Yesterday the San Francisco Chronicle ran an article of interest for Cal football fans. What about?

The $225,000 tickets at Memorial Stadium.

“Whaaaaaaaat?!” you might ask. And you would be correct in your reaction.

In this economy, doesn’t it seem a bit … insane to ask that of any ticket-holders this side of Yankee Stadium? Granted, this is the very top of the ticket price scale. You get your seat for 50 years, (But it seems to me that for those who can afford this deal, it’s doubtful that they’ll live the 50 years to enjoy it. No recent alum is shelling out 200,000 big ones. Just the old, very, very rich ones.) and you get free food, parking, etc.

Obviously this is a money-making endeavour, and likely a very lucrative one. But when did going to a college football game become a luxury afforded to the elite? Plans like these — along with hikes in normal season tickets — hurt the young alumni and average fans. If Cal wants to change the Saturday demographic from youthful to geriatric, it’s well on its way to doing so.

Maybe I’m just being naive about this — I fully understand that revenue has to be generated — but something about this story is just … so anti-Berkeley.

And maybe this is the inevitable cost of seeing the Cal football program become more like the other big name football programs in the country. The USCs, the Nebraskas, the Notre Dames of the world.

But when the cost is $225,000, isn’t that a bit much to ask?