I think my underpants are only mildly soaked (Cal 26, Oregon 16)
(Written by jsnell)
So, this was pretty much the most miserable I have ever been at a sporting event. Including years and years at Cal. From the mid-first quarter to early in the fourth quarter, it was raining hard.
I didn’t bring my snazzy camera, so all you get is an iPhone shot.
It was an odd game. At the start of both halves, Cal was on the ropes. The game started with a Cal turnover and an Oregon scoring drive. Things looked bad. But then Riley converted on third down (boy, they converted a lot of third downs Saturday) and the Bears were off for a 7-6 lead. Which expanded to the classic 9-6 lead (in a most unclassical way) after the Oregon long-snapper chucked one 30 yards out the back of the end zone.
But in the second half, the same thing happened. Oregon, tired of the terrible conditions, went exclusively to the option run. And it worked great for one drive. But all of a sudden, the Cal defense figured it out, and when Oregon tried to start passing again, it was bad news. The receivers’ hands had turned to stone and the passer’s arm wasn’t much better.
It was also a game where the side of the field you were playing on really mattered. At the end of the third quarter, Oregon was driving toward the south end. But the quarter ended and the teams flipped to the north end, which was full of standing water. All of a sudden the fates shifted with the weather. A failed field-goal at that cursed end later, Cal had the ball. Shortly thereafter, Oregon’s punt returned dropped a fair-catch punt, Cal recovered, and the Bears put the game away.
A weird game, for sure. But hey, a great outcome for Cal. On we go to USC.
Uni Watch: Cal broke out the all-yellow uniform combination for the first time. Can’t say I like it, though it was less awful than I thought it would be. It helps when you break out an odd uniform when you’re on the field with Oregon, because you’re guaranteed not to have the worst uniforms on the field. And in the rainy conditions, it was a little bit like the Bears were dressed as Team Raincoat.
The rest of us were dressed in raincoats, too.
By the end of the game, my clothes were soaked through — guess that raincoat has lost its waterproofing! — and my teeth were starting to chatter. But at least the rain stopped for the second half of the fourth quarter. Combined with Cal reasserting itself, that was enough to allow us to survive till the final gun. Which we did. I feel like we deserve a merit badge of some kind.
November 2nd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I gotta say this. Yeah, the yellow jerseys make the team look like a bunch of highlighters, but the players seem to like them. We pull them out for our biggest games, and I don’t think we’ve lost a contest clad in the yellow yet.
And watching that game on TV, with the gloomy conditions, the Bears were the brightest thing out there. It made the game somewhat easier to follow, I must say. š (Yay, Team Raincoat!)
(Although I’m sorry I brought up the yellow jersey/yellow pants combination in comments on the AZ game. Somebody must have heard…)
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I’ve gotten used to the yellow jerseys. I like them better at night. They’re not a bad addition to the mix, I guess. But with yellow pants? Ay caramba!
November 2nd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
I liked the yellow on yellow. I think they looked a lot better then Minnesota when they wear the yellow on yellow. The weather was brutal but lasted until the very end.
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:52 am
I didn’t go to the game buy the guys doing the TV broadcast said it was really dark down on the field. One of them kept wondering why CAL didn’t turn the lights on, until someone told him we don’t have lights! I think the yellow outfit, whether you like them or not, helped the QB spot his receivers eaiser.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I thought the SC game last year was a far more miserable game day experience. The precipitation was comparable, but that game was such a slow kill: Cal never looked like they were ready to win that game, but Cal stayed close enough where you could never allow yourself to leave the stadium. This game, however sloppily played, was at least entertaining throughout. I walked into the stadium with the feeling that it would conclude in an unusual fashion, and I never lost that feeling until the dropped punt and ensuing Cal touchdown put it away for good. Plus that SC game had a late afternoon start time, so it was chillier by the time it concluded. I’ve been going to Call games consistently since 79, and I can’t ever remember any other games that have been played in conditions anywhere close to those two.
November 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hey Bub — I didn’t go to the USC game last year because I was out of the country, floating in international waters. Which given what happened, was a really good idea!