I’m just sayin.’
Yup, this. If the choice is to get more young fans or more old fans to show up, I choose the young fans. They are more likely to keep showing up for years to come.
Can't we make everyone happy? Maybe lower the decibels down into the double digits? And maybe only half as often? I can't believe this is what makes the games worth attending to the younger crowd. Great music, played at the right time, can get any crowd going - I'm in favor of that.
agree. Things change, but one of the things that makes college football great is the tradition. The marketing dept and mic men would do well to find a way to study some of the past and fold it into today.
One of the mic men for UNC was HORRIBLE. Absolutely terrible.
Agree, I was asking about creating a middle ground, not one or the other.
The best places in college football all show a heavy emphasis on the Band and Student cheers. It isn’t just the old blues that would like to hear what we have to offer. Mic the band and Mic the Mic Men/Women and blast it.
My biggest objection is to the heavy metal music that drowns out the band as the team takes the field. To me it is utter blasphemy, never mind how horrible I find the noise. But I'm an older gent so never mind.
I absolutely agree!! The constant rhythm beat during non play time makes it impossible to hear what the PA is saying or what the referee announces. that constant beat in the LOUD speakers is really annoying and has nothing to do with FOOTBALL. It completely made it impossible to clearly hear the recognition given to the GREAT coach Tedford and the other recognitions given to past players and other sport athletes.
And it is often drowning out what the Cal band is doing. Idiotic. Not to mention, when TX Southern brought its massive Ocean of Sound marching band, the amplified sound system from the get-go often played right over them. And that was a fantastic, passionate performing group, that had travelled thousands of miles from an HBC where they understand the value of marching bands, as a moving, indispensable component of what makes CFB so special. They are a renowned musical phenomenon. Disgraceful! I was pissed, to say the least, and in the ensuing weeks contemplated whether I’d attend another game. Diehard fan, but hoping the insanity and frequency of canned beats will be used more judiciously.
My little kiddos and my wife refuses to go to more games. The music was just too loud for them.
The parade of 7:30 pm starts also probably does not help.
I miss the mid-day starts.
Oh for the good old 1 pm start times. They make the commute home after the game much more convenient and safe. We are at the mercy of the networks. ESPN said they would broadcast these last two games only at 7:30 Cal and their opponents had to take that if they wanted the TV money which is sizable. But where did the Friday night game scheduling come from. Friday night football is traditionally for high school football.
money
Coach, I so miss those 12:30 starts.
I will say the Train singalong is an abomination, and anyone associated with that should be disallowed from ever setting foot on campus or in the City of Berkeley ever again.
Yes. Though I’ve lived in Oakland for years, I was born in SF yet can’t stand that song. The students are not singing along to it, either. Let it go.
I think it's great that they are appealing to the Raider crowd, BUT perhaps spend a little more money on security and check the bathrooms more often, LOTS of Black Bear shirts smoking pot in stands and restrooms. No objection to it morally, I just don't want to smell it at a football game.
Cal should hire the Hell's Angels for security
Went well in the past.;-)
We could sell it as an Altamont reunion and get the Rolling Stones to play at halftime
The Panoramic Hill dopes would guarantee nix Mick & the fellas playing a halftime show. Sigh.
These changes have not been a consequence of requests from younger fans. Address your concerns with the athletic department. Certainly a lot of the changes in the game day experience are to help encourage casual fans, and they are making a bet that those changes lure more fans even if it may mean losing some.
#FireMarkeishaEverett
She gone! But in her defense, the loud piped in music started a long time before she arrived. I was in TT for the aughts and I found the volume level pretty torturous (and I was a young man still). And bad mic men have been an issue since probably after the Eddie Kleinhans era when they started relying more on a committee approach.
I heard she was out, but wasn't sure if it had taken effect yet.
Warning: If you are not happy when Cal football is 5-2 and playing/beating brand names on national TV...then Cal fandom is a dangerous way to invest your time and energy
You would be severely shrinking the population and support for this program (especially monitarily) if the people who aren't happy now stopped caring.
Last year's 3-4 team at this point in the season was quite a bit better than this year's 5-2 team. But, because the football is shaped funny, bounces have conspired to bless Cal with a better-than-deserved record this year, while doing the opposite last year. The way you win or lose can be just as valid a measuring stick to rejoice or complain about as the w-l record.
That’s silly.
After 60 plus years of rooting for them I believe I've earned the right to feel however I want to about Cal football with no judgments, scoldings or warnings from anyone.
Unfortunately, that’s not reality. Yes you’ve earned our respect. But no one is above reproach
I never said you couldn't reproach, just no judging, scolding or warning.
I’m happy with the record, although I do think it could be better. I’m not happy with what seems like a lack of improvement at OL and WR this season. Lots of drops by WR, lack of run blocking by the OL. I haven’t seen much growth or improvement from Oregon State and that is what is upsetting to me
I'm not sure I agree that we could be better. We've won the games we could win and lost to the two teams that are clearly better than us. We have some pretty deep flaws with mediocre to poor OL play both in pass protection and run support, no pass rush, and a general lack of dynamic playmakers. I hope our ceiling can be raised a little in the second half with experience and scheming, but I think we're largely what we have seen. Fortunately, despite our flaws, there aren't any teams left on the schedule that are considerably better than us. So, if we can pocket a couple more of these 50/50 games, I think we can file this season as a success.
The fact that SDSU and Duke were a better team than us are the problems. We haven't made any progress and the team is regressing from last year.
I don't disagree. But that's different argument.
SDSU and Duke are doing very well. For our talent level we're holding our own.
In no world should SDSU have a more talented roster than Cal.
This. We should not be competing with G6 teams for talent. This is a massive indictment on recruiting during the Wilcox era.
Oregon State was our most complete game.
No. Beating Minnesota and making them look mediocre was our best so far.
Minnesota just beat Nebraska who is ranked in the top 15. So Cal can beat good teams. They beat Minnesota !
No, IMO. Minnesota is our best win.
However, they ARE, in fact, close to mediocre, started a RS FR QB, were missing their best player, and we needed a muffed fumble at home on a bonehead play to really pull that one out. We could not run the ball a lick, plus lost the time of possession battle and were basically outplayed in the trenches.
Quality win, but we executed all around much better in Corvallis, before there was film out on JKS and the O. We've regressed in all aspects since, which seems an unfortunate hallmark of Wilcox-coached teams - lack of development, progress and execution.
I'm reserving my feelings on the record alone until the end of the season. It's entirely possible that we lose out from here.
We're currently underdogs in all 5.
I've been going to Cal games since I was 5 - many decades ago - and have seen them through the best and worst of times, so their current record has nothing to do with it. I just don't want to see the older generation stop going to games - not because of the football but the other aspects of the current scene. I know they need to draw younger people and families and I'm asking them to consider the entire fan base in doing so.
Exactly what “brand names” are we beating? Our wins have been against very poor names, not a blue blood or even a historically decent one among them. The most you could argue is Minnesota, who is 57% all time win record.
How do I avoid piped in music; it's simple, I don't go to the games. After being a season ticket holder, that's 4 season tickets, taking another couple to the games on me, for 37 years, after 2013 I quit. That's after spending $10K a year for tickets including donating and going to many away games.
Why did I do it? After meeting with the new marketing guy in 2013 who was marketing previously for the NY Jets, his whole focus was on piped in music. I endured it for 2013 but could not take being tortured as part of my game experience. I wanted a college football experience not some washed out version of what goes on at Pro games.
What do I do now. I watch all games in mute because I don't what to hear all the garbage that sometimes sneaks into the broadcast. When there is a time out, I go to my trusty CD player loaded with the last CD the CAL Band did and I can listen to BIG C and the other great CAL songs I used to hear before the advent of the crap I would have to listen to if I was at the game.
I’ve been a season ticket holder for 34 years now, so I’m behind you by roughly 15 years. I totally understand your viewpoint, and I do wish they would chill on some of that stuff. But the fact of the matter is that’s just normal experience nowadays, I’ve been to many away games and this is not abnormal by any stretch.
Personally the kick of being there and feeing the excitement in the stadium during an amazing game (which is unfortunately fairly rare nowadays) overrides all those concerns for me, and I wouldn’t miss seeing my Bears in person for anything.
Do I wish they would let the band play more, turn down the volume and stop the inane promotions? Absolutely. But I’d like the world to be different in a lot of ways, and this one isn’t a hill I’m willing to die on.
I am grateful that - while all those things are still happening - they are legitimately trying. The drone show was fun, the golden bears lights thing shows promise (synchronized phone lights through their app during a couple show times in the game), etc.
I’m likely no longer the target demographic - they are presumably trying to bring in more casual fans from the area and have the game be good entertainment - so I’ll accept reality and enjoy watching my bears in person.
I think you're basically right about teams now having "the book" on defending Cal: keep a lot of defenders back in coverage and force Cal to try either running the ball or consistently completing short passes to move the chains. So far, we've been super inconsistent at it.
What can happen? Well, I think JKS is a smart, talented player so at some point he will probably learn how to put more touch/accuracy on the short throws. That will help some. But can the rest of the team help him out? Our receivers often get the dropsies and aren't great at breaking tackles in space. Our line has struggled to hold up against decent fronts (Duke destroyed us by getting pressure with just three rushers).
The big exception here is Minnesota. We actually did run the ball when we had to and the OL held up well against a decent B1G front seven. But that was a month ago and increasingly looks like an outlier performance. Can we recapture that? I'm pretty pessimistic about Wilcox's abilities at this point, but one thing I will say is that he tends to have a partial recovery after a lousy October so I can't rule out that it happens again.
As always, great read, Nick! Thank you for noting the “fastball” to the receiver 5 yards downfield. This was my annual sojourn from Portland for a home game and we in the south end of the stands were wondering why he was drilling his receivers so hard. We were also wondering why so many drops (!!!) but maybe that’s just our situation this season. Shout-out to De Jesus who was clutch when we needed him. So glad we got to see a win!
Credit where credit is due. This team HAS won 3 games (Minnesota, BC and NC) that former Cal teams would have lost. The aforementioned teams out Caled Cal. And that's a positive.
Yes, the games are not comfortable to watch - but they are Ws. What to make of that? We won't know until the season plays out. Beating VT and 'Furd is imperative. Stealing a game against Louisville, SMU and Virginia would be nice. Remains to be seen if it will be done. Hoping the team continues to gel and figure things out.
Last year the coin flipped to tails in these games; this year, so far, it’s come up heads…..all due to timely turnovers.
Exactly.
Wilcox has been playing coin flip games for 9 seasons…5-2 is great, and is a sign that this year, he’s gotten some much deserved breaks, unlike in ‘24.
You can be happy Cal’s 5-2, and at the same time completely skeptical of just how good this team really is.
We’re now underdogs in all 5 of our remaining games, so let’s see how this season plays out.
And it isn’t even coin flips against good teams, we are still stuck trying to win coin flip games against bad teams. Losing to Miami is frustrating but at least they are a really good team so to be even in a position to win is awesome. UNC and BC are terrible teams so be in a coin flip to lose is upsetting
It’s exactly why context is needed when gauging the job Wilcox has done this year.
A lotta fans aren’t doing that.
I don’t see ANYONE defending Wilcox. Like, literally, no one. This is a straw man. Let me enjoy Cal being 5-2. It does make me an apologist.
Ha, plenty of Calgorithm folks are defending him, citing the same 5-2 potential mirage you are, but no matter. Enjoy the hell out of it - no one is telling you not to. Never said you’re an apologist.
Literally the entire article is about how we’re 5-2 yet still need to play better because we have the weakest P5 schedule in the nation, which is what this entire discourse is about and which plenty of us have been saying.
Let’s see if they can put it all together and finish strong. Hopefully they can. Go Bears!
Thanks as always Nick...your comments are a tonic. I'll only add my appreciation for your calling out the renewed focus on the game day experience. Some old timers here may remember my lengthy diatribe on the subject right as we were reopening Memorial Stadium. It attracted enough attention to get me a lunch with Sandy Barber, but not much else. All these many years later much of what I called for is happening. Belated gratification...I'll take it. Go Bears Forever!
Definitely happy about 5-2. If RR is smart he'll get rid of wilcox even if we win 8. In the meantime winning feels better than losing.
I'd rather have Wilcox than a vacant HC position. If next year we at least double the $82mil donated this year (demonstrating monetary & institutional support), then possibly a superior HC could be lured to Cal. But how to identify such a coach? Search committees gave us Keith Gilbertson, Tom Holmoe, Wyking Jones, Mark Fox...
I would definitely trust in Ron Rivera to lead a successful coaching search. You don't not fire someone -- in any field of work -- who is incompetent out of fear that you can't find a worthy replacement. You always back yourself to find the right person.
"Florida State AD Michael Alford (in support of Mike Norvell) and Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh (in support of Luke Fickell) both felt compelled to issue statements Monday to let everyone know, I’m not firing anyone. Yet. Norvell’s 3-4 team just suffered an inexplicable loss at Stanford and is 1-11 in ACC play since the start of last season" via The Athletic. That one win...
You know who!
Sports are interesting because of the uncertainty, especially at the college level. Training hard, trying hard, being disciplined are prerequisites but no guarantee of wins. And even having lots of institutional support, big name coaches, and money is no guarantee (see Florida, FSU, and any number of other schools upset at their coaches). It’s easy to think that a better coach or better recruiting will provide consistent winning seasons and excitement (how many of you would have jumped at hiring one of the just-fired coaches two or three years ago?)
The reality is that fan-site fans are passionate and important but hardly representative of the larger fan base that a team needs to be economically and socially successful. Most fans support a team because of identity more than because of victories, values, or anything else. How else has Seattle had the Mariners stay in business for decades? Or why anyone still follows the former Oakland teams? And many casual (but economically important) fans who do care about wins don’t care as much as people here about how you get there, 21-18 or 30-10.
Bottom line is that winning is fickle and ultimately is not the metric that matters most. Identity is. As to wins, there is risk in change, and in the world of sports, it’s not a simple formula that hiring x brings the success you imagine. Wilcox’s successor may be better or worse, and often for variable reasons that depend only partly on competence. Instead, building a community identity over time, a community that coheres in good seasons and bad, is paramount. Of course winning can help; everyone loves a winner. But the question for Rivera and Lyons really is, “who helps build and maintain identity the best?” Those are the coaches and people who need to be in place.
Unfortunately, Justin Wilcox is not paid $5 mil/year to be a boy scout leader. Football continuing to wallow in mediocrity will have consequences that reverberate across our athletic department and deeply affect the olympic sports programs that do actually consistently win. The last round of conference relaignment was way too close a call and should have served as a massive wake up call for all fans. Maybe someday in the future the university decides modern college athletics is just not something worth being a part of, but for now, we have no choice but to pursue a winning football program with everything we have, because the future of many other sports depends on it. The professional teams you mentioned stay in business for decades because of the revenue sharing they enjoy as a result of their league's media rights deals. If Cal is left out during the next round of realignment, we are screwed from a revenue perspective. And unfortunately, the fans do care how we win because the Wilcox rock fights are happening in front of a half-full stadium with tarped end zones. Look I don't disagree that identity matters and the guy who is a fit at Cal might not be a fit at some of the football-first sports club universities, but the reality with Wilcox is that it's year 9 and we know what we get with him. It's stale and we need the proverbial 'new voice in the room.'
Second this. College football is changing, whatever us old blues may wish. Doing the minimum, with corresponding on field results, may have worked for us for decades in the pac. But the world has changed and we are looking at mid-major directly in the face. If we go the mid-major route, we will not be able to support non-revenue sports and will have difficulty servicing our stadium debt. How much money do we foresee the campus forwarding to cover old blue nostalgia? I don’t see much.
Coaches absolutely affect winning - sometimes dramatically. We have our own example in Tedford, but look at UCLA this year. Does that mean if you hire a splashy coach all will be well? No. But if you consciously choose a poor coach, you majorly affect a program - we should know this from recent basketball experience. So using the excuse of “history” or “identity” to not try is unacceptable.
This is the time to either win some games or accept second tier (or lower) status, with the accompanying side effects - minimal non-revenue sports, and minimal ongoing excitement from the more casual fans in the area and from new alums.
Nobody is saying the business of football hasn’t changed. Nobody is saying we shouldn’t consider change. I’m merely pointing out that choosing the “right” coach for guaranteed wins is something that almost all institutions and search committees are bad at, not because the decision makers are dummies, but because wins turn on lots of fun and stupid things like fumbles, missed PATs, injuries, trick plays, and all the other craziness that college fans love. It is hard to win, and even harder to please us armchair coaches who lurk on fan sites. But universities and coaches can share/promote an identity that the larger fan base can relate to, and I would venture that ours is some combination of “The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die”; we are disciplined and play hard but don’t cheat or try to bust someone’s knee, we model ourselves to the community (Patrick Laird and Good Hands service players), our players appreciate Cal as a school, and while we appreciate good talent, we are not a foolish school that throws a disproportionate amount of money at a dubious player (osu) or coach (unc, psu). When we look for a coach, competence and leadership are important, but even more important is alignment with whatever identity fans (not just wfc fans) will relate to and want to throw hard earned time and money at. There are way too many interesting things to do in the world , and enough winning teams to choose from. We, like many universities , may never get back to the attendance and viewership numbers of the Tedford years, because people have so many choices what to do with their time. But my point is that wins or a splashy coach are not enough. You need a fan base that will turn out regardless of whether we have the best players, regardless of whether we are underdogs, regardless of whether you have occasional disappointing games (as all schools do). Wins are less in your control than you think (cf. everyone, especially men, thinks their driving is above average), and identity is more important and more in your control than you think.
And aside from us die-hard fans, I wager that years from now most fans will have a stronger emotional memory of the never-give-up quality of singular plays like Ezeff’s or Austin’s more than who our opponent was or the W/L record or the slog of two quarters of the game. You do not need to be a perennial top-25 team to have a loyal fan base that drives revenue
Maaaaaybe we can capitalize on the emptying of East Bay professional sports and create an environment that people will come to games win or lose. But I don’t think so - we tried that for decades and it was nice to have entire rows of benches to yourself, but it didn’t pay the bills.
This is not Nebraska, we don’t have the history or the tradition to attract fans regardless of record. We live in a metropolis that has plenty of other activities that are attractive for people’s entertainment dollars. To not chase wins is to give up at this point, the time to do all that identity stuff was decades ago when our head wasn’t on the chopping block. But now we have to be honest with where we are at. We have a few years at best before the next round of realignment, which is likely to kill the ACC, or at least move it to a mid-major ala the Pac-12. This is not a time for complacency or for long term brand definition, we just don’t have the time.
The alternative is the daunting task OSU and WSU are working at, rebuilding a conference around promising but still upcoming programs. With the accelerating concentration of dollars to the top two conferences, this would be a loooong road to walk and I just don’t think Cal athletics as we know it will survive that road.
Yes, 💯 this.
And when I reflect on some of the most satisfying experiences in my decades of identifying as a Cal fan, the upset wins as an underdog (Cobb over Arizona, Mohammed over Luck) have been more memorable and important than the expected wins or expected winning seasons. We don’t always win, and there are more important things in life, but I do love the plucky or lucky play that topples the rich, entitled institutions.
I disagree on the grounds that you believe Cal has an identity. The reality is Cal hasn’t had an identity since Jeff Tedford and you can strongly correlate that identity to not winning, plain and simple.
If an institution does not have the history or lore of being a college football “blue blood” or powerhouse, there is no identity. If you want to attract younger folks, new fans, and put asses in seats you need to win. I read an article on Bloomberg or WSJ that kids from the northeast and from “priviledged” backgrounds are applying to SEC school bevmcause of college football success and tradition. I know that is not the only reason these kids are choosing to go to the SEC (i.e. politically, socially, “traditional” values, etc.) but having a winning football greatly accelerates interested and it directly correlates into financially success and a happier student body.
And what is the way in 2025 to build a winning program…? I need not repeat what is known, for I do not want to beat a dead horse. But, if Cal and its “older” fans don’t want to get in line with the modern way of college football then maybe Cal footbal should stay in the past and let itself be relegated.
Exactly.
East Bay/Lamorinda kids I know are already at UGA, with the next batch looking at Ole Miss.
There was a Lamorinda TCU parents tent right near ours at TCU. So there are lots of kids there from this area.
After watching sausage be made for 8.5 years, you’d have to be a real sicko to keep buying the sausage.
Hell yeah you would. I'm thinking some of those jalapeno cheddars for Friday afternoon. You're bringing the beer, right?
As long as it’s no nitrates and you bring the blue and gold kool aid
Done. But the gold kool aid is just reposado. And the blue kool aid is also just reposado, but with a couple drops of Blue #1.
Some people love Ballpark dogs. They're weird, but they do.
Last year we lost close, this year we are winning close. Let's get to 8-4 and keep JKS and take it from there. Go Bears!
Would be ecstatic with either of those outcomes.
Both would be beyond delightful.
One thing on the game-day experience - the only game we've made it out to was TSU, and the blaring rotation of techno, rap, and welcome to the jungle over the loudspeakers, during every single non-football moment was almost enough to never want to attend another game. Maybe it's a generational thing, but are our attention spans so short that we require non-stop stimulation for the entire 3 hours?
They have lowered the volume on that stuff in subsequent games. There is still some, but it's not as constant. The band gets to be heard as well.
I think they are honestly trying to strike a good balance here.
That's good to hear[sic].
And thumbs up to @59rosebowl who made the same point prior to my reading it.
At the rate Cal is going this season, if we lose to a lousy VT team on the road this week (dismal vs dismal) a 6-6 season could come down to beating Stanford on the Farm which is definitely not a given. Otherwise, we’re 5-7 and saved from a bowl bid to the Pop Tart Bowl in Bismarck, South Dakota on a Tuesday night in mid December. Beating UVA, Louisville and SMU seems like about as likely as winning the Powerball Lottery.
So you’re saying there’s a chance
They will all have watched the Duke films and will likely try to follow the Duke strategy:
Protection & turnovers: Duke sacked Cal six times and grabbed four INTs (three by JKS). Expect opponents to copy the heavy-pressure plan. 
Run game issues: Cal managed just 41 rushing yards vs Duke, so defenses can pin ears back. If that repeats, it depresses Cal’s upset odds across November.
Matchup odds of winning:
at Louisville — Cal win ~25%
Louisville is legit: just upset No. 2 Miami on the road and jumped into the AP Top 25; they picked off Miami four times. Home field in L&N is a big edge. 
vs Virginia (Berkeley) — ~40%
UVA is ranked (No. 18) and just finished a fourth-quarter comeback vs WSU; they’ve been excellent late. Home helps Cal, but UVA’s defense travels. 
vs SMU (Berkeley) — ~40%
SMU is rolling; they just won at Clemson 35–24 and controlled the ground game. Even in Berkeley, this is no soft spot. 
at Virginia Tech (Friday night in Lane) — ~35%
Night kick (7:30 p.m. ET) at Lane is a real advantage for VT even in a down year. 
I
at Stanford (Big Game) — ~45%
Rivalry volatility + Stanford’s home field narrow this toward a coin flip.
I don't think Stanford gets any advantage from their home field really.
I think you are probably right, so it's closer to a toss up. Here's the stats that support a close to neutral impact:
Short version: Stanford’s home-field edge vs Cal is mild—about +1 to +1.5 points, noticeably smaller than the typical FBS home bump (~2–3 points).
Proximity kills some advantage. Berkeley ↔ Stanford is ~40–50 miles, so there’s little travel drag and both fanbases show up.
Recent rivalry results at Stanford. Cal won the last Big Game at Stanford Stadium (2023, 27–15), part of Cal’s current four-game streak—so “The Farm” hasn’t flipped outcomes lately.
Data points on HFA. Broad studies and market power ratings place average college HFA around 2–3 points, but Stanford specifically has been estimated closer to ~1.5 historically—i.e., below average.
Net: for handicapping the 2025 Big Game in Palo Alto, I’d treat Stanford’s venue effect as a tiebreaker, not a decider—roughly a one-point nudge toward Stanford, with rivalry volatility easily swamping it, so I agree with you that venue perhaps not much of an impact. Still, if we are 5-6 going into the Big Game, it may add to Stanford's incentive to beating Cal out of a bowl bid. But, hey, it's the Big Game and as we all know, anything can happen!
re game day experience--- I'm really glad to have seen a mostly full student section for most of the games this year. The butts in the seats in the student section are going to be the future Cal ticket holders. Lots of the current empty Memorial seats are due to all those years (decades?) of so-so student attendance that didn't create enough volume of loyal game-going fans and donors.
Something is definitely going right in the student fan recruitment and game experience this year. It killed me during the 2023 season that after a packed student section for the Auburn home game there was such a huge cutoff in student fans after that awful loss. I've heard unlike the rest of us, students really like the Friday night games-- ability to have pre-and post-game fun, and also sleep in on Sat, but it can't just be the Fri nights keeping them coming. Lyons has done a great high profile job of supporting Cal sports, which likely helps (fond memories of spirit-filled Chancellor Tien here). Anyone heard what else is new in student recruitment this season? If we can keep up student section momentum, that is a huge positive for future season ticket holders and Memorial game day experience.
As a student and even as an adult, I like Friday night games. It frees up your entire Saturday to do something else with your time
I literally forgot it was Saturday the next morning and that college football was happening all day. It was a fantastic bonus day.
I will never forget Chang-Lin Tien yelling Go Bears or roaming through the DC shaking hands and talking to students. Amazing man.
Thanks, Nick. I think we are of the same point of view. We are in effect no different than we've been, and that mediocrity is maddening. It's just not worth my continued highest level engagement, though I bought my season tickets and depending on how things go, may go to the Big Game and even a bowl. It's just so sad to see the same old, same old.