What 'College GameDay' in Berkeley means

This is what we waited for. This is what we will always have.

I had to go see it.

I had seen all the photos and videos of the trucks lining up, the sets being built out, the crews in action with their production meetings. The maps of the Glade being set up and put out. Marshawn Lynch getting ready to get the loudest cheer in GameDay history. Rece Davis urging Cal fans to show up and show out.

But I had to see it. I had to know it was real. I needed time with it, to see if the end result was worth all the time put in to make it happen.

And it was.

Our beautiful Memorial Glade is now the nexus of the college football universe.

It’s actually going to happen.

Our Doe Library and Campanile (which is expected to be lit up in blue and gold!) are about to be the backdrop for the most beautiful background in College GameDay history.

This is from near the front of the College Gameday set, but it’s mostly blocked off. If you are at home, you will get an angle that captures both Doe and the Campanile.

The three of us above have put countless hours into not only talking about the California Golden Bears, but dreaming of what this program could be. What it was capable of. What we could do with even the slightest movement into the national consciousness.

Never in our wildest dreams did we think it would be US who would be part of the story.

We have been thinking about this moment for so long. We never even once considered this moment would be our moment too.

---

I’ve dreamed of this for so long.

In 2004, Cal came nine yards away from beating USC, and likely getting consideration for a home matchup down the stretch. One throw short.

In 2007, GameDay was nearly a given for the Tennessee game. Then Virginia Tech happened.

In 2009, Cal vs. USC was pretty much locked, as the Bears were going to be a top 10 team going into that game and everyone was ready to give Jeff Tedford his overdue flowers. Then Chip Kelly and Ed Dickson happened.

In 2015, Cal was 5-0 heading into a GameDay at Utah, with a top-25 matchup against USC looming at home in weeks if they could keep winning. It was not to be.

I’ve never dared to dream about College GameDay after that, always never looking past the week ahead. When Florida State seemed to doom our chances yet again, I had already pre-grieved. I was not going to be let down again.

But the community never gave up. They realized that there was still an opportunity to make this happen. They memed their way back into the space until we actually got it. And when it actually happened, it’s only snowballed from there.

The Calgorithm getting front page cover stories on ESPN. BART resetting its trains to bring us all to Berkeley 48 hours notice. A collaborative fan billboard campaign that has us posted up in train stations and supermarkets. Sign creation committees handing out our best memes to try and get them on TV tomorrow. Burners fundraising for football by selling t-shirts, helping set up ticket drives and crowdfunding flights. Our football NIL, on the verge of raising $2 million for the program.

Seeing the fruits of their efforts all laid out in front of me Thursday night made me realize that two decades of posting through my anxiety will actually make a difference. It will amount to three hours that will mean so much to so many.

And it’s led to the one long-term thing I always wanted from our community. They took action constantly, in every way possible. They made themselves a part of the story. Cal fans, bright-eyed and grey-haired, all came together to do their part. From liking Ron Rivera’s tweets to raise another $10,000, to spreading “OTT TO GO” like a virus across the national college football sphere. Every place there was an action they could take, it was taken. They never stopped until the hours ran out.

Cal fans, Cal Twitter, Calgorithm lovers, this is your victory. This is your reward.

They can never take Saturday away from us. They can never take this month away from me.

---

Credit: Nam Le

Saturday morning is a chance to reverse the narrative that Cal doesn’t care about football. All of us who have been waiting for our moment will be there. There will be a new generation of Cal fans who will have a moment they can always capture as their birth into the Cal fandom.

We need to be loud. We need to be locked in. We need to savor it.

Win or lose, in 24 hours, we will have another epic memory from this year that will last our entire lifetime.

We have no idea what will come after. Our duty this weekend is to soak in every moment as we dreamed of it for decades.

Last night was for us. The rest of this weekend is for all of you.

Go forward Bears. Into the most glorious sunrise this program will ever see.