Has Rikus Pretorius been on the phone with Kobe Bryant lately?

During the Cal rugby team’s match against Utah, the senior flanker and captain sat out with an injured finger. His middle and ring fingers were taped together, and he is due for an MRI on Monday.

But Pretorius, who sustained the injury during the Bears’ match against British Columbia last week, doesn’t expect to miss any more game time due to injury — even if it’s a torn ligament.

Cal’s next match is on Saturday, March 1, against New Mexico.

First, I have to admit, that the first Cal-Stanford women’s basketball game this year was atrocious and almost unbearable to watch. And it wasn’t because the Bears were blown out (again) at Maples Pavilion.

As a reporter sitting next to me told me at halftime of that game, “This is bad for women’s basketball.” It was. At halftime, neither team was shooting well. Both squads were shooting under 40 percent (Cal was just at 20 percent). Something inside of me said, “No wonder no one watches this product.”

Then we turn to last Saturday’s game. The Bears lost, again. But this time, it was amazing. (Click here to read more…)