Cal cleaning up

By all accounts, Cal's football recruiting season is going a hell of a lot better than the actual football season did. While the latter was terribly disappointing, the former is heading toward a top-10 or 15 ranking nationally with 18 oral commitments.

The most recent high school senior to give an oral commitment to Berkeley was Brennan Scarlett, a defensive end from Portland's Central Cathlolic High rated the No. 2 recruit in the state of Oregon by Rivals.com. At 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, he has ideal size for a freshman on the defensive line.

Brennan considered Stanford, Notre Dame, USC and UCLA before stating his intent to enroll in Berkeley in the fall. Cynics might suggest the only reason Cal got Scarlett was because he's coming off an injury and his home state Oregon Ducks backed off an offer to him. Scarlett broke his collarbone on Sept. 17 and had surgery five days later.

In other Cal happenings:

I see Jack Clark's rugby dynamo had a squeaker in the season-opener, a 69-3 decision against Sacramento State. The Bears will be a total road show in 2011 as their gem of a facility, Witter Rugby Field, will be unavailable to them for the next two years. The football team will practice there instead.

That's known as taking one for the team.

Former Cal football player and current Washington Redskin Lorenzo Alexander is holding his third annual fundraiser for his ACES Foundation March 26 at Albany Bowl. The ACES Foundation benefits youth and helps students prepare for the SAT and obtain college scholarships and financial aid.

Alexander will be joined by another former Golden Bear, Langston Walker, now with the Raiders. The bowling benefit begins at 5 p.m. Tickets are $50 for adults. Sounds like a good cause.

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Jan 13 at 06:44 PM

Hoops hankering

Although Thursday night's 73-71 loss at Arizona was a painful one for the Cal basketball team, the effort showed by the Bears was nevertheless encouraging. I like what I saw on the court at McKale Center, filled as it was by those unsophisticated fans.

These Bears will be limited by their very talent but they will also fight and compete, and that's nice to see. Coach Mike Montgomery's team has heart, something that was lacking at times by the football team this fall.

"The good news is we're OK, we're just fine,'' Montgomery said Friday after practice at Arizona State. "That game was a game you look back on and think you should have had it. We will improve. We need to improve.''

Guard Jorge Gutierrez is a fiery presence on the court that makes him a fan favorite, though he's quiet and undestated away from the game. Forward Harper Kamp is Cal's steadiest player. Center Markhuri Sanders-Frison is to be admired for playing in pain with his sore feet, plural. Freshman Allen Crabbe is talented and will only get better as he becomes more assertive.

The departure of freshman guard Gary Franklin will force Montgomery to alter his rotation at guard with Brandon Smith starting at the point and playing Nigel Carter and freshman Emerson Murray more than he would otherwise.

As for Franklin, he balked at playing off guard and left for what he felt was a better opportunity at the point. UNLV is interested in him and he could end up at San Diego State as well.

"He wanted to play point and didn't feel he was getting the opportunity here,'' Montgomery said. "It's out of my periphery now. I'd like to see Emerson get a few more minutes. The issue is how many guys on the floor who can score.''

At least the Bears had swell digs while they were in Tucson. The team stayed at the swanky JW Marriott resort in the cactus-studded foothills outside town. If you love the desert as I do, it's heaven with prickly plants.

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Jan 07 at 03:08 PM

Bears on recruiting trail

Although the football season ended badly for Cal, the worst of coach Jeff Tedford's nine seasons in Berkeley, recruiting is apparently going well for the Bears.

According to both Rivals.com and ESPN, Cal has secured commitments from 15 high school players, as many as eight of them considered four-star recruits. One of them is quarterback Kyle Boehm of Mitty High in San Jose.

Man, do the Bears ever need a capable quarterback in 2011. I like Brock Mansion but he did not do enough in his time as a starter toward the end of 2010 to justify confidence in him for next season.

Keenan Allen's half-brother, Zach Maynard, is expected to enroll in school next semester and when and if he does, he could move to the front of the quarterback competition. The Bears desperately need someone to demonstrate competence at the position and engender confidence among his teammates.

Until a prep player signs his letter of intent, nothing is official, of course. But as it stands now, Cal is ranked in the top 20 in the country in the qualify of players verbally commiting to Berkeley. The class includes three running backs, three defensive linemen, two offensive linemen, two defensive backs, one linebacker, one tight end, one wide receiver and one fellow listed as an "athlete,'' Jalen Jefferson of Ventura.

Among Tedford's 2010 coaching staff, offensive line coach Steve Marshall accepted a similar position at Colorado while receivers coach Kevin Daft was let go. Read More 'Bears on recruiting trail' »

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Dec 20 at 11:59 AM

McKeever named Olympic coach

As college football winds down and college basketball cranks up, why not a little interlude for swimming? Cal's Teri McKeever, coach of the women's swimming team, was just named coach of the U.S. women's team for the 2012 Olympics in London, the first woman to be selected for the post.

McKeever has paid her dues in her sport, that's for sure. This is her 19th year at Berkeley and during that time she's coached six women who made U.S. Olympic teams and 11 others that represented their countries in the Games. She was named 2009 NCAA women's swimming coach of the year.

"It takes a while to get all that on your resume,'' McKeever told me today. "I'm incredibly honored and excited, just feel very proud to receive the opportunity to do this.''

McKeever said her Olympic duties should not impinge on her ability to coach the Bears during the season.

"I'm really incredibly appreciative of Sandy to allow me to accept this,'' McKeever said. "I don't know exactly what it's going to reauire but it is going to require some additional time and effort. I couldn't be more appreciative.''

McKeever's most famous pupil, of course, is Natalie Coughlin, who should be winding up her stellar career in London in 2012, appropriately enough swimming for her coach.

"We're going to do everything we can do make that happen,'' McKeever said. "She's qualified for the World Championships this July. She's back and doing some exciting things. She was a big part in making this happen.''

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Dec 08 at 03:14 PM

A watery indignity

Cal's water polo team, winner of 13 NCAA men's championships, surely will not forget the sight of USC players, and some fans, celebrating in its pool at the end of the Trojans' 12-10 overtime win over the Bears in the title game on Sunday.

That can't sit well with Cal coach Kirk Everist, who had the Bears on the verge of championship No. 14 until a series of turnovers and tough defense by the Trojans drowned the bid on a rainy late afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

Despite pleadings from the public address announcer for fans to refrain from jumping in the pool at the conclusion of the game, some USC partisans jumped in anyway, bringing a banner with them.

Of course, who's to say Cal fans wouldn't have done the same had the Bears come out on top?

In any event, it was a lively atmosphere despite the rain as the teams traded goals furiously in the third quarter before ending up tied 10-10 at the end of regulation.

In each of the two 3-minute overtime periods, USC was clearly the stronger team and its victory was well earned. That's USC's sixth NCAA championship and third in a row.

Since 1969, a California school has won every NCAA men's water polo championship. The Bears last won in 2006 and again in '07.

"It was one of the best NCAAs in terms of crowd, excitement, having so many fans of both sides,'' USC coach Jovan Vavic said. "This is what water polo is all about -- having two great teams playing at a high level in a great venue. Today was our day. It was an awesome team effort.''

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Dec 05 at 05:13 PM

An ugly farewell

Well, that sure was one ugly little football season the Bears just crafted, 5-7, no bowl, losing the last game to be played in Memorial Stadium before the old girl is renovated.

In truth, this Cal team didn't deserve to go to a bowl game, even at 6-6. It lost its last three games at home and was routed by three Pac-10 opponents in addition to Boise-killer Nevada.

Coach Jeff Tedford has a lot of work to do for 2011. After Saturday's cold and wet loss to Washington, he said he'll be out on the recruiting trail on Monday. Not a moment too soon.

The Bears need a quarterback. Badly. Someone who can take charge and lead the team and inspire confidence. Maybe that someone is on the current team. I suspect not, although Austin Hinder and Allan Bridgford have yet to show what they can do. Maybe it will be Zach Maynard, Keenan Allen's half-brother. He's expected to enroll in school in January and join the fray for the quarterback position.

An enhanced offensive line would help, too, although I really like the job Brian Schwenke does at right guard. He had a terrific game against the Huskies and was a big reason Shane Vereen was able to pick up 106 yards rushing.

It might have been nice to see what this seriously flawed Cal team could have done in a bowl game at 6-6. The Holiday in San Diego was a very real prospect for Cal, if only the Bears had held on the 4th-and-goal play from a foot out.

But that's football. You get what you earn. Cal earned its 5-7 record with spotty quarterback play, shocking defensive lapses, uninspired offensive game plans and uninspired special teams play.

And to top it off, defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi was suspended for the Washington game because he instructed one of his players, Aaron Tipoti, to fake an injury in the Oregon game.

All in all, an ignominious way to slink into the offseason for the Bears. On to basketball and water polo and volleyball and track.

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Nov 27 at 06:11 PM

Touring the facility

After football practice on Wednesday I was given a tour of the in-progress Student-Athlete High Performance Center wrapping around the west end of Memorial Stadium. My guide was Bob Milano Jr., assistant athletic director at the university.

At 143,000 square feet and costing $150 million, it's going to be an impressive place when it's finished, expected to be in September of 2011. It stretches from end zone to end zone and will house 13 of Cal's varsity sports over three levels that will be landscaped in such a way as to not detract from the stadium itself.

"We're trying to link the athletic facility ... with the campus,'' said Milano, whose father was the longtime Cal baseball coach. "When the stadium was built (in 1923) it was in the oak woodlands, away from the core campus. It wasn't a place that was part of everyday campus life. This is the building (the high performance center) that links the two.''

The high performance center, Milano said, will be constructed of simple materials -- concrete, wood and glass -- with an emphasis on using glass walls and skylights to draw in natural light to a facility that is built into the ground.

Perhaps the nicest feature of the facility will be a landscaped plaza area on the third level of the high performance center where people can gather before games and at halftime. The plaza parallels Piedmont Way and will be a major entrance point for the stadium.

"The architecture of the building is very reverential and respectful to the old stadium,'' Milano said. "It's intended to look like a landcaped wall -- not like a building.''

The high performance center has three main sections. The south section is devoted to a dozen of the university's so-called Olympic sports with separate locker rooms and office space for the individual sports.

The north section is devoted to the football team's many needs.

The center section is where athletes will train and receive treatment and take their meals. Want to take an ice bath in the new Polar Plunge after a hard workout? There it is. Want to do some low-impact treadmill work in the warm-water therapy pool whirlpool? Done.

Once the university's varsity athletes get a look at this place, it may be a challenge to get them to go class.

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Nov 24 at 05:57 PM

Bears as Banana Slugs?

Sitting here in the pressbox an hour before the game, I thought I'd need to put on my sunglasses when the Bears came out for pre-game warm-ups wearing gold-on-gold uniforms. If they were trying for a Banana Slug look, as in mighty UC Santa Cruz, they succeeded. Oregon, meanwhile, chose among its many uniform combinations white-on-green, which gave the Ducks the look of De La Salle High School. The Bears can only hope Oregon plays like a high school team today, even one as accomplished as DLS. On other topics: The other day as I was trudging down the hill from the east rim of the stadium after football practice I encountered Gary Hein, former Cal football and rugby player. We both agreed it was a sad sight seeing adjacent Witter Rugby Field covered over in FieldTurf for the next two years as part of Memorial Stadium's retrofit/renovation. The move basically kicked out coach Jack Clark's storied rugby team and made it a vagabond for the next two seasons. Witter will now be used for football practice, starting this spring. As part of the FieldTurf installation, trucks brought up enormous bags of those annoying black rubber granules used to further cushion the playing surface. I hope the Rugby Bears get their field back in 2013, carpeted with real, old-fashioned grass. Tony Sandoval's cross country teams performed well today at the NCAA West Regional meet in Springfield, Ore. The Cal men finished third and the women came in fifth. Individually, Cal's Deborah Maier finished second to Oregon's Jordan Hasay as she covered the course in 20 minutes, 6.81 seconds, five ticks behind the Duck. Cal's Michael Coe was third on the men's 10,000-meter course in 29:59.95.

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Nov 13 at 03:46 PM

Well, it's a 'W'

Although Cal's 20-13 win over downtrodden Washington State impressed no one, at least it was a win away from home, the team's first this season.

After the game in Pullman the Bears erupted in cheers in the locker room, cheers befitting a much more important win but what the heck. In these tough times, you take what you can get.

Junior Brock Mansion was impressive in his first start in college. He handled himself with composure and except for excitedly sailing a few passes too high to be caught and getting picked off twice, he performed well.

Mansion's play gives Cal fans a measure of hope going into 2011 and the first year of the Pac-12 Conference.

One player the Bears will dearly miss is senior defensive end Cameron Jordan. He had a monster game today with 12 tackles and 1 1/2 sacks. He's the guy NFL scouts come to Berkeley to check out.

As I noted in my game story in Sunday's Chronicle Sporting Green, the Bears go from the ridiculous to the sublime in one week's time, from poor old Washington State to No. 1-ranked Oregon. It's hard to see how Cal can possibly slow down the hyper-speed Ducks' offense but that is why they play these games.

Cal will have absolutely no margin for error against Oregon. None. They have to get it right and get it right often to have a hope of a prayer of a chance.

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Nov 06 at 06:20 PM

Pretty in the Palouse

It's a surprisingly nice day here in the Palouse country of eastern Washington for the Cal-WSU football game set to start in about 20 minutes. Shirt-sleeve weather, in fact, at a time of year when the weather can start to get raw hereabouts.

Martin Stadium is the smallest facility in the Pac-10, and will be in the Pac-12 as well, and even with that, there's a miniscule crowd on hand for this "epic'' tilt. There's more aluminum seats than people in those seats.

With Kevin Riley out for the season, tailback Shane Vereen has taken his place as a team captain. Solid guy, that Shane. The Bears are going to need his nifty running today with Brock Mansion making his first career start.

It's my first time back in this remote outpost since I first covered Cal football in the early-mid 80's. There was one November game I covered here where the wind was so strong, a Cal punter named Mike Ahr, facing the brutal wind, got off a kick that went straight up ... and back over his head for a minus 4-yard punt. On another effort, he shanked his kick and the ball sailed completely off the field of play laterally and into the stands.

By contrast, today is Hawaii.

(I just saw Joe Starkey here in the pressbox. I reminded him of that game and he in turn reminded me that that Mike Ahr game with the wind was actually played in Spokane at Joe Albi Stadium, not here at Martin Stadium in Pullman. Thanks, Joe.)

Posted By: John Crumpacker (Email, Twitter) | Nov 06 at 12:46 PM