In 1959, Pete Newell coached the California Golden Bears to their only NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, beating the Jerry West-led West Virginia squad in the final. While beating “the logo” and taking home the big trophy is generally regarded as his greatest achievement around Berkeley, there was much more to the man than this “one shining moment.”
After retiring from coaching, he spent some thirty-plus years teaching footwork and technique to a cavalcade of big men that reads like a roster of who’s who in the painted area over the last three decades of NBA hoops. Bill Walton. Hakeem Olajuwon. Shaquille O’Neal. In all, more than 200 past and current NBA players attended at least one of Newell’s camps. But perhaps the most astounding fact about Pete was the fact that he refused to accept any money from any of the attendees, many of whom would make many millions of dollars under his tutelage. Of this decision, he would say little publicly. But what he did say was very telling.
“I owe it to the game. I can never repay what the game has given me.”
This nobility of sentiment, however, should not be misconstrued as an understatement of his influence on the game we all love. None other than Bobby Knight had this to say about Pete in an interview last year.
“He was as good as anybody who’s ever coached this game.”
From a long-suffering Cal alumni, I can only offer this humble “thank you” to Mr. Newell. We may only have one banner in the rafters from the biggest stage, but we have the legacy of a true basketball giant, one who selflessly served the game of basketball and those who play it until his final days. We are all richer for his doing so. Pete Newell was 93 years old at his passing. I will leave you with a fitting eulogy from none other than Don Nelson. Read More »
Tonight was supposed to be about Aaron Rodgers. Product of Chico. JuCo transfer to Cal. Holder of several school records. Upsetter of USC.
But no.
It’s not like Aaron Rodgers and his newly sprouted beard failed on the big stage against the Cowboys, but his Packers sort of, well, lost. And it’s not like I had some crazy insider information about him to share, but I sincerely thought that he was going to go off on the ‘Boys up in Lambeau. And it would have been cool to write about. But no. All that said, now comes the most unlikely segue possible. In fact, I cannot think of a single thing to connect the dots from Aaron Rodgers to Primus. I guess Les Claypool has a beard. That’s about the best I can do. In fact, this kind of screws up two of my better bylines for a while, but we work with what we’ve got.
A couple of weeks ago, during my blogger hiatus, my old ass spent three days out in the dirt and dust of the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Among the highlights was a reunion of sorts on the second stage. Primus. Wanna read more? Sure you do. Read More »
Ah, the final Boom Tho installment from B-Town. C’est la vie.
It is with our best wishes that we send Too Much Rod Benson to play for the reigning French champion, SLUC Nancy. Rod is a former Cal Bear, D-Leaguer, founder of the “Boom Tho” movement, and, at 6′10”, 220, a darn fine blogger.
The Warriors just didn’t understand. We coulda been a contender. We coulda been ready like spaghetti. Let’s face it Rod, it was you.
Best of luck with the Cougars, enjoy the paycheck and your new Peugeot. I recommend you peep this one.
Last year, I attended the home opener of the Cal football season. Upon entering the stadium with another Cal alum and Bay Area native, we were approached by a young woman soliciting support for the tree sitters. My companion, who once ran unsuccessfully for District 5 Supervisor in San Francisco, losing to my onetime building-mate Ross Mirkirimi (who, would likely sympathize with the tree sitters, but I digress) split the difference on the talking points. The conversation went something like this.
“You guys want to support the tree sitters?”
“Probably not. But, we hear you. Where are you from?”
“Tennessee originally, but I live nearby and I love walking through this grove.”
“Actually, I’m from Berkeley. Don’t you think that living in the trees might not be beneficial for them? And moreover, this stadium is almost 100 years old and build atop a live earthquake fault, wouldn’t it be a tragedy if lives were lost because it couldn’t be retrofitted?”
“But these trees are sacred.”
“Don’t they abut one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in the inner Bay Area, one filled with similar groves, and hasn’t the university pledged to redouble efforts to reforest in exchange for what seems a necessary improvement to public saftety? There are 75,000 people walking into this stadium right now. Shouldn’t they be safe? Actually, I’m sorry, this is going to sound rude, but are you a student?”
“Well, I was.”
“Well so were we. We also grew up here. What about those guys in the trees? Any of them from here?”
“Well, I don’t know. Not really, I guess.”
“So what if most of us would like it if they came down?”
“Well, I guess that’s your opinion.”
“Okay, thanks. And good luck. But just understand that we’re okay with you doing this because we want you to be able to speak your mind. But frankly you’re wasting resources. Resources that could plant trees. Resources that could retrofit stadiums and make people safe. Resources that we all need. But we’re going to watch some football now. Y’all need to figure this out and fight a bigger battle.”
And we went into the stadium. But I’m far from done on this. Read More »
That’s the number 0. Leon Powe definitely represented the Town on the national stage. After ABC’s emotional biopic at halftime, Powe came out in the second half and finished with a career high 21 points, and a most valuable performance off the Celtic’s bench. He even received the NBA/ T-Mobile player of the game award. I bet everyone and they mama in Oakland was lightin’ up their Metros tonight. It’s like Stern heard my call for drama and delivered the goods. They even had him floating on a green Silver Surfer-like graphic all the way down the floor on his way to a monster dunk. Now that’s good television!
It’s like it was yesterday, I can remember him as an Oakland Tech Bulldog playing in the CIF tournament games. I know some Cal fans frowned upon his decision to enter the draft after one good year at Cal, but after learning his entire story, one can’t help think that he made the right decision given his circumstances. His little brothers and sisters will never have to live out of a car and share Big Macs again if Powe has the type of career that tonight’s breakout game forecasts.
First, to the Yardbarker crew, let me say that I believe “MacBlast” is an Apple-obsessed geek soiree that occurs during the “Mac World Expo and Conference” that is held each year in SF. Here, we are discussing the very different “Mack Blast.” Within the roots of this expression lies a particular contradiction of some significance for anyone interested in hyphy-semiotics. To be “put on blast” is to be exposed in a way that is undesired by the “blastee,” yet to be acknowledged publicly as a Mack is generally a good thing - or is it? Let us take the case of Frank Lucas whose entire criminal empire was undone by one overly ostentatious gesture (if we are to believe the film “American Gangster”). It was by wearing an expensive fur coat which many would agree to be quite “Mackish,” to a very public event, he leaked a sign of his success to the world, and hence, to the NYPD.
It is by this account, I believe that to be “put on Mack blast” would be a negative thing - especially for a Mack of the old school variety. One’s Mackish reputation is preserved longer if it remains discreet. How much paper is stacked, how much weight is pushed, how many illicit affairs are had, are all things best whispered about in private and should never be “blasted” as public information, lest the “blaster” wishes some great harm to befall him/her. However, we live in a different time where excessiveness is a sign of success, and for those athletes and celebrities who have achieved the means to such excessiveness through socially permissible avenues, then perhaps being “Mack Blasted” is not such a bad thing. Obviously, in the above video our friend Marshawn Lynch does not look particularly bothered now the world knows he spent a mortgage note’s worth of loot on tickets to the Super Bowl.
In conclusion, I actually hope that the emergence of this phrase would point toward a trend back to discretion and away from the conspicuousness of our popular culture. This would be a good thing for Mackdom and society as a whole. It would be interesting if from now on, if the worst thing for a Mack would be “to be put on Mack blast,” and, if you want to get super gangster about it, would even warrant another kind of mack blast in response. Let the hype-mongers take notice.
Chris Mullin is signing in here. At the Cal-USC game. I’m not sure what he’s signing for. Could it be the uber-hyped O.J. Mayo? Maybe the elder-Meschery-coached, nascent-paint-beast Mr. DeVon Hardin? Or perhaps the subtle, Croshere-2.0-stylings of Ryan Anderson. Any which way, we like the local-scouting-ness of it all. But since Meschery Senior did some work with Hardin over the summer, we hope that you can recognize Mr. Future Beast and draft accordingly.
Did I mention that the Bears smoked the Trojans yet? My bad. O.J. Mayo got off for a considerable sum, but the Bears were too dense in the paint and too hot from beyond the arc. The final was 92-82. And we FTBers got to tack that win onto the one Barack Obama registered in Iowa. Nice double dip. Now if we can just steal Hardin or Anderson, Mully’s little drive uptown will have been for all the right reasons.
Turman
PS. Props to Cal man about town Michael O’Connor and family for sponsoring the FTB presence at the show. One love to Michael O’C. And go spend some money at the man’s club already. It’s called The Independent and they sponsor some of the most interesting live music known to The Bay.
Then, all too suddenly he says he has to do the testis check. Fine. Whatever. He wouldn’t be the first doctor to tell me to pull my pants down. He would, however, be the first doctor NOT to ask me to. He literally strapped his gloves on while I was lying back on this chair, and put his hands down my pants to do the check.
“Let me just get this guy out of the wayyyy.” His words interrupted my blogging thought process and fast forwarded my mind into panic mode. “There, got it. Now cough please.”
Just a sample from Rod’s latest post on Yahoo’s NBA Expert Blog.
Back in 2005, Cal couldn’t get enough of Rod Benson. In fact he was kinda’ killing in his sophomore year, averaging more then 13 points and 6 boards a contest.
About six or seven months ago I stumbled on to “Too Much Rod Benson“. I actually found it because of the “Boom Got Them Tho” video that made the rounds on YouTube. After following his stuff for a while now, I gotta’ say, this dude is genuinely funny. And he can write. And he’s Poli Sci graduate from UC Berkeley. And he plays professional hoop. Well, sort of. He’s currently playing in the D-League for the Dakota Wizards (Note: Benson was named Player of the Week).
Well, I’m rootin’ for the dude. And I certainly hope he keeps up the writing, because it is some of the most entertaining sports bloggin’ by and athlete I’ve seen.
Let’s see, an active big who logged 28 rebounds in a single game. Don, have you read his blog?
Gd.
Now, make the jump to see Rod do the Chicken Noodle Soup Dance. Read More »
Plenty of folks are doing the Soulja Boy. So what if Bo Ryan is a 60-year old white dude. Who lives in Wisconsin.
Okay, so he’s also the coach of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team. And coincidentally, he’s also the owner of a prestigious statistical honorarium: Bo is the current leader in overall winning percentage among NCAA coaches with at least 20 years of head coaching experience. Ordinarily, I would get witty or something now, but let’s just let Bo do his thing. Go ‘head Bo. And Superman.
Thoughts?
Turman
PS. That other school, The University of California, and their men’s football team, will not be discussed at the current time.
For approximately 40 minutes or so, Cal was the number one football team in the country. During this time, the nervous crowd never really let out a proper roar to announce the arrival of this unlikely truth, largely because the PA announcer never reported the LSU-Kentucky score to the assembled faithful. We were left furtively passing along reports of the multiple overtimes by word of mouth until finally, as the sun passed over the lip of the stadium and halftime was upon us, the truth was clear. If Cal could preserve their tentative halftime lead, they would be atop the polls. Alas, the coming darkness proved to be a harbinger as I searched fruitlessly for beer.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Riley started in place of the injured Nate Longshore. Without going into excruciatingly granular detail about his performance, it is fair to say that his performance was uneven. He started slow, but managed to get untracked to deliver a fairly stout line: 20 of 34 for 294 yards and three touchdowns, including one rushing score. Unfortunately, the game that Riley delivered was one that would have been perfect for 2001. With this season’s heightened expectations and the national championship on the line, anything that ends in a loss is not enough. And the way the loss unfolded was truly crushing.
If you can’t taste any stomach bile yet, Read More »
