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The Cal Coaches Tour that I mentioned a few weeks ago, officially kicked off this week to record crowds and some interesting nuggets of info. I waited too long to decide on going, and the one Nor Cal stop that I was going to be able to make (Pleasant Hill) sold out the quickest. Great.
Apparently, nothing too groundbreaking came from the meetings, but to summarize: Montgomery schmoozed over the crowds, Tedford looked relaxed, and Barbour continued to be the man...Not like, looking like a man, or having the semblance of a man, but figuratively speaking in that I think she's an incredible Athletic Director. Because I don't think she looks a man. Not at all.
Ahem. Anyway. Here's the first batch of reports of what's gone so far.
Jonathan Okanes - Bear Talk
Probably the most interesting tidbits to come from Okanes recap of Monday's event at Back Forty BBQ in Pleasant Hill was that the Nate Longshore/Kevin Riley (sorry Brock) QB Battle, may go into the fall--as in the games as well.
Not I'm not sure if this will be more of what happened with the beginning of the 06 season, where Nate was named the started, but Tedford did promise that Joe Ayoob would see some playing time regardless, or if it will be more of what happened at the beginning of the 2003 season, where Reggie Robertson started, but it was fairly clear to everyone that he was just getting the season started until Aaron Rodgers was ready to play. Who knows?
We do know that Tedford again reiterated that he wasn't a fan of the two QB system, but it'll be interesting to see in which manner he'll go about getting both QBs some playing time in the first game or two...or three.
Oh and Tedford seemed to heavily emphasize that regardless of who would be starting, that we all needed to support them. Going to be hard to do, but I agree whole heartedly. Hopefully we won't have repeats of Cal fans verbally crapping on our QBs ala Joe Ayoob-USC-2005.
Finally, apparently Jahvid Best won't need surgery and is again tearing up turf. Sweet.
Dave Albee - Marin IJ
Albee covered the Cal Alumni Club Luncheon in Marin on Sunday, and focused his report on Mike Montgomery. And for good reason. Not only has his hiring been one of the biggest stories of the college basketball offseason, but the guy stole the show.
Giving Tedford bear hugs, showing up in casual polo tees, Montgomery has been playing it chills. And he's been showing his charismatic side as well. At Monday's event, after seeing the size of the crowd, Montgomery joked that the turnout was larger than what he had seen at Maples his first years. Zing!
And Finally...
I leave you all with a video of Tedford speaking from Monday's tour stop. YouTube quality, but you get the point.
4 comments:
Hey, read this from Yahoo sports:
DeSean Jackson isn't T.O. How great is that Philly fans?
DeSean Jackson met Terrell Owens, however briefly, at a promotional appearance in Los Angeles last weekend. Jackson ended up meeting Freddie Mitchell at a workout a few months back, also in LA. Jackson wants to be that playmaking wideout Philadelphia Eagles fans covet, but he said Tuesday he does not want to be T.O. —- at least not in the sense of "talking about your teammates'' - and he does not want to be Freddie, the guy Jackson has heard "talked his way out of the league.''
There are pitfalls to be avoided here, concerns to be addressed, as Jackson begins his Eagles career a month after being drafted in the second round, 49th overall, out of Cal. And they don't all have to do with the now-famous Scouting Combine revelation that he is 5-10, 169, instead of Cal's 6-foot, 178 listing.
Jackson has an ego, isn't shy about touting his own abilities. When his college team flopped spectacularly the second half of last season, from 5-0 to 6-6, stalling his bid for the Heisman, he acknowledges he grew frustrated, and talked about wanting the ball.
Yeh I read that article earlier today. I was going to post it with thoughts, but got too busy today. I may throw it up tomorrow. We'll see.
I went to the San Jose function at Gordon Bierch's brewing factory near Japantown. There were about 250 people in attendance and for $10 you could get all you could eat and drink (adult sodas -- yeah!) featuring great brats and awesome garlic fries (Dan Gordon invented them in '94).
Tedford, Montgomery and Sandy spent a lot of time in the crowd mixing it up with us mere mortals. I had a chance to chat it up with Jeff - very cool.
The speeches were pretty dry but the Q&A got quite lively. Montgomery really showed an eloquence and openness I didn't expect. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak, make it a priority.
Beyond the not-unexpected jokes about tree sitters, there was also a lot of promotion of our standings in the Director's Cup and a clear attempt to rise to #1 in the overall rankings of college sport. I felt convinced that the program was dedicated to get there.
A push to recruit more Bear Backers brought people to the table. Probably saw another 50 or so sign up towards their overall goal of 15,000. $25 got you in the program and a free T-shirt. Now the traveling tour is off to SoCal. Go see them if you can.
Thanks for completely rubbing in the fact that I was unable to go. Just playing.
But that sounds really, fun, and thanks for the writeup. I'm going to be sure to try and make my way over next year.
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