A horrid weekend by the Cal baseball team’s pitching staff busted the team that was once at No. 5 in the country, according to Baseball America, down to No. 16. The Bears (27-13-2, 7-8 in the Pac-10) have now dropped two conference road series in a row, and in both the Friday losses, starter Tyson Ross was wild, ineffective and downright terrible. Read the rest of this entry »
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It’s always interested me that Cal hasn’t had a traditional Spring Game to close out its spring practices in least the four years that I’ve been in Berkeley. Maybe it’s because coach Jeff Tedford doesn’t believe in all the hoopla that surrounds a Spring Game.
Last Saturday was no different.
But what Saturday did give to the Bears was closure on what can be seen as a spring of getting over the past.
A few more notes from Cal’s final spring practice. Read the rest of this entry »
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Believe it or not, the Pac-10 Championships are this week, from April 28-April 30. The Bears have a lot to prove-they finished in ninth place last year and, after having a look-see at the ol’ record books, it appears as though the Bears haven’t won the title, uh, ever.
On that note, this year’s as good a year as any to break that losing streak. Cal’s hosting at the familiar green of the lovely Meadow Club, its finished in the top eight in every tournament this spring, and the team’s optimism couldn’t be higher. I’ve been guaranteed by freshman Stephen Hale that I’ll be writing a recap of their stunning victory come Wednesday night. Read the rest of this entry »
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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 »
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It’s been sometime since I or anyone else at the Daily Cal has paid attention to the NFL Draft. But with just a few days before now and one of the most over-hyped weekends of the sporting calendar, it’s kind of hard to stay away from it.
It’s also been somewhat surprising to see what the so-called pundits have been saying about former Cal receiver DeSean Jackson. What’s prompted all of this is what Stewart Mandel wrote today on SI.com. Read the rest of this entry »
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Well, baseball fans, it looks like there’ll be a dogfight at the top of the Pac-10 this year, and it’s going to coincide with a fight for position at the top of the college baseball world. This week’s Baseball America Top-25 rankings just came out this morning. The most striking thing to note about the list? Four Pac-10 teams remain in the rankings, including a mini-comeback by preseason No. 1 UCLA (they check in at No. 23 after not being ranked last week). But the real drama comes in the top-10, with Stanford vaulting up from No. 10 to No. 5, a spot recently vacated by the Cal baseball team, which now checks in at No. 7, behind No. 6 Arizona State. The top three teams in the conference are now bunched together at the top of the national rankings. Hang on, folks, it’s going to be a helluva ride. Read the rest of this entry »
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Coach Desimone was telling me the other day how golf is a wonderful, unpredictable sport. In his words: “Tiger lost to the 29th ranked player in the country at the Masters. Golf is a very strange game. It’s different than just about anything else. It’s hardly ever a time when the 29th ranked team is going to win an NCAA football or basketball championship. Golf is that kind of a sport and so for us we can take heart in the fact that strange things like these things can happen.”
That strange thing happened today in the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford. Cal finished the first day of the two-day tournament in sole possession of fourth place. The teams that Cal trails? The leader No. 5 USC, the host No. 11 Stanford, and No. 3 UCLA.
Read the rest of this entry »
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The Cal rugby team has a history of winning, and winning big. But Friday’s annihilating of Tennessee in the first round of the national playoffs was something else.
The Bears cracked the century mark, beating the Volunteers by a score of 102-3. And that was with the reserves. Read the rest of this entry »
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It’s been just a little over three weeks since the Cal women’s hoops team lost in a heart-breaker to GW in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
It was just last week when Tennessee took home its second consecutive national title. But these critics like to start early, as ESPN and SI.com have announced their pre-, pre-, pre-, pre-season rankings for the 2008-09 season.
And where is Cal? ESPN has the Bears at No. 7 heading into next year and Sports Illustrated has Cal at No. 6. Read the rest of this entry »
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I’m sure there was a bit of concern when Trent Johnson accepted the job down at LSU. Why, you ask? Well, because new Cal head coach Mike Montgomery did spend 18 years at Stanford, winning them conference titles and getting them to a Final Four.
So when the current Cardinal coach bolts, I’m sure there has to be some anxiety amongst the Bears community that Monty will renege on his contract with Cal.
And because Montgomery knows that the rumor mill will be working full force after the Johnson announcement, the savvy veteran felt compelled to release a statement through the Bears athletics department. Read the rest of this entry »
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