A few days ago, someone posted a comment on my previous blog post asking for a breakdown of the Cal baseball team’s freshman class. I’m a little ashamed that I didn’t think of that myself, so I did some research to hopefully amend my mental slip.

In order to keep from a giant, War and Peace-like blog entry, I’m sticking to discussing just the true freshmen. With that said, here’s the SparkNotes version of the freshman class for those who are short on time: This class is good. Real good. (Click here to read more…)

You can read the story here, and if you want more, click the link below for the full interview.

It’s really a tough situation for the sophomore. You’d like to applaud his dedication to this team, as well as the game of basketball in general, but it definitely isn’t a straightforward, “feel good”-type of story. Every minute he sees on the court Thursdays and Saturdays are threats to his health, and it appears there won’t be any real resolution to the injury.

But to me, that’s what makes him a compelling interview. That’s life — nothing’s quite black and white.

You get gray, gray and more gray.

Almost nine minutes of gray.

Harper Kamp – Jan. 26, 2008

I caught up with Jordan Wilkes earlier this week, chatting about his recent play and how Cal’s posts have evolved throughout the season.

Wilkes will be one of the nicer guys you meet. There may be questions about his game, but there’s no question that he’s a quality kid, one that’s surely excited to return home to Los Angeles this weekend.

Jordan Wilkes – Jan. 26, 2009

Well the Cal men’s basketball team is heading off to play UCLA and USC, and along with them goes basketball beat writer Andrew Kim. Before Kim jumped on a plane for LAX, I caught up with him to see what he thought about the Bears getting off their recent snide.

Among utmost importance for the Bears is the status of point guard Jerome “Bulldog” Randle. Cal’s leading scorer was injured towards the tail-end of the Oregon State game and was seen limping from time-to-time against Oregon two days later.

Next up for Randle is the task of trying to handle Darren Collison. The Bruins’ speedster is expected to be a first round pick and would be difficult for even a healthy “Bulldog” to contain let alone one with an iffy hip.

As Kim and I discuss, coach Mike Montgomery may be forced to play Jorge Gutierrez for extended blocks of time given Randle’s situation. Given Gutierrez’s recent performance last weekend, such an occurrence will be a wild card for Cal as there is no telling how the freshman will react with the spotlight on him in Pauley Pavilion.

Musings of a Moose, Episode 2, Part 1
Musings of a Moose, Episode 2, Part 2

Nearing the 50th minute of Saturday’s match at Witter Rugby Field, the Cal rugby team was leading Nevada, 87-3. The Bears showed no signs of letting up, but rookie prop Jon Karacozoff looked ready to hit the showers.

After one sequence, he stood up, put his hands on his hips and panted.

“This was my first real 80 minutes of rugby I’ve ever played,” Karacozoff said. “If it wasn’t for my teammates helping me out and teaching me the knowledge of the game—I played for about two and a half years in high school, but nowhere near the same level.”

So give the guy a break. It was his first full game of rugby with the heralded Cal squad after spending three years as a defensive lineman on the football team. And Karacozoff will be the first to admit that the transition from football hasn’t been easy on the ol’ bones.

(Click here to read more…)

Still bitter about the Cal football team’s BCS snub in 2004 and Texas coach Mack Brown’s “politickin’”? If so (and we can’t say we blame you), this might be the perfect outlet for your four-year grudge.

According to the website BCSReform.org, California congressman Gary Miller has introduced H.R. 599 in order to “bring about college football playoffs.” Apparently Miller’s main change would be prohibiting the receipt of all federal funding by any school whose football team competes in the FBS unless a playoff is established. Yikes. The site calls for help from “college football fans across America” to persuade Congress to pass a “playoff law” that newly inaugurated President Barack Obama—admittedly a proponent of the playoff system—can then sign.

(Click here to read more…)

Back to back losses to Stanford and Oregon State didn’t seem to hurt the Cal men’s basketball team’s image too much, at least in the eyes of Joe Lunardi. ESPN’s resident bracketologist still has the Bears as a No. 6 seed in the NCAA tournament as of Monday morning.

Cal is one of only four Pac-10 teams in the projected bracket. UCLA, experiencing a mini-meltdown partway through conference play (which in Westwood means a 15-4 record) is a No. 7 seed, current Pac-10 leader Washington is an unlucky No. 8 seed and Arizona State is a No. 4.

Women’s hoops, meanwhile, was a projected No. 3 seed on Jan 20—the last time that Charlie Creme updated his prognostication of the Madness. That was before the Bears swept the Oregon schools on the road last weekend, so we’ll see if they snag that coveted two-seed this week.

The Cal women are also tabbed at No. 7 in the latest AP poll.

In the first ever Musings of a Moose podcast (that is if you don’t count the awesome Thanksgiving edition), I sat down with intrepid reporter Chris Haugh.

Haugh, known around the office for his vibrant leads (here, here and here), brought me up-to-date on the spring outlook for Cal women’s golf and Cal women’s water polo. Along the way I found out about other random tidbits including his observations about Cal’s private golf facility and his first phone conversation with coach Richard Corso.

Check back later this week for some banter on the Cal men’s basketball team’s upcoming trip to the “The City of Angels.”

Musings of a Moose, Episode 1, Part 1

Musings of a Moose, Episode 1, Part 2

Participating in a postseason all-star game/NFL scout field day that’s as much about the week leading up to the game as it is about the event itself, former Cal football players (technically) Alex Mack and Zack Follett both seem to have upped their draft stock at the 2009 Senior Bowl.

Follett didn’t start the game, but he finished with four tackles, three of which were solo stops. “Tenacious Z” was also mentioned by Rob Rang of NFLDraftScout.com in his Jan. 22 breakdown of the linebackers and defensive backs at the Senior Bowl. Apparently, the linebacker “showed better instincts than expected, blowing up a screen during the scrimmage…” Wonder who the unlucky slot receiver was on that play. That’s a sight we’ll miss around Strawberry Canyon.

(Click here to read more…)

Look at the final score of Saturday’s game between the No. 8 Cal women’s basketball team and Oregon, and it probably won’t tell you much. 65-50? Doesn’t sound like a nail-biter, but doesn’t sound like an onslaught either.

Look a little closer, however, and you’ll notice a 21-0 run by the Bears en route to their seventh consecutive Pac-10 victory.

21 straight? Where did the Ducks go?

(Click here to read more…)