For realz, yo?
You have got to be kidding me! Berkeley spends a million bucks on "Citizen Committees"??? Here is a key quote from that SFGate article:
"[$200,000 was spent on that whole Marines thing] And that’s on top of the $1 million the city spends annually on domestic and foreign policy matters hatched by its 45 citizen commissions, which outnumber those in virtually every other city in America and debate everything from regime change in Iran to the plight of nonneutered dogs.
"We in Berkeley have one of the top universities in the world, which brings in people from more than 100 countries. Delving into foreign policy is unavoidable," said Mike Sherman, a longtime member of the Peace and Justice Commission, which sparked an uproar two months ago with its resolution telling the Marine Corps that its recruiting center was not welcome in the city."
When I read that article, it made me very frustrated. Berkeley is such an amazing place to be. But the City focuses so much of its time on unimportant things like international policy, allowing the infrastructure and business plan to fall apart around them. If I was still a Berkeley resident, I’d be very frustrated to know that $200,000 (marines) plus $250,000 (stadium lawsuit) plus $1,000,000 (these Commissions) of my tax-payer money was being wasted. At least!
Just another example of how the City has its priorities in all the wrong places. At least Cal is handling its business well. The UCPD police chief just sent out a very reasonable letter explaining why its treating the tree-sitters the way it is. Instead of C+Ping the whole thing here, it was posted up on CyberBears. Check it out.
I was also frustrated to see Ryan Anderson declare for the draft. I understand he has to protect his interests. Given the uncertainty with the coaching staff at Cal, it would be foolish not to do this. See what his options are, see who Sandy hires. He can always come back for one more year, though. This just means if he declares again after next year, he’s gone.
What made my blood less boil-y (is that a word?) was the fact that going into the final weekend here, I’m totally winning the California Golden Blogs Bracket challenge. My Yahoo! Fantasy Ranking is totally gonna kick butt now! Of course, the difference between 1st place and 10th place is 14 points. And correct choices in the Final Four are worth 16 points. And correctly choosing the National Champion is worth 32 points. So, it’s still up in the air. Of the top 10, only Brain Pesto and I chose UNC. Save for Tommy choosing Texas, all the rest chose UCLA. Most of the Top 20 chose UCLA. If UNC beats Memphis, I win. If UNC beats UCLA, Brain Pesto wins. If Kansas wins, Zoo News wins. If Memphis wins, Avinash probably wins (esp. since UCLA will have lost in the Final Four rendering all of the UCLA people pointless). And if UCLA beats Kansas, Josh In Portland wins. If UCLA beats UNC, Oh So Easy- Paulieside wins.
Man, a lot of combos here. And if you aren’t in the challenge, you don’t care. But hey, if you didn’t join the challenge, you don’t count! Go Tar Heels and Tigers! But, most importantly, GO BEARS!
Recall at the time Texas beat UCLA and Kansas and their path was through TX. Also UT was my undergrad hook ‘em/ go Bears!
Comment by Tommy — April 3, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
I blame the city of Berkeley for James Montgomery leaving the team.
I’m really trying to root for fUCLA for Pac10 pride and all that, but it’s really hard. I’m not-so-secretly rooting for UNC since I lived there for a couple years (but worked at Duke, boo! the stanfurd of the east IMO).
Comment by CalBandGreat — April 3, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
How can you use the word “disappointed” that Ryan Anderson declared for the draft? That’s GREAT for him!
For one thing, we could all clearly see that he’s good enough that he’s not going to stay four years - nor should you want him to if he’s NBA potential. The amount of money players make, a limited athletic lifespan, and the risk of a career-ending injury means they SHOULD go pro. Kids primarily go to college to get a better, job, right? Well….? (Money aside, Ryan certainly seems mature enough to end his college experience now.)
Secondly, if he’s going to stay one more year, he SHOULD go “test” the waters this year. Lots of players test the waters and do NOT hire an agent just to have the experience as a primer of their future. Sort of like an internship. Very standard stuff.
I suppose that we can be selfish and say we want Anderson to stay all four years, only to make “our” team win more. But that’s a sacrifice to great for them to make. Big time college athletes already perform enough for the coffers of their universities, television, and all sorts of other tangential for-profit companies. When they’ve got a chance to earn a real paycheck, I say Go For It. It’s more celebration than disappointment.
Ryan’s announcement was entirely expected. And, for my part, hoped for. It’s the right move to make, unless Sandy Barbour wants to pay him part/most of the new coach’s paycheck. Oh, sorry. She can’t.
Good luck, Ryan. Fly as high as you can. It’s been great watching you spread your wings.
Comment by TB — April 4, 2008 @ 8:40 am
I havent seen anybody use the word “disappointed.” I said that I was frustrated, but understood why he would do such a thing. I think we are in agreement.
Comment by TwistNHook — April 4, 2008 @ 8:48 am