I got to get a few things off my chest about Cal.
Let me start with:
Why do Cal fans hate UCLA so much?
There was a thread on their blog and one on ours a few months or a year ago and basically they went off on why they hate UCLA so much and we sort of responded. (If someone has the link, post, it, because I can't find it.)
I don't get it.
Confession: I sort of like Cal, as much as you can like a school that isn't your school. I have Cal friends, I'll root for Cal when UCLA isn't playing.
I've always seen Cal as the admittedly better academic school, while UCLA was the better athletic school. I'm a Southern California person all the way, so I've always preferred UCLA's campus and locaton, but I like going up to Berkeley and the Bay Area and always thought that Cal's campus was cool and the neighborhoods nearby were perfectly fun to visit.
Even more than that, I always felt their was a kinship between UCLA and Cal -- a kinship that ran a little deeper than the fact that they are both part of the same University of California.
Let's face it, a lot of people who went to Cal also were admitted to Berkeley and a lot of people who went to UCLA also were admitted to Cal. I'll concede that the numbers favor Cal. (Personal note: I applied only to UCLA and probably couldn't have gotten into Cal, but then again, I don't like hirsute women, so I wasn't going to Cal no matter what) But underlying that, I always thought there was a similarity between a set of really bright and interesting students who preferred the public school setting offered by both universities. If you want to leave the state, I've always sort of thought Michigan and Texas were cool, too, in the same "top public university" sort of way.
To me, whatever sports rivalry existed between Cal and UCLA was sort of a fun rivalry. Here's an analogy. UCLA-USC is more like a soccer rivalry, where the fans just don't like each other much and really don't want to associate with each other. But UCLA-Cal was more like a rugby rivarly, where you try to beat each other on the field, but after the game, you go to the pub and get drunk together.
And, let;'s be honest, I'm mostly being generous when I say there is a sports rivalry between UCLA and Cal. C'mon Cal fans, you don't have to have a higher SAT score to do that math on this one.
So, why do Cal fans hate UCLA so much?
If I recall correctly ...
1 - They don't like the fact that we "stole" their fight song.
Well, I don't like the fact that we stole their fight song either, because our fight song is weak. So, is Cal's. I've always thought it was a weak ass fight song. If fight songs are your thing, you really should have gone to a Big Ten school. (For the record, both of UCLA's fight songs sort of suck.)
2 - We stole the name, because Bruins is just another word for Bears.
Really? This bothers you?
I mean, there are bears in California. So, the first University of California nicknamed itself the Bears. So, the next school in the system ended up with Bruins. Is this a big deal? Besides, there are people upset about this who were born 30 years after the schools were named -- or 50 years after. I mean, this is silly. The Boston Bruins aren't mad at us and the Chicago Bears aren't mad at you ... how many school nicknames are there? Do you know how many teams are called Cougars? I don't know either, but there's a bunch of 'em.
This is no reason to get mad.
Then, there is the football rivalry thing.
Let me go on record as saying that Jeff Tedford is a top coach and Cal's football program is as good as its ever been in my memory. At this exact moment in time, Cal has the better record and has this decade basically had the better team.
But, it really takes a short memory to think that historically Cal has had a better football program than UCLA. It hasn't. Saying that Cal has traditionally had the better football team than UCLA is as dumb and misinformed as someone trying to prove that UCLA has had better academics over the years. It hasn't.
It's not clear why otherwise really smart Cal folks are so myopic when it comes to football.
Why can't UCLA and Cal compete and have a fun, friendly rivalry and save our mutual hate for USC.
I'll tell you what Cal fans, I don't really care about Stanford, but I'll hate them just for you.
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This week's video:
Someone I don't want to mention wanted me to go with a Counting Crows song.
Because their lead singer is a Cal grad or something.
But, earth to you know who: Counting Crows are lame. They're lamer than our fight song. Sorry. I don't care if the guy did date Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston. I mean, Courteney Cox married an Arquette and Jennifer Aniston dates John Mayer -- clearly they're into some weak-ass dudes.
Then, I thought about going with a video of the band playing the fight song, just to piss off the Cal folks, but ... naaah ...
Instead I'll just go with this:
Creedence Clearwater Revival- Midnight Special (via luvzCCR)
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This week's guesses:
1 - True or false: UCLA will score a touchdown on offense of 20 yards or more
2 - Name a Bruin with an interception
3 - Which team will rush for more yards, Cal or UCLA?
Put your guesses in the subject line. Guessing ends before the kickoff.