Most times, the point of having a blog is not merely to link to articles of interest, but to provide new content, often in the form of analysis or research or opinions related to the linked content.  This is not one of those times.

Buried in the latest alumni newsletter for Cal Engineering alumni is a profile of an alumnus, William Rockwell (B.S. ‘48 ME), who during his time at Cal created the Oski mascot and many of the traditions associated with Oski.  I don’t have too much to add; I just thought it was worth sharing with other Oski fans, whom, if you’re reading this blog, I’m sure you are.

Like many college traditions, Oski has been toned down in recent years, and it’s interesting to see the things Oski no longer does.  From the article:

 - He also no longer flirts with girls or flips up their skirts due to sexual harassment policies.
 - He no longer shimmies up the goal posts for threat of liability.
 - He no longer climbs, defoliates, brawls with, or otherwise harasses the Stanford Tree per an agreement between the two universities.
 - He no longer throws cake into the crowd at a basketball game or pie at an opposing chancellor.

Still the spirit (and secrecy) of Oski remains, as outlined by his Code of Action:

"I’m OSKI. I’m never discourteous and although I may be slightly naughty at times, my naughtiness is in good taste…"

Well said, Oski.  Well said.

First off, I’m an idiot. I completely forgot about Kevin Riley and that other kid we recruited at QB, and yes it’s probably far more likely that one of the two ends up succeeding Longshore as QB whenever he decides to take off for the NFL.

Second, I’ve been having trouble with my digital camera, which is why those pictures of our cheerleader calendar have yet to be posted. Since I’ve once again rediscovered the joy of working only 40 hours a week (as opposed to 70 a week over the past four months) I’ll try and get those up soon. But no promises since I am, after all, an idiot.

As far as our basketball team, I’ve been saying for quite some time that Ben Braun needs to go. He’s Ron Zook-lite; not as great a recruiter, not as terrible a coach. Either way, that means the best we can hope for is a NCAA tourney berth and maybe a first-round win. And recently we haven’t even gotten that much. Herman Edwards likes to say, “You play to win the game.” Sometimes I wonder if Braun says, “You play to make the game as ugly and unwatchable as possible.” At least he’s succeeding there. I look forward to Cal basketball games on national television as much as I look forward to someday watching swap.avi.

I’d also like to make mention of the fact that two Cal alums, Matt Giordano and Tarik Glenn won Supee Bowl rings with the Colts, and Tully-Banta Cain looks poised to make some money as a free agent who can play as a 3-4 rush linebacker. Tarik Glenn was before my time at Cal, but given his numerous Pro Bowl appearances, he’s obviously a fine player who has done very well for himself. Matt Giordano stepped in as a starter at Cal when All-Pac-10 performer Donnie McCleskey was hurt and missed most of the 2004 season, something that confused me to no end because I knew McCleskey was hurt, but we still had a strong safety flying all over the field making plays. Turns out he was pretty good. Congratulations to them both, and go Bears.

Well, it looks like Marty is out at San Diego.  The timing seems odd for them, because a lot of attractive candidates are already gone (like their OC).   This is a slightly nerve-wracking situation.  Whomever becomes the coach for the Chargers is going to inherit an EPICALLY better than normal situation for a first year head coach.  Think George Seifert 1989, except 14 rungs lower.  But still. 

If I was Jeff Tedford with any modicum of interest in an NFL job would I want to go to some disastrous rebuilding effort as is the situation with most first year head coaches?  Or would I want to go to a place with NFL MVP and a 14-2 record?  Luckily, I think the fact that it is so late might mean Tedford wouldn’t want to bolt.  But the average Cal fan is wracked with insane insecurity and self-doubt.  Sure, things are great now, but who knows when another Holmoecaust might hit? And things were certainly a lot better when football’s greatest head coaching opportunity didn’t just become available. 

So, on the face of it, I’m back to being nervous.   Supposedly, Tedford doesn’t want to bolt until his youngest son is out of high school, which is next year, I believe.  Let’s hope.  Let’s hope. 

And let’s hope that Pete Carroll gets that job.  Get him out of the Pac10, please.   

More legal mumbo jumbo.  In one of the comments, Seth posted a link to this article.  It is similar to the Daily Cal article below, but goes into a bit more depth about exactly what the judge did.  Reading this article about the arguments Thursday morning can help, too.  Basically, the judge issued her stunningly misguided ruling a few weeks ago.  She granted an injunction stopping progress on building, because of earthquake safety concerns.  Cal’s Environmental Impact Report did not satisfy the questions of the judge.  All news articles noted a 4 page opinion that she wrote, but I have been unable to find anything.  I even emailed the Chron writer. 

So, now the parties were back to clarify the extent of the injunction.  The judge asked them to write narrowly focused wording on what exactly was enjoined.  The petitioner’s came back with language that said given the earthquake concerns, no construction should be allowed.  Not even a temporary fence.  We hate those people, those dirty dirty hippie lawyers. 

Cal responded that if the court adopted this strict construction, even routine maintanence would outlawed.  They argued that merely permanent structures should be enjoined.  Cal might need temporary structures, such as fencing, for public safety reasons (i.e. to keep those dirty hippies off our land).  Luckily, the court agreed with the good guys.  This apparently opens the door to booting RunningWolf and his buddies out of the trees.  I know I’ve got my fingers crossed. 

The other issue was whether or not Cal can enter into construction contracts during the period of the injunction.  The petitioners argued that if Cal did so, they’d then turn around and whine about how much money had already been spent at trial time.   And that would cause unfair prejudice to the petitioners at the time of trial.  The petitioners wanted the court to avoid that unfair prejudice by ensuring the injunction kept Cal from entering into contracts.  Cal offered to keep all evidence on contract expense out of the trial so as to not unfairly prejudice the petitioners.  But the petitioners, being dirty hippies, are ignorant, ignorant people.  And without knowledge of the type of contracts, the petitioners wouldn’t even know how much unfair prejudice they could potentially suffer.

The article notes how that line of arguing means that the petitioners have dropped their "No Contracts At All" thought process.  The judge ruled against them, allowing the college to pursue contracts for construction.

I hope at some point to see the opinions for either this clarification or the original injunction ruling.  Until then, I feel similar to how I felt after Big Game 2006.  A little hazy, not sure about the future, but it seemed good, so GO BEARS! 

P.S.  Can you tell I’m slowly starting to hate the City of Berkeley?  Slowly, but surely.