Quick note that work is back on at Memorial Stadium.  They are apparently gathering more and more geologic data.  As I noted in the lower post, I haven’t read the full legal opinion.  But the snippet that I saw, it seems that the judge was concerned over the inconclusive nature of some of the earthquake tests.  So, hopefully, this will get some conclusive results and we can move forward with our lives. 

Here is the link. 

I wonder if the hippies are going to now start to live in this newly built trench to protest the ruining of ancient soil, there since the dawn of time itself.

I tried posting this over at The Band, but though it might be prudent to post it here, too.  Does anybody know of a place where the full text of the Judge’s opinion on the Memorial Stadium Upgrade case is available?  All I can find in the newspaper reports that came out earlier this week is the 1 line about earthquake safety.  Would love to read the full thing if possible.  Any help would be appreciated in this matter.  Please either post it in the comments below or email it to the address on the right.  Thanks!

Also, baseball season is upon us!  Certainly, in baseball, there’s no east coast bias, because teams in hot weather areas tend to do the best.  The Pac10 is one of the best conferences in the nation, highlighted by OSU’s National Championship team from last year.  Plus, on top of the Pac10, a lot of the CSUs (such as Fullerton) have great teams.   And, in the Bay Area, you have some great WCC teams to watch such as St. Mary’s, Santa Clara, and, another one of my alma maters, USF.  Keep an eye on Aaron Poreda over at USF, he could be a first round pick this year. 

If you are in the mood for Cal baseball, now is the time to take advantage.  They have home games all through the next 2 weeks and then an entire month of away games.  Here is the full schedule.  Too bad we are at OSU this year.  Cal already played 1 game, losing 4-3 to UC Irvine.  Josh Satin, who could have a big year, hit a home run, but it looks like some defensive errors did the Golden Bears in.  Here is the recap.

Games tend to be on Fri, Sat, and Sun at 1 o clock (meaning another one starts in about 30 minutes).  The Friday games are free, but you have to pay for the Sat and Sun games.  I don’t think its a lot, but Ive never paid before, so I dont know.  Certainly, compared to a pro team around here, it is not a lot.  Of course, compared to a pro team, you can get right up to the action.  You can even see the talent scouts of the various pro teams with their speed guns and be-iconed polo shirts.  Supposedly, at a Cal-Stanford game about 5 years ago, I was there with Billy Beane.  Too bad I didn’t happen to see him!  ! 

Many Cal players have gone on to be great in the pros.  The most well known is clearly Jeff Kent.  Arizona’s Conor Jackson (who Beane was supposedly there to see lo those many years ago) is a young player with great potential who came out of Cal.  And a Cal pitcher, Brandon Morrow, was taken in the first round by the Seattle Mariners last year.  I actually got the opportunity to see him get out-dueled by some fat UCLA pitcher last year.

So, you could be watching the stars of tomorrow.  Today!  Wow, what a terrible cliche.

Baseball doesn’t get the same recognition that basketball or football does at the collegiate level.  Nonetheless, it is a fun and inexpensive way to cheer on your Golden Bears.  Plus, with those crazy metal bats, you know you’ll be seeing some offensive fireworks.  Hopefully, Ragnarok and I will get the opportunity to go to a game next weekend against Portland (who I saw take on Poreda and USF in SF last year).   And, hopefully, we’ll win!

Go Bears!