So, the college football season is over.  What’s a football fan to do?  Eight months to go.  Is Spring Football and recruiting news enough to sustain you?  What if there was something kinda like football (no, not the Arena League), but play almost never stopped, everyone plays offense and defense, there are almost no substitutions, and there are no wussy specialized kickers?  As most Cal fans must have realized by now, I’m talking about college athletics’ greatest dynasty, Rugby.

In fact, if you missed it (I know I did), it’s already Rugby season!  On Wednesday, Cal defeated Humboldt State, 48-12.  Clearly, our side must be rusty, as they gave up two tries two the opposition and only beat them by 36.  Hopefully they’ll perform better tomorrow as they take on St. Mary’s on Witter Rugby Field.  You should check them out.

        ——–

Unfortunately, considering how dominant we are at Rugby, the results do not count towards the Director’s Cup standings.  The Director’s Cup is awarded annually to the school with the best overall athletic program, by which I mean Stanford.  Seriously, they’ve won something like the last 13 cups.  Our best finish ever was last year, when we finished 7th.  But, after the fall season, Cal stands, with 364.5 points, in first place!  Lurking in second, typically, is Stanford, with 334 points.

        ——–

In other news, it appears tensions between the tree protesters and the police are escalating, culminating in a police raid early this morning.  I’m sure another lawsuit will result from this.  Fabulous.

        ——–

And finally, regarding a completely different subject, I was made aware this morning of the fact that our site has no way to contact us on it.  The situation has been remedied.  So, if you have anything at all to say to us regarding the site — comments, complaints, want to exchange links, etc. — feel free to use the new link on the right sidebar, or email us at goldenblogs(at)gmail(dot)com.  Thanks for reading, and Go Bears!

Last night’s basketball game was ugly.  It’s a good thing there wasn’t any TV, so no one outside the building had to watch the Bear’s dismal performance.  A few observations:

- Speaking to a group of alums before the game, assistant coach Joe Pasternak mentioned a stat that the coaching staff had been harping on with the team.  Specifically, when Cal gives up 70 points or fewer this year, they are 10-0.  Conversely, when they give up 71 or more points, they are 0-5 (now 0-6).  In the wins, they allowed something around 34% shooting (I don’t recall the actual figure), whereas in the losses, they allowed around 56% shooting.  So what do the Bears do?  They get lazy on defense against Washington State, not exactly the highest scoring team in the conference, and give up 73 points on 58% shooting.  Sure, Wazzu hit some tough shots, but there were far too many defensive breakdowns and easy baskets.

- The Bears were pretty hard to watch on offense as well.  There was almost no inside game.  Sure, Ryan Anderson had 17 points, but a lot of that was from beyond the arc.  Almost all the passing was done on the perimeter.  Any interior pass to Anderson (and there weren’t many) was immediate passed back outside.  Occasionally someone would try to penetrate for an easy layup, but either they made it or they didn’t; still no interior passing.

- Speaking of hard-to-watch, I counted five (5!) 3-point shots launched by the Bears last night that missed everything - net, rim, backboard, everything.  One airball is too many.  Five is…I don’t have the words.

- During garbage time, Braun sent out the walk-ons, which normally includes lots of hardworking white guys with more heart than talent.  While this is still the case, last night’s group included Thomas Fang, the first Asian player I’ve ever seen on a college basketball team.  Good for him.  For the record, his totals included one rebound, one turnover, and one of those 3-point shots that missed everything.

- Reason No. 1 to keep watching these Bears : Ayinde Ubaka.  Even in an ugly loss, this guy is still incredible to watch.  One particular behind-the-back pass dropped everyone’s jaws to the floor; as he drove to his right at the top of the key, suddenly the ball shot behind his back and forward on his left, right into Omar Wilkes waiting hands, underneath the basket.  This is his last year, folks, so catch him while you can.

- Reason No. 2 to keep watching these Bears : Ryan Anderson.  If you haven’t seen the freshman phenom yet, get your butt out to Haas.  The guy can score from anywhere, and he shoots a much better three than former Cal big-man Amit Tamir (Tamir’s shot looked so awkward, I was consistently amazed that it went in).  It’s too bad he’s miscast as a center right now, because he’s a fabulous power forward.

Here’s hoping for better results on Saturday.  And by results, I mean defense.  C’mon Bears, play some D!