(Written by kencraw)

(This is the third in a four part series taking stock of just how momentous Saturday’s opening game against Nevada will be, coming home to the newly renovated Memorial Stadium.)

I truly believe that the upgraded California Memorial Stadium and its attached Simpson center will be regarded as one of the best college football settings in the country. I see 5 things that make it truly special:

1. History

While there is no doubt that this is a *new* stadium, it did it in a unique way that retains its history. There were 4 great stadiums made on the West Coast in the 1920’s (the beginning of big stadium building): The Rose Bowl, the LA Coliseum, Stanford Stadium and California Memorial Stadium. Of those, California Memorial Stadium now becomes the crown jewel for college football. Stanford Stadium entirely lost it’s connection with history when it gutted the old stadium and built the tin rectangle. The LA Coliseum is still a special stadium, but has always been compromised for football as it was built as an Olympic stadium. The seating setup for football is no comparison to the true bowls of Memorial and the Rose Bowl. Plus it has become a dump. The Rose Bowl is someplace very special and always will be. Yet it has one HUGE problem: It’s not on campus. It’s a constant issue of woe for UCLA fans. Plus it’s a bit rundown by modern standards, particularly compared to the renovated Memorial Stadium.

Think about that for a second: California Memorial Stadium has no equal as a historical college football stadium on the West Coast. It’s a remarkable transformation.

2. Geographic Setting

The only Pac-12 stadium that comes close to comparing to Strawberry Canyon is Husky Stadium on the periphery of Lake Washington. If you haven’t made the trip up the western rim of Memorial Stadium in a long time, you owe it to yourself to head over there Saturday afternoon to look at the beauty below. What is amazing about Strawberry Canyon is that you don’t even have to look to the west, the beautiful Eucalyptus covered hills to the east as well as Strawberry Canyon itself are a marvel to behold.

3. Complementing the geography

What adds to the views is how well the stadium is nestled into the surroundings. I’ve been to a lot of stadiums and a number try to make use of the surrounding geography to build the stadium into the environment. Most of the attempts come off very clunky. Sun Devil stadium in Tempe is prototypical. It’s kinda cool from a distance, but once you get close, you realize it’s a monstrosity carved in with blunt instruments. There used to be an aspect of this at Memorial with the exposed dirt under the western wall. No longer. It’s now perfectly nestled into the hillside (and the Simpson center only helps) as if it was always meant to be there.

4. Student Section

Every other stadium renovation I’ve seen have all had one thing in common: The students got booted from their prized 50-yard-line seats to give more opportunities for expensive donor seats. Stanford students are relegated to the corner. Oregon too, even with the Nike money. Oregon State as well when “Reser” came to town. USC did the same, even without an upgrade. While there may be one or two left who still have their students on the 50, I can’t think of one that is. And DEFINITELY not any stadium after an upgrade/replacement.

Cal students: You need to add a new cheer that goes something like “HEY ALUMNI… THANK YOOOOUUU!” The alumni and the athletic department was very generous to you wanting you to have the privilege that was given to the generations before. It’s a special gift you should cherish.

5. Top end training integrated with a top end stadium

Some schools have great stadiums. Some schools have great training facilities. Some schools have both, but they’re miles apart. I only know of one school in the conference that approaches the closeness *and* niceness of the CMS and the Simpson center: Oregon. But even there, they’re just adjacent and very nice. There’s no sense of integration and oneness. If anything they’re a little awkward standing next to each other. It’s very unlike what we now have in Berkeley. Cal went from having substandard facilities to not only having some of the best, but in a way that oozes harmony between the two buildings.

These 5 things mean we’ve got something very special going on in Strawberry Canyon these days and mark my words: You’ll feel it tomorrow, even if you’re watching on TV. It won’t be obvious what it is that makes it so special, at least not right away. Nevertheless there will be an energy tomorrow that can not be solely attributed to the standard things: newness, the return after being away, the triumph after a long struggle. All of those things will be part of it to make it even more euphoric tomorrow. But at it’s root this energy won’t be going anywhere one or two or even ten years from now.

Somehow Memorial Stadium reminds me of the old Berkeley Toyota line:

Nobody Beats Berkeley. They never have and they they never will!