Better Than Advertised.

A thought I had earlier: all 4 of Cal's 2008 losses came on the road to teams that are playing in bowls. 2 of those teams won their bowls (Maryland and Arizona) and the other two (U$C and Oregon State) haven't played yet.

Additionally, Cal beat three other bowl teams: Colorado State, Michigan State, and Oregon, which just ran all over Oklahoma State. That doesn't count Miami, which Cal beat in the Emerald Bowl. Stanford and Arizona State both barely missed bowl eligibility. The only truly terrible teams on Cal's schedule were the Washington schools.

Considering this was supposed to be a "rebuilding" year, that's not too shabby.

Playing Catch-Up

Almost two months since my last post. I suck at this.

Let's hit the high/lowlights of March and April:

• I started Twittering (Twitting? Tweeting? Damn Web 2.0 doublespeak). Well, in any case, Twitter is sort of like a mini-blog, where you can post short entries about anything, no matter how mundane. My three most recent "tweets" are in the sidebar on the right of this page, or you can sign up and "follow" me. I have been spending a lot of time on this lately, probably slowing down my blog output.
  
• In sports, out with college hoops season. Out with Ben Braun. In with Mike Montgomery. In with baseball season. Out with Giants' playoff hopes, then back in. (Same for entertainment value of 2008 Giants.) Out with Warriors' playoff hopes. In with Cal NFL prospects, out with little remaining faith in the 49ers' front office. Lastly, out with Sharks hockey.
  
• Democrats still haven't picked a player. Starting to wonder if an election seemingly ripe for the taking will go by the wayside. Hilary doing McCain's work for him. Obama unable to close the deal. Sigh.
  
• Back flare-up two weekends ago. Using leaf blower and doing actual work apparently through me all out of whack. That's all gone now but still some nerve impingement in my leg, and I think that is still causing me some weakness (although the pain is mostly gone). I am convinced the extra thirty pounds I put on after my wedding is causing all this, and I need to lose at least twenty. So all-you-can-eat ribs tonight were probably a bad idea.
  
• Layoffs on the way at Sun. What else is new? Seriously, I love working at Sun so I'm hoping that I (again) will make it through unscathed. I think they are on the right track and were just stung by the sluggish U.S. economy. I put full blame for our current stock price on the guy in the white house on Pennsylvania Ave.
  
• I have four (yes, four) fantasy baseball teams this season, including two in 20-team leagues. That is taking up far too much of my time.
  

That's all for now. See you in ...July?

Cal 68, New Mexico 66

Cal squeaked one out in the opener of the NIT tonight. They were beneficiaries (for once) of a questionable foul and were able to capitalize at the stripe, whereas New Mexico could not hit a free throw to save their 2008 lives.

It's been fashionable in Berkeley to call for Ben Braun's head on a pike after The team's disappointing run in the Pac-10, but I think he deserves the benefit of the doubt. Cal's core of players is still very young, and truthfully, I don't think they've learned how to put away an opponent yet. It doesn't help they play in the toughest conference in the NCAA (yes, I said it). They are going to be much better next season, and a run through the NIT is going to give them some much needed experience.