Crackpot theories for Cal’s collapse
(Written by kencraw)
OK, I don’t claim to believe any of these nor do I think they’re all bogus, but I thought I’d throw them out there both for discussion purposes and to show how ridiculous some of our thoughts are:
- Shouldn’t have used the gold jerseys: I know that there aren’t many who take the gold-tops seriously but this is the first time they’ve lost with them. It couldn’t have anything to do with the fact they always use them at home and they’ve until now only lost twice at home since their introduction, including one USC loss where they wouldn’t have used the gold jerseys if they had not used the throwbacks (the other loss was to Oregon State in 2007 where we wore blue). It was a huge mistake to bust them out and kill their mojo, right?
- Tedford doesn’t show enough emotion: We wouldn’t want him to throw his play-card and headset on the ground, because he could lose the team with a showing of emotion like that, but more emotion please!
- Tedford has been destroying his quarterbacks: OK, Rodgers was brought from nothing to an NFL grade QB by Tedford at Cal, but that kid just had natural talent and he would have been great without Tedford. Yeah, and maybe Longshore had a good year in 2006, but look at him in 2007 and 2008. Look at Ayoob in 2005. And look at Riley now!?! Is that the same guy who played in the Oregon Sta… er the Armed Forces Bowl?
- Ludwig is no good: Look at what Oregon fans think about him! Look at what Utah fans think of him despite his record at Utah and their undefeated season! Look at the play-calling in the last two games!
- The Bears can’t play in the wind: The Bears are only 4-4 when the wind is over 12 mph including losses to Arizona and Stanford. Tedford’s offense isn’t built to win in tough conditions like windy days and thats what sunk us on Saturday.
- The memorial turf is getting old: The Bears haven’t replaced the turf since it was installed in 2002. This turf is only supposed to be used for a handful of years before its replaced but all the money is going to to SAHPC and the stadium renovation.
- Pete Alamar is a horrible coach: Cal’s last punt return for a touchdown allowed? The 2005 game against UCLA. Alamar just doesn’t bring his A-game for the big ones and no none of the games in between count and the fact that it’s been that long doesn’t matter either.
- The Bears don’t play well on the road: And let’s be honest, that was a virtual away game with the 10k seat sold to USC including their huge section in the south endzone and the fans spattered all over the rest of the field. Add in that stupid band of theirs and that stupid song that they play over and over and over and the Bears didn’t stand a chance on the road.
- Cal’s lack of facilities is killing them: They can’t get recruits and none of the 4-stars they got are any good. Plus, look at how we were man-handled by USC and Oregon. Their guys were much bigger than ours. And Tepper is just too big for his own good.
- The game plan is too conservative: And when it’s not too conservative, it’s full of all these trick plays that never work.
OK, perhaps I’m being too cynical towards both sides, but I guess what I’m saying is that it’s a bit more complicated than any of the explanations. Yes, I’ve said all these things too, but it’s just never as simple as we want to make it.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:50 am
How about the lines to the concession stands and bathrooms are so long that 25% of the fans arn’t even in their seats yelling.
On that lonesome end play that Riley botched,Tedford turned about ten shades of red and I thought he was going to bust a blood vessel. He was pissed.
The wrong car won the race on the jumbotron.
For some rason they used two explosive devices when the band came on the field before the game. They have always just used one. A sure bad omen.
At the first two games it was overcast and we won. This game it was sunny another bad sign and we lost.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
bar20: Actually the explosive-devices theory (and it’s a GREAT crackpot theory) isn’t true… Cal usually uses one explosive pad for minor opponents, two pads for strong/conference opponents, and three for the Big Game.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I like the wrong car won the race on the jumbotron (I’m assuming that was the red one?)
You’re way off base on the sunny thing though, well maybe. Saturday’s game was considered “Clear” by the football statistics gods and the Bears are 35-9 during the Tedford era when it’s “Clear”. However, when it is considered “Sunny” the Bears are only 5-4 in the same time-frame.
So CLEARLY (pun intended) we’ve got some sort of problem when it’s sunny but not when it’s clear. I blame Gould for that one.
October 5th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
While we’re on the topic of weather. “Hazy” is by far the worst weather condition for us, statistically. We’re an astounding 1-5 in the haze.
And only half those games are in LA (the remaining three were in Pullman, Berkeley and Maryland (that was Haze?)).
Bar20, you might be on to something with the anti-Sun. Our best records are with the clouds:
5-1: “Cloudy”
2-0: “Low Clouds”
4-1: “Overcast”
1-0: “Mostly Cloudy”
1-0: “Foggy”
But we’re 0-3 when the “Light Rain” or the “Showers” kick in (1-1 in full “Rain”) and 4-6 in “Partly Cloudy” and “Patchy Clouds” on the other end when the sun starts to poke through (and to round it out, 1-1 in “Mostly Sunny” and 0-1 in “Mostly Clear”).
Cloudy is when we bring our A-Game, but not either extreme. There’s your new pet theory for you!
October 5th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
This isn’t really a crackpot theory per se, but I love how every defeat is played out as a “program damaging loss” on so many message boards and comment strings. Yes, it feels bad to lose. It feels really bad to lose two games in a row. It feels really really bad to lose two games in a row and not score a touchdown in either. But this doesn’t significantly damage the program as whole enough to make those kinds of claims. Yes, once again our expectations for a truly special season were crushed. Yes, once again Cal “choked” on the national stage. Yes, once again I get to read a depressing Ratto column the day after a loss. But we can still have a very positive season. If we were to win out (doubtful but still possible) we’d end up with 11 wins. 11 wins is NEVER a bad season under ANY circumstance.
Building a consistently successful program does not happen overnight. It’s a slow and steady process that goes in stages. Right now we are a mid to upper level Pac 10 team that flutters in and out of the top 25, consistently appearing in low- to mid-level bowl games. That’s a gigantic step forward from where we were for the past 4 decades (3 years of Bruce Snyder success aside). The foundation is being set. Hopefully the stadium & facilities upgrade serve as a catalyst to propel us from this foundation of consistent success to the true upper level of college football.
Learn to manage expectations, people. It’s the only way to survive being a sports fan.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
I do think it’s fair to say that once the SAHPC opens, Cal’s recruiting efforts are going to pay HUGE dividends. Right now they’re recruiting with ancient facilities and a promise of a better day. That training center will change the game completely.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Some of these “theories” do have legs.
1) Ludwig is no good- I had begun to read the comments of Duck & Ute fans during the summer many bloggers posted facts of before/during/after Ludwig’s OC era. This guy is the kiss of death. FACT- Bears first drive Riley hits the TE up the seam for a nice 20-30yd gain. We do not try that play again until the end of the first half, after many 3 & outs.
2) Turf- my kids highschool has a better field than a Pac-10 team. ’nuff said.
3) Lack of Facilities- yes, it puts the Bears at a HUGE competitive disadvantage. But those “student-athletes” actually seeking an education beyond X’s & O’s can’t pick a better university. ONCE the SAHPC and Memorial Stadium renovations are complete Tedford will have a much easier time recruiting kids to Cal… but they still have to have above average grades. (Who knows what USC “really” does for their football players being a private school).
GO BEARS!!!!
October 20th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Not Sold on Ludwig…I do remember him giving me fits at times…
It was windy at the Oregon game….Cal chose to kick the field goal and miss…Oregon went for it on 4th down…its not the weather, its the coach!
Recruiting….I’ve seen Oregon’s facilities…(I’ve cleaned them)…pretty damn awesome. Tedford is going to start losing his crediability with recruits…this year’s Juniors were probably promised renovated facilities but the delays (damn tree sitters) might mean that they get one year in the new buildings? (I dunno the timeline).
The other thing is…yes, Tedford has been able to recruit descent skills players here and there but how about the rest of the team? Maybe Tedford’s weak point is talent evaluation?
Ducks for Pac-10 Champions…(Sorry Ken)