Wednesday, August 13, 2008

ESPN: The Cal Experience - Football and Flakes

Link.

By Ted Miller

Berkeley, Calif. -- In front of me, a California football team grunts through stretching before its second practice of the day. Behind me, three guys sit near the top of an oak tree, one shirtless, strumming what appears to be a banjo.  Above them is a makeshift chair, where a young woman who called herself "Dumpster Muffin" earned her 15 minutes of fame by yelling and screaming. I covered Auburn for a couple of years and never saw anything like that on the Plains. Remember how the Tennessee fans laughed at them last year? And then remember how those same fans completely lost their sense of humor three hours later?

That was a Berkeley moment with the added benefit of a butt-kicking. The Cal football experience is different. Not the football part. This is a big-time program like any other.

It's the university experience as a whole. No other place I've been owns a vibe quite like this place. Before the 2006 Big Game the "Tree Sitters" climbed into the oak trees outside Memorial Stadium and they haven't left, though only three remain after court-supported university action has thinned their ranks. They are trying to stop the construction of a new athletic training facility in order to preserve the life of 44 trees.

They have tossed excrement on people. They've struggled to get the facts straight over their cause (it has been established the these oaks are neither old nor rare). They've forced the school to put up an ugly fence and pay for security and a permanent police presence.  Just about everyone at Cal is annoyed by the "Tree Sitters". But they do represent something quintessentially American: The Flakey Protest. And they have persevered for a cause they believe in. Jeff Tedford sees them outside his office window every day. I asked him at Pac-10 media day whether they ever amused him. Tedford said no. Then he offered -- sensing my disappointment over his not being colorful for my question -- that he sometimes admired their ingenuity and determination. So there.

The facility will eventually be constructed. It's only a matter if time, even as court delays keep piling up. It will be a great day for the athletic department when that happens. But I will take a moment for a wistful thought over the "Tree Sitters". Now I'm going to start paying attention to the stuff in front of me -- the football -- instead of what's behind. Back later.

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