Update

I have been traveling quite a bit this past month, with little time to post. That being said, it has been a tough time to be a Bear, and I have not wanted to say a lot.

First, we have a guy who drags us through the mud in a weird high-school brain cramp moment when he declares for the Bears on TV - without having the faintest conversation with anyone from the program. It was a little weird. Luckily for the guy, Jerry Glanville will probably offer him at Portland State. Freaks Unite!!

Then, our fabled signing day surprise certainly did - he stayed at Michigan, instead of pulling for the Bears. It gave our otherwise decent class a sort of missed opportunity feeling. We did fine but not great this year - reflective of our season on the gridiron.

But the biggest slice of cake in the depression standing for the Bears has to be the Basketball team. I can not tell you how good this team should be. We have all the talent that we will ever have. We have very good and even great players on this team. We have players who are going to be playing at the next level NOT EVEN STARTING AS A SENIOR!!! Yet, we can not get over the hump to win the games that we absolutely have to win. We have gone from out to in to out of the tournament, to so far out there is no hope. We have to win 5 of the next 6. Sorry guys, it just is not going to happen. Buy your tickets to the NIT.

I really feel like this has been one of the more depressing Basketball seasons ever as a Bear fan. Not because they are doing poorly - but that they are doing exactly as a Ben Braun team normally does - win one or two that they should not, and lose out by a few points in many games that they should win. It doesn't matter who is on the team, how many points are scored, how good our offense is. There are going to be games every year where we are just going to lose in the last minute each and every year because of stupid coaching calls, poor play, lack of effort, whatever you want to call it. The bottom line is that Cal is always going to be a team that rises to the mid level of the Pac 10 each year with Ben Braun as the Coach, no matter who is on the team. And that will get you in some years when the Pac 10 is down, but most years you will be sitting home in March wondering about spring football.

This is the first year where I really have become anti-Braun. I always liked the guy - I still do like him. And I think he is a good coach. And maybe all we deserve is a mid-level basketball program. But in years past, we never seemed to have a great team of players. So winning the few against UCLA and the occasional Stanford or Arizona victory was fun, and if we made the tournament, that was great. Hell, what else did we have - certainly not football. This year, though, we certainly do have the players. We just do not have the team to do it right. And that starts at the head guy.

The thing is, I think last year and this year are probably some of his better coaching years. Last year, he did a bang-up job of getting the team together with a host of injuries. Yes, we had a losing season, but it was not the total embarrassment that I thought it would be before the season. And this year, he finally seems to have been able to coach an offense. It is almost like he changed his stripes, and now, for the life of him, cannot coach a defense. It is weird.

Meg Whitman just quit at Ebay - she said 10 years is enough for anyone to lead an organization. Ben is at 12. When you are not improving each year at the coaching game it is time to go. And it is.

Now watch them crush Arizona State and win out the season. I would love to eat all the crow in the world, believe me.

GO BEARS!!