The fence stays!  As I predicted, Judge Miller ruled against the protestors and allowed the fence.  Here are two links that relate:  UC Berkeley and Daily Cal.  IIRC (which means If I Recall Correctly for those so inclined), the Judge had made comment in the earlier hearings about how the need for public safety was an important overriding force here.  And if Cal wanted to erect a fence for the purpose of public safety, then they could do so.

This victory for Cal is a reminder, to me at least, that hope remains high for the September 19th court date.  From the Daily Cal article:

"Miller also indicated that she thought the action of erecting the fence did not impinge upon the protesters’ right of free speech. However, she said that because the lawsuits against the university do not pertain to the right of free speech but rather California environmental laws, she would not make a ruling about the presence of the protesters."

Runnie Dub and Co. make a big deal out of free speech, but it is just the most recent in a number of smoke screens designed to obscure the truth here.  This suit is not about old trees or ancient Indian burial grounds.  This suit is not about free speech or Mel Gibson’s finding of faith after the aliens came to Earth, though it would be awesome if it were since Signs is a really great movie. 

In reality, this suit is about California environmental laws.  And as far as I can tell, the City has a whole lot of bad facts to deal with.  

So, good news tonight.  Hopefully, this portends well for Satuday, the 19th, and beyond.

GO BEARS! 

HydroTech: When somebody talks about last year’s Cal/Tennessee game, I have to argue this point: it was closer than it looked.  Seriously.  We were only down 14-0 at halftime against Tennessee… in Neyland!!!  Not too bad.  It then got out of hand because of a few missed tackles.  Those missed tackles were like 2 free touchdowns.  Or was it 3?  I can’t remember.  Either way, the game was closer than it looked last year.  I say that in all honesty and not as a homer.

TwistNHook: While that game was going on last year, I was getting married.  My brother was following the game on his Treo.  I kept asking and it was like 7-0. Then, 14-0.  Then, all of a sudden out of nowhere it became like 4 billion-0.  I was sad.  So very sad.

But I was getting married, so I was happy!  But here’s the funny thing. At the end of the night, my wife’s mom fell and tripped and broke her wrist.  Don’t worry it gets funnier!  And so we spent the night at the John Muir emergency room over in the Dub See.  And they had all their TVs pointed to ESPN, which had college gameday on.  Endless replays from every different angle of the Cal-Tennessee game, which had been the furthest thing from my mind to that point.

So, I start kinda freaking out, because I’m sitting there just watching endless highlights of Cal getting embarassed.  Of course, all the other family members there think I’m so very concerned about my mother-in-law’s wrist (which I was yada yada yada).  And when they’d ask why I was acting so bizarrely somber (i.e. not looking in any direction that held a TV) I’d be all "Oh yeah, it’s just so sad, broken wrist, that’s so terrible…….."

But only we know the real truth.  ;)!!!

As for the game this year, even though it is the day before my anniversary, I’ll be there.  I think that we have a MUCH better chance.  I knew that Syd’Quan was going through a trial by fire last year.  As with all trials by fire, I think he’s emerged as a better player for it.  Sure, on the night of 9.2.06, he might have wanted to commit ritual suicide. But on the night of 9.1.07, he will be thankful for 9.2.06.

And now with like the entire Tenn WR corps turned over, I think we stand a much better chance.  As I noted above, I was unable, THANKFULLY, to see the game last year.  My understanding, however, is that our O-Line had a lot of trouble with their D-Line.  I think our O-Line is much improved this year and hopefully, we will be able to deal with them better.  As I mentioned in the Cal roundtable, I think that Forsett is the type of back who needs holes to succeed.  Hopefully, with the improved O-Line, Cal will be able to grant the necessary holes.

This is not going to be an easy game.  I have a wary confidence going into it.  It’s at home this year.  Longshore has a full year under his belt. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is going to think Cal can just waltz in and win this.  But I think we can win this game.  And goddamn it, I’m going to be there this time, rooting as hard as I can.

It should be noted that as sad as I was that Cal got destroyed I can only assume that Ragnarok, who decided to skip my wedding to travel to Tennessee, was EPICALLY sadder.  This year, it’s his turn to have his wedding/honeymoon coincide with the Tenn game.  May it not ruin his wedding!

HydroTech: I can’t believe you scheduled your wedding on a Cal Football Saturday.  You’re a loser.  I don’t know you.

YellowFever: I have to admit that I missed most of last year’s game as well.  That was the day I moved into my new apartment in New York, and it was awful.  Not having visited New York as much as I probably should have, I had no idea about the best way to drive from New Jersey into Queens.  We drove down the Turnpike into the Lincoln Tunnel, back out, back through, took the Queens-Midtown Tunnel, took the BQE…it was a mess.  And raining.  And by the time I had dropped off most of my stuff and made my way back home, it was the third quarter and we were down 21-3.  I watched gamely until it was 35-3, then I cried myself to sleep.  Actually, I think I just started drinking, but what’s the difference?

TwistNHook: I can’t believe I schedule my wedding during a Cal football saturday.  I’m a loser!  I wish I didn’t know myself.  How you guys think Ainge is going to do this year?

YellowFever: As it turns out, Ainge’s pinky is broken.  And I was originally planning on making a joke about how he couldn’t help but do better than his more famous uncle, but then his uncle went and got KG and Ray Ray for the Celtics, meaning little Erik is going to have to do quite well to keep up with his uncle.  But how will Ainge do?  I’m no quarterback so I don’t know exactly how much impact a broken pinky will have on his mechanics, but I seem to recall Brett Favre playing through a broken pinky a few years back and doing reasonably well.  Of course, Ainge is no Brett Favre, but I don’t think wounded ducks are going to be flying out of Ainge’s hand on every other play.  As much as I’d like them to.  If Ainge does do poorly, it’ll be because of a lack of experience in his wide receiver corps and the fact that they’ll pose less of a threat with their running game with LaMarcus Coker out.  Which seem like fairly valid reasons to doubt his production this year.

TwistNHook: Apparently, if Ainge comes out of the game for any reason, pinky-oriented or otherwise, the Vols have a very solid backup named Crompton.  He played a few games last year, so he has in-game experience.  It’s not like the drop-off between Longshore and Ayoob, but it would still be nice to face their backup.

Then again, if Cal wins the game against Tennessee’s backup, it’ll just diminish the quality of the victory.  SEC homers will just write it off as a fluke because of the QB situation.

Then again, if Cal wins the game against Tennessee’s backup, it means Cal would have won the game against Tennessee.  AND THAT’S ALL I REALLY CARE ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With one of the biggest games in Cal’s history only two days away, we at the California Golden Blogs thought we should get some insight into our opponent.  Naturally we asked our good friends over at VolNation for an interview.  Vol Freak over at VolNation was very kind to accommodate our request and the following are his responses to our questions.

How is Tennessee looking in the final few days before the start of the season?

Most reports are that the Vols are looking really good. I think we still have a few question marks at this point, but most teams do. We’ve had a couple of injuries and issues that have had some impact: Lamarcus Coker will be suspended for the Cal game and tight end Brad Cottam hurt his wrist and is pretty much out for the year. Both were expected to play very key roles.

Is it true that your WRs are fairly inexperienced? Are they developing and making improvements?

The three receivers that top the current depth chart (Austin Rogers, Lucas Taylor, and Josh Briscoe) all have some experience and have shown flashes of being good players but none of them have every been expected to be "go to" guys. We have a really great class of receivers coming in but it’s hard to expect them to contribute much in their first college game. Kenny O’Neal is a guy that many Tennessee fans had hoped would step up. He transferred from FSU and has tremendous speed, but like the freshman, he hasn’t proven anything yet.

Which WR is really starting to stand out from the crowd?

I watched the last major scrimmage and I thought Austin Rogers looks to be the go to guy. He’s been in the system but was injured last year. I read he’s been working out with Eric Ainge a lot over the summer. Out of all the talented newcomers, it’s been a guy that we didn’t really expect – Denarius Moore, that has stepped up. He’s handled himself very well for a true freshman and should get some playing time on Saturday.

Who will cover Desean Jackson? We’ve been hearing through the grapevine that Tennessee fans think Eric Berry will start and cover Desean Jackson.

The two starting corners on the depth chart are Antonio Gaines and Marsalous Johnson.

(If Eric Berry is to cover Desean Jackson) Will you leave Eric Berry on an island with Desean Jackson or do you expect him to get safety help? Do you really think it’s plausible that Eric Berry - a true freshman, and no matter how good he may be - will be at least moderately effective in diminishing Desean Jackson’s impact on the game?

I don’t believe Berry will start. He will be the first guy off the bench and will definitely be on the field in our nickel package. However, unlike Cal’s coaches last year, I don’t believe it would be smart to leave a true freshman on an island with a highly talented receiver. We have a lot of experience at safety as both our SS and FS are seniors. Most Tennessee fans would consider FS Jonathan Heffney to be the most talented of our defensive players.

How do you expect your offense to attack our defense now that none of our CBs have casts on their forearms?

If your coaches leave our receivers in single coverage with no help, then I expect much of the same. Meachem is no longer here but if we have plenty of guys capable of making a defender miss or finding that open spot. Senior Erik Ainge completed 67% of his passes last season, his first under new offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe. He can get the ball in the hands of his play makers.

How do you expect your defense to attack our offense? Will you be more focused on stopping the run, pressuring Longshore (Cal’s QB) or diminishing DeSean Jackson’s impact on the game?

With the talent and depth of your receivers, my guess would be that we will definitely focus on stopping the passing game. However, our interior defensive line has been a concern. If those guys can do their job and Tennessee doesn’t have to end up committing too many resources to stopping the run then I like our chances.

What is the strength of your defense? Defensive line? Linebackers? Secondary?

I like our defense all the way around with the exception of our tackles. But if I had to pick I would probably say linebackers. Jerod Mayo was 11th in the SEC in tackles last year and Ryan Karl is one of those guys who just has a nose for the football. Rico McCoy has a lot of experience considering he is only a sophomore.

Any rumors as to why LaMarcus Coker was suspended? Is the loss of LaMarcus Coker going to diminish your rushing attack? Who is your second string runningback?

Rumors are that Coker was suspended for smoking marijuana. We will miss his speed and big play ability but he was not ever slated to be the starter. Arian Foster will be our primary back. He had an exceptional freshman season and many are overlooking him because he played most of last year hurt and didn’t put up the numbers most expected. He has worked really hard in the off season and I expect him to have a break out year.

Some Cal fans think that despite Ainge’s improvements last year, that he is somewhat overrated. What are your thoughts on Ainge’s abilities as a QB? Do you think he has what it takes to become an NFL starter?

Ainge is a very solid quarterback. As I pointed out before, he set a team record last season completing 67% of his passes. He improved a lot over his performance the year before. What Erik has to do is prove that he can lead this team and exhibit toughness on the field. He’s been hurt often during his career and I’m not sold on his decision making under pressure. If California can force Tennessee into passing situations and get pressure on him, he could get rattled.

Any insight into whether Fulmer will punt to DeSean Jackson?

I’m sure Fulmer will be aware of his presence back there as a punt returner. I would guess he would give his punter and coverage team a chance and punt to him, especially when we are trying to pin you inside the 20. I wouldn’t be surprised for Fulmer to kick away from Jackson if we are punting from deep in our own territory. I honestly have no real idea as to how the staff will approach this.

In case you were unaware, our offensive coordinator left the team after last season and head coach Jeff Tedford will now assume most of the playcalling duties this year. Do you think this change generates some uncertainty as to what to expect offensively from Cal again? Do you expect our offense to be just as ineffective this year as it seemed to be last year?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer. I’m sure you could probably answer that question better than I can. I believe Tennessee will have a good idea of what to expect from Cal. I don’t expect their offense to score at will but I’d be shocked if it turns out looking as bad as last year.

Without being too stereotypical, what are your expectations of what the west coast football atmosphere and fans will be like?

I think for the most part fans are fans. I’ve been to west coast games before and it’s not all that different. I’m not sure if Cal fans are as fanatical as those of us from Tennessee. There are many more sporting events and teams battling for fans attention in California. Here it’s all Vols.

Do SEC fans really think that the Pac-10 is a pass happy conference? Did you know that Cal - despite getting a lot of publicity for Desean Jackson and the rest of our WR corps - is actually a run-first team?

I actually did my homework before the game last season and noticed that they were last in their conference in passing in 2005. So I imagined they were a run first team. I also learned that in 2005 Cal was 4-4 and coming off of the Las Vegas Bowl. It was my argument at the time that they were highly overrated for the opener in Knoxville last year. I was also surprised to find out that Cal hasn’t won a conference title since 1975.

Some sports analysts have generalized the difference between SEC and Pac-10 ideology as this: the SEC puts its best and fastest players on defense while the Pac-10 puts its best and fastest players on offense. Do you think this generalization is valid?

No, I really don’t buy into that. I’m not sure I’ve ever even heard that. Most analyst in this part of the country just talk about the lack of defense played in the Pac-10.

The Pac-10 often gets called the Pac-1 and the 9 dwarfs, but last year U$C loss to Oregon St. and UCLA. We here in the Pac-10 think that that speaks volumes about the competitiveness within the Pac-10. Do Tennessee fans, and SEC fans in general, think the Pac-10 is becoming more competitive or $C just lost two fluke games?

I guess that depends on how you define "more competitive". I would look at it more of USC coming back to the pack. There may be a couple of good teams at the top from year to year, but from top to bottom the Pac-10 is considered a weak conference by most in the SEC.

Pick one. Beat Cal and lose to Florida. Or beat Florida and lose to Cal.

Beat Florida

Special thanks to Vol Freak and VolNation!