No GameDay on Sep. 1

ESPN has opted to take GameDay to Blacksburg for the East Carolina at Virginia Tech game instead of Berkeley on September 1 (reported in May). This decision was most likely prompted by the tragedy that occurred earlier this year.

Hopefully, we may have GameDay for our match-up with USC in November.

Quick bits: “players to watch” mentions

Sporting News’ Inside Dish:

Player to watch in the season openers: Cal CB Syd’Quan Thompson. The guy who was the definition of torched in the Bears’ season-opening loss to Tennessee last year will be one of the nation’s best cover corners this season. The teams open against each other again this fall. . . .

ESPN‘s “Seniors to watch in 2007”:

5. Justin Forsett, RB, California
Forsett ran for 626 yards and scored five touchdowns playing behind Marshawn Lynch last season. Lynch will be playing in the NFL this fall, and Forsett has the speed and vision to become the Pac-10 Conference’s premier running back.

AD: Trial set for September 19

Athletic Director Sandy Barbour has delivered some good news about the Memorial Stadium and Student-Athlete High Performance Center plans in a letter to Cal supporters:

On Thursday, June 14, the judge presiding over the legal challenges to the project agreed to our request and signaled that she is ready to set a firm trial date for September 19. Although later than we would have preferred, the date is more expeditious than the October and November dates that the judge had been considering.

She also asserts:

With the facts firmly on our side, we are eager to have our case heard by an impartial judge and are completely confident that we will prevail. At the same time, pre-construction planning is continuing apace so that we will be ready to hit the ground running as soon as the injunction is lifted. … You should also know that we remain interested in and open to reaching settlement agreements with the plaintiffs. I firmly believe that Berkeley taxpayers and the campus can find better uses for the money that will be spent on litigation.

Barbour concludes with these additional statements:

…We will be making a concerted effort during the summer to take our case to directly to the public, civic leaders and local elected officials. The need for informed debate is ill-served by misinformation. Oak trees planted by the university in 1923 cannot be considered an “ancient grove.” A building site that is clear of active fault lines cannot be labeled as unsafe. A center that will serve the pressing needs of 13 intercollegiate teams cannot be described as benefiting a single sport.

With cautious optimism, I am beginning to believe that things should begin rolling very soon. Our AD is doing an excellent job.

Study: no active faults under HPC site

According to Cal’s official website, a study has confirmed that there are no active faults on the proposed site for the Student-Athlete High Performance Center:

The new explorations turned up no active fault traces in the planned construction area, confirming the company’s earlier conclusions. Geomatrix’s conclusions were also supported by the seismic consulting firm William Lettis & Associates Inc., which conducted peer reviews of the 2006 and the 2007 studies. …

Professor Gregory L. Fenves, chair of UC Berkeley’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, reviewed both Geomatrix reports and has concluded that the design is in complete compliance with the Alquist-Priolo act. The building will be built with the most modern structural engineering technology to protect UC Berkeley athletes from the ground motion expected during a large magnitude Hayward Fault earthquake, he said.

“Seismologists and engineers know from studies of past earthquakes that the level of ground shaking is approximately the same right next to a fault as it is anywhere else within two miles of the fault,” Fenves said. “Thus, the new student-athlete center is unlikely to experience ground motion higher than any other building on campus or in downtown Berkeley should a major earthquake occur on the Hayward Fault.”

EDIT 2007-06-01: In addition, Professor Fenves has written a very nice article published in the SF Chronicle about the matter. An excerpt:

With top geologists now reaffirming that there are no active faults under the proposed center, the city’s allegation is unfounded from our perspective as earthquake engineers. In fact, the city’s lawsuit, filed last December, has the potential to jeopardize the safety of Cal athletes by delaying and possibly derailing the first step of a critical project to seismically retrofit the 83-year-old Memorial Stadium.

This is a major step forward for the stadium construction project, as it addresses the Alquist-Priolo objections completely. Still, Cal must fight the City of Berkeley’s public access claims and the bogus Save the Oaks tree issue.

However, this finding should contribute greatly to overcoming the preliminary court injunction issued early this year that is preventing the project’s progress towards stadium modernization and safety.

Rivals: Cal in two of “the best games of 2007”

Rivals has put together a 2007 season “dream travel package for a college football fan”, and two of Cal’s highlight games make the list:

Week 1: Saturday, Sept. 1
Tennessee at Cal: We expected this game to be a toss-up last year, and Tennessee instead scored the game’s first 35 points on its way to a 35-18 triumph. California should put up much more of a fight at home. Both programs could start the season ranked among the top 15 teams in the nation, which makes this the most attractive game in a relatively lackluster opening weekend.
…
Week 11: Saturday, Nov. 10
Southern California at Cal: Southern California’s chances of winning a sixth consecutive Pac-10 title and playing for the national championship could depend on whether the Trojans can pull off this road victory. California will need a big performance from Nate Longshore, who completed less than half his passes and threw two interceptions last season in a 23-9 loss to USC.

Not coincidentally, these are the two games I will be attending from out of town this season. Both should be great showdowns… Go Bears.

QB commit Beau Sweeney

Last week, quarterback Beau Sweeney (6’1.5″, 200 lb, 4.65 forty) out of Clovis West High School (Fresno, CA) committed to Cal’s 2008 class. As pointed out by Scout, Sweeney is not only a great athlete but an excellent student (4.0 GPA), and he has an incredible football pedigree with connections to Coach Jeff Tedford:

Sweeney’s uncles played at Alabama, Ohio State (2) and Montana State and Sweeney’s father, Kevin set an NCAA record for career passing yards with 10,623, passing Doug Flutie of Boston College in the process in 1986. Sweeney’s grandfather, Jim was the longtime Fresno State Head Football Coach as well. …

Tedford played quarterback under Jim Sweeney and was teammates with Kevin during Sweeney’s redshirt freshman season…

Sweeney picked Cal over offers from other Pac-10 schools and some interest from USC as well. He looked good after participating in the Elite 11 workout and Nike camp per Rivals:

Fresno, California’s Clovis West quarterback Beau Sweeney made a name for himself as he attended both the Elite 11 Workout and the Nike Camp the following day.

Also, here’s a brief from ESPN and longer pieces from the Fresno Bee and the Contra Costa Times about Sweeney’s commitment.

JC WR Tucker commits

Verran Tucker, a wide receiver from El Camino Junior College, is the fourth recruit to commit to Cal’s 2008 recruiting class. Tucker is a fast (4.42), tall (6’2″), and athletic (36″ vertical) receiver who appears to have a lot of upside. A look at the recruiting videos make him out to be a tough receiver willing to hang on to tough throws and take big hits. With 3 years to play 2, we’ll probably be seeing Tucker become a big part of the offense in future seasons.

Athlon: Cal is preseason #11

In Athlon Sports‘ annual pre-season countdown of their take on the top 25 teams, Cal has taken the #11 spot. Describing the Bears’ offense as “electric”, Athlon raves about DeSean Jackson as a Heisman candidate, QB Nate Longshore, the other wideouts, and most of the other positions as well. Take a look.

Tennessee, USC games to be on national TV

ESPN has picked up both the Tennessee and USC home games to be broadcast nationally on ABC’s Saturday Night Football. The Tennessee game will kick off the Saturday Night Football series. So, both are going to be 5pm night games – I can tell you now that the atmosphere is going to be electric.

If the trend continues from last year, the Bears will be coming out of the gates in the yellow jerseys. These seemingly have become the home/night jerseys of important games. Note that the Bears have not lost a game in the yellows, and I’m excited to see the streak continue. Here’s a release from Cal about the broadcasts.

Jahvid Best: speed

One of our committed recruits coming in the fall, RB Jahvid Best, is currently blowing away the competition in track and field.

In the Sacramento Meet of Champions this past weekend, Best posted a 10.36 in the 100m and 21.16 in the 200m and won both events. Neither was wind-aided, and these times are the fastest in the state of California this season.

This guy is fast. Look for him to have the potential to make an impact as a freshman.