It's official... or at least it's official within me.

Tomorrow, win or lose, I will stand by my Bears.

Even if I graduate, and even if I never come back to this place
(well... I prolly will.  you'll see if you read on), and even if I
go to another Pac-10 school for law school, I will always always always
be a Cal Football fan.  I promise.

And so, when I get a chance, I'll come back up here to watch a good
game of Cal football, preferably when Stanford comes to town.  If
I start earning the big bucks, and if Cal goes to a bowl game, I might
show up at the bowl game to cheer them on.  I say when I start
earning the big bucks because getting these bowl tix can be a pain in
the ass (i.e. through auctions).

NCAA football is my #1 sport.  And Cal is my #1 team.  And I'm not gonna die until Cal becomes the National Champion

Track back to OSU game in 2003... I don't remember the score but we
lost anyway.  But after that?  12 straight home game wins,
only to be ended by OSU again yesterday.

These past two games remind me of my first time watching Cal football
two years ago.  But the difference is when we lost in 2003, I
didn't feel as mad.  I thought "hey, we're good but we're not that
good, so it's ok."  But this year I'm mad.  Losing to
OSU?  That couldn't happen!  But we lost anyway; can't do anything about that.

Now, if this year's season is going to continue being like the 2003
season, at least we'll 1) beat Stanfurd, 2) go to a bowl game and win
this time, 3) a start of another long home game winning streak.

But guys, can't you all be super good when I'm here to watch you?  Geez!

PS:  I forgot.  If this year's season is going to end up much like 2003's, well... we'll beat USC! 

So my fear has been realized.

For a moment I thought I could relax. looking at the scoreboard with us
winning 40-28.  Next thing I know, we're only leading 40-35. 
And then Maruice Drew shatters everything, and we're down 41-40.

We still had about 1:50 left in the game.  Drive downfield.  Kick a field goal.  Win an emotional game.

No, that didn't happen.  I knew it wasn't gonna happen.

After all, Joe Ayoob is our quarterback, and he's definitely no Aaron Rodgers.

First play of our last drive... he throws... we all stand up...
INTERCEPTION... we all sit back down in disgust.  The game is
over, but obviously not for UCLA.  They just had to run up the
score on us.

Am I mad?  Sure I'm mad.  I'm enraged.  I'm disappointed
I missed the great Cal season last year.  I'm disappointed we're
not even nearly as good as last year.  When UCLA has improved
drastically, we have gotten worse.

But am I going to give up on Cal Football?  No way.  Cal
Football is what's getting me through these tough weeks at
Berkeley.  It's my only source of entertainment and
recreation.  It's my outlet of stress and frustration.  In
fact, with this loss, it has made my devotion to Cal Football as a
program stronger.  I'm not going to quit on these guys until they
win a national championship.  Well... that may be stretching it a
bit far but I'm gonna stick with these guys until Tedford says
goodbye.  All in all, I'm a Tedford fan.  I believe in him.

So what can we do now?  Just gotta keep winning.  Oregon is
gonna be a tough game, and USC will probably beat us.  But hey, we
can still be 2nd place in the Pac 10 if we keep winnin from now on and
UCLA stumbles against USC and other really good Pac 10 teams like
Oregon or Arizona State.

I have faith guys, I have faith.

Just, let me get all of this anger out of my system for today.

I bet some of you will gasp and scratch your eyes to see if you're
actually reading this but, if the Senate really is a working body, then
they should reject Harriet Miers.

Okay, I'll wait for all of you to catch your breath.  Oh no,
Motoki, a Republican just said something Republicans shouldn't
say.  AHHHH!

No, really.

I feel that there are many problems with Bush's new nomination of Miers
to the Supreme Court.  And I don't know why every Republican in
Congress hasn't said anything in opposition to our President because
there's a lot you can be opposed to with her nomination.

First, she's never been a judge.  Sure she's been a lawyer, but
she's been protected from other rabid lawyers out there by a fortress
known as the White House.  I bet you she can pretty much say what
she wants to say and she can get away with it.  And think of all
the judges out there that have worked so hard and have been doing their
utmost to stand by our great Constitution.  They got jipped
man.  By upholding the Constitution to the best of their ability,
they get repaid by someone else (and someone from Bush's inner circle
of all people) being nominated to the Court.  Come on guys, then
that's like it'd be better for us to just kiss ass and get a high
paying job than really working for it.  Disappointing, really.

Second, what's with her and her affiliation with a conservative
Christian church?  I don't want a super conservative religious
person on the Supreme Court.  I want Court decisions based on the
unbiased opinions of judges based solely on legal precdent and
analysis.  I don't want the judicial system being tainted by
religious ideas and teachings.  Law surely has its religious roots
but right now, in our country, it shouldn't choose a religion to base
their decision on.  If that were to happen, we'll be no better
than theocracies like in Iran.

Other reasons are less based on logic but I'm sure you'd all agree.

Harriet Miers is ugly.  She's old but she still uses too much makeup like a teenager girl would.

Do you really want to see some woman that has makeup she should have
used 50 years ago (and definitely not now) on the bench of our highest
court?  I think not.

I don't know if any of you faithful readers are as big of a Cal
football fan than I am, but if any of you out there are, you'll
understand.  I am so
nervous about the Cal-UCLA game.  So nervous that I finished
writing my 5-page take home midterm about non-lethal weapons and how
they may or may not cause perpetual war in one day (and only two days
after we were given the prompt).  I won't be able to stand writing
it over the weekend with the game on and all.  And IF we
lose....I'd be too depressed to write anything.

And if you're the Cal fan that has gotten too used to us annihlating
our opponent all the time, well... time for you to wake up from your
dream 'cuz we're not gonna have it that easy anymore.  Unlike last
year, we have 3 new Pac-10 teams ranked in the top-25.  Other than
us and USC, there's Arizona State, Oregon, and of course, our opponent
this coming weekend, the UCLA Bruins. 

Ladies and gents, you can go look up Yahoo Sports and see what the
percentage of Yahoo! users voted for Cal beating UCLA.  A mere
68%!  And if you look at the odds, UCLA is favored by 1.5. 
Now, if that was last year, we would be going "Those people are
nuts!  There's no way we would lose to UCLA!"  But not this
year people.  UCLA beat Oklahoma ( a team that has gone to two
straight national championships) this year.  We are 5-0 sure, but
the teams we have beat have a combined 5wins and 19 losses, or
something like that.  Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if we
got run over by the Bruins.  Sad, I know, but I wouldn't be
surprised.

Some analysts have said though, the type of team we have this year is
much like the typical powerhouses of the midwest: strong running game,
tough defense.  If those analysts are correct, then we may be able
to be a bit more optimistic.  You know that other than USC, the
tough college football teams are either in the midwest, or in
Florida.  If we are similar to that of a team in Texas, or
Louisiana, then we're good to go.  Maybe it's just that I'm too
used to seeing unbelievable pass plays executed with perfection by
Aaron Rodgers.

All I can say is, I'll be at the Bear's Lair watching my Bears playing
agaist those freaks in Westwood but I won't be drinking anything 'cuz
nothing's gonna pass down my throat due to the fact that I'll be so
tense during the game.  Like if we are winning, I'll be holding my
breath, hoping that UCLA doesn't come back and beat us, and if we are
losing, I"ll be praying that Cal can catch up and beat them in the end.

Either way, I've got a very very stressful Saturday night coming
up.  The twist is, I won't be stressed about schoolwork; I'll be
stressed about football.

My new idol:

I have no idea who she is.  Supposedly a former Japan Airlines flight attendant that has apparently gone into modeling...

gosh... Japan Airlines flight attendants.

I hear flight attendants are into guys with high status jobs... like lawyers!  YES!!!

Nana nah nah~, na na nah nah~, hey he~y, good bye~.

is what we chanted as Arizona Wildcat fans left the stadium with more than 2 minutes to go in the game. 

We shut them out for the second straight year (28-0) and man does that
feel great.  With their stupid mascots harassing our dear Oski,
nothing is sweeter than a shutout.  What is more impressive is
that we have not given up an offensive touchdown for 10 quarters. 
I'm sure I'm right in saying that our defense has been the big factor
that has carried us through the past 5 games, partly due to the fact
that our new QB isn't even close to being as good as our Aaron Rodgers
last year. 

But let's get back to our defense.  We had a shutout going until
their punt returner returned a punt to our 20 yard line or so, late in
the 4th quarter.  The Arizona offense drove the ball to the 2, and
we all thought the shutout was over.  Next play though, their QB
pitched the ball to their RB and ran outside but the entire defense
shifted towards him and dropped him for a loss of 2.  We stopped
the run again for no gain and then pressured the QB for the next two
downs so none of his passes met a receiver.  In the end, Cal had
one of the best goal-line stands I've ever seen.  That's how good
they are, and that's how much passion they put into the game, and
that's what I like to see.

Next up:  @UCLA.

Study Abroad Fair yesterday!

Since I'm working for the EAP Office now I was there tabling at the
fair that was held in Pauley Ballroom.  Other than EAP, a lot of
other study abroad programs and companies came to give out free stuff
and information.  I myself went around to see what other companies
offered and got some cool, free stuff.

3 pens, a Waseda mousepad, a hostel discount card and a keychain with a compass, a red light, and a whistle all in one.

I also got a lot of brochures from different study/work/volunteer
abroad organizations and found a pretty interesting internship:
Business and Finance Internship in Ecuador (interning for the Central
Bank of Ecuador).  Sounds interesting right?  Would look good
on a resume too.
Actually, if anyone's interested, I'll leave a link here so you can go to the site and check it out too:

http://www.worldendeavors.com

This is why I love my country and living here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050924/ap_on_re_as/pakistan_rape

but then again... I'm kinda disappointed that we have this kind of president as one of our allies.

You know it.  You tell the story.  You tell the whole damn world this is Bear Territory!

Yes!  We're 3-0!  We beat the University of Illinois Fighting
Illini this past weekend 35-20.  We really sucked in the first
half but went to outscore them 28-3 in the second half to get our third
straight win this season.

If there's anything I absolutely love here, it's Cal Football.   
And I'll surely miss watching them after I graduate.  Unless of
course, I go to USC Law School or something, then I'll get to watch USC
Football and then I could watch Cal play USC as well.  Quite the
dilemma it would be though.  Who do I cheer for?  My alma
mater or the school that'll give me the JD degree so I can make the big
bucks?  I bet if I do end up there I'll be wearing a Cal hat and a
USC t-shirt or something.  Or I'll wear a USC t-shirt but in my
mind I'll be cheering for my Bears.

But anyhow, here's a few pics from the game.  Thanks to my friend who took them.

beautiful Memorial Stadium packed with Cal Fans.  Things have
changed here at the Strawberry Creek.  Every Cal football game is
a big event now.  What a difference compared to 2-3 years ago.

If I remember correctly we scored on this play.  Screen pass to Marcus O'Keith for a TD!

I'm stylin with my sunglasses and Cal hat on. 

Cal Band Great!

crazy girl crowd surfing after a touchdown.

Cal Band imitating the Illini cheerleaders after a TD.  You see,
those orange people from Illinois would do these stupid pushups
everytime they score (even after a puny field goal) so when we started
scorin like crazy we did our own pushups, just to rub it in.  And
it felt GOOD!  muahaha

Final Score.

That's it folks.  Next game:  @ New Mexico State on 9/24