I stopped caring years ago. The minute the Rose Bowl made exceptions to the Pac-10 Big 10 champ to accommodate the BCS, the magic was over. They’ve been trying to do this weird hybrid bowl/kind of playoff abomination for too long. Going backwards to the old politicking and AP Poll and Coaches Bowl winners system was never happening so just bite the bullet and make it a normal playoff like every other sport.
As a '79 Cal Biz School alum, I agree with others that Cal needs to focus on getting to a winning record AND a winning record against Pac 12 schools before we mourn a new and more circuitous path to the Rose Bowl. Come on people, the last time Cal was in the Rose Bowl was 1959. That is 63 years ago people. And WriteforCalifornia had a statistic that shocked me a few weeks ago - Cal is the only Pac 12 football team to never have a winning Pac 12 conference record since the Pac 12 was created in 2011. Let's be honest, our goals should be competitiveness in the Pac 12 (or whatever Power 5 conference we join) and an overall winning record. Otherwise, Cal should just go a conference like the Mountain West, where we could possibly achieve these two goals. RoseBowlBeforeIDie is not in my foreseeable future.
Not like our athletic department sets goals anyways. With Starkey leaving and losing our white whale, the Rose Bowl, it does feel like we have entered a new era.
My dad also went to Cal and he was a huge fan, who passed his disease onto me. When I was younger, he used to question whether we'd go to a Rose Bowl again, and I just thought that was ridiculous. I just assumed you take enough swings and eventually you walk into one. Welp, his concern was indeed valid. Sorry, pops.
The two best Cal teams of the past 45 years - the 91 Snyder coached team and the 04 Tedford coached team - had the misfortune of going up against two of the best teams the conference has ever seen. In 91, it was the Don James coached Washington Huskies that won the national championship. In 04, it was the Pete Carroll coached USC Trojans that won the national championship.
Cal came within a last minute throw to the end zone of beating both of these teams in those years. In any other seasons, both of those Cal teams would have gone to the Rowl Bowl. If that isn't a curse on Cal, then nothing is.
I was there and just went crazy when Mike P hit Sean Dawkins on a touchdown bomb to start Cal's scoring. I believe Lindsey Chapman's burst through the tackle hole was Cal's other TD. But my two favorite Cal home games were when Troy Taylor hit Brian Treggs on a long TD bomb against USC in 1989. Cal did not win that game, but it was my first signal that Snyder might be something special as a coach. And of course the the 07 game against Tennessee with DeSean Jackson's amazing punt return TD. Funny, no games since then make the list. Kinda sad.
Rather than again beat the drum of how this sleeping giant (or a frog in a pot, if you prefer that metaphor), in the face of tectonic changes in college football, needs to finally wake up, I want to instead listen to older blues mourn the loss of the traditional path to the granddaddy of them all. This sucks for all Cal fans, but especially for them. This is sad.
I stopped caring years ago. The minute the Rose Bowl made exceptions to the Pac-10 Big 10 champ to accommodate the BCS, the magic was over. They’ve been trying to do this weird hybrid bowl/kind of playoff abomination for too long. Going backwards to the old politicking and AP Poll and Coaches Bowl winners system was never happening so just bite the bullet and make it a normal playoff like every other sport.
Cal has to actually win some freaking football games for any of this to matter, which they have not done for the last 50 years.
The rose bowl died in 2004
I used to care. It was our goal. Lately it seems so far away that I don't even care.
As a '79 Cal Biz School alum, I agree with others that Cal needs to focus on getting to a winning record AND a winning record against Pac 12 schools before we mourn a new and more circuitous path to the Rose Bowl. Come on people, the last time Cal was in the Rose Bowl was 1959. That is 63 years ago people. And WriteforCalifornia had a statistic that shocked me a few weeks ago - Cal is the only Pac 12 football team to never have a winning Pac 12 conference record since the Pac 12 was created in 2011. Let's be honest, our goals should be competitiveness in the Pac 12 (or whatever Power 5 conference we join) and an overall winning record. Otherwise, Cal should just go a conference like the Mountain West, where we could possibly achieve these two goals. RoseBowlBeforeIDie is not in my foreseeable future.
Not like our athletic department sets goals anyways. With Starkey leaving and losing our white whale, the Rose Bowl, it does feel like we have entered a new era.
My dad also went to Cal and he was a huge fan, who passed his disease onto me. When I was younger, he used to question whether we'd go to a Rose Bowl again, and I just thought that was ridiculous. I just assumed you take enough swings and eventually you walk into one. Welp, his concern was indeed valid. Sorry, pops.
As it stands we might not even make it to the Rose Bowl during the regular season for much longer.
Are you kidding me? What path? With the exception of a few years under Tedford we never had a chance. Let’s focus on a winning record first.
Are you kidding me? What path? With the exception of a few years under Tedford we never had a chance. Let’s focus on a winning record first.
Never is a long time... I remember Snyder giving us a chance. Check out the bowls 90/91 and top 10 final ranking in 91.
And then Call did nothing to extend his contact, which resulted in Snyder leaving Cal. Yet another disgrace.
The two best Cal teams of the past 45 years - the 91 Snyder coached team and the 04 Tedford coached team - had the misfortune of going up against two of the best teams the conference has ever seen. In 91, it was the Don James coached Washington Huskies that won the national championship. In 04, it was the Pete Carroll coached USC Trojans that won the national championship.
Cal came within a last minute throw to the end zone of beating both of these teams in those years. In any other seasons, both of those Cal teams would have gone to the Rowl Bowl. If that isn't a curse on Cal, then nothing is.
That Cal/UW game in 91 was the best Cal game I've ever been to. And probably the loudest I've ever heard Memorial.
I was there too.
I was there and just went crazy when Mike P hit Sean Dawkins on a touchdown bomb to start Cal's scoring. I believe Lindsey Chapman's burst through the tackle hole was Cal's other TD. But my two favorite Cal home games were when Troy Taylor hit Brian Treggs on a long TD bomb against USC in 1989. Cal did not win that game, but it was my first signal that Snyder might be something special as a coach. And of course the the 07 game against Tennessee with DeSean Jackson's amazing punt return TD. Funny, no games since then make the list. Kinda sad.
Thanks Bob Bockrath!
One of the greatest travesties in all of Cal football. Didn’t he leave immediately after running Snyder off and hiring Gilby?
Cal's unattainable goal has now become a game in Oklahoma or Florida, or in a dome in Indianapolis, in mid-December.
Rather than again beat the drum of how this sleeping giant (or a frog in a pot, if you prefer that metaphor), in the face of tectonic changes in college football, needs to finally wake up, I want to instead listen to older blues mourn the loss of the traditional path to the granddaddy of them all. This sucks for all Cal fans, but especially for them. This is sad.
Cal has never been close to the Rose Bowl. Given that we basically suck, what difference does anything make regarding the RB?