We've Got the Axe!!!!!

 

Happy Oski's 80th Birthday!

 

Oski Archives Suspends Operations

Due to an overwhelming lack of interest, The Oski Archives is suspending operations. Besides lack of readership I’ve also found that this blog puts a strain on my time. I’m currently working on my third novel and maintaining the general blog I’ve been proprietor of for over thirteen years. Once I realized readers of this blog could fit in a phone booth (remember those?) My heart was no longer in it. I may post occasionally in the future when inspired. I know — off the top of my head, mind you — one helluva lot of Cal football trivia, history and fun facts so may want to later record something of particular interest on this site. There are also stories from the past I have an interest in researching and would be fun to write about.

Before I go I’ll point out that the Bears are 4-4 all time on games played on September 18th and are undefeated in two games against Saturday’s opponent, Sacramento State.

By the way, my revised prediction for the season is that the Bears will finish the regular season 10-2. This will obviously earn them a berth in the Pac-12 title game which they will of course win. Owing to their two early losses, Cal will not figure in the national semi-finals but will go to and win the Rose Bowl. As for Saturday, look for the Bears to whip the Hornets, 55-10.

I close — for now — with the above image of my hero, Oski, on a motorcycle. 

Thanks to those of you stopped in for a read, and oh by the way…Go Bears!

Richard Hourula

P.S. My second novel, Threat of Night, is set in Berkeley in 1941 and includes two scenes that take place at Cal football games (historically accurate) including Oski’s debut. There are a few other references to Cal football in the book as the protagonist is a former player. There are also Nazi spies! Check it out. It’s available in paperback and kindle on Amazon. Thanks!

The Ten Best and Ten Worst Cal Football Teams of the Last 67 Years

What are the ten best and ten worst Cal teams of the last sixty-seven years? I’m glad you asked because I’ve endeavored to provide a list of ten for both categories. (Why the last sixty-seven years? Because they are within my lifetime.)

To simplify the process, the main criteria I used was won-loss record. I did not excuse teams for injuries nor reward them for impressive statistics nor ding them for particularly unimpressive statistics nor take into consideration teams having a lot or a dearth of future NFL stars. Blow outs one way or the other were similarly not part of my criteria. Someone else might use a different methodology factoring strength of schedule and point differential, though I think the results would be roughly the same as mine.

In the event of ties in records I gave more weight to the following (in order): winning the Big Game, winning a bowl game, wins against our other rivals (U$C and UC, Los Angeles), other conference wins, home wins. I would fully expect many disagreements with my rankings from Bear fans who place importance on other factors. I further acknowledge that a hearty debate could be held over my selection for the number one spot.

The Ten Best

1. 2004 11-2. It was really a virtual tie between this team and the ’91 squad. Both lost close games to the team that beat them out for the conference title (U$C in ’04 and UW in ’91) and both suffered late season face plants. The 2004 team lost badly in their bowl game and the 1991 team lost by seventeen in the Big Game. I went with the ’04 team because of their Big Game win, but really this is a dead heat. Best wins:  45-28 over UCLA, 38-0 over Arizona and 41-6 in the Big Game. 
2. 1991 10-2. I’ve pretty well covered this team in the comments above. This was a terrific group that was the last Bear team to play on New Year’s Day. Best wins: 27-24 over UCLA, 52-20 over U$C and 37-13 over Clemson in the Citrus Bowl.
3. 2006 10-3. Such is the state of recent Cal football that the third best team lost three times. One of those defeats was a whipping in Tennessee in the season opener, another an upset loss at Arizona. The third was a respectable defeat against U$C, with whom the Bears shared the conference title. However this was one of the most entertaining  Cal teams of any era that culminated their season with an impressive bowl win. Best wins: 45-24 over Oregon, 38-24 over UCLA and 45-10 over Texas A&M in the Holiday Bowl.
4. 1975 8-3. The other team from this time period to share a conference title, they stumbled out of the gates losing their first two before making Joe Roth their starting quarterback and going 8-1 the rest of the way. They had one of Cal’s greatest ever offenses amassing identical totals of  2,522 yards rushing and passing. 1975 was the first season that a Pac-8 team could go to a bowl game other than the Rose, but U$C was selected over the Bears despite Cal having beaten them and finishing with a better record. Best wins: 28-14 over U$C, 27-24 over Washington and 48-15 in the Big Game.
5. 1958 7-4. Cal’s last Rose Bowl team. Like the ’75 team they lost their first two games but then went on a tear. I’m no authority on the Rose Bowl but I would guess that at 7-3 and suffering a whipping to Iowa in the Rose Bowl, the ’58 Bears has to have been one of the weaker teams ever to appear in the grandaddy of all bowl games. Still they made it and that’s more than any subsequent Bear teams can claim. Best wins: 14-12 over U$C, 20-17 over UCLA and 16-15 in the Big Game. (The last season in which the Bears beat all three of their rivals.)
6. 1968 7-3-1. Cal’s only good team of the Sixties featured a stellar defense — The Bear Minimum. They racked up some impressive victories while (how Cal of them) suffering a few ugly losses including in the Big Game. Best wins: 39-15 over UCLA, 43-0 over Syracuse and 36-8 over Oregon.
7. 2008 9-4. They were the last Cal team to win both the Big Game and a bowl game until 2019. In terms of records they’re even with ’93 squad but had a better conference record. Best wins: 41-20 over UCLA, 37-16 in the Big Game and 24-17 over Miami in the Emerald Bowl.
8. 1993 9-4. A classic what-if team. If QB Dave Barr hadn’t gotten injured and the Bears, at 5-0, hadn’t blown a 4th quarter lead against UW….The Bears had an ugly four game stretch of losses but prior to and after the streak, they were an awfully good. Best wins: 42-41 comeback win over Oregon, 46-17 in the Big Game and 37-3 over Iowa in the Alamo Bowl.
9. 2005 8-4. Sandwiched in between the excellent ’04 and ’06 teams was this very good team that had three close losses and suffered a blow out to a #1 ranked U$C team. They rebounded from that loss to wallop the Lobsterbacks in the Big Game and then win the Las Vegas Bowl. Best wins: 56-17 over Washington, 28-0 over Arizona and 27-3 in the Big Game.
10. .1974 7-3-1. This team suffered the most heart-breaking Big Game loss I’ve ever witnessed (yes, worse than ’90) and played U$C to a 15-15 tie in LA. Their 28-3 loss to the Bruins was the only bad performance in what was otherwise a very good season. Best wins: 31-14 over Illinois, 40-10 over Oregon and 52-26 over UW.

Seasons also considered: 1990, 2003, 1977, 2009.

Sad note. None of the top ten teams from the past 67 years would crack a top ten of best Cal teams from 1915-1952. In that era there were nine teams that went undefeated in the regular season and three others with just one loss. Meanwhile only the ’46 team could conceivably crack the modern era bottom ten.

The Ten Worst

1. 2001 1-11. Last because their only win was against a non conference foe and it wasn’t even at Memorial Stadium. 
2. 2013 1-11. The only edge they have over the ’01 squad was that they had the decency to win a home game.
3. 1962 1-9. On a par with the above two teams, their only win was at home against San Jose State. This is the first of Marv Levy’s two teams to make the list.
4. 1957 1-9. Pete Elliot’s first team was truly awful. Their saving grace being that the one win was at home against U$C.
5. 1961 1-8-1. The second Levy team here. To their credit they beat Washington at home and managed a tie at Missouri.
6. 1984 2-9. The worst of Joe Kapp’s teams won at ASU and at  home game against UOP.
7. 1981 2-9. Roger Theder’s last team beat Arizona away and Oregon State at home and otherwise stunk. (See Davis, Mouse.)
8. 1959 2-8. On the bright side this post Rose Bowl team won the Big Game, along with a victory at WSU to start the season. On the other hand they lost everything in between including all their home games.
9. 1986 2-9. Another Kapp squad, however the saving grace of this group was that they managed the biggest Big Game upset in history.
10. 2012 3-9. The only three-win team on this list (but out of 12 games, many others teams won three but only played 10 or 11games) they did boast an impressive win over UC, Los Angeles but the only other wins were against Southern Utah and a weak WSU team. Meanwhile the losses were ugly, especially towards the end of this, Tedford’s last season. 

Also considered: 1960, 1995, 1998, 2000

Notes of interest: All three of Cal’s Pete Elliot coached Cal teams made a list. His Rose Bowl team was of course in the top ten, while the teams preceding and following that squad made the bottom ten. Surely Elliot had one of weirdest three-year coaching tenures in college football. Ray Wilsey coached at Cal for eight years and managed one top ten team (’68) but none in the bottom ten. He had losing teams, but none were truly awful. Marv Levy, on the other hand, had two teams from his four years in the bottom ten with another also considered. Jeff Tedford has the most top ten teams with four, all from the five-year-period of ’04 - ’08. He had but one bottom ten team, his last. Tom Holmoe only had one bottom ten team but three of his other four teams were also considered. Joe Kapp placed two in the bottom ten. Mike White had two top ten teams in his six years, along with a third team that was considered while having none in the bottom ten. Bruce Snyder had a top ten team and a second that was considered but none in the bottom ten. 

Bad Omens for the Season as Bears Stumble in Forth Worth

Cal QB Chase Garbers played well in the loss

For the second Saturday in a row the Bears lost a winnable game. And for the second Saturday running the Bears jumped out to a two-touchdown lead only to falter in quarters two through four. (Can we maybe play fifteen-minute games from now on?) Like so many Cal teams they are proving specialists at “woulda coulda shoulda” types of losses.

There were again questionable coaching decisions aplenty, such as eschewing an early field goal try. There were long passes thrown when a short one or a run would have done nicely. One on a third-and-two late in the second quarter proved particularly costly.

The Bears mini three-game winning streak of regular season wins in Texas was snapped.

The vaunted Bear defense was taken apart and special teams were, to be charitable, shaky. Meanwhile in the good news bad news department U$C looks vulnerable but that’s only because Stanfurd pummeled them. Just when the Furd was looking headed for a down cycle… 

Cal thus starts 0—2 for the first time (in a full season) since 2001 when the Bears went 1-10. Indeed our heroes have only started seasons with two losses three other times in the past 40 seasons (’95, ’94, ’89) all were losing campaigns. The only two successful seasons the Bears have begun with two losses are ’75, when they shared the conference crown, and ’58 when they won it out right. Can we duplicate the feats accomplished in those two seasons? Only a true Golden Bear fan would say yes and only a true Golden Bear fan would understand the futility of such a belief. 

The Bears have also assured themselves of two non conference losses in the same season for only the ninth time in the past forty years. In eight of those seasons Cal finished with a losing season. The exception being 2003 (8-5). Not a good sign. Thankfully (I think) Sacramento State is up next.

I don’t think Wilcox is on the hot seat yet but it’s a tad warmer than it’s ever been. Four or fewer wins might see get him sacked, but more likely he’s got next season to sort it out. 

On Wednesday my feature will be a look at the top ten and bottom ten Cal teams of the past sixty plus years. Surely this squad won’t be a candidate for the later list. There’s too much talent on both sides of the ball. Garbers looked a much more secure quarterback than he did against Nevada. Polk and Remigio are talented receivers and there’s good depth at RB. The defense will see better days. They weren’t bad against the Wolfpack and TCU boasts a high octane offense. 

To have a decent season the Bears need to win their next four home games (Sac State, WSU, Colorado, OSU) and pick up a couple of wins elsewhere (maybe against a weak-looking UW team and perhaps in the Big Game where, as the cliche goes, anything can happen.) 

For Bear fans hope (with a dash of cynicism) spring eternal, even after an 0-2 start.

Oski Archives Game Preview Week #2, The Bears Try to Mess With Texas

Cal won in it's last regular season visit to Texas, 45-44 in 2015

It’s time to mess with Texas. Normally on Fridays I’ll be looking at Cal’s series against that weekend’s opponent. However the Bears have only met TCU once and boy was that a stinker (put me off Cheez-Its for months). So instead I’ll be focusing on previous regular season visits the Bears have made to the state of Texas.

Cal has ventured to the Lone Star State for regular season games six times, losing the first three and winning the last three.

The Bears have played the University of Texas three times in Austin, losing the first two in 1959 and 1970, respectively, before winning a thriller in 2015.

The Bears actually visited the state twice in ’70 also traveling to Houston to play Rice, suffering a 28-0 loss to go along with the 56-15 shellacking they’d suffered against the Longhorns. 

The Bears next ventured to Texas in 1983 to take on the Aggies of Texas A&M. The Bears won a nail-biter19-17, their first game since a certain five-lateral Axe-winning effort in the previous season’s Big Game.

The Bears returned to the state in 1998 under Tom Holmoe in another season opener. Cal prevailed, 14-10.

Of course Cal’s most recent foray into Texas was for the incredible 45-44 victory led by one Jared Goff.

The Bears have hosted teams from Texas eight times winning five (Baylor, Houston, North Texas State, Rice and Texas) and losing three (Texas twice and Texas A & M once.)

Cal has also played teams from Texas in bowl games four times winning once vs. Texas A&M, and losing to Texas Tech, Texas and TCU (no more, Cheez-Its, please).

Focus on a game: (Each week I will focus on one game in Cal’s series against their upcoming opponent, this week it will be on one of our visits to Texas.) The Bears vs. The A&M Aggies September 3, 1983. It looked like easy pickings for Cal as the Sturdy Golden Ones raced to a 17-0 halftime lead, sparked by Dwight Garner’s (he whose knee never touched the ground during The Play) 43-yard TD scamper. But there was to be a mighty twist to this particular tale. With just over three minutes left in the third quarter the Aggies had stormed back to tie the game at seventeen all. Cal was reeling. But as the adage says, the Bear neither quits nor dies. Both teams fashioned drives into enemy territory in the fourth quarter but both squandered their scoring opportunities. Finally the Bears went ahead on a Randy Pratt field goal with 1:20 left in the game. But Pratt was roughed on the kick and the Bears elected to take points off the scoreboard and accept a first and goal at the Aggie two-and-half yard line. On first down the Bears fumbled, the Aggies recovered. Disaster. Never take points off the board. But the Aggies were generous hosts. On second and nine from the four, Cal linebacker (and current NFL head coach) Ron Rivera tackled Aggie fullback Jimmie Hawkins in the end zone for a safety giving the Bears a two-point win. Just like coach drew it up on the chalkboard. Legend has it that the decision to accept the roughing penalty was not made by the coaches but by holder J Torchio. When the refs asked Torchio whether the Bears wanted the penalty, he couldn’t find a coach visible on the sidelines to ask, so he made the call. Torchio later claimed that no coach ever spoke to him about his decision to accept the penalty. Anyway it all worked out in the end.

The Bears enter Saturday’s contest with a 5-4 record in games played on September 11. Other than one in 1915, the first year of the permanent move to football, Cal didn’t start playing games this early in the season until the seventies.

If you’re traveling to the game I envy you, then again you’re going to be in Texas, so maybe not so much. 

Oh by the way, Go Bears!

Wherein the Author Compares the Cal Game Day Experience of the Sixties With That of Today

From the early Sixties, note the attire of fans

It was recently suggested to me by a friend that I write a piece comparing the game day experience at Cal football when I was a youth (in the 1960s) with today. Never one to pass on an opportunity to either extoll “the good old days” or rave about modern conveniences, I present the following.

One aspect of doing this comparison is noting how much is virtually the same. Memorial Stadium has been spit-shined and retrofitted but it is still nestled within picturesque Strawberry Canyon and has the same basic look — i.e. beautiful. Tightwad Hill remains, allowing freeloaders good views of the action. The Victory Canyon still introduces the team and punctuates scores and victories. The student section remains on the east end of the stadium and continues to perform card stunts and exhort the Bears. The band has much the same look and —thankfully — still plays those spirit songs we all love and know by heart.  Their halftime shows remain worth the price of admission. 

But, to turn a phrase, the more things stay the same, the more they change. While Cal still sports blue and gold uniforms and helmets now come in an array of styles including occasionally wearing gold as a dominant color (old fogies such as myself point out that our colors are blue and gold, not gold and blue.) There was even a case of white storm trooper like helmets. Utterly blasphemous. 

Variety and inventiveness in the cheers, chants and taunts by the student section has all but vanished. There are virtually no organized taunts directed at opposing student sections. Most cheers and chants are generic. No imagination. I wish I could offer you examples of different yells I heard from the student section as a lad. Maybe someone out there recalls some. I do know that the student section used to count off the yardage when Cal was assessed a penalty and when the ball was placed yell at the ref, “you bastard!” Wouldn’t do these days when ears are more sensitive. Still one is glad that “Roll on You Bears” is alive and well, if on a few occasions misused. 

One of the biggest changes from when I was a kid (and dinosaurs roamed the Earth) is the scoreboard. It’s hard to imagine we used to have to do without replays. On the flip side it’s hard to imagine that I went to games before the incessant noise that is in-game advertising. It is relentless and it aided by another big difference between then and now — constant and interminable breaks in the action. Hardly any game was televised in my youth and even those that were did not require constant breaks and such long ones at that. Games used to finish in well under two and half hours although some of that has to do with the fact that there was less passing. Games are also slowed down by reviews of plays. Getting the call right is nice and has improved the quality of the game, but goodness they do eat up time.

Some of the lengthy timeouts are still filled by the wonderful sound of the Cal band or the cacophony of opposing bands. This is nice. It is also nice when other Cal teams are introduced as a promo for their coming season or to recognize recent accomplishments. It’s nice to have an alum who has done well introduced too. Not so nice is having to meet some corporate bigwig who’s company spread some cash Cal’s way for promotional considerations.

I also could do without the piped in rock music that blasts our ears before the game and sometimes during timeouts. The band is sufficient for music. Can we not be allowed a few moments of quiet when we don’t have to yell to be heard by the people we are chatting with? It’s so bad it often overlaps with the PA announcer and worse it doesn’t allow the student section to build up momentum making noise before the snap on third down.

I also have mixed emotions about the fun and games that sometime take place during time outs. I may be in a minority on this one but I’ve had my fill of the cute little kiddies and the Golden Bear Growl. I love children (to the extent that I sired a couple) but find the exercise a bit tedious and overdone. Also watching some yokel try to kick a fifty-yard field goal in order to win a king’s ransom is not my idea of a good time. Last Saturday fans voted on preferences in three category raising one finger for Michael Jordan, two for LeBron James, one for the Giants, two for the A’s etc. What the hell was the point of that and where was the entertainment value? Nonsense.

The single best thing about Cal football when I was a child is that you knew BEFORE THE SEASON STARTED when every game was going to start and they usually all started at the same time  — in the early afternoon. None of this bullshit of game times not being announced until two weeks or even a week before a game. This is not conducive to those people who have other aspects to their lives besides Cal football, or just want to plan their game day experience. Also there were no night games when I was young. An occasional one is okay but I can say anecdotally that we lose a lot of fans to seven o’clock or later starts. Mostly our youngest and oldest ones. This whole issue boils my blood. No other sport does this to the extent that college football does and I say screw the bastards who can’t commit to setting game times (here come all caps again) BEFORE THE SEASON STARTS. It’s another example of how TV takes precedent over the fans who actually sit in the stadium.

Fans are, of course, the same hearty lot. However there was much less Cal gear sold when I was a child and no replica jerseys. Also, for some reason people were less likely to wear a cap to a game, those sitting in the sun had to shade their eyes with their hands. Fans are more sober than in the old days it being infinitely more difficult to smuggle spirits in. Ironically the increased sobriety remains even after they began selling beer in the stadium. During my teens and twenties there was often the smell of a marijuana wafting through the stadium. Not so much today. Speaking of smoking, thankfully there are no people puffing on tobacco these days.

I’ve never been one to spend time or money at concession stands, choosing to dine just before games and then bring my own snack, that being said I have to acknowledge that in-game diners have a dizzying array of foods to chose from compared to in my youth. Then it was pretty much cokes, orange sodas hot dogs and malts.

One treat I miss from my youth is the opportunity to prance around on the field after games. Many young ‘uns would bring a ball and toss it around post game. Just being on the field where are heroes only recently trod was a thrill. Of course allowing fans to access the field had practical purposes as well. If you sat in the north end but lived or parked nearer the south end (or vice versa), it was much faster crossing the field than going around the stadium. It also cut down on foot traffic congestion outside the stadium.

Oddly, in the Sixties no one brought their phones to games (these were the dark ages when people interacted face-to-face). The downside was we couldn’t check scores of other games. Smart phones allow one to constantly keep track of rival’s games or other games of interest. It’s also made it a whole lot easier to take photos. Few people brought cameras to games in days of yore. Then again I note people out of the corner of my eye staring at their phones while the ball is in play. What’s their deal?

One of the great conveniences of the modern age is being able to go home to your computer and immediately find all the game’s highlights and statistics and visit message boards where you can discuss the game and read other fans’ reactions. (Actually you can do a lot of that with your smartphone before you even leave the stadium). In the dark ages we had to turn on the TV and wait until the local news came on during which we’d get highlights of maybe five or six plays and sometimes snippets from interviews with the head coach or a player. If you missed that you had to wait until the eleven o’clock news. Then the next morning and you went to the sports section of the newspaper to get stats, more quotes and a rundown of the game. If you wanted to discuss the game with others you’d better hope you had friends, family and co-workers who were fans.

I am not going to conclude by saying that I prefer the experience of my youth or that of today.* I’m glad I’ve lived in both worlds. There is a lot that I miss about the proverbial good old days (mostly the infinitely fewer time outs and the absence of so many noisy adverts). But the jeannie is not going back in that bottle. All I can do is wax nostalgic about “back in the day.” Better today to focus on the ways the experience has improved.

Note: I’ve not mentioned ticket prices which is a whole other kettle of fish. Plus it was never an issue for me. As a kid games were so cheap it was not the slightest strain on the family budget to go to anything but the Big Game — and that wasn’t all that prohibitive either. As an adult, Cal football season tickets have always merely been part of the yearly budget and the price has never gotten out of hand. Perhaps on another occasion I can look at ticket prices then and now or someone can offer to write a guest post on the topic.

*I’ve changed my mind. I wrote the first draft of this before Saturday’s game and after my most recent “game day experience” have to conclude that I much prefer the days of yore. The hell with the silly games, piped in music, ads and constant and never-ending time outs.