WE SCORED AN EXCLUSIVE 1 ON 1 INTERVIEW WITH MARSHAWN LYNCH!

And by we, I, of course, mean Buffalo Bills lead journalist Chris Brown.  Close enough.

 

At the Bills official webpage, they have an interview with Marshawn.  Watch it here. 

If that link doesn’t work, just go to the Bills official webpage at www.BuffaloBills.com and go to the Media section.  Right now, they have a big still up of it.  

 

Having watched it, I now realize that I have ANOTHER reasion to go back in time, build a time machine and put an unreasonable amount of pressure on young TwistNHook to become a swimmer.  Whoda thunk it? 

Moreover, they also have the press conference video where they introduce Marshawn.  I haven’t watched it yet, but the link is here.  He looks good in a suit. 

 

MARSHAWN! 

 

Edit:  Gaze in wonderment at this beauty.  It is so radiant, you can’t look straight into it.  It will burn your pupils!

 

Is that even what Archbishops do?  I have no idea.  At any rate, Desmond Bishop was tabbed by the Packers with the 192nd pick of the NFL Draft.  It’s unlikely he’ll get much playing time there from scrimmage, with Nick Barnett, Brady Poppinga, and A.J. Hawk fairly well entrenched in front of him as starters.  His main contributions as a rookie will likely come only on special teams, where hopefully he’ll become as proficient killing punters as the man he’s been compared to and should aspire to be, Jeremiah Trotter.

And just like Marshawn, he won’t be able to wear #10 in the NFL either.  Get your Bishop jersey here - for even more fun, personalize it with “Archbishop” instead!

Daymeion Hughes went earlier today in the draft to the Indianapolis Colts with the 95th overall pick in the NFL Draft, joining other Cal alums Tarik Glenn and Matt Giordano.  Obviously they have something of a need at cornerback after losing both of the starters from their Super Bowl team last year, with Nick Harper bailing for the Titans and Jason David leaving for the Saints, but there’s still a ways to go for Daymeion to climb up the depth chart.  The Colts have a host of young cornerback talent drafted in the first few rounds over the past two years, with Marlin Jackson (1st round, 2005), Kelvin Hayden (2nd round, 2005), and Tim Jennings (2nd round, 2006) all ahead of him.

The good news is that he was drafted by a team playing the right scheme.  It’s been written by multiple analysts that Daymeion’s exceptional ball skills and big play flair - but pedestrian speed - would be ideally suited for a Cover 2 scheme like the one the Colts run, which places a premium on run support skills and doesn’t often ask its corners to go deep and cover receivers stride for stride.  The Colts may yet move Marlin Jackson to free safety because of a lack of numbers at that position, a move which would also bump Daymeion up the depth chart.

Like Mebane before him, it’s unlikely that Hughes will get his own jersey offering in the Colts Pro Store.  If/when it does become available, this would be the place to get it.  More likely you’ll have to personalize a Colts jersey here too.  And like Marshawn, Hughes will be unable to wear #13 in the NFL because of its numbering conventions.

Brandon Mebane was just selected with the 85th overall pick in the NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks.  With the presence of established veterans Rocky Bernard, Marcus Tubbs, Chartric Darby, and a host of other roster hopefuls, Mebane will be unlikely to contribute in anything more than a situational role as part of a tackle rotation - you know, since these timeshare position rotations are all the rage these days.

Defensive tackle is a harder position to master than it might seem; Brodrick Bunkley of the Eagles missed two weeks of his initial training camp in a holdout and was invisible his rookie year.  Because of what’s been described as marginal size, it’s hard to see Mebane being as disruptive on the pro level as he was in school, but as always, we wish him luck.

I imagine that if Mebane jerseys ever do go on sale, they’ll appear here in the Seahawks Pro Shop.  It seems a bit unlikely to me that they would offer a large number of Mebane jerseys for sale if at all, since he is a third round pick - you may have to just personalize a Seahawks jersey if you’re into that sort of thing.  Mebane should be allowed to wear #52 as a member of the Seahawks, as well.  Though usually only linebackers have jersey numbers in the 50’s, defensive linemen can also choose to wear a number in that range.

It’s official - Marshawn will begin his NFL career as a Buffalo Bill.

What does this mean?  It means Marshawn is probably in line to be a leading candidate for NFL Rookie of the Year.  With only the former A-Train, Anthony Thomas as serious competition for carries, and an improved offensive line in Buffalo over Willis McGahee’s time there with the addition of Derrick Dockery from the Redskins and Cal alum Langston Walker (as well as the presence of former Cal guard Aaron Merz), Marshawn should have more space to work with than did his predecessor.  J.P. Losman showed some flashes as well, meaning Marshawn won’t be relied upon to do everything.  Like McGahee was.  It also means I nailed the pick.

Order your Marshawn jersey here - note that the site says to wait 4-6 weeks from number confirmation.  Also of note, Marshawn can’t wear #10 in the pros because of its standardized naming conventions that limit numbers 1-19 to quarterbacks, wide receivers, and kickers/punters; he may have to strike a deal with CB Terrence McGee who currently wears #24 if he wants to go back to his original college number as well.

Wha?!?!?!?!?!?

Did Mort just suggest that Trent Edwards is better than Brady Quinn?  I mean that’s stupid.  Miami Dolphin stupid.  

Here’s my hope for Marshawn:

 

1.  Don’t go to a team with red in the color scheme.

2.  Don’t go to the Packers (Niners fan, here).  

A couple of my restrictions conflict.   Oh well.  Niners up now.  I guess they’ll go for Willis and then the first of potental Marshawn teams has its spot.  The Bills jerseys look like this:

 

 

Is that too much red?  Otherwise, he could go to the Pack, Giants, or Eagles.  My hope is for the Eagles, because a)they aren’t the Pack, b)my family is from Philly, and c)Yellow Fever is a huge Iggles fan. 

Nonetheless, I don’t think he’ll fall that far.  But if Colin Cowherd has his way, who knows?

 

MARSHAWN!   

 

Edit:  Marshawn to Bills at 12.  Exciting, because it screws over the Pack.  But this red situation is nerve-wracking.  Need to learn how to sow! 

ESPN’s GameDay is a college football phenomenon, and its broadcasts are must-see TV on Saturday mornings in the fall.  Each week it broadcasts from a different location, and usually that location is (for that week at least) the center of the college football world.  Its visits are a mark of distinction and a validation of the success of a program.  So will GameDay ever make its way to Strawberry Canyon?  Until recently, it looked like this might be the year.

ESPN’s Bruce Feldman, in his Friday mailbag, answered the following question:

From Ben in Berkeley, Calif.: What do you think Cal’s chances are for "College GameDay" against Tennessee on opening weekend. I suppose the main competition is GT-ND (which ESPN did last year) and now ECU-VT (new and obvious reasons). Obviously I’m biased, but from a pure football standpoint the Cal-Tennessee game looks like it has more angles (Southerners vs. the hippies hiding in our trees, revenge game, both teams Top 15-20, should be good weather, etc). But then again, Cal getting a "Gameday" has always seemed like a long shot at best.

Feldman: Not sure what the plan is for the opening weekend, but if those are the options, my hunch is that Blacksburg will be the big story that people will be focused on. Just from a personal note, Lane Stadium has been one of my favorite places to see a game. The energy in there is unreal. I saw two night games there in 2005 and it was electric when the Hokies line up at the end of the tunnel and they start playing Enter Sandman. The night they played Miami was amazing. The whole building shook. Last year ESPN had its big company-wide college football meetings near Bristol and they showed the intro of that telecast. It was about five minutes. If you’ve been to a game at Lane, you had to get goose bumps watching that because you know how wild that place gets.

Given all that those people in Blacksburg have endured, I’m sure it will be an incredibly emotional day for everyone there. There was actually a story in the News & Observer today about ECU preparing for that emotional trip:

"The ECU athletics department will present Virginia Tech with a check for $100,000 before the Sept. 1 game. The money will go to the fund set up to provide assistance to victims and their families, grief counseling and memorials for the victims. ‘We are figuring that by then most of the initial thrust of gifts will have subsided so maybe they’ll need more help,’ ECU athletics director Terry Holland said."

You know, I can’t say I disagree with him.  I don’t think ND-GT has much of a shot, considering GT hosted GameDay last year for that matchup and NBC has the broadcast of that game already locked up.  The Cal-UT game is clearly the best game on the slate from a football standpoint, but I don’t think ESPN will be able to resist the temptation of VT’s home opener, even if it is against a patsy like Eastern Carolina.

So, will Corso and Herbstreit ever make it to Berkeley?  Hard to say.  Given the lack of an ESPN contract and the early start times on the West Coast, it definitely takes something special to bring them out here.  Could a top-10 tussle with USC do the trick?  Possibly.  If Cal and USC make it to November 10th with only a loss or two between them, it might be enough, though it’s hard to project that far into a season.  Other intriguing games that day include Arkansas-Tennessee, Auburn-Georgia, and Michigan-Wisconsin.  Hell, Wake Forest-Clemson, also that day, might be relevant again this year.  Anything’s possible.

Still, I hope GameDay does make it to the Tennessee game.  If you want entertainment, look no further than Southern football fans v. Zachary Running Wolf, and if Lee Corso’s wearing silly hats in the foreground, all the better.  127 days to go!!!!

We’re not really sure how people find us, we just care that they do.  So when we found one of our referers was a French messageboard on the NFL Draft, well, naturally we had to write something (scroll down to the post by “Urlacher”).

Frankly, I thought the whole NFL Europa thing was a lost cause based on what I’ve read, but apparently the NFL really is the international presence they would have you believe.  But because I never took a single French class, and can’t read a lick of French, I decided to run our friend Urlacher’s post through the Altavista Babelfish translator.  Here’s what I got.

“ENTOMBED wrote: They are only Highlights, but by comparing them with those others… Yes. Hall is the best CB. And it seems to know to plate. On CNN, one badly does not find good a vidéos on step badly of Prospective customers http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/specials/draft/2007/video/ Throw an eye in Linemen. I am impressed at all by Levi Brown, Joe Thomas or Staley. Blalock (it seems that in more it is him which makes the best score in Wonderlic… And it is Texan… ) will bring enormously to the team which goes the choper (but the cook will draw a ball). And probably as a second turn. For me a future Pro Bowler in RG or RT. I like much Kalil and Mozes in Center. Of the guy very fast in the first steps. Me which am Super Scout for WRs (after my frank success on Kevin Lockett), I put all my pitches on Jason Hill of Washington State, the pôvre. I found that on the wonderlic this year http://goldenblogs.blogsome.com/2007/04/05/a-wonderlic-time-in-the-neighborhood-2 There are two of them which made 4 but they is not quaterback… Go Vince _________________ Go Sooners Go! Bears Bears Bears!!!”

I knew those Wonderlic scores would keep the hits rolling in.  If only I could find a complete list somewhere.   Anyway, my question for these French guys is, who the hell is Kevin Lockett, and when was the the last time a Washington State WR did anything in the pros?  I’ll tell you - the last time Joe Ayoob completed a pass.  And that’s a long time.

Cal Spring Game - Drills 

Cal Spring Game - DeSean

Cal Spring Game - Surplus Sale

Spring Game - The Start 

 

Firstly, let us all think good thoughts about the Dubs tonight.  If they can pull off the unthinkable and head back to see Jessica Alba up 2-0, then this could be a series for the ages.   

 

Many people have already commented on the special teams at the Spring Game.  Perhaps it is because of the intricacies of special teams, but it seemed fairly sloppy at times.  A player gets thrown in with a lot of other random players to block for a punt.  It requires a lot of communication, both verbal and physical, that requires a lot of practice and experience to get down pat.  IIRC, at last year’s Spring Game, there were a lot of blocked punts, too.  So, perhaps, I should not be too concerned by all the blocked punts last Sat. 

 

So many punts got blocked that they started doing long snaps to an assistant and the punter would then proceed to punt the ball about 10 feet away.  But I think they did that last year, too, so perhaps it is of minimal concern. 

 

Also, let me say how disappointed I was that Cal scrapped the orange condom looking things from last year.  As people of both offense (white jerseys) and defense (blue jerseys) play together on special teams, they need a new way to differentiate.  Last year they had these skull caps, but this year it was aprons.  Aprons?  Yeah, aprons.  Aprons.

 

 

 

 What was really exciting was that there were actually 2 run backs.  Right in a row.  Here is the first:

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite one right there!

 

 

 

 

There was a plague of disembodied hands ruining photos all over the place that day.  Also, challenging people to duels.  I hate it when they do that!

 

Very exciting.  And even more exciting was that they went back to back.  I was looking at the photos I took of the first runback during the second and missed most of it.  But I did snag one at the end.

 

 

 

Of course, not every kick was run back as evidenced by this blurry tackle (the photo is also slightly blurry):

 

 

The scrimmage is always frustrating, because for every positive there is a negative.  But I’d like to discount the negatives as due to inexperience as this stage and emphasis the positives.  Next up is some scrimmage action photos.

 

Go Bears!  Go Dubs! 

If you haven’t already heard, the Cal coaching staff has released the post-spring depth chart. 

Here are a few of my thoughts regarding the depth chart:

*How about Chris Guarnero?  Some people may have forgotten about him since he red-shirted last year but he’s a player you definitely want to keep in mind.  The depth chart currently shows Guarnero as the #2 center behind Alex Mack and ahead of #3 center Mark Gray.  Now, remember that Tedford and Michalczik both talked about the possibility of moving Alex Mack to offensive tackle to cover for Mike Gibson who is rehabbing from an injury.  And if Mack were to be moved from center that would leave Guarnero as our starting center.  Obviously, Tedford and company feel very confident in Guarnero’s knowledge of our blocking schemes and his blocking ability to consider putting him in game situations despite him being an inexperienced red-shirt freshman. 

*Cameron Morrah secured that #2 tight end spot despite the arrival of Skylar Curran.  This will be an interesting battle to watch during fall camp.  Morrah has the size, speed, and hands to become a big time receiving threat.  The same can be said of Curran who is 6′5", 250, and runs a 4.6 forty.  Morrah’s familiarity with the offense should give him enough of an edge to hold off Curran… but for how long? 

*Ah, the backup quarterback battle.  Notice that the guide says that Kyle Reed OR Kevin Riley will be the #2 quarterback?   Nice of the coaches to not name somebody to the #2 spot considering Riley and Reed were both hampered by injuries.  The backup quarterback battle will be very interesting to watch in fall camp. 

*Tyson Alualu moves to DE.  There was some rumor and speculation that this might happen and now it’s official.  Honestly, the decision makes sense too.  We have plenty of experienced DTs (Malele, Kane, Alualu) and plenty of relatively inexperienced DEs (Davis, Jones, Smith).  So why not move our most nimble bodied DT to DE? 

*Tad Smith is back.  Did you notice #92 in blue zipping across the field all during the spring?  Smith has a motor and the speed to make him a dangerous pass rushing threat.  Watching his development should be pretty interesting. 

*Kane over Hill.  Wow.  I thought this was a bit of a shocker.  In the past few years Cal has been blessed with talented DTs to anchor the DLine.  In the past we had Lorenzo Alexander, and Brandon Mebane.  Derrick Hill has been hyped up as the next great Cal DT to consistently draw double teams but now he sits #3.  What gives?  I think we all forgot about Kane.  Nothing is wrong with Hill.  He’s not under performing - he’s just not as experienced as Kane.  And Kane, he’s one of those under-the-radar kind of guys.  Last year Kane was a little out of sight and out of mind with his hand and/or wrist injury.  Remember that huge cast club for a forearm he had?  That kept him from being as effective as he could be and cut into his playing time too.  Now that he’s back to 100% we should see a lot more of him and he’ll make sure we don’t forget about him either. 

*Linebacker positional chairs.  At first I wasn’t sure what to think about all this.  Follett was supposed to be slotted in for the MLB but now he appears to be at one of the #2 OLB spots.  And big WW (Worrell Williams) is now at MLB after formerly being at the WLB.   And Anthony Felder went from MIA to starting at the WLB position.  And Eddie Young put himself on the map with his INT in the HB against aTm.  Holy crap.  That’s a lot of switching - and a lot of abbreviations.  Anyways, I think the fact that Follett is being moved to OLB is because of his superior pass rushing skills.  Plain and simple, he is our best pass rushing LB.  Putting him at the edge gives him more chances to utilize his ability.  As for WW moving back to the interior, some have questioned his coverage abilities as a WLB so the move to MLB seems like a logical way to minimize his pass coverage responsibilities. 

*Finally, the cornerback battle.  With Peele at CB it appears as if the #2 spot will be his.  Putting Peele at CB instead of safety is a no-brainer considering Decoud and Hicks have the two safety spots locked up.  As for the backup CBs, Hagan locked up a backup spot and will probably get rotated in occasionally to keep legs fresh and to slowly acclimate him to life on an island.  The same goes for Amadi.  Oh, and how about Charles Amadi?  Scout had him listed as a two-star prospect when he signed with us.  Two-stars my ass.  While watching Amadi practice all last year it became very obvious to my amateur eyes that he has the discipline, skill, and potential to be great.  He’s a quiet and serious guy who treated every practice like a game.  He took every opportunity to learn and push himself.  All that hard work is paying off and it should earn him some snaps on the field next year. 

While these spring depth charts do give some insight into how players are developing, it should also be taken with a grain of salt.  Afterall, it is just spring and not fall camp.  Nevertheless, spring camp and post-spring depth charts aren’t exactly meaningless…

It’s mid-April, and with the NCAA tournament over and Spring football wrapping up, it’s ’slow news time’ for college sports writers.  What’s a guy to do?  Why not a silly mascot bracket?  Sure, whatever.

Anyway, the guys at CBS SportsLine have set up a mascot bracket, and WE, the fans, get to vote for the winner!  Now, this isn’t a rumble between guys in overstuffed costumes.  No, what CBS wants to know is, would a real bear beat a real hawk in a fight?  And how awesome would that fight be?  The bear would totally tear into the hawk.  Even people from Iowa have to concede that.  Go here to vote for the Bears to move onto the second round.  (As of this writing, the Bears were losing!  Seriously?)

Other matchups are pretty fun, too.  Buffaloes v. Spiders?  Creepy.  What about Kangaroos v. Gamecocks, or Great Danes v. Camels?  Those sound like the sort of matchups you can see for 50 pesos in Tijuana.  And then there’s the human matchups, like Pirates v. Lumberjacks and Vikings v. Cowboys, although anyone who saw ‘300′ knows that the Spartans are going to come out of that bracket victorious.

Of course, my favorite bracket features inanimate objects and mythological creatures.  Who would win a battle between a rocket and a green wave?  I’ve always been curious.  And what about Sun Devils v. Cardinal?  How do you even begin defeating a friggin’ color?

First-round results and quarterfinal regional matchups will commence on Friday, April 27.  Get voting!

  vs.

Who would win?  You be the judge.   

It appears we’re going big-time, as we were recently received this email:

"Dear Goldenblogs–

We thought you’d be interested in the following Web site that went live today and features footage of former Golden Bear star Marshawn Lynch at a recent Nike photo shoot. You’ll be able to check out exclusive interviews, view behind-the-scenes videos, grab a draft countdown widget, scroll through a bevy of images and download the press kit containing the official press release on Lynch’s Nike signing and high-resolution imagery. Lynch is part of Nike’s 2007 rookie class that boasts nine of the most heralded prospects entering this year’s NFL draft including JaMarcus Russell, Brady Quinn, Adrian Peterson, Gaines Adams, Amobi Okoye, Calvin Johnson, Leon Hall and Greg Olsen. Please let us know if you have any questions.

www.nikerookieclass.com

Best regards,

Brandan for Nike"

That’s right, we’re big time.  And I do have some questions - where’s Daymeion?  (Oh, right, he’s probably still running the 40.)  Of note, the site tells us how Marshawn’s mother sits in the same seat every time, and he has to wait until he hears his mother saying to have a good game before he feels ready to go out and play.  Awwwww.  He continues to go on about the level of preparation required to play in the NFL.  Also, Marshawn looks really, really, really thug.  Observe:

Amazing.  That such a calm, bullish man could exhibit such a fierce gaze and playing style.  Anyway, there’s not too much else to the website for now; enjoy listening to those few clips that exist on the website, but I imagine more content will be available there after the draft once we know where each prospect is going.  I’m calling Marshawn at 12 to the Bills now.