KTVU: Mixed Ruling On Proposed Training Center Pleases UC

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(Note from Blogger: I’ve highlighted portions below which appear to indicate that UC won on the major issues)

BERKELEY, Calif. -- Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller issued a mixed ruling Wednesday that initially pleased both supporters and opponents of the University of California, Berkeley's controversial proposal to build a new sports training center next to its football stadium.   UC-Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the university's lawyers are still reviewing Miller's 129-page ruling, which wasn't released until after 6 p.m, but their initial reaction is that Miller "ruled in the university's favor regarding every issue concerning the construction of the student athlete high performance center."

But Stephen Volker, the attorney for the California Oak Foundation, one of three plaintiff groups who filed suit to try to stop the $125 million project, said he's "very pleased" with Miller's ruling because she ruled that some aspects of the university's plan violate the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zoning Act.  That act is a state law that prohibits alterations or additions to existing structures for human occupancy built across earthquake faults where the cost of the alteration or addition will exceed half the value of the existing structure.  The proposed training center would be located next to the UC's Memorial Stadium, which sits on top of the Hayward earthquake fault.  Volker said Miller also ruled that the university's environmental review of the project "is deficient in several respects."

A spokeswoman for the city of Berkeley, which is another plaintiff in the case, said Miller's ruling is mixed but appears to preclude the university from going forward at this time.  Mogulof said UC-Berkeley Vice Chancellor Nathan Bostrom and Athletic Director Sandy Barbour will comment on Miller's ruling at a news conference at 8 p.m.  In her ruling, Miller said the university's environmental impact report and approval of the first phase of the training center project complies with the Alquist-Priolo act.

Miller said that as a whole the training center doesn't violate the act because it is not an addition or alteration to Memorial Stadium.  However, Miller said "certain elements" of the training center project do constitute alterations to the football stadium.  The judge said that in order comply with the act, the university must determine the value of the alterations and of the football stadium.

Miller said the university complied with environmental procedural and substantive requirements "in nearly all respects" but the record "does not support the university's unavoidability findings relating to earthquake related risks and additional noise and traffic impacts" from the university's plans to have add more high-capacity events at the stadium, which already hosts about six football games a year.  The third plaintiff in the case is the Panoramic Hill Association, which represents people who live in the neighborhood next to the football stadium.  A UC Board of Regents committee approved the project in December of 2006, but Miller issued a preliminary injunction against the project on Jan. 29, 2007, which temporarily halted it.

Volker said his interpretation of Miller's ruling is that the university can't go forward with its plans in their current form.   In her ruling, Miller said the plaintiffs must submit a proposed writ of mandate and judgment by June 24 and the university must respond by June 27.

Miller said she will retain jurisdiction over the case until it has determined that the university has complied with environmental laws and the Alquist-Priolo Act.  Earlier in the day, environmental activist Dumpster Muffin's standoff with arborists 60 feet above a UC Berkeley oak grove gave the showdown between the university and tree-sitting protesters a human face as clashes over the threatened grove continued for a second day.  With supporters chanting below, Muffin stood precariously on a wooden platform high above the trees anchored by what appeared to be a 2x4 and a pair of wires.

The arborists were trying to lure Muffin from the perch and threatened to cut the support wires. With each verbal exchange between Muffin and workers, tensions rose. Below her, supporters jeered UC police officers deployed around the grove. Matt Marks, a supporter of the tree-sitters, said protesters were determined to protect the grove which is schedule for removal to make way for an athletic facility. "This is a really important plot of land on many levels," he told KTVU Wednesday morning. "We are here to protect it… we will leave if the UC signs a document that says it will never be cut down."  Campus officials had increased the number of officers surrounding the grove Wednesday, heightening the tensions as the hours wound down toward the release of a court decision on the fate of the grove. On Tuesday, arborists assisted by a cherry picker and, protected by at least 40 UC police officers, entered the grove and began removing support structures and ropes constructed by the protesters in the trees. One tree-sitter was arrested after she allegedly bit an arborist working to cut the lines.  The action, which sliced some ropes that carry food, water and demonstrators into the trees, came on the eve of a ruling on lawsuits challenging campus plans for a new sports center. The plan would mean cutting down the oak grove where protesters have been perching for months.

Campus officials said they won't try to yank protesters out of the trees, but made it clear they've run out of patience. The protests began in December 2006. "We wish it hadn't come to this. These people have been given every opportunity to come down voluntarily," said campus spokesman Dan Mogulof. "The university has been tolerant and that tolerance is coming to an end." Protesters vowed they would not give up and some tossed buckets of urine at police and arborists, hitting a few targets, according to Mogulof. An acrid tang hung in the air afterward. One female tree-sitter allegedly bit an arborist and was taken into custody by police, Mogulof said.  A spokesman for the group Save the Oaks confirmed that a long-term tree-sitter was forcibly taken down from the oak grove.  Doug Buckwald said that around 4:30 p.m. a woman who goes by the name "Millipede" was pulled from one of the trees and was placed in police custody.  "They grabbed a woman and took her down from the tree as she was screaming," Buckwald said.  Opponents of the new sports center criticized the university's actions as heavy-handed.  "This is just a further example of the criminalization of what should have been a community planning process. That's the real shame here," said Buckwald. . University officials say the new athletic facility -- planned in concert with upgrades to cramped and aging Memorial Stadium -- is sorely needed.

But the City of Berkeley, a neighborhood group and the California Oak Foundation sued to block construction based on concerns about earthquake safety, traffic, and the oak grove. The seismic argument stems from the fact that Memorial Stadium, which is next to the proposed facility, is bisected by the Hayward Fault.  State law prohibits renovations to structures on earthquake faults if the changes amount to more than 50 percent of the value of the existing building.  Campus officials say the new facility is not a renovation but a separate building. They note that the proposed center would not be on an earthquake fault, although it would be near, and say studies show the building would be seismically safe. On the issue of the trees, campus officials say they will plant three new trees for every one cut down. Mogulof could not speculate on what will happen if sitters refuse to descend from the trees. "At every possible junction they have chosen confrontation. We're really hoping that at some point there'll be an outbreak of common sense," he said.

School officials said the protest has cost the school more than $370,000 for security staffing and for fencing to limit access to the grove.   The Oak Grove is located just north of the intersection Bancroft Way and Piedmont Avenue, near the International House in Berkeley.

UC Berkeley: Judge's ruling on student-athlete center is 'a major victory for our students'

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BERKELEY – UC Berkeley officials said Wednesday night (June 18) that the campus has prevailed on virtually every challenge in legal action that sought to halt construction of the planned Student-Athlete High Performance Center.   "We are thrilled that the judge concluded that state seismic law will allow the Student-Athlete High Performance Center to be built on the site" adjacent to California Memorial Stadium, said Vice Chancellor for Administration Nathan Brostrom. "This is a major victory for our students."

On preliminary review, Alameda Superior Court Judge Barbara Miller’s 120-page ruling, released Wednesday evening, gives the campus victory on nearly every aspect of challenges to its environmental impact report and seismic review. More details and reaction will be available on the UC Berkeley NewsCenter following a press conference later this evening.

KGO TV: Judge Halts UC Berkeley Sports Facility Project Because of Hayward Fault Line

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The more than 100 page ruling gives a split decision on the Oak Grove sports project that UC Berkeley wanted to build and take down lots of old trees for.   A judge issued an order late today saying UC Berkeley cannot move forward with the project taking down Grove Oak trees because of the existing law saying you cannot build on a fault line.

KPIX: Judge's Ruling Preserves Cal Oak Grove For Now

Link.

An Alameda County Superior court judge ruled late Wednesday that an oak tree grove on the University of California, Berkeley campus is not to be touched for now to make room for a new athletic facility.

 

Judge Barbara Miller kept a temporary injunction in place to preserve the trees near Memorial Stadium. Her ruling said UC Berkeley failed to follow laws and procedures with regarding to developing the land for a $125 million sports training center.

 

The 44 trees have been home to protestors for a year and a half. Those so-called tree sitters have had a tense standoff with police who have removed ropes, lines and supplies that the protestors had placed in the grove.

 

By Wednesday afternoon, most of the protesters' ropes were gone, and one of two large platforms were taken down.

 

The city of Berkeley, a nonprofit tree group and stadium neighbors had sued the university to stop the project. They claim the site is unsafe for construction because of the nearby Hayward earthquake fault.

KCBS RADIO: NO RULING YET

As of 5:05 p.m. no ruling has been issued.  The reporter said that tree-sitters are concerned that if the ruling comes out later today, the University will begin removing trees tonight, before an appeal can be filed.  She went on to say that the decision, if it is in the University’s favor, could specify that no trees can be removed for a set time.

Fox Sports: Bears must prove they're worthy of the hype

Link.

by Rich Cirminiello

After raising, and subsequently missing, lofty expectations in consecutive years, Cal has squandered whatever equity it had amassed when it came to national respect.   Have the Bears peaked under Jeff Tedford? It's a question the program will try to dismiss while attempting to eliminate the stench of last year's putrid 2-6 finish. Cal is in the awkward position of fending off allegations it's an underachiever, an odd assertion about a program that was 1-10 and on the brink of extinction earlier this decade, but it seems like every chance it has to make a really big statement, and every chance it has to turn a big corner, it blows it.

For instance, last year the Bears, helped by the opening day win over Tennessee and a scintillating victory at Oregon, had the No. 1 ranking in its grasp before blowing it late in a loss to Oregon State. While that would normally be not that big a deal with half the season left to go, the team went from the top of the charts to the ranks of the also-rans with a puzzling string of six losses in seven games. Why?

There was enough talent to beat the two tremendous teams like the Vols and the Ducks, but once the bad momentum started to roll, there was no stopping it. It was a mental issue more than anything else. Once Cal got on a bad streak, it was stuck, and it wasn't until the second half against Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl win that the team appeared to finally say enough is enough. Now the goal is to start out hot and stay there. It's not going to be easy.

There's a potential quarterback controversy and a shortage of proven skill position players following the losses of RB Justin Forsett, receivers DeSean Jackson, Lavelle Hawkins, and Robert Jordan, and TE Craig Stevens. However, with nine starters back on defense, the Bears might rely on that side of the ball for the first time in the Tedford era, and it's going to be the most important one in his career.

Tedford, the golden boy coach who always appeared to be on the verge of taking off for a big-time NFL gig, or something even bigger than Cal, hasn't faced this level of adversity since taking the job. He responded by shaking up his staff and installing tougher offseason mandates for his players, all in the name of recapturing some national and league respect.

The Bears are no longer the trendy choice to unseat USC in the Pac-10, a blessing considering how poorly they've handled that role in the past, but there are still plenty of tremendous athletes. Now there's something else that was missing in the past: an attitude. Match that with a little consistency, and the Bears have the potential to be special again.

What to watch for on offense: While the Cal offense is facing a star power outage for now, don't bet on it lasting very long. Yeah, Justin Forsett, DeSean Jackson, and LaVelle Hawkins are no longer amateurs, but that just paves the way for the next wave of Bear playmakers to excel. Brace yourself for RB Jahvid Best, receivers Michael Calvin, Nyan Boateng, and Jeremy Ross, along with TE Cameron Morrah, who are a half-year of experience away from being steady and exciting producers in Tedford's attack.

What to watch for on defense: More of a reliance on the 3-4 defense. Although the staff won't make a complete shift to the 3-4, it's clear it wants to get as many of its big, speedy linebackers on the field at the same time. Led by Zack Follett and Worrell Williams, the Bears are brimming with talent with several good prospects waiting in the wings. Once the three senior starters graduate, underclassmen Mike Mohamed, D.J. Holt, and Eddie Young are putting in the time now to ensure that linebacker will be a position of strength in Berkeley for years to come.

The team will be far better if: Last year's second-half collapse is a distant memory by the time Michigan State visits on Aug. 30. Although the 2-6 finish left plenty of scars, the Bears have to get past being reminded about it every time there's a little bit of adversity. With the right mindset, there's enough talent on both sides of the ball, and enough manageable games on the schedule for the program to get back on track after veering off course in 2007. 

The Schedule: There's no Tennessee showdown like last year, but the non-conference schedule isn't all that bad playing Michigan State, going to Maryland, and hosting Colorado State. All the games against the league's non-Trojan powerhouses are at home. The timing of the Pac 10 games isn't that bad going to USC after a two-game home stretch against UCLA and Oregon, and going to Arizona after a week off. Nothing can be taken for granted if the team tanks like it did at the end of last year's regular season, but closing out with Stanford and Washington, with an off week sandwiched in between them, isn't a bad way to finish.

Best offensive player: Senior C Alex Mack. Even if WR DeSean Jackson had stayed in school, Mack would be the Cal's top offensive performer, high praise for a Bear who's saddled with the anonymity of being a center. One of the country's best at his position, he's as dominant run blocking as he is on passing downs, and is the conductor of a line that's yielded less than a sack per game over the last two seasons.

Best defensive player: Senior LB Zack Follett. Follett is a rarity at his position, a versatile playmaker with a knack for creating mayhem. Now in his third season as a starter, he'll defend the running game, rush the passer, or pivot and lock down a tight end or running back in pass coverage. The total package, he led the defense in tackles for loss and sacks, while finishing second in pass breakups.

Key players to a successful season: The defensive line. While the back seven was terrific in 2007, the defensive line was almost non-existent. That must change this year if the Bears are going to be a more competitive. The secondary can ill-afford to have opposing quarterbacks spending an eternity to find receivers, so it's up to Rulon Davis, Tyson Alualu, and Cameron Jordan to get more pressures and sacks than a year ago.

The season will be a success if: Cal wins nine games. The schedule is conducive to a bounce-back season, with the Nov. 8 trip to the Coliseum being the only road game that would be considered a big upset. After last year's disappointment, the program needs to reestablish itself as a threat to USC's headlock on the Pac-10 crown, or else it stands to slip behind the likes of Oregon and Arizona State in the pecking order. A 9-3 record and a second place finish in the conference would do the trick.

Key game: Nov. 1 vs. Oregon. Call it a semifinal game for the Pac-10 title. If the Bears have any hopes of getting to the Rose Bowl, they've got to first get through Oregon, one of the schools on the short list of league contenders. USC looms in the on-deck circle a week later, so Cal better work out the offensive kinks during the first two months of the season.

OFFENSE

Is Cal about to get consumed by an old-fashioned quarterback controversy? It might be unavoidable considering the inconsistent play of incumbent Nate Longshore and the head of steam being built by Armed Forces Bowl hero Kevin Riley. The job remains Longshore's to lose, but if the more mobile Riley continues to mature, it'll be hard for new coordinator Frank Cignetti to keep him out of the lineup. As if losing RB Justin Forsett isn't tough enough, the Bears learned in March that his heir apparent, James Montgomery, is transferring to Washington State. Next in line is Jahvid Best, who missed spring drills recovering from a hip injury. The departures of last year's top five pass-catchers create opportunities for Michael Calvin, Jeremy Ross, and Florida transfer Nyan Boateng, who are short on experience, but long on potential. 

Cal's defense has enough returning to be formidable. (Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

Quarterbacks: The Bears have two quality quarterbacks, but only one is needed. Tedford's challenge will be to make a decision in August, get the buy-in of both Longshore and Riley, and avoid a controversy that distracts the team. If Riley's the guy, the coach could have a star player to build around for the next three seasons. The battle in the summer is going to be fierce and tight no matter what happens, but Riley's mobility and moxie is exactly what the program needs following last year's collapse. Longshore won't go away without a fight, but he has an uphill battle against a competitor who's quickly gaining momentum. Over the last two seasons, Cal has thrown 27 interceptions, all but one coming from Longshore. Whichever one gets the start must do a better job of protecting the ball, or else his tenure under center will be short-lived.

Running Backs: In two years, the program has lost Marshawn Lynch to the Buffalo Bills, Justin Forsett to the Seattle Seahawks, and James Montgomery to Washington State. The heir apparent is expected to be 5-10, 193-pound sophomore Jahvid Best, who's recovering from a hip injury. In an ideal situation, Tracy Slocum and a healthy Best form an inside-outside tandem that can help replace most of Forsett's massive production. Best has the potential to eventually be better than last year's workhorse, making his health one of the top storylines of August's preseason. There might not be a whole bunch of power, but Best, Shane Vereen, and Covaughn DeBoskie have that extra gear needed to electrify a crowd and deflate opposing defenses. All three have the 4.3 or 4.4 jets that can change the tenor of a game when they get into the open field.

Receivers: You don't get better by losing DeSean Jackson, Lavelle Hawkins, and Robert Jordan, the most productive trio in school history. However, the next group of Bear receivers has an exciting upside. After being an undersized, finesse unit for years, the Bears are set to unveil a much bigger crew that can get separation at the line and win plenty of battles for balls in the air. Oh, and guys on the two-deep can also motor. This year's top four wide receivers collectively caught four passes a year ago, spending much of the season watching from the sidelines. Out of Michael Calvin, Florida transfer Nyan Boateng, and Jeremy Ross, it's going to take time before one of them emerges as the go-to receiver

Offensive Line: Cal and line coach Jim Michalczik continue to do a fantastic job of coaching up this group of linemen. C Alex Mack is so special, he absorbs multiple defenders and makes everyone around him better at their own jobs. Ideally, the Bears can get reps for the next generation of players without being forced to give any one of them a crash course during the Pac-10 season. The depth is a major problem, but the starting five should be fantastic in pass protection. The hope is for everyone to stay healthy until the tremendous group of recruits can grow up.

 

DEFENSE

The Bears and coordinator Bob Gregory have the ingredients to improve upon last year's flexible defense. They're particularly strong at linebacker, where Zack Follett, Worrell Williams, and Anthony Felder each have All-Pac-10 potential. Up front, however, there's a glaring need for more pressure, and for talented sophomores Derrick Hill and Michael Costanzo to emerge as run stuffers in the middle. The depth at linebacker coupled with the front wall concerns have the Bears flirting with the idea of using more 3-4 sets, which showed promise in last year's bowl win over Air Force. Up-and-coming CB Chris Conte gets his first chance to start in the secondary, replacing Brandon Hampton.

Defensive Line: Save for the graduation of Matt Malele, the defensive line returns intact, determined to create more pressure than a year ago. Much like last season, there are no lightweights on a Cal defensive front that averages almost 290 pounds, and is going to be tough to move off the ball. Even the ends are thick, which should bode well for a questionable run defense. The line is flush with potential, especially with the underclassmen. However, potential isn't going to help the run defense or make life any tougher for opposing quarterbacks. Tyson Aluau and Rulon Davis have to finally become steady pass rushers on the outside.

Linebackers: With all due respect to USC, Cal is sneaking up behind the Trojans in the race to determine the Pac-10's best set of linebackers. All three of last year's starters are for the Bears, including All-Pac-10 second teamer Zack Follett. From top to bottom, there isn't a more athletic group of linebackers than the one in Berkeley. Best of all, all of that speed and athleticism doesn't come at a price, as the top six players on the depth chart average nearly 240 pounds. The starters are proven veterans and the backups are talented underclassmen, who are learning and waiting in the wings to take over in 2009.

Secondary: The rebuilt secondary overachieved a year ago, and should take another positive step this fall. The Bears return a whopping nine defensive backs who lettered last season, none more important than feisty junior CB Syd'Quan Thompson, who shook off a rocky debut to contribute 78 tackles, six tackles for loss, and a team-high 10 pass break-ups. Yeah, the defense has been forced to get somewhat conservative in its approach to pass defense, but by doing so, the secondary has been able to keep plays in front of it. While the Bears will yield the short dump-offs, they also finished No. 2 in the Pac-10 in yards per completion and yards per game by not being overly aggressive in coverage. While there's upside, this isn't a scary bunch capable of changing the momentum of a game, a la former Bear Daymeion Hughes. Last year's secondary accounted for just six interceptions in 13 games.

Special Teams: After absorbing hits everywhere, the Bears are about to regress. P Bryan Anger has an exciting future, but the program will keep its fingers crossed on field goals, while hoping Syd'Quan Thompson and Shane Vereen can ignite the return game. For the moment, senior Jordan Kay is the Bear placekicker, but he has a loose grip on the job. Inconsistent beyond 30 yards, the former walk-on went just 13-of-20 on field goals, while showing little pop in his leg. If Kay continues to struggle with his accuracy, sophomore Joe Robles could get the call.

KPIX Channel 5: Video of Tree Protesters

Here’s the link.  

 

The decision is due tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

SF Chronicle: Berkeley Stadium Tree-Sitters Dumps Buckets of Urine/Feces on Arborists

Tree-sitter hauled from perch in UC Berkeley grove

Demian Bulwa, Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writers

One of the activists who have perched in a grove outside UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium for the past year and a half was hauled out of her tree Tuesday, as the university began removing tree-sitters' gear in advance of a judge's ruling that could lead to a climax in the long-running protest.  The tree-sitter was taken down by two arborists who were part of a crew hired by the university to remove wooden platforms, pulley systems and other infrastructure that the protesters have built high above the ground as part of their effort to keep the university from cutting down trees to make way for an athletic training center.  Other protesters said they knew the woman taken out of a tree at 4:30 p.m. only as "Millipede." Doug Buckwald, director of a group called Save the Oaks, said she was "an experienced tree-sitter" but did not know how long she had been in the branches.  The two arborists were in a cherry-picker that banged into the trunk of the tree where the woman was perched, Buckwald said. "She screamed, and they grabbed her," he said.  As many as a dozen tree-sitters were still in the branches, 12 hours after the crew of arborists guarded by about 40 UC police officers showed up to start removing the activists' gear.  University spokesman Dan Mogulof said one of the arborists had been trying to wrap duct tape around a rope when the tree-sitter bit him on the arm. The other aborist wrestled her into the cherry picker and took her to the ground, where she was arrested, he said.   The woman had dumped a bucket of urine on two arborists earlier in the day, Mogulof said. UC police did not identify her.

The arborists and workers hired by the university dodged human waste and other debris throughout the day as they cut ropes that ran from one tree to another and removed supplies that protesters had stored in the branches.  The university launched the operation one day before an Alameda County Superior Court judge was to release a ruling on a lawsuit filed by the city, tree advocates and a neighborhood group seeking to block construction of the training center.

Mogulof said the operation was timed to prevent more protesters from ascending the grove of oaks, cypress, pines and other trees when Judge Barbara Miller issues her decision Wednesday.  No matter how Miller rules, Mogulof said, "this remains a dangerous and illegal occupation of university property."  Mogulof said some of the tree-sitters were "using their own waste as weapons" against police and the arborists, who were from a private firm. Some sitters dropped excrement, but none scored a direct hit, Mogulof said. One arborist was punched twice in the face by a tree-dweller, he said. Although the arborists removed at least one large structure and several ropes, much of the infrastructure that activists have set up since they first climbed the trees in December 2006 remains. In the tops of the tallest trees, the protesters have built at least three large structures of 15 by 15 feet out of wood boards, canvas and white sheets. Food bowls, waste buckets and shopping bags were visible Tuesday in one of the structures, perched atop a cypress tree at least 100 feet above the ground.   A 75-foot line runs from the cypress to another tree; on Tuesday, a protester sat in a fabric chair attached to the rope midway between the trees. The chair travels to the lower tree by gravity, and to the upper tree via a pulley system that the tree-sitters have rigged up. "This is a very difficult challenge," Mogulof said. "We're going to do this in a way that minimizes the chance that anyone gets hurt, whether a police officer or a protester." Buckwald said the activists had vowed to "stay up in the trees until the trees are safe, until UC guarantees they will not cut the trees down."  The tree-sitters' fate is not directly tied to the lawsuit that Judge Miller is due to rule on today. Another judge has already said the university can remove the protesters, but UC has not moved against them since gaining permission in October. UC wants to cut down 44 of 87 trees in the grove to build the training center, and says it would replace each lost tree with two saplings and one mature tree. All but a few of the trees were planted by the university after the stadium was built in 1923.  The lawsuit that Miller will rule on seeks to block construction of the $123 million training center on the grounds that it would be built atop an earthquake fault and thus violate state law.  The Hayward Fault runs under Memorial Stadium. The city of Berkeley, a neighborhood group and the California Oak Foundation have argued that the training center would be part of Memorial Stadium and thus exceed earthquake-zone building limits.  The university argued that the stadium and proposed training center would be separate buildings, and that the center would not be directly atop the fault.  The proposed training center would serve more than 400 athletes in football and 12 other varsity sports.

Nate Longshore Named as 1 of 25 Candidates for the 2008 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award

Here’s is the foundation’s website where you can confirm this for yourself.

Daily Cal: Ruling in Stadium Suit Expected Wednesday

By Angelica Dongallo

The ruling in the suit over the campus' proposed athletic center near Memorial Stadium will be released on Wednesday, according to campus officials. Alameda County Judge Barbara Miller notified campus officials yesterday that she would be issuing her statement of decision on the case in five days.

 Construction plans for the stadium were halted when the city of Berkeley, the Panoramic Hill Association and the Save the Oaks Foundation filed a suit against the UC Board of Regents in December 2006 over proposed construction. The plaintiffs cited environmental concerns with the site of the proposed construction. Attorneys for the plaintiffs did not respond to calls for comment from The Daily Californian. Miller was scheduled to issue a ruling earlier this year, but arguments were extended after she requested supplementary expert testimony about the Hayward fault, which was heard in March.  Dan Mogulof, the campus' executive director of public affairs, said the campus is preparing a press conference for Wednesday after the ruling is released, whether or not Miller will rule in the campus' favor.   "We're prepared to deal with it no matter how it goes," he said.

 

 

 

AP: 3 Bills players, official subpoenaed in hit-and-run case

Three Buffalo Bills players and a high-ranking team official have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury looking into a hit-and-run accident involving running back Marshawn Lynch's SUV, police said Thursday.

"Investigators believe these people have information regarding this case," Buffalo Police Department spokesman Michael DeGeorge said.  Erie County District Attorney Frank Clark has impaneled a grand jury to investigate the May 31 incident when Lynch's 2008 Porsche Cayenne allegedly sped off after hitting and injuring a female pedestrian.

Link.

Betting Odds for 2008 Pac-10

(I’ve never heard of this site, so take what they say with a grain of salt).

 

CALIFORNIA (+800 in BetUS) -- It looks like erratic signal-caller Nate Longshore (who now has a pectoral injury) might be pushed by Kevin Riley, who threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns in the 42-36 win over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. But no other starters at skill positions return - the wide receivers, including DeSean Jackson, have all left. This team lost six of its last eight games last year, and often looked horrible in doing it. With seven starters returning on defense, at least that part of the picture has a real chance to improve.

Rivals.com: Spring Camp Brings Big Changes to Top 100 Rankings of High School Recruits

Read the article here.

Link to Tedford's Blog

Here’s the link to Jeff Tedford’s blog.  Whether it’s actually written by him (unlikely) or someone in the marketing department (highly likely) is unknown.

Contra Costa Times: Tedford has new Blog

Link.

Some advice for Bears' newest blogger

By Gary Peterson

Staff columnist

For years Cal football coach Jeff Tedford has been a man of limitless imagination and limited computer skills. He has operated a 21st-century offense while possessing a 19th-century grasp of technology.  "YouTube?" he asked famously at one of his weekly press conferences last season. "What's that?"  Had you told him then that YouTube was a distant cousin of the X-ray, or what Thomas Edison was trying to invent when he happened upon the incandescent bulb, Tedford would have had no choice but to take you at your word.

Those days have gone the way of the pager. As of Friday, Tedford has his own blog.  This is a great idea. As Tedford is slowly being made aware, it's an Internet world. And the Internet is a blogger's paradise. Now Tedford is a stranger in that paradise, which means he has the perfect tool to communicate with Cal fans, college football enthusiasts and potential recruits. Thus, it's important he gets this right. We're here to help, starting with a critique of his first entry. "I am hoping to provide the Cal fans with glimpses of the Golden Bear football program from the inside," Tedford wrote. Very good. Implies behind-the-curtain access, part of the Internet user's Bill of Rights, without overpromising. "The purpose of this is to give insight," Tedford continued, "not to get caught in debates — I don't have time for debates with everyone." In that case, DO NOT provide readers with your e-mail address. Consider this friendly advice from someone who regularly receives e-mails with subject lines reading, "You must have majored in stupid at the moron academy," "Your mother wears Army boots," and "I wish to engage you in endless and tedious debate over your recently stated point of view."

"I hope to give regular updates as time allows," Tedford wrote, "but as you know, the season gets very hectic." Be careful here. Blogs can be like catnip to readers. If we know our Cal fans, they're going to want to hear from you after losses as well as after victories. Only more so.

Here are some tips moving forward:

Many bloggers come up with catchy pseudonyms. For example, the Warriors' Baron Davis refers to himself as Boom Dizzle. How do you feel about J-Tizzle?  There's nothing wrong with using grammar- and spellcheck. In fact, a quick review of Cal football fan blogs reveals professional looking sites with thoughtfully aggregated resources and links. Must be that Berkeley education. Likewise, celebrity bloggers Gilbert Arenas, Curt Schilling and Tiger Woods compose entries that would make their high school core teachers proud. But that's no prerequisite.  This is the Web — it's OK to bend the rules. The use of slang such as "wazzup" or "dude," abbreviations, even texting shorthand such as "lol" (laugh out loud) or "DQMOT" (don't quote me on this) can give a blogger "street cred" (street cred).

For example, this could be a blog from a spring practice:

"Wazzup, Bear fanz? We went 7-on-7 2day at practice. We ran one screen pass where N8 Longshore almost thru the ball thru Javid Best. I was all, "OMG!" We all BAG. Dude doesn't no his own strength. CU. J-Tizzle"

While potential recruits might be drawn to the blog, it would be an NCAA recruiting violation to reach out to them in an overt manner. On the other hand, you could be in a defensible gray area if you were to write:

"Rough game today. I thought our quarterback was going to get killed by Washington's pass rush. How nice it would be, I thought to myself, if we only had a 6-foot-7, 295-pound left offensive tackle from Mater Dei High School on our squad."

A blog also could be used to talk up Cal's maligned athletic facilities. For instance: "I just left our training complex where some of the guys were taking a steam and watching a first-run movie." You wouldn't have to mention that the steam was coming from a broken pipe, and that the movie was being displayed on Cameron Jordan's iPod.

The key is to make it work for you. For example, it is rumored Pete Carroll has offered to blog about USC football for a $75,000 annual stipend.

 

Times-Herald: Cal RB Best recovering well from injury last fall

Link.

BERKELEY - Cal may not really know for sure until Aug. 8, the first day of fall camp the Bears put on pads, but the team is doing everything it can to make sure star tailback Jahvid Best is ready for the 2008 season.

Cal's training staff recently put Best through two weeks of simulated two-a-day practices, an exercise designed to measure the recovery of his bruised left hip. Best reportedly emerged from the sessions with no ill effects, and the Bears are excited to see how he responds in the fall.

"I felt fine the whole time," said Best, expected to be the Bears' starting tailback this season after a promising campaign as a true freshman. "I've felt fine for awhile. It was more of a mental barrier that I passed. I feel like now I am confident in myself."

Best, a Vallejo resident, suffered the injury during a kickoff against USC in a game late last season. He missed the rest of the season and only practiced in extremely limited fashion during the spring. An accomplished sprinter, he also was forced to sit out Cal's track and field season.

Since hip injuries can be potentially serious, the Bears have been extremely cautious with Best's recovery. He was relegated to just individual drills during the spring.

Aug. 8 may be the next benchmark in Best's recovery. He presumably will take his share of hits during practice that day, and the way his hip responds will be of great interest to everybody in the Cal program. Head trainer Ryan Cobb said the recent simulated workouts provided about 70-80 percent of the physical toll Best will eventually endure.

San Jose Mercury News: Undrafted receiver from Cal gets chance

Battle's absence has domino effect

By Daniel Brown

Before fielding questions from reporters Tuesday, 49ers Coach Mike Nolan cautioned that he wasn't going "to talk about anyone that's not here."  That was a not-so-veiled reference to receiver Arnaz Battle, who is skipping the team's voluntary practices this week for unspecified reasons. Battle is instead working out at his home in Dallas.  Nolan made it clear, though, that Battle's absence is a gain for the other receivers competing for playing time. He mentioned returning players Ashley Lelie and Jason Hill, as well as rookies Josh Morgan and Robert Jordan.

Jordan, an undrafted free agent from Cal, is happy about the expanded opportunity. He recalled that he got only one play (a comeback route) during three days of mini-camp last month.  Now Jordan is on the field enough to get a feel for offensive coordinator Mike Martz's system. "It's a lot like Coach Tedford's offense," Jordan said, referring to his coach at Cal. "The formations are different, but a lot of the concepts are the same."

Jordan, 5-foot-11, 171 pounds, is the cousin of former Cal running back Marshawn Lynch, now with the Buffalo Bills. Jordan ranks among the Bears' all-time leaders in catches (seventh, with 156), receiving yards (ninth, with 2,047) and receiving touchdowns (ninth, with 13). He also set a Bears record by making catches in 42 consecutive games.  Now, like other receivers, he is trying to make the most of a door left open a little wider by Battle's absence.

As Nolan said: "We do have a (new) offense going in, and all the guys here are benefiting from that. It's a great opportunity. Some of the guys who would not typically get a look are getting a look right now."

Read the rest here.

 

Philadelphia Daily News: Jackson tries to set the record straight

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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 Eagles fans covet, but he said 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 and 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.  "The top-notch guys, the guys who really go out there and make big plays, and expect the ball to always be in their hands when the game's on the line, I definitely feel like you have to have, not a chip on your shoulder, but you have to have that within yourself," Jackson said, as he began a minicamp for Eagles rookies and select veterans.

"You've gotta want the ball. You gotta know when it's a crucial time, you gotta step up for your teammates and for yourself and make big things happen. If you're a coach, you don't want your go-to receiver to not want the ball . . . The best of the best receivers want to be in that position."  Jackson, whose 4.35 40 speed and ankle-breaking change of direction skill could make him a return game star right off the bat, has been the focus of attention his entire life, raised in the L.A.-area spotlight by an outspoken father and a large family that included four older brothers, everyone reveling in his successes.  "I had to be tough; they wouldn't let me be a punk," Jackson said. "The expectation level was always set high for me."

Older brother Byron, a former member of the Chiefs' developmental squad, started filming DeSean's every movement when he was a preteen, and continued through his college career. DeSean was California's Mr. Football for Long Beach Poly High, one of the nation's most heralded programs; his last-second decision to turn down USC and become Cal's most celebrated recruit ever was a huge story.  Bill Jackson, DeSean's father, acknowledged back then that he had thought DeSean was going to stay nearby at USC until he announced otherwise.  "I love my family, but I think I need to get away from them and gain some independence," DeSean said that day.

In fact, the independence thing remains a work in progress. Reached on the phone, Bill Jackson didn't need to be prompted to bring up Cal coach Jeff Tedford's main point of conflict with DeSean, an issue that NFL teams mulled going into the draft.  "His coach at Cal said we were too involved in his life," said Bill Jackson, 63, who is retired from FedEx. Moments earlier, he had concluded a phone conversation with DeSean in Philadelphia. "This is a real family. This ain't people in the street. . . . I don't understand it. I worked hard all my life. . . . We're a good family. Me and DeSean's mother, we've been separated for years, but you wouldn't know it. I'm at her house right now. . . . I ain't never been in jail.  "I'm a good citizen, I vote. I saw on TV before the draft, about (running back) Darren McFadden's mother (having been addicted to cocaine). I see things on the Internet about me being a bad parent.  "I ask Coach Tedford, 'Why not be involved with your children?' . . . I've heard Andy Reid doesn't want me anywhere near his facility. I'm like, 'What did I do?' "  Bill Jackson said Reid shouldn't be concerned, that having fled his native Pittsburgh for Southern California many years ago, he has little inclination to return to Pennsylvania, except for games, and then only "if it's warm."

Tedford and DeSean had a talk a few days after the Bears' victory over Louisiana Tech last season. Bill Jackson had been interviewed on TV at halftime, and he had wondered aloud why his son wasn't getting more touches. (The answer was a thumb injury.)  "With outside opinions and outside advice always eating at DeSean, he was in a very tough spot," Tedford said, when asked about that discussion. "He's trying to be a team guy, trying to fit in and play his role, but dealing with outside information always eating at him, and not always positive . . . it ended up putting him in a very difficult position. He's had to deal with a lot of different people's opinions being shot at him. That's where I think he has grown, and will continue to grow, on being his own man, using his own common sense. Being part of the meetings and the offense, he knows better than the outsiders what is going on."  DeSean said he didn't resent his father's televised remarks.

"My dad, he only wants the best for me," he said. "It's hard for me too, when I'm not catching the ball. . . . It's not selfish or anything like that; he wants to see his son doing good."  DeSean prepared for the draft with Jerry Rice, a fellow client of DeBartolo Sports and Entertainment. They talked about how not to get jammed off the line, but they also talked about trickier issues, such as maturity, how not to be perceived as a diva.

"Being young, coming out after my junior year, I felt like my game film would speak for itself," said DeSean, 21, who scored 29 touchdowns, altogether, in just 36 college games. His six punt-return touchdowns are a Pac-10 record.

"All the things people said (going into the draft) — I'm not the first (in line in drills), I don't work hard, I don't lift weights, I'm not a team player, I honestly don't know where all that comes from . . . It is what it is, negative things got out, I had to pay for it. If that means going from the first round to the second round . . . I'm into the NFL, everything else I've got to leave behind. I've got to start a clean page here with the Eagles.

"One of the biggest things I learned with Jerry Rice was off-the-field . . . leaving good impressions on people, talk to everybody in a room, not just shake a couple hands here and there, how to handle training camp, you got to get into the playbook, work hard. There's going to be a big difference."  Tedford said if the Eagles fashion the proper environment for Jackson, he will work hard and he should succeed.  "I don't know that he worked as hard he could have, because he's a very natural player," Tedford said. "Now that he's in the NFL, and he has to compete with guys who are all as good as he is, he'll figure out he needs to work. . . . He got away with doing things on natural ability a lot at this level, that he probably won't be able to do at that level. I don't think he's opposed to it, but he'd probably even admit he can work harder.

"I don't think DeSean is malicious, or a detriment, in any way, shape or form. . . . He's young. . . . I think he will continue to grow, but I think he's a good-hearted person who wants to do well. I think if he surrounds himself with the right people, who lead him in the right direction, he will definitely want to go in that direction. I have no doubt that DeSean does have the character and the characteristics to be a good person and a great player."

Bill Jackson wants the right kinds of people around DeSean, as well. He has one type of person in particular in mind.  "DeSean has not had a quarterback since he played Pop Warner football. He didn't have a real quarterback at Long Beach Poly or at Cal," Bill Jackson said.  Then he made an interesting comparison with another bright-lights athlete whose outspoken parent was sometimes an issue during his time in Philadelphia.

"With Donovan McNabb . . . I think DeSean will be the next Iverson in Philadelphia," Bill Jackson said.

SportingNews: Court case may dictate Cal's future

Link.

 

By Matt Hayes

An Alameda County judge has until June 18 to make a decision on a lawsuit filed against the University of California and its facilities expansion plans that include cutting down many 100-year-old oak trees near the football stadium. Should Cal lose in court, it could lose on the field. Although coach Jeff Tedford has been loyal to Cal because the university gave him his first job, it would be easier for other schools to pry him away from Berkeley if the university must find alternative plans for desperately needed facilities upgrades. . . .

The New Yorker: Out on a Limb

(Credit to the Bear Insider chat board for this find)

Link

by Dana Goodyear

Calum Wright did not go to Berkeley—that’s Berserkley, to those who remember the sixties—to be an activist. He is a law-and-order type, reared among conservatives in London, and a member of the crew team, whose tastes run to khakis and polo shirts. He likes the campus police. But, not long ago, Wright, using the latest in protest technology—Facebook—was moved to organize a rally at the base of a campus oak, near Sproul Plaza, the storied place of free-speech happenings and Joan Baez concerts. His cause: Students Against Hippies in Trees. The action: to shout down a former Berkeley student named Michael (Fresh) Schuck, who had taken up residence in the oak seventeen days earlier. The invitation, sent to some six hundred members of the SAHIT Facebook group, from “hippy hater no. 1,” read:

There will be a jolly gathering on this coming friday, providing that fresh is still up there, to stir as much shit as legally possible with the hippies on the ground and our jolly mate “fresh.” . . .

We will be the noisy fucks camping out next to those smelly ugly freeloading hippies.   Fresh, who is twenty-six, said he took “a purple khadi, homespun from India,” wrapped it around his head like Lawrence of Arabia, and went up the tree with the idea of drawing attention to a host of issues: the housing of Native American remains in a campus museum; the undemocratic method by which the regents of the University of California are selected; the university system’s ties to British Petroleum, Dow Chemical, and two nuclear laboratories; and, not least, the cause of some fellow non-students tree-sitting in a grove half a mile away, near the football stadium, where the university hopes to build a new athletic center. (The city of Berkeley, in conjunction with two local groups—the California Oak Foundation and the Panoramic Hill Association—has sued to prevent the construction; the judge is expected to issue a ruling by mid-June.) The SAHIT’s position is easier to crystallize. As Wright put it, “Look, come down, you’re a joke.” Plus, he and his friends resent the enormous cost of containing the tree-sitters: more than three hundred thousand dollars in twenty-four-hour security guards and fencing.

On the day of the rally, Matthew Taylor, a fifth-year student in the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, who is an avid supporter of the tree-sitters and is writing his thesis about the protest in the grove, arrived to see a crowd of SAHIT supporters gathering around Fresh’s tree. Some of his cohorts had gathered, too, for a counter-counter-demonstration. “I decided that I should try to formulate an intervention,” Taylor said. He prevailed upon about a hundred and fifty students, from both sides of the issue, to sit on the ground in a “dialogue circle.” Wright remained on his feet. When it was his turn to talk, he said, he told the counterprotesters, “What the tree-sitters were doing was completely the wrong way to do it. It was harassing, it was agitating. To be on a university campus when you’re not a member of the university speaking for the university—the whole idea seemed completely aggravating.” When Fresh saw the two groups come together for a talk, he inched down the tree to listen, eventually descending to the ground to surrender himself to the police. “I went up there to raise awareness,” he said. “The job had been done. It was time.” He was cited for trespassing, and booked at the campus station. He and Wright resolved their disagreement with an old-fashioned hug, and then became Facebook friends.

In the wake of Fresh’s arrest, Victoria Harrison, who has been the university’s police chief for eighteen years, sent an e-mail to the entire academic community. “Everyone who wears the UCPD uniform understands that policing here requires understanding, sensitivity, and tolerance if this campus is to remain a hospitable host for the free exchange of ideas and opinions,” she wrote. In response, she received several hundred e-mails, ranging from bafflement (“Personally I have never understood the idea of protesting via tree, but I know many of my classmates find it admirable”) to empathy (“I appreciate your dedication to our safety, and hope that you do not feel too antagonized on a campus whose heritage is somewhat based on questioning authority figures”) and possibly even complete misunderstanding (“I agree with you 100%. I hate those tree people or those crazy people who walk around in Sproul and lecture everyone on the harm of cell phones”), with many smiley-face emoticons. A practical-minded sports fan, who graduated with the class of 2008, began by thanking Harrison profusely, then wrote, “You can be sure that the student body will once again rise to the call of our beloved University. Not everyone is here to practice free speech and be a nuisance; most of us are here to obtain one of the finest educations in the world. Go Bears!”

Oakland Tribune: Judge's ruling could alter Cal's grand athletic plan

Carl Steward

One major obstacle remains to Cal's grand athletic designs for the future: getting the proposed $125 million student-athlete high performance center off the ground and out of the trees.   It's in the hands of a single individual, and a decision could come any day. Alameda County Superior Court judge Barbara Miller has until June 18 to render a decision on a lawsuit filed last year against Cal to stop the training center project.  "We're anxious for a favorable ruling," football coach Jeff Tedford said. "Hopefully, we can finally begin construction very soon on this facility, one not only our football program desperately needs, but our entire athletic department." While virtually all of the money necessary to build the training complex has been raised, the project has been delayed for a year and half. With a favorable ruling, Cal hopes to begin construction immediately to make up time on its renovation schedule and also avoid rising construction costs.

Cal has fought a long public-relations battle with a group of tree-sitters who have been living in an oak grove near Memorial Stadium that will be razed to build the training center. The university won an injunction to have the tree-sitters removed, but lawsuits were filed in October by the City of Berkeley, the California Oak Foundation, the Panoramic Hill Association and a group called Save Tightwad Hill. Miller ordered a halt to construction plans, the suits were consolidated and the case was deliberated in March.  Cal has been holding its collective breath ever since because an unfavorable ruling could have far-reaching effects, possibly forcing Tedford to leave Cal due to severely unfavorable competitive facilities and training conditions. In turn, Tedford's departure and a decline of fortune in the football program could have stark ramifications for the athletic program as a whole. Cal officials would rather not dwell on a possible adverse ruling. "We feel very good about the case that we've made," Cal athletic director Sandy Barbour said. "Of course, anytime you put a decision in one person's hands, you never know. But I feel very good about what we'll hear from the judge, and we'll have the go-ahead to move forward with this."

The training center is the first phase of an ambitious plan to upgrade athletic facilities that are regarded as the worst in the Pac-10 Conference and among the worst in the nation. It will not only house the football team but 12 other sports teams. The second phase of the project is the $175 million renovation of the west side of Memorial Stadium. If the university gets the go-ahead in the next couple of weeks, it hopes to have both projects completed by 2012, one following the other. A longer-range plan to renovate the east side of the stadium and add another spectator deck has been deferred.

The City of Berkeley filed its portion of the lawsuit based on the fact that construction of the athletic center to the seismically fragile Memorial Stadium is unsafe because of the potential for a major earthquake on the Hayward Fault, which runs adjacent to the stadium that was constructed in 1923. Seismic studies taken and presented in court on Cal's behalf generally dispell the city's claims.

"I have a hard time understanding the logic of the City of Berkeley in pursuing the suit because it's specious," said Bill Ausfahl, a retired Clorox executive and Cal alum who originally was named volunteer chairman of the Memorial Stadium fundraising effort by athletic director John Kasser. "We started this campaign in 2000 and thought it would take just a few years. Now we're eight years later, and we're still waiting, with the need for these upgraded facilities more dire than ever."

San Jose Mercury: Tedford Says the Problem Last Year Wasn't "so much" with Desean, but his Family

Note from blogger: I apologize for not updating the blog in several days.  I have nerve impingement in my cervical spine, travelling through my shoulder blade, down my left hand and into my fingers, making them numb.  I found the following article in the San Jose Mercury, which tends to shed some light (finally) on what happened last season.

 

By John Ryan

DeSean Makes It Clear: 'I'm no T.O."

It's always better to explain who you are than who you aren't, so DeSean Jackson is already starting from behind with Eagles fans.  The former Cal receiver told the Philadelphia Daily News he doesn't want to be known for the Terrell Owens-like behavior of "talking about your teammates." Nor does he want to be the next Freddie Mitchell, who, Jackson has heard, "talked his way out of the league."

Cal Coach Jeff Tedford told the Daily News the problem last year wasn't so much with Jackson as it was with his family.   "With outside opinions and outside advice always eating at DeSean, he was in a very tough spot," Tedford said. "He's trying to be a team guy, trying to fit in and play his role, but dealing with outside information always eating at him, and not always positive."  To which Jackson's dad, Bill, bristles. Of course, Bill also said, "DeSean has not had a quarterback since he played Pop Warner football. He didn't have a real quarterback at Long Beach Poly or at Cal."  Ah, this shouldn't be a problem. Nothing ever gets blown out of proportion in Philly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marin Independent Journal: Montgomery, Tedford come to Marin to discuss newly joined forces

Link.

FOR THOSE FANS who may still be in disbelief or denial, Mike Montgomery gave visual confirmation in Marin on Monday that he is indeed a good fit and comfortable coaching men's basketball at Cal.  Montgomery, wearing a white Cal polo shirt, came to the Holiday Inn Express in Mill Valley to stay smart and speak to a standing-room only crowd of close to 200 at a Cal Alumni Club of Marin luncheon. But upon arriving in a hallway, the former Stanford coach did something to Cal football coach Jeff Tedford that no one on the Farm could ever have imagined.  He gave Tedford a big ol' bear hug.  OK, Monty was in a playful mood, joking that he was underdressed compared to Tedford, who wore a blue blazer to the event. But it was also a sign that Cal has created a great union. The meeting in Marin brought together Montgomery, Tedford and athletic director Sandy Balbour in the same room, the three most significant faces and forces in Cal's quest for national recognition and respectability.

Take that, Stanford. It would be like 49ers fans watching Bill Walsh coach the Raiders.  Tedford stole the Bay Area's college football spotlight from the Cardinal seven years ago when he quickly turned around a woeful program and made it a consistent winner, on the brink of wrestling control of the Pac-10 from Pete Carroll and USC.  Bears fans are hoping Montgomery can make such an immediate impact on Cal's men's basketball program, which was saddled with assorted injuries and a reputation for underachieving with Ben Braun as its coach.

So, it was encouraging to see Tedford and Montgomery in the same place on Monday because they would like to get together more often in the near future. They can share coaching secrets and share the responsibility of fueling Cal's athletic fundraising efforts against all odds and tree sitters.  "He's much more big-time than I am," Tedford said. "I'm still kind of a youngster. He's has a lot of years under his belt. He brings tremendous credibility to our program. I'm interested and excited to spend time with him and pick his brain and his coaching techniques."  Montgomery wants a brainstorming session with Tedford as well. But the Bears basketball coach has been busy signing his first Cal recruit - 19-year-old 6-foot-3 point guard Jorge Gutierrez from Findley Prep near Las Vegas - while losing sleep over trying to retain team star Ryan Anderson while he decides if he wants to enter the NBA draft.  Mostly, Montgomery has been camped out in his office inside the Haas Pavilion while Tedford has been conducting spring football practice at Memorial Stadium.  "I haven't been to the football stadium," Montgomery said. "I need my staff to go with me up there to sit down and ask 'What do you guys sell? What is the thing you've done to make you feel like you've made it successful? ... What are the problems? What's your main thrust in terms of getting kids to come here?'"

At Stanford, Montgomery had a smaller pool of high school players to recruit from because of that school's higher and stricter academic standards. At Cal, Montgomery will take over a program with lower expectations. At the age of 61, he aims to build the Cal program the same way he built Stanford's when he started there at the age of 41.  If Tedford can turn Cal's football fortunes around, why can't Montgomery, who is wiser and has a better working knowledge of the Pac-10, do the same in basketball? They could be the most dynamic duo in Berkeley since "war" and "protests" in the '70s.  "What's going to help is success," Montgomery said. "Jeff winning in football has to be huge because football generally is the bell cow. It's the one (program) that drives the engine. It's more visible. It's easier. It's once a week. It's Saturday and the sun's out. It's a campus thing. Hopefully, we can chip in. I'm sure there are people who would really love to compete at the highlight level in basketball at Cal (nationally). It's obviously not easy and that's what our challenge is."

That and convincing skeptics that Montgomery's motives are sincere and not driven by money or vindication. Whereas he rented a condominium when he coached the Golden State Warriors for two seasons, Montgomery has bought a home in the East Bay to establish roots. Once settled, he can extend himself to move the Cal program up among the elite in the Pac-10. "I need to get my arms around the whole thing," Montgomery said. "It really won't happen until we get on the practice floor." At least Montgomery made impression on Monday in Marin. He got his arms around Tedford and got under the skin of Stanford with this cheer in front of a sold out Cal crowd. Said Monty, "This is something I'm working on it but haven't perfected it yet É Go Bears!"  Go Bears hug.

ESPN: 3 Things I Can't Wait to See This Fall in the Pac-10

Link.

 

2. The way California ended the 2007 season -- the Bears went from 5-0 and No. 2 in the country to 7-6 and No. 7 in the Pac-10 -- was one of the most monumental collapses in recent college football history. Much of the Bears' late problems could be attributed to the poor health of quarterback Nate Longshore. He missed most of the spring with a pectoral injury and might have a tough time holding off Kevin Riley during preseason camp.

Merced Sun Star: Feud Between Fresno State's Pat Hill and Jeff Tedford?

Here is the link.

 

Steve Cameron: Hill says, 'We're always recruiting Merced'

FRESNO -- Let's get right to the squabble.  Is there some sort of problem between Merced High and Fresno State?  If not, then why aren't the Bulldogs recruiting any Merced football players -- particularly those three seniors-to-be who are getting scholarship offers from all over the country?  The athletes are Bernard Bolden, Nathan Mayfield and Kenny Cooper. Full-ride deals for one or more have come from Cal, Arizona, Washington State, Arizona, San Diego State, Colorado and Nebraska. Colorado, Washington State and Arizona have made offers to the full trio.  Without running down the complete list here, it's enough to say that Bolden has offers from seven schools, Mayfield five and Cooper four. And that none of the offers -- to anyone -- has come from Fresno State. So what's up? Well, Pat Hill will tell you -- quite forcefully, in fact -- that nothing's amiss at all, and in fact, he and his staff intend to check out Merced players as they always do.

<snip>

"We heard earlier that Fresno State was going to have a coach come by, but then it was cancelled," said Merced High coach Rob Scheidt -- who finds himself in the middle of some strange rumors in this relationship.  "It's kind of odd, because they're so close to us and yet it feels like they don't pay much attention. Sometimes they don't return calls, and yet I'd like to think I still have a decent relationship with coach Hill.  "The simple truth, though, is that we've had quite a few decent athletes over the past few years and Fresno State hasn't seriously recruited any of them."  EVEN WENDELL Mathis wasn't offered a scholarship out of high school, at least not by the Dogs.  "UCLA was the only place," Scheidt said. "It was strange because Pat Hill spent almost an entire game we attended telling me that Wendell should attend Fresno State -- and then they didn't offer him. "He only got to Fresno as a transfer when it didn't work out at UCLA."

Last year, Fresno State remained on the sidelines as several big schools battled it out for receiver Jarrett Sparks. And so far this year, Hill and his staff have been quiet as all these offers have been tossed at three Merced players. In the interest of full disclosure, there is a rumor about why all this is happening.

The short version is that Hill, a stubborn guy by his own admission, has fallen out with Cal coach Jeff Tedford -- former Fresno State player and Hill assistant.  SCHEIDT LAUGHED hearing that story and suggested that some parts probably were true.  From there, you see Scheidt become close to Tedford, taking his team to Cal's camp every summer and even adopting a chunk of the Cal offense. So the story around town is that Scheidt has become persona non grata with Hill -- because of his close association with Tedford. See, that tale comes with the added suspicion that perhaps Scheidt is pushing his most talented players towards Cal.

And if you follow those bread crumbs, Hill theoretically would be showing his displeasure by ignoring possible Merced recruits.  That's what you hear on the street and at the games. "I know there maybe have been some issues between coach Tedford and coach Hill," Scheidt said, "but I certainly hope I'm not part of it.

"We try to get information and tapes out on our kids to all the schools that are interested -- including Fresno State. Personally, I hope they'll come and visit our players." HILL CLAIMS that they have, and they will. Oh, and that the entire story about a problem with Tedford or Scheidt is utter bunk. "First of all, we've always recruited Merced High and all the schools around there," Hill said. "Until this year, when they changed the rules to keep the head coaches on campus during spring, I've been to Merced personally every year since I took the job at Fresno State. "We look at all the players in the area ever year. At Merced last year, I spent a lot of time working to see about eligibility issues with Dion Bland -- because we wanted to get him. "There was talk because we didn't really go after (Jarrett) Sparks, but we didn't need a big receiver. We already had four or five big wideouts. That was simply about need. He's a good football player, but not so fantastic that we thought we should ignore our needs to fight it out for him.

"There is no problem at all with Rob Scheidt. He's done a great job at Merced, and when he was mentioned for Clovis West, I thought it would be a good fit. "And I don't know where or how people get these stories about different people -- like Jeff (Tedford). We've been friends a long time. "We have one issue, which is that I wish he'd schedule us because right now I think we could beat Cal -- but he won't play us. But we still get along fine. We talk on the phone, and we've visited each other. "That story about Jeff and Rob Scheidt is just crazy."

 

Revised ESPN Pres-Season Top 25

Here’s the link.

 

1.    Ohio State

2.    Georgia

3.    Oklahoma

4.    USC

5.    Florida

6.    Missouri

7.    Clemson

8.    Texas

9.    West Virginia

10. Auburn

11. Texas Tech

12. LSU

13. ASU

14. BYU

15. Tennessee

16. Illinois

17. Kansas

18. Wisconsin

19. Pittsburgh

20. Virginia Tech

21. Fresno State

22. Wake Forest

23. Oregon

24. Michigan State

25. Penn State

Death at Top Dog

(Amazingly, it wasn’t from the kielbasa)

 

Man shot dead near UC Berkeley

Oakland Tribune

BERKELEY — Two men were shot, one fatally, late Tuesday near the popular Top Dog eatery on Durant Avenue and Bowditch Street, about a block from the UC Berkeley campus, police said.  The victim was identified as Maceo Smith, 33, of Berkeley, the father of three boys, said his father, who was at the crime scene but refused to give his name. Although the shooting happened just a block from the campus, police said Smith was not a student there.

Berkeley police spokeswoman Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said the victim and the shooter had an argument before the shooting. The victim staggered to the multi-unit apartment building parking lot east of the Top Dog and collapsed, police said. Further details were not released late Tuesday.  Police said the second victim, a relative of the man who died, drove himself to Highland Hospital in Oakland. His condition was not life-threatening.  The suspect was still at-large Tuesday evening.   Tuesday's shooting was the second slaying in the past 10 days near the UC Berkeley campus.

Tuesday's shooting happened about 4 p.m. in an area that is heavily travelled by residents and students.

Marty Keith, a former UC Berkeley student who lives in the Cal rowing team house at 2316 Bowditch St., said he heard a quick succession of gunshots from his home. He looked out the window and saw the victim stagger across Bowditch Street and down Durant Avenue into the parking lot.  He said he saw blood on the victim's back as the man opened a door of a blue Honda and collapsed inside. Keith said he and at least two other men rushed to his aid and opened the door of the car.  He said the man was still breathing at that point.  Keith said he pulled the victim out of the car and "that was it." Berkeley paramedics arrived on the scene and tried to revive the victim for about 30 minutes, said Keith, who was still visibly shaken.  "We live right here. The bullets could have entered our room," he said.  The victim's father said he didn't know why his son was at the Berkeley location where he was shot.  With family and friends arriving on the scene and embracing one another, the father said he wanted to view his dead son, who was covered with a white sheet.  "If it was your child who got shot, you at least would want to see him," the father said. One woman who appeared to be a family member yelled, "Is this Oakland or is this Berkeley?" referring to the high homicide rate in the neighboring city. Oakland has had 50 killings so far this year. Tuesday's shooting was the fifth homicide in Berkeley this year.  About a dozen family members and friends of the victim gathered at the scene and grew visibly agitated at Berkeley police because they said investigators refused to immediately provide the family with details.  As detectives collected evidence, police cordoned off Durant, east of Bowditch to Telegraph Avenue, and the block between Durant Avenue and Channing Way.

Contra Costa Times: College coaching salaries getting ridiculous

By Daniel Borenstein

UC Berkeley football coach Jeff Tedford had a good year in 2007 — a very good year.  Sure, the Bears finished the regular season with a dismal 6-6 record and an invitation to the insignificant Armed Forces Bowl, where they barely beat Air Force, 42-36. But Tedford collected as much money in that one year as many of us will earn in a lifetime — $2.8 million. It was the first installment of his seven-year, $17.5 million contract renewal. As UC struggles to maintain academic programs, as proposed state cutbacks portend increased student fees and smaller classes, it's time to rein in wild spending by athletic programs at the state's public universities.  UC officials will tell you that Tedford's success before last year brought in more money and that Tedford's compensation comes from athletic department revenues and private fundraising — that no state or general campus funds are used. Indeed, season ticket sales have more than doubled during Tedford's reign.  But, as last season showed, a coach, no matter how well-paid, cannot guarantee victory. Success on the field and at the box office can be ephemeral. Moreover, that should not be the mission of the university. Turning out well-educated adults who will be the future leaders of our state and nation should be the real game plan. Yet, the university continues to subsidize intercollegiate sports at Cal, last year by $6.4 million. If  athletic departments can afford such rich salaries, perhaps it's time to eliminate the subsidy, or even reverse the flow and use some of the sports profits to offset the cost of badly needed programs elsewhere on campus. The subsidy, for example, could pay for roughly 45 full-time Cal instructors. With UCLA negotiating a contract with its new football coach, Rick Neuheisel, and Cal bargaining with its new basketball coach, Mike Montgomery, UC regents should step back and question soaring coach salaries. On the 10-campus system's "Annual Report on Executive Compensation," four top earners stick out:

Karl Dorrell, former UCLA football coach, $961,687.

Ben Braun, former Cal men's basketball coach, $1,077,500.

Ben Howland, UCLA men's basketball coach, $1,411,054.

Tedford, the Cal football coach, $2,831,654.

Those salaries — which do not include pensions, health insurance and other standard benefits — each surpass the annual salary and benefits of Mark Yudof, the incoming president of the entire UC system. As reported here last month, Yudof's total compensation of $924,642 will make him the highest-paid leader of a public university in the nation. That's appropriate for a world-class education system.  But the university should avoid the boundless financial race that's professionalizing the country's college sports. According to a USA Today survey, the average earnings of the 120 major-college football coaches reached $1 million last year. At least a dozen made $2 million or more. Tedford's contract makes Cal a top-tier payer.

Under his seven-year renewal, his annual salary is $225,000. But he also is guaranteed $1.575 million each year as a "talent fee" — what the university describes as a payout "based on standard participation in outside events representing UCB." Last year, he also received a $1 million "signing bonus." Adding in a $25,000 bonus for the team's bowl game appearance and a discretionary bonus of $6,654 from the athletic director brings the total to the $2,831,654.  That doesn't include his membership in the Blackhawk Country Club ($7,080 annually), two "courtesy vehicles" ($14,750), the cost of his pension contribution (about $36,000 annually), his life and health insurance, 30 free tickets and five parking passes for every home game, and travel expenses for his wife. Sure, the signing bonus was a one-time deal. But to keep Tedford around — as if that money wasn't enough — the university will pay him a "retention bonus" that works out to $500,000 a year.

Cal also laced Tedford's contract with bonuses: For each year the team reaches the Rose, Orange, Sugar or Fiesta bowl, or the National Championship game, Tedford will receive an additional $50,000 that year and $100,000 every subsequent year of his contract. Winning the national championship would boost Tedford's income by $150,000 that year; being named coach of the year, $100,000; winning the Pac-10 championship, $75,000; and winning nine games in a season, $25,000. On top of that, if his players keep their grades up, Tedford would be eligible for an additional $25,000.

The most interesting provisions in his contract would boost his income by $250,000 if he's still coach when the university opens its controversial new training facility at Memorial Stadium and another $250,000 if he's there when the team plays its first home game after completion of planned stadium renovations. That's right, he'll get a bonus when his team gets new quarters — the sports equivalent of getting a raise when your company gives you a new office.

Little wonder that Americans think that spending on college sports is out of control. A 2006 survey by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics found that most Americans believe college sports have become too commercialized, that coaches are overpaid and, most significantly, that money earned by athletic departments should be redistributed to benefit the whole school. The commission's 2007 survey of university faculty nationwide found that they feel that football and basketball coaches' salaries are excessive and that the financial needs of athletics get higher priority than academic needs. Nationwide, university officials are outbidding each other to win what Cornell University economist Robert Frank calls a costly "positional arms race." At a time when universities are struggling for financial survival, they are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year in an attempt to better each other on the football field and the basketball court. But, as Frank notes, no matter how much they spend, no matter how high they bid up coaches' salaries, only 25 teams will make the top football ranking and only four teams will reach college basketball's Final Four. The rest will just be left with fatter payrolls.  It's a costly competition that's draining money that could be better spent on education. But it won't end until schools have the courage to say no.

Youtube Video: Kevin Riley and Nyan Boateng

Video Interview with DeSean Jackson

You can see the interview on the Eagles’ website here.  Choose “One on One: WR/PR Jackson”

DeSean in an Eagle's Uniform

Seems like only yesterday he was making the Oregon secondary look like scared little girls…

 

Fox Sports: Pac-10 Roundup

Here’s the link.

 

California

Nate Long-Shot? ... While Jeff Tedford continues to stress that incumbent Nate Longshore is his quarterback, a pec injury that curtailed his spring hasn't helped in his fight to hold off Kevin Riley. Riley moves better than Longshore and was flawless in his last game, a comeback win over Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl. Don't buy Tedford's smokescreen. Riley is closing the gap on Longshore all the time and might be ready to surpass him in August.

 

Hip Replacement ... When likely starting RB James Montgomery suddenly left the program in March, it created a quandary for the Bears, who also lost Justin Forsett to graduation. The program's top back, Jahvid Best, would be the no-brainer successor if he wasn't recovering from a serious hip injury. Best has pulled a surprise of his own, taking part in non-contact drills, when he wasn't expected back until the summer. Sophomore Tracy Slocum picked up some of the slack in April, running hard and earning a spot in the backfield rotation.

 

Anger Management ... One of the defense's best weapons this fall will be the booming leg of redshirt freshman P Bryan Anger, who takes over for Andrew Larson. Anger put on an aerial show throughout March and April, regularly hammering out punts of more than 50 yards, while hanging the ball in the air for an eternity.

San Jose Mercury: Jon Wilner's Early Top Ten List

Here’s the link.

 

The first question posed to Cal Coach Jeff Tedford following the final spring practice was open-ended: What did you learn about your team?  Tedford's answer cut right to the No. 1 issue facing the Bears.  "I learned that I'm very happy with the team chemistry," he said, "the way we're working together, the attitude, the focus, the camaraderie."  That's code for: The chemistry wasn't very good last season but has improved dramatically.

When the losses piled up in '07, so did the frustration in the locker room.   It wouldn't be fair to blame receiver DeSean Jackson for all the problems (although he certainly had a selfish streak). There were also communication breakdowns and leadership issues.  That's why Tedford removed himself from the time-consuming task of calling the plays and is taking more of a managerial role. He wants to sniff out and solve any communication issues before they metastasize.

• The Bears aren't exactly broadcasting this, but they're switching the base defense from a 4-3 to a 3-4. Coordinator Bob Gregory said as much last weekend, and it's a smart move for these reasons:

1. Cal's personnel is better suited for the 3-4 because of a bevy of experienced, talented linebackers.

2. The alignment puts the Bears' best playmaker, outside linebacker Zack Follett, in position to cause the most havoc - as an edge rusher.

3. It's easier to recruit to a 3-4 because there are more linebackers available than defensive tackles (more players weigh 220 pounds than 280).

4. Cal should have a tactical advantage because nobody in the Pac-10 uses the 3-4 as a base defense.

Oregon Register Guard: Avoiding Spring Breaks

Here’s the link.

Excerpt:

Kevin Riley continues to push Nate Longshore at quarterback, after unseating the veteran last fall. This spring, Longshore was redeeming himself until he pulled a pectoral muscle and missed the final three weeks of drills.  Cal coach Jeff Tedford said the job remains open entering the fall. The offense was without electric tailback Jahvid Best for contact drills because of a hip injury. But he impressed onlookers in non-contact drills and is reportedly on track to be 100 percent in August.

On defense, coordinator Bob Gregory moved to a 3-4 this spring, taking advantage of a deep linebacker corps led by Zack Follett and Worrell Williams. It’s a look uncommon to the Pac-10, though Oregon runs it enough that the UO offense should be prepared when the Ducks travel to Cal on Nov. 1.

Pac-10 Conference: Overview of Pac-10 2008

Here’s the link.

 

CALIFORNIA

Offense: California returns just five starters to the offensive unit and has some questions to answer for 2008. A quarterback battle is expected to be waged by incumbent starter Nate Longshore and mobile sophomore Kevin Riley, who led the Bears to victory in the Armed Forces Bowl with a dynamic performance. Whoever lines up under center will be looking at an inexperienced group of receivers as the Bears do not return a wideout who had double digits in receptions last year. A replacement also must be found for 1,500-yard rusher TB Justin Forsett. If soph TB Jahvid Best is recovered from a hip injury he will provide an explosive force both running the ball and returning kicks. Three starters return along the offensive line led by first-team All-America C Alex Mack.

Defense: Seven starters return on defense led by a trio of senior linebackers that should be the strength of the unit. OLBs Zack Follett and Anthony Felder and MLB Worrell Williams are veteran performers and all potential honors candidates who will key the defense. DE Tyson Alualu is a force on the defensive line and CB Syd'Quan Thompson and ROV Bernard Hicks return in the secondary.

The Schedule: Cal gets seven home games and has nice balance in the schedule in never having more than two road or home games in a row.