Thoughts about the Bears

Treetards

First, the good news is that the Tree Sitters were evicted today.  Now, it is up to the University to implement the order.  I do not think that they will do so right away.  They are going to wait until the other court case is finalized, and then move in during the middle of the night, and move the tree-sitters out, following immediately with the construction crews.  It will be a one-night event.  Wait for the national news coverage.  But the good news is that it will not be the UC police who will be carrying this order out, but the Alameda County folks.  That takes it away from a UC issue, which is good.

The subsequent protests can be held in Sproul Plaza, but as all of the regular students walk by and look and laugh, I think that it will be a short lived issue.

Protesting over landscaping is pretty lame.  Particularly when we have a war going on.  What is wrong with this picture?  The hippies in my day were much more together.  These guys are just publicity hounds who don't shower.  They have no idea what is going on. 

Later this month, we will have a poster who is going to lay out the facts about Global Warming and the trees in the grove, and how cutting the trees down is actually helping alleviate Global Warming.  That should be fun.

Injury Update

It sounds like Justin Forsett is pretty banged up with the ankle that he mangled against Tennessee.  JT is going to have him sit for the next two weeks to let it fully heal.  I am sure that Nate will be sitting as well.  Zack F will also sit out for the next week or so to fully heal his stinger.  I know that Justin Forsett had a stinger as well in the CSU game, and came back right away, but time off should be good for both his ankle and his back, and hopefully minimize future possibility of injury.

Hopefully Rulon Davis can make a comeback at the OSU game.  That remains to be seen.

Obviously having the week off and then playing Oregon State, who we should beat, is a good thing.  The one issue with playing a team that you should beat is that they know it, they want to play tough, and if you have a bunch of guys who did not practice, it makes it hard.  I would almost say that this could be our trap game.  We go to UCLA the next week, OSU is reeling, but they are essentially the same team that won 10 games last year, and we have been resting up and going on ESPN sportline, and taking interviews.  Maybe a lack of focus will be evident.

I think this is the game where the fans have to step up.  We need to have this baby sold out, and support the future number 2 team in America.  We need to make it loud, and give the boys some energy.  After all, they have been playing their hearts out for us.  I think this will be a tough game.

As far as the injuries go, I am thrilled that Montgomery and Riley will be taking the bulk of the snaps in practice with the first team.  We have a great team, but with Nate out, we clearly need something better than running against 9 in the box.  If Riley cannot throw, why was he second string over Reed?  I am sure he is good, just green.  We need to get him some experience.  I don't want to go all crazy and say, let him start against OSU, but maybe give him a series or two in each half to see what he can do.  I mean, it's not like we don't do a three and out with Longshore on occasion.  What is the real risk?  7 points, and we need to bear down.  But if Nate goes out against SC or UCLA, we are done for the year unless we can get Riley some experience at some point before that.  OSU is the next best patsy that we have to get that guy some experience, and I think no matter what the score, we need to take advantage of it.  I think it would also be interesting to the OSU defense if we came in with him.  They would certainly blitz.  We run a shovel pass or screen and get 15 or 20.  Great for everyone's confidence.  And clearly if it was planned, it would not be like there was any sort of controversy or something. 

True Grit

The more I think about the game, the more excited I am about this team.  I mean, really - they went into a very tough stadium, which some have said was as electric as Neyland last year.  I went to Neyland, and I can not believe that - that place was wicked scary.  But in any event, it was pretty crazy - loud all day.  And we prevailed.  But we were tough.  This was not a pretty win where we got lucky on a bunch of long passes.  This was a tough defense and a tough offense, limited penalties, good special teams, and no turnover game.   We used to be the Oregon team  - fantastic players, big plays, but lose on a turnover or a bad penalty.  This was a pretty mistake free game for the Bears.  And, along with that, we had a number of bad calls on the day (for example three points that were not on the board), and we kept coming.  Defense was tired, going against the no huddle / run option which is a bitch to defend against.  But when it came to it, Ezeff made a great play, and the Bears won.  This is the type of win that top three teams win.

When Jeff Tedford came to Cal he said he was building a program to compete for the National Title and the conference championship.  It was 5 years of great recruiting, winning and losing some big games, and gaining confidence that we could.  Now, the mindset is, we have the tools and we have the game.  And we are playing with a chip on the shoulder.  We know we are good, and we are not going to let some pesky second tier team deprive us of what is rightfully ours.

I think that is the mindset that they need, and I saw that all over the game on Saturday.  That is the difference between this team and other teams in the past.  Before, we were excited to be there.  Now, we have been there, and we are working on keeping others out.  It really is our house.

Go Bears!!