via www.fswaonline.org

With the season approaching, we here at the CGB thought it would be prudent to start examining and ranking the players at all the positions on the team.  The purpose of these posts will be to give our thoughts on who we think are the best players at each position and who are most likely to start and contribute this season.  So to start off this 1 post series, we start with the most important position on the team.  No, not the I'm-responsible-for-every-win-and-loss players, I mean QBs, but the Cal Football Sports Writer position..

HydroTech: I don't know about you guys, but I'm particularly excited about the Cal Football Sports Writers position this year.  I think we have a lot of talent and potential.  With this crop of writers, I think we could definitely reach the Rose Bowl. 

Let me recap the outstanding group of players we have at the Cal Football Sports Writers position this year.  I know Coach Tedford is very excited about this group of players and thinks that they are the linchpin of our team. 

First up, we have Jon Wilner. Wilner started off as a 3 star prospect out of Mercury News High, but upon arriving on campus he quickly proved to Coach Tedford that he had what it takes to be one of the best at the Cal Football Sports Writers position.  Unfortunately, some injuries have set Wilner back in the depth chart.  He's currently in his 6th year of eligibility and is fighting just to secure one of the four starting spots on the field.  Rumor has it that he's also been in Tedford's doghouse after breaking some unknown team rules.  Wilner doesn't see many snaps nowadays but he still gives his best from what limited playing time he sees.

Next up we have Jonathan Okanes.  Okanes is a walk-on and is entering his sophomore year.  While Okanes was not heavily recruited coming out of Contra Costa Times High, as the saying goes, what is one man's trash is another man's treasure.  While no other major Pac-10 programs gave Okanes a look, Tedford did.  And as we all know, Tedford is known for finding diamonds in the rough.  In Okanes' first year, he quickly proved to Cal fans and to Tedford that he can be a starter and an all-conference player.  Okanes is averaging 2.2 posts a day and is quickly proving that he can handle the punishment of being an every-day writer.

Miller keeps himself clean-shaven to maximize his aerodynamics.
via assets.espn.go.com

One of Cal's most promising players at the Cal Football Sports Writer position this year is true freshman Ted Miller.  Miller comes to Cal via the extremely prestigous ESPN High in Scottsdale, Arizona.  He was a consensus Parade All-American both his junior and senior year of highschool and also won the APSE award (Associated Press Sports Editor award) in 2007 for his Marshawn-esque domination of opposing teams. Miller was ranked as a 5 star recruit by both national recruiting services Scout and Rivals.com.  He is Tedford's second 5 star recruit as a head coach.  Rivals.com rated Miller as the 9th best overall prospect in the nation last year and Scout rated Miller as the 12th best overall prospect in the nation. Miller was the consensus #1 recruit at the Sports Writer position by both Scout and Rivals.com.  Miller is expected to earn a starting job immediately and be an instant-impact player for the Cal Football team.  Reports out of spring, summer, and fall camp are that Miller is averaging a whopping 3.1 posts a day!  Miller clearly has the stamina to play every single down of the game and contribute on special teams too.  Cal fans have high hopes for Miller to become a locker room leader and a force on the field.

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Glenn Dickey published an article a few days ago with some GREAT quotes from Tedford regarding our QBs.  Although this article has already been linked in a Daily Bear Dump, it is far too revealing and interesting to not get front page attention. 

You may click here to read the entire Dickey article with some SF Giants news, Warriors news, and A's news, or click the "Continue reading this post..." link below to read only the Cal related part which I have copied in full.

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A hot new offensive craze is sweeping the nations' coaches, one that just might be the answer to all of our problems.  The spread-option?  That was sooooo 2003.  If you've gotta have the latest and greatest offensive innovation, the one that will soon change the game of football, you've gotta have the A-11 Offense.  [A hat tip to CaliforniaDave for finding this first and sending us a link].

via www.humphinternet.com

ragnarok:  What is this new fancy offense, and why should you care?  Well, if you didn't bother to read their description or look at the picture above, the A-11 Offense is an offense where all 11 players on the field are potential eligible pass receivers.  Whaaa?  [Deadspin called it 'organized football's version of "Everyone just go long." ']  Even more intriguing, the offense features two quarterbacks lined up simultaneously in the shotgun.  Amazing!

Of course, when I read this, I immediately thought, "Gosh [yes, I say 'Gosh' when I think to myself], this could solve Cal's quarterback controversy!  Since Tedford can't choose between Nate Longshore and Kevin Riley, maybe now he could simply play them both.  We'd get the best of both worlds!'  Sufficiently intrigued, I plunged into the depths of the internet, determined to learn more.

So where did this crazy idea come from?  Not far from here, in fact.  If Cal football had made you so morose that you turned to local high school football for entertainment, you might have caught the A-11's debut season.  The masterminds behind this new offense are Kurt Bryan, the current head coach at Piedmont High School and assistant coach Steve Humphries.  The two concocted this idea to level the playing field for their team.  Piedmont is a relatively small school and has a much smaller talent pool to draw from than other high schools with thousands of kids.  So while Piedmont was out-skilled in the past, now Piedmont out-schemes their opponents.  With this new offense, Piedmont High finished the 2007 season with a 7-4 season and a 7 game win streak. Not bad.  Not bad at all for a new offense's first year.

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Here are my final thoughts on the Armed Forces Bowl.  In case you missed the previous installments, here is Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, and Part XI.  (Ed Note:  I've been wanting to do an Arvo Part joke this entire frigging time, but have managed to hold off, probably for all of our sakes, but I mean c'mon!)

I think the bowl game can be distinctly broken up into two segments.  The first being the segment when Longshore was the QB, and the second being the segment when Riley was the QB.  The game changed so dramatically when Riley took the field.  Of course, the question is: why? 

There are many answers and factors.  Some are big scale factors (such as the team's motivation and morale), and others were small scale factors such as missed blocks here and there or great passes here and there.

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It's summer.  Summer is long and there is little sports news to report.  Thus, we here at the CGB are having a hard time filling content this summer.  Even though we're from an elite academic institution (so very elite!), the #1 public university in America (we're #1!), and the best UC of the UCs (although UCR is a darn close 2nd), we're running out of ideas.  EPIC PHAIL.  So with our creativity shot, and desperation settling in, we've turned to other sports and players that are only tangentially related to Cal.  Please excuse our failure to provide you with hi kwality Cal blogging that u have come 2 expekt from graduates of such a elite akademik instutushun.  With that, we now present you with a post on arena football.

So on Saturday night, I found myself in the hot California central valley with not much to do on a Saturday night.  Being a bit bored, I thought I might go to an arena football game since it was only $11 for a cheap end zone ticket.

I had never been to an arena football game before but thought I'd give one a try.  There is an arena football team in Stockton, CA called the Stockton Lightning.  For those of you who don't know where Stockton is, it's about 40 miles south of Sacramento.  There's not a lot in Stockton, yet there happens to be a minor league hockey team or something, a minor league baseball team, and an arena football team.  Oh, and Stockton is the hometown of former Cal Bear Lavelle Hawkins, and current Cal Bear Tad Smith... and yours truly.

Incidentally, former Cal offensive lineman Bryan Deemer is supposedly on the Stockton Lightning so I figured I had someone to root for at the game.  But then I on the online roster that he is inactive.  Bummer.

On the other hand, Lavelle Hawkins' cousin, Ruben Jackson, is a WR for the Lightning.  Ruben Jackson went to Oregon State.  This is his rookie year in the arena league. 

Because there were no other Cal players on the roster, I figured I'd root for Ruben Jackson since he is somewhat related to Lavelle Hawkins, and Hawk went to Cal, so... by the strange laws of loyalty, that means I'm rooting for Ruben.  Or something.

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In this eleventh and final installment of this bowl game analysis, we're going to look at the option from under center and in a goal line situation.  In case you missed the previous installments, here is Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, and Part X.

Let's begin.

Here's the situation.  Cal is facing a first and goal from about the 2 yard line.  They are up 5 late in the 4th quarter and a touchdown here should just about put the game away.  23 personnel is in the game (3 TEs, 2 backs).  Riley is the QB and under center.

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In this tenth installment of approximately a 12 play analysis, we're going to look at a touchdown pass to Robert Jordan against a cover 2 defense.  In case you missed the previous installments, here is Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, and Part IX.

Let's begin.

Here's the situation.  Cal faces a 3rd and 9 in their own territory.  They are utilizing 11 personnel (3 WRs, 1 TE, and 1 back).  There are trips WRs right and the TE (Stevens) is left.  Because the TE is on the opposite side of the WRs and not covered, he is an eligible receiver.  Forsett is in the weak position since he is on the opposite side of the TE. 

Note that Air Force is defending with a 4-2 nickel defense.  Note the 4 down linemen (the AF defenders with the red dots on the LOS) and the two linebackers behind the 4 down linemen.  Also note that AF's 3 CBs (cornerbacks) are playing man coverage on the trips and showing one deep safety.   The other safety is playing down in the box to help stop a run should the play be a zone read.

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In this ninth installment of approximately a 12 play analysis, we're going to look at a deep pass to Robert Jordan against man coverage.  In case you missed the previous installments, here is Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII and Part VIII.

Let's begin.

In previous posts, we've seen AF playing a lot of zone coverage schemes to defend against the Cal air attack.  We've also seen a lot of Cal completions against AF's zone defenses.  This begs the question: is Air Force ever going to go to man?  Well, it appears as if the AF defensive coordinator finally started giving in to the idea of playing man.  On this play, he did.  And after we see the result of this play, I think we might have an answer as to why the AF defensive coordinator didn't want to play man if he had to.

Below is the post-snap image.  Because ESPN was showing some ad or something just prior, I couldn't get a clean grab of a pre-snap image.  So we'll just have to use the post-snap image. 

The situation is a 1st and 10 in Cal's own territory.  Cal is using base personnel (2 WRs, 1 TE, 2 backs) in a strong-I formation.  The formation is strong because the fullback is behind the tackle to the side of the TE.  Air Force is defending with their 3-4 defense and appears to be showing man coverage - note how the AF CBs (cornerbacks) are playing press coverage on the Cal WRs.

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In this eighth installment of approximately a 12 play analysis, we're going to look at a touchdown pass to Robert Jordan against a cover 2 defense.  In case you missed the previous installments, here is Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, and Part VII.

Let's begin.

Here's the situation.  Cal is in the redzone with a first and 10.  Cal is using base personnel (2 WRs, 1 TE, 2 backs).  The formation is a strong-I formation with twin WRs to the opposite side of the strength (the strength is right because the TE is right).  Air Force is defending with their 3-4 defense again.  Note the AF SS (strong safety) appears to be playing man coverage on the Jordan the slot WR. 

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Squirtle and another tree sitter named Mathew Marks voluntarily came down from the trees Wednesday evening. 

According to Mogulof, Costello [Squirtle], 20, approached a university police officer and told the officer that he and a possible second protestor wanted to come down.

University police Chief Victoria Harrison spoke with Costello and was told he wanted to come down peacefully and also wanted a cigarette.

Marks, 24, said that he wanted to give a statement and give his bag to tree-sitter supporters down below, said Mogulof.

The two men, along with a videographer who had been documenting the tree-sitters, were escorted to the police station and gave statements, the spokesman said.

The two tree-sitters were asked about provisions of the remaining seven protesters, said Mogulof, and police were told they had adequate food and water.

According to Mogulof, Costello and Marks were both charged with trespassing and violation of a court order prohibiting people in the trees. Marks was additionally charged in violation with a previous stay-away order.

The two were taken to jail and are expected to be cited and released, said Mogulof, who added that after police watch video footage of the protestors, there could be additional charges for throwing human waste at officers.

I'm hoping the rest come down soon but...

Sinai said the tree-sitters initially refused to talk to Hynes and Dong but eventually told them that they [the rest of the tree sitters] have enough food and water "for a while."

However, the tree-sitters wouldn't reveal exactly how much food and water they have, according to Sinai.