Use this thread to discuss the National Championship Game today between Florida and Oklahoma that will determine who is the #2 best team behind Utah.  Game starts at 5 PM PST on Fox. 

And at 7 PM, the Cal-WSU b-ball game is on.  But apparently not on TV.  So, check it out on the radio: KYOU 1550.  Or follow it online.  Go Bears!

More like Cougar Day.  We face WSU, but we also have UW on the horizon.  If the weather cooperates and Cal can make it up there, this should be a great weekend for hoops.  Cal is hoping to build off of its momentum from sweeping the Arizona schools.

First up, the Cougs:

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I'll never leave you again.  I don't know what I was thinking!??!?!  I can't do this long distance thing.  All the late night dirty texting is great.  But it isn't quite the same.  It's not the same.  It's never the same.

I miss you so much.  I just wanted to caress your beautiful icon and tousle your great tagline.  What a sweet tagline you have.  Did you miss me?  Please say yes.  I'm not sure I can handle "no."  You weren't seeing other bloggers, were you?  Did that Jake character touch your inappropriately?  I'LL KILL THAT BEAVER LOVING BASTARD!

But, yknow, the time apart might have been good for our relationship.  Give me time to work on some new material.  All that old stuff was so stale.  Kevin Craft is part of a Norwegian Death Metal band?!?  What the heck was I smoking, then? 

But now, I've got some stuff that really pops!  Like check this little ditty out:

Q.Why did the chicken cross the road?

A.  To get to the other side.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, he shoots he scores! oh man, I totally just wrote that one laying by the beach, doodling your face, CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.  Ok, here's another one, I thought up.

I just flew in from San Francisco..........AND BOY ARE MY ARMS TIRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Did you see what I did there?!?  Unbelievable!  Yet another TwistNHook classic.  I'M BACK, BABY!

So, yes, there are some great jokes on the horizon, almost as good as those bad boys.  But the most important thing I did was consider the existential nature of "NAILED IT!"  As we headed into the vacation void, I was thinking that maybe that meme was stale.  AddictedToQuack had been down on it.  Maybe they were on to something.  They did get that "Oregon State can't defend the run straight ahead offense" thing correct, afterall.

So, I wracked my brain, trying to think of some other memes we could use.  Maybe, I thought, if we wanted to agree wholeheartedly with something, we could respond with the word "This."  Or perhaps we could discuss whether or not the San Francisco Giants had previously done an action similar to the one in question.  Those were just some of the ideas I considered.  But then I figured that those were the absolute fucking lutely stupidest possible things anybody could ever think up.  Ever. 

So, I threw away those inane inanities and realized that no matter how hard I try to fight it, Nailed It and I are inseparable.  We're BFFAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAEAEs!  I think the Bible put it best in Revelation 22:13 when they said:

"Nailed It is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Now, I know what you are thinking.  Generally, you come to the California Golden Blogs for the finest Biblical analysis this side of "ChristerHitchens.com."  And you are disappointed, because, let's be honest here, no Biblical Analysis of Revelations 22:13 would be complete without looking at Revelation 22:14.  Ok, ok, ok, I guess I'm a bit lazy coming off my vacation.  And a Jew.  Either way, let's take a gander:

"How blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city!

Washing robes?  Gates into the City?  Alligators wearing sunglasses?  Now, I've seen EVERYTHING!

.......

.......

I think I speak for everybody when I say NAILED IT!

So, let's greet this new year by NAILING IT all over again.  NAILING IT all night long.  I fell in love again with NAILED IT! and so can you.  And if you can't, well, then you can take your USC degree in "Recreational Sciences" and get the fuck out of here!

Bears looking good under Montgomery:

ONE AFTER ANOTHER, men and women of all ages approached Sandy Barbour with expressions of appreciation. The Cal athletic director was, in the immediate wake of this Golden Bears win, the queen of Haas Pavilion.

Royalty is the natural status of those who change a culture for the better. Nobody looks more royal — and ingenious — than Barbour, for she delivered Mike Montgomery to the Cal men's basketball program.

Montgomery's first weekend through the treacherous path that is the Pac-10 schedule was a resounding success. His Bears ripped Arizona on Friday, then on Sunday followed up with an 81-71 flushing of 17th-ranked Arizona State that made statements galore.

via extras.mnginteractive.com

BBall Musings:

– Walking down the stairway toward the press room at Haas Pavilion after Cal’s win over Arizona on Friday night, I heard one fan remark, "Wow, that was a surprise." Wait a minute, that was every  Cal fan saying that.

– Not sure which was the bigger stunner – Cal sweeping the Arizona schools or Oregon State beating anyone, much less USC. Congrats to Craig Robinson, who already has a leg-up on his brother-in-law, President-elect Obama, in their respective rebuilding jobs.

Football review:  QBs

Ah, yes. I’m sure just reading the word "quarterbacks" already has many of you worked into a tizzy. Let’s all settle down and work through this. Deep breath, everyone. Think pleasant thoughts.

The quarterback position got almost as much attention at the end of the year as it did in the beginning — albeit, for a substantially different reason. We all know why the focus was there in the preseason — to see who would win the starting job. Would Jeff Tedford stick with embattled incumbent Nate Longshore or tantalizingly talented redshirt sophomore Kevin Riley? We all know how that played out. Of course, it didn’t stick.

The attention at the end of the season was mostly because how ineffective both players were. Tedford went back and forth all season trying to find an answer. We’re one week into the offseason now and he still doesn’t have one.

Cal upsets ASU:

The Cal men's basketball team completed a perfect weekend to open the Pac-10 Conference season, upending No. 17 Arizona State 81-71 to send home a delirious Haas Pavilion crowd with smiles on their faces.

"It was definitely fun," said junior guard Patrick Christopher, who finished the game with 20 points, two stitches on his chin and a chipped tooth. "People are coming to watch us play more. I guess we're a pretty exiting team."

Two days after beating Arizona for just the third time in 21 tries, the Bears put a bookend on just their second home sweep of the desert schools in 10 years.

Womens BBall beats ASU, too:

TEMPE, Ariz. — Ashley Walker's layup with 1.8 seconds remaining gave the No. 13 Cal women's basketball team a 54-53 win over Arizona State on Sunday.

Dymond Simon hit a 3-pointer with 8.7 seconds to go to put Arizona State up 53-52. But that left enough time for one more possession for Cal (11-2, 2-0 Pac-10). Kelsey Adrian missed a layup but Walker got the loose ball underneath for the game-winner.

"The final play was really surreal. I was just watching the whole thing," Cal coach Joanne Boyle said. "We set a play. We didn't get anything. We called a time out. We went back, trying something a little bit different, tweak it a little bit. The ball bounces the right way. Ashley grabs the ball on the last second, puts it back in. Sometimes karma just comes your way."

Simon's shot capped a 13-2 run over nearly five minutes for the Sun Devils (8-6, 0-2).

Natasha Vital scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half, including a go-ahead basket with 39 seconds left to give the Bears a 52-50 lead.

Womens Gymnastics about to start season:

BERKELEY - The California Golden Bears women's gymnastics team opens its season this Saturday, Jan. 10, with a 7 p.m. tri-meet, hosting Sacramento State and UC Davis at Haas Pavilion.

With only four upperclassmen on this year's Cal squad, head coach Cari DuBois is looking to each gymnast on the team to be at her best this season. Coming off a campaign in which it earned representation at the NCAA West Regional for the third consecutive year, Cal has its sights set on returning to regionals as a team and improving its finish at the Pac-10 Championships.

In order to accomplish these goals, DuBois will call upon her three seniors - Joanna Bennett, Bridgette Glass and Jessica Kelley - to provide the veteran leadership necessary to lead the young squad. In addition to the guidance of the seniors, DuBois notes that each gymnast will need to work hard at her role on the team in order to be successful this year.

"We definitely want to qualify for regionals as a team and continue to improve our fitness level and remain healthy," said DuBois, who begins her seventh season leading the Cal program. "Looking back at last year, no matter what type of adversity we faced, we remained determined and continued to work hard. I believe that we are a very talented young group, and I feel the passion and desire. Leadership will have a significant impact on what we are able to accomplish this year. Overall, I feel like the team is in better shape than it was last year."

 

via grfx.cstv.com

Jack Clark is 2008 coach of the year:

BERKELEY - California head coach Jack Clark was named National Coach of the Year by American Rugby News on Dec. 29 in honor of his 2008 season, a 24-1 campaign that puts Clark's career coaching record at 440-66-5 (.861) after 25 seasons, making him the all-time winningest coach in the Cal rugby program's 127-year history.

"You accept recognition on behalf of your players and your team," Clark said of the honor. The sixth coach in Cal rugby's history also gave praise to his players and staff for their invaluable contributions to the Bears' success.

Clark was selected by ARN as the Coach of the Year from a pool of candidates representing U.S. coaches at all levels. He was also named Best Coach of the Spring by The Daily Californian May 7, edging out Joanne Boyle, the honorable mention following her women's basketball team's third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

In announcing the award, ARN editor Brian Lowe praised Clark's "phenomenal achievement this year in winning his 20th national championship with the Golden Bears. What an outstanding achievement and one which will stand for a long, long time."

LBJ Jr. is Pac10 PotW:

BERKELEY - California junior forward Patrick Christopher has been named the U.S. Bank Pac-10 Men's Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 29 - Jan. 4, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

Christopher posted two 20-point performances as the Golden Bears opened Pac-10 play with victories over Arizona and No. 17 Arizona State. The Compton, Calif., native matched his season high of 23 points against the Wildcats on Jan. 2. Christopher averaged 21.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 steals in the two contests.

Christopher's efforts helped the Bears increase their current winning streak to seven games. The junior is tied for 10th in the Pac-10 in scoring (15.0 ppg) and ranks fourth in free throw percentage (.878).

Use this thread to discuss the Fiesta Bowl. The game starts at 5 PM Pacific Standard Time and is being broadcast on Fox.  It pains me to say this, because I've never warmed to those continual runners up from the midwest, but Go Buckeyes!  Beat The Longhorns!

We apologize for being late on the ball here.  My excuse is that I was up buying fried chicken from a gas station at 6 in the morning.  Which was AWESOME!  But that's neither here nor there.  Anyway, use this post to discuss all the crazyness of today's games.  Follow the scores live here, too. 

We'll have further posts regarding our in depth thoughts on the Cal victory over Miami in the Emerald Bowl.  However, while we work furiously at our typewriters to write those posts, please use this thread to discuss all the post-game action.  Go Bears!  Beat the interminable 9 month wait until the 2009 season! 

This is the fourth quarter thread.  Use it to discuss all the action in the fourth quarter.  Don't forget to vote in our California Golden Blogs Insta-Poll.  Go Bears!

This is the third quarter thread.  Use it to discuss all the action in the third quarter.  Don't forget to vote in our California Golden Blogs Insta-Poll.  Go Bears!

This is the second quarter thread.  Use it to discuss all the actionin the second quarter.  Don't forget to vote in our California Golden Blogs Insta-Poll.  Go Bears!