5:17: So that’s it for the Daily Cal’s live blog of the NFL Draft. Chris Berman may have just put it best: this year’s Draft wasn’t “sexy.” Almost half of the first-round picks were lineman. A lot of skill players were passed over until the late first and early second rounds. Cal’s big-name receiver wasn’t taken until the 49th pick, although he did beat the changeover to ESPN2.

And yet, what’s strange is that DeSean still managed to become a big figure in the Draft. Along with the other big-name receivers, like Malcolm Kelly, James Hardy and Limas Sweed (who was finally picked 54th by the Steelers), Jackson’s name came up repeatedly mainly because he fell so far from where he was projected. Yes, he was called “diminutive” and “small,” but the ESPN guys talked several times about his speed and his playmaking ability. We’ll see how he holds up taking hits in the NFC East.

The Draft continues until the end of the second round this evening, with rounds three through seven tomorrow. Cal still has hopefuls for tomorrow—Lavelle, Justin Forsett and Thomas Decoud, to name a few. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for them as well. From all of us here at the Daily Cal Draft live blog—and by that I mean my roommate and myself—thanks for tuning in.

4:57: And there it is. DeSean Jackson goes to the Philadelphia Eagles with the 49th pick. I’m pretty sure there was a mock that predicted that. Just not in the second round. So DeSean goes to the Eagles, where he’ll be catching passes from Donovan McNabb and trying to boost a receiving corps that was anchored last year by Kevin Curtis, a 3rd-round pick out of Utah State in 2003.

4:52: DeSean is on the phone. I repeat, DeSean is on the phone. And wearing sunglasses indoors.

4:48: The Bengals take Jerome Simpson, a wide receiver from Coastal Carolina. Yes, it’s an obscure school. But he makes one-handed catches and he definitely jumped over a standing defender during a game. I guess DeSean never did that.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 48%

Every Sunday, the Cal baseball team nominates a pitcher and player of the week based on performances in the previous week’s games. If Kevin Miller isn’t the Bears’ pitcher of the week tomorrow, somebody’s taken a few too many Blake Smith fastballs to the head.

Miller pitched two scoreless innings to get the win against Fresno State on Wednesday, then replaced Craig Bennigson in the top of the third today and proceeded to throw a career-high 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball to lead Cal to a 9-3 victory and improve his own record to 5-0.

This was just the latest installment in what has been a phenomenal season for the right-hander from San Jose. As a true freshman, Miller has pitched 38.2 innings, struck out 38 batters and has yet to allow an earned run.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 54%

Tyson Ross didn’t seem like he was at his best today against Oregon State. That’s all right, though. Ross on a decent day is still better than about 90 percent of college pitchers on the best day of their careers.

The No. 7 Cal baseball team’s ace had some uncharacteristic trouble locating his fastball in the middle innings, gave up seven hits and walked three Beavers hitters in seven innings. But he allowed just two runs, stranded 10 runners and pitched himself out of a couple of jams in the early innings to lead the Bears to a 5-2 win over the two-time defending national champions and improve his own record to 5-0.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 46%

So by now, you’ve probably read that Jerry Rice showed up at Cal’s Pro Day to keep an eye on his newest pupil, receiver DeSean Jackson. But just because Rice was the only one there with 197 career touchdown catches and a golf ball-sized Super Bowl ring dangling from his necklace doesn’t mean we can overlook the other important sightings yesterday at Memorial Stadium.

They included:

1. Yahoo Sports columnist (and Daily Cal alumnus) Michael Silver—helped Rice pen his autobiography and used to write for Sports Illustrated.

2. Hall of Famer James Lofton—recently hired as wide receivers coach for the Oakland Raiders.

3. D-Jax’s future—brighter than the reflection from his mentor’s jewelry. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 31%

Evans Diamond looked more like Spieker Aquatics Center by the time the second leg of the Cal-Utah Valley State doubleheader was called on account of darkness Saturday evening, with the Bears and Wolverines tied at 8-8 after nine innings.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 23%

So one game isn’t enough information to make solid predictions about the rest of the season. All right. Then let me just say that I had a good feeling watching the Cal baseball team beat Kansas State 5-1 today, even though the wind was freezing and the Wildcats fan base was acting like they had never seen anyone paint corners quite like Tyson Ross. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 21%

10:43 p.m.: Final: Penn State 3, Cal 0 Turns out there’s a reason that Penn State hasn’t dropped a game in the tournament. Question about the legitimacy of a non-Pac-10 team in the final four is very, very unfounded. The Nittany Lions were overpowering from start to finish, holding Cal to a .121 hitting percentage. Hana Cutura hit -.065, and the Bears were outblocked 14.5-4.0, an astounding number with the way that they’ve dominated the net throughout the season. The Nittany Lions put the exclamation point on with a 30-16 win in game three.
Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 21%